202: Abyss vs. the world, this is the battlefield of the gods

That snap of his fingers.

It was unusually crisp and loud.

Clearly audible to Valerius.

The next moment, Valerius was terrified.

He felt it.

An indescribable sense of tearing.

Something… broke.

It was the link, which should have been unbreakable, between him and the Law of Withering he had cultivated for hundreds of years.

It had been… severed…

His power was draining away at an unprecedented speed.

Like a punctured balloon, like receding tide.

What was this?

Deprivation?

How could this be…

It was as if a deity had reclaimed a blessing from a mortal, brutal and unreasonable.

The madness in Valerius’s eyes receded instantly, replaced by an unprecedented terror.

He finally understood that this young man had no intention of playing a game of legendary duel with him.

He was defining the rules.

“No…”

A roar was squeezed from Valerius’s throat.

His last shred of dignity and will to survive were completely crushed, leaving only the purest malice.

“If not… if not for my continuous injuries… how could you possibly?!”

He didn’t want to die.

And he certainly couldn’t die so ignominiously, so… ridiculously.

“You want to kill me? You want to take my head to exchange for glory?”

He laughed maniacally, his voice sharp and piercing.

“You are not worthy!”

“Then I will give everything to Him! My flesh, my soul, my everything! All offered to the Eternal Abyss!”

He looked at Su Jin.

“Aren’t you the Mandate of Heaven? Then you too shall taste the flavor of despair!”

Before he finished speaking.

In his undamaged hand, a fist-sized object suddenly appeared.

It was an irregular, jet-black crystal.

The surface of the crystal was covered in strange spiral patterns, like a tightly closed demonic eye.

The moment it appeared, the surrounding light was greedily devoured by it like moths to a flame, forming a visible dark area.

A chaotic, corrupted stench, as if capable of making one’s soul rot, instantly permeated the air.

Stone Rock, from a distance, merely seeing that crystal, felt a shudder from his life’s instinct and an extreme sense of revulsion.

Su Jin’s expression finally darkened.

“A creation of the Abyss… you dared to touch such a taboo.”

“Hahahaha! All thanks to you! All thanks to you!”

Abyssal creations are unique to the Abyss.

The Sea of Realms is vast, with countless worlds.

But no matter which race, which civilization, regarding the “Abyss.”

There is only one consensus—it is the antithesis of all living beings, the cancer of all worlds.

The Abyss invades, devours, and distorts everything; they toy with souls, delighting in spreading despair and destruction.

Any world that becomes entangled with the Abyss ultimately faces only assimilation, becoming part of that endless darkness.

How could the Southern Commander of an empire possess such a forbidden object?

There was no time for deep thought.

Valerius had already used his last ounce of strength to crush the crystal.

“In my name, Valerius!”

“With my legendary soul as a sacrifice!”

“I welcome… the great Abyss… to descend!”

Crack.

The moment the crystal shattered, there was no sound.

Instead, there was an extreme “darkness” capable of devouring all light and perception.

This darkness, centered on Valerius, expanded wildly outwards.

A will filled with tyranny, hunger, and endless malice, as if traversing countless worlds, descended with a roar.

Stone Rock felt his head buzz.

Before his eyes was a sea of blood, in his ears the wails of billions of living beings.

A revulsion and shudder from the deepest part of his soul made him almost drop the giant shield in his hand.

“Ah ah ah ah—!”

A terrifying scream echoed through the heavens and earth.

Valerius’s body was undergoing a horrifying mutation that made one’s scalp tingle.

His bones emitted a grating sound of shattering and reassembling, and from his incomplete half-body, countless wriggling fleshy tentacles surged forth, growing wildly.

His skin tore from the inside out, and black carapaces with a metallic sheen broke through his body.

Behind him, two huge bone spurs pierced through his flesh, curving into two hideous segmented scythes.

His head was elongated and twisted, his mouth split to his ears, revealing rows of blade-like fangs.

His eyes had disappeared.

Instead, dozens of crimson compound eyes of varying sizes grew on his forehead, chest, and arms.

His aura surged wildly during the sacrifice.

In an instant, he returned to the peak of the seventeenth-tier legendary realm.

But this power no longer belonged to him.

It was violent, chaotic, and filled with the desire to destroy everything.

“Roar—!!!”

A roar devoid of any reason exploded from the monster’s throat.

