"Do you think I came here entirely unprepared? Naive! Before coming, Egge, Yuan Zu, and I meticulously studied you, aware of the secrets lurking within you. Aside from not knowing the origin of your soul, I am perfectly clear on the profound mysteries of your cultivation, the strength of your Divine Body, and even the intricacies of the sacrificial altar!"
Zhen Ru’s face was icy as the innate divine ability of the Myriad Forms Clan manifested, condensing into a tiny point, like a firefly nestled near Shi Yan's Dantian.
That Devouring Black Hole, battered by countless Nether Lightning bolts and shockwaves, now clogged with the dregs of heaven and earth, struggled to turn before finally exploding outward.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhen Ru thrust toward the Shi Yan Divine Power Ancient Tree!
A chilling gleam, like a streak of lightning slicing through the heavens and earth, suddenly materialized within the Dantian world of the Shi Yan Divine Power Ancient Tree! At the crystal-like nexus of this tree, the very core source of power, the lightning Zhen Ru manifested impacted the branches of the Divine Power Ancient Tree with terrifying destructive force!
"Crack, crack! Snap, snap!"
Crystal-like branches, brimming with pure energy, fractured one by one. Vast quantities of power erupted, instantly slipping beyond Shi Yan’s mental control.
Almost simultaneously, Candice received Zhen Ru's soul transmission and immediately seized the moment, expanding the coverage of her hurricane. The resulting vortex soared skyward like a massive column of smoke, piercing into the void. Within the vortex, the heads of the blood dragons faintly revealed shadowy reflections of Shi Yan’s soul.
This was a miraculous transformation born from the fusion of Soul Control Profound Arts and negative energy. However, battered and without subsequent power replenishment, the blood dragons, caught in the shredding grip of hundreds of feet of wind blades, gradually disintegrated.
"Boom!"
The first blood dragon violently exploded, dissolving into a mist of blood that was tossed about by the swirling hurricane, slowly being refined away.
In the core of the massive tornado, Candice’s eyes shone with delight. Around her body spun hundreds of smaller whirlwinds, controlled by her arcane arts, continuing their assault on the remaining blood dragons.
Slowly, one by one, the blood dragons were annihilated, dissipating into blood mist, and the negative emotions festering within them were dispelled along with them.
Candice’s eyes sparkled, and a cold curve touched her lips. Her high, full chest trembled slightly. She rose, surrounded by roaring cyclones, appearing as a goddess of the wind, bringing the brutal gales to the mortal realm, sweeping the most ferocious and dominant hurricane toward Shi Yan!
With the Shi Yan Divine Power Ancient Tree damaged by Zhen Ru and now facing Candice's onslaught, Shi Yan was trapped between two fronts, his situation becoming critically precarious.
In the distance, Mei Ji watched the tornado tear the heavens and earth apart. Seeing Shi Yan's contorted body slowly shrink, a ruthless determination suddenly surfaced on her alluring face. "Vandler, I’ll fight you to the death! If you intend to take me down with you, then try to stop me! I’d like to see if you even possess that capability!"
"Hiss, hiss!"
Intense, frost-white chill suddenly surged forth from Mei Ji's graceful form. As an all-encompassing cold spread, Mei Ji transformed into a beautiful woman of ice.
Her entire body crystallized into beautiful, transparent ice shards, resembling an exquisite ice sculpture crafted by the heavens in midwinter—cold, arrogant, and impossible to gaze upon directly!
The Star Seal imposed by Vandler cracked almost instantaneously. Above the head of the stunning ice sculpture Mei Ji had become, a mysterious Primal Rune pulsed with a beautiful halo, unleashing a devastating cold capable of plunging the world into eternal frost. Centered on her, the surrounding world froze at a visible rate!
"Crack, crack, crack!"
Glazed ice prisms formed on the eaves of the palace. Slowly, the palace transformed into a structure of rock-ice, becoming a colossal ice palace. The stones on the ground began to freeze, and in the void, pristine snowflakes descended, scattering across the world—each flake seeming to carry Mei Ji's resolve!
The heavens and earth slowly froze, and this world became one of frost, rendered entirely white.
Mei Ji seemed to have become the Goddess of Frost. Watching Vandler’s face drain of color, she stated coldly, "Before, I considered you a brother. From now on, we are mortal enemies! You betray your race for your own selfish desires; you are a traitor to the Phantom Race! I now declare, on behalf of Grandmother, that you are hereby banished from the Phantom Race!"
At these words, Vandler’s face went pale, his lips trembling, unsure if it was from rage or the biting cold.
"Lady Mei Ji!"
"Lady Mei Ji has awakened!"
"Congratulations to Lady Mei Ji for her escape!"
The surging Phantom Race tribesmen cheered wildly, shouting their acclaim, and angrily denouncing Vandler.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
Mei Ji, in her frost-body, ascended into the air, flying toward Candice. Her crystal ice form was tragically beautiful in the void. Wherever she passed, space itself fractured, and several spatial rifts miraculously healed due to the intense freezing.
Vandler subtly sensed that the chilling power emanating from Mei Ji at this moment was unimaginably terrifying!
If he dared to intercept her now, he would certainly be unable to withstand it and would suffer unimaginable heavy blows!
Mei Ji was fighting with her life on the line!
For Shi Yan's sake, Mei Ji was risking everything, disregarding her own death, unleashing all her potential.
