A heavy silence lingered over the battlefield, broken only by the crackling of dissipating energy and the distant rumble of shifting earth. Where once stood an army of tens of thousands, now remained only shattered weapons, scorched soil, and the lingering echoes of despair.
Shao Xian lowered his hand, his golden eyes sweeping over the surviving members of the Seven Grand Sects. Fear had taken root in their hearts, deep and unshakable. Even the strongest among them—cultivators who had once believed themselves to be on the path of supremacy—now felt as if they were mere mortals before an ancient god.
Yet, despite their horror, none dared retreat.
Elder Han, his face pale as death, clenched his fists. "No matter how powerful you are, Shao Xian, you stand alone. The Seven Grand Sects have stood for millennia! Do you think you can defy fate itself?!"
Shao Xian did not answer. He merely tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable.
And then he moved.
To the cultivators below, he seemed to vanish. No explosion of energy. No sound. Just… gone.
Elder Han barely had time to widen his eyes before—
A hand grasped his throat.
Shao Xian reappeared before him, his fingers tightening with an effortless grip. Elder Han's body convulsed, his cultivation base trembling as if it were on the verge of being crushed entirely.
"You speak of fate," Shao Xian murmured. "Yet you do not understand its true nature."
With a flick of his wrist, he hurled Elder Han downward. The impact shattered the earth, sending shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. Blood sprayed from Elder Han's lips as his body spasmed in pain.
The remaining elders of the Seven Grand Sects stepped forward, their auras erupting in desperation. Their combined might distorted the very fabric of space, forming an array that shimmered with ancient runes.
"Soul-Sealing Domain!" Elder Zhu roared.
A massive formation expanded, covering the battlefield in a web of golden chains. The air thickened, humming with the resonance of countless forbidden techniques woven together.
Shao Xian glanced at the array, his expression still unreadable. The chains surged toward him, moving faster than light itself, attempting to bind him in place.
For the first time, he moved with slight interest.
The moment the chains touched him—
They disintegrated.
Not shattered. Not repelled.
They ceased to exist.
Elder Zhu staggered backward in disbelief. "Impossible… that formation was designed to bind even the most powerful sovereigns…"
Shao Xian stepped forward. The golden runes of the array flickered, resisting his presence, but it was futile. With every step, the formation collapsed further, unable to withstand his mere existence.
"You thought yourself capable of caging me?" he asked, amusement flickering in his eyes. "Pathetic."
Elder Wei of the Scarlet Moon Sect let out a guttural cry. "If the array cannot hold him, then we shall burn our souls to destroy him!"
The elders exchanged glances, and in a rare moment of unity, they activated the ultimate sacrificial technique. Their bodies ignited with divine flames, their cultivation bases burning away as they merged their remaining life essence into a single, devastating attack.
A spear of pure annihilation formed above them, radiating a force so great that the heavens themselves trembled.
With their dying breaths, they hurled it toward Shao Xian.
The world seemed to slow as the spear cut through space itself, bending reality around it. It was an attack meant to erase existence.
Shao Xian simply raised a single finger.
The moment the spear touched his fingertip—
It stopped.
The divine flames sputtered and died. The spear, a construct of ultimate destruction, lost its form, reduced to nothing but a dying whisper.
And then—
The elders collapsed.
Their bodies aged in an instant, their lifeforce utterly spent. Their gazes were filled with horror, regret, and above all—acceptance.
Elder Han, still kneeling in the crater left by his fall, stared at Shao Xian with unmasked terror.
"You… are not human," he whispered.
Shao Xian smiled, a cold and knowing smile.
"Indeed."
Without another word, he raised his hand. The heavens darkened. Space itself quivered as an unseen force gathered in his palm—one that defied comprehension.
And then, with a mere flick—
The battlefield was erased.
Mountains crumbled into dust. Rivers evaporated. The remaining warriors of the Seven Grand Sects vanished, their existence wiped from reality as if they had never been.
Only silence remained.
Shao Xian stood amidst the ruins, his expression unchanged.
Behind him, Bai Ren and the others could only stare in silent awe.
Their lord… had ended an entire war with a single motion.
Shao Xian turned his gaze toward the distant horizon.
"This is only the beginning."
His path to absolute dominion was far from over.