Staring at Gan Jin's retreating back, a command effortlessly flowed from Hai Qing'er's lips, a command understood by every wraith, including Gan Jin himself. "A superb test subject. Capture him alive." The command ended, yet the three pairs of eyes did not vanish; they hung suspended high in the sky, calmly, devoid of any emotion, looking down upon the army beginning to stir on the ground.

The army, perpetually silent as the night, moved at the command of the Sky Eyes! Their movement was also silent, lacking any lofty battle fervor. This silent activity bestowed an ineffable majesty, as if their mere stirring would transform into an unstoppable torrent, capable of effortlessly sweeping across the entire world.

Before the wraiths even reached him, Gan Jin felt the pressure—a crushing weight, the kind that could split the very earth with gaping fissures. It was as if the air itself was solidifying into iron blocks, attempting to obstruct Gan Jin's path forward. Pressure—pressure unlike anything he had ever known!

Not even facing Qian Zhanxuan had brought such pressure! This was not facing one person, nor a group, but a true army! An army that feared no death and knew nothing of apprehension.

It was the utter helplessness of a blade of grass facing a furious tsunami, a pressure that could utterly crush a person just by its imminent arrival. Trouble! Gan Jin’s heart tightened.

He had initially planned to unleash his power in measured bursts, letting the wraiths believe they could halt him without resorting to mass combat, but now... All my power! Unleash!

Gan Jin held nothing back. His three Great Battle Souls exploded forth, soaring towards the sky. The Ultra-Void Soul Skill forcibly rammed the three Battle Souls back into Gan Jin's form, surging power threatening to tear his body and his Battle Meridians and Apertures apart.

Sealing even one Battle Soul into a warrior's frame could potentially cause an explosion for a Battle Soul Warrior. This was precisely why the realm of Soul Integration was so difficult to achieve; it required not just an increase in Dou Qi, but the tempering of the physical body and the harmonization of the Battle Soul's frequency with the body’s. Gan Jin’s body and the Battle Souls’ frequencies were not yet fully integrated.

He was relying on the unique special Dou Skill of the Ultra-Void Soul to force his body to contain them. Any other warrior would have already detonated. The tempering from the Volcanic Potion, the reinforcement from the Wind and Cloud Dou Qi, and the power of the half-shield rendered Gan Jin's body unimaginably resilient.

Even with the three Battle Souls forced into his body, they did not cause him to burst. Instead, his combat strength correspondingly transformed and ascended to a higher plane. The chains of silent pressure surrounding him, seemingly meant to completely bind this peerless humanoid demonic beast, began to snap, link by link.

That humanoid peerless demonic beast, which was about to be restrained, unleashed an unimaginable ferocious potential under the unprecedented pressure of impending death. The essence of Lucifer's Heart, which had been inhaled but never fully digested, now seemed to burn like fat, rapidly assimilating. Charge, charge, charge, charge!

Earth-Splitting Slash! Blood War Eight Forms! Splitting Gold Chain Slash!

The blade of the Zha Ma Dao instantly dimmed, losing its initial brilliance. The sunlight in the sky seemed to be drawn into the blade. In a flash, the blade appeared to transform into an absorber of countless black holes, capable of swallowing even the sun's rays.

The Dou Soul generated by the Heart of Earth Fire now boiled and burned! After devouring sufficient sunlight, it erupted completely! In the next instant, the Zha Ma Dao suddenly burst forth with a light never before seen, centered on Gan Jin, making him resemble a true sun!

The sun is also part of the stars! It merely manifests at a different time than other stars! Absorbing the Sun into the Blade!

Hiss-hiss-hiss-hiss... The wraiths charging at the very front had absolutely no expectation that Gan Jin’s battle saber could erupt with such savage blade might. Merely the sharpness of the blade aura tore apart several of the closest wraiths completely.

The momentum of the blade... unstoppable! Plunged into a life-or-death struggle, Gan Jin’s mentality completely let go, settling into a state he had never experienced before.

Group battle? Mass combat? Gan Jin had fought countless times, but mostly within the Endless World, where death was rarely a factor.

He had the experience, but his state of mind had never reached the true peak. In this moment, Gan Jin finally entered an unprecedented state of mind. When this state of mind combined with his experience, Gan Jin unleashed astonishing killing power that even he hadn't anticipated.

Everything within a hundred-meter radius seemed perfectly clear: every movement of every wraith, the rotation of every air current, even the flow of the golden sand beneath his feet, escaped his combat perception. Rows of spells were layered upon the Wraith Warriors. More spells ascended into the high sky, the magical elements constantly swirling, seemingly preparing to form a peculiar cage—one that was not physical.

Gravity Magic? Gan Jin cleaved through a charging wraith while simultaneously sensing the ten-times gravity magic already crashing down from above! Rumble!

The golden sand once again began to rain down, and the sand on the ground started to collapse. Gan Jin's body distinctly felt heavier. Conversely, the surrounding wraiths, unaffected by the gravity magic, became relatively faster.

