The golden character for 'Death' descended like a miniature celestial mountain, its irresistible gravitational pull crushing everything in its path. Su Qingyue tilted her head back and gazed at the back that was blocking her path — a surface scarred by grotesque sutures and flickering cybernetic runes. Though humble as mortal flesh, it stood as steadfast as a solitary peak.
At the moment of impact, the ground within a hundred zhang of the Soul-Sacrificing Altar sank three chi. Xiao Wuchen's legs sank deep into the earth. He raised his right hand, wielding the demonic sword 'Rootless', to block the blow. The instant the blade touched the golden law, it sparked like an electromagnetic short circuit, emitting dense, stuttering flashes of light.
[System Warning: Physical endurance has reached its limit!
Left Arm Heavenly Scar Mark: Overloaded energy absorption; conversion efficiency imbalanced; host undergoing spontaneous combustion.
Synchronisation Rate: 97.9% (demonic and human natures are colliding wildly at the critical point!)
"Get the hell back!" Xiao Wuchen roared, blood oozing from every pore as he was under extreme pressure. The bones in his right hand, fused with the demonic sword, shattered with a crack, only to be forcibly reassembled and healed by the system's self-repair logic.
He had single-handedly withstood the apocalyptic death command unleashed by the combined efforts of three elders!
'Wretched creature — you dared to block the Triple Slaughter Command?' The central elder in the dark robe frowned slightly, a cold, greedy gleam flashing in his eyes. 'It seems the system core within this broken vessel holds greater research value than the Holy Maiden's divine soul.'
The three elders exchanged glances, shedding their feigned pious demeanour. They dived downward in unison, their hands forming eerie crimson seals as they struck Xiao Wuchen directly in the chest. Xiao Wuchen snapped his head up. Fueled by fury, the 'Eye of Truth' forcibly pierced the protective divi.
The three of them exchanged glances and shed their feigned pious demeanour. They dived downwards in unison, their hands forming eerie crimson seals as they struck Xiao Wuchen directly in the chest. Xiao Wuchen snapped his head up. Fuelled by fury, the 'Eye of Truth' forcibly pierced the protective divine light that was shielding the three elders.
The scene froze in that instant. Xiao Wuchen's pupils contracted to pinpricks. Instead of golden cores glowing at the dantian centres of those three elders, fragmented warrior souls floated, emitting faint battle intent. That familiar aura of slaughter; that unyielding tenacity, even in death... These were the divine consciousness cores of the captain-level subordinates from the first division, who had fought to the death, sacrificing their lives in battle."So why do your spells carry my brothers' cries?" Xiao Wuchen's voice grew eerily ethereal, harbouring the extinguished humanity of those consumed by fury. 'It was never just harvesting. They were plundering — plundering mortal wills to patch their broken bodies, masquerading as the so-called Heavenly Dao."'Using my brother's soul as your elixir of immortality?' Xiao Wuchen laughed, his smile devoid of warmth and filled only with destructive intent. Releasing his right hand from the sword hilt, he allowed the 'Rootless' demon blade to hover before him, then abruptly pulled both hands outward.
[Crescent Moon Slash, Eighth Form: Moon-Defying Heaven's Incineration (Full Power Activated!)
A pitch-black inferno erupted from Xiao Wuchen's body, searing with extreme heat. This flame does not consume flesh or wood, but rather ignites spiritual energy and divine consciousness. In that instant, the sky above the entire Outer Sect ruins was torn open, revealing a dim, black-flamed 'Reverse Moon' slowly rising. The weapon spirits imprisoned within the elders' bodies began to struggle violently and burn from within, sensing their commander's aura.
"Ah! My divine sense is flowing backwards!"
"Help! That beast is burning our karmic bonds!'
The three elders let out piercing screams as their spiritual energy, consumed by the dark flames, transformed into a powder keg that ignited itself.'Chi Kui, open the vessel.' Xiao Wuchen held his demonic sword upside down and advanced step by step towards the three figures contorting within the black flames."Alright, boss! These three old farts' essence should be potent!' Chi Kui raised the soul vessel with his three hands, his six eyes gleaming with excitement.Xiao Wuchen gave them no chance to beg for mercy. His demonic sword flashed, not to kill, but to strip. Three flashes of blade light later, the three elders' physical bodies were reduced to ashes in the Nether Flames.
