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"Fifth Soul Skill: Blood Essence Manifestation—Dharma Heaven Phenomenon!"
This was Xu Yuan's fifth soul skill.
To be precise, he had used it twice before, but neither time could be considered a formal activation of this skill.
Strictly speaking, this soul skill was still about the manifestation of blood essence. The "Dharma Heaven Phenomenon" was Xu Yuan's extended development of this skill, and it had only been truly completed not long ago—during the battle on Sea God Island. Using the vast life energy he had devoured from the demonic creatures, he had finally condensed the Dharma Heaven Phenomenon.
The sheer amount of blood essence required for this was immense, so much so that even Xu Yuan couldn't achieve it in one go. He had originally thought this development would take several years of gradual condensation. However, thanks to the Golden Ancient Tree's incredible assistance, his innate ability to devour was awakened within Jue's essence, allowing him to rapidly push Jue's devouring power to its current limit.
Through this, he compressed the massive energy and concentrated it into the Dharma Heaven Phenomenon.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible to explain how his soul power hadn't advanced despite absorbing such an enormous amount of energy.
During his battle with Nalundo, Xu Yuan had subtly tapped into this ability, though he hadn't fully activated it.
This time was different.
Lamo's physical strength was far too great. Even if Xu Yuan fought at the same level as he had against Nalundo, he wouldn't be able to suppress Lamo. In fact, if they were to compete purely in raw strength, Xu Yuan might even find himself overpowered.
Simply relying on speed to outmaneuver him might not attract the attention of the Chaotic North King.
Suppressing Lamo—and even putting him in mortal danger—was essential.
Thus, Xu Yuan finally unleashed his fifth soul skill.
Dharma Heaven Phenomenon.
The blood essence materialized, forming another layer of dense energy around the dual layers of his battle armor and mech suit.
Xu Yuan was enveloped in this energy form, and through the translucent crimson energy shell, his figure inside the blood essence manifestation was faintly visible.
With a single step forward, the Dharma Phenomenon caused the earth to tremble violently.
Lamo's expression grew grave.
Though he sensed that activating this ability would slow down Xu Yuan's movements, he also felt an unprecedented level of pressure.
No matter how much he relied on speed to maneuver, if he couldn't harm Xu Yuan, at least he wouldn't be in immediate danger.
However, entering this state of explosive power posed a real threat to him. If he were defeated, he wouldn't be able to escape, as Xu Yuan could simply revert from this form and pursue him. Conversely, if Lamo managed to gain the upper hand, Xu Yuan could also revert and continue maneuvering.
In short, this kind of ability, which sacrificed agility for overwhelming power, was exactly what Lamo dreaded most.
A spear thrust forward.
The heavy spear carried with it the ambient energy of heaven and earth, creating a terrifying energy tidal wave.
Under the overwhelming force of the heavens and earth, Lamo felt as though he had been struck full-on by the entire world.
Within the spear's radiance, which exuded extreme terror, there was also an overpowering force that crushed everything in its path, suffocating and oppressive.
Lamo let out a furious roar, his bloodline power surging. Purple flames swirled around his body, especially concentrated on the massive horn atop his head.
His feet pounded the ground repeatedly, propelling him forward. His enormous horn seemed capable of piercing through heaven and earth as it collided with Xu Yuan's spear.
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Lamo's Royal City
Na'er sensed the battle between Xu Yuan and Lamo and was astonished.
"As expected of Senior Brother; he has such a terrifying technique."
If Na'er were to evaluate him, she would undoubtedly consider her senior brother the most talented soul master on the continent.
Tang Wulin might possess fearsome combat strength through the power of the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, but that was external aid. In contrast, nearly all of Xu Yuan's cross-tier battle techniques were self-created, which was the most admirable aspect.
The key point was that while creating these techniques, Xu Yuan hadn't fallen behind in any other area. Instead, he had surpassed everyone.
Xu Yuan and Lamo entered a high-frequency collision.
Even when pushing himself to the limit, Xu Yuan's strength was only on par with Lamo's.
In his normal state, Xu Yuan truly couldn't fight in this form because it was far too cumbersome.
Every collision between the crimson spear shadow and Lamo's purple-flame-wreathed horn sent ripples through space, causing the surrounding ambient energy to form continuous tidal waves.
After dozens of exchanges, Lamo's expression finally changed.
He noticed it—a peculiar force was eroding his body.
His physical condition was being affected.
It wasn't an instant destruction of his body, nor was the erosion particularly severe. However, during the battle, his recovery gradually began to lag behind.
Lamo stared at Xu Yuan, his eyes burning with purple fury.
"Despicable foreigner!"
Lamo roared furiously, the flames on his horn blazing even more intensely as he thrust it forward.
Xu Yuan remained unfazed. This time, instead of clashing spear tips, he gripped the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear, swung it in a wide arc, and delivered a horizontal swipe that collided with Lamo's horn.
Both were forced back, leaving deep footprints shaped craters in the ground.
As they collided, an illusory green flame traveled along Lamo's horn and blended with his purple flames.
This green flame was the source of the erosion affecting Lamo's body.
Its origin traced back to the green light Xu Yuan had gained from the Plague Messenger's curse years ago.
He had been studying that green light ever since.
The green light's curse was unique—it didn't harm spiritual power directly but instead infiltrated it in an almost unstoppable manner. After eroding spiritual power, it would feed back into the physical body, causing it to weaken gradually, creating a curse-like effect.
Over the years, Xu Yuan had studied the medium behind this phenomenon and extracted this "curse flame" from the green light.
During the battle, as time passed, the effects of the curse flame would trigger a series of chain reactions.
Unfortunately, this curse flame couldn't be integrated into the Seven Forbidden Techniques—it wasn't about manipulating the forces of heaven and earth but rather stemmed from the unique structure of the green light, which influenced the body through spiritual power.
However, the curse flame could be integrated into the "Seal" rune, with effects similar to its integration into the Seven Forbidden Techniques.
The battle lasted three hours.
For three full hours, the two tested each other's endurance and stamina.
In reality, the gap between them wasn't significant.
Even though Xu Yuan's base attributes were inferior and his strength came from the amplification of his battle armor and mech suit, his recovery ability was similarly enhanced to match this level.
Generally speaking, augmentations like battle armor couldn't proportionally amplify recovery abilities.
But the key difference lay in Xu Yuan's mech suit!
Mech suits had exceptional endurance!
At first, the battle was evenly matched.
However, Xu Yuan resorted to underhanded tactics, using the curse flame to erode Lamo, causing Lamo's aura to grow increasingly weak.
Throughout the three hours, Lamo repeatedly surged his energy outward, sending energy fluctuations dozens of kilometers away.
Xu Yuan swept his spear horizontally, knocking Lamo back. Turning his head, he looked toward the direction of the Chaotic North King's royal city.
"Finally, are they here?"
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