The second update is delivered; I continue the desperate push... Ji Bowen roared, a wild, desperate howl.

He gulped great draughts of air, his mouth snapping open in a frenzy, sucking in with all his might. The spiritual energy, already chaotic between heaven and earth, now surged toward his gaping maw like a thousand rivers converging into the sea.

Following the self-detonation of Saint Sovereign Xia Changtian, another Saint Sovereign powerhouse was about to unleash this ultimate, final, mutual-destruction grand move. Truthfully, if Ji Bowen chose self-dissolution now, his Saint Infant soul would very likely escape.

Although his internal organs were ravaged by the final strike of Jun Moxie’s Primordial Purple Qi, shattering him to dust, and his body was pierced through by the forty-nine Nether Cold Blades, making it resemble a sieve. Even the Blood of Yan Huang was embedded in his flesh.

But a Saint Sovereign is a Saint Sovereign. As long as he was willing to dissolve and flee, even the Blood of Yan Huang could not stop him.

The only one capable of detaining him was Jun Moxie, but Young Master Jun was currently suffering from full-blown internal and external injuries; if he truly committed to ensuring Ji Bowen's capture, the Young Master might not risk the pursuit. As for Mei Xueyan, though possessing comparable strength, she remained powerless against such a mysterious entity as a Saint Infant.

But Ji Bowen, at this moment, had no intention of leaving. Or rather, he simply wished to die.

Having witnessed forty sworn brothers vanish into smoke, and seeing his close friend Xia Changtian, with whom he had shared nearly four millennia, brutally self-destruct, Ji Bowen was utterly disillusioned with life. His sole desire was vengeance.

Jun Moxie, your brothers cannot die in vain; should my brothers simply perish in your grasp? If I do not make you pay a commensurate price, I will never rest!

And now, he was perfectly positioned at the core of the Heavenly Punishment and the Evil Monarch’s Mansion formations. If he unleashed his final self-detonation, given Jun Moxie’s current fading state, he might even drag the Young Master down with him.

Since he no longer wished to live, dragging these people to accompany him to death would at least serve as satisfaction for his feud. What talk of justice, righteousness, or the future of the continent, or peace for humanity—let it all go to hell!

The vital energy of heaven and earth surged into his body madly from all directions. Feeling the chaotic, disparate, and impure spiritual energies rushing into him faster and faster, Ji Bowen laughed maniacally—a satisfied, exhilarating laugh.

To have so many enemies accompanying him on his final journey, avenging his great feud—how could he not be satisfied and elated? The spiritual energy gathered rapidly, growing increasingly urgent, until it began to emit whistling sounds.

Faint, pale-blue streams of spiritual energy continued to flash across the sky. The area where Ji Bowen stood transformed entirely into a massive, cone-shaped vortex funnel, the spiritual energy swirling and churning above before rushing down in one torrent...

Ji Bowen let out a wild laugh: "Second Brother Xia, wait for me! Your brother is coming to join you!

Not just me, I will drag that damned little thief Jun Moxie and those beastly monsters along to meet you! Then, you can do whatever you please, hahahaha..." In the midst of that maniacal laughter, Ji Bowen's mirth abruptly ceased without warning.

His eyes stared wide in disbelief, and he screamed in terror: "How can this be? How can this be?" His voice was filled with alarm and fear, brimming with a sense of utter loss of control.

Because, with such a terrifying influx of vital energy into his body—the total gathered so far should at least be more than double what Xia Changtian could absorb—his body showed absolutely no change. There was no sign of swelling, not even a hint of fullness in his meridians.

The wounds on his body were still dripping blood. Everything remained the same.

"What is going on? What in the world is happening?" Ji Bowen frantically checked his body, sensing his life force continuously draining away, yet failing to detect even a trace of foreign spiritual energy in his meridians.

Where had the energy he just absorbed gone? He suddenly roared again: "What is happening?

How can this be?" Everything was out of control—not just the situation, but even the spiritual power circulation, as familiar to him as breathing, was suddenly unusable, completely lost. What was happening?

Why was it like this? The Blood of Yan Huang was plunged into Ji Bowen’s body, its blade shimmering with a faint, pale-blue light that flowed back and forth.

With this thing lodged in Ji Bowen's body, blocking his meridians, he still dared to dream of self-detonation? Dreaming of dragging so many people along to their deaths was more absurd than a fantasy!

The Blood of Yan Huang had been starved for days, deprived of the chance to feast on the essence blood of masters. The last encounter with Zhan Chunhui had been a supreme delicacy right before its eyes, but alas, the fine dish flew away.

However, this time, burrowing into the body of a Saint Sovereign powerhouse was a decent consolation prize. The Blood of Yan Huang was almost driven mad with joy!

Although this fellow wasn't as exceptional as the previous old man, he was still a top-tier tonic! Especially since this brat had completely forgotten about escaping—this fact filled the Blood of Yan Huang with a difficult-to-express good feeling: What a good person.

