90: The devil comes, blood stains the blue sky

The sky, it collapsed.

This was not a metaphor.

It was a pure collapse, both visually and spiritually.

One moment, the sky was clear, with clouds unfurling and rolling.

The next, the entire firmament was instantly stained by an ink-like blackness so thick it couldn't be dissolved.

That wasn't dark clouds.

It was Devilish Qi, solidified into substance, carrying the stench of sulfur and decaying Souls.

A hand.

A hand so vast it defied any description slowly emerged from the inky firmament.

Then, it slammed down with crushing force.

The colossal hand was covered in grotesque, twisted devilish patterns; each line resembled an abyss flowing with endless resentment and wails.

Its descent wasn't fast.

But the apocalyptic might, which crushed everything, leaving no escape or resistance, made even space itself groan.

Boom—!

Above the Qingyun Sect, the protective mountain array's light barrier, cultivated for a thousand years, suddenly flared, its translucent cover attempting to uphold a pure land.

The moment the light barrier touched the sky-reaching devilish hand, there was no earth-shattering roar.

Only a grating, unbearable wail of protest.

Crack... crackle... The web of death spread wildly across the light barrier at a visible speed.

“Pfft—!”

On the mountain gate plaza, countless Disciples, before even clearly seeing the hand, were sent spewing blood, their internal organs burning, by the terrifying pseudo-Nascent Soul pressure.

They collapsed in swathes, their Divine Souls trembling violently, their pupils reflecting only the most primal fear of death.

Doomsday.

This was Doomsday.

“You beast! How dare you!”

An old and resolute roar, like a sudden clap of thunder, exploded deep within the trembling Souls of every survivor.

From the Qingyun Sect's back mountain, a brilliant golden rainbow shot Heaven-Defyingly upwards.

It was the Grand Elder.

His hair stood on end, his robes billowed, and within his aged body, the immense vital essence of the Late Golden Core Stage was burning furiously in a self-destructive manner.

Golden flames erupted from his seven orifices, transforming him into a resolute and tragic meteor.

He charged forward without hesitation, colliding with the world-ending devilish hand that was slowly pressing down.

A firefly's body, resisting an abyss.

“All Disciples! Retreat quickly to the back mountain shelter!”

“All Elders, heed my command!”

Amidst this cataclysmic Chaos and despair, a voice, calm to the point of coldness, holding an ancient token, amplified by spiritual power, spread clearly to every corner of the Sect.

It was Lin Gou.

He stood on the command platform of Holy Son Peak, holding the supreme elder's decree, becoming the only stabilizing force in this apocalyptic scene.

His voice, as if imbued with a strange magic, instantly dispelled some of the panic in the survivors' hearts, forcefully injecting them with a sense of purpose.

“Elders Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, and Tian Ji, focus your attacks on the 'Li Fire position' in the devilish hand's palm!”

“Elders Yu Heng and Yao Guang, form the 'Two Poles Micro Dust Array' to disrupt its Devilish Qi flow!”

“Elder Kai Yang, you are responsible for guarding the Pill Hall; under no circumstances can the logistics be overwhelmed!”

Each command was clear, precise, and without any hesitation.

Under the supreme authority of the supreme elder's decree, the Elders, who had initially been somewhat flustered, instinctively began to follow the instructions, each performing their duties.

Deep within Lin Gou's pupils, the Heaven-Defying Law fragment rewarded by the System emitted an almost imperceptible glow.

In his vision, the giant devilish hand was no longer a chaotic mass.

Instead, it was a complex structure composed of countless black Devilish Qi energy lines.

At this moment, he could clearly see that the light of several nodes on those energy lines had become particularly dim due to the Grand Elder's full-force impact.

Those were the “weaknesses” he had just spoken of to the Elders!

Under Lin Gou's precise command, several powerful magical light beams tore through the sky, striking those fragile nodes with extreme accuracy.

Boom!

The descending devilish hand, for the first time, showed a slight, momentary pause.

Above the firmament, the golden rainbow that was burning itself out experienced a sudden reduction in pressure.

The Grand Elder's body, which had been almost crushed, finally got a moment to breathe.

He swept his Divine Thought over the figure below, calm in danger and composed in command, and an indescribable shock and relief flashed in his ancient eyes.

Entrusting him with the Sect's command was the most correct decision he had ever made in his life.

However, the Devil Head's power far exceeded everyone's imagination.

Just as everyone in the Qingyun Sect saw a glimmer of hope.

