Chapter Seventy-Two: Consecutive Self-Destruction

The strange crystal unleashed its power, instantly devouring all the domineering energy that had invaded Qingxu’s body. As a result, the crystal itself underwent a dramatic transformation, gaining the innate power of primordial chaos—something Qingxu had never anticipated. He had always known this crystal was extraordinary, but never imagined it concealed such secrets.

“Innate primordial chaos power! Even the Twelve Ancestral Witches do not possess this. What is going on?” Qingxu was bewildered. No matter how powerful the Heavenly Witch was, it could not surpass the Ancestral Witches.

Leaving Qingxu aside, the battle between Qiongqi and Yazi was raging fiercely, both sides fighting desperately with all their might.

Despite Qiongqi’s determination, burning its own source of the Shadow Spirit and leveraging the force of the Three Yin Deadlands, it still fell short against Yazi. The gap between the early Taiyi True Immortal and a Profound Immortal was simply too great. Previously, Qiongqi would not have been a match for Qingxu without resorting to trickery—let alone now.

After its battle with Qingxu, Qiongqi was severely depleted. Facing Yazi in such a state, its chances of victory were slim at best.

Under the influence of the Three Yin Deadlands' “Force,” Yazi’s cultivation was somewhat suppressed, and the sharpness of the Yazi Blade was greatly diminished. Still, it was not something the Shadow Spirit could withstand. Their clash was overwhelming, quickly obliterating the Shadow Spirit, and judging from the situation, it would soon be annihilated completely.

Qiongqi’s eyes were cold and stern; the situation was perilous, but it did not panic, forcing itself to remain calm.

“Qiongqi, stop struggling. You are no match for me. Surrender quietly and perhaps, in my great benevolence, I will leave your corpse intact,” Yazi sneered relentlessly, feeling utterly triumphant, all past frustrations now swept away.

“Humph! You may think victory is assured, but don’t speak too soon!” Qiongqi shouted, then spread its wings and soared straight into the heavens, heading toward the Yin Sha clouds. In the blink of an eye, it vanished into the clouds.

Thunder rumbled, booming across the sky as the vast Yin Sha clouds formed a swirling vortex. Dim lightning flashed incessantly, descending with a force as mighty as mountains and peaks, filling the world with an atmosphere of annihilation and deadly silence, chilling all hearts.

“Controlling the Yin Sha Thunder? A trivial trick! How could such a thing harm me?” Yazi’s experience was extraordinary; it immediately saw through Qiongqi’s plan. Clearly, Qiongqi intended to use the thunder gathered from the thousands of miles of Yin Sha clouds above to attack it. Yet, as an early Taiyi True Immortal with innate defenses nearly comparable to a mid-stage Taiyi True Immortal, Yazi scoffed at the idea that these gathered thunderbolts could hurt it, secretly mocking Qiongqi’s lack of intelligence and wasted effort.

“No, Qiongqi cannot be that foolish. There must be a hidden move—a killing blow!” Having suffered once, Qingxu was much more cautious now. He knew full well how cunning Qiongqi was and refused to believe it would act so recklessly without purpose. Yet, for the moment, he could not deduce what Qiongqi’s ultimate move was.

Bang! Rumble! ...

Hundreds of massive, gray-black thunder spheres plummeted from the Yin Sha clouds toward Yazi, covering a vast area. With such a widespread attack, even Yazi could not dodge.

A flash of disdain flickered through Yazi’s eyes; it curled its lip, never intending to evade. Confident in its defenses, it believed these thunder spheres could not harm it.

Suddenly, inspiration struck Qingxu. He realized Qiongqi’s true intention, and his face turned pale with shock. Without regard for his own injuries, he desperately channeled all his power into his avatar to shield himself. The Central Xu Earth Banner was pushed to its limits, enveloping his entire body in a misty blue-yellow light, hundreds of earthy lotus platforms floating and forming layer upon layer of innate Xu Earth membranes.

Protected, Qingxu soared upward with all his strength, fleeing higher into the sky.

Bang, bang, bang! ...

The thunder spheres seemed random but actually struck the earth’s veins according to some mysterious pattern, causing mud and water to erupt everywhere, riddling the Three Yin Deadlands with holes and a stench that soared skyward.

“Hahaha! This little power isn’t even enough to scratch an itch!” After withstanding two thunder spheres, Yazi remained unscathed, its fur as glossy as ever, and taunted without restraint.

“Heh, laugh while you can! If you can laugh, it’s a good thing!” With Qiongqi’s sinister laughter, sudden upheaval erupted—the Shadow Spirit, pierced by the Yazi Blade, suddenly self-destructed. The shock was earth-shattering; at the peak of the Profound Immortal realm, its self-detonation rivaled a full-force blow from an early Taiyi True Immortal.

A massive mushroom cloud rose, waves of powerful shock swept outward, reducing everything in their path to dust.

“Good heavens, this power is stronger than atomic or hydrogen bombs!” Qingxu narrowly avoided disaster and felt fortunate; if he had hesitated, he would have been in serious trouble.

“Ah! Despicable wretch!” Caught off guard, Yazi was thrown dozens of yards by the blast, wracked with pain, its blade lost somewhere unknown.

Fury! Raging fury!

Yazi’s pores smoked with rage, its fur stood on end, eyes blood-red and savage, waves of terrifying power swept outward from its center.

Just as Yazi was about to lose all reason and annihilate Qiongqi at any cost, another change occurred.

The shockwaves spread rapidly, soon covering the entire Three Yin Deadlands, including all the places Qiongqi had struck with the thunder spheres. As the waves encompassed these areas, the Deadlands seemed to awaken like a slumbering prehistoric beast. Pulsations emanated from the earth, and both Yazi and Qingxu, high in the sky, felt a deep-seated fear of death in their souls.

“Disaster! Qiongqi’s real target was the Three Yin Deadlands—the Shadow Spirit was merely a prelude. It’s detonating the Deadlands!” Qingxu was dumbfounded. In panic, he hurriedly used the Supreme Pure Immortal Talisman to summon the Three Pure Avatars.

But it was too late. Before the avatars appeared, the Three Yin Deadlands erupted, using the Shadow Spirit as the fuse and the hundreds of craters from Qiongqi’s thunder strikes as the foundation. An unprecedented explosion began, far more powerful than the Shadow Spirit’s self-destruction—at least twice as strong.

Boom!

The cosmos trembled, the universe darkened, earth, fire, water, and wind rampaged across the land. Visible gray-black shockwaves spread out, reducing all tangible things to dust.

“Ah!” Yazi’s screams were drowned in the explosion, its figure engulfed by earth, fire, water, and wind.

Although Qingxu was thousands of feet in the sky, he was still affected.

The terrifying shockwaves crashed down on Qingxu’s frail form like a tidal sea!

One by one, the earthy innate Xu Earth lotus platforms shattered, layer by layer the protective membranes vanished...