Ouyang Xiuyah, Lan Xin

Only after sensing that Ouyang Xiuyah and Lan Xin had safely made it far away did Jiang Yan turn his full attention to the opponent before him.

The man was thin and gaunt, with ordinary features and sunken eye sockets. He looked especially worn out, like someone who often stayed up all night.

He wore a coarse-cloth shirt and had nothing in his hands. He carried no conspicuous tools or weapons.

He had not deliberately let Jiang Yan send his two companions away so easily. He had done so to use the situation to create an opening for himself.

An opening to strike first.

By the time Jiang Yan turned around and shifted his attention to the gaunt man, the man had already reached out and "touched" the emptiness in front of him.

Snap!

In an instant, the air around Jiang Yan turned rigid, hard as iron. His whole body froze in midair, like a lifeless statue.

The gaunt man's expression barely changed. He simply raised his arm and made a fist, punching at the empty air.

"Die!"

Jiang Yan's eyes lost their light. His whole body shuddered violently, as if struck by some invisible, tremendous force and subjected to an unimaginable assault.

His head, torso, and limbs cracked apart, crumbling like porcelain.

Then, with a whoosh, countless fragments of his body burst into a sea of flames, illuminating the surroundings and radiating terrifying heat.

At the same time, Jiang Yan appeared above the gaunt man, his right eye tinged green. He reached out with his left hand, wrapped in golden flames, and pressed down, clenching his fist hard.

His left eye had turned darker and more fathomless, sending out an invisible wave of soul force.

Buzz!

The gaunt man's expression turned bewildered for an instant. Then a cage of