253: Ruins of the Void

"Void Domain!"

As Void Venerable's hoarse and cold voice echoed through the valley, an indescribably vast Domain power descended with a roar!

With him at the center, the space within several thousand feet completely changed. It was no longer the valley landscape of Hundred Beasts Plain, but had transformed into a bizarre, constantly twisting and folding Void labyrinth! Up, down, and all directions lost their meaning; space here was arbitrarily stretched, compressed, and cut, forming countless deadly traps and cages. The dense power of space was like a viscous swamp, fiercely squeezing and binding everything within it.

Within this Domain, Void Venerable was the absolute Dominator! He could appear anywhere he wished, manipulate space for attack and defense, the enemy's perception would be severely distorted, attacks would be lost in the endless Void, and even movement would become incredibly difficult.

"Buzz!"

Li Ao immediately felt his body sink, as if he had fallen into a ten-thousand-foot deep sea. Omnipresent spatial pressure surged from all directions, threatening to crush him. His proud speed was greatly reduced here, and his Divine Thought, when extended, was also disturbed by the twisted and folded space, making it difficult to lock onto Void Venerable's true form.

"Junior, feel the wrath of the Void!"

Void Venerable's voice resonated from all directions simultaneously, carrying a hint of playfulness. The next moment, the space around Li Ao violently collapsed inward, forming a giant spatial vortex, intending to swallow and shred him! At the same time, invisible spatial walls from above, below, left, and right suddenly converged, aiming to seal him in this deadly Domain!

"Li Ao!" Outside the Domain, Medusa and Xiao Yi Xian watched with pounding hearts. They could feel the terrifying killing intent contained within the Domain. Medusa's multicolored light burst forth, ready to forcefully charge into the Domain regardless of the consequences.

"Don't come over!" Li Ao's voice transmitted through the Domain, still steady, "Guard the perimeter, prevent him from escaping!"

She trusted Li Ao's judgment. Medusa forcefully suppressed the urge to act, her snake eyes fixed on the twisted Void. She and Xiao Yi Xian, one on the left and one on the right, sealed the valley's exit.

Inside the Domain, facing this deadly situation, Li Ao's eyes showed no panic; instead, a trace of enlightenment flashed within them.

"Void Domain... using one's will to control a space, forming a Domain of rules. Essentially, it is still the extreme application and distortion of existing spatial rules."

"And my Guixu Great Dao..."

Li Ao slowly closed his eyes, no longer looking with his eyes, no longer perceiving the twisted space with his Divine Sense. He immersed his entire mind into his Guixu Great Dao, to feel the Origin of all things' end and beginning.

"All things in the Universe have their order. Space, too, is a kind of 'existence,' a kind of 'order.'"

"And my Dao... Returning to the Void!"

He suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils blazing with chaotic grey light, like two silent ruin stars!

"No matter your myriad changes, your thousand Divine Abilities, I shall break them with a single force! With my will of Returning to the Void, all methods are silent ruin, all orders are nothing!"

"silent ruin—!"

He no longer tried to resist the twisted space, nor did he search for Void Venerable's true form. Instead, he poured his Guixu Great Dao, Half-Saint power, Emperor Realm Soul, and the power of his Perfection Nirvana Hegemon Body, without reservation, into this self-created Divine Ability!

An invisible fluctuation, transcending ordinary energy levels, spread out from Li Ao like ripples!

Wherever this fluctuation passed, the twisted and folded space was smoothed out as if by an invisible hand!

The inwardly collapsing spatial vortex silently dissipated; the converging spatial walls disintegrated into nothingness before even approaching; the spatial pressure, viscous as a swamp, instantly loosened... The power of Returning to the Void did not destroy space, but rather, from the rule level, erased the abnormal order of the "Void Domain" that Void Venerable had forcibly imposed in this area! It restored it to the calm and stable spatial state that this Heaven and Earth should originally possess!

"What?! This is impossible!!!"

