Franklin and Garfield’s complexions had long since turned ghastly; the notion of turning tail and fleeing even surfaced in their minds. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, upon meeting the emotionless gaze of the Yu Family Ancestor, they were gripped by the certainty that if they dissolved their Light-Dark Convergence, this man would instantly slay them, leaving them with little capacity to resist.

This sensation was so profoundly intense—the very instinct that had saved them from death countless times over centuries—that it completely eradicated any thought of immediate flight. At the very least, until their Light-Dark Convergence was shattered, they would not simply run without a fight.

However, what the Yu Family Ancestor displayed next was utterly terrifying.

Merely raising one arm managed to invoke such a drastic shift in the power of Heaven and Earth. This display instantly brought to mind the divine legends they had encountered so many times in ancient texts.

Only among the supreme experts of the Divine Path could one command such a colossal force from the cosmos.

At this moment, both of them entertained the thought of fleeing despite all honor, relying solely on luck for a successful escape.

But, it seemed all too late, for that terrifying arm finally swept downward. As the immense pressure descended from thin air, the two supreme experts finally cast aside their fear. They gathered every scrap of their strength, unleashing the powers of Light and Dark to their absolute zenith, holding nothing back.

Yet, all efforts appeared futile. Faced with such an insurmountable gap in cultivation, they possessed no power to resist.

As the Yu Family Ancestor’s arm descended, a gigantic white line abruptly materialized from the heavens. This line slashed down from above, carving mercilessly through everything in its path.

The mighty forces of Light and Dark clashed, forming a vast barrier in mid-air. Within this boundary, the world’s two most potent divine powers swirled and overlapped incessantly, seemingly weaving a truly unique dimension.

But when that single white line traversed the sky, it sliced through the Light-Dark barrier as effortlessly as a paper cutter through a circle of parchment.

This barrier, bolstered by the concentrated power of Heaven and Earth drawn from a radius of a hundred li, proved as fragile as paper against the incoming slash, offering no defense whatsoever.

The white light did not halt; it plunged directly downward.

It sheared through the solitary island perched upon the vast ocean, then across the boundless, immense sea itself.

Instantly, the island, still shrouded in fire, began to shake violently. A massive trench, several zhang wide, appeared suddenly from the island's center as if conjured from nothingness, spewing countless fragments of rock and dust in a chaotic eruption.

This trench widened and lengthened, and the resulting tremors grew ever more violent…

Subsequently, the white light struck the ocean floor.

With a thunderous, world-shaking roar, a colossal gash formed in the seabed as well.

The seawater, over ten zhang wide, was forcefully displaced to either side, causing the water at the edges to boil furiously, reaching heights of nearly twenty zhang at their peak.

Innumerable crystalline droplets danced in the air and across the sea’s surface, reflecting unending brilliance under the fierce sun.

The towering, twenty-zhang wave seemed to hang suspended for a single, pregnant moment before crashing down heavily, filling the newly formed chasm.

The surrounding sea, subjected to such immense stimulus, instantly erupted into a continuous, chaotic turmoil.

He Yiming and the others stared at the scene, jaws agape, their hearts verging on numbness.

Was this… the result of mere mortal power?

The Light-Dark barrier, so easily torn apart, now seemed utterly insignificant. He Yiming and the others didn't spare it a second glance.

At this moment, the two supreme masters of the Human Path pinnacle seemed entirely forgotten.

The island in the sea, substantial though it was, had been cleanly cleaved into two halves by that single force. Viewed from the sky, a vast ravine now bisected the island, dividing it into two unequal portions, much like slicing a cake in two.

Seawater rushed furiously into the fissure, rapidly filling it, truly dividing the island into two smaller landmasses.

Gazing upon the shocking, rugged, and uneven cliff faces of the island, a chill ran down everyone’s spine.

In comparison, the Dragon’s Roar unleashed collaboratively by Bao Zhu and One Hundred and Eight seemed pitifully inadequate.

The sea surface remained restless, continuously battered by the shockwaves of the previous event. Enormous waves surged heavenward; though none reached the terrifying height of twenty zhang again, waves around ten zhang high were common, frequently crashing against the now-bisected island.

