657: Chapter 657 Compound Sounds

At the very instant her mind was shaken, the Heavenly Maiden's offensive surged before her like a tidal wave, and she dared not meet its edge head-on.

Her figure moved frantically through the Void Realm, fast as a grey lightning bolt tearing through the darkness, each flash landing in a completely different position—

Sometimes sweeping a thousand feet to the left, sometimes soaring ten thousand feet into the sky, or curling back a hundred miles.

Her speed was unimaginably fast, so fast that she left countless lifelike afterimages in the Void Realm, each one as solid as reality, as if she existed simultaneously in thousands of coordinates.

Yet those silver-blue specks of light were faster.

They seemed to have developed intelligence; no matter how the Nether Maiden twisted and turned, they could accurately lock onto her trajectory, pursuing her relentlessly like maggots on a bone.

Even more terrifying was their overwhelming number, densely filling the entire Void Realm, sealing off all her paths of retreat and forcing her into a desperate situation.

The Nether Maiden gritted her teeth, her hands rapidly forming seals.

Her ten fingers fluttered like trembling butterfly wings, so fast it was dazzling, each change in hand seal accompanied by a low and hurried chant of incantations.

Following the changes in hand seals, countless grey chains as thick as arms surged from the depths of the Nether River—the surface of the chains was carved with fine runes, which flickered with a dark and cold grey light.

These chains rose from the river bottom like giant pythons, baring fangs and brandishing claws as they pounced toward those silver-blue specks of light, attempting to entangle, bind, and crush them.

The moment the chains collided with the specks of light—

"Crack—"

A crisp and piercing sound of snapping exploded in the Void Realm.

Those seemingly indestructible grey chains, the instant they touched the silver-blue specks of light, shattered inch by inch like rotten wood meeting a sharp blade.

The broken fragments of the chains flew through the air, turning into grey specks of light and quietly dissipating, not leaving even a trace of residue behind.

And those silver-blue specks of light not only did not lose momentum but actually increased in speed, continuing to hunt down the Nether Maiden.

The Nether Maiden's expression grew increasingly grim.

She had long known the Heavenly Maiden was powerful, but she had not expected her to be this tyrannical.

Both are ancient existences, both are Dominators in charge of a river, why is the gap so vast?

She gritted her teeth hard and stopped dodging.

Because she finally understood that dodging was meaningless.

Before the Heavenly Maiden's power of Karma, all evasion was futile, serving only to waste energy in vain and sink herself deeper into the quagmire.

She abruptly halted her figure, her feet stepping firmly in the Void Realm, and her hands slowly closed before her.

She closed her eyes, then suddenly opened them—the instant she opened them, an unprecedented, intense light erupted from those grey pupils.

She was going to mobilize the full power of the Nether River.

The entire Nether River was responding to her call.

The river water surged wildly, the silt at the bottom of the river was churned upside down, and countless wandering souls rushed out from the river water, letting out heart-wrenching wails.

These wandering souls turned into streams of grey Qi, madly pouring into the Nether Maiden's body, causing her Aura to climb steadily.

Thick grey mist radiated from her entire body, and within the mist surged the faces of countless wandering souls—they were roaring, weeping, and cursing, composing a scene of extreme terror.

Then, she concentrated all her power before her.

A huge grey shield appeared out of thin air.

The shield was over a hundred feet high, fifty feet wide, and three feet thick, its entire body presenting a shade of grey so deep it was suffocating.

The surface of the shield was covered in eerie patterns—these patterns were not carved, but woven from countless threads of terminated Karma.

Each thread of Karma represented a terminated life, a severed fate, a world erased.

They intertwined to form an extremely complex and terrifying pattern—in the very center of the pattern was a huge skull, and in the skull's eye sockets burned grey flames; as the flames flickered, they radiated an Aura that terminated all things.

This shield condensed all the power of termination that the Nether River had accumulated over billions of years.

The silver-blue specks of light slammed hard into the shield.

"Boom—"

A deafening roar suddenly exploded, so loud that the entire Void Realm seemed to be trembling violently.

This was not a simple explosion, but a composite sound of countless noises mixed together—there was the clanging of metal colliding, the crisp sound of glass shattering, the rumbling of thunder bursting, and even the screaming of wailing souls.

The various sounds intertwined, playing a terrifying symphony.

Silver-blue fireworks bloomed one after another in the Void Realm.

