Black Abyss Opens Again · The Chaos Lord Descends

As night fell, the atmosphere in the Source of Epochless · Middle Layer seemed particularly heavy.

Chen Xiang, in the form of the Aohuang Divine Beast, draped in a black robe, quietly walked through a forbidden land known as the "Ming Yuan Bone Marsh".

That was an area that even the elders of the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall avoided. Legend has it that this place was one of the fallen fragments of the "Nameless Realm," a remnant of time and space abandoned before the Annihilation Origin Era.

With each step, the ground was not soil, but countless withered bones and fragmented crystals of divine consciousness. Each step produced a "crack" sound, as if the soul were shattering.

The air was not filled with wind, but with the narrative dust of an old era—the ashes that had dissipated when the universe was rewritten and forgotten.

It has no temperature, no color, yet it can devour light.

The sky is even stranger:

There were no stars, no clouds, but countless stripped-away "projections of memory" flickering, dissipating, and reborn in the sky.

Those are fleeting images of those who died billions of years ago, eternally repeating the process of death and rebirth.

In the distance, at the center of the swamp, stands a colossal blood-red monument. Inscribed upon it are not words, but flowing veins—

Like blood, and like pages of a book.

Each flow seems to be an invisible hand writing new history while erasing the old.

Chen Xiang walked to the monument, his eyes beneath his black robe flashing with a bewitching red light. He licked his lips and murmured softly:

"So this is where it is... Indeed, the aura of the 'Silent Abyss Causality Stele' gathers here. The lower-level blood and bones of the Source of Epochless are truly the best bait."

As he finished speaking, the skeletal remains beneath the monument suddenly began to tremble—

Countless wreckage floated up under the pull of a silent force, bones colliding and rubbing together, producing a mournful groan.

Wisps of grayish-white soul mist seeped from the skeletons, coalescing into pained faces.

They are not ghosts, not spirits, but "echoes of existence" forgotten by time.

A wicked smile appeared on Chen Xiang's face. He stretched out his hand, and the aura of the true form of the Aohuang Divine Beast, emerged from his palm.

It was an ancient, blood-red vortex that flowed backward through time.

He whispered:

"Come... let me see how much power the once sealed true name still retains."

Suddenly, the "blood page" on the monument turned open.

The world suddenly darkened, and a terrifying resonance from ancient times exploded within the bone swamp—

At that moment, the wind in the Source of Epochless · Middle Layer all reversed.

A silent roar pierced through dimensions, and the Ming Yuan Bone Marsh seemed to come alive. The shadow beneath the Blood Stele began to writhe, as if a "second Aohuang" was slowly opening its eyes from its seal.

The moment the blood monument in the Ming Yuan Bone Marsh cracked, the underground space began to collapse.

Chen Xiang's footsteps seemed to tread on the backs of countless souls—the ghosts he had devoured were still struggling beneath his feet, emitting low groans as their spiritual cores were crushed.

A ghostly figure suddenly emerged from behind the monument, its eyes hollow, its bone wings shattered, and its body surrounded by ashes—it was a "bone spirit" remnant from an ancient era.

Before it could even howl, Chen Xiang raised his hand and grabbed, his five fingers twisting into the claws of Aohuang.

With a loud "bang," the ghost instantly shattered into countless wisps of soul dust, which he then inhaled into his body.

"You mere remnant dares to block my way?"

His voice was like a tearing curtain of blood, deep, eerie, and filled with a primal, Aohuang hunger.

Then, more ghosts crawled out from the shadows on both sides of the Bone Marsh.

They came in all shapes and sizes; some crawled with broken ribs, while others had half their bodies still burning with the ashes of cause and effect. They were silent, yet they chorused each other, forming an invisible incantation, as if warning intruders not to come near.

However, Chen Xiang only sneered.

He spread his arms, and the crimson pupils of the Aohuang Divine Beast appeared on his chest. Blood-red light poured out, transforming into thousands upon thousands of blood-red chains of Aohuang.

The chains shot out like living things, instantly piercing through the souls of all the ghosts, dragging them back, tearing them apart, devouring them, and refining them—

The air was filled with the smell of burning soul consciousness, accompanied by low roars and the hissing of blood flames.

The entire Ming Yuan Bone Marsh fell silent instantly.

Only Chen Xiang's footsteps echoed, like a deathly silent melody.

Just as he stepped over the blood-stained monument, countless ancient runes suddenly lit up on the ground beneath his feet.

These patterns are not carved on the ground, but float in space, rotating at an extremely slow frequency, like "symbols of time itself" flowing backward.

That's the "Void Consciousness Teleportation Array," one of the oldest dimensional teleportation arrays in the Source of Epochless.