Xiao Wuchen caught the three divine consciousness cores belonging to the First Division's subordinates and gently placed them at the centre of the Soul-Sacrificing Altar. [System log: residual souls of three captains successfully recovered].
[Synchronisation rate: 98% (Stability Value Collapsing; Humanity Anchor: Only Su Qingyue Remains).
Xiao Wuchen stood atop the Soul-Sacrificing Altar with his back to Su Qingyue, who was covered in tears. A deathly stillness emanated from him as the surrounding void began to collapse. He stared at the shattered fragments of the jade pendant in his hand; a fleeting look of confusion flickered in his pitch-black eyes, the result of the system's forced disconnection.'Master... brothers...' he murmured, his voice as cold as snow. 'This Qingyun Mountain should harbour no living soul.'
As the physical forms of the three Elders disintegrated within the Nether Flames of the 'Reverse Moon Burning Heaven', their three divine consciousness cores were fully exposed to the void. They no longer appeared as ethereal, otherworldly figures, but as three blurry, shadowy forms clad in tattered Daqian armour.
"Those are... Captain Chen, Big Mouth Zhang and Second Dog?" Chi Kui's previously greedy eyes froze instantly. The storage pouch in his hand fell to the ground and his three hands twisted helplessly in front of him. 'Master, weren't they killed in the Valley of Severed Heads? How could these old farts have stuffed them into their bellies as engines?"
Xiao Wuchen offered no reply, but his fingers were clenched so tightly that they bled black and dripped onto the scorched earth with a hissing, corrosive sound.
Upon encountering Xiao Wuchen's killing intent, the three shadowy figures' once-hollow eyes regained a glimmer of clarity — an absolute loyalty to their commander etched into their very bones. They attempted to salute, but the golden chains binding them to the Immortal Gate tightened, dragging them back into nothingness.
The System vs. Humanity: A Tug-of-War to the Limit
[System Log: Warning! Host's emotional fluctuations have exceeded 400% overload.
[Detected illegal divine consciousness resonance — Target: First Division Fallen Soldiers
Heartless Lock · Overclocked Execution: Forcibly erasing the host's memory modules related to 'Captain Old Chen' and others.
"Stop... this!" Xiao Wuchen unleashed a roar that nearly tore through the air. Abandoning his defences against the outside world, he withdrew his entire will into his mind and transformed it into an invisible sword of intent. He swung it down with all his might at the pulsating system firewall.
[Warning: Synchronisation rate violently fluctuating: 98.1% ↔ 95.0%.
[Formation load: 99% — Host's spinal column undergoing physical collapse]
In order to preserve the last shred of memory of his brothers, Xiao Wuchen pushed his body to the brink of collapse. His vertebrae snapped one by one and were then forcibly reconnected by cybernetic runes. The pain was worse than lingchi torture.
Su Qingyue stumbled forward, watching the man fight for his life against the Heavenly Dao and his own system for the sake of a few scattered souls. The deepest seal within her heart shattered completely. Trembling, she grasped the shattered jade pendant, pressed it to her brow and burned her own Holy Maiden essence without hesitation.
"Using my divine soul as the catalyst... break the seal!"
A cold, white light erupted from Su Qingyue's body. This power was not the sacred energy of the Qingyun Immortal Sect, but the pure willpower of the Great Qian Dynasty, belonging to the spirit-guarding maiden. It gently enveloped the three soldiers' illusory forms, forcibly blocking the Qingyun Immortal Sect's restraining attack.
Seizing this fleeting moment, Xiao Wuchen swung his sword fiercely.
[Crescent Moon Slash · Ninth Form: Lonely Moon Seals the Heart (Adaptive Application)'. The black threads of sword energy did not pierce the enemy. Instead, they gently coiled around the three divine consciousness cores. Xiao Wuchen endured the excruciating pain of his sea of consciousness being torn apart by the system as he slowly pulled the cores into the centre of the Soul Sacrificing Altar."Old Chen... Zhang Dazui... Er Gou... we're home.' Xiao Wuchen's voice was hoarse beyond recognition.
