In the darkness, Xiao Yan's body stood frozen in mid-air like a statue, his eyes, gleaming with firelight, fixed on the broken jade tablet in the center of his palm.
Just moments before, the instant Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength withdrew from the jade tablet, the jade tablet in his palm shattered instantly. Xiao Yan frantically tried to inject his Spiritual Strength back into the broken jade tablet, but unfortunately, the jade tablet was destroyed and lost all its power. Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength was like hitting a useless stone, mercilessly bounced back.
In an instant, Xiao Yan felt as if he had lost the most important thing in his life. His eyes were fixed blankly on the broken jade tablet in his palm. The beautiful smile that Xun'er had given him just moments before kept flashing through his mind, like a fleeting ephemera. The flames burning in his heart became even more intense.
Flames rose from Xiao Yan's Xiao Yan, the eerie white Heavenly Flames enveloping his entire form, making him appear like a sun in the night, illuminating the desert below once more.
"Hehehehe... I forgot to tell you, once Spiritual Strength enters this jade tablet and then exits, the jade tablet will completely lose its effectiveness and turn into a pile of rubble."
From the void above, a mocking laugh echoed from the dark figure, seemingly quite satisfied with the expression on Xiao Yan's face.
Upon hearing these words, Xiao Yan's body, which had been frozen in mid-air like a statue, trembled violently. The raging flames rose high, transforming into a pillar of fire that swirled and soared into the desolate night sky.
An invisible aura of pressure emanated from Xiao Yan, instantly silencing the entire world. The wind and sand froze, and the world was shrouded in an unusually cold atmosphere. Xiao Yan slowly raised his eyes, which were filled with flames and had become incredibly white and cold, and looked at the dark figure opposite him with murderous intent.
The void trembled. Under this intense heat, the invisible void twisted violently. The moment Xiao Yan raised his head, the void within several feet around him suddenly collapsed, turning into a pitch-black, deep, Endless Void.
This time, Xiao Yan was truly enraged. Before this moment, even the Four Great Sects had never made Xiao Yan so furious.
"Whoosh!"
A pale white flame rapidly spread from beneath Xiao Yan 'Xiao Yan feet, instantly covering the void within a radius of several hundred feet centered on him.
As far as the eye could see, the whole world seemed to return to daylight in an instant, and the yellow sand below rapidly melted away.
The quicksand seemed to come alive, writhing and turning golden at first, then crimson, and finally transforming into a molten lava inferno—an environment far more terrifying than during the day.
Where is she?
Xiao Yan's face was extremely gloomy. Every word he uttered was filled with an icy killing intent, and his extremely cold eyes seemed to want to devour his opponent whole.
"Hehehehe... Are you angry? As expected, Gu Xun'er is your weakness. It's just a pity you'll never find her!"
"You're asking for it!"
The moment the eerie laughter faded from the black mist, Xiao Yan's body vanished from his spot. Almost simultaneously, the figure in the black mist's expression changed drastically. The black mist churned, the figure retreated frantically, and a storm of shock surged within him.
"Laugh!"
Just as the person in the black mist detonated and retreated, a fierce beam of light swept past him. The churning black mist was rendered useless in the face of the eerie white flames. In the blink of an eye, the large swath of black mist was almost completely burned away by the Heavenly Flames, revealing a figure hiding under a wide black robe and wearing a strange mask.
The scorching heat caused the face beneath the mask to contort in pain. He hadn't expected that Xiao Yan's power was far greater than he had imagined.
Damn it! I was careless!
He cursed inwardly, but just as the dark figure was about to make a move, the void in front of him twisted again, and Xiao Yan, holding the Xuan Heavy Xuan Ruler and covered in eerie white flames, reappeared.
The giant ruler slashed mercilessly at the person in front of it, its immense power seemingly capable of tearing the person apart.
"Again!"
The face beneath the mask twitched violently, yet the shadowy figure dared not be careless in the slightest. With a sudden movement of both arms, jet-black chains shot upwards from behind the figure.