Gravity Magic was not a Gravity Soul Domain, nor could it be sustained like the Qian family's Kun Dou Skill. This type of gravity magic was only effective instantaneously, suddenly weighing the opponent down to create an opening as they hesitated. Puff-puff-sputter...

The bodies of the four fastest charging wraiths were sliced open by the battle saber. Gan Jin seemed entirely unaffected by the gravity magic; in fact, his attacks were faster. Whether in the Endless World, the Zhence Dynasty, or among the Demon Race, gravity magic devices were far more potent than this tenfold gravity.

Hmm? The eye in the sky emitted a sound of faint confusion. The Gravity Magic began to brew again, this time far exceeding tenfold—fifteen times...

directly reaching thirty times the magnitude... Rumble! Gan Jin’s body finally slowed down slightly.

Hundreds of wraiths surrounding him struck again, led by a peak Battle Soul level Wraith Warrior, pinning Gan Jin down fiercely. Bang-bang-bang... Fists, feet, and the clash of weapons collided in a dense flurry.

Gan Jin’s lower abdomen finally could not avoid taking a solid blow! In this kind of group fight, completely evading everything was impossible! If the eye in the sky hadn't demanded him alive, the damage sustained might have been far heavier.

Gan Jin forcefully pushed the battle saber that had pierced his form back out, and foul, stinking blood instantly erupted! The blade was poisoned! If Gan Jin’s body hadn't been tempered by so many mysterious potions to the point of near immunity to poison, that single strike would have been enough to paralyze him.

The repulsive, foul, bloody stench splattered onto the wraiths, immediately making them more exhilarated. They lunged forward with even greater ferocity. Sigh...

Huff... Huff... The scorching air made breathing difficult.

Gan Jin worked tirelessly in his effort to break through. Even if he couldn't break free, he had to draw more wraiths toward him to give the others a chance to escape. The wraiths were no longer disappearing in large swathes as they had initially.

The eye in the sky pulled out Battle Soul level Wraith Warriors who jumped from the ranks, encircling Gan Jin in a group formation. While individually weaker than Gan Jin, they compensated for each other, making it extremely difficult for Gan Jin to achieve a true one-hit kill, as the price for such a kill was far too steep. Moreover, that infuriating Gravity Magic harassed him intermittently.

The clash of Dou Qi, fists, feet, and weapons played a continuous symphony. The rate of wraith deaths plummeted. An unspeakable frustration gripped Gan Jin.

This was clearly an attempt to drag him to utter exhaustion. Knowing his opponent's intent, he couldn't devise any solution. Hold on!

Just a little longer! Attract more wraiths... perhaps the others will have a chance...

Hold on! Just a little longer... Gan Jin holds on a little longer...

I will bring people back to live or die with you! Mu Ne Zhence sped away towards the cave location... Can blood nourish flowers to bloom beautiful and delicate blossoms?

Tie Nan didn't know, only that imperial gardeners sometimes spoke of it in private. Today, in this moment! Tie Nan saw a flower more beautiful than the most gorgeous blossom in the Imperial Garden!

It was the blood of Mu Ne Zhence, scattering and blooming in the sky, like flowers condensed from gore, their beauty incomparably brilliant. The steel wire that had soared into the sky drifted softly back to the ground. Tie Nan's heart seized repeatedly.

To embed that steel wire into his own muscle required immense force, didn't it? To have the steel wire driven into his muscle—how agonizingly painful that must have been? To forcibly tear the steel wire out from within the muscle—that pain was even worse than being stabbed with a knife.

Zhuzi had never endured such agony since childhood, rarely even encountering pain. Such torment should have been enough to make him faint. Why?

Why could he endure such pain and still run like a leopard while suffering it? Was this the strength bestowed by friendship? And...

the kneeling just now! Tie Nan touched the lower abdomen where he had been kicked. His mind reviewed everything since he became Mu Ne Zhence's attendant.

Except for worshipping the Emperor and honoring the ancestors, he had never knelt before anyone! As for kowtowing, even when kneeling to his ancestors, he never bowed his head until his forehead bled, utterly unconcerned with maintaining the image and demeanor of a prince. Was this still Mu Ne Zhence?

Was this still the Sixth Prince of the proud Zhence Royal Family? Was this still the Sixth Prince who always showed a contemptuous sneer and disdain when speaking of friends? Friendship?

Tie Nan shook his head repeatedly. Since following the Sixth Prince, he had been influenced enough by him to stop believing in friendship altogether. Yet now, the Sixth Prince, fully aware that abandoning friendship offered a chance to survive while the opposite path led closer to death, had chosen camaraderie.

To kneel before a servant? If he told any member of the Zhence Royal Family about such an act, no one would believe it! Even if kneeling and kowtowing could instantly secure the throne...

Tie Nan believed that if Mu Ne Zhence, the Sixth Prince, were asked to do such a thing, he would only sneer and declare, "I won't do it, damn it!" A man so obsessed with and protective of his dignity and honor—he had knelt! He had kowtowed! Not kneeling for survival, but kowtowing unto death!