Crestborne King, sneak attack.

Now that Yao Jun wasn't searching the surrounding area for Crestborne Apes that he could kill, his speed drastically increased as he shot up the mountain. Every step he took caused space beneath his feet to shrink, so even though he looked like he was casually walking, he was moving far faster than he would if he used lightning to increase his speed. Moving like this was a bit slower than just teleporting through space, but it required far less energy, allowing Yao Jun to stay close to his peak condition.

Yao Jun rarely ever stopped his training. Even when he was resting, he would work on furthering his understanding of the laws he could control, allowing him to always grow stronger and come up with new ways to utilize his laws. He was used to seeing people like Diana and Arthurius, so he didn't consider himself anything special, but among the younger generation, he was already moving toward the top level of strength.

Since Du Xiao was tailing Peyton's group with some of her spiders, there was no chance of Yao Jun losing sight of them, rapidly approaching them. Once he got within 50 kilometers of them, Yao Jun slowed down and started to proceed more cautiously.

He not only jumped into the shadows but even surrounded them with sever layers of hardened space, perfectly hiding himself. Like this he continued to move closer to the group, eventually getting close enough to properly hear and see them.

There were five people in the group, three men and two women. Besides Peyton's slave, the four other people were all between the Ascending Immortal and the Soaring Immortal stage. Yao Jun merely glanced at the four other members, most of his attention placed on the dwarfish, four-armed woman with curly green hair, Peyton's slave and the only one there who had reached the Transcended Immortal stage. The group was moving rather slowly, heading directly for the peak of the lightning bolt shaped mountain.

"We've almost reached its nest, stay alert and don't let it ambush us."

The voice of the four-armed woman was surprisingly soft, even sounding quite gentle. The rest of the group nodded their heads, cautiously examining their surroundings as they continued to move. But despite their efforts to keep a lookout for enemies, none of them were able to discover Yao Jun, who was quietly stalking them.

But they were not to blame for not finding him, the laws of darkness and space were perfectly suited for hiding and performing assassinations. Because of that, one had to either be far stronger than the hiding person or cultivate either of those two laws to find him. Looking at the four-armed woman, Yao Jun's eyes couldn't help but narrow dangerously, a faint and self-deprecating smile appearing on his face.

"So this is someone at the Transcended Immortal stage. Seems like I was a bit too cocky, good thing I didn't act hastily."

Yao Jun thought that since he had been able to kill Barda, the body cultivating bandit that had reached the transitory stage between the Ascending Immortal and Soaring Immortal stage, that he would be able to fight and maybe even overcome this four-armed woman.

But only when he actually saw her for himself did he realize how wrong he was. He hadn't even seen her fight yet, but he was certain that if he were to engage her in head-on combat, he would definitely lose. He would probably be able to wound her a few times, but he would lose and be forced to flee.

But this was how cultivation was. The further along the cultivation path you went, the greater the disparity between each stage was. Just the fact that Yao Jun was able to kill someone between the early and middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm with his current cultivation level was already insane.

Of course, just because the four-armed woman was stronger than him, it didn't mean that Yao Jun would just give up and retreat. They were going to fight the Crestborne King, so there was a good possibility that he would get a chance to launch a sneak attack on them while they were preoccupied.

Yao Jun continued to quietly follow them, keeping a good bit of distance between them to make sure that he wasn't accidentally discovered. After half a day of stalking, it seemed like they reached their goal, the peak of the mountain. Situated at the peak of the mountain was a massive blue crystal that looked like a thick fang, several tens of meters high and wide.

The four-armed woman turned towards one of the men walking behind her, pointing at the fang-shape crystal, her voice icy cold.

"Ferrand, the nest is up ahead. Force it out."

Ferrand was much taller than a normal human, at least three meters tall. He had pitch black skin that shimmered slightly, two eyes that covered almost half his face, and two strange antennas that grew out from his forehead. Strangely enough, his legs were rather short, only around one meter in length, his torso making up most of his height. Yao Jun could only describe it as an exceedingly strange sight. He gave a slight bow, his voice deep and raspy.

"As you wish, Lady Vanora."

Ferrand raised his right arm, pointing at the fang-shaped crystal. The earth around him started to tremble and crack, large chunks of earth rising up and forming a javelin that was tens of meters long. There was a faint yellow mist coiling around the javelin, a slight sizzling sound coming from the javelin whenever the mist touched it.

Ferrand tapped the air with his finger, causing a slight ripple to pass through space. The javelin shot forward, a booming sound exploding outwards as the javelin easy surpassed the speed of sound and crashed into the crystal. The spear exploded, tearing large chunks out from the crystal. The yellow mist turned into liquid, splashing onto the crystal. The crystal started to sizzle, quickly melting, showing that the yellow liquid was in fact highly corrosive acid.

An azure bolt of lightning flashed down from the sky, striking the fang-shaped crystal and evaporating the acid. From the remains of the crystal, a human-shaped light stepped out, solidifying in front of the crystal, a cold snort sounding out.

