Dharma Ending
Standing at the center of the vortex where the Fire of All Living Beings and the embers of cause and effect meet, I gaze at the torrent of cultivators that blots out the sky and is about to unleash destruction.
Qi Yun chuckled and flicked his sleeve lightly.
With this flick, the [Dharma Ending], which had already been stained by billions of gray causal embers and transformed into an indescribable gray and deathly color, suddenly trembled!
Immediately, it silently "bloomed".
The dim flames, like ink spreading in water, surged upstream at an irrational speed, following the path paved by the burning [Fire of All Living Beings].
It quietly spread, seeped in, and diffused along the edge of the huge, burned hole!
In an instant, the entire exit of the hole, as well as the vast expanse of sky adjacent to it, was stained with a sickly, as if everything had faded and life had been drained away, a dull gray luster.
The next second.
The gloom touched the very forefront of the torrent of monks pouring out of the hole.
A middle-aged cultivator, dressed in Flowing Light robe and with a face as cold and stern as an ice sculpture, was riding a cloud of clear light, taking the lead and intending to be the first to descend and crush the ants below.
His aura was powerful, reaching the realm of Yin Spirit.
His body was enveloped in Daoist energy and protected by spiritual light.
But just as his figure was about to completely pass through the hole, the brilliant protective aura around him dimmed and became murky, as if it had been splashed with an invisible strong acid!
The shimmering radiance and runes that once graced the Daoist robe began to fade at a visible rate, becoming dull and worn.
Even subtle signs of wear and tear, as if eroded by centuries of time, began to appear.
The cultivator himself trembled violently!
The hollow coldness on his face shattered instantly.
Instead, there was an extreme sense of bewilderment and an indescribable feeling of loss.
He looked down in surprise at his own hands.
The skin, which was originally as smooth and lustrous as jade, and contained powerful Qi and Blood and spiritual light, was rapidly losing its luster, becoming dry and withered, and showing gray spots and wrinkles.
The fingernails turn grayish-white, become brittle, grow, and then break at an alarming rate.
"Uh----ah----"
He tried to circulate his Cultivation Method and activate his magical Law Power, but found that the originally harmonious and refined Yin Spirit in his Purple Mansion was now rapidly "melting" and "shrinking" like a snowman under the scorching sun!
The associated Cultivation Method, understanding of the Great Dao, and even the imprints of memories accumulated over many years of practice all begin to become blurred and fragmented, like a sandcastle weathered for thousands of years, crumbling at the slightest touch.
His topknot came undone on its own, and the jade hairpin that bound his hair lost its spirit, shattering and falling to the ground.
The hair instantly lost its black luster, turning dry and white like grass, and fell out and withered at a visible speed.
Thick, rotten-smelling sweat from under his armpits soaked through his lining.
In the blink of an eye, this once powerful Yin Spirit cultivator transformed from a sage with immense power into a withered, Divine Soul corpse exuding an aura of impending death.
The last glimmer of personal inspiration in his eyes was completely extinguished.
All that remains is endless emptiness and decay.
"Puff."
A sound so faint it was almost inaudible.
The cultivator, along with his filthy Daoist robe, now reduced to tattered strips, turned into a cloud of ashes, which drifted away and merged into the grayness that filled the world.
His body and soul were completely destroyed; not a trace remained.
Not even the slightest remnant of his Divine Soul remained, as if he had never existed in this world.
quiet.
A deathly silence fell, as if time itself had frozen in the instant the ashes scattered.
But this silence lasted for less than a breath.
Because the darkness of the [Dharma Ending] has not stopped.
The second, the third, the tenth, the hundredth, the thousandth...
"Pfft." "Pfft pfft." "Pfft pfft pfft----"
At first, there were only sporadic, faint sounds, like autumn leaves falling from a branch.
Immediately, the sounds became so dense that they merged into a single, chilling "rustling" sound, as if everything was simultaneously collapsing and annihilating!
One cultivator after another, regardless of the dazzling escape light they wielded, the majestic Dharma forms they manifested, or the terrifying magical Law Power they unleashed just a moment ago—
In that moment of darkness, the terrifying process of decay was inevitably reenacted:
The protective aura dimmed and faded, the robes and ornaments quickly became soiled and worn, the physical body withered and shriveled at an incredible speed, the full head of white hair fell out instantly, and the Divine Soul melted and shrank like snow under the scorching sun.
Finally, with a soft "poof" sound, it turned into a pile of worthless ashes and scattered with the wind.
There was no fierce confrontation, no dazzling exchange of Law Technique.
Only a one-sided, silent, yet utterly despairing collapse.
It's raining----
Below, in the imperial city, a royal retainer who was fortunate enough to escape the direct impact of the [Dharma Ending] but was weakened by the detachment from cause and effect stared blankly at the sky, muttering to himself.
Yes, it's raining.
Clumps of dark gray ash, and a few "remains" that had not yet completely turned to ashes and still retained their withered human shapes.
At first, it was just sparse "gray rain".
In the blink of an eye, it turned into a torrential downpour!
Densely packed, endless!
The once mighty army of cultivators, like an unstoppable torrent of steel, was now disintegrating and collapsing at an unprecedented speed!
The cultivators ahead turned to ashes in droves.
Although the cultivators behind were a little further away, they had not yet directly touched the dark core of the [Dharma Ending].
However, the pervasive aura of decay caused their spiritual light to flicker violently, and their movements to become sluggish and stiff.
