Liu Xing’s heart hammered against his chest, and sweat poured down his back, drenching his clothes. His hands gripped his weapons like lifelines. Fear and despair flooded him; the Patriarch of the Nether Lotus Sect, the man who drowned the area in a terrifying black aura, would be the death of him. His mind screamed that there was no way for him to win. He was surrounded by demonic cultivators. One would have been enough, but this was too much. How could he keep his friends safe?

  Gritting his teeth, he projected his qi outward to fend off the Patriarch’s aura. It helped, but only a little. As he cycled his qi to strengthen his Lightning Cloak Technique, his mind raced to evaluate the situation. Before, he had thought killing Ye Xuanhan would guarantee his friends’ safety. The logic was the same now. If he could kill Ye Xuanming, the others would probably be no match for him. But there lay the crux of the problem. Killing Ye Xuanhan was something he could achieve, but killing Ye Xuanming was like a little bird trying to land on the moon. It was impossible. The power gap was too vast. What about escaping? If he were alone, it might be possible, but he had to bring his friends, which would slow him immensely.

  Liu Xing gulped. He looked to his right at the man named Hua Beifang and then to his left at the group of kneeling demonic cultivators. Finally, he looked at Ye Xuanming, the patriarch of the Nether Lotus Sect, and his crimson eyes bored deep into Liu Xing.

  At that moment, the world suddenly became clear, and his mind reached one true conclusion about his situation.

  "I am dead," Liu Xing muttered, his heart beating steadily in his chest. If he didn't find a way out of this, it would truly be his end.

  "Indeed," the Patriarch nodded, "but be grateful. You will live a bit longer. I need you to demonstrate my power."

  Liu Xing’s throat suddenly felt dry. He remembered saying similar words to Qing Yuan. Now, he was on the other side of the situation, and he couldn't help but think this was karma for crippling the old man from the Qing clan.

  Shaking off unnecessary thoughts, he absorbed as much potent qi from the Ethereal Pearl as possible and channeled it to empower his Lightning Cloak. He decided then and there that while the situation was grim, he needed to think positively. He had to believe there was a chance for him to kill Ye Xuanming and save his friends. He knew it was a foolish thought, akin to believing the sky would turn purple the moment he wished for it, but he had nothing aside from the hope for a miracle. Nothing. So he might as well think that he could, and would, kill the man in front of him. His brain screamed at him, asking how he could do it, what plan he had to kill such a formidable foe, and why he didn't just abandon his friends and escape alone, but he shut out those thoughts and focused entirely on the opponent before him.

  "Demonstrate your power," Liu Xing repeated calmly. "If you need to demonstrate your power for your people to understand your strength, then you must be quite a pathetic Patriarch."

  The patriarch’s expression didn't change, as if the pathetic attempt to taunt him hadn't worked. Instead, the man began to cycle the qi inside his body. The moment he did, Liu Xing took his chance and kicked the ground, launching himself into the air. Looking down, he saw Ye Xuanming begin to transform. His skin turned red and his muscles swelled. A single red horn jutted from his forehead as black veins crawled around his eyes. The man had been tall to begin with, but the transformation made him colossal, perhaps three meters in height and the ground cracked beneath him, unable to hold his weight.

  The man then calmly stated, "Let me show you why people call me Demon Beast."

  Liu Xing focused all his attention on the man. His heart beat frantically in his chest, and his brain tried to come up with a way to manage the situation.

  "I need information," he muttered to himself.

  Without information, his brain couldn't find a solution. He needed to endure and observe. The man had said he would use Liu Xing as a means to demonstrate his power, which meant he wouldn't deliver a killing blow from the get-go. That realization gave him some hope. It meant Ye Xuanming wouldn't be serious from the start, and perhaps, just perhaps, this arrogance would present an opportunity.

  "Yes," he nodded, "I could—"

  "Could what?"

  A voice came from behind him so suddenly that he startled. He instantly snapped his head back and saw the source of the voice. It was the face of Ye Xuanming, his red eyes as calm as ice. At that moment, Liu Xing felt as if time itself had stopped. How? Could the man truly teleport? Did that mean he had no chance whatsoever in this fight?

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  But then, his ears picked up the sound of a thunderous explosion from below. Hope bloomed in his heart, but then it wilted. The man hadn't teleported. He had moved using his own body, so fast that even sound couldn't catch up to him.

