System Possession, One Sword Shocks the Gods

82: The first appearance of the demonic shadowThe aftershocks of the core crystal’s explosion had not yet fully subsided. Above the dust-shrouded ruins, a dark rift suddenly tore open like a hideous scar across the sky, emitting a chill that froze the Soul.

It was no ordinary spatial rift; its edges flowed with a viscous, blood-like dark red light, and its interior was an absolute, profound darkness that seemed capable of swallowing all light. An unspeakable, terrifying will, like physical ice water, spread from the rift, instantly enveloping the entire City Lord’s Manor area and even spreading to nearly half of Liuyun City!

Everyone engaged in battle—be it the stubbornly resisting defenders or the frantically attacking Dark Hall Cultists—involuntarily froze for a moment. A fear rooted in biological instinct gripped their hearts!

Liu Qingfeng caught the heavily injured Ye Chen, his expression more solemn than ever before. He looked up at the rift, Sword Intent erupting in his eyes, yet carrying a trace of undisguisable alarm.

”This is... a Void Rift?! No, that’s not right! It’s a passage deeper and closer to the ’Origin of Darkness’ than a Void Rift!” His voice was low and filled with disbelief. ”The Dark Hall... they actually managed to open a passage to the ’Shadow Realm’?! What they want to usher in isn’t just the Demonic Lord’s power, but... the erosion of the Shadow Realm’s Origin!”

”Shadow Realm?” Ye Chen endured the agonizing pain of his internal organs being displaced, leaning on his guixu sword to barely remain standing. He could feel the last sword containment pendant in his bosom burning frantically in warning, and the ancient sword phantasm deep within his Soul transmitted a strong sense of rejection and hostility.

”A plane that opposes our world, filled with pure destruction and the Origin of Chaos.” Liu Qingfeng explained quickly, his tone urgent. ”Legend has it that the Shadow Demon Lord was born from that realm. If the Origin power of the Shadow Realm is allowed to pour in on a large scale, the entirety of Liuyun City, and even the surrounding territories, will be completely polluted and assimilated, turning into a desolate demonic land!”

As if to confirm Liu Qingfeng’s words, the dark rift suddenly expanded. A thicker, colder Shadow energy poured out like ink into clear water. Everywhere it passed, even space seemed to freeze and turn black! The ruins below, upon being swept by this Shadow energy, rapidly weathered and decayed as if they had endured ten thousand years, eventually dissipating into black dust!

”Hahaha! It’s a success! Although it’s a bit early, the passage is finally open!” On the other side of the ruins, the battered and weakened Elder Blood Dove burst into a frenzied laugh. He looked at the rift, his eyes filled with fanaticism and piety. ”Welcome, my Lord—the descent of the Shadow Demon Lord’s will!”

Following his shout, the surging Shadow energy quickly converged and twisted in the air, finally transforming into a blurred yet colossal demonic shadow that stood between heaven and earth! The shadow had no specific facial features, only a pair of eyes burning with gloomy flames, looking down upon the tiny creatures below with endless indifference, destruction, and... hunger!

It was not a physical entity but a manifestation of a sliver of will projected by the Shadow Demon Lord across endless space and time! Yet the pressure it emitted far exceeded the Earth Fiend Realm, causing even Liu Qingfeng to feel a fatal threat!

”Ants... how dare you destroy my altar...” A grand thought, seemingly composed of the wails of countless vengeful Souls, rang directly in everyone’s minds, carrying a Chaos and pressure that could break one’s sanity. ”Then use your flesh and Souls as the... first batch of food for this Lord’s descent into this world!”

The demonic shadow slowly raised a giant hand composed of pure Shadow energy and pressed it down gently toward the crowd below.

There was no sound of wind, no surging of energy.

But everyone felt the surrounding ”light” and ”heat” being rapidly drawn away, as absolute ”darkness” and ”cold” submerged them like a tide! Life force was draining away at high speed, and Souls felt as if they were being frozen and torn apart!

”Noble Sword Domain, impervious to all arts!” Liu Qingfeng roared, pushing his sword domain to its limit. Green Noble Sword Qi burned like a blazing flame, attempting to dispel the darkness and cold that eroded everything.

However, the power level of that Shadow Demon Lord was too high! The Noble Sword Qi made ”hissing” melting sounds upon contact with the Shadow energy. Although it barely resisted the direct erosion, the domain’s range was continuously compressed, and its light quickly dimmed! Liu Qingfeng’s face turned pale, and a trace of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth; he was clearly struggling immensely.

And those weaker defenders and Dark Hall Cultists fared even worse. Under the erosion of the Shadow energy, many people’s bodies quickly shriveled, the light in their eyes extinguished, and they turned into pitch-black mummies before crumbling into fly ash! Even some Cultivators in the Middle Stage of the Kaiyuan Realm could only hold on for a moment longer!

