Yitian Mo, Zhameng, and Kabah slowly knelt on one knee before Shi Yan, heads bowed low, their eyes brimming with profound sorrow.

Shi Yan’s face was ashen. He nodded weakly, saying with a detached calm, "I understand."

The trio remained silent, heads still bowed, unable to meet Shi Yan's gaze, their eyes fixed on the earth reflecting a turmoil of complex, indefinable emotions.

"Master?"

The Scarlet Yama Emperor sneered ruthlessly, manifesting above the estate. The face, undeniably Xiao Hanyi's, was etched with an expression of utter disloyalty and cold indifference. "A mere low-caste human, and you deign to call him Master? Have you lost all the dignity of the Nether People after dwelling so long in that forbidden land?"

The shoulders of Yitian Mo and the other two trembled. Anger flared in their eyes, but they lacked the power to respond.

"The only one you are fit to call Master are the Pluto of Abyssal Fire, the Pluto of the Yellow Springs, and the Pluto of the Dark Heavens. This human is unworthy. Allow me to erase him for you." The Scarlet Yama stepped through the void, his voice detached, chillingly cold. He extended a hand, and suddenly, a colossal palm, vast as a mountain range, materialized in the emptiness.

This hand consumed the entire void, pressing down slowly from the heavens, enveloping the entirety of the estate beneath it.

"No!"

Yitian Mo and the others looked up, crying out involuntarily, attempting to stand against the towering, oppressive giant hand descending upon them.

"Go!"

Ye Changfeng suddenly shrieked. Countless rays of golden light burst forth from his body. Within that dazzling brilliance, sheets of golden leaves fluttered from his sleeves. These leaves mysteriously assembled above their heads into an eight-sided golden crystal. The crystal shot forth beams of pure light, enveloping Shi Yan and the three of them.

Just as Shi Yan was about to utter something, he was struck by a wave of dizziness. Excruciating pain surged through his body, and even his Sea of Consciousness seemed to turn gold.

The space twisted unnaturally, and a force, breaking through layers of restraint, suddenly erupted.

With a flash of brilliant gold, Shi Yan, Ye Changfeng, Lin Yaqi, and Xia Xinyan vanished from the estate, leaving not a single trace behind.

"A secret artifact for teleportation..."

A flicker of astonishment crossed the Scarlet Yama Emperor's dark pupils. In an instant, his eyes glowed with black light, the twin orbs acting as mysterious projections, beginning to display scenes across a thousand miles surrounding Sun Island.

Simultaneously, a vast wave of divine sense radiated outward from the Scarlet Yama as the epicenter, spreading with incredible speed.

In mere seconds, the Scarlet Yama Emperor's immense consciousness covered a thousand-mile radius and continued to expand. The scenes of various islands flickered constantly within his gaze.

The people were here, yet he seemed to perceive events a thousand miles away, absorbing every movement occurring beyond that distance into his mind.

"Found them..."

The Scarlet Yama suddenly smiled silently. A golden light flashed within his left pupil, and amidst the scattering gold rays, a solitary, isolated island was revealed.

"You cannot escape."

The corners of the Scarlet Yama Emperor's mouth curved slightly as he reached out into the nothingness. Before him, the void began to ripple, layer upon layer, like stones dropped into a lake, manifesting concentric waves of disturbance.

Amidst the shifting patterns, a projection of an island slowly appeared in the void before him. On that island, Ye Changfeng and Shi Yan, along with the other two, were catching their breath, still severely shaken.

The Scarlet Yama’s left hand suddenly plunged forward, reaching into the heart of the ripples encompassing the island.

On the isolated island, ten thousand miles away.

Shi Yan, Ye Changfeng, Lin Yaqi, and Xia Xinyan had only just managed to stabilize themselves when they saw the clouds overhead contracting, followed instantly by a colossal hand, blotting out the sky, suddenly appearing and crashing down upon the island.

The island was not large—less than a fifth the size of Sun Island—but even so, it was bigger than the Tianmo City Shi Yan had once inhabited. Yet, under the shadow of that giant hand, the island appeared infinitesimally small, leaving the group no space to flee.

"This time, I’ll do it!"

Lin Yaqi screamed, leaping out like lightning. She lunged for Ye Changfeng’s sleeve and pulled with fierce strength.

A surging wave of energy erupted from Lin Yaqi’s body. Under the terrifying flux of power, Ye Changfeng's sleeve shone with gold once more. The sky filled with golden leaves appearing above the four, which immediately condensed again into the eight-sided crystal, activating some form of secret instantaneous movement technique once more.

In the dazzling golden light, Shi Yan and the other three vanished entirely.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The giant hand emerging from the cloud mass slammed down violently, leveling the entire island. Thousand-meter-tall mountains were smoothed away as if they were sand dunes on a beach being brushed flat by a single sweep.

On Sun Island.

Yitian Mo and the other two watched the Scarlet Yama Emperor in utter horror, observing the scene revealed within the ripples before him. The vision displayed in the ripples seemed like a projection of a miniature, scaled-down model.

