Afterward...
Cao Xin charged into the Abyss Plane, sword in hand.
There was no sun in the sky of the Abyss Plane, only a layer of dark red light pouring in from every direction, without source or end, pressing heavily overhead like a sponge soaked through with blood.
The Abyssal Sage King stood in the distance.
His form had already grown much dimmer than before.
He watched Cao Xin emerge from the rift, a savage light churning in his eyes.
"You followed me."
His voice was low and hoarse.
"You actually followed me."
"I told you."
Cao Xin stood on the wasteland with his sword in hand, gazing calmly at him.
"You won't be coming back."
The Abyssal Sage King gave a short laugh.
It echoed through the empty darkness.
"Good. Good. Good."
He said "good" three times.
Each carried more weight than the last.
"Then let me show you..."
"Just how much power I can still call upon within my own plane!"
He raised the now-dim Heavenly Saint Rift Abyss once more.
The cluster of blue-violet flame shuddered violently in the void, then surged as though fresh fuel had been poured into it, becoming a vortex of blue-violet flame that blotted out the sky.
He swept his hand toward Cao Xin.
The vortex bore down on Cao Xin like an ancient beast unleashed, stripping away the dark rock strata in layer after layer wherever it passed, pulverizing them into nothingness.
Cao Xin held the Ruthless Sword horizontally before him, the silvery-white chill gleaming along its blade like a stretched-out beam of moonlight amid the blue-violet flames.
He slashed.
The sword light split the oncoming vortex of flame in two like a silvery-white blade magnified without limit.
The severed flames veered to either side and slammed into the distant wasteland