"I'm simply mad, what can you do to me?" A ferocious expression contorted Liang Xiaoke's face, as streaks of black light erupted from his body, accompanied by a thick miasma of corpse energy. His physical form began to grow rapidly, the wounds inflicted by the immortal swords constantly regenerating, while scales erupted across his skin, covering him entirely...

The Haotian Pearl had accumulated power for untold millennia; even Liang Xiaoke himself didn't know the true extent of the energy contained within. Moreover, the Haotian Pearl was condensed from the primordial jing qi of the universe, making it incredibly resilient; ordinary immortal swords and weapons could barely scratch it, requiring only the Four Immortal Slaying Swords to potentially shatter it.

It could be said the Haotian Pearl was akin to a nuclear warhead, brimming with immense nuclear energy, and the Four Immortal Slaying Swords were the key to detonating it...

Now, Liang Xiaoke was igniting this nuclear core recklessly, shocking the Five Immortal Sages. If the full might of the Haotian Pearl truly unleashed, the entire Nanyun Empire would likely be razed to the ground, perhaps even obliterating the territory covered by the Tianmeng Alliance. Did he genuinely not care if others were harmed?

The smiles vanished from the faces of the Five Immortal Sages. They understood that at this moment, Liang Xiaoke was a madman—a lunatic who cared nothing for himself, his friends, or anything else.

Daring not to speak to him further, the five simultaneously took positions corresponding to the five elements, fully activating the power of their five divine flags. The Five Elements Reversal Great Array morphed into the Five Elements Primordial Unity Array. They might disregard the lives of others, but they cherished their own existence. Once the Haotian Pearl exploded, its energy would sweep across the entire Celestial Realm, and even they could not escape; their only recourse was to rely on this Five Elements Primordial Unity Array to withstand the resulting shockwave.

At this crucial moment of life and death, the Five Immortal Sages exerted every ounce of their strength, their immortal power pouring ceaselessly into the divine flags they held. Brilliant azure, crimson, white, black, and yellow lights flared, painting the entire sky in these five colors. The lights rapidly intertwined, forming a completely sealed halo of energy that enveloped both Liang Xiaoke and themselves.

Viewed from afar, it resembled a colossal sphere of five-colored light...

Inside the sphere, Liang Xiaoke's body was now covered in black scales, and a pair of massive wings had sprouted from his back. He curled into a ball, resting his head down, his wings completely folded to shield his entire form.

He was not mad; he merely intended to leverage the Haotian Pearl's power to breach the defenses of the Five Immortal Sages, yet he had no desire to be annihilated by the resulting energy himself.

Just as Liang Xiaoke completed his defensive preparations, the Immortal Slaying Sword, the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, the Immortal Destruction Sword, and the Immortal Trapping Sword simultaneously struck the Haotian Pearl from four directions, appearing like four projectiles impacting a bead of jade.

"Crack..." A sound like shattering glass instantly followed, and then, cracks began to spiderweb across the extremely solid Haotian Pearl. Piercing beams of light immediately seeped out from those fissures...

"Boom..." With a deafening roar, the Haotian Pearl exploded. A kaleidoscope of light—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet, black, white, gray, and more—erupted, resembling the great destruction of the universe. The surrounding space instantly concave, before the myriad colors vanished, leaving behind only the most terrifying black.

Yes, black—an endless, lightless black. The black of nothingness, the black of the void, the infinite black...

The divine flags in the hands of the Five Immortal Sages began to tremble incessantly, as if about to be swallowed by this darkness. This forced the Sages to simultaneously spew forth a mouthful of vital blood, barely managing to sustain the Five Elements Primordial Unity Array.

Within the light sphere, Liang Xiaoke felt as if he had been sucked into another dimension—a realm diametrically opposed to this world, a void where everything seemed illusory, an antimatter space...

The scales he deemed indestructible were instantly shredded into dust by this intangible force. Wounds appeared across his body, and after holding out for just the blink of an eye, his form began to collapse entirely.

Yet, just before his body could fully disintegrate, his mind would recall the woman in the green dress, the single, crystalline tear. And that tear began to incessantly pour forth vast swathes of azure light, repairing his failing flesh...

His body was repeatedly destroyed and then reformed, enduring this torment again and again...

But no matter the intensity of the pain, his consciousness remained lucid, his heart kept beating, and an even more potent force shielded that core.

There lay the final imprint of her; he refused to let even that last trace vanish...

However, that mass of black light was simply too powerful, ultimately extinguishing all of it...

After an immeasurable span—perhaps ten thousand years, or maybe only a single blink—the energy mass in the sky completely dissipated. The five-colored sphere showed distinct cracks, and even the divine flags in the hands of the Five Immortal Sages dimmed, their formerly flawless surfaces marred by fissures, many now possessing actual holes. The dense spiritual energy had nearly vanished without a trace.

