The four divine artifacts had been reforged.
"Gulp."
Chen Fan's mouth sprayed blood.
Not just blood, his newly strengthened aura was rapidly withering.
Simultaneously, his soul's vitality also waned.
The reforging of the four divine artifacts had surpassed his capacity to endure.
However, it was enough.
Within the space of the reforged divine artifacts, all supreme beasts had their souls erased.
Thirteen massive bodies floated alone above Wenlan City.
Annihilated.
The great serpent was the only one that escaped.
Earlier, it had been targeted and driven out of the battlefield by the combined efforts of all the other beasts.
Being targeted had saved its life.
"Run."
The great serpent felt immense terror.
The divine artifact space was shrouded in a hazy mist. It couldn't sense Chen Fan's aura or see his condition.
But those thirteen floating corpses filled it with dread.
"Buzz."
The great serpent immediately burned its vital essence, transforming into a bloody silhouette and vanishing.
It did not return to the Central Region, but instead fled directly from the continent of Damellia to the West Sea.
Serpents, too, were rulers of the seas.
This continent was too terrifying; it dared not linger any longer.
Only by escaping could it have a sliver of hope for survival.
...
All thirteen supreme beasts were annihilated.
The immense aura that had suppressed the heavens and earth vanished instantly.
It caused great consternation among people.
The entire continent's powerful beings sensed it.
"What happened?"
Everyone was in a state of panic, except for the fleeing great serpent.
What had transpired that could lead to the simultaneous demise of thirteen supreme beings?
The world fell silent.
"Sizzle."
It began to rain in the Eastern Region.
Blood-red raindrops showered the heavens and earth, as if the sky itself was weeping.
The far north.
"Retreat."
No one dared to linger or continue fighting.
Until the reason for the thirteen supreme beast elders' deaths was discovered, the battle could no longer proceed.
In the Southern Region, the supreme beast elders who were pursuing the beast legions also halted their attacks.
Some returned, others fled.
It was too terrifying.
...
In the blink of an eye, the Eastern Region was empty.
The Western Region was empty.
The Northern Region was also empty.
Only the Central Region and the Southern Region remained under the control of the supreme beast elders.
The other three regions returned to human control.
At the same moment, an order was issued from Wenlan City: "All human cultivators, kill the beasts in the three regions."
With the supreme beings gone, there was no reason for the weaker beasts to survive.
During this period, the beasts had killed too many humans.
Not a single beast was innocent.
Victory meant control over all.
Defeat meant being purged.
The great victory in Wenlan City gave all humans the courage to fight back.
That city became a sacred land.
"Kill."
The humans, oppressed for so long, began their counterattack.
God-level powerhouses led humanity in cleansing the three regions.
Kill on sight, no exceptions.
The Eastern and Northern Regions were once again engulfed in a terrifying slaughter.
The Dark Church, with its subordinates, stormed back into the Western Region.
That land was now empty.
The Dark Church would reclaim dominion over it.
...
Meanwhile.
In Wenlan City, at the Eastern Manor.
While the entire world was engaged in slaughtering beasts, the Eastern Manor remained remarkably quiet.
This silence was incredibly oppressive.
Inside the City Lord's pavilion, Chen Fan had been unconscious for three days.
During these three days, no one could enter the room. The four divine artifacts had sealed the pavilion.
Within the room, the four divine artifacts floated around the sleeping Chen Fan.
"Buzz."
Inexplicably mysterious energies circulated within the room.
A thread connected each divine artifact to Chen Fan's forehead, sustaining his desiccated body.
Yes, sustaining life.
In the battle that day, Chen Fan had forcibly reforged the four divine artifacts.
His physical body and soul had been completely depleted.
He had nearly been drained to death.
In a single second, just a brief second, a supreme being was completely drained.
Chen Fan was now on the brink of death.
If not for the divine artifacts sustaining his last breath, Chen Fan would have likely died by now.
"Where am I?"
An unfamiliar environment, like a void.
Or perhaps a fissure in some dimension.
Unclear, indescribable, utterly alien.
"Where is this?" In confusion, Chen Fan began to walk, step by step forward.
"Huh?"
There seemed to be a figure ahead.
Who?
Could it be some peerless powerhouse?
He was puzzled, slowly approaching...
Closer.
Chen Fan's brow furrowed, his heart suddenly clenching.
Vaguely, a feeling of dread, of something he didn't want to face, surfaced in his heart.
"What am I afraid of?"
"Why do I feel fear?"
"Why, who exactly are you?"
"..."
His steps slowed, then continued.
"I want to see."
Approaching again.
A fissure, a colossal crack appeared in his vision. The figure was floating within it.
Getting closer, closer...
Suddenly!
"Bang."
Chen Fan's mind felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.
Memories buried deep within his heart for years surged out like a tide.
Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.
"Is it you?"
Chen Fan wept, hot tears rolling down his cheeks.
The graceful figure seemed to have fallen into an eternal slumber, forever sealing that fissure.
"I'm sorry."
Boundless longing gushed out like a tide.
Outwardly, he was the City Lord who stabilized the realm, possessing unparalleled combat strength.
But who remembered that he was only in his early twenties this year?
He could have had a peaceful life, married, had children, lived a nine-to-five routine, lived an ordinary life to old age, and then passed away like any other person.
But on that day, his dreamt-of life was shattered.
She had vanished.
Taken away to seal a spatial rift.
To save her, Chen Fan had walked this path.
"You're still so beautiful." Tears blurred his vision.
Chen Fan wanted to approach her, but was blocked.
"Why?" Chen Fan cried like a helpless child.
Why?
I'm already here, why won't you let me approach?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Boundless rage flared in Chen Fan's eyes.
"Why?"
A mournful cry echoed, causing the entire space to tremble.
Crack.
The unfamiliar world collapsed, shattered.
Chen Fan had fallen into madness.
His pupils burned, filled with flames of anger, scorching this strange space into nothingness.
...
Wenlan City.
Everyone looked up at the sky.
A burning cloud suddenly appeared. It was a cloud, yet it was aflame.
Heavenly might descended.
"Boom."
The next moment, two beams of light scorched the heavens and earth.
They were gazes, shooting upwards, breaking through the fiery clouds.
"Why?"
In the heavens and earth, only this single cry of eternal rage echoed.
Hatred boundless.
In the pavilion, Chen Fan opened his eyes.
The hatred in his eyes grew ever more intense.
He looked up, as if seeing a figure in the void: "You took away my beloved, I will kill you, I will kill you, I will shatter this world..."