An attack of that caliber, even against a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, would lack sufficient killing power, let alone against the early-stage Soul Transformation Evil Phoenix. Seeing her reveal a look of disdainful coldness, she casually flicked out a curtain of cold energy. The Profound Yin Finger struck the cold curtain, hissed audibly, and vanished completely, failing to graze even a single strand of her hair.

Lei Dong’s usually calm expression instantly shifted: “This is impossible! My Profound Yin Finger has already reached the Great Accomplishment stage.”

“Brat, I’ll teach you a lesson before you die,” Evil Phoenix continued to sneer. “There is a fundamental difference between the Nascent Soul stage and the Soul Transformation stage. The gap between the Nascent Soul and the Primordial Spirit is like that between a child and an adult. No matter how heavy a child’s punch is, how can it threaten an adult? Your strike was only slightly impressive in terms of speed. However, you won't have the chance to ascend to the Soul Transformation stage in this lifetime.”

“Impossible! Take two more fingers!” Lei Dong’s face was a mask of disbelief, like a gambler who had lost a bet making one final desperate lunge. Hiss, hiss, he pointed out two more fingers. White mist still coiled around them, radiating chilling energy as they shot through the air with blinding speed, accompanied by a sizzling sound.

“I was just about to tell you to die… Ah~” Just as Evil Phoenix was about to finish her thought, two magnificent sprays of blood erupted from her chest and lower abdomen. Almost identical to the previous two strikes, these fingers easily tore through the defensive cold curtain she had erected and slammed heavily into her body, ripping open two holes the size of bowls. Those two strikes pierced right through the heavily armored Evil Phoenix, armor and all, their power terrifying and astonishing.

Evil Phoenix, her face etched with shock and disbelief, vaguely saw Lei Dong reveal a slight, triumphant, conspiratorial smile. Her ten fingers blossomed open like lotus flowers, hiss, hiss, hiss, streams of white finger energy swept toward Evil Phoenix like machine-gun fire. Having suffered a severe blow once, Evil Phoenix dared not let such powerful finger energy strike her again. She reacted instantly, deploying the unique escape technique of the Nether Phoenix clan, transforming into streaks of residual phoenix shadows and fleeing desperately. The shock on her delicate, fair face had seemingly not yet faded, as if she still couldn't believe Lei Dong’s finger energy could wound her so grievously.

How could she have possibly known that the finger energy Lei Dong unleashed using his Profound Yin True Essence was one of the two supreme skills inherited from the Demon Emperor—the Immortal Slaying Finger? As the name suggested, how powerful was the might of this finger energy? In fact, it was truly so. The greatest expression of the Immortal Slaying Finger's power lay in a trace of the Law of Annihilation. Theoretically, all things in heaven and earth, even the Primordial Universe, were under the control of the Law of Annihilation; when their lifespan ended, they would naturally be annihilated and turn to dust.

The Demon Emperor Sect's inheritance was also incredibly potent. Merely through consciousness transfer, this supreme skill was directly engraved into Lei Dong's memory, as if he had known it since birth. Of course, Lei Dong only knew how to use it, but he wasn't yet proficient, and he still needed the Monarch Over All state to manifest the characteristic of the Law of Annihilation. In truth, those last two strikes had already consumed a significant portion of his True Essence; the ensuing finger strikes were merely a low-cost execution of the standard Profound Yin Finger, purely intended to intimidate, seize an opportunity to prevent the wounded Evil Phoenix from healing, and continuously deplete her True Essence.

Naturally, a technique like the Immortal Slaying Finger, which even a monstrously powerful entity like the Demon Emperor deemed important enough to place within the Soul Devouring Pagoda for inheritance, must possess formidable power. The Demon Emperor once fought single-handedly against the three supreme rulers of the Three Realms, and upon his demise, he still managed to severely injure one of them to the extent that they required tens of thousands of years to heal—what unparalleled might that demonstrates, and what power his supreme skills must possess!

Simultaneously, Lei Dong, expressionless, brought forth the Nether Flame Ghost Banner. Taking advantage of Evil Phoenix’s injury and momentary lapse in readiness, he rapidly summoned the Suicide Ghosts housed within the banner. In an instant, gusts of eerie wind swept through the otherwise warm, stalactite-laden cavern beneath the river. Countless unremarkable Suicide Ghosts poured out, shrieking and howling as they circled in the sky, resembling a semi-transparent, terrifying black cloud.

A Suicide Ghost possessed only a single attack. The innate energy within its soul, coupled with the Nether Ghost Qi and the life imprint it carried, would detonate simultaneously, creating immense destructive power. Because the emphasis was on maximum impact, even the explosion of the most basic Suicide Ghost was nearly equivalent to the full-force strike of an early-stage Core Formation cultivator.

Naturally, an explosion of such magnitude would not concern the Soul Transformation-level powerhouse Evil Phoenix; she could block it effortlessly without injury. But many can defeat the mighty, and a steady drip can wear away stone. When hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of Suicide Ghosts assaulted and detonated like guided missiles in continuous waves, even the strongest expert would be overwhelmed.

