The muscles on Chi Yan's face twitched incessantly as he stared at the empty sky below, at the place where his clansmen had vanished without even leaving a trace of their Fate Soul. The anger in his eyes had reached its Ultimate.
The Wrath Clan originated from the "Wrath" of the Layered Realm Void Great Emperor. Their existence is defined by rage itself. Now, witnessing dozens of their clansmen wiped out by Qian Wenwan in a single move, the suppressed rage in their chests could no longer be contained.
"Insolence!" A furious roar shook the entire world.
Chi Yan shattered the void beneath his feet, his dark red essence burning wildly around him. Crimson cracks spread from his neck to his cheeks, and the branding marks formed by years of burning rage gradually lit up. He reached into the void with his right hand, and with a piercing metallic scraping sound, a dark red divine sword was slowly drawn out.
The sword was broad and heavy, covered with crisscrossing cracks. Deep within each crack flowed a blazing, crimson light. This was not ordinary fire, but the primordial power of emotions condensed from countless raging rages.
As the divine sword was drawn, the temperature between heaven and earth began to rise sharply, and large swaths of vegetation below withered instantly. The air was filled with an aura of rage, anger, and destruction. Without uttering a word, Chi Yan vanished abruptly and appeared before Qian Wenwan in the next instant.
The divine sword slashed out horizontally, and before the blade even landed, thousands of feet of space had already been torn apart by that violent force. Qian Wenwan's expression tightened slightly. With a flick of her jade hand, a silver-white light screen appeared in front of her. Boom—the moment the two forces collided, the sky exploded, and the huge impact spread in all directions.
Countless Shade-Guarding Clan stared palely at the sky, only able to see two streaks of light colliding continuously. The more Chi Yan fought, the angrier he became, and the stronger his power grew. Every swing of his sword carried the force of a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down. Qian Wenwan, on the other hand, appeared extremely calm. Her long dress fluttered as she moved through the void, her silver-white Dao patterns transforming into long rivers that constantly clashed with Chi Yan.
In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged hundreds of blows. The sky was riddled with holes, large areas of space had collapsed, and countless cracks had spread. But as time went on, Chi Yan's expression grew increasingly grim, because he found himself gradually falling into a disadvantageous position. With each clash, Qian Wenwan seemed to be handling the situation with ease.
Looking at himself, though the rage within him grew ever stronger, he was still unable to truly suppress his opponent. After another clash, Chi Yan was blasted back thousands of feet. His sword-wielding arm went slightly numb; he gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with resentment. Suddenly, he abruptly turned his head to look into the distance. "Shi You!" "Aren't you going to come down and help?" "How long are you going to stand there!"
As the voice faded, Shi You, who had been hovering high in the sky, finally revealed a sinister smile. His narrow eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze fixed on Qian Wenwan. "I thought you could handle this." "Looks like I overestimated you." Chi Yan's face was ashen. Normally, he would have been furious. But now was not the time for argument.
Shi You didn't continue teasing. He slowly raised his hands, and countless black threads slowly emerged between his fingers. These threads were as thin as hair, yet they exuded an extremely uncomfortable aura. The Hatred Clan was derived from the "evil" emotion of the Layered Realm Void Great Emperor. They never fought head-on, and their greatest strengths were erosion, bewitching, corruption, and scheming.
As Shi You activated his source, the black threads began to extend continuously, quickly covering the entire sky. The threads intertwined, forming an enormous black net. Even more bizarrely, countless tiny human faces appeared on each thread—some weeping, some resentful, some jealous, and some insane.
All of it was formed from various negative emotions. Shi You slowly pressed his hands down, and the black net that covered the sky and earth instantly descended. "Evil Thoughts Devour the Heart." "Myriad Desires Sink into Depravity." As his voice fell, those black threads ignored the spatial barrier and directly eroded Qian Wenwan's Fate Soul.
Qian Wenwan felt a jolt in her mind, as countless negative emotions surged forth: suspicion, resentment, jealousy, greed, and anger. All sorts of evil thoughts assaulted her mind. At the same time, the Chi Yan attacked again, and the divine sword cleaved the sky, a sword light that stretched across the heavens and earth falling straight towards Qian Wenwan's head.
Faced with the combined attack of the two, Qian Wenwan finally felt the pressure. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she retreated continuously, suppressing the evil thoughts invading her sea of consciousness while resisting the extremely violent attacks of the Chi Yan. The silver-white Dao patterns continued to shatter, and several tears appeared on the edge of her long dress after several consecutive clashes.
Qian Wenwan was blasted back tens of thousands of feet, and the space behind her collapsed with a roar. She steadied herself, her chest rising and falling slightly, and her fingers tightened their grip on the magic seal. Meanwhile, Chi Yan and Shi You had blocked all her escape routes from the left and right. Chi Yan in the sky grinned maliciously, his face full of rage and killing intent.
