Chapter 133: Heaven and Earth Fall Silent, Forever Plunged into Darkness (4)

As the sacrificial offering, Xiao Ke’ai soared toward the sky under the gaze of that immense presence. During her ascent, her body gradually vanished, starting from her limbs, as an inexplicable force was extracted by the awareness of the Heavenly Dao, beginning to return once more to the realm between heaven and earth.

Judging by this, once Xiao Ke’ai had completely disappeared, the sacrificial rite would come to an end. At that moment, the demon clan would become the new rulers of this world. Humanity would be utterly reduced to mere sustenance for them.

Meanwhile, Wu Zui was still some distance from the mountain’s summit.

It seemed he would arrive too late to intervene.

Suddenly, two enormous hands—one golden, the other white—formed entirely of energy, lunged upward toward the colossal eye in the sky, one from the left and one from the right. Though Wu Xiang and Jing Qing fully understood that humanity’s decline was inevitable, they hoped that disrupting the ritual, even delaying it momentarily, would be beneficial.

The man in the black robe was intoning ancient Daoist chants in a low voice, wholly absorbed and unbothered by the assault.

Caught off guard, the great eyes were struck squarely by the two blows.

Two droplets of blood-tinged tears fell from those immense eyes, crimson tears that solidified upon touching the ground into two red crystals roughly the size of infants. The physical manifestation of the Heavenly Dao’s awareness had been wounded—something Wu Xiang and Jing Qing had achieved through their joint surprise attack.

Even Xiao Ke’ai, still suspended in midair, slowed her upward flight and the rate at which her form dissipated.

However, as the wounds on the eyes rapidly healed, two streaks of violet lightning tore through the sky. The twin bolts struck Wu Xiang and Jing Qing squarely in the chest, sending their newly materialized forms crashing back to the ground.

“Pft—”

“Pft—”

Both coughed up blood upon impact.

At this moment, the black-robed man quickened his chanting, and Xiao Ke’ai’s ascent and disappearance accelerated accordingly.

Meanwhile, Wu Zui’s figure twisted into view at the mountain’s peak.

Sensing something was amiss, Wu Zui immediately used a spatial singularity to ascend rapidly.

“Heartseeker Sword! Snatch her away for me!” Wu Zui roared in his mind.

“Yes!” came the response.

A crimson chain shot forth from Wu Zui’s chest, lashing toward Xiao Ke’ai’s fading form.

As the Heartseeker Chain bound her fragile remains and began pulling downward, the upward force and the chain’s tug locked in stalemate. No matter how fast the black-robed man increased his chanting, Xiao Ke’ai could not ascend even an inch.

The eyes of the Heavenly Dao’s manifested awareness turned toward Wu Zui in vain, sending out twin beams of violet light that instantly transformed into a sea of purple thunder around him. The lightning relentlessly struck the Heartseeker Chain, as if desperate to destroy it.

Yet, the Heartseeker Sword, inherently linked to the Seven Divine Thrones, was far beyond the destructive power of a mere Heavenly Dao awareness. Despite the purple lightning’s furious assault, the chain remained unscathed.

However, Xiao Ke’ai, bound by the chain, was directly shattered by the violet thunderbolts.

The special energy contained within her restorative body was instantly absorbed by the Heavenly Dao awareness. Dark clouds rapidly expanded, enveloping the entire world. The remaining five heads released dense black light before completely shattering.

Except for the area surrounding the Dragon God Ridge, the entire world plunged into utter darkness.

Amidst the clash between the violet lightning and the Heartseeker Chain, a faint blue light took advantage of the surrounding glow to swiftly flee from Xiao Ke’ai’s dissipating form.

Witnessing Xiao Ke’ai’s vanishing, Wu Zui’s eyes instantly reddened.

A boundless killing intent surged through his heart.

“Heartseeker Sword, shatter it to pieces for me!” Wu Zui shouted furiously.

“It is the Heavenly Dao awareness; you cannot defeat it...” a voice cautioned.

Wu Zui grasped the chain at his chest and commanded the sword spirit, “Transform into sword!”

“But—”

“I am your master! Soldier, transform into sword!!!”

“Yes!”

A red glow blossomed along the Heartseeker Chain, which quickly morphed into a blood-red longsword. Since this was not within He Ping’s shop, once the Heartseeker Sword manifested independently and was detected by the Heavenly Dao awareness, Wu Zui would suffer backlash from his karmic flame body.

Sure enough, the moment the sword formed, a burning sensation radiated through Wu Zui’s limbs and bones. The karmic flames beneath his skin stirred restlessly.

If the karmic fire ever fully erupted, Wu Zui would be reduced to ashes.

But Wu Zui, now driven mad with rage, paid no heed. Since Xiao Ke’ai was dead, those colossal eyes would pay a heavy price.

Though he could not fly, Wu Zui used spatial singularities as stepping stones to launch himself straight toward the heavens, disregarding the risk of his magnetic energy depleting and plummeting back down. His sole purpose was to cleave that pair of violet lightning-emitting eyes into fragments.

Hundreds, even thousands of violet thunderbolts spewed from the eyes, striking toward Wu Zui’s entire being. The Heavenly Dao awareness clearly recognized the Heartseeker Sword.