“Hehehehe... Interesting ants.”

A playful and cruel Divine Thought, like billions of steel needles, pierced into everyone's minds.

The giant devilish hand suddenly clenched its five fingers.

An outer Elder, who was casting a spell with all his might, screamed.

The spiritual power he had unleashed was forcibly twisted and devoured by the devilish hand, and then, an extremely pure Devilish Qi, following the connection between him and the spell, instantly backlashed!

“No!”

The Elder only managed to let out a desperate roar.

His skin rapidly turned black and withered before their eyes.

Strange devilish patterns, like living things, frantically climbed upwards from his neck, instantly covering his entire face.

The whites of his human eyes were completely blackened, leaving only a pair of pupils flashing with tyrannical and bloodthirsty red light.

He was assimilated.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, a Golden Core Elder who had guarded the Sect for a hundred years was transformed into a soulless devilish creature.

The next second.

This newly born “devilish creature” turned without hesitation, extended its black claws, and fiercely plunged them into the chest of an unsuspecting Junior Brother next to him.

Blood gushed out.

Staining that astonished, pained, and disbelieving face.

This scene was more chilling and despairing than the devilish hand pressing down.

The cruelest part of war is never death.

It is being forced to die, by your own hand, at the hands of comrades you fought alongside yesterday.

Back mountain.

The plaza in front of the Pill Hall had already become a bloody shura field.

Zhao Linger knelt on the ground.

Her moon-white long dress was already stained and mottled with the blood flowing from the wounded.

Her pair of fair, small hands were now covered in blood and medicinal mud, trembling as she stuffed a freshly refined “Life- Life-extending Pill” into the mouth of a Disciple with a severed arm.

Her eyes were red, tears had welled up countless times, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

She couldn't cry.

If she cried, the morale of the Pill Hall Disciples behind her, who were also desperately saving people, would crumble.

She looked up, through the chaotic crowd, and gazed distantly at the tall figure on Holy Son Peak.

That figure was the source of all her courage.

He had said he wouldn't “disappear” again.

So, she too had to stand here.

On the other side, the front line.

A white sword light, like a cold crescent moon, lit up again and again on the chaotic battlefield.

Li Hanyue.

Her white clothes were already splattered with black devilish blood, like deathly plum blossoms blooming in the snow.

There was no expression on her face.

It was colder than the sword in her hand.

When another demonized Sect member roared and lunged at her.

Her sword did not hesitate in the slightest.

The moonlight-like sword light flashed past.

The devilish creature's head flew into the air.

Black blood splattered all over her face.

She didn't even raise a hand to wipe it away, merely turned indifferently and walked towards the next enemy.

However, no one saw.

Deep within her ice-cold eyes, there was a sharp, intense pain, like a needle prick.

Above the sky.

The golden rainbow's light had become increasingly dim, like a candle in the wind, threatening to extinguish at any moment.

“Kid... this old man... can't hold on much longer!”

The Grand Elder's weak and urgent Divine Thought directly echoed in Lin Gou's mind.

“This Devil Head... it's toying with us! Its target is its true body beneath the Demon Suppressing Pagoda!”

“Its true form is about to break free!”

“You must leave quickly! Take Zhao Linger, take the Sect's last spark... go! Immediately!”

Lin Gou looked up.

He looked at the golden light in the sky, which was about to die out.

He looked at the slender figure in the plaza behind, covered in blood but still holding firm.

He looked at the solitary white sword light in the battlefield, cutting down former comrades.

He looked at the Demon Suppressing Pagoda in the distance, faintly visible in the Devilish Qi, as if it could collapse at any moment.

A plan, unprecedented.

A plan, utterly insane.

A plan that would make any normal person consider him a madman.

Like a thunderclap at the dawn of Chaos, it suddenly formed in his mind.

“Ding! Detected that the Host is conceiving an 'epic' death-seeking plan... Risk assessment: 99.99% True Spirit annihilation.”

“Benefit assessment: Reward... immeasurable!”

Lin Gou's lips slowly curved into an imperceptible arc, a mixture of resolve and fanaticism.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Then, an equally resolute Divine Thought flowed upwards, clearly transmitting into the Grand Elder's rapidly dissipating consciousness.

“Elder.”

“Your mission is not to sacrifice.”

“But to...”

Lin Gou suddenly opened his eyes, and within his pupils, a blazing flame named “reckless gamble” burned fiercely.

“Buy me... three breaths of time!”

“Then, witness the birth of a legend!”