Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Inside his abode at the All-Heavens Hub, Xiao Yan repeatedly polished the Heaven Burning Sword, the six-colored flames flowing on its blade becoming increasingly refined. The gentle power of the Heart-Clearing Jade had long since seeped into the sword, giving the originally domineering flames a more restrained and composed quality. He carefully combed through the records of Outer Realm Demons in the Flame God's lingering will, especially the details about the " Origin Fire "—an energy that existed between reality and illusion, containing both destructive power and a trace of life's pulse. It was fundamentally different from his own Heavenly Flames, yet it could still resonate with him in a wondrous way.
"Brother Xiao Yan, are you ready?" Yun He's voice rang out from outside the door.
Xiao Yan got up and opened the door, and saw that Yun He was followed by five Realm Lord with impressive auras. Two of them were Advanced Realm Lord and three were Peak Mid-Stage Realm Lord. They were clearly elites carefully selected by the council.
"Everything is ready, Senior Yun He," Xiao Yan nodded.
The group of seven stepped across the bridge of light and arrived at a teleportation array at the edge of the All-Heavens Hub. This teleportation array was several times larger than the one in the Realm Capital, and deep purple energy flowed within its runes—the " Power of the Void," which contained the laws of the void.
" The Void Rift lies in the crevice between the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, a place without stable space or normal time flow; all laws are in chaos." Yun He summoned a purple jade slip, infused it with power, and the teleportation array instantly lit up. "Once inside, no matter what happens, do not stray from the group. The erosion of the Power of the Void is no joke."
Everyone nodded in agreement and stepped into the teleportation array along with Yun He.
The dizziness from the teleportation was even more intense than when I went to the All-Heavens Hub. The colorful bands of light around me were no longer there, but pure darkness, as if even my consciousness was being swallowed up. After an unknown amount of time, I felt a sensation of walking on cotton under my feet. The surrounding darkness gradually faded, revealing a gray space.
This is the Void Rift.
The sky was leaden gray, the earth was twisted black rock, and countless tiny fragments of space floated in the air, emitting a blinding light. In the distance, the rumbling of collapsing laws could be heard from time to time, the sound of space itself annihilating and reforming.
"Such a dense Power of Nothingness." A Realm Lord who controlled the earth element frowned. He tried to summon rocks, but found that the soil was dissolved by the surrounding Power of Nothingness as soon as it condensed.
Yun He produced an ancient compass, its needle twitching rapidly across the gray scale. "According to the council's reconnaissance, the lair of the Law-Devouring Beast is three thousand miles ahead. Everyone, conceal your presence and try not to disturb anything else."
The group dispersed and advanced towards their target in a fan shape. Xiao Yan held the Heaven Burning Sword horizontally in front of him, six-colored flames forming a thin protective shield around his body as he vigilantly sensed the surrounding movements. He could feel the Power of Nothingness here slowly eroding his flame shield. Although the impact was not significant, it would likely cause considerable depletion over time.
After traveling about a thousand miles, the black rocks ahead suddenly trembled violently. A monster resembling a lizard, completely transparent, emerged from the rocks. Its body was composed of pure Power of Nothingness, except for its pair of deep black eyes, which stared intently at the group.
"It's Nothingness Human-Faced Lizard!" Yun He shouted. "They feed on spatial fragments. Although they aren't particularly strong, their numbers are enormous, and they can tear through space to launch surprise attacks!"
Before the words were even finished, dozens of Nothingness Human-Faced Lizard emerged one after another from the surrounding rocks. Their transparent bodies were almost invisible in the gray environment, with only their black eyes revealing their location.
"Attack! Quickly finish this!" Yun He struck first, a cyan whip appearing in his hand. As he swung the whip, it was wrapped with wind-elemental laws, instantly sending the three-headed human-faced lizard flying.
Xiao Yan followed closely behind, sweeping the Heaven Burning Sword horizontally, forming a fan-shaped wall of fire with six-colored flames. Wherever the wall of fire passed, the transparent body of the Nothingness Human-Faced Lizard melted away like ice and snow, emitting a piercing screech.
The other Realm Lord also took action, using earth-elemental laws to condense thick rock walls to block the attack, and lightning-elemental laws to transform into an electric net to seal off the space, quickly clearing out the wave of human-faced lizards.
