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Chapter 24: The Demon Emperor Gravely Wounded — The Might of Void Refinement

Chen Moqing stood upon the black-gold interwoven formation, his eyes transformed into a flawless silver-white—still as a windless lake, clear as a dustless mirror—gazing down upon the mortal world.

In the years of the Demon Abyss War, dear friends and fellow disciples had fallen. He had regretted that he could not chase them to the ends of the underworld and heaven above, to wrest their living souls back to the mortal realm.

Today, he wished to gather the bones and ferry the souls of all the demon beasts that had been imprisoned here.

The resplendent formation blotted out the sky, its light illuminating the desolate ruins, vying with the sun and moon in brilliance.

The demon beast souls that had wandered the Desolate Ruins Secret Realm for a thousand years without release raised their heads in a daze. Though without consciousness, they moved as one toward the eye of the formation, like moths instinctively drawn to the warmth of a glowing ember.

Cang Shun lay quietly on Chen Moqing's shoulder, those crimson demon eyes also reflecting that blazing radiance—like gazing upon a brilliant and deepening evening glow.

If his birth had been to erase the one who would one day replace the Heavenly Dao...

If he were to raise his hand against this person...

The next second, Cang Shun's pupils contracted sharply. He saw the human before him sway on his feet, a trickle of crimson blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, staining his pallid lips.

Chen Moqing closed his eyes, his brow furrowed tight, fine beads of cold sweat gathered at his temples, and the formation beneath his feet, once steady, began to tremble faintly.

Constrained by Golden Core, his cultivation was insufficient. The formation had already taken in over a hundred demon beast souls, yet within the secret realm, more souls were still moving toward this place—

A soft, fluffy warmth gently pressed against his cheek, nuzzling him twice. A surge of powerful spiritual energy followed, flowing into his spiritual sea without the slightest resistance.

【Do not hold back. Let yourself go fully】 He heard Cang Shun's slightly lowered voice:【And there is no need to give thanks either. These are my kin, it is I who should be thanking you.】

Chen Moqing lowered his eyes and looked at the small fluffy ball nestled at his shoulder: "Keep a thread of strength in reserve. I am afraid the Demon Emperor's Majesty might shrink."

Cang Shun: 【...I will not!】

The small fluffy ball gave its fur a quick shake, and the spiritual energy came flowing even faster.

The lost strength was swiftly replenished, and continued to be given without end. Chen Moqing closed his eyes and gathered his focus. After a moment, he gently pressed his hand against Cang Shun.

"That is enough."

He sank his divine consciousness into his spiritual sea and seized the Withered Wood Spring Revival Decree.

At this moment, he would borrow the immortal's decree once more!

The resplendent formation blazed with brilliant light, sweeping across ten thousand zhang in an instant, piercing from the earth straight through the sky, blanketing the entire wasteland! In this moment, every demon soul within the Desolate Ruins Secret Realm was drawn beneath the formation!

Within the ultimate brilliance of blazing gold and deep black, a pair of pure silver eyes, free of all dust, slowly opened.

Staking all of his cultivation and spiritual energy, he severed the shackles of a hundred years from the departed souls and ferried all the wandering spirits onward to rebirth!

Dark robes billowed like the sweeping wings of a crane. The young cultivator stood within the vast and mighty formation, as though the sacred and immovable Heavenly Dao itself had descended.

This scene was etched into Cang Shun's eyes. For a long, long time, he did not look away.

"What year... is it now..."

A faint voice drifted over, caught in an instant by the one human and one demon present.

Before their eyes, the Sacred Sparrow slowly rose from the ground. The eyes that had been swallowed by dark green gradually regained some of their whites, and her pupils turned sluggishly, shifting little by little to one side.

"My... thanks..."

Her gaze came to rest on Chen Moqing and Cang Shun. She paused, then forced out her words with difficulty.

"This place... was the doing of the Tianming Prefecture... with members of the demon clan involved as well... Back then, I concealed my identity and came here to investigate in secret, but I did not expect that the formation arrays here had been crafted specifically to target the demon clan, and were most effective against them..."

