Before he could so much as catch his breath, the Void Land forces struck again with ruthless precision. Brilliant light from divine abilities and secret arts flashed as enormous halos of power detonated layer by layer, leveling everything in their path with unstoppable force.
With a thunderous boom, debris filled the air as a figure wreathed in demonic energy burst from the rubble. Spotting Zuo Quanhui's back turned toward him, the figure channeled the demonic energy between his hands into two writhing demonic dragons, their fangs and claws bared as they lunged at Zuo Quanhui. The attacker followed right behind them, charging straight in for the kill.
Zuo Quanhui gave a cold snort. A single flash of sword light obliterated the demonic dragons, the blade wrapped in dense World Force, slicing straight for the attacker's head.
But the demonic-figure neither dodged nor retreated. A deranged grin hung on his lips, and he paid no heed to the blood soaking his entire body — every ounce of his posture screaming that he intended to drag Zuo Quanhui down with him.
When the sword — powerful enough to cleave a planet in two — had closed to within thirty feet of the attacker, the Azure Dragon Spear tore through the void and struck at Zuo Quanhui from behind. At its tip, a fist-sized sphere of black radiated the aura of primordial chaos.
Zuo Quanhui's brow furrowed. With a sweep of his great sleeve, the sword redirected to knock the incoming spear aside.
The black sphere detonated, morphing into a black hole that devoured everything in its vicinity.
Yang Kai was flung backward by a violent surge of force. To his left, Mao Zhe, Geng Qing, and Zhou Ya turned into three streaks of light that shot past him. To his right, Luan Baifeng, Gray Bone, and the Hua Yong couple charged forward in concert, plugging the gap in the defense.
Seven cultivators unleashed their divine abilities in a relentless bombardment, giving Zuo Quanhui not a single moment to recover.
Yue He and Mo Mei moved simultaneously, catching Yang Kai's tumbling body and steadying him in midair. Yang Kai drew a deep breath and charged forward alongside the two of them, their combined momentum surging like a rainbow.
The engagement was chaotic yet disciplined — the twelve Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivators of Void Land rolled forward like an enormous wheel, each taking turns to strike, wave after wave crashing in rapid succession. Even Zuo Quanhui, a Seventh-Order powerhouse, found himself hard-pressed to keep up.
"You're still alive?" Yang Kai stole a glance toward Wu Kuang between exchanges. The man had been slashed flying earlier when he'd tried to ambush Zuo Quanhui, and now a deep sword wound ran across his entire face, with matching gashes across his torso. Yet he seemed utterly oblivious to the pain, growing more frenzied the longer the fight dragged on.
Wu Kuang laughed aloud. "Good people die young, but scourges last a thousand years! I'm destined to live as long as heaven and earth themselves!"
Yang Kai curled his lip. "I'll give you that — at least you're self-aware."
Wu Kuang's expression turned serious. "You owe me for this one. You'll need to make it up to me handsomely!"
Yang Kai replied, "Sure, make whatever demands you want. Whether I feel like satisfying them depends on my mood."
As Wu Kuang circled Zuo Quanhui, seizing openings to unleash wave after wave of divine abilities, he said, "I want this old man!"
His eyes gleamed as he spoke, and he licked his lips with undisguised relish, his appetite practically palpable. A thick aura of wickedness radiated off him in waves. Yue He and Mo Mei, who had been fighting alongside Yang Kai, couldn't help but shudder involuntarily at the sight.
They still had no idea what kind of relationship this disciple of the Myriad Demons Heaven actually had with Yang Kai — one that made him willing to cooperate in ambushing a Seventh-Order like Zuo Quanhui. All they knew instinctively was that the man hardly seemed like a good person.
Now, hearing Wu Kuang's words, their unease deepened into genuine alarm.
Yang Kai's eye twitched. "Pick someone else."
Others might not have understood what Wu Kuang meant, but Yang Kai knew perfectly well. The man had cultivated the Heaven-Devouring Battle Art, and he'd clearly set his sights on Zuo Quanhui's Seventh-Order cultivation.
"No deal!" Wu Kuang's reply was equally decisive. The last time he had used the Heaven-Devouring Battle Art to devour a Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator, it had catapulted him from the Fifth Order straight to the Sixth Order. Having tasted such a tremendous prize, Wu Kuang now found Third, Fourth, and Fifth Order targets utterly bland by comparison. A Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator was a feast of the highest order — how could he possibly let it go? As long as there was even the slightest hope, he would stake everything on it.
"You arrogant brat!" Zuo Quanhui roared. The back-and-forth between Yang Kai and Wu Kuang made it sound as though he were nothing more than a fish on a chopping block, waiting to be butchered. As a Seventh-Order powerhouse, how could he not be enraged?
Never in his life had he suffered such humiliation.
But no matter how furious he became, the tide had already turned against him.
The last time they had clashed in the Void Domain, Yang Kai had led only the three Sect Masters of the Profound Sun Mountain to challenge him. They had been outmatched in every exchange, yet they'd already earned the right to face him in battle.
Now Void Land had twelve Sixth-Order cultivators — three times their number from before. To make matters worse, he had sustained consecutive injuries and was far from his peak. With his enemies growing stronger and himself weakening, how could he possibly prevail?
A brilliant sword stroke split heaven and earth, driving back the incoming attackers. Zuo Quanhui's figure flickered, and suddenly three identical copies of him appeared.
Everyone probed with their spiritual senses, and looks of astonishment spread across their faces.
The three figures were utterly indistinguishable — it was impossible to tell which was real and which were illusions. This sort of divine ability was something none of them had ever seen or heard of.
All three Zuo Quanhuis wore the same expression and moved in perfect synchronization. They burst from their positions and charged along three separate paths simultaneously. The group joined forces to block them, only to discover with horror that all three possessed the full strength of the original.
Chaos erupted.
Such was the terrifying might of a Seventh-Order powerhouse!
Then, without warning, two of the Zuo Quanhuis distorted and collapsed into nothing, leaving only the central figure. He had already broken through the defensive line and was less than three hundred feet from Yang Kai. His expression was grave, his sword singing ceaselessly as World Force flooded into the blade. He brought the sword down in a single devastating slash — sword light that shook the heavens, the void itself shattering wherever it passed.
An indescribable sense of mortal danger enveloped him. Yang Kai's heart lurched as he realized Zuo Quanhui knew he couldn't fight on all fronts — the man had made the decisive call to target him directly.
The principle of capturing the leader to defeat the army — everyone understood it!
Yue He and Mo Mei, who had been guarding Yang Kai all along, transformed into two streaks of light and threw themselves forward without regard for their own lives. Their divine abilities erupted in full force, yet they couldn't slow that sword light in the slightest.