Step one, step two, step three, creak, creak, creak, boom!

Exeter, who Pei Yan had left behind, staggered forward three steps after their collision, unable to even let out a scream. Amidst a series of cracking and exploding armor sounds, several streams of blood gushed from his wounds, and his entire body shattered, leaving his limbs scattered on the spot. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"I didn't expect a puppet resurrected from a corpse to bleed this much! Quite surprising." Pei Yan casually pulled a handkerchief from his storage ring, wiped the blood from his helmet, and sighed helplessly.

"What did he do?" Moira, who hadn't been able to observe the process closely due to being protected, asked in shock, seeing Exeter killed in an instant.

"Ether threads!" Lanloste, who witnessed the exchange, spat out the words with a grim expression.

"Ether threads? Such a basic attack method can eliminate a Round Table Knight?" Moira was almost frantic upon hearing those words. If Pei Yan had defeated her today with near-world-ending moves as in the team match, she wouldn't have been so distressed. But from start to finish, apart from showing extraordinary soul defense, Pei Yan used only the most basic attack methods. This gap was devastating for Moira.

"Basic attack?" Lanloste raised his eyebrows angrily and said, "Do you still see your opponent this way? If it were simple ether threads, how could Exeter have fallen!"

Then, looking at Lanloste, he said solemnly, "Compressing the ether threads to the thickness of a hair and deploying them in a mist state among his own particles is like casting an invisible net over Exeter! Not only that, if I'm not mistaken, at least two attack attributes are attached to these ether threads!"

Lanloste's words left Moira dumbfounded. Meanwhile, other experts watching from the sidelines, who also saw through the move, wore the same shocked expression. Who would have thought that basics such as ether threads and air slash, belonging to high-level skills, could have such a stunning performance when pushed to the extreme?

Compressing an ether thread to thumb thickness is already the limit, but to the thickness of a hair? Which cultivator would do such a pointless thing? Not to mention the time and effort consumed as ether is condensed and compressed further. Even if you succeed, what would be the point? An ether thread might catch an opponent off guard, but the reward and effort are disproportionate, especially considering the additional injection of two attack attributes!

Yet Pei Yan did it. He proved to everyone the terrifying effect of pushing this simplest attack to the maximum. As amazed as they were by his performance, they had to admit that this seemingly simple attack method, based on theoretical principle, was currently unique to Pei Yan.

Pei Yan had anticipated reactions to his attack, but it was his only recourse. Unlike Ye Ruozai, who was a prodigious artist genius with an extraordinary grasp of Daoist law spells, quickly mastering their essence and transforming them into his power, shining with a new light.

Pei Yan was like a precise replication machine, capable of perfectly replicating high-end attack methods. But replicas are merely copies that learn the surface without grasping the essence. He could never surpass the original technique's height.

Fine! Pei Yan faced his reality! If he couldn't win in quality, he would gain an overwhelming advantage in quantity. With the Suba artificial intelligence system, he standardized, programmed, and streamlined his attacks. He continuously honed an attack to its peak, maintaining modifications in his AI until reaching satisfactory perfection. Then, with each execution, merely a thought triggered Suba's arrangement of ether within him to solidify and deploy the technique swiftly and efficiently without him exerting more mental effort.

"Is your name Pei Yan?"

"Yes." Pei Yan casually replied, tossing aside the blood-soaked handkerchief.

Lanloste abandoned his previous arrogance, resting his hand on his sword, and solemnly said to Pei Yan, "Your strength has exceeded my imagination. Based on this strength alone, you deserve our attention and respect. However, my comrade Boss died at your companion's hand, and now Exeter's soul's survival remains uncertain. If he too returns to the Saint Master, then your hands are stained with the blood of two of my comrades."

As he said this, Lanloste chuckled bitterly and self-deprecatingly said, "Though they've long stopped considering me a comrade!"

Lanmalok, standing next to him, was equally saddened. He patted Lanloste's shoulder, sighed, and comforted, "It's been years; our bones have turned to ashes! No one blames you anymore! Exeter, they're just…."

"I understand!" Lanloste interrupted Lanmalok, raised his head, and continued to stare at Pei Yan, "No matter what, we cannot refuse this battle. Pei Yan, I don't know if we'll survive this fight today, but remember, alive or dead! Regardless of how relations shift between realms in the future, you will always be the mortal enemy of the Round Table Knights. Even if we die here today, more Round Table Knights will come against you until one side completely vanishes from this world, or it's until either side ceases to exist! This is the Round Table Knights' challenge and vow to you!"

"Ah!" Pei Yan sighed toward the sky and, after a long while, shook his head helplessly. He then looked at Lanloste and said seriously, "I can assure you Exeter's soul is still alive and should have returned to your Magic World to recuperate. I'm not saying this to retract your vow, but because I regret my previous decision to spare him."

As he spoke, Pei Yan sheathed his long blade, stretched lazily, and the prior weariness from the battle vanished. A surge of murderous intent erupted from within him, alerting Lanloste and the others to the fact that this man was about to get serious.

"Boss did not die by my hand, but it's not much different from dying by my hand, so counting it on me isn't wrong. As they say, more accounts don't worry, more lice don't itch; many wish to be ceaseless enemies with me; one more or less makes no difference!"