At the same moment, at the other end of the Thousand Degrees Mirror Realm, the demonic beast let out an earth-shattering roar—
Time shattered between its fangs, space tore under its sharp claws, and millions of mirrors turned to dust, erupting in a magnificent white light, like the dawn of creation!
“Can’t take it anymore?” The Snow Mountain Goddess gripped the wisp of crimson soul fragment, a mocking smile on her face amidst the hurricane: “What a pity, you haven’t seen the more exciting parts yet.”
The demonic beast suddenly paused, its massive, hook-like claws tightening inch by inch. The void seemed to suddenly turn into dark substance, twisting and deforming under its claws, then erupting in a piercing shriek that could puncture eardrums, abruptly shattering into countless fragments amidst the surge!
The Snow Mountain Goddess’s face changed drastically. However, before she could react, the demonic beast arrived in mid-air like lightning, directly striking and sending her flying!
—Boom!
Shakti’s entire consciousness seemed to turn blank. For several minutes, she only felt herself crashing and tumbling through the air, then suddenly, the ground beneath her vanished. She opened her eyes. The Thousand Degrees Realm had completely collapsed, and in reality, the earth had suddenly caved in, falling into a colossal, empty pit!
The hot soul fragment in her hand had vanished without a trace. Not far away, the demonic beast suddenly transformed into human form. Zhou Hui held the soul fragment in his left hand and a long blade in his right, looking at her coldly.
“…Even in such a furious state, you still prioritized getting the Phoenix Wisdom King’s soul back first?” Shakti wobbled to her feet, raking a hand through her disheveled silver hair, and laughed: “You truly are too…”
“It’s none of your business, Shakti,” Zhou Hui said coldly. “Give the Phoenix back to me, then get out. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
The fierce wind hadn’t subsided. Blood droplets, from unknown origins, splattered on his handsome profile. His eyes were deep and gloomy, and his domineering aura was enough to strike fear into anyone’s heart.
“—It’s too late now, Zhou Hui.” Shakti narrowed her eyes, a charming, cold smile appearing on her face: “Do you know how I suddenly regained my divinity?”
She extended her hand into the depths of the underground passage, her black robe sliding down her snow-white arm. As she did so, countless flapping sounds of wings came from behind Zhou Hui. Then, thousands of rooks cawed loudly, gushing out in a flood, filling the sky with black wings and falling black feathers.
“The Heavenly Dao needs the Phoenix to return to Mount Sumeru. You are his obstacle. Do you know? From the birth of Peacock Wisdom King and Great Golden-Winged Garuda, from the moment you knelt down to propose marriage during the Divine-Demonic War, and even from many years before that, from the moment Phoenix Wisdom King secretly released you from the Vajra Bell on the Thirty-Three Heavens—your existence is the greatest obstacle in the thirty-thousand-year Buddha’s tribulation…”
Crow wings flapped, stirring up a strong wind. Black feathers fell like a blizzard, and a dense, silent mist of death qi permeated the ground. Zhou Hui lowered his head, his pupils slightly contracting.
“I’m quite honored to have been chosen to send you on your way,” Shakti bowed slightly, smiling faintly: “Although your attitude towards your old lover is indeed a bit unpleasant.”
—The mist suddenly paused. Black water surged up from underground, instantly submerging Zhou Hui!
It was as if, in a matter of seconds, the clouds covering the city’s sky rapidly rotated, forming a rare and terrifying celestial phenomenon, both magnificent and horrifying. A black smoke, like a colossal dragon, erupted from a rift in the earth, roaring as it shot straight into the heavens. Death qi enveloped the city, where tens of millions lived and worked, and at the ends of the earth, countless tormented souls let out sharp, distant wails.
In residential areas, in office buildings, on the streets, countless pedestrians looked up, staring dumbfounded at the sky. What no one knew was that, at this very moment, beneath this city, crisscrossing underground passages were filled with the seawater of death qi. Innumerable drains had collapsed, and fatal black water was silently surging onto the surface from countless wellheads throughout this vast metropolis.
Zhou Hui sank deeper into the water. A gurgling mouthful of blood bubbled from his throat, rapidly dissipating in the water. His chest, back, and thighs stung unbearably. He raised his hand to look at his palm; in the dim visibility, his palm appeared charred black, as if burned by fire.
“…Sea of death qi…” he murmured.
He took a deep breath and kicked violently upwards. Just as he broke the surface, a colossal black shadow leaped out from the water’s depths behind him, engulfing Shakti in a torrent of blood as it roared and lunged!
Zhou Hui merely glanced, startled: “Housan?!”
It was a giant zombie, covered in golden fur, its eyes blood-red, its ten fingers curved, over a zhang long, like sharp, terrifying blades gleaming with cold light. It lunged at the Snow Mountain Goddess in mid-air, about to pierce her throat!
The Snow Mountain Goddess said coldly: “—You, alone?!”
