While the player is in Battle Through the Heavens, the system is in The Great Ruler

Chapter 378 North of the Great Thousand Worlds, Emperor Yan Xiao Yan!

The battlefield of the Burning Sky Mountains in the northern border of the Great Thousand Worlds.

The demonic energy surged like a black tide, obscuring the sky and eroding the last line of defense of the world.

Shouts of battle, bursts of spiritual energy, and demonic roars mingled together, filling the world with a chaotic flow of blood and energy.

In one corner of the battlefield, three figures formed a triangular formation, supporting each other, to resist the extraterrestrial evil forces that outnumbered them several times over.

The young man at the head of the group was tall and straight, with a face that resembled Lu Yu's by seven points, but with sharper features. His spiritual energy surged like the sea around him; he was none other than Lu Fan.

To his left, Qing Yanjing, dressed in a moon-white long dress, waved her hand repeatedly, and countless spiritual seals flew out like butterflies, connecting to form an array that weakened and shattered the incoming torrent of demonic energy layer by layer.

On the right, Xiao Yan, dressed in a fiery red outfit, held a long whip. Wherever the whip passed, flames ignited the sky, wiping out all the fish that had escaped the net.

The aura emanating from the three individuals was clearly at the level of a Spiritual Grade Heavenly Sovereign, with an incredibly solid foundation and smooth, unimpeded flow of spiritual power, far surpassing their peers.

Not long ago, they joined forces and, against all odds, killed three Xuanmo Emperors who were comparable to Celestial Sovereigns, thus becoming a force to be reckoned with.

However, at this moment, they were no longer facing scattered soldiers.

"Watch out! It's the Bone-Eating Demon Army, charging in formation!"

With a shout, Qing Yanjing changed the spiritual seal at his fingertips, and a giant spiritual array shimmering with starlight instantly opened in front of the three of them. Countless starlight chains shot out, attempting to restrain the special demon army that was crushing down like a black torrent of steel.

However, this demonic army was clearly well-trained, with their demonic energy forming a unified whole, creating an incredibly powerful impact. The starlight chains groaned in despair the moment they made contact, breaking inch by inch!

Lu Fan's eyes flashed, and the longsword in his hand erupted with a shocking sword light. A dazzling sword aura that stretched across the sky slashed down, forcefully cutting a gap in the torrent of demonic troops. However, the force of the recoil also caused his blood to surge, and he took three steps back.

Xiao Yan let out a sharp cry, and her long whip transformed into a roaring fire dragon that rushed into the gap, frantically slashing and temporarily halting the demon army's closing in.

However, before they could catch their breath, the concentration of demonic energy in the world suddenly increased by several levels!

An indescribable, terrifying pressure descended from the heavens, as if the sky had been torn apart by an invisible giant hand. Thick, viscous dark clouds gathered wildly, coalescing into a blurry yet ferocious face that covered half the battlefield!

The mere sight of him caused countless cultivators below to feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave, their spiritual energy stagnates, and their souls tremble!

"Heavens—Heavenly Demon Emperor!" A wise and experienced elder Heavenly Sovereign roared in despair.

The demonic face slowly opened its mouth, and its silent roar transformed into a tangible sonic shockwave. Wherever it passed, space collapsed inch by inch, and countless cultivators who had no time to dodge, along with the defensive spirit arrays they had set up, were instantly reduced to dust!

Lu Fan and his two companions were the first to be hit. The several layers of protective spirit arrays set up by Qing Yanjing shattered like paper. Xiao Yan's fire dragon dissipated with a mournful cry. Lu Fan blocked with his sword, the blade emitting a piercing wail. His tiger's mouth split open, and blood gushed out.

All three were thrown backward by the shock, their auras instantly weakening.

Absolute suppression of realm!

The Heavenly Demon Emperor is a terrifying existence comparable to a Saint-grade Heavenly Sovereign. Even if it is just a descending avatar of his will, it is by no means something that the three Spirit-grade Heavenly Sovereigns can contend with, no matter how high their talent or how deep their foundation!

"Hmph, three mere brats, how dare they slay three of my clan's Xuanmo Emperors—they truly deserve to die!"