From the trio's perspective, the Scarlet Yama’s downward press merely flattened the small island, which looked like a sand table reduced countless times in scale, far less terrifying than what Shi Yan and the others were witnessing ten thousand miles away.

However, Yitian Mo and the others knew that the illusion displayed within the ripples was absolutely not an illusion, but a real event unfolding.

This was happening ten thousand miles away, containing not a shred of falsehood.

The Scarlet Yama Emperor smoothed the sand-table-like island with one hand and frowned slightly. The scenery in his eyes shifted again.

His immense divine sense continued to stretch in all directions, and gradually, the range covered by his consciousness exceeded tens of thousands of miles...

After a long pause, the Scarlet Yama Emperor retracted his divine sense. The strange scene in his eyes slowly faded. He furrowed his brow, pondered for a moment, and then stated flatly, "Is this kid from the Yang family?"

Yitian Mo and the others remained silent.

"If you won't tell me, I can find out myself." The Scarlet Yama snorted coldly, raising a hand in the void to grasp. A figure suddenly materialized.

It was Li Fu.

The Scarlet Yama spoke no words, merely casting a cold gaze from his pitch-black eyes upon Li Fu before casually spitting out a stream of dark light.

The dark light instantly pierced into Li Fu’s eye socket, burrowing into his Sea of Consciousness like an insect, gnawing away at his mind. Before long, Li Fu bled from all seven orifices, his life force draining completely, and he collapsed softly, dead.

"Hiss!"

That beam of dark light flew back from Li Fu's head, swallowed whole by the Scarlet Yama. His lips moved slightly, and faint traces of black light flickered in his eyes. He now possessed every piece of information regarding Shi Yan.

"A remnant of the Yang family..." The Scarlet Yama sneered and shook his head, his tone indifferent. "Bo Xun should be making his move soon... the Yang family will soon be wiped out completely."

Saying this, the Scarlet Yama suddenly roared towards the direction of the Sacred Light Mountain. A massive consciousness rushed directly into the mind of a figure standing on the mountain peak.

"Mo Qidun, the brat who nearly destroyed your demonic soul back then—he fled east. He's currently a hundred thousand miles away. You still have time to pursue him."

On the mountaintop, Mo Qidun of the Dragon Horn Clan shuddered violently. His bloodthirsty eyes flared with a long-held expression of savage cruelty and madness. He dropped the Heavenly Queen and Earth Sovereign he was holding, gazed toward the Scarlet Yama’s location from afar.

"Leave this place to me."

The Scarlet Yama smiled soundlessly. "As long as Cao Qiudao and Yang Yitian cannot arrive, everything here is under my control. That kid returned from the Abyss Battlefield possessing a strange secret treasure capable of breaking seals. If he delivers that treasure to Yang Qingdi, it might become troublesome. Go."

Mo Qidun grinned hideously, suddenly transforming into a bolt of demonic light, piercing through layers of demonic clouds as he hurtled toward the east.

The Scarlet Yama turned back to Yitian Mo and the other two, stating coolly, "You do not have to participate in this battle. I grant you a few days to compose yourselves. Once this fight is over, I will arrange for you to meet the Three Great Infernal Kings; they have matters to discuss with you."

With that, the Scarlet Yama said no more, beginning to walk step by step toward the peak of the Sacred Light Mountain.

His steps slowed, yet each stride spanned layers of space. After taking only five steps, he reappeared at the summit of Sacred Light Mountain.

As the Scarlet Yama manifested on the peak, he raised his fist and swung casually.

With that punch, the void crackled with lightning and thunder. Millions of thick, black lightning bolts seemed to emerge from infinite darkness. Within these black lightning bolts, ten massive pythons of black lightning, each exceeding a thousand meters in length, gradually took shape. Within every single one of these monstrous serpents lay an earth-shattering fluctuation of energy.

As soon as the ten black lightning pythons appeared, they coiled around Sacred Light Mountain. The serpents layered over one another, effectively binding the Sacred Light Mountain of the Three Gods Sect.

The majestic Sacred Light Mountain’s external barriers shattered one by one. The ten-thousand-meter peaks began to sway precariously under the strain of the ten thousand-meter black lightning pythons. Countless fine black lightning strands snaked across the mountain, splitting into millions of smaller, nascent black lightning pythons. These infant serpents began to devour everything on the mountain except the stone itself.

In just ten seconds, tens of thousands of ancient trees, countless flowers and grasses, and the spirit beasts nested deep within the mountain’s core were completely consumed by the tiny black lightning pythons. The once lush Sacred Light Mountain was reduced to a withered peak, utterly devoid of vitality.

Some disciples of the Three Gods Sect hidden within the mountain's belly also could not escape their fate, all being devoured clean by the slender black lightning pythons, leaving not even bone fragments behind.

The ten massive black lightning pythons, having ensnared Sacred Light Mountain, let out astonishing roars and exerted their strength in unison.

