The Oriole Lurks Behind, but Who Will Claim the Lotus?

The three sides faced off, their killing intent instantly freezing the air in the gorge!

The masked man, "Impermanence," moved with uncanny unpredictability, drifting as though weightless, his black scimitar pulsing with a deadly aura of death; the Abyssal Demon Beast roared, its powerful limbs crushing the ground, its savage bone spurs radiating sheer physical pressure; and Lin Yinuo stood with the Destruction Thunderblade in hand, black divine power swirling around him, his gaze cold as frost.

At their center, the Moonlight Soul Lotus finally bloomed in full! Its nine leaves unfurled like lunar discs. At its heart, an incomparably pure, concentrated mass of moonlight soul essence flowed like liquid, giving off a sweet fragrance that made their souls tremble!

"Hiss-!"

The Soul-Devouring Demons went completely mad, surging toward the soul lotus regardless of everything else. The Highgod-level Soul-Devouring Demons in particular opened their enormous, intangible maws and let out piercing soul shrieks, forming waves of gray soul ripples visible to the naked eye that swept toward the soul lotus and Lin Yinuo's group of three first!

"Get lost!" The Abyssal Demon Beast roared, terrifying blood energy erupting from its massive body as it forcibly smashed through several soul ripples. Its huge claw reached for the soul lotus with enough force to tear space apart! It actually intended to withstand the soul attacks with its powerful body and seize the lotus by force!

"Hmph, fool!" Impermanence snorted, his figure vanishing like a phantom. The next instant, he appeared beside the Abyssal Demon Beast, his black scimitar tracing an uncanny arc straight toward its relatively vulnerable joint! The Ed of Death imbued in the blade made even the Abyssal Demon Beast's blood energy stagnate!

Meanwhile, Lin Yinuo faced the densest onslaught of Soul-Devouring Demons, along with special attention from several Highgod Soul-Devouring Demons! Countless chaotic soul howls and mental assaults surged toward him like a tide, seeking to shred his soul defenses!

I can't get bogged down! I have to end this quickly!

A fierce light flashed in Lin Yinuo's eyes. He held nothing back!

"Thunderbolt Flash!"

With a low shout, he seemed to transform into a true bolt of destructive lightning! He was no longer a winding shadow of lightning, but a straight streak of purple-black electricity that tore through space! His speed soared to its limit. Wherever he passed, the Saint- and Lowgod-level Soul-Devouring Demons blocking his path had no time even to react before the destructive lightning's aftershocks annihilated them outright!

His goal was not to become entangled in combat with Impermanence or the Abyssal Demon Beast. He was heading straight for the blooming Moonlight Soul Lotus!

"Trying to snatch it? Dream on!" Sensing Lin Yinuo's intention, Impermanence abandoned the Abyssal Demon Beast. His figure blurred again, appearing in Lin Yinuo's path as though he had teleported, his black scimitar slashing toward Lin Yinuo's head beneath a dense shadow of death!

"Your opponent is me!" Though the Abyssal Demon Beast was furious at being wounded by Impermanence, it also knew the soul lotus took priority. Ignoring its injuries, it opened its mouth and spewed a dark red blast of destructive energy that engulfed both Lin Yinuo and Impermanence!

The three sides' attacks intertwined in an instant!

Facing attacks from both front and rear, Lin Yinuo's gaze turned utterly cold. He neither dodged nor evaded, pushing Thunder Shadow Void Escape to its maximum speed as the Destruction Thunderblade erupted with an unprecedented dark glow!

"Annihilation: Thunder Prison!"

He shrank the range of Spatial Tremor, forcibly combining it with Thunderbolt Flash's ultimate speed and penetrating power! Centered on his body, an absolute domain only about ten meters in diameter instantly erupted, filled with destructive lightning and spatial fissures!

Rumble-!

The instant Impermanence's death-infused blade radiance and the Abyssal Demon Beast's destructive breath struck this miniature thunder prison, countless fine bolts of destructive lightning and spatial cracks frantically tore at and annihilated them! Though they were not completely neutralized, their power was greatly reduced!

