Before the crowd had even begun to digest the shocking news, another messenger arrived with word: Yang Kai had broken through the third line of defense, crossed the Welcoming Hall, and was now pressing directly toward Wangchuan Peak!
A rumbling roar carried from over a dozen li away. Everyone looked up. Though the intervening mountains blocked their view of the situation, the constantly flashing lights illuminated half the sky. Deep in their bones, they sensed something—as though a primordial beast beyond those peaks had broken free and was charging their way in a blood-soaked rampage. Even from over a dozen li away, the vicious aura was enough to make their blood run cold.
Moments later, the clamor subsided. Wangchuan Peak had fallen. Both defensive lines stationed there had been utterly destroyed!
Yu Boyang stared blankly ahead. "How… how can this be? How can this be?"
Baili Yunsun's face had gone ashen.
Today's events were beyond belief. The Xuandan Sect—one of the ten great sects—had mustered the entirety of its strength, and yet it could not stop a single alchemist who had only just ascended to the Spirit Rank! The power of one man—terrifying beyond measure!
Gao Xinpeng gazed into the distance with a complicated expression, and in his mind echoed what Yang Kai had said: I alone am worth a thousand soldiers and ten thousand horses.
He had thought Yang Kai was merely boasting to bolster his own courage. But now it seemed the man truly could stand against an army. At the very least, no ordinary army of thousands could have broken through the Xuandan Sect's successive blockade lines.
Another moment passed. The two defensive lines at Feiya Peak collapsed, and Feiya Peak fell.
Between Yang Kai and the Xuandan Sect's leadership, only Ziyang Peak remained.
Ziyang Peak held a single defensive line—but it concentrated a full thirty Spirit Rank experts of the Xuandan Sect. The strongest among them had reached the eighth level of the Spirit Rank, while even the weakest was at the third level. This was an enormously powerful force, one that could sweep away most sects in the Divine Weapon World. Only the ten great sects could field such a lineup.
From this vantage, their sharp eyes could make out a vast plaza on Ziyang Peak where the thirty-odd Spirit Rank experts stood in battle-ready formation. Each wielded a different spirit weapon and was positioned at one of eight directions, forming the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation.
A figure strode past the intervening buildings and onto that plaza. The long sword in his hand was riddled with chips and nicks—even a fine spirit weapon could only endure so much before buckling under such high-intensity combat.
"He's wounded!" Yu Boyang cried out. From here they could clearly see Yang Kai's robes in tatters, his body covered in wounds both large and small beyond counting. Blood seeped from each wound, leaving clear bloody footprints in his wake.
Wu Fenghua said, "Fighting alone against so many of our Xuandan Sect elites, it's only natural he'd be wounded. It would be strange if he weren't. It looks like he won't last much longer—even his spirit weapon is on the verge of breaking."
Baili Yunsun gave a slight nod. "Let us hope so!"
Regardless of the Xuandan Sect's original intentions, the battle had progressed to the point where it could not simply be called off. It would inevitably end with one side's defeat. Yet even Baili Yunsun had not anticipated that Yang Kai's true strength would prove this monstrous. He had only just ascended to the Spirit Rank—if he ever reached the ninth level, would there be anyone under heaven who could stand against him?
No—the strength he displayed now was already enough to call him invincible under heaven. With those Weapon Masters absent, who in the Divine Weapon World could be his match?
As they spoke, battle had already erupted across Ziyang Peak! Dozens of figures crisscrossed and clashed, spiritual energy colliding and surging, the thunderous roar of combat ringing out without pause.
"What a dense killing aura!" Lan Yin murmured, her delicate brows furrowing. Even from this distance, she could clearly sense the bizarre aura emanating from Yang Kai—an aura steeped in brutality and destruction that instinctively filled one with revulsion and unease.
"What kind of movement technique is that?" Wu Fenghua stared wide-eyed at the melee. Despite being a Spirit Rank cultivator himself, he could not track Yang Kai's movements at all. All he could see was Yang Kai's figure flickering like a phantom—one moment vanishing from one spot, the next reappearing from another, utterly traceless. As a result, despite the thirty-odd Spirit Rank experts arrayed in formation on Ziyang Peak, they could do nothing against him for the time being. On the contrary, the many Spirit Rank cultivators of the Xuandan Sect—facing this kind of combat for the first time—were thrown into complete disarray by Yang Kai alone, not knowing where to direct their attacks. In the blink of an eye, their formation was thrown into utter chaos.
Old Man Qi squinted at the distant battle, sensing the killing aura growing heavier on Yang Kai, and a deep, inexplicable sense of unease welled up within him.
That unease surged to its peak the instant Yang Kai's sword sliced clean through half a Spirit Rank expert's neck.
That single stroke had nearly claimed the man's life.
"Sect Master, I wish to go check on the casualties among our fighters from earlier!" Old Man Qi hurried to whisper in Baili Yunsun's ear.
Baili Yunsun was watching the battle, shaken by Yang Kai's ghostlike movement technique. Hearing this, he frowned. "Why check on that now?"
The defensive lines they had established had all been overrun. It was easy to imagine that those fighters had not met a good end.
"This concerns the sect's very survival. Please allow me, Sect Master!" Old Man Qi's expression was grave.
Baili Yunsun glanced at him and stiffened slightly. In all their years together, he had never seen Old Man Qi look so solemn. He gave a slight nod. "Go."
Old Man Qi nodded, his figure blurred, and he shot toward the Welcoming Hall.
At the ninth level of the Spirit Rank, Old Man Qi's speed was undoubtedly fast. In mere dozens of breaths he had rushed back, but his expression was even more somber than when he had left.
"What did you find?" Baili Yunsun asked.
Old Man Qi replied, "No deaths. Everyone was wounded—but no one died."