As the three cores settled securely on the fragment of the military banner, the Soul-Sacrificing Altar erupted in a towering pillar of crimson light. This was not demonic energy, but the 'Immortal Military Spirit' of the Great Qian soldiers, delayed for years.
[System log: Recovery Successful."
Host Willpower Assessment: Extremely lucid. Synchronisation rate forcibly suppressed at 98.0%.
Xiao Wuchen rose slowly. The Cold-Hearted Lock on his back still flickered with icy light, but could no longer harm him. His gaze fixed on Lu Qingyun, the icy killing intent in his eyes solidifying into a tangible presence.
"Lu Qingyun, you treated them like discarded medicine residue. Then I shall treat your immortal mountain as their burial pit."On the Soul-Sacrificing Altar, the lingering spirits of the three captains gradually took form within crimson pillars of light. Though they were unable to speak, their fervent devotion to their commander erupted as intense emotional shockwaves, crashing directly into the brain regions of Xiao Wuchen that were now being controlled by the system.
'Master! Your back! Your back is smoking!" Chi Kui screamed, pointing at Xiao Wuchen's back.
The Heartless Lock embedded in Xiao Wuchen's spine vibrated violently. A logical conflict akin to an infinite loop had erupted between the host's subjective will (revenge and remembrance) and the system's correction protocols (erasure and absolute rationality). The row of metal clasps embedded deep within his bone marrow began to emit an eerie, dark red glow. They even started scorching his flesh, releasing a burning, charred stench.
"Wuchen... If Heaven's Will seeks to bind you, then I shall be your anchor."
Ignoring her depleted spiritual energy, Su Qingyue lunged towards Xiao Wuchen. Without casting any spells, she wrapped her jade-like hands tightly around his blood-stained, demonic-energy-ridden back. "With this broken body, I shall become the crucible to seal the Lock of Despair!"
With Su Qingyue's clear command, the Holy Maiden's mark between her brows began to reverse. She deliberately activated the restraining threads that Lu Qingyun had planted in her consciousness, using them as fuel to forcibly inject them back into the lock on Xiao Wuchen's back. It was a self-sacrificing act — she used her own divine soul to fill the emotional void carved out of Xiao Wuchen by the system.
"Crack—Bang!" A muffled explosion echoed from within Xiao Wuchen's body. The searing red Lock of Indifference cooled down eerily under Su Qingyue's gentle yet resilient soul suppression. The system's chaotic code ceased its erratic fluctuations, stabilising at a precarious yet balanced threshold.
[System Monitoring: External energy intervention. Soul-freezing program temporarily suspended.'Current Synchronisation Rate: 98.0% (Locked Status).Host Consciousness: 15% emotional threshold restored.Every muscle in Xiao Wuchen's body relaxed in that instant. Kneeling partly on the ground, he gasped for breath as the terror of his body being taken over by cold machinery eased slightly. In its place came the wave of warmth radiating from behind him — the trembling body heat of Su Qingyue. Amidst this brief respite, the sky above Qingyun's main peak shifted dramatically.
The once clear expanse was instantly shrouded by thick, leaden clouds. A colossal sphere formed from countless white bones slowly descended from the overcast heavens — one of Lu Qingyun's trump cards, the 'Ten Thousand Bones Stupa'.
Lu Qingyun's cold, emotionless voice echoed from the main peak: 'The Holy Maiden has betrayed the Way. The demonic scourge devours its master. Since you crave the flesh and blood of the mortal world, perish among these ten thousand corpses and be reduced to eternal ashes."
Xiao Wuchen rose slowly. Sensing Su Qingyue's vulnerability, he gently pushed her behind Chi Kui, then raised his sword to face the 'bone mountain' in the sky — a structure built from the remains of former soldiers. The confusion in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by two black infernal flames capable of scorching the heavens. He declared:
"Chi Kui, watch over her."
Gripping his demon sword by the hilt, Xiao Wuchen strode towards the Bone Mountain, step by step. No longer a puppet of the system, he bore within him the warmth of a captain, a commander and a woman, and set out to cleave this false sky.