The Sacred Light Mountain, which pierced the clouds, was forcibly uprooted, torn from the earth by the pulling and twisting motions of the ten serpents, and began to tilt, collapsing toward the sea beside Sun Island.

The powerful figures who had gathered on the mountaintop for the council watched the collapse of Sacred Light Mountain in utter dread. Seeing the Scarlet Yama standing with his hands behind his back in the void sent shivers through their very souls.

That enormous Demonic Emperor Divine Vessel still floated silently in the clouds. The spike-covered humanoid monster on board let out a piercing roar, seemingly summoning something.

Innumerable massive demonic beasts surged up from the sky and the sea, swarming toward Sun Island like locusts, ravenously consuming every living creature. They tore panicked martial artists into shreds, swallowing them whole, bones and all. These demonic beasts continued to chew on human remains while searching for new targets.

Widespread, intense panic spread across Sun Island.

Both the cultists of the Three Gods Sect and the martial artists attending the council were struck senseless with terror. Facing this frenzied invasion by the fiends, many could not even muster thirty percent of their usual strength. They were torn to pieces amid the siege by the demonic beasts and fiends.

Sun Island became a river of blood, littered with corpses—an instant descent into an earthly hell.

At this critical moment, numerous strange and dazzling spheres of light exploded one after another. Many martial artists possessing secret instantaneous movement artifacts or secret techniques desperately urged them on, willing to risk their bodies shattering or limbs being severed just to escape this place with all their might.

On the summit of Sacred Light Mountain, Cao Zhilan, dragging Man Gu, vanished amidst a shower of silver light, her face deathly pale.

At the foot of the mountain, Gu Linglong’s body was enveloped by a dazzling divine light emanating from a sacred sword within her. Just as she was about to activate the sword's power, she saw a ferocious demonic beast descend from the sky. Upon the beast rode a fiend at the peak of the Nirvana Nest Third Heaven. The fiend grinned cruelly, and the dark spear in its hand instantly sliced through the void.

"Pft!"

Gu Linglong’s delicate body was pierced entirely by the dark spear. Immediately, the demonic beast lunged, its anchor-like claws snatching at Gu Linglong's head.

"Bang!"

Gu Linglong's head exploded completely, spraying blood and white brain matter everywhere.

Amidst the splatter of blood, Qu Yanqing was enveloped in a hazy white light, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then vanished with an odd spatial distortion.

The same events unfolded ceaselessly across Sun Island.

However, the vast majority of martial artists lacked such miraculous artifacts or secret techniques, which required immense effort to activate. They could only charge desperately toward the island's periphery, hoping to flee into the sea.

Alas, these people were often overwhelmed by the demonic beasts pouring in from the demonic domain, becoming mere meals for the beasts before they could even reach the water.

On the slope of Sacred Light Mountain, clusters of intense, dazzling light appeared repeatedly.

Within those dazzling orbs of light, Tang Yuannan disappeared. Qing Ming, the Heavenly Queen, the Earth Sovereign, Gu Xiao, and Wu Qin vanished. These six Divine Realm martial artists, who had come for the council, were routed and fled under the combined pressure of the Scarlet Yama Emperor, the Evil Eye Demon Lord, the Xinda Demon Lord, the Alik Demon Lord, and several fiends who had just entered the Transcendent God Realm.

The escape of these Divine Realm experts signaled that the battle on Sun Island was nearing its end. Everyone remaining who lacked instantaneous movement artifacts or secret techniques was doomed, torn to shreds by the demonic beasts, with not the slightest hope of survival left.

At some point, the Scarlet Yama had returned to stand at the fore of the Demonic Emperor Divine Vessel, looking down coldly from the clouds. His black-hole-like eyes held no trace of human emotion.

Xinda and Alik, the two Demon Lords under the Scarlet Yama’s command, flew onto the Divine Vessel after Sacred Light Mountain collapsed. Both Demon Lords belonged to the Sharp-Tail Clan; each trailed a tail about five meters long, bristling with sharp, strange spikes, giving the impression of invincibility, like massive fangs.

"Six Divine Realm experts have all fled this island," Xinda reported to the Scarlet Yama in a muffled voice after boarding.

"Don't bother with them," the Scarlet Yama said coldly, gazing upon Sun Island. "They will certainly seek out Cao Qiudao and Yang Yitian to regroup and fight again. Yang Yitian and Cao Qiudao will appear in the next battle; that will be the true fight."

Xinda and Alik bowed slightly, nodding in understanding.

"Clear out all humans in this sea area. Use their corpses to fill the Bridge of Soul Reaping. The corpses of these tens of millions of humans in the sea should be enough to truly form the Bridge of Soul Reaping. When that happens, the true bodies of myself and Bo Xun can fully descend upon the Boundless Sea. At that point, even if Yang Yitian and Cao Qiudao arrive, they won't be able to stop us."

The Scarlet Yama surveyed the devastation below with utter indifference and cruelty.

PS: Two updates today, but these two updates total 8,000 characters, which is only slightly less than the usual three updates totaling 9,000 characters.