"So it's a couple of perverse aberrations that have come to disturb me? Don't think that you can leave alive after disturbing my rest."

The human-shaped light quickly finished solidifying, turning into a handsome man clad in a light blue robe. He had slicked back azure hair that sparked with lightning, his violet eyes shining coldly. His skin was the same light blue as the crystal was, arcs of azure lightning dancing around him. Looking at this man, the Crestborne King, Yao Jun felt the corners of his mouth twitch.

"So that's the Crestborne King. Kinda wanna punch whoever delivered the report about it."

The report he had received about the Crestborne King was that it had either already reached the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, or that it was close to that stage. But the Crestborne King in front of him had clearly already reached the late stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, the energy he radiated was even a bit stronger than that of the four-armed woman, Vanora. Facing the cold eyes of the Crestborne King, Vanora looked completely calm, swiftly handing out her orders.

"Just like Young Master thought, it must have absorbed the remnants of the previous king. We must proceed with extreme caution. Ferrand and Borin, join me in the frontal combat, Renard and Joane, the two of you back us up with ranged attacks."

Borin's upper body looked human, except for the two curved horns that grew out from his forehead, but rather than normal human legs, he had the hairy legs of a goat. Renard had three pairs of arms, a bald head, and every inch of his skin was covered in light brown scales. Joane looked a bit more graceful, her body slim and tall. She had pink feathers sticking out behind her ears, and two wings covered in pink feathers growing out from her back.

They all resembled people of the Demon Race from Yao Jun's own home planet, but unlike the Demon Race, which was born naturally, these people had willingly altered their bodies using parts of Demonic beasts and some secret arcane techniques. This was why the Crestborne King had called them perverse aberrations.

The four people nodded their heads and drew their weapons. Vanora used two large axes, Ferrand used a spear, Borin used a large hammer, Renard used three bows, and Joane used a strange silver bell. The Crestborne King simply raised his right arm, a bolt of lightning descending from the sky and turning into a massive greatsword that was almost three meters in length. Vanora's entire body tensed up as she prepared herself, giving the others one last quick reminder.

"Don't forget, Young Master wishes for the body of the beast to be intact, otherwise there might not be enough energy to fully upgrade his Chimera King Physique technique."

Yao Jun had no idea what sort of technique this Chimera King Physique was, but just from hearing the name alone, it was clear that it was some type of body cultivation technique. Yao Jun was slightly curious what sort of cultivation technique it was, but there was no one he could ask about it. Joane gave a quick nod of her head, assuring Vanora that there would be no problems.

"Don't worry, Lady Vanora, we have received extensive orders and are fully prepared."

Joane ending her sentence seemed to be the signal that started the battle. Vanora, Ferrand, and Borin dashed forward and assaulted the Crestborne King, while Renard shot out arrow after arrow. Joane's way of attacking was a bit stranger, as she only rang the bell gently, a soft sound resounding over the area. But despite the sound being so soft, the earth cracked and tore open wherever the sound of the bell passed, the air rippling.

Yao Jun took this chance to calmly observe the battle between these people, studying their laws and how they used them. A light that was a mixture of green and brown spread out from Vanora, covering the entire area around the battlefield in a domain of her own laws. The plants and trees that were within the domain started to wriggle and grow at a speed visible to the naked eye, with thick branches growing out from the ground and aiming to strike at the Crestborne King. Yao Jun had seen something similar in the World Tree clan, so it was easy to guess that Vanora used the laws of wood and plants.

Whenever Ferrand struck out, the earth would rise up to follow his movements, attacking and impeding the Crestborne King. Each of his attacks was also accompanied by a yellow mist that sought to corrode the body and weapon of his enemy, his earth and acid laws being used to their full effect.

Borin struck out with his hammer, a gray light gathering around the head. Each of his swings caused jagged stones to appear in the air around him, each attack that landed on the Crestborne King causing thick spikes of stone to pierce up from the ground. Clearly, he used the law of stone, seemingly focusing on that single law.

Each of Renard's metallic arrows whizzed through the air, slicing it apart and heading directly for the Crestborne King. Even when the Crestborne King dodged the arrows, Renard simply waved his hand, causing the arrows to turn around mid-air, heading for the back of the Crestborne King. Every arrow that hit exploded into sharp fragments, which in turn were controlled by Renard to aim for the weak spots of the Crestborne King. Yao Jun had seen this law, the law of metal, once before, Yuan Shen had used it against him.

Joane was the last one in the group and the one that Yao Jun paid the second most attention to. She seemed to use the laws of sound or vibration, shattering everything around her with the sound of her bell. The air rippled under the force of the sound, but neither Vanora or the others were harmed by it, all the power focused on the Crestborne King, his entire body vibrating lightly.

But despite all the strong people launching ferocious attacks against him, the Crestborne King was completely calm and composed, fending off all the attacks. His massive greatsword moved at the speed of lightning, far faster than Vanora or the others could move or attack. Each of his attacks was accompanied by a torrential wave of azure and violet lightning, flooding over his enemies.

