boom--

A massive gray sphere of explosive light expanded high in the sky, blasting a spatial black hole hundreds of feet deep, and the devastating shockwave swept outwards in all directions.

You Rongqingxian immediately used the flower basket to protect herself and Xu Jingyuan and the other four. Because they were far away, the aftershocks of the explosion did not cause them any harm.

As for Li Cangling, he immediately took out a Venerable-level protective artifact and activated it with all his might to hide in the distance. Although he inevitably suffered 60-70% of the explosive impact of the Annihilation Divine Talisman, he still managed to withstand it thanks to the powerful defensive force of the protective artifact.

"Huff... huff..."

At this moment, Li Cangling's spiritual power had been completely drained by the Venerable-level protective artifact, leaving him unable to sustain the consumption. He put the protective artifact away and, panting heavily, stared at the center of the explosion. Seeing that Chi Yuan was nowhere to be seen, he couldn't help but wonder whether Chi Yuan had been blown to ashes or had forcibly withdrawn from the trial.

If it's the former, that would be best. With the merit of killing Chi Yuan, the Cangming Holy Land would be almost certain to take down Ye Chen. This would also become a great opportunity for him, bringing him endless benefits after Ye Chen grows up.

Even if it's the latter, it doesn't matter. By killing Chi Yuan out of the trial, he has eliminated the threat that Ye Chen was most worried about. This is also a great favor to Ye Chen, which will make Ye Chen owe him a karmic debt. The heavier his losses in this battle, the greater the reward he will receive in the future. It's a sure thing.

"Yuan'er?!"

Seeing that not a speck of dust had been left where Chi Yuan had been, tears welled up in You Rong Qingxian's eyes. She was filled with regret. She shouldn't have let Chi Yuan fight. Otherwise, how could Chi Yuan have ended up in this precarious situation where his life or death was unknown?

Xu Jingyuan and the other four were also filled with grief, feeling deeply that they had harmed Chi Yuan. How could their consciences be at peace if Chi Yuan failed to escape the trial?

"Hehe, stop yelling. Unless he withdraws from the trial, he's doomed!"

Li Cangling sneered coldly. Without the protection of a Venerable-level defensive artifact, Chi Yuan, with his cultivation at the Sect Master level, simply could not withstand the explosive power of the Annihilation Divine Talisman, which was equivalent to a full-force attack from a low-level Spirit Venerable.

Of course, it is not impossible to avoid the explosive impact of the Annihilation Divine Talisman, but only those above the Venerable Realm can achieve spatial traversal. But can Chi Yuan, a mere Spirit Sect Master, achieve spatial traversal?

Outside the Seven Absolutes Pagoda.

Seeing Chi Yuan disappear in the center of the explosion of the Annihilation Talisman, apart from a few people like An Yuxi who knew Chi Yuan's ability to save his life, everyone assumed that Chi Yuan had withdrawn from the trial. After all, they hadn't seen Chi Yuan use any means of resistance, and he just disappeared directly. If he hadn't withdrawn from the trial, did he just let the Annihilation Talisman kill him?

However, after waiting for a while, everyone was surprised to find that Chi Yuan had not been teleported out of the Seven Absolutes Tower!

What's going on?

Everyone who withdrew from the trial was teleported out immediately, so why wasn't Chi Yuan teleported out?

Could it be that Chi Yuan didn't withdraw from the trial, but was instead blown to smithereens by the Annihilation Talisman?

"This fool, he thinks he's too good for himself just because he has a little ability. He actually tried to use his Spirit Sect cultivation to resist the power of a Venerable. He deserves to die."

The Holy Lord of Cangming couldn't help but sarcastically remark, almost bursting out laughing. He had been worried that Li Cangling wouldn't be able to defeat Chi Yuan, but unexpectedly, he had successfully killed Chi Yuan!

Li Cangling has now made a tremendous contribution. With Chi Yuan's head, is there any fear that Ye Chen will not join the Cangming Holy Land?

The other Holy Lords were secretly resentful. Now that Li Cangling had taken credit for killing Chi Yuan, they probably wouldn't have another chance to recruit Ye Chen.

"My brother... he's really dead?"

Chi Yang's face was ashen as he stared blankly at the spot in the spatial mirror where Chi Yuan had disappeared, his mind a complete blank.

Chi Tianhao frowned, looked at the greatly shocked Chi Yang, and thought that it was good that Chi Yuan was dead, at least he would no longer disturb Chi Yang's state of mind, allowing Chi Yang to concentrate on cultivation.

"My husband..."

An Yuxi frowned. Of course, she didn't think Chi Yuan was dead, but Chi Yuan clearly hadn't used a treasure like the Heaven-Concealing Pearl that could withstand attacks from a Spirit Venerable to protect himself. So how did he manage to dodge the explosive impact of the Annihilation Talisman?

Oh, right, space travel!

An Yuxi's eyes lit up. When she first met Chi Yuan, Chi Yuan was only at the first level of the Spirit King realm, yet he had already comprehended the power of space and helped her escape the pursuit of three peak Spirit Sect demons. Now that Chi Yuan has improved by two major realms, how could he not have mastered the space travel of the Venerable realm?

My husband must have used this ability to avoid the explosive impact of the Destruction Talisman!

An Yuxi guessed correctly. Chi Yuan had avoided the explosion by using spatial teleportation. It wasn't that he couldn't use the Heaven-Concealing Pearl to withstand the Annihilation Talisman, but if he could avoid it without damage, why would he need to withstand it?

"You're celebrating too soon."

A faint voice came from behind Li Cangling. Chi Yuan appeared like a ghost and then punched Li Cangling hard on the back of the head.

Bang!

At this moment, Li Cangling had no spiritual power to protect him and was completely defenseless when he took the punch. Li Cangling didn't even groan before his head exploded like a watermelon, and his body fell limply to the ground.

However, Li Cangling did not die as a result; his soul left his body the instant his physical body died.

Li Cangling was terrified and didn't care how Chi Yuan escaped the explosion. He only wanted to quit the trial and escape. As long as his soul was not destroyed, he could still be reborn in another body. But if his soul was destroyed here, he would be gone forever.

"Go to hell."

How could Chi Yuan let Li Cangling escape? The moment Li Cangling's soul appeared, the Void Soul-Slaying Sword, which had been poised to strike, slashed at Li Cangling's soul, annihilating it completely.

"Ling'er?!"

The once smug Cangming Saint Lord suddenly became bloodshot, unable to believe that Li Cangling would perish in the Seven Absolutes Tower.

This sudden reversal of events stunned everyone. Chi Yuan had actually dodged the explosion without using any defensive measures and completely annihilated the Cangming Holy Land's imperial son in the Seven Absolutes Tower?!

"Can anyone tell me how he managed to dodge it?"

"The attack range of the Annihilation Talisman is over ten miles. No matter how fast you are, it's impossible to dodge it unless you can... teleport!"

"Spatial travel? How is that possible? He's only at the first level of the Spirit Sect realm, how could he possibly master spatial travel at the Venerable realm?!"

"I can't believe it either, but this is the only explanation. Otherwise, they would have used a treasure like the Boundary-Stabilizing Talisman, which allows for spatial teleportation, to evade it. How could they have returned in such a short time to kill Li Cangling?"

...

The Venerables and even the great Saint Lords of the Reflecting Moon Sect were all shocked and incredulous. With their knowledge, the only possibility they could think of was that Chi Yuan had used the spatial teleportation of the Venerable Realm to avoid the explosion of the Annihilation Divine Talisman.

But this might be too terrifying. Chi Yuan has only just entered the Spirit Sect realm, and he already possesses the abilities of the Venerable realm?