On that cold face, forcibly unified by "Heaven's Will," subtle fear and struggle, belonging to the instincts of living beings, began to emerge uncontrollably.
The collapse, the unstoppable collapse, has occurred!
It was no longer a uniform march, but a chaotic, pushing, and trampling and collapse caused by attempts to retreat but the surging torrent behind them!
Countless streaks of light collided out of control, erupting into a final, yet pale and powerless, fragment of spiritual light.
The enormous flying boats and ships lost control, like giant birds with broken wings, trailing long, dissipating trails of spiritual light, and fell diagonally from the sky with mournful cries, crashing into the mountains and rivers below, exploding into clouds of dust mixed with fragments and ashes.
The sky seemed to be showering down a grand and desolate "rain of death," composed of ashes, debris, shattered Law Artifact, and uncontrolled spiritual light.
The once majestic and overwhelming torrent of cultivators was now visibly thinning, breaking apart, and falling into disarray.
The army was defeated, collapsing like a mountain.
Qi Yun silently watched all of this, watching the ashes and debris falling like rain, watching the rapidly dissipating torrent of cultivators, watching the gray [Dharma Ending] quietly spread along the hole towards the vast and magnificent [Azure Gate True Realm] beyond—
His fingers, hidden in his sleeve, twitched slightly.
"Next, it's time to meet—the main character."
The once overwhelming torrent of cultivators had now mostly dissipated, leaving endless ashes and debris scattered across the sky, a scene both tragic and eerie.
But the next moment!
A fierce, domineering, and surging aura rose from all corners of the True Realm!
This aura is majestic and righteous, scorching and pure, containing the Daoist principle of burning all things yet nurturing life.
"Yang Spirit ----"
Qi Yun below, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.
Indeed, although the Dharma Ending Age is poisonous, it can pollute the spiritual energy and cause all dharmas to wither.
However, this method is ineffective against beings at the Yang Spirit Realm who have already achieved Yin-Yang transformation, undergone a metamorphosis in their Divine Soul essence, and comprehended and mastered a trace of the "Pure Yang of Heaven" Dao.
The Way of Pure Yang is extremely strong and righteous, and it inherently possesses the characteristics of resisting external evils, purifying filth, and maintaining its own immortality.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"----
Rays of light, each a different color yet dazzling and capable of illuminating eternity, shot into the sky from all corners of the True Realm!
Ignoring distance, it can traverse thousands of miles in an instant.
They gathered at the exit of that gaping hole!
The light and rainbow receded, revealing the figure within.
One, two, three... a total of thirty-seven!
Each figure exuded a pure Yang aura, as vast as the starry sea and as blazing as the Great Sun, belonging to the great power of the Yang Spirit!
Thirty-seven such oppressive forces converged, forming an invisible force field that pressed down on the lower realm, creating a suffocating atmosphere!
"Boom!!!"
The sky seemed to freeze under the will of these thirty-seven figures.
The scattered ashes and debris silently turned into finer dust and were completely annihilated when they approached within a radius of ten thousand feet around them.
Even the pervasive darkness of the "Dharma Ending" was largely driven back and diluted by the combined impact of their pure Yang energy.
These powerful Yang Spirit stood at the edge of the cave, like thirty-seven deities who had stepped out of ancient mythology, their faces solemn and their eyes cold and indifferent.
At that moment, time seemed to stand still.
Qi Yun, however, seemed oblivious to the overwhelming pressure. He tilted his head slightly, calmly meeting the thirty-seven cold gazes, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Finally—he's decided to come out?" he murmured to himself.
Just as those thirty-seven Azure Gate Yang Spirit were overwhelming the world and controlling all life and death, "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
One after another, equally intense and domineering, equally pure and boundless yang energy erupted and rose from the ground!
One, two, ten, twenty—fifty!
Fifty beams of pure sunlight tore through the viscous, distorted air above the imperial city, which had been compressed by the pressure of the [Dharma Ending] and the Yang Spirit of the True Realm, and instantly converged in the sky behind Qi Yun!
The beam of light receded, revealing figures within it.
They also stood suspended in mid-air, their bodies surging with pure Yang energy, and pale golden halos flowing above their heads.
Although in terms of the refinement of his aura and the profundity of his Daoist charm, he seemed slightly inferior to those veteran Yang Spirit who had cultivated for countless years.
But there were fifty of them!
We have thirteen more than the opponent!
Fifty against thirty-seven.
Two equally vast and intense pure Yang pressures, representing the "Yang Spirit" status of this realm.
At this moment, beneath the scorched sky, amidst the shattered world strewn with ashes and despair, they collided with a deafening roar!
"Buzz-!!!!"
The sky was torn apart by countless spiderweb-like cracks, shimmering with a mixture of golden and gray light.
The earth shook violently, the buildings of the imperial city trembled, and bricks and stones tumbled down.
The violent pure yang energy wave spread wildly in all directions in a ring shape.
Wherever it passed, the remaining darkness of the "Dharma Ending" was further dispersed, and several feet of the ground were scraped away, revealing the scorched black soil beneath!
The mere clash of their auras was already so terrifying!
Qi Yun at the forefront of the clash between these two terrifying pressures, his deep blue Daoist robe fluttering in the violent air currents.
He slowly raised his right hand, pointing to the thirty-seven True Realm Yang Spirit at the edge of the hole. His voice wasn't loud, but it pierced through the deafening roar of the Principle, ringing out clearly. "Leave not a single one alive!"