If
Yang Kai grinned cheekily: "There's no danger. Don't forget what Void Land's true trump card is. If my life were truly in peril, I don't believe for a second she could just stand by and watch!"
Void Land's trump card was not the three hundred Open Heaven cultivators, nor the Nine-Layered Heaven Grand Formation. The true trump card was the Sacred Spirit
This woman held the dignity of a Sacred Spirit — how much power she could actually bring to bear, even Yang Kai wasn't certain of. But one thing he could be sure of: she would absolutely be comparable to an Upper-Order Open Heaven master. Across the entire Three Thousand Worlds, no Sacred Spirit would be inferior to an Upper-Order Open Heaven in strength. That had been the case with the Golden Crow, and the same with the
The only issue was that Zhu Jiuyin had originally been a Sacred Spirit native to the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. Although Yang Kai had brought her out, the laws of the two worlds differed, meaning she needed an extended period of recovery.
Exactly how much of her power she had restored by now — that was genuinely hard to say.
She was Yang Kai's Guardian, having sworn an oath upon her own Sacred Spirit Source to protect his safety. But there were conditions: Yang Kai had to be in genuine mortal danger, and someone else had to be attacking him, before Zhu Jiuyin would intervene. If Yang Kai went out of his way to provoke someone, or ran into trouble while wandering about on his own, Zhu Jiuyin would not lift a finger.
Yang Kai was the sort who liked to run off everywhere, and Zhu Jiuyin had long since prepared for that. Otherwise, what — was she supposed to trail after him like a shadow, watching over his safety every waking moment? If that were the case, what would she have become? The Heavenly Moon Devil Spider, a dignified Sacred Spirit — reduced to a bodyguard? She simply couldn't afford to lose that kind of face.
In fact, Zhu Jiuyin would have been perfectly happy for Yang Kai to die out there and never come back. That way, she could finally be free of the oath's binding.
However, this was Void Land. The Hundred-Clan Alliance had come here to provoke them. Once Yang Kai was in danger, Zhu Jiuyin absolutely could not stand by and watch — otherwise she would suffer the backlash of the great oath. The Sacred Spirit Source was the very foundation of every Sacred Spirit; she couldn't afford the slightest carelessness in that regard.
Although Yang Kai couldn't sense Zhu Jiuyin's aura, he was absolutely certain that this woman had been closely monitoring the entire battle.
With a woman like that watching over him from the shadows, what did Yang Kai have to fear?
Mo Mei was a newcomer, but she was one of their own now.
Yue He hesitated for a heartbeat, then also nodded: "Then Young Master must be careful."
Yang Kai said: "All of you be careful too!"
While they were speaking, the seven or eight warships had already charged downward under the Heavenly Sword Alliance's lead.
That pale hand swept lightly forward, and a vast, irresistible force of world power descended upon Mo Mei.
Mo Mei's expression turned grave. She didn't dare stay by Yang Kai's side lest she drag him into the crossfire, and her figure flickered as she shot straight toward Luan Baifeng. The two women moved with effortless grace, yet the world power of Sixth-Order Open Heaven clashed between them without pause. They were quickly locked in combat, drifting further and further away.
But Mo Mei had only recently advanced, and her Sixth-Order foundation was still unstable. After exchanging only a few moves with Luan Baifeng, she was gradually forced into a disadvantage. Luan Baifeng's expression remained placid, clearly still holding back.
The gap between them was obvious at a glance. Though Luan Baifeng's strength exceeded Mo Mei's by a fair margin and defeating her would not be difficult, killing or capturing her outright was another matter entirely — unless Mo Mei made some critical error in her defense.
Seeing Yang Kai's two Sixth-Order Open Heaven defenders so easily drawn away by Luan Baifeng, Kong Feng was overjoyed. He issued a deep, commanding roar: "Execute the plan!"
All around them, the assembled Open Heaven cultivators answered in thunderous unison.
On the Golden Rainbow Province's warship,
Ling Chunqiu also urged: "Miss Yue He, a wise man submits to circumstances!"
It was no surprise that both of them knew Yue He. Back when they had used Old Bai's breakthrough to the Open Heaven Realm to ambush the Shopkeeper, Yue He had fought alongside them. At that time, all three of them had been Fifth-Order Open Heaven. Since then, Yue He had obtained a World Fruit and advanced to the Sixth Order, giving her a somewhat longer road ahead. Qi Jin and Ling Chunqiu, however, remained mired in the Fifth Order.
For a warrior who had already advanced to the Open Heaven Realm, each increase in rank required vast stretches of time and accumulation. The higher the rank, the longer the time required. Not everyone could obtain a heaven-defying treasure like a World Fruit.
Yue He let out a cold snort: "I'm no wise man. I'm just a lowly woman. Anyone who wants to hurt the Young Master will have to step over my corpse first!"
Ling Chunqiu's face showed a flicker of pity: "Stubborn to the last!"
Kong Feng roared in fury: "Enough talk — attack!"
At his command, more than a dozen figures launched from the seven or eight warships, hurtling toward Yue He as one. Every single one of them was an Open Heaven cultivator, and among them were three at the Fifth Order. The rest were below the Fifth, but they had overwhelming numbers, and Yue He — even with her Sixth Order strength — couldn't afford to be careless.
Moreover, Kong Feng was watching from the side like a crouching tiger, and she still had to shield Yang Kai.
The moment they engaged, Yue He was already stretched thin, the situation growing dire by the second.