Above the bluish-gray mountain plain, the enormous gray-white umbrella still shrouded the entire sky. Twelve ancient umbrella ribs stretched across the heavens and earth, and the primordial patterns deep within the umbrella fabric slowly flowed. Countless gray-white raindrops continuously fell from the sky, eroding the last few layers of the Shangguan Lineage's dilapidated defensive light barrier.
The once mighty river of light, formed by thousands of primordial divine weapons, had dimmed considerably. The core of the formation was surrounded by crisscrossing cracks. Thousands of surviving Shangguan Lineage disciples huddled within the ever-shrinking formation, their faces pale, yet their gazes were all fixed on the enormous figure in the sky that had just broken free from the crimson vortex.
The unknown being hovered silently above the formation, its ten-thousand-foot-tall body covered in ancient bone armor interwoven with deep black and dark red. Twelve ferocious bone thorns extended outward from its shoulders and back, and six crimson bone wings slowly unfurled.
Thick, blood-red smoke flowed between its wing bones, and dozens of broken, gray-gold chains hung down on either side of its waist and abdomen, clashing together with the rise and fall of its chest, producing a dull and chilling metallic clang.
Beneath the pale, bony surface, those deep-set, dark golden eyes were now completely soaked in a scarlet, ferocious light. Deep within the pupils, jet-black cracks slowly rotated, as if countless ancient, torn Fate Soul were struggling within them. Dark red smoke continuously seeped from the bone armor around the eye sockets, and wherever the gaze fell, even the remaining True Annihilation Dao Aura trembled slightly.
It stared intently at Elder White Brow, its gaze filled with resentment that had not dissipated over countless millennia. Its dark golden pupils contracted slightly, and the muscle lines on both sides of its pale bone surface tightened. The corners of its mouth slowly split open to reveal a row of gleaming white teeth, with fine, crimson light flowing between them. A low, hoarse laugh came from deep within its throat.
"Heh... heh heh heh..."
Elder White Brow stood beside the main array eye, his face extremely pale. His fingers, gripping the bronze staff, were slightly white from excessive force. He looked up to meet those terrifying eyes, the wrinkles on his aged face tightening, cold sweat slowly sliding down his temples. The brutal battle from millions of years ago, which had almost destroyed his Fate Soul, surged up from the depths of his memory once again.
Shangguan Wan'er stood beside him, her right hand slowly pressing against the sword at her waist. Her face, already pale from the damage to her Fate Soul, grew even more grave. She sensed the increasingly malevolent aura emanating from the unknown creature and quickly whispered a warning, "Senior brother, its gaze is fixed on you. We must be extremely careful!"
Elder White Brow did not answer, but slowly held his bronze staff horizontally in front of his chest. Just then—
Drip! A raindrop fell from the sky, passing through layers of swirling dark red smoke, and gently landed on the black-gold bone armor on the left shoulder of the unknown creature. As the raindrop passed through the blood-red, ferocious aura surrounding it, it gradually changed from its original grayish-white color to a deep scarlet. The primordial energy within the raindrop intertwined with the dark red essence, ultimately transforming into a crystal-clear and eerie scarlet water droplet.
Swoosh! The moment the raindrop touched the bone armor, a thin wisp of reddish-black smoke suddenly rose.
The unknown creature's massive body paused slightly. It slowly turned its head and looked down at its left shoulder, where a tiny dent had been eroded by raindrops on the surface of its incredibly hard black-gold bone armor. Grayish-white and scarlet patterns appeared at the edges of the dent, and a slight burning pain came from deep within the bone armor. Its dark golden eyes narrowed instantly.
"Um...?"
A deep, hoarse voice came from the depths of its throat. It slowly raised its head, its gaze piercing through the rain-soaked sky, looking at the giant gray-white umbrella that blotted out the heavens. The twelve ribs of the umbrella slowly swirled in the high sky, and the ancient ox-shaped patterns deep within the umbrella surface emitted a faint glow. Countless primordial raindrops continued to condense, and then slowly fell along the edge of the umbrella fabric.
The gray-gold vertical pupil in the center of the unknown creature's chest opened slightly, and the broken lock patterns deep within the pupil rotated continuously, as if it were staring at that ancient aura that it had never seen before. After a moment, the corners of its mouth slowly turned upward, revealing an extremely ferocious smile.
"Interesting..." it uttered in a low voice, then slowly lowered its head, its gaze falling on the terrified Shangguan Lineage disciples within the great formation.
