The black-robed man flicked his five fingers, and five pitch-black chains burst from the earth like living creatures. Eerie blue ghostfire coiled around them as they bit into everyone's necks, leaving livid, bloody marks.
Qian Fan's throat tightened under the chain, his nostrils filled with the foul stench of rusty decay mingled with corpse oil-the crystallized flesh and blood of countless Path Seekers clung to the links, every crystal glimmering with the spectral light of despair.
Xu Fangyuan tore futilely at the chains. The golden patterns of his Star Martial Soul were being devoured little by little by the ghostfire, like lingering snow beneath a blazing sun.
"Zhang Xin, your faith in Emperor Qi is truly touching." The black-robed man leaned closer, breathing the stench of rotting leaves into Zhang Xin's face. The earth-colored immortal markings on Zhang Xin's chest suddenly began burning in reverse with a sizzling hiss.
Zhang Xin convulsed and coughed up black blood, yet still grinned through bloodstained teeth. "So what if you're at the ninth order of the Saint Realm? The Heavenly Abyss Domain's Karmic Law Court would never allow you to-"
"Shh." The black-robed man pressed a fingertip against Zhang Xin's brow. The laws of time spread through his body like a spiderweb. "Let me guess. You're about to say, 'Erase us completely'?"
He suddenly smiled, baring yellowed fangs. "Unfortunately, you don't even have three seconds." Before his words had faded, he snapped his fingers. The dust in the air instantly froze; only their bulging eyes could still move-time had been forcibly halted once again.
Qian Fan watched helplessly as the black-robed man teleported in front of him. The chain coiled around the man's fingertip slowly pierced his throat.
In that instant, he clearly saw his own reflection in the black-robed man's pupils: his