The Divine Sword Beyond the Heavens

It all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Master Lu realized what was happening, everything before him had fallen silent as death.

Within a radius of ten or so miles, the sky where the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation had contracted was in utter chaos. No energy drifted there, no matter remained; it seemed even time and space, even the universe itself, had vanished. Everything was frozen, like a land of the dead.

Its edges continued absorbing nearby energy and matter, and the chaos kept spreading, as if it could go on forever, until the very end of time.

The instant this state appeared, heaven and earth changed with a crash, as if rejecting and loathing it. The void split open, and the Sea of Vital Energy surged, as though trying to fill and smooth it over again, preventing it from spreading further.

Master Lu's eyes held confusion and sorrow. He did not understand why Daoist Chong He had made this choice. They could have held on for another quarter of an hour at most; Guerduo would have neared his limit, while he himself was not yet in dire straits.

Just then, nine Dao Marks flew out of the dead silence, flashing with visions of flames, thunder, and Chaos Holes. They circled a long-handled axe, shifting through all manner of profound combinations.

Without a sound, the axe struggled to cleave through the dead silence, carrying Guerduo's battered, unconscious Heavenly Punishment Treasure Body as it fled north at high speed.

Master Lu's gaze hardened. Sword in hand, he pursued without pause, striking from afar one moment and closing in for hand-to-hand combat the next. His movements were subtle and precise, his blade clashing repeatedly against the axe's light with a series of ringing clangs.

One fled, one pursued;