Taowu's roar sent the seawater churning violently. Invisible shockwaves rippled through the water with each sonic boom, shattering the shells of even the distant Spirit Clam clansmen and killing them instantly.
Hundun, who had been lurking behind it, suddenly morphed into a cloud of pitch-black mist, wriggling into the formation through its cracks like a bone-eating maggot.
This mist was the most bizarre of the Seven Great Ferocious Beasts. Wherever it drifted, the once calm seawater turned into a raging tempest in an instant. Countless black whirlpools formed inside the formation, their cores glowing with eerie green feral light, sucking in the Black Armored Guards one by one.
A Black Armored Guard had just raised his spear to resist when a whirlpool tore through his black iron armor, grinding his body into a cloud of blood mist that merged into the vortex. Only a blood-stained spear remained, floating aimlessly in the seawater.
Seeing this, Zhulong dove deep into the ocean with its colossal body. It exhaled a blast of extreme cold, and pale blue frost condensed into an ice wall in the water, attempting to trap Hundun's black mist with freezing power.
But the mist seeped through the cracks in the ice wall, forming a layer of black ice crystals on the surface. Countless distorted faces flickered within the crystals—the residual souls of devoured creatures. Their empty eye sockets stared ahead, and they let out shrill wails as they crawled along the ice toward the formation's eye. A single touch from their black-glowing fingertips could freeze a Black Armored Guard's blood instantly.
"Defend the formation's eye!"
Ao Xuan roared the order, channeling the Innate Dragon Pearl's spiritual light to its absolute limit. Cyan-gold Merit Golden Light surged forth like a tide, sweeping toward Hundun's black mist.
The moment golden light collided with the mist, violent energy waves erupted in the seawater. The mist was purified into green smoke by the golden light—but as soon as one patch was cleared, more mist seeped through the formation's cracks. It even began to erode the Innate Dragon Pearl at the formation's eye, and the cyan-gold glow on the pearl's surface took on a faint grayish-black hue.
The Black Armored Guards formed a spear wall, trying to block the mist's spread. But the whirlpools' suction was too powerful. The spear wall quickly scattered, and several guards had their ankles seized by the residual souls in the black ice crystals. Their bodies froze into ice sculptures instantly, then shattered into countless shards under the seawater's impact—their souls failing to escape.
Yinglong gritted his teeth and channeled more Heavenly River water. Torrential rain poured down, merging with Zhulong's extreme cold to form a thicker ice wall inside the formation. The wall blocked the mist's spread temporarily, but black veins began to creep across its surface like a spiderweb, spreading rapidly. It was clear the barrier would not hold for long.
The bloodlust in the East China Sea was even thicker than in the Western Wasteland.
The golden blood of the Black Armored Guards, the blue blood of the aquatic clans, and the black blood of the ferocious beasts mingled in the seawater, forming a vast blood-blue expanse. The blood drifted toward the formation's eye with the current.
When the blood energy touched the Innate Dragon Pearl, the pearl suddenly erupted in a blinding cyan-gold light, repelling the blood energy temporarily. But the formation's cracks continued to widen, and Taowu's next charge was imminent.
Ao Xuan could clearly sense the wails of the residual souls in Hundun's mist resonating faintly with the resentment in the Western Wasteland's blood energy—this was Shen Ni manipulating the Seven Great Ferocious Beasts. He intended to use this blood energy to corrupt the Primordial World's spiritual veins, turning the entire world into a hunting ground for ferocious beasts.
Meanwhile, the Parasol Forest in the Southern Region had become a sea of fire.
Yuan Hao slung his Innate Stone Staff over his shoulder, and the earth-element spiritual energy around his body surged. He condensed three thick stone walls in front of him, forged from a mix of Western Wasteland golden metal rock and Southern Region spiritual soil—they should have been as hard as iron.
But Bifang's demon flames clung to them like a curse. The stone walls began to sizzle the moment they formed, their surfaces peeling rapidly to reveal charred black marks underneath. Even the spiritual energy seeping from the rock cracks carried a burnt stench.
This crimson-blue ferocious beast spread its two-hundred-zhang wings, its body wreathed in black-red demon flames. The flames fell on the Parasol Forest's ground, igniting fallen leaves with a crackling sound. Countless fire feathers shot toward the forest's depths like a meteor shower—where hundreds of unevacuated young Phoenix clansmen and Spiritual Plant refugees were hiding.
The young Phoenixes were the last bloodline left after the Primordial Phoenix's fall; the oldest was barely three hundred years old, and the youngest still had not shed their downy feathers. The Spiritual Plant clansmen were survivors who had fled the Western Wasteland. Yuan Hao had promised them protection at the Withered Wood Abyss, and he intended to keep that vow.
"I dare you to take one step closer!"
Yuan Hao leaped into the air, swinging his stone staff—imbued with earth and wood-element spiritual energy—at Bifang's wings. He remembered Elder Qingmang's final instructions, Cang Lie fighting through his wounds, and the timid gazes of the young Phoenixes—he would not let these sparks of hope be snuffed out by Bifang.
