Yuanshi Tianzun vanished into the depths of chaos. His piercing scream was swept back and forth by the Immortal Slaying Sword Qi before finally fading away.
Before Jiepai Pass, ten thousand strands of killing intent fell silent at once.
Within the formation, only Sect Master Tongtian and the last Sage still able to stand remained.
Taishang Laojun.
Taishang Laojun stood amid shattered Dao light, his sleeves stained with the golden blood he had coughed up. His gaze passed through the surging sword qi, taking in the defeat and destruction that had just unfolded.
Zhunti had been annihilated with a single sword strike, his Dao source scattered completely. Even his Sage body could no longer retain an intact outline.
Jieyin's cultivation had been sealed and his Pipa Bones pierced through, pinning him to the formation diagram's barrier. Sage blood dripped down his robes into chaos.
Yuanshi Tianzun's Dao heart had collapsed. He had fled in panic, dragging the Pangu Banner, only to be kicked into the turbulence by the third brother he had once most despised. Whether he lived or died was unclear.
There was neither sorrow nor anger on Taishang Laojun's face.
That lofty composure, that certainty of holding Heaven's Will in his grasp-this battle had stripped them all away, leaving only a desolation pressed into him by the years.
He raised his eyes and looked at Tongtian.
In those eyes that had witnessed the ages, the shock had yet to fade, and doubt still lingered in their depths. More than anything, though, there was a weariness he could no longer push away.
"Third Brother..."
When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, the words forced from his throat with the hollowness of utter exhaustion.
"You won."
He had won.
Decisively, brutally, and so utterly that the dignity of Heavenly Dao