The Core Land

At that moment, the black stele seemed about to break free from its condensed state and turn back into countless corpses. They frantically devoured the Sage Chakra emanating from Lin Chuan, as though it were the most exquisite poison in the world—one breath was enough to send them soaring with bliss.

Piercing howls rang through the entire Dark Swamp. A terrifying aura formed into a storm, sweeping countless wisps of black mist into a spiraling vortex toward this direction, as though the end of the world had arrived.

"How could this happen?!" Everyone's expressions changed. They could all sense that the stele was splitting apart and heading toward collapse, as though it could no longer withstand Azure Dragon's attack and was about to come crashing down.

Yet none of them had sensed anything particularly remarkable about Azure Dragon's technique. He had merely released a trace of spiritual energy—so how had this happened?

The stele was the gateway to the core region. If it collapsed, how were they supposed to enter the core region? How could they stop Song Qingyuan inside?

Even Lin Chuan himself had not anticipated this bizarre and terrifying development. The sight revealed by his Byakugan had even frightened him.

The next moment, scarlet light erupted from Lin Chuan's eyes. The five spinning tomoe instantly connected into one, and the Mangekyō Sharingan appeared.

"Susanoo!"

Boom!

Enormous red ribs surged forth, instantly forming a sturdy defense before Lin Chuan. At the same time, a skeletal arm extended out and slammed down onto the black stele.

Although the stele was already extremely unstable and could shatter at any moment, Lin Chuan had no choice. He could not pull his hand back, and a terrifying force was drawing away his Sage Chakra. He had nearly lost control of it entirely.

The