172 A true test of strength.

Yao Jun did not stop after taking the head of one captain. As he was uncertain exactly how much money he would need, he felt that the more he managed to acquire the better. So after taking the head of one captain, he slowly made his way towards the other people who seemed to be captains. He required a few hours to reach the position of the captain, but the battle seemed like it would drag on for quite a while, so he felt confident in taking his time.

While Yao Jun was slowly moving between squads, he was also keeping in touch with Ba-Shei, who was moving around on his own. By closing his eyes and focusing on his connection with Ba-Shei, he could see everything that Ba-Shei could, so he always knew exactly where Ba-Shei was and what he was doing.

After killing 4 captains and collecting their heads, Yao Jun noticed that the battle was quickly becoming more favorable for the World Tree clan army. Looking at how the Final Fire clan army was slowly pulling back, it did not require too much thought to guess that they were planning on retreating soon. After all, they only used these battles to train their younger generation, no need to keep them going until everyone was dead.

That being the situation, Yao Jun set his eyes on a certain squad that was not far from him, starting to make his way towards the place where the captain was stationed. Since he would be unable to collect too many more heads during this battle, he decided to test exactly how much his strength had grown while he still had the chance.

He sped up a little this time, quickly reaching the center of the formation. The captain of this squad was tall and thin, his charcoal like skin looking quite smooth, his crimson hair tied into a tight bun. The fire mark on his forehead a little larger than the other ones Yao Jun had seen so far, so it was clear that he had a bit more status than the other captains Yao Jun had killed.

Yao Jun stood a bit further away from this captain, making sure that he was not spotted. The captain swept the surroundings, seemingly a bit suspicious, so Yao Jun dared not move closer. Yao Jun activated his Crumbling The Nine Heaven's technique, as well as activating the lightning technique that he had created. After activating both his strengthening techniques, he also donned his black armor and grasped his sword, instantly entering his strongest state.

The captain in front of him had reached the early stage of the 6th Houtian Sky, so Yao Jun guessed that he would be about as strong, if not a bit stronger, than Yuan Shen had been when they last fought. Yao Jun's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man, a slight breath released from his mouth as he took a step forward, stepping out of the shadows.

The moment he left the shadows, the sound of rumbling thunder rang out as he dashed forward, his body turning into a black blur. The captain immediately noticed him, two orange spears appearing in his arms as he turned to face Yao Jun. The man stabbed out with both spears, one high and one low, growling at Yao Jun in a low voice.

"So you are why I have been feeling uneasy lately. I am Squad Captain Watkin, identify yourself!"

Yao Jun did not stop his charge, despite the two spears coming at him. His eyes narrowed further, his foot stepping onto one of the silver lines that filled his vision. Once his foot stepped onto the silver line, he channeled a bit of Qi into the line, glancing at a silver line that was located behind the captain, Watkin. The moment his Qi entered the silver line, his body vanished, immediately reappearing atop the silver line he had glanced at.

Watkin was shocked, but a slight smile spread on Yao Jun's face. This was the first time he had tried to move using the power of space, and it worked just as well as he had hoped. He slashed out with his sword, wind and lightning howling around the blade as the earth was sliced open and scorched. But Watkin had a large amount of combat experience, so he managed to tilt his body forward, his head almost touching the ground as he dodged the attack.

He stabbed his two spears into the ground and grasped them tightly, lifting his lower body up from the ground and sending his heels smashing towards Yao Jun. Yao Jun reached out with his left arm, blocking one of the heels that was coming at him. Yao Jun pulled back his other arm and moved his sword to block the other heel, but Watkin seemed to have predicted his movements.

Just as Yao Jun's sword moved into blocking position, Watkin's two right arms let go of the spear they were holding, his fingers digging into the ground. With his fingers dug into the ground, the muscles in his right arms bulged. The spear that his left arms were holding was pulled out of the ground, his upper body spinning around unnaturally as the spear came slashing towards Yao Jun's head.

"Don't underestimate a Squad Captain!"

Yao Jun's pupils contracted, his eyes hardening when he looked at that oncoming spear. His left hand was blocking one heel, and his sword was blocking the other heel, leaving him with no arms available to block. His Qi was currently being channeled into his hands to increase their strength, so dodging through space or the shadows would be a bit tough, as it would require him to move a large amount of Qi.

