The Folded Abyss Descends, the Nine Gangs' Hunt Order Begins

The aftershocks of the Annihilation Abyss Rending Domain had not yet completely subsided, and the world was still filled with the lingering flames of light and darkness. Space folded layer upon layer like a shattered mirror lake, with starlight and annihilation currents flowing through the void, reflecting a silent radiance reminiscent of the aftermath of the apocalypse. The remnants of the energy from the destruction of the Epoch Whale and the Rending Mastiff still lingered in the air, their low humming like the gasps of gods with each tremor.

Li Huncang stood silently in the center of the ruins, his figure long since devoid of human form. His eyes reflected the flowing lines of the universe and the annihilation river of light, making him seem like an existence standing on the other side of time. The three remaining cultivators at the Only Book Realm · Supreme trembled and knelt on the ground. Their Spiritual Sense was almost crushed under this invisible pressure, yet they still forced their heads up, trying their best to hide their fear with smiles.

"Master... no, you have transcended the mortal realm, you are the true Lord of the Annihilation Abyss!" one person said tremblingly, his forehead almost touching the ground, his voice filled with Ultimate flattery.

"In the past, we followed you to fight in the Annihilation Abyss, never expecting that today we would witness you transcend mortals and become a god... This is the will of Heaven, and the Annihilation Abyss will be restored to order because of you!" Another person quickly echoed, raising his hands high in worship as if in reverence for a god.

The third person's voice trembled, yet he still forced himself to remain calm. "In the past, the Heavenly Sha Alliance was subservient to others, but now that you possess the Refraction Divine Power, both Epoch Whale and Rending Mastiff have submitted to your strength. In this world... there is no one who can rival you!"

Li Huncang looked down at them slightly, a faint, indifferent smile playing on his lips, a smile that contained neither joy nor pity.

"Heh... Lord of the Annihilation Abyss?" He slowly raised his finger, and the light and dark vortex in his palm rotated slightly. Instantly, the layered mirror world of heaven and earth trembled, as if billions of mirrors shattered at the same time, turning into fragments of light that fell to the ground.

"Three useless people, do they even know what a master is?"

His voice was calm, yet carried a suffocating chill. The three people who Only Book Realm · Supreme trembled simultaneously, their hearts clenching, and cold sweat pouring down their foreheads.

"Master, please calm down! We were just—"

"--Just wanted to express my loyalty!"

"By your supreme leader, I am willing to expand your territory and serve you forever!"

Li Huncang's gaze swept over them indifferently, his eyes flashing with geometric light, as if he were analyzing the structure of their souls.

"Loyalty? Hah... Loyalty is a fragile logic," he muttered coldly.

Before the words were finished, a sharp sound suddenly came from the void—the shadows of the three people were simultaneously stretched and twisted, and then instantly separated from their bodies.

"Ah--!"

Three screams exploded within the vortex of light refraction. Their physical bodies were not destroyed, but their souls were forcibly extracted into rays of light, swallowed by the refraction field, and transformed into three faint beams of light in his palm.

Li Huncang withdrew his hand, his tone calm. "Your loyalty... I will make good use of it."

The three rays of light were absorbed into his body, resonating with the Light-Folding Origin Crystal, instantly bursting out a dazzling ripple. The air solidified, and the space of the Annihilation Abyss Rending Domain Rift bowed down to him completely at that moment, with both light and darkness collapsing towards the center.

He slowly closed his eyes, his soul completely stabilized and took shape, and the Refraction Divine Power formed a new cycle within his body— the Folded Abyss Divine Vein.

When he opened his eyes, the light in them was no longer that of ordinary things, but rather reflected the folded structure of the entire Annihilation Abyss Epoch.

"Only Book Realm · Intermediate Stage... Hmph..." he murmured softly, a chilling laugh in his voice, "You destroyed Huo Yuan, but allowed me to ascend to the Abyss. Fate has turned—in the end, the definition of hunter and prey will be rewritten by me."

He stretched out his hand, and a fragmented crystal image appeared in the void. It was the image of Qin Yu, the "Logic Key" of the Annihilation Abyss Epoch.

"Epoch Whale, Rending Mastiff, Refraction, Annihilation Prison... the end of everything will fold into a new era."

The light and shadow swallowed his figure, leaving only a whisper echoing in the abyss.

