The Harvester, consumed by unrestrained fury, charged straight into the trap Black God Solanky had meticulously prepared.
The instant she entered its range, Solanky flicked a finger.
Invisible spiritual threads that had already attached themselves to the Harvester's body tightened without making the slightest disturbance. She remained completely unaware of their existence. Since Solanky's spiritual awareness was slightly superior to hers, this technique was the most effective method of dealing with her.
The Spiritual Killing Array possessed two primary methods of execution.
The first targeted both the physical body and the spiritual body simultaneously. However, this method was only effective when the controller of the array possessed a cultivation base comparable to that of the target.
The second method forcibly separated the spiritual body from the physical body before severely injuring or outright destroying it outside the vessel.
This second method existed precisely for opponents whose physical bodies had undergone a qualitative transformation beyond the caster's ability to confront directly.
Naturally, Solanky chose the latter.
The Harvester's temporary surge in physical strength was not something he could contend with head-on. Fortunately, his greatest advantage lay in his spiritual body. If he could turn the battle into one fought solely between spirits, the balance would immediately shift in his favor.
As the Harvester rushed toward him, she suddenly felt an invisible force restraining her.
Only then did she notice countless golden threads wrapped around her spiritual body. They shimmered briefly before disappearing once more.
Her spiritual body floated outside as she watched her physical body remain trapped within the invisible web.
It was as though her soul and spirit had been forcibly expelled from their rightful vessel.
Although surprised, she quickly regained her composure.
If Solanky wished to destroy her spiritual body, he would have to release his own to fight her directly.
She knew the strength of her spiritual body. Even at the early stage of the Second Turn, it was not something another cultivator with similar spiritual cultivation could erase without paying an enormous price.
Her confidence gradually returned.
Despite remaining vigilant, she maintained an arrogant expression as she looked at Solanky.
"You do possess some skill," she said coldly. "To force my spiritual body out without my consent is impressive. But you must be a fool if you believe you can destroy it without using your own spiritual body."
A sinister smile spread across Black God Solanky's face.
"That was my intention from the very beginning," he replied. "Who said I ever planned to fight your physical body?"
He slowly sat down cross-legged.
Moments later, his spiritual body condensed before his physical body.
An overwhelming pressure swept across the world.
Although his spiritual cultivation remained at the limit of the early stage of the Second Turn, the Nine Lightning Tribulations had reforged his spiritual body into something extraordinary. Its strength was already comparable to a mid-stage Second Turn spiritual body.
The Harvester's expression stiffened.
His spiritual body radiated an oppressive aura that instinctively suppressed hers.
Without wasting another moment, she stretched out an arm.
Dozens of mysterious seals instantly materialized around her.
These were manifestations of the spiritual laws she had comprehended. She had intended to use them to shatter the restraints binding her physical body.
Instead, they shot toward Solanky.
The seals tore through space and slammed into his spiritual body, blasting him backward several meters.
Within the Pyramid World, these seals had no effect on physical matter.
However, to spiritual beings, they were deadly.
Solanky felt his spiritual body tremble slightly.
His expression grew serious.
He had no intention of dragging this battle out.
The Harvester stared in disbelief.
Those seals were her strongest spiritual attack. Even an ordinary First Turn spiritual body would have been annihilated instantly. Her ancestor had personally praised the technique.
Yet Solanky had received the attack head-on without suffering any visible injury.
A smile appeared on Solanky's face.
Then he disappeared.
The next instant, the two spiritual bodies collided.
An intense close-quarters battle erupted.
Every clash shook the surrounding space.
With spiritual strength comparable to a mid-stage Second Turn cultivator, Solanky steadily overwhelmed the Harvester.
The more they fought, the more exhilarated he became.
Everything he had gained since entering the competition had transformed him beyond recognition.
Once both his cultivation and spiritual power reached the Third Turn, he would become an existence that would terrify every one of his peers.
The Harvester quickly realized she could not win.
She immediately abandoned the battle and fled toward her physical body.
As long as she reunited with it, she could rely on her forcibly enhanced physical strength to escape.
Unfortunately...
Solanky had anticipated this long ago.
He had already placed another trap beside both her physical body and his own in case she attempted either escape or retaliation.
Without hesitation, Solanky unleashed a barrage of palm strikes.
The Harvester managed to evade nearly ninety percent of them.
However, the remaining attacks slowed her just enough.
A trace of panic finally appeared in her eyes.
Without her spiritual body regulating the violent energy raging inside her physical body, the unstable halo surrounding it would destroy her vessel in less than an hour.
She abruptly stopped fleeing.
Turning around, madness filled her eyes.
Opening her mouth, she spat out a dark crimson bead.
It was none other than the seed of the Calamitous Flames she had partially absorbed into her soul and spirit.
She clenched the bead tightly before throwing a punch with every ounce of her strength.
The attack instantly consumed fifty-four percent of her spiritual essence.
A deafening cry echoed throughout the Pyramid World.
The punch transformed into an enormous phoenix whose body filled the entire world on that floor.
Its mournful cry pierced the heavens before it shot toward Solanky.
The phoenix crashed into his spiritual body.
For the first time...
Fear appeared in Solanky's eyes.
He knew he could not defend against such an attack.
The pressure emanating from the phoenix far exceeded his current level.
Although he had never faced such power before, he understood how terrifying a dormant law belonging to a being beyond the Fifth Turn of the True Peak-Turns could be when unleashed against a mere spiritual body.
By sacrificing more than half of her True Peak-Turn spiritual essence, the bead had unlocked power that was at least comparable to a Third Turn attack.
In terms of spiritual might, it rivaled the all-out strike of a late-stage Third Turn spiritual body.
The phoenix slammed into him.
His spiritual body was hurled across the battlefield.
By the time he regained control, he immediately realized he had lost forty-three percent of his spiritual essence.
The only reason he remained alive was because of the extraordinary physique and composition of his spiritual body.
Without hesitation, he activated the Devouring Heart Technique to its absolute limit.
He shot toward the Harvester like a bolt of lightning.
At the same time, he activated the second level of the technique.
Reflection.
The phoenix's devoured energy surged through his right arm.
Then he punched forward with exactly the same speed and force she had used against him.
This time, no phoenix emerged.
Instead...
A colossal dragon engulfed in Calamitous Flames appeared.
Lightning crackled across its massive body as it roared through the sky.
The dragon reached the Harvester in an instant.
Its tail lashed outward.
The moment it struck, every spiritual barrier surrounding her shattered without resistance.
Her spiritual body was blasted into the distance.
Only fifteen percent of her spiritual essence remained.
She struggled to stand.
Separated from the source of her spiritual essence, her physical body, she could neither replenish her strength nor recover her losses.
The Pyramid contained neither spiritual essence nor energy that could sustain her.
Solanky showed no mercy.
He immediately formed a series of hand seals.
A colossal formation expanded across the entire Pyramid World.
Countless engravings, runes, and arrays twisted and rotated throughout its surface.
Its pressure alone completely suppressed the already weakened Harvester.
Above her, a gigantic sword slowly materialized.
Around it floated countless needles, each aimed not only at her spiritual body but also at her physical body below.
Hatred burned within the Harvester's eyes.
"I will not let this end here," she said through clenched teeth. "My true body will settle this grudge between us."
Solanky ignored her completely.
He slowly clenched the fists of his spiritual body.
The formation responded instantly.
The colossal sword descended.
It obliterated every remaining fragment of the Harvester's spiritual essence.
At the same time, the countless needles rained down upon her physical body.
They pierced through it without mercy, destroying her internal world while eroding every law engraved upon her flesh and halo.
The Harvester was completely annihilated.