Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 467 Sky Pirate Leader's Power
Previously on Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan!...
"Y-You aren't crippled!"
Those words burst out of his mouth before he managed to hold them back.
Shock mixed with utter disbelief.
A spark of terror flashed through him.
Rumors had circulated far and wide throughout the Desolate Heaven Empire.
Even without seeing it himself, tales overflowed about Bai Zihan cutting down Great Ascension Realm demonic cultivators like mere grass.
He'd brushed them off as overblown stories, yet he couldn't fully call them false since so many voices repeated them.
He'd even gotten the account straight from an eyewitness.
Still, he'd figured Bai Zihan must have faced real difficulty and relied on allies for support.
But those three Void Refinement underlings—
Wiped out.
For a split second, his breaths came in harsh gasps.
He'd believed the task would be straightforward, figuring that Bai Zihan, rumors aside, was now nothing but a cripple.
Yet—
He forced his composure to return.
He wasn't by himself.
Three flying ships.
Hundreds of followers.
And he himself held the power of Great Ascension Realm.
Even supposing Bai Zihan wasn't crippled—
Then what?
The Great Ascension demonic cultivators he'd slain were likely already weakened.
Plus, he was convinced he could've achieved the same feat if he'd been in that spot.
"Attack!"
His command boomed over the entire battlefield.
"Take him down!"
For the tiniest moment, the Sky Pirates paused.
Soon after, they bellowed together, shoving aside their doubts.
Warriors charged ahead once again.
All three pirate vessels maneuvered at the same time, their spirit cannons powering up anew.
Should Bai Zihan choose to battle—
They'd overwhelm him through sheer force of numbers.
Down below—
Bai Zihan stayed rooted in place.
He merely glanced upward.
His eyes held steady calm.
He pondered if he could dominate these Sky Pirates the way he'd controlled Han Sha and his group at the Heaven Sword Sect.
However, it seemed none among these Sky Pirates had cultivated that method yet.
(Tsk! What a shame!)
He could've captured them in a flash and extracted vital details from them with little fight.
The advancing pirates had covered scarcely ten meters—
"Fate Severing Slash!"
SLASH!
The heavens appeared to tear open right along its trajectory.
The onrushing Sky Pirates halted in mid-air.
Their forms crossed the line—
And came apart.
No blood spilled.
No cries echoed.
They were sliced so precisely that their very awareness couldn't catch the moment.
It struck the lead flying ship.
Its protective array ignited on reflex—countless barriers igniting one after another in quick bursts.
They crumbled in an instant.
Like fog vanishing under the sun's rays.
The ship's body—
Cleaved!
Straight down the middle.
The next vessel tried to shield itself.
Far too feeble!
The cut sliced right through.
The third flying ship suffered the identical end.
The trio of flying ships lingered in the air, unmoving.
Then they parted without a sound.
No massive blast.
No crashing downfall.
Merely existence cut off.
Shards floated down, fading into the clouds.
The Sky Pirates—
Vaporized!
Erased together with their crafts.
Quietness fell over everything.
Just the wind lingered.
Up high—
The Sky Pirate chief floated solo in the skies.
His complexion had drained of color.
His presence flickered wildly for the first time.
Three battle-ready flying ships.
Hundreds of cultivators.
Annihilated.
In one single cut.
"This—"
His words stuck in his gullet.
No matter his desire to reject it—
Denial was impossible.
He'd seen it happen right before him.
The tales weren't puffed up in the least.
And furthermore—
The energy radiating from Bai Zihan now was no Spirit Severing.
It was—
Void Refinement Realm!
The pirate chief's eyes quivered.
He'd collected reports ahead of this raid. All accounts claimed Bai Zihan was ruined.
At most, Spirit Severing before the fall.
But this—
This marked Void Refinement cultivation.
Down below—
Bai Zihan cocked his head a bit.
"Oh ho?"
He'd anticipated the Yun Mo Kou Sky Pirates' head would bolt the second his power showed.
But—
The fellow stayed put.
He showed no sign of fleeing.
He didn't rage at the loss of his armada or crew.
Nor did terror freeze him.
Maybe— he clung to the dignity of a Great Ascension Realm powerhouse.
Maybe he still thought victory over Bai Zihan lay within reach.
Or maybe he just couldn't face the truth.
No matter which—
This suited him fine.
Bai Zihan had no fondness for pursuing quarry through the heavens.
"You chose not to flee?"
A slight smile tugged at his mouth.
"I respect your bravery, if nothing else."
His voice dripped with clear superiority. The Sky Pirate chief fixed his stare on him for what felt like ages.
Afterward—
He chuckled.
Softly to start.
Growing bolder.
"Hahaha... So it's real. They called you arrogant."
His look grew keen.
