Chapter 543: Annihilation
The mist roiled violently, points of light flashing chaotically within, revealing clear signs of 'pain' and 'wariness'.
In the observation area, Lin Lan quickly wrote, "Target reacts strongly to high-purity spiritual Flame, showing signs of avoidance and damage. The Flame's nature is suspected to have a 'purifying' or 'annihilating' effect on the Spiritual Body's energy structure."
Inside the field, Xu Wuyi did not give chase. He needed to observe more.
The Gray Nightmare floated in the air, seemingly reassessing its opponent. A few seconds later, it changed again.
The gray mist contracted inward, growing more condensed. Its color shifted from grayish-white to dark gray, finally becoming an almost semi-transparent, dark, gelatinous substance.
Its form condensed from a vague cloud of mist into a humanoid silhouette about two meters tall, but its head was featureless save for two empty hollows.
"Form has solidified, energy density has increased," Lin Lan recorded. "Preparing for a second wave of attack."
The humanoid Gray Nightmare "lifted" its arm. It had no claws; instead, its palm suddenly fanned out, transforming into dozens of slender, gray, misty threads. Like living tentacles, they snaked toward Xu Wuyi!
These threads didn't attack in a straight line. Instead, they crisscrossed and wove through the air, forming a sparse yet immense net that descended upon him from all directions.
The tip of each thread flickered with a faint, dark light, emitting a sensation of spiritual pulling and corrosion.
It had changed tactics, switching from a direct assault to area-wide restraint and energy absorption.
Xu Wuyi's gaze sharpened.
He could feel the threads trying to connect to his spiritual field. Once entangled, he knew they would relentlessly drain his Spiritual Power and possibly even follow the spiritual connection back to corrode his consciousness.
'I can't let it succeed.'
With a single thought from Xu Wuyi, the Golden Crow Illusion in his sea of consciousness let out a clear cry and spread its wings.
BOOM!
Dark-gold Heart Fire erupted from him, forming a flaming halo five meters in diameter!
The halo wasn't scorching hot; instead, it carried a fluctuation of sacred and majestic intent.
The gray threads that entered the halo's range were like strands of ice tossed into a Melting Furnace—instantly vaporized and severed. The remaining threads convulsed as if electrocuted and snapped back.
The Gray Nightmare's condensed humanoid form retreated again, the edges of its body wavering unstably.
Both of its probing attacks had been easily neutralized, and it had clearly taken damage. This seemed to either enrage it or trigger a deeper offensive instinct.
"Preparing a Spirit Shock!" Lin Lan's voice was tinged with tension.
The Gray Nightmare completely abandoned its misty form. Its entire body twisted violently, undergoing extreme Compression until it became a fist-sized, pulsating, dark-gray sphere of light!
The sphere's surface was covered in irregular bumps, and a viscous liquid seemed to churn within.
An extremely dangerous aura emanated from the sphere.
It was highly condensed Spiritual Energy, full of malice and Chaos!
The next moment, the dark-gray sphere of light jolted violently!
There was no sound, but an incorporeal wave—a Spirit Shock so condensed it felt as tangible as a spike—shot out from the sphere and barreled toward Xu Wuyi!
The air visibly distorted and rippled in the shock wave's path. Even the Energy Barrier at the edge of the testing field wavered faintly!
The power of this strike far surpassed its previous attacks!
Xu Wuyi's expression remained unchanged, but a new seriousness entered his eyes.
He took half a step forward with his left foot, slightly lowering his center of gravity.
In his sea of consciousness, waves surged across the great, dark-gold marsh!
A Mental Realm defined by the concepts of "heavy," "solid," and "immovable" emanated from him.
The Heart Image of Heavy Water—Suppression!
There were no flashy Techniques, only the pure Intention of "heaviness" from his Mental Realm, reinforcing his Spirit and will.
As the rampaging Spirit Shock wave entered a three-meter radius around Xu Wuyi, it was as if it had plunged into an invisible quagmire.
Its velocity plummeted as its force was dispersed and dissipated layer by layer.
The shock wave, once condensed to a fine point, rapidly faded.
Finally, when it was just a foot away from Xu Wuyi, it collapsed completely, dissolving into a turbulent spiritual breeze that merely rustled the tips of his hair.
Xu Wuyi stood perfectly still, not even blinking.
The dark-gray sphere (the Gray Nightmare Core) seemed "stunned." Its pulsations ceased for an instant.
In the observation area, Lin Lan had no time for detailed notes. He spoke quickly, "The target released a high-intensity, single-target Spirit Shock! Estimated power is equivalent to a full-force Spiritual Attack from a level-40 Martial Artist!"
"Martial Artist Xu completely defended against it with an unknown technique, sustaining no damage whatsoever! Data acquisition is peaking!"
In the field, Xu Wuyi watched the floating, dark-gray sphere. He knew it had likely just shown its strongest form of attack.
'Then, it's my turn to test my "lethal measures."'
He raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together. A speck of dark-gold Heart Fire at his fingertips condensed to its absolute limit, shining as brightly as the point of a needle.
"Go."
He flicked his fingers.
The needle-point of dark-gold fire shot silently toward the dark-gray sphere.
It wasn't fast, but its trajectory was perfectly straight, locked on by an Intention that ensured it would hit its mark.
The Gray Nightmare seemed to sense the mortal danger. The sphere trembled violently and tried to dodge to the side.
But in the instant it moved, another thought crossed Xu Wuyi's mind.
'Heavy!'
An invisible Gravity Field instantly descended upon the sphere!
While it couldn't completely immobilize the Energy Core, it was enough to make it falter for a split second.
In that split second, the dark-gold ember sank precisely into the dark-gray sphere.
The sphere froze.
The next second—
HSSSS!!
Dark-gold Flame erupted from within the sphere! It wasn't combustion, but "purification" and "Annihilation"!
The dark gray of the sphere's surface dissolved at a visible rate, while the viscous Energy churning inside was overwhelmingly incinerated by the Golden Crow's Heart Fire.
Its volume shrank rapidly as it let out a silent, yet utterly piercing, spiritual shriek.
「Two seconds later.」
PFFT.
The last trace of dark gray vanished completely, leaving only a nearly invisible wisp of smoke that promptly dissipated into the air.
The fist-sized, pulsating, dark-gray sphere of light was no more.
The testing field fell quiet once more.
All that remained was the low hum of the active Energy Barrier and the subtle mechanical whir of monitoring probes adjusting their angles.
Xu Wuyi slowly lowered his hand, the golden light at his fingertips fading.
In the observation area, Lin Lan's mouth hung open. After a long moment, he finally exhaled and furiously scribbled his conclusion on the datapad:
"Test complete. Duration: six minutes, forty-seven seconds. Target 'Gray Nightmare-3' has been completely annihilated."
"Key data: Target is extremely vulnerable to high-purity spiritual Flame. High-intensity Spirit Shocks can be completely nullified by a specific Heart Image's Mental Realm (suspected Gravity or suppression-type)."
"In its core form, the injection of a minute but highly-concentrated spiritual Flame can trigger a chain collapse of its internal energy structure, resulting in instantaneous Annihilation."
He lifted his head and looked at the calm figure in the field, his expression complex.
'That efficiency... it's a little too high.'