The great war had finally come to an end, but Buzhou Mountain, inside and out, was already a scene of utter devastation.
Nearly half of the once magnificent, sprawling volcanoes had collapsed or split apart. Scorching lava erupted from deep within the Earth Veins and flowed unchecked, turning thousands of miles of fertile land into vast stretches of scorched earth. The air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur, blood, and the lingering aftertaste of fierce malevolent energy. The "Undying Rosy Clouds" in the sky had also dimmed considerably, torn into fragments by countless massive spatial rifts, like shredded brocade hanging across the heavens.
The surviving Phoenix Clan soldiers, Kirin Clan reinforcements, and Cultivators of every race moved constantly through the ruins and mountains of corpses, gathering the remains of their comrades and treating the wounded who still clung to life. Every face was marked by exhaustion, grief, and the dazed emptiness of surviving a catastrophe.
"It's over... It's really over?" A young Green Luan Clan warrior knelt beside a fallen comrade, his trembling hand reaching out to close the other's lifeless eyes. His voice was hoarse.
Beside him, an older Yue Zhuo Clan Cultivator looked toward the collapsed Mountain Peaks still belching black smoke in the distance, his eyes full of anguish. "But our homeland... it's nearly been destroyed too."
At the summit of Nirvana Peak, on the broad platform before the Southern Bright Leaving Fire Hall, the gathered high-level figures stood in silent solemnity.
The Phoenix Ancestor and Yuan Huang stood side by side, gazing down at the shattered mountains and rivers stretching for billions of miles. Neither progenitor showed much expression, yet the heavy aura around them let everyone feel the weight in their hearts. Though they had won this battle, it had been a costly