But Feng Ming had no such luck. Bound by the Laws of Space and still reeling, the Moon Blade arrived before him and pierced clean through his body, leaving a crescent-shaped hole in his chest through which his internal organs were clearly visible.
He lowered his head to stare at the hideous gash in his torso, eyes bulging, still unable to believe what had happened. Feng Ming's physical body was at least at the Second Order Emperor Realm, roughly on par with Yang Kai, yet he had been reduced to this state in a single exchange. Part of that was due to being caught off guard, but the sheer terror of his opponent's methods was beyond imagination.
If he truly were just Feng Ming, this single blow would have left him completely incapacitated, awaiting death with nothing he could do.
But he was a Demon Thought that had seized a host's body, so even with a fatal wound, he did not immediately collapse. Instead, a torrent of demonic qi surged from the gash in his chest and abdomen, churning and writhing as it sealed the wound shut.
Meanwhile, Lei Gu dodged the Moon Blade and let out a furious roar, pouring every ounce of his strength into breaking free from the spatial bindings. Face pale with terror, he retreated rapidly, trying to fall back into the darkness. If he could evade Yang Kai's attacks for even a few moments, he could conceal himself again — within this endless sea of demonic qi, Yang Kai would never find him.
But Yang Kai wasn't about to let that happen. After launching the two Moon Blades, he flicked his hand and tossed out a small beast, roughly a foot long and pitch-black in color. It looked like an ordinary mutt the moment it appeared, but the instant it materialized, its eyes blazed with a terrifying light brimming with delight and excitement.
Guixu!
After returning from the Frozen Wastes all those years ago, Yang Kai had kept Guixu at Lingxiao Palace. He hadn't brought it along when he went to Dragon Island, but since their enemies this time were Demon Race cultivators and their myriad Demon Thoughts, Guixu was the perfect counter — how could he not bring it? He had already summoned it upon returning to Lingxiao Palace and quietly slipped it into the Small Sealed World.
When Guixu appeared, Lei Gu froze for a moment, not immediately grasping why Yang Kai had brought out this small beast at such a time. But deep within his heart, an instinctive terror arose — the sensation of encountering a natural predator.
The Million Sword swept up, transforming into a web of blades that descended over Lei Gu, sealing off his escape routes to either side.
Guixu, meanwhile, lunged to Lei Gu's flank. Its massive jaws split open, the small dog's head expanding until it was larger than a house. Inside its maw lay nothing but void and chaos, and it clamped down directly toward Lei Gu.
"Guixu!" Lei Gu's face drained of color. He hadn't recognized it at first because everything had happened so fast, but now, seeing this bizarre transformation, there was no mistaking it. It really was Guixu!
The Guixu was a creature of terrifying renown throughout the entire Demon Realm. Any demon who had lived long enough knew of its horrors. The Guixu before him was not the legendary one capable of devouring an entire world, but at the very least it carried a thread of Guixu bloodline — something that made every demon tremble at the mere mention.
From that pitch-black maw emanated an aura of overwhelming dread. Lei Gu felt his entire body turn ice-cold, and with the Million Sword's web of blades blocking his path, there was nowhere to flee.
Just as he was about to be swallowed by Guixu's jaws, Lei Gu suddenly waved his hand.
A figure burst out from the side, positioning itself directly in front of Lei Gu. Long hair billowed, robes fluttered, and on that delicate face sat an expression of utter coldness, both eyes completely swallowed by darkness.
Gao Xueting!
Yang Kai's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. The sword web descending over Lei Gu instantly dissolved into nothing. He had already suspected that Gao Xueting had met with foul play, and now seeing this, it was just as he feared — she and Luo Chen had both been corrupted by demonic qi and fallen to darkness.
Gao Xueting stood motionless before him, making no move to resist whatsoever. How could Yang Kai strike her down? But just as he pulled back his attack, he saw Guixu's jaws clamp shut, attempting to swallow both Lei Gu and Gao Xueting together.
Without a moment's thought, Yang Kai flickered to Guixu's side and delivered a vicious kick.
Guixu let out a whimper and went flying. When Yang Kai turned back to look at Lei Gu, his face twisted with fury: "Despicable!"
In that brief opening, Lei Gu had already clamped one hand onto the crown of Gao Xueting's head. Demonic Yuan surged and flickered beneath his palm, ready to end her life at any instant.
Lei Gu showed none of the elation one might expect from a narrow escape. His features twitched uncontrollably, and the gaze he fixed on Yang Kai could have practically breathed fire. He had never imagined being played by this brat. The main reason was that Yang Kai's acting had been far too convincing — facing Feng Ming's lethal strike, he hadn't dodged or evaded, instead allowing Feng Ming's claw to sink three inches into his chest.
How could Lei Gu have determined that Feng Ming was merely testing?
Now, using Gao Xueting as a hostage to save his own life was an act of desperation, more like a cornered beast's last stand. Things were never supposed to turn out this way. After years of planning and sacrificing numerous Demon Seeds, under normal circumstances he should have swept up several hundred Emperor Realm cultivators and tens of thousands of elite disciples from the Southern Domain in one fell swoop, then quietly converting the entire region into an extension of the Demon Realm.
But the plan had first gone awry with Yang Kai, forcing him to alter his strategy. What was even more infuriating was that Yang Kai had somehow summoned so many powerful allies within a single day, draining his plan of any hope of success. And in the end, he had even been outmaneuvered and made to look the fool. Lei Gu's mood could hardly have been worse.
Vanished for over a decade, and he chose this critical moment to reappear? And at every turn, wrecking everything Lei Gu had worked for.
"Release her!" Yang Kai thrust the Million Sword forward, pointing it at Lei Gu.
Lei Gu stared at Yang Kai with a dark, venomous gaze, unmoved, as though he had already placed his own life and death beyond consideration.