Phantylia gracefully raised the energy flower branch. The purple-black flames of oblivion surged.
The destructive net shifted, becoming countless burning, barbed thorn whips, attacking Tang San from every direction, slicing even space apart, revealing chaotic darkness behind.
"Unfathomable Storm!"
Tang San dared not slack off. The Sea God Trident spun out mysterious golden rings, forcibly twisting and freezing the laws of time and space.
The raging thorns became ensnared, their speed dropping severalfold, struggling to move.
For the first time, interest and curiosity flickered in Phantylia's eyes.
"Not just brute force, but direct interference with time and space laws? Fascinating!"
Like a child with a new toy, she waved her branch. Behind her, the shadow of a giant, destructive tree reappeared, the wailing phantom planets on its branches even clearer and more agonized.
The tree swayed, as if performing some ancient, evil ritual.
"Rain of Withering: Annihilation of All!"
No longer thorn whips, but countless razor-sharp purple-black petals fell like a torrential rain from the abyss of the cosmos.
Each petal was like a greedy mini black hole, devouring all life energy and matter, even light itself, the destruction within so pure that even true gods would blanch.
Tang San's face was grim. He unleashed all his Sea God power, condensing it into a massive blue shield etched with divine runes.
The petals rained down with sickening, corrosive sizzles, the shield's glow dimming rapidly, on the verge of shattering.
"No Return!"
The golden Sea God Trident rune on Tang San's brow blazed like the sun. He hurled the Trident.
It became a golden lightning bolt, cutting through the petals, carving a brief vacuum through the storm, its light aimed at Phantylia's brow at impossible speed.
But the golden light passed harmlessly through her—just an illusion.
Phantylia's true form appeared at Tang San's left blind spot, tapping forward with a delicate finger. An almost undetectable seed of oblivion, infused with her destructive will, pierced through his divine barriers and stabbed into his left arm.
"Ugh!"
Tang San grunted, feeling a cold, deathly, malicious energy invading his avatar.
Purple-black markings spread on his left arm, the Sea God power there quickly tainted, even birthing a self-destructive will.
"What a sinister energy," Tang San thought, not daring to delay.
He immediately used his Mysterious Heaven Skill to stabilize his origin, unleashing golden-blue divine light like a mini supernova.
"Get out!"
With a shout, he forcibly expelled the invading seed and polluted power, at great cost to his own divine energy.
With a soft pop, the purple-black energy exploded and faded, his left arm restored to blue, but dimmer and weakened.
"Oh? You forced out my Destruction Seed so quickly?" Phantylia retreated lightly, her interest only growing.
"You're more interesting than you look. Seems I can't play around anymore."
Tang San didn't reply, his eyes icy and sharp.
He knew normal means would not work on this bizarre, dangerous enemy. He had to throw everything into one ultimate strike.
He took a deep breath, pouring all his remaining power into the Trident. It hummed, barely containing the surge.
"Golden Thirteen Strikes, Thirteenth Form—Oneness of Man and Trident, Stars Shift!"
Man and weapon became one, turning into a beam of gold that seemed to pierce the stars and reverse fate, charging at Phantylia.
At the same time, the Sea God Domain erupted, blue divine light surging like cosmic tides, an invisible, crushing pressure binding Phantylia as if in a deep-sea abyss.
Countless golden Trident images appeared, sealing all escape.
Faced with this all-out, ultimate strike, Phantylia finally dropped her playful demeanor.
"Astonishing resolve and power… Worthy of praise."
She pressed her hands together, her voice ethereal and cold, like a judgment at the end of days.
"Let me answer you, as the true Lord of Ravager, with the respect you deserve."
The giant tree behind her swelled, its roots stabbing into the void and even into the Golden Tree's sea of life, greedily siphoning its vitality, converting it into purer oblivion.
Phantylia's energy body grew, black lotus flowers spinning around her, her aura skyrocketing, the pressure instantly many times greater.
"This is… Total Annihilation!"
She pushed out her palms, sending a black sphere, formed from stolen life force and her own destruction will, to meet the golden beam.
The two world-shattering powers collided at the Golden Tree's core.
"Bzzz—!!!!"
An indescribable roar blasted not through air, but through the soul of anyone sensing the battle.
Inside the Golden Tree, space shattered like glass, fragments flying as runaway energy swept all before it.
The Golden Tree's barriers could no longer contain the cataclysm. Like a volcano, the outburst broke free.
Outside, on Sea God Island—
BOOM!!!
The entire island shook violently, the ground cracking open.
From the Golden Tree, a pillar of gold-blue and purple-black energy shot skywards, staining the sky an oppressive color.
The terrifying divine pressure, mixed with destruction, weighed on every soul.
"No, the Golden Tree—something's happening!!"
Yan Shaozhe paled with terror as he looked at the shaking, flashing, nearly-collapsing ancient tree.
Only now did they realize what was happening inside their sacred academy.
The familiar gold-blue energy was the source of their faith.
The other, the purple-black, radiated a destructive aura far beyond anything they knew—even the frozen Beast God Di Tian.
"Wait—Di Tian!"
An elder Sea God Pavilion member suddenly realized, voice trembling.
"Why hasn't he broken free? With his strength, he shouldn't still be sealed. Is the Golden Tree's change connected to him?"
They turned to the still-frozen Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King.
Di Tian's silence and the chaos inside the Golden Tree formed an unsettling, unsolvable mystery.
Even the soul beast army was stunned, unable to react.
"What's happening? What's going on inside that tree?!"
Bi Ji's beautiful face was full of shock as she looked at the sky-reaching Golden Tree, now groaning and erupting with destructive energy.
The two violently clashing energy waves far surpassed the pressure Di Tian ever gave her.
This was the clash of true god-level beings.
She felt a surge of fear, relief, and even confusion.
Luckily, the soul beast army hadn't launched a full attack after Di Tian was sealed, or they'd have suffered destruction from the two godlike beings inside the Golden Tree.
Not just tens of thousands of soul beasts—even the ferocious beasts like them would risk death if they approached that battlefield.