Shen Hao rushed toward Lingfeng to help him deal with the remaining five elemental beings.
As he closed in, Shen Hao roared:
"AHHHHHHHHH! TAKE THIS, YOU METAL FREAKS!"
He launched a thunderous punch at one of the elementals while charging in at full speed.
BOOM!
The impact sent the creature flying high into the air like a broken kite.
The other four paused, clearly shaken by Shen Hao's overwhelming strength.
They glanced at one another, nodded silently, as if saying:
"It's time."
The one who had been knocked skyward stabilized himself mid-air and returned back to the battlefield, barely staying upright but it seemed the others had chosen him to lead their final move.
Without wasting time, the other four quickly stepped back and began channeling their remaining Qi into him.
Streams of energy—each a different color—shot toward their chosen vessel like glowing beams of light.
The leader absorbed it all, growing stronger by the second. His body pulsed with chaotic power.
Suddenly, he began forming hand signs.
Shen Hao narrowed his eyes.
"What the heck are they planning now?"
Lingfeng flew to his side, Shen hao grabbed him by his right hand.
"Master! I think they're using their trump card now!"
"But we can still handle it, right?"
Meanwhile, the empowered elemental raised both hands above his head.
A massive Qi sphere began forming—getting bigger and stronger with each passing second.
It was etched with strange, glowing spiral patterns, and within those spirals was a single symbol—like a letter from a language neither Shen Hao nor Lingfeng could read. Likely something ancient. Lost to time.
But the symbol wasn't the scary part.
The power was.
The sphere was already the size of a car—and still growing.
"What the... Are they trying to sacrifice themselves or something?!"
Shen Hao's face tensed.
"Damn it. This thing's stronger than that beam those two fired at me before! And I don't even have enough Qi left for another Ember Bloom!"
Panic started to rise—until Lingfeng spoke.
"Don't worry, Master. You still have me."
Shen Hao blinked.
"Huh?"
"You might not be strong enough to use my full power yet, and I can't activate it myself either... but I've been storing some of your Qi inside me. I saved it—just in case of something like this."
"Wait—you can store Qi in your body?"
"Of course I can! It's complicated, but think of it like a storage bag... except the bag is inside me!"
"We can talk about it later! But for now tell me, are you ready, Master?!"
Shen Hao took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and nodded.
"Let's do it!"
Lingfeng's body flashed as he transferred all of his stored Qi into Shen Hao.
Immediately, Shen Hao began forming Ember Bloom once again—but even he wasn't sure if it would be enough this time.
Still, it was his strongest weapon. And it was all they had for now.
By now, the elemental's Qi sphere had grown to the size of a full-sized bus. The energy radiating from it warped the air.
And then—he launched it.
The sky darkened.
The roaring mass of destructive Qi surged toward Shen Hao like a comet of death.
Shen Hao stood his ground, pouring every last drop of energy into his attack.
At the last second, he let out a battle cry:
"CRIMSON CORE DETONATION: FIRST FORM – EMBER BLOOM!"
He hurled the glowing purple rose straight into the oncoming attack.