Suddenly, the sword’s hilt extended into a long chain, which danced autonomously, intercepting each violet thunderbolt flying toward Wu Zui. Though Wu Zui could not counter the lightning himself, the Heartseeker Sword could.

Taking advantage of the sword’s protection, Wu Zui rapidly closed in on the golden-eyed orb rimmed with blue. Seeing Wu Zui charging, willing to be torn apart if necessary, the massive eye flickered with a trace of panic.

It knew all too well what the Heartseeker Sword was. Though it would not be slain outright, the Heavenly Dao Eye, which held a third of its authority, would certainly be shattered into pieces if the sword drew close, especially with the origin shard still conducting the ceremony.

Its power would be severely diminished.

“This is a huge loss!” it thought.

Unnoticed by the Heavenly Dao Eye, the Heartseeker Chain had already quietly sealed the surrounding space completely. Since the sword’s master was determined to destroy these eyes, the sword spirit could do nothing but ensure absolute success.

Wu Zui was now very close to the Heavenly Dao Eye. As a price, his body began to carbonize extensively. Though he suppressed the karmic flames beneath his skin using the residual power of the Heartseeker Sword, this was only a temporary measure.

His face, charred like burnt charcoal, resembled a demon as he surged toward the Heavenly Dao Eye.

Then, he plunged the Heartseeker Sword forcefully downward, pouring all his magnetic energy into the strike.

One of the Heavenly Dao Eye’s orbs was pierced directly through by the blazing karmic fire within the sword, leaving a burning trail in the air. Blood tears poured from the eye, as if a crimson rain was drenching the summit of Dragon God Ridge.

“Ah!!!”

Wu Zui, now mad with fury, relentlessly stabbed the Heartseeker Sword into the Heavenly Dao Eye below. The sword’s power rent the eye into countless wounds, and the gushing blood soaked the entire mountain peak.

Meanwhile, the black-robed man’s chanting had entered its final phase. The Heavenly Dao awareness, unwilling to expend further energy here, began to withdraw its radiance, preparing to escape Wu Zui’s assault.

The Heartseeker Sword had already discerned this. The enclosing Heartseeker Chain suddenly revealed itself, tightening instantly and binding the fleeing Heavenly Dao Eye firmly in place, immobilizing it.

Now, facing Wu Zui and the Heartseeker Sword’s assault, the Heavenly Dao Eye was forced into passive defense.

All this unfolded within moments. Wu Xiang and Jing Qing, still recovering, quickly turned to the black-robed man, fully understanding the root of this calamity.

Without the black-robed man conducting the ancient sacrificial ceremony, the Heavenly Dao awareness would never have manifested physically. Their immediate task was to disrupt the black-robed man’s incomplete ritual.

Golden and white domain fields instantly enveloped the summit of Dragon God Ridge. Wu Xiang and Jing Qing prepared to seize the opportunity while Wu Zui held the Heavenly Dao Eye, intending to eliminate the chairman of the Pure World Society here and now, eradicating this grave human threat.

The dual domain fields illuminated the cloud-covered world brilliantly, altering the laws of nature within their confines. The black-robed man, unable to cease his chant, found his internal energies being drained by the two domain fields.

Under their combined assault, even the domain fields within his body began to fracture.

The dark clouds now blanketed the entire Blue Star, threatening to plunge even the vicinity of Dragon God Ridge into darkness.

This signified the ancient sacrificial rite was nearing completion. Should the black-robed man survive Wu Xiang and Jing Qing’s attack and finish the ritual, their powers would dissipate within minutes, driven away by the new forces of heaven and earth—humanity no longer the protagonists.

Any power threatening the new rulers would be erased.

Beneath the overwhelming darkness, all were filled with dread. The spiritual scouts of various nations had no time to concern themselves with the world’s upheaval. Lights blazed in every city as hordes of demons poured through the gates between realms, enough to give the scouts a dire headache.

Just as the black-robed man was about to be dissolved by the domain fields of Wu Xiang and Jing Qing, a streak of violet lightning shot from a gap in the Heartseeker Chain, instantly shattering their fields. This was the Heavenly Dao Eye’s final desperate effort, for the next moment it would be cleaved into fragments by Wu Zui.

Seizing this chance, the black-robed man completed the ancient sacrificial rite.

In the next instant, dark clouds engulfed the entire world; darkness swallowed everything.

The demons, jubilant, launched a second assault against humanity, taking advantage of the shadows to spill rivers of blood among the spiritual scouts.

The ancient sacrificial ceremony was complete, and heaven and earth changed masters.

Every spiritual scout felt their internal magnetic energy rapidly dissipate. At this rate, within minutes, they would no longer have the strength to resist the demons.

After shattering the Heavenly Dao Eye into fragments, the blood rain crystallized into shards that blanketed several peaks near the summit of Dragon God Ridge.

As for Wu Zui, he had become a human-shaped charred corpse, still smoldering with karmic flames, plummeting straight from the sky.

A flash of red light, and Wu Zui’s burnt figure vanished entirely.

(End of chapter)