Chapter 517

The great night of the sky was as thick as ink that could not be dissolved, pouring down from the nine heavens, ruthlessly submerging the human world.

The scene at this moment was extremely similar to that bloody night decades ago; memory and reality produced a strange overlap at this moment.

In a trance, Fan Fan Lingzhou seemed to see again...

The blood of the Southern Zhang stained the water of Zhuhu Lake, and the firelight stretched, illuminating the scorched earth and broken walls everywhere.

The shrill screams, the roar of Daoist techniques, and the clashing of weapons intertwined into a prelude to death.

Under the night sky, a crane cry tore through the sky.

A giant white crane floated into the air, white feathers flying, its terrifying and sharp claws scarlet and dazzling, not knowing how much blood they had stained, fiercely tearing a struggling black snake in mid-air...

Flesh and blood disintegrated like rain, mixed with the majestic essence of vitality, splashing miserably, staining the already scarlet lake water even more turbid and shocking.

In the boiling firelight and rolling smoke, one incomparably powerful aura after another, like undulating mountains, carried cold murderous intent, surrounding that figure who was covered in blood but still standing tall.

"Zhang Tiansheng! You are already at the end of your rope!"

"After tonight, there will be no more Southern Zhang in this world!"

The sharp and murderous voice resounded in the vast night, as if declaring the end of a heritage.

The young Fan Fan Lingzhou stood in the firelight, in front of that tall, thin man...

In the past, that man he regarded as an immortal god now had a face as pale as paper, his breath as weak as a flickering candle, his broken clothes soaked with blood and clinging tightly to his body; where was there any trace of the earth-shattering, supreme aura?

"This is not my fault, Second Master..."

Fan Fan Lingzhou's heart beat violently and uncontrollably, and a complex emotion burned his internal organs.

He couldn't help but speak, his voice carrying a trace of urgency and pallor that even he hadn't noticed.

"You... a person like you, why do you have to go against the great trend? Why... why do you have to choose such a dead end!?"

Fan Fan Lingzhou's voice became increasingly powerless; he seemed to be arguing, or perhaps questioning.

Blood gathered in a pool at the man's feet, thick and dark red.

But he still stood there, his body straight, like a monument that had experienced ten thousand years of wind and rain, and would not bend even if it cracked.

The surrounding murderous intent, the firelight, and even the overturned fate of the Southern Zhang seemed unable to make him bend his spine.

He smiled.

The corners of his mouth twitched, carrying blood foam, but his gaze pierced through the layers of figures and landed precisely on Fan Fan Lingzhou's face; that gaze was deep, calm, and actually carried a trace of pity.

"Young man..."

His voice was hoarse, but it clearly reached Fan Fan Lingzhou's ears, "Do you still remember our two first meetings?"

"The first time, I gave you an eight-character prophecy..."

"The second time, I gave you a name..."

He paused, his finger stained with his own blood lifting slightly, the movement slow and difficult.

"This third time... I will give you one more hexagram."

Before the words had faded, that blood-stained finger had already lightly tapped the center of the young Fan Fan Lingzhou's brow like a ghost!

Hum!

Fan Fan Lingzhou only felt his spiritual platform shake violently, and a profoundly mysterious hexagram instantly appeared and magnified in his sea of consciousness...

Lake above, Wind below!

Great Excess, the ridgepole bends!

"The development of all things, once balance is lost, will move toward collapse..."

The man's voice was like an ancient prophecy, carrying his final strength, branding itself into his soul.

"Water can carry a boat... but it can also capsize it..."

"One day, the one who kills you... will definitely be someone from the Zhang family!"

Rumble...

That day.

That night.

The man's final words, like a curse that would never dissipate, echoed repeatedly in Fan Fan Lingzhou's ears.

Light and shadow circulated, and the fragments of memory converted rapidly like a revolving lantern.

Fan Fan Lingzhou seemed to have returned to the Bai He Temple, to that quiet room filled with the rich fragrance of medicinal pills.

