The entire Nightmare Demon Domain erupted in turmoil, as boundless black mist expanded. The earth split, and some black seas dried up, revealing bones stacked like hemp beneath the seabed—some snow-white, some golden, but most were a deep, ink-like black, as if they had been thoroughly eroded and tainted by dark matter.
One could see how powerful and unimaginable those living beings had once been, yet they still died unjustly here, their remains lying silent deep within the earth.
"Act."
The invading experts of the Eight Tribes all changed expression drastically, with no hesitation, and chose to strike. Some transformed into terrifying demonic shadows, charging at that gentle, graceful figure holding an oil-paper umbrella, as if wanting to tear her apart.
"Countless years ago, we all came from the same source. Why must you slaughter one another?"
High Priest Li Shuang sighed softly. Her fair jade hand simply reached out lightly forward. From the void, a terrifying blood-red hand seemed to appear, covering everything, directly grabbing the charging figure, then closed and squeezed. With a splatter, black blood exploded across the sky.
This sight shocked all the experts of the Eight Tribes, their hearts trembling. Yet no one was afraid, and even more figures charged forward to kill.
"It seems we cannot sit down and talk properly." High Priest Li Shuang still sighed, but did not attack again. Instead, she simply walked away along the path she had come, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Behind her, numerous Dark Beings materialized, their auras equally formidable, and soon they clashed with their opponents.
Progenitor Xu, Progenitor Yan, Master of Fate, and the others did not act, merely watching everything with indifferent calm.
The vast black territory stretched on without end. At this moment, the sky and the earth were full of figures locked in life-and-death battle.
The Heavenly Faction had shown courtesy before force, already demonstrating their unwillingness to fight and kill. But the Eight Tribes had come this time for the Coffin of World Burial, and had long reached their firmest resolution; otherwise they would not have sent so many experts. Since the Heavenly Faction refused to hand it over, then only thorough slaughter and seizure remained.
If they truly waited until the Heavenly Faction gathered enough nourishment for the Grand Sacrificial Ritual, and the Lord of Heaven's Proxy returned, then all of the Eight Tribes would face reckoning without exception. No one would escape.
Ever since the Heavenly Faction splintered apart back then, with the Eight Tribes each taking a branch and plundering the Heavenly Faction's foundations, a reckoning in the future was destined. Not to mention that many years before, the Eight Tribes had also participated in the Heaven's Proxy Chaos, opening the Coffin of World Burial and desecrating the physical body of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy. Once the Lord of Heaven's Proxy revived, would they be spared?
"It's time to act."
At this moment, Progenitor Xu seemed to sense something, and his voice was calm.
The experts of the Heavenly Decline Faction behind him all trembled, intense will burning in their eyes.
Progenitor Yan nodded. "Indeed, we cannot delay. Grand High Priest Wu Yue alone cannot stop us with just her strength. You all hold off the other High Priests. After we act, the hidden pawns lurking within the Heavenly Faction will also move."
His latter sentence was directed at the many experts of the Yanmo Faction behind him.
"Progenitor, rest assured, we shall not fail our mission."
The experts of the Yanmo Faction responded in deep voices. They had long been prepared; this battle could only succeed, not fail. Otherwise, from now on, in all of heaven and earth, the Yanmo clan would cease to exist.
Master of Fate did not speak, but his actions already proved his intent. Invited by Progenitor Xu, for the sake of the favor owed, he had no choice but to help, acting against Grand High Priest Wu Yue.
Three existences who had surpassed nine Heavenly Decline Tribulations appeared and struck together. Such might—how terrifying, unimaginable. Throughout the long ages, they had not appeared again in the Vast Expanse, yet today, in this boundless, endless dark territory, they reappeared.
That aura shook the heavens and the earth, suppressed the cosmos, swept through past and present, and awed the eternal expanse of sky.
Even in many spacetimes far beyond the Vast Expanse, in the depths of primordial chaos, many ultimate ancient beings also sensed it, trembling repeatedly in disbelief.
"Who dares act so wildly!"
Before the Heaven-Slaying Hall, the woman with a longsword on her back gave a cold snort, her voice carrying fury and murderous intent, vast and resounding, shaking the entire dark land to tremble.
The longsword behind her was unsheathed, and the sword-light, like an endless river of stars, blindingly bright, blazing and boundless, swept straight down with a roar. All matter was annihilating and collapsing, and even the Dao laws became blurred, on the verge of unraveling. Such a strike, if outside, would collapse and disperse countless universes.
