Chapter 996: Fanni

At this moment.

The Abyss of Malice has breached the barrier between the Outer World and the Evil World.

The Sea of Malice churns and expands like a living thing, eroding both worlds; all the Pure Lands in the Central Divine Soil are tossed about like withered leaves in the wind.

People can feel a colossal entity moving rapidly beneath the seabed.

Fanni was once severed into five parts by the Xia Lord and the Five Clans.

Now, the head part suppressed in Ji Prefecture is the first to awaken.

The remaining four parts are moving rapidly toward the head.

Rumble!

Endless roaring resounds throughout the entire Evil World.

Everything is being turned upside down.

Inside the Abyss of Malice.

Zhang Huizhi, the Yu Lord, Xia Zhiyang, Lu Xunyang, the Lord of Elements, and Xia Hanzhou—six of the human race's supreme powerhouses—stand at the very depths.

Powerful auras radiate from their bodies.

The powers of elements, spear soul, blood-Qi, force, True Martial, and will pour into the Abyss of Malice like rivers.

Above the Abyss of Malice, millions of Outer World martial artists stand like a legion.

Only because of the power of will erupted by Zhang Huizhi can they avoid being instantly eroded to death by the malice.

Zhang Huizhi's eyes are cold as he throws a punch.

Boom!

A crack ten thousand miles in diameter is struck into one side of the Abyss of Malice by him.

"The few of us can suppress the abyss; your objective is to garrison the other four Prefecture Bright Cities in the Evil World and prevent Fanni's physical body from merging!"

As his voice falls, a magnificent might radiates outward.

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Millions of martial artists respond in unison, and the next moment, they transform into a torrent, rushing through the crack Zhang Huizhi struck to enter the Evil World.

At this moment.

Martial artists from the Outer World and the Evil World head toward the four Prefecture Bright Cities—Chen Prefecture, Yu Prefecture, Chi Prefecture, and Lu Prefecture—stationed within the Evil World.

This is a suppression belonging to the entire human race of martial artists.

A pure war of attrition!

Once Fanni's physical body merges, it will be the end not only for the Evil World but also for the Outer World.

Even if the human race eventually kills Fanni.

By that time, it will also mean the death of hundreds of millions.

This is also why Li Zhiyi is unwilling to engage in a direct war with Bai E.

Fighting two Ancient Gods requires considering one fundamental issue.

The physical bodies of the two Ancient Gods are too vast; the human race was built upon their very bodies.

Once a great war begins, all the earth veins will be torn apart.

Ancient Gods are not like the Chen Lord; they will not consider the human race itself and go into the universe to fight like Zhang Huizhi.

At this moment, the Yu Lord, the Lord of Elements, and Xia Hanzhou feel exceptionally heavy-hearted.

They are all Ninth Rank, but in front of Zhang Huizhi and Xia Zhiyang, they seem somewhat inadequate.

Especially Xia Hanzhou; he has yet to experience the exhilaration of the Ninth Rank before having to experience the terror of the Ancient Gods.

"Hold on!"

Lu Xunyang roars, raising a fist to strike a fist-print like a golden sun into the Abyss of Malice.

Roar!

A low hissing sound resonates from within the Abyss of Malice.

Rumble!

The Abyss of Malice connects the two worlds; the pitch-black Sea of Malice churns like a living thing, with waves tens of thousands of feet high carrying dark purple demonic light, wreaking havoc.

Wherever it passes, Pure Lands rise and fall; the vegetation upon them withers, the mountains and rocks crumble, and the void itself twists and dissolves.

The divine arrays on every Jing Tu begin to dim, the array patterns cracking, teetering like candles in the wind.

A dull roar comes from the seabed, the earth veins shift violently, mountains collapse, ravines emerge, and the entire Evil World is turned upside down.

The four Prefecture Bright Cities begin to teeter.

Now, the focus of all martial artists in the Outer World and the Evil World is to use every possible means to keep the Prefecture Bright Cities from being destroyed.

The four Prefecture Bright Cities are the locations where the four Prefecture Brights exist.

These are four nails driven into Fanni; once the nails are destroyed, there will be no one to stop the momentum of Fanni's physical body merging.

Of course, the heavy lifting still rests with Zhang Huizhi here.

The head is where the Ancient God status resides.

The other four parts of Fanni's body lack the Ancient God status to supply divine power and will not pose much of a threat to the human race.

Time passes slowly.

The tide of malice within the Evil World rises wave after wave.

"Hold on!"

"What we are defending is only a small part; the majority is where the Heavenly God Generals are!"

"Use the array formation to consolidate Zhouming City once more; those who are bold, enter the Sea of Malice with me!"

"I am a Will Martial Artist; those who do not fear death, come with me!"

"I have heard that Venerable Chen Yan once crossed the Sea of Malice with his physical body alone."

"Back then, when Venerable Chen Yan ascended to the Eighth Rank, he was blocked by an Eighth Rank supreme ancient divine beast, yet he killed it!"

"To think the Heavenly God General has such a history; today, I shall emulate him!"

"Venerable Chen Yan even became an Ancient God, yet he wiped out an entire Evil Realm's worth of ancient divine beasts and Law Enforcers!"

"He is worthy of being the Heavenly God General; following the Heavenly God General today, we cannot go wrong!"

"Everyone, I, Lin Tian, shall go first!"

"I, Lin Xia, am entering the Sea of Malice now; everyone, do not worry!"

