The system is the proficiency panel

However, the attacks did not stop.

Whoosh whoosh!

Nearly twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators in the realm of mind attacked simultaneously from the perimeter of the barrier. They didn't approach, but instead, following their pre-arranged strategy, unleashed a variety of ranged attacks from afar. Blazing flames, ice cones, wind blades, lightning bolts, talismans imbued with the power to dispel evil and purify, and magical radiances rained down upon the trapped Harken like a torrential downpour.

Judging from the power of these attacks alone, they might not be able to cause any harm to Harken in his prime, but at this moment, he was seriously injured, his movements restricted by Pang Bin's Zhenyue Seal and Lin Ji's Space-Time Stagnation, and he had to distract himself to resist the mental suppression and interference brought by Xiao Ningxue's formation outside. These harassments suddenly became extremely threatening.

He had to use his precious energy to swing his remaining right arm, releasing corrupted energy tentacles or shields to block and disperse those attacks. Every time he blocked, his already enormous strength would be further depleted, and his movements would also have more flaws.

Xiao Ningxue hovered above the formation's core, her white hair flowing like snow. Her fingers, like strings strumming invisible harps, precisely controlled the vast, aquamarine barrier that enveloped the battlefield. The barrier not only separated the inside from the outside, but also meticulously controlled the water vapor within, creating an invisible resistance that further slowed his movements and occasionally condensed attacks like water spikes and ice locks.

Pang Bin took charge of the suppression, ensuring that Harken had no power to fight back. Lin Ji waited for an opportunity to launch a lightning attack, while the other foundation-building warriors harassed and suppressed from a distance. Xiao Ningxue's formation controlled the entire situation and purified and weakened it.

Four in one, seamless cooperation!

Harkon, despite his legendary strength, was utterly crippled by the numerous restrictions and relentless attacks. His wounds multiplied, and while not fatal, they steadily drained his blood, sapping his strength and vitality. His furious roars echoed within the barrier, yet they proved powerless to halt the ever-decreasing pressure he faced.

He tried to unleash a powerful abyss spell to break the deadlock, but every time he gathered powerful energy, Pang Bin's suppression pressure would suddenly increase. Lin Ji's sword would always accurately pierce the key nodes of his energy circulation, forcibly interrupting the spell, and the backlash force made him even more injured.

Carlos was terrified watching from the side. He wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but the enemy's attacks were following him like a shadow. He couldn't exert his full strength with the star liquid and was restricted by it.

He could only watch as Harken, his former rival, was dragged down step by step by this group of well-coordinated foreign monks like they were hunting a giant beast.

Lin Ji's eyes were icy, his form shifting like a ghost through the sometimes slow, sometimes fast, shifts of time and space. Each time he appeared, he inflicted a fresh wound on Harken's most vulnerable spot. He waited, waiting for Harken to be exhausted to the limit, for that flaw to appear that would be fatal.

Harken's breathing grew heavier, each inhale like the whine of an old bellows, frothing with blood. His dark red fighting spirit had lost its initial fury, becoming stagnant and thin, like a candle in the wind. Those irritating ranged attacks continued like a thorn in his flesh, constantly draining away his remaining strength and tearing at his newly inflicted wounds.

His crimson eyes swept over the enemies harassing him like fleas, seething with murderous intent. In his prime, he could have crushed these ants with a single roar. But now, the oppressive force exerted by that damned fat man was like an invisible quagmire, trapping him firmly in place and making it difficult to move forward. Every time he tried to gather strength to attack the periphery, the heavy pressure would suddenly intensify, forcibly pushing back any momentum he had just built.

No, if this continues, he, the great Chief Priest of Rotten Throat and a legendary strong man, will really perish here and become the record of these despicable attackers!

Despair and madness intertwined, eventually transforming into a trace of utter cruelty.

"You forced me to do this, Lord Morgaros. Please accept my servant's final offering!"

Harken let out a twisted roar, his remaining right arm yanking back, fingers clenched into claws, stabbing fiercely at his heart. An aura of utter evil, brutality, and soul-shattering violence began to surge from his body. The space around him began to distort, and dark crimson runes emerged from thin air, entwining him and whispering blasphemous words. He was sacrificing his soul and flesh, acquiring the strength to fight a final blow to the abyss!

Lin Ji, who had been roaming around like a ghost, constantly inflicting more wounds on Harken, suddenly felt his pupils shrink. He was extremely sensitive to energy fluctuations and immediately sensed the frantic, unstable, and destructive energy within Harken's body.

"Master Pang, Five Elements Void!"