Letting me absorb him without moving... where in the entire world can I find another Saint Sovereign master so obedient and kind?

Thus, the Blood of Yan Huang cherished this opportunity, even becoming somewhat stingy, slowly absorbing the energy inch by painstaking inch, afraid that this 'kind' fellow might suddenly realize the situation and attempt dissolution—then the sword would regret it endlessly... While inwardly gloating over this quiet fortune, an even greater benefit suddenly arrived—a massive boon that felt like a giant celestial pie smashing right onto the head of the Blood of Yan Huang, leaving it dizzy and overwhelmingly ecstatic.

Damn it all, this is truly awesome, spectacularly satisfying... I've seen people who know their place, but never anyone this considerate.

Old boy, this sword adores you! He is simply too adept at playing along!

This fellow actually activated the Bridge to Heaven at this precise moment, wildly sucking in the spiritual energy between heaven and earth! The Blood of Yan Huang nearly erupted in wild cheers within Ji Bowen’s body.

Too cool! Absolutely magnificent!

This is truly getting exactly what one wishes for—thinking of a lover and having two naked maidens arrive, not only delivering themselves but also presenting themselves in a completely compliant, yielding posture... Ji Bowen’s long-brewed death explosion went entirely to waste, benefiting the Blood of Yan Huang completely.

No matter how much energy was poured into his body through the infusion of heaven and earth’s spiritual power, the Blood of Yan Huang maintained a steady, whale-like consumption, wasting not a single bit. At this moment, the tragic Saint Sovereign Ji Bowen had utterly devolved into a mere conduit, connecting the Blood of Yan Huang with the ambient spiritual energy of the cosmos.

Under the unwitting collaboration between the Blood of Yan Huang and Ji Bowen, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth rushed in like a maddened tide, surging forward wave after wave, majestic and vast... This place held the residual essence energy left by the deaths of nearly two hundred thousand foreign race members, plus the self-detonations of several thousand Heavenly Punishment warriors and dozens of peak masters, creating a massive, chaotic surge of energy—the total amount was a terrifying, indescribable astronomical figure.

This energy was something no person or living being could ever harness; it would naturally dissipate back into the cosmos over time... Yet, under this fortuitous coincidence today, it created an immense opportunity for the Blood of Yan Huang.

In this world, besides Jun Moxie, no one would know or even suspect the existence of such a sword—a demonic blade capable of absorbing vital essence, profound power, and the essence of life, thereby augmenting its own strength. The genesis of this divine function was entirely the result of continuous experimentation by Jun Moxie when he first acquired the Power of Metal.

Whenever the Young Master had spare time, he would temper the Blood of Yan Huang. Whenever he encountered a worthy material, he would temper it again.

Most swords, no matter how meticulously forged through a thousand refinements, would be fully formed after only two or three cycles. But Jun Moxie tempered the Blood of Yan Huang hundreds, even thousands of times.

Through this ceaseless, unconditional tempering in myriad ways, he finally cultivated a monstrous anomaly—unique in this world, perhaps even unparalleled across history. For masters intending to self-detonate, what did having a sword stuck in them matter?

The energy unleashed by a master capable of self-detonation could shatter mountains and level peaks; a mere sword, no matter how special its composition or magical its nature, was irrelevant. They simply did not take it to heart.

Therefore, Ji Bowen naturally did not give the sword a second thought. Since he was going to die anyway, enduring one more sword strike before death, or having a sword lodged in him, would not cause any significant impact.

If he could use the chance to destroy Jun Moxie's weapon as a bonus, so be it. However, he never imagined that the Blood of Yan Huang would be such a perversely specialized entity.

It was absolutely the most miraculous existence since the creation of the Profound Profound Continent. By the time Ji Bowen finally sensed that something was deeply wrong, nearly one-third of the total gathered heaven and earth spiritual energy had already flowed from his body—the medium—into that demonic sword.

Ji Bowen finally fell into utter despair, his heart shattered. For a Saint Sovereign powerhouse to be reduced to a state where he didn't even possess the right to self-detonate!

This was truly a profound tragedy against the backdrop of the vast universe, heaven, earth, and the cosmos. In his fury and frustration, Ji Bowen spat out several mouthfuls of blood.

After further struggles, exhausting the last vestiges of his energy, he finally managed to deactivate the self-detonation technique. Although he still did not know precisely what had happened, he judged that the sword embedded in him must possess some strange anomaly; it was undoubtedly the culprit draining the heaven and earth energy from his body.

Thus, he desperately canceled the process, unwilling to let the Blood of Yan Huang continue to profit, though this action inflicted another severe blow to his spirit. Ji Bowen's move to cancel the self-detonation instantly enraged the great sword spirit of the Blood of Yan Huang!