The spirit power surrounding Mo Tong began to change.
At first, the changes were barely noticeable. But soon, the air above the clearing grew heavier, and the remnants of gray energy scattered by the previous attacks began to move. They streamed toward him in thin currents, as though an invisible hand were gathering fragments of his own power from the ground.
Mo Tong slowly straightened his shoulders.
"You really have cornered me."
He spoke calmly, almost arrogantly. Running his tongue over his bloodstained lips, he shifted his gaze from Qin Ye to Xiao Yu. Not a trace of his former carelessness remained. Now his eyes held a coldness that sent chills down to the bone.
The seventh milky-gray Spirit Ring flared beneath his feet.
"Seventh Spirit Skill: Domain of Star Serpents!"
A wave of gray energy swept across the clearing. The ground around Mo Tong darkened, and tiny points of starlight ignited between the trees. They connected through thin lines, weaving into an enormous web that rapidly spread in every direction.
Twenty meters. Thirty. Forty.
Fifty.
In just a few moments, the entire clearing was enclosed within the Domain of Star Serpents.
Now, everyone standing within its boundaries lay open to Mo Tong's view. He could see them all at once, as though looking down from a bird's-eye view: the tension in Qin Ye's shoulders and the way Xiao Yu shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
But the domain's abilities were not limited to observation.
The golden radiance emanating from Qin Ye dimmed. Her wings continued to shine, but the wounds on her body began healing more slowly. The wind still swirled around Xiao Yu, but maintaining the previous density of the air currents became more difficult. Hui Mi's lightning weakened, as though an invisible force were gradually draining its power.
"His domain is weakening us…" Qin Ye said quietly.
She could feel the enemy's power penetrating her own Domain of Light and suppressing its influence. Even her skill, which had previously allowed her to control the battlefield, now had to struggle to maintain its superiority.
While her opponents' strength faded, Mo Tong, by contrast, gradually recovered. The cracks across his body closed, the darkened scales regained their original color, and thin gray threads extended from his wounds. They intertwined over the damaged areas, restoring his shattered defenses.
Mo Tong lowered his gaze to his chest and smirked.
"Now we can talk."
He looked at Qin Ye again.
"You caused me the most trouble… But your light isn't nearly as bright anymore."
Qin Ye remained silent. She raised her hand, and all ten Seraphim Swords simultaneously rushed toward their opponent.
Mo Tong did not even attempt to dodge. The eighth ring flared beneath his feet, momentarily eclipsing the other shades of gray radiance.
"Eighth Spirit Skill: True Battle Soul Body!"
The earth trembled.
Mo Tong's body rapidly grew larger. His shoulders and arms disappeared beneath expanding scales, while his spine elongated, transforming into a long, writhing body. Within a few moments, not a trace of his human form remained.
A gigantic serpent, thirty meters long, towered over the clearing.
Its scales gleamed with a silvery sheen, and starlight shimmered between the plates. Thin lines stretched across its entire body, resembling the outlines of constellations. Two cold eyes burned on its head, with milky-gray stars revolving deep within each one.
Originally, his Battle Soul had been the Soul Serpent. But now it looked different. The power of the Tree of a Thousand Stars had altered even his true form, and the sheer force of his spirit power made everyone in the clearing tense involuntarily. Now, he looked more like a Serpent of a Thousand Stars.
All ten swords struck simultaneously.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The blades slammed into the silvery scales, leaving shallow wounds. Sparks burst from beneath the plates, but the serpent did not even stagger. The damage healed before their eyes: gray threads drew the edges of the wounds together, while the Domain of Star Serpents sustained his regeneration. Under the influence of his eighth skill, his power continued to grow.
"Ha-ha-ha!" The enormous head rose above the clearing. "Let's see how much strength you have left after this!"
Mo Tong opened his jaws wide.
Ten dark fangs, surrounded by milky-gray radiance, shot out of his mouth. They spread through the air in a fan and rushed toward his opponents from different directions. One targeted Qin Ye, two others headed for Jin Luo, and the rest charged toward Xiao Yu, Hui Mi, and Zhou Shenyang.
"Scatter!" Jin Luo shouted.
Xiao Yu pushed off the ground. A current of wind caught him and carried him rapidly to the side, but one of the fangs abruptly changed trajectory and pursued him.
