Chapter 9: The Power of Self-Destruction (Part 1)

Si Debing and Lei Zhenhuo laughed heartily. Both believed that the other three had run out of tricks and could not escape. Even though Guo Shier’s Soul Calming Cauldron was powerful, with their combined strength, they were certain to defeat him.
Guo Shier said, “Halechi, let’s join forces.”
Wang Keer jumped off Guo Shier’s altar and brought out her own altar, saying, “The three of us should work together!”
Si Debing and Lei Zhenhuo exchanged a glance. Si Debing said, “Let me say it again—if you agree to join our family, I might spare your lives. Otherwise… I’ll have no choice but to kill you. Although killing a high-level altar practitioner is considered taboo, you’ve already threatened our family.”
Lei Zhenhuo said, “Even if you accept our family’s offer… I’ll still place soul talismans on you.”
A flash of anger appeared in Guo Shier’s eyes as he said calmly, “I have no interest in your family at all.”
Lei Zhenhuo replied coldly, “Then we won’t spare you. Kill them!”
Guo Shier unleashed the tentacles of Guxi Bi, along with his Umbrella Tower Sacrificial Treasure. Together with the Soul Calming Cauldron and Moon Blade, he had almost exhausted all his tactics. Halechi also fought desperately, bringing out his strongest defensive sacrificial treasure and preparing his Thunder Axe. Even Wang Keer, the weakest among them, released her sacrificial treasure. She might not be able to defeat her opponents, but she could at least harass them and distract them.
Lei Zhenhuo was skilled at controlling fire. Like Qi Wu Zhen, he was also an altar practitioner of the fire element. Of course, compared to a master like Qi Wu Zhen, he still had a long way to go. His sacrificial treasure was a spear that spewed flames.
The Soul Calming Cauldron suddenly expanded, enveloping the three of them and protecting them with layers of colored light. It rotated slowly. At this point, Guo Shier could only rely on the Soul Calming Cauldron to hold off his opponents. The old man also appeared and said, “There’s no need to panic. The quality of this Soul Calming Cauldron should be at least ninth rank. I’m not sure just how powerful it is, but this is a good chance to test it.” He himself wasn’t sure about its exact rank, as it had been refined many times but never used in battle, so he couldn’t determine its grade.
Guo Shier smiled bitterly and said, “Using the Soul Calming Cauldron for testing… Honestly, I’m a bit reluctant. So much effort and materials have been invested into it. If something goes wrong, even killing those two won’t make up for the loss.”

The handsome old man said, “What’s there to fear about losses, fool? One must live… No matter how much is lost, it can be recovered. But if you die… there’s nothing left…” He understood this all too well. If not for Guo Shier’s attempt to absorb souls, he would have continued to stay in that damaged altar, eventually meeting certain doom.

The first to act was Si Debing. His blue long sword transformed into a torrential stream, charging toward Guo Shier’s Soul Calming Cauldron. To kill Guo Shier and the other two, they had to break through the cauldron’s defenses—a fact both Si Debing and Lei Zhenhuo were well aware of.

This time, Halechi was much smarter. Instead of trying to fight head-on, he launched attacks from the side. His Thunder Axe summoned flashes of lightning and roars of thunder, striking wildly from the side and causing Si Debing’s attacks to miss their target. Although his strike didn’t achieve its goal, Si Debing’s attacks were still disrupted, failing to hit the Soul Calming Cauldron head-on and instead deviating slightly. Though it seemed like just a slight deviation, it reduced the force of his attacks by at least one-third.

Boom!

Hum…

A deep, bell-like vibration rang out, with layers of colored light spreading outward, instantly dissipating the attack. Guo Shier breathed a sigh of relief. He realized the Soul Calming Cauldron’s defensive power was extremely strong—Si Debing’s attacks vanished before even touching the cauldron.

The handsome old man cheered, “Great! What an excellent cauldron!”

Lei Zhenhuo finally couldn’t hold back and also took action. Two professionals from the ninth-tier altars attacked Guo Shier. Now, Guo Shier felt the danger, but there was nowhere to dodge. The area was completely enclosed by magic arrays, making evasion impossible. He had no choice but to withstand the attacks head-on.

The most infuriating was Lei Zhenhuo. He calmly activated his sacred artifact—a spear that spewed flames. With the enhancement of various magical symbols and by absorbing flames from the surroundings, it expanded to five or six hundred meters in length, resembling a giant pillar. As he cast a spell, the pillar-like spear soared high into the sky.

