Chapter 5874
Kai neither dodged nor evaded, not even bothering to condense any protective immortal light; he simply stood there calmly.
“He’s gone mad?!” someone exclaimed in shock.
Just as the fist shadow was about to strike Kai—
Kai raised his right hand, fingers spread, and gently clenched it against the terrifying crimson fist shadow.
“Pfft.”
Like crushing a bubble.
The fist shadow, powerful enough to severely injure a sixth-grade Celestial Immortal cultivator, suddenly dissipated and vanished three feet from Kai’s palm, transforming into primordial fire-elemental spiritual energy and dissipating into the air.
Kai’s hand didn’t even tremble slightly.
“This…” The young deacon’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
The onlookers were completely petrified.
To withstand a strike from a seventh-grade puppet, not only unharmed but also so effortlessly crush it?
What kind of monster was this?!
“Second strike!”
The young deacon’s voice trembled slightly.
The puppet’s eyes glowed even brighter red, its arms rising simultaneously, its fists colliding, condensing into a violently spinning crimson fireball about a foot in diameter!
The fireball crackled with electricity, radiating destructive energy, at least 30% stronger than the first strike!
“Go!”
The puppet thrust its arms forward, sending the fireball hurtling out, scorching the air and distorting its path!
Kai still didn’t dodge.
This time, he didn’t even raise a hand.
With a thought, golden light instantly enveloped his entire body, activating his Indestructible Golden Body.
“Boom!”
The crimson fireball slammed into the golden light membrane, erupting with blinding light and a deafening roar!
The dust settled.
Kai stood motionless.
The golden light membrane around his body rippled slightly, completely undamaged.
Even the ground beneath his feet didn’t crack—all the impact had been completely absorbed and neutralized by that thin membrane!
“Impossible…”
someone murmured, as if their faith had crumbled.
“The third strike!”
The young deacon practically roared, completely stunned by the scene before him, losing all ability to think.
The puppet’s eyes blazed with intense red light, its entire body trembled violently, and a complex array of patterns lit up on its chest, frantically drawing in the surrounding fire-elemental spiritual energy!
“Buzz—!”
A giant sword, entirely formed from crimson flames, slowly materialized above the puppet’s head!
The sword was three zhang long, its blade wreathed in crimson dragon shadows, radiating terrifying heat and sharp sword energy that sent shivers down one’s spine!
This was the seventh-grade puppet’s ultimate killing move—the Flaming Dragon Slash!
Its power was comparable to the full-force strike of a peak seventh-grade Celestial Immortal!
“Slash!”
The puppet cleaved downwards with both arms, the flaming giant sword carrying the force to cleave everything, slashing down at Kai!
This strike caused many fifth and sixth-grade Celestial Immortal cultivators around to feel breathless, instinctively retreating.
Kai finally moved.
He raised his left hand, his index and middle fingers together, and gently pinched the descending flaming giant sword.
Yes, a pinch.
Using two fingers to pinch the three-zhang-long flaming giant sword.
To everyone else, this was tantamount to suicide.
However—
“Clang!”
A crisp metallic clang rang out.Kai’s two fingers firmly gripped the tip of the flaming giant sword!
The sword’s downward momentum abruptly halted, the crimson dragon shadow coiled around its blade letting out a resentful roar, yet unable to advance even an inch further!
Kai tightened his fingers slightly.
“Crack…”
Fine cracks appeared on the flaming giant sword, starting from its tip.
The cracks spread rapidly, covering the entire sword in the blink of an eye!
“Shatter,”
Kai uttered softly.
“Bang—!”
The three-zhang-long flaming giant sword shattered with a deafening roar, transforming into a rain of fire that fell in a flurry, only to be repelled and annihilated by the golden light membrane covering Kai’s body as it approached.
Within the testing area, only a puppet, its energy depleted and dimming, remained, along with the azure figure standing with hands behind his back, his robes fluttering.
Deathly silence.
A deathly silence that lasted for more than ten breaths.
Then, a deafening roar of surprise and discussion erupted!
“My God! What did I just see?!”
“He caught a seventh-grade puppet’s Flaming Dragon Slash with his bare hands?! And crushed it?!”
“He…he’s really a first-grade Celestial Immortal? You’re kidding me!”
“This strength is at least an eighth-grade Celestial Immortal…no, a ninth-grade! He might even have touched the threshold of an Upper Immortal!”
“The Earth Fire Pavilion has struck gold this time!”
The cultivators who had previously mocked Kai were now all red-faced, wishing they could disappear into the ground.
Especially the burly man, who had quietly retreated to the back of the crowd, afraid of being noticed by Kai.
The young deacon took several deep breaths before he could barely calm his agitated emotions.
He walked up to the supervising elder and bowed, saying, “Elder, what do you think…”
The supervising elder slowly rose, walked to Kai, and carefully examined him, his eyes full of admiration and inquiry: “Young friend, you have skillful methods. May I ask where your master is? What is your honorable name?”
Kai clasped his hands in a fist salute: “This junior is Kai, a rogue cultivator with no fixed master.”
“Rogue cultivator?”
A hint of surprise flashed in the elder’s eyes, but he didn’t delve into it. “Young friend Chen’s strength is outstanding, fully meeting the requirements for a guard. No, far exceeding the requirements. With you joining this mission, the safety will be greatly increased.”
“I am an outer elder of the Earthfire Pavilion, surnamed Zhao. If you are interested, after the mission, I can recommend you to join the Earthfire Pavilion and become an inner disciple directly.”
Become an inner disciple directly!
A chorus of envious gasps rose from the surrounding crowd.
As one of the overlords of the Flame Domain, the Earthfire Pavilion’s inner disciples enjoyed extremely high treatment and status; ordinary cultivators would fight tooth and nail to get in.
Kai simply said calmly, “Thank you for your kindness, Elder Zhao. I am here only for the mission rewards and training. We can discuss joining the sect later.”
Elder Zhao didn’t press the matter, smiling, “Very well, everyone has their own ambitions. Since you have passed the test, you will be a guard for our Earth Fire Pavilion on this mission. And this is…”
He looked at the Crimson Cloud Demon Lord.
“This is my companion, Fellow Daoist Crimson Cloud,” Kai introduced.
The Crimson Cloud Demon Lord stepped forward, releasing the aura of a sixth-grade Celestial Immortal.
Although far less impressive than Kai’s, it was still respectable.
“Fellow Daoist Crimson Cloud has also passed
,” Elder Zhao nodded. “Please register here and receive your guard tokens. Meet outside the South Gate tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM). Don’t be late.”
“Yes.”
Kai and the Crimson Cloud Demon Lord registered, received two crimson guard tokens, and then left the mission hall.
Behind them, countless gazes followed them for a long time, and discussions continued unabated.
“Kai… that name is about to spread throughout Crimson Flame City.”
“Such strength, yet such a low profile; this person is definitely not simple.”
“The Evil Path Hall is currently searching for someone named Kai… could it be him?”
“Shh! Be careful what you say! You can’t just say things like that!”