“Whoosh!”
A single yellow leaf drifted down.
This time, Nie Kong was fully prepared.
Almost the instant the yellow leaf flashed into view, Nie Kong perceived that the yellow aura within the Rainbow Bridge had completely separated from the bridge structure itself, enveloping him at a speed nearly imperceptible even to his spiritual sense.
Immediately, the surrounding scenery shifted again.
Within Nie Kong’s field of vision, there was only ochre earth, and suspended high above this earth floated that very yellow leaf.
“Crack!”
A splitting sound resonated, and the yellow leaf suddenly shattered into fine powder, fluttering down to land, instantly merging with the surrounding soil.
Rustle, rustle…
The ochre earth began to tremble, the sound growing increasingly intense.
In less than two seconds, the faint rustling was replaced by a deafening roar, as vast swathes of earth churned upwards, converging in the high air.
In the blink of an eye, a hundred-meter-tall yellow giant materialized.
“Whoosh!”
Lifting its right foot, the immensely colossal sole descended toward Nie Kong, causing the void to surge violently, as if this entire space formed by the yellow leaf was about to be stomped into a gaping hole.
Crimson Star Battle Form!
Nie Kong’s gaze sharpened, his body suddenly expanded, and he shot out a foot to meet the descent head-on with fierce speed.
“Bang.”
The two feet collided violently, sounding like the collapse of heaven and the rending of earth, unleashing a savage tide of energy that peeled back layer upon layer of the surrounding soil.
Dust billowed, and the two massive figures simultaneously recoiled.
Nie Kong felt a strange sensation, as if the kick he had just delivered hadn't struck a living being, but rather an impossibly thick earthen wall. The moment of contact sent an intensely potent rebound force back that caused his right leg to go numb, even while enveloped in his Battle Form.
With just one impact, Nie Kong understood: this giant formed from the yellow leaf was significantly more formidable than the blue leaf from before.
The yellow leaf represented ‘dust.’
Earth symbolized profundity and weight.
Earth Element Spirit Masters of the Heavenly Spirit Continent were almost universally renowned for their formidable defenses, and this giant was entirely condensed from pure Earth Divine Power, thus possessing the same characteristics. Fortunately, the giant only possessed strength approaching the peak of the Sixth Grade, not yet reaching the level of a Seventh Grade Spirit God.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
In the distance, the giant, having just stabilized its form, charged toward Nie Kong again without the slightest pause. Its demeanor was akin to a ferocious beast breaking free from its cage; every stride seemed to exert its utmost strength, causing the space to quake and vibrate with the landing of its feet.
In just three steps, the giant traversed hundreds of meters of space.
Seeing this, Nie Kong mobilized all the Chaos Divine Power within his body and rammed straight back, eschewing any intricate maneuvers. He possessed sufficient confidence in his Crimson Star Battle Form.
“Boom!”
The sound of the collision was earth-shattering.
Nie Kong felt a numbing sensation throughout his body. The giant, struck by the violent impact, was thrown backward, but its structure resembled a loosened earthen wall, with soil steadily crumbling off.
Rustle, rustle…
The toxic earth continuously fell away, merging rapidly back into the ground.
In an instant, the giant’s entire body vanished.
“Running fast enough!”
Nie Kong scoffed, lifting his right foot, and then stomped down heavily. His sole seemed to contain immense, crushing force, and the moment it struck the ground, a colossal yellow vortex erupted, churning outward from the epicenter of his foot, its fierce howl threatening to pierce the very fabric of this space.
Almost simultaneously, the Chaos Divine Power evolved into the Dharma Image of the “Blood Prison Sword King Tree,” shooting out from beneath Nie Kong’s foot, scattering into countless fine sword shadows that burst beneath the earth—Hiss! Hiss! Hiss…
The sword shadows relentlessly pierced the yellow earth, waves of sharp sound reverberating outwards.
Nearly every sword shadow carried the warmth of the “Chaos Heavenly Fire,” causing the earth beneath Nie Kong’s feet to gradually turn red, a searing aura continuously rising from the depths.
“Rustle!”
The yellow earth occasionally bulged, as if massive earthworms were tunneling beneath.
“Let’s see how long you can last!”
With a thought, Nie Kong slammed his foot down again, and the Dharma Image of the “Blood Prison Sword King Tree,” condensed from Chaos Divine Power, drilled back into the earth, exploding outward with a resounding burst.
Within this Spirit Leaf Space, the body formed by the leaf could coalesce and dissolve at will; even if cleaved in two, it wouldn't suffer significant damage. If the giant had maintained its previous form, Nie Kong would have needed considerable effort to utterly destroy it.
But its sudden fragmentation after the collision actually proved to be a great boon for Nie Kong.
After the second ingress of the “Blood Prison Sword King Tree” beneath the ground, the earth beneath Nie Kong grew increasingly scorching, the surface baked red-hot by the Chaos Heavenly Fire, resembling a massive branding iron.
Scorched…
Finally, clumps of earth shot out from the ground one after another.
Nie Kong shot forward, and at the exact moment the myriad pieces of earth were re-coalescing into the giant, his massive fists simultaneously slammed into its chest.
“Roar!”
The giant opened its maw and let out a deafening bellow, its chest rapidly dissolving, the yellow earth instantly flooding over Nie Kong’s fists and creeping up his arms.
With a sharp bang, two bursts of “Chaos Heavenly Fire” exploded, incinerating the earth enveloping his fists.
At this juncture, if Nie Kong had followed through with force, he could have shattered the giant immediately. But doing so would inevitably cause a significant depletion of the Earth Divine Power that constituted the giant’s body.
That was not what Nie Kong desired; he intended to refine this Earth Divine Power to augment his own strength.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Heavenly Fire immediately extinguished, and two immense white vortexes surfaced from the fists embedded deep within the giant’s chest. An unparalleled suction force immediately overflowed, tearing at the giant’s body in all directions.
The yellow earth began to swiftly detach, pouring endlessly into the depths of the vortexes.
The giant’s body dissolved and fragmented again, attempting to flee.
How could Nie Kong allow it such an opportunity again? He spread his arms wide, and the two vortexes followed suit, sandwiching the giant’s form between them.
In this manner, the yellow earth separating from the giant’s body was sucked into the vortexes before it could even touch the ground. These two vortexes contained almost all of Nie Kong’s Chaos Divine Power; the giant’s body was utterly suppressed, and as time passed, its struggles grew weaker.
In barely ten seconds, the giant completely vanished.
The vortexes in Nie Kong’s palms gradually quieted, finally condensing into two spheres, within which was encased the pure Earth Divine Power.
The next moment, the space dissolved, and Nie Kong reappeared on the Rainbow Bridge.
The poisonous leaf flashed and disappeared.
“Second trial passed!”
Nie Kong let out a soft breath, glanced at the building across the Rainbow Bridge, and immediately sat cross-legged. The two spheres merged into one and were instantly engulfed by violent flames.
Refining while absorbing, his Chaos Divine Power continuously strengthened.
When he had just ascended to Spirit God, the mass of Chaos condensed from Divine Power within Nie Kong only occupied a small portion of his body. After refining and absorbing this entire sphere of Earth Divine Power, the pale, hazy Chaos had expanded to encompass almost his entire chest and abdomen, the Chaos Divine Power contained within reaching the absolute peak of abundance.
“When my entire body is suffused with Chaos, perhaps I can step across the threshold to the Grand Sovereign realm!” A premonition sparked involuntarily in his mind. Nie Kong pondered for a moment, then slowly moved forward…