Ten thousand swords surged forth simultaneously, a spectacle of staggering grandeur. Every blade of sword light had condensed into something almost tangible, each appearing razor-sharp and unstoppable, exerting tremendous pressure on all who beheld them.
The numerous Monster Race members were awed by her imposing aura, some so intimidated that they hesitated to make a move. Anyone could see that this woman had deliberately leapt beyond the protective perimeter of the flying ship and positioned herself alone at the forefront — she was clearly prepared to fight to the death.
And what she had unleashed was no ordinary secret technique.
This was… a Divine Ability Manifestation!
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow slightly. When he had fought this woman before, he had sensed just how formidable she was. Among all the Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivators he had encountered, she was unquestionably the finest. Now it was clear — she truly had powerful backing.
A Divine Ability Manifestation was the exclusive domain of High-Order Open Heaven cultivators. Only they could comprehend a manifestation that was uniquely their own. Every person's manifestation was different — it embodied the mystery and essence of one's own Dao.
Not every High-Order Open Heaven cultivator possessed one, however. Zuo Quanhui, whom Yang Kai had slain in the past, had been a Seventh-Order as well and an Elder of the Thousand Crane Blessed Land's inner sect, a position of great prestige — yet even he had lacked a Divine Ability Manifestation. Otherwise, in their battle, Yang Kai might not have won.
Between cultivators of the same order within the Open Heaven Realm, the gap in strength could sometimes be vast. Those who possessed a Divine Ability Manifestation were invariably among the elite.
Once a Divine Ability Manifestation was brought to bear, it meant a battle fought with everything on the line.
Yang Kai also possessed his own Divine Ability Manifestation — the Golden Crow Forges the Sun, sovereign of heaven and earth, peerless and supreme. But his circumstances were unique: he had comprehended this manifestation back when he had yet to advance to the Open Heaven Realm, while still at the Emperor Realm. This technique remained one of his killing moves to this day.
Strictly speaking, the Sun-Moon Divine Wheel should also count as a Divine Ability Manifestation, since its power far exceeded that of ordinary secret techniques and divine abilities. But no one had ever explained to Yang Kai in detail what a Divine Ability Manifestation truly was, so he couldn't be entirely certain.
The ten thousand swords hummed in unison, and the woman's expression was one of utmost solemnity.
Behind her on the flying ship, the ones who had previously argued with her wore expressions of anguish, stamping their feet in helplessness. In the next instant, the ship lurched backward, smashing a corridor through the enemy ranks, then transformed into a streak of light and fled at great speed.
The woman was left standing alone, facing hundreds of Monster Race members and Ink Disciples, yet she showed not the slightest fear. Her courage was truly beyond belief.
Yang Kai suddenly understood what they had been arguing about.
The flying ship — a palace-type Artifact — had been surrounded and couldn't escape easily, not without first annihilating every Monster Race member and Ink Disciple present. But doing so would inevitably cause further delays, and if the Monster Race sent reinforcements, they would lose even the chance to flee.
The woman clearly intended to stay behind and hold off the pursuers so the ship could escape. That was why they had argued. She was evidently a woman of strong will, giving her companions no chance to object before leaping from the ship and summoning her Divine Ability Manifestation directly.
This left the flying ship with two choices: stay and fight alongside her to the death, or seize the opportunity to flee. Staying would almost certainly mean annihilation, while fleeing offered at least a sliver of hope.
Sometimes, fleeing was not cowardice — it was simply the refusal to let a companion's sacrifice be rendered meaningless. Bearing that burden was often an agony that tormented both body and soul.
To sever one's own hand to save the body, to put oneself in mortal peril, all to create an opportunity for one's companions to escape safely — Yang Kai felt a surge of genuine respect for this woman.
The flying ship attempted to flee, but the Monster Race members were hardly about to let it go. Several of them immediately charged out to the flanks, seeking to cut off its escape.
The woman did not move from her position, but as the sword light behind her shrieked and darted through the air, blood splattered across the void and severed flesh and limbs rained down. Dozens of Monster Race members and Ink Disciples who had charged out were slain in the blink of an eye!
Seeing this, Yang Kai was almost certain that this woman was no more than a single step away from the Eighth-Order! An ordinary Seventh-Order could never possibly be this powerful.
It should be noted that while none of the slain Monster Race members or Ink Disciples had been Seventh-Order, many had been high-level Ink Disciples equivalent to Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivators. Yet under that sword light, they had not even possessed the power to resist, cut down by her as easily as chopping vegetables.
It was genuinely terrifying.
After that single strike, no one dared to act rashly again. The Monster Race members could only watch helplessly as the palace Artifact vanished from their sight. When they turned their gazes back to the woman, their eyes burned with fury and wariness.
"All together!" the Monster Race Lord — whose arm the woman had previously severed — roared. With so many of them, if they couldn't even take down a single human, it would be an utter disgrace.
As his words fell, he led by example, being the first to charge at the woman. Before he even reached her, he waved his hand and sent a massive cloud of Monster Force crashing down upon her.
In their battles against human powerhouses, the Monster Race often leveraged their innate advantage — their Monster Force was extremely corrosive. If a human powerhouse let their guard down for even a moment, the Monster Force would infiltrate their Small Universe, and if they failed to cut it off in time, they would be converted into a Monster Race member.
Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivators had a certain degree of resistance to Monster Force, but they could not endure prolonged contact with it.
This was precisely why Meng Qi had been unwilling to flee with Yang Kai in the past. He knew he could not escape the Monster Race's heartland — the moment he left that secret realm with Yang Kai, he would inevitably be corrupted into an Ink Disciple once more, and the existence of the Void Passage would no longer remain secret.
That was why he had chosen to perish within that secret realm, to safeguard the secret of the Void Passage's existence.
Under the Monster Race Lord's command, the other Monster Race members followed suit. In an instant, the vast expanse of the void was filled and shrouded in dark clouds of Monster Force, completely enveloping the woman.
The cry of swords rang out, accompanied by sharp, cracking sounds. Yang Kai focused his vision to its fullest and peered into the pitch-black Monster clouds, his eyes narrowing involuntarily.