207: Black mist devours the world, extinguishing the flames.

The ancient bronze lamp felt cold in his hand, and the incomplete star map and ancient information on it flowed into Ye Chen's mind. "War of Origin", "Void", "Creation", "Nine Fragments"... These terms were like pebbles thrown into a lake, giving him a more terrifying yet clearer understanding of the Karma behind the chaos ancestral talisman.

He put away the ancient lamp, no longer lingering in this dead temple. With a flicker of his figure, he appeared outside the temple.

However, the moment he stepped out of the temple ruins, a sudden change occurred!

It did not come from the bronze corpse soldiers in the city that were once again wandering aimlessly, but from higher up, from the eternally dark firmament of this Star Abyss of Fallen Gods!

"Hiss—!"

It was as if a huge, invisible black silk cloth had been forcibly torn! Above the firmament, that expanse of originally deep darkness was now wriggling like a living creature, and it was rapidly sinking and spreading downwards!

It was not a physical entity, nor was it energy; it was more like a manifestation of "non-existence"! A pure "Void" that longed to devour all "existence"!

The pitch-black mist poured down from the torn "Heavenly Hole" like a breached flood! This black mist was completely different from the Evil Qi and Death Qi encountered before; it was purer, colder, and more... greedy! Wherever it passed, even space itself seemed to be "eaten", leaving behind patches of absolute "vacuum" zones where even light and Divine Sense could not exist!

Those bronze corpse soldiers in the city, touched by this black mist, did not even have time to struggle before they vanished without a trace, as if erased by an eraser, as if they had never existed. The dilapidated buildings, streets, and even the dead city itself were falling into "nothingness" in large swaths under the spread of the black mist!

"This is...?!" Ye Chen's pupils contracted sharply. From the black mist pouring down, he felt a breath that was homologous to the "Void" mentioned in the information transmitted by the chaos ancestral talisman, but it was more violent and more malicious!

This black mist was coming for him! Or rather, it was coming for the Chaos Fire Seed (the ancient lamp flame) he had just obtained, which contained the power of "life"!

"Stealing... Creation... Defiling... Void... Shall... Erase..."

A cold, chaotic consciousness, as if gathered from the wails of countless worlds, came like a tidal wave from the center of the black mist, locking onto Ye Chen!

There was no time to think; the black mist that devoured everything was already sweeping towards the area where Ye Chen was located like a monstrous wave! Its speed was far beyond his escape speed!

There was no escaping!

Ye Chen's eyes instantly became incredibly sharp. He could feel that the level of this black mist was extremely high, and the "Void" Law it contained even faintly suppressed his Nirvana Sword Intent! Nirvana was the end, a return to silence, but the "Void" represented by this black mist wanted to devour even the process of "returning to silence"—it was a more absolute, more domineering "non-existence"!

He could not resist it head-on!

He violently urged the bit of "Chaos Fire Seed" power he had just integrated into the chaos ancestral talisman to the limit! A ray of Chaos brilliance containing a faint yet incredibly pure breath of "life" bloomed from within him, like a solitary lamp lit in absolute darkness!

"Hum—!"

The sweeping black mist, the moment it touched this Chaos brilliance, actually rolled and retreated as if it had encountered some natural enemy! That pure power of "Void" seemed to have an instinctive repulsion and a trace of... dread towards this Chaos Fire Seed, which represented the source of "creation" and "existence"!

It was effective!

But Ye Chen knew clearly that this bit of newly acquired Fire Seed power was too weak to resist this vast, sea-like Void black mist for long! Once the Fire Seed power was exhausted, he would surely be completely devoured and erased by this black mist!

He had to counterattack! Or... find the source!

His gaze pierced through the rolling black mist and locked onto the "Heavenly Hole" in the firmament that was continuously pouring out black mist! Deep within that "Heavenly Hole", he vaguely felt a trace of a more condensed, more core "Void" breath; that seemed to be the core of the black mist controlling everything!

"Want to erase me? Then let's see whether your 'Void' devours my 'existence', or my 'Nirvana' ends your 'Void'!"

A flash of ruthlessness and determination crossed Ye Chen's eyes. He knew this was a life-or-death contest at the rule level! He no longer defended passively, but forcibly fused his Great Accomplishment Nirvana Sword Intent, the power of the chaos ancestral talisman, and the weak power of the Chaos Fire Seed together!

This was an extremely dangerous attempt! Nirvana represented "death", the Fire Seed represented "life"; the two were essentially opposed. If not for the chaos ancestral talisman, which served as the Foundation that contained everything, it would have triggered a terrible backlash instantly!

"Chaos as a bridge, life and death cycle! Nirvana — Life Flame Sword!"

Ye Chen let out a low roar. On the guixu sword, it was no longer pure gray silence, but was wrapped in a layer of weak yet stubbornly jumping Chaos-colored flames! These flames not only carried the Nirvana intent of burning everything to the end but also contained a trace of the creative power of Nirvana rebirth!

