Ganyu, as always, remained gentle and silent, quietly following behind Ningguang.
Herta took one last look toward the Golden Tree, a faint smile on her lips.
As the three figures completely disappeared into the stairwell at the top of the Jade Chamber, a dazzling, expansive silver light erupted from the pavilion's center, swiftly spreading out like an instantly swelling silver bubble, precisely enveloping the main building and everyone gathered in the square below.
A second later, the silver light abruptly receded like a tide.
The once-bustling square instantly became deserted; the magnificent Jade Chamber still stood, but inside, it was empty—no sign of life remained.
Whether Ningguang, Ganyu, Herta, or the Jade Chamber's assembled staff, all at that moment were completely, tracelessly relocated out of Shrek City by some incomprehensible spatial power, along with whatever materials were needed.
As if they had never been there at all.
…
Inside the Golden Tree, the sea of life was vast and boundless, its life force so concentrated it had become liquid, shimmering with sacred golden-green light. Every drop contained immense vitality sought by soul masters.
Even a trace of this, if refined, could transform an ordinary soul master.
This was one of Douluo Star's vital life nodes, a supreme holy land for nurturing life and cleansing corruption, filled with a sacred, nurturing, and peaceful aura.
But now, this ancient, sacred domain was being swept by a cold, greedy will of destruction from beyond the world.
"Boom—!"
Towering waves erupted suddenly from the center of the sea of life.
The ocean, made of the purest life essence, was forcibly displaced by a brutal, icy, utterly alien destructive energy, wailing in agony as if the world itself were being torn apart.
Space quaked violently; golden motes of life scattered like frightened fireflies.
Phantylia's true form fully manifested here, her appearance far beyond anything Douluo Continent had ever imagined.
She was not flesh and blood, but a conglomeration of pure destructive intent and surging violet-black flames. Her form swelled instantly, blocking out the sky, like a primordial demon god from the abyss—her presence seemed to fill the entire Golden Tree's interior.
Thousands of tendrils burning with violet-black fire, like withered branches or tentacles, whipped wildly as her hair, each emanating an aura of death and soul decay.
Her mere existence polluted and corroded the surrounding pure life energy.
She seemed to let out a mockingly cold laugh, her voice like a freezing winter wind crossing an ice field, echoing above the boiling sea of life, bringing endless chill and despair.
A hand of pure energy, seemingly delicate, was raised. In her palm, concentrated destructive energy was compressed and condensed in defiance of all logic, instantly forming a miniature, pitted planet streaked with molten, destructive patterns.
Though small, this planet radiated a crushing sense of weight, its patterns like the screaming marks of countless tormented souls, its aura enough to make any soul tremble and collapse.
Its mere appearance caused the sea of life to boil, evaporate, and retreat in terror.
"Perish."
Phantylia's voice was cruel and mocking, her wrist subtly dropping as she smashed the miniature world, heavy as a planet, down toward Sea God Tang San below.
Facing this apocalyptic blow, Tang San's divine sense avatar was grave.
His form was tiny compared to Phantylia's colossal body, but the Sea God's divine radiance around him was solid, blue as a mountain, unmoving.
His blue hair streamed in the violent energy storm; his deep, ocean-like eyes clearly reflected the falling planet, but showed no panic—only supreme calm and full effort.
"Mother, fall back! Protect your divine sense origin—do not interrupt your refining!"
Tang San shouted, his voice cutting through the roar of energies like a tidal wave.
At the same time, he thrust the golden trident, symbol of Sea God's authority, forward.
"Buzz—!!!"
The Sea God Trident erupted with unprecedented golden brilliance, boundless divine power surging forth like a breached dam.
Strangely, although this sea was not truly an ocean, its essence as liquid, flowing life force was highly compatible with the Sea God's power.
At this moment, driven by Tang San's will, the sea of life seemed to gain a true ocean's will and vitality, heeding its master's command.
"Roar—!!!"
The water dragon coiling around the trident, previously only an energy phantom, let out a soul-shaking roar.
Its body swelled a thousandfold in an instant, its scales clear and flashing with blue-gold light, its massive dragon eyes burning with Sea God's blue fire.
No longer a mere construct, it was now the embodiment of the sea of life's might and the Sea God's supreme authority.
It carried unstoppable, star-moving power, surging up to meet the falling planet of destruction.
"Who are you really? The intensity and nature of your spiritual force and this pure destructive will—these cannot be produced by Douluo Continent or any known neighboring plane."
Tang San's voice carried through the world-shattering clash, heavy and probing.
His divine sense avatar's core task was to protect his mother Ah Yin's refining of the Golden Tree, but now he faced an enemy far beyond any contingency.
The opponent's spiritual power was terrifyingly high, even giving him a sense of pressure like facing the God of Destruction, but colder, more bizarre, filled with utter malice toward existence—distinct from the Destruction God's own domain.
"Who I am doesn't matter. While such brute destruction lacks aesthetic beauty and isn't fully to my taste…"
Phantylia's voice floated down, cold and detached, as if observing struggling ants from above.
"But I'm not a rigid brute unwilling to adapt. Occasionally, a different approach is fine. I will bring you the most thorough end and silence."
Her power only grew more violent.
Destruction poured from the micro-planet like a waterfall from the heavens, wherever it passed, life energy was rapidly polluted, dissolved, and reduced to nothing. Even the Golden Tree's tough spatial barrier began to emit tortured, twisting groans, as if about to shatter.
Tang San, using Sea God's power to channel the life energy tides, clashed furiously with Phantylia's pure destruction, both eroding and extinguishing each other.
Every collision unleashed a storm of spiritual and energy turbulence that would instantly obliterate any ordinary Title Douluo.
The fluctuations had long exceeded the Golden Tree's internal limits, and the resulting destructive shockwaves blasted through the barriers into the material world.
At the core of Shrek Academy, on Sea God Island—
The Golden Tree, once glowing with gentle, sacred light, suddenly shuddered violently.
Its ancient trunk, thick enough that dozens would need to encircle it, flickered between noon-bright brilliance and ominous, devouring violet-black light.
A suffocating, despairing aura radiated from the tree, spreading across Sea God Island like a plague.
Within it, the wailing of life and the howling of destruction mixed into a terrifying spiritual contamination.
All who remained in Sea God Pavilion—researchers, elderly veterans, ordinary staff—felt an icy grip seize their hearts, a primal terror rising uncontrollably from their souls.
The weaker ones turned as pale as paper, stumbling backwards, soul power freezing, some collapsing to the ground shaking uncontrollably.
"What… what's happening?! What's wrong with the Golden Tree?!"
"Such a terrifying aura… I feel like my soul is being torn apart!"
"Look at the top! What's that flickering black light?!"
"Alert! Highest level alert! Try to notify Dean Yan and the city lord at once—something huge is happening to Sea God Island!"
Panic and chaos erupted around the Sea God Pavilion, with shrieks, alarms, and frantic running everywhere.
No one could imagine that, within the Golden Tree they revered as the academy's holy land and the symbol of hope, a battle between gods far beyond their comprehension was raging.
And within the heart of the Golden Tree, the sea of life still boiled as the battle reached its climax.