Before he could react, the array patterns suddenly burst forth with a deep red light.

The entire Bone Marsh trembled violently, and the soul mist was drawn into its center. Chen Xiang felt his body being instantly torn into fragments one in a billion, only to be reassembled.

In the next instant, his figure had already disappeared beneath the blood monument.

When his vision returned, Chen Xiang was already standing at the entrance to another world—

It was a gate to a wasteland made of ashes, flames, and darkness.

Before him stood a massive portico, ancient and decaying, yet so magnificent it sent shivers down one's spine.

The gate soared into the clouds, seemingly connecting directly to the top of the abyss in the void. It was covered with countless black inscriptions and symbols, each one flowing as if breathing.

The interior was pitch black, as if even the concept of light had been erased.

Between heaven and earth, a fierce wind carrying scorching ash swept across, stirring up crimson waves of fire, cracking the rocky ground, and causing molten lava to flow like blood.

The sky is not a real sky, but a swirling, chaotic storm.

Black, red, and gray colors intertwined, with a huge vortex eye at the center, slowly rotating as if staring at Chen Xiang.

A deep, thumping sound came from behind the door, like the beating of some kind of "heart".

And that rhythm—was exactly the same as the heartbeat of the Aohuang Divine Beast.

Chen Xiang's lips slowly curled up, revealing menacing fangs.

"Ah... So that's how it is. This is the true 'Gate of Aohuang'. My blood has finally been called back to my homeland."

He took a slow step, his eyes turning completely into blood-red slits.

The flames beneath his feet parted on their own, making way for him as if all spirits were welcoming the Lord.

The moment Chen Xiang stepped into the door, the entire space seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force.

A blood-red storm swept across the sky, and surging ash engulfed the world like a tidal wave.

And behind that dark door,

An indescribably massive, ancient shadow of Aohuang is slowly awakening.

The heavens and earth are silent; only destruction breathes within them.

The moment Chen Xiang stepped completely into that dark gate, the entire space seemed to be torn apart by an indefinable force. The logic of heaven and earth collapsed, the lines of time dissolved into streams of light in the air, and all "existence" was being devoured and reorganized.

The massive black gate trembled, its roar sounding like hundreds of hells opening simultaneously.

Crimson streaks of light seeped from the crack in the door, each streak like the pulse of life, carrying an ancient, timeless, and destructive rhythm.

"Puff--"

The heart of heaven and earth is beating.

As the light spread, an aura even more ancient and abyssal than the Annihilation Dawn Realm surged out from behind the door.

That was the awakening aura of the true form of the Aohuang.

Chen Xiang's body began to crack, his skin peeling away like a disguise, and deep red flames and pitch-black soul mist flowing from the cracks.

He looked up and laughed wildly, his voice echoing between heaven and earth, shaking the mountains to ashes. "Hahahaha--This is the true calling of my true self! I have finally... returned to my true self!"

From the pitch-black door, a giant claw reached out—

The claws were woven from rock iron, blood bone, and nothingness, with dark red runes burning between the claw marks. Every line was writhing, like ancient scriptures in life.

The moment the five fingers were spread open, the sky split into five abysses.

A storm suddenly arose, and the Spiritual Qi in the vast void was instantly drained into columns of energy, which were then sucked into the doorway.

The entire earth veins of the Source of Epochless trembled slightly, mountains and rivers shook, clouds reversed, and stars lost their color.

Chen Xiang's figure was completely torn apart. His body was cleaved open from the inside by countless blood lines, turning into thousands of blood shadows, all of which were sucked into the door by the Aohuang claws.

Then, the silence of heaven and earth lasted only a moment.

Boom!!!

Endless waves of fire erupted.

The entire space was engulfed in flames, a tapestry of gold and crimson. Rocks melted, mountains collapsed, and all colors lost their meaning in that instant.

In the heart of the inferno, the true form of the Aohuang Divine Beast finally emerged slowly from behind the door.

That was a being capable of causing calamity to all worlds.

It has no fixed shape.

His entire body was enveloped in countless flowing runes and blood flames.

Every breath distorts the laws of the world.

Its eyes are two crimson stars hanging in the sky, within which the images of billions of living beings flow in a cycle of reincarnation.

Its body was so enormous that it covered the entire sky.

Every bone vein is etched with prayers of destruction.

A shattered black sun floated in the background.

That is the extension of its soul—"Aohuang Silent Sun".

"My soul—returns to its rightful place."

The deep sound did not originate from the throat, but resonated directly at the very root of "existence".

