After subduing the First Observer Lord deep within the Lightless Sea and claiming the Nine-Colored Chaos Star Chart, which recorded the coordinates of the Transdimensional Gate and the Ultimate Source, Chu Qing did not immediately tear open the void and charge toward the unknown depths of the Eternal Forbidden Land. Through his long journey across countless dimensions and several great calamities, he had learned better than any living being that what was too rigid would break, and that yin and yang must remain in balance. With a slight turn of his thoughts, a streak of Purple-Gold Divine Radiance swept silently across endless dimensions and through shattered barriers between the All Heavens. His white-clad figure drifted down and landed firmly in the quiet, familiar stronghold on Stone Ridge Mountain.
Yet the instant Chu Qing reached the vast sea of stars surrounding the stronghold, a shadow long hidden within a fracture of the void sprang out. It was a death warrior from the remnants of Return to Void, working with an Observer sleeper agent. Seeing Chu Qing return from a perilous expedition, he hoped to launch a desperate counterattack in the brief moment his guard was down.
Violent Karmic Netherfire burned across the death warrior's body. He raised a pitch-black bone blade formed from countless baleful words and let out a shrill, frenzied howl:
"Chu Qing! You stole the Star Chart and threw ancient epochs into chaos. Do you truly think you can enjoy even a moment's peace in this life? Today I'll brand your soul with the ultimate mark that will cast it forever into the Infernal Demon Embryo!"
Savage Killing Intent rapidly gathered and intertwined in midair. In the blink of an eye, it became an ancient judgment incantation filled with venomous curses and high-dimensional spiritual corruption. Like a torrential