The grotesque face formed from demonic clouds emitted a booming soul-stirring sound, filled with violence and killing intent. Clearly, Lu Fan and his companions' previous victory had attracted the attention of this terrifying being, and perhaps even angered it.

Before the words were finished, a dark, condensed light, like a spear of death shot out from the deepest part of the netherworld, shot out suddenly, silently and with a speed that surpassed the perception of time!

Its target was Xiao Yan, who had previously been most exhausted and whose aura was slightly weak. Before the demonic light even arrived, the deathly aura that froze her soul and annihilated her life force made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

Xiao Yan's pupils constricted, and her spiritual energy was almost frozen under the immense pressure of the Heavenly Demon Emperor. Even moving her fingers became extremely difficult, and she could only watch helplessly as the deadly black light rapidly enlarged in her vision.

At this critical moment between life and death—

"Yan'er, get out of the way!"

A low shout rang out, and a figure slammed Xiao Yan to the side with decisive force.

It was Lu Fan. He mustered his spiritual power and, disregarding his own injuries, moved with a speed slightly faster than the demonic light, forcefully blocking in front of Xiao Yan, while simultaneously flicking his right hand.

He hurled a jet-black bead, its surface entwined with countless fine purplish-black patterns, at the incoming dark demonic light!

"Demon Lightning Orb, Explode!"

As the black bead came into contact with the demonic light, Lu Fan shouted sharply.

"boom!"

An indescribably terrifying explosion occurred in an instant. The terrifying dark light melted away as quickly as ice and snow under the blazing sun when it touched the purplish-black light at the core of the explosion.

The aftershocks of the explosion surged upwards, violently impacting the enormous demonic face composed of pure demonic energy!

"hiss!"

A sharp, piercing cry, filled with pain and rage, echoed throughout the heavens and earth!

The demonic face that covered half of the battlefield twisted and rippled violently, like a lake surface where a boulder had been thrown in, and began to blur and dissipate!

Clearly, the power of this specially made Demon Thunder Pearl caused unexpected and severe damage to this avatar of the Heavenly Demon Emperor!

"Brother Fan! How are you?"

Xiao Yan was shaken by the aftershocks, her blood churning, but she couldn't care less about herself and hurriedly looked at Lu Fan, who was standing in front of her.

His face was pale, a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and his sword-wielding arm trembled slightly, clearly having withstood some of the impact, but his eyes remained as firm as iron.

"fine,"

Lu Fan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze fixed on the disintegrating demonic face in the sky. He said in a deep voice, "This bead was a life-saving item left by my father. It is indeed powerful—but now, it has probably completely enraged it."

Just as he expected, the collapsing demonic face let out a final, venomous roar: "How dare you—injure my divided soul—"

"You ants—you deserve to die!"

Accompanied by this roar filled with hatred, the remaining demonic energy of the split soul did not completely dissipate. Instead, it frantically contracted and collapsed towards the center point, as if igniting a coordinate and making the deepest call.

In an instant, the world lost its color!

The collapse's epicenter suddenly caved inward, forming an absolute dark singularity that devoured all light, sound, and even spiritual energy. Then, the singularity exploded with a deafening roar!

The indescribable, vast demonic power descended like billions of demonic mountains at once, and the tangible pressure caused the entire Burning Heaven Mountain Range to sink and crack.

Space, like fragile glass, was riddled with cracks, emitting a mournful cry of unbearable strain. Endless dark demonic energy surged from the shattered singularity, instantly engulfing the sky and earth, and devouring all light.

In the absolute darkness at the center, a figure slowly coalesced and became clear.

He was no longer the blurry giant face made of demonic energy as before, but a substantial body covered with dark gold demonic patterns, with curved demonic horns on his head and eyes like two floating black suns, burning with cold flames of destruction.

Just by standing there, the aura it exudes causes the spatial structure within a radius of hundreds of thousands of miles to distort and tremble!

The Heavenly Demon Emperor, Black Eclipse, has descended in his true form!

"With your blood, I will atone for the loss of my remaining soul."

The Black Eclipse Demon Emperor's icy gaze swept over Lu Fan and the other two as if they were three slightly stronger insects.

He slowly raised a hand covered in hideous bone armor, palm facing the three of them. Pure, overwhelming, and vast demonic energy began to condense. That terrifying energy level was enough to instantly annihilate even an ordinary Celestial Sovereign!

