81: Black Emperor Sect

The Thunder Python roared, its massive body entirely condensed from destructive lightning, causing ripples of distortion in space wherever it passed! Its open, giant lightning maw was like an all-devouring thunder pool, emitting a terrifying pressure that made one’s Soul tremble! A Peak Seventh-Tier, comparable to a human Dou Zong!

With pursuers behind and a fierce beast blocking his path ahead!

Li Ao instantly fell into an unprecedented predicament!

His eyes were icy cold. Instead of retreating, he pushed the Annihilation Rule within his body, which had just stabilized, to its limit! The silver-gray vortex in his pupils spun wildly, and a terrifying Concept, as if capable of ending all things and returning all laws to stillness, erupted outwards from him!

“You beast! Get lost!”

He let out a low roar, not drawing his blade, but instead condensing all his Rule power and remaining Dou Qi onto his right fist! At the fist’s edge, dark golden Qi and gray-black Annihilation Qi intertwined, as if he were holding a miniature, collapsing black hole!

Facing the devouring maw of the Thunder Python, he did not dodge or evade, and slammed his fist out with ferocity!

“Hegemon Fist — Annihilation!”

The fist struck silently!

But wherever the fist’s edge passed, the violent lightning power seemed to encounter its natural nemesis, emitting a mournful sound of annihilation, disintegrating and dissipating! The Thunder Python’s body, composed of pure energy, upon contact with this Fist Intent containing the Concept of “Annihilation,” crumbled inch by inch from its head, like a sandcastle thrown into the Return to Stillness!

There was no explosion, no impact.

Only the most thorough… eradication!

The hundred-zhang Thunder Python, before that seemingly tiny fist, lasted less than a breath before completely turning into nothingness from head to tail, as if it had never existed! Only a temporarily clear Void Realm remained, along with the slowly rotating cluster of colorful liquid—the mutated earth core soul marrow!

One punch! Annihilating a Peak Seventh-Tier Thunder Python!

This was the power of Li Ao’s deeper application of the Annihilation Rule after initially fusing with that wisp of ancient, deathly silent Qi! Although he was far from recovering his Peak strength, the essence of his Rule had already undergone a transformation!

However, forcefully unleashing this punch also almost drained the little Dou Qi he had just recovered. A tearing pain came from his Meridians, and his face instantly turned ashen. He groaned, his body swayed, almost falling from the air.

Just then—

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Several sharp attacks came from above! It was the Black Emperor Sect pursuers who had followed closely into the abyss! Though shocked to see Li Ao annihilate the Thunder Python with one punch, they also saw that he was at the end of his rope and immediately seized the opportunity to attack!

Bloody blade Qi, corrosive energy spheres, and Mo Ya’s Dou Qi streaked with malevolent Qi, sealed off all of Li Ao’s escape routes from different angles!

“Strike him while he’s down! Kill him!” Mo Ya’s face twisted into a sinister smile.

Li Ao’s eyes turned cold. His current condition was extremely poor; taking these attacks head-on would surely result in serious injury.

In a flash, he made a bold decision!

Instead of defending or dodging, he forcibly gathered his last breath, executed the Thunder Sound Steps, and, like a moth to a flame, moved forward instead of retreating, actively rushing towards the suspended cluster of colorful liquid—the mutated earth core soul marrow!

“What does he want to do?!”

“Is he trying to die?! That energy is so violent, direct contact will surely be fatal!”

The Black Emperor Sect members were both surprised and suspicious.

Just as their attacks were about to land, and Li Ao’s palm was about to touch the cluster of colorful liquid—

Li Ao suddenly opened his mouth, not to receive the liquid, but to let out a low roar imbued with his newly comprehended “Annihilation” Concept!

“Ji!”

The strange syllable seemed to trigger a certain Rule!

The originally violently rotating cluster of colorful liquid suddenly paused! The colorful light flowing on its surface seemed to be forcibly solidified, and the immense energy and vitality contained within it were, in that instant, forcibly suppressed by the “Annihilation” Intent, becoming slightly docile!

