Each of the seven gourd brothers was extraordinary, capable of unleashing Fifth-Grade power. Ordinary warriors truly were no match for them—after all, very few warriors could condense Fifth-Grade power, and they simply couldn't withstand the might of these seven gourd brothers.
Yang Kai, however, was not afraid. The Five Elements power he condensed was Seventh-Grade at its weakest—how could he possibly cower before Fifth-Grade?
The seven brothers rolled off the gourd vine, each striking a different pose, looking every bit as imposing as generals. Before they could even announce their names, the man surnamed Gou gave the gourd vine another flick. The vine shot straight forward, and under Yang Kai's astonished gaze, it pierced through First Brother's back and out through his chest.
Strangely enough, even though the gourd vine had run clean through him, First Brother suffered no damage whatsoever.
The vine's momentum didn't stop—it plunged through Second Brother's body, then Third Brother, Fourth Brother...
In the blink of an eye, the seven gourd brothers had been skewered onto the vine like a string of gourds!
A sudden sense of unease stirred in Yang Kai's heart. He had assumed these seven gourd brothers were the man surnamed Gou's final trump card, but he hadn't expected there to be yet another twist.
Without hesitation, he unleashed the full force of his power. A dragon's roar rang out as draconic might permeated the air, and the Azure Dragon Spear seemed to transform into a colossal dragon as it lunged toward the man surnamed Gou.
The man surnamed Gou merely glanced at Yang Kai with an indifferent expression, his gaze looking down from on high—as though he were staring at an ant.
He flicked the gourd vine to meet the Azure Dragon Spear head-on.
With a thunderous boom, Yang Kai felt an overwhelming wave of terrifying force crash into him. His entire body was sent hurtling backward, and even the phantom dragon coiled around the Azure Dragon Spear was knocked dim and faded.
He slammed into the membrane of the bubble and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his eyes going wide: "The Power of Opening Heaven?"
In that brief moment of contact, he had actually sensed a dense concentration of the Power of Opening Heaven from the gourd vine! This power far surpassed the man surnamed Gou's own strength, and it exceeded Yang Kai's current power as well—he had suffered a devastating blow in a single exchange.
And right at that moment, the seven small gourds that had been pierced by the vine transformed into seven-colored rays of light and surged into the vine itself, causing it to shimmer and shift through a rainbow of colors in a dazzling display. The forces of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements fused and circulated within it, generating and restraining one another in an endless cycle, giving rise to a succession of reincarnations that evolved into boundless profundity.
For a warrior to advance to the Opening Heaven Realm, they needed to condense the forces of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements, then open heaven and earth within their own body to create their own miniature Universe World. Only then could they wield the might of a world without relying on any external power—and this was the fundamental reason the Opening Heaven Realm stood supreme above the Emperor Heaven Realm.
Yang Kai himself had not cultivated to that level, but he had witnessed someone else's advancement to Opening Heaven with his own eyes.
When Bai Qi had advanced to Fifth-Grade Opening Heaven, Yang Kai had been right there observing. Back then, he had been fortunate enough to feed Bai Qi some Heaven and Earth Origin Liquid—otherwise, Bai Qi would likely have perished.
The scene from that day was as vivid in his memory as what he was seeing now: Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements fusing together, generating and restraining one another.
The seven small gourds on the vine corresponded to the forces of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements, just as the seven types of power a warrior condensed. This gourd vine... was actually capable of manifesting the power of the Opening Heaven Realm.
Moreover, it was Fifth-Grade Opening Heaven power—after all, each individual gourd had been unleashing Fifth-Grade force. In other words, what the man surnamed Gou now held in his hands was nothing less than a devastating weapon capable of wielding Fifth-Grade Opening Heaven power at will!
Yang Kai's scalp went numb with terror. He was powerful, certainly, but he was nowhere near a match for a Fifth-Grade Opening Heaven cultivator—he had enough self-awareness to know that. Fifth-Grade Opening Heaven was Yue He's level. With his current strength and in his present state, facing such an existence meant only one outcome: death!
Without a second thought, he spun around and tore through the bubble membrane, fleeing for his life.
What had moments ago been a thoroughly advantageous situation had instantly transformed into a dire crisis.
From behind came the man surnamed Gou's frigid voice: "Where do you think you can run? Forcing me to use this move—you can die without regrets!"
A hissing sound of something cutting through the air reached his ears, and a chill shot from the crown of Yang Kai's head straight to the soles of his feet. Behind him, it felt as though a venomous serpent was in hot pursuit. He whipped his head around, and his eyes nearly split from fury. The man surnamed Gou stood rooted in place, but the gourd vine in his hand was constantly extending, hammering toward him. Along the way, the bubbles it passed through burst open one after—they simply couldn't withstand the vine's onslaught.
In any other place, Yang Kai could have used Space Blink to dodge, but these bubble worlds severely restricted his freedom of movement. Despite desperately channeling the Laws of Space to stretch the fabric of space itself, he couldn't stop the vine's pursuit. The laws were utterly annihilated by the Power of Opening Heaven coursing through the vine, rendering them completely ineffective.
In the span of three mere breaths, the gourd vine had closed to within three chi of his back.
With nowhere left to dodge and sensing the horrifying power contained within the vine, Yang Kai gritted his teeth, whirled around, and poured every ounce of his strength into the Azure Dragon Spear before thrusting it at the vine.
With another thunderous boom, Yang Kai was sent flying backward, blood spraying wildly from his mouth, but the vine's advance was finally halted.
He slammed into the membrane once more, and a series of cracking sounds echoed from within his body—over a dozen bones had shattered in that single instant. The pain was absolutely excruciating, tearing at his heart and lungs. Yet his eyes suddenly lit up. Far from being alarmed, a look of wild elation surfaced in his gaze.