Kousilai and the two High Gods simultaneously let out soft exclamations of surprise. Almost the instant that word "Death" was uttered, a portion of the violent lightning net, the blazing flames, and the razor-sharp wind blades shifted from activity to stagnation, then collapsed and dissipated, and as time progressed, the speed of their collapse and dissipation quickened even further.

In contrast, the power of the huā spirit surged madly once more. The strengthening power roughly balanced the consumed power, and the mass of blood cloud actually stopped contracting.

"A pity, unable to absorb the life essence within their physical bodies."

Nie Kong felt a touch of regret.

Fortunately, the life essence contained within the divine power could be drawn out.

All things in heaven and earth possess life essence, and divine power is no exception. Once life essence is lost, even the most formidable divine power becomes like a lifeless object, scattering completely with the slightest disturbance. By drawing upon the life essence absorbed from the divine power, Nie Kong caused the speed of circulation for the two fundamental powers to soar abruptly.

Judging by the current situation, the power recovered by Taiyan was just enough to compensate for the consumed power. The disparity was temporarily invisible, but given enough time, it would surely become apparent.

Especially since this circulation could not be maintained indefinitely.

Once the peak period passed, a slowdown in the circulation speed would become inevitable until the cycle completely ended. Even Nie Kong could not control this. Fortunately, just as the circulation speed reached its apex, the two High Gods of the Spirit God Hall suddenly struck, absorbing the magnificent life essence contained within their divine power, which pushed the circulation speed toward a new peak. Otherwise, this cycle would already be on the decline. However, Kousilai was unaware of these nuances; his face was already quite grim.

"To actually absorb the life essence within divine power—what a bizarre technique!"

To the right of Kousilai, the man in black suddenly smiled. Instead of annoyance, his eyes, deep with the traces of long years, revealed intense interest.

"Indeed, we should observe this closely," the youth in blue on the left remarked.

"..."

Kousilai's lips moved slightly. Seeing the other two appear as if they had discovered a novel toy, he finally swallowed back the words that had rushed to his throat.

As a Heaven Spirit Master who had passed the two Spiritual Calamities and cultivated divine power, Kousilai fully understood their thinking.

The fundamental reason why Spirit Gods could look down upon Spirit Masters was the absolute suppression of power. Due to spatial constraints, the two Spirit Gods could only project a portion of their divine power and soul into the bodies of the Divine Envoys, likely equivalent only to the strength of a high-rank Heaven Spirit.

However, in the entire Heaven Spirit Continent, no Spirit Master below the ninth rank of Heaven Spirit could kill them, because spiritual power could not pose any threat to divine power.

Since even their divine power could not be dealt with, how could their physical bodies be slain?

Yet, the scene unfolding now overturned their established understanding. The ability to absorb the life essence contained within divine power meant the complete disintegration of that divine power. A Spirit God without divine power was like a phoenix stripped of its feathers—any high-rank Heaven Spirit Master could reduce them to ashes.

Of course, only the body of the Divine Envoy and the portion of the soul projected into it would perish; the true form of the Spirit God in the 'Grand Venerable Spirit Realm' would not vanish, but the ensuing soul fragmentation would certainly cause a drop in strength.

The two descending High Gods, suddenly encountering something capable of threatening them, naturally became keenly interested in investigating. This was primarily because the depletion of a small amount of divine power due to life essence absorption did not significantly affect them; otherwise, they would not have been in the mood for exploration.

Since the two High Gods were so keen, Kousilai could only accompany them.

"..."

"Time passes so quickly; it will be dark soon. I thought the huā spirit would be captured immediately, but once that word 'Death' appeared, they managed to hold on steadily again."

"Today, we probably won't see the true face of that Yao Ling Huan Jie behind the great gate."

"I wonder how that huā spirit and her master managed to resist the divine power suppression from the Spirit God Hall Master and the two High Gods!"

"It seems they will be locked in a stalemate for quite some time yet."

"..."

The crowd whispered amongst themselves.

The powerhouses from the Spirit God Hall were naturally anxious, but seeing that their Hall Master and the two High Gods appeared calm, they could only patiently wait.

Time flowed rapidly, and before long, the sky began to dim.

Night gradually enveloped the entire swamp.

Yet, around the Spirit-Sealing Steles, flames still soared into the sky, wind blades raged unimpeded, and lightning flickered. The red, cyan, and purple incandescence intertwined, illuminating the hundred-meter radius brightly. The sizzling sound of burning crimson flames, the whistling sound of wind blades tearing through the air, and the crackling noise of wildly dancing purple lightning merged into a single cacophony.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the man in black and the youth in blue closed their eyes.

"This is... their divine sense?"

Sensing two wisps of red and cyan aura silently approaching him, Nie Kong’s mind raced. He immediately entered the artistic conception of 'Fusion of Heaven and Earth,' allowing his spiritual thought to completely envelop the Purple Luo Illusory Spirit Incense and the Revisiting Grass, integrating utterly into the swamp without revealing the slightest trace of aura.

This was thanks to the illusion formation within his Spirit Mansion.

After restoring the illusion formation using his own natural fundamental power, Nie Kong was no longer constrained by the 'Spirit-Sealing Swamp' and could now freely utilize his spiritual thought. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for Nie Kong to deploy his spiritual thought here, and he might have been thoroughly scrutinized by the two High Gods of the Spirit God Hall.

Not only did divine power have an absolute suppressive effect on spiritual power, but divine sense was also the same toward spiritual thought.

Yet, Nie Kong was an anomaly. Throughout history, no Spirit Master had been able to condense both life essence and death aura within spiritual power simultaneously, much less cultivate natural fundamental power.

With such power as his foundation, his spiritual thought could easily merge with nature, undetectable even by the Spirit Gods.

Otherwise, Nie Kong, merged with his consciousness, and Taiyan, in hiding, would have already been discovered by the two High Gods.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

The divine senses of the two individuals swept like wisps of strong wind across the bodies tightly bound by the Purple Luo Illusory Spirit Incense and the Revisiting Grass.

Alas, although the two were clearly hidden right there, they could not sense any aura whatsoever.

Faintly, the brows of the man in black and the youth in blue furrowed slightly. This result, while surprising, only made them more curious.

Given the years they had cultivated and their strength, very few things on the Heaven Spirit Continent could stir their interest anymore, but today was an exception. The ability to cause divine power to collapse and dissipate, and the ability to evade divine sense detection—having both abilities manifest in a single Spirit Master was truly inexplicable.

The stranger the phenomenon, the less willing they were to give up.

Their divine sense swept across the blood cloud, spanning several meters, again and again. After a long while, a subtle clue finally manifested. But when their divine senses reflexively rushed toward it, the trace vanished without a trace. After another long pause, another clue appeared.

But when the two wisps of divine sense pounced, there was still no sign.

It was like a cat playing with a mouse; the two enjoyed the game immensely, entirely unaware of the passing time. After an indeterminate amount of time, Kousilai’s voice suddenly broke through: "Two High Gods, my divine power is nearly exhausted. May we now employ the Three Gods Coalescence Formation?"