Blackening Underway

On the mountainside.

Qing Ye looked outside.

Tonight, Heavenly Sword Peak was exceptionally dark.

And exceptionally quiet.

Of the people still awake on the entire Heavenly Sword Peak, only three remained.

"Wah—"

The cry of an infant suddenly echoed through the heavens and earth.

A auspicious cloud appeared in the sky.

A celestial phenomenon, a natural omen, another Prodigy was born.

"Cub, remember—your nickname is Yangyang, and your given name is Dao Yan, taking only my surname."

I tidied my clothes, cut the baby's umbilical cord, and casually stored the placenta in my spatial dimension. Just as I finished wiping the baby clean and placing her in the prepared swaddling clothes, an explosion suddenly occurred outside.

A thunderous boom echoed through the heavens and earth, as if the entire world was shaking.

I stumbled out of bed, holding my daughter, and before I could even open the door in front of me, a gust of wind had already blown the wall down.

A black-clothed figure, skeletal in appearance, stood silently beneath the ginkgo tree, his wolf-like eyes fixed on the fetus in my arms.

My heart skipped a beat, and before I could react, my arms felt lighter. The sleeping infant was forcibly taken.

He hadn't even moved a single step, and the baby was already gone.

No, my daughter—

Unimaginable pain spread through my heart.

I looked at my empty arms, my mind instantly in chaos, so much so that I couldn't think straight. Intense pain erupted without warning.

"She is not someone you can meddle with." The High Priest stared at me expressionlessly, his gaze condescending. "Given your meritorious service in carrying her, I will spare your life."

Meritorious service, spare my life?

Not someone I can meddle with.

I stood frozen in place, my body fragile after childbirth, trembling slightly in the wind.

Not someone I can meddle with...

I repeated the words silently. After a long while, I finally understood the meaning behind them. My weakened body after giving birth swayed uncontrollably, and two streams of tears flowed out uncontrollably.

I knew I was no match for him, so I tried to calm my tone as much as possible and pleaded with the black-clothed man, "Please, give her back to me." My bitten lip was deathly pale.

"Don't dream."

Hearing this, my mind exploded. I went mad almost instantly and rushed forward recklessly.

Bang—

Reality was cruel. I couldn't even get close to him before being sent flying by his protective energy.

At this moment—

I finally noticed the scattered formation array on the ground and the unconscious Qing Ye.

I rolled on the ground where I was thrown, unable to think about anything else, only clutching my head in pain and letting out screams.

"Yangyang."

"My daughter—"

I endured the pain that felt like my body was splitting apart, my gaze fixed on the fair-skinned infant in the swaddling clothes ahead. Only one thought remained in my heart: I absolutely could not let anyone take Yangyang away.

She is my daughter, my newborn cub.

Even if it's like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, even if it's overestimating my abilities, I still charged towards the black-clothed man again without hesitation.

The black-clothed man's eyes were filled with disdain. He stood firmly under the tree, not even bothering to move.

Behind him, countless figures seemed to be sinking, like a deity overlooking the vicissitudes of the mortal world, indifferently watching my futile attempts again and again.

Bang—

Without even lifting a hand, I was sent flying again.

This impact felt like my entire body had fallen apart.

My whole body twitched twice on the ground, and I could no longer get up.

I didn't lift my head, my fingertips slowly tracing the ground, towards the direction where the cub was.

"Can you... can you give her back to me?"

I coughed and pleaded.

Alas, no one would respond, and no one would pity me.

Like my destined fate, a miniature silhouette of my life so far.

The intense pain made it impossible to lift my head. The strong taste of dirt lingered in my mouth, and I convulsed miserably.

I couldn't even lift my head to look at my daughter one more time.

I could only passively accept her being taken away from me forever.

I was so unwilling.

For the first time, I hated my own weakness so much.

Why.

Nothing went my way.

Why...

No matter what I did, it always ended up like this.

A strong sense of helplessness spread through my heart, and I could only shed tears continuously.

