Yun Lintian's roar shook the heavens. The very fabric of space trembled as his voice carried a hatred so deep it seemed capable of rending the universe apart.
He had expected threats, coercion from Nian Shi—but never this.
She didn't recognize him.
That vacant, indifferent gaze—it wasn't just imprisonment. Nian Shi had done something to her mind, her soul.
Linlin and Qingqing clung to Yun Lintian's face, their tiny hands pressing against his cheeks.
"Big Brother Yun, please!" Qingqing's voice trembled.
"Don't lose yourself!" Linlin begged, her golden eyes glistening with tears.
But how could he stop?
How could he calm down?
The Heaven Sunderer vanished in a flash of crimson light, replaced by another weapon—one that had not been drawn in centuries.
The God-Slaying Sword.
Its blade hummed with a terrifying resonance, as if it too had been waiting for this moment. The moment its master's fury could no longer be contained.
Qian Jinglei, Nie Tong, and Xiong Yu—True Gods in their own right—could not lift their heads. The pressure radiating from the sword alone forced them to their knees, their bones creaking under the weight.
Yun Lintian raised the God-Slaying Sword high.
A streak of golden light tore through the sky, scattering the storm clouds, illuminating the ruins in an apocalyptic glow.
The world turned gold.
A blade of pure annihilation carved through space, slamming into the lake's surface with the force of a dying star.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the landscape, flattening ruins for miles. The lake's formations groaned, cracks spiderwebbing across its once-impenetrable surface.
Yun Lintian didn't pause.
He raised the sword again.
Another golden slash. Another cataclysmic impact.
Beneath the lake, Tang Wei's liquid form flickered wildly. "He's going to destroy everything!"
Long Chen's legs gave out. "This power... this isn't cultivation anymore. This is madness!"
Ling Xuan clutched her dagger, her face white with terror. "If he breaks the lake, we'll all be annihilated!"
Xiong Ba didn't speak. He simply stared upward, his mind blank with primal fear.
Yun Lintian didn't care.
He struck a third time.
Each blow stronger than the last.
Each strike fueled by a rage that had been festering since Xia Yao's death back on Earth—since the day he had first learned what it meant to lose someone irreplaceable.
He would not lose Long Qingxuan too.
The lake's retaliations came in waves—temporal blades, spatial tears, crushing gravity wells—but Yun Lintian cut through them all. His body was a canvas of wounds, his blood staining the waters below, yet his movements never slowed.
Temporal blades sharper than divine artifacts slashed at Yun Lintian from all directions. Geysers of liquid time erupted beneath his feet, each drop capable of erasing centuries from a mortal's lifespan.
The very space around him twisted, attempting to tear his body apart through sheer dimensional distortion.
Yet Yun Lintian didn't defend.
With a roar that shook the firmament, golden light erupted from his body as he activated the divine beast bloodlines within him.
Divine Phoenix Wings burst from his back, their crimson feathers burning with immortal flames.
Golden Crow God's solar fire wreathed his left arm, its heat distorting space itself.
Vermilion Bird's scarlet energy coiled around his right, carrying the essence of rebirth and destruction.
Primordial Azure Dragon's power surged through his veins, his muscles swelling with draconic might.
Black Turtle's impenetrable defense hardened his skin to divine artifact levels.
White Tiger's killing intent sharpened his aura to a blade's edge.
And then—the power of the Primordial Gods themselves answered his call.
From his left eye, the God of Death's power manifested—a swirling darkness blacker than the void, representing absolute destruction.
The God-Slaying Sword in his hands screamed as all these powers converged upon it, its blade transforming into a prism of annihilation.
Yun Lintian brought the sword down.
The first strike shattered a quarter of the lake's formations. The shockwave alone sent Qian Jinglei, Nie Tong, and Xiong Yu flying backward, their bodies crashing through multiple ruins before skidding to a stop. Blood poured from their mouths, their divine bones fractured from mere proximity to the impact.
The lake retaliated with doubled fury. A thousand temporal blades materialized, each capable of slaying True Gods. They rained upon Yun Lintian like a storm of death.
A second strike. Another quarter of the formations crumbled. The temporal blades shattered mid-air, their fragments dissolving into nothingness.
Linlin and Qingqing clung to him desperately, their small bodies trembling from the overwhelming energies.
"Big Brother Yun!" Qingqing sobbed.
But Yun Lintian was beyond hearing. Beyond reason.
All he saw was Long Qingxuan's vacant eyes.
All he felt was the need to destroy.
A third strike. The lake's surface split vertically, revealing the abyss beneath. The remaining formations groaned, their structural integrity failing.
Beneath the lake, Tang Wei's form flickered erratically. "He's actually doing it! The Creator's seals—they're breaking!"
Long Chen collapsed to his knees. "This... this is impossible..."
Ling Xuan's dagger slipped from numb fingers. "We're going to die here..."
Xiong Ba simply stared, his mind broken by the sheer magnitude of power before him.
The fourth strike landed.
Like glass struck by a hammer, the remaining formations shattered all at once. The shockwave ripped outward, flattening everything within a hundred miles. Mountains turned to dust. The sky itself cracked, revealing the chaotic void beyond.
The lake's waters stilled. The temporal distortions vanished.
All that remained was a gaping maw where Mirror Lake once stood—and at its center, suspended in chains of golden light, was the massive form of the azure dragon.
Her eyes were closed. Her breathing shallow. The chains binding her pulsed with Nian Shi's cursed seals, but they were weakening.
Yun Lintian's chest heaved. Blood dripped from countless wounds. His divine beast transformations flickered, barely sustained by sheer willpower.
With trembling steps, he approached Long Qingxuan's suspended form, the God-Slaying Sword dragging behind him, its tip carving a furrow in the shattered earth.
"I'm here, Qingxuan..." His voice was raw, broken.