"Tsk!" Bai Ye clicked his tongue. "What a troublesome ability!"
Kyogai suddenly grew excited, looking at Bai Ye. "You think my Blood Demon Art is strong too, don't you?"
Bai Ye glanced at Kyogai. "It's just troublesome."
Kyogai didn't seem to care what Bai Ye said and pressed on. "How does it compare to the Lower Rank Five?"
"Not much," Bai Ye replied. "I'll be cutting you down regardless."
As Bai Ye spoke, the Southern Ming Li Fire Sword swept forward once more.
With a resonant hum, the Southern Ming Li Fire Sword transformed into a long rainbow, striking forward.
However, Kyogai immediately drummed on his body again, causing the room to spin and positions to shift. The rainbow formed by the Southern Ming Li Fire Sword landed in an empty space.
Kyogai declared, "Your attacks can't hit me."
"That's not necessarily true," Bai Ye curled his lips. "Let the attack cover the entire room."
*Snap!*
As Bai Ye spoke, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers with a crisp sound.
In an instant, the launched rainbow exploded.
*Flowing Light Through the Heavens* (The sword light shattered, transforming into one hundred and eight radiant lights for attack)
The exploding rainbow turned into countless streams of light, which shot out in all directions from the point of detonation.
No matter how Kyogai spun the room, the spatial dimensions remained the same.
Therefore...
In that moment, the entire space was engulfed by the exploding streams of light.
This sudden onslaught seemed to leave Kyogai at a loss. He stared at the flying streams of light, stunned.
Then...
*Thwack, thwack, thwack...*
Several streams of light struck Kyogai's body, piercing him repeatedly.
The immense force even sent Kyogai flying backward, smashing violently into the wall behind him.
Blood flowed continuously.
However, for a demon, this level of injury was not a major issue.
To kill a demon, one either had to expose them to sunlight, sever their head, or cut their body into pieces beyond regeneration or recovery.
Thus, the bloody holes on Kyogai's body, though gruesome, were not fatal.
Yet, the sudden blow left Kyogai momentarily dazed, and then he became enraged.
"How can I possibly be defeated by a human? Impossible, impossible..." Kyogai roared. "Blood Demon Art, *Sokudō Taiko*!"
Kyogai's hands moved with unimaginable speed, becoming streaks of afterimages as he continuously beat on his drums.
*Thump, thump-thump, thump, thump-thump-thump...*
The drumbeats were no longer singular but formed a distinct rhythm.
Instantly, the house began to spin again, its positions changing even more rapidly than before.
As the house turned, the surrounding streams of light interwove, quickly filling every part of the room, and simultaneously...
Traces of claw attacks began to appear, their power noticeably increased, from three to five strikes.
At this moment, the house seemed on the verge of being torn apart.
Bai Ye teleported twice in quick succession, moving to the corners.
Bai Ye saw through Kyogai's intention: to play a game of mutually assured destruction, where one hurts the enemy and themselves equally.
The scattered streams of light continuously struck Kyogai's body, but as long as his head was not severed, Kyogai disregarded his injuries. After all, as long as he killed Bai Ye, the wounds would heal quickly.
However, the frantic spinning of the house, combined with the sonic claw attacks, made Kyogai's attacks unpredictable.
The claw marks appeared out of nowhere, making it impossible to discern the timing or pattern of the attacks.
In fact, it wasn't that Bai Ye couldn't discern them; Kyogai himself couldn't.
Bai Ye narrowed his eyes. If that was the case...
Then there was no need to discern them!
Kill Kyogai, and it would all be over!
"Five Spirit Curses!"
*Thunderclap Flash!*
Bai Ye produced ten talismans at once, fanning them out. The talismans immediately ignited.
Then...
*Rumble, rumble, rumble...*
The sound of thunder boomed, and streaks of azure electricity appeared, coursing through the entire house and pushing forward.
The next moment, accompanied by the drumbeats, Kyogai's claw attacks resurfaced.
With a roar, one of the electrical currents was pulverized, exploding into countless arcs of electricity that scattered in all directions.
But it didn't matter. Bai Ye had produced ten talismans precisely to anticipate such a situation.
Although *Thunderclap Flash* was an offensive spell, it was being used now to...
cover Bai Ye!
Bai Ye plunged into the lightning, using the thunder of *Thunderclap Flash* to move forward.
*Rumble, rumble!*
The sound of exploding lightning echoed as the thunder surrounding Bai Ye was shattered piece by piece, dispersing into arcs of electricity.
This was the flaw in Kyogai's concentrated attacks. The trajectory of his claw strikes was indeed difficult to predict.
However...
Even Kyogai himself couldn't distinguish the trajectories, making it impossible for him to accurately pierce through the lightning and attack Bai Ye!
Then...
Bai Ye leaped out, passing through the scattered arcs of electricity, and appeared before Kyogai. He then grabbed Kyogai's head.
*Bang!*
Bai Ye, holding Kyogai's head, pressed down forcefully, slamming Kyogai onto the ground.
The drumbeats stopped at this moment, the constantly spinning house returned to normal, and the claw attacks ceased.
Kyogai stared blankly at Bai Ye, his face filled with unwillingness.
"My Blood Demon Art..." Kyogai murmured. "Is it truly inferior to the Lower Ranks?"
"No, it's not inferior, but for me!" Bai Ye said. "They are all too weak."
*Swoosh!*
The instant Bai Ye finished speaking, he reached upwards.
The surrounding streams of light coalesced, transforming back into the Southern Ming Li Fire Sword, which returned to Bai Ye's hand.
Then...
*Thrust!*
Bai Ye raised his sword and thrust it downwards towards Kyogai's throat, piercing it. He then sharply slid the blade sideways, severing Kyogai's head.
All returned to peace.
Looking at the head rolling to the side, Bai Ye slowly stood up and opened the door, now covered in claw marks, to leave. Immediately, Bai Ye saw a figure sprinting towards the entrance.
Bai Ye couldn't help but curl his lips.
"No, no, it's not what you think," Karasumaru quickly waved his hands. "This is a misunderstanding. I didn't intend to set you up, actually..."
Bai Ye didn't give Karasumaru a chance to explain. He slowly bent down, his hand grasping the hilt of the Southern Ming Li Fire Sword, assuming a drawing stance.
"Thunder Breathing!"
Bai Ye took a deep breath, and then the sound of crackling electricity erupted around his body.
Orange-yellow currents instantly enveloped Bai Ye's entire body.
The next second...
"First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"