Blood Feud

That pattern came from a fragment of the Eternal Bridge. It "knew" that what was written on the stone stele was true.

Because the fragment itself was part of the Eternal Bridge, and the Eternal Bridge's purpose was to help cultivators become Lords of Eternity.

A searing sensation spread from his Dao Fruit throughout his entire body.

Every inch of Chu Ming's flesh burned, every bone radiated heat, every wisp of his soul trembled.

It was not pain, but "confirmation."

Confirmation that this path was the right one.

Confirmation that the Eternal Bridge was the only way out.

Confirmation that he had not taken the wrong road.

Chu Ming withdrew the power of order.

The instant his fingertips left the stone stele, the words carved upon it faded from bright to dim.

Like a lamp snuffed out by a breath, its light receded from the surface and retreated into the depths of the stele.

Cracks began to appear across the surface of the stone stele.

They started at its peak.

The branches like a tree canopy split apart from the top, and the cracks spread downward like lightning.

One branch split into two, two into four, four into eight.

The cracks wove a dense net across the top of the stele.

Then they moved downward.

The cracks extended from the top to the body of the stele, and the vertical patterns upon it began to fracture under their impact.

Those bark-like patterns broke apart in the middle, fine black dust drifting from the fractures.

From the body of the stele to its base.

Like tree roots, the cracks plunged into the base. The rootlets around it were ripped from the earth under the cracks' assault, their ends carrying ash-black soil.

The stone stele transformed from a petrified tree into a