Cang Shun said nothing. The fur all over his body turned razor-sharp in an instant.

Only those of the demon clan would know their own kin's weaknesses so thoroughly.

"...I could not overcome the formation spirit here, and lost my life instead. My soul was also imprisoned... I no longer know how many years have passed..."

Chen Moqing raised his hand and gently stroked the snow-white demon beast's fur.

A formation spirit—it was the Void Refinement soul that had occupied the Sacred Sparrow's body just moments ago. Void Refinement cultivation was a high-level fighting force even in the upper prefectures, and in the demon realm it would be a demon king capable of dominating an entire territory.

Cang Shun lightly caught his hand: 【Ask her whether she knows anything else.】

Chen Moqing said gently: "Can you tell us more about what happened over these five hundred years?"

The Sacred Sparrow murmured: "Five hundred years..."

"This place... was meant to refine the spiritual energy of countless demon beasts, to be supplied to the upper prefectures..."

"The upper prefectures... need..."

The Sacred Sparrow's divine soul trembled, and she could speak no more.

【The upper prefectures... hah. Those deathless old things.】

Cang Shun laughed coldly.

"I understand now. Rest easy," Chen Moqing said, meeting the Sacred Sparrow's eyes: "Those who have forged the karmic debt of today will surely receive their recompense in days to come."

The Sacred Sparrow's form swayed, growing increasingly unstable, yet she still held her spiritual body together by force—as though unwilling to disperse.

Chen Moqing: "Is there any wish you have yet to fulfill?"

The Sacred Sparrow said nothing. The next second, she slowly tilted her face upward.

Like someone who had fallen to the bottom of a deep ravine, feeling in that moment when sunlight finally reached the valley floor the warmth of something once familiar—sensed by instinct alone.

Above the ravine, fierce and howling winds whipped at dark green robes. Yun Buwan's expression was cold as ice, and the gold-green sparrow feather hairpin holding up her dark hair reflected the same cold gleam as her eyes.

In this moment, the deathly pallor drained from the Sacred Sparrow's face like frost melting into snow, and a faint smile surfaced.

She gazed up at the figure high above, her voice as light as a wild goose drifting down: "Senior... Sister..."

With that single glance, the Sacred Sparrow's remaining soul finally released its long-held obsession. Together with the countless demon beast souls subsumed by the formation, her form gradually faded and vanished from the mortal world in an instant.

The fingers hidden beneath Yun Buwan's sleeve trembled ever so slightly—a barely perceptible motion of raising them, so slight that even she herself did not notice.

Perhaps it was because the killing intent in this place was too heavy, and even the wind was cold as a blade of frost.

Five hundred years ago, a newly initiated junior sister had followed at her heels every day, calling her senior sister.

She had taught her the array path, taught her the formation she had created herself—and in the blink of an eye, in the Desolate Ruins Secret Realm, that junior sister had transformed into a spy for the demon clan, using the very formation arts she had passed on to gravely wound her original essence, slaying dozens of her fellow disciples one after another, before vanishing deep into the secret realm, never to be found no matter how they searched.

That day had become a heart demon she could never sever.

The piercing, blade-like cold wind carried the young disciple's slow, unhurried voice: "She said that five hundred years ago, the moment she entered this place, her demon clan bloodline caused her to be devoured by the formation spirit. Everything she did was beyond her own control. For the blood debt too deep to repay, she had only her own death with which to beg her senior sister's forgiveness."

The heart demon of many years cracked, just the faintest hairline fracture.

Yun Buwan's ice-cold fingers slowly rose and found the gold-green hairpin at the end of her hair, tracing from the head of the pin all the way to the sparrow feather at its tip. The cold jade was heavy and smooth against her touch, just like the pressure of that junior sister's hand against her palm, all those many years ago.

"Senior Sister, I give this to you."

...So it had been, five hundred years ago already.

Yun Buwan closed her eyes heavily. No one could see what moved through her in this moment. When she opened them again, she was once more the cold and impassive elder of Wanhua Sect.

