Kou Xi Lai advanced several steps, his gaze sharp as a knife. "Seal!" The single word burst forth, ringing like thunder.

The purple radiance encircling Kou Xi Lai suddenly exploded outward—countless thin strands of lightning wildly surged, transforming in an instant into thick bolts that wove a dense net of thunder, entirely enveloping the mass of crimson cloud. A terrifying aura, fierce as monstrous waves, swept in all directions.

His first move was nothing short of earth-shattering. The Celestial Masters distant in the air, having just landed, were startled by the commotion Kou Xi Lai created.

Especially when they felt that terrifying power, they couldn't help but feel a chill of dread. They hadn't expected a Celestial Master who had passed the Second Spiritual Tribulation to be this formidable; an ordinary Celestial Master likely couldn't withstand even one of his blows.

The Second Elder and the others, however, were greatly invigorated, wishing that green-robed bandit would instantly turn to ash under their Hall Master's attack. As for the two young men floating in the void, they remained perfectly composed, their expressions serene and detached; Kou Xi Lai's assault barely garnered their attention.

"Crack! Crack!

Crack..." Lightning danced wildly. Where the electrical strikes met the blood-red aura, the latter continuously dissipated.

The piercing crackle of explosions made their ears ring while simultaneously causing their spirits to tremble. Inside the blood cloud, however, the scene was entirely different.

A purple plant hovered gently within the embrace, and wrapped around its stem was a Huí Móu Grass, its brilliantly blooming flower dripping with lush color. These were Nie Kong, merged in body and spirit, and Tai Yan, manifested in her true form.

Almost the instant Kou Xi Lai and the two supposed High Gods he mentioned entered the "Spirit-Binding Swamp," Nie Kong had sensed it. He swiftly drew Xiang Xiang, who had been roaming outside, into his Spiritual Acuity Aperture, then spirited Tai Yan away from the Spirit Mansion to hide, leaving Qing Yue and the gourd behind to monitor the situation.

"Brother, the Thunder God Force of this Spirit Palace Hall Master is incredibly potent." Tai Yan's petals vibrated gently. Although her lips didn't move, her voice resonated clearly within Nie Kong's mind—a phenomenon that only began after they had shared the bond of unity.

"Mmm." Nie Kong's focus was grave. Tai Yan was not a Spirit God like the Great Evolution Spirit Venerable.

Without divine power to shield her, even a ninth-grade Celestial Spirit Master would only end up being absorbed by her. But against someone who had cultivated divine power, Tai Yan was somewhat helpless.

Under the Hall Master's attack, her fundamental essence was being rapidly depleted. "Brother, why don't they attack outside while we fight in here?

After the fight, won't our fundamental energies both recover? We can alternate consuming and restoring; they probably won't be able to touch us even by tomorrow," Tai Yan's voice echoed again in Nie Kong's heart.

"Eh?" Nie Kong was startled by Tai Yan's wildly inventive idea. To engage in that sort of activity in this place—only she could come up with that.

However, her words did offer him a realization: if they could establish a cycle for the fundamental energies of both of them, recovery would indeed be rapid. With that thought, the roots of Nie Kong's "Purple Luo Illusionary Spirit Incense" suddenly entwined with the roots of the Huí Móu Grass, and the purple calyx also burrowed into the proudly blooming Huí Móu flower.

The next moment, Nie Kong's natural fundamental energy flowed from the intertwined roots into the body of the Huí Móu Grass. Tai Yan held no resistance toward Nie Kong, so his natural fundamental energy easily flowed from the Huí Móu Grass roots into the stem, then from the stem reached the pistil, and finally emerged through the pistil into the calyx of the "Purple Luo Illusionary Spirit Incense" connected to it.

Nie Kong quickly inquired, "Tai Yan, how does it feel?" "Brother, when your power arrived, some of my residual fundamental essence that was inside loosened a tiny bit, but as soon as your energy came in, it retreated again," Tai Yan murmured unhappily. When struck by the Spirit Palace Hall Master's Thunder God Force, the vast majority of the hidden Dark Fundamental Essence within Tai Yan’s body had erupted to resist; only a small portion remained deep within the ovary of the pistil.

"That's good; as long as there's a tendency to loosen, it proves my natural fundamental energy can draw it out." Nie Kong was secretly delighted. Natural fundamental energy continuously poured in from the roots, passing through the Huí Móu Grass stem and petals, then returning into the body of the "Purple Luo Illusionary Spirit Incense." "Really, really!

Brother, they're being drawn out a little more!" Tai Yan cried out joyfully. "..." Nie Kong grew even more excited.

Natural fundamental energy circulated ceaselessly between the Purple Luo Illusionary Spirit Incense and the Huí Móu Grass, one cycle immediately following the next, the power remaining unbroken, without the slightest interruption. As time passed, the speed at which the natural fundamental energy cycled within their bodies continuously accelerated: six seconds...

five seconds... three seconds...

two seconds... "..." "As expected of a Celestial expert who has passed the Second Spiritual Tribulation; this Spirit Palace Hall Master is truly formidable.

A few days ago, a dozen Celestial Masters using various artifacts imbued with divine power couldn't harm that Flower Spirit in the slightest; instead, she even devoured one. But today, the moment Hall Master Kou made his move, the Flower Spirit’s power began to constantly dissipate." "I heard that the Spirit Gods who previously left the Spirit Palace could descend upon the Celestial Spirit Continent through Divine Emissaries.

Those two are likely returning from that place." "Not 'likely,' but certainly. Didn't the Second Elder of the Spirit Palace call them 'High Gods'?" "Perhaps the two High Gods from the Spirit Palace won't even need to act.

The Spirit Palace Hall Master alone might be enough to deal with that Flower Spirit and her master. Achieving entry into the Illusion Realm before nightfall might actually be possible." "This time, no one can stop the Spirit Palace from acquiring this Medicine Spirit Illusion Realm, unless the former Mountain Master of the Moluo Holy Mountain decides to interfere here as well." "..." Listening to the murmurs around him, Gu Chang Gong watched the red cloud at the location of the Spirit-Binding Stele shrink under the pressure of the lightning net, his heart growing secretly anxious.

When he left the swamp that day, he had used a Spiritual Scroll to inform Mu Xueyi, who was suppressing the Yin Xu Spirit Vein within the inner city of the Spirit Guard City, about the situation here. Mu Xueyi had replied that strong figures from the Yin Xu would arrive soon, but the people from Yin Xu had yet to appear, leaving him feeling unsettled.

"Crack! Crack!

Crack!............" Electric serpents danced, lightning flickered, and the explosive roar of the void being shattered by the Thunder God Force grew increasingly fierce. The blood cloud, which once spanned a dozen meters around, was now reduced to only a few meters in radius.

One could even faintly glimpse the intertwined purple and red figures of the two medicinal herbs inside. The experts of the Spirit Palace looked relaxed, their faces showing smiles of satisfaction.

Several high-grade Celestial Spirit Masters, including the Second Elder, even brought out the "Spirit Intent God-Sealing Map," ready to use these six scrolls to bombard the black gate floating in the void the moment the Flower Spirit was captured.