147: Chapter 147 Your fate was already sealed.

Princess Ji Ziyue looked up, and what met her eyes was Chu Xiao's face, which carried a faint smile.

There was no panic, no fear.

There was not even a trace of solemnity.

His gaze remained as calm as ever.

It was as if this world-destroying killing array before him, this Shura field filled with wails, was not even worth mentioning.

The next moment, Chu Xiao raised his head.

His gaze swept across the churning Nine Nether Styx, across the roaring vengeful spirits filling the sky, and finally landed on the group of hideous, triumphant enemies above the Formation.

The smile at the corner of his mouth took on a hint of playfulness.

"A group of ants dares to speak of slaying a god?"

"Very well."

"I'll let you see exactly what true fireworks look like."

That nonchalant tone, that disdain coming from his very bones.

It instantly ignited the fury of the Dayan Imperial Dynasty and the Xiaoyao Valley Elders!

"Death is at your door, yet you still dare to talk big!"

"Arrogant little beast! This Elder will let you know the meaning of despair right now!"

"Everyone, hear my command! Activate the great array! Converge all power to a single point! Refine him!!"

"I want to watch with my own eyes as he is melted inch by inch by the Nether Qi! I want to hear his Divine Soul scream as it is gnawed by vengeful spirits!"

Rumble—!!!

With his command, the entire Nine Nether God-Slaying Array...

...went completely berserk!

The dozens of Soul Transformation realm experts presiding over the Formation all spat out a mouthful of their natal essence blood.

It merged into the Formation's core!

In an instant, within a hundred-mile radius, the surging Nine Nether Styx and the tens of thousands of howling vengeful spirits...

...as well as the endless Nether Qi, capable of corroding all things...

...all the power was completely triggered at this moment!

They transformed into a black-red torrent that pierced through heaven and earth!

Visible to the naked eye, a world-destroying torrent of energy pressed down toward Chu Xiao at the center of the Formation!

This strike gathered the entire power of the great array!

This strike was unstoppable!

This strike was a certain kill!

Outside the Formation, the Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley and the many experts...

...already wore hideous smiles of revenge.

Inside the Formation, Princess Ji Ziyue, Xiao Fan, Young Master of the Pill King Palace, and all the surviving Prodigies looked in horror at the world-ending torrent pressing down like a Heavenly Collapse, their minds going blank.

Facing this certain-kill strike, Chu Xiao only slowly raised his eyes.

He looked at the world-destroying torrent, and the smile at the corner of his mouth grew even more brilliant.

The next moment, Chu Xiao slowly raised his right hand.

Buzz—!

With a soft hum, the Burning Heaven Golden Sun Sword, its entire body ablaze with golden flames, appeared in his hand.

He did not immediately swing the sword.

He simply extended his left index finger and lightly tapped the burning tip of the sword.

A wisp of golden-red flame the size of a grain of rice ignited at his fingertip.

This wisp of flame was so tiny, so weak.

Compared to the world-ending torrent that pierced through heaven and earth, it was like the difference between a firefly and the bright moon.

However!

The moment this wisp of golden-red flame appeared!

A sudden change occurred!

The entire berserk, boiling Nine Nether God-Slaying Array came to a standstill!

The surging, roaring black-red energy torrent that seemed ready to devour heaven and earth was forced to stop in mid-air, unable to advance even a fraction of an inch!

The tens of thousands of vengeful spirits screaming and clawing within the torrent seemed to have seen something terrifying.

All sound came to an abrupt halt!

And the Nether Qi that corroded all things and eroded Divine Souls was like ants seeing their natural enemy, instinctively retreating and staying far away from that tiny wisp of flame!

The world-destroying clamor within the entire Formation space fell into a dead silence in an instant!

This sudden change...

...caused the laughter of all the enemies outside the Formation to get stuck in their throats.

The hideousness and fanaticism on their faces instantly froze.

All of it turned into astonishment and suspicion.

"What's going on?!"

"The Formation... why has the Formation stopped?!"

The Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley's pupils shrank violently.

He stared fixedly at the center of the Formation, at that tiny wisp of fire at Chu Xiao's fingertip!

He only felt a bone-chilling coldness surge frantically from the depths of his heart!

He didn't know what it was.

But he knew it was absolutely some terrifying existence that transcended Nether Qi and transcended his understanding!

Inside the Formation, Princess Ji Ziyue, Xiao Fan, Young Master of the Pill King Palace, and all the surviving Prodigies stared blankly at this scene, their brains completely crashing.

They could not understand why a tiny wisp of flame could cause a peerless killing array capable of slaughtering a Reversion Void Old Ancestor to come to a halt!

