Holy Master Bai Linjiu's body was falling rapidly toward the ground. His robe was torn, blood ran from the corner of his mouth, and his aura was unstable.
Yet the black chaotic energy inside his dantian had not stopped.
It was still devouring the surrounding heaven and earth energy like a bottomless pit.
Because of this, the thunder calamity did not end.
A deafening roar shook the sky.
The thunder dragon, formed completely from heavenly lightning, twisted its massive body and charged down once again. Its eyes were filled with cold judgment, as if it wanted to erase Bai Linjiu's existence completely.
This time, Bai Linjiu was not unconscious.
He clearly felt death approaching.
His heart trembled.
"Is this my end?" he thought bitterly.
"Am I really going to die here?"
"Heaven… why did you send such a terrifying thunder calamity?"
"Do you truly not allow my existence?"
The lightning illuminated the sky, and in that instant, countless memories flashed through his mind.
His childhood cultivation.
His first kill.
The day he founded the Holy Sect.
The countless enemies he stepped on to reach this height.
The sacrifices, the betrayals, the blood.
Everything replayed like a fast-moving dream.
Bai Linjiu clenched his teeth.
"If Heaven wants to destroy me," he muttered, his eyes turning sharp,
"then I will go against Heaven itself."
The moment these words left his mouth, something changed.
The black chaotic energy inside his dantian suddenly became quiet.
It stopped absorbing energy.
The terrifying pull vanished as if it had never existed.
At the same time, the thunder dragon froze in midair.
Its huge body stopped just above Bai Linjiu's head.
The sky went silent.
Bai Linjiu felt it clearly.
The breakthrough had failed.
He slowly closed his eyes and sensed his cultivation.
"I can't step into the Saint King stage," he thought calmly now.
"But my strength…"
A faint smile appeared on his pale face.
"My cultivation is equal to a Half-Saint."
"In this realm… I am invincible."
The thunder calamity that had been descending endlessly suddenly dispersed. The dark clouds retreated at shocking speed. Within a few breaths, the sky became clear, as if nothing had happened.
The violent earthquakes stopped.
The entire Tong Xuan Realm fell into a strange calm.
When the clouds completely vanished, Bai Linjiu finally noticed several figures standing in the distant sky.
They had been watching everything.
Human Saint-stage cultivators.
Sect founders.
Great elders.
Demon Kings.
Monster Kings.
They were the true rulers of the realm.
The Sect Master of Soaring Heaven Sect stepped forward.
The Founder of High Heaven Pavilion followed closely.
With a heavy expression, the founder spoke first,
"Holy Master… I think we need to discuss what happened to the disciples and the Transcendental-stage masters who came for the competition."
One by one, the other sect masters echoed the same words.
Only the Demon Kings and Monster Kings remained silent, their eyes cold and alert.
Then—
Two heads fell from the sky.
Blood sprayed into the air.
The Demon King and the Monster King didn't even have time to react.
Their bodies fell lifelessly, crashing to the ground below.
Everyone froze.
Panic spread instantly.
No one saw how Bai Linjiu moved.
It was as if death itself had passed through them.
Before anyone could understand what happened, Bai Linjiu stood calmly in the air, his expression indifferent.
A sect master trembled and shouted,
"This is divine—"
Before he could finish his sentence, his head also fell to the ground.
Silence.
Pure, suffocating silence.
Fear appeared on the faces of the old sect masters for the first time in their lives.
Bai Linjiu did not speak immediately.
The air felt heavy. Even breathing became difficult.
Finally, he spoke in a cold, flat voice,
"From today onward, humans will be supreme in the Tong Xuan Realm."
"All will exist under the Holy Sect."
"If anyone wants to oppose this…"
His gaze swept across them.
"Say it now."
No one spoke.
In just a few breaths, four peak Saint-stage cultivators had been killed.
They were not fools. They understood clearly that the man before them had reached a level far beyond their understanding.
Speaking now meant death.
Bai Linjiu waved his hand lightly.
"You may leave."
The remaining sect masters quickly bowed and retreated, not daring to look back.
Watching them leave, Bai Linjiu's eyes narrowed slightly.
He knew what they were thinking.
They would form an alliance.
They would try to resist him together.
That was exactly what he wanted.
Killing them one by one was meaningless.
When they gathered together, he would wipe out all opposing leaders in one strike and place their sects under the Holy Sect's control.
Moreover, not all masters had come today.
This was only the beginning.
The Holy Master stood alone beneath the clear sky, his robe fluttering softly.
The Tong Xuan Realm had entered a new era.
Nameless Mountain
The mountain was no longer the same. Large parts of it had collapsed, and deep cracks spread across the ground like ugly scars. Some cracks were so wide that Luo Zheng could not see the bottom. Trees had been completely wiped out. Broken trunks and shattered rocks were everywhere. The spiritual land he once used for cultivation was gone.
Luo Zheng stood there silently for a long time.
"The ground finally stopped shaking…" he thought. "What exactly happened in this world? I never saw such a long earthquake on Earth. This lasted more than five hours."
He took a deep breath and looked around again.
"Fortunately, this is the Tong Xuan Realm. If this were Earth, humans would probably be wiped out already."
Even so, his heart was not calm.
He stepped forward and lightly stomped the ground. The earth was still loose, and small stones rolled down from the broken slopes. From time to time, dust fell from the cracks. It was clear that this place was no longer safe.
"This mountain is finished," Luo Zheng said softly.
He originally planned to continue cultivating here, but now it was impossible. The spiritual veins were damaged, and the environment was unstable. If another shock came, the entire mountain might collapse completely.
He frowned.
"But if even this place was affected, what about other mountains?"
Luo Zheng did not know that almost the entire Tong Xuan Realm had suffered the same disaster. Only one thing was certain—the closer a place was to the Holy Sect, the stronger the impact of the earthquake. The farther away it was, the weaker the damage became.
Luo Zheng slowly raised his head and looked toward the distant sky.
He felt that this disaster was not simple. It was very likely connected to something big, something far beyond his current strength.
After thinking for a while, he made a decision.
"Staying here is useless. I need to leave."
He adjusted his clothes, tightened the storage bag at his waist, and took one last look at the ruined mountain. Without hesitation, Luo Zheng turned around and walked away, heading toward a new place, not knowing what awaited him ahead.