"Boom!"
Astral qi surged, forming a huge hand that struck out with an explosive crack through the air.
Xiao Chen wore a cruel expression, as though he could already see Xu Yang being smashed into pulp.
He had placed twentieth in the Violet Sun Gate's Outer Sect Grand Competition. Killing a martial artist at astral qi minor accomplishment would be as easy as reaching out his hand, even if his opponent was a genius on the Top Ten Heroes Ranking.
"You probably don't know my other nickname," Xu Yang said calmly.
Facing the huge hand bearing down on him with the force of collapsing mountains and surging seas, he glowed with pale golden light, and a powerful aura swept outward.
"Bang, bang..."
The two invisible auras collided, pulverizing the surrounding vegetation and sending sand and stones flying.
Xu Yang closed his hand around empty air. A pale golden saber astral formed rapidly from his astral qi, blazing with light.
In an instant, scorching heat surged outward in rolling waves. Mist rose through the woods, and the leaves withered yellow.
He bent his legs and sprang, abruptly vanishing from where he stood.
"Golden astral qi?" Xiao Chen shrieked, his pupils contracting violently.
"Whoosh!"
The shrill sound of air being sliced pierced his eardrums. Before Xiao Chen could react further, the pale golden saber astral cleaved through the giant astral qi hand and slashed down like lightning, carrying blistering heat.
"Squelch!"
The sound of a blade slicing into flesh rang out. The saber astral split between Xiao Chen's fingers with the unstoppable force of a blade splitting bamboo, cutting straight through toward his wrist. Like a red-hot knife through butter, it sent up wisps of smoke and the smell of roasting meat.
The palm Xiao Chen had thrust forward was smoothly sliced