Two choices: one is a shortcut to the top, at the cost of losing oneself; the other is a dead end leading to destruction, at the cost of burning everything.
Xiao Han laughed. On the half of his face that was holy, the smile was incredibly bright, while on the other half that was demonic, the smile was filled with resolute madness.
"The Emperor Xia's sacrifice... cannot be in vain!"
He gave Lin Qingxia, who was standing at the edge of the pit, a look that she would never forget. It contained apology, reluctance, but even more so, a resolute determination to go even if it meant facing a million people.
"I choose B!" he roared inwardly.
The next moment, Xiao Han relinquished control over all the power within his body.
Without the slightest hesitation, he allowed the holy blue light representing creation and the deep demonic energy representing the Return to the Ruins to collide in the most primal and frenzied way within his body!
"Boom!"
That was not an explosion of energy, but the Obliteration of laws. His meridians collapsed inch by inch, and his physical body disintegrated piece by piece. Saint and demon, two completely opposite extreme forces, did not produce destruction in their collision. Instead, they turned into wisps of the purest and most primitive gray chaotic energy.
"No! You ant, how dare you refuse my grace!"
Within the Worldheart Fragment, the True Demon Split Soul roared in exasperation. It could sense that the newly born chaotic power, though weak, was far superior to it in rank! It was the power of the beginning of all things, the absolute nemesis of a demon like itself!
Xiao Han ignored its roar and leaped back into the deep, dark pit.
As his body plummeted, it completely transformed into a gigantic cocoon of gray, chaotic energy, which, with an irresistible force, re-encased and suppressed the restless Worldheart Fragment was constantly trying to break free of its constraints!
Within the Cocoon of Chaos, the power of the True Demon Split Soul was suppressed by the higher-level Chaos Power of the same origin. Its unwilling roar grew weaker and weaker until it finally fell into complete silence.
The seal was successfully sealed.
The cracked fragment, radiating endless malevolence, was enveloped in the cocoon of chaos, its light completely suppressed, and it eventually transformed into an ordinary gray crystal, like one that could be found anywhere by the roadside, quietly floating in mid-air.
"Buzz--"
A gentle force ejected Xiao Han from the deep pit, and his body reformed.
However, at this moment, he was in an extremely miserable state.
The chaotic demonic body vanished, replaced by a fragile body covered in spiderweb-like cracks, seemingly ready to shatter at the slightest touch. His aura plummeted like a flood bursting its banks, crashing down from the peak of the Martial Grandmaster Realm Seventh Layer!
Seven layers... six layers... five layers...
In the blink of an eye, he broke through the barrier of the Martial Grandmaster and returned to the Martial Master Realm, and was still falling! In the end, his aura was as weak as a candle in the wind, as if it would be completely extinguished at any moment.
"Puff!"
A mouthful of blood mixed with golden and black fragments spurted out, and Xiao Han's body could no longer hold on, falling helplessly from mid-air.
"No!"
Lin Qingxia let out a mournful cry, transforming into a streak of light as she flew to catch his dying body. She held him tightly in her arms, feeling his heartbeat and breath, which were so faint they were almost imperceptible. Hot tears finally broke free, falling drop by drop onto Xiao Han's pale face.
At that very moment, the space above the ruins of the Imperial Capital was suddenly torn apart by an incomparably domineering force.
Su Linglong's aloof and stunningly beautiful figure descended together with the Dark Abyss Dragon King's massive dragon body.
When they saw the devastated ruins before them, and Xiao Han, who was barely breathing in Lin Qingxia's arms and seemed about to die at any moment, they were all utterly shocked.
"My Emperor!" the Dark Abyss Dragon King cried out in alarm, his enormous dragon eyes filled with horror.
But the next second, its expression suddenly changed drastically. It looked up at the sky and its voice was filled with unprecedented fear and urgency.
"Not good! The aura of the true demon has alerted the 'Pseudo-God' slumbering behind the Divine Court! He... he's made his move personally! Run!"
Before the words had even finished, it seemed to confirm its warning.
Above the heavens, a golden crack silently split open, stretching across the sky.
A massive, indescribably powerful, golden beam of light slowly emerged from the crack. It traversed endless space, ignoring all laws and distances, and with an unparalleled and unstoppable supreme power, it directly struck the gray crystal that Xiao Han had just sealed with his life in the deep pit below the ground!
The golden beam of light that emerged from the rift in the heavens was not a simple energy attack, but a law-based annihilation technique containing the will of "god".
The oppressive force was like the sky collapsing, and all things fell silent.
The Dark Abyss Dragon King's massive body trembled violently under this divine might, golden blood seeping from its scales. Its enormous head was pressed firmly against the ground, having lost even the courage to raise its head. It was an absolute suppression stemming from the superiority of life's rank, a disregard from creation for mere dust.
"Extreme Ice Phoenix!"
"Eternal Night Protection!"
Su Linglong and Lin Qingxia simultaneously let out a shrill scream. The two burned their source energy, one icy and one dark, and two protective barriers intertwined and rose up, trying to create a small world for the weak man in their arms.
However, in the face of the world-destroying golden light, all of this was as fragile as the thin mist in the morning light.
"Click--"
There was no earth-shattering roar, only a soft, heartbreaking cracking sound. The barrier of ice and darkness, like glass illuminated by sunlight, silently crumbled inch by inch, dissipating into countless specks of light.
Despair, like the deepest, coldest night, instantly enveloped everyone.
Lin Qingxia held Xiao Han tightly, facing the unstoppable destruction with her back turned. There was no fear in her eyes, only endless sorrow and tenderness.
Just then, the Chaos-Devouring Beast, which had been lying not far away, flashed a human-like determination in its crimson eyes. Instead of resisting the golden light, it suddenly opened its huge mouth and spewed out a hazy, viscous, chaotic Chaos Origin energy, which, like a comet flowing against the current, accurately shot into the unconscious Xiao Han's body.
"Puff!"
The moment that aura entered his body, Xiao Han's consciousness, which was already on the verge of extinction, suddenly trembled.
The newly acquired [Human Dao Merit Golden Wheel], formed from the combined beliefs of Emperor Xia and humanity, seemed like gold thrown into a raging fire, instantly bursting forth with dazzling light and spinning wildly!
"Buzz--"
A vast, resounding hum echoed between heaven and earth, neither god nor demon, neither immortal nor Buddha.
The golden wheel projected countless rays of light and shadow, within which blurry yet majestic figures emerged. There were ancestors clad in animal skins, wielding stone axes, roaring as they carved out their land; there were sages of literature, dressed in scholar's robes, wielding their pens like swords, inscribing "the righteous spirit of heaven and earth"; there were gods of agriculture, carrying plows and harrows, their feet treading the mud, ensuring bountiful harvests; there were battle-hardened heroes, clad in iron armor, their bodies wrapped in horsehide, guarding the vast lands...