Martial Arts Spirit!

"I'm telling you-"

"This really isn't my fault! Aaaah-"

Inside the bizarre, kaleidoscopic spacetime passage, Xiao Qian was forced to hold Ling Qingzhu's hand tightly as his body spun with the twisting passage.

When he noticed killing intent gradually seeping into the young woman's previously calmed eyes, he hurriedly fought back the almost unbearable dizziness and began to explain.

Even before this, he had vaguely sensed that although the energy she cultivated differed from the Dou Qi he knew, judging by its immense fluctuations, the power within this young woman was at least equivalent to the Dou Ling level!

Under these circumstances, even though both of them were now soul forms, she could still kill him with a single finger, leaving him utterly powerless to resist.

"I'm a victim too... huh?"

Just then, the dizzying sensation of being caught inside a raging tornado abruptly ceased.

Xiao Qian first shook his still slightly dizzy head, then hurriedly focused his gaze. The familiar scenery around him gradually came into view.

To his astonishment, he had returned to the Nalan Family's Beast-Taming Arena on the Dou Qi Continent, and he was right inside the spatial rift from before!

Looking around, he saw that Nalan Yanran and the others remained exactly as they had been, motionless, as though frozen in time.

Even the enormous body of the ferocious Demon Bull charging toward them had stopped in midair.

From this frozen vantage point, the bull's face looked somewhat twisted and savage. Its enormous horns gleamed with a cold light, as though it would resume its lethal attack in the very next second.

"I'm back!" Xiao Qian could not help letting out a delighted cheer.

But before his cheer had finished echoing through the spatial rift, an incomparably powerful suction rushed at him without warning.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Xiao Qian felt as though a gentle yet firm force was pulling his soul, guiding it smoothly back into his body.

Ling Qingzhu's soul form, however, seemed to be guided by some mysterious force and suddenly shot into the Fairy Spirit Puppet.

At the sight, Xiao Qian's eyes widened, his face filled with shock.

Pop!

After a faint sound that only Xiao Qian could hear, spacetime returned completely to normal in that instant.

It was as though someone had pressed play on the frozen scene, and everything began moving again.

Nalan Su and Nalan Nan were about to intervene, while Nalan Yanran's face was pale with alarm. The savage Demon Bull's enormous horns, carrying crushing force like a pair of razor-sharp spears, thundered toward the Fairy Spirit Puppet.

"What?!"

Ling Qingzhu had only just merged with the Fairy Spirit Puppet. Before she could make sense of this sudden change in her circumstances, the foul-smelling magical beast was already upon her, filling almost her entire field of vision.

Instinctively, she tried to retreat and evade the ferocious attack, while habitually attempting to draw upon the Origin Energy within her as she did during her usual cultivation. To her horror, however, this body gave no response, like a silent, abandoned city.

She strained her senses and discovered that the only energy source seemed to be the strange crystal sphere in her forehead.

With no time to think, she acted on instinct and tried to mobilize the magic core's energy.

But immediately afterward, another cruel reality that nearly made her cough up blood confronted her: this body had no meridians!

Without meridians, she could not channel energy. It was like a vault filled with treasure but lacking a key, leaving her with energy she could not use.

Even with her usually refined and composed disposition, she could not help burning with fury at that moment, wanting nothing more than to curse this bizarre, absurd situation.

There's still a way!

After all, Ling Qingzhu was the personal disciple of the master of the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace, and she possessed an exceptional ability to adapt in the heat of the moment.

Hum!

In an instant, an invisible hand seemed to seize control of the sky above the entire Beast-Taming Arena. The once-bright sky dimmed in a heartbeat, as though night had suddenly fallen.

Yet a strange gleam shone through the thick clouds, like a ray of hope tearing through the darkness.

Riiip!

The very next instant, countless brilliant rays came racing in like meteors from beyond the sky. Their radiance was as intense as an exploding sun, and everyone momentarily lost their sight to the sudden glare, as though plunged into a world of boundless white.

Even the ferociously charging Demon Bull's unstoppable assault faltered for an instant beneath that blazing light, a trace of bewilderment appearing in its eyes.

Then an aura as vast as an endless river of stars poured down from the sky, bearing straight down upon the Demon Bull like Mount Tai crashing onto its head.

Boom!

As though struck by an irresistible force, the Demon Bull's enormous body jolted, all four hooves abruptly stopping. Unable to control itself, it sank halfway to its knees, its heavy body smashing deep depressions into the ground and sending dust flying.

One edge of an immense azure lotus slowly emerged from the clouds. It exuded a mysterious, ancient aura, as though it held the ultimate truths of heaven and earth.

Then the entire azure lotus slowly appeared. Its enormous form resembled a mountain that blotted out the sky and sun, looming above the Beast-Taming Arena and casting a vast shadow.

"Martial Arts Spirit, Nine Heavens Immortal Lotus!"

Ling Qingzhu murmured softly, a cold glint flashing through her eyes like a meteor streaking across the night sky.

She lightly pointed a slender finger down toward the enormous Demon Bull. The gesture seemed gentle, yet carried an unquestionable authority.

Rumble!

With a deafening crash that shook heaven and earth, the enormous azure lotus began to rotate slowly, spinning faster and faster and stirring up fierce winds.

An immense beam of azure light, like a pillar holding up the heavens, thundered out from beneath the lotus seat. Bearing the power to destroy heaven and earth, it crashed toward the ground in an instant and slammed into the Demon Bull with crushing force.

"Mooo-"

The Demon Bull let out an utterly piercing bellow. It sounded somewhat like its earlier savage roars, but now held an added measure of despair.

Azure light pierced the magical beast's entire body, turning it into something like a sieve. With a succession of wet bursts, countless rays shot out from within it, and blood sprayed in all directions like a fountain.

The ferocity in its once-savage eyes gradually gave way to fear, but it no longer had any chance to regret its actions.

Under that terrifying attack, its life force was stripped away in an instant. The cold gleam in its eyes slowly faded, and its enormous body crashed to the ground, never to move again.

For a time, the Beast-Taming Arena fell deathly silent.