Within the Hidden Tomb, everything was engulfed in chaos. Tens of thousands of fractures had formed across the tomb's dimensional fabric, and the power of the laws that once separated the outside world from the interior had been completely torn apart, leaving nothing intact.
The torn seams of space gave birth to countless small gateways opening in every direction, allowing those from outside to enter the tomb freely, and those within to escape without any restrictions.
At that moment, countless beams of light shot out in all directions. Each beam carried the power born from the collision of tremendously powerful cultivators. Explosions, shrieks, and the sound of shattering dimensions blended together like the requiem of the apocalypse.
Sui Zimeng, Bai Xian, and Jin Su witnessed several Immortal Emperors engaging in fierce battle. Although the collapse of the Hidden Tomb's restrictions now allowed them to utilize their true cultivation levels, it ultimately meant nothing. For before them stood a man clad in golden robes, towering and calm, emanating the overwhelming aura of an Immortal Emperor far beyond anything they could contend with. He was not mentioned in any of Sui Zimeng's predictions.
In the end, they had no choice. Sui Zimeng ordered her people to withdraw immediately, activating a warp stone to escape the tomb. Bai Xian and Jin Su followed suit. The sound of space splitting echoed through the air. But in the very next instant, the heads of all three women were severed cleanly, without them even realizing who had struck.
Suddenly, the Hidden Tomb activated a mechanism that instantly suppressed the cultivation of all Immortal Emperors within, reducing them to that of Great Emperors, as it began the process of self-repair.
At the center of the tomb, the man in golden robes remained still. In front of him hovered the lingering soul fragments of all twenty-seven Immortal Emperors, who launched relentless attacks against him. But now, both he and his attackers were limited to using only the power of Great Emperors.
The golden-robed man looked at them and spoke.
"This is absurd... Me, alone, against the twenty-seven of you?"
He took a deep breath and continued.
"Little brother... lend me a hand."
As his voice fell, the entire Hidden Tomb was plunged into darkness.
From among the fragments of the twenty-seven Immortal Emperors floating before him, one suddenly roared out amid the crushing atmosphere.
"Kill him! Now!"
The man in golden robes let out a soft laugh, his smile seemingly courteous yet laced with scorn. He spoke with a calm, unshaken voice.
"Even if there are twenty-seven of you, you're nothing more than fragments of Immortal Emperors' souls, limited to the power of mere Great Emperors. Die! Dark Light!"
As his words fell, he raised his hand and lightly flicked his fingers. The opposing forces of light and darkness swirling around him suddenly merged, forming an enormous orb of power. The white and black radiance spun wildly as he hurled it straight toward the group of Zhou clan's Immortal Emperors.
The atmosphere turned suffocating in an instant. The twenty-seven Immortal Emperors, veterans of countless battles across eras, felt something they hadn't in ages powerlessness. What they now faced defied all expectations.
Though they bore the title of Immortal Emperor, these were but soul remnants with highly restricted power. Mere moments ago, they had still believed that the golden-robed man could be dealt with, but upon sensing the presence of another concealed existence, all their confidence evaporated.
These two men were terrifying. Their power was undeniable, and their physical bodies had certainly reached the divine level. Perhaps... their cultivation had already surpassed the realm of Immortal Emperor entirely. The Zhou ancestors finally realized they wouldn't be able to hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
One of the soul fragments shouted, "Sacrifice lifespan! Defend with everything!"
The twenty-seven Immortal Emperors channeled all their remaining spirit energy, conjuring a desperate shield to protect themselves. Streams of radiant light wove through the air, completely veiling the scene from view.
At that moment, Zhou Luochen's father, who had been standing silently behind, swiftly swept his hand, transferring his own power into the spiritual barrier surrounding his son's body and pushing it outward with all his strength.
Encased in a cocoon of light, Zhou Luochen was flung away from the collapsing domain, propelled with the last of his father's strength. But just before his body could break free...
The orb of dark light that had been launched at the Immortal Emperors suddenly halted midair, shifting form in an instant. It transformed into an enormous black hole that spun violently in the sky. Its gravitational force surged forth in the blink of an eye, causing all the spiritual energy within the hidden tomb to tremble as if the entire realm was on the verge of collapse.
