"Such a powerful surge of fire spirit energy—this is indeed the body of a fire spirit!" The magical god formed by Han Li finally spoke, his voice resonating. "Fire spirit? You're not entirely wrong in calling it that. Heh, it's quite rare for a mere lower-world being to push a young man like Ma Liang to such a pass. But you heard the agreement just now, didn't you? You pledged to assist him with something." Fire Huizi replied with a chuckle. "Then what's the point of further words? It's all down to showing your strength in action." The Buddhist divine god laughed heartily, raising his five great weapons once more, and with a resounding crash that carried the sound of wind and thunder, he brought them down. The small red figure snorted coldly, pressed a hand seal, and instantly countless streams of fiery clouds surged over his body. Then, rolling on the ground, he transformed into a monstrous dragon stretching over a hundred zhang in length. Just as the dragon-jelly emerged into form, its front claw suddenly snapped upward, and at once, a tremendous roar echoed through the air. A red mist-claw, about the size of an acre, materialized spontaneously and boldly met five beams of golden light head-on. "Pffft!" The five heavy weapons trembled and instantly revealed their true forms, truly suspended in mid-air by that red mist-claw. The three faces of the Buddha-Saint Magus were all filled with astonishment. With his current physical strength, he was well aware of the sheer magnitude of power contained in that single strike. Ma Li, seeing this, felt a great relief. With a swift motion of his sleeve, several deep-blue talismans flew swiftly to his body and instantly transformed into clusters of blue mist, which surged inward. His complexion instantly improved. At the same time, his gaze toward Han Li flashed with fierce determination, and he quietly activated a certain internal spell beneath his breath. At that moment, the strange dragon-jelly roared, its numerous tentacles swirling wildly, and then a series of sharp hissing sounds erupted as a cascade of scorching beams surged toward Han Li. The Van Saint Magus moved his two hands, and the heavy troops in his grasp vanished into nothingness. Yet, with a quick series of hand gestures, a massive golden beetle materialized before him, its body slightly blurred, transforming into a brilliant golden great shield that now spanned across in front of Han Li. The scorching beams struck the shield, producing a sound like rain tapping on a fence—though only a few shallow punctures, a few inches deep, appeared on its surface, no further damage was done. While Han Li was fully absorbed by the attack before him, a ripple of energy surged from his head, and a spectral figure shot forth from the void, darting swiftly through the air. After a brief flicker, it surged past Han Li's protective light and directly struck the central head of the Van Saint Magus. "Plump!" "Plump!" Suddenly, the two heads of the Buddha, the Sage, and the Demon God rotated inward, and black energy condensed in their brows, each manifesting a third, eerie eye. From each eye, a beam of pure black light surged forth, striking the ethereal form with perfect precision. A piercing cry! At the very instant the ethereal form was struck by the two beams, a blurry, room-sized black hole appeared behind it, and then, with a sudden flash, it was violently torn into the hole, vanishing completely. At the same time, Ma Liang roared loudly, clutching his head tightly, his face etched with intense agony. Han Li coldly glanced at Ma Liang. The latter had dared to use a strand of his separated soul to attack—clearly, he had sealed his own fate. Though the strand of soul was not completely torn apart by Ma Liang's spatial force, it had been directly hurled into the spatial rift. Without any solid support, it would surely dissipate and vanish soon. Han Li thought thus within himself, yet as he transformed into the Buddhist Saint Magus, his head opened and expelled a sphere of silver flame toward the lower ground. This sphere spun smoothly and instantly morphed into a silver fire bird, about a foot long, with countless faint golden runes shimmering subtly along its lustrous feathers. With a single finger pointing downward, the Buddhist Saint Magus uttered the word "go." The silver fire bird spread its wings, and the runes on its feathers suddenly expanded wildly, then grew in size and volume, rapidly swelling into a colossal creature measuring over a hundred zhang in height. After raising its head and emitting a clear cry, it plunged straight downward. Meanwhile, the strange dragon opened its massive mouth without hesitation and shot forth a towering column of deep red light, which struck solidly upon the fire bird's vast body. A deep rumble echoed. The golden runes on the fire bird's surface only slightly brightened, yet the red light seamlessly penetrated into its body, causing the bird to suddenly expand in size, growing even larger. "It is the Flame of Refinement—exactly the Flame of the Refinement Fire Bird!" The strange dragon-jelly was startled at first, but quickly recovered and cried out, his voice now filled with astonishment and anger, with a faint note of fear woven in—his earlier composure completely gone. The silver giant bird paid no attention at all, merely