"I, Li Xuan, am the same!"

Voice after voice resounded throughout the entire Evil Realm.

The resistance from Fanni grew increasingly intense.

Until a certain moment.

Within the entire Evil Realm, the tides gradually subsided.

Until finally, they vanished completely.

The seabed ceased to shift, and the malice stopped surging.

"Does it seem like we won?"

Inside Zhouming City, someone spoke with a trembling voice.

"Did we win?"

"It seems we won!"

"Fanni has lost!"

Someone spoke with excitement.

Within the Abyss of Malice.

Zhang Huizhi, Lu Xunyang, and the others had cold and heavy expressions.

The tremors from Fanni had disappeared.

But in the deepest part of the Abyss of Malice, pitch-black, sludge-like malice was spinning frantically, viscous as asphalt, carrying with it bone-eroding coldness and an aura of dead silence.

A rift suddenly tore open in the center of the vortex, its edges churning with ink-colored turbid currents, the interior so pitch-black it was bottomless.

Accompanied by a low hum that shook the soul, it made one feel a chilling dread.

It was as if some terrifying thing was brewing and being reborn within it.

"What is happening?"

The Lord of Elements had a pale face.

"Fanni has abandoned his physical body merger," Zhang Huizhi said in a low voice:

"He is reshaping his physical body."

Lu Xunyang's eyes erupted with golden light:

"Right below, at the place where the Ancient God status resides, I can sense an extreme and evil aura."

Xia Hanzhou pursed his lips; at this moment, his face was also deathly pale.

"Do you all dare to go down?" Zhang Huizhi's voice was calm as he looked at Xia Hanzhou:

"King of Xia Moon?"

Xia Hanzhou looked at Zhang Huizhi speechlessly:

"I am not Xia Yuan.

Having killed Chi Gan, this life of mine is already enough!"

A smile appeared on the corner of Xia Hanzhou's mouth.

Zhang Huizhi looked at the Lord of the Universe.

"Why look at me? I am not Xia Hanzhou either," the Lord of the Universe said in a hoarse voice, electric light appearing all over his mechanical body.

Xia Hanzhou gritted his teeth.

"Let's go in together."

Lu Xunyang walked out first.

"Master Lu," Zhang Huizhi called out to Lu Xunyang, and Lu Xunyang looked at Zhang Huizhi in surprise.

"Master Lu, do not go in yet; stay here to ascend to the Ninth Rank, and then merge with the Lord of Qi and Blood."

Zhang Huizhi suggested.

Lu Xunyang had killed Wei Zhao Xu Ji and had long since been qualified to ascend to the Ninth Rank.

It was just that time was too tight, and there was simply no opportunity for Lu Xunyang.

After ascending to the Ninth Rank, only by merging with Xia Zhiyang would Lu Xunyang become the strongest.

"You all..."

Lu Xunyang's voice was heavy; he was not very willing.

"It is fine," Zhang Huizhi smiled:

"Master Lu, just ascend right here."

A spirited smile gradually appeared in Lu Xunyang's eyes:

"I'll listen to you."

The next moment.

Zhang Huizhi erupted with the radiance of his will, wrapping around Xia Zhiyang, the Master of the Universe, the Master of Elements, and Xia Hanzhou, and flew into the malicious rift at the very bottom.

Pitch black!

Endless pitch blackness, accompanied by low, murmuring whispers, resounded in the ears of the five.

It was as if they had sunk deep into a muddy swamp, making it impossible to breathe.

The malice had become so thick that one could casually grab a handful and mold it into a Rank 7 Malice Crystal.

Sss, sss, sss!

The power of will and the malice were like ice and fire meeting, corroding each other.

Until a certain moment.

The five finally passed through the swamp of malice, which spanned over tens of thousands of miles, and landed in an empty space.

The space here was distorted by the erosion of malice, with willow-catkin-like malice drifting everywhere.

Click, click, click!

Zhang Huizhi walked across the ancient, dilapidated ground built of bricks and stones, and fragments of brick and stone floated upward.

All around, there were floating gravel and withered wood everywhere.

Looking into the distance, an entire ruined palace and collapsed city walls hung suspended in the air.

The walls were covered in spiderweb-like black patterns, every inch exuding the decay of time and the malice of the abyss.

"Cough, cough!"

The Master of Elements gave a dry cough.

The malice here was formless, but it was thick to the extreme; even with the protection of Zhang Huizhi's power of will, their skin still felt as painful as if it were being pierced by countless fine needles.

"This place..."

Xia Zhiyang's voice was low:

"This was once the ancestral land of the human race before the Sovereign of Xia and I were born."

Zhang Huizhi nodded.

He had seen this place in the memories of Bai E.

At that time, Bai E had not yet had his spirit so severely polluted.

It was precisely within this Wang Ting that Bai E severed the head of the King and helped Jilie ascend to the throne.

The group walked toward the interior of the Wang Ting.

It would be more accurate to say that all the buildings were soaking in malice rather than floating.

"This way."

Xia Zhiyang's voice was low as he walked toward the left:

"I feel a sense of being watched."

The group followed Xia Zhiyang.

Several sections of a pitch-black corridor floated in mid-air; the group flew onto the corridor and walked toward the deepest part.

They walked all the way out from the last section of the corridor.

A throne piled up from white bones hung obliquely in the air.

In the void, wisps of pitch-black malice were flowing toward the throne.

To be precise, they were flowing toward the tall figure on the throne.