164: The Power of Nascent Soul

“You’ve finally come, ‘key’.”

The voice did not come from any particular direction but echoed directly throughout the entire space, carrying an inhuman quality.

The black crystal wall composed of divine power in front of the Vermilion Bird Gate rippled like water.

A blurry figure seemed to be forcibly squeezed out from a painting of thick ink, gradually becoming clear.

It was exactly that being who called itself the “Divine Envoy”.

He stood there, his face wearing an almost cruel, assured expression of victory.

“To wait for you, I’ve even prepared the feast.”

The moment the words fell, he raised his hand.

There was no earth-shattering Spell light, nor was there any world-destroying energy fluctuation.

Li Dong only felt the space around him being violently twisted, like a towel being wrung out by someone's hands!

The pressure of the Nascent Soul Stage was no longer the vague, gauze-veiled probing from before.

It had materialized into rules, becoming the sole Dominator between heaven and earth.

Countless black-gold divine runes emerged from thin air; they were no longer chaotic tentacles but had condensed into orderly chains, winding toward Li Dong from all directions and sealing off every angle from which he could evade.

“Hum—!”

The golden [Spiritual Domain] fully expanded, and the power of the [Source of Purification] operated crazily, attempting to dissolve the incoming chains.

However, this time, the purification became exceptionally difficult.

When the golden light collided with the black chains, it no longer produced a sizzling sound of dissolution, but rather a teeth-aching groan, like metal being forcibly bent.

Li Dong’s body sank heavily, and the ground under his feet cracked inch by inch.

This was not a confrontation of the same order of magnitude at all.

Faced with a true Nascent Soul Stage, the gap from the Peak of the Late Stage Golden Core was despairingly large.

What was even more fatal was that an invisible, gigantic force directly pierced through his Domain and slammed into his Sea of Consciousness.

“Ugh!”

Li Dong groaned, his vision going black instantly.

It felt as if someone had used a red-hot iron awl to ruthlessly stab into his brain and stir it frantically.

A Soul-level attack! This was one of the most terrifying methods of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.

His mental defenses were shaking violently.

The pure Dao Heart brought by the [Perfect Dao Body] could only barely help him maintain his last shred of clarity at this moment, preventing him from collapsing on the spot.

“Struggle, wail.” The Divine Envoy’s voice was filled with pleasure.

“The more you resist, the more delicious your Spirituality becomes.

In the end, everything about you will become the cornerstone for the Lord’s descent.”

Under the intense pain and heavy pressure, Li Dong instead forced himself to calm down.

Not right... There is a problem.

Although his [Spiritual Domain] was suppressed, its essence was perception.

While being crazily impacted by the Divine Envoy’s power, he keenly captured a trace of discordant noise.

This power was strong and overbearing, but... not pure.

It was like a speck of insignificant sand mixed into a flawless black crystal.

Within the Divine Envoy’s divine power, there was a trace of... extremely obscure “obsession” belonging to a Mortal.

Even, just as the Divine Envoy waved his hand again, condensing an even larger divine sky-curtain in preparation to completely crush him, Li Dong captured a fleeting emotional fluctuation from the source of that power.

That was not the majesty of a god, nor the arrogance of a victor.

That was a kind of... self-loathing?

What the hell? This guy hates himself?

As soon as this absurd thought popped up, Li Dong realized that this might be the key to breaking the situation.

This “Divine Envoy”, this patchwork monster stitched together from the Souls of Qiankun Zi and others, was not a monolithic block internally!

It was also at this moment that the mysterious black crystal and the ancient stone slab in his Sea of Consciousness once again generated that faint resonance with this massive divine power from the outside world.

They seemed very interested in the essence of the Divine Envoy.

“Prodigy, stop being arrogant!”

An old, explosive shout came from the horizon, followed by a clear, crisp cry of a Phoenix!

Wei Zheng and that Royal Ancestor had finally arrived!

A brilliant golden Dragon shadow, carrying royal Dragon Qi, along with a massive square seal composed of countless Demon Suppression runes, crashed toward the Divine Envoy from above and below!

This was the trump card combined secret technique of the royal family and the Demon Suppression Division!

“A grain of rice attempting to shine?”

The Divine Envoy glanced at them contemptuously, separated one hand, and grabbed casually at the sky.

“Boom!”

The Dragon shadow wailed, and the square seal collapsed.

But that violent impact did indeed cause the Divine Envoy’s offensive to pause.

The pressure enveloping Li Dong’s body instantly eased significantly.

The figures of Wei Zheng and the Royal Ancestor appeared not far away, both of their faces somewhat pale; obviously, that previous strike had consumed a huge amount.

“Li Dong!” Wei Zheng’s voice was urgent.

The Divine Envoy ignored those two “flies”.

His gaze locked onto Li Dong again; the annoyance of having his meal interrupted by ants made the divine power on his body become even more violent.

“It’s over.”

He stopped playing around, and the terrifying divine power turned into a giant palm covering the sky and sun, slapping down toward Li Dong.

This time, there were no tricks; it was pure power crushing down.

Wei Zheng and the Royal Ancestor were furious, but they were held back by another force and could not provide a second reinforcement in time.

Li Dong looked at the giant palm slowly pressing down, feeling the power that was enough to turn any creature below the Nascent Soul Stage into powder, and instead of retreating, he advanced.

He knew his biggest weakness was insufficient power, but his biggest advantage was precisely this body that no one could understand.

Come on! Let me see how sturdy your “shoddy construction” really is!

And let me see... what on earth you guys are!

The giant palm fell, and it looked like it was about to completely erase Li Dong.

However, the earth-shattering explosion that was expected did not happen.

The power within Li Dong’s body did not erupt; instead, it retracted in an extremely bizarre way.

The moment the divine giant palm touched his body, the black crystal and the ancient stone slab in his Sea of Consciousness jolted violently!

An invisible suction force, using Li Dong’s body as a medium, was quietly triggered.

A small portion of that divine power, which was enough to destroy everything, actually flowed like a flood that had found an outlet, following this suction force, and was silently “channeled” into Li Dong’s Sea of Consciousness, then greedily devoured and stored by the black crystal and the ancient stone slab.

“Hmm?”

The Divine Envoy let out a sound of suspicion.

He felt a minute, imperceptible loss of his power after hitting the target, as if he had punched cotton, and even had a bit of strength stolen by the cotton.

And Li Dong, who was at the center of the storm, although still shaken to the point where his blood and Qi were churning and his bones were creaking, had the most critical part of the fatal Soul impact and rule crushing unloaded.

He raised his head, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked at the slightly confused Divine Envoy in the air; a crazy thought took shape in his heart.

This guy... seems to be a power bank?