The black hole chose no target. It pulled in everything cultivators, spirit beasts, soul energy, corpses, earth, forests, even fragments of the outer world began to be drawn into the hidden tomb by its overwhelming force.
Zhou Luochen's cocoon of light, which had nearly escaped the tomb's boundaries, was immediately yanked back. His father tried to push his son away again using every ounce of power he had, but it was futile. At the same time, Zhou Luochen attempted to activate a teleportation stone, but the system's protective protocol rendered the stone unusable.
The twenty-seven soul fragments of the Immortal Emperors, standing at the forefront, were the first to be swallowed by the black hole. They were unable to resist even for a moment, disintegrating the instant they were drawn in.
Inside the black hole, there was no battle, no light, not even death only an eternal void that returned nothing.
As the black hole continued to devour everything in its path, a dazzling white light erupted from its center, as if it would explode at any moment. A thunderous roar echoed out, distorting the fabric of space itself. The scene resembled an apocalyptic eclipse. The brilliance was so intense that anyone beneath the Immortal realm could not bear to gaze directly at it.
But in the space of a single breath, that light was severed.
A sharp shua! rang out.
A slender silver sword beam sliced cleanly through the combined force of light and darkness, splitting the power into two with ease, as though cutting through paper. The deafening roar was silenced in an instant. The rampaging energy that had threatened to consume the world just moments ago vanished like mist scattered by the wind.
High above the sky, the hoarse voice of an old man rang out.
"You call yourselves true gods, and yet you dare to bully mere children? Have you no shame at all!"
The old man stepped forth from the void. No waves of power, no bursts of divine light marked his arrival only a silence that told all living things the battle had reached its conclusion.
He wore a faded old robe, appearing like an ordinary elder, but with every step he took, the very dimensions trembled faintly.
Across the sky, the golden-robed man narrowed his eyes at the scene before him. He smiled, seemingly intrigued, and spoke.
"Before you say anything more... shouldn't you be worrying about your little one first?"
The old man said nothing. He simply raised his hand slightly, and with that small gesture, Zhou Luochen's body was drawn instantly into his grasp. He remained calm and composed as he looked over his grandson's condition.
One of Zhou Luochen's arms had been completely devoured by darkness. Flesh, bone, and even the surrounding soul energy had vanished without a trace. The shadow still creeping along his arm had reached the elbow and was slowly extending toward his shoulder.
Zhou Luochen gritted his teeth, his face pale, body trembling. The pain he was enduring was far beyond what words could describe. He did not even cry out, but every muscle in his body was tense, and sweat poured from every pore.
The old man stood silent for a moment, then spoke in a cold, calm tone.
"Release your defense seal."
Before Zhou Luochen could respond, the system embedded within his body seemed to obey the old man's voice. A mechanical sound echoed faintly in Zhou Luochen's mind, and the protective barrier immediately detached from his body.
Without wasting another second, the old man swung the sword in his hand, severing Zhou Luochen's entire arm.
The arm flew off, blood arcing through the air in a wide curve, but it stopped midair before hitting the ground. The old man manipulated the blood vessels with spiritual power, staunching the bleeding and beginning to expel the remnants of darkness still lingering in the energy veins.
But his brow furrowed. Although most of the dark energy had dissipated, a portion had already penetrated deep into Zhou Luochen's bone marrow and soul threads. He could not completely purge it. He was not someone skilled in the healing arts. Even if he knew how to eradicate this force, the act of healing itself was a different discipline, one he did not excel at.
He lifted his gaze again and looked toward the two figures observing him from afar one in golden robes, the other in black.
"Soon enough, I'll come for your true selves. So prepare your heads for me."
The golden-robed man let out a soft chuckle, his laughter laced with provocation.
"How terrifying. Now I won't be able to sleep tonight. So scary, so scary."
The old man merely smiled, not bothering to argue. He lifted his hand once more and flicked it lightly.
A sharp shuk echoed as the space around them twisted violently.
A wave of deep blue sword energy slashed through the air, cutting across dimensions with absolute precision. It cleaved the two men in half instantly. There was no scream, not even a moment to react. Their lives were extinguished like candles doused in water.
Their bodies dropped from the sky like fallen leaves in the dead of winter silent, effortless, lifeless.
The old man stood still, unmoved, before drawing a drop of blood from each of their corpses.