Shi You stood on the other side, his eyes cold and sinister, like a venomous snake lurking in the darkness. The two slowly approached, and Qian Wenwan, while fending off their attacks, retreated towards the ancient tree of the Shade-Guarding Clan. Below, the two Shade-Guarding Clan leaders watched this scene, their faces draining of color, for they could both see that if this continued, Qian Wenwan would likely not be able to hold on for much longer.
High in the sky, Qian Wenwan faced off alone against Chi Yan and Shi You, two completely different forces tearing the heavens apart. Chi Yan's rage burned ever brighter, each swing of its sword carrying a world-destroying, violent momentum; Shi You, meanwhile, hid in the void on the other side, its countless black malevolent threads constantly invading the space around Qian Wenwan, gradually compressing the area she could move within.
The two white-haired clan leaders of the Shade-Guarding Clan stood in front of the ancient tree, looking up at the battle in the sky, their faces already pale. They looked at each other, neither of them speaking, but their old eyes had already made a decision.
The next moment, the two simultaneously gripped their divine staffs. "Although she is from outside, this woman has greatly helped our clan." "How can we stand idly by?" As soon as they finished speaking, the two clan leaders raised their divine staffs high.
Suddenly, countless warm lights illuminated the entire area of Shade-Guarding Ancient Tree, and soft green veins rose from the ground. The canopies of the ancient trees swayed slightly, and countless leaves scattered specks of fluorescent light.
The two clan leaders simultaneously hurled their divine staffs into the sky, whereupon the staffs transformed into two long, emerald-green rainbows that pierced the heavens and earth, flying towards Qian Wenwan's location. "Young lady, we two will lend you a hand!" However, in that very instant...
Shi You, Shi You had been observing coldly from afar, suddenly darkened his face, his slender eyes filled with intense malice. "You're courting death! How dare you help an outsider!!" "Today I will wipe out your Shade-Guarding Clan completely!" As soon as he finished speaking, Shi You suddenly reached out, and the void suddenly cracked open, a jet-black light slowly emerging from the depths of the crack.
It was an extremely strange divine halberd, with a long and curved shaft covered with dense black patterns. These patterns writhed like living things, sometimes transforming into a weeping human face, and sometimes into a ferocious beast head.
As soon as the divine halberd appeared, the surrounding world began to decay, the vegetation withered, the earth cracked, and a nauseating malice permeated the air. Shi You suddenly waved his hand. The black divine halberd tore through the sky, and with a bang, the two Qian Wenwan were directly cut into countless fragments by the divine halberd before they could even get close.
Countless green lights scattered and danced in all directions. The two clan leaders shuddered simultaneously, blood spilling from the corners of their mouths. However Shi You did not stop. The divine halberd spun in the air. A terrifying black torrent suddenly condensed, filled with endless resentment, malice, jealousy, and destruction, dyeing the entire sky black.
Shi You's eyes were filled with cruelty. "Evil Source Devours the World!" The divine halberd crashed down. A black torrent swept towards the two clan leaders and tens of thousands of the Shade-Guarding Clan behind them. At this moment, the entire Shade-Guarding Clan fell into deathly silence. Countless people turned pale. The children clung tightly to their parents' clothes, and the old people trembled as they looked up at the sky.
No one could withstand this attack. Although the ancient tree emitted a soft glow, it could not guarantee that it could withstand such terrifying power. The two clan leaders turned to look behind them at the children, their relatives, and the clansmen they had protected all their lives.
The two elderly people were silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled at the same time. The smiles were calm and gentle, without fear or hesitation, only relief. "Those who protect the shade should safeguard all living beings." "May the ancient tree remain evergreen." As soon as they finished speaking, the two elderly people simultaneously burned their source energy, and their aged bodies suddenly radiated a brilliant light.
Countless green light patterns spread out from their bodies. The two stepped forward to face the destructive torrent, without retreating or dodging. They used their bodies to shield tens of thousands of their people. The next instant, the black torrent crashed down, the entire world trembled violently, and countless people cried out in anguish.
A dazzling green light clashed violently with the pitch-black malevolence. The two elders' bodies crumbled bit by bit; their skin turned to specks of light, their flesh to starlight, and their Fate Soul essence burned relentlessly. They stood there, steadfast, until their very last moment, their arms outstretched, protecting all their people. Boom—
The final ray of light exploded, and the world fell silent. The two chieftains of the Shade-Guarding Clan vanished completely, leaving no remains, no lingering souls. Only countless green specks of light slowly rose and merged into the branches and leaves of the ancient trees. The entire Shade-Guarding Clan territory fell into a deathly silence, and tens of thousands of clansmen stared blankly at the sky.
Some people knelt on the ground, some wept uncontrollably, and some covered their mouths tightly. The whole world was filled with an atmosphere of sorrow. High in the sky, Qian Wenwan also stopped moving completely. She looked down at the slowly dissipating green light, and her eyes gradually turned cold. Her once calm and gentle eyes were now filled with sorrow.
For the first time, a pure and genuine rage surged within her. She slowly raised her eyes, gazing into the distance at the Chi Yan and the Shi You. "You are utterly despicable."