Staying in the sect, controlling beasts and cultivating immortals

The emerald rainbow emitted by Chen Xueqing's burning blood soul was like a fountain of life pouring from the sky, desperately resisting the withered and desolate torrent that surged out from the core of the pseudo-god and demon.

This rainbow of light, imbued with the essence of the Pure Lotus and the spirit, painstakingly repaired the rapidly spreading cracks on Yu Changsheng's Dao foundation.

However, the light itself was visibly dimming and shattering! Each collision with that primordial will caused the jade lotus platform where Chen Xueqing sat to tremble violently. The light on the lotus petals flickered like a candle in the wind. Her beautiful face instantly lost all color, and the blood that flowed from the corner of her mouth spread into a glaring red plum blossom on her pure white clothes. Her breath plummeted to the bottom like a kite with a broken string.

"Xue Qing—!" Wang Cheng's roar was like the desperate cry of a wounded lone wolf, piercing through the deafening roar of the laws.

Witnessing Chen Xueqing nearly die while protecting Yu Changsheng, a furious rage that could burn across the eight wastelands and a heart-wrenching pain completely ignited the domineering blood essence within his chaotic bone arm.

The broken bone arm was instantly "reforged" by the solidified, burning crimson blood, transforming into a massive, hundred-foot-long blade wreathed in the aura of destruction! He abandoned all defense, transforming himself into a crimson-gold meteor that tore through space, and with a resolute determination to perish together, he slashed down at the half of the Chaos Origin Core fragment that was wrestling with the Sword of Annihilation in the core of the pseudo-god and demon's chest!

"Crush it for me!"

Wherever the giant blade passed, the space was scorched with black marks, and the filthy tentacles vaporized. This supreme strike, which embodied the "Bloodstained War God's" lifelong cultivation and boundless rage, was about to strike the fragments of the source core!

At this critical moment, a sudden change occurred!

The false god's enormous bone wings, wrapped with filthy tentacles, suddenly closed in the middle, not to attack, but to protect the core like a giant clam closing its shell!
Countless bloody tentacles that were originally wriggling on the bone wings suddenly swelled up, becoming as tough as divine metal. With a piercing shriek, they arrived first after being attacked, like countless sinister blood-red pythons, instantly piercing through the spatial barrier in Wang Cheng's path!
puff!puff!puff!

The dull sounds of flesh tearing echoed throughout.

Several of the thickest, bloodstained tentacles with barbs at the tips pierced through Wang Cheng's crimson-gold armor, which was formed from the Overlord Blood Domain, without any resistance, and sank deep into his chest and abdomen!
A violent force of withering and corrosive energy surged wildly along the tentacles, causing Wang Cheng's burly body to stiffen abruptly, his ferocious charge abruptly halted. Crimson-gold blood, like molten lava, gushed from the massive wound, mixing with the filthy dark purple blood and emitting a sizzling, corrosive sound.

The giant blade in his hand, which was only a hair's breadth away from the fragment of the source core, disintegrated helplessly into countless crimson-gold specks of light.

"Ugh—!" Wang Cheng's eyes widened as the intense pain and rapid loss of power caused him to let out a low roar, but his eyes, burning with an indomitable flame, remained fixed on the source core fragments and the core enveloped by tentacles.

He tried to use the remaining power of his domineering blood to break the tentacles, but this caused the withered power at the wound to backfire even more severely, and blood gushed out.

"Wang Cheng!" Mo Heng's stern shout rang out from behind, filled with unprecedented shock and anger.

The projection of the Myriad Transformations Returning to the Void Furnace spun wildly above his head, spewing out dozens of thick Returning to the Void chains from the furnace mouth. These chains shot out like serpents toward the bloody tentacles that were entangled around Wang Cheng, attempting to sever and drag him away.

At the same time, he rapidly formed hand seals, and the phantom of the Guixu Star Orbit Compass rapidly expanded above Lietian City. Countless fine gray rays containing the power to cut through space and time shot out from the compass's scale, precisely cutting the joints of the huge bone wings that the pseudo-gods and demons were closing, attempting to slow down their closing speed and reduce the blockade on the core area.

"Sky Patrol Army! Cover the Bone Wing Joints with the Arrow Rain of Returning Ruins! Buy time for Lord Mo Heng!" The Sky Patrol Army's deputy commander's voice was filled with a determination to fight to the death.

The few dozen remaining, battered Sky Patrol airships ignored the destructive beams swept by the crimson demonic eyes of the pseudo-gods and demons, and concentrated all the energy of the Void Crossbows on their hulls into one point, launching a saturation bombardment at the most vulnerable connection of the bone wings!
The dark gray energy beams of the Ruins crashed down like a dense meteor shower. The shockwave from the explosion caused the massive skeleton of the pseudo-god and demon to shake violently, and the closing of its bone wings was indeed halted! Several huge bone spikes were blasted off, and foul blood cascaded down like a waterfall.

