A powerful figure enters the arena, a secret incantation activates the formation.

The old site of the Netherworld Sect was covered in deathly silence, shrouding the dilapidated mountain gate. Scorched earth, crumbling palace pillars, and the lingering faint resentment in the air all spoke of the tragic events of the past.

However, today, this ruin welcomed a group of uninvited guests.

Several brilliant streaks of light shot across the sky, unmasking their powerful aura and righteous energy. As the light dissipated, a group of over ten people, led by Ye Fan, appeared. Ye Fan, clad in a cyan martial suit, stood proudly above the ruins. With sword-like brows and star-like eyes, his aura was vast and majestic, already at the peak of Perfected Golden Core, just one step away from forming a Nascent Soul! Behind him were ten Sky Patrol Alliance enforcement Disciples, all at Middle Golden Core Stage or above, a truly formidable lineup.

Ye Fan's Divine Sense swept over the entire ruin like a tide, his brows furrowing slightly. It was too quiet; apart from the residual Yin Sha Death Qi, he didn't sense any signs of a large gathering of demonic cultivators, let alone a 'Saintess Succession Ceremony'.

"Hmph, as expected, it was just a bluff, or they heard the news and fled early?" an enforcement Disciple at Late Golden Core Stage said disdainfully.

Ye Fan, however, shook his head, his sharp gaze sweeping over the shadowy corners of the ruins: "Not necessarily. Demonic evildoers are best at hiding and setting traps. Everyone, be careful, form a Formation to investigate, and don't scatter."

Though confident, he was not reckless. A faint Heavenly Dao premonition told him that this place was crucial to him, but also hid great danger.

Upon hearing this, the Disciples immediately formed a small battle Formation and cautiously advanced deeper into the ruins.

The moment they stepped into the area of the original Netherworld Sect plaza!

A sudden change occurred!

Buzz—!

The entire ruined land suddenly shook violently! Countless streaks of ink-black demonic light erupted from underground and from the broken walls and ruins, soaring into the sky! They instantly intertwined in the air, forming an enormous, complex demonic Formation that covered the entire plaza area!

Above the demonic Formation, countless twisted runes flowed, and the myriad soul soul-devouring banner flapped, emitting a terrifying force field that devoured Divine Souls and isolated heaven and earth! Furthermore, a grayish-white aura of all things returning to stillness and a strange green light that tugged at Reincarnation flowed within the core of the Formation!

"Not good! It's an ambush! Retreat quickly!" Ye Fan's face changed drastically, and he roared loudly, a blazing pure Yang golden light instantly erupting from his body, a Dragon-patterned spirit sword already in his hand!

But his reaction was fast, and the Formation activated even faster!

The demonic Formation flashed, and space was instantly completely sealed and twisted! The ten Golden Core Disciples felt their bodies tighten, as if they had fallen into an endless swamp. The spiritual power circulation within their bodies instantly stagnated, and even their thoughts became sluggish! Several of the weaker cultivators screamed directly, their Divine Souls forcibly torn from their bodies by the Formation's power and sucked into the terrifying myriad soul banner above!

Only Ye Fan, relying on his Perfected Golden Core cultivation and the protection of his powerful pure Yang Magic Treasure, could barely resist the Formation's devouring power, but he too struggled to move, his face pale!

"Which Devil Head dares to hide and plot! Get out here!" Ye Fan was furious and alarmed, desperately waving his spirit sword. Streaks of blazing Sword Aura slashed towards the surrounding demonic light, but they were like mud oxen entering the sea, only causing the Formation to ripple slightly, unable to break it at all!

"Ye Fan, still well, I see."

A calm, indifferent voice, which made Ye Fan's pupils suddenly contract, resounded from above the Formation.

Below the myriad soul banner, space slightly twisted, and a figure in a green robe slowly emerged. With a sallow face and restrained aura, it was precisely that mysterious Devil Head who had severely wounded him with a single finger in Black Water Town, forcing him to flee in disarray!

"It's you!" Ye Fan gritted his teeth, endless rage and killing intent erupting in his eyes, "As expected, it was a trap set by you!"

"Otherwise?" Nightmare looked down from above, his eyes indifferent as he watched Ye Fan struggle in the Formation, "Do you think Luck can protect you for a lifetime?"

"A mere demonic Formation wants to trap me? Break!" Ye Fan roared, a certain power within him completely ignited, and his aura surged violently! The golden vertical eye on his forehead reopened, shooting out a beam of evil-breaking golden light. At the same time, he bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of essence blood onto his spirit sword!

"Majestic Heavenly Might, Pure Yang Slaying Demons!"

