In this fierce battle, survival itself had become an act of defying the laws of nature. All the disciples brought into the Azure Wood Divine Forest by the Lineage had long been Annihilation by the successive waves of Divine Phoenix Tribulation Fire, Dao Shadow Soldier Tide, and Symbol Backlash. On the entire battlefield, not a single ordinary disciple could be seen standing firm. Only the torn spatial rifts, the still-burning embers of blood flames, and countless blank spaces where no one had time to leave their name remained.
Those who truly held on to the end were decimated by that desperate counterattack, leaving only a handful. When Hua Feiting reached the Ultimate of her Return to the Ruins Tribulation, the black lines around her suddenly backfired and entered her body. While she was still in the posture of raising her hand to open it, her shoulders and long hair turned to ash first. At this moment, Hua Jingmeng cried out in heart-wrenching agony, "Sister..." And before Hua Feiting completely disappeared, she looked at Hua Jingmeng with tears in her eyes. Hua Jingmeng had already knelt on the ground, her eyes red and swollen.
Immediately afterward, the figure standing before everyone seemed to be emptied from within by the abyss, disintegrating inch by inch into silently falling black ashes, until not even a last wisp of Fate Soul remained; Hua Yanzhi's chest had already been pierced by the power of the Divine Phoenix, and he had only managed to stay upright by burning away his own life force. But when the final heavy blow of the battle truly landed, the blood-red divine patterns on his body suddenly vanished, and the gash in his chest exploded open with a deafening roar.
His entire body was engulfed in blood-red flames mid-air, not even having time to utter a word, before crumbling inch by inch in full view of everyone; Feng Qingyuan's sword net had once forcefully sliced through a layer of the Returning Ashes Flame Tide for the Shangguan Lineage at the most crucial moment, but he was ultimately just a newcomer to this game, and all the front lines were severed in the final collision, his hand still tightly gripping his weapon.
His entire body had been cleaved in two along the midline, and then the sword, the man, and even the lingering sharpness of his blade all turned into shattered light in the air; Shangguan Jinyan and Shangguan Xingci, the Shangguan Lineage fought side by side, had their Fate Soul already shattered after the Mystic Void Annihilation Wheel was forcibly activated several times to induce spatial collapse. When the final wave of the Dao Shadow Soldier's Returning Origin Slash landed...
The spatial protective layers surrounding both of them shattered simultaneously, their souls and bodies were thrown high into the air, and then instantly Emptiness by a mysterious fire that rose from the ground. Only a few scattered spatial patterns twitched in the air for a few breaths before falling silent.
Even after the collapse of the musical scale, Ju Junyao and Ju Muyao remained steadfastly at the forefront of the Sea of Sound. Their bodies were covered in bloody wounds from the backlash, and their voices were so hoarse that they could barely utter a complete syllable. But when the two of them joined forces for the last time to shatter a swarm of Dao Shadow Soldier into a rain of light, the residual power of the Divine Phoenix and the ripples of the Dao Soldiers returning to their origins simultaneously pierced through their Fate Soul. Their figures stopped at the same moment, like two strings stretched to their Limit that finally snapped, taut, shining, and then Annihilation in unison.
Chi Chengyu and Chi Ruoyao had stabilized the last causal wheel of the Chi Lineage to its Ultimate. When the wheel shattered, their Fate Soul shattered along with it. Chi Chengyu coughed up blood and knelt down first, still trying to turn back to protect the remaining array behind him, but his arm began to turn to ashes as soon as he raised it halfway.
Chi Ruoyao forcefully pressed down on the shattered central mechanism beside him until the fragments of the entire wheel rushed back into her sea of consciousness, shattering her last bit of clarity. The two figures disappeared one after the other in the tide of light, so clean that not even a trace of cause and effect remained.
When it all finally ended, the outer perimeter of the entire Azure Wood Divine Forest was left with only a chilling Space Silence. It was not the quiet after the battle had stopped, but the deathly silence that had been uttered when even "noise" was no longer allowed to survive.
