Of the Twelve Demon Saints, Xue Li possessed the most exceptional escape techniques. Though Chang Tian moved with astonishing speed, he still clung to him like a bone-pegged maggot, impossible to shake off.
As one advanced and the other retreated, these two Demon Saint-level powerhouses clashed fiercely. Demonic essence quaked and thundered without cease, violent waves of energy rippling outward in all directions.
At that moment, Yang Kai—who had been placed behind Chang Tian's protective aura—felt a sharp surge of alarm in his heart. Without a second thought, he raised his hand, and Yu Rumeng and Bei Li Mo materialized simultaneously.
Under the surge of frigid laws, several hexagonal ice shields—transparent to the point of being nearly imperceptible—formed and hovered around Yang Kai's body, keeping him safe. Bei Li Mo's reaction was swift enough. Though she had no idea what was happening, they had discussed this beforehand: if Yang Kai summoned her without warning, it could only mean he had encountered a powerful enemy.
The moment she realized she was no longer inside the Small Sealed World, she immediately deployed her defensive divine ability. Only after the ice shields had taken shape did she scan her surroundings to assess the threat.
While she acted, Yu Rumeng was far from idle. The pupils in her stunning eyes bloomed open layer by layer like lotus petals, bewitching beyond measure, and the next instant she cried out, "Wu Hua!"
Aside from their small group, the only figure in the vicinity was the pursuing Xue Li. But through her eye technique, Yu Rumeng could perceive a nearly nonexistent shadow clinging close beside him.
The Lord of the Shadow Demons—Wu Hua!
A faintly perceptible speck of darkness was hurtling toward Yang Kai at blinding speed. In the span of a heartbeat, it shattered several of the orbiting ice shields.
It wasn't that Bei Li Mo's strength fell short of Wu Hua's—rather, Wu Hua had struck with full preparation while Bei Li Mo had responded in haste, not even knowing who the enemy was beforehand. How could such a hastily conjured ability hope to withstand the Shadow Demon Lord's killing strike?
With a crash, the ice shields crumbled to dust, yet that speck of darkness carried on without the slightest loss of momentum, piercing straight toward Yang Kai's chest.
When a Shadow Demon struck, the blow was meant to kill—that was the hallmark of the race. Even the most ordinary Shadow Demon fought this way in battle, let alone a Saint-level one like Wu Hua.
Yu Rumeng's face changed drastically. Yang Kai may have been formidable now, but he was still merely an Upper Demon King at the end of the day. How could he possibly endure Wu Hua's lethal strike?
Her slender hand shot up, and her arm instantly went boneless like a serpent, winding in the direction of the darkness's origin. She slapped her palm forward, demonic essence surging wildly.
The blow met no resistance whatsoever. Yu Rumeng's face drained of color in an instant, going deathly pale.
She watched helplessly as that speck of darkness broke through her defense and drove straight for Yang Kai's chest.
And in that very instant, a piercing dragon roar rang out once more. A massive, golden dragon head materialized behind Yang Kai—flashing brilliantly before vanishing into his silhouette. His body was instantly covered in a layer of dragon scales.
Through the dragon transformation, Yang Kai's defenses increased dramatically. But he had no intention of simply standing there and waiting for death. Even as he activated the Dragon Transformation Art, he had already begun channeling the Void Secret Technique, banishing his own body into the void.
Yet what manner of being was Wu Hua, the Shadow Demon Saint? This killing blow had locked onto him with spiritual intent—even if Yang Kai fled into the void, there was no escaping it. The strike pursued him into the empty expanse itself and struck him square in the chest.
A piercing clang of metal on metal rang out, sharp enough to set teeth on edge. Yang Kai's body—which had just briefly phased into nothingness—reappeared. He grunted, his frame shuddering violently as blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, his face turning even paler than Yu Rumeng's.
Only now did the point of impact on Yang Kai's chest reveal something unusual: a dagger was embedded in his flesh, driven three inches deep. Even the dragon scales covering his chest had been pierced through.
The dagger was nearly transparent—impossible to detect without the utmost focus. And Wu Hua, who wielded it, was equally so. His form twisted and flickered, as though cast from clear water, visible in shape but not in substance.
That speck of darkness moments ago had merely been the condensation of Wu Hua's killing intent.
Yu Rumeng erupted into a frenzy. A piercing shriek tore from her throat as her spiritual power—rushing forth like a tidal wave—transformed into a torrent of murderous force and slashed down at Wu Hua.
Bei Li Mo simultaneously drove her frigid laws forward, extending a slender finger toward that fluid, water-like body. Her aura was less overwhelming than Yu Rumeng's, and the thrust of her finger almost seemed casual—but no one would have dared say its power was lesser than that of her companion's divine ability.
With two Demon Saints attacking in tandem, how could Wu Hua hope to withstand it?
The moment they moved, Wu Hua moved too, retreating with breathtaking speed.
"Seal!" Yang Kai suddenly barked. Spatial laws surged outward, and the space where Wu Hua stood was locked down by heaven and earth themselves.
But such confinement could not hold a Demon Saint's escape. The sealed space shattered instantly, and Yu Rumeng's soul attack, Bei Li Mo's finger thrust—all struck empty air. The Moon Blade Yang Kai followed up with immediately after was equally fruitless.
Wu Hua's trace had already vanished from the surroundings entirely. The Shadow Demon struck once—a killing blow. If it failed, he fled.
Yu Rumeng whipped her head around, eyes shining with tears of relief.
In that instant just now, she had been certain Yang Kai was dead. After all, his cultivation was only that of an Upper Demon King. Terror and fury had driven her to unleash the full force of that horrifying spiritual power in a single strike.
Who could have guessed Yang Kai had survived?
Bei Li Mo's ice shields had failed to stop Wu Hua's ambush, but they had siphoned off a portion of his force nonetheless. Yu Rumeng's initial palm strike had missed Wu Hua, but it had forced him to dodge slightly, further reducing the impact.
Dragon scale defense. The Void Secret Technique. The contraction of his own flesh at the critical moment. Under these five layers of protection, even when Wu Hua struck personally, his assassination still ended in failure.