195: Chapter 195 The Void Clan

These specks of light—the final echoes of the True Dragon Heaven-Fighting Art—were greedily devoured by the surging black mist all around before they could even touch the ground.

Not even the last ripple of energy could escape, being utterly annihilated into the Void Realm as if it had never existed.

Chu Zhanxiao trembled violently, as if struck by heavenly retribution, and spat out a mouthful of crimson blood.

The blood mist bloomed sorrowfully in the air, like an open Spider Lily.

He stumbled backward, his face as pale as gold paper, his aura withering to the extreme in an instant.

His body, which had been as straight as a pine and stood proudly among his peers, slumped down like a giant tree broken by a storm.

The True Dragon power within his Bloodline—the source of strength that once allowed him to look down upon his generation—was now flickering like a candle in the wind under the crushing weight of this absolute power, and even circulating it became incredibly difficult.

Every breath pulled at the tearing pain deep within his internal organs.

"The death throes of an ant are always so amusing..."

The black shadow's low, cold, and sinister laughter echoed in the solidified air; two points of scarlet light grew increasingly intense, like demonic eyes opening in the deepest part of the abyss, filled with endless greed and morbid mockery.

"Yet... so sweet."

It was savoring. Savoring the fear of its prey trembling in despair—this was a taste more delightful than any delicacy.

It was in no rush to strike again; instead, it slowly raised that giant palm condensed from black mist and took a deep, slow breath—

In an instant, the fear and despair permeating the air, along with the remaining life essence and undissipated Soul fragments of the fallen Cultivators, all turned into wisps of crystalline, twisted streams of light, rushing into its body like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, guided by an invisible force.

After devouring these "emotions" and "Souls," the silhouette of the black shadow became imperceptibly more solid.

The pressure it emitted surged again like a landslide or tsunami, causing the air in this world to solidify like iron, pressing down until the bones of all living beings rattled, and even breathing became a luxury.

"It's over... everything... is over..."

In the crowd, someone let out a hoarse moan.

This sound was so faint, yet so clearly struck at everyone's heart, like ringing the final funeral knell for this feast destined for destruction.

Despair, like the coldest tide, instantly drowned all the remaining Cultivators.

Their faces were drained of color, their pupils unfocused, and the last glimmer of "hope" in their eyes was completely devoured, leaving only empty silence.

Even the desperate, combined strike of peerless Prodigies like Chu Zhanxiao and Jian Tanghuang had been so lightly dismantled by the opponent—in this world, who else could contend with this demon god from the abyss?

Li Chengsi endured the bone-piercing pain in his severed shoulder, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, and held the chengtian sword horizontally before him.

The pale blue Sword Intent around him condensed with difficulty once more, but it was no longer the peerlessly sharp edge of the past; instead, it turned into a circle of azure light, thin as a cicada's wing and flickering, barely protecting the few feet of space around him.

However, this curtain of light fluctuated violently under the silent erosion of the black mist, like a candle in a gale, ready to be completely extinguished at any moment.

He cast a complex glance toward Xuanyuan Zhanxian not far away.

He saw his old rival still supporting his crumbling body with that broken sword, his face pale to the point of being translucent, his aura as weak as a thread of silk in the wind, as if it would be completely extinguished in the next instant.

But strangely, what burned in those iconic scarlet eyes was not the same despair and fear as everyone else—but a kind of nearly insane, burning determination, a trace of indescribable longing, as if he had seen the ultimate mystery.

It was as if this demon god bringing destruction before him was not a grim reaper, but a... key to some ultimate answer.

"There can be no more holding back!"

Jian Tanghuang wiped away the blood with a faint golden glow that had spilled from the corner of her lips due to the backlash, a look of desperate resolve flashing in her beautiful eyes like a cold star cutting through the night sky.

"Otherwise, this place will be the burial ground where you, I, and everyone else will have our bodies and Souls destroyed!"

She knew deeply that if there was even a fraction of hesitation or holding back now, what awaited everyone would be eternal nothingness.

She closed her eyes, then opened them abruptly; her eyes were now filled with a blazing golden light that could burn everything away.

Her hands formed Seals before her chest again, her ten fingers moving like butterflies among flowers, tracing mysterious and unfathomable golden trajectories in the Void Realm, leaving behind lingering afterimages.

The pale golden divine flames that had originally burned around her body suddenly retracted, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, crazily rolling back and gathering entirely at her smooth forehead.

"Hum—"

A slight tremor that reached straight to the Soul sounded.

An ancient, mysterious Phoenix pattern, flowing with the vast aura of the primordial era, slowly emerged from her forehead. The moment the pattern appeared, it was as if the cry of a Phoenix from a distant epoch echoed in the depths of space and time.

