400: The Emperor wielded his sword, and chaos collapsed.

The ten-thousand-zhang Emperor, condensed from endless Tribulation Lightning Laws, looked down indifferently at the figure below as tiny as a speck of dust.

It had no life and no emotions; it was the manifestation of the Heavenly Dao's will to punish.

When Shen Yuanmo's playful gaze swept over, the Thunder Emperor Lord moved.

It slowly raised its arm and grasped the Sword of Heavenly Punishment, forged from billions of lightning bolts.

There was no world-shaking opening stance, no Sword Intent that tore through the firmament.

It simply swung its sword down toward Shen Yuanmo with an air of casual indifference.

As the sword swung, the entire world seemed to come to a standstill.

Time, space, and Laws—everything was completely sealed and frozen before this sword.

There was no retreat, no possibility of evasion.

This sword was not meant to merely strike you; the moment it was swung, the outcome was already predetermined.

If Heaven wants you dead, you must die.

This was Heavenly Punishment; this was judgment!

However, amidst this absolute silence and despair,

a boisterous laugh suddenly rang out, tearing through the frozen space-time!

"Well met!"

Instead of showing the slightest fear, Shen Yuanmo took a proactive step forward!

At this moment, the Chaos Dao Body within him was pushed to an unprecedented extreme, every cell letting out an excited roar.

The Chaos Qi swirling around him seemed as if it would pull this world back into the original Grandmist!

The great evolution immortal slaying sword in his hand let out a high-pitched sword hum.

Upon the hazy gray blade, a Chaos sword light that transcended all methods surged upward against the tide!

With one sword, he met the lightning punishment sword that represented the judgment of the Heavenly Dao!

Boom—!

At the moment the two swords met, there was no sound.

Or rather, all sound was instantly annihilated by that extreme power of destruction.

Centered on the point of impact, a visible ring of destruction, woven from gray and violet-black, swept outward at speeds exceeding light!

The God Burying Thunder Sea, a forbidden zone for life in the Eastern Region, a sea of violent lightning spanning tens of millions of miles, could not hold out for even a single breath under this ring of light.

The seawater evaporated instantly!

The bottomless seabed was exposed to the Void Realm for the first time in eons, parched and cracked as if it had been baked by a scorching sun for a million years!

At the core of the collision, Shen Yuanmo felt an indescribable, mighty force surge frantically into his body through the great evolution immortal slaying sword!

It wasn't simple power, but a higher level of Law.

A supreme, unquestionable Law of Judgment!

The moment this Law power entered his body, it was not meant to destroy his Physical Body, but to dismantle his Dao from its very roots!

His supreme Great Dao, based on Chaos and merging all methods into one, seemed to have met its nemesis before this Law of Judgment.

The Chaos Qi was forcibly analyzed and divided, attempting to revert him to his original form as an ordinary Cultivator before completely obliterating him!

"Pfft!"

Blood laced with violet-black electric arcs instantly sprayed from Shen Yuanmo's seven orifices.

His Chaos Dao Body, comparable to a Dao Artifact, emitted the "cracking" sounds of bones under immense strain, as if it might completely disintegrate at any moment!

Yet, the divine light in his eyes became incomparably fanatical at that moment, even carrying a hint of madness!

"The Law of Judgment... so that's how it is, so that's how it is!"

"[Insight into Origin] activate!"

His Divine Soul roared within his Sea of Consciousness, and his Dao-Grade Divine Sense erupted with unprecedented intensity!

In his vision, the Law of Judgment raging within his body was instantly dismantled into countless fundamental Law patterns.

Its composition, its mode of operation, its core essence—everything was clearly presented in his mind!

The Thunder Emperor Lord's indifferent eyes didn't seem to have expected that this sword would fail to completely obliterate this ant.

It raised its hand once more.

This time, it was no longer a sword swing.

As its arm rose, within the Void Realm surrounding Shen Yuanmo,

three thousand Law chains, condensed from pure violet-black Tribulation Lightning, suddenly emerged!