It was at this moment that Chu Xiao raised his head, his gaze falling on the Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley's suspicious and uncertain face.

The smile at the corner of his mouth appeared again.

"The fireworks have begun."

As his voice fell.

He joined his fingers like a sword and lightly slashed in front of him.

The wisp of golden-red flame dancing at his fingertip drifted toward the world-ending torrent frozen in mid-air.

Its speed was not fast.

It was like a falling feather.

However, this light wisp of flame expanded explosively against the wind the moment it flew out!

Golden-red wings condensed from the purest fire Law appeared out of thin air.

A noble and majestic head, seemingly looking down on the Nine Heavens, slowly rose.

A magnificent, long tail feather trailing endless divine radiance swayed gently behind.

In just an instant, that grain-sized wisp of flame transformed into a majestic Vermilion Bird phantom with a wingspan of a hundred feet, its entire body burning with golden-red divine flames and radiating Divine Might!

"Chirp—!!!"

A clear and resonant cry resounded through heaven and earth!

Utmost Yang and utmost rigid! Holy and vast!

Under this cry, the originally foul Nether Qi made sizzling sounds.

It melted away in large swaths!

Above the Formation, the Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley and the others felt their Divine Souls shake violently under this cry, as if struck by lightning.

Their faces turned pale one by one, and their minds nearly collapsed on the spot!

"What... what is that?!"

"Flame... flame manifestation?! How is this possible?!"

However, this was only the beginning.

The Vermilion Bird phantom suspended in the air gently flapped its magnificent wings.

Visible to the naked eye, a wave of fire swept out in all directions with it as the center!

This wave seemed gentle, without a trace of lethality.

But the moment it came into contact with that energy torrent...

...a scene that everyone present would never forget for the rest of their lives...

...a scene that overturned their worldview appeared!

Before this gentle wave, that terrifying black-red torrent was like snow under the midday sun.

Or like foam thrown into lava...

Silent and soundless!

It evaporated instantly!

It was just that simple, that decisive.

It was completely erased from this world!

Crushing!

Absolute crushing!

Immediately after, the golden-red fire wave continued to spread.

It swept over the tens of thousands of trembling vengeful spirits.

Holy radiance shone upon them.

A miraculous scene occurred.

The hideous and pained expressions on the faces of those vengeful spirits instantly vanished under the brilliance of the divine fire.

It felt like shackles that had imprisoned them for eternity...

...were completely severed at this moment.

They no longer howled, they were no longer malicious.

In the blink of an eye, these tens of thousands of vengeful spirits transformed into golden spots of light dancing in the sky.

They slowly dissipated between heaven and earth, returning to Reincarnation.

This bloody Shura field actually became holy and solemn at this moment.

When the last vengeful spirit dissipated.

The power of vengeful spirits and Nether Qi, which served as the Foundation of the Nine Nether God-Slaying Array...

...were completely purified.

The nine nether veins buried deep beneath the earth even snapped instantly under the burning power of the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire, turning into fly ash!

Boom—!!!

The entire great array let out a shattering sound!

Densely packed cracks appeared on the blood-colored light screen that covered a hundred-mile radius!

Pfft—!!!

Outside the Formation, the Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley, the Imperial Uncle of the Dayan Holy Dynasty, and the dozens of experts presiding over the Formation all suffered a terrifying backlash the moment the Formation was broken!

They felt as if they had been struck by a ten-thousand-pound heavy hammer, and everyone spat out a large mouthful of blood at the same time.

Their bodies were like kites with broken strings.

They fell miserably from mid-air.

Their auras were weakened to the extreme, and fear was written all over their faces!

"No... no... this is impossible!!"

The Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley had disheveled hair and looked like a madman.

He pointed at the Vermilion Bird phantom suspended in the air with peerless Divine Might, his entire being numb!

"That's... that's the legendary Four Spirits Divine Fire... the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire!!"

"How... how can something that only exists in myths appear here?!!"

Vermilion Bird Divine Fire!

These four words were like a bolt of lightning from the Nine Heavens.

They struck hard upon the crown of every enemy's head!

Their brains buzzed and completely exploded!

The Four Spirits Divine Fires were one of the fires that constituted the Origin of this world!

It was the power wielded by the Sacred Beasts of heaven and earth, equal in fame to the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise!

That was the authority of a god!

It was at this moment.

Crack!

A crisp sound.

The Formation's light screen, covered in cracks, finally shattered and dissipated into a sky full of light spots.

The sky regained its clarity once more.

The holy Vermilion Bird phantom let out a soft cry.

Its massive body quickly shrank, eventually turning into a palm-sized golden-red bird with magnificent plumage, which obediently landed on Chu Xiao's shoulder and affectionately rubbed against his cheek.

