As the blazing blue sword of Elder Tian Xu came to life, its blade surged with violent energy that churned like an inferno trapped in eternal chaos. The air itself became suffocating, every breath searing the lungs of those unfortunate enough to still stand on the battlefield. Cultivators beneath the Heaven Path Realm ignited instantly, their blood turning into literal fire, bodies consumed by their own blood, leaving nothing but blackened earth in their wake, not even a trace of their soul. Even Heaven Path cultivators trembled, sweat pouring down their faces as they instinctively backed away, their instincts screaming at them to flee.
Shen Yuan hovered in the distance, staring at the monstrous energy before him. His body trembled, not from fear but from the sheer heat radiating from the weapon, its intensity so overwhelming that his instincts fluttered as if caught in the winds of a raging storm. For the first time in this battle, he was uncertain. "This is not an attack I can take head-on."
Taking a deep breath, Shen Yuan coated his entire body in void fire, its eerie black flames flickering like the whispers of death. He then summoned the freezing power of his Yin Qi, creating an aura of absolute zero that encased his void fire in a layer of icy stillness. To further safeguard himself, he erected several layered energy walls in front of him—a defense that even he knew was little more than a desperate precaution.
Elder Tian Xu grinned savagely, his voice booming. "No amount of tricks will save you now, boy. This will be your end!"
With a sharp motion, Elder Tian Xu swung the sword, unleashing a slash of blazing blue-yellow energy that tore through the air with a deafening roar. The slash moved faster than thought, annihilating Shen Yuan's layered walls in an instant. They shattered like fragile glass, disintegrating into nothingness as the attack surged toward him.
The battlefield erupted in chaos. Those fighting for Elder Tian Xu cheered in victory, their faces alight with savage joy, while Shen Yuan's side was gripped by despair. Yet amidst the noise, Shen Yuan stood firm.
The blazing slash collided with his cloaked defense, causing a massive shockwave that rattled the heavens and earth. To Elder Tian Xu's surprise, Shen Yuan's void fire and Yin Qi defense held, barely. The void fire began to eat away at the energy slash, its erasure power working slowly but steadily. The freezing effect of the Yin Qi slowed the slash's advance, though not enough to stop it entirely.
But Shen Yuan was struggling. His hands burned as the fiery energy crept through his defenses, scorching his flesh even as he gritted his teeth to endure the agony. His palms felt as if they were being ripped apart, the pain almost unbearable. "I won't let it end like this", he thought.
In a flash of desperation, he opened a spatial rift behind him. Just as the attack overwhelmed his cloaked defense, Shen Yuan stepped into the rift, vanishing into the void. The fiery slash passed harmlessly through the space he had just occupied, continuing its path into the sky.
Shen Yuan reappeared a few meters away, his breathing ragged and his body trembling. Blood dripped from his half-burned hands, the fiery streaks from the slash still lingering on his flesh, refusing to extinguish. But he survived. That was enough.
He extended his divine sense to track the slash's trajectory, his eyes narrowing in shock. The attack had left not just the planet but the star system entirely, colliding with a cluster of distant stars in the void of space. The result was catastrophic, thousands of stars annihilated in an instant, their light snuffed out as if they had never existed. Shen Yuan's heart sank. The sheer destructive power of that single strike was beyond anything he had ever witnessed.
"You should be ashes by now!" Elder Tian Xu roared, his voice laced with frustration and disbelief.
Shen Yuan's lips curved into a mocking smirk despite the pain. "And yet, here I am. Maybe you're not as invincible as you think."
Fueled by defiance, Shen Yuan began channeling his remaining Qi. The air around him darkened, an oppressive shadow engulfing the battlefield as red lightning crackled ominously in the void. The shadows twisted and condensed into a colossal figure, its form taking the shape of a dragon. The dragon's eyes burned with an otherworldly crimson light, its scales etched with red lightning that surged like rivers of blood.
Elder Tian Xu's sneer faltered for a moment, his eyes narrowing at the terrifying sight. The dragon's presence alone sent tremors through the ground, its roar reverberating across the battlefield. It was not like he was afraid of any normal attacks from Shen Yuan as those can't harm his body's defenses, but this mysterious red lightning ignores those defences and attacks the inner organs!
Shen Yuan raised his arm, directing the dragon toward Elder Tian Xu. "Let's see how you handle this."
But just as the dragon lunged forward, a streak of light appeared beside Shen Yuan, vanishing almost as quickly as it had come. For a split second, he felt nothing. Then, pain erupted in his wrist. Blood sprayed into the air as his hand was severed cleanly from his arm.
His control over the dragon faltered, and it veered off course, ascending into the sky and vanishing into the void of space. Shen Yuan stumbled back, clutching his bleeding wrist as his mind raced. He turned to the direction of the attack but couldn't detect the source of the attack. The battlefield was a chaotic swirl of Qi, blood, and death—pinpointing the culprit was impossible. But one thing was clear: this wasn't an attack from his allies.
"What's wrong, boy?" Elder Tian Xu sneered, his confidence returning as he watched Shen Yuan struggle. "Your arrogance has finally caught up to you. And now, I'll end this farce!"
Before Shen Yuan could react, Elder Zhou Rui, locked in combat with Bai Chen, shouted across the battlefield. "Tian Xu, stop wasting time! Use the secret power of the Nirvana Realm! End this once and for all!"
Shen Yuan's eyes darted toward Elder Zhou Rui, his heart sinking further. Both Zhou Rui and Bai Chen seemed remarkably unscathed despite their prolonged battle, their Qi reserves still brimming.
"Something's not right….", he thought, looking at Bai Chen and Elder Zhou Rui.
Elder Tian Xu's expression darkened, and he began forming ancient hand seals. The air around him twisted unnaturally, and an overwhelming pressure descended upon the battlefield. The ground cracked, the sky darkened, and a suffocating sense of death enveloped everyone present.
Shen Yuan's instincts screamed at him, every fiber of his being urging him to run. This was no ordinary technique—it was something far more sinister, far more powerful. As the ancient symbols continued to form, Shen Yuan clenched his teeth. For the first time in a long time, he felt the cold grip of fear.
This wasn't just an attack. It was death itself manifesting in front of him.