The sheer magnitude of the sound stunned everyone present; it was as if that single utterance was the first sound uttered since the creation of heaven and earth...
Among the tens of thousands gathered, every single person heard it. It wasn't just heard by their ears; their very souls registered the sound, as if it had detonated directly within their minds...
This sound was laden with immeasurable regret, burdened by unyielding defiance, and most powerfully, saturated with lingering attachment—a profound reluctance to leave this world, or perhaps, a desperate yearning for a specific person...
Yearning? Is it yearning for himself? Luo Ling'er pondered internally...
At that precise moment, the ring suspended around Ye Jingyu’s neck shattered completely. In an instant, everyone witnessed a burst of pure white light exploding outward...
An infinitely vaster, more terrifying, more potent, and utterly despair-inducing power instantly materialized...
This white radiance resembled a massive sphere of light, continuously expanding outward. Under the sheer force of this luminescence, it seemed as though everything in existence was destined for annihilation...
Witnessing the white light spread, despair washed over every face simultaneously, as if the Doomsday had arrived...
Yet, the white light ceased its expansion after barely covering three Zhang, forming instead a perfect, radiant orb that shot forth a blinding glare, much like a miniature sun...
No one understood what had occurred. They strained to see into the heart of the white light, but their eyes simply could not stay open. Even their divine sense, their Shennian, could not penetrate the sphere by a single step...
All they could do was wait. Wait for the white light to change? Or await its final judgment?
Within the blinding radiance, Ye Jingyu’s throat emitted ragged screams, yet his mind clung fiercely to a single thought: Survive. This tenacious will had completely activated the residual seal left by the mysterious man on the ring. The ring itself already held immense power, and over the years, as Ye Jingyu cultivated, it had absorbed untold reservoirs of energy. Its full eruption now could utterly devastate not just one Yun Jing City, but ten of them...
However, at this critical juncture, under the pressure of Ye Jingyu’s overwhelming obsession, this unleashed power began aggressively devouring the power of the Futou...
Ye Jingyu’s body, already reduced to near ruin, instantly became the contested battlefield for these two titanic forces, both converging overwhelmingly upon his head...
It was akin to two giants locked in mortal combat within his skull; regardless of who won or lost, the trauma inflicted upon him would be catastrophic...
The superhuman agony relentlessly tortured Ye Jingyu’s nerves. In this moment, the easiest course would be to succumb to unconsciousness, but he dared not. If he blacked out, he would instantly lose control of that immense energy. In that event, survival would be out of the question; his head would be pulverized instantly, and his consciousness (Shenshi) would shatter entirely...
Perhaps, due to his Chaos Physique, his consciousness might one day slowly reassemble itself, but by then, untold millennia might have passed...
Ye Jingyu was utterly unwilling to perish like this...
The power erupting from the ring far surpassed that of the Futou. Yet, Ye Jingyu had to simultaneously exert all his strength to prevent his skull from being torn apart by the two forces, while also trying to contain the overall explosion. Consequently, the fraction of power he could genuinely mobilize to counteract the Futou was minuscule...
As for the Futou, though merely a manifested combat form, it possessed its own awareness. It seemed to recognize the formidable nature of the ring’s energy. It now hammered relentlessly against Ye Jingyu’s skull, knowing that if it managed to kill him, the ring’s power would erupt uncontrolled. Even if it meant its own destruction, it would be worth it. If Ye Jingyu gained the upper hand, not only would the Futou fail to kill him, but its own essence would be entirely devoured...
The Futou struggled desperately, its golden energy surging wildly, intent on completely obliterating Ye Jingyu’s physical form...
By now, the massive power had completely submerged Ye Jingyu’s neck and limbs, leaving only his head exposed. If this head could be destroyed, its mission would finally be complete...
Ye Jingyu’s awareness reached an unimaginable degree of exhaustion, akin to a youth deprived of sleep for days while being relentlessly exploited by countless women...
"Hiss..." Another sharp sound—Ye Jingyu's jaw vanished. His consciousness was scattering, dissipating... Destruction seemed merely a matter of time...
Cannot die. I must not die. Absolutely cannot die...
This desperate refrain flickered in Ye Jingyu’s mind, yet his awareness grew ever more fatigued...
At this precipice of life and death, the ancient green bell residing within his Sea of Consciousness (Shihai) began to rotate. Streams of azure light poured into Ye Jingyu’s Shenshi, instantly revitalizing it as if parched, cracked earth had suddenly been drenched by a torrential downpour...
His utterly depleted consciousness, now supercharged as if injected with stimulants, instinctively seized control of the colossal white light, surging forward to completely engulf the Futou...
And then, instinctively, he channeled the Ba Yuan Jue...
Beams of white light flickered wildly. His vanished jaw regenerated, followed swiftly by the neck, the torso, and the limbs...
In the blink of an eye, his destroyed body reformed entirely, appearing simultaneously as an ethereal phantom and a solid reality...
His right foot sole, however, now functioned like a black hole, continuously drawing in the white light. In mere moments, every trace of the white radiance was absorbed, including the power of the Futou it had consumed...
Furthermore, a gigantic suction extended upward into the heavens. Even in broad daylight, countless streams of stellar energy plummeted downward, all pouring into Ye Jingyu’s form, or rather, into his right foot sole...
As this stellar energy flowed in, Ye Jingyu’s previously unstable, floating body slowly began to solidify...
Above, the myriad stars in the sky pulsed with increased brilliance. Each celestial body shifted and changed its configuration, seemingly exhilarated...
Stellar energy poured in ceaselessly, causing the clear sky to gradually darken, as if all the daylight itself was being absorbed by Ye Jingyu...
All the observers could still perceive was the white sphere of light enveloping Ye Jingyu, continuously rotating, continuously consuming...