Meanwhile.
Outside the Sky Screen, on Douluo Continent.
Almost everyone watching the light screen clearly witnessed the entire process of Wang Er going from delight to agony, before finally exploding like a blood-red balloon.
That dull blast was like a heavy hammer smashing viciously into the hearts of everyone attempting to cultivate.
"Ah!"
Terrified screams rose and fell across the continent.
Countless commoners and low-level Soul Masters who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground with their eyes closed sprang to their feet in fright.
They scrambled backward in panic. Some broke out in cold sweat, their legs going limp as they collapsed to the ground and gasped for breath.
"Someone died! Cultivating this technique can kill you!"
Panic spread through the crowd like a plague.
The feverish atmosphere from before, when people had wanted to make their entire families cultivate together, was instantly doused with a bucket of ice water.
Spirit City, Pope Palace.
Completely unlike the panic outside, Bibi Dong stood on the steps, her beautiful eyes sweeping over the entire Spirit Hall.
In her eyes, the people cultivating in Spirit City had not suffered widespread deaths.
About one-tenth of them experienced varying degrees of tearing pain after guiding that scorching current into their bodies.
Some spat out blood. Others collapsed to the ground, convulsing all over and suffering internal injuries, but at least they had survived.
The remaining nine-tenths looked utterly bewildered as they stared at one another. They seemed to have felt nothing at all—no scorching current, no tearing pain, no Cosmic Energy. It was as though they had merely sat on the ground for a while.
"It seems the Cosmic Origin Energy in the air of our Douluo Continent is simply too sparse."
"Because the energy is so sparse, even if their physical condition is insufficient, forcibly absorbing a trace of it will not make them explode like Wang Er did. But even so, ordinary people cannot withstand such violent energy."
Yue Guan and Gui Mei pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
They had noticed the abnormality as well.
They had thought Spirit City would already be filled with casualties, but it had not become a river of blood as they had expected.
"Extremely dangerous, and it requires tremendous physical strength as support..."
Bibi Dong let out a long breath. Her previous worry and anxiety vanished, and a faint smile appeared on her stunning face.
"This is an enormous blessing!"
She turned around, her gaze blazing as she looked at Yue Guan and Gui Mei below.
"The bodies of ordinary commoners are as fragile as paper. Even if they know the technique, they do not have the life to cultivate it. If they force themselves to try, death is their only path."
"But Soul Masters are different. Having been nourished and tempered by Soul Power for years, their physical strength has long surpassed that of ordinary people."
Bibi Dong's thoughts became clearer and clearer.
"This means that even if the Five-Heart-to-Heaven Method spreads across the entire continent in the future, the ones who can truly cultivate it successfully will still be Soul Masters!"
"At most, this technique gives ordinary people a tiny, almost hopeless sliver of possibility. But it cannot change the fundamental order of Soul Masters ruling the continent."
Bibi Dong sat back down on the Pope's throne, the smile on her lips gradually widening.
"For any faction, the more Soul Masters it has who can cultivate, the more terrifying the overall improvement brought by this technique will be."
"My Spirit Hall has the greatest number of Soul Masters in the world, and the most deacons!"
"Even if the Five-Heart-to-Heaven Method is made public across the continent, Spirit Hall will remain the unshakable Spirit Hall! In fact, we will become even stronger than before!"
At the same time.
Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Sect Master's Hall.
On the cold floor at the center of the hall, Ning Fengzhi had his eyes tightly shut, his hands and feet still pointed toward the sky.
Bone Douluo and Sword Douluo stood nearby. They had both restrained their auras and were watching Ning Fengzhi's reaction with tense expressions.
Suddenly.
Ning Fengzhi's body jolted sharply, and a faint wisp of heat rose from the top of his head.
He slowly opened his eyes, an irrepressible gleam flashing deep within them.
"Fengzhi, how do you feel?"
Sword Douluo Chen Xin immediately stepped forward and asked with concern.
Ning Fengzhi took a deep breath and rose from the ground.
He did not answer right away. Instead, he clenched his fists, feeling the additional, entirely different power within his body.
This power did not belong to his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul. It truly flowed through his limbs, bones, and muscle fibers.
"I... succeeded in cultivating it."
Ning Fengzhi's voice was slightly hoarse, but it carried an excitement he could not conceal.
As a rank seventy-nine Soul Saint, although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had not granted him powerful offensive strength, years of Soul Power tempering, coupled with the countless heavenly treasures that strengthened his foundation and replenished his vitality that he had consumed as the master of the world's foremost sect, had made his body exceptionally resilient.
Though his physical strength could not compare to that of a Battle Soul Master of the same rank, it was by no means something ordinary people could match.
"That energy is incredibly violent. When it entered my body, it felt as though countless tiny knives were scraping against my bones."
Recalling the sensation from moments ago, Ning Fengzhi spoke with lingering fear.
"But as long as one can endure the initial pain, that energy will fuse into the cells and forcibly raise the body's foundation. This is a heaven-defying path that does not rely on one's Martial Soul at all!"
Bone Douluo and Sword Douluo exchanged a glance, and both saw shock in each other's eyes.
Ning Fengzhi had succeeded.
That meant the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's fatal curse finally had a chance of being broken.
Just as Ning Fengzhi was preparing to order all direct disciples of the sect to begin attempting cultivation, the image on the Sky Screen changed once again.
Not long after Wang Er's image dimmed.
Yu Tianheng's image suddenly began to tremble as well.
Within the image, the entire abandoned street shook continuously. As the ground kept trembling, rumbling sounds echoed without end. From a great distance away, buildings began collapsing one after another.
Like dominoes.
Yu Tianheng's eyes widened as he watched the buildings topple toward him.
Dodge?
Where could he possibly dodge to?
The abandoned buildings fell apart in midair, turning into chunks of dirt, timber, and brick that shrieked through the air as they rained down on Yu Tianheng!
"Martial Soul Possession! Blue Lightning Tyrant..."
In an instant, Yu Tianheng mobilized all his Soul Power!
His arms transformed into dragon claws as blue-violet arcs of lightning crackled wildly around them!
Then, before everyone's eyes, Yu Tianheng's body was shattered by those ordinary bricks and stones accelerated to the extreme!
Like pebbles launched from a slingshot striking tofu, they pierced straight through his body with ease!
He did not even have time to let out a single scream.
[Explorer, rank thirty-nine Battle Soul Master Yu Tianheng, has died.] [Cause of death: Caught in the aftermath of a clash between War General Class Martial Artists; body pulverized.]
As the words appeared, Yu Tianheng's light screen gradually turned gray-white before finally going completely dark.
At the same time, nearly identical words appeared in Su Yuntao's image.
[Explorer Su Yuntao has died.] [Cause of death: Caught in the aftermath of a clash between War General Class Martial Artists; body pulverized.]
No one had expected that this sudden turn of events would cause two of the three Explorers to die such miserable, suffocating deaths.
By now, the first batch of Explorers had been completely wiped out!
Before you continue