The once overwhelming and almost endless Dao Shadow Soldier Legion has now dwindled to just a few dozen that are still barely standing in mid-air. The golden-blue Dao Flame on their heads has dimmed considerably, their flowing armor is incomplete, and many of their bodies are still scattering fine particles of Origin Flow, as if they could collapse completely at any moment.
The Divine Phoenix that had previously soared high above the heavens and earth, embodying the combined power of two Primordial Chaos Source Beasts, was now devoid of its former majesty. It collapsed heavily at the edge of the shattered earth, its wings half-open and half-drooping, large patches of its burning feathers torn apart. The crimson-gold crystal core on its forehead had dimmed, and its massive body rose and fell with difficulty, blood mixed with golden flames and primordial fire gushing from its throat, burning deep, bottomless holes in the ground as it hit the earth. Yet, it ultimately could not rise again.
Looking around, this battlefield, which had just been filled with hundreds of thousands of cultivators and boundless military formations, now only six people remained, barely standing. Hua Jingmeng, wearing her tattered defensive battle armor and covered in blood, knelt on the ground, her face no longer bearing any of its former sharpness.
Shangguan Shuheng was half-kneeling and half-standing, with only a faint, almost invisible shadow of the three-layered Mystic Void Annihilation Wheel beside him; Ju Anran's chest heaved violently, as if she had just escaped a karmic tribulation that could have swallowed her whole; Chi Yueyin's face was pale, and she could barely stand, yet she still gripped the treasure in her hand tightly;
Shen Qingchen had just forcefully broken through to the Mystic Void Realm · Middle Stage, and his aura had not yet truly stabilized. Wisps of lingering remnants of the Blank Dao Scroll still clung to his body. Su Qingyuan's white robes were already stained with blood and ash, and the blood at the corner of her mouth was still wet, but her eyes remained astonishingly clear.
Six people stood in this battlefield, which had been almost completely flattened, separated by cracks, broken flames, and scattered particles of light. No one spoke, because each of them knew that the fact that they were still standing here was already a miracle that should not have happened.
On that battlefield torn to Ultimate, the air seemed to be bleeding, and the spatial fractures were still slowly writhing, like unhealed flesh. And in that deathly silence, Shangguan Shuheng suddenly moved.
His body was on the verge of collapse; only a nearly extinguished shadow of the three-layered Mystic Void Annihilation Wheel remained behind him. He looked as if he might dissipate into nothingness at any moment. But at that instant, a resolute light flashed in his eyes.
With a single step, the entire space seemed to be forcibly "remembered" by him, and in the next instant, his figure appeared directly beside Hua Jingmeng. Before Hua Jingmeng could even react, Shangguan Shuheng had already placed one hand on his shoulder, while the other hand slowly unfolded in front of him, his fingertips gently tracing a line.
That stroke, without light or sound, seemed to cleave an irreversible rift in the deepest part of heaven and earth.
The void collapsed silently at first, and then an indescribably dark rift suddenly opened up. It wasn't that space was torn apart, but rather that the concept of "space" was temporarily abandoned for a moment. There was no end or direction in the depths of the rift, only an emptiness where even "nothingness" seemed superfluous.
At this moment Shangguan Shuheng's body began to tremble violently, and cracks in his Fate Soul spread all over his body like a spider web. He coughed up blood, but did not even wipe it away. He just grabbed Hua Jingmeng tightly and forcibly dragged him into the crack.
The two figures blurred, elongated, and fractured the moment they entered the rift, as if their existence was being peeled away layer by layer by some force. The next moment, the rift suddenly closed, leaving not a trace, only a few lingering traces of the Annihilation wheel vibrations in the air, proving that they had once existed.
On the other side, Ju Anran's figure was also swaying precariously. His chest heaved violently, each breath feeling like it was tearing his own Fate Soul apart, yet he still forced himself to stand firm, his gaze fixed on Chi Yueyin, his voice hoarse yet Ultimate clear. "Yueyin... take them away."
