Yan Kai cut a striking figure. His long, dark red hair was tied loosely behind his head with a strip of unidentified beast hide, flying wild in the rolling heat.
His face had an aggressive edge. Features that looked carved by blade and axe concealed a sharpness few dared meet, especially his eyes, where twin Demonic Flames burned with a defiance that respected neither heaven nor earth.
He wore a close-fitting dark red combat outfit, its fabric neither silk nor brocade. Hidden Dragon Mystic Patterns were embroidered across it with subtle skill, while a fitted set of partial fire armor guarded his shoulders, chest, forearms, and other vital points.
He needed no drawn blade. A single glance was enough to cow any petty villain.
But to Li Xiang, the most arresting thing about Yan Kai was not his impressive appearance. It was the demonic blade he held inverted at his side in one hand.
The blade was long and curved more deeply than an ordinary saber. Dark red flowing patterns ran across it like magma freshly hardened in the depths of a volcanic crater.
Its edge had none of the gleam of sharpened steel. Instead, it shone crimson, and looking at it too long gave the illusion that one's soul was being scorched.
At the guard sat a lifelike, ferocious dragon head. Its jaws gaped around the hilt, and the design continued downward from its mouth.
When still, the blade was an evil dragon lurking in the abyss, all its vicious light tucked away inside its sheath.
Yet with every breath Yan Kai took, threads of Demonic Flame sliced through the air with a sizzling hiss, carrying an overbearing arrogance that acknowledged no equal.
"Bzzz—!"
The instant Li Xiang's gaze settled on the demonic blade, the Ghost-Slaying Blade shuddered and