Tragic

Just as Lin Hai used the Great Thousand Creation Palm and the Mysterious Underworld Heaven-Covering Seal in alternating, fierce attacks to drive Void Devouring Flame into a desperate corner, its thousands of split sub-flames being continuously purified and frozen, a flash of brilliance sparked in Lin Hai's eyes. He had seized a tiny flaw exposed in its core origin!

"Now! Creation and Underworld, Origin Seal!" Lin Hai slammed his hands together. The Underworld death energy in his left hand and the Creation life force in his right, seemingly contradictory yet perfectly blended, transformed into a rotating, gray-and-white light wheel.

At the center of the light wheel was a bottomless vortex that seemed capable of imprisoning everything!

"No--!" Void Devouring Flame let out a terrified, desperate shriek. With its origin flaw seized by Lin Hai, it had no time to dodge. Its origin was tightly sucked into the light wheel; no matter how it struggled, the sealing vortex, which fused the powers of creation and annihilation, coiled around it like shackles, frantically suppressing and shrinking its power.

The light flickered violently, and finally, accompanied by a sigh that seemed to come from the ancient past, the massive black flame entity was forcibly compressed and pulled in, eventually transforming into a fist-sized orb with black and white currents flowing across its surface, landing in Lin Hai's palm.

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

Void Devouring Flame, captured!

Lin Hai did not pause for even a second. With a flicker of his figure, he crossed the vast space and appeared outside the terrifying battlefield between Gu Yuan and Hun Tiandi.

"Brother Gu Yuan, I am here to assist you!" Lin Hai shouted in a low voice. He temporarily stowed the orb containing the origin of Void Devouring Flame, formed seals with his hands once more, and began to gather vast amounts of spiritual energy, preparing to join forces with Gu Yuan to deliver a fatal blow to Hun Tiandi.

Seeing this, Gu Yuan's spirit soared. His offensive grew increasingly fierce, and the Ancient Emperor Mirror shone brilliantly, illuminating the void and forcing back the strange black mist surrounding Hun Tiandi.

Hun Tiandi had been keeping a portion of his attention on the entire battlefield, and he had sensed the moment Void Devouring Flame was sealed.

Seeing Lin Hai arrive with the momentum of victory to form a pincer attack with Gu Yuan, a flash of unprecedented madness and ferocity finally crossed his eyes.

"You forced my hand!" Hun Tiandi let out a hoarse roar.

He suddenly whipped out a pitch-black banner embroidered with countless painful, twisted faces—it was the Soul Clan's heirloom treasure, the Emperor Soul Banner!

His hands formed countless complex seals at a speed that bordered on self-mutilation, and his voice was shrill and resolute: "With my blood, I sacrifice to the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Souls! Explode!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Emperor Soul Banner trembled violently. On the banner, the three blurry faces at the very top, possessing the most terrifying and vast auras, suddenly let out a silent but soul-shaking wail!

Those were the three Nine-Star Saint Spirit soul origins that the Soul Clan had spent ten thousand years nurturing with countless resources and souls, passing them down through generations!

They were not only the core power of the Emperor Soul Banner but also the very foundation of the Soul Clan!

At this moment, driven by Hun Tiandi's madness, these three Nine-Star Saint Spirit soul origins were detonated without the slightest hesitation!

An indescribable explosion occurred!

It was no longer a collision of energy, but the ultimate annihilation of soul origins!

A dark shockwave, pure to the extreme and capable of destroying everything, expanded frantically in a spherical shape in all directions!

The first to bear the brunt were Gu Yuan and Lin Hai, who were the closest!

"Watch out!" Gu Yuan's pupils shrank. He pushed the Ancient Emperor Mirror to its limit to block in front of him, his spiritual energy forming the sturdiest of barriers.

Lin Hai's expression also changed drastically. The spiritual technique he had just condensed instantly shifted to defense, the powers of the Great Thousand Creation Palm and the Mysterious Underworld Heaven-Covering Seal weaving into a chaotic shield.

However, the power of this explosion far exceeded imagination!

This was the destructive force of three Nine-Star Spirit Saints' souls combined with the infinite soul power accumulated by the Emperor Soul Banner itself, all self-destructing at once!

Crack!

The phantom of the Ancient Emperor Mirror was instantly covered in cracks!

Boom!

The chaotic shield condensed by Lin Hai only held for a moment before it shattered with a roar!

"Puh-!"

Gu Yuan and Lin Hai were struck as if by a heavy blow simultaneously, blood spraying from their mouths. Their bodies flew backward like kites with broken strings, their auras instantly becoming chaotic and weak; they had clearly suffered unprecedented, heavy injuries!

Had they not both possessed heaven-defying strength, they likely would have perished in this blast!

As for Hun Tiandi himself, as the detonator, he also suffered a terrifying backlash.

The Emperor Soul Banner flew back into his hand with a dim light, while his entire face turned as pale as paper, his aura plummeted, and cracks even appeared on the surface of his body; he had clearly paid a heavy price as well!

The destructive soul shockwave did not stop. The aftermath, like a world-ending tsunami, instantly swept across the entire Heaven-Burial Mountain Range battlefield!

"Oh no!"

"Defend, quickly!"

Yan Jin, Lei Ying, the four Great Elders, Gu Lie, the Three Immortals, and all the Spirit Saints of the Seven-Star rank and below felt that destructive fluctuation capable of making their souls tremble!

"Mysterious Underworld Heaven-Covering Seal!" Yan Jin and Lei Ying roared almost simultaneously, exhausting every ounce of spiritual energy in their bodies to condense two slightly crude but immensely powerful pitch-black seals, blocking them in front of the alliance army!

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

The four Great Elders of the Soul Clan were also terrified out of their wits, frantically gathering the power of all the Soul Clan experts to condense a massive Shield of Ten Thousand Souls!

Rumble--!!!

The dark shockwave ruthlessly crushed everything in its path!

The Mysterious Underworld Heaven-Covering Seal condensed by Yan Jin, Lei Ying, and the others trembled violently, quickly covered in cracks, and finally shattered with a roar.

The alliance experts behind them spat blood in unison. The weaker Four-Star and Five-Star Saint Spirits were directly severely injured and fell unconscious, while the Seven-Star and Eight-Star experts were all wounded, their formations thrown into chaos!

The Soul Clan side was equally miserable. The Shield of Ten Thousand Souls was instantly torn apart, and the terrifying soul impact poured into the Soul Clan camp.

The Soul Clan experts practiced special techniques and had a slightly higher resistance to such soul impacts, but they still suffered soul damage, screaming in agony one after another.

The aftermath of the explosion finally began to dissipate slowly.

The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.

The already fragmented earth had been leveled by another several thousand feet, exposing the crimson magma layer beneath.

The sky was dim, permeated with the scent of destruction and death.

Whether it was the Alliance or the Soul Clan, both sides had suffered heavy casualties, with almost everyone nursing wounds.

The previously intense slaughter had come to a complete halt; everyone was so shattered by the sudden, indiscriminate, and terrifying explosion that they had temporarily lost the will to fight.

At the center of the battlefield, Gu Yuan and Lin Hai struggled to steady themselves, their auras withered and blood spilling from the corners of their mouths, clearly having no strength left to continue the battle.

In the distance, Hun Tiandi was in equally poor condition. He stared fixedly at Gu Yuan and Lin Hai, his eyes filled with unwillingness and madness, yet he knew his own injuries were severe: the Emperor Soul Banner was damaged, the Void Devouring Flame was sealed, and his side had lost many experts.

A suffocating ceasefire descended upon them.