The void tore open with a thunderous crash.
A tall, imposing figure stepped out from the depths of space and stood firmly atop the Ninefold Firmament.
Shiheng's black robes billowed without wind. His dark eyes were as cold and still as an ancient icy pool, without the slightest ripple.
He slowly lowered his gaze, surveying the devastated lands of the Klan Empire below. A single sweep of his eyes across its mountains and rivers sent the aura surging around him plunging to absolute zero.
Bone-piercing cold swept in every direction, congealing drifting clouds and freezing the wind. The entire world instantly sank into deathly stillness and cold.
The once boundlessly prosperous Klan Empire had already become a living hell.
Its million-mile territory lay utterly shattered. Temples with carved beams and painted rafters and sprawling clusters of homes had all collapsed into rubble. Broken tiles and debris blanketed the earth, and gaping fissures crisscrossed a thousand miles in a horrifying sight.
Bustling streets had become ruins. Among the broken walls, displaced members of the Human Race in ragged clothes were everywhere.
Piercing wails, despairing sobs, and the helpless cries of children mingled together. The sounds rose and fell throughout the shattered world, their bone-deep grief enough to break the hearts of those who heard them.
Countless families had been slaughtered, parents and children torn apart, homes destroyed and loved ones killed.
White-haired elders huddled among cold stones, their eyes lifeless as they gazed at their ruined homes. Young children who had lost their parents' protection trembled, their clear eyes filled with nothing but boundless terror and bone-deep despair.
War had swept across the land, blood had soaked the earth, and the Human Race had suffered countless deaths and injuries.
Shiheng's gaze swept swiftly over the devastated battlefield, the chill in his