Half an hour of holding on — Yang Kai had been playing with fire the entire time. One slip, and he would have been annihilated. But there was simply no other way to contend with Xia Linlang, a Seventh-Order cultivator.
When the Azure Dragon Spear struck forth, ten thousand pear trees burst into bloom.
This particular technique was something Yang Kai had comprehended after inheriting the legacy of Pear Blossom Divine Lord — not something he had created himself. Within the Pear Blossom Grotto-Heaven, borrowing the momentum of heaven and earth, this strike carried power comparable to a Seventh-Order Open Heaven. But outside that grotto-heaven, though the technique still commanded considerable might, it inevitably lost a certain essence.
Xia Linlang's figure was shrouded by a sky full of spear blossoms. As the world force surged between them, blossom after blossom was extinguished.
Yang Kai's expression turned solemn. With a low shout, he called out: "Golden Crow Forge the Sun!"
The way of one's predecessor was ultimately someone else's way. Golden Crow Forge the Sun — that was his own Dao.
A golden crow cried out as the great sun leaped forth, its blazing disc illuminating the heavens and earth.
Xia Linlang's pupils contracted sharply. "A Divine Ability Avatar!" she cried out in disbelief.
Yang Kai laughed heartily. "Good eye — a Divine Ability Avatar indeed!" He raised the spear, lifting the sun upon its tip, and thrust it toward Xia Linlang with a thunderous roar.
Complex emotions flickered through Xia Linlang's eyes — envy, wariness, unwillingness, and fury all mingled together. By all rights, a Divine Ability Avatar was an exclusive privilege of Upper Open Heaven cultivators. Only those who had reached the Upper realm were qualified to comprehend their own Divine Ability Avatar, and even then, not every Upper Open Heaven enjoyed such fortune.
Though Xia Linlang had advanced to the Seventh Order long ago, she had yet to comprehend a Divine Ability Avatar of her own. In this Shattered Heaven, there were quite a few Seventh-Order cultivators hiding under assumed identities, but those capable of wielding a Divine Ability Avatar numbered fewer than one in ten.
Xia Linlang had never imagined that she would one day lay eyes upon a Divine Ability Avatar in the hands of a mere Sixth-Order Open Heaven. For a moment, she felt as though she had stepped into a dream. If this wasn't a dream, how could such an absurd thing possibly exist?
But that Divine Ability Avatar radiated genuine Seventh-Order power. She could not afford the slightest carelessness.
The spear lunged forth like a dragon, the great sun swelling rapidly in her field of vision. Her aura was locked tight — there was no dodging. Xia Linlang let out a sharp cry. The phantom of her Small World flickered behind her, and disregarding the violent trembling of her own Small World, she poured every ounce of world force forward to meet the incoming sun.
The instant their attacks collided, heaven and earth fell silent.
Then the great sun detonated, and the painted world blazed bright as midday. Yang Kai and Xia Linlang were blasted backward simultaneously, each spewing a mouthful of blood.
Yang Kai's entire body was drenched in blood. Xia Linlang was no better — her hair was in disarray, her robes torn and tattered, and her already unstable Small World was left in even worse condition.
Before she could catch her breath, an overwhelming sense of danger suddenly descended upon her heart — even more terrifying than what she had felt when Yang Kai unleashed that Divine Ability Avatar.
Yang Kai, hurtling backward, carved traces into the void as he stabilized his body. Without a moment's hesitation, he channeled his own power. Another blazing sun rose, and immediately after, a cold, luminous moon ascended as well.
Sun and moon shining together!
The Laws of Time and the Laws of Space intertwined and fused. The power of space-time flooded outward.
The Divine Wheel of Sun and Moon!
The sun and moon spiraled toward each other, coalescing into a spinning top that hurtled toward the reeling Xia Linlang, carrying a wondrous and unfathomable force.
Space seemed to freeze in that instant. Time seemed to halt.
When had Xia Linlang ever encountered such a profound technique? She was momentarily at a loss, but she understood the principle of overwhelming force crushing all tricks. Gritting her teeth, she swallowed the churning blood rising in her chest and drove her world force into a furious onslaught against the spiraling sun and moon.
At the moment the sun shattered and the moon cracked, Xia Linlang's figure burst through the debris and slammed a palm down upon Yang Kai's skull.
Yang Kai staggered backward, but even as he fell, his spear swept upward in a reflexive arc. Blood sprayed through the air as both of them crashed heavily to the ground.
Yang Kai lay on his back, gasping for breath, eyes wide open — yet his vision was a blur, nothing discernible. He could only feel the fierce, cutting energy rampaging through his flesh and blood, as though ten thousand horses galloped through him, tearing his body apart.
He had already endured half an hour of beating beforehand, then burned through two ultimate techniques without regard for the cost, and finally caught a full-force blow from Xia Linlang. He had come within a hair's breadth of death.
Right now, he didn't have the strength to so much as lift a finger.
But miserable as he was, he knew Xia Linlang had to be far worse off. She had taken his Ox-Beating Secret Art head-on, followed by two trump-card techniques. Even as a Seventh-Order, she could not possibly have any fight left in her.
With his spiritual sense, he confirmed that Xia Linlang lay motionless in a deep crater several hundred zhang away, her aura feeble.
This battle had ended in mutual destruction.
If word of this ever got out, no one would believe it. An Upper Open Heaven dealing with a Middle Open Heaven — even with only a single tier's gap between them — should have been a effortless victory. How could it possibly end like this?
Yet that was precisely what had happened. Xia Linlang lay in her crater, motionless, her eyes burning with humiliation. Her robes were so tattered that her inner undergarments were exposed. If anyone ignorant of the circumstances saw her, they would no doubt assume Yang Kai had violated her.
She had never imagined that she would one day be beaten to this state by a Sixth-Order! The humiliation nearly brought tears to her eyes.
Gritting her teeth, Xia Linlang whispered: "Just you wait. If I don't tear you to shreds, I don't deserve the name Xia!"
Her voice was faint, but she knew Yang Kai could hear it.
Sure enough, a derisive snort came from Yang Kai's direction. "What gave you the courage to say something like that? We're in the same situation now. Whoever recovers first wins. My cultivation may be a tier below yours, but sorry — when it comes to recovery, I've never been afraid of anyone!"
The half-dragon body. The wood-attribute power refined from the essence of the Ageless Tree. These had always been his greatest advantages. So though Xia Linlang outranked him by a full tier, Yang Kai was certain she could not recover before him.