Alert! The Dragon Lord has emerged from seclusion!

What enraged him even more was that the altar was destroyed.

The ceremony of the Seven Stars returning to their positions was forcibly interrupted, the core was destroyed, and all previous efforts were in vain!

A thousand years of planning and countless efforts were shattered at the last step by his own son and these women whom he regarded as ants and sacrifices!

"Heh...heh..."

Jiang Wuyai gasped for breath, staring at Lin Chen, who was struggling to get up. The warmth in his eyes had completely vanished, leaving only a frenzied killing intent and a desire for destruction.

"Okay, very good..."

He slowly raised his hand, and a ball of energy, as black as ink and radiating an ominous and final aura, condensed in his palm.

The energy wasn't enormous, yet it made the souls of the three survivors tremble.

That is the law of "annihilation" condensed to its extreme.

"Since the ceremony cannot be completed... then you will all accompany me and be buried with this flawed world."

He no longer thought about the new Heavenly Way or being above all living beings.

At this moment, all he wanted was destruction.

He wanted to destroy everything in front of him, including his son who was repeatedly out of his control.

The pitch-black energy ball slowly detached from his palm and floated towards Lin Chen. It wasn't fast, but it carried an aura of death that was impossible to dodge or resist.

As Lin Chen watched the approaching darkness, the cracks in the chaotic seed within his body spread, his nascent soul dimmed, and his meridians were broken. He was powerless to fight any longer.

He looked at Su Qingxue and Ye Qingcheng, who were also seriously injured and struggling to crawl over not far away.

Looking at the faint spiritual light of Luo Yunyi in Su Qingxue's arms, there was no fear in his eyes, only deep apology and regret.

I'm sorry, I still couldn't... take you home.

Just as darkness was about to engulf Lin Chen—

Above the tower, the spatial barrier, which had been battered by the combined forces from both inside and outside for so long, finally…

Broken.

A dazzling pillar of starlight, like the first ray of light at the dawn of creation, crashed down!

Several figures stepped out from within the pillar of light.

The three leading figures were none other than Elders Xuanbing, Qingyang, and Cihang of Xiaoyao Valley!

Behind them, Zhang Qingyuan, the Celestial Master, had his whisk stained with blood; Ling Xuzi's sword intent soared to the heavens; Master Huiming's Buddha light shone everywhere; High Priest Saru's shamanic drum shook the heavens; Living Buddha Danzeng's prayer flags fluttered; and Sect Master Lan Fenghuang cleared the way with ten thousand Gu!

Further back was the battle formation composed of Ling Feng's Ice Guards and elite disciples from various sects!

The reinforcements have finally arrived!

"Jiang Wuyai! Cease your arrogance!"

Xuanbing Zhenren, his beard and hair bristling, roared and attacked simultaneously with Qingyang Sword Master and Cihang Granny!

Three streaks of light, like bolts of lightning, converged into the pillar of starlight and slammed into the dark energy ball!

boom--!!!

An even more violent explosion occurred.

The pitch-black energy sphere was shattered, and the aftershocks completely overturned the already damaged ninth floor, causing the top of the tower to collapse and revealing the chaotic sky outside.

Jiang Wuyai was thrown back again by the shockwave of the explosion, and his injuries became even more severe.

Looking at the numerous powerful enemies that had suddenly appeared, and at Lin Chen and the other two who were protected by the pillar of starlight, his face became even more crazed.

"They're all here... Great, saves me the trouble of looking for them one by one!"

He laughed wildly and suddenly plunged his hands into his chest!

"With my broken body, I offer myself as a sacrifice to the Ruins of Return—"

"Summon! The shadow of the ancient Heavenly Way!"

scoff!

He actually ripped out his own heart!

It was a bizarre heart that beat, half flesh and blood and half runes of rules!

With his heart removed from his body, Jiang Wuyai's aura plummeted, but the chaotic energy deep within the Ruins of Return surged violently as if boiling!