"They're chasing us!"
Xiao Yu turned and struck the pursuing projectile with a blast of wind. The two forces collided, causing a small explosion. The fang shattered into pieces and scattered as gray sparks.
Hui Mi acted differently. Two short, precisely aimed bolts of lightning struck the approaching fangs and destroyed them before they could reach their targets.
Qin Ye did not retreat. The ten Seraphim Swords changed trajectory, intercepted the approaching fangs, and sliced through them. Without slowing down, the blades continued toward Mo Tong himself.
However, the serpent already knew where every attack would come from.
The domain allowed him to monitor the entire battlefield and detect his opponents' movements before they completed their attacks. He could not force the Seraphim Swords to miss within the Domain of Light, but he did not need to. All he had to do was turn his body in advance and expose the strongest sections of his scales to the blades.
Several swords pierced his defenses, while others left deep furrows across them. But not a single strike reached a vital point.
The next instant, Mo Tong lashed out with his tail.
BOOM!
The ground split beneath the devastating blow. Stones and clumps of earth flew into the air as a shock wave swept across the clearing, knocking everything in its path aside. Hui Mi was thrown backward. Qin Ye managed to remain standing, but she was still forced to retreat several steps.
"What is it?" Mo Tong asked mockingly. "Running out of strength?"
Ten more fangs erupted from the ground around Qin Ye. The Seraphim Swords immediately rushed to meet them and pierced them through, but even that brief delay was enough for Mo Tong to shift his body and prepare his next attack.
Now, he was no longer merely deflecting blows. He was imposing his own rhythm on the battle.
This was exactly what Jin Luo feared most. As long as Qin Ye maintained the Domain of Light and Xiao Yu sustained his Child of the Wind state, they could still resist. But their spirit power was rapidly dwindling, and every exchange of blows brought them closer to the moment when one of them would no longer be able to continue fighting.
Mo Tong, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly dangerous.
"Jin Luo!" Xiao Yu shouted. "Any ideas?"
"I'm thinking!"
Jin Luo's turquoise eyes remained fixed on the gigantic serpent. He could still see the threads of fate, but now they intertwined so rapidly that it was becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish them. The more possible outcomes emerged on the battlefield, the harder it became to find the one they needed.
Suddenly, Mo Tong turned his head directly toward him. Their gazes met. A mocking glint appeared in the serpent's cold eyes.
"Brat, I don't like the way you're looking at me."
Mo Tong's fourth milky-gray ring flared.
"Fourth Spirit Skill: Soul Poison!"
Jin Luo tried to avert his gaze, but it was already too late.
A sharp pain pierced his Spiritual Sea, as though a red-hot needle had been driven straight into the center of his consciousness. The threads of fate before his eyes twisted out of shape. Golden and black lines tangled together, lost their forms, and began to disintegrate, depriving him of his familiar vision of possible outcomes.
Then came a wave of rage.
It was foreign and inexplicable, completely unrelated to his own feelings. It flooded his consciousness, driving him toward blind aggression and making him forget everything except the desire to attack his enemy.
Jin Luo clenched his teeth and resisted the foreign influence with all his might, but his body still staggered. He clutched his face. Blood welled between his fingers, streaming from his eyes.
"That's better," Mo Tong sneered.
The gigantic serpent opened its jaws and advanced toward Jin Luo.
Seeing this, Zhou Shenyang lunged forward. The golden flames of Dawn filled his body with strength, and he charged.
His fist slammed into the white scales.
But Mo Tong did not even stagger. His body abruptly turned, and in the next instant, his tail crashed down on Shenyang, pinning him to the ground. A thin gray thread extended from beneath the scales and touched his arm.
The sixth ring flared.
"Sixth Spirit Skill: Soul Split!"
The blow did not strike his body. It penetrated deeper, hitting Zhou Shenyang's Battle Soul itself. The golden flames on his arms went out, then flared up in chaotic bursts. Shenyang let out a muffled cry and collapsed onto one knee. Cracks of golden light spread across his body, as though an invisible force were trying to shatter his Battle Soul from within.
Qin Ye immediately directed her swords toward Mo Tong. One after another, the blades plunged into his neck.
