Lin Yao observed the terrible lineup, one that could reduce the world into smoldering rubble and seas of ashes, the most powerful one that had ever existed since the magus appeared. Yet his fists trembled, and his heart drummed in his chest.
A strange excitement he couldn’t reasonably describe coursed through his veins, accompanying a potent adrenaline rush as his blade danced before him.
"Hahaha! Three, four or a thousand, it makes no difference! Make everyone join this dance!"
Where anyone would tremble, his shoulders shook in amusement as he laughed without caring for anything.
As of now, his entire focus was on the battle, its thrill, and how to overcome the ever-growing challenge. After all, that’s what the Qingming sect and his grandfather had taught him in his youth.
"A cultivator fears no man or beast. Not even the heavens can scare us for we are fighting against them to improve endlessly. We only fear stagnation and laziness!"
He repeated their creed, a smile stretching to reach his eyes as he stomped the ground, taking the initiative.
The wind whipped against his torn clothes and whistled in his ears as the behemoth answered his charge first.
Like a moving obsidian mountain of muscle, an embodiment of pure raw physical strength, he saw it charge towards him on the melted ground. Its colossal fist rose, bloating the sun and drowning him in shadows.
The pressure of the meteor-like fist descending upon him sent his verdant hair in a wild dance and pressed on his shoulders. The weakened ground cracked like glass and shattered in a rain of dust particles floating around him.
Yet, his green eyes burned with passion now that his hesitations vanished.
"My fist can break the heavens. Fly!"
With a burst of Qi, he halted his momentum, his feet digging trenches on the ground as he matched the creature’s punch in a competition of brute strength.
"Fool! Nothing under the eight-tier can match the behemoth’s physical might!"
Despite the emperor’s mocking, his fist pressed against the raging wind with unbound fierceness. Sparks danced in the air as it collided with his adversary’s.
A shock wave burst upon impact, raising swirling dust and roaring gales in a dome that spanned hundreds of kilometers. Forests cracked, mountains shattered, and rivers deviated from their banks.
The sky itself seemed to part above them, cleaved in halves by the pressure as space howled in agony, ugly scars forming around their fists and wafting a chilly, otherworldly air.
The emperor, Ossian, and the hiding Adam watched the stunning scene of an ant defiantly punching a calamitous beast with ragged breaths.
However, the noise of breaking bones they had expected didn’t register. The sight of Lin Yao’s figure exploding into a scarlet mist didn’t happen either. Instead, they gawked, their hearts drumming in disbelief as the man held his ground.
"No! The deadlock is tilting!"
Adam roared, eyes enlarging and icy sweat dripping from his forehead.
The others spotted the change too, their hearts shuddering in disbelief and dread... because wild tremors rocked the behemoth’s elbow and its face distorted into one of pain and disbelief.
Meanwhile, Lin Yao’s lips parted, condensed Qi billowing out as his laughter echoed.
Simultaneously, his legs dug into the ground as his weight shifted. Each fiber of his body roared with potent life force as he shoved his fist, shattering the beast’s knuckle and making his absurd words a reality.
With an agonising howl, the behemoth’s feet left the ground. Its figure rose uncontrollably.
Before anyone could understand what had happened, a dust cloud rose in the distance, blasting the ravaged land and covering it in a veil of soot.
Despite the wind jolting their robes and pushing against their tensed backs, they didn’t pay any attention to the scene.
Instead, they observed the smoke rising from Lin Yao’s fist, gulping at the horror for a second.
Then, the emperor recovered from his shock, his voice piercing the chaos with sharp commands.
"Handle him in melee while I Keep reading on NovelHub - where stories come alive! The behemoth will recover and join us in a few minutes. I can protect myself, so focus on ending his life!"
"Against that monster?! You said he was an arcanist, not an archmage strong enough to contend against you!"
Ossian’s brows twitched, and his spectral form shuddered at Lin Yao’s figure.
Honestly? He wanted to leave. Be it speed, strength, abilities, or mental, the man overwhelmed, even pressured him just by standing nearby.
Still, he couldn’t back out now, or everything they had been working for in the past two years would crumble like a house of cards.
His luminous eyes narrowed into slits, and his posture tensed as he continued.
"The rewards you promised won’t do. I want double."
However, Lin Yao didn’t give them time to discuss as he blurred into action, his blade already glinting towards their necks.
The emperor stomped the ground, a mineral pillar glinting with sturdiness rising to protect them.
The emperor’s snort resounded as he gripped the second pouch he always carried on him, the faint beatings of the heart echoing.
Then, he leapt back, distancing himself from the crumbling wall and his enemy’s emerging figure.
"But after Lin Yao, you’ll be the next to die!"
As he barked in rage, the ground engulfed the second statue guarding his temple, making it appear on the battlefield in all its soul-chilling glory as his dark wings vanished.
"Drown the lands in darkness, raven of oblivion!"
The space trembled under the avian’s status shriek as the rocks shattered, revealing the hideous bird’s beak and the razor-sharp teeth concealed inside.
As colossal as the behemoth, gales rose under its flapping wings as the emperor jumped on its back.
"No one can defeat me! Die, Lin Yao!"
Spikes sharp enough to pierce enchanted steel rose all around Lin Yao as the raven sent a sharp hurricane crash on him.
Yet, he smiled, and his heart still sang in his chest.
Echoing his two words, his potent energy exploded, shattering the spikes without effort as he hurled his palm towards the hurricane.
A condensed burst of wind erupted with a thunderous noise and collapsed on the sharp storm.
Metallic collisions reverberated, scarring the already abused ground in a network of deep trenches.
As the two attacks battled for supremacy, Ossian gritted his teeth.
Fingers clenched around his spectral scythe, he circled the battlefield in the blink of an eye and lunged at Lin Yao’s back, ready to cleave his soul in halves.