In the sight of everyone, the Earth Demon spoke with great arrogance, lecturing the eight Shenyou Realm experts and above, making everyone glance at him with astonishment.
"What nonsense!" Yang Liting snorted coldly and struck out with a palm.
Under that strike, the Earth Demon's body sank, and he nearly fell to his knees, but he stubbornly held himself upright. However, his nearby Blood Demon puppet exploded violently, just like Xiang Chu before, leaving no remains.
The Earth Demon's eyes suddenly shot out glimmers of cold light as he stared frigidly at Yang Liting.
"Hmm?" The eight Shenyou experts above all looked stunned, seemingly unexpected that the Earth Demon possessed such powerful resistance. Yang Liting's strike, even without using full force, was not something a Shenyou Realm martial artist could withstand. At the very least, it should have resulted in broken bones, spitting blood, and collapsing in serious injury.
Yet the Earth Demon merely lowered his body slightly—this was fundamentally impossible for a Shenyou Realm martial artist to achieve.
Although Yang Liting had long been displeased with the Earth Demon, he was still a figure standing at the peak. His strike having failed, he couldn't very well save face by continuing his attack. He merely snorted coldly again and ignored him.
The Earth Demon grinned hideously, and the look in his eyes as he regarded Yang Liting became dangerous.
The puppet Blood Demon had not been easy to refine, and being shattered into powder by Yang Liting's palm strike made him naturally furious in his heart.
Mindful of Yang Kai's current state and situation, the Earth Demon could only swallow his anger and not dare to provoke further.
"Elder Yang..." Qiuyi Meng called out cautiously, her heart filled with unease. She pursed her dry lips and said softly, "Yang Kai is in the midst of a breakthrough. If you have any instructions, could you tell me first? I will make sure to convey them to him later!"
She had caught a glimpse of Yang Liting's thoughts but didn't dare confirm them. She could only use such words to buy Yang Kai some time, also hoping Yang Liting would consider their blood ties and not act too decisively.
Unexpectedly, Yang Liting paid no heed to her words. His eyes remained fixed on Yang Kai, who was being bathed in the might of heaven and earth, his expression as cold as before.
Since Yang Kai's consciousness had submerged into his sea of consciousness, the evil energy within the Proud Bone Golden Body had been ceaselessly erupting outward. By now, not only was there no sign of it abating, but it also showed a trend of intensifying.
Yang Liting's brows were tightly furrowed, and the complexions of the other seven Shenyou experts above were also not looking too good.
"Brother Yang, this kid has truly gone into Demonic Frenzy!" sighed the plump elder. "What a pity for such excellent potential!"
He had long urged Yang Liting to come out and stop Yang Kai's rampage, but Yang Liting had not listened. Delaying until now, there was no longer any room for recourse.
"But how can such a vast amount of evil energy exist within his body?" another person frowned, somewhat puzzled. A ninth-level Zhenyuan Realm martial artist fundamentally could not possess this much Zhenyuan. His dantian and meridians were not bottomless pits. This vast energy was almost comparable to a Shenyou Realm peak expert's, and it was still erupting outward.
"It seems he has been cultivating a demonic technique for quite some time," an elder with a dark-red complexion said in a low voice, turning to look at Yang Liting. "Brother Yang, you need to make a decision quickly. If you allow him to continue like this, the tens of thousands of people in the Battle City could all fall to the demonic path. Although he is of your Yang family's blood, you cannot let him cause widespread devastation because of him!"
"As if I need you to tell me!" Yang Liting snorted coldly, apparently having already made his decision.
"Elder, what exactly are you going to do?" Qiuyi Meng hurriedly stepped forward and asked in a low voice, her heart growing increasingly uneasy and worried.
Elder Qiuyi frowned slightly and slowly extended a hand. Qiuyi Meng immediately felt herself bound and pulled by an invisible force, dragged to Elder Qiuyi's side.
"Great Elder..." Qiuyi Meng's face lost all color.
"Do not interfere in the Yang family's affairs!" Elder Qiuyi shook his head slowly. As he spoke, he infused a stream of energy into Qiuyi Meng's body. She immediately froze on the spot, unable to move or speak, and could only watch helplessly, her eyes overflowing with panic and anxiety.
"You brat, shut your mouth too!" The Shenyou expert of the Huo family saw Huo Xingchen seemingly unaware of his peril, about to speak. He quickly employed the same method, pulling him over and restraining him.
Huo Xingchen couldn't help but roll his eyes.
With the young master and miss from the Eight Great Families present at Yang Kai's residence instantly losing their right to speak, the remaining people immediately realized something was wrong.
These eight people clearly intended to do something to Yang Kai; otherwise, they wouldn't have acted this way.
"Brother Yang, time is of the essence. If you're going to act, do it quickly!" someone urged, an impatient look on their face. They had been stationed at the Sealed God Temple, focusing solely on their own cultivation, hoping to glimpse a higher realm within their lifetimes. Yet today they were disturbed by Yang Kai and forced to mobilize, naturally putting some in a foul mood.
Not everyone, like the plump elder, felt sympathy and pity for Yang Kai's plight or regretted his wasted potential.
Yang Liting nodded slightly, glanced at the young generation leaders gathered not far from Yang Kai, and spoke: "All of you, make way!"
At this critical moment, Fatty Dong stepped forward. His slightly chubby face held a trace of nervousness, yet he stood firmly before Yang Kai and asked with unyielding respect, "Elder, what exactly do you intend to do? Could you tell us?"
The Hu sisters also stepped forward, standing beside Dong Qinghan, their serious gaze fixed on Yang Liting.
The four maidens from Ten Thousand Flower Palace, Luo Xiaoman from Purple Violet Valley, Zuo Fang from Mind Inquiry Hall, Chu Jingshan from Flying Feather Pavilion, five Shenyou Realm experts from the Duanmu family...
All of them stepped forward, forming a line.
The eight Shenyou experts above were somewhat surprised. They hadn't expected Yang Kai to be so popular, that even at this critical juncture, people still dared to speak up for him.
They believed that if Qiuyi Meng and Huo Xingchen hadn't been restrained, they certainly would have been among their ranks, and would likely have been the two leading the charge.