A clear sound echoed above the Cao family estate.
"You brat, it's you! You're not dead!"
The old patriarch of the Cao family flew out, hovering in front of Zi Linling, disbelief etched on his face.
Zi Linling snorted, "Wouldn't that be what you old geezers wished for? How is it? How does it feel to have your soul sealed?"
Upon hearing this, the old patriarch of the Cao family immediately roared, "Brat, I couldn't unleash my full strength in the Mirror Flower Secret Realm, which is why you had an opportunity. Now that we're in the outside world, my spiritual and law powers are no longer restricted. Do you still have room to be arrogant?"
Zi Linling sneered, "If I could seal your soul power in the Mirror Flower Secret Realm, I can seal your spiritual and law powers outside, or even... kill you!"
"Boasting!"
The old patriarch of the Cao family was enraged. A long sword appeared in his hand, pointed at Zi Linling. "Brat, I'll see if you have the capability!"
As he spoke, spiritual energy surged from his sword, and he thrust it towards Zi Linling.
"An inch shorter, an inch more perilous."
The Dragon Scale Dagger appeared in Zi Linling's hand, its light blooming. A multicolored giant dragon flew out from the dagger, crashing fiercely into the old patriarch's sword energy.
"Boom!"
A tremendous roar erupted, shaking the very void around them.
"Nothing more than this! Old man, I originally intended to spare your life to preserve a fighting force for the Great Blue Tribulation. But you shouldn't have, shouldn't have laid a hand on them! Now, prepare to die!"
Zi Linling's contemptuous voice cut through the cacophony of energy, reaching the old patriarch's ears.
The old patriarch of the Cao family roared, "Brat, you dare to speak such nonsense when you're not even in the Divine King realm? Take this!"
As his voice fell, sword energy surged from his sword, and he slashed towards Zi Linling.
His previous strike only contained fifty percent of his spiritual energy, while this one bore eighty percent.
Of course, this wasn't him deliberately holding back, but rather that it took a process to bring his spiritual energy to its peak during combat. This process typically required three moves to build up.
"Hmph!"
Zi Linling let out a cold snort, and the light on the Dragon Scale Dagger flared once more.
Another multicolored giant dragon flew out, colliding with the old patriarch's sword energy.
"Boom!"
A massive explosion resounded again, tearing fissures in the surrounding space.
The old patriarch of the Cao family was sent flying, crashing onto the ground and demolishing a row of houses.
"Pfft!"
Zi Linling spat out a mouthful of blood and fell backward towards the ground.
Fortunately, her reaction was swift. She rapidly shifted her center of gravity upwards, her toes pushing off the ground. She somersaulted backward in mid-air several times, dissipating the impact before finally stabilizing herself, staggering back more than ten steps before coming to a halt.
"Pfft!"
Zi Linling coughed up another mouthful of blood, finally calming the churning blood within her.
However, under that single strike, she had clearly fallen into a disadvantage and sustained a serious injury.
Despite her monstrous talent, the gap between the peak of the Great God Realm and the Divine Lord Realm was significant, making injury almost inevitable.
The old patriarch of the Cao family leaped up from the ruins of the houses. Though his face was smudged with dirt, he was unharmed.
He looked at Zi Linling standing on the ground, the shock within him immeasurable.
A mere peak Great God Realm brat had managed to withstand eighty percent of his spiritual energy as a Divine Lord Realm powerhouse. This spoke volumes of her formidable power.
He had already lost to Zi Linling in physical strength and soul power in the Mirror Flower Secret Realm.
Now, even eighty percent of his Divine Lord Realm spiritual energy couldn't completely suppress Zi Linling. This not only shocked the old patriarch of the Cao family but also instilled a sense of caution towards Zi Linling.
"Brat, you've got some skill! Take another move from me!"
The old patriarch of the Cao family declared, and slowly raised his sword again.
He frantically drew upon the spiritual energy within him, which rapidly surged into his sword.
A sword energy even larger than before flared, slashing fiercely at Zi Linling, who was still gasping for breath.
Zi Linling's pupils constricted. Spiritual energy from within her also surged into the Dragon Scale Dagger.
"Not enough! Not enough!"
She gritted her teeth and drew upon a portion of the Five Elements power from her Five Elements Space, channeling it into the Dragon Scale Dagger.
The light on the Dragon Scale Dagger intensified further, and another five-colored giant dragon flew out from it.
However, because the Five Elements power channeled into the Dragon Scale Dagger did not originate from the same world, this five-colored giant dragon bore a significant difference from the previous two.
An even more terrifying power radiated from within the dragon.
That power was akin to two worlds colliding, threatening to crush everything nearby into nothingness.
The old patriarch of the Cao family's expression changed drastically. He hastily wrapped himself in law power.
"Boom!"
Another deafening roar echoed, and the surrounding space was immediately torn open by countless rifts that refused to heal for a long time.
And through these torn rifts, one could even see the spatial turbulence within the cracks, demonstrating the terrifying might of this attack.
"Ah!"
The old patriarch of the Cao family let out a pained cry as the arm holding his sword snapped.
His entire body was flung away by the blast wave, crashing heavily onto the ground and continuing to plow a trench three feet deep.
All the buildings of the Cao family were reduced to ruins by the immense explosion.
Moments later, many members of the Cao family emerged from the ruins, their faces covered in dirt, looking disheveled and terrified as they stared at the still-unhealed spatial rifts in the sky.
Where Zi Linling had stood, the ground was a scene of devastation. Her figure was nowhere to be seen.
Not only her, but Xuan Yuanxun, the four of them, and Cao Shaoqing, who had been recovering, had also disappeared.
At this moment, from beneath the mounds of rubble, the Divine Maiden Palace, which had transformed into a grain of sand, suddenly surged from the ground.
The Divine Maiden Palace flashed, and Zi Linling reappeared above the ruins.
Her hair was disheveled, falling around her. The hand holding the Dragon Scale Dagger was also completely shattered.
"That was close!"
Zi Linling muttered to herself, thinking that if she hadn't summoned the Divine Maiden Palace at the critical moment to collect the six of them, they would have been severely injured or unconscious, if not dead, by now.
She steadied her mind and summoned a potent stream of life force from her green space, directing it towards her right hand.