Lin Ji's spiritual consciousness roared like thunder, exploding in the mind of Master Pang Bin.

Without any hesitation, not even time to think, Master Pang Bin had absolute trust in Lin Ji's judgment. His slightly plump body suddenly straightened, and his hands, which had been maintaining the Zhenyue Seal, suddenly withdrew and clasped them in front of his chest. The usual friendly smile on his face had long since been replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.

Five-colored radiance erupted from his body, corresponding to the power of the Five Elements. These hues weren't chaotic, but rather blended and circulated in an incomparably mysterious pattern, frantically compressing and condensing between his clasped palms. The Five Elements intertwined, circulating endlessly. Power instantly surged exponentially, transforming into an indescribably dangerous energy core!

At the moment when the chaotic energy core reached its peak.

Time and space movement!

Lin Ji's mind locked onto Pang Bin and the destructive energy poised to burst forth from his palm. Space rippled like water, and Pang Bin's figure instantly vanished from the spot.

The next moment.

He appeared directly in front of Harken, who was performing a sacrifice and whose body was covered in dark red blasphemous runes, almost face to face.

Master Pang Bin's eyes opened wide, his eyes flashed with brilliance, and he suddenly pushed his clasped palms forward!

"Five Elements·Dongxu!"

A terrifying beam of light that could not be accurately described with color, which seemed to contain all the energy attributes between heaven and earth, yet was ultimately chaos and nothingness, surged out from the palm of Master Pang Bin. Wherever the beam passed, all matter was instantly annihilated.

Harken's eyes, madly burning with the fires of the abyss, were instantly filled with the all-consuming light so close at hand. His sacrificial ritual had barely begun, and the power he'd gained hadn't yet fully unleashed when this ultimate blow, condensed with the full might of a Five Elements Golden Core True Person and guided by the principles of mutual generation, struck him squarely and directly.

No screams.

Harken's body, his shell transforming into an abyssal form, instantly disintegrated, vaporized, and annihilated! The dark red blasphemous runes melted silently like ice and snow encountering the scorching sun. The abyssal power he had just absorbed, losing its carrier, suddenly dissipated.

The beam of light lasted only a moment before dissipating.

Master Pang Bin's aura dropped a lot in an instant. In order to ensure a fatal blow, this attack drained most of his spiritual power.

In front of him, Harken had already vanished. Only the annihilated earth before him proved that the earth-shattering blow had ever occurred.

The chief priest of Embrace of the Rotmaw, the legendary warrior Harkon the Hearteater, was destroyed both physically and spiritually!

The entire battlefield fell into dead silence.

Even Carlos, who was fighting with Pu Jianxing in the distance, was shocked by this sudden and extremely terrifying attack. His movements suddenly stopped and he was almost injured by Pu Jianxing's sword intent.

Lin Ji's figure quietly appeared beside Pang Bin.

"Thank you for your hard work, Master Pang."

Pang Bin took a breath, shook his head, and looked at the empty space in front of him. A trace of palpitations and fear flashed in his eyes.

"Thanks to Michiko... the timing was perfect."

If Harken's sacrifice was completed at night, it would be troublesome.

Lin Ji turned his cold gaze towards Carlos, whose expression changed drastically.

The biggest threat has been eliminated.

Now, it's time to tackle the next one.

……

Carlos watched helplessly as Harken was completely annihilated by the terrifying beam of light, leaving no trace behind. The blood color on his face instantly faded away.

The extremely heavy drop of star liquid was still tightly grasped in his twisted right hand, but now it felt like a red-hot iron, burning his soul so much that it trembled.

Escape? Where to? The fat man, who could seriously injure or even kill Harken, had lost his breath, but he clearly still had some strength left. The elusive young man, with his razor-sharp swordsmanship, stared at him coldly. Farther away, a group of ants, working in perfect harmony.

The Shadow Ripper, the weapon he relied on to save his life, was already half-destroyed by the unknown liquid, and his internal strength had been greatly depleted during the previous battle and against Pu Jianxing. Fighting head-on would only lead to his death, just like Harken, a complete destruction.

The reason why Carlos could become the second-in-command of the Ash Merchant Corps in the cannibalistic Quicksand Forest was not only because of his ruthlessness, but also because of his ability to judge the situation and his cunningness to bend and stretch.

In a split second, the instinct for survival overwhelmed all greed and unwillingness.

He suddenly threw the drop of dazzling but troublesome liquid in his hand towards Lin Ji like a hot potato. This meant giving up but was also a tribute.

