I asked you to go down the mountain and get married, not to shock the world!

With the fourth breath, he roared and slammed his fist, which was as hot as a miniature sun and contained destructive power, into the nearest dark red crystal!

“Rumble——!!!”

There was no deafening roar, only a muffled rumble that seemed to come from the depths of an abyss!

The dark red crystal that was struck by Luo Yang's fist first shrank inward, and its surface was instantly covered with spiderweb-like bright white cracks. Then, an indescribable blazing white light burst out from the cracks!

That white light was no ordinary light; it was a destructive energy that was instantly ignited and released from highly concentrated fire spiritual power and the chaotic energy absorbed inside the crystal!

Wherever the white light passed, space itself seemed to distort!

"Crack... Boom!!!"

The explosion of the first crystal was like toppling the first domino!

The violent energy instantly impacted the nearby crystals, triggering a terrifying chain reaction!

The second one, the third one...

All the dark red crystals embedded in the main body of the mother structure exploded one after another in less than half a breath!

“Ouch——!!!”

The mother plant emitted its most mournful and briefest spiritual scream in its existence.

Under the engulfing white light, its enormous body crumbled and vaporized inch by inch, starting from the main body, like an ice block thrown into a furnace!

The purple veins connecting the countless egg sacs snapped instantly, and the surging monster tide seemed to be paused. They then froze, fell to the ground, and turned into ashes!

A devastating white shockwave spread rapidly outwards in a ring shape from the mother structure!

Wherever it passed, everything—remaining egg sacs, monsters, pale ground, rock walls—was reduced to dust!

"puff!"

Ye Chuhan was the first to be hit. His Wind and Fire Wheels dimmed and shattered instantly. He spat out a mouthful of blood and was thrown backward.

Despite his weakness and shock, Ji Zhou lunged forward and grabbed Ye Chuhan.

At the same time, he used the last bit of spiritual energy to create a protective shield to envelop the two of them, but he was still violently blown away by the terrifying shockwave and crashed into the rock wall behind him. His vision went black and he almost fainted.

Those disciples of the Qingcheng Yufa Sect, though a little further away, were also hit by the shockwave, falling over and their screams were drowned out by the roar of energy.

The entire valley was shaking violently, as if it were about to collapse at any moment!

It's unclear how much time passed—perhaps just a few breaths, or perhaps an entire moment—before the devastating white light and shockwave gradually subsided.

Jizhou struggled to lift his head, shook his buzzing head, and looked towards the center of the valley...

There, the once enormous mother plant had vanished, leaving only a huge, charred pit, with some dark red crystalline residue still remaining at the bottom, emitting wisps of smoke.

The entire valley was deathly silent; no more monsters could be seen moving about.

Only the ashes and debris scattered on the ground testify to the existence of the fierce battle that had just taken place.

Was it... a success?

Jizhou was lost and confused.

What about Luo Yang?

Why is Luo Yang nowhere to be seen?!

"Did...did it succeed?" Ye Chuhan struggled to get up from beside Ji Zhou, wiped the blood from her lips, and weakly looked at the charred pit.

His eyes held a mixture of bewilderment and anticipation, as if he had survived a catastrophe.

Jizhou did not answer. His gaze was fixed on every corner of the deep pit, but his heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, and he kept sinking.

There was no sign of Luo Yang!

Not even a trace of remains, not even a fragment of his clothing, could be found!

At the epicenter of that devastating explosion, everything seemed to have vanished.

"Luo Yang... Luo Yang!!" Ji Zhou forced himself to stand up, his voice hoarse and anxious without him even realizing it, and called out to the empty, silent valley.

Only the echo of the valley responded to him, along with the bewildered gazes of the Qingcheng Yufa Sect disciples who had miraculously survived and were helping each other to their feet in the distance.

They realized something, and the joy that had just appeared on their faces froze instantly, turning into fear and grief.

“Senior Brother Luo Yang… he…” A disciple’s voice trembled, barely able to utter a complete sentence.

"No way! Senior Brother Luo Yang's cultivation is profound, he must... he must have used some secret technique to dodge it!"

Another disciple refused to believe it and staggered toward the edge of the pit, peering down in vain.

Ye Chuhan also realized the seriousness of the problem. His face turned grim as he walked to Ji Zhou's side and whispered, "Hey... that guy, could he really..."

Jizhou pursed his lips tightly, a strong sense of unease gripping his heart.

He recalled the moment before the explosion, Luo Yang's resolute gaze, and the perilous description of the Burning Meridian Technique...

The chances of survival were already extremely slim.

Did they pay such a heavy price, sacrificing Luo Yang, only to perish together?

At this moment, another change occurred!

"Om..."

A faint yet clearly audible buzzing sound suddenly came from the bottom of the charred pit!

The sound didn't come from the remaining crystal fragments, but... it seemed to come from deeper underground!

It carries a rhythm that is the same as the previous mother, but deeper and more ancient!

Immediately afterwards, under the horrified gazes of Ji Zhou and Ye Chuhan, the dark red crystalline residue at the bottom of the pit seemed to be summoned by something, and began to tremble slightly, and at a speed visible to the naked eye...

It loses its luster and turns into ordinary gray-white gravel!

At the same time, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the entire valley, no, even the core area of ​​the Valley of Ten Thousand Beasts, began to undergo an extremely strange change!

The originally wild and abundant spiritual energy seemed to have been seized again by an invisible, even larger beast, and began to flow deeper into the valley.

Or rather, they are rushing wildly toward some unknown, deeper place!

The speed was more than ten times faster than when the mother body devoured it!

An oppressive force far more terrifying and despairing than that of the mother body, like a slumbering ancient beast slowly opening its eyes, spread out from the depths of the earth!

This oppressive force was not simply devouring; rather, it carried a coldness and deathly stillness that disregarded everything, like the rules of heaven!

The remaining pale rocks in the valley began to weather and peel away at an accelerated rate under this oppressive force!

"Crack... Boom!"

The ground began to shake violently, several times stronger than the tremors caused by the previous explosion!

Huge cracks spread rapidly outwards from the center of the deep pit, like a spider web!

It looked as if some enormous creature was about to burst out of the ground!

“No… No!”

Ji Zhou's expression changed drastically, his voice distorted with extreme shock, "We...we didn't succeed at all! That mother body...it might just be...a predatory organ or a surface node of a larger entity! What we destroyed wasn't the source at all!"

Ye Chuhan also felt the oppressive force that made his soul tremble. The color drained from his face instantly, and his voice was choked with sobs.

"Damn it... what kind of hellhole is this?! Luo Yang... did Luo Yang die for nothing?!"

The disciples of the Qingcheng Imperial Law Sect were completely gripped by panic and despair. Some collapsed to the ground, while others cried out in helplessness.

The sacrifice of our team leader and the exhaustion of everything we had brought us did not result in victory, but rather awakened a deeper and more indescribable terror!