"Poof."
The silver orb of energy pushed forward slowly, but just as it neared, the Annihilation Finger dissipated into ash, vanishing without a trace.
Chen Xiaoming paused in surprise. Was this Heaven-Tier Dou Technique really that weak? Or… was he just that strong?
Buzz...
Heaven and earth trembled as an immense aura erupted. Chen Xiaoming focused his gaze, only to see the old man's body now shrouded in an aura of utter annihilation. Once again, he extended a single finger.
With that gesture, the very sky seemed to freeze. From the void above, a wave of annihilation—like something summoned from the depths of the Nether—swept across the heavens, a terrifying tide crashing down with suffocating force.
In a blink, the annihilation condensed into a dark stormcloud. Beneath its shadow, a colossal, pitch-black finger—over thirty meters wide—pierced through the cloud cover and descended from the sky, pressing heavily toward Chen Xiaoming!
This was the Grand Annihilation Finger, a Heaven-Tier Dou Technique that condensed the essence of annihilation itself. The elder intended to finish Chen Xiaoming in a single blow.
The massive obsidian finger radiated an overwhelming aura of extinction, as if all vitality under it would be reduced to dust. As it fell, the void along its path shattered, tearing a spatial rift that stretched nearly a kilometer.
The air fractured with it, and the crushing force of annihilation bore down like a mountain range collapsing. That apocalyptic pressure caused the spatial Divine Power within Chen Xiaoming to momentarily stall.
"Break!"
With a thunderous shout, the dazzling silver light erupted from his body. The energy orb gathered on his right fist shot forward, instantly shattering the oppressive spatial lock.
Boom!
The silver orb burst outward, detonating with radiant brilliance. Space ripped open in its wake, spawning gaping fissures hundreds of meters long that devoured everything in their path.
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding...
From within the orb, six radiant halos surged forth, each expanding to enormous size and hovering in midair. Terrifying energy gathered within them as Heaven and Earth Dou Qi flooded in like a tidal wave.
Whoosh!
From the white halo, Dou Qi condensed into a delicate bamboo stalk, ten sections tall and crystal clear, its leaves exuding boundless vitality.
Rustle...
As wind stirred the forest, a towering ancient tree emerged atop the yellow halo, its verdant branches swaying gently, emitting soft whispers.
Roar!
A fierce roar followed as a pitch-black panther materialized atop the black halo. It stood a hundred meters tall, eyes glowing with eerie light, and a terrifying aura rippled from its form.
Huff...
A soft snowflake descended, and suddenly, the once-clear sky was consumed by a blizzard. From the red halo emerged a graceful, ethereal figure, formed within the storm, sovereign over this world of ice and wind.
Boom!
The golden halo flared with heat as a colossal illusory figure appeared, cloaked in silver light, as if standing half in this world, half beyond it.
The aura of annihilation bore down, but the six summoned figures gazed at one another, then charged forward as one to meet it.
The massive figure twirled a silver spear in its hand. In an instant, the other five merged into its form, and with a single thrust of the spear, the sky itself cracked—countless fractures splitting across the heavens like shattered glass.
Bang!
Spear met Annihilation Finger, and the impact unleashed a cataclysmic shockwave. Space between them crumbled, riddled with rifts like a vast spiderweb. The battlefield quaked as energy surged wildly in every direction.
Mountains and forests below had already been laid to waste—flattened earth and endless scars marked the ground in a tapestry of ruin.
The energy waves—rich with destruction and streaked with radiant silver light—erupted like a dazzling firework, illuminating the sky with overwhelming splendor.
Whoosh!
Instead of retreating, Chen Xiaoming surged forward. The massive figure in the sky mirrored his motion, brandishing the brilliant silver spear and launching another thrust toward the elder.
A single flash of cold light came first; the spear thrust followed. The radiant silver glow was as blinding as the sun, piercing the sky itself.
The elder's expression shifted. This strike… it's different. A tangible, unstoppable force surged from the spear—it was unlike anything he had felt before.
"Haah!"
With a resounding cry, Chen Xiaoming fused into the giant figure, and from the Azurewood Tree that had remained dormant until now, the golden Shrouding Dragonfruit was finally activated.
Heaven and Earth Dou Qi surged toward him, forming a vast vortex.
The vortex siphoned energy from a radius of ten thousand miles, reversing course and pouring it into him. The sheer force threatened to rupture the void. Chen Xiaoming, bathed in golden light, stood at the center, absorbing the energy without pause.
The massive illusory form behind him grew clearer—silver light solidifying into armor, making him look like a god of war. The silver spear glowed with engraved runes, and even its trembling caused ripples in the space around them.
"This... How is this possible?"
The previously composed elder was finally shaken. That overwhelming Dou Qi—he had only ever sensed it from high-star Dou Saints.
What he now faced was like an ocean of power. The reverse-flowing energy from the vortex condensed into droplets—substantial, visible, and threatening.
"How can his body withstand this?"
Doubt and confusion filled the elder's eyes. Chen Xiaoming's cultivation was only at the Dou Ancestor level. Even with secret techniques to raise his power, the strength of his body and his Dou Qi capacity shouldn't have changed.
And yet he showed no signs of collapse.
What the elder didn't know was that Chen Xiaoming had activated the Shrouding Dragonfruit, and the energy of Ninefold Dragon Transformation was protecting his body from within. His limbs, meridians, organs, bones, and spine all radiated golden light, absorbing and dispersing the overwhelming Dou Qi.
Boom!
A pillar of Dou Qi pierced the sky. The vortex of energy was completely devoured. The giant figure opened its eyes, like an ancient war god reborn. The tip of the spear twitched, and the figure vanished with a ripple.
"Not good!"
The elder, who had just finished condensing his Dou Qi, instantly sensed the looming danger. He pointed once more—the Grand Annihilation Finger surged forward again.
A silent rift tore open in the sky. Then—blinding brilliance erupted as a beam of icy silver light pierced the heavens.
The spear's glint narrowed to a single point of light, aimed directly at the elder's forehead.
"Grand Annihilation Finger!"
The elder shouted with fury. All the annihilation he had gathered surged into a single fingertip. He struck again, the void tearing open, and grey annihilation flowed out like smoke.
Silver and grey slowly approached in midair.
Time itself seemed to slow.
A chilling premonition rose in Xiao Xun'er's heart as the two forces collided...
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