"Filth!" Mo Tong snarled viciously. Deep wounds appeared across his silvery scales, and charred golden streaks spread along them.
The gigantic head turned toward Qin Ye, but at that moment, Xiao Yu launched his attack.
Child of the Wind was still supporting him, yet his movements were no longer what they had been. Controlling the element at such a level was gradually draining the last of his strength. Xiao Yu knew he could not hold on much longer.
He gathered the wind into his fist and struck.
Mo Tong saw the attack, but that did not mean he could dodge it. The blow landed on the serpent's side. The white scales separated, leaving a shallow wound, and the massive body swayed slightly.
In response, the tail lashed out.
Xiao Yu managed to raise an air barrier, but it shattered under the devastating blow. He was hurled toward the edge of the clearing. The wind around his body wavered, alternately growing stronger and almost dying out completely.
Mo Tong slowly surveyed his opponents.
Qin Ye continued to maintain the Domain of Light, but her spirit power was rapidly evaporating. Hui Mi was breathing heavily, and the lightning around him was growing weaker. Shenyang was trying to stand, but his damaged Battle Soul prevented him from gathering his strength. Jin Luo was still resisting Soul Poison, unable to regain control of his own perception. Xiao Yu could barely remain on his feet; the tail strike had damaged his internal organs.
Mo Tong felt a surge of satisfaction.
Even now, after he had begun taking his opponents seriously and realized that they could hurt him, his desire to kill them as painfully as possible had not diminished. On the contrary, he wanted to prolong their despair, forcing each of them to experience their own helplessness before delivering the final blow.
"Hey!" he called mockingly, raising his head. "Try harder! I hope you can entertain me for just a little longer."
Thin gray threads began extending from his open jaws once more.
But at that moment, Jin Luo slowly raised his head despite the pain. His gaze met Qin Ye's.
They did not need words to understand that if things continued this way, they would die. Mo Tong recovered faster than they could inflict new wounds on him. Every subsequent exchange of blows only brought them closer to defeat.
Qin Ye stepped forward. The three wings behind her spread to their full width, illuminating the clearing with golden radiance.
"There won't be a second chance," she said quietly. "Put everything you have left into this."
The third black ring beneath her feet flared.
"Third Spirit Skill: Chains of Light!"
This time, she did not need the ten seconds of preparation. The Domain of Light accelerated the formation of the skill, allowing Qin Ye to summon the chains instantly. Golden chains burst out of the ground. They coiled around Mo Tong's torso, tail, and head, binding his movements. Another chain shot toward his head and wrapped around his jaws, snapping his mouth shut with a metallic clang.
Mo Tong thrashed furiously. He had not expected Qin Ye to possess such a powerful skill. The muscles beneath his silvery scales tensed, the earth cracked beneath his claws, and the golden chains stretched to their limits. But for the moment, they continued to hold the serpent.
Qin Ye could feel the links trembling under the pressure of his monstrous strength.
"We don't have much time!" she shouted. "I can barely hold him!"
Jin Luo dropped to one knee and wiped the blood from his eyes with the back of his hand. He could see nothing. Soul Poison had literally poisoned his Spiritual Sea. He would need Sheng Min's help to recover.
So, I'm doing this blind.
A smirk appeared on his lips, and his heart began to beat faster with excitement.
"First Spirit Skill: Draw!"
A fan of thirty-three identical cards opened before him. Twenty-five brought good fortune, while eight brought misfortune. They were indistinguishable by touch. And yet, deep in the darkness, where the threads of fate had once intertwined, a faint golden glimmer remained.
Jin Luo touched a card at the very edge of the fan and turned it over. He could not see it, but he knew which card he had drawn.
Five golden pills. This was a support card whose enhancement was equivalent in power to the buff provided by a Rank 50 support-type Spirit Master.
"Lucky me," he breathed. "Hui Mi! Use your strongest attack!"
Golden dust rose from the card, flashed in the air, and settled on Hui Mi's shoulders, enveloping his body in a soft glow.
Hui Mi did not reply, but a malicious grin appeared on his face. His body was practically overflowing with power, and even his spirit power had become denser.
The sixth ring beneath his feet flared.
"Sixth Spirit Skill: Descent of the King of Myriad Lightning!"
