Chapter 535: Spirit Battlefield

"Hahaha, I can't believe that after so many years, the human ants on this continent are still so naive. To dare to stand before me, the Sea Demon Lord, by yourself—who gave you such courage?"

The Sea Demon Lord sneered, and at that moment, the entire world seemed to dim further. This was the power of a top-tier, complete-form demon; every move he made caused the entire space to fall into an irresistible tremor.

Simultaneously, as some of the sealing power released by the Supreme Sea Demon Pearl gradually dissipated, the Sea Demon Lord's true form was revealed.

In stark contrast to the massive size everyone had imagined, this creature was merely a piranha, its entire body only half as tall as Xu Yang, and its appearance even seemed a little cute and goofy.

Yet, the moment this small creature revealed its outline, no one dared to question its power. Its complete demonic form had elevated it to a level comparable to the laws of space. This meant that, after the suppression of the Supreme Sea Pearl's power was lifted, the spatial laws of this localized battlefield could no longer constrain it.

Describing its immediate combat power most directly, this half-grown piranha could move at the speed of light, even performing instantaneous teleportation at close range. It could also hide in the void at any time, evading all attack energies that might strike it.

When this realization was relayed by the Mermaid Queen to Ling Yao and Shi Lingyun, both girls stared at each other in disbelief, their eyes wide.

"Good heavens... no way, right? If that's true, then isn't this guy invincible? We can't even hit him, and even if we could, he'd just use the void to dodge. How are we supposed to fight him?"

Xu Yang, naturally, clearly understood the situation that the Mermaid Queen perceived. The oppressive aura emanating from the small creature before him doubled his pressure.

Conversely, because the opponent was not bound by spatial laws, it could completely ignore the equally terrifying oppressive aura released by Xu Yang. It was as if the transmission of any spatial force in the entire world had no effect whatsoever on this goofy piranha.

"Kid, I'm in a good mood today. I'm offering you a chance to live; want to consider it?"

The goofy piranha swam back and forth in the void before Xu Yang, incessantly egging him on, seemingly not viewing the confrontation as a struggle between equals. Indeed, this creature certainly had the right to be arrogant.

However, it seemed unaware that the human before it was far from an ordinary human. Daring to act so brazenly in front of Xu Yang effectively sealed the Sea Demon Lord's fate.

"Heh, I've always believed in one principle: man can conquer nature. You think you can control everything, that you are the master of this battlefield between us, but that's not the truth. The moment you underestimate your opponent, your end is already decided."

As Xu Yang finished speaking, he didn't hesitate for a moment, remaining the one who initiated the attack.

With a single sword stroke, light and shadow vanished without a trace! It was as if he had slashed into soft nothingness, eliciting no response whatsoever.

Witnessing this, the three goddesses from the Mermaid Queen's side were stunned, and even Xu Yang himself slightly furrowed his brow.

"Hah, go on! Aren't you confident? I'd like to see if your sword can shatter the entire void when I claim the entire void as my domain!"

Xu Yang snorted coldly and struck another blow with his sword, its momentum undoubtedly more astonishing than before. Yet, when the blade struck the void where the opponent was, again, there was no response, just like last time.

"No, this won't do! While Boss's combat power is incredibly strong, that guy on the other side can completely ignore attacks. This is really tough!"

Anxiety was clearly visible on Ling Yao's face. She knew very well that prolonging this fight would not benefit Xu Yang at all.

Because the piranha-bodied Sea Demon Lord was currently in the initial awakening phase of its power recovery, its overall combat strength was underestimated.

In other words, the longer this confrontation dragged on, the stronger this creature would become, and Xu Yang's chances of winning would continuously diminish. They truly couldn't afford to prolong this battle with it.

The most pressing task for Xu Yang was to find the most effective offensive method to maximally curb the opponent's mobility and convert his immediate combat power into actual damage against them.

Undoubtedly, this was also a huge challenge for Xu Yang.

When one move failed, Xu Yang simply put away the Asura Sword in his hand, touched his glabella, and then sat cross-legged in the void, entering a meditative state right before everyone's eyes.

"What? What is he doing? Isn't he afraid of being attacked by this Sea Demon Lord in front of him?"

The Mermaid Queen instinctively worried for Xu Yang. At that very moment, the piranha-bodied Sea Demon Lord suddenly let out a sharp howl, and a piercing wave of sound rapidly converged on Xu Yang's body.

"Hmph, trying to use a mental attack on my Boss? You'll have to get past me first!"

Shi Lingyun effortlessly played her zither, and the graceful sound waves of the Sacred Dao Heavenly Melody poured out like a raging river. Under Shi Lingyun's nearly perfect and peerless control, these boundless sound waves transformed into a pure protective light barrier, enveloping Xu Yang's body. In essence, it was also shielding his mental energy, creating as much meditation time as possible for Xu Yang.

"It seems Boss is using a soul-traveling method, trying to find the resonance point between the Sea Demon Lord and the void domain surrounding it, in order to discover a way to counter him. I must buy him more time!"

As Shi Lingyun had said, Xu Yang inwardly observed his soul space, racking his brain to find a strategy to defeat the enemy.

However, at that very moment, within his beautifully colored soul world, the two silver-white ice shards that had been dormant for some time seemed to generate a peculiar pulsation.

"Oh?"

Xu Yang vaguely recalled that these two energies had stirred once before Little Flower's physical disappearance. However, he later found that the ice shards themselves remained dormant in his mind, and no matter how he tried to touch them, he received no feedback.

But now, this energy was showing signs of recovery once more, prompting Xu Yang to see a rare opportunity.

"Is it trying to give me a hint?"

With this thought, Xu Yang's soul-sense attempted to touch the two ice shards. Instantly, an icy, bone-chilling coldness surged through his entire body. That feeling of coldness, so profound it silenced all sounds, was a thousand times more potent than the chilling aura emitted by the demonic piranha that had just appeared!