The storm-like barrage of attacks drowned Ye Zhongming. If not for the sound of Wind and Thunder striking the mist blossom bubble, one might truly think the King of Cloud Peak was already dead.
The onslaught unleashed by the Omni-Element Plunder Disk, a golden-grade equipment, was nothing short of astonishing.
Ye Zhongming had faced opponents of similar rank before—such as the assassin organization that had snatched an entry ticket—but while they were considered top-tier experts in the entire region, they were far from formidable at the Eight-Star level. Against a true pinnacle expert like Ye Zhongming, they were utterly outmatched.
But today, Ye Zhongming was facing elites. And the top figures among them, like Wen Yan, were on his level—if not slightly weaker, they were at least close.
Especially when a powerhouse like Wen Yan went all out, he could cause Ye Zhongming significant trouble.
Ye Zhongming wasn’t sure how long the cooldown for an offensive equipment like the Omni-Element Plunder Disk was, but he could imagine it was extremely long—perhaps even requiring some additional cost. Even if it wasn’t a purple-grade item, it was still a formidable piece of gear.
Against such equipment, most Eight-Star evolved would already be severely wounded.
But Ye Zhongming wasn’t unscathed either.
His current defenses consisted of multiple layers: the Amplification Field, Black Halo Shield, Black Soil Armor, and his innate resilience.
The Black Halo Shield specialized in reflecting damage. Now upgraded to its highest grade, it could rebound 50% of any attack—except those of the darkness element.
Next was the Black Soil Armor, conjured by the earth elemental spirit, along with his own equipped armor.
With so many layers of protection, Ye Zhongming could afford to ignore many attacks.
But the Omni-Element Plunder Disk, especially its darkness-element attacks—unaffected by the Black Halo Shield’s reflection—dealt him the most severe injuries he’d suffered since the battle began.
Dark energy was insidious, attacking the target in multiple ways. Each time those black orbs struck Ye Zhongming, his body trembled slightly as the energy corroded him from within. Even though most of the attack’s force was mitigated by his defenses, the residual damage still wounded him.
And the sheer number of attacks from the Omni-Element Plunder Disk was overwhelming.
Ye Zhongming tried summoning the Staff of Nature, but whether due to the mist blossom’s interference or the disk’s power, the equipment refused to activate.
After the darkness-element assault came ice-element attacks—countless icicles rained down, filling the mist blossom bubble completely.
Then came wind, fire, and even light-element strikes.
Each element had its own characteristics, and each affected Ye Zhongming somehow. But aside from the darkness-element attacks, the Black Halo Shield reflected half the damage, and with the constantly regenerating Black Earth Armor and his custom armor, these attacks didn’t harm him much.
Still, the sheer volume and intensity of the assault left Ye Zhongming coughing up blood by the time the barrage ended.
But he hadn’t been idle during this time. He shattered the mist blossom bubble, removing the last barrier between him and Wen Yan.
Without hesitation, the moment the bubble broke, Ye Zhongming closed the distance.
A dazzling arc of blade light descended upon the high-ranking figure of Pin Palace.
What greeted him, however, was another attack.
From the moment Ye Zhongming was trapped to his escape, roughly two minutes had passed—and Wen Yan had spent every second preparing this ability.
“Raging Tides of Fury!”
Wen Yan had risen from his mount, Thousand Years. Behind him towered a colossal wall of water, a hundred meters high.
Ye Zhongming saw it—but he didn’t care.
At this point, pure defense was meaningless. The only way to resolve this quickly was through sheer offense.
From Wen Yan alone, Ye Zhongming had realized one thing: he might truly be unable to handle the combined forces of Pin Palace, Soul Merchant, and God Hall’s leaders.
His risky plan—using himself as bait—had been a gamble. And as Wen Yan had pointed out, Ye Zhongming had underestimated the danger. Or perhaps he had grown overconfident after his rapid rise in power, looking down on the world, believing he could pull off this scheme flawlessly.
Now, he faced two possible outcomes:
First, he could proceed as planned, entering the plains to release the demonic creatures and complete his mission.
Second, if he couldn’t reach the plains, he’d have to release them wherever he was at a predetermined time.
The first scenario was straightforward. But in the second, he had to act if he didn’t want to “gift” the three factions a horde of demon crystals.
For example: Wait until he was surrounded by their forces before releasing the demons, forcing them into chaotic combat to maximize their losses. Kill as many of their elites as possible—even if they gained demon crystals, their strength wouldn’t leap dramatically. Or… simply eliminate one of the leaders, collapsing an entire faction.
With the Soul Merchant’s Great Leader and God Hall’s Director absent, Ye Zhongming chose the last option—kill Wen Yan.
Even if the sky collapsed, Ye Zhongming would cleave through it.
As he swung Wind and Thunder, something extraordinary happened.
Two energies—pale yellow and pale purple—coalesced around the blades, merging into the slashing light.
And in his other hand, he also held the Undead Sand Moon Blade. Now, this purple-grade weapon moved in perfect sync with its counterpart.