The thousands of Shangguan Lineage cultivators tensed up instantly. A young disciple instinctively gripped the longsword in his hand, which had lost most of its original power, and took a half step back, his face pale. Several stewards beside him immediately raised their weapons, trying to protect the disciple behind them.
But in the next instant—the enormous figure of the unknown creature suddenly vanished without a sound of air being torn apart, leaving no afterimage. The ten-thousand-foot-tall body that had been hovering high in the sky disappeared without warning before everyone's eyes.
Shangguan Wan'er's pupils suddenly contracted. "Not good!" She turned around abruptly, and before her words had even finished, a dark red crack suddenly appeared in the void in the area where hundreds of disciples were located on the west side of the formation.
Boom!!! The enormous body of the unknown creature suddenly appeared above everyone. Its six crimson bone wings suddenly unfurled, and thick blood mist gushed out from between the wing bones. Twelve ferocious bone thorns cast huge dark red shadows in the sky. The gray-gold vertical pupil in the center of its chest suddenly opened, and an extremely violent crimson-black light shot out from the depths of its pupil.
"Ah!!!" Hundreds of Shangguan Lineage disciples exclaimed in unison.
The unknown being slowly raised its right hand, its six slender fingers covered in dark red bone armor spreading downwards. The gray-gold bone eye in its palm suddenly rotated, and six crimson bone blades extended from its fingertips simultaneously, before slashing downwards with a fierce motion.
Sizzle!!! Six crimson blades instantly tore through the remaining Fate Soul defenses within the formation.
The first dozen or so True Annihilation Realm disciples didn't even have time to activate their Innate Martial Soul before being pierced directly by the terrifying blade light. Their bodies and Fate Soul shattered simultaneously, and blood sprayed out along the broken rock. Several disciples had just raised their weapons when they rapidly dissipated in the crimson light.
Another True Annihilation Realm · Advanced Stage disciple desperately summoned his protective ancient seal, but it was cleaved in two by one of the bone blades as soon as it rose. Then, his chest was pierced by the crimson blade light, and he was sent flying backward, crashing into several huge rocks behind him. His Fate Soul force was instantly extinguished.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!! More than a dozen figures fell one after another. The remaining array patterns were scattered and shattered by the impact.
"Stop!!!" Shangguan Wan'er shouted sharply. A deep purple Fate Soul halo rose up behind her, and hundreds of sword shadows quickly condensed along the edge of the halo, shooting towards the direction of the unknown creature.
But the ancient being merely turned its head slowly, a hint of disdain flashing in its dark golden eyes. Its left bony wing suddenly swung forward, and a large cloud of crimson smoke surged along the wing bone. Hundreds of sword shadows were shattered one after another by the violent and ferocious source within the red mist the moment they touched it. Shangguan Wan'er's face turned pale, and her old chest wound was aggravated again, causing her to stagger back half a step.
Seeing this, Elder White Brow suddenly stepped forward, his aged voice filled with shock and anger. "If you want revenge, come at me! Don't harm my Shangguan Lineage's descendants!"
The unknown creature slowly lowered its head, its dark golden eyes once again landing on the Elder White Brow, the sinister smile on its lips growing even more pronounced. "Your descendant..." its voice was deep and hoarse, carrying an extremely ancient and rough quality, "You've imprisoned me for countless years, and now you want to teach me how to act?"
Elder White Brow's chest heaved violently, his hand gripping the bronze staff trembled slightly, and his eyes held both anger and deep helplessness. However, before the unknown creature could make another move, the sound of heavy rain once again came from the giant gray-white umbrella above his head.
Whoosh! Large raindrops rapidly condensed along the umbrella's surface. The grayish-white rainwater passed through the dark red mist surrounding the unknown creature, gradually turning scarlet, before falling one after another onto its massive, bony, armored body.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss--! Wisps of reddish-black smoke rose from the surface of the bone armor.
Fine marks began to appear on the originally hard black-gold bone armor. The left shoulder, chest, abdomen, and the edges of the six bone wings all showed varying degrees of erosion. Some scarlet raindrops even slowly seeped into the gaps in the bone armor, touching the dark red source flowing within, causing the source light patterns to freeze briefly.
The unknown creature abruptly lowered its head, staring at the spreading gray-white marks on its chest, its dark golden pupils suddenly contracting. "Hmm?!"
It raised its left hand, and its six long, bony fingers slowly traced the wound on its chest. As soon as the fingertips touched the area eroded by raindrops, a wisp of ancient gray-white energy spread upwards along the bony armor, attempting to invade the primordial patterns deep within its palm. The unknown creature suddenly clenched its five fingers.