Shattered fragments of his spirit staff rained down. Kael's face twisted, a raw, primal snarl tearing from his throat. Xiao Tian’s casual block had humiliated him, shattering not just his weapon, but his composure.
“You… you dare mock me?!” Kael roared, his eyes blazing with a furious, desperate energy. Crimson qi erupted from his core, swirling around him like a violent storm.
Energy pulsed, crackling, forming into dozens of razor-sharp blades. They weren't ordinary weapons. These were manifestations of Kael's pure spiritual intent, shimmering with destructive power, each one capable of cleaving rock and flesh with equal ease.
More blades materialized, multiplying until a dizzying array filled the air. They orbited Kael, a whirlwind of death, humming with an ominous, low thrum. His entire body strained, veins bulging on his neck and forehead.
“Die, you arrogant fool!” Kael screamed, his voice raw with exertion. With a furious sweep of his arm, he unleashed the devastating volley.
Blades tore through the air, a metallic screech that scraped against the very fabric of existence. They converged on Xiao Tian from every angle, an inescapable web of sharpened spirit energy. Each blade held enough force to pierce cultivation armor.
Xiao Tian felt the oppressive pressure, the sheer intent behind the attack. It was a desperate, all-out assault, a gamble for Kael. Retreat was not an option. He had to defend, not just for himself, but for the integrity of the sealing array he was working on.
Instinct took over. A surge of qi erupted from Xiao Tian’s dantian, not in a chaotic burst, but with a precise, almost elegant flow. His hands moved, fingers tracing complex patterns in the air, patterns he hadn't consciously recalled in centuries.
Runes of ancient origin flared into existence, weaving together with breathtaking speed. They interconnected, forming a shimmering, multi-layered shield. It wasn’t a solid barrier, but a fluid, intricate formation of defensive energy, humming with hidden power.
Layers of emerald light manifested, each one gossamer thin, yet radiating an incredible resilience. They twisted, spiraled, and interlocked, forming a perfect, crystalline shell around him. The defensive array seemed to *breathe*, adapting to the incoming threat.
Blades slammed into the formation. The impact wasn't a crash, but a series of high-pitched pings, like tiny bells chiming rapidly. Each blade struck, its momentum instantly diffused, its spiritual energy absorbed or deflected by the intricate layers.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the outermost layer, but the inner layers remained pristine, shimmering. The formation held. It didn't just block; it seemed to *nullify* the attack, leaving the blades to dissipate into harmless wisps of energy.
Xiao Tian watched, a strange, hollow feeling in his gut. That formation… he hadn't thought about it in ages. It was a high-tier defensive spell from his past life, incredibly complex, requiring immense control and focus. He had executed it flawlessly, without a single conscious thought.
His heart hammered against his ribs. This was happening too often. These flashes of overwhelming power, these instinctive displays of mastery that far surpassed his supposed current cultivation stage. It was unnerving. He was supposed to be careful, low-key.
He wanted to be weak. He *needed* to be weak. Weakness kept him safe, unnoticed. This… this was the opposite. It was a glaring reminder of the terrifying power that still resided within him, the power that had once made him a target.
Kael staggered back, his face slack with disbelief. His ultimate attack, the one meant to overwhelm and annihilate, had been effortlessly negated. His breath hitched in his throat, his crimson qi sputtering and dying around him.
“Impossible…” Kael whispered, his voice thin, devoid of its previous fury. His eyes were wide, darting between the dissipating spiritual blades and Xiao Tian, who stood unharmed, a strange, troubled look on his face.
Xiao Tian forced himself to appear calm, even bored. He couldn't let Kael see his internal turmoil. He pushed down the unsettling realization of his own power, the memory of that perfectly executed formation. He had to maintain the facade.
“Is that all?” Xiao Tian drawled, injecting just enough apathy into his tone to sound insulting. “I expected more. You’re hindering my work.”
Kael flinched as if struck. The mockery, the casual dismissal, it was worse than any injury. His humiliation was complete. But a flicker of something else ignited in his eyes – a desperate, animalistic resolve.
He had committed too much, revealed too much. There was no turning back. He couldn't afford to retreat, couldn't afford to be seen as defeated by this apparent junior. His reputation, his very standing in the sect, depended on him finishing this.
Gritting his teeth, Kael reached for his spatial ring. His hands trembled, not from fear, but from the sheer, unbridled rage that threatened to consume him. He pulled out a small, intricately carved jade token. It pulsed with a dark, sinister energy.
“You forced my hand,” Kael snarled, his voice a low growl. “This… this is the Spirit Shattering Token. It was meant for a true enemy, a grandmaster level cultivator. But you… you leave me no choice!”
Xiao Tian’s eyes narrowed. A Spirit Shattering Token. He recognized the aura. These were incredibly dangerous artifacts, capable of unleashing a concentrated burst of spiritual energy that could severely cripple or even kill cultivators far above Kael's own rank. They were also incredibly rare and costly.
To use it against him, a mere Nascent Soul stage cultivator in Kael’s eyes, was overkill. It was proof of Kael’s complete desperation, his willingness to sacrifice anything to ensure Xiao Tian’s demise. It also meant Kael believed Xiao Tian was far more powerful than he let on.
Xiao Tian sighed internally. *Here we go again.* His attempts at remaining low-key always seemed to backfire spectacularly. Now he was facing a doomsday device, all because he effortlessly deflected a barrage of spirit blades. He was tired of this cycle.
“Foolish,” Xiao Tian muttered, shaking his head. “You’ll regret this. Not because of me, but because of what it does to you. A Spirit Shattering Token isn’t meant to be used lightly.”
The token glowed brighter, humming with volatile energy. Kael held it aloft, his face grim, yet determined. He channeled his remaining qi into the jade, accelerating its activation. The air around them grew heavy, charged with immense, destructive potential.
Xiao Tian prepared himself. He would have to use another formation, perhaps an offensive one this time, to disrupt the token before it fully activated. He couldn’t afford to let that kind of raw energy destabilize the already fragile sealing array.
He began to mentally map out the necessary runes, planning a swift, precise counter. His mind raced, calculating trajectories, energy signatures, the optimal point of impact. It felt strangely natural, almost like recalling a forgotten memory rather than devising a new strategy.
Kael’s eyes were fixed on him, filled with a manic gleam. He poured every ounce of his cultivation into the token, his body trembling under the strain. He would drain himself completely, but it would be worth it to see this infuriating junior obliterated.
Just as Kael prepares his final, desperate strike, the ground beneath them shudders violently, and a crack of pure void energy tears through the center of the sealing array.