A layer of black qi suddenly erupted from the gray-robed man's body. The arm he had thrust out, which had appeared robust moments before, instantly withered to a shriveled husk — yet nine distinct ripples of law erupted simultaneously from it, fusing together in a bizarre and eerie manner.
With a muffled tearing sound, the withered arm pierced clean through the golden giant's waist like rotting wood splitting apart, and before it had sunk in more than halfway, it detonated on its own.
A torrent of nine-colored flame surged outward in an instant, engulfing the majority of the giant's body and transforming it into a towering inferno of fire.
The golden giant let out a groan of excruciating pain. Its flesh and blood began dissolving layer by layer within the nine-colored flame at a terrifying rate.
The flame displayed nine distinct colors, yet they merged seamlessly into one — and within it, all nine different kinds of law power were unmistakably present.
"What True Immortal? Under a single strike of my Nine Tribulations Great Art, you're nothing but a joke." Having landed his blow, Xuan Jiuling flickered and vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared with another flicker, he was already beside Ming Zun, a cold smirk on his lips.
Though he had detonated one of his own arms, being able to slay a True Immortal existence with it was naturally a matter of supreme satisfaction.
At this point, the layer of black lamp-flame surrounding the golden giant finally flickered and dissipated completely.
As for the black ancient lamp suspended high above, it gave a muffled bang and burst apart into motes of spiritual light. The artifact turned out to be a single-use consumable treasure — after being employed once, it could never be used again.
Yin Gangzi and Madam Wuling, upon witnessing this scene, were beside themselves with elation. They exchanged a glance, and both felt as though they had narrowly survived a catastrophic calamity.
Ming Zun gazed at the golden giant now engulfed in flame, and even his perpetually gloomy face couldn't help but show a trace of a smile.
The most fearsome aspect of the Nine Tribulations Soul-Destroying Art was this Nine Tribulations True Flame.
The flame contained the innate life-fire of nine fire-attribute spirit beasts, combined with nine different kinds of law power absorbed and fused through other means. A single drop would be enough to boil seas and melt mountains. Leave alone a mere True Immortal — even the supreme beings of the Immortal Realm would be unable to walk away unscathed if touched by it.
It seemed the additional contingency he had prepared would not need to be deployed after all.
Ming Zun considered this with a measure of relief.
By now, the massive fire-creature in the distance had fallen silent entirely. All of its flesh and blood had melted away, leaving behind only a towering golden skeleton standing motionless in its place.
This sight brought even greater relief to everyone watching.
"That's wrong — this True Immortal hasn't perished! The Myriad Spirits Blood Seal's power hasn't diminished in the slightest!" The palace-robed woman who had been sitting cross-legged suddenly shouted, her face drenched in sweat.
This single remark sent a jolt of alarm through Yin Gangzi, Ming Zun, and the others. Without hesitation, they all lifted their gazes toward the sky.
There, high above, the Blood Seal still encased in ice — its surface of blue frost was melting at a rapid pace under the combined effects of the two inward and outward flames. Only a razor-thin layer of ice remained.
"That's not good — the bastard really didn't die. Attack him again, quickly!" Ming Zun's expression turned grim as death. After a sharp shout, he suddenly formed a hand seal with both hands and spat out from his mouth a small blue-gleaming flying blade several inches long. With a single flash, it transformed into a rainbow of blue light over a dozen zhang long and hurtled toward the golden skeleton with lethal intent.
Beside him, Xuan Jiuling's face flickered with a brief moment of disbelief — but he too did not hesitate. With a flick of his sleeve, over a hundred streaks of silver light shot forth. In a single flash, they tore through the void and arrived near the golden skeleton, manifesting as nearly a hundred silver flying swords that plunged downward in unison.
With a sharp clang, a crystalline battle armor of exquisite craftsmanship abruptly materialized around the golden skeleton's body. At the same time, a humming sound rang out as countless purple-gold runes blazed across its surface. The silver flying swords and the blue rainbow blade struck against it and were immediately bounced back with a series of thunderous impacts, utterly unable to damage the runes in the slightest.
The four Black Ni Beasts that had drawn near sensed the dire turn of events. Forgoing any pretense of their earlier agreement to strike only once, they opened their mouths once more and spat out a black fireball, while simultaneously launching themselves backward in retreat.
The black fireball slammed into the purple-gold runes and burst into black flames, but it too was repelled.
From within the golden skeleton's jaws came a series of eerie, cackling laughs. Its massive skull opened wide and spat out a palm-sized dark-green vial. A pointed finger made a gesture toward it in midair, and the vial vanished soundlessly into the void.
The next instant, spatial fluctuations rippled above the golden skeleton's head, and a colossal bottle-shadow the size of an acre materialized out of thin air. The bottle-shadow simply inverted itself, and with a tremendous roar from its mouth, a torrent of green liquid surged out like a tidal wave. As it met the wind, it scattered and transformed into a skyful of spiritual rain that cascaded downward.
The rain was pale green, appearing dense and falling at a furious pace — yet it only covered a small area centered on the golden skeleton.
The golden skeleton paid no further attention to the silver flying swords and blue blade hammering at it from without. It merely let out a low growl, then threw both arms wide, spreading its frame as if presenting itself to receive the deluge.
An inconceivable sight unfolded.
As the green spiritual rain washed over the skeleton, a pale green glow immediately suffused its bones. Threads of bloodline materialized across the skeletal surface, flickering and weaving together — and block by block, flesh and muscle reformed anew.
Within the span of a few breaths, the golden giant's vanished flesh and skin had fully restored itself. Its previously closed eyes snapped wide open.
Golden light and blue flame surged once more from the giant's eyes, and a savage grin flashed across its face. One massive hand shot out and grasped at the void.
A flash of green light — and the dark-green vial was snatched out of the air by the giant's grip.