The entire grid was quickly transformed into a world of pink and white flames, and both Yali and Ghost Emperor were completely inundated by the fire.

The two seas of fire clashed and intertwined incessantly while all of the spectators outside the Nine Palace Grids looked on with bated breath, particularly those from Shrek Academy.

Long Yeyue had already passed away, so Yali was the only remaining member of the old guard, making her the spiritual leader of the academy, and everyone was praying with all their might for her safety.

Gu Yuena grabbed onto Tang Wulin's arm as if she were trying to lend him her strength, but she could clearly feel Tang Wulin's body trembling violently.

Tang Wulin felt as if his heart were being gripped between a vice.

His foster parents had perished by the hands of Dark Blood Demon, and in the wake of their passing, Yali was all that remained of his family on the Douluo Continent, yet she was now facing life-threatening peril, but he was unable to do anything.

The battle between the two flames gradually began to subside, and even though holy power was the bane of all things evil, Yali was at a severe disadvantage when it came to total energy output.

Thus, the magenta flames gradually gained the upper hand, while the white flames slowly receded, and Tang Wulin's heart completely sank upon seeing this.

Even if he wanted to intervene now, it was already too late.

How could this have happened?

Tang Wulin closed his eyes with a pained expression.

All of a sudden, Ghost Emperor's sinister cackling rang out across the entire battlefield, and the magenta flames receded as he reappeared.

Currently, he was in a very sorry state. His robes had been completely incinerated, revealing a glowing green skeleton. He had already sacrificed most of his body for his cultivation, and even his skeleton was currently riddled with holes.

His four-word battle armor was also nowhere to be seen, having been completely incinerated during that devastating clash.

However, he was the ultimate victor; Yali's body had already completely vanished.

"Did you really think you could kill me just by igniting everything you had? Even if you had been a quasigod, you still wouldn't have been able to kill me! My bones have already fused with my battle armor, so my four-word battle armor is completely unique; you were always going to be the only one to perish! You won't even be able to reunite with that useless husband of yours; at least a part of his soul still remains, while your soul is already gone! All you can do is howl like a pig within my flames, hahahahahaha!"

Ghost Emperor was cackling like a madman, as if he were trying to gloat to the entire world, while everyone from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were completely grief-stricken.

Tang Wulin abruptly shrugged off Gu Yuena's hand.

He didn't want to think about the bigger picture anymore; all he wanted to was to avenge his own mother!

"Stop, Wulin! It's not over yet!" Right at this moment, someone grabbed onto Tang Wulin's arm to stop him, and Tang Wulin turned to discover that it was Cao Dezhi.

It's not over yet?

All of a sudden, Ghost Emperor's cackling ceased, and he looked as if he had seen a ghost.  

[1]

"How could this be? You, you didn't die?"

Tang Wulin hurriedly turned his gaze toward the battlefield, and he discovered that a speck of white light enveloped within a layer of green light had emerged in Yali and Ghost Emperor's grid.

The green light wasn't stemming from Ghost Emperor's deathly flames. Instead, it was overflowing with vitality.

In the next instant, a figure emerged from the white light, and it was none other than Yali.

In contrast with before, her body had taken on a more illusory quality, but it was gradually gaining substance. Her four-word battle armor had already disappeared, but her body still remained, and she was appraising Ghost Emperor with a mocking sneer.

"Why don't you keep laughing?" she said in a cold voice.

Ghost Emperor was utterly astonished. "H, how could you possibly still be alive? You even incinerated your own soul!"

Yali replied in an indifferent manner, "I've saved countless people in my life; don't you think I'd have the ability to revive myself? I'll admit that I'm no match for you in a one-on-one battle; even Brother Ming wasn't able to kill you, so I'm certainly not up to the task. However, you've outsmarted yourself by trapping us in this tiny grid. This is the only setting where I'll be able to kill you because there's nowhere you can run!"

Scorching white flames rose up from her body again as she spoke, and she swept toward Ghost Emperor in a repeat of her first self-sacrificial attack.

Everyone was stunned by this turn of events. Who could've anticipated that Yali would possess such an ability?

Ghost Emperor let loose a horrified screech as bright green light glowed from his tattered skeletal body, which instantly descended into the giant skull again.

At the same time, a vast expanse of green flames erupted forth again to oppose Yali's holy flames, but from an outside perspective, it was clear that both flames had become significantly weaker than before.

After all, they no longer had suits of battle armor to incinerate, so they could only rely on the power of their own bodies. The two flames were clashing violently in the restrictive space of the grid, and both sides were fighting with their lives!

There was no technique to speak of; it was simply a clash of their most essential energy.

Ultimately, Ghost Emperor was still more powerful than Yali, and if it weren't for the fact that Yali's holy energy was able to repress his deathly energy to a certain extent, she would have no chance against him. After all, the gap between quasigod and demigod was not so easy to breach.

The holy light gradually subsided, as did the green flames, and when the giant skull reappeared, close to half of it had already gone missing.

Ghost Emperor emerged above the skull, and his body was in even worse shape; even his bones had become completely dull and devoid of luster.

He had thought that trapping Yali in this grid would be the best opportunity to kill her, and that with their power disparity, he would be able to kill her without incurring much damage himself. However, the grid had become his own cage instead, and in this cage, Yali's holy flames were inescapable, forcing him to face them head-on. Essentially, he had shot himself in the foot.

Was it over? Ghost Emperor looked down at his own ruined body.

His essential energy and soul had both been significantly harmed, and he didn't know how long it would take him to recover. His hopes of attaining godhood had been completely burned away by Yali's holy flames.

He had employed all types of methods to combat the problems that arose during his cultivation, but his body had always been on an inevitable and constant decline due to the effects of his evil martial soul. It was already very difficult for him to maintain his own body, and it would be virtually impossible to make a full recovery. As such, his heart was burning with fury and hatred, yet right at this moment, a speck of white light suddenly appeared before him again.

"Don't think that you've won!" Yali's voice rang out once again. As she re-emerged for the second time, Ghost Emperor was plunged into complete despair.

How was this possible? How many lives did she have?

[1] [Pretty Ironic LOL]