But Bifang's wings were as hard as iron. The stone staff bounced off with a clang, sending Yuan Hao flying several zhang away. His arm went numb from the recoil, and blood oozed from his tiger's mouth, dripping onto the staff. The blood merged with the wood-element spiritual energy, causing the staff to glow with a faint green light.
He suddenly recalled the emerald essence passed down by the Spiritual Plant Clan. Hastily, he channeled the energy to form a thin green light armor over the staff's head—the Soul-Protecting Armor, nurtured by the residual warmth of the sacred fire, capable of resisting demon flame corrosion temporarily.
Enraged by the attack, Bifang spewed a jet of black fire instantly. The fire carried the power to corrode everything, streaking straight for the cave where the young Phoenixes hid. The parasol wood barrier at the cave entrance was woven from feathers left by the Primordial Phoenix, but it turned charred black the moment the fire touched it. The phoenix feathers on the barrier withered rapidly, and the barrier was on the verge of collapse.
"Xuan Jia! Hold the line, now!"
As soon as Yuan Hao's roar faded, Xuan Jia charged forward with the remaining Black Armored Stone People. These Stone People were veterans who had followed Cang Lie from the Western Wasteland, and they understood the weight of their duty. They locked their stone shields together to form a tight defensive line in front of the cave entrance.
The black stone patterns on the shields glowed with pale golden spiritual light, infused with the power of the golden metal spiritual vein. Each shield carried the Stone People's origin power.
The fire jet slammed into the shields with a deafening boom. The Stone People let out a unified grunt of pain. The black stone on the shields began to peel off, and several Stone People were pierced through the chest by the fire. Their pale golden blood spilled onto the ground, instantly incinerated into green smoke by the demon flames, and their stone bodies turned charred black.
"Hold on! We must hold on!"
Xuan Jia roared, channeling all the power of his stone core into the shields. His core had already been damaged in previous battles, and forcing it to its limit made stone-dust-like blood trickle from his mouth. But the patterns on the shields flared to life again, barely holding back the fire jet's corrosion.
Deep inside the cave, the young Phoenixes huddled together. The oldest, named Feng Ling, held up a small phoenix feather, trying to summon a faint flicker of Nanming Lihuo—it was a relic left to her by the Primordial Phoenix. But her power was too weak; the feather glowed like a dying candle flame, yet she held it aloft, trying to illuminate the even younger cubs beside her.
But Bifang's attacks were far from over.
It flapped its wings again, and countless fire feathers rained down on every corner of the Parasol Forest. The once-lush parasol trees burst into flames instantly. Thick black smoke billowed into the sky, dyeing the Southern Region's sky gray-black and blocking out all sunlight.
A young Phoenix cub, barely a hundred years old, peeked out of a crack in the cave out of curiosity to see what was happening. A fire feather grazed its tender wing, and the wing burst into flames instantly. Its shrill cry of pain cut through the sea of fire like a knife.
Yuan Hao's eyes turned blood-red with rage at the sight. He slammed his stone staff into the ground, and earth-element spiritual energy spread rapidly along the surface. Several ten-foot-tall stone spikes shot up, stabbing toward Bifang's claws. The spikes glowed with the sharpness of the golden metal spiritual vein, intended to force Bifang back.
Bifang was caught off guard, and its claws were scratched by the spikes. Black blood dripped onto the ground, making it even more feral. It opened its beak wide and spewed a fire jet three times thicker than before, infused with the power of its feral core. Black flames twisted around the jet like countless small snakes.
The fire jet slammed into the Black Armored Stone People's shields, turning them red-hot instantly before they shattered with a crash. The parasol wood barrier at the cave entrance collapsed along with them, exposing the trembling young Phoenixes inside.
Blood energy flowed through the burning Parasol Forest.
The Phoenixes' iridescent blood, the Stone People's pale golden blood, and the Spiritual Plant Clan's emerald blood mixed with burning ash, forming crimson streams across the ground. When the streams reached Bifang's feet, the beast let out a cry of excitement. Its demon flames flared to life instantly, sucking the blood energy into its body. The black patterns on its body glowed even brighter.
This blood energy contained not only the resentment of fallen creatures but also the origin power of the young Phoenixes, amplifying Bifang's ferocity and making the demon flames on its wings burn even more intensely.
At that moment, three pillars of blood energy suddenly rose simultaneously from the battlefields of the Western Wasteland, East China Sea, and Southern Region.
The Western Wasteland's blood pillar was the thickest—black-red, it shot straight into the sky, dyeing the clouds above the Golden Metal Stone Forest crimson. Within the pillar, the faint illusion of Elder Qingmang's residual Spiritual Plant soul flickered, and emerald spiritual light flowed slowly through the blood, as if she was gazing one last time at the spiritual vein she had guarded her entire life.
The East China Sea's blood-blue pillar rose soon after, merging with the Western Wasteland's pillar in midair to form a blood rainbow spanning east to west. The residual souls of the Black Armored Guards and aquatic clans wailed within the rainbow, reaching out as if trying to grasp something, only to fade slowly into the blood mist.
