Not only was the silver halo cleaved open, but the surrounding void itself was split apart by that green line, from which pitch-black light surged outward.
Once the silver light fully subsided, the scene within the halo finally came into view.
At the center of the void, that green line had divided the space into two starkly different halves — black and white.
The portion above the green line remained largely the same as before, but the majority of it was now sealed beneath a crystalline, five-colored barrier of light, as solid as a real object.
Below the green line, however, the void had been torn into an abyss of darkness. Spatial energy poured from within, slowly but madly spreading in all directions, as though poised to devour everything in its path — a terrifying sight.
Such a fearsome phenomenon caused everyone engaged in the surrounding battles to falter in their hand seals, and they all sent their spiritual sense sweeping toward the scene in haste.
Once they registered what had happened, the Asura Spiders were shaken to the core, while Mo Jianli and the others felt a stir of joy.
The bird-headed creature that the old man surnamed Yi had transformed into had not been killed outright by that strike, but his lower half had been completely obliterated without a trace. His remaining body now hovered within the five-colored barrier in the upper portion of the void, his forehead drenched in sweat as he frantically channeled energy into a shimmering five-colored shield.
That barrier — which resembled a wall of crystal — was in fact formed from a torrent of five-colored runes that surged from the shield and coalesced into a solid barrier.
The black spatial force that had been raging upward from below, upon striking this barrier, immediately slowed to a crawl.
"A True Treasure of the Ancients — you actually possess a complete True Treasure! Were it not for the law power of this artifact, there is no way you could have broken through my Time Arts!" The old man surnamed Yi stared fixedly at the dark-green wooden sword in the giant ape's hand, his voice hoarse and strained with fury, his face contorted with shock and rage.
While it was true that a small number of Mahayana powerhouses might possess one or two True Treasures of the Ancients — supreme-grade artifacts of the highest order — for eight or nine out of ten Mahayana cultivators, they would search their entire lives without ever obtaining one.
For most Mahayana cultivators across all realms, being able to hold one or two replica artifacts or fragments of True Treasures for defense was already considered quite fortunate.
Despite his exceptional cultivation and abilities among the average Mahayana cultivators, the old man surnamed Yi had not been so fortunate in that regard — he did not possess a genuine True Treasure.
However, the fact that he had managed to survive two consecutive strikes from the True Treasure Spirit-Severing Sword spoke volumes about his true strength.
"Spare me the pointless bluster. If not for those five crystal swords in your hands, you yourself would be unable to activate your Time Arts!" After delivering the second strike, the giant ape's form contracted once more, shrinking to just over ten zhang in height. With a cold sneer, it took a single great stride forward.
Boom!
The surrounding void shuddered with a muffled thunderclap, and the giant ape's figure traversed a hundred zhang in an instant, appearing directly above the old man surnamed Yi.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged once more. The giant ape shook the dark-green sword in its grip and, without the slightest hesitation, unleashed the third downward strike.
A silver sword light descended like a radiant moon from beyond the heavens, and a chilling wave of law power erupted once more in a frenzied sweep.
Below, the old man surnamed Yi saw this, his face turning deathly pale. He simply could not believe that his opponent still had the power to activate a True Treasure for a third time.
It had to be known that each time a True Treasure was fully unleashed, it not only consumed a staggering amount of true essence but also placed an almost inconceivable strain on the user's physical body.
For Mahayana cultivators with slightly weaker physiques, even a single full activation carried the risk of their body crumbling entirely.
Otherwise, when Han Li had been at the Deity Transformation stage — even after cultivating his Nirvana Transformation to the second tier — he had only been able to barely draw out a fraction of the Spirit-Severing Sword's true power.
Even so, Han Li's third strike was entirely unexpected. The old man surnamed Yi naturally had no intention of simply waiting for death.
A vicious glint flashed across his face. He suddenly extended a finger and tapped the crystal shield before him, then opened his mouth and spat several blobs of dark-green essence blood into it. At the same time, he turned his head and shouted in a sharp voice: "Brother Luo, call out the Ying friend immediately! I can no longer hold this one off!"
His words were directed straight at the Asura Spider Matriarch.
At that moment, the matriarch already had several hundred azure needles hovering before her, transformed into countless dazzling points of light as she fought Blood Burn and the other in a deadlocked clash, neither side gaining ground.
The Asura Spider Matriarch had been diverting portions of her spiritual sense to monitor the old man's situation all along. Upon hearing his near-hysterical cry, her expression shifted. Her gaze darted back and forth several times before she finally gritted her teeth in secret, her hand within her sleeve clenching and crushing a bright red wooden talisman to pieces.
Meanwhile, far in the distance, Mo Jianli and his two spirit beasts were channeling seven or eight different treasures to lead the four adult Asura Spiders in a fighting retreat. They had already been pushed to the edges of the Heavenly Secret at a range of several dozen li.
Judging by the sweat drenched across his body, it was clear he could not hold out much longer.
At the same time, deep beneath the stone city, within the most heavily fortified secret chamber layered with restrictive formations, a dark figure — each hand cradling a crystalline rod-shaped object — suddenly let out a soft "Oh?" Their eyes slowly opened, and an intense blood-red glow erupted from their pupils.
Outside the chamber's entrance, over a dozen blood-red spheres, each about a zhang in diameter, were arranged on either side of the doorway.
A series of crisp cracking sounds rang out!
White light flashed across the surfaces of these blood-colored spheres, and fissures spread across them like cracks in porcelain. Terrifying auras surged from within, and it seemed as though some manner of monstrous creatures were about to burst free from inside.
…
The crystal shield flickered and transformed once more into five crystal swords that slashed upward in a cross formation, their faint law power holding aloft a silver moon suspended in the void.