Chapter 522 - 317: Light
HUMMM—
Seeing that he was still unable to take down Yang An, He grew impatient. Although he didn’t intend to kill Yang An—only capture him alive—he didn’t mind beating him to within an inch of his life first. He figured that the best way to control someone was to first make them feel the terror of death.
"Death Fire Divine Sect!"
He, who had been forming a Seal Technique with one hand, now moved his fingers in a rapid tremor. With bewildering speed, he formed an even more complex Seal Technique.
The next moment, as the entire world seemed to tremble, the isolating storm abruptly contracted. Like a bullet fired from a gun, it slammed the Divine Fire descending from the sky downward. The crimson flames instantly engulfed Yang An’s mangled body, drowning all his attachments and resistance.
But just then!
In that state of unbearable heat, with death drawing ever closer, Yang An suddenly felt a chilling sensation spread through his body.
As his consciousness blurred and drifted, he suddenly saw a delicate, slender, jade-like hand emerge from his chest.
The next moment, a torrent of twisted souls poured madly from that hand, forming a barrier in front of Yang An. As if marching to their deaths, they shielded him from the searing flames.
But those souls were far too fragile. The instant they appeared and made contact with the fire, they were annihilated, their spirits scattered to the winds amidst shrill, agonizing screams.
At the same time, Yang An heard a faint huff in his mind.
"Bow... Bow Lady..."
Though he was in a desperate situation and his consciousness was hazy, Yang An still recognized the owner of the hand. It was Bow Lady, helping him!
Among the souls being released to die for him and block the damage, he could even spot some familiar faces. They were all souls that Bow Lady had once devoured, now being used as disposable shields.
"You little brat... you have to live..."
Bow Lady’s voice grew weaker and weaker, becoming faint and listless as she released the souls.
Hearing Bow Lady’s voice, Yang An immediately guessed what she was trying to do.
She was sacrificing these souls to buy him enough time to break through, to survive!
Anger flared in Yang An’s heart. He immediately roared at Bow Lady, "No! Bow Lady! You..."
"Live... and pay me back with handsome men... *sob*..."
"..."
Bow Lady’s voice was tinged with a sob and immense reluctance, but for Yang An’s sake, she was sacrificing everything she had accumulated.
The words caught in Yang An’s throat, and he almost choked.
For a horrifying moment, he’d imagined something terrible. He’d suddenly felt that if that *thing* happened, he would feel more despair than if he were to die here, unable to break through. But upon hearing her words, he heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it wasn’t what he’d thought.
"Fine! I’ll pay you back! I’ll pay!"
His tone was laced with relief.
Countless souls poured from the surface of his body, helping him resist the flames. In that brief window of time, thanks to Bow Lady’s help, the agony of being engulfed by fire was finally suppressed. Yang An gritted his teeth again, focusing his consciousness and spirit.
’Just a little more!’
’Just a little more!’
’Dao of Destiny Technique... merge for me!!!’
The heart-wrenching screams of the souls being utterly destroyed echoed in his ears. These desperate cries and shouts seemed to become the very force driving him toward his breakthrough.
These were the handsome men he had given to Bow Lady! He had gone to great lengths to gather them, even risking his own life. And now, for his sake, she had released them all to shield him. Though she tried to sound casual, Yang An knew that a sacrifice of this magnitude must have hurt her deeply.
’Break through!’
’I have to break through!’
The same cry echoed wildly in Yang An’s heart!
He was like a fish desperately fighting its way upstream, using every last ounce of its strength to swim against the raging current!
’Finally! Finally!’
Break!!!
In that instant, the Spiritual Light Net that had been clinging to Yang An’s body suddenly unfurled, expanding rapidly outward.
Fifteen meters!
Twenty meters!
Forty meters!
One hundred meters!
Countless threads bored out of Yang An’s body, weaving together within the massive Spiritual Light Net. They pierced through the storm, enveloping everything within a hundred-meter radius. The airtight web formed a dazzling, resplendent, rainbow-colored sphere in an instant.
At the same time, Yang An’s Cultivation Level aura finally broke through from the Early Stage of Zombie God to the Middle Stage of Zombie God, his power surging explosively!
Yang An let out a long, deep breath. In that moment, all the pain wracking his body seemed to vanish. Even the world before his eyes began to blur, distorting into a hazy mirage.
He had broken through!
Even the restraining Technique from Huan, which had trapped him in Lower Hu, vanished the instant he broke through.
His control over his own state of being, which had been lost in the agony, returned.
He could now return from the Deep World to the shallow world at any time.
But now, Yang An was in no hurry to leave.
’Bow Lady sacrificed all her souls for me. She must be severely weakened, no matter how casually she spoke of it!’
He!
Yang An’s gaze seemed to pierce through the endless flames to see He standing beyond them. At that very moment, the dying screams of the souls in his ears finally faded. All of them had been annihilated by the fire.
A slit appeared on Yang An’s forehead, between his eyes, as his flesh parted. A round bead radiating a faint Golden Radiance emerged from within, like a third eye. The moment it appeared, the Spiritual Light Net that already filled the world blazed with even greater intensity, shining like a colossal sun.
"Disperse!"
A resolute command escaped Yang An’s lips.
In that moment, he was like the one and only god within the hundred-meter domain of the Spiritual Light Net!
An incredibly blinding light gathered at his feet and erupted upward like a geyser, instantly slamming into the pillar of fire descending from the sky.
Light and fire collided. But at the moment of impact, the light transformed into countless spinning threads, like a drill boring through the heavens. It violently shredded the flames, which scattered into a torrential rain of fire as the surrounding storm simultaneously disintegrated.
BOOM!!!
A massive shockwave erupted outward, sweeping away the weapons stuck in the ground and all the scattered debris.
Yang An’s body was rapidly regenerating, his flesh growing full once more. He looked toward the figure standing a dozen or so meters away.
Despite the blast, the masked He still stood his ground, not retreating a single step as the gale whipped at his robes. But beneath the mask, unseen by Yang An, his expression had changed, now filled with gravity and shock.
’This is... the Power of Rules!’
’And it’s the Power of Light Rules!’
’The kid actually got it and merged with it!!’
"How did you do it?"
He’s voice was perfectly calm, but it was just a facade. In his eyes, Yang An had become an enigma.
’This guy... I have to capture him!’
Yang An didn’t answer with words, but with action.
He extended his hand and clenched it into a fist.
Instantly, countless rays of light erupted violently from within He’s body.
"Ling Fire!"
The moment the light erupted, He’s figure vanished. Countless flames were devoured and then annihilated by the light, but He himself reappeared in midair, a hundred meters away.
But at the same instant he appeared, Yang An’s figure followed close behind, materializing ten meters away to face him, his expression cold.
Simultaneously, He’s body was once again pierced by innumerable rays of light. A great mist of blood burst from his body, forming a rain of gore that was instantly vaporized by the light.
Yang An knew that He’s fire was strong and terrifying.
But in this moment, he had a fire of his own. It was called... rage!
"Light!"