The raging fire burning below, having endured such a massive impact, was finally extinguished completely.

Even fire-elemental divine power possessing a sliver of sentience could not persist alone against such a display of cosmic might when left without control.

When countless waves washed over the entire island complex, the fierce inferno finally vanished.

It was only then that He Yiming dared to lift his head, his gaze fixed in disbelief ahead.

There, the Chairman of the Dark Alliance Council was missing an arm and a leg. His wounds did not bleed much, nor were any severed limbs present nearby.

It was as if that portion of his body had simply evaporated from existence, dissolved by the sublime power invoked by the Heaven and Earth energy.

The Chairman’s face was contorted with intense agony, yet beneath the pain lay a deep current of absolute terror.

Having personally experienced that overwhelming strength, he could no longer contain his dread.

This level of fear had not surfaced for centuries, not even when facing the world's foremost assassin. But in this moment, he could no longer mask it.

Beside him, the space flickered slightly, and a figure materialized from the void. Only when this person stood fully revealed did the others recognize him: the Pontiff of the Western Temple.

Although he bore no visible wounds, no missing limbs or disabilities, his face was equally ashen, looking little better off than his old adversary.

He Yiming’s spirit instantly surged. He wasted no time, striking his white steed. The celestial horn of the sentient divine beast immediately erupted with brilliant electrical energy.

An illusory white electric bolt shot out with lightning speed.

The white horse instinctively targeted Franklin; this full-force electric beam aimed relentlessly toward the Pontiff. Following the lightning came He Yiming’s Five Elements radiance.

At this moment, he eschewed releasing divine power, instead maximizing the strength of the Five Elements Ring with the utmost haste.

The lightning, coupled with the multicolored glow, streaked toward the Pontiff like a fatal talisman.

However, just then, Franklin executed an action none had anticipated. His body shifted slightly, and he instantly appeared behind Garfield. The Staff of Light flashed out, landing perfectly against the back of his fellow master.

A wave of luminous power instantly sealed off the immense Dark energy within Garfield’s core.

Under normal circumstances, even if Franklin were twice as powerful, he could never have ambushed his rival successfully. But the current Garfield had clearly not fully recovered from that preceding, devastating attack.

In taking that world-shattering blow head-on, he had not only sustained injuries that could never be mended but, more critically, the immense force had thrown his internal energy into chaos. His head throbbed, feeling as if he had been tossed about in a sealed wooden barrel by a giant for several hours, leaving him perpetually dizzy.

Thus, before he could react, Franklin’s ambush succeeded.

The Pontiff lightly pushed the Chairman forward, placing him directly in front of the attack, then turned and fled at the fastest speed he could muster toward the distant West.

The electric bolt struck the maimed Garfield. Sensing an immediate threat to his life, the ill-fated Chairman finally snapped to awareness. He roared fiercely, his internal Dark energy surging wildly, instantly shattering the restriction Franklin had placed upon him. But escaping now was impossible.

With a massive boom, the white horse’s lightning and He Yiming’s five-colored light slammed into his body. Garfield shrieked as his body was tossed high into the air like a rag doll, rising a full ten zhang before plummeting downward as if life itself had abandoned him.

Against an expert of this caliber, He Yiming dared not hesitate. He fiercely swung the Five Elements Ring, sending forth a stream of yellow light, the Earth Divine Power, which shot out like a cannonball, piercing straight through Garfield’s body.

A massive, gaping wound appeared across the Chairman’s chest and abdomen, his churning internal organs clearly visible.

At this point, He Yiming finally stopped. Such catastrophic damage, he knew, would likely fell even a Divine Path expert, let alone a mere Human Path pinnacle master.

“Pfft…”

The Chairman’s body slammed heavily onto one of the island fragments, his splashing blood instantly dyeing the surrounding earth crimson.

The body of the strong man from the West convulsed a few times; his emaciated form seemed to shrink further.

A profound look of utter unwillingness leaked from his eyes, but the light within them dimmed steadily, finally freezing into stillness.

A master of the Ninth Heaven, far from his western home, finally perished upon the South Sea!