224: The Demon Lord has been slain, and the dust has settled.

"Ah—!!!"

Having half of his Divine Soul Origin forcibly severed was a pain that deeply penetrated the roots of his existence, far beyond what any physical pain could compare to.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord let out a shrill, inhuman shriek, his colossal demonic deity manifestation, which seemed capable of propping up the heavens and earth, could no longer be maintained.

The flesh and Demonic Energy that formed the manifestation peeled off and disintegrated in large chunks, like weathered rock, transforming into the most primitive Devilish Qi and dissipating.

His massive body shriveled and collapsed at a visible rate, finally disintegrating into a sky full of chaotic black currents of Qi amidst a whimper filled with unwillingness and despair.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord's aura, which had been forcibly elevated to Spirit Transformation Late Stage, instantly ceased flowing like a waterfall whose source had been cut off, plummeting from the peak of the clouds!

Mid-stage Soul Transformation!

Nascent Soul Initial Stage!

The Realm's collapse was unstoppable; a deep, bone-visible crack even appeared on his Dao fruit, his Foundation was shaken, and his Soul Transformation cultivation was unstable.

However, this was just the beginning.

Even more fatal than the damage to his Dao Foundation was the collective backlash from the twelve hundred million vengeful spirits!

That sword strike, which severed Karma, not only cut off the Nine Nether Demon Lord's connection with the myriad souls banner but also broke the myriad souls banner's shackles of enslavement over the twelve hundred million vengeful spirits!

These souls had been imprisoned, tortured, and devoured by him for thousands of years.

The moment they gained freedom, all the accumulated resentment, pain, and hatred transformed into the most primitive and frenzied instinct to devour!

Their target was no longer Shen Yuanmo, but their true enemy, the Nine Nether Demon Lord!

"No! You despicable ants, created by my own hand, dare to rebel against this Dominator!"

The Nine Nether Demon Lord was furious and frantic, his remaining Divine Soul power surged wildly, attempting to re-condense his Demonic Technique to suppress this completely out-of-control sea of souls.

But his Divine Soul had been severed by half, his power was less than one-tenth, and his reactions were half a beat slower.

Meanwhile, the vengeful spirits, having broken free from their shackles, reverted to their purest ferocity and malice, becoming even more violent than when they were under his command!

With this shift, the tide of battle instantly reversed.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord was dragged into a desperate abyss by the vengeful spirits he had personally refined, unable to move an inch!

That black ocean formed by the twelve hundred million resentful souls submerged his broken demonic body layer upon layer, countless twisted faces frantically tearing at his flesh and gnawing at his Origin Demonic Energy.

"Rip—"

A large piece of his demonic body was forcibly torn off and instantly devoured by countless vengeful spirits.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord could clearly feel his power being rapidly drained by these former 'foodstuffs'.

For every wave of souls he shattered, ten or even a hundred times more resentful spirits, carrying deeper malice, fearlessly filled the void.

Endless!

"Flee!"

This single word, like a final straw, instantly occupied the Nine Nether Demon Lord's entire mind.

Battle Intent, dignity, and the pride of being a Demon Path Colossus were crushed into dust by the instinct for survival at this moment.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord was scared.

This young man in green was an existence he simply couldn't comprehend!

What kind of sword Dao was that, capable of ignoring the fifth-rank dao artifact myriad souls banner, ignoring the impact of the twelve hundred million vengeful spirits' resentment, and directly severing the Karma in the ethereal Realm!

And then, injuring his Divine Soul Origin!

Monster!

"Get... out of my way!"

The desire to survive overwhelmed everything; the Nine Nether Demon Lord erupted with his final madness, the muscles on one of his arms bulged, demonic patterns glowed to their utmost, and then—it explosively self-destructed!

A torrential flood of Demonic Energy, violent enough to instantly destroy a mountain range, forcibly blasted open a fleeting gap in the sea of souls before him.

Without the slightest hesitation, his broken body transformed into a burning streak of blood-light, crashing headlong into the Void Realm before him!

"Crack!"

The spatial barrier was savagely torn apart by his immense, self-destructive power, and a dark, profound spatial rift appeared out of thin air!

He wanted to escape!

Escape to the ends of the earth, to the world's edge!

As long as he could survive, the injuries to his Divine Soul could slowly heal, lost arms could regrow, and even this Nine Nether Demon Abyss, which he had cultivated for thousands of years, the Nine Nether Demon Lord could abandon it!

Half of the Nine Nether Demon Lord's body had already entered the spatial rift, and endless darkness was about to swallow his figure.

Just as he thought he had finally escaped with his life.

A calm, indifferent voice, yet one that seemed to come from the final judgment of the Nine Nether Grim Reaper, ignored the spatial obstruction and the spatial turbulence, gently echoing behind the Nine Nether Demon Lord.

"I have finished observing your Dao."

The Nine Nether Demon Lord, who was passing through the spatial aisle, instantly stiffened his entire demonic body!

A chill, millions of times colder and more biting than when his Divine Soul was torn apart, instantly engulfed all his consciousness!

He understood.

From beginning to end, the other party had never regarded him as a true opponent.

He was merely a whetstone used to verify the other party's Great Dao.

That was all.

Now, the Dao had been verified.

The whetstone, therefore, had no need to exist.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord wanted to turn back, to beg for mercy, to let out a final roar of unwillingness.

But he could do nothing.

His senses were infinitely stretched by the fear before death, and he clearly saw Shen Yuanmo's figure, clad in Chaos-colored battle armor, slowly raise his hand.

He merely slowly raised his hand, pointing distantly in his direction.

There was no earth-shattering power, not even a trace of magical power fluctuation.

