Chapter 430: The Duel Begins

Ye Junlin's face, shrouded in the halo of Eternal Night, seemed to shift slightly, and a voice as calm and still as a still lake, yet sounding as if it resonated directly in the depths of every living being's soul, began to sound slowly:

"Nine Heavens Ten Lands... this life, is indeed extraordinary."

His voice bore no emotion, yet carried a sort of lofty—approval?

"The young contemporaries who can make me, Ye Junlin, personally issue a war proclamation, across all Zhutian Wanjie, from ancient to present... will not exceed... the count of five fingers."

The moment those words were spoken, the entire crowd gasped!

Those words were utterly boundlessly reckless.

Yet it was Ye Junlin who said them, giving an air of inevitability.

Ye Junlin's voice continued, still calm, but now with a hint of coldness:

"And in this age..."

"Ye Wuque, you... are the first."

He paused, his gaze, like Eternal Night, seemed to pierce Ye Wuque.

"You have slain many beings from the Other Shore..."

"Today..."

"... to determine superiority..."

"... and decide life and death."

As the final four words left his mouth, the surrounding Eternal Night grew thicker and colder, endless murderous intent like countless ice needles hidden in Darkness, locked onto Ye Wuque!

Facing Ye Junlin's words, laden with lofty praise and icy murderous intent, Ye Wuque slowly lifted his head, his gaze calmly meeting those twin abyssal pupils.

He spoke, his voice soft yet bearing a strange penetrating power, echoing clearly within Eternal Night, with a detached... scrutiny:

"The Nine Heavens Living Beings you have slain... are not few either."

His tone was flat, as if stating a fact.

"Make your move."

Ye Wuque slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers barely closing, without assuming any stance, yet naturally exuding a chaotic true intent that embraces and shatters all.

"Let me see..."

His gaze sharpened, like a drawn divine sword, piercing Eternal Night:

"You, the first of this generation from the Other Shore World..."

"... how truly skilled you are."

He paused briefly, the corner of his mouth hinting at a faint curve, laden with endless battle intent:

"But be sure..."

"... do not disappoint me."

"Hehe..."

From the heart of Eternal Night came an extremely light, seemingly playful... faint laugh.

"Disappointed?"

Ye Junlin's voice, for the first time, carried a trace that could be called emotion—a cold, absolute... confidence!

"I, of course... will not disappoint you."

"I will only give you..."

His voice suddenly sharpened, like Nine Nether's cold wind sweeping the sea of souls!

"Give you Nine Heavens Ten Lands..."

"... to bring..."

"... endless..."

"... despair!"

The instant the word 'despair' fell—

Boom—!!!

The boundless Eternal Night that enveloped heaven and earth suddenly... boiled!

As if a calm sea were struck by billions of nuclear stars, terrifying dark energy roared, rolled, and coalesced like an Angry Dragon!

Ye Junlin's white‑robed figure remained where it stood, but slowly... raised his right hand, and with what seemed a casual... palm... pressed down onto the Ye Wuque below!

There was no ornate technique name, no complex rule evolution.

Only... Eternal Night itself transformed into the purest, most domineering, light‑ and hope‑devouring... Dark Heavenly Palm!

The giant palm covered the sky, shrouding the stars; within its palm seemed billions of worlds sinking, wailing in Darkness, ultimately descending into Dead Silence!

Under that single palm, it seemed to drag Ye Wuque, together with his entire space‑time and all the vitality and variables he represented, wholly... into that eternal, irrecoverable... Abyss of Eternal Night!

Facing that terrifying palm, which seemed to signify the end of Heavenly Dao, in Ye Wuque's eyes the long‑suppressed, Battle Sage Method Origin... overwhelming battle will, like a volcano suppressed for ages, finally... completely... erupted!

"Well timed!"

A long howl shattered the oppression brought by Eternal Night!

Chaotic Divine Light suddenly flared around him, his right fist clenched, neither retreating nor evading, meeting the descending Eternal Night Dark Heavenly Palm; he stepped forward, a simple yet direct punch, imbued with the will to shatter myriad paths and Open Heaven and Split Earth... the fist... thundered... upward...!

Fist out!

Chaos opens!

Golden light splits the darkness!

As if in absolute Eternal Night, the first strand... of Open Heaven and Split Earth light was ignited!

Boom—boom—boom—!!!!

The Eternal Night Dark Heavenly Palm and the Chaotic Open Heaven fist's aura, high above the summit of Tongtian Peak, collided brazenly without flourish!

In that instant, the flash and roar seemed like two primeval chaotic stars that had nurtured billions of years, colliding head‑on at a speed and force beyond imagination!

An indescribably terrifying Energy Storm, like the universe's primordial Big Bang, centered on the point of impact, raged wildly in all directions—up, down, past and future—devouring, annihilating, and recreating!

The Void shatters and collapses inch by inch like crystal!

The long river of Time seems stirred here, churning up terrifying waves!

Tongtian Peak, its immensely solid mass imbued with Immortal Dao Rule, quakes violently; countless ancient Dao patterns on its surface are activated, flashing with dazzling light as it desperately strives to stabilize itself!

And that's only... the aftershock of the first strike!

It already caused countless spectators below to turn pale with shock, scrambling to raise their strongest protection; those a bit closer or with slightly weaker cultivation were even shaken so that their qi and blood roiled, spitting fresh blood!