The vicious soul descended from the rift like a calamity given physical form.
Its enormous palm came crashing down towards Lin Sheng, carrying an oppressive Yin force that distorted the air around it. The surrounding ghosts and Specters shrieked excitedly, as though they could already see the living cultivator being crushed beneath their master's hand.
Lin Sheng stood beneath that descending palm without retreating.
His expression remained calm.
His robes fluttered violently beneath the pressure, his black hair whipping behind him as the terrifying Yin Qi swept across the battlefield, yet his body remained as steady as an ancient mountain.
Then the Qi-Blood within his body erupted.
Boom!
An immense crimson-gold radiance surged from Lin Sheng's body, his vast Qi-Blood spreading outward like a boundless ocean before rapidly converging towards his right hand.
At the same time, the five elements in the surrounding world began to tremble.
The five elemental forces were drawn towards Lin Sheng's palm as though pulled by an invisible vortex, countless strands of elemental energy converging upon his clenched fist. Gold radiance, verdant wood energy, flowing water, blazing fire and heavy earth essence intertwined around his arm, while his terrifying physique provided the foundation capable of bearing their combined power.
This was not merely a fist technique.
It was one of the minor divine abilities contained within the Five Elements Body Forging Art.
Five Elements Heaven-Slaying Fist!
Lin Sheng's eyes flashed.
The Golden Body realm of the Five Elements Body Forging Art required the condensation of five minor divine ability Seeds related to body refining before it could advance to the next stage.
The Five Elements Heaven-Slaying Fist was one of those divine ability Seeds.
And now, Lin Sheng was finally displaying its true power.
His fist moved.
There was no elaborate movement, no unnecessary flourish, only a simple forward punch.
Yet the moment it was released, the entire battlefield seemed to tremble.
Boom!
Lin Sheng's fist collided directly with the vicious soul's descending palm.
For a fraction of a second, the two forces remained locked together.
Then—
BOOM!
A terrifying explosion erupted.
The ground beneath the vicious soul collapsed instantly, a massive crater forming around its feet as the shockwave swept outward in all directions. Buildings that had already been reduced to ruins were completely pulverised, stones and broken timber were hurled into the sky, while the surrounding Yin Qi was violently dispersed.
The vicious soul's enormous arm shattered from the point of impact.
Its palm.
Its wrist.
Its forearm.
Everything was torn apart beneath the overwhelming force of the Five Elements Heaven-Slaying Fist.
The vicious soul itself was blasted backwards.
Its gigantic body ruptured violently, countless fragments of dark Yin energy scattering through the air.
The explosion was so enormous that even people fighting several streets away could see the brilliant burst of elemental light rising above the ruined city.
The Empress Dowager's hands paused for an instant.
She was currently standing above the enormous rift, countless golden invocation runes revolving around her body as she continuously poured her power into the formation sealing the opening.
She had expected Lin Sheng to hold the vicious soul back.
After all, she knew that Lin Sheng was an External Grandmaster, and although his physical body was extraordinarily powerful, the vicious soul possessed Rank 4 combat strength, equivalent to a Grandmaster.
She had expected a fierce battle.
She had not expected this.
The vicious soul had been instantly eviscerated.
The Empress Dowager stared at the enormous crater below.
Even she was momentarily stunned.
"His physical strength..."
Her eyes narrowed.
She had severely underestimated Lin Sheng.
Of course, she knew that the vicious soul was not so easily killed.
As long as sufficient Yin Qi remained, it could reconstruct its body.
But even so, destroying its physical form so easily was far beyond what she had expected.
"This is much easier than I thought."
Across the battlefield, two figures were equally stunned.
Lou Feng stared at the enormous crater.
His eyes were wide.
Beside him, Su Yang's expression was equally shocked.
They had fought alongside their master many times, but this was the first time they had witnessed Lin Sheng unleash his strength without restraint.
The sheer scale of that fist had completely exceeded their imagination.
"So this is Master's true strength..."
Su Yang muttered.
Lou Feng's expression became solemn.
He had always known that Lin Sheng was powerful, but knowing and witnessing were two entirely different things.