This momentary delay gave the Sword of Annihilation the most crucial opportunity!
In the brief moment of respite between Chen Xueqing's selfless protection and Wang Cheng's desperate attack, Yu Changsheng forcibly squeezed out his nearly depleted Chaos Emperor Essence.

His eyes blazed with a purple-gold imperial light. Ignoring the excruciating pain emanating from the cracks in his Dao Foundation, he gripped the hilt of the Annihilation Sword tightly with both hands, letting out a hoarse yet earth-shattering roar: "Devoure! It!

Om-!
The blade of the Annihilation Sword suddenly erupted with an unprecedentedly dazzling dark red light! The ancient divine runes covering the sword seemed to come alive, writhing and expanding wildly, transforming into countless greedy, tiny vortexes! A terrifying devouring power originating from the ultimate land of the Ruins of Return burst forth, no longer content with absorbing, but beginning a complete plunder!
The chaotic radiance flowing within the half fragment of the Chaos Origin Core that had been pierced by the sword tip dimmed and dried up at a speed visible to the naked eye!
For the first time, the indifferent will originating from the true chaotic source core at the core of the pseudo-god and demon emitted a clear and perceptible fluctuation of shock and anger.

It tried to reclaim the power of the fragment and break the connection, but the devouring power of the Annihilation Sword was like a leech, firmly locking onto the origin of the fragment, and even tearing at the power of the Chaos Source Core in the distant unknown along that mysterious connection!

"Roar--!!!"

The enormous body of the false god-demon let out a final, desperate, and resentful wail. The filthy, blood-covered tentacles that clung to its body withered and disintegrated instantly, turning into a sky full of foul-smelling ashes.

The enormous skeletal body, having lost all its supporting strength, crumbled and disintegrated inch by inch amidst a teeth-grinding "crack" sound, as if weathered by billions of years of time! The scarlet demonic eye went out completely, transforming into two enormous, dull obsidian stones that fell from the sky and crashed onto the ravaged ruins of Rift Sky City with a deafening roar.

The core of power that had sustained Rift Sky City for a thousand years collapsed with a deafening roar!
Crash-!
Countless colossal skeletons of gods and demons crashed to the earth like collapsing mountains, stirring up clouds of dust that blotted out the sky. The remaining defensive barriers and war puppets within Rift Sky City, powered by pseudo-god and demonic energy, instantly lost their luster and collapsed like scrap metal.

The remaining cultivators of the Rift Heaven Alliance let out desperate cries, their morale completely collapsing. The dawn of victory seemed to be just around the corner.

However, Yu Changsheng's heart sank into an abyss the moment the false gods and demons collapsed.

The Sword of Annihilation devoured the half-piece of the Chaos Origin Core. The dark red light on the sword body was more intense than ever before. The sword body even hummed under the weight of the enormous power poured in, and fine cracks appeared faintly on the spine of the sword.

A will far more ferocious, greedy, and uncontrollable than before surged wildly into Yu Changsheng's sea of ​​consciousness along the sword hilt, like billions of red-hot steel needles piercing his primordial spirit! The cracks in his Dao foundation, which Chen Xueqing had just barely repaired, instantly shattered into even deeper fissures, like ice being struck by a boulder! A wisp of imperial blood, mixed with specks of purple-gold light, finally spilled uncontrollably from the corner of Yu Changsheng's mouth.

Instead of feeling any joy at successfully devouring the enemy, he was gripped by a terrifying force originating from his very life instincts, a force powerful enough to freeze his soul!
In the heart of the dust where the pseudo-god and demon skeleton had completely turned to dust, at the core of the energy turbulence where the power of the Annihilation Sword had not yet completely dissipated, a faint yet incredibly pure, incredibly ancient, and incredibly heavy light quietly shone.

咚…

thump...

Thump...

That was the sound of a heartbeat! So heavy it seemed to dominate the pulse of the entire world, so slow it made time stand still.

It disregarded spatial distance and the barriers of laws, striking directly into the depths of the souls of all living beings!

Unlike the chaotic source core will emitted by the previous pseudo-god and demon core, this heartbeat was more primitive and more primal, like the first life rhythm conceived in the chaotic womb at the beginning of creation!
Deep within the ruins of Rift Sky City, the earth began to silently rise and crack. It wasn't a collapse caused by destruction, but rather as if some colossal creature was awakening from its slumber, struggling to break through the soil!

An aura of pressure, even more ancient, vast, and filled with the desolation of the God-Demon Finger Bone of the Ancient Burial Ruins, surged forth from the depths of the earth like an invisible tsunami, instantly sweeping across the entire battlefield!

The cheers and sounds of slaughter that had just risen from the collapse of the false gods and demons vanished instantly, as if choked. The hands of the Demon Slayers trembled as they gripped their weapons, the engines of the Sky Patrols' airships hummed uneasily, and even the projection of the Myriad Transformations Returning to the Void Furnace rotating above Mo Heng's head suddenly froze, the furnace fire flickering erratically.

Severely injured and on the verge of death, Chen Xueqing frowned painfully in her unconscious state. Wang Cheng, who was impaled in mid-air by the foul-smelling tentacles, also struggled to turn his eyes and look at the source of the terrifying fluctuations, his pupils filled with disbelief and horror.