"What is your purpose in coming to my Wanhua Sect?"

The wind swept up the hem of long robes. Chen Moqing's bearing was straight as a pine, his voice calm and composed: "To seek the array path."

"You may go."

Without any further questions, Yun Buwan's voice fell from high above.

"Do not investigate this place any further. Go."

"Where is the villain!"

A hoarse, furious roar sent shockwaves through the air. A transmission formation covered the sky, and dozens of figures radiating formidable presence dropped down from within it, like dark clouds blotting out the sun.

Ten Nascent Soul cultivators, two at Deity Transformation!

Of the three Deity Transformation cultivators in the Qingluan Prefecture, two had now gathered in this very place!

【Hah. What a paltry show of force.】

Cang Shun lightly pressed down on Chen Moqing's shoulder, staring up at the sky with the gaze of one looking down upon insects crawling on the ground.

【No wonder the killing and malevolent energy here is so dense. Sure enough, they are all rats from the same nest.】

Not a ripple crossed Chen Moqing's face. He stood upon the black-gold interwoven formation, letting the fierce winds howl from all four directions, utterly unmoved.

Through the biting wind, all present heard only his light, untroubled voice: "The demon beast souls are right before your eyes. Do you still intend to call a deer a horse?"

"A demonic cultivator indeed, unmatched in the art of twisting black into white! What is suppressed here are clearly demon creatures!"

"Exactly! We of the Qingluan Prefecture have been suppressing demon creatures for a thousand years! How dare you desecrate such a legacy of merit!"

Chen Moqing smiled and nodded: "Such great labor and merit. Then why was this prefecture's name never heard during the Demon Abyss War?"

When the Demon Abyss had appeared in those years, bringing ruin upon the people of the world, some small prefectures had thrown themselves into battle without hesitation, while others had shut their doors and refused to come out.

"We had to guard this place, how could we spare any strength for anything else!"

"Stop listening to this demonic cultivator's raving nonsense. Cut him down at once!"

"Everyone!" Yun Buwan called out in a clear, carrying voice: "As he is my disciple, I will handle the purging of my own house myself!"

The powerful cultivators of the Qingluan Prefecture sat high above among the clouds, watching with cold, silent approval.

Yun Buwan descended to the bottom of the ravine. Her dark green robes billowed and snapped in the wind as she looked down upon her young disciple from above.

Cang Shun's eyes were cold and indifferent. A thread of lightning crackled—and was gently pressed down by a slender hand placed on his head.

Chen Moqing calmly raised his eyes and met Yun Buwan's gaze, hearing her speak in a cool, flat tone: "Hand over the Heart-Guard Scale, and I will leave your body intact."

Before her words had even finished, Chen Moqing's divine consciousness moved in an instant, and without the slightest hesitation he crushed the shimmering, radiant scale—the very Heart-Guard Scale itself!

In that instant, the spiritual energy he had exhausted from ferrying over ten thousand demon beast souls to the afterlife was fully restored!

The black-gold interwoven formation stirred once more, shaking the heavens and the earth. The final guiding of the last souls to their rest—was complete!

Within the Desolate Ruins Secret Realm, tens of thousands of demon beast souls drifted away on the wind, departing for the yellow springs of the underworld, no longer remaining in the mortal world.

What was left behind for the powerful cultivators of the Qingluan Prefecture was nothing but an empty, barren wasteland.

"What have you done?!"

"Yun Buwan! Kill him already!"

Yun Buwan raised a formation with a flip of her hand. Chen Moqing and Cang Shun's figures vanished into the formation in an instant—transported a hundred li away!

"Remember."

The rushing wind carried her faint voice, drifting to Chen Moqing's ears.

"This formation is the second one I created myself. It is called—There Is No Shame In Running When You Cannot Win."

Chen Moqing was silent.

A fine name.

The spatial escape talisman hidden in his sleeve faded away—in the end, he never had the chance to use it.

Above the ravine, a cold wind blew quietly past the purple-and-green faces of the Qingluan Prefecture's gathered powerful cultivators.

