Shortly after Jin Hao called out, a hidden figure emerged from within the dark jungle.
The other side so brazenly revealing themselves caused Jin Hao to tense up as he secretly circulated his True Qi. He felt the other side’s fearless actions proved that his previous conjecture had been correct; this person was likely a hidden master.
But when the figure’s appearance became clear, Jin Hao’s pupils suddenly shrunk as he stood there stunned, like he had just seen a ghost, his face showing an expression of total disbelief.
In fact, Yang Kai, who stood in front of him, also felt quite helpless.
The other side had confirmed his hiding place, so what meaning was there in continuing to conceal himself? Staying put would mean losing the initiative, so he decided it would be better to just honestly come out.
Sweeping his eyes over the surroundings, Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled, instantly gaining a lot of insight into his current predicament.
“It’s you!” Jin Hao shouted, “How did you, no, how could you …”
“Survive?” Yang Kai grinned.
“Exactly! How could you still be alive?” Jin Hao’s voice was filled with confusion.
More than half a year ago, the three Ghost King Valley disciples had tried to kill Yang Kai. Yu Cheng Kun, who was the fastest, had closely pursued him while Jin Hao and Leng Shan had followed slightly further behind, but just before the two of them arrived at the top of a high cliff, they felt Yu Cheng Kun die.
At that time, Jin Hao thought that Yang Kai had managed to drag Yu Cheng Kun off the cliff, killing both of them, but more than half year later, they had actually met again, and this time, this High Heaven Pavilion disciple was not only in perfect health, he had also increased his strength substantially compared to half a year ago.
“Then, why should I be dead?” Yang Kai sneered.
“Didn’t you fall off that cliff?” Jin Hao tried to think of an explanation.
“No, I fell down, but then I climbed back up again. By the way, your Junior Brother did not have such good luck, when he fell to the bottom of the cliff he became a splatter of meat and blood, dying without a burial place. It was all very tragic.” Yang Kai said dismissively.
His plan was to use these words to disturb Jin Hao’s focus, stimulate his anger, and force him into making a mistake, but Yang Kai had not expected that Jin Hao remained completely indifferent, just standing there sneering at him.
If this had happened half a year ago, Jin Hao probably would have been angered, but now, with his own life held within the palm of another’s hand and unable to guarantee his own survival, how would he have time to worry about others?
Aware of Jin Hao’s indifference, Yang Kai frowned as he examined the three ferocious fifth-order Monster Beasts behind him, suddenly speaking with utter disdain “So you’ve abandoned your Sect and joined up with those cultivators from the Tian Lang Dynasty.”
The three fifth-order Monster Beasts were not the same species, yet they were just sitting there together, not fighting amongst themselves. Instead, they directed all their hostility towards him, so the only explanation was that they had been enslaved by someone.
Jin Hao did not have this ability, only the disciples from the Tian Lang Dynasty could enslave these Monster Beasts.
“What do you know?” Jin Hao suddenly became furious, roaring at Yang Kai, “You know nothing! How dare you slander me, deciding on your own what is right and wrong! If you have so much energy to spare, why don’t you first take care of yourself!?”
Gesturing to the beasts behind him, Jin Hao ordered, “Kill him!”
Yang Kai’s expression was tense, vigilantly watching these three fifth-order Monster Beasts.
But the three beasts only continued snarling at Yang Kai, completely ignoring Jin Hao’s orders to attack him.
“Damn it, that little slut!” Jin Hao could not help but curse. Zi Mo had let these three Monster Beasts follow him, but since they refused to obey his commands, what use were they?
“Pfft… haha… hahaha…” Seeing this farce play out before him, Yang Kai burst out laughing.
Jin Hao complexion went from red to blue, like he had been roasted over a fire then frozen in ice, too embarrassed to even retort. Yang Kai’s ridicule coupled with this embarrassing situation had completely infuriated him. Gripping his fists so hard that they bled, he cursed at his still laughing opponent, “Go ahead, laugh all you want, when I’m finished with you, you’ll never be able to laugh again!”
Done talking, two ghastly white claws suddenly burst forth, giving off a biting chill, and shot towards Yang Kai as swiftly as the wind.
These ghost claws swept forward, creating a gloomy light and a frigid aura which envelope Yang Kai, seemingly eroding away his life force.
Yang Kai’s face became serious, rapidly pushing his Yuan Qi to resist this erosion while defending himself from Jin Hao’s attacks.
The gap in cultivation between them was quite large. Jin Hao had reached the True Element Boundary Fifth Stage, two minor realms higher than Qi Jian Xing’s; however, if one compared them, their individual combat strengths were nearly the same.
This was the result of having different origins; Qi Jian Xing was a rising star disciple of the Nine Star Sword School, a famous first-class Sect, while Jin Hao was only from the Ghost King Valley, a second-class Sect.
Thus, even while Yang Kai fell into a detrimental situation, he had no concerns that he could keep his life.
Over the past month, his strength had also grown significantly.
The only uncertain factors for Yang Kai were the three fifth-order Monster Beasts that waited to the side.
These three possessed extraordinary strength, if they were to really attack together, his only hope would be to escape.
But after fighting for such a long time, Yang Kai was surprised to find that the three Monster Beasts were content to simply spectate, showing no intention of intervening; this development significantly bolstered his courage, in the next instant he activated Unyielding Will, causing his cultivation to soar straight to peak Separation and Reunion.
Jin Hao was ruthless, every attack more ferocious than the last, seemingly venting all his pent up anger and frustration here while completely forgetting Zi Mo’s orders for him to capture Yang Kai. He only focused all his might on tearing this little brat to shreds.
Seizing the upper hand, after a half cup of tea’s time, Jin Hao had left more than a dozen scars on Yang Kai, and although these were not mortal wounds, he had drawn a lot of blood.
“Haha… little brat, today you won’t escape death!” In the middle of this fierce battle, Jin Hao did not forget to show off his dominance, sneering at Yang Kai while he taunting him endlessly.
Yang Kai grit his teeth, throwing out a heavy punch, causing Jin Hao to take a defensive stance while he retreated.
Seeing an opening, Yang Kai raised both his palms, thrusting them towards Jin Hao’s chest.
Two energy fluctuations that seemed to contain a breath of life suddenly appeared; aware of this strike’s unusual power and murderous aura, Jin Hao instantly became vigilant.
The sound of a tiger’s roar and an ox’s bellow rang out as Yang Kai activated his Beast Soul Skill.
Flowing from his palms, two crimson lifelike figures thundered out.
Jin Hao’s face immediately went pale as he rapidly fell back; facing these two Monster Beast phantoms, he no longer dared to underestimate his opponent, pushing his True Qi to its limit and releasing one deadly attack after another.
Yang Kai cursed under his breath, attacking together with the two beast phantoms.
Although he successfully displayed the Beast Soul Skill, it was not what Yang Kai had wanted. During the past month, he had been researching this Beast Soul Skill’s other usage and had hoped he could successfully apply it to defeat Jin Hao here, but the Heavens seemed unwilling to let him succeed, forcing him to give up for the time being.
Jin Hao was indeed a master at the True Element Fifth Stage; even fighting together with the two beast phantoms, Yang Kai still could not gain a decisive advantage, only managing to create a stalemate at best.
After a short time, the Yuan Qi which composed the two beast phantoms was exhausted and they faded away.
Taking this opportunity, Jin Hao quickly charged forward, grinning as he yelled, “Little brat, time for you to die!”