"Cough cough..." Yu Changsheng coughed up another mouthful of imperial blood. The blood droplets fell onto the scorching hot blade of the Annihilation Sword and were instantly evaporated into a purple-gold mist.

He stared intently at the rising ground in the center of the ruins of Rift Sky City, feeling an unprecedented, clear... tremor emanating from the Annihilation Sword in his palm! It was not fear, but a ferocious resonance from an existence of the same level, an instinctive warning of encountering a deadly threat after greed has reached its extreme!
His voice was dry and hoarse, each word seemingly uttered with all his might, yet it echoed clearly across the deathly silent battlefield, striking the hearts of every Divine Dynasty soldier:

"So... there were two keys."

The battlefield was shrouded in a deathly silence, save for the muffled "thump...thump..." sound from the center of the ruins of Rift Sky City, like the heartbeat of an ancient behemoth, striking the very depths of the souls of all the survivors like an invisible hammer. The dust and smoke from the collapse of the pseudo-gods and demons had not yet settled, and a new terror was already breaking through the soil.

The muscles beneath the armor of the Demon Slayer soldiers were slightly spasming from excessive tension, and the blood-stained weapons in their hands were so heavy that they were almost impossible to hold. The last remaining airships of the Sky Patrol Army hovered in mid-air, the Void Ballistae dim and lifeless, the low hum of their engines like the mournful cry of death.

Mo Heng's face was ashen. The projection of the Myriad Transformations Returning to the Void Furnace spun rapidly above his head, the Void Chains spewing from the furnace's mouth contracting like a swarm of startled snakes, weaving into a flickering defensive barrier before him. His gaze was fixed on the constantly rising and cracking ground deep within the ruins, his hands rapidly drawing and calculating on the void compass, fine beads of cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Emperor! The earth veins... the earth vein energy is being frantically drained! The target... is unfathomable! The backlash caused by the Annihilation Sword's devouring was just the trigger... it has truly awakened something slumbering beneath the foundation of Rift Sky City!"

"Wang Cheng!" Yu Changsheng roared, his voice piercing through the heavy heartbeat. Without even looking, he pointed his left hand, fingers forming a sword, at Wang Cheng, who was impaled and pinned in mid-air by the filthy blood tentacles! A drop of condensed, golden imperial blood, shimmering with the chaotic tribulation domain and the true meaning of annihilation, like a burning star, instantly traversed space and precisely pierced the center of the hideous wound on Wang Cheng's chest!
laugh--!
Like boiling oil poured into ice water, the filthy, withered power clinging to Wang Cheng's wounds emitted a piercing scream, quickly neutralized and devoured by the supreme imperial might and the power of annihilation contained within that drop of imperial blood. The filthy blood tendrils piercing Wang Cheng shattered inch by inch, turning to ashes. An overwhelming vitality, mixed with a domineering aura of returning to nothingness, erupted from the wounds, forcibly mending the shattered bones and flesh. Wang Cheng's burly body shuddered violently, letting out a suppressed roar of pain, but the rapidly dying flame of life was forcibly stabilized by this incomparably precious drop of imperial blood, even beginning to faintly revive. He fell from mid-air, his knee slamming heavily into the ground, creating a shallow crater, panting heavily. At the broken chaotic bone arm, new bone, with a dark metallic luster, began to slowly grow. He raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the center of the ruins, the pain still lingering in his eyes, but the indomitable flame of the God of War had been rekindled.

Yu Changsheng paid a heavy price. Forcing out this drop of his natal Emperor Blood caused the cracks in his Dao Foundation to widen several times over instantly, like a delicate porcelain piece covered in spiderwebs, seemingly on the verge of complete collapse. His figure swayed almost imperceptibly, and even more purple-gold Emperor Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. But his hand gripping the sword remained as steady as a rock.

"Evil spirit! Flame Dragon!" Yu Changsheng's command was concise and cold.

"Roar!" The evil beast let out a deep roar, and its huge body instantly transformed into a rolling sea of ​​eternal night. The deep darkness spread like a living thing, enveloping the sky above the Demon Slayer Army and the remnants of the Sky Patrol Army.

This barrier, constructed from the power of the Void, desperately tried to isolate the soul-shaking impact and dissipating annihilating pressure brought by the increasingly powerful heartbeat. The Flame Dragon, however...
With a high-pitched dragon roar, its body ablaze with chaotic true fire, it charged fiercely towards the direction where Chen Xueqing had fallen. The enormous dragon claws carefully protected the dimly lit, shattered jade lotus platform, along with the dying figure on it, in the center.

The pure chaotic dragon flames formed a warm protective shield, temporarily isolating Chen Xueqing from the chaos and erosion of the outside world, preserving her last glimmer of hope.

Having done all this, the Flame Dragon circled warily at the edge of the Eternal Night Sea, its eyes fixed intently on the center of the ruins, its dragon flames flickering in and out of its mouth, ready to erupt at any moment. (End of Chapter)