He slashed out with his sword, not at the surrounding black mist, but transformed into a world-shocking sword rainbow of gray mixed with color, going against the current, stabbing straight at the "Heavenly Hole" high above!

Wherever the sword rainbow passed, the black mist that devoured everything seemed to encounter a nemesis, retreating and dissolving one after another! That trace of Chaos Life Flame could, before being devoured by the "Void", forcibly ignite a concept of "existence", opening up a short path in the black mist!

"Roar—!"

From deep within the black mist came a roar mixed with anger and a trace of surprise! The core "Void" consciousness seemed not to have expected that Ye Chen could unleash such an attack containing the power of two opposing rules, "life" and "death"!

Inside the "Heavenly Hole", the black mist gathered frantically, condensing into a giant palm purely composed of "Void", five fingers spread, grabbing fiercely at the incoming sword rainbow! Wherever the palm passed, all things returned to silence, and even the lines of Law were broken!

"Boom!!!"

The sword rainbow and the Void giant palm collided fiercely!

There was no sound, no energy shockwave. Only two completely opposite and mutually restraining rules were silently annihilating and confronting each other!

The gray-colored sword rainbow was trembling violently, the Chaos Life Flame on it flickering, as if it would go out at any moment. And that Void giant palm was also blocked by the contradictory power of Nirvana and life contained in the sword rainbow; black mist was constantly being forcibly "ignited" and "returned to silence" in the palm, unable to close completely.

Stalemate!

Ye Chen felt his own Protective Aura, Divine Soul, and even his comprehension of the rules were being consumed at an unprecedented speed. He gritted his teeth, frantically squeezing the power of the chaos ancestral talisman and the Yuan Embryo, desperately supporting the sword rainbow so it would not be extinguished!

He knew he could not hold on for long. The existence behind this black mist was far stronger than him!

Just as he was about to run out of strength and the sword rainbow began to dim and collapse—

A new change occurred!

The chaos ancestral talisman in his Qi Sea seemed to be triggered by this collision of the ultimate rules of "life" and "death", "existence" and "void", and it shook violently! A piece of more ancient, more obscure, and seemingly from the beginning of the Universe's birth, an intent fragment flashed through his mind like lightning!

It was not a complete Legacy, but more like a... mark! An Origin mark belonging to "Chaos" that countered "Void"!

"Chaos... undying... existence... is eternal..."

With a flash of inspiration, Ye Chen almost instinctively integrated this newly perceived Chaos Origin mark into the sword rainbow that was about to collapse!

"Hum—!"

The originally dim sword rainbow suddenly erupted with an indescribable ancient brilliance that seemed capable of settling the Universe and reopening heaven and earth! That trace of Chaos Life Flame seemed to have received infinite nourishment, instantly soaring and turning into an eternally undying Chaos Holy Fire!

"Chi—!"

Like a hot knife cutting into solidified grease, the giant palm composed of pure "Void" was, in front of this Holy Fire sword rainbow containing the Chaos Origin mark, like encountering the nemesis of all nemeses; it was slashed in two from the middle, then collapsed with a bang, turning into the most basic Void particles, and was completely purified and annihilated by the surrounding Chaos Holy Fire!

The sword rainbow did not lose its momentum, like the first ray of light that created the world, and instantly pierced into the depths of the "Heavenly Hole" high above!

"No—!!!"

A sharp shriek filled with disbelief and extreme pain came from the depths of the "Heavenly Hole"! The torrent of black mist pouring down was suddenly interrupted and collapsed!

The "Heavenly Hole" torn on the firmament also began to heal and disappear at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Vaguely, Ye Chen seemed to see, behind the healing "Heavenly Hole", in the depths of the endless Void, a pair of eyes filled with extreme coldness and resentment looked at him deeply, as if to completely remember his Soul mark, and then completely disappeared.

The black mist completely dissipated, and the sky returned to its dead darkness. If not for the large areas of the dead city below being completely "erased", leaving behind terrifying, mirror-smooth cross-sections, it would be as if nothing had happened.

Ye Chen slowly descended from mid-air, knelt on one knee, supported his body with the guixu sword, his face pale as paper, gasping for breath, his robes soaked with sweat.

The explosion in that instant had almost drained all his strength, and he had even used the Chaos Origin mark, which he himself had not yet fully understood; the burden on him was enormous.

But he survived.

Moreover, he clearly perceived that at the last moment, the chaos ancestral talisman seemed to have loosened slightly because of triggering that Origin mark and completely fusing the "Chaos Fire Seed", and there seemed to be something deeper and more ancient inside it.

He raised his head and looked towards the depths of the Star Abyss of Fallen Gods, which had returned to calm but was still dangerous, his eyes incredibly solemn.

"Void"... has already come knocking.

His time, perhaps, was running out.