"Crack, crack, crack..." The sound echoed continuously, so sinister and chilling in the vast expanse of the Far West. As the sound grew louder, the immense Black Mountain began to tremble relentlessly. Fortunately, the mountain was forged entirely of Nether-Iron, devoid of any loose material, preventing any dust or debris from flying about.

However, with the incessant shaking of the iron mountain, fissures started appearing across its surface. Subsequently, chunks of ironstone began to fall from the summit, crashing heavily onto the ground below.

The booming grew louder, and the frequency of the mountain's vibration increased rapidly. Gradually, a colossal fissure materialized in the mountain's center—a vertical rift stretching from top to bottom. A beam of pitch-black light shot forth from within the crack, much like a seedling bursting through the shell of its seed. Finally, the towering giant, millions of zhang high, collapsed outward, smashing into the earth with a tremor that was more terrifying than the fiercest earthquake.

It was fortunate that this location was so incredibly far from the territories of the Earth Alliance, or such a massive seismic event would surely have drawn the attention of the demons.

As the dark light dissipated, a figure slowly floated out from between the split halves of the mountain. It was a man of perfectly sculpted physique and unparalleled, breathtaking beauty. Yes, unparalleled beauty—so stunning that even the most exquisite women in the world could not compare. How could such a man exist?

Yet, at that very moment, his handsome features contorted, sprouting eighteen eyes, eighteen eyes blazing with a chilling, black light. Each eye held the power to seize the soul, rendering his appearance utterly horrifying.

But what followed was even more terrifying. Those eighteen eyes began to divide, splitting down the middle as if a single cell were cleaving into two. In mere moments, the eighteen eyes multiplied into eighteen pairs—thirty-six streams of black light, each saturated with an aura of annihilation, erupted outward. The robust barrier of the Celestial Realm was swept away and pulverized by this light.

Shattering the void, shattering the vacuum, shattering everything...

The World-Ending Demonic Light...

This person was none other than the Lord of Destruction, who had been in deep seclusion. After thousands of years in retreat, not only had he healed his injuries, but his cultivation had advanced dramatically, seemingly on the verge of stepping across that final threshold at any moment.

As he emerged, two other figures shot out from the cleaved mountain—the Lord of Fear and the Lord of Greed. The auras emanating from them were profoundly powerful, easily doubling their might from before. Clearly, these years of seclusion had yielded significant enlightenment for them all.

Seeing the Lord of Destruction retract his eighteen pairs of eyes, the Lord of Fear and the Lord of Greed exchanged a knowing smile. The three of them immediately set their sights toward the direction of the Earth Alliance. They took a single, effortless step forward, covering a thousand li. With a second step, they crossed tens of thousands of li. When the third step was taken, they had traversed millions of li...

This was a divine ability far superior to spatial translocation. Their cultivation had truly reached an unimaginable realm.

Ye Jingyu remained unaware of all this. Perhaps due to the influence of the White Tiger King's assassination, the speed at which he absorbed the energy from the White Tiger Inner Elixir was significantly slower than when he absorbed the Black Tortoise Inner Elixir. It took him more than a month to fully absorb the energy contained within the White Tiger relic.

A white Golden Core formed within the Metal Aperture in his lungs, emitting razor-sharp Vajra energies. These energies were so potent that even without conscious effort, they possessed the power to shred any nearby person to dust.

Furthermore, as the Metal Core solidified, his offensive power multiplied. His blade Qi, in particular, became devastatingly sharp.

Slowly opening his eyes, two streaks of blade Qi shot forth, piercing deep into the stone wall opposite him. Upon inspection, he realized that the furs in the cavern had long been shredded to pieces. Even the floor and surrounding walls were scored with tens of thousands of marks, large and small. Could these all be scratches left by the Vajra Qi emanating from my body? Ye Jingyu pondered.

Feng'er? Xiyang? Recalling that the two women had pushed him in and hadn't left, Ye Jingyu worried that his Metal Qi might harm them. He immediately rose and rushed toward the exit. However, just as he stepped out of the cave, he felt an intense wave of blade Qi bearing down on him. Without hesitation, he swung a hand, unleashing a hand-blade strike. A sharp blade Qi formed on his own arm, meeting the incoming attack head-on.

"Crack..." The seemingly terrifying blade Qi was shattered by his counter-strike. However, the sleeve on his arm was shredded, and his body was jolted backward repeatedly.

Just as Ye Jingyu prepared to press his attack, he saw a thin, withered man standing at the cave entrance, gazing at him with a smile filling his face.

"Master..." Seeing the man, Ye Jingyu was instantly overjoyed. He cried out, throwing himself forward and landing heavily at the feet of Dugu Ba-Chen, kneeling down. Because he knelt so quickly, and his physical body was so robust, his knees actually shattered the rock floor beneath him.

"Disciple pays respects to Master!" With extreme reverence, Ye Jingyu kowtowed three times to Dugu Ba-Chen before slowly rising to his feet.

"Hahahaha... I knew a scoundrel like you couldn't possibly die!" Seeing Ye Jingyu standing before him unharmed, Dugu Ba-Chen roared with laughter.

Ye Jingyu offered an embarrassed smile in response to his master's scolding. Scoundrel, then so be it. As long as the old man is happy, what does it matter?

To the side, Jiu Feng and Xiyang also showed expressions of joy. Even Ni Bo and the others, who had returned from the Savage Forest, stood watching, their faces alight with delight.

"The battlefield has now ignited the Savage Forest. Your legion is also outside and engaged in fierce fighting, suffering some heavy losses. What are your plans now?" Although they hadn't met for a long time, for beings at their level, pleasantries were unnecessary. After confirming that Ye Jingyu had successfully condensed the Metal Core, Dugu Ba-Chen let his smile fade and spoke.

This war had erupted strangely. Initially, he suspected those five old fellows were concealing something. Now, even though the Xuan Yuan Water Control Banner had been seized, the enemy forces had not retreated. This warranted serious consideration...

For more novels, visit storyread.net.