"Keep moving forward, but conserve your energy." Yun He sheathed his whip, his expression still grave. " The Nothingness Human-Faced Lizard is just an appetizer; the real trouble is yet to come."
Passing through this rocky area, a vast canyon appeared ahead. Black mist filled the canyon, and within the mist, countless twisted figures could be vaguely seen writhing, emanating chilling fluctuations of law.
"That's the Law-Devouring Beast!" A Realm Lord pointed at the figure in the mist, his voice trembling slightly.
Xiao Yan stared intently and saw that the figures were of various shapes. Some looked like wingless bats, some like multi-legged centipedes, and some were just blurry shadows. But they all had one thing in common - their bodies were covered with a layer of gray scales, which shimmered with a luster that devoured everything.
What alarmed him even more was that the space around these Law-Devouring Beast had vanished, even the Power of Nothingness had disappeared, as if it had been completely devoured by them.
"Everyone be careful, they're devouring the surrounding laws!" Yun He said in a deep voice. "I'll lead the attack, you all provide cover. Little brother Xiao Yan, could you please sense their Origin Fire?"
"Understood!" Xiao Yan nodded, pushing the Heart of the Flame Realm to its limit. The flames on the Heaven Burning Sword flickered slightly, attempting to sense fluctuations similar to those of the Heavenly Flames.
Yun He's figure flickered, transforming into a streak of azure light as he rushed into the mist. With a flick of his whip, the wind elemental laws formed countless sharp wind blades, sweeping towards the Law-Devouring Beast. The wind blades landed on the Law-Devouring Beast, but were directly absorbed by their gray scales, without even causing a ripple.
"It really can devour laws!" Yun He's pupils contracted, and he quickly retracted his whip. "Switch to physical attacks!"
The Realm Lord immediately changed their moves. Earth-elemental laws condensed into boulders that crashed down, while lightning-elemental laws materialized into lightning spears that pierced through the beast. Although some of their power was still absorbed by the scales, they were finally able to inflict damage on the Law-Devouring Beast.
Startled, the Law-Devouring Beast in the canyon let out sharp screechs and surged towards the group like a tidal wave. They were incredibly fast, moving freely through the Void Rift, constantly attacking the group's law-protected shield, attempting to devour the law power within.
While fending off the attacks of the Law-Devouring Beast, Xiao Yan concentrated his mental energy to sense the flames on the Heaven Burning Sword. The flames flickered, sometimes pulsating violently, sometimes calming down, clearly resonating with some kind of power.
"Found it!" Suddenly, a glint of light flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes. He sensed a faint red flame flickering inside the largest Law-Devouring Beast. The fluctuations of that flame were exactly the same as the " Origin Fire " described in the remnant will of the Flame God!
"Senior Yun He, attack the biggest one! It has the Origin Fire inside it!" Xiao Yan shouted, and at the same time summoned the Heaven Burning Sword. The six-colored flames condensed into a long spear, which accurately shot towards the chest of the Law-Devouring Beast.
Upon hearing this, Yun He unhesitatingly pushed the wind elemental law to its limit, transforming his long whip into a giant azure dragon that slammed down on the Law-Devouring Beast with the power to tear through the void.
The Law-Devouring Beast seemed to sense danger, letting out a deafening roar. The gray scales on its body instantly became incredibly thick, and it opened its massive maw, attempting to devour the incoming attack.
"Now!" Xiao Yan roared, and the flaming spear of the Heaven Burning Sword suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, and a red flame similar to the Origin Fire appeared at the tip of the spear.
This wisp of flame acted as a key, instantly breaking through the Law-Devouring Beast's scale defense. At the same time, Yun He's azure dragon crashed down, striking the Law-Devouring Beast's chest along with the flaming spear.
"Aww--!"
The Law-Devouring Beast let out a shrill scream as a huge bloody hole exploded in its chest, from which a ball of red flame flew out, struggling to be extinguished in mid-air.
"Grab it!" Yun He shouted.
Xiao Yan had been waiting for a long time. With the Heart of the Flame Realm in operation, the Heaven Burning Sword emitted a gentle suction force, steadily drawing the ball of red flame into the sword. As soon as the flame entered the sword, it collided fiercely with the six-colored Heavenly Flames, making a sizzling sound. However, under the harmonization of the Heart-Clearing Jade, it quickly stabilized and transformed into a wisp of pure energy, merging into the origin of the Heaven Burning Sword.
