Note: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to drop Power Stones and leave a comment to help the story reach more readers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yan Yue Qi's domineering, almost arrogant words left Lan An's expression peculiar. True to Hong Lian and Diep Tinh's tales, her temperament was fiery blazing with not just intensity but an overwhelming, commanding presence.
The faces of Lang Wang and Hou Yan twisted with rage, turning ashen. For countless years, no one had dared defy them, let alone scorn them so openly.
"Hmph, don't think ranking in the top ten of the Golden Ranking makes you untouchable. By age, you're a mere fledgling who should address us as seniors!" Lang Wang sneered, feigning superiority.
"Exactly! You killed our clan elder your life will compensate!" Hou Yan growled, his voice dripping with malice.
Though aware of Yan Yue Qi's feats, they didn't believe themselves inferior. Their cultivation levels were comparable, and they held a two-to-one advantage.
"Living so long, yet your cultivation is so meager? Wasted trash, proud of squandering your years on dog-like pursuits?" Yan Yue Qi retorted coolly, her mocking tone unmistakable.
"You…" The two Sixth-Order Late-Stage beasts sputtered, fury rendering them speechless. Compared to her cultivation speed, they were indeed far behind.
"Brother Hou, this woman won't reason. Only battle!" Lang Wang growled, glancing at Hou Yan.
"Fight! Kill her and her ally!" Hou Yan nodded, his eyes blazing.
Instantly, two torrents of earth-shaking killing intent surged, pressing toward Lan An and Yan Yue Qi.
"Hmph!" Yan Yue Qi snorted, her invisible aura unshaken, neutralizing the pressure. Whether by design or oversight, she left Lan An to face the killing intent alone.
Lan An's face remained calm. Peerless Under Heaven didn't just intimidate others it made him immune to such tactics. Their killing intent was a pipe dream against him.
Noticing his composure against two Sixth-Order Late-Stage beasts, a glint of approval flashed in Yan Yue Qi's eyes.
"Die!" Seeing their intimidation fail, Lang Wang roared, space before him cracking. A massive wolf claw, vast as the sky, slashed at Yan Yue Qi.
Hou Yan, not to be outdone, unleashed a fist wreathed in molten lava, striking at her. No techniques just raw power and physical might, yet space splintered under the force.
Sixth-Order Late-Stage was terrifyingly strong.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh
Lan An chained Speed Shift three times, retreating far from the battlefield. The attacks' shockwaves were too dangerous for him to linger nearby.
Facing the ferocious onslaught, Yan Yue Qi lazily said, "Use your full strength. I don't have time to waste."
Her alluring figure stood motionless as Sun Crow Void Flame surged, forming two Heavenly Fire Hands to meet the attacks.
BOOM
BOOM
Unlike her prior effortless dominance, the Heavenly Fire Hands didn't incinerate the enemies this time. Instead, they clashed explosively, mutually annihilating with the opponents' strikes.
"Sixth-Order Late-Stage isn't easy to provoke," Lan An muttered, observing. The Heavenly Fire Hands that obliterated Elder Third Hou and Lang Cang now only countered the patriarchs' attacks. Yet, the beasts' singed fur and grim expressions showed Yan Yue Qi's slight edge, thanks to her Alien Fire. A top-ten Golden Ranking genius like her could fight above her level.
"Want our full strength? As you wish!" Hou Yan and Lang Wang exchanged nods.
"Heaven and Earth Manifestation!" Hou Yan bellowed, his crimson body swelling to hundreds of zhang far larger than Elder Third Hou's earlier attempt. His molten armor gleamed with formidable defense.
With a thought, a fiery axe, glowing like an erupting volcano, appeared in his hand the Mountain-Splitting War Axe, a Low Heaven-Grade weapon renowned in the Fire Monkey Clan.
Lang Wang, unlike other Earth Wolves, didn't revert to his beast form. Instead, his humanoid body expanded, muscles bulging grotesquely, eyes blood-red, claws lengthening into ten Earth-Grade blade-like weapons, exuding menace.
"Ready?" Yan Yue Qi asked, her lips curving. Gone was her initial nonchalance; her proud eyes burned with battle intent, a spark of lightning enhancing her regal aura.
Crackle
Her right arm rose, a blinding bolt of lightning flashing with a mind-shaking roar. As the light faded, a mysterious scepter appeared in her delicate hand the Thunder Scepter, silver-white, crackling with raging lightning, eager to destroy.
"That scepter…" Lan An murmured, smiling wryly. "Truly the might of an Eighth-Order force."
He, Hong Lian, and Diep Tinh had retrieved this Thunder Scepter from the Evil Emperor's cave, then a High Earth-Grade artifact. Now, upgraded to Low Heaven-Grade by the Yan Clan's resources and a master artificer, it was Yan Yue Qi's primary weapon a cherished gift from her daughters.
"Move farther back!" Yan Yue Qi glanced at Lan An, warning him of the impending full-scale battle's dangers.
"No problem!" Lan An, unconcerned with pride, retreated another hundred miles. With Thousand-Mile Vision, he wouldn't miss the fight.
