The strongest clone had already shattered, and the Nine Palaces Formation had shifted into the Eight Trigrams Formation, greatly reducing the formation's power.
But correspondingly, Mo's aura was no longer as overwhelming as before. After Yang Kai had sealed his Origin Power twice, his momentum had waned considerably.
As the remaining seven clones assaulted Mo from all sides, Yang Kai's true body summoned the Gate of the Mysterious Female for the third time, sealing away a portion of Mo's shattered body.
Mo's aura weakened further! The Eight Trigrams Formation was now sufficient to deal with Mo in his current state.
Frenzied attacks rained down one after another. The moment Yang Kai's second clone was destroyed, Mo suffered yet another grievous wound.
Eight Trigrams became Seven Stars.
Before, Yang Kai's clones had stepped out of the River of Time one by one, the formation growing ever stronger with each addition. But now the process was reversed.
With each clone's demise, the formation's power diminished step by step.
What weakened alongside it was Mo himself.
Every clone's destruction shattered Mo's body further, and each time Yang Kai's true body seized the opportunity to seal away the fragments, stripping him of his Origin Power.
In the end, all the clones had vanished. Yang Kai's face was caked in blood as he locked eyes with the wretched Mo from across the battlefield.
The Mo of now had a massive portion of his Origin Power sealed away. His strength had plummeted, and the overwhelming might he once commanded was nowhere to be seen. Even the deep Mo power that had perpetually shrouded him had grown so thin as to be nearly invisible.
Fully ninety percent of Mo's Origin Power had been sealed. In other words, he now possessed barely a tenth of his peak strength—and even that in a poor state.
Figures streaked in from every direction, forming an encirclement around the battlefield.
They were the human powerhouses who had been watching from afar, along with the two Giant Spirit Gods, Da and Er.
In the earlier stages of the battle, they had been unable to intervene. Even the two Giant Spirit Gods could not approach easily, let alone the human Ninth-Order cultivators.
But as Yang Kai's clones fell one by one and Mo's strength was whittled down, the onlookers finally saw their chance to act.
Mo had lost!
In his current state, there was simply no way he could contend with so many powerhouses. The two Giant Spirit Gods alone would be enough to handle him.
Yet he was smiling—a smile of pure, unrestrained elation.
Zhang Ruoxi stood before Yang Kai with the Heavenly Punishment Sword in hand, her gaze fixed warily on Mo. Though Mo's condition was wretched, no one knew what other means the ancient Supreme might still conceal, so a measure of caution was warranted.
"Yang Kai!" Mo's laughter faded as he called out in Yang Kai's direction. "Let us settle this once and for all!"
Behind Zhang Ruoxi, Yang Kai took a moment to calm the churning blood and Qi within his body before responding in a steady voice: "Very well!"
"Sir!" Zhang Ruoxi shouted. "Let me do it!"
She still had enough strength for one final strike and was confident she could finish Mo off. There was no reason to let Yang Kai take the risk.
"No need!" Yang Kai stepped forward, moving past Zhang Ruoxi to face Mo nearby. There was no smugness or arrogance of a victor on his face—instead, his expression was profoundly complicated.
"None of you intervene," he said quietly.
The human powerhouses gathered on all sides exchanged slight frowns. In the current situation, the obvious choice was to rush in together and overwhelm Mo in an instant, ending the Mo Calamity that had persisted for a million years. Yet Yang Kai had told them not to interfere.
No one knew what Yang Kai was thinking or what he intended to do.
But trusting him as they did, the crowd acquiesced to his command. They did not, however, disperse their encirclement. Every one of them kept their auras blazing, ready to unleash devastating attacks from all directions should anything go wrong with Yang Kai.
In this final moment, there was no need for any talk of honor or fair play.
Despite being surrounded on all sides, Mo's expression remained serene. He simply looked at Yang Kai and bellowed: "Come!"
The instant the word left his lips, his form blurred into a streak of black light hurtling toward Yang Kai.
Yang Kai charged forward to meet him at the same instant.
As the two figures collided, every spectator's heart leapt into their throat.