The Space-time Vortex spun wildly, and the Nine-Colored Light surrounding Ren Xiaoyao clashed violently with the Black Demonic Qi of the Demon Venerable, unleashing energy like a cosmic explosion.
Within the distorted Space-time Rift, glimpses of Other Planes are faintly visible—a burning Immortal Palaces, its Glazed Ice twisted into bizarre shapes in the Flame Sect, and countless white-robed immortals falling while clutching broken Jade Qin, the lingering echoes of the zither strings breaking reverberating in the void.
There is an ancient city frozen in ice, its walls cracked with spiderweb-like fissures by frost. Soldiers with shattered armor remain in battle stances, their eyelashes frozen with Ice Crystals that hold the terror of their impending death. Their empty eye sockets seem to be silently accusing others.
Countless beings were being devoured by demonic energy. Their distorted faces and struggling postures appeared and disappeared in the cracks, like ghosts trapped in a time-space prison. The black energy surging beneath their skin dyed their blood vessels an eerie purplish-black.
The heatwave felt like scorching steel needles, piercing his broken skin. The scorched earth and scabs embedded in the gaps of his armor were baked by the high temperature, emitting a nauseating burnt smell. Mixed with the blood from his unhealed wounds, it condensed into a sweet and pungent haze in his nostrils. Every breath felt like swallowing scalding iron filings.
Each energy tremor was like a giant hammer slamming heavily onto the bones, producing a dull, teeth-grinding thud.
Ren Xiaoyao could even feel his spine dislocating during the tremors, and the friction between the vertebrae was clearly audible. He struggled to reset it with his powerful self-healing ability, and each reset was accompanied by excruciating pain as if countless tiny poisonous ants were gnawing at his bone marrow.
His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, as if it were about to break free of its restraints. The violent throbbing made his eardrums ache, and even his temples throbbed with his heartbeat, the blood vessels bulging and twisting under his skin like earthworms.
Fear and excitement intertwined into an invisible net, tightly enveloping him—this was the most dangerous moment he had ever faced in his cultivation, yet also his only chance to end this catastrophe.
The horrific scene of the sect being slaughtered ten years ago, and the sight of civilians turning into blood three days ago, flashed alternately before my eyes.
The demonic flames soared into the sky, distorting and warping the sect's " Xiaoyao " plaque. The feeling of his senior brother's warm blood splattering on his face when he shielded him from the fatal blow was still vivid in his mind; his senior brother's gradually transparent hand still held the posture of pushing him away.
Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, condensing into salty droplets at the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision.
He dared not raise his hand to wipe it, fearing that the slightest distraction would lead to utter ruin.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ren Xiaoyao noticed that the last rune on the Divine Dragon Armor was about to go out. The golden patterns that had once shone as brightly as the sun were now fading at a visible speed. Ren Xiaoyao smiled bitterly to himself: So even this divine artifact couldn't hold on any longer.
Cracks spread from the joints of the armor, each one seeming to mock his futile efforts. The seeping Golden Liquid Light fell to the ground, instantly evaporating into wisps of blue smoke that outlined an illusory dragon shape in the air before vanishing in an instant.
The dragon scales on the armor began to peel off piece by piece, revealing the blood-stained skin beneath.
Ren Xiaoyao's gaze was as firm as iron, but his hands, gripping the Chaos Axe, were already soaked with cold sweat, and the axe handle was slippery in his hands.
His knuckles were white from excessive force, and the wound at the base of his thumb kept bleeding, staining the Ancient Totems on the axe handle dark red. The Totems seemed to be given life, and as they were soaked in blood, they began to slowly wriggle and ooze out fine black mist.
He knew this was the final battle.
Countless scenes of training day and night flashed through his mind: in the dead of winter, tempering his muscles and bones in an ice cave, the biting cold seemed to freeze his soul.
At that time, he curled up between the icicles, letting the Cold Poison invade his meridians, and then using True Fire to refine it little by little. Every time the Cold Poison clashed with the True Fire, it was like walking through the Gates of Hell. His meridians were torn apart and painful, but he had to keep his mind absolutely clear, biting his lower lip until it bled.
During the sweltering heat of midsummer, he absorbed the Flame Power from the Volcanic Crater, and the intense heat nearly burned his lungs.