"With my divine blood, burning my Divine Soul, I summon—the Ancestral Phoenix True Flame!"

Her voice was as cold as ten-thousand-year black ice, yet it contained a burning determination capable of incinerating the Myriad Heavens and Worlds.

Each word she uttered made her face paler and her aura weaker, but that resolute will burned fiercely like the flames of Nirvana.

"Senior Sister, don't!"

Chu Zhanxiao's eyes cracked with rage, and he exclaimed, his eyes full of anxiety and heartache.

"Burning your Origin divine blood will damage your Dao Foundation, and you might even fall from your Realm forever, never to return!"

However, it was already impossible to stop.

A drop of essence blood, as brilliant as the purest ruby in the world and containing infinite life essence and blazing divine energy, slowly emerged from the center of the Phoenix pattern on Jian Tanghuang's forehead, floating in the air and slowly rotating—finally, it silently melted into the Void Realm.

"Boom!"

The next moment, the pale golden divine flames surrounding Jian Tanghuang underwent a qualitative change, turning into a pure, blazing white, platinum color that seemed capable of purifying all the filth in the world!

As soon as this platinum Ancestral Phoenix True Flame appeared, the temperature surged to a terrifying, indescribable level, burning the surrounding space until it twisted and deformed, emitting an unbearable "sizzling" moan, as if even the underlying Laws that constituted the world were about to be incinerated by it.

What was even more startling was that this Ancestral Phoenix True Flame had a natural restraint against that overbearing and eerie black mist.

Wherever the platinum flames passed, the black mist that seemed capable of devouring everything acted like snow meeting the scorching sun, emitting shrill "hissing" sounds as it rapidly melted and retreated, forcibly carving out a small piece of scorching, bright "pure land" within the thick dark Domain.

"Oh?"

The black shadow let out a slightly surprised exclamation, the greed in its scarlet eyes almost overflowing, turning into substance.

"Burning your Origin to forcibly awaken the Ancestral Phoenix True Flame from the depths of your Bloodline? You are quite a fierce and resolute girl!"

Its tone held a kind of pleasure, as if appreciating a prey's final desperate struggle.

"The more fierce you are, the purer your Origin, and the hotter your Divine Soul... such blood-food is more worthy of my careful savoring and slow enjoyment!"

Its playful mood gradually fading, that pitch-black ghost claw that covered the sky slowly reached out again.

This time, the five fingers spread out, each finger seeming to be condensed from the purest rules of darkness and death, with countless twisting, wriggling black runes emitting an ominous aura appearing on the knuckles.

These runes flickered, emitting an eerie power that devoured all Laws and disintegrated everything, reaching straight for the core of that leaping platinum Phoenix flame!

"Hiss—!!!!!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion as expected. The moment the platinum True Flame and the pitch-black ghost claw collided violently, they fell into a kind of eerie silence and stalemate.

The True Flame crazily burned and purified the black Qi and runes on the ghost claw, emitting a teeth-aching "sizzling" sound like cold water dripping into hot oil, as large swathes of black mist were evaporated into void smoke.

The wriggling black runes on the ghost claw also flickered to the extreme, emitting a terrifying suction and disintegrating force, crazily devouring and dissolving the power of the Ancestral Phoenix True Flame, causing the originally blazing and dazzling platinum light to gradually dim and shrink at a visible speed.

Black and white, two powers representing extreme opposition, crazily crushed and annihilated each other within a square inch.

The surrounding space was constantly twisted, broken, and barely healed under the pressure of such power, forming a chaotic, violent, and deadly turbulence capable of shredding all matter and energy.

Jian Tanghuang's face paled at a visible speed, like high-quality rice paper losing all its color.

Her lips were chapped, her delicate body trembled slightly and uncontrollably, and her breathing became rapid and weak, like a candle in the wind.

Maintaining the Ancestral Phoenix True Flame to contend with this ghost claw had pushed her to the dual limits of her Divine Soul and Physical Body, overdrawing the most fundamental power of her life.

Just as her Origin was about to be exhausted and she was about to collapse—

"Bang!"

The violent energy ripples finally lost their final balance and exploded!

Although silent, the destructive impact slammed solidly into Jian Tanghuang.

"Puff—!"

A large mouthful of brilliant golden blood sprayed from her lips, tracing a sorrowfully beautiful arc in the air.

Her consciousness, like a kite with a broken string, quickly sank into endless darkness. Her delicate body, like a Phoenix with broken wings, was thrown backward powerlessly.

