8: Chapter 8.8: The World-Destroying Black Lotus Fully Activated

The moment Tang Ya fell to the ground, she curled into a ball. Her already pale face lost all its color, and even her lips turned a sickly, bruised black.

Her chest heaved violently, each breath accompanied by a broken whimper. Within her body, her Blue Silver Grass Spirit trembled frantically under the corrosive power of the World-Destroying Black Lotus. The blue-green vines wrapped around her body withered and shattered at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into specks of green light that dissipated into the air.

Her vitality was rapidly draining from her, like a punctured water bag, leaving no room for any hope of salvation.

"Xiao Ya!"

Bei Bei's roar nearly tore his throat apart. He lunged forward like a madman, his trembling hands carefully cradling Tang Ya in his arms. The skin his fingertips touched was terrifyingly cold, and the person in his arms was as light as a feather, as if she would drift away with the wind the next second.

"Xiao Ya… hold on! Hold on!" Bei Bei's voice choked with sobs, tears falling uncontrollably onto Tang Ya's face. "I'll take you back to the academy. Dean Yan must have a way to save you! Don't sleep… please, don't sleep!"

Tang Ya struggled to open her eyes. Her unfocused gaze fell on Bei Bei's face. She tried to curl the corners of her mouth into a smile, but only coughed up a mouthful of black blood.

The blood landed on the back of Bei Bei's hand, carrying a bone-chilling cold that instantly burned several tiny, bloody holes into his skin—the corrosive power of the World-Destroying Black Lotus had even infected her blood.

"Bei… Bei Bei…" Her voice was as thin as a thread, barely audible. "Avenge… me… Kill, kill him!"

Before she could finish, her head tilted sharply to one side, her hand resting on Bei Bei's arm dropped limply, and she was completely silent.

The last wisp of Blue Silver Grass wrapped around her wrist, like a kite with a broken string, turned into fluorescence and dissipated in the morning light.

"Xiao Ya—!"

Bei Bei let out a roar of despair, the grief in his voice enough to shatter the entire forest. He held Tang Ya's gradually cooling body tightly, his fingernails digging deep into his own flesh, blood flowing through his fingers, yet he was completely oblivious.

Those amber eyes, which usually burned with thunder, were now filled with only scarlet madness, like a trapped beast that had lost everything.

Wang Donger stood where she was, frozen in place. She looked at Tang Ya's lifeless face and at Bei Bei's devastated appearance. Her pale blue pupils contracted sharply, and her peerless face was etched with shock and disbelief. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her throat felt blocked, unable to utter a sound.

How could… how could this happen?

Tang Ya, who could barely stand just a moment ago, how did she suddenly…

"It's all your fault!"

Suddenly, Bei Bei jerked his head up, his scarlet gaze locking onto Wang Donger. The hatred in his tone was like a tangible blade. "If it weren't for your hesitation! If you hadn't refused to act just now! How could Xiao Ya have died?! You are not worthy of being a Shrek student! You are not worthy!"

His voice was filled with hysterical madness. Before the words had even faded, a palm wind condensed with thunder struck Wang Donger without warning!

"Pfft—"

Wang Donger hadn't reacted at all. She was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the tree trunk behind her. A mouthful of blood sprayed out, staining the front of her clothes.

She slowly slid to the ground, clutching her agonizingly painful abdomen. The light in her eyes instantly dimmed. Her lips moved a few times, but in the end, she said nothing, simply bowing her head and letting her long hair cover her face.

"You're crazy!"

Seeing this, Lu Jing couldn't help but shout angrily, "What does this have to do with her?!"

He floated in mid-air, the World-Destroying Black Lotus exuding a cold aura, his eyes as cold as ice. "She didn't make a move from start to finish, didn't help you, and didn't help me. Why blame her? You can't win yourself, so you take your anger out on others? Bei Bei, did your brain get struck by lightning?"

"If you're weak, then train more. If you can't afford to lose, don't come out and embarrass yourself!"

Lu Jing's voice was like an ice pick, stabbing fiercely at Bei Bei, mocking, "You're allowed to chase me around screaming for my blood, but others aren't allowed to fight back? You're in a hurry now that your person is dead? Well, if I had been killed by you just now, who would have come to cry for justice for me?!"