When Lei Dong summoned over a thousand Suicide Ghosts in one go, they swarmed like a plague of locusts circling and enveloping him—a very safe protective measure. Unless intentionally provoked, the Suicide Ghosts would never chain-detonate, making them quite safe. However, Lei Dong always prioritized security. While a group of Suicide Ghosts was distracting and engaging Evil Phoenix from a distance, erupting in violent booms as they self-destructed, Lei Dong stealthily and secretly deployed another supreme skill inherited from the Demon Emperor: Qi Transformation Armor. A layer of semi-transparent, slightly black, seemingly substantial True Essence armor enveloped Lei Dong.

This technique, judging by its name and appearance, seemed like a run-of-the-mill spell, perhaps something any sect or family would possess as their unique defensive magic. Indeed, in the cultivation world of the Six Domains and Nine Continents, defensive spells were extremely important and far more valuable than offensive ones. After all, one only has one life; preserving it is paramount, no matter what.

In reality, the Qi Transformation Armor inherited from the Demon Emperor, despite its simple name, contained a trace of a specialized technique: the Law of Indestructibility.

Slightly akin to the Law of Annihilation, the Law of Indestructibility belonged to the category of extremely high-level laws. The former primarily focused on offense, while the latter focused on defense. Even the mere utilization of a trace of such a law could cause the spell’s power to undergo earth-shattering changes. The Immortal Slaying Finger and the True Qi Transformation Armor Lei Dong employed appeared ordinary on the surface, yet they were infinitely profound. That profundity lay in how they enabled someone who didn't understand the two laws to borrow the power of these two supreme cosmic laws.

The Law of Annihilation could annihilate all things, from the myriad creatures to gods and demons; what chance did a Soul Transformation expert, still in a mortal body, have? Even a mere trace was enough for Lei Dong’s finger strikes to effortlessly pierce Evil Phoenix's defenses and severely wound her. Meanwhile, the trace of the Law of Indestructibility contained within the True Qi Transformation Armor endowed the armor with absolute defense, making it extremely difficult to break under normal circumstances.

If judged purely on defensive capability, the Adamantine Indestructible Shield, reputed to be the strongest body protection technique in Kang Province, was child’s play by comparison. Furthermore, this was not the greatest benefit of the Qi Transformation Armor. Under the influence of the Law of Indestructibility, as long as the cultivator’s True Qi or True Essence was not exhausted, even if the armor was shattered or smashed, it could be instantly restored by injecting True Essence. In essence, as long as Lei Dong’s True Essence was inexhaustible, he could wear this solidified armor indefinitely.

These two potent techniques were intentionally left in the Demon Emperor's inheritance specifically for the inheritor's survival. The Demon Emperor was exceptionally thoughtful; relying solely on these two super techniques, the inheritor could likely achieve invincibility among cultivators of the same rank.

As for Evil Phoenix, she was constantly dancing to evade Lei Dong’s Profound Yin Finger strikes. The piercing penetration of those last two strikes had left an indelible impression on her. Having learned a bitter lesson, she no longer dared to underestimate the attack, refusing to meet the wispy, white-misted finger energy head-on. Most critically, both of her vital points—especially her heart—had been pierced.

For a low-level cultivator, a pierced heart meant instant death. However, Evil Phoenix was a Soul Transformation expert and a collateral branch of the Undying Phoenix race, possessing immense vitality. Even now, she could still use her escape technique, desperately dodging the relentless, storm-like volley of pale-white finger energy, all while fending off the disgusting, swarming Suicide Ghosts. Though her evasive maneuvers appeared somewhat clumsy, it only further testified to Evil Phoenix's sheer strength—befitting a Soul Transformation expert and one of the Four Emperors of the Nether Realm.

If Evil Phoenix was in a sorry state, Lei Dong was faring no better. His True Essence was nearly exhausted from that intense chase. If he hadn't been supplementing it with top-grade spirit stones, and if the Monarch Over All state wasn't slowly stimulating his latent potential, he might already be lying on the ground, gasping for breath. But now, he still had to command the ghosts, unleash the Profound Yin Finger strikes, guard against Evil Phoenix’s desperate counterattack, and reserve a sliver of his vital blood essence, ready at any moment to tear open space and flee using the Demon Emperor's True Word Art again.

Evil Phoenix’s resilience was simply unbelievable. The entire exchange had lasted less than a hundred breaths. The intelligent Evil Phoenix had already begun adapting to the trajectory of the Profound Yin Finger strikes, and her evasion was gradually becoming smoother. More importantly, whatever secret art she employed on her severely wounded areas had not only stopped the bleeding, but aside from her face being paper-white, she appeared externally unharmed.

“It’s a pity I am still too weak,” Lei Dong looked at the incredibly tenacious Evil Phoenix and couldn't help but feel a pang of melancholy. “Forget reaching the Soul Transformation stage—even if I were a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, relying on these stacked advantages and the domineering power of the Immortal Slaying Finger, I might still have been able to directly slay this Empress of the Nether Phoenixes.

But now, the situation was precisely the opposite. Lei Dong was running on fumes, having to reserve the Demon Emperor's True Word Art just for escape. Yet, Evil Phoenix was gradually recovering from the shock, capable of dealing with all of Lei Dong’s maneuvers, casting him a gaze brimming with intense hatred, as if she loathed him to the core.