For a time, wails filled the air; it was like Hell on earth!

Ye Chen was under the protection of Liu Qingfeng’s sword domain, but he could still feel the pervasive cold and desolation. He gripped the guixu sword tightly, his Nirvana Sword Intent operating automatically to form a thin layer of dark Chaos protective shroud on his body, struggling to resist. The guixu sword seemed to have a strong restraint against this Shadow energy; the blade hummed incessantly, transmitting an intent eager to devour and fight, but Ye Chen’s heavily injured body could not fully activate it.

”This can’t go on! That passage must be closed!” Ye Chen looked at the rift from which Shadow energy continuously poured, his gaze resolute. He knew that without closing the passage, the demonic shadow’s power would be nearly infinite, and it could wear them down to death!

”Closing the passage requires a force of extreme Yang and rigidity, or an opposing Origin power to forcibly strike its structure!” While struggling to maintain the sword domain, Liu Qingfeng sent a spiritual transmission, his voice tinged with bitterness. ”My Noble Sword Qi can restrain it, but its magnitude is insufficient to strike the passage’s Origin! Unless...”

His gaze fell upon the guixu sword in Ye Chen’s hand.

”Guixu... Nirvana... It ends all arts and can also return everything to nothingness... Perhaps your Sword Intent is the only chance!” A glimmer of hope flashed in Liu Qingfeng’s eyes, but it was immediately replaced by worry. ”But your current state...”

Ye Chen looked at the incessantly humming guixu sword in his hand, felt the eagerness from the ancient sword phantasm deep in his Soul, and glanced at his fellow disciples and citizens who were constantly falling or struggling under the Shadow erosion. A look of ruthlessness surged onto his face.

”Someone has to do it.” His voice was hoarse yet carried an unquestionable determination. ”Elder, please buy me another moment!”

Without waiting for Liu Qingfeng’s reply, he suddenly crushed the last sword containment pendant! At the same time, ignoring the agonizing pain of his Meridians tearing, he frantically operated the Myriad Realms Sword Canon, pouring what little spiritual power he had just recovered, along with the final burst of Noble Sword Qi from the pendant and the pure, ancient sword essence transmitted from the ancient sword phantasm, into the guixu sword without reservation!

”Buzz—!!!”

The guixu sword vibrated violently as never before! The Chaos light on the blade became intense to the extreme, as if a miniature Chaos sun were being born in his hand! The dark red devouring patterns and starlight dots completely merged into the Chaos airflow, making the Sword Intent no longer just about Nirvana and devouring, but also carrying a terrifying rhythm of evolving all things and re-establishing the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind!

This was the limit of what he could currently achieve! A strike wagering everything!

”With my sword, I invoke Guixu! The Moment of Nirvana shall be decided by me!”

Ye Chen let out a roar that seemed to come from the depths of his Soul. Holding the guixu sword, which felt as heavy as ten thousand tons, with both hands, he slashed out the strongest strike of his life toward the massive dark rift above and the demonic shadow before it!

This strike had no fancy name.

Because it was itself the manifestation of the ”Dao”! It was Nirvana! It was Guixu! It was the end! And also... a sliver of the future carved out from the end!

A Chaos Sword Aura, condensed to the extreme and seemingly compressed from the scenes of the birth and death of countless worlds, soared from the guixu sword! Wherever the sword aura passed, space did not just warp; it directly... disappeared! It left behind an eternal, void trajectory, as if a piece of existence had been forcibly erased from the world!

Before this Chaos Sword Aura, the massive demonic shadow showed a solemn expression for the first time. Its giant hand of shadow clenched into a fist, and endless darkness and cold converged to form a dark star that swallowed light, meeting the Chaos Sword Aura!

Yet the target of the Chaos Sword Aura was not the demonic shadow, but the dark rift behind it!

”Boom—!!!!!”

An indescribable collision occurred!

There was no sound, no light, only a conceptual annihilation and confrontation!

The moment the Chaos Sword Aura and the dark star touched, both began to disintegrate and dissipate! But the true intent of Guixu contained within the Chaos Sword Aura was too overbearing; it actually forced its way through the dark star’s destructive power, splitting it down the middle and, with undiminished momentum, slashed fiercely into the dark rift!

”Roar—!!!”

The Shadow Demon Lord’s will let out a roar of shock and anger! The dark rift vibrated violently, the dark red light at its edges flickering and shattering frantically! From within the rift came a rumbling sound, as if countless worlds were collapsing!

The passage was shaken!

However, just as the Chaos Sword Aura was about to completely enter the rift and sever it—

A giant palm, more solid and terrifying, composed entirely of the Shadow Origin, suddenly reached out from deep within the rift and grabbed the Chaos Sword Aura!

”Ant... how dare you obstruct me...”

An icy thought, carrying a hint of offense and fury, descended with a crash!