"Pay for your arrogance!" Hou Yan struck first, his colossal form riding clouds. The Mountain-Splitting War Axe smashed toward Yan Yue Qi's head, raw and brutal, like crushing an ant. The air scorched, heat spiking. An ordinary Late Void Refining cultivator would struggle, even suffer losses.
But Golden Ranking geniuses were far from ordinary.
CLANG
Facing the mountain-like axe, Yan Yue Qi remained serene, raising her Thunder Scepter. Lightning burst forth, her slender arm wielding it like a goddess. The scepter blocked the axe capable of splitting mountains.
A beauty against a monstrous beast, Yan Yue Qi stood unyielding, her spine straight. Hou Yan gritted his teeth, his giant form straining to crush her, but it was futile. She was an immovable rock, unshakeable despite his efforts.
Where their weapons clashed, space shattered layer by layer, the ground below upheaving into a bottomless chasm.
Lan An's blood surged, the Wood Turtle manifesting to shield him from the shockwaves.
"Die!" Lang Wang vanished into space, reappearing behind Yan Yue Qi, his razor claws targeting her jade-like neck.
"Careful!" Lan An warned, a Harmony Palm forming in his hand.
"Trying to ambush me?" Yan Yue Qi sneered.
Before Lan An could act, a piercing cry echoed. Sun Crow Void Flame erupted from her, forming a radiant Divine Sun Crow, gazing disdainfully at Lang Wang. Its flaming claws slashed at him.
"Not good!" Sensing the searing heat, Lang Wang aborted his attack, retreating. His instincts screamed that ambushing her would backfire.
"That's the Fire Spirit of Sun Crow Void Flame. It can't fight independently like your Four Spirit Soul Guards, but it's more than enough to protect her," Jin Ni explained.
Lan An nodded, observing the Sun Crow phantom. A near-mature Alien Fire could form a Fire Spirit with some sentience. His Purple Heart Burning Void Flame hadn't reached this stage.
"Great Sandstorm!" Lang Wang, retreating, unleashed his clan's Heaven-Grade technique. Three cataclysmic sandstorms roared toward Yan Yue Qi.
Flash
Like a bolt of lightning, Yan Yue Qi vanished. Hou Yan's Mountain-Splitting War Axe lost its target, crashing into the ground.
BOOM
The earth split, burying unlucky beast corpses. Yan Yue Qi reappeared above Hou Yan's head, dodging the sandstorms.
CRACK CRACK CRACK
Her Thunder Scepter unleashed three ferocious lightning bolts. Hou Yan snorted, raising his axe to block, but was forced back over a dozen steps, his face twisting in disbelief. Equal in cultivation, yet she dominated him.
His heart burned with frustration, slamming his axe into the ground, roaring, "Fire Monkey Heaven-Suppressing Fist!"
The Fire Monkey phantom reappeared, mirroring his devastating punch, space exploding.
Yan Yue Qi's expression turned serious. Facing a peer's full-force attack, she didn't dare underestimate it. Her lips parted, shouting, "Sun Crow Single Palm!"
SCREECH
A proud cry shook the heavens. Her delicate hand struck, a Divine Sun Crow-shaped palm print blazing with Alien Fire surging forth.
BOOM
Like a meteor collision, a mushroom cloud erupted, shockwaves rippling thousands of miles. Yan Yue Qi retreated over ten steps to stabilize. Hou Yan fared worse, his arm burned to the bone by golden flames, blood spraying.
"Great Sandstorm!" Lang Wang seized her momentary lapse, unleashing three more sandstorms.
"Persistent pest!" Yan Yue Qi frowned, her proud eyes flashing. The sky darkened, clouds swirling, lightning forming.
"Five Thunder Bombardment!"
Five lightning bolts crashed, obliterating the sandstorms instantly. Lang Wang, reeling from the backlash, paled.
"Mountain-Splitting Strike!" Hou Yan, axe in hand, charged maniacally.
"Great Sandstorm!" Lang Wang gritted his teeth, attacking again.
Lan An saw their strategy knowing they couldn't outmatch Yan Yue Qi, they aimed to exhaust her through relentless assaults. As a combatant, Yan Yue Qi surely noticed.
"Smart plan, but you'll be corpses before I tire!" she scoffed domineeringly.
Her proud eyes blazed with golden flames, intertwining harmoniously with white lightning. To Lang Wang and Hou Yan's disbelief, the Divine Sun Crow phantom roared, a massive lightning bolt merging into its body.
No elemental clash occurred fire and lightning fused perfectly, the golden Sun Crow now laced with white streaks. A deadly aura gripped the patriarchs' hearts.
Watching from afar, Lan An's eyes flickered with awe. She was too exceptional, too ethereal, too majestic.
Ding! Epic Quest Triggered: [Conquer the Mother-in-Law]. Success Reward: One Technique Summon, One Bloodline Summon. Failure: Become enemies with the Yan Clan!
The system's voice jolted him, his mind reeling at the audacious task.