  Liu Xing rotated his body, summoned his shield, and intended to kick it. But before he could, the man casually swung his hand down. It struck Liu Xing’s shoulder like a falling mountain. He plummeted like a meteor, hitting the ground so hard that it erupted around him. He spat a mouthful of blood as the world turned blurry. His mind screamed at him to move, to run. But before Liu Xing could do anything, a hand gripped his ankle, hoisted him into the air, and slammed him to the ground again. He felt half the bones in his body break. He winced in pain as his vision blurred further. He needed to move if he wanted to survive. His mind and body agreed wholeheartedly, but before he could think, Ye Xuanming pulled his ankle again, slamming him into the ground once more, this time making sure his face landed first. Coincidentally, his face landed on a rock, which shattered on impact. Liu Xing felt his nose break before he was raised into the air again and thrown to the side. The world around him was a blur, but it wasn't the nice, comfortable blur he experienced when using his Lightning Cloak Technique. Rather, it was a suffocating blur that evoked a sense of fear, because he couldn't see anything, and he feared Ye Xuanming would suddenly appear again.

  His back slammed into a tree. The tree exploded into thousands of tiny fragments. But one tree was nothing against the force of Ye Xuanming's throw. He crashed through several more trees and even a boulder before finally regaining his balance, rotating his body, and planting both feet on the ground. He slid back several meters before his back slammed into a wall that, unlike the trees, did not break. In an instant, he glanced back and realized he had been thrown quite far. He was right in front of the wall that surrounded Water Tower City. To his side, he saw the gigantic remains of a spirit beast that had punched through a section of the wall, creating a giant tear. From his position, he could glimpse the devastation inside the city.

  Shaking his head, Liu Xing, with a trembling hand, brandished his stone blade forward. His eyes were wary of any movement, because he knew Ye Xuanming could easily catch up to him but was choosing not to. His whole body screamed in pain, as if he were a chunk of meat that had been put through a grinder and then merged together again. His brain once again told him to run. He had no chance against them. And yet, he was unwilling. He couldn't leave his friends. He had to do something to turn this situation around.

  "Invisibility," he muttered, his lungs hurting as if his own broken ribs were stabbing them.

  Even now, black smoke continuously gushed from his stomach like a burning tire. With this smoke, he couldn't become truly invisible. His enemy could trace his movement because of it. The patriarch of the Nether Lotus Sect probably had sharp senses. Even if he were truly invisible, there was a chance he could still trace Liu Xing. Still, what other choice did he have?

  "Damn it!" Liu Xing cursed. If he had dealt with the mark more urgently, perhaps none of this would have happened. "Focus," he muttered.

  Liu Xing suddenly heard an explosion in the distance, heard the air whistle, and felt a terrifying qi move toward him with incredible speed. Alert, he glimpsed a dark red shadow moving so fast toward him that he cycled his qi to reinforce his body and forced himself to dive to the side with all his power. The moment he moved, the tall wall behind him shattered. With a grimace, Liu Xing thrust his stone blade toward the hulking form of his enemy. But with a swift movement, Ye Xuanming slapped the blade aside, grabbed his wrist, pulled him closer, and launched a punch at his face. For a fraction of a second, Liu Xing saw the punch move toward him, and it looked as if the world was eclipsed by a giant red fist. He tried to move his head, but he was too slow. The fist landed. Blackness swallowed his world, and he was launched high into the air, the wind whistling in his ears.

  Liu Xing fought the hot, searing pain that bloomed across his face. He gritted his teeth as he tried to rotate his body and summon his shield, but Ye Xuanming appeared above him. He swung his foot downward in a powerful axe kick that landed on Liu Xing's stomach. His body folded as if his spine were about to snap. Once again, he hit the ground hard, spat a mouthful of blood, and bounced for a moment before he successfully summoned his shield and kicked it. The timing was fortunate, because Ye Xuanming fell like a meteor, and when he landed, the ground erupted around him, sending a tsunami of earth high into the sky.

  "You're fast," Liu Xing could hear Ye Xuanming's calm and cold voice. "But do you know? While my enhancement technique is strong, I'm actually fond of my long-range techniques. And since I'm currently demonstrating my power, I need to make this flashy."

  Liu Xing fought the trembling that wracked his body. The man spoke so calmly, as if what he had done was merely light exercise, and Liu Xing dreaded what kind of technique the Patriarch would show him next. He summoned his shield and kicked it again and again to create more distance. Inside, he opened a hole in his consciousness and decided he needed to get rid of the mark as soon as possible. But then, his attention was stolen by Ye Xuanming. The Patriarch was cycling his qi, intentionally showing it to him, as if he wanted Liu Xing to despair even more. The way he cycled his qi was otherworldly. It was so fast and intense that just sensing it made Liu Xing’s insides hurt.

  Then, he activated his technique. Instantly, thousands of steel rods materialized high in the sky. Each rod was the size of a person. Their sharp tips pointed downward, and black and red veins adorned their forms, making it seem as if the rods were living things with blood in their veins. The rods filled the sky, blanketing it like a swarm of black steel. For a moment, his heart skipped a beat, before a profound fear filled him.

  "This is too much," Liu Xing muttered.

  And then, thousands upon thousands of rods descended from the sky.

  keep the lights on.