The scalding lava splashed onto his skin, instantly burning sizzling marks. He still had to forcefully circulate his cultivation Cultivation Method to absorb the Fire Spirit within the lava into his body. His nostrils were filled with the smell of his own flesh burning, and his throat was so hot that he couldn't speak.
The images of his fellow disciples' sacrifices pierced his heart like sharp blades. His eldest brother, in order to protect him, was corroded by demonic energy and left completely battered. His last smile was filled with both relief and resentment.
Before his senior brother turned to ashes, he placed the Sect Master's Ruler into his hand. The still-warm metal left a permanent mark. At this moment, the ruler was slightly warm in the Storage Bag, as if reminding him of his unfulfilled responsibilities.
His junior sister's breath grew weaker in his arms, and with her last strength, she stuffed the Inheritance Jade Pendant into his hands.
The words " Protect All Living Beings " engraved on the jade pendant were burning in his heart at that moment. It was the hope that his junior sister had carved with the last strength of her life. Every stroke seemed to be engraved on his heart. His junior sister's gradually cooling fingers were still tightly gripping his sleeve.
And the cries of the common people, the villages ravaged by demonic energy, the weeping of children, the wailing of the old—all flooded my mind like a tide.
He once found half a piece of bread with baby teeth marks in the ruins; it was the last morsel of food that a child hadn't had time to finish.
The child lay in his mother's arms with his eyes wide open. Both of their bodies had turned blackish-purple, yet they remained in a protective posture.
The mother's stiff arms were still wrapped around the child, and crumbs of biscuit were still stuck to the corners of the child's open mouth. These images turned into a heavy responsibility pressing down on his shoulders, making it almost impossible for him to breathe. It was as if an invisible mountain was slowly pressing him into the ground.
The phantoms of the Divine Dragon and Phoenix behind him let out a final cry, pouring all their power into his body.
A warm current surged through his body like a raging river, but the power was so immense that his meridians felt as if they might burst at any moment.
Golden veins emerged beneath Ren Xiaoyao's skin, resembling countless burning Fire Snakes writhing, and fine cracks began to appear on the surface of his skin, oozing specks of golden light.
The sound of blood vessels bursting echoed inside my body like popping beans, and blood mixed with Gold Dust seeped from each crack.
Ren Xiaoyao felt a sense of unease—if this power got out of control, not only would he be unable to defeat the Demon Venerable, but he would also suffer the fate of being annihilated, body and soul.
He gritted his teeth, mobilized all his will, and tried his best to guide this power, like navigating a small boat in a storm, where a slight misstep would result in being swallowed by the giant waves.
In a daze, he saw his fingernails dig deeply into his palm, and blood dripped to the ground, blooming into a fleeting Ice Lotus. The moment the Ice Lotus bloomed, the surrounding air condensed into frost, and then evaporated into water vapor by the surging power within his body in the next second.
A metallic taste in the mouth is a sign of internal bleeding.
Ren Xiaoyao gripped the Chaos Axe tightly, and the light of the Space-time Laws on the axe blade reached an unprecedented brightness, so bright that he couldn't open his eyes.
In the intense light, he seemed to see countless versions of himself from Parallel Universes, some of whom had already fallen under the Demon Venerable's claws, their bodies riddled with holes by the demonic energy.
Some are still engaged in endless battles, but their eyes have long lost their light, leaving only numb killing.
My fingertips touched the ancient patterns on the axe handle; the rough texture seemed to tell a story of the vicissitudes of time.
The bloodstains of past holders still lingered in those indented lines, gradually merging with his blood. A flood of unfamiliar memories surged into his mind—the heroic spirit of the First Holder World Creation in Primordial Chaos, and the despair of the Last Holder was devoured by his inner Heart Demon.
He saw the Last Holder, in a frenzy, swing his axe and destroy himself, his blood staining the entire Primordial Chaos.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the hesitation in his heart, but his heart continued to pound uncontrollably, as if protesting his decision.
A sharp pain shot through his chest, like countless tiny needles pricking him, or like an invisible hand tightly gripping his heart.
With a loud shout, he used all his strength to slam the Chaos Axe down fiercely towards the Demon Venerable.
At that moment, he could even hear the cracking sound of his own bones, as if his whole body was about to be drained by this blow. He forgot all about the soreness in his muscles and the stinging pain in his meridians. At this moment, all he could see was the culprit— the Demon Venerable.
His throat was torn from the excessive force, and the spurting blood splattered onto the axe blade, only to evaporate instantly.
