Heaven and earth lost all color; all things returned to silence.
Only the lingering aftermath of destruction continued, silently telling of what kind of godly war—far beyond mortal comprehension—had erupted in that instant.
At the very center of the collision, light, energy, and dust had mixed into a chaotic vortex of death that refused to subside for a long time.
Who won? Who lost? Who… was still alive?
When those three powers, each enough to rewrite the laws of the world—the End-Sword of flame, the Abyssal Sea's Quietus – All Things to Nothing, and the Frost Annihilation Slash—crashed together with a roar, what was produced was not merely an outburst of energy, but an act of destruction aimed at all existing matter and laws.
Lu Jingming's pupils shrank sharply to pinpoints.
His spiritual senses were screaming madly, warning him of the incoming torrent of destruction, its power far exceeding his previous estimates.
This was no longer a shockwave in the usual sense, but a mixture of spatial-temporal turbulence and pure annihilation born from the collapse of laws.
Without any hesitation—he didn't even have time to shout a warning—the power within him began to circulate and burn at an unprecedented speed.
"Ultimate Deification."
His low shout stirred the power of his god seat; the aura around Lu Jingming instantly became ethereal, lofty, inhuman.
All emotion in his eyes was replaced by absolute rationality and divinity. His hair floated despite the windless air, wreathed in starlike motes of light.
Almost at the same moment, he suddenly extended his arm and dragged the small, frail-looking Cerydra into his arms. Her aura was greatly diminished from using the Law Decree at full power.
"You—!"
Cerydra was caught off guard; her delicate body went rigid.
As an empress who ruled over law itself, aloof and exalted, when had she ever been in such close physical contact with anyone—
Especially hauled so forcefully into a man's embrace?
A fire of instinctive anger and rejection surged up within her. The power still lingering in her body stirred reflexively, about to erupt and blast this hateful fellow away.
Yet at the very instant her power was about to burst out, the edge of her vision caught sight of the pure-white destruction that had already descended and filled her entire field of view.
It was an absolute domain of death that shattered and annihilated even light, sound, and space.
She could clearly feel that in her current, extremely weakened follower's body, if she were directly exposed to that torrent of destruction, she would not last even a fraction of a second. She would be like a bubble under sunlight—together with her soul brand, completely erased.
All struggle and anger melted away in the face of this very real threat of death.
The hands she had raised to push Lu Jingming away halted slightly in mid-air, then dropped powerlessly.
Her tense body also relaxed once she understood his intention.
She merely tilted her head slightly, turning her cheek away to avoid meeting his eyes directly, yet the faint blush creeping up her ears betrayed that she was far from as calm inside as she appeared.
At this moment, though, Lu Jingming had no attention to spare for anything else.
His free right hand grasped forward at the empty air as he shouted, "Black Abyss, White Flower—release."
Hum—!
The divine tool that interwove creation and destruction responded at once. Instead of its usual spear form, it instantly disassembled and reconstructed, turning into a dense, slowly spinning black-and-white sphere of light that completely enveloped the two of them locked together.
On the light sphere's surface, the black section continuously devoured and dissolved the incoming destructive energy, while the white section ceaselessly emitted vast vitality and protective force, repairing the parts of the sphere's shell that were corroded.
In the next instant, the frenzy of destruction swallowed that tiny sphere completely.
"Rumble—!!!"
All sound in the outside world vanished—or rather, sound itself was annihilated by that power of destruction.
Inside the light sphere, they could only feel an incredibly violent shaking and a tremendous pressure that seemed ready to tear even their souls apart.
The black-and-white sphere was like a leaf-boat in a sea gone mad, violently buffeted and hurled about by an unimaginable force. Ripples surged crazily on its surface; its glow flickered uncertainly, as if it could shatter at any moment.
Lu Jingming's brows were locked in a deep frown. He shielded Cerydra even more tightly, pouring all his strength into maintaining the sphere's stability.
In his deified state, his power gushed forth like floodwater breaking a dam, flooding into Black Abyss White Flower.
Cerydra could clearly hear the strong yet rapid beating from his chest, could feel his body trembling slightly under the immense pressure. Yet the arms holding her were as steady as bedrock, never loosening for even an instant.
Under this absolute threat of death, time lost its meaning.