After the great battle at the Bai Yujing River beach, he woke up from a long coma, and a tingling sensation came from his chest; the hole there seemed to have been filled and healed by some powerful force.

He slowly opened his heavy eyelids, and what came into view was the old man sitting beside the bed, watching him with concern...

The President of the Daoist Alliance General Association, Jiang Your Majesty.

"President..."

Fan Fan Lingzhou's voice was dry, carrying the weakness of surviving a disaster, as well as deep confusion.

"The Zhang family... that little brat... he was actually able to hurt me; what kind of method was that?"

Stealing the secret of heaven, stealing the secret of heaven, is to intercept that glimmer of survival in the rolling killing intent, participating in the creation of the Dao, and achieving the extraordinary.

"He is the bloodline of the Southern Zhang... that man... will always leave behind some methods." Jiang Your Majesty's voice was peaceful, carrying the power to soothe people's hearts.

Fan Fan Lingzhou fell silent.

He naturally knew that the "that man" in Jiang Your Majesty's mouth was the 【Divine Hexagram】 Zhang Tiansheng.

"But you don't need to worry; such a method can only be used once."

Jiang Your Majesty's voice sounded again, pulling Fan Fan Lingzhou's thoughts back.

"Are you thinking about the prophecy that man gave you?"

As the words fell, Fan Fan Lingzhou's face twitched violently.

"The future is constantly changing." Jiang Your Majesty's tone carried an unquestionable certainty.

"You have already passed the greatest disaster of your life."

"From now on, in this world... no one can kill you."

Upon hearing this, Fan Fan Lingzhou's mind couldn't help but once again conjure up the black light on the Bai Yujing River beach that ignored everything and destroyed everything, and the chill in his heart was still difficult to dispel.

"You don't believe it?" Jiang Your Majesty seemed to see through the deepest doubts in his heart and asked slowly.

"I..."

Without waiting for Fan Fan Lingzhou to answer, Jiang Your Majesty continued, his voice deep like an ancient well.

"Anyone's words and actions are just a seed; the result depends on yourself."

Jiang Your Majesty's words seemed to hide some meaning that was unclear and could not be spoken.

Fan Fan Lingzhou's heart tightened, and he hurriedly collected his thoughts, saying with utmost respect: "How could I not believe it?"

"I have come all this way, relying entirely on the President's support; for such a great grace of rebirth, besides the President, who else in this world can I believe?"

There was no expression on Jiang Your Majesty's face; under the flickering candlelight, his figure seemed to merge perfectly with the swaying shadows in the room, becoming blurred and unpredictable, save for the voice that was calm to the extreme, clearly coming through:

"The great disaster has passed, neither born nor dead..."

"Forget that eight-character prophecy."

Rumble...

Light, shadow, and sound became blurred and distorted in Fan Fan Lingzhou's sea of consciousness, which was on the verge of collapse.

Only that eight-character prophecy broke free from all constraints, like the funeral bell of fate, ringing frantically and desperately in the depths of his soul...

Rise when meeting white! Fall when meeting black!

His vision was abruptly pulled back to reality!

Pulled back to the Black Water Hills, to the front of this dilapidated Daoist temple, to this final moment of life!

Before his eyes, a ray of light transformed by that black iron shard.

No, that was not light; that was the deepest, purest "black" in the world, like a rotating, bottomless vortex of chaos.

That vortex swallowed the moonlight, swallowed the campfire, swallowed the sound, swallowed all the Daoist techniques and powers he resisted with, as if the great night itself had descended...

All things in Heaven and Earth returned to nothingness and darkness!

That terrifying power, which could not be described, carried the purest intent of destruction and termination, easily piercing the defense of his 【Bitter Sea Empty Boat】 Dharma image, like a red-hot iron rod piercing thin ice, and then...

It was the disintegration and annihilation of flesh and blood!

It was the wailing and tearing of the soul-aspect!

It was the mournful cry and collapse of the cinnabar!

It was everything that was the foundation of his life, all being frantically torn, pulled, and ground in that boundless, chaotic black vortex, ultimately moving toward complete annihilation!