78: Chapter 78 Soul Fire

Wisps of cyan soul fire were swallowed whole by the Soul-Devouring Owl. Their originally pitch-black bodies quietly cast a faint cyan glow, and their once restless fierce aura became even more condensed and pure.

Lin Ye's heart stirred as he clearly captured the subtle transformation of his familiars—these undead soul fires could actually slightly purify the bloodline concentration of the Soul-Devouring Owl!

Although the improvement was negligible, little makes a lot, and it was by no means a useless effort!

"Fight for the soul fire! Swallow them all, leave not a single trace!"

A sharp glint surged in Lin Ye's eyes, and he immediately issued a brand new command.

The four hundred and eighty-six Soul-Devouring Owls instantly changed their tactics, no longer forcefully attacking the undead bodies, but instead roaming all over the battlefield to specifically intercept and swallow all the stray soul fires, seemingly starting a soul fire competition battle with Zhou Mingzhi.

Zhou Mingzhi frowned slightly, feeling tricky for the first time. The soul fire he relied on for endurance and regeneration was actually plundered by his opponent as a tonic!

Amidst the stalemate and tug-of-war on the battlefield, Lin Ye keenly noticed a trace of abnormality.

A small number of undead skeletons contaminated with his own diffused baleful aura saw the black mist on their bodies become even denser, the hardness of their skeletons slightly improved, and their attacking momentum became a bit more ferocious, seeming to have become stronger after absorbing the baleful aura.

Ordinary people seeing this would only become increasingly wary of the Undead Legion's compatibility, but Lin Ye's thinking broke through in reverse, instantly seeing through the essence!

"So that's how it is..."

Lin Ye suddenly felt enlightened in his heart, instantly discerning the homologous essence of the two energies.

Undead Yin energy and baleful aura were originally negative and chaotic energies of the same root and origin!

Undead energy was a state where negative energy condensed, formed, and solidified into a body, having substance and form; whereas baleful aura was the most primitive, most violent, and free-floating gaseous state of negative energy.

But the most crucial thing was that his natal baleful aura integrated his path will, the ferocious aura of bloody battles, and the plague origin, while its level was far more advanced and domineering than ordinary undead Yin energy!

Low-level undead energy could tolerate and absorb ordinary baleful aura, but it simply could not bear his high-tier natal baleful aura!

An extremely bold idea to break the deadlock instantly formed in Lin Ye's mind!

Since they shared the same origin, he would forcefully infuse it!

Forcefully infusing high-tier baleful aura into low-level undead bodies would either cause the energy to completely overload and explode, or the high-tier baleful aura would forcibly pollute, erode, and dissolve the low-level undead origin, completely destroying the undead from their foundation!

Once the thought was set, he immediately experimented!

Lin Ye no longer hesitated. He urged his divine kingdom with his mind, instantly mobilizing a stream of extremely condensed and pure natal baleful aura. It transformed into a dark red torrent, precisely striking a cluster of hundreds of skeleton warriors in a corner of the battlefield!

Rumble!

The high-tier baleful aura forcefully poured into countless undead skeletons.

The next second, a scene that shocked the entire audience suddenly played out!

Those skeleton warriors, which were originally hard, undying, and grew stronger the more they fought, instantly trembled violently. The gaps in their skeletons crazily overflowed with chaotic black and red intertwined aura, and the cyan soul fire inside their bodies swayed violently and dimmed rapidly.

Crack, crack, crack—!

Crisp cracking sounds rang out densely, and in just a few seconds!

Hundreds of undead skeletons that were previously fearless of damage and had an unsolvable regeneration were forcibly blasted apart at their origin, their skeletons eroded, and their soul fires dissolved by the high-tier baleful aura. One by one, they collapsed with a crash, turning into broken bones and black ash all over the ground, completely losing the possibility of regeneration and never being able to stand up again!

The entire audience fell dead silent for an instant, and then an uproar exploded!