A crazy thought was born in my mind, and once it was born, it could no longer be contained.

What if.

This world was targeting me alone with its malice.

I would rather drag everyone down to destruction with me.

An unimaginable malevolence continued to expand in my heart.

Rumble--

Streaks of red lightning tore through the Sky Curtain, striking every corner of the human world.

The eternal, lingering dark clouds were dispersed.

A Blood Moon appeared in the Sky Curtain.

When the red light from the Blood Moon descended upon the human world and bathed my entire body, the eyes of the man in black changed for the first time.

He hadn't left, merely enjoying the struggle of an ant.

At this moment, his eyes showed emotion for the first time.

I propped myself up with one hand, slowly getting to my feet. My head was slightly lowered, my messy hair obscuring my eyes.

The night, which should have been pitch black, became a scene of countless blinding red lights as the Blood Moon appeared.

Barefoot, I took a step forward.

This simple step caused the world to turn dark once more.

It wasn't like true darkness, but rather as if everyone's perception had been distorted, unable to respond to any changes in the world.

I could no longer make any sound, my appearance as ferocious as a vengeful spirit.

Drip--

A small foot, as delicate as jade, stepped out from the hem of a long skirt.

At this moment, it landed on the ground as if stepping on a lake.

I took another step forward.

Five slender beams of red light erupted.

This attack burst forth without any warning or discernible trajectory.

Time and space seemed to cease to exist.

It was like a predetermined fruit, an attack that, once unleashed, was guaranteed to hit.

The man in black's pupils contracted.

He couldn't react.

He couldn't defend.

And he couldn't counterattack.

Swoosh--

His left arm, which was holding the infant, split open on the spot.

Even the countless phantoms behind him, the silhouettes of an era, had a part of them forcibly erased.

He let out a cry and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

This was an attack that a human could not possibly unleash.

If one had to use a single word to describe it, it was like an eraser, forcibly rubbing away a part of his Dao Fruit.

What kind of attack was this?

It was impossible to discern a specific realm, or perhaps there was no realm at all.

There wasn't the slightest fluctuation of energy.

It was more like the ultimate power unleashed solely through the physical body.

As the attack dissipated, the world returned to a sea of red.

In front, the little girl, head bowed so her face couldn't be seen, her messy, dense long hair falling around her, still stood in the same spot.

It was as if she had never taken a step forward, nor attacked. Only the blood continuously dripping from her right hand told everyone what had just happened.

The man in black panicked, his heart fluttering for the first time.

This was bizarre, truly bizarre.

"You, who exactly are you?"

He had long lost his previous composure and took a step back.

If this step were to spread, countless people would be shocked.

A Quasi-Supreme, invincible in the world, actually showed fear in battle.

I didn't speak again, or rather, I had lost the ability to speak and was acting purely on instinct.

He had no intention of staying any longer. Since his objective had been achieved, why linger in this place?

"Madman," he cursed.

He took another step back. This was no ordinary step, but one that folded infinite space.

With a single step, he was in another, different Supreme Heaven dimension.

The distance separating her and the enemy was not just infinite space, but the heavy weight of an era of Supreme Heaven.

If the enemy couldn't break through the blockade of an era, they would never see his figure again.

This was the power of a Quasi-Supreme.

With every gesture, they could conjure a brilliant silhouette of an era of Supreme Heaven.

However.

Today, his understanding had been overturned.

I took another step forward, distorting everyone's common sense. Even a heavy era of Supreme Heaven was merely a reflection in the lake beneath my bare feet. Everyone's gaze became non-existent, and all divine senses were annihilated into nothingness.

Unable to see.

Unable to sense.

Unable to defend.

My black and red skirt fluttered in the wind.

Five blood-red shadows suddenly appeared, directly tearing through the world's barrier.

The predetermined outcome, transcending the obstruction of time, the constraints of time, and the disparity between dimensions, landed on his other arm once more.