The screams of wailing evil spirits echoed from within the Myriad Souls Banner.

As the demonic clone made it flutter, resonating the Magic Weapon with his Law Mark, terrifying demonic energy soared into the sky.

The Myriad Souls Banner was a truly peculiar magic weapon.

Though it was not an Artifact, it could continuously upgrade its own quality as long as it absorbed enough souls.

There were even rumors that it could reach the Immortal Grade if the soul of a true Immortal was devoured.

Chen Xuan’s Myriad Souls Banner was naturally far from reaching such a level.

Yet during his time in the Nine Origins Seas, it had absorbed hundreds of Nascent Soul sea beasts.

Based on pure numbers alone, the accumulated souls were enough for it to threaten Soul Formation experts.

More importantly, these were not uncoordinated, mindless beasts.

Under Chen Xuan’s command, they could fuse their power together!

Although each individual soul was insignificant before a Soul Formation expert, thousands of them gathered together could produce a qualitative change.

This was also one of the greatest advantages of the Myriad Souls Banner.

"Roar!"

A thunderous cry spread through the sky as a massive claw reached out from within the Myriad Souls Banner, slapping toward the Elder.

With the combined efforts of thousands of evil spirits, its power was terrifying!

The surrounding space seemed to tremble beneath the pressure of the claw.

Alone, the Elder might have been able to defeat it.

Yet that was not the situation at present.

Not only did she have to defend against the massive claw, but she also had to deal with the Yin-Yang Annihilation wheel firing toward her.

The Elder’s expression immediately changed.

The relief that had just appeared on her face vanished abruptly.

A stern expression replaced it.

She sprang into action.

This time, she acted even more forcefully than before.

"Rise!"

She let out a low shout, pointing the trident in her hand toward the sky.

The seawater beneath her seemed to have heeded her call.

Enormous amounts of seawater surged toward the sky, surrounding her and forming an ocean in mid-air.

The vast amount of water continuously churned around her body, forming layer after layer of defense.

Yet things did not stop there.

The Goddess of the Sea’s name was not random.

The "Sea" portion indeed referred to the Nine Origins Seas and her control over water.

As for the "Goddess" part...

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

Bursts of thunder suddenly sizzled above the Elder’s head.

Then, the lightning gathered into a vast cloud before crashing down like divine punishment.

White. Blue. Black.

Green. Red.

Countless colors flashed through the sky as all kinds of lightning merged together, producing a terrifying force.

The moment the lightning appeared, the entire battlefield seemed to become even more oppressive.

Even the surrounding seawater began to boil beneath the terrifying power.

Before the attacks of the two sides had even collided, the powerful impact had already begun spreading through the surroundings.

The cultivators who had approached to observe the battle were directly affected.

Strands of lightning struck them, rendering their bodies immobile, while wisps of Yin-Yang energy fell upon them and annihilated parts of their bodies.

Some of the weaker cultivators couldn’t even withstand the aftermath.

They hurriedly retreated, their faces pale as they realized just how terrifying the battle between the two Soul Formation experts was.

Fortunately, the stronger cultivators reacted in time.

Several Peak Nascent Soul experts hurriedly waved their hands, erecting barriers to withstand the terrifying impact.

Even so, the barriers continued to tremble violently.

It was obvious that they would not be able to endure for long if the battle became any more intense.

As for Chen Xuan’s three disciples?

They didn’t have such worries.

Still seated atop the giant turtle, they watched in amazement as the rioting energies dispersed upon drawing closer to the sea beast.

It wasn’t that the turtle had taken action to wipe them out.

Instead, they retreated on their own upon sensing its mere aura.

Even the terrifying aftermath of a battle between Soul Formation experts seemed unwilling to approach this ancient existence.

Chen Xuan’s guess was correct.

This beast was truly terrifying!

However, no one paid any attention to it.

Everyone’s focus remained on the two clashing figures.

The next moment...

Bang!

The forces of demonic energy and Yin-Yang Annihilation collided with lightning and water.

For a brief moment, a dazzling light engulfed everyone’s vision.

No one could see anything.

Even the Late Stage Nascent Soul cultivators could see nothing; the intense radiance covered their entire field of vision.

