Darkness, darkness once more!
When Demon Emperor Blood River first descended, darkness had swept forth. That darkness was a tranquil darkness, a serene darkness, a silent darkness, like the dead of night, giving one a feeling of icy, murderous intent.
But the darkness appearing at this moment surged forth from all directions like raging, mountainous waves, overwhelming the heavens and earth.
The darkness was no longer silent; it had become exceptionally frenzied, exceptionally violent, exceptionally ferocious.
If the previous silent darkness made one feel uncomfortable all over and fearful at heart, then this wildly violent darkness sweeping in gave one an intense sense of suffocation, causing one's mind and spirit to tremble uncontrollably. It wasn't fear, nor was it terror—it was despair.
That's right!
Despair!
Like a person drifting alone in the deep sea when suddenly, raging waves come crashing down, leaving you with nowhere to flee and nothing to block with. What awaits you is being swallowed by these towering waves, and you are utterly helpless, your heart filled with boundless despair.
Facing this rolling, surging darkness, the Great Dao experts hiding within the ancient ruins felt precisely this sense of despair.
Within the arena.
The darkness, like raging, mountainous waves, churned and surged, frantically converging toward the center.
That was the location of Demon Emperor Blood River, the place where winds rose and clouds surged, where the Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring roared.
As the rolling darkness pressed in, the imposing might of the wind and clouds gradually weakened, and the Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring slowed.
Darkness!
Darkness was everywhere, filling the entire sky.
Darkness like raging waves continuously churned and spread from all directions, growing increasingly frenzied, increasingly violent, increasingly ferocious. At the same time, the imposing might of the wind and clouds was suppressed more and more, and the Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring was also suppressed, becoming slower and slower.
Whoosh!
It wasn't over!
It wouldn't end!
The boundless, endless darkness continued to gather frantically. There, a vortex of darkness had already formed, looking like a dark abyss, utterly terrifying.
"Truly breathtaking!"
Gazing at the vortex of darkness in the void, Elder Qi couldn't help but exclaim, "What an eye-opener, what an eye-opener! Demon Emperor Blood River is truly..." Elder Qi no longer knew how to describe the existence of Demon Emperor Blood River. He said solemnly, "His comprehension of the Great Dao of Darkness is probably unmatched throughout the myriad heavens and worlds. It's even possible that Demon Emperor Blood River has already merged himself into the Great Dao of Darkness. Truly terrifying!"
Finally.
The wind ceased to rise, the clouds ceased to surge, and even the Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring was suppressed until it stood still in the void, unable to move.
Yet.
The darkness did not stop; it continued to converge endlessly. Demon Emperor Blood River stood tall, his stern face expressionless. He stood there just as coldly as he had from the very beginning.
Beneath his feet was precisely that vortex abyss formed from endless darkness. At this moment, Demon Emperor Blood River stood at the very center of the vortex, looking not like the Lord of the Dark Night, but more like the Lord of the Abyss.
He raised his head and glanced at the Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring coiling around him. He didn't say a word, nor did he make a move. Yet, for some reason, the entire void inexplicably began to tremble.
To be precise, it wasn't the void trembling, but the darkness filling the sky. And it was less like trembling, more like boiling.
The darkness filling the sky was boiling. The darkness surging in from all directions also suddenly became even more frenzied, even more violent, even more ferocious!
Especially the vortex abyss beneath Demon Emperor Blood River's feet.
What was happening?
No one knew.
But everyone had a feeling, a feeling that something terrifying was about to erupt from that vortex abyss.
Suddenly!
A thunderous explosion rang out, shaking the ancient ruins in the void violently. At the same time, a pillar of darkness erupted from the vortex abyss.
It instantly blasted the surging, roaring Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring into nothingness, scattering it into oblivion.
Silence!
A deathly silence.
The Great Dao experts hiding within the ancient ruins were all filled with shock, their eyes wide with terror as they watched, not daring to speak, afraid to break the silence here, to break the darkness here.
They all knew Demon Emperor Blood River was powerful, so powerful that even an incarnation was beyond imagination.
Only after witnessing with their own eyes Demon Emperor Blood River stirring the void with a wave of his hand and shattering Warrior Emperor Wuzang's Five Stars Solar Sovereign, only after witnessing Demon Emperor Blood River not even moving as darkness surged from all directions, forming a vortex abyss that shattered the surging Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring—only then did they realize they had underestimated Demon Emperor Blood River. This incarnation of his was not merely beyond imagination; it was powerful to a degree that was unimaginable.
To defeat the Five Stars Solar Sovereign—a Great Dao's Innate Creation that guards the five directions of heaven and earth—with a single move was one thing.
But to even blast the Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring into nothingness with a single move...
One must know that Warrior Emperor Wuzang's Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring not only contained the form and intent of the Nine Heavens but also the imposing might of the Nine Heavens.
The purifying might of Xuantian, the transcendent might of Xitian, the adjudicating might of Qingtian, the sovereign might of Cangtian...
The might of the Nine Heavens was akin to the simultaneous descent of the Nine Heavens' judgment, its power infinite, its momentum boundless, its force immeasurable, its profundity limitless.
When Warrior Emperor Wuzang unleashed the Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring earlier, those hiding in the ancient ruins had also truly felt the vast, boundless might of the Nine Heavens.
Many had thought that Demon Emperor Blood River, after all, was just an incarnation. No matter how powerful, he couldn't possibly withstand the might of the Nine Heavens head-on, could he?
What no one expected was that Demon Emperor Blood River not only withstood the might of the Nine Heavens head-on, but he didn't even move, didn't even strike. He merely used the power of darkness to forcefully shatter Warrior Emperor Wuzang's Nine Heavens Dragon Soaring.
Had they not seen it with their own eyes, no one would have dared believe this was true.
Even now, having witnessed it firsthand, everyone found it unbelievable, hard to accept.
In the void.
The darkness that had surged in like raging waves from all directions had vanished at some unknown time.
The vortex of darkness like an abyss had also vanished at some unknown time.
Only the darkness filling the sky still enveloped the void.
No longer frenzied, no longer violent, no longer ferocious, it had returned to the same silence, the same tranquility, the same serenity as when Demon Emperor Blood River first descended.
Demon Emperor Blood River stood alone and cold in the void, his person like a sword, even more like a peak. His long hair danced wildly, his robes fluttered. His stern face still held no expression, and his eyes, like abysses, still held only endless darkness.
He was like this when he arrived.
He remained like this now.
Never changing.
Within the arena.
The incarnation of the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor was long gone, burning like a wisp of flame.
The incarnation of Warrior Emperor Wuzang was also no longer human-shaped, similarly burning like a wisp of flame.
Although both their incarnations had turned to ashes, they were not dead—at least their consciousness remained.
But consciousness was all that remained. Being burned and refined by the Strange Fire was a torment ten thousand times worse than death.