Chapter 1870: The Duel of Mutual Destruction

The faint blush on her face proved the increasing agitation within the girl. If she were to consume a Divine Martial-level core alone, her cultivation would surely advance directly from the initial stage of Great Perfection to the mid-to-late stage of Great Perfection.

In that case, Xiaobo's combat effectiveness on the front lines would also be further enhanced.

"Hahaha," the golden-robed Divine Martial-level believer scoffed. "You probably don't have the ability to extract my life force and turn it into a core. As a dignified Divine Martial-level believer, if I choose to burn my own life force, you won't have any chance at all."

As soon as he finished speaking, the golden-robed Divine Martial-level believer began to act preemptively. He was preparing his most powerful ultimate skill, intending to engage in a mutually destructive confrontation with Xu Yang and the Emperor beside him.

After all, this golden-robed believer couldn't be entirely blamed, as he was known for his water-attribute martial arts techniques. It just so happened that this time he encountered Xu Yang, who possessed the Sea God's Domain and could control all water elements in the world. This completely suppressed his strongest aspect, diminishing his combat effectiveness, which was originally comparable to the Divine Martial realm, in front of Xu Yang.

Against any other opponent, the golden-robed believer's abilities would have been unimaginable. His soul fire had already begun to burn, and Xu Yang could clearly feel the essence of the water-attribute power within this individual rapidly decomposing into its most primal form of martial energy.

For a martial artist, performing such an action meant irreversible self-destruction of their cultivation. This act of self-destruction was, of course, a nearly insane and utterly unreasonable method of mutual annihilation.

Given his Divine Martial-level cultivation, if he were to burn all his internal martial power, causing it to erupt along with his physical body, the destructive force could easily cover this jungle battlefield, reaching every corner within a radius of thousands of miles.

Once enveloped by such power, it would truly be the advent of purgatory. But Xu Yang had just declared his intention to condense this individual's life force into a core, so how could he possibly allow him to squander all his internal power?

"Stop wasting your strength. You have no chance at all in my presence."

After saying this, Xu Yang vanished from his spot.

Immediately afterward, a powerful Law of Light suddenly enveloped the golden-robed believer from above. For a moment, he even felt that these golden lights appearing before him were the will of a god, guiding him from his lost path.

Unfortunately, the faith Xu Yang possessed was far beyond what this individual, who had betrayed his own soul, could bear. Once the powerful Law of Light locked onto him, it quickly restricted everything the golden-robed believer had, including his ability to mobilize his internal power.

Because his soul had chosen to submit before the light, he could no longer even use his own soul to control his body, and thus naturally lost the right to self-destruct.

"I've long discovered that for combat puppets like you, controlled by special powers, the Law of Light is the best weapon to suppress you," Xu Yang said. "What do you say? I, Xu Yang, have never gone back on my word or promises. I said I'd turn you into my core trophy, so you have no right to squander it all away."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Yang spread out his right hand, and the powerful Law of Light, as if imbued with life, began to relentlessly destroy the golden-robed believer's soul world before him.

Xiaobo was quite familiar with the process of watching the golden-glowing rune mark on the believer's forehead fade away, because the disappearance of that mark, which represented combat puppets, meant that the individual's life force was no longer under his control.

Xu Yang now held complete control over this body.

The entire process, witnessed by the old Emperor, had already given him a deeper, newfound understanding of Xu Yang.

"This is truly incredible," he thought. "A human could actually become this powerful, strong enough to alter an opponent's faith and destroy everything about them."

"And throughout the entire process, I didn't even sense his martial energy. Could it be that I've been sealed for so many years that I've grown unfamiliar with the world of the Ancient Martial Dao of Gods?"

Seemingly sensing that the old Emperor had fallen into a state of self-doubt due to Xu Yang's overwhelming power, Xiaobo, by his side, promptly spoke up to correct the Emperor's thoughts.

"Your Majesty, there's no need to overthink it," Xiaobo explained. "In theory, our Lord Xu Yang is not a native martial artist of the Ancient Martial Dao of Gods. His cultivation foundation surpasses all our imaginations and is not something the Ancient Martial Dao of Gods, or this realm, can fully contain."

"Furthermore, the aura of the Ninth Human Emperor that once appeared on him is a mark of human supremacy, effective across any cultivation system throughout the entire Ancient Continent."

Hearing Xiaobo's explanation, the old Emperor suddenly understood.

"So that's it," he said. "I had a feeling that relying solely on the destiny of the Ancient Martial Dao of Gods, it would be difficult for a powerhouse of his caliber to emerge. I can even guess..."

"If he wished, his will alone could alter the cultivation rules of the Ancient Martial Dao of Gods. In a sense, he has already transcended the level of a Divine Martial artist, becoming a true god capable of controlling the destinies of all living beings."

The old Emperor was now truly prostrating himself before Xu Yang in admiration, and he had already begun to attempt to tie his future destiny to Xu Yang's decisions.

As long as Xu Yang agreed, his power alone would undoubtedly help the old Emperor reclaim everything he once possessed.

Soon, all energy fluctuations in the battlefield gradually vanished. The Divine Martial-level combat puppet that had dared to act so brazenly before Xu Yang was now utterly annihilated.

His soul world had been completely transformed by Xu Yang's Law of Light, and his intact Divine Martial-level physical body had been refined by Xu Yang into a core pulsating with dark golden light.

After completing all this, Xu Yang, satisfied, transformed into a streak of light and appeared directly before Xiaobo. He opened his palm and presented the dark golden core as a gift to the girl.

"Water attribute is usually the attribute with the highest saturation and fusion," Xu Yang explained. "This fellow used water-attribute martial power as his cultivation system, so the core created from his life force should have a high degree of compatibility. Try to consume it and see if your current body can withstand this power."

Hearing Xu Yang's words, Xiaobo took the core into her hand. Just as she was about to consume it, Xu Yang decisively stopped her.