The flute's final note did not fade away. Instead, it was replaced by a clear, mournful cry from the Sea Flute in Ye Li's hands.
This masterpiece, into which Engineer Wang's team had poured their hearts and souls to replicate ancient craftsmanship, was ultimately only a mortal creation. As Ye Li played it, he had forced it to resonate with the three sacred tokens, drawing on the primal powers of ice, lightning, and fire. At the very end, it had even borne a brief response from that supreme divinity deep within the ocean. This had far exceeded the limits of its materials and structure. Cracks spread like a spiderweb across the flute's smooth body, accompanied by a rapid series of fine cracking sounds. Finally, in a silent collapse, it lost its shape and became a handful of crystalline blue powder, slipping like sand through Ye Li's trembling fingers.
Without the flute's guidance and support, the energy storm woven from three divine powers above the Altar broke free of its final shackles. It was no longer a vortex, but a rapidly expanding sphere of energy filled with the will to destroy. Icy blue frost, dazzling gold-and-violet lightning, and lava-red flames collided wildly within it, annihilating one another and forming anew. Terrifying energy fluctuations became tangible shock waves that spread in every direction. All of Shamouti Island groaned in agony beneath the weight of this power. Countless deep cracks appeared in its hard bedrock, as though this ancient land might be torn into cosmic dust by the uncontrolled divine power at any moment.
The Team Rocket members on the island, including their battle-hardened elites, had all gone pale. Their bodies stiffened with instinctive terror, and they could not even muster the thought of fleeing. They looked up at the light and darkness