Chapter 276: Lord of the Deadlands

The massive black silhouette that rose from the fissure in the earth finally ceased its surging.

The death energy comprising it began to settle and solidify.

Crack!

A huge, pallid leg bone of unknown creature sprang out from the black mist, crushing the cracked earth beneath it.

Immediately after, another followed.

Rotting flesh and fascia, like living vines, swiftly clung to and wove over the skeleton, forming a twisted, hideous musculature.

A monster a hundred zhang tall, entirely assembled from countless creatures' skeletal remains and rotting flesh, stood before the four of them.

It had no skin; dark‑red flesh lay exposed, draped with torn banners and fragments of armor, exuding an ancient stench.

At its indistinct facial area, two clusters of eerie green ghost‑flames ignited with a booming flash.

The ghost‑flames flickered, and wherever its gaze fell, even the space rippled with decay.

A death law a hundred‑thousand times stronger than before swept the arena like a landslide and tsunami.

This was no longer a breath, but a domain.

An absolute domain composed solely of 'death' and 'decay'.

"Outsider…"

The monster spoke.

Its voice did not seem to emanate from a throat, but from the resonance of billions of desiccated bones grinding together across its body, each syllable scraping the soul with a dull blade.

"To think you could breach my 'Dead Domain', are you… overripe with life?"

It calls itself the Lord of the Deadlands, the sole guardian of this sacrificial arena and the strongest trump card the Shadow organization has hidden here.

Catastrophic apex!

The oppressive force of that power even brushed against a higher, indescribable tier.

"Gugong."

Li Hu and Zhang Mei could not even discern what it was saying.

Under that terrifying pressure and the erosion of the law, their consciousnesses began to blur.

Zhang Mei's jet‑black hair turned a withered yellow from the tips at a visible speed, her smooth forehead sprouted gray specks like age spots, and her vigorous life force was being mercilessly stripped away.

Li Hu felt his blood turn into icy sludge, each heartbeat heavy as a war drum yet feeble.

Their bodies were undergoing 'decay'.

However, Wang Zhitao's reaction was the opposite.

He not only lacked fear; the blackness of his eyes ignited with scorching light.

It was the gaze of a beast starved for three days and nights, finally spotting a plump, robust prey.

He couldn't help but stick out his tongue, licking his dry lips, his muscles trembling slightly from extreme excitement.

This overwhelming death energy, this pure death law…

To him, it was not poison.

It was a peerless tonic!

"Can't delay any longer."

Wang Zhize's gaze swept over Li Hu and Zhang Mei's deteriorated condition, his voice turning cold.

He made no extra move, merely a thought.

A layer as thin as a cicada's wing, yet seeming to contain the aura of all vitality of a newborn world, spread from him, enveloping Li Hu and Zhang Mei.

The ubiquitous death law, upon touching this aura, vanished instantly as ice meets scorching sun.

The withered yellow at Zhang Mei's hair tips faded, restoring its jet‑black luster.

Li Hu's stagnant blood began to surge again.

Both breathed greedily, like drowning victims finally surfacing, their gazes toward Wang Zhize filled with post‑catastrophe relief and deepening awe.

"Hm?"

In the Lord of the Deadlands' twin ghost‑flame eyes, a hint of human‑like surprise flashed for the first time.

It hadn't expected that within this pure Dead Domain, anyone could still resist its law.

"Interesting."

"But, that's enough."

It let out a harsh roar, raising the massive hand stitched from countless bones and rotting flesh, shielding the entire lead‑gray sky.

In the palm, a colossal sigil formed from billions of death runes was rapidly taking shape.

The sigil was as black as ink, like a black hole leading to ultimate oblivion, intent on crushing and erasing the last speck of 'life' in this world.

Facing this world‑shattering strike, Wang Zhize didn't even flicker an eyelid.

He simply extended a finger and lightly tapped the sky‑covering giant palm.

"Distort."

There was no earth‑shaking clamor, no dazzling display.

Only a plain, unchallengeable syllable.

In the next instant, the massive death rune, just before slamming down, abruptly stalled.

The billions of death patterns forming the rune seemed to gain independent will, collapsing inward, reversing, and reconstructing wildly.

The law originally signifying 'destruction' and 'Termination' was forcibly twisted by a supreme force, becoming a most vicious curse aimed at its own creator!

Boom!

The distorted death rune was forcefully imprinted onto the Lord of the Deadlands' own chest!

"Roar——!!!"

The Lord of the Deathly Realm let out a roar of utmost agony.

Its enormously massive body shuddered violently under the Counter‑Devouring of its own strongest law, causing huge slabs of rotting flesh to peel away and turn to black ash, while its hard bones became riddled with web‑like cracks.

It does not understand.

It cannot comprehend.

Why does its own power attack itself?

In that instant of rigidity and pain.

"It's my turn!"

Wang Zhitao let out a long‑suppressed, yearning roar.

He transformed into a pure black lightning, ignoring the violent energy aftershocks, and surged straight toward the gravely wounded Lord of the Deathly Realm.

Midair, his body already began to transmute.

An abyssal black vortex, seemingly capable of devouring all light, sound, even laws, opened thunderously around his body as its center!

The target, aimed at the Core origin exposed after the Lord of the Deathly Realm's law Counter‑Devouring!

"No—!"

The Lord of the Deathly Realm felt a shiver from deep within its soul, a primal fear like prey confronting a natural predator.

It let out a desperate howl, frantically mobilizing the remaining Death Law to erase the incoming black shadow.

But as soon as its law power coalesced, the terrifying black vortex dragged it away without hesitation, not even a ripple rose, and it was completely devoured.

Wang Zhitao's devouring vortex was like an insatiable bottomless pit, locking onto its origin with unrelenting grip.

"All… of… mine… is mine!"

Wang Zhitao cackled wildly, driving the devouring power to its limit.

Within the massive black vortex, the Lord of the Deathly Realm's hundred‑zhang‑tall body was forcibly torn apart, turning into the purest torrent of Death Origin that continuously surged into Wang Zhitao's body.

On Wang Zhitao's skin, countless dense, arcane black‑gold runes began to appear.

Those runes roamed and imprinted like living things; they were the "Death" and "Decay" laws he forcibly stripped and was now comprehending!

"No… willing…"

In the final, venomous and resentful roar, the Lord of the Deathly Realm's massive body completely disintegrated.

Finally, with a crisp "crack!" sound, its last trace of origin was utterly devoured.

The black ash swirling through the sky fell, leaving only a pile of desiccated bones stripped of divinity, scattered across the cracked earth.

The Death Law that shrouded this realm also dissipated into nothingness.

Wang Zhitao hovered in midair, let out a loud belch, his face brimming with lingering satisfaction.

On the other side, Wang Zhize extended his hand and gently gestured toward the pile of bones.

Countless tiny, barely visible Light Spots flew out from the gaps in the bones, converging into a light ribbon that entered his forehead.

Those were the deepest memory fragments left by the Lord of the Deathly Realm.

A massive flood of information flashed through his mind.

More detailed refining steps for the Immortal Dao Pill.

The Core plan for the Lord's next step.

Even… also the earth‑shattering secret of the Dragon Vein that runs through the entire dynasty as the foundation of all.

A moment later, Wang Zhize slowly opened his eyes.

His complexion became exceedingly solemn for the first time.

It turned out the Lord's plan was a hundred times crazier and ten thousand times grander than he imagined.

It turned out that his so‑called "Pill Conduit" was far more important than anyone could imagine.

He is not a mere alchemical ingredient.

He is the … furnace core that bears this rebellious Dao Pill!