Wu Zhengqi's face was a mask of utter shock—what he was witnessing was even harder to accept than being grievously wounded by Yang Kai in a single blow moments ago.
He had watched Yang Kai ascend to the Spirit Rank with his own eyes. In other words, Yang Kai was merely at the first level of the Spirit Rank. Yet the strength displayed by this first-level Spirit Rank cultivator had far exceeded the limits of his comprehension.
Was this even human?
That figure flickered and shifted so erratically that even Wu Zhengqi's keen eyes could barely track it. Sword light flashed and vanished in rapid succession, each strike carrying terrifying destructive force, making it excruciatingly difficult for Old Man Qi—a ninth-level Spirit Rank—to fend off.
In all his years of cultivation, Wu Zhengqi had never encountered such a novel fighting style. And moreover… this was coming from the hand of an alchemist.
In his impression, alchemists across the land might possess respectable cultivation, but because they devoted the vast majority of their energy year after year to the Dao of alchemy, they seldom bothered to study the art of combat. Their cultivation was largely built up through consuming spirit pills and medicines. And the primary reason alchemists raised their cultivation was simply to better refine pills.
As a result, the combat prowess an alchemist could bring to bear was often far below what their cultivation level would suggest. A ninth-level Heavenly Rank alchemist, even facing a warrior several levels below them, might not necessarily win. Precisely because of this, the Alchemist Sect maintained the Blood Guard Camp, and the alchemists who roamed the world always had recruited guards at their side.
But when it came to Yang Kai, everything was completely reversed.
Every punch, every kick, every technique was executed with seasoned lethality—something impossible to achieve without devoting decades, even centuries, to the way of slaughter. And how old was Yang Kai now? He had joined the Alchemist Sect at seventeen or eighteen, and at most he was barely past twenty!
Where had he acquired such battle-hardened combat instincts?
In a daze, Wu Zhengqi recalled another matter. Years ago, when Yang Kai and Wei Cheng had clashed over the Holy Fire Cavern, the two had agreed to a formal duel at the fighting stage. In that final bout, Yang Kai had personally stepped into the arena to face one of Wei Cheng's Heavenly Rank guards—and had knocked the guard off the stage in a single move.
At the time, Wu Zhengqi had assumed Yang Kai had launched a surprise attack and the guard simply hadn't been on guard. But now it was clear that even then, Yang Kai had already displayed his extraordinary talent in the way of combat. And as his cultivation had grown, that talent had been amplified without limit.
This was absolutely the fiercest fighting alchemist in the entire Divine Weapon World!
A muffled grunt pulled Wu Zhengqi from his tangled thoughts. Looking up once more, he saw that the two figures that had been locked together in the sky had separated, standing a dozen zhang apart. Old Man Qi's entire body was covered in a dense web of small wounds—he looked as though he had been fished out of a pool of blood. Disbelief was written plainly across his face.
In that brief exchange just now, he had been completely outclassed. Had his strength not been formidable enough, Yang Kai would have already cut him down with his sword.
Across from him, Yang Kai held the Qingxu Sword loosely at his side. His eyelids were lowered, and for some reason his sword hand trembled uncontrollably. Veins bulged across his forehead, writhing like earthworms, and those eyes had turned a deep, bloody red—the sight was utterly terrifying.
"Old Man Qi, you'd better leave. If you don't, I'm afraid you'll die here!" Yang Kai's suppressed voice rasped out like the snarl of a cornered beast.
Old Man Qi glared at Yang Kai, a flicker of struggle in his eyes, as though he still wished to continue fighting. But recalling what had just transpired, he gritted his teeth, flashed to Wu Zhengqi's side, enveloped him in spiritual energy, and shot up into the sky.
A fierce and fiery confrontation had thus come to an eerily abrupt end, leaving the City Lord's Manor in utter disarray.
Miao Hong stepped forward from the side, his expression awkward, and called out softly: "Master Alchemist Yang…"
When Old Man Qi and Wu Zhengqi had arrived, he had not been unaware of it—he had simply been a step too late. By the time he had rushed over, Old Man Qi had already charged into the treasury.
He was merely a ninth-level Heavenly Rank and had no power to stop them.
What he had not expected was for Yang Kai to engage in a full-blown battle against two Spirit Rank powerhouses from the Alchemist Sect. What he was seeing now made it clear that Yang Kai had somehow earned the enmity of the Alchemist Sect.
He couldn't fathom why this had happened, but the fact that Yang Kai's ascension to the Spirit Rank had been interrupted was undeniable. He could afford to offend neither party, and he now feared that Yang Kai would hold him responsible afterward.
But no sooner had he spoken than Yang Kai suddenly turned his head and looked his way. In those crimson eyes, killing intent was on the verge of erupting. In that instant, the entire world before Miao Hong's eyes seemed to be drenched in a layer of blood. Terror surged through his heart, and the sensation of death crashed over him like a wave. He stumbled back several steps in alarm.
The blood-red color vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Drenched in cold sweat, Miao Hong looked forward once more and saw Yang Kai standing there quietly, both hands resting on the long sword planted before him. At some point he had closed his eyes, yet the terrifying aura around him surged and roiled uneasily—as though the slightest provocation would send it exploding outward.
What on earth was going on? Miao Hong was completely bewildered.
Hua Rong and Yang Huai were equally at a loss. Although they had followed Yang Kai for several years, it was only today that they discovered just how terrifying his true strength was. They felt as though they were meeting him for the very first time, their eyes filled with shock and uncertainty.
Deep into the night, beneath the dark canopy of the sky, two figures streaked through the air—Old Man Qi and Wu Zhengqi, fleeing from Tianwu City.
Replaying what had just happened, even having experienced it firsthand, the two still found it hard to accept. A fifth-level Spirit Rank and a ninth-level Spirit Rank had been thoroughly thrashed by a freshly ascended Spirit Rank cultivator with no ability to fight back.
"Old Man Qi, that thing with Master Alchemist Yang just now…" Wu Zhengqi couldn't bear the suffocating silence and was the first to break it.
"Qi Deviation," Old Man Qi replied in a heavy voice. "That kid has gone into Qi Deviation!"
Wu Zhengqi let out a soft sigh. "So it really was that, after all…"