For a moment, a divine chanting could be heard from the skies, shaking the heavens as all things hummed in resonance. The sound doubled, then trebled in volume. Ripples and echoes surged toward Sun Mengmeng.

Boulder after boulder exploded, even those tens of thousands of tons heavy. The ripples that emanated from the dragon's keening easily sparked a resonant decomposition.

"[Netherworld's Torrential Flame]!"

A frightening fan of flames poured out from Sun Mengmeng's bow, an attack far stronger than the moonlight she had summoned. The intensity of her technique would have shocked all the members of Team Zenith.

The flames arced in the air and fell toward the battlefield in a waterfall. It deflected the ripples that emanated from the scarlet hornless dragon. The two combatants' techniques clashed against each other's.

Sun Mengmeng's body burned with purplish-black flame so intense that it dyed the heavens the same color. She cast [Black Sun], forming a corona of purplish-black flame around her.

Then, she activated her most impactful soulshards for battle, transforming from a young woman to a fierce warrior with a chitinous carapace, wreathed in black flame. Her flames were so intense that the armor-type soulshard actually began to crack and split. Black flames seeped out from the cracks, burning so intensely that the ground began to melt and turn red.

She sparred against the scarlet dragon, clashing once and again, before both combatants were sent flying back.

With a huge rumble and crash, a scarlet claw struck the ground with the force of a mountain range. Light flooded heaven and earth.

Sun Mengmeng roared, her eyes glowing with light.

"[Netherworld's Gaze]!"

Hundreds of arrows, like beams of moonlight, shot toward Zhang Lie. Their flames felt as though they could destroy everything they touched.

The hornless scarlet dragon soared into the air, its scarlet claws tearing apart the lunar flood. Black firelight burst apart in the air, shining brightly in the trial world.The two combatants fought like ancient beasts, tearing apart mountain and landscape, heaven and earth. The world itself quivered as it observed their battle.

Man and beast alike were radiant in their might, surrounded with glowing runes that burned incandescent, so brightly that no one would be able to observe the scene directly.

The scarlet hornless dragon sent its tail sweeping forward like a steel whip, causing the void itself to creak. The runes surged forward like waves, astoundingly strong.

Sun Mengmeng leapt up to evade this blow.

"[Lunar Apostasy]!"

Sun Mengmeng's entire bow was blazing. She launched her arrows straight into the air, which exploded among the clouds and formed a black moon, which shot down rays of moonlight. A burst of black lunarflame scorched heaven and earth, revealing the void.

The scarlet dragon tore apart the lunarflame with one claw, then struck at Sun Mengmeng with the other. Its eyes were bright and sharp. A terrifying wildness suffused its actions.

"[Lunarflame Shot: Ninefold Phantasmagoria]."

Sun Mengmeng's surroundings began to burn with dark red flames as she launched yet another attack.

Nine purplish-black phoenixes rose around her and shot toward the scarlet dragon. They flew around the dragon in a dance as black flame surrounded them all.

The dragon whirled around, swiping its tail at the phoenixes and causing them to explode. The nine phoenixes burst into nine black roses in the air. Scorching heat enveloped the surroundings.

The dragon darted through the flame and caught Sun Mengmeng's leg.

"[Lunarflame Shot]!"Sun Mengmeng reacted quickly. Purplish-black flames gathered on Sun Mengmeng's bow once again, forming an arrow of pure black.

The image of a golden garuda, limned in black, appeared behind her. As she loosed her arrow, it seemed to transform into a beam of light, moving so quickly that it bypassed the constraints of time and space, as though it could penetrate anything.

The arrow caused no earth-shattering explosion. It was plain and ordinary, and no sound marked its advance. It flew by the scarlet dragon's head, setting half of it aflame.

Disaster-grade lifeforms wouldn't die as long as their cores hadn't been shattered, but they could still feel pain. Pain would make it harder for them to concentrate, and it would hinder them in battle.

The scarlet dragon roared. A wave of energy swept past the dragon, who was forced to loosen its hold.

"[Lunarflame Shot: Extirpation of the Garuda]!"

Black flames, stuck together, flowed like lava along the ground. Wrapped in flame, Sun Mengmeng strode forth. Her pupils had been replaced by black flame, and she looked like a demon from the abyss.

As Sun Mengmeng infused her genetic energy into the bow, the image of a garuda appeared behind her. She released her arrow, which morphed into a human-faced, golden-winged bird in mid-air, radiating red light as it arced through the skies. It began to pulse with red flame, brimming with such energy that it seemed as though it would set the world aflame.

The destructive energy dyed everything in sight a patch of black. The entire trial world seemed to transform into a furnace. The ground melted and turned into boiling-hot lava.

Sun Mengmeng released her arrow, which morphed into a human-faced, golden-winged bird in mid-air, radiating red light as it arced through the skies.

The garuda landed in a hurricane of pitch-black flames as it arched its wings wide.

It began to pulse with red fire, brimming with such energy that it seemed as though it would set the world aflame.

Sun Mengmeng's attack scorched the trial world, dyeing everything in sight a patch of black.

The scarlet dragon tore apart the tempest of fire. With a swipe of its tail, it caused the black flames to erupt in a rain of fire. Even the lava was lit up aflame. The entire world became a sea of black flames, like a scene out of hell.

Sun Mengmeng took the opportunity to distance herself from the dragon. She pulled her bow taut once more, infusing the rest of her genetic energy within.

"[Lunarflame Shot: Extirpation of the Garuda]!"