221: In a short while

In an instant, the world lost its color, and the energy tide turned into a devouring torrent, annihilating and tearing at each other in a roar! Blinding light swallowed the field of vision, and the shockwave swept across the surroundings like an invisible mountain.

However, this all-out combined attack only made the sky-piercing blood pillar tremble violently and dim slightly, but failed to completely shatter it. Instead, a roar mixed with endless pain and rage came from deep within the light pillar—that chaotic and destructive will was completely ignited.

At the moment when everyone's attention was firmly held by this earth-shattering collision—

An anomaly erupted from the most unlikely place.

A speck of extreme dark red "grew" without warning from the shadow of Tohru's outstretched dragon wings. It wasn't incoming light, but a hideous long spear formed entirely of thick blood-shale and physical malice, as if it had long been lurking in the folds of space, only now suddenly piercing through reality!

*Puchi!*

The dull sound of tearing cloth even drowned out the echoes of the energy annihilation.

The long spear accurately and coldly pierced the root joint of Tohru's left dragon wing—the core of the Dragon Clan's flight and balance, covered with the hardest dragon bone and dense scales. However, before that sinister spear, the defense capable of withstanding heavy artillery was like thin paper.

"Ang—!!!"

Tohru let out a painful roar that shook the battlefield, her massive body suddenly stiffening as she lost all balance. The subsequent Dragon Language Magic she was gathering was forcibly interrupted, and the backfiring magic ran rampant within her body.

Immediately after, the terrifying power contained in the spear exploded—not as an explosion, but as an incredibly heavy "Falling" authority that seemed to be connected to the entire earth.

Boom!!!

Tohru was irresistibly dragged by this force, Falling obliquely from mid-air like a meteor and crashing heavily into the already shattered earth below!

Dust mixed with scarlet blood light soared into the sky. The dark red spear was still firmly pinned into the root of her wing, locking her at the bottom of the crater. The spear's shaft hummed, continuously draining her power as spider-web-like blood veins spread from the wound, greedily eroding the Dragon's magnificent body.

"Tohru!"

In Yukino Mifuyu's cold voice, a clear crack appeared for the first time.

At the moment Tohru crashed and before the dust had settled—

Dozens of blood-colored blade lights, as condensed as physical matter, erupted silently from the churning shadows of evil energy. They didn't fly straight but skimmed and reflected off the ground as if possessing a malicious life of their own, attacking from various incredible angles and instantly sealing off all of Yukino Mifuyu's room to maneuver.

Before the blade lights even arrived, a sweet, fishy scent mixed with extreme resentment and a thirst for slaughter rushed toward her, actually causing the biting cold air naturally circulating around her to stall.

Yukino Mifuyu's pupils shrank. She pointed her slender fingers rapidly, and the frost Domain beneath her feet contracted at her thought, reinforcing layer by layer to form a crystal-clear circular ice wall in front of her.

However, the blood-colored blade lights seemed born specifically to defile frozen things. Upon touching the ice wall, they didn't explode but instead quickly "tainted" it like thick blood plasma!

*Chichi—*

Amidst the ear-grating sound of corrosion, the pure and flawless ice wall was covered in a murky dark red at a speed visible to the naked eye. The hard ice crystal structure quickly became fragile and crumbly under the erosion of the blood intent. In just a breath, the outermost ice wall collapsed, and the subsequent blade lights pierced through the cracks, heading straight for her!

The blood intent permeated everything, and even the frost condensed on the tips of her hair and her hem seemed to be stained with an ominous blood-colored aura.

At the critical moment when the scarlet was about to swallow that touch of frost-white—

A thick, earthy-yellow giant wall engraved with mysterious earth patterns rose abruptly in front of Yukino Mifuyu without warning, like the earth's most silent and loyal shield, firmly protecting her behind it.

It was Peng Geng!

He had actually arrived at the last moment, choosing the most direct and tragic method—using his own rock-like back as the final barrier against this bone-eroding blood light.

*Chi—!*

The piercing sound of cutting was like a red-hot blade slicing into congealed fat.