A will, more ancient, more vast, and more chaotic and insane than that of Jiang Wuyai at his peak, slowly awakened...

The heart is suspended in mid-air.

It pulsates, and each contraction stirs the chaotic energy of the entire Ruins.

"A madman!" The Azure Sun Sword Master's face turned ashen. "He sacrificed himself to forcibly awaken the lingering remnants of the ancient Heavenly Dao dormant deep within the Ruins of Return!"

"We must interrupt it!" Master Xuanbing formed hand seals, and a tornado of cold air rushed toward the heart.

It's too late.

My heart suddenly exploded!

Flesh and blood turned into blood mist, but the runes remained condensed and did not disperse. They reorganized and expanded within the blood mist, forming a massive vortex with a diameter of ten zhang.

From the depths of the vortex came a long, drawn-out sigh that seemed to have spanned countless ages.

That sigh contained so much—the birth and death of stars, the rise and fall of civilizations, the first stirrings of life and its final destiny.

An eye slowly opened in the center of the vortex.

Those eyes had no pupils, only a pure, chaotic color, reflecting the birth and death of the universe.

—The shadow of the old Heavenly Way!

Just being stared at by that eye caused all the cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage present to groan, blood seeping from their seven orifices, as if their souls had been struck by a heavy blow.

Even the peak Nascent Soul cultivators like Xuanbing Zhenren felt their spiritual energy circulation sluggish, as if suppressed by invisible rules.

"This...this is..." The prayer wheel in the hands of the Living Buddha Tenzin hummed, and the Buddha's light was receding on its own.

"Suppression at the level of rules." Celestial Master Zhang Qingyuan's expression was more solemn than ever before. "Although the old Heavenly Dao has collapsed, its remaining 'rule imprints' have an innate suppression of the status of cultivators under the new Heavenly Dao."

"Hahaha..." With a large hole in his chest, Jiang Wuyai, barely breathing, laughed wildly, blood constantly gushing from the corner of his mouth.

"Can you feel it? This is... the majesty of yesteryear!"

"You think you've won? No... Although the ritual was interrupted, my life, combined with the resonance of the Seven Stars' essence being briefly awakened... is enough to summon its projection for a moment!"

He turned his head with difficulty to look at Lin Chen, who was protected by the pillar of starlight. His eyes were extremely complicated, with madness, resentment, and a last sliver of incomprehensible expectation.

"Chen'er...do you understand now? The alternation of the old and new Heavenly Dao is inherently bloody...without sacrifice, how can there be rebirth?"

"You chose to protect them... then use your eyes to see how long they can survive under the old Heavenly Dao rules?"

Before the words were finished, the eyes in the vortex slowly moved their gaze.

The first targets were Su Qingxue and Ye Qingcheng, who were closest and had the most serious injuries!

The moment the gaze falls upon the body—

"Ugh!" Ye Qingcheng screamed in agony as the frost-like yin energy around her dissipated wildly as if it had encountered its natural enemy, and strange black patterns appeared under her skin.

That was the rejection and erosion of her "Frosty Yin Body" origin by the old Heavenly Dao rules!

Su Qingxue groaned, her Xuan Yin sword energy spontaneously protecting its master, but it crumbled inch by inch under her gaze.

The wound on her left shoulder, which had been corroded by the Xuanming True Water, suddenly worsened, and the blackness spread rapidly. At the same time, a chaotic and violent thought attacked her sea of ​​consciousness, attempting to pollute her clear Dao heart.

"Clear snow! A beauty that could topple a city!"

Lin Chen's eyes were bloodshot as he struggled to get up, but his meridians were broken and his primordial spirit was dim, so he couldn't even mobilize a trace of chaotic energy.

"Chen'er, don't move!" Granny Cihang appeared in a flash, placing her withered hands on Su Qingxue and Ye Qingcheng's backs, channeling her pure and gentle Yuan energy to temporarily stabilize their worsening injuries.