After exchanging over a dozen moves, Ma Tianyuan felt the miniature universe within his body trembling. The world power flowing from his opponent grew more overwhelming and refined with each exchange, seemingly without limit. Alarmed, he no longer dared to hold anything back.
He unleashed every secret technique and divine ability at his disposal, even bringing out his own Fifth Rank artifact.
Yet even so, he found that he was somehow not a match for his opponent.
What the hell kind of person was this?
Ma Tianyuan's heart chilled with dread. He became increasingly certain that Yang Kai had absolutely not just recently advanced to the Fifth Rank. No warrior who had just reached the Fifth Rank could possess such power. This young man had cultivated at the Fifth Rank for at least several hundred, if not a thousand, years. The aura he couldn't suppress was nothing more than a disguise.
Cunning bastard! Ma Tianyuan cursed inwardly, but he had to admit the young man was genuinely formidable.
Having fallen from the Sixth Rank, he had considered himself virtually unmatched at the Fifth Rank. Yet today, not only had he encountered a worthy opponent, he was actually at a disadvantage—something that hadn't happened in who knew how many years.
"Stop!" After exchanging another blow, Ma Tianyuan suddenly bellowed. Within the Shadowless Cave Heaven, supplies were scarce, so pointless fighting was meaningless—it only accelerated one's own depletion. Normally, when people encountered each other here, they wouldn't engage unless absolutely necessary. Having sensed Yang Kai's strength, Ma Tianyuan already wished to call it quits.
Yang Kai ignored him. Having just advanced to the Fifth Rank, it was rare to encounter an opponent at the same level. Naturally, he wanted to test his own strength. He hadn't deployed any divine abilities or secret techniques, either—simply driving the power of his miniature universe to attack, using this battle to familiarize himself with and consolidate his own strength.
The two fought with blazing intensity. On the other side, the injured woman and the young man exchanged horrified glances. One was Fourth Rank, the other Third—both had been casually knocked down and left here, completely unable to intervene in the battle before them.
This fierce clash had practically surpassed the Fifth Rank entirely. Perhaps even a battle between Sixth Rank Open Heaven cultivators would be no different.
Suddenly, the woman's expression turned sharp. She carefully scanned her surroundings, then turned and shouted toward Ma Tianyuan: "Senior Brother Ma, the wind is rising!"
Ma Tianyuan, who was already struggling to fend off Yang Kai, heard this and his face changed drastically. In a hurry, he threw a feint and tried to break free from the fray. But how could Yang Kai allow that? Such an intense battle allowed him to rapidly consolidate his cultivation, offering tremendous benefit.
Seeing Yang Kai press his advantage relentlessly, Ma Tianyuan cried out in mingled fury and panic: "The wind is about to rise! Stop fighting!"
Yang Kai frowned in confusion. "What wind?"
From Ma Tianyuan's tone and the woman's expression, this wind seemed anything but ordinary—all three wore looks of fear on their faces, as though terrified of the wind that was about to blow.
But Yang Kai had only just arrived in the Shadowless Cave Heaven. How could he know what wind was coming?
Still seething over Yang Kai's earlier actions, Ma Tianyuan had no intention of explaining. He merely gritted his teeth: "You'll find out for yourself soon enough."
As he spoke, the artifact in his hand suddenly blazed with dazzling light. He poured every ounce of his power into it and smashed it down toward Yang Kai.
This strike was unquestionably Ma Tianyuan's full-powered blow. Yang Kai dared not meet it head-on and hastily dodged to the side.
Ma Tianyuan seized the chance to break free, roaring: "Move!"
With that, he sped off in one direction without looking back. On the other side, the woman cast one long look at Yang Kai before helping the gravely injured young man flee as well.
Yang Kai frowned slightly, watching the direction they'd disappeared, making no move to pursue.
He lowered his gaze to his hands, slowly clenching them into fists. If he'd possessed today's strength back then, he wouldn't have had to cower in his base and rely on the Nine Heavens Grand Array to fend off the Hundred Family Alliance's invasion of the Void Territory. And when he'd been ambushed by Shen Liang and Jiang Yunshan of the Heavenly Sword Alliance outside the Void Domain, he wouldn't have been utterly powerless to fight back.
Today, at this moment, he finally possessed power that was truly his own. In this Three Thousand Worlds, without advancing to the Open Heaven Realm, one truly had no right to speak.
The Fifth Rank of Open Heaven was indeed a rather low starting point, and it fell short of all his years of effort and struggle. But compared to an endless, hopeless wait, power held firmly in one's own hands was what truly mattered.
Therefore, he harbored not a single regret.
Had that battle continued, Yang Kai was confident he could have killed Ma Tianyuan here, even at the cost of sustaining some injuries. But the man bore him no deep enmity, so there was no need to push for his death.
Nonetheless, the battle had given Yang Kai a clear and intuitive understanding of his own strength.
A gentle breeze brushed his face, like invisible little fingers threading through his hair.
The wind had indeed risen. Yang Kai probed it carefully with his senses but found nothing unusual about it. He couldn't understand why Ma Tianyuan and the other two had reacted as though fleeing from snakes and scorpions, their faces draining of color the moment they heard the wind was coming, preferring to risk injury just to escape immediately.
Shaking his head slowly, Yang Kai picked a direction and set off.
Ma Tianyuan had seen the proprietress and her group, though their current whereabouts were unknown. However, those from Profound Yang Mountain had been the ones hunting the proprietress and the others.
Yang Kai figured he should make a trip to Profound Yang Mountain to ask around. Perhaps he could uncover some clues.