Chapter 154: Burning the Soul Core, Detonating the Divine Artifact!
The battlefield in the deep sea had already become a quagmire of despair.
The Demonic Emperor's colossal, dark-purple form, as immense as a mountain range, was like a nightmare that had existed since time immemorial. Every undulation, every shriek, carried the terrifying might to crush everything in its path.
Chen Yunshen, the Sea Princess, and the Giant Pincer Crab King — these three powerhouses who could each command awe and respect in the outside world — were now like small boats tossed in a raging storm. They could only struggle bitterly beneath the overwhelming demonic power, barely maintaining their footing above the abyss.
"Urgh—!"
Chen Yunshen took yet another direct hit from a dark current imbued with the Demonic Emperor's abyssal, chaotic power. Even with the curtain of azure light cascading from the sea god helmet to shield him, the terrifying shockwaves penetrated his defenses, smashing squarely into his chest.
He could no longer suppress the churning in his chest. A mouthful of scalding blood gushed forth, staining the seawater before him crimson. His face instantly turned as pale as parchment.
The phantom of the trident in his hand had long since grown dim, with even fine cracks beginning to appear at its edges. The sea god helmet still emitted a glow, but compared to before, this radiance was noticeably weaker, like a candle flame in the wind.
Continuously activating this divine artifact to combat the Demonic Emperor, whose power had surged dramatically, had taken a massive toll on both his Soul Power and his spirit.
The Sea Princess's situation nearby was even more dire. Her injuries from before had not yet healed, and now, in her desperate bid to disrupt the Demonic Emperor, she had recklessly overdrawn her own Spiritual energy. Her ethereal song had long since turned hoarse and fragmented. Not a trace of color remained on her stunningly beautiful face; her eyes were unfocused, as if she might lose consciousness at any moment.
The Giant Pincer Crab King was in the most pitiful state. Its proud, sturdy carapace was covered in a web of cracks. One of its massive pincers had even been grazed by the Demonic Emperor's destructive breath, leaving it charred black and hanging limply. Its aura had weakened to an extreme low.
Defeat was certain.
All three of them realized this clearly. The Demonic Emperor's strength far exceeded their worst estimates. It wasn't merely a suppression in terms of energy level; it carried a chaotic, corrosive quality originating from the abyss itself, which eroded their willpower and made their combined efforts seem utterly feeble.
"Heh... Hahaha! Struggle! Wail! This is the price for daring to challenge this Emperor!"
A cruel, gleeful light flickered in the Demonic Emperor's single eye. It reveled in the despair of its prey in their death throes. Its colossal body slowly advanced, its dark-purple energy spreading out like a tide, seeking to completely engulf and crush the three.
The shadow of death had never been clearer.
Looking at the Sea Princess swaying unsteadily beside him, and at the Giant Pincer Crab King, whose aura was faint but who still used its broken body to shield the front, an indescribable resolve surged within Chen Yunshen's heart.
He was the Sea God Douluo, the clan head of the Sea God Family for this generation, bearing the mission to protect the balance of the ocean.
The Sea Princess had braved peril to shelter all living beings. Even a being from a different race like the Giant Pincer Crab King could stand up for justice. How could he, Chen Yunshen, shrink back now, allowing the Demonic Emperor to run rampant and turn this great sea into a dead zone?
Betray the expectations of his ancestors? Let this faith passed down for tens of thousands of years be tarnished? No! Absolutely not!
A mad thought, like a wildfire sweeping across the plains, instantly occupied his entire mind.
He recalled the forbidden method recorded in his clan's secret texts—a final measure to be used only when the family faced annihilation, to defend the glory of the Sea God: Burning Soul, Shattering Artifact, the Divine Perishing Strike!
This method required burning the caster's most core Soul Core, resonating it completely with the inherited divine artifact, even to the point of... detonating the artifact! All power, all conviction, all life essence would be ignited and erupted in an instant, transforming into an attack that surpassed all limits, rivaling divine punishment!
The cost was the caster's cultivation plummeting, their foundation damaged, and the divine artifact... utterly destroyed, severing a lineage passed down for tens of thousands of years!
Chen Yunshen's gaze fell upon the sea god helmet above his head, still emitting a faint blue light. This helmet had accompanied the Sea God Family for countless ages. It was glory, power, and responsibility. Today, perhaps, was the moment for it to fulfill its final duty.
"Sea Princess, Crab King..." Chen Yunshen's voice was hoarse, yet carried an oddly calm tone. "In a moment, I will create an opening for you... You must... retreat quickly!"