Guo Shier looked up and couldn’t help but curse. That thing looked truly terrifying. Guo Shier and the handsome old man simultaneously used magical symbols to reinforce the Soul Calming Cauldron, which began to contract, with the colored light becoming even more intense. Guo Shier said, “Handsome old man, I’m not sure if we can hold out this time.”

The handsome old man smiled bitterly. “I hope the Soul Calming Cauldron can be a bit more resilient…”

Halechi and Wang Keer turned pale. If their opponent’s sacred artifact descended from the sky, its power would be unimaginable.

Guo Shier knew he couldn’t let his opponent’s sacrificial pen pierce downward directly. Although the Soul Calming Cauldron was incredibly sturdy, he still didn’t dare take the risk. So he kept moving within a very small range, preventing the opponent from locking onto him. A huge threat loomed above, as Si Debing’s blue long sword also pressed relentlessly on Guo Shier, trying to keep him immobile. Both Halechi and Wang Keer knew that if the Soul Calming Cauldron failed to resist, the outcome would be tragic—not only would Guo Shier be doomed, but they too would not survive. A deafening roar filled the air as the flaming spear plunged straight down from the sky. Suddenly, the lid of the Soul Calming Cauldron opened, and a massive beam of light burst forth from its mouth, striking the flaming spear wave after wave. It seemed as though the spear had pierced into water, with an immense force holding it back. Yet the flaming spear’s power was also enormous, forcing Guo Shier to fall continuously downward. The Soul Calming Cauldron trembled violently. Guo Shier’s face turned crimson as he spat out a mouthful of blood, which turned into countless blood talismans and rushed frantically into the cauldron. In a flash, several more beams of golden light shot out from the cauldron’s mouth, finally blocking the descending spear. Leizhenhuo laughed loudly, “Good! Haha! You actually managed to block my attack! Then let’s try again…” The flaming spear flew back up into the sky as he prepared to launch another attack. Si Debing’s blue long sword transformed into a stream of blades and charged forward. Guo Shier gritted his teeth and shouted, “Halechi!” The Moon Blade also turned into a stream of blades, striking together with Halechi’s Thunder Axe. Boom! Boom! Halechi and Guo Shier both recoiled backward at the same time, the Moon Blade shattering with loud cracks. Halechi’s face turned pale as he forced down the blood rushing to his mouth, a trail of blood flowing from the corner of his lips. He gasped for breath and said, “He’s… too strong…” With their last desperate efforts, the two managed to block the blue blade stream, but they were also severely injured. Despair appeared in the eyes of Halechi and Wang Keer. With their combined strength, there was no way they could defeat two professionals at the ninth-tier altar. Continuing to fight would mean all three of them would die here. Guo Shier roared in fury. At this point, he dared not hold back at all. He frantically cast a spell and shouted, “If you want my life… first taste my madness!” The Soul Calming Cauldron emitted intense light. In an instant, countless colored lights swirlled, and hundreds of thousands of Spirit Beasts rushed out wildly, charging at the two experts at the ninth-tier altars. Even more terrifying was that the Spirit Beasts didn’t attack directly but instead flocked around the two men’s altars, exploding one after another.

Guo Shier also didn’t know what would happen when so many Spirit Beasts self-destructed. At that moment, around a hundred Spirit Beasts would self-destruct at once, one after another like a tide. In no time, two or three thousand Spirit Beasts had exploded.
Si Debing and Lei Zhenhuo were terrified. They fled desperately outward. The talisman arrays they had set up were destroyed by the self-destructs of the Spirit Beasts. Even with their strong defenses, they couldn’t withstand such terrifying explosions. They were tossed back and forth by the explosions and couldn’t focus on controlling their sacrificial treasures.
Guo Shier was overjoyed. He cursed, “I’ll blow you two bastard turtles to death!” His heart ached—these were all Spirit Beasts, each of which could be transformed into a sacrifice. Such massive consumption filled him with hatred toward these two guys.
The explosion of a single or two Spirit Beasts might not have much impact on experts at the ninth-level altar, but continuous explosions were beyond Si Debing and Lei Zhenhuo’s tolerance. Especially since Guo Shier wasn’t just causing a dozen or twenty explosions, but hundreds. Such power might be withstandable by experts at the ninth-level altar, but definitely not by them.
As they watched, the blue long sword developed many cracks, and the flaming spear also cracked. Their altars were severely damaged. Cursing, they struggled desperately to escape. They never expected that the enraged Guo Shier had such a fierce trump card—they had miscalculated. Amidst the continuous explosions, they could still clearly hear Guo Shier’s roars.