As the aftershocks of the Annihilation Abyss Rending Domain gradually subsided, the rifts in the heavens and earth slowly closed, and the tides of light and darkness were reorganized, compressed, and folded by a new force. Li Huncang stood quietly on the ruins, his eyes meeting like twin stars, and the Folded Abyss Divine Vein roared and circulated within his body. His aura no longer belonged to the realm of humans, but was a composite energy flow that mixed the starlight refraction of Epoch Whale, the dark abyss rift breath of the Annihilation Hound, and the supreme instinct of the Light-Folding Origin Crystal.

The surrounding space constantly curved and caved in, only to return to linear order under his divine sense—a new reality was being rewritten based on his will.

He slowly raised his hand, his five fingers spread wide.

"Open the Folded Abyss Divine Vein."

In an instant, millions of mirror patterns burst forth from the void.

Those mirror patterns are not light, but "cracks in reality that have been torn open." Each one reflects a different timeline and spatial layer, shimmering with eerie colors: some mirrors still show the folded waves of the Light-Folding Epoch Whale before its death, some show Qin Yu's figure wielding his sword in front of the Radiant Sacred Tree, and some even reflect the Annihilation Realm of the unknown future.

Li Huncang's face was distorted yet sacred by the mirror's reflection; his voice was deep and cold, like an echo that transcended eras.

"Mirror Annihilation Folding Realm —using the mirror as the domain, annihilation as the boundary, and the soul as the boundary."

Instantly, all the mirror patterns began to slowly rotate, forming a massive mirrored star ring. The void of the Annihilation Abyss peeled away layer by layer beneath the star ring, each layer corresponding to a different spacetime node.

"... Boy... your aura cannot dissipate, for you have already invaded the history of the Annihilation Abyss."

He reached out and touched the surface of the mirror ring, and a blurry trail of spiritual light immediately appeared—the remnant of the energy Qin Yu had released when the "Undefined Destruction Sword" resonated with the Radiant Sacred Tree. The light extended along the mirror ring into the distance, eventually flickering and stopping at a certain point.

Li Huncang's pupils suddenly contracted.

"The Spiritual Light Tower Shadow..."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure transformed into an Ultimate stream of light, piercing through countless layers of mirrored realms and heading straight towards the direction where the spiritual light was located.

The Spiritual Light Tower Shadow.

This place is one of the oldest sacred sites in the Annihilation Abyss Return Realm, said to be the place where the ancient Star Clan worshipped the "Light Soul Sacred Seal". The other end of the nine rainbow bridges is the extension of this realm, where countless cultivators and sect experts gather, holding their breath and waiting for the return of the people on the nine bridges.

The Spiritual Light Tower stands ninety thousand feet tall, its body constructed of Spiritual Radiance Stone, its entire surface shimmering with iridescent light. A ring of stars floats atop the tower, as if illuminating the dawn of another world. The spiritual mist drifting in the sky reflects the figures of countless cultivators, like thousands of seekers of light silently waiting.

"The people of Jiuqiao have not yet returned?"

"The fluctuations from the Annihilation Abyss Return Realm have subsided. If they still don't appear, I'm afraid..."

"Shh—look over there, the rainbow seems to be reacting!"

Whispers rippled through the crowd, the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi weaving into waves of sound, transforming into a fervent anticipation. Countless cultivators came from different sects, holy realms, and secret clans, some seeking opportunities, others hoping to uncover the truth of the Annihilation Abyss.

Just then, an extremely subtle yet incredibly eerie ripple came from the sky—the top of the Spiritual Light Tower Shadow's shadow flashed with a dark gold color for a moment, and then the golden crack spread out into a ring, enveloping the entire sky above the tower's shadow.

Within the crack, a ghostly eye slowly opened in the void.

That is— Li Huncang's "Eye of the Folded Abyss".

He has traversed thousands of miles of time and space, descending upon the Mirror Realm above the Tower's shadow.

Countless cultivators felt a sinking feeling in their hearts, their breaths suddenly stopping. They couldn't see the eye, but they could feel an invisible gaze upon the depths of their souls, as if they were being forced into an inescapable fateful judgment.

"So you were here—" Li Huncang's voice echoed from the depths of the void, as cold as the cracks in light, "Qin Yu, no matter how far you go, you can't escape the boundaries of my Zhe Yuan."

With a flick of his finger, ripples spread through the space surrounding the Spiritual Light Tower Shadow, and countless mirror reflections began to overlap and collapse, forming a layered ring of light.

The sky above the Spiritual Light Tower Shadow suddenly changed color, the rainbows dissipated, and the shadows of the nine rainbow bridges trembled in the void.

Countless cultivators looked up and exclaimed in surprise--

"What... what is that!? Someone is folding space!"

"The aura of the Annihilation Abyss... no, it's an even more ancient power!"