A massive Silver Axe Light ripped through the void, shattering the space in its path, scattering like Shattered Mirror.
Within the Broken Space, his ferocious expression and the Demon Venerable's twisted face were reflected.
Ren Xiaoyao watched the axe blade Sky-Rending Strike, a strange sense of calm welled up within him.
He suddenly recalled the time when he chased butterflies in the mountains as a child. The world was simple and pure then, with the warm sunshine shining on him and a gentle breeze caressing his cheeks.
The Scale Powder from the butterfly wings would land on his nose, tickling him. He would chase after them across the entire Sea of Flowers, his laughter echoing through the valley.
Now, his laughter has long since turned into a roar of battle.
There was no killing, no hatred, only carefree laughter.
Unlike now, when I am filled with hatred and responsibility, my heart is already riddled with holes.
The boy who once chased butterflies could never have imagined that one day he would fight to the death against such a terrifying being in order to save the world.
A flicker of fear flashed in the Demon Venerable's eyes, a subtle change that jolted Ren Xiaoyao invigorated—it turned out that even this arrogant Demon Head feared death.
This sliver of fear, like a glimmer of starlight in the darkness, gave him boundless courage and confidence, making him almost forget the excruciating pain in his body and the impending crisis of his strength running out.
He felt his life force rapidly draining away with this blow, and double vision began to appear before his eyes.
However, Ren Xiaoyao's power at this moment had already exceeded his imagination.
As the axe struck the Demon Venerable's protective shield with tremendous force, watching the cracks spread like a spiderweb, he began to worry: if he truly killed the Demon Venerable, how could he save the beings in this world corrupted by demonic energy?
Are those Mortals and cultivators whose minds have already been Demonic Qi Erosion destined to be killed?
He recalled trying to purify a child controlled by demonic energy, only to watch helplessly as the child turned into blood during the purification process. In the child's last eyes, there was a longing for life and trust in him, but he was powerless to do anything about it.
The child's outstretched hand grasped at the air, eventually turning into a pool of foul-smelling black water.
He couldn't bring himself to do it, but keeping them around would only create new Hidden Danger.
Conflict and pain tore at his heart, but the axe's momentum remained undiminished, striking the Demon Venerable directly.
The Demon Venerable's shrill scream pierced the sky, but Ren Xiaoyao felt his eardrums go numb, as if the sound contained some kind of Curse, striking the depths of his soul and stirring up the deepest fear and unease within him.
The sound was like the wailing of millions of wronged souls, stirring up a storm in his sea of consciousness, and cracks appeared on the walls of his sea of consciousness.
The black demonic energy dissipated like the receding tide, and the Demon Venerable Lord knelt on the ground in a sorry state.
Ren Xiaoyao's hand, which was holding the Chaos Axe, suddenly trembled.
Would killing him truly end everything?
He watched as the Black Blood seeped from the Demon Venerable's body, and as the blood fell to the ground, it transformed into swarms of Demonic Insects, greedily devouring everything around them.
His heart was filled with doubt and confusion.
Years of battles had left him physically and mentally exhausted, but even if he killed the Demon Venerable, how could the wounds left by the war heal?
Can their destroyed homes, the people reduced to blood, and their corrupted comrades truly find redemption?
He saw his hands, covered with scars from battle, scars that would forever remind him of the cruelty he had endured.
"No... impossible!" The Demon Venerable's roar interrupted his thoughts. The incredulous voice actually brought Ren Xiaoyao back to his senses.
He cannot be soft-hearted at this critical moment; he must bring this catastrophe to an end, no matter what.
His fingernails dug deep into his palm, using the pain to bring him back to his senses. Blood dripped from his fingers, forming a small pool on the ground.
The blood meandered across the ground in intricate patterns, as if foreshadowing the trajectory of fate.
"Nothing is impossible. Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent." Ren Xiaoyao found it ironic even when he said these words.
Over the years, how much has he sacrificed and lost in the name of so-called "justice"?
The lives of fellow disciples, the innocence of childhood, and the peace of mind within—all vanished in this long battle.
His hands were already stained with blood, and the faces of those dead souls often haunted his dreams. Every night, he struggled with nightmares and cold sweats.
In his dreams, he always returns to the day his sect was slaughtered, and no matter how hard he tries, he cannot change the outcome.
"Today is your death day!" Before the words were finished, the Demon Venerable's plea for mercy made him stop in his tracks.