Void Venerable's usually calm and hoarse voice, for the first time, carried a tremor of utter horror! He felt his connection with the "Void Domain" being forcibly severed and erased by an incomparably domineering power! His renowned ultimate skill was so vulnerable before this strange power of "erasure"!

"I found you!"

Just as the Domain was broken and space returned to normal, Li Ao's cold gaze, like the sharpest blade, instantly locked onto Void Venerable, whose body was frozen and aura disordered due to the Domain's backlash!

Strike him while he's down!

"silent ruin!"

The black blade unsheathed, emitting a joyful and bloodthirsty hum! Li Ao gripped the blade with both hands, man and blade as one, his entire being transforming into a chaotic grey blade light that tore through Heaven and Earth! Within the blade light, there was an absolute true meaning of "returning to nothingness," as if even time and Karma could be severed with a single strike!

"Returning to the Void—Sever Reincarnation!"

This strike was faster than thought, the strongest blow Li Ao could unleash at this moment!

Void Venerable's pupils constricted abruptly, and the shadow of death instantly enveloped him. He frantically burned his vital blood, attempting to escape into the Void Realm again, but the surrounding space had just been "smoothed" by the power of Returning to the Void, making it incredibly stable, greatly restricting his escape technique!

"No—!"

He could only watch helplessly as the grey blade light infinitely magnified in his eyes!

"Pfft!"

The blade light passed, soundlessly.

Void Venerable's forward movement abruptly froze, the horror on his face solidified. A thin grey line extended from his glabella all the way to his abdomen.

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately failed to utter any sound. His body, along with the Half-Saint power and Soul within him, and even the traces of his existence, began to slowly dissipate along that grey line, turning into the most fundamental nothingness, returning to this Heaven and Earth.

A Peak Half-Saint Realm powerhouse thus fell!

The grey blade light dissipated, and Li Ao stood holding his blade, breathing slightly, sweat beading on his forehead. Continuously using "silent ruin" and "Sever Reincarnation" was extremely draining for him. But feeling the increasingly well-rounded and stable power within him, and the clearer Dao of Returning to the Void after the intense battle, he felt it was all worth it.

"It's dealt with." He looked at Medusa and Xiao Yi Xian in the distance, revealing a slight smile.

Medusa and Xiao Yi Xian quickly flew over, looking at his slightly pale but inwardly shining face, both breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes filled with admiration and pride. To slay a Peak Half-Saint Realm expert as an Early Stage Half-Saint Realm expert—such a feat, if spread, would be enough to shock the entire Central Continent!

Li Ao put away silent ruin, his gaze falling on the spot where Void Venerable had dissipated. There, an ancient silver ring floated, along with several broken bone fragments shimmering with spatial fluctuations.

"Void Venerable's storage ring, and... seems to be fragments of some kind of spatial teleportation array?" Li Ao drew the items into his hand, his Divine Sense probing the ring, and a hint of joy immediately appeared on his face. It contained a rich collection, including many Heaven And Earth Treasures and ancient texts with spatial attributes, which would be of great benefit to his comprehension of the Dao of Space.

The patterns on those broken bone fragments gave him a sense of familiarity.

"These patterns... are somewhat similar to the aura of the 'bridge of the other shore' fragments I sensed earlier at the edge of the Nirvana Illusionary Domain?" Li Ao's heart stirred, and he carefully put away the bone fragments. It seemed that Void Venerable's constant pursuit of spatial exotic treasures might not have been accidental; he might also have been searching for clues related to the "bridge of the other shore."

This trip to Hundred Beasts Plain yielded far more than expected. Not only did he obtain the hugely potential Void Thunder Dragon Soul and Void Venerable's collection, but he also thoroughly stabilized his Realm in battle and verified the power of the Guixu Great Dao.

"The matter here is concluded; let's go to the next place." Li Ao looked towards the northwest, where, it was rumored, powerful exotic flame fluctuations existed.

New Opportunities awaited them.