The instant Shi Feng bolted toward the exit doors of the temple hall, the mysterious young man struck without hesitation.
This time, the mysterious young man had diverted none of his power to deal with the fallen angels — he was in a state of absolute peak condition. With a single sweep of his staff, three fourth-layer magic circles materialized around him in the blink of an eye.
Fifth-tier Forbidden Spell — Severing Domain!
Fifth-tier Forbidden Spell — Spacetime Seal!
Fifth-tier Forbidden Spell — Holy Spirit Collapse!
"Triple incantationless casting?!" Shi Feng stared at the three magic circles as they appeared, his gaze filled with utter shock.
In the Divine Realm, the higher the tier of magic, the harder it was to perform incantationless casting. Even fellow fifth-tier Holy Archmages would struggle to pull off a single incantationless fifth-tier spell. Anyone who could manage double incantationless casting to unleash a fifth-tier spell was already among the absolute pinnacle of fifth-tier magic-classes.
Even sixth-tier Divine Gods could only achieve double incantationless casting for fifth-tier forbidden spells. Triple incantationless casting, releasing three fifth-tier forbidden spells simultaneously — to Shi Feng's knowledge, such a person simply did not exist anywhere in the entire Divine Realm.
Yet the mysterious young man before him had done it with ease…
Before Shi Feng could even reach the doorway, his body was forcibly frozen in the void. He was compelled to materialize, his mobility drastically reduced, while the surrounding space constantly pressed in on him. The entire temple hall was enveloped by a distorted barrier, and six pillars of light rose within a radius of several hundred yards around him. The pillars linked together to form a complex magic array, completely encasing Shi Feng within. Then a column of holy light surged up from the ground, causing every trace of magical element in the space to disintegrate!
Just as Shi Feng was about to be killed in a single blow, all five great dragons simultaneously unleashed their dragon-language magic. A five-colored ring of light formed around Shi Feng, completely isolating him from the outside world.
Boom!
As the holy light gradually faded, Shi Feng remained unscathed — but the five-colored ring of light around him had dimmed considerably. It was clear that it could only endure a limited number of Holy Spirit Collapse strikes; it was no invincible defensive spell.
The mysterious young man shot an extremely irritated glance at the five dragons and said coldly, "A futile struggle! Today, all of you will die!"
With that, he swept his staff again, plunging the entire hall into darkness. Countless deep-purple chains erupted from the void and, in an instant, locked down three of the dragons, rendering them completely immobile. Only the lead bronze dragon and the other fire dragon managed to dodge the first wave of chains through their own magical abilities.
As for Shi Feng, he relied on his thirty-six clones to evade the chains that were everywhere. However, with the hall already sealed, he could only feel a wave of helplessness.
Severing Domain and Spacetime Seal — even a true sixth-tier Divine God would find them difficult to break through, let alone someone like him who was still a fifth-tier Class.
"There's no choice but to give it my all!"
Shi Feng gritted his teeth and forcibly activated the second skill of the Light of Two Worlds — Golden Soul. This ability could not enhance a player's attributes, but it could elevate the player's soul. Especially once one had reached the fifth tier, it triggered a qualitative transformation of the soul, granting the wielder a soul comparable to that of a sixth-tier Divine God. However, the risk was equally great.
At the fourth tier, Golden Soul merely enhanced the player's perception and affinity for magical elements, so there were no side effects. But at the fifth tier, once its duration expired, it would plunge the soul into a brief state of extreme frailty. For a player, this was enormously consequential — a forbidden technique to be used only as an absolute last resort.
The moment Shi Feng activated Golden Soul, his entire perception of the world changed.
It was as if a three-dimensional being were looking at a two-dimensional world. Everything became startlingly clear. Magical elements were no longer just magical elements — they felt like extensions of his own body, movable at a mere thought. This was far beyond the indirect manipulation one could achieve with a magic domain. It had reached an entirely different level.
The true level of control!
Without hesitation, Shi Feng swung the Light of Two Worlds at the distorted barrier.
Mana Technique — Holy Annihilation!
This Holy Annihilation was vastly different from the one he had used before. In this moment, the entire space had become the sword in his hand, as if the very fabric of space were cleaving into the distorted barrier.
Boom!
A thunderous impact rang out. The distorted barrier shuddered, and a faint crack appeared along its surface. However, the crack healed almost instantly.
"Of course — that's the true Holy Annihilation," Shi Feng murmured, staring at the barrier that had restored itself. Far from despair, a spark of excitement ignited in his heart.
Because in this moment, he had finally understood the path he needed to walk going forward.
From the very beginning, he had tried to forcibly control the surrounding mana using his own. That method of manipulation was far too crude. Then he had progressed to using his own mana to guide the surrounding mana, which greatly increased his power — but it still was not the ultimate way.
And now, transforming the surrounding mana into his own mana — that was the true method of wielding mana.
However, achieving this was extraordinarily difficult. First, one needed an extremely thorough understanding of how magical elements operated. Second, one needed a high enough mental level. Without mental strength approaching the sixth tier, it was nearly impossible to fully merge one's mana with the surrounding mana, because doing so required the mind to become nearly corporeal.
In plain terms, one's spirit had to be so powerful that it exceeded the boundaries of the physical body — like an extension of the body itself, only without a material form.
Of course, the difficulty of control also increased dramatically. It was like multitasking: the wider the range, the harder the control. The only way to improve was to deepen one's understanding of magical elements, thereby reducing the mental burden of manipulation.
Now that he had a clear path forward, Shi Feng unleashed Holy Annihilation at the distorted barrier over and over again.
Each strike of Holy Annihilation made his control of magical elements smoother and more fluid, and with every one, his admiration for the Azure Saint Eleaidy only grew deeper.