"Shut up!"

Bei Bei jerked his head up, the scarlet in his eyes almost dripping with blood. "I'm going to kill you! I want you to pay with your life for Xiao Ya!"

He carefully placed Tang Ya's body on the ground, took off his jacket, and covered her with it, his movements as gentle as if he were treating a priceless treasure. After doing all this, he stood up abruptly, the blue thunder around him surging wildly, and a destructive aura filled the air—he had gone completely insane.

"Attack together!"

Bei Bei roared at the man in black on the treetop, his voice hoarse. "Today, we must make this brat die without a burial place!"

The man in black didn't waste words. His seventh spirit ring lit up again, and a black wind dragon phantom roared toward Lu Jing, intertwining with Bei Bei's thunderous power to form an airtight net of death.

"Damn it, do you really think I'm easy to bully?"

Lu Jing laughed in extreme anger, a flash of determination in his eyes. "Tian Meng, let's go all out!"

"Let's go all out!"

Tian Meng Ice Silkworm's voice was also filled with madness. "I won't lose my million-year-old face here!"

The white-gold spirit ring suddenly erupted with brilliant light. The petals of the World-Destroying Black Lotus fully unfolded, and a lotus phantom faintly appeared within the ink-black mist. A terrifying aura, surpassing all previous ones, exploded from within Lu Jing—this was the origin power of the World-Destroying Black Lotus, fully unleashed!

Just as the attacks from both sides were about to collide, a loud noise suddenly came from the sky, as if it had been torn apart by an invisible giant hand. A black light streaked across the sky like a meteor, trailing a long tail of fire, plummeting straight toward the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, and finally sinking into the body of a fainted youth.

The youth lay in the grass, his features delicate and handsome; he was none other than Huo Yuhao, who had accidentally stumbled into the Star Dou Great Forest. At this moment, his brows were tightly furrowed, and his body trembled slightly, as if he were enduring some immense pain.

Yet, this earth-shattering phenomenon did not stop the slaughter in the arena.

Bei Bei's Thunder Dragon Claw, the man in black's Wind Dragon Avatar, and Lu Jing's World-Destroying Black Lotus collided with a roar!

"Boom—!"

Blinding light swallowed everything. Black mist, blue thunder, and pitch-black wind blades intertwined to form an ever-expanding energy sphere.

Tian Meng Ice Silkworm poured all his Mental Energy into it, completely fusing with the origin power of the World-Destroying Black Lotus, erupting with power far beyond his own level.

At the moment the light was at its brightest, a black pillar of light piercing heaven and earth shot up into the sky, enveloping Lu Jing, Bei Bei, the man in black, and the caught-in-the-crossfire Wang Donger simultaneously.

The figures of the four twisted and faded within the pillar of light. Finally, as the light dissipated, they vanished completely from the spot, as if they had never appeared.

Only the jacket on the ground covering Tang Ya's body still fluttered gently in the morning breeze, telling the tale of the tragedy that had occurred there.

Not long after, several powerful auras sped over from the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, appearing instantly in the devastated clearing. Leading them was a massive black dragon, its amber slit pupils scanning the surroundings—it was Di Tian, who had rushed over.

He was followed by several fierce beasts. Their gazes fell on the bloodstains on the ground and the jacket, then they looked at the residual energy fluctuations in the air, and their expressions instantly turned extremely ugly.

"Tian Meng's aura… has disappeared." Di Tian's voice was low, carrying a hint of gravity. "There is also the aura of human Spirit Masters, and… a strange, evil power."

Another fierce beast stepped forward, sniffed the air, and said in a deep voice, "The energy fluctuations are very chaotic, as if a violent collision occurred, and… there are traces of space being torn."

Di Tian looked up at the sky; the crack there had already healed, leaving only faint traces of energy. His brows were tightly locked, and a strong sense of unease rose in his heart.

Tian Meng Ice Silkworm missing, the human Spirit Masters and that evil power gone together, plus that black light that plummeted toward the outskirts of the forest earlier…

The Star Dou Great Forest, perhaps even the entire Douluo Continent, seemed about to undergo a massive change.