“Chi!” As Lin Xiao’s command fell, the Beauty Sky Demon’s iron-like wings began to flap slowly. Black vitality surged from her body, flickering with endless, eerie demonic flames. The terrifying pressure of a Martial Lord enveloped the surroundings.
“Mind Control—he’s controlling the Beauty Sky Demon’s spirit!” Le Zheng Hongmao exclaimed, realizing Lin Xiao had just used spiritual power to dominate her. Without it, someone of Lin Xiao’s level and status could never command her.
“Mind Control requires fifth-grade spiritual power—I can’t even do it! How can this kid manage it, and control the Beauty Sky Demon no less? Heavens!” Ye Fenghua was beyond words, utterly shocked.
Spirit controller stages: object control, human control, self-flight, manifestation, mind control, puppet control, and cosmic energy mastery.
First- and second-grade spiritual power allowed control over objects and people; third-grade enabled self-flight; fourth-grade permitted spiritual manifestation to attack mind and body; fifth-grade unlocked mind control—and even then, only briefly.
Yet Lin Xiao, at his level, had achieved it—an anomaly defying all logic.
“He must have a secret technique to forcibly use mind control!” After a brief pause, Ye Fenghua latched onto this explanation.
It was the only plausible answer.
“Martial Lord First Layer!” Sensing the Beauty Sky Demon’s aura, Feng Yuntian’s alarm deepened. She was no longer the Martial Venerable of old but a Martial Lord First Layer—nearing its peak, as if she’d failed to break into the Second Layer and settled back.
In a one-on-one fight at the same realm, humans were no match for her, especially with her refined cultivation.
“That kid’s secret technique can’t hold her long. Once the time limit’s up, the first she’ll turn on is him!” Feng Yuntian quickly deduced the truth. The Beauty Sky Demon fought on instinct under mind control—a fleeting effect. Once it wore off, her proud nature would drive her to kill Lin Xiao first.
He didn’t need to defeat her—just stall until the control lapsed. Even as a Martial Lord, clashing with her would be costly.
“Kill Lin Xiao—I’ll hold her off!” With a resonant shout, Feng Yuntian soared skyward.
“Chi!” As he ascended, the Beauty Sky Demon followed, chasing him into the heights, ignoring all others.
“Rumble!”
High above, deafening blasts erupted, a sea of energy exploding outward. Terrifying waves shook the heavens, the void trembling as rolling shockwaves swept through like a hurricane.
The devastation would’ve been unimaginable on the ground or lower air.
“Shiu!” Amid the torrential energy, Feng Yuntian’s figure was hurled back.
The Beauty Sky Demon burst from the shockwaves, cloaked in rolling black mist, pursuing him relentlessly.
“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”…
Their clashes thundered incessantly, dazzling lights flaring in succession. Feng Yuntian was repeatedly forced back, dodging or enduring—completely outmatched.
“Kill!”
Glancing at the aerial battle, Chen Wendao roared from below. The families’ experts surged toward Lin Xiao.
“Stop them!” The six black-clad figures each intercepted a Martial King, while others blocked their respective foes. Chaos erupted anew.
Lin Xiao sped along the Feng estate’s flank. He had a mere quarter-hour to escape—beyond that, the Beauty Sky Demon would awaken, and he’d be in peril.
If she realized a junior had controlled her—and that her potential breakthrough to Martial Lord Second Layer had been thwarted by it—she’d reduce him to nothing.
Pushing all his spiritual power, Lin Xiao fled at full speed.
The Martial Kings on both sides were evenly matched, all held by his defenders. Only a swarm of Heavenly Martial experts pursued him now.
Their speed couldn’t match his—a golden opportunity to escape.
Seeing this, the Feng and Chen experts redoubled their efforts.
“Blazing Heaven—kill!” A Martial King’s shout rang out as a radiant sword beam erupted, blasting Wu Meng and Pang Po back. Blood sprayed from their mouths.
As third-grade spirit controllers, they were a full realm below a Martial King. Facing his desperate strike head-on, they couldn’t hold.
Forcing them back, the Martial King charged at Lin Xiao.
“No—stop him!” Wu Meng, suppressing his churning blood, shouted and gave chase.
But a flood of Heavenly Martial experts swarmed in, trapping him and Pang Po.
The Martial King, using some secret technique, surged in speed, closing on Lin Xiao. A dazzling sword beam slashed forth like a rainbow, aimed to cleave him.
“Just an early-stage Martial King—how’s he so fast?!” Lin Xiao frowned, bracing to counter. At that moment, a transparent spiritual palm struck the sword beam from the side.
“Boom! Chi!” The beam shattered.
It was Ye Fenghua, a fifth-grade spirit controller. An early-stage Martial King’s sword beam was nothing before his power.
He raced toward Lin Xiao.
Behind him, Feng Ziyang pursued relentlessly. As one of the empire’s top Martial Kings—peak-level, half a step from Martial Venerable—he couldn’t match Ye Fenghua and bore wounds, but defeating him quickly was no simple feat.
“Hmph!” The attacking Martial King glanced at the approaching Ye Fenghua, snorting coldly before launching a fist at Lin Xiao.
But Ye Fenghua closed in, his spiritual power seizing the Martial King’s arm. The fist veered off, slamming into the ground beside Lin Xiao, kicking up a storm of dirt.
“Shiu!” Feng Ziyang’s vast palm force roared toward Ye Fenghua’s back—a core Feng family Earth-tier technique, its terrifying power trembling the void.
“Kid, this is a third-grade advanced Spirit Burst Pill!” Ye Fenghua flicked a jade vial toward Lin Xiao. Turning, a transparent palm print shot from his brow, swelling into a massive imprint that clashed with Feng Ziyang’s strike, unleashing a thunderous boom.