The voice trembled in a way he had never heard before, reminding him of an injured cub.
For the first time, a pleading look appeared in the Demon Venerable's eyes, which stirred a tremor in Ren Xiaoyao's heart. Could it be that this Demon Head, whose hands were stained with blood, also had a vulnerable side?
But soon, he saw the sinister glint in the Demon Venerable's eyes; that pleading was nothing but a pretense.
A secret? A significant increase in strength? Alarm bells rang in Ren Xiaoyao's mind.
He knew all too well the Demon Venerable's cunning; every word he uttered could be a carefully crafted trap.
Yet the legends of the Chaos Land drew him in like a magnet; it was the birthplace of the most primordial power at the Beginning of Heaven and Earth.
It is said that those who obtain the Chaos Power can reshape mountains and rivers and reverse life and death.
If we could truly obtain the Heaven and Earth Origin Power, perhaps we could not only purify the demonic energy, but also resurrect those who died because of this catastrophe.
But if this is just a delaying tactic by the Demon Venerable, then he will face utter destruction.
He seemed to see himself being lured into a trap by the Demon Venerable, besieged by countless Demon Soldiers, and finally dying from exhaustion, with no one in the world able to stop the rampage of demonic energy.
He saw his own corpse being corroded by demonic energy and turning into dust.
"Why should I believe you?" he asked with a sneer, but inside he was torn between two Celestial Person voices, which were arguing incessantly in his mind and giving him a splitting headache.
A voice said, "This is the only chance, don't miss it! You can resurrect your fallen comrades and save the world!"
Another voice warned, "Don't be foolish, he could drag you to hell at any moment! Have you forgotten the countless crimes he has committed?"
Two voices echoed in his mind, like two little people fiercely fighting, tearing at his reason.
His temples throbbed as if they were about to explode.
When the Demon Venerable proposed swearing an oath and having his mind controlled, Ren Xiaoyao made a decision almost immediately.
This is not an adventure, but a high-stakes gamble—gambling on one's own strength, on the existence of the Chaos Land, and even more so, on a chance to start everything anew.
He had no choice; even if there was only a sliver of hope, he would try.
A golden light flashed from the Ancient Secret Technique. As the Demon Venerable's eyes became vacant, he felt a sense of emptiness, as if he had also lost something important in this battle.
He couldn't tell whether it was a wavering of faith or a sense of uncertainty about the future.
I felt a void in my heart that I could never fill, as if a part of my soul had been taken away.
It was as if a gash had been torn open in his soul, and cold wind kept blowing in.
"Lead the way!" With this brief command, Ren Xiaoyao forced himself to stop thinking about those complicated emotions.
As he passed through the Broken Space, the Space-time Turbulence tore at his clothes, as if countless invisible hands were trying to pull him into the abyss of time.
The attacks from mysterious creatures continued relentlessly. Some of them had hundreds of eyes, each emitting a ghostly blue light, as if they could see right through him.
Some bodies were pieced together from countless human faces, each with a different expression—anger, fear, despair—and their mouths opened and closed, emitting piercing screams.
With each swing of his axe in retaliation, he pondered: Is Chaos Land truly the answer, or the beginning of another abyss?
He felt like a traveler groping in the dark, with unknown dangers ahead and a past he could never return to behind.
His steps were unsteady, each step feeling like he was walking a tightrope.
Finally, a massive vortex appeared before them.
The Demon Venerable's mechanical reminder made Ren Xiaoyao's throat tighten; the surging Time-Space Power within that vortex was more dangerous than any power he had ever seen.
Taking a deep breath, the moment he stepped out, he suddenly remembered a saying he had heard as a child, "The most precious treasures are often hidden in the most dangerous places."
At this moment, there was no turning back for him.
His hair began to turn white, a sign of excessive depletion of his life force.
The moment he stepped into the vortex, the Space-time Laws cut into his body like sharp blades, Ren Xiaoyao struggled to maintain his Divine Sense to observe his surroundings.
The Demon Venerable's stiff back suddenly twisted, a sinister smile curling at the corner of his mouth, and his controlled eyes glowed with a blood-red light.
" Ren Xiaoyao, do you really think you can control me?" The Demon Venerable's voice seemed to come from the Nine Netherworlds. The trapped Demonic Soul broke through the shackles of the Secret Method, and countless black chains shot out from his body, binding Ren Xiaoyao.