His lightning was completely different from Yao Jun's, it almost seemed alive as it moved around, aiming for any opening it could find. He even used the lightning to defend himself, using it to strike down attacks that came at him or forcibly changing the directions of other attacks that he couldn't fully block.

Yao Jun could also use lightning, but if he was to compare himself to this Crestborne King, he fell far short. Yao Jun's lightning was fast and stiff, easy to read. But the lightning of this Crestborne King wasn't only faster than his, it flowed like water, unpredictable and easily changeable. Yao Jun was certain that if he were to try and use his lightning in front of this Crestborne King, he would simply end up losing control over it and having it turned against him.

Yao Jun had simply not been given enough time to cultivate, so there was still a lot for him to learn. And because he knew that, he quietly watched the battle, greedily absorbing as much information as he could, turning it into something he could use for himself. This was one of the things that could be considered monstrous about Yao Jun, his ability to quickly and easily absorb information and use it to increase his own strength.

As the battle dragged on and the peak of the mountain was torn apart, it became clear that Vanora and the others had been carefully chosen as the ones who would fight the Crestborne King. The earth, wood, and stone element countered and weakened the lightning, the metal element attracted it away from Vanora and the others, while the sound and vibrations from Joane seemed to be able to easily inflict wounds on the crystal-like body of the Crestborne King.

The Crestborne King had set up a domain of his own, the air around him crackling with endless bolts of lightning. But his domain was greatly weakened and pushed back by Vanora's, his lightning drastically weakening in strength whenever it left his small domain.

But he was still a special type of Demonic beast that had managed to reach the late stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, the Transcended Immortal stage. He was wounded as the battle dragged on, but the sheer speed and might of his attacks was still able to wound Vanora and the others, despite being completely countered.

Vanora had lost an arm an hour into the battle, forcing her to drop one of her two axes. Ferrand had a large gash on his abdomen, yellow puss oozing out from the wound. Borin was a bit better off thanks to his strong body, but his right arm still ended up shattered, a chunk taken out from his thigh. Renard and Joane thought they were safer thanks to the distance, but the Crestborne King had quickly shown them how wrong they were.

This was his mountain, all the lightning on this mountain was under his control, even the lightning that crackled around the azure grass was his to control. It was small and weak, but if he gathered up enough of it, it would become a mighty bolt that could shake the heavens. And that was just what he did, he slowly gathered together the lightning that coiled around the grass, sending it directly into the bodies of Renard and Joane through their feet, burning their bodies and organs. They didn't die from it but were forced to keep themselves going using Qi and pills.

But no matter how well he did, the Crestborne King was still outnumbered and completely countered. Cracks started to spread across his body, liquid lightning pouring out from the cracks, his strength dropping quickly as time passed. After spending almost six hours battling, suffering several wounds and pain, Vanora's lips curled into a grim sneer, the speed of her remaining axe increasing slightly.

"You mindless beast, just submit to the glory of our Master!"

She was controlled by Peyton thanks to his Supreme Law of Life fragment, she served him with all her heart and truly believed that the greatest honor for all beings was to serve her master. This was the horror of the Supreme Law of Life, it didn't create mindless slaves, it created fiercely loyal slaves that retained all their intelligence and skills.

Her axe landed on the left shoulder of the Crestborne king, tearing out a large chunk that she quickly grabbed and stored into her interspatial ring. Despite the odds looking bleak for him, the Crestborne King didn't submit. His lips simply curled into a mocking smile, his eyes gleaming with pride that was higher than the heavens.

"Submit? To a master of aberrations like you? I would rather detonate myself!"

If he was to submit to a master, it would be someone who deserved it. It certainly wouldn't be the master of people who unnaturally altered their own bodies, someone who wouldn't even show himself. He grabbed onto Vanora's axe, preventing her from pulling it back as he swung out with his greatsword.

The air was forcibly pushed away around the blade, a booming sound exploding outwards, thin cracks in space appearing around the tip of the sword. The weapon struck Vanora in the side, cutting off another one of her arms and leaving a deep gash in her waist. This was the moment Yao Jun decided that the time was right,

He didn't show any negligence or complacency, immediately activating all four channels that he had carved. His black robe also appeared on his body, strengthening him even further. But he still wasn't done, he also equipped the pure white armor that Leylan had gifted him, covering up his own black robes. He then pulled out the leaf green sword that Leylan had gifted him, grasping it tightly. The armor and sword weren't too useful in a battle of this level, but he only put them on to further hide his own identity.

Once he was suited up, he dashed out of the shadows and charged forward. He held nothing back, instantly exploding with all his might. Flames, ice, darkness, wind, poisonous gas, the scent of death, a sharp spatial wind, all gathered around his blade as he teleported through space, appearing directly behind Vanora, who only had the time to let out an angry shout before Yao Jun launched his attack.

"Who?!"