No one knew how much time passed—perhaps only a moment, perhaps an eternity—before the heaven-rending, earth-shattering tremors and impacts outside finally began to weaken and subside.
Lu Jingming's taut nerves relaxed slightly. The ethereal divinity around him slowly drew back; he lifted his deification, his face tinged with the pallor of over-exertion.
With a thought, the black-and-white sphere outside dissolved into motes of light, which gathered once more into Black Abyss White Flower and vanished into his grasp.
And then, beyond where the sphere had been, the scene finally revealed itself—a true, literal vision of the end of the world.
The first thing they felt was deathly silence.
An absolute stillness that had stripped away all sound and made one's heart pound. Wind, water, even the rolling of dust—every noise was gone.
Looking out, the sky was no longer familiar. It had become a strange, murky color, a dim, filthy hue mixed with dust and remnant energy, like the festering wound of some dying giant beast.
The original heavy cloud layer had been completely blown away. Far above, the cold starry void of the cosmos was clearly visible; the light of the stars shone through the tainted atmosphere, casting down an indifferent radiance.
As for the land…
What land was there to speak of?
The mountainous region where the City of Slaughter once lay, lined with jagged rocks and deep chasms, had vanished completely.
In its place stretched a boundless, mirror-smooth black plain.
This plain was not formed of soil or stone, but of the entire surface having been instantaneously melted into glass by extreme heat and pressure, then cooled again into a glassy crust faintly emitting a radioactive, ghostly glow.
It was so smooth it reflected the foul colors of the sky, stretching to the distant horizon without the slightest rise or fall, without any trace of life—only pure flatness and desolation.
In some places, dark-red veins like blood vessels remained, lava channels spreading beneath the glassy surface, slowly flowing as they released the last of their heat and sulfurous fumes.
The air was thick with the heavy tang of ozone, ionized gases, and the strange smell of vaporized rock; even breathing it scorched the lungs.
Farther away, at the original collision's core, space was still extremely unstable. Jagged, twisting fissures like black lightning flickered in and out of existence, devouring the sparse surroundings.
Now and then, energy eddies that had not completely dissipated drifted about like ghost-lights, crackling softly.
This was a dead corner of the world.
The landscape had been permanently rewritten; even the laws seemed battered and broken.
Only the high, cold starry sky above remained, ever unchanging, bearing silent witness to all that had transpired.
Lu Jingming gazed around at this scene, as if creation itself had been followed by apocalypse. He took in a deep breath of the air saturated with death and destruction, then exhaled slowly.
He lowered his head to look at Cerydra, still resting quietly in his arms, though her gaze too was shaken by this doomsday panorama.
"Looks like we might've made the commotion a bit too big."
He tugged at the corner of his lips, trying to regain his usual light tone, but could not completely hide his weariness.
Cerydra did not answer immediately. She simply looked over the ravaged land a few more times, as if engraving this image deep into her soul.
Then she stirred slightly, indicating that Lu Jingming could release her.
He complied, withdrawing his arms.
Cerydra stepped back half a pace, smoothing her slightly disheveled robes and crown. When she raised her head again, the majesty and calm of the Law Empress had returned to her face—though in the depths of her eyes there now flickered a complexity impossible to describe.
She did not look at Lu Jingming, instead gazing toward the core of destruction and speaking softly: "The price was great, but… we've won."
Her gaze swept over the slowly self-repairing torn void, and finally settled on the two figures walking side-by-side out of the center of the turbulent energies.
Hysilens and Jingliu.
At this moment, neither of them could be called intact.
Hysilens's blue battle dress was torn in many places, the exposed skin marred by seared scars from the End's flames and cracked frost burns. Her aura fluctuated wildly—she was clearly heavily drained.
Jingliu was in somewhat better shape. She had once more veiled her face with black gauze, hiding those once scarlet eyes. Yet her pallor showed she was hardly unscathed, and even the Shard Sword of condensed eternal ice in her hand bore a faint, barely visible crack.
Even so, their backs remained straight. The light in their eyes had not dimmed; on the contrary, like refined steel, it had become sharper and deeper.
What drew the most attention, however, was Hysilens's left hand.