Everyone was dumbfounded, watching this cognitive-defying scene, which completely shattered the unsolvable myth of Zhou Mingzhi's Undead Legion being immortal and indestructible!

On the arena, a relieved chuckle curved the corner of Lin Ye's mouth. He raised his eyes to look at Zhou Mingzhi, whose expression changed drastically, and said in a resolute and calm tone: "Zhou Mingzhi, I've found it."

"The method to crack your Undead Legion is right in my hands."

A simple sentence pronounced the outcome of this match.

Zhou Mingzhi stared dead at the unrecoverable broken bones all over the battlefield. His pupils shrank sharply, and his mind sank completely to the bottom.

He saw extremely clearly that Lin Ye's high-tier baleful aura was not a simple attack, but a restraint and obliteration at the origin level.

As long as Lin Ye was willing, under the continuous infusion of high-tier baleful aura, all his undead would be eroded, overloaded, and dissolved one by one, completely annihilated, unable to even retain a trace of soul fire or regenerate!

The Undead Legion he was proud of and whose endurance was unsolvable had completely become a joke in front of Lin Ye's exclusive restraining method.

Although he still had the trump card of forcefully condensing high-tier undead, the aggregated strike of the Soul-Devouring Owls was no pushover either.

The victory and defeat already had no suspense whatsoever.

Continuing to fight would only vainly increase the loss of his familiars, waste his own spiritual power, and leave zero possibility of a comeback.

Zhou Mingzhi was silent for a long time. His tense body slowly relaxed, the fighting intent in the depths of his eyes completely dissipated, replaced by calmness and helplessness.

He took a deep look at the terrifying youth in front of him who continuously broke through limits and broke the deadlock on the spot, and spoke loudly with a magnanimous and neat voice:

"I admit defeat."

As Zhou Mingzhi calmly conceded defeat, this subversive duel officially came to an end. The referee immediately pronounced that Lin Ye gained another three points, firmly staying in the forefront of the leaderboard.

The two successively withdrew their divine kingdoms and familiars, walking down the arena side by side. There was no gloom of defeat nor the arrogance of victory; their expressions were both indifferent and peaceful.

The camera of the arena and the gazes of the audience all shifted accordingly, focusing on the second group duel about to take place—the SSS-grade prodigy Bai Ruoxue versus the SS-grade prodigy Xiao Qingwu.

The two top goddess-level prodigies of Quanzhou competed on the same stage. The collision of holiness and sacredness with coldness and sternness instantly detonated the atmosphere of the entire audience, overshadowing the lingering warmth of the previous match.

In the spectator seats off the stage, Zhou Mingzhi did not return to his own seat, but walked straight to Lin Ye's side and sat down calmly.

With a heavy gaze, he watched the breathtaking clash on the arena, while constantly replaying the details of the battle just now in his mind, having already figured out all the key points in his heart.

Outsiders only saw that Lin Ye's baleful aura restrained the undead, but only he, as the master of the undead, keenly captured deeper details.

Although Lin Ye's high-tier baleful aura could overload, erode, and obliterate his undead origin, trace amounts of gentle baleful aura seeping in would not only cause no damage, but could instead temper the undead bodies and purify the quality of the soul fire, steadily improving the overall strength of his undead familiars.

This was a bidirectional gain that others could not see!

Zhou Mingzhi was silent for a moment, turned his head to look at Lin Ye beside him, lowered his voice, and took the initiative to propose with full sincerity: "Lin Ye, I want to make a deal with you, how about it?"

Lin Ye's gaze shifted slightly as he looked at him calmly, waiting for the rest.

"I see that your Soul-Devouring Owl is extremely thirsty for soul fire nourishment, which can purify bloodlines and refine combat power."

"And my undead familiars can absorb your unique high-tier baleful aura to temper their origin and strengthen their physical bodies."

Zhou Mingzhi spoke bluntly, stating the core interests: "I will steadily supply you with pure soul fire, and you will provide me with high-tier baleful aura. With bidirectional complementarity, the familiars of both of us can steadily grow stronger, creating a win-win situation."