Chen Xiang's remnant soul emerged from the flames, knelt on the ground, and merged into the chest of the Aohuang Divine Beast like a sacrifice.

In an instant, the divine beast's pupils brightened, and the blood flames around its body transformed into a tornado-like energy vortex, tearing through layers of void.

The fusion begins.

That was the Ultimate shock to both the eyes and the soul.

Countless images overlapped: Chen Xiang's memories, the Chen Clan's layout, the devoured soul consciousness, Chen Clan's orders, Qin Yu's figure, the celestial map in the Source of Epochless · Middle Layer... all were pulled into the Aohuang wilderness's sea of consciousness.

It transformed into a giant book, which hung above his head and burned.

As the fusion was completed, an unprecedented aura descended.

It does not belong to the definition of any realm in the Source of Epochless.

That was a forbidden power that bridged the gap between Annihilation Dawn and Void Evolution.

"The Abyss of Lifelessness - The Blood World Returns".

The Aohuang Divine Beast raised its head, gazing at the radiant layer of the Source of Epochless in the distance.

A cruel smile appeared on its lips:

"Source of Epochless... Do you think a seal can imprison me for billions of years?"

I— Aohuang —will rewrite the order of this world with my blood and bones.

Then, its wings spread out.

Billions of blood souls fell like shooting stars.

At that moment, all the light in the middle layer of the world went completely dark.

In that blood-red abyss, lava and ashes churned, and the sky burned like an inverted purgatory. The moment the Aohuang Divine Beast completely merged with its original form, the entire Source of Epochless · Middle Layer trembled.

He stood atop the Hill of a Hundred Million Bones, the void around him seemingly torn apart, chaotic energy swirling within. His aura surged from the Annihilation Dawn, breaking through all the limitations of reason, and he thunderously stepped into the Chaos Realm, Initial Stage.

His golden-black eyes burned with fluid blood flames, and every breath he took was accompanied by the collapse of the entire space-time; every breath contained the primordial power of "beginning without creation, before the chaos was divided".

The moment he opened his eyes, four strange auras emerged from the depths of the dark flames.

First

Standing beneath the blood moon, his black robes were as dark as night, and his bone bow resembled a serpent.

His body was hunched over, yet he exuded boundless pressure. When the bowstring was taut, the void cracked like a spider's web, and the dark red light of the string seemed to pierce through the lifeline of all worlds. His face was hidden in the shadow of his hood, with only his empty eye sockets burning with swirling, blood-red flames.

He is -- Void Evolution · String Extinguisher, who, according to legend, can erase the meaning of existence with a single arrow.

Second place

Standing atop the scorched rocks and blood river, his entire body was covered in withered bones and dark iron.

He wielded a giant axe in both hands, its blades flowing with molten lava like congealed blood. Behind him, countless spirits wailed silently, seemingly souls eternally enslaved by him.

As he took a step forward, the causal chain of heaven and earth was torn and twisted.

He is -- Void Evolution, the Fallen Soul Forger, who uses souls as metal and the wishes of the dead as weapons.

Third place

Suspended between heaven and earth, half of its body is ashes, and the other half is dark thunder.

He remained silent, his eyes tightly closed, yet within the ethereal lightning surrounding him flickered the death of countless phantoms.

With every thought this person has, a realm is destroyed; with every breath this person takes, a star is reborn.

He is -- the Void Evolution Silent Lightning Walker, the extremely mysterious Judge of Cause Annihilation.

Fourth place

He slowly emerged from the Bottomless Refining Domain, his body towering a hundred feet tall, his skin like charred black iron, and his long horns resembling divine spears that could cleave the sky.

He wielded a giant sword burning with the flames of the void in one hand, and wherever the sword's edge pointed, the "definition of existence" of all dimensions was rewritten.

When he raised his head, what was reflected in his eyes was not light, but endless Annihilation.

He is -- the Dimension Severing Monarch Void Evolution and Dimensional Destruction, the embodiment of the concept of destruction.

All four submitted to the Aohuang Divine Beast, their voices like thunder in chaos:

"We obey the command of the one true Lord."

The corners of the Aohuang Divine Beast's mouth turned up slightly, its smile as cold as an abyss.

The black and gold divine flames that ignited behind him converged into a phantom image of intertwined dragons and snakes, while the blood moon in the sky spun and transformed into the chaotic crown ring above his head.

"Very well... A world that has slumbered for too long will eventually see bloodshed again."

As his words fell, the earth cracked open, and magma spewed from the cracks in the bones into a river of fire; the cries of countless souls echoed in the Source of Epochless.

And amidst the countless cracks, the invisible threads of destiny seem to break and regenerate—a sign of a new World Extinguisher.