"How did you escape?!" Tao Kai asked aggressively.

Yin Hui pointed at the gourd.

"Seems like you weren't checking the capacity of that gourd after sealing me. From what I saw inside, each element has a specific limit to how much it can seal. All I had to do was produce enough wind to surpass that limit and free myself."

"I needed a lot of wind and none of my techniques actually produced new winds. Luckily, before we began our fight, I picked up quite a few of these."

Tao Kai's eyes widened. He had only now realized that Yin Hui was holding a small fan in his hand.

"Wind and Fire Fans! So that's how you produced enough wind to break out! You stole them off our soldiers when you massacred them!"

"That's right. By the time I generated enough wind to escape, I had already used up all the fans with the exception of this one. I also filled up your fire element as well, so you would not be able to stop me from doing this!" Yin Hui waved the fan and a barrage of crescent flames struck out at Tao Kai.

Considering how the Wind and Fire Fans were only Spirit Waking level weapons, they didn't do any damage to Tao Kai. However, the gourd was not as durable and burst into flames within his hands.

"Hmph. You may have destroyed the gourd, but what about it? With my armor on, not even your mid-stage Spirit Manifestation spirit beast will be able to harm me."

Putting the fan away, Yin Hui took out the duplicating daggers he obtained from the Spirit Manifestation cultivator back in the forest.

He imbued the daggers with spiritual energy and threw them all at once. The daggers multiplied as they soared through the air until a total of six hundred daggers were produced.

"Each of those daggers creates a hundred duplicates. However, it's power is proportionate to your cultivation. With your Spirit Waking cultivation, these daggers will only be a minor irritant!" Channeling his Spirit Manifestation cultivation into his fist, Tao Kai let out solid punch.

The strength behind this punch was so great that it created a shockwave with effects similar to that of the Wind Bullet. It deflected about a third of the daggers, while the remaining four hundred continued on course.

"What? how were they not all deflected?!"

Tao Kai raised his arms as he was bombarded with four hundred duplicating daggers.

"This is nothing! These daggers only possess peak Spirit Waking power at most! You can't possibly---"

All of a sudden, a piece of Tao Kai's armor cracked.

Then another, then another.

Once all four hundred daggers dropped to the ground, many holes could be found on Tao Kai's armor. His helmet was completely destroyed and his head was fully exposed.

"How is this possible? You are a peak Spirit Waking cultivator! How is your qi strong enough to pierce through my armor?!"

"You don't need to know why, especially when you are about to die!" Yin Hui reached back into his bag of holding and took out a bow. This was the exact same bow used against him by the three peak Spirit Waking cultivators at the gate.

Yin Hui pulled back on the bowstring and manifested an arrow using his qi. As he fired, the arrow multiplied until a flurry of them shot towards Tao Kai.

The bow's abilities were the same as the duplicating daggers, but were not limited to one use. Unfortunately, the power was also limited to peak Spirit Waking and would not change regardless of cultivation.

"This level of power is good enough. As long as I hit a part unprotected by the armor, it should deal a decisive hit."

Tao Kai moved like a seasoned martial artist, utilizing various stances and fluid movements as he repelled the arrows. Unlike the rest of his armor, the wristguards around his arms were completely undamaged. He revolved most of his defense around the wristguards and used them to deflect the majority of the arrows. As the final arrow soared towards him, he grabbed it and threw it back at Yin Hui. The black leopard saw this and caught the arrow before it could hit him.

Frowning, Yin Hui continued to shoot more arrows. He figured that Tao Kai would get tired eventually, and that was when he would strike.

"Enough of this." This time, Tao Kai did not dodge as the arrows sped towards him. Two long ethereal arms emerged from his shoulders and began to pick up the daggers that had fallen from earlier.

Woosh~

The ethereal arms formed by Tao Kai began to throw the daggers like rain during a storm. They had loss their duplicating abilities, but their power remained intact. The daggers easily cut through Yin Hui's flurry of arrows and moved to skewer him.

The black leopard roared and used it's body to protect Yin Hui from the incoming blades. It was still recovering from being sealed in the gourd and did not have the courage nor the strength to turn intangible. The leopard howled as it's body was continuously pierced by daggers.