The next second, she raised both hands level, and countless crows surged up from the ground, covering the zombie in a dense, overwhelming swarm!
Zhou Hui fiercely swung his blade, and the swirling air currents churned and sent large swathes of the crow flock flying, black blood mixed with feathers and torn flesh splattering onto the water and stone walls, as if a storm had erupted underground—but for Housan, it was already too late. The zombie’s already heavily injured and charred body was turned into a mist of blood by the pecking frenzy of countless crows, emitting a dying, unwilling roar, and crashing heavily into the Sea of Death Qi!
Zhou Hui suddenly pulled out his blade and shouted: “Situ—”
That single strike did not lose its momentum. The air currents rushed wildly through the underground passage, and the irresistible thrust even sent the Snow Mountain Goddess crashing against the stone wall! With a loud bang, Shakti spat out blood, looking down to see her abdominal cavity completely pierced!
Zhou Hui plunged headfirst into the Sea of Death Qi, rapidly diving towards the sinking zombie. In the black water, his breathing became increasingly difficult. His lungs felt as if they were on fire, and his internal organs felt as if they were being slowly carved by a thousand sharp blades. The skin on his neck and chest slowly turned black and charred, becoming increasingly brittle as he sank deeper into the water, floating in all directions under the water pressure. The skin on his fingers had all peeled off, revealing blood-red flesh, blood vessels, and bones beneath. He reached out and grabbed the massive, now lifeless zombie at the bottom of the water.
The next second, he turned around, waved his hand, and a forbidden curse erupted with golden light under the heavy water pressure of the Sea of Death Qi, forcefully raising a semi-circular, enclosed space!
“Eight-thousand-zhang demon seal, huh…” Shakti stood on a rock, gazing at the water below and murmuring. She saw Zhou Hui, dragging the unconscious Situ Housan, walk to the center of the demon seal at the bottom of the water, and look up towards the top of the underground passage. That was a crack in the earth above, and through the gap, he could see the surging death qi and a sliver of dim sky.
“You want to kill me?” Zhou Hui’s lips curled into an undisguised, mocking smile. “There’s only one person in this world who can kill me. No one else can take my life. You dogs are just nobodies. The thunder tribulations sent down by the Heavenly Dao are completely insignificant, and even the supreme gods and Buddhas in the heavens cannot truly make me bend these knees…”
“In the nine heavens and ten earths, the myriad worlds, only that one person can ever take my life. The rest are merely laughable clowns.”
He spread his hands and chanted a spell. In an instant, the dense black mist emanating from the Sea of Death Qi into the sky suddenly paused—
The next second, the black mist surged back towards him, all of it being forced back into the boiling dead sea!
“—You’re insane!” Shakti shrieked: “You want to pull all the death qi back?! Impossible!”
The black water violently shook, even causing tremors and muffled rumbles in the city’s ground. As the black qi was rapidly drawn back, the clouds in the sky gradually slowed their rotation. The hurricane formed by the death qi raged and swept through the city, surging into the sky, then emitting a sharp whistling sound as it weakened and dissipated.
—Meanwhile, at the bottom of the Sea of Death Qi, the demon seal was crumbling, making an ear-splitting creaking sound under the violent impact of the dead sea. Shakti could hardly believe her eyes. She stared at Zhou Hui’s stern face in the mirror image, and after a long moment, hissed through gritted teeth: “You want to draw all the death qi from the entire city back and press it around yourself… That’s impossible. Your demon seal will soon collapse and disintegrate, crushing you into dust along with it…”
“Then you can try it,” Zhou Hui said coldly. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, casually wiped it away, plunged his long blade into the ground, and sat cross-legged in the center of the demon seal.
Half of his cheek skin had peeled off, and every inch of his exposed muscles was ripped open and torn, revealing crimson blood vessels and stark white bones. His appearance was terrifyingly grotesque, yet the sharp, chiseled lines of his profile remained utterly unchanged. In his eyes was a powerful force capable of suppressing everything. That was an unwavering belief, even in the face of utter destruction, enough to chill anyone’s heart with a single glance.
“—What do you want to do? Are you crazy?” Shakti gritted her teeth and retreated. When she came to her senses, she was already pressed against the stone wall. Her mind was swept by extreme humiliation and an unspeakable resentment, causing her voice to tremble slightly: “Do you fantasize that Phoenix Wisdom King will come to save you? He can’t come, he’s already—”
…Waiting for the Phoenix to save him? To make him rush into such a perilous situation, to dive into the deadly, flesh-melting water to save himself?
Zhou Hui’s face was devoid of expression. He sat cross-legged, closing his eyes.
At the same moment, the Thousand Degrees Realm suddenly disintegrated, emitting a deafening sound of collapse. Chu He swept his long spear horizontally, his tiger’s mouth tearing. Amidst the blood that was instantly vaporized before it could splatter, he sent The Three Worlds Wisdom King flying into the void with one thrust!