It was this sliver of an opening!

Li Ao’s palm, covered with a thin layer of gray-black Qi, shot out like lightning, not grabbing the entire liquid, but precisely cutting off a cluster about one-third its size from its edge!

The moment it entered his hand, an indescribably vast energy and a cool, Soul-nourishing sensation surged into his body through his arm! But at the same time, the temporarily suppressed Origin power of wind and thunder also began to resist violently, bringing tearing pain!

Li Ao grunted, and without hesitation, placed the cut-off cluster of colorful liquid into his storage ring!

And just as he succeeded, the attacks from the Black Emperor Sect members finally landed!

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The energy explosions completely engulfed his original position! The violent shockwave violently sent him flying, slamming him heavily against the abyss wall, causing him to spit out another mouthful of blood.

But he used this impact, and the instant recovery brought by the pure energy that surged into his body when he collected the Soul marrow, to forcibly stabilize himself, and fled desperately upwards towards the top of the abyss without looking back!

“Chase! He stole the rare treasure!” Mo Ya roared in exasperation.

However, having lost one-third of the earth core soul marrow, the remaining portion seemed to lose its balance, suddenly erupting into an even more terrifying energy storm! Colorful light mixed with violent lightning and hurricanes swept outwards like a tsunami!

The Black Emperor Sect members were the first to bear the brunt!

“Not good! Retreat quickly!”

The Eight-Star Dou Huang Ge Ye’s face changed drastically, and he hastily put up a defense, but was instantly sent flying by the energy storm, spitting out blood! The other guards suffered even heavier casualties!

The entire bottom of the Thunder Prison Valley was completely filled with destructive energy!

Li Ao, relying on the Thunder Sound Steps and his keen perception of energy fluctuations, struggled to weave through the gaps in the storm, rushing upwards regardless of everything!

When he finally rushed out of the abyss and returned to the sky above Thunder Prison Valley, the energy storm below also completely erupted, swallowing the entire valley floor! Those Black Emperor Sect members who couldn’t escape in time, as well as some unlucky people still fighting at the valley entrance, instantly turned into ashes!

The remaining forces at the valley entrance stared in horror at the erupting energy pillar, retreating one after another, no one daring to approach anymore.

Li Ao landed on a distant scorched mountain Peak, panting heavily, his clothes tattered, blood-stained, and his aura extremely weak. He glanced at the destructive scene, then touched the much more docile cluster of colorful liquid in his storage ring, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes.

He made the right gamble!

He dared not stay here long, enduring his injuries, identified a direction, and stumbled towards the outer reaches of the mountain range.

He had to find an absolutely safe place immediately to refine this earth core soul marrow and recover from his injuries!

Not long after Li Ao left, Elder Bei of the Wind and Thunder Pavilion looked at the Thunder Prison Valley, which had returned to calm but was now utterly desolate, his face grim. The rare treasure had clearly been taken in part by that mysterious young man, the Black Emperor Sect suffered heavy losses, and their Wind and Thunder Pavilion gained nothing.

“Investigate! Find out the Origin of that young man!”

And at this moment, Li Ao had found an extremely hidden cave in the mountain range, carved out by lightning. After setting up a concealment Restriction at the entrance, he immediately sat down cross-legged and took out the mutated earth core soul marrow.

Colorful streams of light shimmered, and the immense energy and vitality almost overflowed.

“I hope… you can help me recover, and even more… save her.”

A hint of tenderness flashed in Li Ao’s eyes, immediately replaced by determination. He took a deep breath, no longer hesitating, and guided the cluster of colorful liquid to slowly merge into his Sea of Consciousness in his glabella, while simultaneously circulating the Black Iron Hegemon Body, beginning to refine the boundless energy within it… This time, could he break through and rise again, returning to his Peak? Could this Soul marrow, containing the Origin of wind and thunder, become the key to awakening Medusa?

The seclusion began! The storm brewed within and without him simultaneously!