At this moment, Dao Yuan’s every nerve was taut, his gaze fixed on the energy black hole blasted by the Taikoo Mirror, a look of horror on his face.
That place indeed held no trace of life.
However, just as the Taikoo Mirror’s attack was about to strike Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying, Dao Yuan distinctly felt a mysterious power suddenly appear in the field, and immediately after, the life force of Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying vanished.
Yet, it was not caused by the Taikoo Mirror.
Thinking of this, Dao Yuan broke out in a cold sweat.
To hide in the shadows from the sight of a Heavenly Human Realm powerhouse like himself, just how terrifying must the opponent’s strength be?
And as Dao Yuan frantically probed the unseen individual, the space a hundred meters in front of him suddenly warped, and then, a dark fissure was torn open.
From that fissure, two figures emerged.
It was none other than Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying.
Dao Yuan’s previous perception had not been wrong; they had not perished.
However, both Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying now looked somewhat vacant, clearly bewildered by what had just happened.
“Wh-what happened?”
Zuo Fengliu looked at Ruo Ying beside him, stunned for a moment, and asked blankly.
Ruo Ying also shook her head.
At this moment, the two suddenly turned their heads and looked at the spatial rift behind them. A young man was slowly walking out from within.
It was Ye Ming.
“Who might you be?”
Zuo Fengliu clasped his hands in a salute, thinking for a moment. He had no recollection of this person.
However, Ruo Ying beside him, her brows furrowing slightly, seemed to recall something and asked, “You are the one Xuan Yue mentioned… Ye Ming!”
Ye Ming!
Upon hearing the name, Zuo Fengliu’s eyes widened, disbelief etched on his face:
“You… you…”
“Xuan Yue!”
Seeing that the other party mentioned the name, Ye Ming smiled and returned the salute, “I am indeed Ye Ming, and also a friend of Miss Xuan Yue.”
Ruo Ying looked deeply at Ye Ming, but she could not discern anything about the youth before her.
“Many thanks to young friend Ye for your rescue!”
Ruo Ying pulled her husband and bowed sincerely to Ye Ming.
“Seniors, there is no need for such formalities. I have some ties with the Yin Yang Palace, so there’s no need to be so humble.”
Ye Ming extended his hand and helped them up.
“Seniors, please wait a moment. After I resolve the current trouble, I will chat with you both in more detail.”
With that, Ye Ming turned around and faced Dao Yuan opposite him.
At this moment, the latter was also staring intently at him.
“Young friend Ye, Dao Yuan possesses Heavenly Human Realm cultivation. Be cautious!”
Zuo Fengliu glared at Dao Yuan, his eyes filled with killing intent.
“It matters not, he is but a mere ant!”
Ye Ming smiled, seemingly not taking Dao Yuan seriously at all.
His voice was not loud, but those present had considerable cultivation, so they could naturally hear him clearly.
Dao Yuan’s expression turned extremely unpleasant.
He had failed to eliminate Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying even with the Taikoo Mirror. Once they returned to the Yin Yang Palace, the situation would become uncontrollable.
“Ye Ming, are you going to interfere in this matter?”
Dao Yuan did not attack immediately, placing his hands behind his back. The Taikoo Mirror in his hand was continuously accumulating power.
Did Ye Ming not notice such a petty trick? He sneered, “A Heavenly Human Realm powerhouse, facing two Innate Realm cultivators, and you still need to use a supreme artifact? If you don’t find it shameful, I feel embarrassed for the Dao Sect.”
“Hmph! There are many ways to achieve victory. Why can’t I choose the most effortless one?”
Dao Yuan’s face remained grim, not feeling at all that his actions were improper.
Just then, Yun Yin suddenly blurted out, his face contorted with rage as he pointed at Ye Ming and berated him, “Get lost! I don’t care who you are. If you dare to obstruct me from killing them, I will annihilate your entire clan!”
“Hm?”
Hearing this, Ye Ming’s gaze shifted, and he looked at Yun Yin indifferently.
Towards this clown, Ye Ming merely gently opened his palm. Silver-white energy flashed in his palm, and then he suddenly clenched his fist.
“Ah!”
Before Yun Yin could even perceive anything unusual, the surrounding space suddenly collapsed. From the spiderweb-like spatial cracks, a terrifying suction force surged out, directly pulling him in.
“Great Elder, save me!”
Yun Yin struggled desperately but to no avail. Facing the fear of death, he once again cried out for help.
“Ye Ming, you’ve gone too far!”
