A Brutal Battle

Just as Lin Hai pressed the Void Devouring Flame into a desperate corner with alternating attacks from the Great Thousand Creation Palm and the Mysterious Underworld Heaven-Covering Seal, constantly purifying and freezing its thousands upon thousands of split Child Flames, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He seized the tiny opening exposed in its Soul Origin core!

"Now! Creation and Mysterious Underworld, seal its origin!" Lin Hai abruptly brought his hands together. The deathly aura of the Mysterious Underworld in his left hand and the vitality of Creation in his right seemed contradictory, yet merged perfectly, transforming into a two-toned gray-and-white halo that spun without pause.

At the halo's center was a bottomless vortex, as though it could imprison anything!

"No—!" The Void Devouring Flame let out a terrified, despairing shriek. Caught off guard when Lin Hai seized the opening in its Soul Origin, it had no chance to dodge. Its Soul Origin was firmly sucked into the halo, and no matter how it struggled, the vortex of creation and annihilation coiled around it like chains, ruthlessly suppressing and shrinking its power.

The light flickered violently. At last, accompanied by a sigh that seemed to come from ancient times, the enormous body of black flame was forcibly compressed and dragged into a fist-sized orb. Black and white currents swirled across its surface as it fell into Lin Hai's palm.

Inside the orb, a faint black flame still flickered, but it could no longer break free of the incredibly sturdy seal.

The Void Devouring Flame had been captured!

Lin Hai did not pause for a moment. With a flicker of his figure, he crossed boundless space and appeared just outside the most terrifying battlefield, where Gu Yuan and Hun Tiandi were fighting.

"Brother Gu Yuan, I'm here to help!" Lin Hai called out. He put away the orb containing the sealed Soul Origin of the Void Devouring Flame for the moment, then formed another hand seal. Vast spiritual energy began to gather as he prepared to join forces with Gu Yuan and deliver a fatal blow to Hun Tiandi.

Seeing this, Gu Yuan's spirits soared, and his assault grew even fiercer. The Ancient Emperor Mirror blazed brilliantly, illuminating the void and forcing back some of the strange black aura surrounding Hun Tiandi.

Hun Tiandi had been keeping a close eye on the entire battlefield. The moment the Void Devouring Flame was sealed, he sensed it.

As Lin Hai approached in the wake of his victory, closing in on him alongside Gu Yuan, a never-before-seen madness and savagery finally flashed in Hun Tiandi's eyes.

"You forced me to this!" Hun Tiandi let out a hoarse roar.

He abruptly flung out a pitch-black banner embroidered with countless anguished, twisted faces—the Soul Clan's inherited supreme treasure, the Emperor Soul Banner!

His hands formed countless complex seals at a speed that was nearly self-destructive. His voice rang out, shrill and resolute: "With my blood, I offer sacrifice to the progenitor of ten thousand souls! Detonate!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Emperor Soul Banner trembled violently. At its very top, three blurry faces exuded the most terrifying, boundless aura. They suddenly let out silent wails that shook the soul!

They were the Soul Clan's three nine-star Holy Spirit Soul Origins, cultivated with countless resources and souls over ten thousand years and passed down through the generations!

They were not only the core of the Emperor Soul Banner's power but also a symbol of the Soul Clan's foundations!

Now, driven madly by Hun Tiandi, the three nine-star Holy Spirit Soul Origins were detonated without the slightest hesitation!

An explosion beyond the power of words erupted!

This was no longer a clash of energy, but the ultimate annihilation of Soul Origins!

A pure darkness that destroyed everything surged outward in a spherical shock wave, spreading wildly in every direction!

Gu Yuan and Lin Hai, closest to the blast, bore the brunt of it!

"Careful!" Gu Yuan's pupils contracted sharply. He pushed the Ancient Emperor Mirror to its limit and held it before him, while the spiritual energy around his body formed the sturdiest possible barrier.

