Yuan Zhanxiao knelt heavily amidst the ruins, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, but he paid no heed to his injuries.
He gripped Yuan Xuangu's sleeves tightly with both hands, his once majestic eyes now bloodshot, and his voice trembling with suppressed grief.
"Supreme Elder..." "I... I..." The words had barely left his mouth when his eyes instantly welled up with tears. "As the patriarch of the Ancient God Clan..." "I am powerless!!!" His voice trailed off.
He slammed his fists into the already shattered earth. "All ten elders have died in battle." "The Grand Elder Yuan Cangming has perished." "All the disciples of the clan have Annihilation." "A foundation built over millions of epochs..." "It has been destroyed in my hands... It's all my fault for not disciplining them properly..." As he finished speaking, Yuan Zhanxiao lowered his head, his body trembling slightly.
At that moment, he no longer possessed the dignity of a clan leader; he resembled more an old man who could only watch helplessly as his Lineage was destroyed. Yuan Xuangu gazed at him quietly, a hint of heartache flashing in his eyes. He slowly raised his hand and gently patted Yuan Zhanxiao's shoulder, his voice still calm and gentle.
"Alright." "Let's not talk about it anymore." "The origin of your Fate Soul is not stable yet." "Take good care of your Fate Soul first." "The Ancient God Clan has come to this point." "If something happens to you again," "then you will really have nothing left." Yuan Zhanxiao slowly lowered his head and ultimately did not say another word.
Yuan Xuangu slowly stood up, straightened his robes, and then turned to look at Qin Yu, who stood quietly in the distance. The morning light gently illuminated his white hair, and at this moment, his expression was even calmer than before. He slowly clasped his hands, his voice steady and powerful. "Fellow Daoist," he said, "Our Ancient God Clan has a foundation built over millions of epochs in the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain. Whether today is right or wrong, if you ask us to bow down and submit, the Ancient God Clan will never do so."
He paused slightly, his gaze fixed intently on Qin Yu. "I know. You are no ordinary person." "The same goes for you." "Even if I and Zhan Xiao were to Zhanxiao with everything we have today, I'm afraid..." "we still wouldn't be able to defeat you." "You want to make us two your soul puppets?" "Fine," he said, "But at least... you must make me concede, and even more importantly, truly submit."
Qin Yu gazed at him silently, his expression unchanged, and simply said, "Speak. What will it take to truly convince you?" Yuan Xuangu nodded slightly. Then, he slowly raised his right hand, his fingertips gently twirling, and a soft Dao pattern flowed slowly from his fingertips.
Gone was any trace of his previous murderous intent; instead, a serene calm, refined by the passage of time, lingered as he gazed at Qin Yu and slowly said, "Next," he continued, "I will unleash my strongest form in this life," and "fight you head-on." He added, "I will only unleash three moves." "Within those three moves," "if you can withstand them all," "I and Zhanxiao will willingly become your soul puppets." "From then on, we will follow you to the death, with no second thoughts."
Having spoken, Yuan Xuangu quietly awaited Qin Yu's reply. A gentle morning breeze blew by, and Qin Yu gazed at the white-haired elder before him for a moment. Then, he gently raised his right hand. A wisp of warm and steady spiritual energy flowed slowly from his fingertips. That wisp of divine energy carried no intention of attack; it simply landed quietly before Yuan Xuangu, as if representing his response. Qin Yu's gaze was calm, and his voice softened slightly. "Alright." "I accept."
Yuan Xuangu slowly closed his eyes, and the entire ancestral land of the Ancient God Clan suddenly fell silent. The morning breeze stopped, and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi ceased to flow. Even the newly risen ray of the morning sun seemed to freeze at this moment. His aged body stood quietly in the center of the ruins, without any imposing presence, yet it created an unprecedented sense of oppression between heaven and earth.
The next moment, Yuan Xuangu gently exhaled a breath of turbid air. "A million epochs..." "Today, let them all burn away." As soon as he finished speaking, a boom--an indescribable aura of the Great Dao slowly rose from his body, without violence, without roaring, and without any earth-shattering burst of spiritual power.
Instead, his Dao foundation began to burn little by little. It wasn't the flame of life, but the foundation of a Great Dao that had been cultivated for millions of epochs, actively transforming into fuel. His full head of white hair rose slowly at a visible speed, with wisps of silvery-white Dao fire slowly burning along the ends of his hair.
Between his brows, an extremely ancient purple-gold Dao seal slowly emerged. Then, beneath his skin, deep purple ancient divine patterns slowly lit up, as if the ancient Dao, dormant for countless years, had awakened anew.