But facing her was only a single large hand. Progenitor Yan gave a cold snort as well, his somewhat withered palm striking forward, slow and heavy, carrying an indescribable, terrifying might.
The other two High Priests beside Grand High Priest Wu Yue also struck. One of them raised her jade hand lightly, and a jade bottle flew out, instantly expanding countless times. Endless Dao symbols rushed out from within, accompanied by overwhelming dark energy, like a terrifying black hole expanding to swallow the myriad heavens, engulfing Progenitor Yan.
The other High Priest brought out an ancient seal. Rings of Dao symbols swirled around it as it smashed directly down. In the trail of its descent, sun and moon rotated, stars were infinite, universes opened, chaos swirled, and a reincarnation path loomed dimly. Though the ancient seal did not look large, its size quite ordinary, it felt as if it could suppress all things in existence, open heaven and earth, and create reincarnation!
"Artifacts from the Innate Era…"
As an Innate Being, Master of Fate recognized at a glance the weapons the three High Priests wielded. The longsword, the jade bottle, and the ancient seal were all Innate artifacts, born before the Vast Expanse, containing Innate divine marks that could evolve great Dao heavens, with terrifying might.
Progenitor Xu now struck as well. The area around him turned hazy, as if the River of Time was growing indistinct. With a sweep of his wide sleeve, boundless energy bombarded forth.
Alone, he met the three High Priests head-on. A world-shaking collision occurred, and the whole dark land seemed on the verge of being overturned. The sky split, the earth collapsed, and unimaginable terrifying storms rose. Standing amid it, he executed palm techniques and fist seals, meeting the descending ancient seal, knocking away the swallowing jade bottle, and even using his sleeve like a blade, slashing out a sword-light just as terrifying, containing the myriad mysteries of all worlds, contending with that descending sword.
Seeing this scene, both Progenitor Yan and Master of Fate felt a slight tremor in their hearts. Progenitor Xu's strength far exceeded their expectations. But since Progenitor Xu was holding off the three High Priests, the two of them together would surely be able to deal with the Grand High Priest.
The experts of the Eight Tribes, their morale surging like a rainbow, followed behind, determined to charge into the Heaven-Slaying Hall and seize the Coffin of World Burial.
The dark territory that had not crumbled for billions of years now thoroughly disintegrated and shattered with the outbreak of this great battle.
High above the Heaven-Slaying Hall, the phantom of the Coffin of World Burial emerged, floating there. Countless beings of the Heavenly Faction prostrated and kowtowed ceaselessly, fervent and fanatical, utterly devout. Countless streams of dark matter could be seen, flowing backward into it, as if becoming sacrificial nourishment. Column after column of thick black wolf-smoke coiled into the heavens and earth, surging ceaselessly into the Coffin of World Burial.
All across the field, those fighting figures rapidly faded, exposing patches of stark white bones. Even so, many beings did not fully disperse and die; flesh still clung to their skeletons, and sustained by a thread of will, they continued to fight and slaughter their enemies there.
Such a scene was heart-trembling and hair-raising. From ancient times until now, there had never been such a bizarre spectacle. It no longer seemed like living beings clashing in battle, but countless undead spirits slaughtering each other in the netherworld.
Progenitor Yan and Master of Fate advanced, unstoppable. Not of the same level, those beneath did not even have the qualification to obstruct them. At a certain realm, merely standing there without doing anything was enough to prevent other beings from approaching; they would be crushed to annihilation by the aura alone. Clearly, for the other Dark Beings, Progenitor Yan and Master of Fate stood in that very realm. At this moment, unless an existence who had crossed nine Heavenly Decline Tribulations stepped in, no one even had the qualification to injure them.
Most terrifying was the intervention of an existence on Progenitor Xu's level. No method could withstand him; all matter rapidly disintegrated and vanished. Even the three High Priests holding Innate artifacts were no match for him. Even together, they were sent flying repeatedly. His power seemed to have already transcended beyond, already detached from the Dao Realms, striking terror into all experts of the Heavenly Faction. Before an existence like Progenitor Xu, even the Sacrificial Priests of the Heavenly Faction seemed exceptionally powerless. Some Sacrificial Priests tried to intervene, but merely by suffering the shockwaves, they coughed blood and flew back, crashing into the earth.
Those like the Dharma Protectors were even more so; they couldn't even approach Progenitor Xu. He alone suppressed countless Dark Beings until they could scarcely breathe. Even the Yanmo, Darkflame, and other tribes felt continuous waves of dread, keenly sensing Progenitor Xu's power and invincibility.