The condensed blood-colored blade lights slashed heavily onto Peng Geng's back, which had suddenly petrified and taken on a metallic luster! The dull sound of earth and stone cracking and the blunt sound of muscles and bones being injured exploded simultaneously. The blood light was not completely blocked; the strange corrosive power within it actually tore through his proud Rock-Earth Astral Armor, leaving dozens of hideous wounds that reached the bone, with charred and curled edges!

"Ugh...!"

Peng Geng's burly body shook violently, and he let out a muffled groan as a heavy taste of iron rose in his throat. His feet were firmly pinned into the ground like roots, and he didn't retreat an inch, bearing all the impact with his flesh and blood. Blood poured out from the gaps in his broken armor and dripped onto the ground, only to be instantly eroded and dissolved by the residual blood-shale energy.

In the next instant, a wall of eerie blue flames rose abruptly like an inverted bowl, encircling Yukino Mifuyu, the injured Peng Geng, and the fallen Tohru, isolating them from the chaotic energy aftershocks and continuous erosion outside.

Chen Yu's figure solidified within the flickering flames. His face was as grim as iron; without even looking back at his comrades' injuries, his burning gaze was already locked onto the hideous monster in the distance that was still emitting a terrifying pressure—Araki Sadao.

"Bastard!"

With a roar of anger, the surging flames in his hand suddenly solidified and stretched, turning into a long spear burning with eerie blue fire, so intense that the surrounding space slightly distorted. Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Yu stepped out of the fire wall, man and spear as one, like an arrow leaving the string, the spear tip pointing straight at the monster's heart!

"Roar—!"

The moment the flame spear left his hand, it suddenly expanded and unfurled in the air, turning into a lifelike eerie blue fire Dragon with distinct scales and claws! The fire Dragon raised its head and roared, its blazing Dragon breath spewing out first, followed by its body spiraling and coiling, carrying the majestic power to burn the eight directions as it lunged down at Araki Sadao!

The flames instantly swallowed the monster completely, and the eerie blue firelight soared into the sky, illuminating half the heavens.

However, from within the firelight, the expected screams or explosions did not come.

The monster, coiled by the fire Dragon, didn't dodge or hide. Instead, at the moment the flames burned its body, it opened its huge mouth filled with fangs—not to roar, but to take a sudden breath!

*Hu—!*

Like a whale swallowing water or the abyss opening its mouth, the eerie blue flames, which were enough to melt gold and iron, were actually pulled by a terrifying suction force like flowing water, crazily swirling back into Araki Sadao's mouth! The fire Dragon twisted and struggled but couldn't break free. Its massive flame body shrank and dimmed at a visible speed, finally disappearing completely into that throat which seemed like a bottomless pit.

The monster's body expanded slightly, and streams of dark red and purple-black light surged frantically under its skin. Its body surface even briefly glowed with eerie blue firelight. It seemed to be enduring intense pain, yet it also showed a kind of twisted satisfaction.

Immediately after, it suddenly raised its head and opened its huge mouth wide again—

This time, what gushed out was no longer the eerie blue purifying fire.

But scarlet flames as thick as blood, churning with endless resentment and destructive aura! These flames seemed to originate from the lowest level of Hell, carrying the pungent scent of sulfur and blood, turning into strangely blooming scarlet fire lotuses with distorted edges, covering the sky and earth as they counter-swallowed the caught-off-guard Chen Yu!

The blood-colored fire lotuses not only carried terrifying high temperatures but also contained a malicious power to erode the Divine Soul and pollute spiritual power, instantly suppressing and tainting the protective spiritual flames around Chen Yu.

"Chen Yu!"

Ye Nianyao, who was struggling to support Lin Zhenyue, cried out in shock upon seeing this.

And in the lightning-fast moment before her cry even faded—

The monster had already turned its head abruptly, its body blurring and teleporting like a blood-colored ghost. The strange long blade in its hand, engraved with distorted blood characters and emitting an ominous aura, swept across with a whistle that tore through the air, aiming straight for the necks of Lin Zhenyue and Ye Nianyao!

The cold gleam reached their necks; life and death hung by a thread.

Amidst the dead silence of all things, a speck of golden light arrived quietly.

When that sweeping, strange blood blade touched the void three inches in front of Lin Zhenyue and Ye Nianyao, it seemed to hit an invisible but indestructible barrier—no, that wasn't a barrier, but an invisible field flowing with faint golden light.

Clang—!!!