Hearing this, the Sea Princess whipped her head towards Chen Yunshen. Reading the unyielding resolve in his eyes, she instantly understood. Her azure-blue eyes filled with shock and grief. "Clan Head Chen, you must not!!"
The Giant Pincer Crab King also let out a low, mournful cry.
Chen Yunshen merely shook his head, a relieved yet resolute smile appearing on his face. "Protecting the great sea is the destiny of my Sea God Family. Today, to have fought side by side with you two, I can die without regret!"
Before his words fully faded, Chen Yunshen fiercely closed his eyes!
In the next instant, the Soul Core located in his upper dantian—the core that condensed the essence of his lifelong cultivation and perfectly fused with his spiritual power—suddenly erupted with unimaginable brilliance, like dry tinder thrown into raging flames!
"Humm—!"
An indescribably terrifying aura erupted with Chen Yunshen at its center. This was not an increase in Soul Power, but the burning of his Life Origin. His hair visibly turned ashen white, his complexion lost its luster, yet the aura surrounding him skyrocketed madly at this moment, instantly shattering the shackles of his Level 99 Limit Douluo cultivation and stepping into a profound and mysterious realm!
"Roar?!" The Demonic Emperor's massive single eye contracted sharply. From that insignificant human, it actually sensed a threat that made its very soul tremble! That was... the fluctuation of power belonging to the divine level?!
"The glory of the Sea God shall not be defiled! With my Soul Core, I offer my artifact! Annihilate Evil!!"
Chen Yunshen's eyes snapped open. Within them was now only a blinding azure blue, devoid of any human emotion, containing only the purest will to judge and punish evil!
His hands thrust upward violently. The sea god helmet above his head, as if sensing Chen Yunshen's resolve, emitted one final, sorrowful yet stirring hum. Then, the ancient runes eternally flowing upon the helmet instantly brightened to their absolute limit and... exploded!
"BOOM—!!!"
A dazzling blue light, impossible to describe with words, swallowed everything in an instant like a supernova explosion. This was not a shockwave of destruction, but a condensed, ultimate azure beam of light, containing the power of the Sea God and all of Chen Yunshen's strength. Like a divine punishment spear that could cleave heaven and earth, it ignored the distance of space and instantly pierced through the Demonic Emperor's colossal body!
"NO—!!!"
The Demonic Emperor let out an unprecedented shriek, filled with extreme agony and terror. Its proud defenses, capable of withstanding semi-divine attacks, were as fragile as paper before this azure beam. The light pillar struck precisely the old wound Chen Yunshen had inflicted earlier, and then... it erupted!
Dark-purple flesh, bone... everything was annihilated inch by inch within the sacred azure radiance. A terrifying hole over a hundred meters in diameter appeared in the center of the Demonic Emperor's body, almost severing it at the waist. Abyssal energy and Sea God power clashed and annihilated each other wildly at the wound, inflicting continuous, devastating damage!
The Demonic Emperor's massive body convulsed and thrashed violently. Dark-purple blood gushed forth like a waterfall, staining vast stretches of the sea inky black.
Its frenzied aura deflated like a punctured balloon, rapidly withering. Only boundless fear and the will to survive remained in its single eye. Caring for nothing else, it mustered its last vestiges of strength, churned up a dark current, and dragging its nearly severed, ruined body, fled in utter panic towards the deeper, darker trenches of the abyss, not even having time to utter a final threat.
The azure beam of light slowly dissipated.
On the sea's surface, the tribulation clouds had long since scattered, and sunlight shone down once more. But in the deep sea, an atmosphere of solemn tragedy and desolation lingered.
Chen Yunshen floated quietly in place. The burning light surrounding him had already extinguished. His hair was completely white, his face covered in wrinkles, as if he had aged decades in an instant. His aura had plummeted from its previous peak at Level 99 Limit Douluo to the level of Level 98, and it was extremely unstable, like a flickering candle in the wind.
And that sea god helmet, inherited through unknown tens of thousands of years, had vanished without a trace. Only scattered blue stardust, fading away like teardrops, remained in its place, telling of its final glory and sacrifice.
The Sea Princess and the Giant Pincer Crab King swam to Chen Yunshen's side. Looking at his grievous state and the completely vanished sea god helmet, their hearts were filled with endless shock and profound sorrow.
In this battle, they had won. The Demonic Emperor had suffered grievous wounds, so severe it would likely take decades to recover.
But the price of this victory was far too heavy. Chen Yunshen had burned one of his Soul Cores, causing his cultivation to fall and his foundation to be damaged. And the Sea God Family's divine artifact, passed down through generations—the sea god helmet—had been completely annihilated, becoming mere history.
A pyrrhic victory could be no more bitter than this.
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