Chapter 358: Bombarding Gold into Liquid

“Yi Xiaoyao! What are you doing?” Mo Qiansu cried out in alarm.

Xing Gang also roared angrily, “If you push us too far, we’ll make you pay a heavy price!”

Chi Xiao’s face was deathly pale. Before this, Yi Xiaoyao had been their teammate, but because he hadn’t cherished that connection, they had ended up in this predicament.

Yi Xiaoyao glanced indifferently at Chi Xiao, then looked over at the people from Heihuang and the White Wilderness, a cold smile touching his lips.

“What am I doing? Don’t you know already? I’m here to kill you, of course!”

A flicker of fire erupted from Yi Xiaoyao’s figure as he used Instant Illusion to charge directly toward the rapidly retreating Xing Gang. His icy voice followed, “I’d like to see just what kind of heavy price you’ll make me pay.”

Xing Gang’s expression was incredibly grave. Before this, he had thought killing Yi Xiaoyao would be a simple matter and had even boasted that their next meeting would be Yi Xiaoyao’s last.

But now, facing Yi Xiaoyao again, with the blood-red figure flashing toward him, only fear remained in Xing Gang’s heart.

“Transcendent Celestial Tier Spiritual Skill, Vajra Celestial Artifact Body!”

Violent Gold Attribute Spiritual Power surged madly into Xing Gang’s body, causing his already robust muscles to swell even more. His entire body became like tempered metal as his form ballooned to dozens of times its original size.

By now, Yi Xiaoyao had used Instant Illusion to appear just a few yards in front of Xing Gang. The terrifyingly powerful Blood Sword was already slashing down at his head.

Xing Gang let out a low roar and abruptly raised his arm to block the blade, which pulsed with a sharp Sword Aura.

CLANG!

The sound of metal striking metal exploded through the air, making the less powerful Cultivators dizzy.

Yi Xiaoyao’s Bloodthirsty Sword instantly sliced several inches into Xing Gang’s right arm. After a grating screech of tearing metal, the sword’s momentum was spent, and it couldn’t cut a fraction of an inch deeper.

Yi Xiaoyao’s expression flickered. This strike would have been enough to kill any other team captain, yet it had failed to completely break through Xing Gang’s defense.

Xing Gang snorted coldly. “With the Vajra Celestial Artifact Body, my body has reached the level of a Celestial Tier Spiritual Artifact. Your sword alone is nowhere near enough to kill me!”

Then, showing no fear of its sharp edge, Xing Gang grabbed the blade of the Bloodthirsty Sword and yanked hard, as if trying to rip it from Yi Xiaoyao’s grasp.

Feeling the immense pulling force on his sword, Yi Xiaoyao’s lips curled into a slight smirk. He used the momentum to charge directly at his opponent.

“The defenses of the Gold Attribute truly live up to their reputation. If a sword can’t kill you, then I’ll just smash you to pieces with my fist!”

His cold laughter was accompanied by a wave of heat that instantly billowed outward.

When Xing Gang felt the searing wave of heat wash over him and saw the Flame Giant lunging forward, his expression finally changed.

‘Vajra may be hard, but it’s not indestructible.’

Fire overcomes metal—this was the greatest weakness of Gold Attribute Cultivators.

Seeing the fist cloaked in terrifying flames, Xing Gang had no choice but to throw a punch of his own to meet it.

SPLAT!

The instant the two fists collided, the sound wasn’t the clang of metal on metal from before, but the spatter of liquid.

Upon contact with the Flame Fist, the Vajra fist instantly glowed red-hot and became like soft clay, then liquefied into a torrent of molten gold that splashed everywhere.

Yi Xiaoyao’s Nirvana Phoenix Fire had actually melted Xing Gang’s fist into a pool of liquid gold.

Without a hint of resistance, the Flame Fist then slammed violently into Xing Gang’s chest.

The scene was so similar to their first meeting, when Xing Gang had blocked Yi Xiaoyao’s punch.

Except, this time, the outcome was completely different.

The first time, Xing Gang had easily blocked Yi Xiaoyao’s Flame Fist and sent him flying backward with the rebound force.

This time, Yi Xiaoyao’s fist struck as if hitting water. Amid a spray of golden liquid, it instantly pierced through Xing Gang’s chest, the flames blasting a gaping hole through him.

