Cang Mo, worthy of his station as a False Emperor, remained composed under pressure. He drew in his soul power, shutting out the blossoming lotus and preventing it from siphoning his Divine Sense.
But just then, from the heart of the lotus, a flash of blade light blazed forth, cleaving straight toward him.
In that instant, Cang Mo actually felt a jolt of danger. He let out a low shout: "A Soul Emperor Treasure!"
A mere Soul Emperor Treasure alone would not have been enough to startle him. With his cultivation and the countless ages he had lived, what treasures hadn't he seen? In this world, only a scant few things could truly stir his desire—everything else simply didn't register in his eyes.
What shocked him was that Yang Kai had actually hidden the strike of this Soul Emperor Treasure within a Soul Secret Art. The implications were enormous—this was practically a flawless attack, executed to absolute perfection.
Even if someone could defend against the Soul Secret Art's strike and halt the lotus's bloom, the true killing blow lay hidden within the lotus's pistil.
Could this young man's soul cultivation really be this refined? How had he cultivated it? Mere second-level Emperor Realm soul power—yet it was actually more formidable than that of an ordinary third-level Emperor Realm cultivator.
What lay hidden within the Living Lotus Secret Art was, naturally, a strike from the Soul-Slaying Blade. Yang Kai had been seized by a sudden inspiration, combining the Living Lotus and the Soul-Slaying Blade into one—and the result was astonishingly effective.
Caught off guard, Cang Mo took the Soul-Slaying Blade's strike head-on against his soul. The defenses of his Sea of Consciousness shuddered. Though his profound cultivation allowed him to withstand it, his vision went black and his Sea of Consciousness churned violently.
Yang Kai silently cursed his luck. He had only recently used the Heaven-Breaking Strike Secret Art within the Star Domain, so the Soul-Slaying Blade hadn't had nearly enough time to recover. The power behind this particular slash was limited—otherwise it could have inflicted at least a minor wound on Cang Mo. As it was, it had only managed to disrupt him momentarily.
This was absolutely the strongest opponent he had ever faced!
But even disruption was enough.
In that split second while Cang Mo was recovering, Yang Kai and his Avatar were already lunging toward him. Yang Kai's palms clapped together and pulled apart as a colossal Moon Blade took shape, slashing through the air toward Cang Mo's chest. The Avatar swung its barbed fists downward, smashing straight at Cang Mo's head. Their coordination was nearly flawless—after all, the Avatar had been formed from a strand of Yang Kai's soul inhabiting a Stone Puppet's body, so when they fought side by side, they could anticipate each other's intentions without a word.
Even with all of Cang Mo's power, if that massive Moon Blade and the Avatar's fists connected, he would at the very least be severely wounded—or killed.
But at that very moment, a sudden premonition of danger flashed through Yang Kai's mind—an overwhelming sense of unease spreading through every fiber of his body.
Eyes wide, Yang Kai retreated with explosive speed without a moment's hesitation. The Avatar tried to fall back as well, but its massive frame made it comparatively slower.
The next instant, a hissing crackle erupted as a ring of lightning suddenly bloomed outward from Cang Mo's position. Within the span of a hundred zhang, the space was instantly transformed into a sea of lightning. Countless slithering serpents of electricity blanketed the void, blazing so bright it was like broad daylight.
The Moon Blade aimed at Cang Mo's chest was ensnared by bolt after bolt of lightning. Before it could get anywhere near him, it dissolved into nothing—unable to so much as scratch him.
The Avatar, which hadn't fully retreated, was electrocuted into bellowing roars. Lightning crawled across its towering body—over a dozen zhang tall—its massive frame shuddering ceaselessly.
"The Law of Lightning!" Yang Kai's eyes narrowed as he recognized the trouble he was in.
At the Dao Source Realm, one comprehended the Laws. At the Emperor Realm, one commanded them. Great Emperors themselves were the Laws of heaven and earth.
As a False Emperor, Cang Mo naturally possessed Laws at his command—but the Law of Lightning was particularly troublesome. Lightning embodied fury and slaughter. Once that sea of lightning emerged, the area within a hundred zhang around Cang Mo became a forbidden zone of death, where even approaching was nigh impossible. How could anyone contend with that?
The Avatar had also withdrawn, residual bolts of lightning still crackling across its body, its pair of crimson eyes fixed on Cang Mo. It had clearly sensed Yang Kai's shift in mood.
On the other side, Cang Mo had used the sea of lightning as cover to narrowly escape the killing blow from Yang Kai and his Avatar. As his senses gradually returned and his vision cleared, a flicker of vexation crossed his face. For a being of his stature—to handle Yang Kai, a mere ant, he had been forced to resort to his Laws. It was deeply beneath him. A powerhouse like him should have dispatched Yang Kai in just a few blows.
Instead, he had been driven into a corner and forced to unleash his Laws—and worse, he still hadn't succeeded! This was nearly intolerable for Cang Mo. His face went cold as he stared down at Yang Kai: "Provoke me, and you will gain nothing from it!"
As the words left his lips, he reached out and seized the air. A whip of lightning materialized in his hand, composed entirely of crackling electricity that popped and snapped without cease. It shimmered an eerie cyan. From a distance, it looked as though Cang Mo held a writhing, twisting blue serpent.
With a flick of his wrist, the cyan lightning whip slithered forward, coiling straight toward Yang Kai at breathtaking speed.
Yang Kai retreated again and again, yet the cyan lightning whip clung to him like a parasite buried in bone—impossible to shake.
As the gap continued to close, Yang Kai roared. His Emperor Yuan surged as he opened his mouth and unleashed a thunderous bellow, like the cry of a dragon, shaking the very heavens. A single breath poured forth.
Looking closely, the breath that issued from Yang Kai's mouth was golden.