The fiery passage carved by the Heaven Burning Sword trembled violently under the tearing force of the devouring power, as if it would collapse at any moment. Xiao Yan pushed the Heart of the Flame Realm to its limit, and six-colored flames surged out continuously, barely maintaining the integrity of the passage. Behind him, the roar of the Law-Devouring Beast King was like thunder. Every time its giant claws slammed down, the entire Void Rift shook violently, and even the fragments of space were shaken back.
"Faster! Faster!" roared a lightning-elemental Realm Lord, hurling his lightning spear backward repeatedly, creating bursts of lightning, but it was like throwing it into a quagmire, unable to even scratch the beast king's scales.
Xiao Yan caught a glimpse of the scene behind him out of the corner of his eye, and his heart clenched suddenly— Yun He's cyan whip had several cracks, and his figure appeared even smaller under the beast king's giant claws. The cyan wind-elemental light had dimmed considerably, clearly indicating that he was at his last gasp.
"Senior Yun He!" Xiao Yan couldn't help but shout, his voice choked with emotion.
Yun He seemed to hear his call, turned around and glanced back, a smile appearing on his lips. There was no fear in that smile, only relief and anticipation. He suddenly poured all the power of the laws within his body into the long whip, which instantly grew to ten thousand feet in length, transforming into a true azure dragon. The dragon roared and charged recklessly toward the head of the Law-Devouring Beast King.
"Young friend, take this message back... I entrust the protection of the heavens to you!"
These were Yun He's last words in this world.
The azure dragon collided with the Beast King's head, unleashing a devastating light. In the light, Yun He's figure vanished completely, while the Law-Devouring Beast King let out a roar of pain as a piece of the golden scales on its head was blasted off, revealing a wound from which gray liquid flowed.
"Roar--!" The Beast King was completely enraged, its devouring power surging several times over, and it frantically chased after Xiao Yan and the others.
"Senior..." Xiao Yan's eyes reddened, and his hand gripping the Heaven Burning Sword turned white from the force. He knew that any sadness was superfluous at this moment; only by living on with Yun He He's last wish could he console his sacrifice.
"Everyone, channel your power of law!" Xiao Yan roared, raising the Heaven Burning Sword high, " Flame Realm - Heaven Burning Path!"
The six-colored flames and the warm power of the Heart-Clearing Jade completely merged, and the flame channel instantly became solid. Countless flame runes appeared on both sides of the channel. As the runes lit up, they actually triggered the remaining Law of Flame in the Void Rift, forming a long flame corridor that runs through the heavens and the earth.
Without hesitation, the Realm Lord poured their own power of law into the corridor. The earth element law made the corridor's foundation more stable, the lightning element law added a destructive edge to the flames, and the wind element law accelerated the corridor's progress.
The fiery corridor, like a burning dragon, swiftly traversed the Void Rift, leaving the Law-Devouring Beast King further and further behind. But the Beast King's speed was simply too fast; its golden giant claws continuously slammed against the back of the corridor, each strike causing the corridor to shake violently, cracks spreading like a spider web.
"How much longer until we reach the teleportation array?" a Realm Lord asked anxiously, his power of law already more than half depleted, his face as pale as paper.
Xiao Yan stared intently ahead, sensing the spatial coordinates of the teleportation array. "Five hundred miles to go! Hang in there!"
Just then, the Law-Devouring Beast King suddenly stopped its pursuit, opened its huge maw, and a devouring power ten times stronger than before condensed into a gray pillar of light. The pillar of light, like the scythe of death, instantly crossed hundreds of miles and slashed fiercely at the end of the Flame Corridor!
"Snap--!"
The end of the corridor collapsed instantly. A rear-guard earth elemental Realm Lord was caught off guard and was directly hit by the gray beam of light. His body turned into countless light spots amidst screams and was completely devoured.
" Lao Tu!" The remaining Realm Lord were furious, but could only watch helplessly as their companions perished.
The fiery corridor lost its tail support and its speed suddenly decreased. Taking advantage of this, the Law-Devouring Beast King accelerated and instantly closed the distance. Its golden giant claw, carrying a world-destroying power, slammed towards the middle of the corridor—that was where Xiao Yan was!
"Now!" A resolute glint flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes. He suddenly stopped and plunged the Heaven Burning Sword into the floor of the corridor.
"Brother Xiao Yan, what are you doing?!" the Thunder Realm Lord exclaimed in surprise.
"You guys go first!" Xiao Yan shouted without turning his head, his body erupting with unprecedented light. "I'll hold it off!"
The six Heavenly Flames within his body completely merged with the seventeen Origin Fire, the Heart of the Flame Realm operated wildly, and the illusory image of the Flame Mountain Peak in the small world of his sea of consciousness descended and merged with the Flame Corridor.
"Senior Flame God, I beg your power!"
Xiao Yan roared to the sky, and the phantom of the Flame God appeared on the Heaven Burning Sword. The phantom held a giant sword and slashed out together with Xiao Yan —this was a forbidden sword move that he had comprehended from the remnant will of the Flame God, which was to burn his own source of laws in exchange for power that surpassed his current realm.
" Heaven Burning · Flame God Slash!"
A colossal sword of chaotic flames, piercing the heavens and earth, materialized, imbued with the will of the Flame God and Xiao Yan's conviction. With the power to incinerate all things, it charged towards the giant claws of the Law-Devouring Beast King.
"Boom--!"
