In the great hall where candlelight flickered, Yang Kai's voice cut through the air like a blade of ice, sending a chill that swept through the bodies and minds of every leader of the Red Star.
Only then did they understand what Yang Kai had meant by "the first one." Poison Maiden had been the first to strike at Yang Kai, and the first to be slain.
If there was a first, then there would naturally be a second…
A soft clang rang out as sparks scattered through the air. Gan Hong's figure materialized like a specter at Yang Kai's side, a curved blade slashing diagonally downward in absolute silence.
The Earth Element force shielding Yang Kai's body actually failed to withstand the sharpness of this strike. With a piercing sound, a gash opened in the barrier, and the razor-sharp edge carved across Yang Kai's waist and abdomen, leaving a wound a full foot long.
Flesh peeled back and blood gushed forth immediately!
Gan Hong, now revealed, wore a look of utter disbelief.
This was because the strike had failed to produce the effect he had anticipated. While the foot-long wound was certainly ghastly, his blade should have cleaved Yang Kai clean in two.
The sensation of the curved blade biting into flesh told Gan Hong something terrifying — this young man's body was absurdly, unreasonably tough. That solid physique had with pure brute force endured a strike capable of splitting heaven and earth.
Horror seized him. His figure flickered and melted back into the darkness, vanishing from sight as he prepared to retreat.
His concealment technique was unrivaled under heaven — even experts a tier or two above him would be unable to detect his presence.
As he fled backward through the void, he raised his eyes and locked gazes with Yang Kai. His heart lurched. Yang Kai's left eye had suddenly manifested a golden vertical pupil, reminiscent of a serpent's gaze, chilling to behold. Under that golden slit-pupil's stare, Gan Hong felt an overwhelming sense that there was nowhere left to hide.
In the next instant, he saw Yang Kai flash him a ghastly smile. Yang Kai raised a hand, seized a long spear from the void, and without any visible motion, thrust it forward. The spearhead swelled rapidly in Gan Hong's field of vision, carrying a killing intent that made one's very soul tremble.
Gan Hong's face drained of color. He raised his blade to block.
BOOM — a tremendous force slammed into him. Gan Hong's gaunt figure went tumbling away, instantly feeling like a lone skiff tossed upon a raging storm at sea, liable to capsize at any moment.
His hidden form was forced back into visibility. Gan Hong screamed, "Save me!"
Even as he shouted, he charged desperately toward Chen Tianfei.
Chen Tianfei's face twitched violently at the sight. He cursed inwardly — Gan Hong was dragging others down with him — but he couldn't simply stand by and watch the man die. He had no choice but to wrap his massive frame inward, condensing into a great fleshy sphere that came rolling thunderously across the hall. That rolling ball of flesh contained terrifying destructive power, its violent energy surging wildly in every direction.
The Ouyang brothers moved in seamless coordination, one commanding fire, the other commanding ice. They unleashed the power of opposing elements, raining it down upon Yang Kai in a furious barrage. The Scarlet Flood Dragon coiled its enormous body and swung it across to stand before the Ouyang brothers, intercepting the combined assault of ice and flame.
Madam Qin's zither sounded once more, but Yue He moved to intercept her. The two women clashed across the distance.
Meanwhile, the Earth Dragon's mandibles writhed and sprayed its viscous secretion toward Bei Yushan. Bei Yushan possessed strength enough to tear mountains from the earth, but against this exotic beast as slippery as a mudfish, he could do nothing but suffer in silence, utterly unable to break through the Earth Dragon's defense.
The great hall had descended into utter chaos, power clashing in every direction.
Chen Tianfei bellowed, "Brother Yang, stop! Hear me out!"
"We can talk later!" Yang Kai flashed a wide grin, his eyes locked on the rolling sphere of flesh. He showed no sign of slowing, leveling his spear and blasting it forward. At the tip of the spear, a black orb flickered into existence and vanished in the blink of an eye. The terrifying Law of Space rippled outward in an instant.
BOOM — the void collapsed. Chen Tianfei was sent hurtling backward, retreating through empty space with no end in sight. With every step of his retreat, violent bursts of energy erupted from behind him — the sound of tremendous force being deflected. And as he was driven back, his spherical, corpulent body rapidly shrank, his robes becoming comically oversized. His entire body was drenched in sweat, as though he had been pulled from a lake.
By the time he finally steadied himself, he had returned to an ordinary person's proportions. His face was deathly pale.
What he saw upon regaining his footing made the corners of his eyes twitch uncontrollably.
Over by the wall, Gan Hong had been driven into a corner with nowhere left to retreat. Panic and desperation were written across his face.
Yang Kai's eyes blazed with piercing light. He thrust his spear forward — no words could capture the majesty of this strike. It was as though between heaven and earth, nothing remained but the radiance of that single spear.
Gan Hong let out a terrified scream. He possessed the strength to split open heaven, but here in the Grand Void Realm, he couldn't bring even a fraction of it to bear. The frustration in his heart was beyond all measure.
He summoned every last shred of power he had and poured it into the curved blade in his hand, bringing it down in a devastating slash. The crescent of blade light cascaded like a river of silver pouring from the heavens, sweeping toward Yang Kai.
Where the Azure Dragon Spear passed, the blade light shattered. A soft hiss sounded, and time itself seemed to freeze.
Chen Tianfei's eyes twitched even more violently now. He stared blankly at the scene by the wall, the bitterness in his heart surpassing even the taste of the bitterest herb.
The Ouyang brothers simultaneously ceased their attack. Madam Qin silenced her zither. Bei Yushan turned his head to look.
Under the gaze of every person present, Yang Kai held his long spear aloft, and impaled upon its tip was a slight, emaciated figure — none other than Gan Hong.
The Azure Dragon Spear had pierced through Gan Hong's chest and abdomen and emerged from his back. Yang Kai held the spear with a single arm, hoisting the body high above him. His heroic silhouette was like a god descended upon the mortal world, and the remaining leaders of the Red Star trembled in their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.