"That gaze... it was like a god looking down upon the mortal world!"

Li Huncang coldly gazed at the beings below, his voice echoing above the tower's shadow:

"Good lad... I knew you would come here eventually. The light of the Nine Bridges Returning to the Realm does not belong to these mortals, but is my final destination with fate."

Before the Spiritual Light Tower Shadow, the mist swirls like a tide, and countless rays of spiritual light flow across the sky, like stars falling to earth. The plaza in front of the tower has long been occupied by a sea of cultivators. Cultivators from various sects and forces have gathered here, and the spiritual pressure intertwines into a chaotic aura. The air is filled with waiting and restlessness.

However, as a dark, cracked light slowly descended from the sky, a chilling pressure suddenly descended upon everyone. That pressure was neither killing intent nor the pressure of Spiritual Sense, but rather an illusion of "existence being folded"—as if their souls were being held in someone's palm, ready to be broken at any moment.

"Who... is that?"

"This oppressive aura... is definitely not that of an ordinary Annihilation Abyss cultivator!"

"Wait... I think I've seen that face before--"

Among the crowd, an elderly cultivator's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in a low voice, "It's the Third Hall Master of the Heavenly Sha Alliance — Li Huncang! He has actually shown himself!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the entire crowd erupted in chaos.

"The Third Hall Master of the Heavenly Sha Alliance? That's a great figure at the Severed Observation Realm · Supreme!"

"One of the most ruthless hall masters under the Nine Alliances Gang, whose Soul Annihilation Three Prisons are so powerful that even Void Evolution dare not easily offend them!"

"It seems... he's not here to join in the fun."

Li Huncang Cang slowly walked out of the spatial rift. With each step he took, a circle of mirror-like ripples spread through the void. The ripples were not spiritual energy, but rather echoes as if "time and reality" were being peeled away layer by layer. He wore a black and gold battle robe with dark patterns, and his eyes, like the burning light in folded star trails, indifferently swept over the crowd below.

The crowd fell silent instantly, with only the howling wind breaking the silence.

"I heard... Huo Yuan of the Dragon Abyss Association died a few days ago," a young cultivator whispered, his eyes filled with unease. "The entire camp was annihilated, leaving only an empty shell, not even a trace of his soul."

"Yes, I heard about it too." Another person leaned closer and lowered their voice, "The Nine Alliances Gang furious and immediately convened Hunt Order Council. I heard that the murderer is just a kid at the Only Book Realm · Intermediate Stage, who appeared out of nowhere... Now the entire gang is looking for him."

"Only Book Realm · Intermediate Stage? Are you kidding me? He can wipe out a top-tier Severed Observation like Huo Yuan? Is this kid some kind of monster in human skin?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down, do you want to die? The leader of the Heavenly Sha Alliance is right ahead."

After a brief murmur, all eyes turned to Li Huncang.

"Judging from his appearance, he's probably here to see that kid."

"Ha, the Nine Alliances Gang never lets anyone who dares to challenge authority get away with it. I heard that the young man has a few strange treasures that can annihilate souls and erase karma... If they really get their hands on them, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"I wonder who that person is, that he's caused the Nine Gangs to go to such lengths."

Li Huncang listened to the whispers below, a slight smile playing on his lips, his expression cold and arrogant.

"A mere Only Book Realm · Intermediate Stage cultivator, and you're all discussing him like this?" His voice was deep, carrying a twisted metallic quality, each word accompanied by a sonic boom that resonated throughout the space. "Fine, very well. He dared to devour even Epoch Whale and Rending Mastiff, and could even tear apart the Annihilation Abyss. Do you really think this person is just Nameless?"

A stir ran through the crowd. Some hesitated to speak, while others lowered their heads, unable to look directly at each other.

Li Huncang slowly raised his head and looked towards the top of the ninth floor of the Spiritual Light Tower. In his eyes, he vaguely saw the phantom of Qin Yu in front of the Radiant Sacred Tree.

He must be here.

He muttered to himself, a cold laugh laced with his words, "I can smell the last breath of his soul."

Immediately, the ripples of light reflecting off the sky and earth spread out abruptly, and hundreds and thousands of cracks of light and shadow appeared on the ground of the Spiritual Light Tower, like a shattered star mirror being reassembled. The emblem of the Nine Alliances Gang faintly emerged from those cracks, symbolizing that the silent hunting order had been activated.

Li Huncang turned around, glanced at the crowd behind him, and said in a low voice:

"You want to know who dares to mess with the Nine Alliances Gang?"

A sly smile crept across his lips, "Then I'll personally etch his name into your eyes."