“Yo, everyone’s here…”
Yisela heard Kaxiu’s voice and turned around.
She saw Kaxiu leading a large group noisily through the gate.
When he saw Moriya lying half-dead on the ground, he spat at him.
“Can’t believe it, little Yisela is pretty impressive—actually managed to defeat Moriya.”
The expression on Yisela’s face froze.
She tried hard to see Dongfang Jiang, but the people Kaxiu brought blocked her view.
After seeing Yisela’s expression, Kaxiu looked as if he had tasted the finest wine, his face barely able to contain his grin.
“Don’t worry. Before that guy fell under the illusion, he used that same move from before. We can’t hurt him, but he can’t stop us either. We just went around and came straight for you.”
In fact, Kaxiu wasn’t lying.
He and his men had tried to attack Dongfang Jiang, but all their techniques lost effect under the heavy pressure from Dongfang Jiang.
After Kaxiu’s men discovered that using this move consumed a lot of energy, they chose to bypass Dongfang Jiang and deal with the Badan family first.
Yisela took a deep breath and stood up with Yigenaxiu’s support.
She stared at Kaxiu and his men.
A tearing pain shot through Kaxiu’s internal organs.
He pressed his palms together and muttered something.
The Valen Ring on his finger bloomed with golden light, shattering Yisela’s illusion.
“Emptiness of All Phenomena.”
Yisela coughed up blood, her lips turning purple, her legs as heavy as lead.
Kaxiu’s grin stretched to the corners of his mouth.
Several large spheres appeared behind him, all rolling toward Yisela.
“Rootless Bodhi.”
“Tch.”
Yigenaxiu injected energy into his ring, forming a huge golden shield that covered everyone.
“It’s useless~”
The large spheres collided with the shield, causing a massive explosion.
Under the blast, everyone except Yisela lost their combat ability instantly.
Yigenaxiu was thrown several meters by Kaxiu, his head hitting a table, and he passed out.
Yisela felt a sour ache in her chest.
She coughed a few times, staring at Kaxiu in front of her.
“You’ve been controlled by the Valen Ring?”
Kaxiu stretched his arms, his bones cracking.
He squinted at Yisela.
“This feels great. Fully accepting the ring’s influence…”
Kaxiu waved his hand.
A sphere as tall as a person flew toward Yisela.
She closed her eyes, and Dongfang Jiang’s image appeared in her mind.
He reached out his hand to her.
‘If I were to die now, that would be too much of a loss…’
She opened her eyes.
The Desert Ring glowed with yellow light, and the energy it emitted neutralized Kaxiu’s attack.
“Oh? Still able to resist… That energy—is it the desert?”
Kaxiu stared at Yisela with interest.
Yisela felt a heavy oppression in her chest, completely drained of strength.
“Interesting. But this is what happens when you oppose me.”
Kaxiu pointed at Yisela.
Lotus flowers slowly sprouted beneath her feet.
Numerous lotus flowers grew into a vast Lotus Sea.
The Lotus Sea began pulling everyone who had lost combat ability in the hall down into its depths.
Yisela tried to break free from the lotus restraints, but the lotuses clung tightly, trying to drag her into the Lotus Sea.
“Mm, become my energy… This ending is just right for the Badan family. What do you think?”
After saying this, Kaxiu looked arrogantly at his underlings, who naturally responded ingratiatingly.
“Great, the boss is wise.”
Hearing their flattery, Kaxiu was satisfied and increased his energy output.
The Valen Ring shone even brighter.
“I don’t think so.”
A calm yet oppressive voice came from behind the crowd.
Then, a suffocating pressure bore down on Kaxiu’s group.
Protected by the Valen Ring, Kaxiu dodged the sudden attack.
His underlings all fell to their knees.
Kaxiu looked toward the entrance.
Dongfang Jiang, having woken from the illusion, slowly walked in through the door.
He manipulated the longsword in his hand, holding it horizontally across his chest.
“Oh… You managed to wake up?”
Dongfang Jiang spat out a mouthful of blood and answered Kaxiu’s question somewhat indistinctly.
“Yeah, I bit my own tongue.”
“Heh, that’s really…”
Kaxiu snapped his fingers.
A giant lotus appeared behind him, and then nine spheres, each as tall as a person, materialized around him.
All of them flew toward Dongfang Jiang.
Dongfang Jiang crooked his finger.
The longsword, infused with Glacier Energy, cleaved one sphere in two.
The split sphere instantly exploded, and the blast obscured Dongfang Jiang’s vision.
“Then—”
Using the longsword, Dongfang Jiang released his energy, freezing the other eight spheres.
“Harmonization.”
The eight spheres turned into deep blue energy, which flowed into Dongfang Jiang’s longsword.
Seeing Dongfang Jiang’s unconventional combat methods, Kaxiu’s mouth twitched.
“Not bad.”
Kaxiu leaped in front of Dongfang Jiang and threw a punch.
Dongfang Jiang crossed his arms in front of his chest, sending him flying several meters back.
After creating distance, Dongfang Jiang swung his longsword in the air and struck a heavy blow at Kaxiu.
Kaxiu tried to retreat, but his body grew heavy.
Dongfang Jiang severed his left hand.
Taking advantage of Kaxiu’s roar, Dongfang Jiang quickly moved to Yisela’s side.
Seeing him, Yisela immediately hugged him.
“Are you okay, Brother Dongfang?”
Dongfang Jiang gently patted Yisela’s back, calming her.
“Swallowing saliva hurts a bit. Other than that, I’m fine. Do you know about watermelon frost?”
Dongfang Jiang joked while converting the Lotus Sea on the ground into energy, turning it into ash.
“Uh, what’s that?”
“A kind of medicine… And—”
“Something else?”
“The fight isn’t over yet.”
As soon as Dongfang Jiang finished speaking, the arm Kaxiu had cut off visibly regrew.
Dongfang Jiang finally realized where the dissonance came from.
“What’s going on?”
The sight shocked Yisela.
Dongfang Jiang summoned his longsword, protecting himself and Yisela.
“The entire Badan family’s energy is now concentrated in Kaxiu. I noticed something was off when I tried to harmonize the energy earlier. This Lotus Sea absorbed all the energy from your family members, but I didn’t find that energy when I converted it.”
“One side grows stronger while the other weakens… Ah, then I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”
Yisela stepped forward.
The ring on her ring finger transformed into a golden fan.
The ribs and surface of the fan were engraved with symbols representing desert energy.
This was the weapon the ring granted Yisela.
Mirage Shadow.