Using the explosion's force, Lin Yinuo increased his speed another notch. Like an arrow piercing a curtain of water, he instantly broke through the blockade and appeared directly above the Moonlight Soul Lotus!

Got it! With that thought, he reached out to seize the pure moonlight soul essence!

Yet just as his fingertips were about to touch the soul lotus-

Hum!!!

A soul pressure far more terrifying and concentrated than that of all the previous Soul-Devouring Demons combined erupted from the deepest part of the gorge, like a ferocious beast awakening from an eternity of slumber!

A soul beam so concentrated it was almost solid, nearly gray in color, ignored the distance through space. Though launched later, it arrived first, instantly shooting toward the back of Lin Yinuo's head! The soul power within this beam carried a will to devour and assimilate everything, far surpassing the Highgod level!

The Soul-Devouring Demon King! The true overlord, which had remained hidden in the shadows all this time, finally struck! Its target was likewise the soul lotus, but it also meant to kill this intruder who dared covet its treasure!

This is bad!

The sense of mortal danger made every hair on Lin Yinuo's body stand on end! He had no doubt that if this soul beam struck him, even with the protection of Willpower, his soul would suffer severe damage and might even be obliterated outright!

In that split second, he made an extremely risky decision!

He abandoned his attempt to seize the soul lotus directly, forcibly twisting his body in midair and sweeping the Destruction Thunderblade upward in a backhand stroke to meet the gray soul beam! At the same time, he concentrated most of his soul power and Willpower at the sword's tip!

He did not intend to meet it head-on, but to-redirect it!

"Break!"

The tip of the Destruction Thunderblade touched the edge of the soul beam with perfect precision! The destructive essence within the sword and Lin Yinuo's will acted like a cleverly placed lever, giving it a sudden flick!

Riiip!

The trajectory of that incomparably concentrated gray soul beam was forcibly shifted by the tiniest fraction. It skimmed Lin Yinuo's scalp, then... shot even faster toward the masked man, Impermanence, who was charging over!

"What?!" Beneath his mask, Impermanence's pupils abruptly contracted. He had never expected this sudden turn of events! In his haste, he could only hold his black scimitar across his body and drive the Ed of Death to its fullest to defend himself!

Boom-!

The gray soul beam slammed into the scimitar! A terrifying soul impact erupted. Impermanence grunted and flew backward as though struck by a massive hammer. Even the scimitar in his hand developed fine cracks, and his face beneath the mask instantly turned deathly pale. His soul had clearly suffered considerable damage!

Meanwhile, using the recoil from the collision, Lin Yinuo drifted backward like willow fluff. At the same time, his other hand darted out like lightning, soft moonlight curling around his fingertips-the very harvesting method the Youyue Prefect had taught him-and gently drew the essence toward him!

As though possessing a spirit of its own, that mass of pure moonlight soul essence detached from the lotus seat and obediently fell into the Moonveil Pouch he had already prepared!

The soul lotus was his!

Everything happened in a fleeting instant, a flurry of movements fraught with danger! Through precise judgment, risky tactics, and a little luck, Lin Yinuo had actually snatched the prize from under the jaws of the Soul-Devouring Demon King, Impermanence, and the Abyssal Demon Beast despite their three-way assault!

"Roar!!!" Seeing the soul lotus taken, the Abyssal Demon Beast let out a roar of unwillingness.

Impermanence, who had been caught by that underhanded maneuver, stared fixedly at Lin Yinuo with venomous eyes.

But the most furious of all was the Soul-Devouring Demon King hidden in the shadows! It felt it had been toyed with. Its enormous soul pressure swept through the entire gorge like a tsunami. All the Soul-Devouring Demons stopped moving and turned toward Lin Yinuo together, unleashing deafening soul shrieks!

"Human... leave the soul lotus... or else... your soul will be utterly destroyed!"

A thought filled with endless brutality and greed struck directly at Lin Yinuo's soul.

Lin Yinuo quickly put away the Moonveil Pouch. Sensing every Soul-Devouring Demon in the gorge locking onto him, along with the hostile gazes of Impermanence and the Abyssal Demon Beast, he knew the true crisis had only just begun!

He had to fight his way out of the encirclement!