Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 467 Sky Pirate Leader's Power

"Y-You aren't crippled!"

The outburst escaped his lips before he could hold it back.

Astonishment and incredulity.

A spark of terror.

Legends had circulated far and wide throughout the Desolate Heaven Empire.

Although he hadn't seen it firsthand, the tales overflowed with details about Bai Zihan dispatching Great Ascension Realm demonic cultivators like harvesting grass.

He'd brushed them off as overstatements, yet he couldn't fully dismiss them as fabrications, given how widespread the accounts were.

He'd even gotten the story from an eyewitness.

Still, he figured Bai Zihan must have faced difficulties and received aid from allies.

Yet those three Void Refinement underlings—

Obliterated.

His breath hitched for a split second.

He'd believed the task would be straightforward since Bai Zihan, rumors or not, was now supposedly crippled.

But then—

He forced himself to steady his nerves.

He wasn't by himself.

Three aerial vessels.

Dozens upon dozens of followers.

And he himself was a Great Ascension Realm powerhouse.

Even if Bai Zihan wasn't truly crippled—

What of it?

The Great Ascension demonic cultivators he'd slain were probably already debilitated.

Besides, he was convinced he could have achieved the same feat in that situation.

"Attack!"

His command boomed over the field of battle.

"Take him down!"

The Sky Pirates paused for the tiniest moment.

Afterward, they bellowed together, pushing aside their doubts.

Warriors rushed ahead once again.

All three pirate vessels maneuvered at the same time, their spirit cannons powering up.

Should Bai Zihan choose to engage—

They'd overwhelm him through sheer force of numbers.

Down below—

Bai Zihan stayed rooted in place.

He merely glanced upward.

His stare remained serene.

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 of these Sky Pirates had cultivated that method yet.

(Tch! What a shame!)

He might have easily captured them and extracted vital details with little fightback.

The oncoming pirates had scarcely covered ten meters—

"Fate Severing Slash!"

SLASH!

The heavens appeared to tear open following its trajectory.

The advancing Sky Pirates halted in mid-air.

Their forms crossed the mark—

And divided.

No bloodshed.

No cries.

They were sliced so precisely that their awareness couldn't even catch the event.

It struck the lead flying ship.

Its barrier formation ignited automatically, with numerous shields triggering one after another.

They crumbled in an instant.

Like fog vanishing under the sun's rays.

The ship's body—

Cleaved!

Perfectly in half.

The next vessel tried to shield itself.

Far too feeble!

The cut pierced right through.

The final 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 spectacular crumbling.

Merely a cut-off reality.

Debris floated down, melting into the mist.

The Sky Pirates—

Vaporized!

Wiped out with their crafts.

Quietness fell over everything.

Just the breeze lingered.

Up high—

The Sky Pirate chief floated solo in the heavens.

His complexion had drained of color.

His presence flickered wildly for the first time.

Three battle-ready flying ships.

Hundreds of cultivators.

Annihilated.

In a single stroke.

"This—"

His words stuck in his gullet.

No matter how desperately he wanted to reject it—

Denial was impossible.

He'd seen it happen right before him.

The legends held no exaggeration whatsoever.

And furthermore—

The energy radiating from Bai Zihan now was unmistakably not Spirit Severing.

It was—

Void Refinement Realm!

The pirate chief's eyes quivered.

He'd collected data prior to this raid. All sources confirmed Bai Zihan was crippled.

At most, Spirit Severing before the incident.

But this—

This signified Void Refinement cultivation.

Down below—

Bai Zihan cocked his head a bit.

"Oh ho?"

He'd anticipated the Yun Mo Kou Sky Pirates' head to bolt the moment his power showed.

Nevertheless—

The fellow stayed put.

He showed no sign of fleeing.

He didn't rage over his lost armada or crew.

Nor did he freeze in terror.

Maybe— He clung to the dignity of a Great Ascension Realm master.

Maybe he thought victory against Bai Zihan was still possible.

Or maybe he just couldn't face the truth.

Regardless—

This suited him fine.

