Liu Yun's self-sacrificing sword strike severed not only the demonic energy chains binding Xu Zhan, but also the most critical hub of the Demonic Lord's external control over him. Accompanied by the dense sound of chains shattering, the heavy shackles that had entwined him for a hundred years disintegrated inch by inch, transforming into pure demonic energy that scattered into the air.
Without the support and powerful confinement of the chains, Xu Zhan's figure, clad in that sinister demonic armor, dropped powerlessly from mid-air like a puppet with its strings cut.
In that moment, time within the Demon Palace's grand hall seemed to stretch.
The Demonic Lord's shadow, its control forcibly severed, erupted with even more violent, endlessly furious roars. The entire hall trembled violently under its wrath, and more demonic energy surged like tentacles from all directions, attempting to re-seize and regain control of the falling Xu Zhan.
Zhao Tiezhu roared as he charged forward, using his broad back to catch the falling Liu Yun like a meteor. The instant they made contact, he felt an indescribable weakness and deathly stillness—his Third Senior Sister was light as a feather, her life flame flickering weakly as if it might extinguish at any moment. Tears welled in his tiger-like eyes, but he could only gently place her in a relatively safe corner before turning to face the endless demonic tide again. He knew the battle was far from over!
Mu Xue and Ao Qin gave everything they had. Ice Sealing Ten Thousand Miles and Dragon Roar Soaring Nine Heavens intertwined, constructing fragile defensive lines to block the demonic energy tentacles reaching for Xu Zhan, fighting for even a moment more for that falling figure.
And Tang Xiaoqi—his gaze remained locked on that falling figure from start to finish. His heart felt gripped by an invisible hand, almost stopping. The opportunity that Third Senior Sister had sacrificed herself to create—could his father seize it?
During the fall, the sinister demonic armor faceplate covering Xu Zhan's head, having lost the demonic energy support of the chains, emitted a soft "click" and cracked open a slit, then fell away halfway, revealing beneath it... the face that had haunted Xiao Qi's dreams for a hundred years!
What a face it was!
His originally resolute and heroic visage was now covered with twisted black demonic patterns, squirming like living things beneath his skin, appearing utterly sinister. But his eyes were completely different from that pure crimson ferocity of before!
In those eyes, the crimson light receded rapidly like a tide, replaced by a light of extreme exhaustion yet extraordinary clarity after enduring endless suffering and torture! Demonic energy still swirled around him, attempting to erode his consciousness again, but with the external control broken, combined with the brief surge brought by his own burning Soul Fire, he finally... gained a precious moment of clarity that belonged to him!
His gaze pierced through the pervading demonic energy, through the barriers of space, landing precisely on the young man below who was supporting himself with a broken sword, covered in blood, staring intently at him.
Four eyes met.
Time seemed to freeze in that moment.
Xiao Qi saw in his father's eyes an indescribably complex emotion—there was that ineffable relief at seeing his son grown, the profound guilt of a hundred years of failed responsibility, leaving his young child to drift alone, the endless reluctance at this reunion in such desperate circumstances. But most of all... there was the final resolution of one who had seen through everything, understood the outcome, and made his choice!
That gaze seemed to say: "Xiao Qi, you've grown up... I'm sorry... live well..."
No words were spoken, but all the emotion, all the entrustment, was deeply branded into Xiao Qi's soul through that single glance!
"Fa...ther..."
Xiao Qi's throat choked up. A thousand words clogged his chest, but he could only utter these two heavy words. He saw his father's eyes telling him that this clarity... was temporary, bought at an unimaginable price, was... a final moment of lucidity before death!
Xu Zhan's gaze moved from Xiao Qi, sweeping past Mu Xue and Ao Qin who were fighting desperately to block the demonic energy tentacles, past Zhao Tiezhu guarding Liu Yun while glaring at the demonic tide, past the Second Senior Brother puppet floating in the air with anxiously flickering runes. Finally, it landed on the violently twisting and expanding Demonic Lord's shadow in its rage, and beneath it, that Perfect Demon Body which was frozen yet still pulsing.
His eyes instantly became incomparably sharp, filled with bone-deep hatred and a kind of... mad determination to perish with the enemy!
A hundred years of imprisonment and torture—he knew better than anyone this Demonic Lord's terror and its core purpose! He also knew his current state: Soul Fire already burning, remnant soul about to dissipate, this body soaked in demonic energy for a hundred years had long reached the brink of collapse.
He was no longer the passive "cultivation vessel," no longer the helpless prisoner.
In this final moment of clarity, he wanted to seize back control of his own body! Not to escape, but to... complete the final strike he hadn't been able to finish a hundred years ago!
To clear the final obstacles for his son!
Taking advantage of the brief gap when the Demonic Lord was raging from its severed control, trying to reassert dominance, Xu Zhan's remaining divine soul burst forth with its final, brilliant light!
His falling figure suddenly stopped in mid-air!
Not seized by demonic energy, but... he had stopped himself!
The overwhelming demonic might that had been driven by the Demonic Lord suddenly changed in nature, becoming chaotic, violent, filled with destructive, uncontrollable power!
He raised his head to gaze at the Demonic Lord's shadow, and on his face covered with demonic patterns, a smile appeared—a tragic smile mixing endless pain with mockery.
"Demonic Lord... your schemes... end here..."
His voice was hoarse, broken, yet carried an unshakable, indestructible resolve, echoing through the great hall!
In the next moment, under the Demonic Lord's shocked and furious gaze, in the disbelief of Xiao Qi and the others below, Xu Zhan channeled most of the power from the World-Purifying Green Lotus lotus seed that had been sealed within him for a hundred years and intertwined with the Demonic Lord's origin, along with the pure demonic source that had eroded him for a century!
He was going to... detonate everything!