During Xu Zihuang's brief exchange with the Skydream Iceworm, the Dark Devilgod Tiger moved again.
Its four limbs struck the ground at once, propelling it fiercely toward Xu Zihuang.
In barely a breath, its massive body loomed directly above his head.
This was one of the Dark Devilgod Tiger's special dash skills. It could be used both on land and in the air, its speed nearly comparable to instantaneous teleportation. But unlike teleportation, this dash required a straight trajectory toward the target; if blocked, it would collide, rather than reappearing elsewhere as teleportation allowed.
However, when unleashing this dash, its evil power would erupt in full. The attack along that line of charge was twice as strong as its usual strikes. In some ways, this skill was even more terrifying than teleportation.
Previously, when Xu Zihuang had restrained it with Mirror Destruction, it had been reckless. This time it was far more cautious, even burning its limited soul power to activate this ability.
Unfortunately, it still did not understand the principle of Xu Zihuang's Golden Pupils martial soul.
As long as it wasn't instantaneous teleportation, any trajectory could be tracked.
The only difference was that last time Xu Zihuang had had enough time to counterattack. This time, he could only rely on his soul skill for defense.
Strange dark-red ripples surged once more. In front of Xu Zihuang, a vast space instantly solidified into a sharply edged wall of dark-red crystal, refracting an eerie glow.
The same soul skill, used differently, could yield entirely different effects.
This was another application of Mirror Destruction that Xu Zihuang had developed.
Bang—
The Dark Devilgod Tiger, suppressing its aura within its domain, slammed its clawed paws—wreathed in gray evil energy—heavily onto the thick crystalline wall.
Though Xu Zihuang's second soul skill produced crystals of tremendous hardness, under the cold, corrosive invasion of the evil aura, the wall shattered like brittle ice.
The beast's claws struck again at Xu Zihuang, while its massive evil god hook-tail swung silently down toward his head, devoid of any glow.
But what awaited the Dark Devilgod Tiger was layer after layer of dark-red crystalline barriers, encircling Xu Zihuang like bastions.
Crash—
Crystals shattered into a rain of fragments, but once again Xu Zihuang had neutralized the tiger's attack.
His chest rose and fell as he steadied his breath. Feeling his soul power dip to less than half its peak, his expression darkened.
His second soul skill was indeed powerful, but its consumption was equally enormous. To have activated this thousand-year skill repeatedly—if not for his soul power being far purer than most soul masters', he would already be drained dry.
The Skydream Iceworm, who had been boasting shamelessly in Xu Zihuang's spiritual sea, had long since fallen silent.
Having spent a million years idling in an icy cavern—doing nothing but eating and sleeping—it had never personally faced such a battle.
Now, borrowing Xu Zihuang's perspective to view the outside world, even without combat instincts it could see the peril he had just escaped.
"Scared me half to death. This beast's origin is already damaged, yet it still has such strength," the Iceworm shivered in a corner of Xu Zihuang's spiritual sea, not daring to distract him further.
If Xu Zihuang failed to block the Dark Devilgod Tiger, both of them would perish.
But the tiger itself was in no better state.
It staggered back, its aura waning.
It wasn't that it didn't want to unleash stronger skills, but in its condition, it could no longer sustain them. If it forced itself to cast such soul power-devouring abilities, its lifeforce would collapse before Xu Zihuang even struck.
Yet it had no other choice. It could only pin its hopes on devouring Xu Zihuang and the Skydream Iceworm to restore itself.
"Roar—!"
A fierce gleam burned in its blood-red eyes. With a low roar, its evil god hook-tail swayed violently, releasing concentric waves of distortion that spun rapidly around it. The gray aura it exuded transformed into beams of gray light, exploding outward to cover several hundred meters, enveloping both itself and Xu Zihuang.
As the world sank into a suffocating darkness, Xu Zihuang understood at once.
"So it's going all out?"
Within this oppressive field of black, even with his Golden Pupils martial soul, he could no longer see.
His spiritual sense, sight, and hearing were all cut off.
Taking a deep breath, the golden light in his eyes faded, replaced by vertical pupils of deep violet brimming with absolute majesty.
The Dark Devilgod Tiger's domain had silenced everything within hundreds of meters.
But the next instant, a massive semi-transparent dragon phantom of pure violet flared within the dark, its awe-inspiring presence sweeping through the void.
Where it passed, the darkness melted away like ice meeting molten iron.
The world around them reappeared.
The colossal dragon phantom encircled Xu Zihuang protectively. Along its body, one side burned with violet flames, crystalline and jade-like, radiating destruction.
The other side crackled with dark-violet lightning, heavy and oppressive.
Flames and lightning intertwined yet never merged—a bizarre, unnatural coexistence.
At that moment, Xu Zihuang's left hand had fully transformed into a dragon claw. His finger bones thickened and lengthened, coated in deep violet scales extending to his wrist. A translucent violet flame swirled in his palm. Even the faintest wisp of its aura withered the surrounding plants into ash.
All vitality seemed to be erased.
Holding his claw in a half-grip, five massive violet claw-shadows, each over thirty meters long, slashed through the air, lingering without fading.
On the ground below, deep trenches scarred the earth. At their center, the torn remains of the Dark Devilgod Tiger's body burned with violet fire, dissolving rapidly into nothing.
Only a soul ring remained, purple tinged with black, hovering in the air. Its icy aura pulsed with dense fluctuations of soul power.
Even though the Dark Devilgod Tiger had been cautious, it had never expected Xu Zihuang to so easily shatter its domain.
Already grievously wounded, its broken domain rebounded upon it. How could it withstand the might of Xu Zihuang's external soul bone—the Huanglong Claw?
Xu Zihuang's legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. He did not immediately look at the soul ring left behind, but instead stared blankly at his hands.
"So that's it."
At last, he understood the subtle change his Purple Thunder Prison Dragon martial soul had been undergoing.
It was the fusion of his Purple Destruction Dragon bloodline with his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon bloodline. Along with it, the opposing forces of Destruction and Extreme Lightning had begun to merge.
Thus giving rise to a new attribute—one surpassing all others, domineering beyond compare.
Annihilation.
It was by condensing a trace of this annihilation power that he had been able to break through the Dark Devilgod Tiger's formidable innate domain.