Suddenly, a heavy heartbeat resounded through the heavens and earth. It was not Yuan Xuangu's heartbeat, but the entire ancient god ancestral land responding to him. The surrounding collapsed earth began to tremble. Deep within the ancestral land, countless ancient god altars that had long since Annihilation simultaneously lit up with a purple-black divine light, and those broken ancient god statues cracked one after another.
Countless strands of ancient divine essence, slumbering deep within the ancestral land, rose continuously, converging above Yuan Xuangu's head. "Origin Demon Transformation..." Yuan Xuangu slowly opened his eyes. Those eyes, which were originally turbid and peaceful, had now completely transformed into a deep dark gold, and deep within his pupils, an Old Devil sun slowly rotated.
With a deafening roar, Yuan Xuangu's body slowly rose into the air, his body growing taller and taller, his originally old and thin body rapidly becoming tall and robust.
His skin turned a deep bronze color, every inch of it covered with thick and ancient magical patterns, those patterns as if carved by the Great Dao itself, slowly flowing with dark golden divine light.
Her long, snow-white hair instantly transformed into a tapestry of purple and silver, like an inverted Milky Way, cascading down to her ankles.
On either side of his forehead, two dark gold demonic horns curved backward and slowly grew out. The horns were covered with dense ancient divine patterns, each pattern seemingly carrying the weight of an era. A pair of purple-black demonic wings, hundreds of feet long, slowly unfolded. The wings were not feathers.
It was formed from countless Dao runes; with each gentle flap, vast swathes of space transformed into chaos. Dark golden ancient god armor slowly condensed on his arms, and rings of Wuji Dao patterns continuously expanded outwards from his feet. Boom!
His aura began to surge wildly, Eternal Silence Realm · Supreme... The next moment, the barrier of realms that had stood for countless cultivators throughout their lives shattered with a deafening roar, and a vast Dao surpassing Eternal Silence slowly descended upon the Wuji Realm! In that instant, the entire world fell silent.
Watching this scene from afar, Yuan Zhanxiao's eyes reddened slightly. He knew that the Supreme Elder had staked everything he had accumulated over millions of epochs on this battle. Yuan Xuangu slowly raised his right hand, and suddenly an ancient crack appeared in the void. A battle axe slowly descended from the depths of the crack.
The battle axe is about ten feet long. The axe body is a blend of dark gold and black. There are no fancy carvings, but it is covered with naturally formed Dao patterns. The axe blade is thick and simple. The edge does not have the coldness of a sharp edge. Instead, it is like a piece of chaotic divine iron at the beginning of the world.
Nine ancient divine eyes were arranged in a row, each slowly emanating a different aura of the Great Dao. The moment the battle axe appeared, the laws of the Great Dao of the entire world began to actively give way, as if they were not qualified to approach this battle axe at all. Yuan Xuangu slowly extended his right hand and grasped the axe handle.
A soft hum resonated from the battle axe, without any astonishing burst of spiritual power. Yet, it caused countless broken divine weapons in the distance to simultaneously let out mournful cries. Those divine weapons lowered themselves, as if subjects were paying homage to their king. Yuan Xuangu slowly raised the battle axe with both hands, and stood quietly between heaven and earth.
There was not a trace of killing intent in his voice, yet it seemed as if the entire world tilted slightly with his action. His gaze fell upon Qin Yu, his voice calm and solemn. "Fellow Daoist." "First move."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yuan Xuangu neither roared nor unleashed his divine power, nor even made any preparatory movements. He simply gripped his battle axe with both hands and gently lowered it as if setting down something completely ordinary. "Return to Origin Cleave."
No sharp blade glint, no fierce axe strike; the void remained intact, without the howling of wind or the trembling of thunder. The battle axe swept across, and the surrounding world remained Anran and serene. Only the spot where the axe's blade had passed suddenly became transparent and empty. That area was devoid of light and darkness, devoid of any color, like the texture of the world's flesh being gently wiped away.
Beneath that transparent void, the indescribable and indefinable Wuji essence of the universe before the Unborn all things and the beginning of chaos was revealed. This void did not break through the void, nor did it cross dimensions; it seemed to have stood quietly before Qin Yu since the beginning of time.
The next instant, the protective Dao aura emanating from Qin Yu's body quietly dissipated and vanished. It wasn't shattered by external force, but rather the defensive principles that maintained his protective form were stripped away layer by layer and returned to heaven and earth.
The world Ji Ran and still, all things remained calm, yet at the very foundation of the world's rules, everything that could be defended against was being silently erased.
The ancient battle axe continued to fall slowly, as light as a falling leaf, yet as heavy as the overwhelming will of heaven and earth, carrying the power of the primordial Wuji boundless as it descended.