Two formations had risen in an instant—one to send the disciple away, and one with which the master had also made her own escape.

That wretched pair of master and disciple had slipped away right under their noses.

"Enough. The secret realm is already sealed. They are nothing but beasts trapped in a cage, unable to escape this place. The most pressing matter is to repair the formation and see whether any remedy is possible."

A Deity Transformation cultivator said this in a heavy voice, slowly drifting downward—

In the space between a lightning flash and a spark, a Nascent Soul cultivator behind him suddenly struck out: "You old wretch! Die!"

A full-force blow. The completely unguarded Deity Transformation cultivator died on the spot—body and soul both annihilated!

The remaining cultivators had not even had time to react. They could only watch helplessly as the scalp of the striking Nascent Soul cultivator was abruptly torn open, a pair of pure white crane wings spreading freely from the flesh and blood, shredding the bloodied husk into ten thousand pieces—a savagely grinning man crawled out from within that Nascent Soul's body right before their wide, stunned eyes.

Wings of a crane upon his back—this was a crane demon. In full view of the dumbfounded crowd, the crane demon, drenched in blood and hair wild and loose, burst into roaring laughter.

"My dao companion Ling Xiao was a disciple of the sect master of Liandao Sect! To save her family, she traded a thousand-year Sacred Sparrow feather for a fifth-grade talisman formula, hoping to persuade a reclusive divine physician to lend their aid—yet who could have known that everyone in Liandao Sect was no better than beasts, killing her and stealing the treasure! Leaving not even her bones behind!"

"You old wretch. You brought about Ling Xiao's death, so pay for it with your life!"

The crane demon laughed and wept in turns, his face caught between grief and joy, his voice resounding throughout the Desolate Ruins Secret Realm.

"Ling Xiao, I have avenged you... wait for me, don't go on alone..."

Before the words had even finished, the crane demon's form suddenly swelled—and he self-destructed on the spot, leaving no remains behind!

From the death of the Liandao Sect's Deity Transformation cultivator to the crane demon's self-destruction, everything had unfolded within the span of a mere few breaths. Such an abrupt and bizarre turn of events left the remaining Nascent Soul cultivators unable to believe their own eyes, wondering if they had fallen into some illusion. Only the other Deity Transformation cultivator's expression darkened to the extreme in an instant: "...Soul Sacrifice!"

Soul Sacrifice—a technique of wicked cultivators, in which one offered up both body and soul to another, paying the price of having one's soul bound to that person after death and never entering reincarnation, in exchange for borrowing that person's power!

Such a vile technique not only carried a devastating price, but the conditions for forming it were also exceedingly strict. Even among demonic cultivators, only a handful had ever mastered it.

That crane demon had been no more than peak Golden Core, yet just now he had erupted with enough power to kill a Deity Transformation cultivator, only to perish and have his path extinguished within moments—which meant he had sacrificed himself to at least one peak Deity Transformation demonic cultivator!

"Who is it! Who dares act with such impudence in the Qingluan Prefecture!"

"It is this lord!"

A resounding laugh rang out across the sky. A deep, long fissure split open in the void, and a pitch-black coffin dropped straight down, the dark aura coiling around it spreading outward like consuming flames.

The other Nascent Soul cultivators changed color on the spot. Sensing the overwhelming death intent emanating from that coffin, they turned to flee—the next moment, every single one of them was frozen in place, eyes wide with terror.

Atop the coffin, dark green hair flew through the air. A handsome man's robes billowed as he looked down upon the sole remaining Deity Transformation cultivator with the gaze of one regarding insects beneath his feet, his smile carrying an air of leisurely amusement.

"What a devoted crane demon. Since he came to offer himself to me of his own will, how could I refuse?"

Not one of the cultivators present dared move, nor could any of them break free from that terrifying pressure. One Nascent Soul cultivator's face had gone the color of ash, and he said in a trembling voice: "A black coffin for a seat, and ill fortune clings to the body, could it be... could it be that you are Wu—"

The dark green-haired man let out a soft laugh.

