That dull, heavy thump of a heartbeat was like a sledgehammer, smashing without warning through the last shred of reason and order left inside the Heaven Dou imperial palace's great hall.
Immediately after, the dark-purple viscous fluid that had been seeping from the cracks in the pure-gold throne began to gush out madly, like magma brought to a complete boil.
A blinding black light, carrying a terrifying kinetic force that seemed about to tear space itself apart, shot into the sky from the ruins of the throne.
The few remaining ever-burning Soul Tool lamps in the hall went out the instant they touched that black light. The Soul Power in their wicks was drained like blood from a mummified corpse, snuffed out in an instant and reduced to a pinch of ghastly white ash.
"Boom—!"
The black light blasted through the palace's heavy, magnificent dome with unstoppable force.
Under the impact of the pillar of light, the huge glazed tiles and refined-steel crossbeams did not even get the chance to fall. They were decomposed midair into fine powder by that high-dimensional power of extinction.
The first to bear the brunt was Qian Renxue, who was closest to the throne.
At that moment, she still maintained the skin of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, but the shock wave belonging to the high-dimensional Shadow origin utterly ignored her surface disguise and locked directly onto the depths of her soul, slamming into it with brutal force.
"Ugh—ah—!"
A shrill scream forced itself uncontrollably from Qian Renxue's throat. Her originally handsome, refined face twisted instantly, drained of all color.
Under everyone's gaze, a vast and sacred phantom behind Qian Renxue was torn straight out from deep within her spine by an invisible, savage force.
It was an angel with six radiant wings, eyes closed, its