Upon every chain, a distinct ancient rune was inscribed, representing a form of heaven-and-earth punishment.

There was the Soul-Burning Fire, the Bone-Corroding Wind, the God-Extinguishing Water... Three thousand Great Daos of Punishment transformed into three thousand lightning chains, blotting out the sky and completely sealing off all space around Shen Yuanmo!

...In the distant Eastern Region, at the Wanfa Immortal Sect.

Daoist Xinghe forcibly stabilized his shaken Divine Thought and stared intently in the direction of the God Burying Thunder Sea.

The moment those three thousand lightning chains appeared, this Dao Integration Great Expert, who had lived for tens of thousands of years,

could not help but tremble all over; a fear originating from the depths of his Soul made his scalp tingle with terror!

"The... The Heavenly Dao's Three Thousand Punishments!"

He cried out in shock, his voice carrying unprecedented horror and trembling!

"According to legend, this is the ultimate tribulation punishment that can only be drawn by an existence that defies heaven to strike at the Dao and violates the taboos of heaven and earth!"

"Touch it... and you die! Encounter it... and you are extinguished! This... how can one even undergo such a tribulation?!"

Daoist Xinghe had completely lost his composure.

This was no longer undergoing a tribulation; this was the Heavenly Dao having set its heart.

To completely erase Shen Yuanmo, this anomaly, from the world at any cost!

...Chii! Chii! Chii!

Before Shen Yuanmo could make any reaction, those three thousand Punishment Chains

ignored the defense of the chaos myriad dao armor and ignored his Chaos Dao Body.

Like a red-hot iron through butter, they easily pierced his collarbones and impaled his limbs!

"Argh—!"

The extreme pain caused Shen Yuanmo to throw his head back and let out an uncontrollable roar!

That was not just physical pain.

Each chain directly branded a terrifying Law of Punishment upon his Divine Soul!

At this moment, his Divine Soul felt as if it had been cast into three thousand purgatories,

suffering through cycles of burning, tearing, grinding, freezing... all sorts of tortures!

For any other Cultivator, even a Dao Integration Great Expert, their Dao Heart would have already collapsed and their Divine Soul turned to ash in this instant.

Yet Shen Yuanmo, while enduring this boundless pain,

forced his mouth open, revealing a row of white teeth stained bright red with blood.

His smile was brilliant yet hideous.

"Heavenly Dao judgment?"

"Is that all!"

His voice was hoarse, yet filled with contempt and defiance!

Just then, within his Dantian Qi Sea, the chaos myriad dao nascent soul that had been sitting cross-legged with its eyes closed suddenly snapped its eyes open!

Those eyes were exactly like Shen Yuanmo's, yet deeper and more ancient!

Facing these Punishment Chains capable of killing everything, the chaos myriad dao nascent soul showed no fear; instead, it opened its mouth and took a sudden, massive breath!

Buzz—!

A devouring force, a thousand times more overbearing than when it swallowed the tribulation lightning, erupted with a bang!

Those three thousand Punishment Chains that had already pierced Shen Yuanmo's body and were frantically burning his Divine Soul suddenly stalled!

In the next moment, a jaw-dropping scene occurred!

The Law runes contained within those chains, representing the Three Thousand Great Daos of Punishment,

seemed to be swept back by an invisible waterfall, surging frantically into Shen Yuanmo's body along the chains!

They didn't flow into his Meridians but were swallowed mouthful by mouthful by the chaos myriad dao nascent soul!

He was reverse-devouring this Heavenly Dao punishment!

He was treating this judgment power, capable of obliterating all living things, as nourishment for his own advancement!

This scene completely transcended common sense and subverted the Laws!

In the sky above, within the eyes of the ten-thousand-zhang Thunder Emperor Lord—eyes composed of pure Law that should have been eternally indifferent,

for the first time, a trace of an extremely faint yet real anthropomorphic ripple flickered.

That was not anger, nor was it surprise.

It was confusion.