Chi Yueyin's pupils suddenly contracted. Without any hesitation, she formed hand seals simultaneously, and her aura instantly entered a state of "unlockable". Thoughtless Tribulation Dao Perish was once again forcibly pushed to its Limit by her.
The space beneath her feet sank slightly, and a distorted light spread out from her, instantly enveloping Shen Qingchen and Su Qingyuan. It was not a simple spatial teleportation, but rather the complete stripping of the three's "existence" from the current dimension, transferring them to a side path that no one could reach.
Before Shen Qingchen could even speak, his entire figure began to become unstable. At that moment, Su Qingyuan glanced back at the chaotic battlefield, a deep and complex emotion flashing in her eyes, but she ultimately remained silent.
The next instant, the light and shadow that enveloped the three people suddenly contracted inward, as if wiped away by some invisible force. The three figures, along with their auras, vanished completely from the battlefield.
Ju Anran watched the direction they left in, and the last bit of taut will in his eyes finally relaxed for a moment. He slowly exhaled a breath of blood, as if a part of him had been drained. But in the next moment, he still raised his hand and drew an extremely rough but resolute slit in front of him.
The crack wasn't as stable as Shangguan Shuheng's, nor did it have any structure. It was just an "escape path" that had been forcibly torn open, with its edges constantly collapsing. Yet, he stepped into it without hesitation.
His figure was torn into fragments within the crack, and in the next instant, the crack collapsed, returning to complete emptiness.
On the battlefield, only the shattered heavens and earth and the dying merged divine Divine Phoenix remained; time seemed to stand still for a moment.
In that instant, a figure appeared without warning in the center of the battlefield. He didn't descend, he didn't appear; he was simply "there."
Source Flow Guardian, the realm of the Wuji Realm.
The figure was a full three meters tall, its form solid and lifelike, yet possessing an untouchable fluidity, as if it might dissolve into the myriad phenomena at any moment. The Origin Flow Battle Robe it wore flowed gently, its inscriptions not simple patterns.
Rather, it is a complete trajectory of the universe's birth and death that is constantly evolving. The process of stars being born, collapsing, and annihilating repeats itself on the surface, like a living star map that will never end.
The halo of gold and silver around its head rotated silently, and with each rotation, the surrounding space would vibrate very slightly, as if correcting the errors in the operation of the entire world.
His face was vaguely visible, yet could never be truly seen, as if covered by some higher rule, majestic yet Space Silence. Between his hands, a slowly rotating Source Dao Wheel floated, its surface devoid of runes, only endless concentric vortexes of Supreme collapsing inward, seemingly capable of directly reducing all existence to the primordial "Dao".
He didn't look at the people who had already disappeared, nor did he chase after them. He simply slowly raised his gaze and looked at the merged Divine Phoenix lying on the ground, still panting.
That glance was devoid of emotion and judgment, like observing a cause and effect that had already ended.
Then, he raised his hand, pointing just one finger.
The instant that finger fell, there were no unusual phenomena in the world, no light, no explosion, no energy fluctuations, and even time seemed to remain untouched.
The body of that merged Divine Phoenix was "severed" at that moment.
It wasn't shattered, nor annihilated; rather, its "reason for existence" was completely stripped away with that single finger. Its massive body remained in a prone position, but in the next instant, that position lost its support, like a painting being wiped off a canvas.
Wings, body, flames, bloodstains—all vanished at the same time, without a collapse, without a trace of disappearance; they were simply no longer there.
As if it had never happened, Source Flow Guardian withdrew his finger.
The remaining dozens of Dao Shadow Soldier fell silent at the same moment, the Dao Flame on their heads slightly contracting, as if responding to some higher command.
Source Flow Guardian didn't glance at the battlefield again. His figure swayed slightly, and he transformed into an extremely thin stream of origin, retreating along with the Dao Shadow Soldier.
There were no spatial fluctuations, no traces of escape techniques; it simply withdrew from "existence," and in the next instant, the entire battlefield was completely empty.
All that remained was a shattered world, and a deathly silence that no one could comprehend.