Chapter 398 - 363: Still Not Here to Pay Your Respects?

Black Mountain Master sat enthroned atop Demon Mountain. His deathly gaze fell, and the pressure emanating from him—like billions of tons of leaden clouds mixed with the shattered essences of mountains—transformed into a tangible, viscous tide of darkness, crashing down with a ROAR!

All other color vanished from Heaven and Earth, leaving only endless gloom and crushing pressure.

Every grain of sand on the desolate plains instantly turned to dust. The Earth Veins deeper below cried out in agony, as if about to snap.

The ancient phantoms of Divine Demons, carrying Demon Mountain on their backs, stood silently. Their very existence formed the walls of ten thousand invisible prisons, completely sealing and solidifying this corner of Heaven and Earth.

This was not merely the suppression of Magical Power; it was a crushing force on the level of the Great Dao itself!

Any ordinary Foundation Establishment Master caught in this would not even be able to think of resisting. In a single instant, their Dao Foundation would be shattered, their Divine Soul annihilated, and even their True Spirit would not escape the fate of being devoured.

Yet, facing this monstrous demonic might, enough to alter the landscape, Qi Yun remained standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

No magnificent phenomena erupted around him. Amid the gales of tyrannical pressure, his Deep Blue Daoist Robe was as unmoving as a Stabilizing Needle, with only the hem fluttering gently with a strange rhythm.

"TSSSSSSSSS—!!!"

There was no great boom, only the dense, ceaseless sound of countless, infinitesimally small yet piercingly sharp frictions of Daoist Intent filling Heaven and Earth!

To the naked eye, beneath that gloomy canopy, the space Qi Yun occupied seemed to have become a Pure Land unto itself.

The darkness and pressure crashed against it like furious waves against a reef, yet the reef stood firm, unmoved.

A subtle ripple finally passed through the depths of Black Mountain Master’s dead-silent eyes.

’Something’s wrong!’

He could clearly sense that Qi Yun’s aura and Realm had not, in fact, broken through the bounds of Foundation Establishment. It hadn’t even undergone any fundamental leap since he had left all those years ago.

But no matter how he urged the Demon Mountain phantom, how he stacked the pressure of his "Mountain Prison," or even how he secretly drew upon the deathly Evil Qi from the depths of the Earth Veins to help crush his foe, the other man was like a bottomless abyss or a vast sea.

He appeared calm and placid, yet he was unfathomably deep, effortlessly neutralizing every assault!

The space around that deep blue figure was terrifyingly stable!

It was as if an immeasurably vast and mighty mountain was backing him, providing him with endless support.

’No wonder... he dared to return to the sect so arrogantly!’

Black Mountain Master’s dead-silent gaze grew even colder and deeper.

’So, he found himself a backer!’

He stopped trying to crush his opponent with pressure alone.

This stalemate was, in itself, a humiliation for him.

"No matter what external forces you cleverly borrow, no matter your thousand tricks and transformations, it is all meaningless before absolute power and Status!"

Without further hesitation, Black Mountain Master leaned forward slightly from his seated position.

He slowly raised his right hand. It was a broad, thick hand, and in its palm, black light surged. A Magic Talisman, neither gold nor jade, stone nor wood, silently materialized. Its entire body flowed with a gloomy radiance, its surface inscribed with impossibly complex, twisted Dao Patterns.

The moment the Magic Talisman appeared, it did not emit world-destroying fluctuations. Instead, it possessed a strange sense of being "self-contained."

But it was precisely this self-containment that made the surrounding demonic might and the phantoms of the Divine Demons stutter for a moment, as if paying homage to their sovereign.

Contained within the Talisman was a trace of a cold, deathly, Supreme intent—one that seemed capable of terminating the Ten Thousand Laws and returning all of creation to nothingness!

A Magic Talisman personally bestowed by the True Monarch of No Dao Extreme Law!

This Talisman contained a sliver of Dao Power from that Sitting Sect True Monarch.

Though not his full strength, it represented the authority and Law of the True Monarch level!

In this world, all who are beneath a True Monarch are but ants!

This Talisman was proof of the uncrossable chasm between an ant and a giant!

"To be worthy of this Talisman’s judgment, Nephew Qi, you should feel proud..."

Black Mountain Master’s voice was low, filled with absolute confidence and a sliver of condescending cruelty.

"But the game ends here."

He pressed his palm downward!

"VWOOM—!!!"

The gloomy Magic Talisman suddenly exploded with light!

A stream of gray-black energy—so faint it was almost not there, yet condensed to the absolute limit—rose from the Magic Talisman. Initially as thin as a strand of hair, it instantly transformed into a torrent of annihilation that pierced through Heaven and Earth!

Wherever this torrent passed, even the Demon Mountain phantom and tides of darkness conjured by Black Mountain Master himself recoiled in terror, as if they had met their nemesis!

Space was not torn; it was simply erased like a pencil mark, leaving behind a terrifying trail of pure nothingness where not even chaos remained!

This was the manifestation of a true sliver of a True Monarch’s Power!

Though only a sliver, it had already transcended the scope of all Divine Techniques, Magical Treasures, and Arrays in the Foundation Establishment Realm. It descended upon Qi Yun’s head—slowly, yet unstoppably.

"No matter your countless methods or infinite schemes!

You cannot escape—the great power of a True Monarch!!!"

Black Mountain Master spoke faintly, his voice weaving together with the silent roar of the torrent of annihilation as it crushed the void, pronouncing the final verdict.

Behind Qi Yun, Qian Xin and Qing Li Master faced the aftershocks of this power. Their faces were already deathly pale, their Divine Souls on the verge of shattering. Even their thoughts had nearly frozen, leaving only boundless despair.

Yet Qi Yun, directly beneath this torrent of annihilation and seemingly moments away from being completely erased from existence, still maintained that unnerving calm.

He even... tilted his head up slightly.

His gaze was calm as he watched that True Monarch’s Power—the embodiment of finality and nothingness—press down on him like the collapsing Celestial Vault.

The corners of his mouth even curled into a faint, exceedingly faint smile.

In the infinitesimal fraction of a second before the gray-black torrent of annihilation was about to touch the tips of his hair—

"Infinite Light."

A gentle, peaceful voice sounded out, yet it seemed to have existed since the dawn of creation.

It was not Qi Yun’s voice.

The instant that voice rang out—

"BOOM!!!!!"

A light beyond all description erupted from behind Qi Yun—without warning, irresistibly, and with overwhelming power!