"Finally, it went in! Master, you're amazing!"
Little Crane was thrilled at the sight.
Fang Chen slowly withdrew the Floating Immortal Sword. The Heaven Mending Goddess retrieved the Black Stone, then turned into a streak of light and flew back into Fang Chen's body.
He swayed slightly. His face was paler than usual, fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, and his breathing was a little more rapid than normal.
Yet he still stood firm, like a mountain peak that remained standing after weathering a fierce storm.
He lowered his head to look at the Floating Immortal Sword in his hand. The dao patterns on its blade still shimmered with a soft, warm light, as though responding to their master's gaze.
Then he raised his head and swept his gaze across the entire underground space.
The altar was gone, and so was the Chaos Thousand-Eyed Worm. The Crystal Walls that had once radiated an amber glow now retained only their gray-white base color. The wreckage of collapsed stone pillars lay scattered everywhere, like ruins forgotten for countless years.
The entire underground space had fallen utterly silent. Only Fang Chen's breathing echoed faintly beneath the cavernous dome.
Fang Chen slowly exhaled a stale breath.
He knew that the Chaos Thousand-Eyed Worm was completely gone. Her soul origin had been utterly annihilated the instant the altar was fully devoured, like a flame cast into the Abyss, never to be rekindled.
He turned, looking toward the Spirit Crane Space, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "It's over."
As Fang Chen's words fell, Little Crane's Spirit Crane Space opened slightly. Ripples spread across the nine-colored halo like the surface of water brushed by a spring breeze.
She darted out of the halo like a streak of multicolored light, trailing a long ribbon