Chapter 803: Bird in Captivity

“There are many ways to teach you a lesson, and I’ll choose the most interesting one.

Alright, Moustached Man, do you have any final words for this world? This is your last chance to speak, I assure you. If I can't deliver on my promise, I'll surrender willingly.”

The Moustached Man seemed completely stunned by Xu Yang's words. He simply couldn't believe that a mere leader of a subordinate alliance dared to speak to him in such a way. After a moment of surprise, the Moustached Man finally burst out laughing.

“Are you sure you’re not joking with me? How incredibly arrogant of you! Very well, I'm a businessman; I never make a losing deal. But since you've challenged me to this game, why shouldn't I accept? Since you're so confident, I'll play along. For the next ten rounds, if you can render me speechless, you win. If you lose, you not only leave behind all your equipment but also kneel before everyone and apologize to me.”

Xu Yang nodded in agreement without hesitation.

“Those terms sound fair to me. I'd like to warn you, sometimes games that appear most tempting hide dangers far greater than their allure. Think carefully. With me, A-Yang, there's no such thing as regret. You'll be held accountable for your words and actions.”

At this point, the Moustached Man regarded A-Yang as an ignorant fool, his previous serious and tense demeanor completely gone. After all, he couldn't believe that someone of A-Yang's apparent standing would joke like this in front of so many people. He was sure that if he won this game, he would be the ultimate victor.

“If your goal is for me to defeat you, perhaps I can't. But given the nature of this game, you simply cannot win. As long as I intend to speak, even if my mouth is shut, I have other ways to achieve that goal. You've already lost, young man.”

As soon as the Moustached Man finished speaking, he suddenly launched into the air. His dragon mount was, after all, quite reliable. Flapping its massive wings, it hovered in mid-air, maneuvering repeatedly. Concurrently, the immensely powerful wind-attribute vortex generated by the dragon could also partially block energy.

“Hahaha! I'm ready, kid. Let's start this game now!”

The moment the Moustached Man finished speaking, Xu Yang immediately raised his right hand towards the void, locking onto the position of the ancient dragon mount. At that very instant, the Moustached Man instinctively tried to speak, but he quickly realized he had lost his ability to talk.

“No, how is this possible? I actually can't speak!”

The Moustached Man was genuinely panicked, but he had no idea that he hadn't lost his 'language ability.' Instead, Xu Yang had at that moment swapped and relocated the surrounding void where he stood. The underlying principle was akin to how a mirage forms. In other words, the Moustached Man's current location had been displaced by Xu Yang using the Ghost Valley Grand Array.

The reason everyone, including the Moustached Man himself, thought he was still in his original spot was simply because the Ghost Valley Grand Array possessed a unique light refraction ability. It projected the Moustached Man's image from his displaced location onto his initial starting point, effectively deceiving everyone. Everyone was fooled, and even the Moustached Man himself never dreamed he would be so utterly subdued by such a trick.

“Ten rounds will pass in an instant. How about we increase the difficulty? How about a hundred rounds? I'll give you a hundred rounds. As long as you can break free from my methods and utter a single word that these brothers on the battlefield can hear, I'll count it as your win.”

Xu Yang's words were filled with absolute, domineering confidence, for he knew that from this moment on, every action on the battlefield, every circulation of energy, would be under his sole control. No one else had the right or ability to interfere!

Let alone outsiders, even the Five Heavenly Kings behind Xu Yang would find it utterly impossible to help the Moustached Man escape the Ghost Valley Grand Array's confinement at this moment. Only the powerful figures of the Sacred Flame Sect knew what kind of being Xu Yang truly was—an incomprehensible divine being, almost beyond measure by the standards of the entire Yingzhou Continent!

Meanwhile, Xu Yang's subsequent offensive moves slowly began to manifest. He executed each action unhurriedly, thoroughly tormenting the Moustached Man trapped within the Ghost Valley Array. Each time, Xu Yang seemed to merely snap his fingers or wave his hand casually. Yet, for the Moustached Man caught inside, these seemingly idle gestures were irresistible, unexpected calamities.

One moment, it was endless ice and snow; the next, an unending, sky-darkening conflagration! It seemed every disaster known to man repeatedly transformed into a nightmare, constantly descending upon the Moustached Man. He was truly being tormented to the brink of collapse…

A hundred rounds of combat would ordinarily be over in an instant for a top-tier expert like Xu Yang. However, this time, he deliberately prolonged the duration, extending the fight continuously.

To onlookers, the Moustached Man, trapped within the Ghost Valley Grand Array, resembled a mere puppet, toyed with at will in Xu Yang's palm, utterly incapable of breaking free or resisting.

“Haha, Moustached Man, how do you feel now? Tell me your honest feelings! If you beg for mercy, it's not too late. Of course, if you continue to be as stubborn and disrespectful as before, I'll have no choice but to respond with appropriate disciplinary measures.”

The Moustached Man genuinely wanted to beg for mercy, but he didn't realize this was merely another one of Xu Yang's tricks to torment him. The more desperately he tried to speak, yet no sound escaped, the more distressed and disheveled he became!

As the number of rounds in the battle dwindled, the Five Heavenly Kings and others burst into laughter. Everyone seemed to be mocking the Moustached Man's current pathetic state!

“Hahaha, is this really the demeanor of the leader of the fifth-ranked alliance in the entire Northern Region? To be toyed with in the palm of our Sacred Flame Sect Master... I almost pity him.”

“Sect Master, why don't you just treat this Moustached Man as insignificant and let him go! Otherwise, the entire Fifth Alliance's reputation might be ruined because of him!”