Chapter 715 - 716: Fleeing in Panic

If this went on, he feared this entire space would become his opponent’s domain. When that happened, he’d be a fish on the chopping block, completely powerless to resist.

Ye Xuan’s heart sank. He knew he’d been careless. He had never expected his opponent to possess such a terrifying and unusual treasure.

At this point, Ye Xuan couldn’t even think about breaking free from the spatial lock; even swinging his sword was a struggle.

He quickly sent a sliver of thought to Xiaohai and Erhei.

Erhei sensed that its master was in trouble. With a strange croak, it spat out a mouthful of poisonous fog.

The hazy poisonous fog immediately spread toward the Third Layer Martial Emperor.

The Third Layer Martial Emperor’s gaze hardened. The fall of his two subordinates earlier meant he didn’t dare underestimate Erhei’s poisonous fog. He raised his hand and slashed out with a ray of rosy light. At the same time, his mind remained firmly locked on the Stone Bead, intending to crush Ye Xuan to death within its field.

The brilliant rosy light immediately scattered the poisonous fog, then struck Erhei with a BOOM. The blow sent Erhei flying, and it crashed into a massive boulder in the distance, shattering it to pieces.

But before the Third Layer Martial Emperor could even breathe a sigh of relief, a strong sense of crisis flared in his mind. He then felt a sudden jolt from beneath his feet as a black shadow shot toward his chest like a bolt of lightning.

’Not good!’ The brown-haired Martial Emperor was greatly alarmed and hastily tried to block it. But the pangolin’s timing was too perfect. It struck at the precise moment he was focusing all his power on suppressing Ye Xuan and had just sent Erhei flying—a moment when his old force was spent and new force had yet to be generated.

KRACK! The pangolin slammed heavily into his chest. The immense impact instantly cracked his protective Profound energy, and the terrifying force that traveled through made his chest ache, forcing a muffled grunt from him.

The Stone Bead, which had been continuously emitting terrifying spatial ripples, immediately wavered in the air.

Ye Xuan suddenly felt the pressure on his body lighten. Without waiting for his opponent to regain control of the Stone Bead, he had already slashed out with his sword.

"Star Sword Skill—One Sword, Starry River!"

The Star Sword Skill was an incredibly heaven-defying swordsmanship technique Ye Xuan had mastered in his past life, cultivating it to its peak. This move, One Sword, Starry River, was the strongest of the Star Sword Skill’s three ultimate techniques, possessing a space-rending effect.

As Ye Xuan unleashed this strike, a brilliant flash of lightning instantly formed a river of stars between heaven and earth. The vast, ethereal river surged toward the brown-haired Martial Emperor.

K-K-KRAK!

The dense Sword Intent collided with the domain created by the Stone Bead, producing countless shattering sounds.

Immediately after, Ye Xuan unhesitatingly activated the Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror, and a hazy light enveloped him.

Only after doing all this did Ye Xuan finally let out a heavy breath.

The brown-haired Martial Emperor’s timing had been too clever before. He had struck viciously in the opening created after Ye Xuan killed two other Martial Emperors. On top of that, Ye Xuan hadn’t expected a Third Layer Martial Emperor to possess such an unusual treasure capable of releasing a domain-like spatial Divine Ability. That was how he had fallen into the trap.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful his opponent’s cultivation or the Stone Bead was, Ye Xuan would not have been rendered so helpless.

Under the circumstances just now, Ye Xuan had even decided that if Xiaohai and Erhei couldn’t repel the enemy, he was prepared to unleash his Devouring Martial Spirit for a sneak attack.

The situation had been simply too dangerous. If he hadn’t broken free of the spatial lock in time, he would have been trapped ever more tightly by that terrifying power, eventually falling at his opponent’s hands.

At this moment, the sky full of sword light transformed into an infinite river of stars, glittering with constellations, that broke through the spatial lock and swept toward the brown-haired Martial Emperor.

’What terrifying Sword Intent.’

The brown-haired Martial Emperor had first been ambushed by the pangolin, and now he watched as Ye Xuan broke through his Space-Stabilizing Bead’s domain and unleashed such a resplendent sword strike at him.

He was instantly alarmed. The power of Ye Xuan’s strike was too terrifying; he even felt as if he was about to be transformed into one of the stars within it.

’No, that’s not right,’ he realized at once. ’It’s not the power of the swordsmanship that’s so terrifying, but the profound concept it contains.’

’Is this really a young man of only about twenty? The Sword Dao conception contained in this strike... I’ve never seen anything like it, not even from Tier Eight Peak Martial Emperors.’

’Even if this kid started practicing the sword in his mother’s womb, how long has it been? How could he possibly have cultivated such a terrifying swordsmanship technique?’

However, he had no time to be shocked. In his horror, he raised his hand and threw out a handkerchief-like treasure. The handkerchief unfurled rapidly in the air, transforming into a canopy-like barrier that shielded him.

RRRIP!

The harsh sound of tearing fabric reached his ears. He was horrified to see a crack appear on his defensive magical treasure, with threads of sword light and lightning surging out from it.

"Space-Stabilizing Bead—Immobilize!"

