The exchange between Elder Mo Wang and Qing Hu's Divine Souls could not be heard from outside. All they could see was Qing Hu offering Elder Mo Wang a distant bow before her bare, snow-white feet tapped repeatedly across the emerald leaves as she took the initiative and attacked Elder Mo Wang.
As she moved forward, the lotus pool expanded with her. The watery sphere of light at its center began to tremble violently, and the formerly clear-cut balance between the two halves was broken. Vast numbers of lotus leaves grew and spread across the Gobi.
This was a full-scale contest of Divine Soul power. Whichever side's Divine Soul power collapsed first would have half its territory swallowed by the other.
Lotus leaves took root across the Gobi, cracking the heavy rock layers open with fissures. The reddish-brown soil began to wither away, gradually being claimed by the lotus leaves.
However, the lotus leaves that had first taken root in the Gobi only bloomed for a brief moment before beginning to lose moisture. Their colors gradually faded and dried up, until the leaves completely yellowed and finally turned to ash.
Still, Qing Hu's offensive was fierce. Her Heaven-Covering Earth-Filling Divine Soul power crushed forward, forcibly seizing a vast area. The Gobi below gradually transformed into a lotus pond blanketed in emerald leaves.
At that moment, Mo Wang, seated atop the enormous mushroom-shaped rock, slowly opened her eyes. After rising to her feet, she leaped up and charged toward Qing Hu.
As she moved, a wild wind seemed to rise over the Gobi. Torrents of sand and dust surged from behind her like yellow dragons reaching for the heavens, their bodies swaying as they shot into the sky.
More than a dozen yellow dragons linked together, their bodies mingling with sand