The faces of the Five Immortal Sages grew grim. The destructive power of the Haotian Pearl’s explosion was simply too immense. It had taken their combined, ultimate effort merely to withstand the energy; now, even their five divine flags were ruined—these were their strongest defensive treasures.

Gazing upon the empty void and the four stationary Immortal Slaying Swords suspended there, the Five Immortal Sages finally breathed a collective, heavy sigh of relief. Thank goodness, thank goodness that fellow had been utterly reduced to ash. Otherwise, all their efforts would have been for naught.

It made sense: they, protected by such supreme treasures and supported by the Five Elements Primordial Unity Array, had barely managed to hold against that energy. Liang Xiaoke possessed no defensive magical artifacts; how could he possibly withstand such power on his own?

Being turned to dust was the expected outcome...

At that moment, observing the four ominous swords floating in the void, a feverish glint shone in the eyes of the Five Immortal Sages. These were the renowned Four Immortal Slaying Swords, famous throughout the Three Realms. Never mind obtaining all four and setting up the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation; even acquiring a single one would be a magnificent treasure. To deny being tempted would be a lie.

However, they also knew these were the foundational treasures of that entity. Without his permission, even if they took them, they were certain to meet a terrible end. Back when the great deity Nezha broke the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation using the Pangu Banner, he still hadn't dared to seize the four wicked swords.

If even Nezha hesitated to take them, how could they proceed with confidence?

Furthermore, there were only four swords, but five of them. Even if they acquired the four, how would they divide them?

"What? Facing such supreme treasure, yet you dare not claim it?" Just as various thoughts flickered through their minds, an eerie, chilling voice resonated simultaneously in the minds of the five.

The expressions of the five shifted instantly. They saw a humanoid monster, adorned with wings on its back and covered entirely in black scales, stepping out from the void, as if the void itself were a doorway through which he walked from the outside in...

This... isn't this Heavenly Lord Liang? How could he be unharmed?

A look of astonishment crossed the faces of the five. They genuinely could not believe that the explosive power of the Haotian Pearl had failed to kill Liang Xiaoke.

In truth, Liang Xiaoke himself couldn't believe he was still alive. Facing that nihilistic black radiance, energy fundamentally opposite to this world, he had assumed death was certain. But at the final moment, his heart was not consumed by the void-black glare; instead, under the influence of the tear's power, he began to absorb the nihilistic black glare.

It was an energy utterly distinct from this world. Liang Xiaoke relied on this very energy to reconstruct his body—to forge a physical form so potent that even he couldn't comprehend its strength.

At this moment, his physical body and his power had completely surpassed the Three Realms, and he could traverse the boundaries between reality and unreality at will.

However, there was no hint of joy in Liang Xiaoke's heart, only sorrow, because the single tear within him had also vanished. That was the final imprint of her, the thing he held most precious, and yet he had failed to protect it.

Unsuppressible fury erupted from within Liang Xiaoke, and his eyes shot forth blinding, savage light...

Before the Five Immortal Sages could recover, Liang Xiaoke took a single step, his figure flashing and vanishing. When he reappeared, he was directly in front of Daoist Xuanxu. Sensing the supernatural ability—which was faster than instantaneous movement yet more terrifying than it—Daoist Xuanxu's face changed utterly.

He was about to desperately activate the Heavenly Net Primordial Gold Banner in his hand, but Liang Xiaoke had already lashed out a claw, snatching the banner away. With a violent rip, he tore it to shreds...

The divine flag had already been nearly destroyed by the void energy; it was only natural that it couldn't withstand this current force.

Daoist Xuanxu’s eyes filled with horror, but Liang Xiaoke thrust a hand into his chest, yanked hard, and actually tore out his heart, immediately throwing it into his mouth. He swallowed in one gulp, splashing droplets of golden blood...

Daoist Xuanxu felt a gaping emptiness in his chest, followed by intense agony. Especially as he watched Liang Xiaoke chew and crush his heart mouthful by mouthful, for the first time, an emotion called fear surfaced in his mind...

Yes, it was a fear originating from the depths of his soul. His body trembled, and his spirit quivered...

Liang Xiaoke did not allow him much time to savor the fear. As he devoured Daoist Xuanxu’s heart piece by piece, his other hand shot forward, brutally tearing open Daoist Xuanxu’s Tianlinggai (Crown Gate). A surge of nihilistic power from the void world instantly pulverized the skull vault, utterly annihilating his entire Divine Soul...

Seeing Liang Xiaoke slay Daoist Xuanxu in the blink of an eye, the remaining four were overcome with terror and dared not linger; they turned to flee...

But the fiercely grim-faced Liang Xiaoke had no intention of letting them escape. The Four Immortal Slaying Swords, which had been hanging motionless in mid-air, instantly shot forth through the void...