These renowned strongholds of Fengyuan Continent fell silently, without a single sound. Meanwhile, Ming Zun and the others, protected beneath the silver-jun book's shield, escaped unharmed. The dense network of blood threads striking the luminous screen formed by the sacred artifact caused it to flash wildly and dim significantly, yet failed to penetrate the protective barrier. Still, this left Silver Ganzi and the others pale as ghosts. Ming Zun's expression grew grim, and his gaze swiftly swept toward the direction of the Black Nioth beast. There, the four young warriors shaped by the four beasts, each clutching hand seals, concealed themselves behind a layer of black flame, having successfully evaded the blood-thread assault. Upon seeing that so many had survived, Ma Liang, who had taken the form of a giant, briefly displayed a look of surprise, but quickly replaced it with a fierce expression. With swift hand seals, he raised one hand and once again pointed at a massive blood imprint in the sky. A deep, resonant roar echoed forth. This time, the immense seal only slightly sank before completely shattering and collapsing the luminous towers below, which had resembled a honeycomb. With no further resistance, the treasure descended like a mountain pressing down upon Ming Zun and the others, once again enveloping the surrounding void in a terrifying force, and the previously vanished aura of blood once more surged forth. "Master Ming, what shall we do now!" Silver Jiansi, having transformed into a silver giant, softly asked. "What else can we do? We must fight with all our might. Please don't worry—such a powerful attack certainly drains a great deal of our true energy. The opponent will certainly not be able to launch a second one of this magnitude. Friend Wu Ling, Brother Silver, you two hold firm and withstand this treasure as long as you can. I will employ a secret technique to counter the opponent and see if I can seal them in place while they are weakened in their spiritual energy. Meanwhile, the four of you use your life-based powers and join me in a full-scale assault. "Master Ming's face was deeply serious, yet without hesitation, he simultaneously transmitted his thoughts to the three silver-gold disciples and the four black rhinoceros beasts. 'How confident are you in sealing off the other side, Master Ming?' Lady Wu asked with a touch of hesitation. The easy and sudden fall of several peers at the same stage of cultivation before her had made her feel a bit uneasy. 'Rest assured,' Master Ming replied with confidence, 'I am employing a secret technique from the Immortal Realm—one that requires sacrificing a strand of my own refined spirit and significantly weakening my fundamental essence. I believe the success rate is at least over fifty percent.' 'Very well, then, I shall place my trust in you once again. Silver friend, let us all join forces.' Lady Wu raised her head, gazing at the magnificent blood-red giant seal in the sky, which she knew would be impossible to escape under its overwhelming pressure. With a quiet determination, she spoke. The giant formed by Yin Gangzi merely nodded, then roared with decisive fury, his body swelling significantly. Thick silver veins surged across his surface, faintly shimmering with countless runes. His two arms thickened further, and then, with a firm grasp, his palms struck the air in a powerful thrust. The jade hairpin burst into a sphere of luminous energy, while three blue orb spheres soared upward, swaying in the wind before suddenly transforming into three luminous globes the size of human heads. Their surfaces shimmered with bright blue light, yet remained unremarkable. Ma Liang, observing the golden giant thus formed, emitted a cold smile on his face, and merely urged his spiritual essence one more time. At once, the blood mist of the seal in the sky surged vigorously, emitting sharp hissing sounds, from which thick blood-colored tendrils sprang forth, gently trembling before transforming into long blood-red spears that rained down in a torrent toward the ground. A series of thunderous booms echoed. Silver Jang’s two fists, though only vaguely defined, instantly multiplied into countless silver fist-images, each successfully deflecting and sending the blood spears flying backward. The yellow whirlwind formed by Lady Wuling’s jade staff swept through the incoming spears, engulfing them, and after a series of dazzling flashes, shattered them completely. Yet the three blue luminous orbs, seemingly formless, drifted upward steadily and unhurriedly. As the blood spears made contact, they passed straight through, undisturbed. At that moment, dense rows of silver fist-images and yellow wolf-baton strikes landed solidly upon the massive seal. A roar echoed through the air, with silver light, yellow glow, and blood splendor interweaving and flashing. The great seal only trembled slightly before pressing downward further. Silver Jingsi and Lady Wuling were instantly alarmed. One of them suddenly planted her single foot firmly into the void beneath her, slightly bent her lower body, then swiftly spread her hands and fingers outward, gently lifting them toward the sky, while the other hurled her wolf-baton forward with a series of incantations. A series of thunderous sounds erupted. Two