His hair rose, with sparks of lightning flashing at its tips. White-blue radiance flooded his pupils, and a network of glowing cracks spread across his skin, as though lightning were struggling to burst out from within his body. For several moments, his Battle Soul, the King of Myriad Lightning, merged completely with him.
Then all his Spirit Rings trembled.
One after another, they broke away from their positions and moved toward one another. The black rings spun, accelerating with every passing moment. Their outlines began to merge until all of them transformed into a single Spirit Ring.
Red.
It blazed with dazzling light, making it almost impossible to look at.
Hui Mi slowly raised his hands toward the sky.
"I need time," he said in a low voice.
"You'll have your time," Xiao Yu replied as he pushed himself off the ground.
Qin Ye's chains began to crack. Mo Tong jerked his entire body, and one of the golden links snapped.
"Fifteen seconds!" Qin Ye gasped. "No more!"
"Then we attack now," Jin Luo said without opening his eyes. "Attack head-on. We have to wear him down as much as possible."
Qin Ye raised her hand. The ten Seraphim Swords formed a line above the serpent's head.
"Fifth Spirit Skill: Soul Flame!"
Black flames enveloped the Seraphim Swords.
The first blade plunged downward. Mo Tong managed to expose the strongest scales to the strike, but the sword easily pierced them and sank in up to its hilt. The second sword struck beside the first, followed by the third.
But instead of flaring up, the flames flowed along the blades in thin black streams. They seeped into the wounds and sank their teeth into the gray threads Mo Tong used to restore his body.
Mo Tong roared and tried to shake the blades off, but the chains held his torso in place. One after another, the remaining swords pierced his body. By the time the ninth and tenth blades had struck, the wounds that had previously healed before their eyes remained open.
"You bitch…" the serpent rasped.
Qin Ye staggered. The black flames on the swords went out, and the blades disintegrated into golden dust.
"His regeneration has been suppressed," she gasped. "Xiao Yu!"
"Got it!"
The time limit of Child of the Wind was almost up. Xiao Yu could feel the air currents around him growing weaker. All he could do was gather the last scraps of his strength and strike.
Dozens of doubles appeared around the serpent. Phantom Trail, enhanced by Child of the Wind, created nearly tangible silhouettes, each gripping a dagger.
"Fifth Spirit Skill: Maximum Speed!"
All his remaining power surged toward the dagger in the real Xiao Yu's hand, compressing around the blade into a thin, almost invisible current.
Mo Tong could see twenty identical Xiao Yus. The Domain of Star Serpents did not allow him to lose sight of a single opponent. But he could not identify the real one. The serpent's tail lashed out at the doubles, dispersing them like smoke. Then his jaws darted toward three other silhouettes and tore them apart.
At that very moment, Xiao Yu lunged forward. He did not try to hide from Mo Tong's gaze. Instead, he used every instant Mo Tong spent dividing his attention among the false targets.
His target was the serpent's left eye.
Focus… Just one point.
The world around Xiao Yu disappeared. There was no longer an enormous serpent, no roaring wind, and no companions fighting nearby. Only he himself, the dagger in his hand, and the target before his eyes remained.
One step.
In the next instant, the dagger plunged into Mo Tong's eye up to its hilt.
"AAARGH!" The serpent roared in pain.
The Domain of Star Serpents trembled. Its glowing lines scattered momentarily, and Mo Tong's field of vision abruptly narrowed. Half the battlefield seemed to plunge into darkness.
"My eye!"
Xiao Yu was completely exhausted. His time limit had expired, and he did not even have the strength to pull out the dagger. Gathering his last bit of energy, he dragged himself away and fell to the ground, rolling several times.
"Shenyang…" he forced out. "Your turn."
Zhou Shenyang straightened up. The golden flames of his Dawn skill still burned across his shoulders. The pain from the injury to his Battle Soul was so intense that he wanted to roar.
And roar he did.
The fourth black Spirit Ring beneath his feet flashed.
"Fourth Spirit Skill: Solar Breakthrough!"
All his remaining spirit power gathered into his fist. Shenyang stepped forward and thrust out his arm, releasing a golden beam. It was not enormous or all-consuming. No, it was thin and straight, like a spear.
Mo Tong blindly jerked his head, trying to dodge, but the chains prevented him from moving away. The golden beam pierced straight through his neck. The starlight between his scaly plates went dark for several meters around the wound.
