255: Godhood shattered, lord's wrath
Time, it seemed, had frozen at this moment.
Ye Chen's fingertips tapped lightly upon that dark Godhead that was about to fully coalesce.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling brilliance, only an ultimate sense of extinction—as if the very concept of 'existence' itself were to be erased—that spread silently like mercury pouring upon the ground.
That dark Godhead, compressed from countless suffering Souls and containing a portion of the Abyssal Lord's authority and will, suddenly froze the moment it was touched by the 'return to silence of the Infinite'!
The swirling black light on its surface, symbolizing dominion and destruction, halted instantly!
Then—
'Crack...'
A faint, almost imperceptible crisp sound came from within the Godhead.
A hair-thin crack appeared on the smooth surface of the Godhead.
This crack appeared insignificant, yet it seemed to contain a certain absolute power of negation, instantly destroying the perfect energy structure and Law balance within!
'No—! My Godhead!!!'
Upon the throne of bones, the shadow, which had already manifested most of its outline, let out a heart-wrenching roar filled with endless pain and fury!
This roar was no longer a simple spiritual fluctuation, but a wail that truly stirred the Laws of the world!
The entire Valley of Buried Soldiers trembled violently, and the dark red thunderclouds gathering above the firmament churned madly, raining down countless destructive Devilish Qi thunderbolts, striking the earth and blasting open bottomless scorched pits!
The cracks on the dark Godhead spread rapidly as if they possessed life, covering the entire surface of the Godhead in the blink of an eye!
The originally vast and suffocating pressure of the Lord rapidly declined and became chaotic, like a deflating ball!
The Devilish Qi and skeletal resentment that constituted the shadow's body began to boil and dissipate uncontrollably, and its clear outline became blurred and twisted once again!
The dark bone claw it had reached out disintegrated first, turning into wisps of black smoke, and together with the dark singularity that had not yet fully dissipated in its palm, it annihilated into nothingness!
'Ant! You dare... destroy my Dao foundation!!' the shadow's voice was filled with unbelievable venom and madness.
Manifesting its body, especially condensing this Godhead representing authority, had cost it immense effort and power, and it was the key to its early arrival!
Now that the Godhead was destroyed, not only was its arrival hindered, but its main body's will had also suffered significant backlash!
'Boom—!!!'
Having lost the Godhead as its core hub, the ten-thousand-foot-tall throne of bones seemed to lose its support, emitting a teeth-grinding groan.
Huge cracks began to appear on its massive base, and countless bones and remnants of divine weapons that made up the throne fell down with a rustle; the entire throne actually showed signs of disintegrating and collapsing!
'Pfft—!'
At the same time, Ye Chen, who had forcibly executed 'return to silence of the Infinite' and was nearly exhausted, could no longer maintain that mysterious state.
The extreme 'Emptiness' around his body instantly dissipated, and a strong sense of weakness and backlash pierced into his Divine Soul and Physical Body like billions of steel needles!
He looked up and spat out a large mouthful of golden blood containing fragments of his internal organs.
His vision went black, his consciousness sank rapidly into darkness, and his body fell helplessly from mid-air like a kite with a broken string.
In the instant before he completely lost consciousness, he vaguely saw the shadow on the verge of collapse on the throne using its last remaining strength to condense a twisted Abyssal mark filled with the most malicious curses, which shot towards his falling body like a maggot on a tarsal bone!
He wanted to dodge, but he didn't even have the strength to move a finger.
'Ssh!'
That Abyssal mark, exuding an ominous aura, precisely branded itself onto his chest, instantly sinking into his skin and disappearing.
A cold, filthy power began to spread along his Meridians throughout his body, eroding his vitality and Chaos Origin.
...
'Fellow Daoist Ye Chen!'
In the distant Emerald Forest Realm, beneath the ancient tree of life, Qing Lin, who had been closely monitoring the situation in the Valley of Buried Soldiers through the power of the ancient tree, stood up abruptly, her face deathly pale.
Although she could not 'see' the specific details of the battle clearly, she could clearly feel the terrifying pressure of the Lord, which had originally risen like the morning sun, suddenly decline and collapse.