Bai Zihan had no fondness for pursuing quarry through the skies.

"You didn't 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 gaze on him for an extended beat.

Afterward—

He chuckled.

Softly initially.

Then with more volume.

"Hahaha... So it's real. They mentioned your arrogance."

His look intensified.

"And they were spot on."

He raised his head a touch, dignity returning to his stance.

"Don't assume victory is yours yet."

His energy burst forth fiercely. Clouds for miles around quaked.

Oppressive force 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 peaking at Great Ascension—didn't just grow.

It ballooned ferociously.

His cultivation leaped in erratic surges, defying natural order like an unchecked flood.

Overhead clouds turned shadowy, swirling toward him as if pulled by an invisible force.

Fissures spiderwebbed through nearby space.

Warmth followed.

At first, a mild gust.

Then—

Blazes burst forth.

These fires glowed red-black, laced with subtle threads of purple lightning.

They twisted around him like animated snakes, consuming the ambient spiritual energy.

His garments incinerated in a flash.

His flesh, though, stayed unscorched.

The escalation persisted.

It rose.

Ever upward.

Bai Zihan's eyebrows arched faintly. "Oh?"

He sensed it distinctly now.

This exceeded standard Great Ascension might.

It had gone beyond.

Not quite entering the Immortal Realm—

But perilously near.

A half-step away.

Or maybe—

A strained mimicry of it.

The pirate chief's mirth rang out once more, but twisted now, echoing with an otherworldly undertone.

"Do you believe you can still beat me?"

The blazes grew fiercer.

Space near him warped noticeably, buckling from his overwhelming force.

Bai Zihan observed steadily.

His face stayed unchanged.

Yet his thoughts raced. (Now, where does this feel familiar?)

It bore a strong resemblance to something he'd encountered earlier, if not identical.

In any case, the Sky Pirate Leader's assurance clearly had solid backing.

He harbored such an ace up his sleeve. No surprise he hadn't panicked much.

The pirate chief advanced.

The firmament under his step cracked like brittle ice.

Every step trailed fiery trails in the atmosphere.

He extended an arm, flames coalescing into a searing lance of packed spiritual fire.

"Witness this—the essence of absolute dominance!"

BOOM!

His presence detonated outward once more.

For a fleeting second—

The weight mimicked the Immortal Realm almost perfectly.

Not genuine ascension.

But sufficient to muddy the boundary.

Bai Zihan at last stood a bit taller.

His attire billowed softly amid the mounting blaze winds.

Intriguing.

A subtle grin formed on his lips. "Excellent!"

His eyes focused sharply.

"You're deserving of another strike, at minimum."

The Sky Pirate chief struck first.

The fiery lance in his grasp swelled explosively, layering spiritual fire densely until space twisted at its point.

Next—

He lunged.

The lance plunged like a plummeting star.

The air wailed.

Beneath, the flying ship quivered. Protective arrays sparked to life under the onslaught.

Inside, Bai Xueqing and her companions endured the crushing warmth bearing down.

Bai Zihan held his ground.

He refused to evade.

Rather—

The Eternal Spirit Sword materialized in his grip.

"Eternal Flowing Water Sword!"

The edge gleamed softly, its essence 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 expanse.

The clash fractured nearby space in rippling waves. Blazes rushed out wildly—but a slender curtain of fluid sword will halved them.

The lance scraped against the blade's edge, stalled from progressing 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 barred the lance's path.

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.

Overhead—

The Sky Pirate chief's mouth twisted upward.

"Oh? Afraid to budge?"

His gaze gleamed.

Then he wrenched the lance with force.

Blazes burst sideways—not at Bai Zihan—

But encircling him.

Paths plotted.

Aim exact. Each assault aimed at spots where—

Should Bai Zihan dodge—

The ship would take the hit.

The Sky Pirate chief wasn't foolish.

Even amid that volatile strength 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 energy into emptiness.

Still, the toll showed.

The surrounding void splintered over and over.

The firmament roared.

The Sky Pirate chief cackled.

"That's your flaw!"