As the Origin Fire was taken away, the largest Law-Devouring Beast's body rapidly withered, eventually turning into a pool of gray liquid, which was swallowed by the Void Rift.
Even more strangely, with its death, the surrounding Law-Devouring Beast seemed to lose their command, becoming chaotic and their attacks weakened considerably.
"It really works!" Yun He was overjoyed. "Brother Xiao Yan, continue sensing, we'll cooperate with you!"
Xiao Yan nodded, and the flames on the Heaven Burning Sword shone even brighter. With the help of the Origin Fire he had just absorbed, his senses for this kind of flame became even more acute. Soon, he locked onto several more large Law-Devouring Beast.
The battle that followed went much more smoothly. Xiao Yan was responsible for locking onto the target, while Yun He and the other Realm Lord were responsible for the attack. Every time they seized a ball of Origin Fire, the surrounding Law-Devouring Beast would become more chaotic.
After half a day of fierce fighting, the Law-Devouring Beast in the canyon were mostly cleared out. The group seized a total of seventeen Origin Fire. The three largest flames were integrated into the Heaven Burning Sword by Xiao Yan, while the rest were kept by Yun He, who planned to take them back to the All-Heavens Hub for research.
"Finally, it's over." A Realm Lord slumped to the ground, panting heavily. His protective barrier of laws had become extremely thin, clearly indicating a huge drain on his energy.
Yun He was also somewhat tired, but his eyes gleamed with excitement. "This time we've made a great harvest. Not only have we found the weakness of the Law-Devouring Beast, but we've also obtained the Origin Fire. With these, the council can research ways to restrain them."
Xiao Yan stroked the Heaven Burning Sword, feeling its power had grown even stronger, especially its control over the Law of Flame, which seemed to have improved further. He looked up into the depths of the canyon, where the Power of Nothingness was even denser, and he could vaguely sense an aura a hundred times stronger than that of the Law-Devouring Beast.
"Senior Yun He, don't you think... there's something else deep in the canyon?" Xiao Yan asked, frowning.
Upon hearing this, Yun He also gazed solemnly into the depths. After a moment, his expression changed drastically. "Not good! It's the king of the Law-Devouring Beast! We must leave quickly; in our current state, we are no match for it!"
Before the words were even finished, a deafening roar echoed from the depths of the canyon, and a terrifying devouring force instantly enveloped the entire canyon, even freezing the Power of Nothingness!
A Law-Devouring Beast as a mountain slowly emerged from the depths. Its body was covered with golden scales, and its eyes were pure black, as if they could devour souls. It was the king of the Law-Devouring Beast!
"Trying to leave? Too late!" The Law-Devouring Beast King roared, its voice like the simultaneous howls of countless people, "Dare to harm my people? Today, I will leave you forever trapped in the Void Rift!"
It raised its giant claw and slammed it down at the crowd. Before the claw even arrived, the surrounding space began to collapse violently, and even Xiao Yan's Heaven Burning Sword trembled violently, as if it was about to be taken away by that devouring power!
Yun He's face turned deathly pale as he unleashed the full power of his wind-elemental laws. "Run! I'll cover your retreat!"
Xiao Yan knew this wasn't the time to be reckless, so he called out to the other Realm Lord, "Follow me!"
He unleashed the Heaven Burning Sword, and six-colored flames erupted, forming a fiery passage that covered everyone's retreat towards the teleportation array. Behind them, Yun He's azure whip clashed with the Law-Devouring Beast King's giant claws, producing a deafening roar, clearly indicating that they were locked in a fierce battle.
"Senior!" Xiao Yan's heart tightened, and he wanted to go back to help, but he was held back by a Realm Lord.
"Don't go back! Senior Yun He wants us to return alive with a message! We can't let him down!" the Realm Lord roared.
Xiao Yan watched the continuous explosions behind him, a hint of pain flashing in his eyes, but he gritted his teeth and led everyone to retreat at a faster pace. He knew that only by returning alive could they bring reinforcements and avenge Yun He.
The roars of the Law-Devouring Beast King echoed behind them, its terrifying devouring power relentlessly pursuing them like a leech.
Beneath the gray sky of the Void Rift, a life-or-death race of escape and pursuit is unfolding.