Dao Yuan’s brows furrowed upon seeing this. With a single grab, a terrifying pulling force acted upon Yun Yin, attempting to drag him out of the spatial rift.
However, Ye Ming’s hand moved like a blade, and a spatial blade directly severed the pulling force Dao Yuan had exerted on Yun Yin.
“No… ah!”
The two forces lost their balance, and Yun Yin plunged into the spatial rift. Endless spatial power surged into his body, and in an instant, he was cut into countless pieces.
An Innate Realm cultivator was so easily erased.
Seeing this, Dao Yuan’s aged body trembled violently, and he instinctively took a step back. His pupils, filled with both anger and shock, ultimately transformed into pure fear.
The opponent’s mastery of space was simply too terrifying.
Not only him, but even Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying behind Ye Ming couldn’t help but gasp. They looked at the young man before them again, feeling a sense of unreality.
“That’s much quieter now!”
Ye Ming waved his hand, and the spatial rift that had swallowed Yun Yin slowly closed. He then turned his gaze back to Dao Yuan, as if what had just happened was a trivial matter.
“You… how can you be so strong?”
Dao Yuan suppressed his panic. The light and shadow shifted in his clouded eyes. The Taikoo Mirror, which he held behind his back, continuously gathered power, its aura becoming increasingly menacing.
“Strong?”
Ye Ming smiled and retorted, “Your Dao Sect’s White-robed Fairy is also not weak, is she!”
“You’ve met Xia Baiyi!”
Upon hearing Ye Ming mention Xia Baiyi, Dao Yuan’s gaze became noticeably more somber. As if recalling something, killing intent towards Ye Ming suddenly arose in his eyes.
“Heh! She is my fiancée. Is it surprising to you that I’ve met her?”
Ye Ming narrowed his eyes, a devilishly charming smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
It was worth noting that he had said “you,” referring not just to Dao Yuan but to the entire Dao Sect.
In other words, his previous statement was directed at the entire Dao Sect.
“You…”
As expected, upon hearing his words, Dao Yuan’s aura became visibly agitated. The killing intent in his eyes was no longer concealed. He brought the Taikoo Mirror in front of him.
“Since that is the case, you must die!”
A ferocious glint flashed in Dao Yuan’s eyes. He propelled the Taikoo Mirror forward, and a destructive energy beam shot out. At the same moment Ye Ming was locked onto by the Taikoo Mirror, a terrifying power of confinement acted upon him.
Just like Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying earlier, he was unable to move.
This was the terror of a supreme artifact.
It was simply impossible to evade.
“Young friend Ye!”
Seeing this, Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying’s faces turned pale, and they cried out in unison.
However, Ye Ming, on the verge of being engulfed by the destructive energy, was remarkably calm. A white radiance flashed in his pupils, and he uttered a single word faintly:
“Reverse!”
As he spoke, the world fell silent.
The next second, the destructive energy that had been blasting towards him began to flow backward, eventually returning entirely into the Taikoo Mirror.
It returned to its state before the attack had been launched.
The confinement power on Ye Ming also disappeared.
Everyone watching was bewildered by this scene, utterly clueless as to what had happened.
And while everyone was still in a daze, Ye Ming suddenly snapped his fingers.
*Snap!*
The moment the sound was heard, Dao Yuan felt the Taikoo Mirror in his hand suddenly surge uncontrollably. The terrifying energy contained within it was on the verge of collapse.
Acting purely on instinct, Dao Yuan did not hesitate and hurled it away.
*Boom!*
Less than a second after he threw the Taikoo Mirror, a terrifying mushroom cloud appeared in the sky. The entire world was plunged into darkness at that moment. The deafening explosion, even from thousands of miles away, could penetrate eardrums and strike the very soul.
“Ah!”
Dao Yuan was closest to the center of the explosion. The residual energy wave generated by the Taikoo Mirror’s detonation sent him flying dozens of miles away. His clothes were torn to shreds, and blood gushed from the corners of his mouth, leaving him utterly disheveled.
If he had not thrown the Taikoo Mirror away in time, it would not have been his clothes that were shattered, but his entire body.
“What exactly did you do?”
Dao Yuan stabilized himself, looking at the remnants of the Taikoo Mirror in the sky. His emotions completely collapsed. His bloodshot eyes glared at Ye Ming, wishing he could rush forward and tear him to shreds right now.
That was a supreme treasure of the Dao Sect, not something belonging to him personally.
Now that it was destroyed, he could not escape responsibility.
“I merely compressed the space inside the Taikoo Mirror a bit. There’s no need to make such a fuss.”