The sword body let out a heaven-shaking Dragon roar, transforming into a hundred-zhang-long massive golden Sword Aura, carrying the resolute will to cut through everything, and fiercely slashed towards the Formation's light barrier! The power of this strike had already surpassed the Golden Core realm, faintly touching the threshold of Nascent Soul!

"An overestimation of one's own strength." Nightmare merely commented lightly, not even personally taking action.

As the Formation operated, the grayish-white power of the annihilation nether spring converged, forming an inconspicuous grayish-white airflow, which gently brushed against the dazzling golden Sword Aura.

Hiss—!

Like a red-hot branding iron plunged into ice water! That incomparably powerful pure Yang Sword Aura rapidly dimmed, dissolved, and annihilated at a visible speed! It didn't even last for a breath before completely disappearing without a trace!

"What?!" Ye Fan's pupils contracted sharply, and for the first time, an expression of incredible horror appeared on his face! His strongest attack was actually dissolved so effortlessly by the other party?! What exactly was that grayish-white airflow?!

"The game should end now." Nightmare no longer gave him a chance, abruptly forming hand seals!

"Steal Luck, change the heavens, seize your Fortune! Activate!"

Rumble!

The entire grand Formation began to operate wildly! The reincarnation wood sprout emitted a brilliant green light, stabilizing Divine Souls and confusing heavenly secrets! The myriad soul banner shook frantically, devouring and pulling at Ye Fan's Divine Soul! And the most core power of 'stealing Luck', which had fused with rule fragments, transformed into countless invisible threads, instantly coiling around Ye Fan's body, delving deep into his Luck Foundation, and began frantically extracting the Heavenly Dao Luck that mysteriously belonged to him!

"Ah—!"

Ye Fan immediately let out an incomparably shrill scream! He felt as if his Soul, his Foundation, his most important things were being forcibly stripped away! That pain far exceeded physical injury! What terrified him even more was that he felt the 'Heavens' that had always protected him and brought him countless Opportunities, seemed to be drifting away from him! That intimate connection with the world was rapidly weakening!

The dense 'Canopy of Luck' around him, invisible to the naked eye but truly existing, was transforming into wisps of golden threads, being forcibly extracted by the grand Formation, and through Su Wanqing (as a Profound Yin Body acting as a transforming cauldron) at the Formation's core, finally converging into Nightmare's body!

"No! My Luck! My Opportunities! What kind of evil art is this?!" Ye Fan was terrified, struggling frantically, unleashing various Magic Treasures and Talismans as if they were worthless, yet he couldn't shake the grand Formation in the slightest!

He felt his power draining, his Luck worsening, and even his thoughts began to become sluggish! That feeling of being omnipotent and turning misfortune into fortune, the son of destiny, was rapidly disappearing!

"Evil art? This is the art of seizing the heavens!" Nightmare felt the vast and pure Luck power surging into his body, merging with the rule fragments, making his perception of the Heavenly Dao even clearer. He could even faintly sense the furious but also shielded and difficult-to-directly-intervene helplessness of this world's Heavenly Dao!

This feeling was incredibly wonderful!

"Ye Fan, experience the taste of losing the Heavenly Dao's protection! Everything you rely on is vulnerable before my absolute power!"

Nightmare let out a long laugh and finally made his move personally! He stepped out of the Formation's core, his figure appearing like a phantom in front of Ye Fan, simply throwing a punch!

On the fist's edge, Demonic Essence was restrained, yet it contained terrifying power that could shatter everything!

Having lost most of his Luck protection, Ye Fan's reaction was clearly a beat slower! He hastily raised his spirit sword to block!

Crack!

Fist and sword met! That high-grade spirit sword was actually shattered by Nightmare's single punch! The momentum of the punch didn't diminish, heavily smashing into Ye Fan's chest!

"Pfft—!"

Ye Fan's protective spiritual light instantly shattered, his chest bones clearly caved in, blood spurted out as if it were worthless, and his body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, heavily smashing against the Formation's light curtain, then bouncing back to the ground, utterly disheveled!

One punch! Just one punch! Ye Fan, who could somewhat contend with him before, was now severely wounded!

This was the consequence of losing Luck protection! Without that mysterious 'coincidence,' 'Luck,' and 'burst,' his true strength was simply no match for Nightmare!

"Impossible... this is impossible..." Ye Fan struggled to get up, his eyes filled with fear, unwillingness, and disbelief. He couldn't accept that he had been defeated so easily! Defeated so thoroughly!

Nightmare slowly walked forward, like the arrival of the grim reaper, his cold gaze fixed on Ye Fan on the ground.

"It's over, child of destiny. Your era, before it even began, has ended."

