Hei Xiu’s dark robes fluttered in the unnatural winds as the enormous purple runic patterns still pulsed above the battlefield.
His lips curled into a smirk as he watched the devastation below.
But suddenly—
THOOM!
A violent ripple of wind pressure blasted toward him as the sheer force instantly shattered a chunk of the ark beneath his feet.
Hei Xiu barely tilted his head in time, and a white streak passed just inches from his face.
Swoosh!
The very space where he had just been standing imploded, collapsing inward as if the space itself had been twisted.
A flicker of surprise flashed across his face.
"Hmm?" Hei Xiu muttered, turning his eyes toward the approaching figure. Your next chapter awaits on novelhall.Co?m
Yan Zijin.
She floated there in midair, her silver-white veil fluttering around her face as her heterochromatic eyes burned with restrained fury.
The remnants of her last attack still distorted the air around her clenched fist, crackling with the residual force of an unrestrained blow.
"You’re making too much noise. Time to end this farce."
Hei Xiu let out a slow chuckle, his fingers flexing as tendrils of evil energy slithered from his hands.
"You’re too late, Yan Zijin."
"The Paragons are already here. The Eclipse Sect will fall, and soon, your body will fuel the next awakening."
WHOOSH!
Hei Xiu disappeared from the ark as his entire body was swallowed by dark shadows.
Yan Zijin’s gaze flickered, and she was already moving before he could even disappear.
CLANG!
A massive black scythe erupted from the shadow just beside her head, slicing through the air with an ear-splitting screech.
But instead of dodging, Yan Zijin easily caught it.
Her bare hand, wreathed in energy, clenched around the blade mid-swing, stopping its momentum entirely.
CRACK!
A shockwave exploded outward from the sheer force of the impact.
The ark split apart, and the air pressure alone sent countless evil cultivators below tumbling through the sky.
Hei Xiu’s eyes widened in horror "You—"
BOOM!
Yan Zijin’s knee slammed into his gut, and the resulting force sent him spiraling through the sky as his body crashed through the remnants of his own ark like a cannonball.
Hei Xiu gritted his teeth, flipping mid-air, and dark runes flared beneath his feet.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
He propelled himself forward at an unnatural speed and appeared behind Yan Zijin as his fingers formed a rapid sequence of hand seals.
"Abyssal Spire."
The sky around Yan Zijin split open, and from within the shadows, an enormous spire of black stone shot downward.
CRACK!
"AARGHHH!" Hei Xiu screamed as his face contorted in pain.
His blade dispersed instantly as his fingers twisted in unnatural angles.
Yan Zijin twisted his entire arm, wrenching him downward and sending him plummeting toward the ruined battlefield.
BOOM!
His body slammed into the earth creating a massive crater upon impact.
The ground split apart, debris scattering in all directions as dust clouded the air.
Hei Xiu coughed violently with his entire chest caved inward.
He tried to crawl out of the crater, his fingers clawing desperately against the cracked ground.
Swoosh.
A shadow loomed over him.
His dazed vision flickered upward, and he saw her... descending slowly, her silhouette illuminated by the burning battlefield behind her.
Hei Xiu’s lips quivered. "W-Wait—"
Yan Zijin didn’t wait and her foot came down.
CRUNCH.
His left leg exploded beneath the force, bone and flesh splintering apart as blood burst outward like a ruptured vessel.
"URRGGGHHHH!" Hei Xiu let out a guttural howl of pain, his hands trembling as he tried to crawl backward.
Yan Zijin merely tilted her head. "You call yourself a leader," she mused, stepping forward slowly, her feet crushing the rubble beneath her.
She grabbed his remaining arm and with a twist—
SPLURCH!
The entire arm was torn from his body.
Blood splattered across the ruined ground as he convulsed violently, his body twitching uncontrollably from the shock.
His mouth opened and closed like a dying fish, his pupils dilated in pure, unfiltered terror.
Yan Zijin stared down at him.
"You’re not a leader."
Her fingers curled into a fist.
"You’re a pest."
Hei Xiu’s shattered body tried to scramble away, his bloody stump of an arm leaving a gruesome trail across the ground. "P-Please—!"
BOOM!
Her fist slammed into his skull.
CRACK!
The entire top half of his head caved inward, brain matter bursting outward as his spine snapped like brittle glass.
Yan Zijin’s gaze flickered upward at the Vampire ark and saw Rhudamanth Di Gradia "Onto the next one..."
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I hope you guys liked this chapter!