The peak Nascent Soul cultivator burst into a cloud of crimson blood mist and fell dead on the spot!

...

The fierce wind swept up his robes. Chen Moqing raised his wide sleeve to shelter the small white beast in his arms and flew swiftly into the distance.

He had already fed most of the spirit stones on his person to Cang Shun, yet it was like casting stones into the sea—this Demon Emperor had expended far too much spiritual energy and could not shake off his weakened state anytime soon.

A small fluffy ball lay limp and soft in his hand, though not particularly worried: 【Give me ten days, and all of my spiritual energy will be fully restored.】

【When that time comes, not a single person here will be able to escape, and you are not allowed to stop me.】

Chen Moqing flicked that soft little beast ear: "Why would I stop you?"

Cang Shun said nothing, and did not cover his ears either.

Chen Moqing flicked the other fluffy beast ear.

Cang Shun: "……"

He– why did he always like to touch him.

The small white beast slowly rolled over, burying its little head into the young human's chest, and slowly tucked its ears away.

Then it felt that hand with its faint, gentle scent begin to stroke the fur along its back once more.

The small fluffy ball lay completely still, quietly allowing itself to be petted for a while. Its fur grew soft and warm, and a purring sound began to rumble forth.

Chen Moqing lowered his eyes.

His spiritual energy nearly depleted, the Demon Emperor had even shrunk somewhat in size, becoming a tiny little glutinous rice ball of a creature.

Not even a full palm's width across, and rounder than ever before.

Chen Moqing stroked him a few more times.

The small fluffy ball's purring grew louder.

Chen Moqing thought to himself. He had actually been weakened to this extent.

He fed Cang Shun another pouch of spirit stones, and worried that this little fluffy ball might not be able to hold on and would fall into an exhausted sleep. He smiled: "To obliterate a Void Refinement cultivator in a single strike, the Demon Emperor's Majesty is truly extraordinary. If the me of former days had stood before you, I too would have been cut down."

Cang Shun immediately raised his head: 【Why would I raise my hand against you?】

Then added: 【You are different. Even if that formation spirit's true body had come, two minor cultivation stages above you, it still would not have been your match.】

Even at the same cultivation level, this person was the strongest of his kind among humans within the same stage. If they had been enemies five thousand years ago, he would certainly have been a troublesome opponent.

The small white beast's chin was gently scratched by that fine-looking hand, and he narrowed his round demon eyes contentedly, instinctively nuzzling against the fingertips.

However, if he had truly encountered this person five thousand years ago, they might not necessarily have been enemies at all.

Cang Shun said nothing, quietly raised his paw, and stealthily caught hold of those slender fingers, pressing them down beneath the soft fur.

Chen Moqing let the Demon Emperor have his small way, and raised his eyes—a frenzied, furious male voice rang out through the skies above the secret realm, cursing Liandao Sect and laying bare the truth of a dao companion's death.

Cang Shun listened quietly until the end, was silent for a moment, then said: 【Devoted, at least.】

A demon beast who had fallen in love with a human, yet met with no good end.

He stole a glance at the human beside him, as though still wanting to say something—then the next second, those crimson demon eyes turned sharply cold and fierce, and he seized Chen Moqing's sleeve: 【Go!】

Almost the moment he spoke, Chen Moqing had already activated the spatial escape talisman, and their forms vanished from the spot in an instant, shifting another hundred li away.

——This had been the trump card he had prepared for himself. Even with his spiritual energy fully exhausted, he could escape on the spot even if surrounded and attacked by the Deity Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators of the Qingluan Prefecture. Afterward, with a concealment talisman to mask their presence, even though the secret realm had been sealed, he only needed to wait for a time—his spiritual energy would naturally recover, and then he could face those Qingluan Prefecture cultivators in battle.

Yet the very moment he landed, the sky was torn in two, revealing a deep and gaping rift in the void. A pitch-black coffin several meters long came crashing down through the air, and a dark green-haired man stood atop it, his black robes surging like demonic flames reaching to the heavens.

"Heh heh... this lord has caught the scent of fate—yet another child of fortune..."