flicking its wings once more and moving swiftly to stand before the dragon-jelly, where a rolling wave of silver flame surged forth. The dragon-jelly cried out again, suddenly twisting its body into a massive, glowing red mass of flesh, with countless tendrils dancing wildly, forming a shimmering red light shield that fully encased it. As the silver flame met the red shield, immediate flashes of silver and red light erupted in the center, creating a tense standoff. Han Li, witnessing this, silently murmured, "Indeed, so it is." This phoenix, born with the innate ability to consume various spiritual flames, has even more pronounced control over fire-type spiritual beasts since its last deep slumber and evolution—making it perfectly suited to confront this fire-needled creature. "I didn't expect you to have cultivated both the refined flame of the Jinyan Fire and the extinguishing gaze of the Mofa Eye, especially to such a mature level. It seems I must give it my all now." Finally, Ma Liang released his hands from his head, the pain previously etched on his face now completely gone. Yet, after a swift glance at the strange dragon and the silver phoenix, he spoke with an unusually calm demeanor. "Hmph. Go ahead and demonstrate whatever techniques you have." Ban Sheng, the divine demon god, coldly snorted, completely ignoring him and sweeping his heavy weapon downward with a powerful strike. Ma Liang's form blurred momentarily, then vanished from his original spot. When he reappeared at another location through instant teleportation, he was now holding a golden pill in his hand—its surface shimmering with a steady, milky aura, and faintly emitting a subtle incense fragrance. "I never thought I'd reach the day of swallowing a True Soul Pill whole. Later on, I won't kill you immediately, but instead, I'll make you experience a myriad of agonizing, unbearable sufferings," Ma Liang gritted his teeth and said. With a mere flick of his wrist, he launched his golden elixir straight into his mouth and swallowed it down at once. At that moment, a fierce wind surged, sweeping away the white mist and revealing the true scene within. Deep in the mist, besides Ma Liang, there stood another young man whose appearance and attire were identical to Ma Liang's, save for his dark, ink-black skin. This young man looked pale and strange, slowly drawing back an arm that had been bent into an unnatural shape. It was this arm that had just blocked five powerful attacks. "Really useless," the dark-skinned youth murmured. "A mere mortal from the lower realm—how could you let me summon even me? Considering all these years of your respect and devotion, I'll give you one more chance. I'll settle this young man right now." With a simple shake of his arm, it instantly straightened out, emitting a crisp, crackling sound. "But, Magister, keep his immortal essence," Ma Liang said fiercely. "I've paid such a great price. If I don't settle this matter now, my mind and cultivation will never advance again." "Ha ha, that's no problem," the young man with dark skin smiled. "An extraterrestrial demon!" The six-eyed Van Saint Demon's blue glow flashed simultaneously, then roared in a deep, resonant voice. "You're quite accurate in your guess, but unfortunately, no reward!" The young man sneered, then with a single foot press against the void, shot forward like a launched arrow. In a single flicker, he reached the Van Saint Demon. The Van Saint Demon roared, raising his five heavy weapons across his chest, which swirled into a golden gust of wind. A strange, high-pitched laugh then echoed, and the young man's body shimmered with dark magical flames. After a brief blur, he seemed to pass through the air as if intangible, surging straight through the five weapons and piercing the Van Saint Demon's body from front to back. At that very moment, five mighty warriors emitted a resonant hum, then shattered piece by piece. A dark, gaping hole suddenly appeared in the abdomen of the Fàn Shèng Māshén, from which a surge of roaring magical flames erupted, submerging the surrounding void entirely... Ma Liang witnessed this scene and immediately burst into loud laughter. But at that instant, a faint voice, softly inscribed with the words "Hole, Spiral, Golden Light," drifted through the sky and reached his ears—upon hearing it, a sharp, piercing pain like a lance thrust directly into his head sent him gasping in agony, his body bowing down, unable to attend to anything else. Almost simultaneously, a towering, three-headed, six-armed spectral figure materialized above Ma Liang's head. With just a subtle movement of five of its arms, five golden orbs shot forth, colliding with one another to form a vast, radiant golden vortex. A powerful wave surged forth from within, instantly enveloping the space beneath. Ma Liang felt the surrounding void tighten suddenly, and his body became completely immobile. At that moment, the final arm of the triple-bodied, six-armed phantom, holding the wooden sword, stirred. A resonant hum of primordial earth and sky energy surged, and a slender, dark-green thread shot out, slicing straight through Ma Liang's protective spiritual aura and flashing past his neck. With a rolling sound, his head tumbled off with remarkable force. "Thud!" The lifeless body then rolled over and collapsed.