massive silver hands, each about an acre in size, appeared suddenly beneath the seal, and with their fingers spread, they gently supported it. At the same time, the yellow light flashed, and the massive spear-like war-club, rising from below, surged straight upward, its broadest tip forcefully pressing against the seal beneath. The entire phantom seal shuddered violently! After a slight pause, the mountain-like seal finally came to a halt in midair. The two enormous silver hands and the giant war-club trembled wildly, emitting low murmurs, as if they could no longer sustain the pressure. Yin Gangzi and Wu Ling Lady watched in silent dismay. At this moment, they had poured nearly all their inner energies into the silver hands and the war-club, leaving them with no strength to resist the descending seal any further. Yet just then, the three blue light spheres finally reached the vicinity of the seal, and upon touching the blood mist, burst open instantly, releasing a strange, piercing cold that seemed capable of freezing even the souls of onlookers, spreading out in a swirling wave through the air. Then, three blue ice blossoms, each several dozen zhang in diameter, surged forth from the chill air. As they spun smoothly, three radiant beams of crystal light erupted from their centers and struck the seal. A soft "puff" sound, golden flames bloomed spontaneously around the seal, flickering and then clinging tenaciously to the blue ice as if an unrelenting parasite, immediately emitting a series of crisp, bamboo-like crackling noises. At the same time, the great seal itself roared, a surge of blood-colored flames rising from its core. Under the dual assault of these strange, opposing flames—both within and upon the surface—the blue ice began to melt rapidly. "Master Ming, you still haven't moved! We can't hold out much longer," the dressed-in-imperial-clothes woman, who had been seated in meditation, desperately urged, tirelessly channeling the power of three floating blue ice blossoms to slow the melting. "My ladies, please rest assured—my hands are already at work," Master Ming replied, taking a deep breath. Upon hearing this, the imperial-clad woman and the two others—Yin Ganshi and Lady Wu Ling—were naturally taken aback. At that very moment, a ripple of energy surged from the golden giant formed by Ma Liang, and suddenly a small figure about a foot tall appeared in mid-air, with a hazy, blurred face that made it impossible to discern his features. The figure held a black ancient lamp, its surface streaked with rust. Without hesitation, the giant lifted his head and opened his mouth, spewing out a stream of golden flame. As the flame expanded in the wind, it surged forward and engulfed the small figure, rolling it into a vast expanse of golden fire. Where the golden flame passed, the surrounding space grew hazy, as if directly melted and pierced by its intense heat. Yet the small figure remained calm, raising the ancient lamp high and swaying it gently in the golden fire below. "Pfft!" An astonishing scene unfolded. The black lamp merely flashed with a soft, pale glow, and a few specks of gray-white characters drifted out from its surface. Upon contact, the golden flame reacted as if struck by a perfect counterforce, surging wildly into the lamp and being completely absorbed within moments. Even with Ma Liang's keen insight, witnessing this scene in the sky, he could not help but pause in astonishment. At that moment, the small figure suddenly threw the ancient lamp downward and leapt into the air, instantly transforming into a shimmering green glow that attached itself to the lamp from above, igniting the seemingly black wick. A pale, gray-white flame flashed briefly upon the lamp. At the same time, Ming Zun, standing at a distance, turned pale; his originally upright posture suddenly faltered, and he staggered, unable to remain standing. As the ancient lamp emitted a resonant hum, a layer of gray-white flame on its surface blurred and instantly expanded in size, enveloping half the sky beneath it. The moment Ma Liang's giant form was fully engulfed by this gray-white flame, he suddenly felt his celestial and spiritual energy congeal, his protective golden aura dissipate, and he found himself unable to perform any of his secret techniques. At that very instant, a subtle ripple once again surged around the golden giant, and four black níl beasts leapt forth from the void, simultaneously opening their mouths to spew out one black fire orb each—each orb rushing straight toward the golden giant and crashing with force. "Die!" Ma Liang was startled, yet the giant he had transformed into roared in fury, clenching his fists and delivering four powerful punches toward the four black fire orbs. "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" Three of the black orbs exploded into scattered black rain the moment they made contact with the golden giant's fists. Only one of them, however, suddenly twisted, swiftly transforming into a shadow that evaded the punches, then darted forward to position itself before the golden giant, materializing as an ordinary gray-robed man. "Nine Tribulations of Extinction!" The gray-robed man lifted one arm, placing his palm silently against the golden giant's waist, his voice cold and piercing.