42: Your death penalty will be judged by heaven

Blood clouds pressed down on the city.

The Qingyun Sect's mountain-protecting Formation, that azure light which usually resembled a heavenly curtain, now caused fragments of rock to roll down the entire mountain range with every tremor.

Zhao Wuji hovered in mid-air, behind him the Blood Fiend Sect's final frenzy.

"Break!"

He struck with a palm.

A blood-red hand, condensed from viscous Devilish Qi, slammed heavily onto the light barrier.

Crack.

A grating sound of shattering.

Clear cracks spread from the point of impact, no longer a fine web, but a ferocious wound, almost tearing the sky apart.

Above the main peak, the Qingyun Sect Master, who was presiding over the Formation, felt a sweetness in his throat, spitting out a mouthful of blood mist, and collapsing entirely.

Several Elders behind him also staggered violently.

"Hold on!"

The Sect Master roared hoarsely, his voice tinged with blood.

But everyone knew it couldn't be held any longer.

On the mountain gate plaza, countless Outer Sect Disciples slumped to the ground, their magical swords slipping from their grasp, clattering onto the bluestone slabs with a crisp yet despairing sound.

Su Qing bit her lower lip tightly.

Her fingernails had dug deep into her palms, and warm drops of blood slid between her fingers, yet she was completely oblivious.

Her body trembled uncontrollably.

Not from fear.

It was anger, the powerlessness of being as insignificant as dust in the face of absolute power.

Zhao Wuji's wild laughter pierced through the crumbling Formation, like demonic sounds invading the mind.

"You killed my son! Today, I will ensure that not a single soul in the Qingyun Sect, from top to bottom, remains alive!"

...Inner Sect, Lu Yuan's Immortal Cave.

It was utterly silent.

The apocalypse outside was merely a flowing backdrop outside his window.

Lu Yuan sat by the window, gazing at the illusory light screen before him, visible only to him.

["Probability of 'Heavenly Thunder of Demonic Aura Purification' manifesting: 0.1%"]

The number remained unchanged.

Trying to manipulate the heavens with karma points alone was ultimately a delusion.

The Heavenly Dao had its own principles.

What he needed to do was not to create, but to add enough weight to one side of the scale for the outcome he desired.

A catalyst.

Lu Yuan's thoughts stirred slightly.

A Demonic Path Magical Artifact, entirely black and exuding an ominous aura, quietly slid out of his Storage Pouch.

Zhao Qian's Relics.

He didn't even get up, merely flicked a finger.

The Magical Artifact transformed into an inconspicuous black light, silently piercing through the stone wall and burrowing into the earth's pulse.

Like a fish entering water, it stealthily moved to a Spiritual Qi node of the mountain gate Formation.

There, he had long ago surveyed a tiny flaw.

Afterward, he took out another blank Jade Slip.

His Divine Sense sank in, rapidly imprinting an ancient Pill Formula.

This was something he had exchanged from the Exchange's database, and it had only one purpose.

When refined, it would produce a peculiar aroma called "Thunder Catalyst."

The Jade Slip, enveloped by a wisp of spiritual power, floated silently like a fallen leaf to the entrance of the Pill Hall Elder's seclusion chamber.

Having completed all of this, Lu Yuan sat down again.

He picked up the cup of tea, which had long since grown cold.

And waited quietly.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

From the direction of the Pill Hall, a suppressed cry of ecstatic surprise suddenly rang out.

"An ancient Pill Formula! This... this is an ancient Pill Formula!"

Soon, a strong pill aroma, mixed with a slightly burnt, metallic-smelling, peculiar scent, rose from the Pill Hall, rapidly spreading out.

The Pill Hall Elder, who had found a treasure, had already opened his furnace.

At the same time.

The sinister Devilish Qi emitted by the Demonic Artifact Lu Yuan had buried resonated with Zhao Wuji's monstrous demonic flames.

The two forces formed a subtle resonance.

The Demonic Artifact as the root.

The pill aroma as the catalyst.

Five hundred thousand karma points as the final push.

The three superimposed.

Above the Qingyun Sect, in that clear sky, the Spiritual Qi began to twist violently and wildly in a visibly noticeable way.

On the light screen before Lu Yuan.

That number began to jump wildly, without warning!

[Probability of manifestation: 17.3%]

[Probability of manifestation: 45.9%]

[Probability of manifestation: 88.2%]

Enough.

Lu Yuan set down his teacup with a soft clink.

And at that very moment.

Boom!!!

A tremendous sound that shook heaven and earth.

The mountain-protecting Formation, under another heavy blow from Zhao Wuji, shattered with a crash like glazed glass.

Countless specks of light scattered, beautiful yet despairing.

Zhao Wuji let out a long howl to the sky, and blood-colored Devilish Qi transformed into thousands of sharp claws, about to tear all living beings before him into shreds.

However.

His laughter abruptly ceased.

The sky turned black.

It wasn't dark clouds obscuring the sun.

Rather, it was a pure, lightless, inky blackness, forcibly erased by a higher existence, that had descended.

The next instant.

A golden crack tore through this darkness.

That was not lightning.

That was a pillar of light condensed from the most fundamental Law, carrying an undeniable will, descending with a roar from above the Nine Heavens.

It did not disperse in the slightest.

Its target was incredibly precise.

It was precisely Zhao Wuji, where the Devilish Qi was most intense and his aura most frenzied.