In the nick of time!

A figure, like a ghost, like a streak of light, moved faster than sight could capture, leaving only a faint afterimage with an aura of annihilation in the Void Realm, and in the split second, steadily caught her falling body.

It was Xuanyuan Zhanxian!

His arms steadily supported Jian Tanghuang's limp body; his seemingly thin frame was now like an ancient pine rooted in the earth, forcibly bearing the immense force brought by that terrifying impact.

Just at the moment of contact, his face, already pale as paper, became even more transparent, as if one could see the blue veins under his skin.

His Adam's apple rolled violently up and down, forcibly suppressing the fishy sweetness surging to his throat, not letting a single drop of blood stain the person in his arms.

Jian Tanghuang's consciousness was blurred, sinking into a semi-conscious Chaos; she only felt a cold embrace, carrying a rust-like bloody smell and a deep aura of annihilation, instantly envelop her.

This coldness formed a stark contrast of ice and fire with the heat of the divine blood remaining in her body.

However, strangely, in this extreme cold, she felt an indescribable, seemingly eternal stability—allowing her mind, which was on the verge of collapse and drifting in the raging waves, to find a calm harbor in an instant.

She used her last remaining sliver of wandering consciousness, her eyelids heavy as a thousand jun, and with great difficulty opened a tiny slit.

Caught off guard, she bumped into a pair of scarlet-as-blood eyes right in front of her.

Those eyes were like the purest blood-tempered agate in the abyss, so thick they could not be dissolved, and so deep they could not be seen to the bottom.

At this moment, the previous madness, heat, and determination had faded from them, settling into a deep, heart-palpitating gravity like a deep pool—as if bearing heavy secrets from ages past, and hiding a trace of cold realization that had seen through the fog to face the truth.

Just this one look caused Jian Tanghuang's heart to shake violently, and she almost stopped breathing.

This gaze was so complex that she instantly forgot her own weakness and severe pain.

"Senior... Brother..."

Her voice was as thin as a gossamer thread, so weak it seemed it would drift away with the wind in the next instant, yet it carried an uncontrollable tremor from the depths of her Soul.

Every word seemed to be torn from the deepest part of her lungs, using up her last ounce of strength.

"He... is the Void Clan..."

The words were intermittent, yet clearly audible, like a thunderclap suddenly striking from the Nine Heavens, exploding in the ears and hearts of everyone who remained!

"This is... an eerie clan... from the primordial Divine Martial era,"

She gasped with difficulty; with every word she spoke, her aura grew weaker, and a bottomless despair and fear flooded her eyes—this was an instinctive shudder at the most terrifying existence annihilated in the long river of history.

"The Myriad Heavens and Worlds... exhausted everything... fought bloody battles across countless epochs... mountains of corpses and seas of blood... only then were they... driven back to the Void Abyss... and sealed..."

She coughed violently, and golden blood foam spilled from the corners of her mouth again.

"They should not... should not have... appeared in the world again!!!"

The last sentence, nearly a roar, exhausted her final strength, her eyes quickly unfocused, and she fell into a coma again.

"The Void Clan..."

Xuanyuan Zhanxian repeated these four words in a low voice, his arm holding Jian Tanghuang tightening unconsciously, his knuckles turning a grim, pale blue from the excessive force.

His gaze, however, was like a steel needle tempered for ten thousand years and frozen for eternity, nailed firmly onto the black shadow not far away that was slowly absorbing the last trace of escaping vital energy.

The black shadow seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of despair among the people at this moment; it crazily absorbed the remaining fear and Soul Power around it, its originally somewhat illusory outline becoming solid at a visible speed, the gray mist around its body as thick as ink that could not be dissolved, and every breath it took was accompanied by the silent wailing and weeping of thousands of Souls from the depths of the Void Realm.

Xuanyuan Zhanxian's voice was low and calm, slowly spreading in this dead, silent graveyard, yet it carried a chill that seeped into the marrow and froze the Soul, causing everyone who still had a breath left to feel as if their hearts had fallen into a bottomless ice cave.

On the other side, Chu Zhanxiao had just struggled to climb up from the ruins he had been thrown into by the energy turbulence, the wounds on his chest splitting open, blood gushing out.

When he heard the four words "Void Clan" arduously spat out by Jian Tanghuang, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his face instantly turning as pale as a dead person, and his body uncontrollably trembling violently—

Clearly, he had also seen a few words about this clan in the fragments of the oldest and most forbidden classics of his Family.

This was an absolute taboo that even ancient gods and demons would avoid, and even mentioning its name might invite misfortune!

And at this moment, this taboo was standing right in front of them.