The flexible chains, like a venomous snake, rushed towards Xiao Yan Xiao Yan, their cunning attacks targeting vital points on his body, aiming to achieve a mutually restraining effect.
However, the shadowy figure underestimated Xiao Yan, who was currently in a state of rage.
Faced with the onslaught of these chains, Xiao Yan's expression remained unchanged in his deep white eyes; in fact, the power emanating from the giant ruler seemed to grow even stronger.
Judging from his appearance, he does seem to be quite the daredevil.
The shadowy figure was truly reluctant to give up his own life, even at the cost of trading it for another.
Left with no other choice, the shadowy figure could only retreat as a means of advance. He mentally controlled the eight black chains around his body, quickly moving them in front of him, leaving two of them standing to meet the oncoming Heavy Xuan Ruler head-on.
"Crack!"
With the power of the Strength Elephant Art and the strength of the Heavenly Flames, Xiao Yan's attack actually blasted the two chains that were shooting towards him to pieces in an instant.
Immediately afterwards, the remaining force, with overwhelming momentum, crashed down heavily on the remaining four chains.
"Clang clang clang clang!"
This time, the four chains did indeed block the Heavy Xuan Ruler, but it only lasted for a few breaths. Before the shadowy figure could even catch his breath, the power on the Heavy Xuan Ruler suddenly surged.
The next moment, a pair of gloomy eyes beneath the mask clearly saw that the four black chains, each as thick as a human arm, were breaking one by one under the powerful force of the Heavy Xuan Ruler.
Until the very last moment, when the Heavy Xuan Ruler completely destroyed the four chains, the pupils of the shadowy figure's gloomy eyes suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints.
The Heavy Xuan Ruler, covered in Heavenly Flames, rapidly magnified in the shadowy man's eyes. Finally, as the man dodged to the side, one corner of the Heavy Xuan Ruler slammed heavily into his chest.
"Puff!"
As he retreated rapidly, the shadowy figure couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood, his internal energy churning, and his shock was even greater than before.
He had indeed underestimated Xiao Yan's power; he was probably even stronger than Ye Luotian had described!
Of course, this might also be because of Xun'er, which stimulated Xiao Yan's heart, allowing him to unleash power far exceeding his usual strength in such a short time.
But in the next instant, as the shadowy figure looked up, Xiao Yan's figure caught up again, raising the Heavy Xuan Ruler high above his head, with eerie white flames shooting into the sky, about to fall heavily on the shadowy figure's head.
Seeing this, the guy knew that Xiao Yan had really gone mad today. If he didn't find a way to end this battle, even if he was Seven-Star Dou Di, he would probably be in big trouble today.
"Clang!"
The shadowy figure stretched out his hands, and jet-black Dou Qi surged wildly from his palms. Relying on his own strength, he forcefully blocked Xiao Yan's attack and firmly grasped the Heavy Xuan Ruler.
Even so, at this moment, the shadowy man's arms quickly went numb, and a powerful force was still surging into the depths of his body, forcing him to disperse more of his power in order to forcibly suppress the intruding force within him.
"Roar!"
Xiao Yan let out a low growl, and at the same time, he slammed his right hand heavily onto the ruler above. The already heavy Heavy Xuan Ruler released even more power under Xiao Yan's palm, forcefully pressing down the black shadow's body that was suspended in the void.
The giant ruler broke free from the shadowy figure's grasp and was about to move forward again, but at that moment, the shadowy figure hurriedly shouted out.
"Stop! I can let you see Gu Xun'er!"
"Laugh..."
The giant ruler, which was about to fall, seemed to freeze instantly, abruptly stopping in mid-air. No matter how powerful the ruler was just moments before, it all dissipated in an instant.
The whistling wind continued to blow downwards after the giant ruler stopped, slamming hard against the mask of the shadowy figure. Beneath the mask, on a face covered in cold sweat, a chill was felt, but it was much better than before.