Li Yan had held back, observing Xuan Yue's methods.
Only after Xuan Yue struck Ao Jiao and sent her flying did Li Yan finally catch a glimpse of the aura he'd let slip.
[Detected Xuan Yue War Marshal using high-level Bloodline Dao Runes with a side effect.] [By sacrificing his own lifespan, he can bypass the time-stop laws of the Abyss of the Netherworld.] [Each time he uses them, he must pay a price of over a thousand years of his lifespan.]
Only then did Li Yan finally understand how Xuan Yue had broken through the time-stop freeze.
He'd used the high-level Bloodline Dao Runes White Jade Capital had given him. Each use cost over a thousand years of lifespan—a staggering price.
If he swung his axe ten times, he'd lose over ten thousand years. A single fight would probably cost him hundreds of thousands of years of life.
That was precisely why Xuan Yue War Marshal wanted to end the fight quickly and avoid getting bogged down in a fierce battle with Ao Jiao.
Having seen through his opponent's trick, Li Yan stepped in front of Ao Jiao to protect her.
He pulled the silver-haired dragon woman behind him with such force that, as Ao Jiao watched his back, her heart began to race despite herself.
"L-Little Bean Sprout, how dare you?"
In Ao Jiao's eyes, Xuan Yue War Marshal could kill Li Yan with one swing of his axe.
Yet Li Yan had stepped forward to protect her.
His opponent had clearly used provocation, deliberately telling Li Yan not to hide behind a woman.
But how could Li Yan, at the peak of the Void Refining Stage, possibly stand against Xuan Yue War Marshal, one of the four emperors of the Old Heavenly Court?
Especially when