"So this is the power of a Spirit Manifestation cultivator's ethereal spirit... While I've seen it before, facing it is an entirely different scenario. I guess I have no choice but to use my last resort then."

After blocking all four hundred daggers, the black leopard gave out and collapsed. Yin Hui took out a few medicinal pills and fed them to it.

"Thank you... Rest easy now, I'll make sure your effort was not wasted." Yin Hui said while patting the leopard on the back.

Once the black leopard's condition stabilized, it slowly made its way into Yin Hui's bag of holding. After it entered, Yin Hui took out a single item before walking over to face Tao Kai. This item, was the red stringed short sword that Su Jia gave him when they first met.

Tao Kai's eyes narrrowed.

"So you're finally going to use a weapon not stolen from my soldiers? I wonder what kind of treasure it is to give you the courage to face me like this."

"Yes, this is my final ace. Actually, I didn't know of its use until very recently. I learned the unique properties of this sword while slaughtering your guards. In its current state, this sword is no match for you, but with the right circumstances it can!"

Yin Hui raised the sword above his head and a loud hum reverberated throughout the castle. Suddenly, large torrents of blood burst through the rubble blocking both exits and converged upon the weapon.

The blade absorbed the blood like a bottomless pit and slowly began to turn red. As it did, an aura of power started to leak out, exerting a pressure that brought Tao Kai to his knees. Yu Zhuwa was affected as well. He clutched his head in pain as he slowly walked towards Yin Hui.

"Yu Zhuwa. Hide in my shadow and you should be okay. Since this pressure doesn't affect me, my shadow should also be unaffected!"

Yu Zhuwa nodded and merged with Yin Hui's shadow. Once he did, the crushing pressure was alleviated.

The pressure created by the red stringed sword was even felt outside. Sensing the disturbance, Tao Mu and Su Jia turned their heads towards the castle.

"What is this? No Spirit Manifestation or Spirit Waking cultivator could have this kind of pressure! What kind of treasure did you give your companions!"

"Beats me. Not even I know what goes on in that guys head. I just had a feeling that he would be a great ally for this siege."

After drinking the last drop of blood, the sword's blade was dyed a deep shade of crimson. The overbearing pressure was at its peak and Tao Kai was using all his strength just to prevent himself from collapsing.

The crimson sword flared with power and began to glow. Just by looking at the energy signatures, Tao Kai knew that all the blood the sword devoured was going to be released in one lethal attack. He retracted his ethereal spirit and clasped his palms together.

"It seems like this is the end for me. Congratulations, the victory is yours." Even in defeat, Tao Kai did not lash out or act bitter. His opponent was stronger and that was all there was to it.

"Forgive me father. Forgive me people of the Tang Clan. While I may not live to see the final battle, I wish you all the best."

Hiding within Yin Hui's shadow, Yu Zhuwa felt a twinge of sadness as he heard Tao Kai's last words. To him, Tao Kai was not a bad person. He was honorable, loyal, and acted in a honest and straightforward manner. If they weren't on opposite sides, Yu Zhuwa thought they could've become great friends and allies.

As the sword's energy reached its peak, Yin Hui stared at Tao Kai with a cold expression.

"Death to all those with the surname Tao. Out of consideration for your honorable nature, I will ensure your father joins you as soon as possible. That will be my pity towards you."

Tao Kai let out a grim smile. He could feel the hatred within Yin Hui's voice. The boy had an irreconcilable grudge with his Tao Clan that he would never live to understand. He ignored the obvious insult to injury and lowered his head.

The blood stored within the sword erupted into a massive pillar of red energy. This enormous ray of energy spanned the entire castle and disintegrated everything in its path, with the exception of Yin Hui and Yu Zhuwa.

All the cultivators who were outside and spared from the destruction looked over in shock as the entire fortress was replaced with a pillar of red.

Horror could be seen in Tao Mu's eyes and he stumbled backwards in disbelief. Su Jia had a similar reaction. She knew that Yin Hui was cunning, but she never suspected he was hiding something like this from her.

"Blood Sacrifice Sword!!" Tao Mu shouted.