Only an extremely subtle gray light of annihilation flashed from Shen Yuanmo's fingertip.

That gray light ignored spatial distance and the obstruction of Law, and the moment it appeared, it imprinted itself on the Nine Nether Demon Lord's glabella.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord's massive body, on the verge of escaping into darkness, abruptly froze within the spatial rift.

His thoughts, his consciousness, his everything, were completely locked and frozen by this single finger.

Immediately after.

Starting from the Nine Nether Demon Lord's glabella, gray cracks, instead of spreading outwards, appeared simultaneously across every part of his body.

His demonic body, his Dao fruit, his Divine Soul that carried thousands of years of memories... along with the spatial rift where he was, that torn spacetime.

Everything, under that wisp of gray light, was erased bit by bit, silently, transforming into the purest nothingness.

No explosion, no sound.

There, the inherent calm and nothingness were restored.

As if, there had never been a spatial rift, nor a Deity Transformation Stage Mighty One named Nine Nether Demon Lord.

Both body and spirit annihilated, Dao traces gone, all Laws returned to the void.

Having done all this, Shen Yuanmo slowly withdrew his finger, and the wisp of gray light at his fingertip also receded.

The radiance of his majestic and ferocious great five elements destruction glazed armor dimmed, dissolving into five streams of light that merged into his limbs and bones.

That terrifying aura, which had once climbed to the Nascent Soul Initial Stage, also quietly receded like a tide, returning to the tranquility of Half-step Nascent Soul.

Shen Yuanmo's complexion was a shade paler than before, and there was a subtle, almost imperceptible pause in his breathing, but it vanished in an instant.

Continuously activating a fifth-rank dao artifact and clashing head-on with a Mid-stage Soul Transformation Mighty One was equally draining for him.

His eyes remained like a deep ancient well, without the slightest ripple.

He raised his hand and gently beckoned towards the Void Realm.

The myriad souls banner, having lost its master, its spiritual light dim, and about to fall from the sky, along with a pitch-black Storage Ring that had dropped before the Nine Nether Demon Lord was completely erased, were drawn as if by invisible threads, obediently flying into his palm.

His Divine Sense first probed into the myriad souls banner.

The twelve hundred million vengeful spirits, having lost their common enemy, were caught in a bewildered and chaotic mutual devouring.

However, without the nourishment and catalysis of the Nine Nether Demon Lord's Demonic Technique, their resentment and malevolence were rapidly dissipating, like rootless duckweed.

Shen Yuanmo did not harbor the slightest thought of refining this item.

Such an evil object would harm the heavens and contradict his Dao; keeping it would only bring disaster.

He simply flicked his finger, and a stream of magical power, imbued with the Five Elements' mutual generation and restraint, constantly cycling, entered the banner.

Buzz—!

The myriad souls banner shook violently, and all the sinister Demonic Path imprints belonging to the Nine Nether Demon Lord were thoroughly cleansed and obliterated by this continuously cycling purifying power.

Immediately after, a purification gate, composed of pure Five Elements light and exuding an aura of solemnity and liberation, slowly opened on the banner's surface.

Soft light streamed down, illuminating every bewildered soul.

Those souls that had struggled for thousands of years seemed to have found their ultimate guidance and salvation at this moment; the twisted pain on their faces turned to peace as they eagerly rushed into the light gate, being sent to their true and rightful destination.

As the last vengeful spirit entered the light gate, the very Foundation of this infamous fifth-rank mid-grade dao artifact was completely emptied.

It let out a soft sigh-like hum in Shen Yuanmo's palm, then, amidst the gentle light, transformed into a handful of fine dust, scattering with the wind.

Only then did Shen Yuanmo extend his Divine Sense into the pitch-black Storage Ring.

His Divine Sense swept through, and even with Shen Yuanmo's steady temperament, he couldn't help but pause.

As expected of a Demon Path Colossus who had lorded over this place for thousands of years.

The richness of his collection far exceeded his imagination.

Various rare Demonic Path Materials, precious spirit ores, and exotic flowers and herbs were piled up like mountains, including some ancient treasures that had long been extinct in the current cultivation world.

But none of these made Shen Yuanmo's gaze linger for more than a breath.

His Divine Sense swept past those priceless sundries and was soon attracted by an ancient beast hide in a corner.

It was the hide of an unknown deep-sea giant beast, displaying a profound ink-blue color, cool to the touch, impervious to water and fire; probing it with Divine Sense even gave a feeling of facing a vast starry sky.

On the beast hide, a vast and chilling sea chart was drawn with ancient runes he had never seen before.

The starting point of the map was precisely this Land of Buddha and Demon beneath his feet.

And its destination pointed to an unknown body of water within the Endless Sea.

The map also marked, with bright red cinnabar, several extremely dangerous yet seemingly hidden with great Opportunities, shipping routes, as well as some scattered mysterious islands outside the Endless Sea.

"Endless Sea..."

Shen Yuanmo put away the sea chart, his gaze seemingly piercing through this shattered world, looking towards the more distant, more mysterious East.

In this Land of Buddha and Demon, whether it was the hypocritical Buddha or the pure Demon, he had already observed their Dao.

To him, there was no longer any value here.

Then, it was time for the next stop.

Shen Yuanmo no longer lingered; his figure flickered, transforming into an inconspicuous sword light.

The sword light shot up into the sky, not tearing through the firmament, but silently merging into the Void Realm, instantly disappearing into the horizon according to the direction marked on the sea chart.

Leaving behind only this Nine Nether Demon Abyss, which had completely lost its Dominator, falling into eternal deathly silence and darkness after the vengeful spirits departed, slowly heading towards annihilation.