His enormous body convulsed and began writhing. The golden chains cracked one after another and snapped.
"Hui Mi, attack!" Qin Ye shouted, her voice breaking under the strain.
Shenyang collapsed face-first onto the ground. The golden flames on his shoulders went out. He had poured everything he had left into that strike. His mental power had also been completely exhausted; an extraordinary amount of mental power had been required to compress Solar Breakthrough to such an extent.
Mo Tong slowly raised his head. Black blood flowed from the hole through his neck. His only remaining eye fixed on Hui Mi.
Yet even now, Mo Tong was grinning.
Fun.
Hui Mi stepped forward. The lightning around him fell silent, as though the entire clearing had held its breath. The glowing cracks in his skin blazed brighter than ever.
"Verdict."
This was not merely another technique. Descent unlocked a sixth attack that could be used only in this state. Verdict was a single, precisely targeted strike that combined the power of the first five skills and concentrated it all into one point.
It did not merely wound its target. For a brief moment, it destroyed the very structure of whatever it struck. It did not burn. It did not tear apart. It annihilated on a deeper level.
Hui Mi lowered his hand. In the next instant, a monstrous purple bolt of lightning erupted from it.
It shot forward and struck Mo Tong's body. Branching streams of lightning engulfed the gigantic serpent, raced across its silvery scales, and flashed between the plates in dazzling arcs. Purple bolts coiled around the serpent's neck and torso, merging into a single current. For an instant, Mo Tong's entire silhouette was swallowed by purple lightning.
BOOOOOOM!
The purple light exploded, concealing the entire clearing. The shock wave lifted stones, earth, and ash into the air. When the light faded, silence crashed down upon them like thunder.
An enormous crater with molten edges remained in the middle of the clearing. The starry web of the Domain disintegrated into gray dust and settled on their shoulders.
The gigantic serpent was nowhere to be seen.
Hui Mi stood motionless. The lightning vanished from his eyes, leaving them empty. Descent had come to an end, and for several seconds, he seemed to have lost his connection with the world around him.
Then he blinked, frowned, and asked indignantly,
"Did he actually die?"
No one answered.
Xiao Yu lay on his back, staring at the sky. The wind around him had fallen silent, and he could feel its absence throughout his entire body, as though a part of himself had been taken away.
Zhou Shenyang kept his face pressed against the ground. The three wings behind Qin Ye dissolved into glowing dust, forcing her to brace herself on one knee to keep from falling. Jin Luo remained seated with his eyes closed, blood still streaming down his cheeks.
When the dust settled, a body appeared in the center of the crater.
Mo Tong lay on his back, his arms spread wide. Cracks covered his body from head to toe. One eye was missing, blood streamed from his neck, and an enormous wound marked his chest, patterned with the traces of lightning. His face was frozen in a final expression that was half arrogance, half terror.
"Is it over?" Zhou Shenyang asked hoarsely.
Qin Ye approached and stared at the body for a long time.
"He's dead," she finally said.
Those words seemed to lift the last weight from their shoulders.
A wave of relief swept across the clearing. The tension that had kept them standing all this time vanished at once, and none of them could resist their exhaustion any longer.
Xiao Yu closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the ground. Zhou Shenyang collapsed again, too exhausted even to attempt to stand. Qin Ye sank to her knees, breathing heavily. Jin Luo finally allowed himself to relax.
They had won. But they had no strength left to celebrate.
"Is everyone alive?!" a suddenly anxious voice called out.
Sheng Min emerged from behind the destroyed trees. When she saw the cratered clearing and her companions lying scattered across the ground, she froze for a moment. Then, without wasting a second, she rushed toward them.
Sheng Min knelt beside the first injured person and released her spirit power. A gentle radiance enveloped his body, gradually penetrating the damaged tissues. Once she was sure the healing was taking effect, she moved on to the next person.
She went from one companion to another, hurriedly examining their injuries and directing her healing power wherever it was most needed. Only now, when the danger seemed to have passed, could they allow themselves to stop fighting the pain and simply lie there, trusting her to take care of them.
None of them noticed the grass trembling at the edge of the clearing. A crippled serpent was slowly crawling through it.