Replacing it was a violent will filled with a destructive aura, and Ye Chen's life aura, which was rapidly extinguishing like a candle in the wind!
'He succeeded... He stopped the Lord's arrival... But he...'
Qing Lin's voice trembled.
Without hesitation, she again drew upon the Origin of the ancient tree of life, even if the ancient tree would become more withered because of it, she had to try to stabilize Ye Chen's vitality from afar.
...
Valley of Buried Soldiers.
Ye Chen's body slammed heavily onto the cold, hard, bone-covered ground, splashing up a cloud of dust.
He was on the verge of death, and the Abyssal mark on his chest squirmed slightly like a living thing, emitting an eerie black light, constantly devouring his vitality.
The shadow on the throne had become extremely faint, as if it would dissipate at any moment, but its will, filled with endless venom, was locked firmly onto the unconscious Ye Chen on the ground.
'Chaos insect... You destroyed the foundation of my arrival... This hatred... is irreconcilable!'
The shadow's voice was like a cold wind from the Nine Netherworlds blowing, 'This Source-Eroding demon seal will continuously erode your Origin and drag you into the abyss... When my true body arrives, I will personally refine your Soul and extract your spirit, torturing you for eternity!!'
Before it could finish its harsh words—
'Hum—!'
A more vast, colder, and terrifying will, seemingly originating from the ultimate void of the Universe, like a sleeping Star Domain Dominator, descended with a boom from the depths of the endlessly distant Thousand Illusions Maze!
This will was far more solid and vast than the shadow on the throne by a thousand times!
It swept across the crumbling throne of bones, swept across the cracked and dim broken Godhead, and finally landed on the unconscious Ye Chen, especially on the Source-Eroding demon seal on his chest.
'Trash.'
The cold evaluation, like a ruling of Law, echoed in the depths of the remaining shadow's consciousness.
The shadow on the throne dared not show even a trace of dissatisfaction; it trembled like it had encountered a natural predator and instantly dissipated into nothingness, returning to its main body.
That vast main body will of the Lord lingered on Ye Chen for a moment, as if confirming the effect of the Source-Eroding demon seal, or perhaps carefully sensing Ye Chen's unique Chaos aura.
'An interesting insect... A variable of Chaos...'
'The Source-Eroding Seal has been planted; you will eventually return to the abyss...'
'I... look forward to... truly meeting you...'
The will receded like a tide, carrying a sense of cat-and-mouse playfulness and absolute confidence in control.
It seemed to have determined that Ye Chen, having been planted with the Source-Eroding demon seal, was already a turtle in a jar, and it no longer needed to spend a huge price to force an arrival at this moment.
As the main body will of the Lord receded, the violent Devilish Qi and resentment in the Valley of Buried Soldiers gradually calmed down.
The demon tide that had lost its leader fell into Chaos, beginning to instinctively kill and devour each other, or scatter outside the valley.
That towering throne of bones finally collapsed completely, turning into a huge mountain of bones, emitting a final roar.
And Ye Chen lay quietly among the cold bones, his aura weak, the demon seal on his chest like a brand of death.
Inside his body, the chaos minor world was instinctively resisting the erosion of the demon seal, engaging in a silent and dangerous tug-of-war with that filthy Abyssal power.
This time, he had succeeded in preventing the Lord from using the throne to arrive early, but he had also paid a heavy price, struck by a strange demon seal, his life hanging in the balance.
In the distant Emerald Forest Realm, Qing Lin felt that although Ye Chen's life aura was weak to the extreme, it had miraculously not been extinguished completely, and instead, supported by a strange power (the remote mobilization of the chaos minor world and the ancient tree of life), it was maintaining a glimmer of life.
She immediately ordered Elder Mu Huan, who was waiting anxiously beside her: 'Quick! Organize the most elite Green Vine Guards, take all the holy healing medicines, and follow me! We must find Fellow Daoist Ye Chen!'
Dawn was breaking, but the road ahead was still full of thorns and darkness.