“Phoenix—!” The Three Worlds Wisdom King erupted in an overwhelming roar, appearing before him again in an instant, suddenly manifesting his three-faced, eight-armed Dharma-body, holding a halberd!
“If you do not submit, today is your death day—!”
With a resounding clang, the silver spear and halberd collided fiercely, splashing dazzling sparks that could scorch retinas!
“—You’ve got it backward,” Chu He looked at him calmly amidst the hurricane. The intertwining lightning and swirling air currents all turned to silence at this moment. In the silence, the tide receded like white light. Many years ago in the Six Realms of Hell, a white-robed youth had also stood high in the sky, drawing a magnificent longbow towards the ten thousand zhang boiling blood sea and the Asura King beneath his feet. At that moment, the youth’s fearless face coincided with the present, and all the years of resentment and tears in between had vanished with time.
“—If I submit, today will be my death day.”
Chu He’s five fingers gripping the spear cracked, but he remained unmoving. In his other hand, the pure cyan prayer bead transformed into a single blade. At the same moment, the Phoenix’s clear cry resounded through the void from all directions. The Three Worlds Wisdom King’s three heads simultaneously showed horror. Just as he was about to retreat, his halberd was firmly blocked by the silver spear.
The next second, Chu He swept his single blade horizontally, severing its left head with one strike! The head exploded amidst a gush of blood, instantly shredded into countless fragments by the swirling air currents!
In the underground passage, Shakti suddenly looked up in shock, gazing at the stone wall at the top of the dead sea. Immediately, that stone wall, covered with Heavenly Dao seals, shattered with a crash before her eyes. The Phoenix, his white robes billowing, descended from the sky, plunging towards the water’s surface amidst a torrential downpour of falling debris and blood!
“—Zhou Hui!”
In the center of the demon seal at the bottom of the water, Zhou Hui suddenly looked up, gazing upwards through the death qi-shrouded, black smoke of the dead sea. Their gazes met. Chu He desperately reached out in the hurricane. However, Zhou Hui simply looked at him, his skin peeling from his cheeks to his neck, his blood vessels exposed and pulsating with his heartbeat, his face devoid of any expression.
“Go back,” he said. His voice, carried through the waves, was light and resolute, like the final chime of a clock hand at midnight.
Chu He’s pupils widened slightly. In the same instant, his left arm suddenly tightened.
“Stop—” The Three Worlds Wisdom King descended from the air, grabbing Chu He’s arm with one hand and raising his halberd with the other, stabbing down fiercely! Chu He’s expression changed drastically. In a flash of lightning, he twisted in mid-air, and the pure cyan blade, with a “clanging!” bright sound, firmly blocked the sharp halberd tip amidst the sparks!
“Pure Cyan Glazed Heart…” The Three Worlds Wisdom King’s body, missing one head, was covered in black blood, his muscles bulging. His ferocious vertical pupils stared down at Chu He: “The legendary Phoenix Heart, hard as stone. Do you want it to shatter today?”
He pressed harder with the halberd tip, “Clang!”—a bright sound pierced the eardrums, and countless cracks erupted on the blade! Fragments instantly cut streaks of blood on Chu He’s cheek. However, he clenched his back teeth, not retreating a single step, only to see The Three Worlds Wisdom King reveal a mocking cold smile: “Carrying the legendary Phoenix Heart Stone, are you constantly repenting to your brother who died innocently in the womb?”
The air current swept up the blood beads flowing from Chu He’s cheek, instantly turning them into countless fragments.
“What is regret,” Chu He smiled faintly, his smile surprisingly gentle: “I’ve never known.”
He fiercely pulled out his blade, and in The Three Worlds Wisdom King’s disbelieving gaze, he severed his grasped left arm at the shoulder with one strike!
At that moment, time froze inch by inch. In its slow passage, Chu He gushed blood and plummeted into the Dead Sea. The scorching Phoenix blood turned into raging flames in the air, dazzling golden-red, flowing like a waterfall. With a boom, it set the entire underground passage ablaze! Black qi was mercilessly devoured by the fire, creating a huge pressure difference inside and outside the earth’s fissure.
The external black qi surged back even more frantically, emitting a sharp, long whistling sound—
The force of the impact was so great that even the earth fissures began to collapse, and large chunks of soil and rocks rained down like hail into the Sea of Death Qi. At the same time, the Sea of Death Qi evaporated and dissolved, and the thick, nightmare-like darkness rapidly dissipated.
Zhou Hui suddenly stood up, only to see a crimson blood mist underwater. Chu He swam towards him, reaching out with his sole remaining right hand, and heavily pushed down the collapsing demon seal!
Zhou Hui roared in fury: “You—”
The moment the demon seal collapsed, the water current swept in. Chu He extended his remaining right hand towards him, gently caressing Zhou Hui’s scarred cheek: “I’m here.”
Chu He revealed a faint smile, gazing at him tenderly in the dark water.