High Priest Li Shuang held the oil-paper umbrella, dense, hazy dark matter swirling around her like torrential rain. She barred the way before Progenitor Yan and Master of Fate, but it did not last long before she coughed blood and was injured. Fortunately, behind her, dark matter soon surged forth, restoring her injuries to their peak instantly.
The Coffin of World Burial hung high before the Heaven-Slaying Hall, its light radiating to all areas before it. Stream after stream of dark radiance surged from the bodies of the Dark Beings outside, and then stream after stream of dark matter gushed forth, sprinkling onto the many Dark Beings ahead. Take one, give one. This was the Heavenly Faction's greatest reliance. As long as the Coffin of World Burial hung high here, they were invincible in this dark territory, unable to be worn away. Conversely, the Dark Beings from outside would have their power reclaimed, turning into nourishment for the Dark Beings here.
Progenitor Yan clearly knew this outcome, so after severely injuring High Priest Li Shuang, he did not continue attacking. He let Master of Fate tie her down while he himself headed toward the Heaven-Slaying Hall to contend for the Coffin of World Burial.
"Progenitor Xu has indeed reached that step…"
Before the Heaven-Slaying Hall, Grand High Priest Wu Yue watched this scene. Upon her face, shrouded by mist, there finally seemed a change in emotion. From across a vast distance, she raised a palm and struck toward Progenitor Xu. In that instant, it was like boundless furious waves crashing; all dao methods, laws, order, and the great Dao lost all meaning beneath this palm. And Progenitor Xu, as if sensing this palm, calmly faced it and struck back with a palm from afar. In that instant, it seemed nothing had changed, but in truth, in that area where they clashed, countless cycles of collapse and reassembly had already occurred; the annihilation and creation of matter were completed in a flash. Only after some time did ripples spread out from there. A single ripple was like a world-ending storm, capable of reaping all life.
Grand High Priest Wu Yue rarely struck, but each time she did, she easily suppressed and killed her enemy. Yet now, she was blocked by Progenitor Xu. This sight caused many in the Heavenly Faction to change expression, with a hint of worry emerging.
The Fourth Sacrificial Priest, Sacrificial Priest Qiluo, had an expression shifting through a mixture of emotions. Originally, according to her prior agreement with Progenitor Xu, she was supposed to use that half piece of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy's flesh to stall the Grand High Priest. But until now, she had not received any transmission or signal from Progenitor Xu. Did that mean he didn't need her to act? Yet she kept feeling that this great battle had erupted too abruptly, and on Grand High Priest Wu Yue's side, there was no surprise or worry; from start to finish, she remained utterly composed. She even began to suspect—could this be a scheme by Progenitor Xu? Or was someone setting up a plot?
As all kinds of thoughts churned in Sacrificial Priest Qiluo's mind, she saw Grand High Priest Wu Yue strike again. This time, it was not as casual as before. She stepped out, leaving the Heaven-Slaying Hall, and appeared high in the sky. Her figure, shrouded in thick mist, hid her movements from view. But everyone could feel the Coffin of World Burial resonating with her, rumbling within, as if the sounds of worlds colliding were emerging. From the dark matter cascading down like a waterfall, chaos energy burst forth. Vaguely, it seemed some weapon was about to condense and materialize. A blurry killing intent loomed there, and a mere wisp of its aura nearly crushed everything.
"Not good…"
"She is condensing the baleful weapon spirit-form of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy…"
Progenitor Yan seemed to realize something and suddenly bellowed. His surging aura blasted back all experts around him. His large hand reached forward, seeking to stop Grand High Priest Wu Yue across the vast distance. Behind him, a terrifying demonic shadow appeared, as if standing before the dawn of creation, boundless in size. Where that large hand reached, the River of Time surged violently. At the same time, he let out a long howl, and one terrifying black hole after another appeared behind him. Around each black hole, the wreckage of countless worlds could be seen floating; it was as if three thousand dark major worlds were revolving, granting him boundless might.
Master of Fate's heart grew heavy. He had not expected such terrifying might to be merely the phantom of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy's former weapon. No wonder Progenitor Xu was so cautious, and had invited him for this.
"Kill!"
Without any hesitation, he brought out his ultimate methods. All around him, terrifying scenes from past and present emerged—the innate scenes at the birth of the Vast Expanse, the Primordial Tribulation of creation, and the later eras when blood light filled the sky. He had glimpsed the secrets of heaven and earth, and now they were reflected in his own Dao law, myriad forces fully upon him.