The barbs on the chains dug into his flesh, and blood flowed down the chains, nourishing the Demon Venerable's power.
Amidst the excruciating pain, Ren Xiaoyao suddenly regained consciousness. It turned out that the Demon Venerable had deliberately feigned weakness, exploiting a loophole in the Ancient Secret Technique, and preserved a trace of Demonic Thought at the cost of damaging his own soul.
The corrosive power of the chains frantically eroded his meridians, and the wounds contaminated by demonic energy reopened, causing the Nine-Colored Light to dim.
The Demon Venerable's arrogant laughter shook the very fabric of space. "The power of the Chaos Land should have been mine! You were nothing but a pawn used to lure me into this treasure trove!"
The Demon Venerable's laughter was filled with madness, and his body began to swell, growing enormous Black Wings.
Ren Xiaoyao gripped the Chaos Axe tightly, the blade's light flickering.
He recalled his senior brother's dying smile, and the unfinished cakes left by the children in the ruins; a surge of fervent power rose from the depths of his heart.
"You think you can scheme against everything?" Ren Xiaoyao's voice was icy cold. Suddenly, the Chaos Axe burst forth with thousands of Silver Light, Space-time Laws condensed into Ancient Formation Diagram on the axe blade.
He forcefully channeled his nearly depleted power, Nine-Colored Light around him transformed into the Flame Sect of Phoenix Nirvana, burning the Black Chains to ashes.
In the Flame Sect, he saw the figures of his senior brother and junior sister, who nodded encouragingly to him from within the flames.
The Demon Venerable's expression changed drastically. He tried to escape into the Space-time Gap, but found that the surrounding space had been sealed off by Ren Xiaoyao's Chaos Power.
"You think I was completely unprepared?" Ren Xiaoyao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes blazing with killing intent. "While controlling your mind, I planted the Demon Slaying Seal in your soul."
Before he finished speaking, Golden Runes erupted from the Demon Venerable's body, trapping his Demonic Soul.
The Demon Venerable let out a painful roar, and cracks began to appear on his body, from which black demonic energy surged forth.
The Demon Venerable let out a shrill scream as his Demon Body began to disintegrate.
Ren Xiaoyao raised the Chaos Axe, leaving a burning footprint in the air with each step. "You slaughtered countless lives and destroyed sects; this blood debt must be paid."
The moment the axe blade struck, the Demon Venerable's roar abruptly ceased. The Black Demonic Qi transformed into countless phantoms of wronged souls, which vanished into nothingness amidst the Chaos Power. Ren Xiaoyao saw expressions of relief on the faces of those wronged souls as their figures gradually dissipated, turning into specks of starlight.
Ren Xiaoyao staggered and steadied himself against the Chaos Axe, looking at the slightly warm Sect Master's Ruler in his hand.
The entrance to the Chaos Land ahead remained mysterious and unpredictable, but his gaze hardened once more.
No matter how many conspiracies and schemes are involved, he will seek justice for everything that has been lost.
To find a glimmer of hope for this ravaged world.
His body swayed precariously, but his will was as hard as steel.
Ren Xiaoyao took a deep breath, dragging his almost exhausted body, and slowly walked towards the entrance of the Chaos Land.
Every step was accompanied by the groans of the bones and the stinging pain in the veins.
But his gaze remained firmly fixed on the vortex churning with Chaos Qi.
Just before stepping into the vortex, the surrounding space suddenly trembled violently.
Countless tiny Space-time Fragments shot towards him like sharp blades, striking his armor and sparking a shower of Mars.
Ren Xiaoyao wielded the Chaos Axe, creating barriers of Silver Light light that shattered the fragments one by one.
However, this is just the beginning.
The moment he stepped into the Chaos Land, intense Chaos Qi surged forth as if it were a tangible substance, frantically drilling into his mouth, nose, and wounds.
These waves of energy, imbued with the Primordial Power of Heaven and Earth, surged and crashed through his body with a primal ferocity.
Ren Xiaoyao groaned, his face turning deathly pale, and streaks of golden blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
He could clearly feel that the Damaged Meridians in the battle with the Demon Venerable were undergoing a new round of tearing.
But he did not back down. Instead, he activated the remaining power within his body and constructed protective barriers in his sea of consciousness.
Just then, a series of booming sounds suddenly came from the silent, Chaos Land.