But Yao Jun was after all not a newbie when it came to battles. He turned his head to face the oncoming attack, a small wall of ice appearing in the air in front of him. He could not move a large amount of Qi, but moving smaller amounts was still easy for him. Several smaller walls of ice appeared behind the first one, stacking together as they quickly formed a finger thick shield that blocked the path of the oncoming spear.

The spear slammed into the shield of ice, a hissing sound ringing out as steam started to appear from the place where the spear and shield touched. While the shield was cracking and melting under the spear, Yao Jun blocked the heels that were coming at him, his hands feeling numb as his body was pushed back slightly. The last part of the shield of ice shattered, the spear continuing to slash at Yao Jun. But thanks to losing so much momentum, as well as the fact that Yao Jun was pushed slightly, the spear only ended up crashing into his shoulder.

Yao Jun's body was flung to the side, the temperature around him quickly increasing as he noticed that the closest soldiers had grouped together and formed several large orbs of fire. The soldiers waved their hands, the orbs of fire shooting towards Yao Jun as the earth beneath the orbs was scorched black. Watkin also sent out another attack of his own, a new spear appearing within his hands. He tossed the spear towards Yao Jun, a whistling sound ringing out as the spear flew through the air.

Wind howled around Yao Jun as he spun his body around. The orbs of fire hit him, but before they could do any damage to him, he put them under his control, coiling the fire around his body. His body spun around in the air, fire blazing around him as he straightened his body. His feet touched the ground as he stabilized himself, the earth cracking under the force. He stretched out his left arm, the fire blazing around him turning into a thick pillar that shot forwards.

The spear that was flying towards him melted under the high heat, the pillar of flames continuing towards Watkin. Watkin's eyes narrowed as he looked at the pillar, his right arms picking up the orange spear he had let go off earlier. He crossed both his spears in front of him, crimson flames blazing around them as he took the pillar of fire head on.

While Watkin was taking the pillar head on, Yao Jun was getting surrounded by other soldiers. Yao Jun merely gave them a glance, a silver light shining around his blade as he slashed out. A screeching sound rang out, a silver line appearing in the air and passing through the soldiers around him. They did not even have the time to say anything before their upper bodies were separated from their lower bodies. The soldiers around him were all below the 5th Houtian Sky, with Yao Jun in his strongest state, they were of no threat to him.

He used wind to pick up their interspatial rings and the crystals from within their chests, his eyes landing on Watkin. Watkin was still blocking the pillar of fire, but it was clear that the pillar would not be able to penetrate his defense before he managed to completely block it. Yao Jun glanced at the surroundings, seeing that more and more soldiers were gathering. The people from the World Tree clan had also realized that something was going on, so they had intensified their attacks on the squad.

Yao Jun realized that he would not be able to drag this fight out much longer, so he decided to cut it short. He stepped onto a silver line, his body vanishing and reappearing on Watkin's left side. His sword shimmered with silver light as he slashed out, aiming for Watkin's throat. Watkin felt a threat to his life from the sword attack, so he stopped bothering with the pillar of flame, turning his body towards Yao Jun as he raised his spears to block the attack.

Yao Jun's sword clashed against Watkin's spears, a loud sound ringing out. The pillar of flame crashed into Watkin's side, a burnt smell slowly spreading as an expression of pain appeared on Watkin's face. While he blocked Yao Jun's sword, Watkin also sent out a kick, his right foot smashing into Yao Jun's abdomen and sending him flying backwards, the taste of blood appearing in his mouth. But his lips curled into a slight smile.

"We'll cut it short here, but I'll be taking this as a souvenir for now. Next time, I'll take your head."

Watkin was a bit confused at Yao Jun's words, but a hot pain coming from one of his right arms quickly let him know what Yao Jun had meant. The shadows beneath him had risen up, forming a blade cut off one of his fingers, the finger that carried his interspatial ring. The interspatial ring sank into the shadows, vanishing from sight. Watkin turned his eyes back towards where Yao Jun had been, but he had already vanished into the shadows, so Watkin was unable to do anything but let out a loud roar.