"This lord already possesses the fate-souls of ninety-nine children of fortune. You are the last one—"

"Jiang Yu!"

His unbridled laughter spread throughout the entire Desolate Ruins Secret Realm.

Chen Moqing did not hesitate for an instant, hurling out several talismans and vanishing from the spot once more.

The moment he reappeared and landed, the pitch-black coffin was already looming high in the sky above. Several more talismans flew out, and Chen Moqing and Cang Shun's forms seemed to be erased inch by inch, fading into nothing.

"Heh."

A cold laugh exploded at his ear—seemingly far away at the edge of the sky, yet as though right before his eyes.

Chen Moqing took out another stack of talismans, his heart still as standing water, the depths of his dark eyes utterly clear.

Almost from the very first glance, he had determined the other party's identity from their appearance and aura.

——Wu Hao, one of the most notorious demonic cultivators across all Nine Thousand Prefectures. A thousand years ago, he had ascended to Void Refinement through the Path of Fortune!

The Path of Fortune was an exceedingly particular one among all paths of cultivation. It was said to be capable of usurping the cause and effect of the Heavenly Dao and altering fated fortune—and because it touched upon the authority of the Heavenly Dao, it had long been regarded as forbidden. All who cultivated it died under unnatural circumstances.

Across all Nine Thousand Prefectures, there was only one powerful cultivator who had ever risen to a position of supremacy through the Path of Fortune, and that was Wu Hao.

He had appeared a thousand years ago, slaughtering tens of thousands of lives and unleashing wave after wave of bloodshed and carnage. It was not until seven hundred years ago, when the major cultivation sects joined forces to hunt him down and exterminate him, that Wu Hao suddenly vanished. Since then he had appeared only occasionally, and no one had ever been able to track his whereabouts.

Now, across the boundless expanse of the Desolate Ruins Secret Realm, a deadly chase was unfolding.

Drawing on the talismans he had refined earlier, Chen Moqing's form flickered in and out of sight, each step spanning at least a thousand zhang—yet with every step he landed, that pitch-black coffin followed like a shadow, impossible to shake off.

The small white beast in his arms suddenly stirred and struggled to leap out. Chen Moqing swiftly pressed a hand down on that fluffy little head, then with a sharp smack affixed a talisman between those two beast ears.

The suddenly immobilized Cang Shun: "……"

Were it not for his spiritual energy being nearly drained to nothing, even a talisman like this would never have been able to restrain the Demon Emperor of former days. He fixed his gaze intently on the young human at his side and said in a low voice: 【Let me go. I will hold him off.】

Chen Moqing said not a word, and gathered the small fluffy ball into his wide sleeve, shielding it against his chest.

Cang Shun's vision darkened as he was pressed between that person's collarbones, his fur against warm skin, breathing in the pleasant scent that clung to him.

"……"

The small white beast began to struggle in very small, restrained movements, shaking its beast ears, seemingly intent on shaking that talisman loose.

Chen Moqing pressed down on that little head and rapidly swept through his spiritual sea.

The Withered Wood Spring Revival Decree hovered high within his spiritual sea. Even Wu Hao could not see through his true identity with his path of fortune, and could only perceive him as "Jiang Yu".

Yet even if he still had trump cards remaining to deal with those Deity Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators, with a Void Refinement cultivator appearing, everything else amounted to nothing.

The heavenly tribulation triggered when a Deity Transformation cultivator broke through to Void Refinement was capable of destroying everything within a thousand li. Once that heavenly tribulation was crossed, one came to possess truly heaven-defying power, even capable of grasping part of the laws of heaven and earth. The gap between Void Refinement and Deity Transformation was as vast as the divide between immortal and mortal—even several Deity Transformation cultivators at great perfection stacked together could not withstand a single strike from an early Void Refinement cultivator. And moreover, Wu Hao had already set foot into the mid stage.

The last talisman was spent, spiritual energy fully depleted, every avenue exhausted—it had come to this.

What a familiar scene—just like that time before, when an entire sect had pursued him across ten thousand li.