These fireworks were breathtakingly beautiful—the silver-blue light burst in the darkness, turning into countless tiny specks of light that scattered in all directions.

The specks of light drew graceful arcs in the Void Realm, leaving behind trails of silver-blue, like a grand and splendid meteor shower.

Each bloom of fireworks was accompanied by a violent fluctuation of the power of Karma; this fluctuation spread outwards, causing the entire Void Realm to tremble slightly.

However, hidden beneath this beautiful exterior was extreme danger.

These silver-blue fireworks were, in essence, a violent eruption of the power of Karma.

Each time a firework bloomed, it meant a piece of Karma was detonated, a destiny was rewritten.

If these fireworks were to fall into some world, it would be enough to make the threads of Karma of that world completely chaotic, triggering a series of unpredictable catastrophes.

The shield began to crack.

Not just one or two, but dense cracks like a spider web.

These cracks started from the center of the shield and spread wildly in all directions, as if an invisible spider were frantically weaving a web on the shield.

The cracks became more numerous, denser, and deeper, soon crawling all over the surface of the shield.

Through the cracks, one could see the grey light inside the shield flickering violently—this was the power of the Nether River desperately trying to maintain the shield's integrity.

However, the Heavenly Maiden's offensive had not even truly begun.

These silver-blue specks of light were merely a tentative attack she had waved out casually, not even one-tenth of her true strength.

And at this moment, just these casual, careless strikes had already brought the Nether Maiden's full-strength shield to the brink of collapse.

This was the gap.

The Heavenly Maiden, who is in charge of the River of Time, and the Nether Maiden, who is in charge of the Nether River, are both the most ancient existences, but the years the Heavenly Maiden has existed are far more distant than the Nether Maiden's, and her comprehension of the Law is even more unfathomable.

The Heavenly Maiden has witnessed the rise and fall of countless eras, witnessed countless reshapes and subversions of Karma; her understanding of the power of Karma has long reached a Realm that the Nether Maiden cannot reach.

In the face of absolute power, all techniques are pale and futile.

"Boom—"

The shield finally burst apart.

This grey shield, which had condensed all the power of the Nether River, could ultimately not withstand the continuous impact of the silver-blue specks of light.

It was like a glass wall smashed by a heavy hammer, instantly shattering into countless fragments that shot out in all directions.

The fragments turned into grey specks of light in the air, then quickly dissipated, as if they had never existed.

The Nether Maiden was knocked back hundreds of feet by the aftermath of the explosion.

She tumbled several times in the Void Realm before barely steadying herself.

A wisp of grey blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, dripping down her jaw and leaving a grey trail in the Void Realm.

Her hair bun had long since come undone, her long hair draped over her shoulders, covering half of her face.

Her grey Void Neon Dress had several tears, revealing fair skin where a few shallow bloodstains remained.

She looked extremely disheveled.

But she did not fall.

She slowly raised her head, her grey pupils staring fixedly at the Heavenly Maiden; there was no fear in her eyes, no retreat, but instead, a more frenzied flame ignited.

This flame was a near-maniacal obsession, a determination to do what one knows cannot be done, a stubbornness that would never retreat even if shattered to pieces.

The corners of her mouth slowly lifted, revealing an eerie smile.

This smile was very strange—clearly in a disadvantaged position, clearly beaten to a disheveled state, yet she smiled as if she were the winner.

This smile hid triumph, hid cunning, and hid a certainty of victory.

"Heavenly Maiden."

She spoke word by word, her voice carrying a strange triumph, each word sounding like it was squeezed out from between her teeth, carrying a gnashing-of-teeth satisfaction.

"This is the end of the endless Void Realm."

She paused, looked around, her gaze sweeping over the fragments of time floating in the Void Realm, sweeping over the River of Time quietly flowing in the distance, sweeping over the threads of Karma looming in the darkness.

"Just a casual movement can change a piece of Karma."

Her gaze fell back onto the Heavenly Maiden, the smile at the corners of her mouth deepening a bit, revealing a row of white teeth that looked particularly glaring against the grey background.

"Do you dare to use your full strength?"

The instant these words fell, the atmosphere of the entire Void Realm suddenly froze.

The air seemed to solidify into ice, time seemed to stand still, and even the dust floating in the Void Realm stood perfectly still.

A subtle balance was completely broken, replaced by a tension so suffocating it was deathly silent.