A high-pitched noise echoed in their ears.

Some of them immediately covered their ears, yet the sound still seemed to penetrate directly into their minds.

Blood flowed from the corners of their mouths as their minds became dizzy.

Fortunately, this phenomenon lasted only for a split second.

The next moment, the light gradually retreated.

Chen Xuan and the Elder reentered their vision.

But this sight only made the stunned native cultivators even more horrified.

"How... How is this possible?!"

"No! I refuse to believe this!"

Several whispers echoed through the surroundings, soon drowned out by hysterical cries.

The cultivators simply couldn’t believe their eyes.

Their Elder...

Had been defeated.

And in the most humiliating way possible at that.

Both of Chen Xuan’s clones remained completely intact.

Their bodies were spotless, and they maintained calm, unhurried expressions.

It was as though the previous clash had merely been an ordinary exchange.

On the other hand, the Elder fared much worse.

Her dress had been torn apart, revealing countless open wounds covering her body.

Scratches. Bruises. Large cuts.

They all made her look extremely miserable.

Yet these injuries were merely external.

For a Soul Formation cultivator, such injuries were not enough to impose a heavy burden on her.

What betrayed the Elder’s truly grave situation was her pale face and violently fluctuating aura.

Sometimes it was weak. Sometimes it surged.

Her foundation had been injured!

This was far more serious than the wounds covering her body.

As if that wasn’t enough—

"Blurgh!"

A mouthful of blood sprayed from her lips.

Her body could no longer sustain itself in the air.

Like a bird whose wings had been cut off, she fell from the sky, seemingly about to crash into the violently churning waters below.

"Elder!"

Some of the native cultivators could no longer remain still.

The Elder was in a critical situation.

They completely forgot about her fight with Chen Xuan and were about to rush forward to save her.

Some had already begun circulating their Spiritual Energy, preparing to catch her before she fell into the sea.

But just then, the turtle made a move.

"Alright... That’s enough."

Its ancient voice spread throughout the secret realm.

Instantly, the entire world seemed to freeze.

The cultivators who were attempting to fly toward the Elder halted in place.

Even the seawater beneath them seemed to stop moving.

Yet they were not the only ones.

The same power descended upon Chen Xuan and the Elder as well.

The former was merely kept in place.

As for the latter, the mysterious force stabilized her position before a green light overflowed, rapidly healing her injuries.

The Elder’s aura quickly returned to normal.

However, her pale face was evidence that she had yet to truly recover.

"Cai Yu... I’ve told you not to underestimate anyone..."

"Now... it seems you’ve forgotten my lessons."

The turtle looked at the Elder and spoke, a hint of disappointment flashing across its ancient eyes.

It had truly lived for a very long time.

On the other hand, the lifespan of Soul Formation experts was only a few thousand years.

Still, the turtle’s heart had not turned into stone.

For it, the Elder was merely a child.

It had watched generation after generation of her ancestors grow up and eventually die.

In its long life, countless familiar faces had appeared before it, only to disappear as the years passed.

It would likely watch the same fate befall Cai Yu.

Because of this, it truly didn’t wish for her to die prematurely.

If anything, it hoped she would one day break through to the Soul Transformation realm and accompany it for a little longer.

Although emotional, the turtle had lived for millions of years.

It quickly regained its composure, suppressing its wandering thoughts.

Its attention shifted toward Chen Xuan.

"Inheritor... you’ve passed the trial."

"Now... the Goddess’ Island... shall bring you to the inheritance," it spoke.

Although several of the native cultivators wanted to say something, they ultimately swallowed their words.

Not only because of the Guardian’s might, but also because they had witnessed this unknown outsider completely overwhelm their Elder.

Without her, who was left to fight him?

No one.

Even if they attacked together, they doubted they could change the outcome.

"Yes, Guardian. I’ll guide them right away."

One of the many cultivators stepped forward, gritting his teeth as he tried to conceal the humiliation he was feeling.

However, just then, the nearly comatose Elder weakly raised her hand.

Another mouthful of blood splurted from her mouth, though she ignored it completely.

"There is no need..."

She struggled to speak.

"I’ll guide these people personally."

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