Standing high above the battlefield, surveying everything below, Qiu Yimeng's heart settled with confidence!
This battle seemed to no longer require Yang Kai's involvement. But if he hadn't shown up, their losses would have been far worse.
What the hell had that guy been doing? Going missing at such a critical moment—he really knew how to drop the ball.
Just as she was silently cursing him, Xiao Shun, who stood beside her, suddenly perked up his ears and grinned. "Miss Qiu, the young master has arrived."
Delighted by the news, Qiu Yimeng turned to look, and sure enough, she spotted a figure rapidly closing in from not far away. In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai had appeared before them.
He stopped beside Qiu Yimeng and casually swept his gaze downward, his expression perfectly calm.
The state of the battle was more or less what he had expected.
"I thought you weren't going to come," Qiu Yimeng said with a pout.
"Something came up. Got held up," Yang Kai replied coolly.
"What could possibly be that important?" Still bothered, Qiu Yimeng couldn't help but press further. But the words had barely left her mouth when her lips parted in a perfect O of astonishment. She stared at Yang Kai in disbelief and blurted, "You broke through again?"
Miss Qiu was now at the first level of the Shenyou Realm and already possessed Divine Sense. As long as Yang Kai didn't deliberately conceal his aura, she would see through him in an instant.
Only now did she understand why Yang Kai had arrived so late. With a breakthrough imminent, he naturally couldn't spare the time. Her expression softened considerably, and she even felt a measure of happiness for him.
"Mm." Yang Kai gave a slight nod and gently clenched his fist. The ninth level of the Zhenyuan Realm—one more step, and he would reach the Shenyou Realm! At this moment, the power flowing through his body was undeniably far greater than before.
"What we do next is entirely up to you." Qiu Yimeng composed herself and steered the conversation toward the battle at hand. Before Yang Kai could answer, she laid out her own proposal: "Wiping them all out is probably unrealistic. I think we should quit while we're ahead. Take Xiao Shun and Ying Jiu, capture Yang Kang—that secures victory and gives us a chance to recruit the warriors who survived. It would bolster our strength."
Yang Kai slowly shook his head. "We can't recruit them."
"I know it'll be difficult, but how can you be so sure without even trying?" Qiu Yimeng furrowed her brow. Yang Kai was good in every way, but he could be incredibly stubborn and headstrong. Once he made up his mind, no amount of persuasion would change it.
Recruiting the surviving warriors would indeed be difficult. After all, both sides had just been trying to kill each other, their hands stained with each other's blood.
"I said we can't recruit them, so we can't." Yang Kai clearly had no interest in discussing the matter further.
Qiu Yimeng fell silent, shooting him an angry glare. Outwardly she was annoyed, but inwardly she actually agreed with his reasoning.
Look at the five experts from the Duanmu Family. That night, the Duanmu Family had suffered devastating casualties. If Yang Kang and Yang Ying had tried to recruit them afterward, would they have submitted? Absolutely not.
This was a blood feud. Tonight's battle had inflicted enormous losses on every major faction under Yang Kang's command. Why would any of them choose to rally behind Yang Kai?
And even if, for the sake of argument, they did swear loyalty, how would they coexist peacefully with the allies Yang Kai already had? Old enemies would be thrown together, seething with hatred day in and day out—that was a recipe for disaster.
No matter how charismatic Yang Kai might be, he could never make them abandon their vendettas.
"If we can't recruit them, then let's end this quickly," Qiu Yimeng said, taking a deep breath, a hint of resignation on her face.
Now that Yang Kai had arrived, he could take Ying Jiu and Xiao Shun and go crush Yang Kang directly. With the level of protection currently around Yang Kang, two Blood Guards would carve through his defenses with ease.
But Yang Kai merely smiled a dark, chilling smile, the corners of his lips curling upward. "End this quickly? I just got here."
"What are you planning?" Miss Qiu's expression froze.
"I want to make them despair!" Yang Kai's face turned cold. He glanced sideways at Qiu Yimeng. "Don't forget—if I don't make these people fear me to their very bones, they'll just go swear loyalty to someone else and come after me again!"
And the person they would flock to was none other than Yang Zhao.
That much was beyond question, since Yang Zhao and Yang Kang were blood brothers.
Looking at that smile on Yang Kai's face, Qiu Yimeng suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. Before her eyes, a vision seemed to materialize—crumbling walls, corpses piled high as mountains, blood flowing in rivers.
She had never imagined that Yang Kai's appetite could be this vast.
Yang Kai's appearance had not escaped Yang Kang's notice either. At this moment, Yang Kang was glaring upward, his eyes practically spitting fire, his face twisted with fury as he roared, "Little Brother!"
Yang Kai offered a mild smile and greeted him with an air of breezy elegance. "Evening, Fifth Brother!"
The sheer smugness and nonchalance in his voice was enough to make Yang Kang vomit blood. Yang Kang nodded repeatedly, his voice shaking with rage. "Fine, fine! Little Brother, you certainly know how to be ruthless. Your Fifth Brother has learned his lesson!"
Yang Kai's smile gradually faded, and he said flatly, "Xiao Shun, Ying Jiu—follow me."
Xiao Shun bared his teeth in a savage grin, while Ying Jiu remained silent in the shadows.
Glancing downward, Yang Kai picked a battlefield at random and dove straight into it.
The warriors under Yang Kang, already on the verge of collapse, saw their situation plummet even further the moment Yang Kai descended with two Blood Guards in tow.
Against Yang Kai's attacks and harassment, these warriors were at their wit's end. If they tried to fight back, the instant they made a move, the two Blood Guards would cut them down. If they didn't fight back, Yang Kai himself was no less formidable—his combat power was enough that even Shenyou Realm experts couldn't withstand a single strike.
Wherever Yang Kai went, it was nothing short of a devastating sweep. The outcome was becoming crystal clear.