Then, with a thud, Carlos, the notorious Bloody Hand in the Quicksand Forest, knelt on his knees without hesitation, raised his only remaining intact left hand high, and shouted in a hoarse but clear voice.

"Stop, I surrender! The treasure belongs to you, I admit defeat!"

He spoke very quickly, fearing that if he was even a second slower he would be overwhelmed by the overwhelming attack.

"I'm useful to you! I know all of the Ash Merchants' secret channels, treasure troves, and shady deals with the powerful figures in the Eternal Glorious Forest and even the Dust Throne! I can help you take control of the Quicksand Forest more quickly and clean up the remaining Rotmaw debris. Sparing my life is far more valuable than killing me!"

He knelt there, trying to straighten his upper body, trying to make himself look more valuable, rather than a begging dog, but his slightly trembling body still revealed his inner fear. His shrewd eyes quickly scanned Lin Ji, judging who was the real decision maker, his eyes filled with urgent pleading and a deep fear of death.

The sudden change caused the atmosphere to stagnate. Everyone turned to Lin Ji, awaiting his decision. Pu Jianxing retracted his sword slightly, but remained firmly locked on Carlos. Master Pang Bin quickly controlled his breathing while watching vigilantly. Xiao Ningxue maintained the barrier to prevent any accidents.

Lin Ji reached out and used teleportation to move the incoming star fluid to his side. He looked at Carlos, who was kneeling and begging for mercy, incoherently exposing his own worth, with a deep gaze that revealed no emotion.

At the bottom of the chasm, the air seemed frozen. Carlos knelt on the ground, his head bowed, his only remaining left hand raised high, his posture humbled to the very core of the world. The drop of brilliant star fluid hovered beside Lin Ji, its soft light illuminating his calm face, a stark contrast to Carlos's violently heaving chest and the cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

Lin Ji's gaze was like a substance, slowly sweeping over Carlos' twisted and broken right arm, his body trembling slightly with fear, and finally landing on his eyes that were trying hard to hide his panic and show his value.

Time seemed to have passed for a long time, yet it seemed like only a moment.

Just when Carlos was about to be crushed by the pressure of silence, Lin Ji finally spoke, his voice flat and without any emotion.

"Master Pang, seal his power."

"Yes, Daozi."

Master Pang Bin stepped forward, his usual amiable smile plastered upon his face, but his eyes were as sharp as a knife. He formed hand seals, and earth-yellow spiritual energy transformed into several condensed rune chains. These, as if possessed of life, wrapped around Carlos' body, instantly absorbing him. Carlos groaned, feeling as if his own Dou Qi had been crushed by a boulder, completely silencing it. His half-ruined legendary arm armor also dimmed, unable to mobilize even a fraction of its power. He was completely crippled, his face paler still.

Lin Ji then nodded slightly, expressing his satisfaction with Pang Bin's handling of the matter. He looked at Carlos and said calmly:

"Your life is temporarily saved. Whether it's worth it or not will depend on your subsequent performance. If you lie or act strangely..."

He didn't finish his words, but the cold murderous intent in his voice made Carlos shudder. He quickly lowered his head, his voice dry.

"I dare not, absolutely not!"

"Better so."

Lin Ji stopped looking at him and turned his gaze to Xiao Ningxue.

"Ningxue, retract the formation, clean up the traces, and prepare to evacuate."

Xiao Ningxue nodded, flicking her fingers gently. The vast aquamarine barrier enveloping the rift slowly receded like a tide, its light fading into the underground rock wall, as if it had never appeared. Simultaneously, she manipulated the Small World Pearl, retracting the grayish-white bead into her palm and carefully examining it, confirming that the fierce battle within had not caused any substantial damage to this precious spatial artifact.

"Yun Shitian, lead your men to search the canyon and confirm that no one has escaped. All traces of the battle, especially the bodies of the Rotmaw Cultists and Ash members, must be thoroughly cleansed and disposed of."

"understand!"

Yun Shitian grinned and immediately dispersed with several foundation-building cultivators.

"Daoyan, monitor the surroundings and anticipate any possible accidents. Master Pang, please keep an eye on Carlos."

Lin Ji gave clear instructions one by one, and everyone followed his instructions in an efficient and orderly manner.

Soon, Yun Shitian reported that the canyon had been cleared and there were no survivors except them. All traces had been removed.

"Walk."

Lin Ji waved his hand, and everyone, carrying the ashen-faced Carlos, turned into streaks of light and quietly left the rift valley that had just buried a legend and many elites, and rushed towards the stronghold.