Lin Hai's expression changed drastically as well. The spiritual skill he had just gathered instantly shifted into a defensive stance. The power of the Great Thousand Creation Palm and the Mysterious Underworld Heaven-Covering Seal intertwined, forming a chaotic shield.

However, the explosion's power far exceeded their expectations!

It was the destructive force unleashed by the simultaneous detonation of three nine-star Spirit Sages' souls and the boundless soul power accumulated within the Emperor Soul Banner itself!

Crack!

Cracks instantly spread across the Ancient Emperor Mirror's phantom!

Rumble!

The chaotic shield Lin Hai had formed lasted only a moment before it burst apart!

"Pff—!"

Gu Yuan and Lin Hai were struck at the same time. Blood gushed from their mouths as they were flung away like kites with their strings cut. The auras around them instantly became weak and chaotic. They had clearly suffered unprecedentedly severe injuries!

If the two of them hadn't possessed such overwhelming strength, they would likely have perished in that blast!

Hun Tiandi himself, as the one who had triggered the explosion, suffered a terrifying backlash as well.

The Emperor Soul Banner flew back into his hand, its light dimmed. His face was as pale as paper, his aura had plunged, and cracks had even appeared across his body. He had clearly paid an extraordinarily heavy price.

The devastating soul shock wave did not stop there. Its aftermath swept across the entire battlefield in the Heaven-Burial Mountain Range like a world-ending tsunami!

"This is bad!"

"Defend!"

Yan Jin, Lei Ying, the Four Great Elders, Gu Lie, the Three Immortals, and every Spirit Sage at seven stars or below felt the destructive wave that made their souls tremble!

"Mysterious Underworld Heaven-Covering Seal!" Yan Jin and Lei Ying roared almost at the same time. They summoned every bit of spiritual energy in their bodies and formed two somewhat crude yet immensely powerful black seals, placing them before the allied army!

Gu Lie, the Three Immortals, and the others also poured their power into Yan Jin and Lei Ying.

The Soul Clan's Four Great Elders were just as horrified, their souls nearly scared out of their bodies. They frantically rallied the strength of every Soul Clan expert and formed a gigantic shield of ten thousand souls!

Rumble—!!!

The dark shock wave mercilessly ground everything in its path to dust!

The Mysterious Underworld Heaven-Covering Seals formed by Yan Jin, Lei Ying, and the others trembled violently. Cracks rapidly spread across them before they finally shattered with a crash.

The allied experts behind them all spat blood. The weaker four- and five-star Spirit Sages were gravely injured and fell unconscious on the spot, while even the seven- and eight-star experts were hurt. Their formation descended into chaos!

The Soul Clan fared no better. Their shield of ten thousand souls was torn apart in an instant, and the terrifying soul shock wave crashed into their ranks.

The Soul Clan's cultivation techniques gave them somewhat greater resistance to soul attacks, but their souls were still battered and damaged, and screams rang out everywhere.

At last, the explosion's aftermath slowly dissipated.

The entire battlefield sank into deathly silence.

The already shattered earth had been scraped flat once more, down to a depth of several thousand zhang, revealing the crimson magma layer beneath.

The sky was dim, filled with an aura of destruction and death.

Both the alliance and the Soul Clan had suffered heavy casualties. Nearly everyone was injured.

The fierce fighting that had raged moments ago came to a complete halt. This sudden, indiscriminate explosion had shaken every soul to its core, leaving everyone temporarily without the will to fight.

At the center of the battlefield, Gu Yuan and Lin Hai struggled to steady themselves. Their auras were feeble, blood trickled from the corners of their mouths, and they clearly had no strength left to fight.

In the distance, Hun Tiandi was in equally dire condition. He stared fixedly at Gu Yuan and Lin Hai, his eyes filled with unwillingness and madness, but he knew his injuries were severe, the Emperor Soul Banner had been damaged, the Void Devouring Flame had been sealed, and his own side had suffered heavy losses.

A suffocating ceasefire descended.