Life Source Burst!

Whoooosh!

The air shook, and rings of violently rippling air spread outward.

Space itself seemed to become a lake whipped by fierce winds, or water at a rolling boil, chaotic and savage beyond measure!

The enormous purple-black palm descended, blotting out the torrential rain overhead. In that instant, heaven and earth seemed to overturn.

Yang Yu's expression was utterly grave.

He breathed deeply.

"Hoooo..."

"Innnn..."

After several long, repeated breaths, all the Cosmic Force within Yang Yu converged on his heart like countless rivers flowing into the sea. It began reacting with the ice-blue Life Energy inside him, undergoing a transformation in an extraordinarily strange state!

Life Source Burst!

This was a secret power-amplifying technique unique to inheritors of the Insect Race!

Only those who possessed both Life Energy and Cosmic Force could wield it!

It was extraordinarily compatible, capable of stacking with almost any kind of power... once unleashed, it immediately allowed an Insect Race inheritor to wield strength far beyond others at the same level!

This was a life-saving ultimate technique.

His last resort!

Yang Yu had held off on using it precisely because he had been waiting for this moment!

He had been guarding against the Ghost Infant Sect sending an Earth Rank expert!

That was because a technique like Life Source Burst had a strict time limit.

Once activated, it would burn through the Cosmic Force and Life Energy within Yang Yu at a frenzied rate!

It burned far faster than the energy expenditure of ordinary combat!

Ordinary combat consumed relatively little energy. If Yang Yu could fight normally for half a day before exhausting himself... then using Life Source Burst would probably drain all his stamina in just ten minutes!

Life Source Burst burned his bodily power to its utmost limit. That enormous expenditure would grant Yang Yu terrifying strength for a short time!

At this moment, Yang Yu was already strong enough to contend with an Earth Rank expert!

BOOM!!!!!

A deep crimson surge erupted from Yang Yu's body. Powerful jets of air blasted from his countless pores, forming a dazzling shell of blazing light within ten meters of him in the blink of an eye.

The deep crimson flames flickered like demonic fire from the deepest depths of the underworld.

Yang Yu's lips parted in a savage grin.

He was thoroughly pleased with his new appearance.

The next moment, Yang Yu slowly raised his arm, tightening his grip on the Yama Battle Blade's hilt... its edge pointed straight at the heavens!

"You old dog of the Ghost Infant Sect!"

"I've been waiting for you!"

With that furious declaration of war, Yang Yu stamped hard on the ground and shot into the sky!

BOOM!!

The earth caved in. The muddy black soil, soaked with bright red blood, was baked dry by the violent eruption of energy before shattering and collapsing into an enormous crater.

Yang Yu's entire body became a streak of deep crimson blade light.

The blade light tore through heaven and earth. He seemed to have fused completely with the Yama Battle Blade, which let out a long hum in midair, as though it possessed a spirit of its own and was thrilled by the imminent battle!

In the blink of an eye, the enormous blade light, over a hundred meters long, reached the purple-black palm crashing down from above!

"Kill!" Yang Yu's furious roar rang out from within the scarlet blade light.

Whoosh!

The terrifying deep crimson blade light shot upward like a brilliant streak that could tear heaven and earth apart. It met the attack head-on, without the slightest attempt to dodge or any hesitation!

The blade light met the enormous palm.

They collided with devastating force!

At the instant they touched, time itself seemed to pause.

Even the vast bolts of lightning in the sky paled.

Then—

RUMBLE~~~~~~~~~~

An immense roar shook heaven and earth.

Amid that roar, the blade light and enormous palm shattered and vanished together.

The chaotic energy released by both attacks formed an incredibly violent storm. Within its eye, a white-hot glow appeared... that light burned fiercely, illuminating everything within a radius of two or three thousand meters!

Even in the residential districts farther away.

People could now see a small sun appearing in the northwestern sky.

Elder Xu drew on his Cosmic Force to hover briefly in midair, staring in astonishment at the raging zone of turbulent energy nearby and the scorching little sun rapidly expanding within it!

Elder Xu's pupils contracted.

He had never imagined that Yang Yu, who appeared to possess only Human Tier strength, could unleash such power in an instant and become so formidable!

He had even shattered the enormous palm attack Elder Xu had launched with all his strength in a single strike!

How was that possible?

Was that fellow really a Human Tier cultivator?

Disbelief, doubt.

Horror!

Countless thoughts flashed through Elder Xu's mind.

But in the next instant, he had no more time to ponder those questions.

Yang Yu's frenzied roar rang out from the white-hot little sun as it burned and expanded rapidly!

That roar carried boundless fighting spirit.

"You old dog of the Ghost Infant Sect!"

"Come meet your death!"

"Come on, let's have a proper fight!"

Amid his roars, Yang Yu emerged from the top of the white-hot little sun. An immense aura surrounded him, and the deep crimson waves of blazing light grew brighter still.

He strode through the air, leaving the little sun in an instant and charging close to Elder Xu!

Elder Xu's yellow robes fluttered in the wind and rain. His gaze was icy, and purple-black light once again shone over his palms.

"Hmph!"

Elder Xu sneered furiously. A moment later, he moved, charging straight at Yang Yu as the latter rushed up from below.

"You insolent brat, don't get too cocky!"

"Die!"

"Kill!" With that furious response, Elder Xu reached Yang Yu!

In the blink of an eye, the two were locked in a deadly battle!

Terrifying streaks of blade light and enormous palm imprints that seemed capable of smashing anything appeared high in the sky, colliding and shattering!

Time passed.

Their battle grew fiercer and fiercer. Both threw every ounce of strength into their attacks, denying the other even a moment to catch his breath!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Afterimages flashed across the sky.

The frenzied exchange between Yang Yu and Elder Xu sent rings of ripples through the air!

They fought relentlessly.

Their battle moved from the sky to the ground, splitting the earth and hurling countless clods of bloodstained soil over a hundred meters into the air.

One terrifying crater after another appeared in the ground!

At that moment, it seemed less like a duel between two people and more like a modern armored division bombarding the area with concentrated artillery fire!

Those savage attacks would have left any ordinary person dumbstruck, utterly unable to believe his eyes!

Yang Yu and Elder Xu had already gone completely beyond the limits of humanity in their battle.

In the eyes of ordinary people, their strength made them nothing short of monsters!

"What a rush!"

"This is exhilarating!" Yang Yu was completely immersed in the fierce battle. Even as he fought on the edge of life and death, he discovered that his skill with the blade was improving at a staggering rate.

Many flawed details were rapidly being corrected.

How he exerted his strength, the angles of his slashes.

He was improving in every respect...

Yang Yu had become so absorbed in the battle that he no longer spared a thought for the Cosmic Force and Life Energy burning wildly within him, which had already dropped by a third in the blink of an eye!

At that moment, he felt he had transcended the Human Tier and truly reached the Earth Rank.

Meanwhile, Elder Xu grew more alarmed the longer they fought.

After barely a minute or two of exchanging blows, he discovered that he was even being forced onto the defensive!

Yang Yu was clearly still giving off the aura of a Human Tier cultivator.

Yet that violent eruption of power had actually suppressed him, allowing Yang Yu to match him blow for blow!

A bone-deep chill gripped Elder Xu!

His desire to kill Yang Yu grew even stronger!

Someone like this must not be allowed to live!

He had a vague premonition that if Yang Yu did not die today... he would one day bring unimaginable trouble upon the Ghost Infant Sect!