He slowly raised his hand, destructive demonic light condensing at his fingertips, aimed at Ye Fan's glabella.

However, at this moment—

Another anomaly occurred!

Within Ye Fan's body, a certain green treasure light that had dimmed due to his Luck being seized, suddenly erupted again! This time, it was no longer protective, but transformed into an extremely pure **green stream of light** containing endless creation and vitality, which fiercely shot towards Su Wanqing at the core of the Formation!

At the same time, the last life-saving jade pendant on Ye Fan's neck shattered, and a powerful spatial force enveloped him, attempting to forcibly tear through the Formation and escape!

"Death throes!" Nightmare snorted coldly, having anticipated this! The power of the rule fragments activated, instantly reinforcing the spatial blockade, and at the same time, he struck out with a palm towards that green stream of light!

But that green stream of light was extremely peculiar; it seemed to have a life of its own, bypassing Nightmare's palm wind and accurately entering Su Wanqing's body!

"Mmm!" Su Wanqing grunted, her body trembling violently, her face showing pain. The Profound Yin Qi within her body fiercely clashed with that green creation power, causing her to temporarily lose control of the Formation's eye!

A tiny, almost imperceptible stagnation occurred in the Formation's operation!

And in this instant!

Boom! Crack!

Above the Nine Heavens, the seemingly enraged Heavenly Dao finally found an outlet! A **purple-gold Heavenly Punishment Lightning** ten times thicker than before, containing endless Heavenly Might and the will of judgment, ignored part of the Formation's shielding, forcibly tore through the Void Realm, and struck down directly at Nightmare!

This Heavenly Punishment was far more powerful than before! Enough to severely wound or even kill a Middle Nascent Soul Stage cultivator!

At the same time, the spatial power enveloping Ye Fan also surged, taking advantage of the Formation's momentary stagnation, and suddenly tore open a tiny gap!

"Devil Head! I, Ye Fan, will surely avenge this hatred!" Ye Fan let out a venomous roar, burning his essence blood, transforming into a streak of blood light, and fiercely rushed towards the rift!

With Heavenly Punishment above and Ye Fan attempting to escape behind!

Nightmare faced an instant choice!

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he didn't hesitate! First, he threw a punch upwards, directly confronting the purple-gold Heavenly Punishment Lightning! At the same time, his mind moved!

"demonic vine! Leave him!"

The Wind-Devouring Demonic Vine, which had been lurking in the shadows of the Formation, suddenly shot out, coiling around the blood light that Ye Fan had transformed into, like lightning!

Boom! Fist and thunder collided again, dimming the world! Nightmare's body swayed slightly, his arm feeling a bit numb, but he successfully blocked this Heavenly Punishment strike!

On the other side, with a 'puch' sound! Although the Wind-Devouring Demonic Vine successfully entangled Ye Fan, his escape light was extremely resolute. He actually forcibly tore off one of his entangled legs, and with a sky full of blood rain, finally successfully drilled into that spatial crack, disappearing without a trace!

The spatial crack instantly healed.

On the ground, only a bloody severed leg remained, and the lingering echoes of Ye Fan's unwilling and resentful screams.

Nightmare slowly retracted his fist, his eyes incredibly cold as he looked at the severed leg on the ground.

He let him escape at the last moment again!

However... Nightmare felt the surging, almost overflowing, vast power of Luck within his body, and the even clearer sense of separation from the Heavenly Dao, a cold arc slowly formed at the corner of his mouth.

Although not all was accomplished, the most important goal had been achieved!

Most of Ye Fan's Origin Luck had been successfully stolen by him!

This child of destiny was already... half crippled!

"Ye Fan, even if you survive this time, how far can you go without the full protection of the Heavenly Dao?"

"Next time we meet, it will be your death day!"

His gaze turned to the core of the Formation. Su Wanqing seemed to have suppressed the conflict of that wisp of creation power, her face pale as she re-stabilized the Formation's eye.

Nightmare raised his hand, drawing the severed leg belonging to Ye Fan from the ground into his grasp. This was a good item, containing the essence blood and part of the Origin of a child of destiny... "Clean up the scene, let's go."

He waved his hand, collecting treasures like the myriad soul banner and reincarnation wood, erasing most of the Formation's traces, and then, wrapping Su Wanqing and Mo Yuan, he once again tore through the Void Realm, disappearing without a trace.

Only this ruin remained, along with the strong smell of blood and the lingering Heavenly Punishment aura, proving what a thrilling and earth-shattering upheaval had just occurred!

The Sky Patrol Alliance's favored son of heaven almost perished here! And his astounding Luck had already changed hands!

The storm had only just begun.