Pearl, being at the forefront of the counterattack, bore most of the impact... especially her clone, which was at the leading [finger of death].
A favourite's self-destruction explosion released 20% more power than their peak cultivation base, a last resort used only by those who sought mutual destruction.
But rarely would they also choose to detonate their souls.
Since as souls they could still roam the spirit realm and, hopefully, one day recover their physical shell.
But the cyclone's grievances just ran too deep. It had seen too many miracles today, and it was not leaving the twinkle any chance of surviving.
...
The simultaneous detonation of the soul and body resulted in a 50% increase in released energy, making the explosion equivalent to a 26-million Megaton nuclear detonation.
The explosion's shockwave destroyed almost everything as far as 5,000 miles, levelling mountains and forming a crater half a mile deep... forever changing the terrain of this part of the Spirit Realm.
But about 1500 miles from this location, there was a small circle of land with a mansion, which remained completely untouched... but only those above the Angel realm could uncover such an anomaly.
But this wasn't the only strange thing.
One would expect total destruction in the vicinity, based on the scale of the explosion, but there was another portion of land that remained completely unharmed.
If one were to observe from above, it would almost resemble a round pie that was eaten except for one slice.
...
The battle had finally come to an end, but too many sacrifices were made.
Pearl had given up her divinity, which led her to lose the right to use her divine techniques.
And although this was painful for her, it was necessary.
As below the third step, divine techniques were just slightly more powerful than average techniques, and they didn't show any peculiar abilities when executed by those below the great chasm.
Since using divine techniques wasn't just a matter of quantity, but also of the quality of the essence.
...
Although the [finger of death] wasn't the strongest technique among the dark moon arts, it was the most suitable technique, which could enable them to work together while complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses.
But Pearl's essence was on the low side after battling the cyclone for so long, with her divinity gone.
And executing the [Finger of Death] technique drained all the remaining life force from Tsunami's current form.
And so, as soon as the aftershocks of the explosion subsided... Tsunami was the first to fall.
"What a fucked-up world"
Tsunami spoke weakly as he fell from the sky, exhausted and overexerted... his vision growing blurry and his senses failing him with every passing second.
10secs... 9secs...
...
Unlike Tsunami, who was only mentally and physically spent... something terrible had happened to Pearl.
Pearl's original body was trembling as she stared at her clone, which stared back at her cheerfully as it dissipated.
Today, Pearl lost too much... not that she regretted her decision to stay with Tsunami, since to her, loyalty was above everything else.
Even though she hadn't bonded with him yet, she had chosen to follow him and would do so to the bitter end.
And unless Tsunami went back on his promises or betrayed her first, she would fight with him, flee with him, conquer the world with him... or die with him... this was her code, this was her dao.
...
But still, Pearl was sad and overwhelmed.
After all, the cheerful clone had accompanied her for the past million years, way before she was brought to the spirit realm.
And unlike other favourite beasts, the divine beast's clones were special in the sense that they were a different entity from the same origin, and not just a spiritual manifestation of the energy in their remaining cores.
Pearl, still trembling, turned back and began running toward Tsunami's falling body... her cultivation base slowly slipping back to the second-step peak state.
7secs... 6 secs...
...
She ran below him, while gracefully reducing the speed of his fall with her space powers, landing him on her back.
But then a loud, overbearing voice of a five-step, that sounded like thunderclaps, echoed over the horizon.
"Go down for me!"
The might of the voice forcefully pushed down Pearl and Tsunami into the crater.
PAAA!
Pearl winced in pain as she tried to get her bearings.
...
Although the fifth step and his group hadn't yet arrived at the site, the moment they sensed the explosion shockwaves, they decided to spread out their divine sense... and what they saw left them completely shocked.
Although they didn't see the details of the battle, when their divine sense locked on Pearl's body, they ascertained she was just at the peak of the second step.
And the tainted creature's cultivation was very unstable... one second at the peak of the second step, the next nothing but a mortal, then back again at the peak of the second step... all of this was very confusing, especially given the scale of the explosion.
Without a doubt, it was from a peak third step.
They had scanned to see if the tainted creature had any other helpers, but they found none.
"..."
And when they saw the pulsing drop of blood that continued to attract thunder tribulation, their jaws dropped in unison.
"..."
...
5secs... 4secs...
Pearl, lying on the ground and unable to move, began recklessly transferring her own life force to Tsunami.
And for the first time, a loud ethereal feminine voice rang out in Tsunami's mind like a reverberating siren.
"Wake up!... Wake up!... Wake up!"
3secs... 2secs... 1sec...
...
Six figures appeared in the sky, four at the sixth step, their divine senses sealing off the space.
In front of them were two fifth-step Favourites, a man and a woman who seemed to be cultivation partners or some lovers, given their nonstop shameless flirting.
They gazed at the battlefield, especially the purple-golden drop of blood, with unquenchable greed.
...
"Wake up, damn it!"
The voice now sounded irritated with urgency inside Tsunami's mind.
...
Up in the sky, the fifth step man who had his hand around the woman's waist was the first to speak.
"Elders, is that what I think it is?"
The rightmost sixth step, who seemed to have the most seniority, furrowed his brows before shaking his head and responding.
"I'm not sure, but that blood has to at least be of a True god's divine lineage."
The remaining elders widened their eyes in surprise and kept mumbling as they stared at each other.
"True god"
...
The senior elder stared at the cloud tribulation, which was yet to dissipate, even after sealing off the space with their divine sense... something which was not supposed to happen.
The blood drop still unyielding, the wrath of heaven still unending.
His brows furrowed even more before he turned his attention to the two bodies below them.
'Could it be higher?'