Ye Ming replied with a faint smile.
“Space… compression?”
Upon hearing this answer, Dao Yuan almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
Inside the Taikoo Mirror, there was indeed a space for storing energy. And Ye Ming had continuously compressed this space, squeezing the energy within as the space shrank.
Eventually, it reached a critical point, and with a “boom,” it exploded.
“You… you deserve to die!”
Consumed by rage, Dao Yuan lost all reason and attacked Ye Ming like a madman, his aura becoming increasingly ferocious.
With a punch, he channeled the power of the surroundings, imbued with boundless killing intent, determined to annihilate the enemy before him.
*Boom!*
Facing the enraged Dao Yuan, Ye Ming met his attack head-on with the most brutal method, also throwing a punch.
The collision of their fists was like two small mountains crashing together. The mere air current generated by the friction of their energies scattered all the surrounding clouds, emitting waves of explosive sounds.
As the two engaged in combat, Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying, who had been observing from the sidelines, were forced to retreat. Merely feeling the residual energy waves made them tremble with fear.
This was not something they could possibly approach closely.
“Die! Die! Die!”
Dao Yuan threw punches continuously, channeling all his rage into terrifying power. Every clash between them distorted the very space they occupied, making it impossible for even light to pass through.
Facing Ye Ming’s relentless assault, Ye Ming remained composed throughout, parrying Dao Yuan’s attacks while adjusting his position.
“The Heavenly Human Realm in this secluded land is a bit weak!”
After a series of exchanges, Ye Ming expressed his disappointment.
Although Dao Yuan was in the Heavenly Human Realm, Ye Ming felt that he did not possess the same oppressive pressure as Xia Baiyi.
“Damn it!”
After a head-on punch, Dao Yuan retreated nearly ten miles. The rage in his pupils slowly dissipated, and a sliver of clarity returned.
“How can he be so strong? This is impossible!”
Dao Yuan found it utterly unacceptable that the youth before him could fight him to this extent and still appear so at ease.
“He must die. For the grand plan of the Dao Sect, he absolutely cannot be allowed to disrupt Xia Baiyi’s Dao heart!”
Dao Yuan took a deep breath, and the aura emanating from him began to recede.
“Oh! Is he about to use his trump card?”
Ye Ming smiled and stopped.
“Ye Ming, you can consider yourself fortunate to have forced me to use my Primordial Force!”
At this moment, Dao Yuan slightly raised his palms, and the aura emanating from him changed. Immediately, streams of purple energy coursed through every meridian of his body, converging in his palms to form two dark purple energy spheres.
The moment these two dark purple energy spheres appeared, it was as if the world was covered by a purple curtain. Even Zuo Fengliu and Ruo Ying, watching from afar, couldn’t help but tremble, their faces filled with terror.
“What attribute is this Primordial Force!”
Zuo Fengliu suppressed the unease and fear in his heart. Under this purple sky, he felt no will to fight at all.
It seemed that he had indeed held back when dealing with them earlier.
In the center of the field, Ye Ming stared at the two energy spheres in Dao Yuan’s hands, his eyes narrowing slightly, and he smiled, “Interesting! This is the first time I’ve encountered Primordial Force of this attribute!”
“Hmph! Enjoy your moment of smugness now!”
Dao Yuan saw that Ye Ming still appeared unfazed and sneered, throwing the energy sphere in his right hand into the air.
*Boom!*
It exploded violently.
In the air, the dispersed purple energy began to spread, and within moments, it completely enveloped Ye Ming.
“Hahaha! This is the Nether Qi. Once affected by it, one reveals their most vulnerable side and becomes utterly defenseless.”
Dao Yuan controlled the Nether Qi, continuously eroding Ye Ming’s body, as if he already saw victory within reach.
And from beginning to end, Ye Ming made no defensive moves, allowing Dao Yuan’s Nether Qi to attack him.
However, during the process, his brows furrowed from time to time.
Seeing this, Dao Yuan’s smile grew even more triumphant.
He slowly approached Ye Ming.
In his eyes, the opponent had become an ant at his mercy, easily crushed.
“Arrogant, and too young!”
Dao Yuan looked at Ye Ming, who seemed to have given up struggling, and shook his head. He raised his right hand, gathering the power of the heavens and earth, and with a cruel smile, he said,
“Die!”
And just as he was about to unleash a punch, Ye Ming suddenly raised his head, his body giving a slight tremor. The Nether Qi that had invaded his body was all repelled. He said with great disappointment,
“I thought it was the Power of the Netherworld, but it turns out… heh! Is that all?”