Chen Moqing's eyes were deep and still as water. He did not stop moving, holding the small white beast in his arms as he flew forward at full speed, waiting for his spiritual energy to slowly recover, waiting for an opening.

"No need to keep running."

At some point unnoticed, Wu Hao had settled himself leisurely atop the pitch-black coffin, one leg crossed over the other: "To have encountered this lord is simply your misfortune."

He curled his fingers and gave the coffin beneath him a light tap.

"Do you not know, when fortune departs, even heroes are no longer free?"

In an instant, the last talisman between Chen Moqing's fingers burst into flames without any wind. The spiritual energy throughout his body seized and froze—and like a bird with broken wings, he plummeted from high in the sky!

He raised his hand to draw a talisman—yet the talisman script that had once formed with a single stroke failed on the spot!

Fortune path techniques!

Wu Hao laughed lightly and raised his hand again.

Four bronze walls rose from the earth on all sides, burning with dark, ghostly black flames, towering a hundred zhang high—like a coffin, trapping Chen Moqing within!

He flipped his hand and pressed down again. A bronze slab burning with black flames descended from the sky, a hundred zhang wide and blotting out the heavens, like a coffin lid being sealed, crashing down toward that solitary Golden Core cultivator.

Mid Void Refinement stage, full-force strike!

Chen Moqing spun around sharply, forming a hand seal with one hand without the slightest hesitation, meeting the enemy head-on!

If he could not escape, then he would fight!

Ancient and simple blazing golden runes surfaced within his dark eyes, flowing across his entire body, cloaking him in the golden form of a deity—utterly devoid of sorrow or joy.

Countless runes tore through his body. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, staining his dark robes crimson. He looked up at the sky-covering bronze bearing down upon him, neither dodging nor retreating, and stepped forward!

Returning Void Seal!

——In that moment, a massive figure leaped into the sky, placing itself before Chen Moqing!

It moved too fast. Chen Moqing only had time to see a flash of white crash into the pitch-black blazing flames, and in an instant, crimson flooded across the white—

The Demon Emperor had used his own body as a shield, taking the full-force strike of a mid Void Refinement cultivator on his behalf!

Crimson erupted and tore across Chen Moqing's vision. A wave of hot liquid splashed across his face, and only a second later did it register—

That was blood.

In that instant, those eyes—forever calm and cold—were overtaken by the most bone-deep frost.

A single drop of blood condensed between Chen Moqing's brows, as vivid and red as cinnabar.

With heart's blood as the offering, sacrificing this body, burning the divine soul!

In the blink of an eye, Chen Moqing's dark hair came loose and scattered. From his tightly shut eyes, blood rolled down, staining his pallid cheek crimson—and every strand of his dark hair turned to frost-white.

His cultivation surged in this moment. His slender fingers came together and he pointed forward through the air with tremendous force!

——A jade-carved scroll materialized above him. The tightly sealed scroll slowly unfurled to either side, revealing the vast and mysterious depths beneath the yellow springs—a long bridge stretching toward the underworld.

Upon the Naihe Bridge, not a single living soul was to be seen!

The sixth-grade offensive magical treasure "Naihe" finally revealed its might!

The smile on Wu Hao's face eased slightly. He narrowed his eyes and raised his hand—

In an instant, heaven and earth trembled, and the sun and moon lost their light!

An ancient bronze gate tore open within the secret realm and rose from the earth. The intricate patterns carved into its heavy doors lit up inch by inch, facing the "Naihe" scroll floating in midair—as though a silent and ancient resonance had been forged between them!

——It was a array path secret realm!

The Naihe scroll turned, facing the ancient bronze gate. The light it radiated connected with the gate's doors to form a bridge. The next moment, the ancient bronze gate slowly opened, revealing a profound and unfathomable darkness beyond, churning with the mysterious presence of the array path.

Chen Moqing, his white hair soaked in blood, held the bloodied snow-white beast in his arms. Like a falling star plunging downward, he dropped into the opening of the ancient bronze gate and into that profound darkness—

And vanished from sight.

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