Her resolute action struck Vandler's chest like a cold ice arrow, causing him more pain than any physical frost power could.
Watching Mei Ji sweep past him, charging toward Candice, Vandler gritted his teeth, redirecting his hatred toward Candice.
He believed that if Candice hadn't forced the issue, his relationship with Mei Ji would never have deteriorated to this extent. He also resented Candice for diverting Shi Yan’s initial wrath toward him, causing him to suffer Shi Yan's humiliation and the heavy blow to his Divine Body.
"Die! All of you, die! It would be best if you all perished!"
Baring his teeth, Vandler’s face was sinister and terrifying. He stared at Candice and Mei Ji, enunciating every word, wishing they would both die together.
"Mei Ji! Are you… are you insane!" Candice, who had been exhilarated, intending to crush Shi Yan in one decisive blow, suddenly found the world around her turning into a kingdom of ice and snow. She saw Mei Ji transformed into a crystalline ice sculpture, burning her life force to unleash all her power, the icy energy freezing space itself and sealing the rifts.
This surge of power startled even Candice, making her dare not underestimate the situation.
Mei Ji remained silent, locking her gaze onto Candice, furiously operating the Profound Art of Ice. Innumerable crystalline ice mountains erupted from the nearby territory, transforming into thousands-of-feet-tall swords, plunging toward Candice one after another.
A sky full of frost and snow descended like a torrential storm, engulfing Candice and rendering the area a world of hazy white. Under the fierce howling of Candice’s winds, the world became increasingly volatile and bizarre.
All the Phantom Race tribesmen could only see the area of wind and frost as a blur, shrouded by the terrifying blizzard, hearing only the earth-shattering explosions but unable to discern the scene within.
But everyone knew that Mei Ji, merely at the first level of the Domain Ancestor realm, could not possibly defeat Candice, and they knew that every second Mei Ji persisted brought her closer to death!
"Lady Mei Ji…"
Many young Phantom Race men choked back sobs, calling out softly with expressions of deep sorrow.
Many people turned their gaze to Shi Yan. Behind the raging storm of wind and frost, Shi Yan had returned to his normal human form, eyes closed, his face twisted as if battling an inner demon, seemingly oblivious to the earth-shattering events unfolding around him.
"This woman is actually willing to burn her life potential for you—that surprises me," Zhen Ru’s voice echoed from within his Dantian Qi Sea. "Hmph, if she weren't desperately blocking Candice, you would be dead by now. But what does that matter? How long can she hold Candice back? She is merely courting death!"
"Crack, crack!"
In Shi Yan’s Divine Power Ancient Tree world, massive branches were being destroyed by Zhen Ru, shattering into crystal fragments that flew everywhere.
A dazzling, piercing light suddenly erupted above Shi Yan’s Sea of Consciousness, shooting forth from the Profound Art Pagoda. This beam of light pierced the void, crossed boundless space, and miraculously extended directly from his Sea of Consciousness into his Dantian, entering the world of the Divine Power Ancient Tree!
The extent of this was utterly unbelievable!
The light struck with the precision of Shi Yan’s own life intent, hitting Zhen Ru exactly.
In the boundless starry sea between heaven and earth, it seemed nothing—no living being, race, star, or divine artifact—could block this light. As the light struck, a perfectly transparent, large hole instantly appeared on Zhen Ru’s chest!
As if pierced by a sword through a thin sheet of paper, Zhen Ru’s chest was penetrated effortlessly, without any resistance.
"This, this light, this aura… Heavens!"
Zhen Ru, inside Shi Yan's Divine Power Ancient Tree, tried to cover her chest in terror. However, as her fingers touched the light emanating from her chest, several fingers instantly snapped off. With a piercing shriek, she violently retreated in a straight line, pulling her Divine Body away from the origin point of the light. "I finally understand why the Scarlet Gold Spirit Ants dissipated…"
Operating her profound arts at full power, ignoring the gaping hole in her chest, she began to slowly fade, like a thin cloud dissipating under the sun.
As she vanished, the purified, essential Divine Power surged out from all of Shi Yan’s acupoints. This power flowed like seven hundred and twenty streams, connecting to the Divine Power Ancient Tree and supplying fresh, vibrant energy, rapidly repairing the shattered structure.
In an extremely short time, new shoots sprouted where the crystal branches had been broken, growing back rapidly.
As the torrent of Divine Power poured in, the Divine Power Ancient Tree not only recovered but miraculously continued to grow, slowly expanding!
The regrowth of the Divine Power Ancient Tree was the clearest manifestation of a breakthrough in realm! Shi Yan, at the first level of the Domain Ancestor realm, had finally overcome a critical bottleneck in his ascension!
"Boom!"
Shi Yan’s Soul Altar shuddered violently, and his Sea of Consciousness churned intensely. Wisps of Divine Sense condensed into an infinitely purer and more refined form. The Soul Pool within the Sea of Consciousness began to boil strangely. The black hole in his Domain dripped drops of Soul Energy Liquid, falling into the Soul Pool, causing its liquid level to increase.
That Soul Energy Liquid was the product of his arduous refinement. With his realm truly breaking through, his rate of refining the remaining energy increased tenfold!
Soon, all the energy he had consumed recently was purified into the purest power, flowing into the Divine Power Ancient Tree, the Sea of Consciousness, and the Soul Pool.
...RQ