696: Chapter 696 This Xiao Han... I hope he wasn't blown up!

However, the might of the Abyss Fire Lotus was far too terrifying.

The Darkness Power surged like a tide, wave after wave, each stronger and higher than the last.

The Ice Runes and snowflakes on the bars of the cage were swallowed and extinguished by the Darkness Power.

The runes dimmed one by one, and the snowflakes melted away piece by piece.

Black cracks spread across the bars, growing more numerous and dense.

Without the support of the runic power, the bars of the cage also vanished into nothingness under the Darkness Power.

The bars began turning black from their base, then transformed into a wisp of black smoke and dissipated into the air.

One, two, three... more and more bars were corroded, turning into black smoke.

In just a moment, the Ice Prison Cage was completely corroded by the Darkness Power and turned into black smoke.

The entire cage, from its base to its top, from the bars to the icy floor, all dissipated.

All that remained was a sky full of black mist, slowly drifting through the air.

The Abyss Fire Lotus did not stop.

It continued to drift, floating toward the Ice and Snow Throne.

Majestic Darkness Power gushed out from the Abyss Fire Lotus, sweeping toward the Ice and Snow Throne.

The black torrent, like a monstrous tidal wave, completely surrounded the Ice and Snow Throne.

The Ice and Snow Throne sensed a fatal threat; atop the throne, snowflakes condensed out of thin air, quickly constructing an ice and snow defense before it.

But the Ice and Snow Throne itself was merely a supporting phantom; its purpose was amplification and enhancement, not combat.

It possessed neither powerful offensive capabilities nor strong self-preservation abilities.

Faced with an attack of the Abyss Fire Lotus's caliber, its defense was practically nonexistent.

In an instant, the ice and snow were corroded and swallowed by the darkness. That crystal-clear ice shield was like paper under the impact of the darkness, shattering into pieces in an instant.

The Darkness Power surged toward the Ice and Snow Throne.

Wisps of black flame began to burn upon the throne.

The flames flickered, licking every inch of the throne's surface.

The snowflakes on the throne melted, and the ice crystals cracked from the heat, turning into countless tiny fragments that splattered in all directions.

"Sizzle— Sizzle—"

The sound of melting ice and snow echoed in the Void Realm.

The light of the throne rapidly dimmed under the scorching of the dark flames.

It went from a brilliant ice-blue to a dull grey-white, and from a dull grey-white to a complete, pitch-black darkness.

"Boom—!!!"

With a loud explosion, the Ice and Snow Throne burst apart!

Countless ice-blue snowflakes drifted in the air, but before they could fall, and before they could show their final beauty—the Darkness Power surged from all directions, swallowing them all.

The snowflakes vanished cleanly, as if they had never existed.

The Abyss Fire Lotus hung in the Void Realm, surrounded by darkness, like a dark god of death quietly looking down upon the battlefield.

Immediately after, it continued to drift, floating toward Xiao Han.

Xiao Han's pupils constricted as he watched the Abyss Fire Lotus approach.

At such close range, he felt the terror of this fire lotus even more vividly!

That Darkness Power was no longer a sense of pressure coming from afar, but a real, irresistible horror right before his eyes.

"The power of this strike is not inferior to an ordinary Grandmaster at all!"

Xiao Han was horrified.

Grandmaster—that was a Seventh-Rank expert, and there was a qualitative difference between them and the Sixth-Rank.

An ordinary Rank 6 Peak Martial Artist would have no power to resist when facing a Grandmaster.

Yet the power of Qin Yan's strike had actually reached the Grandmaster level!

"How could Qin Yan have such a freakish skill!"

Xiao Han was bewildered.

But he no longer had time to think.

The fire lotus had already been launched.

The black lotus accelerated its rotation in the air, its petals opening like a giant black mouth, swallowing toward Xiao Han.

Xiao Han had no other choice.

He could only lift the ice prison long spear in his hand and hold it across his body, attempting to block this fatal blow.

"Clang—!!!"

A crisp sound of collision rang out!

The moment the ice prison long spear made contact with the Abyss Fire Lotus, Xiao Han felt an immense pressure weigh down on him.

That pressure was like the sky falling, so heavy it made even breathing difficult.

His legs were trembling, his arms were shaking, and his body was slightly bending downward.

Under the pressure, his bones made a "crack-crack" sound, his muscles spasmed violently, and his True Qi was being consumed frantically.

Immediately following that, a sharp pain shot through his arm!

The pain came suddenly and violently.

Xiao Han looked down, only to see a black flame burning on his arm at some unknown point.

The flame spread from the spear shaft to his wrist, and from his wrist to his forearm.

Wherever the fire passed, skin was charred, muscle was swallowed, and blood was evaporated.

The flesh on his arm had already been burned away, exposing the white bone beneath!

The white bones looked exceptionally piercing amidst the black flames.

On the bones, an ice-blue light faintly flowed—it was the power of the Ice Prison Battle Body, desperately resisting the corrosion of the flames.

But the power of the black flames was too strong, and the ice-blue light was being forced back step by step.

In the intense pain, his long spear involuntarily slipped from his hands and fell to the ground with a crisp clatter.

However, before he could react, that Abyss Fire Lotus drifted straight to his chest like a maggot on a bone, then landed on his body without any resistance.

In the next moment—

"Boom—!!!"

A pitch-black light soared into the sky, enveloping the entire Fighting Arena in a shroud of darkness!

An explosion like a thunderclap shook the Fighting Arena.

The Darkness Power swept out in all directions like a storm, swallowing and annihilating all the remaining ice, crystals, and snowflakes on the stage.

Even the Golden Array Patterns on the Fighting Arena flickered violently under the impact of this dark power, nearly being broken through.

At this moment, the entire Fighting Arena fell into a deathly silence.

There was no sound, no light, no aura.

Only endless darkness surged, spread, and dissipated in the Void Realm.

...

Qin Yan stood at the other end of the Fighting Arena, looking at the area shrouded in darkness in the distance, his heart tightening.

His face was pale and his aura was weak; just standing there had exhausted all his strength.

"This Xiao Han... He won't be blown up to death, right!"

Xiao Han was a Genius of Diluo Valley, a Prodigy who had mastered Supreme-grade Spear Intent, and one of the top five Disciples in this year's cohort at Diluo Valley.

If he killed Xiao Han in public, it would more or less bring him trouble.

Although deaths and injuries were inevitable in a duel, accidentally killing someone was a completely different matter.

...