The roar of metal clashing was much crisper and more magnificent than any previous collision, even carrying a certain grand sound that cleansed impurity.

At the moment the blade struck, Araki Sadao felt an irresistible, balanced, and vast force surging back up through the blade! That power wasn't violent, but pure and heavy, as if facing an eternally immovable mountain, or touching some higher level of Law itself.

"Gulu... He-e..."

A string of murky, distorted syllables came from its fang-filled mouth. Its hideous arm holding the blade shook violently, and its body, covered in black-red keratin, was actually pushed back by this pure counter-force, stumbling and plowing two deep furrows into the ground. The ominous runes flowing on the blood blade dimmed for a moment.

Ye Nianyao was stunned.

She even forgot the cold, stinging pain left by the blade at her neck, and the heavy weight of the elderly Lin she was supporting. All her senses and emotions seemed to be captured at this moment by the figure that had quietly appeared before her.

That figure stood just inches away, with his back to her. A familiar silhouette, yet wearing a Dharma Robe she had never seen before, flowing with a tranquil golden glow. His aura was ethereal and distant, completely different from her memory, but that posture of standing in front and blocking all wind, rain, and peril... Even though she had fought hard and been seriously injured earlier, pushed to the brink of despair, she hadn't let her eyes moisten in the slightest.

But now, looking at this back that seemed to appear out of thin air to block a fatal blow for her, all her resilience and restraint collapsed in an instant. Her throat felt as if it were blocked by something burning, a sourness rushed to her nose, and her vision quickly blurred.

"...Lin Luo?"

Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, carrying an unbelievable tremble and a huge sense of grievance and dependence that she hadn't even noticed herself.

"Lin Luo" lightly brushed his sleeve, a casual movement that seemed to contain the rhythm of words becoming Law.

The thick blood flames that had firmly trapped Chen Yu and were continuously eroding him vanished into thin air without a sound, like a stain wiped away by an invisible eraser, revealing Chen Yu inside with a pale face and disordered spiritual power.

Immediately after, a warm and peaceful Seven-Colored Radiance flowed from his sleeve, dispersing lightly in the air into several slender streams of light that accurately entered the bodies of the heavily injured Peng Geng, the pinned-down Tohru, the weakened Chen Yu, and the others.

In the next moment—

On Peng Geng's back, the dozens of hideous wounds that reached the bone and were charred and curled from blood-shale erosion actually saw their flesh squirm and grow at a speed visible to the naked eye! The charred dead meat fell off, and fresh, healthy tissue regenerated and closed rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the wounds were completely healed, leaving only faint red marks on the new skin.

On the other side, the sinister and hideous dark red spear pinning the Dragon Tohru to the ground began to silently melt and turn into nothingness from the tip, like snow under sunlight. The terrifying wound piercing the wing root healed quickly as well, the broken Dragon scales were reconstructed, and light flowed over them. The massive Dragon body quickly shrank and transformed under the shroud of soft light, turning back into the form of the blonde girl in the blink of an eye, though her face was still somewhat pale as she lay on the ground, panting slightly.

The disordered spiritual power inside Chen Yu's body was smoothed and guided by a balanced and peaceful force, and his pale face regained some color.

In the flick of a finger, injuries were reversed, and evil spells were erased.

"Lin Luo" finished all this, and his gaze finally fell on Ye Nianyao, who was pursing her lips with slightly red eyes. He didn't say a word, but simply raised a finger and lightly tapped her forehead.

A warm and vast soft power, far exceeding the grade of her own spiritual power, poured in like a spring stream. All the hidden injuries left from the fierce battle, the churning blood and Qi, and the nearly exhausted spiritual power were quickly smoothed, nourished, and replenished wherever this force flowed. In an instant, her state had returned to its Peak, and even surpassed it.

Lin Zhenyue also had his injuries completely healed under the shroud of that strange radiance; broken bones were reconnected, and internal troubles were all eliminated. However, there was not a hint of gratitude or surprise on his face. Instead, his brow was furrowed, and his gaze was like a torch, staring fixedly at "Lin Luo," his eyes filled with scrutiny, confusion, and a very deep wariness.

"You..." Lin Zhenyue's voice was hoarse as he spoke slowly, each word seeming to weigh a thousand pounds, "are not my grandson, are you?"