Lu Fan, Qing Yanjing, and Xiao Yan felt the space around them completely freeze, even their spiritual energy was frozen. The shadow of death had never been so clear and so irresistible.

Xiao Yan's face turned deathly pale. Faced with that absolute disparity in power, the most primal cry from the depths of her bloodline almost escaped her lips. With her last ounce of strength, she screamed hoarsely towards that eternally warm and unwavering connection in the darkness, "Father!"

This call pierced through the clamor of the battlefield and the barriers of space, as if it had touched a being that had been in seclusion for a long time.

The next moment—

"Sizzle!"

The enormous dark hand, capable of easily annihilating a Celestial Supreme, seemed to have struck an invisible wall and abruptly stopped just three feet away from Xiao Yan's brow.

Immediately afterwards, the temperature of the entire Burning Sky Mountain battlefield began to soar at an alarming rate!

An endless, dazzling sea of ​​fire surged forth from the void without warning, instantly dispelling the demonic clouds that filled the sky.

The flames were not simply crimson, but displayed various mysterious forms, such as the clear, glassy color, the emerald green of the flames of life, and the milky white of the pure lotus demon fire. They seemed to be alive, cheering and leaping, surrounding a figure as it stepped out from the center of the sea of ​​fire.

"Um?!"

Almost at the same instant the flames surged and the giant hand was blocked, an unimaginable look of shock and anger flashed across the Black Eclipse Demon Emperor's cold, burning black demonic eyes.

The endless flames clung to the giant hand, carrying a strange power that seemed capable of burning everything and suppressing demonic energy.

This power was far more dangerous than any other kind of spiritual energy he had encountered before.

Without the slightest hesitation, as the Heavenly Demon Emperor, he made the most decisive decision. With a muffled groan, he acted swiftly, and his entire forearm, which was entangled in eerie flames, suddenly trembled!

"Snap!"

A teeth-grinding cracking sound rang out, and his forearm and hand, which had been corroded by the flames, were forcibly broken and separated by himself!

Demonic blood gushed from the severed wound, but before it could hit the ground, it was burned to nothingness by the flames that followed. The severed arm quickly turned to ashes in the raging fire.

The flames did not pursue, but instead swirled and contracted inward, condensing and rising in front of Xiao Yan and the other two, eventually transforming into a figure standing with his hands behind his back.

Dressed in black with black hair, his face was calm, and his deep eyes seemed to hold the cycle of birth and death of all things.

He simply stood there, and the magnificent sea of ​​fire around him automatically calmed down and submitted, like docile subjects guarding their king.

Only the surrounding space, unable to contain that intensely restrained yet omnipresent heat, presents a distorted, water-like quality and a translucent, glassy texture.

"Who are you?"

The Black Eclipse Demon Emperor's demonic eyes, like black, destructive stars, were fixed on the suddenly appearing man in black.

The demonic blood at the severed arm had long since stopped, but the pain that penetrated to the bone and burned his soul, as well as the weakness brought about by the forced incineration of his primordial demonic energy, made alarm bells scream in his heart.

The person before me is no ordinary saint!

The visitor did not answer immediately. He first turned his head slightly and saw Xiao Yan, whose face was pale but whose eyes were filled with a sense of relief and dependence, behind him as the light swept past.

She glanced again at Lu Fan, who was struggling to stay afloat despite his injuries, and a subtle, indescribable sense of helplessness seemed to flash deep in her eyes.

Then, he slowly turned his gaze back to meet the oppressive demonic eyes of the Black Eclipse Demon Emperor.

His eyes were calm and still, devoid of anger, killing intent, or even a deliberate display of power. Yet, this very calmness seemed to contain a heat far more terrifying than the churning strange flames around him.

"Emperor Yan, Xiao Yan."

He spoke, his voice not loud, yet it resonated clearly in the perception of every living being, carrying an absolute sense of presence that was natural and needed no external embellishment.

He paused, then looked down at the spot where the broken demonic arm's ashes were scattered. His tone remained calm, yet it instantly extinguished the atmosphere of the entire battlefield: "That claw just now... it reached for the wrong place."