Their figures froze for a moment. Yi Xiaoyao withdrew his Flaming Fist from his opponent’s chest and gave a cold smile.

Xing Gang’s mouth gaped open as he gasped for air, his eyes wide with disbelief. His colossal body crashed to the ground, shaking the earth upon impact.

The Soul Burning Forbidden Technique had raised Yi Xiaoyao’s Cultivation to the Ninth Realm of Nascent Soul Transformation. Combined with his compressed Spiritual Power—amplified by 150%—and the Attribute disadvantage, even Xing Gang’s freakishly strong defense was no match; Yi Xiaoyao had killed him with a single punch.

Witnessing this scene, while the people from the Red Wilderness and Cyan Wilderness were shocked and amazed, the faces of those from Heihuang and Lihuang showed only terror and dread.

With Xing Gang dead, it was their turn.

“Leave this despicable woman to me!”

Flame Sacrifice Fire Dance stepped forward, leading the people of the Red Wilderness in a direct charge against the group from Heihuang.

Yi Xiaoyao didn’t stop her. Heihuang was already an enemy of the Red Wilderness, and after what Mo Qiansu had done, it was only natural that Flame Sacrifice Fire Dance would want to kill her personally.

Besides, Mo Qiansu was already severely injured and couldn’t cause any more trouble. With Ji Hao and the others from the Cyan Wilderness present, Yi Xiaoyao’s help wasn’t needed.

Therefore, Yi Xiaoyao’s gaze fell directly upon Chi Xiao and the others from Lihuang.

“Xiao… Xiaoyao! We… we were teammates once, after all. I trust you wouldn’t disregard our past friendship, would you?”

Chi Xiao spoke up nervously as he saw Yi Xiaoyao approaching.

“So you teamed up with others to turn on your former teammate?” Yi Xiaoyao sneered.

Chi Xiao was instantly speechless. In truth, he had joined the White Wilderness and Heihuang mainly because he saw that Yi Xiaoyao was in a hopeless situation against the living corpses. He decided to seize the opportunity; not only could he get a baptism in the Soul Spirit Pool, but he could also take the Blood-crying Poison Lotus from Yi Xiaoyao’s body.

In the face of absolute benefit, former teammates meant nothing.

Now, Chi Xiao had once again miscalculated Yi Xiaoyao’s strength. As fear gripped him, he recalled the words Yi Xiaoyao had left them with when they parted ways.

“Never become my enemy, or else…”

The words echoed in Chi Xiao’s mind. Though Yi Xiaoyao hadn’t finished the sentence back then, Chi Xiao understood the rest now.

“I regret not heeding your advice more than I can say, Xiaoyao. I hope that for the sake of my Uncle, Chong Li, you will spare the Lihuang team.”

Chi Xiao pleaded with Yi Xiaoyao, his tone utterly sincere.

At these words, Yi Xiaoyao’s gaze flickered slightly.

“Go back and tell Senior Chong Li that I have now repaid the Lihuang team for the two times he saved my life.”

With that, Yi Xiaoyao stopped and turned away.

The members of the Lihuang team felt as if they had been granted a new lease on life. They hurriedly took out their Teleportation Talismans, preparing to leave.

Meanwhile, the combined forces of the Cyan Wilderness and Red Wilderness teams quickly annihilated the remaining members from Heihuang and the White Wilderness.

When Yi Xiaoyao had first met these peers from the Eight Desolates, they had all been so proud and domineering. But in the end, because of him, they were either dead or had fled for their lives.

And so, there was no one left to compete with them for the baptism of the Soul Spirit Pool.

Watching Yi Xiaoyao walk toward them, Flame Sacrifice Fire Dance’s beautiful eyes shone with a peculiar light. It now seemed that helping him during their first encounter was truly the best decision she had made on this trip.

A sharp glint also appeared in Ji Hao’s eyes. He finally understood the source of the confidence in Yi Xiaoyao’s words when he had invited him to join forces.

At the time, Yi Xiaoyao’s reason for the invitation was that he would gift the Cyan Wilderness team a share of the Soul Spirit Pool’s baptism. As it turned out, he had not been bluffing.

Yi Xiaoyao nodded at them, and then his figure flickered, heading into the dense forest where Yun Mengling was.