The giant sword collided with the giant claw, and the entire Void Rift seemed to freeze for a moment. Then, a terrifying energy shockwave spread outwards from the point of impact, dyeing the gray sky a chaotic color, shattering the black rocks inch by inch, and even shaking the spatial fragments into the finest particles.
Xiao Yan felt an immense force surge through him, and his body flew backward like a kite with a broken string. He spat out several mouthfuls of blood, and the flames on the Heaven Burning Sword dimmed considerably, clearly indicating that it had been greatly depleted. However, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes—a deep, bone-revealing wound appeared on the Law-Devouring Beast King's giant claw, golden scales shattered on the ground, and gray liquid flowed continuously.
"Awooo--!" The Beast King let out a painful and furious roar, its eyes filled with killing intent as it looked at Xiao Yan.
"Go!" Xiao Yan used his last bit of strength to push the fiery corridor into the distance. "Tell the council that the Beast King's weakness is..."
Before he could finish speaking, everything went black, and he lost consciousness. In his last moments of unconsciousness, he seemed to see the anxious gazes of the Thunder Realm Lord and the others turning back, as well as the increasingly ferocious face of the Law-Devouring Beast King.
After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Yan awoke amidst a violent jolt. He found himself lying on a floating rock, the Heaven Burning Sword planted beside him, its flames flickering weakly, barely resisting the surrounding Power of Nothingness. In the distance, the roars of the Law-Devouring Beast King had vanished, clearly indicating it had been left behind.
"I'm still alive?" Xiao Yan struggled to sit up, feeling as if all his bones were shattered, and even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain. He checked his internal condition and couldn't help but gasp— the Heart of the Flame Realm was dim and lifeless, the six Heavenly Flames were reduced to faint flames, and his aura as Intermediate Realm Lord had plummeted to the Initial Stage World Lord, clearly indicating that the sword strike had burned away too much of his essence.
"Where is everyone else?" Xiao Yan looked around, but couldn't see anyone, only an endless gray sky and black rocks. His heart sank. Was he the only survivor?
Just then, the Heaven Burning Sword suddenly trembled slightly, and a faint line of writing appeared on its blade. It was left by the Thunder Realm Lord: "Brother Xiao Yan, we have safely returned to the Hub and informed the Council of the situation. The Sovereign are on their way to provide support. You were blasted away by the Beast King's aftershocks, and we cannot find you. Take care!"
Seeing the handwriting, Xiao Yan felt a little relieved; at least the message had been sent out. He leaned against the rock, panting heavily, and began to circulate the remaining power of the laws to heal his injuries.
The energy within the Void Rift was extremely chaotic, making restoration difficult. Xiao Yan could only insert the Heaven Burning Sword into the rock, using the remaining Origin Fire within the sword to gradually absorb the sparse Law of Flame surrounding it.
Time passed silently. After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Yan's injuries had finally healed by about 30%, allowing him to stand and walk with difficulty. He gripped the Heaven Burning Sword, determined his direction, and headed towards the location of the teleportation array he remembered.
Along the way, he carefully avoided the wandering Nothingness Human-Faced Lizard, trying to conserve his energy. The Heaven Burning Sword became his only support, not only resisting the erosion of the Power of Nothingness, but also occasionally sensing the traces of laws left by other Realm Lord, so that he would not lose his way.
As he walked, Xiao Yan suddenly stopped, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes. He could sense a familiar aura not far ahead—it was Senior Yun He's wind-elemental law aura, though extremely weak, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.
"Senior?" Xiao Yan's heart stirred, and he quickened his pace toward the source of the aura.
Behind a massive black rock, Xiao Yan saw a sight that brought tears to his eyes—half of a cyan whip was stuck in the rock, and at the end of the whip was wrapped a faint cyan light, within which the faint image of Yun He crane could be seen.
"Senior Yun He!" Xiao Yan rushed over and carefully picked up the wisp of light.
The illusory Yun He figure within the ball of light slowly opened its eyes. Upon seeing Xiao Yan, it showed a hint of surprise, which quickly turned to relief. "Young friend, you're still alive... That's wonderful."
"Senior, you're not dead?" Xiao Yan asked in surprise.
The illusory figure shook its head, its aura growing even weaker. "This is merely my last wisp of remnant will, entrusted to my natal magic weapon. To see you again is fate." It paused, then infused a wisp of pure wind-elemental law into Xiao Yan's body. "This is my life's worth of wind-elemental insights; perhaps it can help you recover from your injuries. Also... the Law-Devouring Beast King's weakness lies beneath the golden scales between its brows; there lies its core essence, the source of its devouring power."
This was exactly what Xiao Yan hadn't finished saying earlier.
"Thank you, senior!" Xiao Yan solemnly stored his lingering resentment into the Heaven Burning Sword. "I will definitely kill the Beast King and avenge you!"
The illusory image of the Yun He smiled and then completely dissipated into the air.
Xiao Yan gripped the Heaven Burning Sword tightly, gazing into the distance where familiar fluctuations of laws could be faintly heard—the reinforcements from the Council of the Heavens had arrived!
He took a deep breath, dragged his weary body, and walked towards the direction from which the fluctuations had come. Although he was covered in wounds and the road ahead was still treacherous, his eyes were filled with unwavering determination.
Yun He's sacrifice, his companions' expectations, the safety of the heavens... countless responsibilities weighed on his shoulders, yet his steps became even more steady.
He knew he couldn't give up.
Because behind him are countless worlds that need to be protected.