[You ignored the two men's astonished cries and lifted the small stone stele in your hand.]
[In an instant, dark light surged. The stele swelled in the wind until it stood thirty feet tall, looming in midair.]
[A vast, ancient aura spread like a tide and swept across the land. Even the Kaiming Beast at the perimeter bristled and let out a low whimper, its eyes filled with instinctive fear.]
[The voice inside the cocoon of light lost its mocking edge and cried out urgently, "Fellow Daoist, please stop!"]
[Danling, beside you, was beside himself with excitement. "Heaven favors me! Fellow Daoist Jing, strike now!"]
[You pressed your palm downward, and the dark stele came crashing down—]
[The cocoon shattered on impact. The stele compressed and devoured every stream of seven-colored light, as though it were a bottomless abyss swallowing all that brilliance.]
[The instant the radiance faded, a creature no longer than a finger joint shot out. It had a black, wormlike tail, but its head bore a face sharply divided into black and white—a bizarre sight.]
[You were about to strike when a glint of gold caught your eye, and you paused.]
[With a cold laugh, Li Luosheng moved first and pinned the "worm" fast.]
["My foolish elder brother, where do you think you're going?"]
[Danling turned back in delight, only to see you holding the dark stele in your left hand and a small tree shimmering with golden light in your right. You were smiling at him through narrowed eyes.]
[Danling froze. His gaze swept over the stele in your hand, a trace of wariness crossing his face, before he broke into a smile.]
["For this... thank you, Fellow Daoist Jing!"]
["No need for thanks, Your Highness Danling!"]
[The Eastern Pole Divine Stele slowly faded from your