The terrifying sound waves instantly shattered the surrounding ruins into dust.

He was no longer Valerius.

He had become an Abyssal monster, born only for destruction.

Stone Rock below was already suffocated by this terrifying aura.

His domain, upon contact with the Abyssal aura, let out a wail, was rapidly compressed, almost clinging to his body.

He held the giant shield, his legs trembling slightly.

That was not fear, but the irresistible instinctive suppression that lower life forms experience when facing a higher predator.

“What… what the hell is this thing?”

Stone Rock cursed gruffly, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

“Tsk, troublesome fellow.”

Su Jin looked at the fully formed Abyssal monster, an undisguised look of disgust flashing across his brows.

“What a… pathetic fellow, wanting to drag the whole world down with him even in death.”

His gaze swept over Stone Rock below, and the Infinite City army that was gathering.

They couldn’t fight here.

The aftermath of a battle with an Abyssal monster that had just completed its sacrifice and temporarily ascended to the peak of the seventeenth tier.

It would be enough to turn this fortress, along with all the soldiers inside, into nourishment for the Abyss.

Su Jin’s mind stirred.

The “Grand Void Azurewood Palace” far away in Infinite City resonated with him.

“Stone Rock, take everyone and retreat immediately.”

His voice echoed directly in the minds of all Infinite City soldiers.

At the same time, throughout the ruins of the Crimson Tower.

Those “Sky-Peering Vines” that Stone Rock had used as scouts earlier.

Those inconspicuous weeds and moss in the cracks of shattered stones simultaneously bloomed with a soft green light.

The light spread rapidly, linking together, instantly weaving into a huge Qingmu Array that covered the entire battlefield.

Stone Rock and the tens of thousands of Infinite City troops behind him all had an arcane rune light up beneath their feet.

“Lord?”

Stone Rock was stunned.

The next second, he and his army transformed into green specks of light, like countless fireflies, disappearing into thin air.

[Qingmu Teleportation].

The entire ruins of the Crimson Tower instantly fell silent.

Only a young man in black robes remained.

And an Abyssal monster that had just completed its transformation, exuding an endless desire for destruction.

“Roar—!”

Having lost all living targets, the Abyssal monster’s dozens of crimson compound eyes simultaneously locked onto the sole presence in the sky.

It let out a chaotic roar, its voice filled with hatred for living beings and a craving for flesh.

Su Jin stood still in mid-air, his black imperial robe fluttering without wind.

With the battlefield cleared, he had no more reservations.

He looked at the monster below, completely transformed by the Abyssal aura, and slowly spoke.

“Trading your soul and the future of an entire world, just to have a moment of satisfaction before you die.”

“Valerius, you are truly pathetic.”

As he spoke, behind him,

A majestic palace illusion, entirely woven from green wood and vines, quietly appeared.

Ancient, vast, filled with the profound essence of life and the world.

It was the Grand Void Azurewood Palace.

At the core of the palace, on the gigantic vine that seemed to connect heaven and earth, billions of leaves simultaneously lit up, as if stars were ignited!

[Spirit Source Convergence] — activated!

[Yi Wood Thunder Pool] — fully charged!

The power of the entire Adlan World, at this moment, through the Grand Void Azurewood Palace as a hub.

Was guided, aggregated, and unreservedly… poured into Su Jin!

Boom!

Green lightning and verdant divine light of life intertwined, converging behind him into a vast sea of thunder and light.

Su Jin’s aura ascended infinitely.

That imperial pressure belonging to the “Mandate of Heaven” merged with the immense power of the entire Adlan World.

Transforming into an invisible giant wall, forcibly pushing back the continuously spreading domain of Abyssal corruption.

On one side was the Abyss, chaotic, decaying, devouring all things.

On the other was the world, orderly, new, nurturing all spirits.

Two diametrically opposed forces formed a clear confrontation in the sky above this small ruin.

The Abyssal monster below seemed to sense the threat; it no longer roared, stomping its four feet on the ground.

With a loud bang, the earth cracked.

Its figure transformed into a dark green lightning bolt, carrying terrifying power capable of tearing apart legendary domains, rushing straight towards Su Jin!

Su Jin was expressionless, merely slowly raising his right hand towards the destructive figure charging at him.

“Since you like to play so much.”

His voice echoed between heaven and earth.

“Then I’ll play a big one with you.”

“In my name, I command—”

“Heaven’s Punishment.”