Then, Chu Xiao took a step forward.

He didn't fly, nor did he use any movement technique.

But his figure instantly appeared in front of the Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley.

With the holy Vermilion Bird on his shoulder, the golden-red divine light made his figure look like a descending deity, impossible to look at directly.

Chu Xiao looked at the old man before him who was already scared out of his wits and couldn't even stand steadily, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

He asked softly:

"I said they were fireworks."

"Now, do you think they're beautiful?"

Chu Xiao's gentle smile and soft question fell into the Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley's ears.

But it made him feel as if he'd been struck by lightning, his whole body shaking like a sieve.

The color completely drained from his face, making it whiter than a dead man's.

The hideousness and fanaticism in his eyes were replaced only by fear!

"I..."

The Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley opened his mouth, his lips trembling, and his speech stuttering.

He felt all the strength in his body being drained away instantly.

Thump~!

The next moment, under the gaze of hundreds of Prodigies.

This Soul Transformation Peak expert who had lived for thousands of years felt his legs go weak and fell miserably to his knees.

It wasn't that he wanted to kneel, but that his body was already out of control!

"Sen... Senior! Senior Chu!"

The Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley prostrated himself on the ground, nearly burying his head in the dirt.

"Mercy! Senior, have mercy!!"

"It was this old man who was blind! It was this old man whose heart was clouded by greed! To think I dared to offend the Divine Might! This old man deserves ten thousand deaths! Ten thousand deaths!"

He wailed while banging his head against the ground.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The dull sounds echoed across the plain.

It sounded exceptionally piercing.

Soon, his forehead was a bloody mess.

But he seemed unable to feel the pain, only instinctively repeating the action.

Trying to trade it for a sliver of life.

His kneeling immediately produced a butterfly effect.

Behind him, those Imperial Uncles and Elders who had also been backlashed by the divine fire...

...and were all heavily injured, also struggled out of their fear.

They looked at the Great Elder kneeling on the ground like an old dog begging for mercy.

Then they looked at the white-clothed youth not far away, with a divine bird perched on his shoulder and a smile on his face.

"Senior, have mercy!"

"We were wrong! We won't dare to do it again!"

"We are willing to offer our thousand-year treasury! We only beg Senior to give us a way to live!"

Thump! Thump! Thump!

For a time, the sound of kneeling rose and fell.

The dozens of Soul Transformation realm experts who were just recently peerless and clamoring to grind Chu Xiao's bones to ashes...

...were now all kneeling on the ground like grandchildren.

Kowtowing like pounding garlic, showing every kind of ugly behavior.

That humble appearance was a sharp contrast to their previous arrogance and wildness.

At the edge of the Formation, those innocent bystanders who had been caught in the crossfire...

...Li Mu, Xiao Fan, Young Master of the Pill King Palace, and over a hundred Prodigies from various places all stared blankly at this scene.

Their brains had completely stopped working.

Everything happening before their eyes had completely exceeded the scope of their cognition.

That was the Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley!

That was the Imperial Uncle of the Dayan Holy Dynasty!

Those were dozens of Soul Transformation realm powerhouses who could make a region tremble with a stomp of their feet!

Now, they were begging for Chu Xiao's forgiveness without any dignity.

This scene was too absurd! Too shocking!

Chu Xiao looked down from above at this group of "important figures" who were weeping and kowtowing for mercy.

The gentle smile on his face gradually faded.

"Treasures? A way to live?"

He lightly repeated those two terms, his tone carrying a faint mockery.

"Do you think your so-called treasures are worth anything in my eyes?"

"Do you think your lives are qualified for me to decide whether to forgive or not?"

The Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley's body stiffened, and his pleas for mercy came to an abrupt halt.

Chu Xiao's gaze slowly swept across the group of enemies kneeling and trembling on the ground.

Finally, his vision...

...landed on Princess Ji Ziyue's beautiful face, which was still filled with alarm and shock.

He spoke again: "From the moment you had murderous intent toward the people by my side..."

"...your fate was already decided."

As his voice fell, the Great Elder of Xiaoyao Valley and the others were struck as if by lightning.

Having said that, Chu Xiao wasted no more words.

He slowly raised his hand.

Under everyone's horrified gaze.

He lightly snapped his fingers.

Snap~.

A crisp sound.

The movement was infinitely casual.

However, with this one simple action...

"Chirp!"

The Vermilion Bird divine bird, which had been obediently perched on Chu Xiao's shoulder preening its magnificent feathers, seemed to have received an order.

It raised its head and once again spread its magnificent wings.

The next moment, a rain of golden-red fire appeared out of thin air, filling the sky!