That single fist had almost completely destroyed a Rank 4 vicious soul.
And the terrifying part was that Lin Sheng had done it with nothing more than a single punch.
Around them, several Astral Gang experts were similarly stunned.
The explosion had not merely struck the vicious soul.
The shockwave had swept across the surrounding battlefield, annihilating numerous Rank 3 Specters that had been caught within its range. Those terrifying ghosts, which had previously required considerable effort from the martial artists to deal with, had simply vanished beneath the overwhelming force.
For a moment, the battlefield fell strangely quiet.
Then the fragments of the vicious soul began to move.
Countless pieces of black Yin energy floated through the air, slowly converging towards one another.
The surrounding Yin Qi also began flowing towards them.
Just as the Empress Dowager had expected, the vicious soul was attempting to regenerate.
Lin Sheng watched the scene calmly.
Then he raised one finger.
A tiny flame appeared above it.
The flame was not large.
It was only the size of a fingertip.
Yet the moment it appeared, the surrounding temperature changed.
The Yin Qi began to retreat.
The ghosts closest to Lin Sheng suddenly screamed.
Their instinctive fear came from the deepest part of their existence.
This was the Solar Flame.
A flame born from Lin Sheng's Yellow Star Contemplation, carrying an extremely powerful Yang nature.
Among Lin Sheng's current offensive methods, this was the most purely Yang attack he possessed.
Lin Sheng flicked his finger.
The flame drifted downward.
At first, it appeared almost insignificant.
Then it touched the Yin Qi.
Whoosh!
The entire world seemed to ignite.
The Yin Qi caught fire.
The flame spread through it like an inferno consuming dry grass, travelling from one strand of Yin Qi to another at terrifying speed.
Ghosts hundreds of metres away suddenly erupted in flames.
"AHHHHH!"
Their screams filled the city.
Some were completely incinerated in an instant, their bodies transforming into black ash before being scattered by the wind.
Others were not so fortunate.
They remained conscious as the Solar Flame spread across their bodies, watching helplessly as their ghostly flesh began to disintegrate piece by piece.
Arms disappeared.
Chests became transparent.
Faces twisted in terror before their heads finally collapsed into burning fragments.
The flames continued spreading.
Everywhere the Yin Qi existed, the Solar Flame followed.
Lin Sheng watched the result carefully.
His eyes revealed a trace of satisfaction.
"Not bad."
The Solar Flame was indeed extremely effective against Yin entities.
More importantly, it did not merely attack the vicious soul itself.
It burned the Yin Qi that the vicious soul depended upon for regeneration.
The fragments of the vicious soul began to wither.
Some were already turning into ash.
Others desperately attempted to flee, but there was nowhere for them to hide.
The surrounding Yin Qi had become a sea of flames.
Without Yin Qi to replenish them, the vicious soul's regenerative ability had been severely crippled.
Then the fragments began screaming.
It was not the scream of one ghost.
It was the combined wailing of countless fragments of consciousness.
The sound was so shrill that it seemed to pierce directly into the minds of those nearby.
"AAAHHHHHHH!"
The sound resembled countless pieces of chalk being dragged violently across a blackboard, an unbearable shriek that caused the hearts of the surrounding martial artists to tremble.
Several Astral Gang experts immediately covered their ears.
Some staggered backwards.
Others had their expressions change as their consciousness began to sway.
The weaker martial artists were even worse.
Their eyes became unfocused as the ghostly screams invaded their minds, producing an almost hypnotic effect that threatened to drag their consciousness into a state of confusion.
The Empress Dowager's expression changed.
"Don't listen to it!"
Her voice spread across the battlefield.
"Protect your minds!"
The stronger experts immediately circulated their True Essence and Astral Gang, using their cultivation to suppress the strange influence.
But those below the Astral Gang Realm were struggling.
Even some Astral Gang martial artists had to grit their teeth and concentrate to resist the strange spiritual disturbance.
Lin Sheng remained completely unmoved.
The screams entered his ears, yet his mind remained as stable as an ancient mountain.
His gaze remained fixed upon the burning fragments of the vicious soul.