Chapter 500: Arriving at the Peak

And so it was time for the most dangerous part of the plan: Kai went up not against a young master, not against a leader, not against a demon, but against one of the most powerful people in the world.

In their first encounter, Zae Clen Ban scornfully created a tornado of wind around himself and tried to sweep Kai off the field, clearly more interested in tracking down his daughter. That was exactly what he had to prevent.

Kai pretended to be limited by all the gusts of wind before revealing the true potential of Thunderbird's Wings. He got within an inch of the patriarch's chest, his claws slicing through the tails of his robe, before the defensive sphere of wind rebuffed him and knocked him off to the side. Kai skidded back across the jade ship, grinning.

"You still insist on getting in my way?" Zae Clen Ban rose into the air, power rushing through him. "Fine then, I can exterminate you like the beast you are."

They clashed again, and this time Kai had to take on the full fury of the leader of the Brightwind sect. In melee, Kai found the patriarch to be similar to Zae Zin Nim in his fundamental techniques, except that he attacked with more wind currents. From a distance, however, he was far more likely to use bursts of wind and stay at range. When he combined the two, it was a relentless assault that Kai couldn't quite keep up with.

He dodged aside from a palm strike, slashed at his opponent, and managed to draw a line of blood on his arm. But in the same moment, a tight current of wind drilled into his side, driving him across the jade ship almost to the edge.

Though he managed to stay on his feet, Kai grimaced as he realized that the wind drill had gone deep and the wound wouldn't close immediately. Zae Clen Ban scowled at him, as if irritated that the technique hadn't torn him apart, but he was adjusting to the fact that Kai was tougher than the opponents he usually faced.

If they followed their plan, his wives were hopefully dealing with the other targets. They had reduced and inhibited their opponents' numbers as much as possible at first, he knew Omilaena was targeting Xir Xan Khan, and hopefully Zae Zin Nim could fight Jackal Thirteen. They'd taken out Patriarch Yul first and their opponents were within expectations, so it should work.

Assuming that Kai could hold up the linchpin of the entire plan. If he couldn't fight Zae Clen Ban on his own, everything else would fall apart.

"This is impossible..." The patriarch drew back, pressing his hands together in a familiar focusing gesture. "You're still a child, you have almost no cultivation, your soul is an ugly mess... how can you fight at this level?"

"I'm just getting started," Kai said cockily. If the old man wanted to talk, that was in his best interest.

"Whatever you are, I'm putting an end to it."

Just as Zae Zin Nim had said he would, the Brightwind patriarch touched the band across his chest, which was actually a spatial item. He had numerous tricks prepared and she had said that he would use them unpredictably when he was pressed by an unfamiliar opponent.

So Kai had held back too: at that moment he unleashed the strongest Tyrant's Claw he could. The claw of energy screamed through the air, piercing straight through the defensive sphere of wind, and shattered the object Zae Clen Ban was preparing. He managed to deflect most of the force, but his magical artifact was shattered and another cut tore across his robes.

"You miserable..." Zae Clen Ban's face twisted in a new sort of rage. "That artifact was worth more than your entire garbage continent!"

Massive tornadoes began to spring up around the patriarch, more intense than before, bearing wind that even tore into the jade beneath their feet. Kai had to push himself to the limit, using a half-phase of speed to counter his opponent's intense qi, but he managed to flash between them, hurling Tyrant's Claws in response.

For the first time, Zae Clen Ban needed to spend a significant amount of time dodging. He clearly thought this was beneath him, yet his control never slipped even slightly. The fury just made him colder and more focused as he hurled out more tornadoes and continued gathering his qi.

Then, without warning, the patriarch shot into the air. His hand was already rising, seeming to draw the heavens themselves into his fingers, then he thrust it down. As he moved, the clouds themselves formed into a shining white palm that thundered toward Kai. The very earth seemed frozen by the attack and the palm was half as wide as the ship, so there was nowhere to run.

Instead, Kai exhaled Baleful Breath directly into the palm. Not just once, he kept his mouth open and breathed out an unending stream. When it met the thundering clouds, they actually stopped, and the patriarch let out a cry of pain.

Blood exploded from his lips... yet the cultivator caught it with his free hand and made the blood flow down his arm, reinforcing his technique. Kai's eyes widened in shock as, for the first time, Baleful Breath was actually pushed back.

The impact was cataclysmic, smashing him into the jade floor so hard he burst through into the air below. Kai was bleeding all over and his soul ached as he tumbled. He had actually survived it better than most: fragments of the jade ship were falling over Floodisle City, while every remaining cultivator on board appeared to be dying.

For several seconds it was the most Kai could do to retreat as Zae Clen Ban hurled tornadoes and other qi techniques at him. As he began to heal, Kai desperately checked the man's soul again.