The brown-haired Martial Emperor was greatly alarmed. With an angry roar, the Stone Bead began to glow. A brilliant light burst forth, enveloping the entire area. At the same time, a sharp spatial fluctuation slashed directly at the sword light Ye Xuan had unleashed.

The two forces collided, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!—letting out an unending series of explosions.

From the center of the collision, a terrifying wave of power swept out, blasting everything in the vicinity to pieces. Several small hills, trees, and rocks near the two of them were instantly turned to dust by the impact.

Even with the protection of the Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but grunt as he was forced to retreat.

The brown-haired Martial Emperor didn’t fare well either. His surface-level Profound energy erupted with a series of cracking sounds, and his robes were slightly torn.

But this was not the end. It was only the beginning.

The moment the two forces collided, Ye Xuan had already commanded Xiaohai and Erhei to charge forward again.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Two menacing black shadows lunged straight at the brown-haired Martial Emperor.

"Get lost!"

The brown-haired Martial Emperor didn’t have time to regulate his aura. He roared and immediately sent Erhei flying first. He was far more wary of the black toad’s poison than the pangolin’s physical impact.

But just as he sent Erhei flying, Xiaohai the pangolin appeared before him. Its eerie eyes were filled with a cold, tyrannical light as it slammed into his chest with a BANG.

BLEGH! The brown-haired Martial Emperor spat out a mouthful of blood. The sharp pain in his chest almost made him think his sternum had been shattered.

"Get off me!"

The brown-haired Martial Emperor was both shocked and enraged. As Xiaohai struck him, a vicious glint flashed in his eyes, and he jabbed a finger at Xiaohai’s forehead like lightning.

BANG! A splash of blood appeared. The Scale Armor on Xiaohai’s forehead shattered and flew off, followed by a spurt of blood. It crashed into a distant rock with a RUMBLE, smashing it to smithereens.

Ye Xuan’s heart clenched, fearing something had happened to Xiaohai. But he quickly sensed that only the Scale Armor on its forehead was broken. Its muscles were slightly injured and its brain was rattled, but its bones were completely unharmed.

Relieved, Ye Xuan immediately brought the Zhenyuan Stone crashing down.

The massive Zhenyuan Stone was like a small mountain, descending with endless pressure.

The brown-haired Martial Emperor’s expression changed instantly. The kid’s methods were simply relentless. From the moment he broke free of the Space-Stabilizing Bead’s restraint, he had unleashed a continuous chain of attacks, one after another, giving him no time to breathe.

He had just blocked the attacks of the two Demon Beasts, and the blood and qi in his body were in turmoil. His Profound energy was also running low. But if he just had a moment—the space of one or two breaths—to recover, he could immediately turn the tables and attack Ye Xuan.

But now, his opponent’s attack was already descending again. A strong sense of crisis rose in his mind. The surrounding airflow seemed to congeal. At a complete disadvantage, how could he even think of attacking Ye Xuan?

He only had time to raise the handkerchief treasure in front of him and simultaneously recall the Space-Stabilizing Bead above his head to release a hazy spatial power. By then, the mountain-like Zhenyuan Stone had already fallen.

BOOM-CRACK!

The handkerchief treasure let out a tearing sound as a large rip appeared in it. The Zhenyuan Stone, its momentum barely reduced, then smashed into the Space-Stabilizing Bead.

DONG!

The entire world seemed to tremble. The light radiating from the Space-Stabilizing Bead dimmed instantly, but it had managed to block the Zhenyuan Stone’s assault.

The brown-haired Martial Emperor grunted again. His face first turned pale, then flushed a bloody red as a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.

Although he had blocked Ye Xuan’s successive attacks, he had already suffered considerable injuries. His Profound Veins had even begun to rupture.

’Dammit!’

He roared in silent fury. He could never have imagined that Ye Xuan’s methods would be so seasoned, his combat experience so vast.

A battle between experts hinged on gaining the initiative. He had seized it earlier and nearly crushed the kid to death. Who would have known the kid would use his Spirit Pets to turn the situation around, launching a desperate offense that forced him onto the back foot and immediately pushed him to his limit.

As the saying goes, one misstep can lead to a thousand years of regret. With his vast combat experience, the brown-haired Martial Emperor knew instantly that he had no way of dealing with the kid today.

If Ye Xuan were alone, he wouldn’t have been afraid at all. But the two Demon Beasts Ye Xuan controlled were just too terrifying, and he couldn’t help but feel wary.

His thoughts turned in an instant, and the brown-haired Martial Emperor made his decision. After blocking the Zhenyuan Stone’s attack, he immediately retrieved his Space-Stabilizing Bead and the tattered handkerchief. A brilliant light enveloped him as he shot toward the other end of the valley.

Ye Xuan immediately understood: the man was trying to escape.

"Divine Spirit Gaze—Eye of Illusory Prohibition!"

Ye Xuan hurriedly activated his Divine Spirit Gaze, and a hazy blast of Soul Power instantly entered the brown-haired Martial Emperor’s body.

The brown-haired Martial Emperor’s body trembled violently, but then his speed increased even more explosively. With a SWOOSH, he transformed into a streak of bloody light and vanished in an instant.