The Southern Region's crimson blood pillar, laced with burning ash, coiled into the blood rainbow like a fire serpent. The faint spiritual light of the young Phoenixes flickered within the rainbow, deepening its color and making the air itself feel scorching hot.
The moment the three blood pillars merged, the spiritual energy of the entire Primordial World began to tremble violently.
In the distant Beast Emperor Palace, Shen Ni's blood-red vertical pupils snapped open. The Eye of Ultimate Evil above his throne emitted a blinding crimson light, bathing the entire hall in a blood-red glow like a purgatory. He could clearly sense the endless resentment and killing intent within the blood energy, and the feral aura in his body began to resonate with it. Even the boiling blood sea beneath his throne churned violently.
The auras of the Seven Great Ferocious Beasts grew even more feral in his perception—Qiongqi's black gales raged across the Western Wasteland, stirring up more rock fragments; Tao Tie's devouring power intensified, sucking the spiritual vein's energy faster than ever; Bifang's demon flames spread across the Southern Region, worsening the Parasol Forest fire; Taowu's charges grew more violent, widening the East China Sea formation's cracks; Hundun's black mist spread through the East China Sea formation, and the wails of residual souls grew louder and louder.
Farther away, the other two lurking ferocious beasts also began to stir—Hundun's kin released black mist in the Northern Region, trying to corrupt the cold water spiritual vein; Tao Tie's kin devoured wandering cultivators in the Primordial World's heartland, growing stronger. Clearly, they had been aroused by the blood energy.
"Blood energy... piercing the heavens..."
Shen Ni's voice was hoarse and fragmented, like the wails of countless residual souls speaking at once, yet it carried a hint of undisguised excitement. He raised a hand and pointed at the Eye of Ultimate Evil in midair. Black-red light shot toward every corner of the Primordial World instantly, as if delivering a command to the Seven Great Ferocious Beasts: "Seven Great Ferocious Beasts... accelerate... break the formations..."
On the Western Wasteland battlefield, Tao Tie suddenly broke free from Zhu Yan's fire chain. It opened its massive maw and sucked toward the thickest concentration of blood energy, drawing part of it into its body. The feral aura around it flared instantly, and the charred black marks on its abdomen began to heal at a visible speed—even the old wound in its eye socket started to scab over. It pounced toward the golden metal spiritual vein again, slashing its massive claws at the vein's origin. Pale golden spiritual energy oozed through its claw gaps, only to be sucked into its mouth completely.
In the East China Sea, Taowu felt the blood energy's resonance, and the power of its charges intensified once more. It gathered black-red feral aura in its front claws and slammed them into the formation barrier. With a crisp crack, the cracks in the Azure Dragon Sea-Suppressing Formation widened to several zhang. The Heavenly River water channeled by Yinglong fell into the cracks, only to be dyed black by the feral aura, its purifying effect weakened by more than half.
In the Southern Region, Bifang spewed a colossal fire jet, infused with the power of blood energy. The black flames glowed with bloodlight, incinerating the Black Armored Stone People's last line of defense completely. The young Phoenixes at the cave entrance were exposed to the fire jet. Feng Ling shielded the younger cubs behind her, and the phoenix feather in her hand glowed faintly again—but it looked so tiny and fragile against the inferno.
Cang Lie, Ao Xuan, and Yuan Hao looked up simultaneously, staring at the blood rainbow spanning the sky. A look of grave solemnity crossed their eyes.
Cang Lie tightened his grip on his golden metal long sword. The Nanming Golden Metal Flames in his dantian resonated with Zhu Yan's Nanming Lihuo once more. The two flames merged into a crimson-gold fire pillar, infused with the illusion of Elder Qingmang's residual Spiritual Plant soul, slashing toward Tao Tie. Wherever the fire pillar passed, the resentment in the blood energy was suppressed temporarily, making Tao Tie's devouring motion stall for a split second—it instinctively feared this flame laced with the Spiritual Plant soul, as if recalling the grievous wounds it had suffered at the hands of the Spiritual Plant Clan in the Southern Wasteland.
Ao Xuan channeled the Innate Dragon Pearl's power to its limit. Cyan-gold Merit Golden Light surged forth like a tide, merging with Yinglong's Heavenly River water and Zhulong's extreme cold to form a three-colored light shield. The shield stood in front of the formation's eye, repelling Hundun's black mist temporarily. The grayish-black hue on the pearl's surface began to fade—but Ao Xuan knew this was only a reprieve. As long as Taowu's charges continued, the formation would collapse sooner or later.
Yuan Hao slung his stone staff over his shoulder and charged toward Bifang's wings again. Earth-element spiritual energy condensed under his feet, and several stone spikes rose to block Bifang's retreat. The Soul-Protecting Armor on his staff glowed with emerald spiritual light, and his eyes blazed with unwavering resolve—this time, he would gamble everything. Even if it meant mutual destruction, he would defend the Southern Region's last spark of vitality and keep his promise to Elder Qingmang.
The blood rainbow churned violently in midair, as if mocking the brutal slaughter unfolding below.
At this moment, as blood fury pierced the heavens, the fate of the Primordial World hung by a thread.