<

Name: Zae Clen Ban

Total Power: 2055

Cultivation: Sky Soul (1000)

Heavenly Cultivation (325)

Physique: D-0 (200)

Immortal Body (+99)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

Brightwind Meridian Perfection (250)

Longevity Burn (+100)

>

It had been the same throughout their fight... until that moment. Somehow, unique among all the cultivators Kai had fought, Zae Clen Ban had some power locked away just like the Savage Creed. That additional boost explained why the gap between their strength was greater than expected, but knowing that didn't help him.

There was one strange thing: the patriarch's Immortal Body had ticked down. Kai guessed that the false immortality couldn't endure such intense power and was beginning to degrade... yet it wasn't dropping visibly, so that wouldn't dissolve fast enough to save him.

"Die!" Zae Clen Ban wasted no more time talking, just began to form a second palm attack. Kai didn't attempt to take this one head on, he shot skyward and barely managed to dodge. The wind in its wake caught his wings and sent him tumbling through the air.

He'd healed enough to attempt something desperate, though... if his opponent was using such unlocked strength, Kai would need to do the same. He had spent so much time mastering the Savage Heart transformation, gaining control and using it to refine his physical strength, that it went against his instincts. But instead of trying to fight as a human, he indulged in the hunger and fought as a monster.

When he hurled himself at his opponent, for a moment he feared that he had lost all reason. His body moved almost as if not under his control, while his mind observed himself at a distance. And yet when Zae Clen Ban unleashed a razor sharp shockwave of wind, he ducked underneath instead of fighting it head on.

Again he exhaled Baleful Breath, even more intense than before as his monstrous side came to the fore. Zae Clen Ban swept up one sleeve, generating a wall of wind to block him and holding the dark clouds at bay.

The Tyrant's Claw hit him a second later, slashing apart his defenses and also pushing the Baleful Breath into him. The patriarch fell backward with a loud cry of pain and managed to right himself in the air... but one entire arm was covered in an ugly burn.

It took force of will, but Kai managed to look at his own soul:

<

Savage Form (+50)

>

He was doing it: drawing on that deeper power without completely losing himself as a mindless beast. His thoughts were alien and savage, urging him to slaughter opponents and drink their blood, but he'd retained his intelligence.

As they clashed again, the real battle was within himself. Kai was still at a slight power disadvantage, so he tried to push it further, increasing his strength more without entirely losing himself. Yet the more he pushed, the wilder and more reckless his movements became. His body was twisting, not under his control at all, seeming to swell and surge of its own will.

Kai leapt from the air, unleashing another Tyrant's Claw that forced his opponent to dodge back. When he landed, Kai was shocked to realize that he was looking down at the patriarch, as if he was at least four feet taller than him. Just what was happening to his body?

The moment of doubt nearly made him lose control and Kai wildly swung back, trying to retain his human mind. He hadn't been imagining the swelling power, he was actually larger than before, his body now an inhuman giant covered in monstrous armor and the Beggar King's Rags, which hung across his spikes like an insane cloak.

It took all his concentration not to fall in either direction and to grasp the thread of perfect balance again. In that time, Zae Clen Ban shot into the air, disappearing into the clouds.

For a moment, Kai was split between thoughts: monstrous anger that his prey had escaped, and human realization.

Light blazed from the clouds overhead, rendering them blinding white. Zae Clen Ban formed as a yet larger giant: not the size of two men, the size of a mountain. His presence thundered out over the city, suffocating many weaker battles, and he raised a massive palm for a strike on the city itself.

Kai leapt and unleashed Famished World.

When he met the cloudy palm, he tore straight through it, consuming the unnatural clouds. He shredded his way up the blinding white arm, only slowing slightly as he reached the elbow, then caught himself, hurling his body toward the center where the patriarch must be hiding.

Too late, the other palm struck him: not directly, with a wall of wind. The force slammed him down, demolishing one of the towers of the city.

He leapt up from the crater snarling. There was a garden filled with magical herbs and shocked cultivators, but he barely had time to notice them. All his attention was focused on the cloud giant looming over the city.

The giant raised a hand, gathering the heavens for another attack. Zae Clen Ban's false immortality began draining at an alarming rate, as much as the rest of the battle combined... feeling Famished World destroy his cloud giant technique must have shocked him. He wanted to end this now, with overwhelming force.

When that palm came down, it would be large enough to flatten the city. Kai realized there was no dodging... and that this wasn't the time for measured human thoughts. He wouldn't get through that palm strike with strategy.

So instead he let go the thread of balance, giving himself over to the monstrous rush completely. He could feel the Savage Form rising, but there was no denying the ultimate truth: he couldn't gain that extra power without losing himself.

As his human thoughts grew fainter, he could feel his body growing larger and larger. One of his claws reached out and grasped a turret that had once been taller than him, but now he just used it as an anchor. When he drew in a breath, he seemed to absorb all the air, all the life, everything around him. Yet it felt like that wasn't enough, as if the world itself couldn't sustain what he was doing.

The shining white palm was beginning to move down, so he released the last of his control. His maw opened and he unleashed annihilation.

(Cognosticon here. The timing was only somewhat planned, but here we are, 500 chapters into the series with Kai fighting one of the most powerful people in his world. Was the road worth it? I hope it was to you.)