She was not empty-handed. She was carrying a dark-red longsword that radiated endless killing and judgment—a weapon that had until recently been wielded by the blackened Kevin: the Asura Demon Sword.
The demon sword trembled faintly in her grip. Its dark-red glow brightened and dimmed like breathing, as if still trying to struggle. But the power coiling around Hysilens's hand—her own oceanic demigod origin, mixed with a hint of nihility—was like the strongest of shackles, binding it completely, leaving it unable to escape.
The suffocating presence of the blackened Kevin had vanished without a trace.
Not only had his body been annihilated, but the foul origin point that had spawned him had been purified and erased, leaving nothing behind.
More than that, everyone present could clearly feel that the moment that terrifying clash subsided, the very origin of the planet beneath their feet—Douluo Star—had suddenly become far more active and robust.
A hidden vitality was quietly welling up from the depths of this land that had just been ravaged, like spring water bubbling forth.
All of it wordlessly and powerfully announced the final outcome of this brutal battle.
Victory belonged to them.
Cerydra looked at the Asura Demon Sword in Hysilens's hand, that emblem of supreme authority and power. A look of understanding flashed through her eyes before she schooled them back into calm.
She inclined her head slightly, greeting her returning comrades.
Lu Jingming's smile returned. He walked forward a few steps, his gaze sweeping over Hysilens and Jingliu before finally resting on the Asura Demon Sword.
"As expected of a super-artifact. To come out completely unscathed after facing power like that."
Hysilens carried the Asura Demon Sword over to Lu Jingming and Cerydra.
She ignored Lu Jingming's remark and instead looked solemnly at Cerydra.
"Imperator, I have fulfilled my duty. It was also thanks to your Law Decree. Without it, the final outcome would have been uncertain."
Cerydra answered calmly, "This is the result of all of us working together, Sword Knight."
Hysilens nodded, then extended the Asura Demon Sword toward her.
"Imperator, this sword carries the authority of slaughter and judgment. I believe you can control it."
She showed not the slightest reluctance, as if she were not handing over a super-artifact that could make even a God King covetous, but merely a common weapon.
Cerydra did not immediately take it. She looked instead at Jingliu, for Jingliu had also contributed greatly.
If Jingliu were to inherit it, the Asura God's god seat would suit her well.
"I don't need it. The sword in my hand is enough."
Jingliu shook her head. The Asura God's position was indeed fitting, but she had her own path—the path of the sword.
That alone was her Dao.
"We're all on the same side here; no need to stand on ceremony, Empress."
Lu Jingming chuckled.
Cerydra did not reject Lu Jingming's claim that they were "on the same side." She received the Asura Demon Sword from Hysilens's hands.
…
Time rewound.
While the god-battle above the City of Slaughter was raging, another purification battle quietly unfolded in a deep valley not far from the original Heaven Dou City.
The valley was now shrouded in dense negative energy so thick it was nauseating.
Gray-black mist roiled ceaselessly, blotting out the sunlight; the air was saturated with despair, hatred, distortion, and madness.
More chilling still was that the scene at this foul place's core looked seventy percent similar to Haiyuan City.
Only here, the buildings were twisted and gloomy, as if the defiled reflections of everything beautiful.
This was a powerful corruption point born from Haiyuan City's blueprint.
Three figures appeared silently at the valley's entrance, ignoring the mental corrosion that could have shattered the spirit of even a Soul Douluo.
The leader had silver hair and violet eyes; her bearing was peerlessly graceful. It was the Silver Dragon King, Gu Yuena.
Feeling the extremely foul aura within the valley, she knit her willow brows.
On her left stood Castorice, wearing a white, flower-embroidered long dress. She brushed her fingertips over a small white flower that had manifested out of thin air, its edges slightly curled, and listened to the lament coming from within it.
"The death here is full of resentment and filth," she said softly.
On the right was Firefly, already in her SAM gear form. She looked at the twisted Haiyuan City, a flash of coldness in her eyes.
"Target confirmed. Commencing cleanup."
Her voice carried a metallic buzz through her armored mask.
Under Lu Jingming's orders, they had come not only to sweep away hidden dangers in the soon-to-be unified Spirit Hall Empire's hinterland, but also to purify the corruption points, converting negative energy into nourishment to push the planet's evolution.