BOOM—

Amidst the mountains, a kaleidoscopic sun seemed to ignite within the shroud of light, swallowing everything whole.

Within the light.

Yang An had already stored the Forbidden Artifact Fragment in a Meat Burial Talisman, his face betraying no pain.

However, his skin suddenly dimmed, growing withered and dull. Even his hair abruptly took on a hint of crystalline silver.

Wrinkles suddenly appeared at the corners of his eyes. His face creased, and a flash of pallor and exhaustion washed over him.

He had only used the Forbidden Artifact Fragment's ability from several hundred meters away, and empowering his technique had only lasted for an instant.

But the price was indeed immense!

In that fleeting moment, he could feel his very lifespan being drained away.

He had lost at least five years!!

Fortunately, while the years of his life were gone, the physical toll vanished in an instant, leaving no trace behind.

Without fully merging with it, he could only temporarily wield the Forbidden Artifact Fragment's power—and even then, only a tenth of it at most.

If not for the Power of Rules granted by the Forbidden Artifact Fragment, he would have never even been able to touch the old man.

But even now, though his attack had landed squarely on the old man, Yang An was far from confident.

He knew he had the strength to fight a Zombie God. He might not lose, and even if he couldn't kill his opponent, he could still escape unharmed.

But killing a Zombie God outright required the power of the Unidentified Arrow.

In his battle with the old man, he had failed to kill him while he was suffering the repercussions of his power. Elder Life Crane had since recovered, escaping that weakened state.

Coupled with the fact that his Unidentified Arrow was currently unusable, the chances of killing the old man were now likely nonexistent.

However, Yang An now understood the gap between himself and the old man.

The greatest disparity wasn't in their realm or their strength, but in their mastery of the Power of Rules!

This was also the greatest distinction between a Zombie God and a Corpse Transformation.

If the Activated Forbidden Artifact Fragment in his possession had been Purified, allowing him to use it without restraint, he would have had a real chance of killing the old man.

And he could have done it without using the Unidentified Arrow! 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

After all, the old man specialized in Techniques, not physical combat.

But now...

He could still sense the Qi Seal on the old man. The old man's aura was extremely faint, but he wasn't dead yet.

As long as a single breath remained in him, he might as well be in perfect health.

In an instant, Yang An flew out of the light, escaping its brilliant shroud in the blink of an eye.

A hideous maw opened on his hand and slowly spat out a long arrow that gleamed with a faint silver light.

The Unidentified Arrow!

This arrow was connected to the Southern Dipper Celestial Sect's Forbidden Artifact. Its power had been depleted some time ago in the slaying of a Golden Soul Sect Zombie God, and it was still "recharging."

The arrow now pulsed with a significant amount of silver light, but it was still a long way from its energy reserves reaching Perfection.

This was his most powerful weapon. If the old man wasn't dead and decided to come after him, he would have no choice but to use the arrow, even if it hadn't reached a state of Perfection.

Holding the arrow, Yang An simultaneously activated the Mora Buddha's Acupoint within him, rapidly gathering Mana to prepare for whatever came next.

His gaze fell upon the epicenter of the blast. Even though he himself had unleashed the Technique, he found it difficult to look at directly.

A light like a blazing sun, its radiance eternal!

The light persisted for several moments before rapidly dissipating.

As the intense light faded, revealing the full extent of the Jade Flesh Sect's grounds, it was clear that an earth-shattering transformation had occurred.

The entire Jade Flesh Sect had been situated in a basin-like area among the mountains.

Ravaged by the intense light, countless rocks and swathes of vegetation had been completely melted away. Nothing of the Jade Flesh Sect above ground remained.

If one had to name the biggest winners of this battle, it would undoubtedly be Wen Yin and Zhou Quan.

They no longer had to worry about cleaning up.

The site of the Jade Flesh Sect had become a hemispherical crater.

CRUMBLE!

Tons of earth and rock collapsed, sliding down along the crater's edge.

At that very moment, a strange object floated motionlessly at the absolute center of the crater.

It was a strange, spherical ball of flesh!

Black ash flaked off the ball of flesh, drifting to the ground.

A shadow on the ground below it slowly expanded, and faint, shimmering barriers seemed to materialize in the surrounding air.

The ambient light refracted between these layers, creating a faint rainbow, as if through a prism.

But when Yang An saw this, his heart sank.

'This is… the Earth Spirit Stele!'

'What the hell! The old man used the Earth Spirit Stele to block my attack?'

'Doesn't that mean the old man was never in any real danger? Was the only reason his aura seemed so weak because the Earth Spirit Stele was concealing it?'

Suspicious, Yang An immediately unleashed the Great Brightness Buddha Golden Zen Spell.

Several rays of Golden Radiance manifested, shooting toward the strange ball of flesh in the crater.

Just as they came within ten feet of the flesh ball, the Golden Radiance abruptly halted, unable to advance another inch.