Crossing the Cultivation Realm: Two Souls Coexist

This once lush coastal forest has now been reduced to scorched earth ravaged by elements.

The towering ancient trees were uprooted, their exposed roots covered in mud, pointing desperately towards the sky.

Or it might break in half, the fractured part charred and carbonized, still emitting wisps of smoke.

Flames leaped and spread among the denser canopies of trees, their tongues greedily licking at anything flammable, turning half the sky an ominous orange-red.

Just a stone's throw from this hellish scene, another region is ruled by an eerie, extreme cold—

Trees, bushes, and even the ground were completely frozen solid by thick, crystal-clear ice. Icicles hung upside down, reflecting a cold yet beautiful, and chilling light under the firelight.

The air was filled with the smell of burning, the damp, fishy smell of evaporating water vapor, and a pungent, ozone-like odor characteristic of excessive release of elemental energy.

Li Yan leaned against the remains of a giant tree, half charred and half covered in frost, his chest heaving violently like a broken bellows.

His Dongying-style military uniform was unrecognizable, riddled with holes from the flames, its edges curled and charred.

On the exposed skin, large areas of burn marks intertwined with wounds frozen by fine ice crystals, presenting a terrifying mottled appearance.

His pair of black iron gauntlets, which had accompanied him in battle for decades and drunk the blood of alien demons, were now covered with spiderweb-like cracks, as if they would completely shatter at any moment.

Blood flowed down his arm, dripping onto the scorched ground with a soft "sizzling" sound.

His hands, the fists that had shattered countless demon heads, were now trembling slightly uncontrollably, a sign that both his spiritual and physical strength were on the verge of exhaustion.

About thirty feet away, in a relatively intact shadow, the night stood still like a sculpture.

A wide, jet-black robe enveloped him from head to toe, and the deep shadow cast by the hood completely obscured his face.

Only the staff in his hand, with its ancient design and a dark gem inlaid at the top, emitted a faint yet undeniable energy fluctuation under the flickering firelight.

During this brief but tense standoff, the surrounding air seemed to ripple like water.

More than ten array patterns, each with a different color and complex structure, quietly appeared on the ground and in the air.

Like a lurking venomous snake, it subtly sealed off all of Li Yan's escape routes.

"You can still kill yourself now."

The sound of the night was dry and hoarse, like two rough pebbles rubbing against each other.

The sounds echoed across the battlefield, a mixture of deathly silence and deafening explosions, carrying a subtle weariness and a cold indifference that seemed to control life and death.

Li Yan spat out a mouthful of saliva containing black blood clots, mixed with dirt and ice shards.

With unwavering willpower, he used his arms to support himself against the charred tree trunk, gradually straightening his body until he finally stood up, albeit shakily, entirely on his own strength.

Although his body was swaying precariously, his spine remained straight, and his eyes, like those of a lion driven to the brink of despair, were sharp, weary, yet burning with an indomitable flame.

He twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile mixed with blood and mockery:

"Suicide? Ha... Do you think I, Li Yan, am the kind of incompetent coward who clings to life and fears death?"

The soldiers of Dongying have never heard of the word 'surrender'!

If we're going to fight, we'll fight to our last breath! If we're going to die, we'll die standing!

He took a deep breath, his chest expanding violently, which aggravated all his wounds, bringing a sharp pain, but he gritted his teeth and did not utter a groan.

He frantically squeezed and extracted the last remaining spiritual energy from his nearly depleted dantian, forcibly pouring it into his pair of nearly broken gauntlets.

"Om-"

With a deep hum, a pair of condensed golden lion head phantoms reappeared on the gauntlets.

However, this lion's shadow was much dimmer and more illusory than in its prime, with its edges constantly fluctuating, as if it might dissipate at any moment.

But it still exudes the majesty of the king of beasts and a fierce fighting spirit, emitting a silent roar.

"Break it for me!"

Li Yan roared, his voice echoing across the surrounding area, as if he were pouring out all his pain, resentment, and anger.

He turned and threw a punch, the golden lion shadow crashing into the earthen-yellow array light screen behind him that had just lit up and was trying to restrict his movements.

"Crack!"

The light curtain shattered instantly, turning into streaks of light that vanished.

Using the recoil from that punch, Li Yan moved like a wounded tiger pouncing on its prey.

Like a resolute meteor tearing through the darkness, dragging its broken body, it launched its final charge towards the location of night in a straight, unwavering trajectory!

His steps were unsteady and heavy, each step leaving a deep, bloody footprint on the scorched, muddy ground, like a cluster of poignant red plum blossoms in full bloom.

Night stood still, his wide hood slightly drooping, the shadow concealing all his expressions.

They seemed completely unmoved by Li Yan's desperate attack, yet also seemed to feel regret for something.

The gem at the top of the staff shimmered slightly, its frequency matching the rhythm of his withered fingers, hidden beneath his sleeves, gently tapping the staff.

Just as Li Yan broke through the final ten or so feet, his fist, burning with golden flames, was about to touch the black-robed figure—

Night rose. In the shadow of the hood, two invisible gazes seemed to pierce the darkness and fall upon Li Yan's resolute face.

He sighed softly, a sigh so faint it was almost inaudible, yet it reached Li Yan's ears clearly, carrying a sense of helplessness bordering on pity:

"Why bother……"

Before he finished speaking, he lightly tapped his staff!

"Om-!"

Centered on the staff, an invisible energy wave instantly spread out, sweeping across the entire battlefield!

In an instant, all the pre-arranged formations were activated simultaneously!

Cold, hot, corrosive, binding... all kinds of energy surged out violently, turning this area into a true elemental hell!

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—hiss!"

Dozens of icy shards, radiating a bone-chilling cold, shot towards us from all directions at different angles, as if they had come to life.

They didn't attack blindly, but precisely blocked all possible dodge spaces for Li Yan in all directions, forcing him to take the hits!

At the same time, with two soft "poof" sounds, two black humanoid figures made entirely of shadow energy and without a fixed shape emerged from the shadow beneath Li Yan's feet!

They coiled around him like ghosts, without any real offensive power, but tried to bind his hands and feet with cold, shadowy tentacles, greatly interfering with and slowing down his movements and speed.

"Go away!"

Li Yan roared and unleashed a barrage of punches with both fists. The golden lion-like shadow tore and shattered the two shadowy humanoid figures, turning them into wisps of black smoke that dissipated.

But in that brief moment of delay, a deadly attack had already arrived!