"And they got it right."
He raised his head a touch, dignity flooding back into his stance.
"Don't assume victory is yours yet."
His energy burst forth with savage force. Clouds for miles around quaked.
Oppressive might crashed down like a toppling peak.
Great Ascension Realm—
Unleashed to its peak. "You've left me no choice."
His tone grew grave. The atmosphere shivered.
Suddenly—
A shift occurred.
Bai Zihan's gaze tightened.
The Sky Pirate chief's energy—already maxed at Great Ascension—didn't just grow.
It ballooned with wild fury.
His cultivation leaped in unnatural surges, defying the natural order like an unstoppable flood.
Overhead clouds turned murky, twisting toward him as if pulled by an invisible force.
Fissures spiderwebbed through nearby space.
Warmth followed.
At first, a gentle hot breeze.
Next—
Blazes burst forth.
These fires glowed deep red-black, laced with subtle threads of purple lightning.
They wrapped his frame like writhing snakes, consuming the ambient spiritual energy.
His garments incinerated in a blink.
His flesh stayed unscorched.
The escalation persisted.
It rose.
Ever upward.
Ever higher.
Bai Zihan's eyebrows arched faintly. "Oh?"
He perceived it sharply now.
This went beyond standard Great Ascension might.
It had exceeded that boundary.
Not quite crossing into Immortal Realm—
But perilously near.
A half-step.
Or maybe—
A strained mimicry of it.
The pirate chief's cackle rang out once more, twisted now, echoing with an otherworldly edge.
"Do you believe you can still beat me?"
The fires blazed fiercer.
Space nearby warped in plain sight, buckling beneath his overwhelming force.
Bai Zihan observed with poise.
His face remained unchanged.
Yet his thoughts stirred. (Now, where does this feel familiar?)
It bore strong resemblance to something he'd encountered earlier, though not identical.
Regardless, it was clear the Sky Pirate Leader's boldness had solid ground.
He held onto such an ace. Small wonder fear hadn't gripped him fully.
The pirate chief advanced.
The air under his step cracked like brittle ice.
Every step trailed fiery streaks through the sky.
He extended an arm, flames coalescing into a searing lance forged from packed spiritual blaze.
"Witness it—the essence of absolute dominance!"
BOOM!
His presence detonated once more.
For a fleeting second—
The weight nearly mimicked the Immortal Realm.
Not genuine ascension.
But near enough to muddle the divide.
Bai Zihan at last stood a touch taller.
His robes billowed softly amid the climbing flames' gusts.
Fascinating.
A subtle grin formed on his lips. "Excellent!"
His gaze grew piercing.
"You're deserving of another strike at least."
The Sky Pirate chief struck first.
The fiery lance in his grasp swelled massively, layering spiritual fire intensely until space twisted at its point.
Then—
He lunged.
The lance plunged like a plummeting star.
The winds wailed.
Beneath, the flying ship quivered. Shielding arrays sparked to life under the crush.
Inside, Bai Xueqing and her companions endured the choking heat bearing down.
Bai Zihan held his ground.
He made no effort to evade.
Rather—
The Eternal Spirit Sword materialized in his grip.
"Eternal Flowing Water Sword!"
The edge gleamed softly, its energy serene and boundless—like an ancient stream enduring through ages.
He lifted it high.
The blazing lance met it.
BOOM!
Flames engulfed the heavens and cloud ocean in equal measure.
The clash ripped space into rippling circles. Blazes rushed out wildly—but a slender curtain of fluid sword will halved them.
The lance scraped against the blade's face, barred from pushing forward even slightly.
Bai Zihan's robes whipped fiercely from the impact.
His stance dug half an inch into nothingness—
Yet he yielded no ground.
He refused the lance passage.
For behind him—
Lay the flying ship.
A mere sidestep—
And the backlash would shred the craft.
Bai Xueqing and the rest would pay the price.
Above—
The Sky Pirate chief's mouth twisted upward.
"Oh? Afraid to shift?"
His eyes gleamed.
Then he wrenched the lance with force.
Blazes burst wide—not aimed at Bai Zihan—
But encircling him.
Paths plotted.
Aimed with precision. Each assault directed to spots where—
Should Bai Zihan dodge—
The ship would take the hit.
The Sky Pirate chief wasn't a fool.
Even amid that chaotic power coursing inside, his wits stayed keen.
He wouldn't squander such an opening.
Bai Zihan parried once more.
Then again.
And yet again.
Fire streaked down like shooting stars.
The Eternal Flowing Water Sword turned every blow into waves,
scattering the power into emptiness.
Still, the toll showed plainly.
The surrounding void cracked over and over.
The skies roared.
The Sky Pirate chief cackled.
"That's your flaw!"