Chapter 102: Final Chapter

Thunderclouds rolled, spilling across the sky of the entire Tianqian Domain like black ink.

The dark red "Nine Nether Immortal-Slaying Tribulation" brewed within the clouds; every roar of thunder was accompanied by spiderweb-like cracks in the Void Realm.

This was the backlash of Karma accumulated over three thousand years in the Tianqian Domain, the final barrier blocking the Ascension of Lower Realm Cultivators, and simultaneously, the strongest chain.

Chu Chang, dressed in black robes, stood in the center of the roaring sea of thunder.

He held the duanchen ancient sword horizontally before him. The blade was covered in dense cracks, yet what emanated from these cracks was not the Death Qi of destruction, but the sublimated Chaos Immortal Qi.

"Three thousand years of Karma, today I shall sever it with a single sword strike."

Chu Chang looked up, gazing at the white jade Heaven Gate looming in the depths of the thunderclouds.

The Heaven Gate was tightly shut, exuding an air of aloof coldness and condescension. Faintly, several strands of Divine Sense swept down from the gaps in the gate, carrying the playfulness and greed of someone inspecting livestock kept in captivity.

"Boom!"

The first dark red heavenly thunder finally descended. The thunderbolt was a thousand zhang thick, like a blood-colored angry Dragon, carving a massive black chasm directly through the Void Realm.

Chu Chang did not dodge or evade; instead, he proactively flew up to meet it.

"Temper the sword with thunder, cleanse the marrow with the tribulation!"

He shouted loudly, and Chaos True Essence surged madly into the duanchen ancient sword.

The duanchen ancient sword let out an earth-shattering sword hum, colliding directly with the blood-colored angry Dragon. The violent thunder power instantly spread throughout Chu Chang's body. Every flash of lightning madly tore at his Undergoing Tribulation Physical Body, attempting to completely extinguish the vitality within him.

However, the Chaos Primordial Spirit within Chu Chang merely opened its eyes slightly. All the power of the Heavenly Tribulation that surged into his body was instantly assimilated and absorbed by the Chaos magic power, turning instead into a tonic to temper his Physical Body and Primordial Spirit.

Under the strikes of the thunder, the cracks on the duanchen ancient sword began to flake off, revealing a brand-new blade underneath that was as deep and dark as black gold.

That was a true Immortal Artifact infused with the Chaos Law.

"The second strike!"

"The third strike!"

…

One after another, the Nine Nether Immortal-Slaying Tribulations crashed down, and the entire Tianqian Domain trembled under this heavenly might. The world only saw that black-robed figure constantly ascending amidst the sky full of blood-colored lightning; with every thunder strike, his aura became even more unfathomable.

When the ninth strike, the final Heavenly Tribulation, was shattered by Chu Chang's sword, his aura had reached the pinnacle of mortality, faintly transcending the constraints of the rules of this Universe.

In his eyes, Chaos Qi swirled. There was no longer a trace of human emotion, leaving only absolute indifference toward the Dao.

"Now, it is time to open the gate."

Chu Chang stood before the white jade Heaven Gate.

The Heaven Gate was ten thousand zhang high, emitting a sacred white light, and the Immortal Qi in front of the gate was so dense it had almost liquefied. Yet beneath this Immortal Qi, Chu Chang's keen Divine Sense could smell a stench of decaying blood.

Behind this gate, one could only wonder how many brilliant and talented sages of the Lower Realm were buried.

"Hum."

The Heaven Gate trembled slightly, and a grand, indifferent voice drifted from behind the gate, ethereal yet carrying unquestionable majesty:

"Lower Realm sinner Chu Chang, you have privately destroyed the boundary stele and forcibly undergone the Heavenly Tribulation. Considering your cultivation was not easy, quickly destroy your own Lifebound Treasure, kneel before the Heaven Gate, and enter our Immortal Realm as a slave for three thousand years, and you may be spared from death."

This voice was aloof, regarding the Mortal Realm as mere ants.

Upon hearing this, the corners of Chu Chang's mouth curled into a cruel and wild smile.

"A slave for three thousand years?"

He slowly raised the duanchen ancient sword in his hand. Chaos Immortal Qi condensed at the tip of the sword, turning into a pitch-black hole, madly devouring the surrounding Void Realm.

"I cultivate the sword; I cultivate unyielding perseverance, I cultivate freedom from all restraints."

"You want me to be a slave?"

"What kind of thing are you, to be worthy of pointing fingers in front of me?!"

Chu Chang gripped the sword with both hands and took a sudden step forward, his figure transforming into a golden aurora tearing through the darkness.

[Chaos Taiyi, Open the Heavens!]

This strike poured out all his cultivation from the Undergoing Tribulation Stage, merged with the Immortal Dao Legacy left behind by the Taiyi Immortal, and was wrapped in the resentment and rage of three thousand years of being unable to ascend in the Tianqian Domain.

With one sword strike, heaven and earth lost their color.

The golden sword radiance slammed fiercely against the white jade Heaven Gate.

"Rumble!"

The entire sky seemed to collapse in that instant.

The violent aftermath of the energy turned into concentric ripples, shattering the Void Realm for tens of thousands of miles into nothingness. Countless Cultivators in the Tianqian Domain felt their hearing go deaf; only the dazzling golden light remained between heaven and earth.

"Crack…"

A crisp cracking sound was particularly clear in the silence.

The white jade Heaven Gate, claimed to be forged from Upper Realm Immortal Gold and which had suppressed the Lower Realm for thousands of years, developed a tiny crack in the middle under Chu Chang's strike.

Immediately after, the crack spread rapidly, covering the entire Heaven Gate like a spiderweb.

"No! This is impossible! This power has already exceeded the limits of the Mortal Realm!"

The voice behind the gate let out a scream of extreme terror and disbelief.

"Shatter for me!"

Chu Chang's expression was ferocious, and the Immortal Essence within his body erupted once more.

Bang!

Under the gaze of countless Lower Realm Cultivators, the ten thousand zhang tall white jade Heaven Gate exploded, turning into pieces of white jade that showered down upon the ground.

The Heaven Gate, opened!

Without the slightest hesitation, Chu Chang flickered, turning into a stream of light, and rushed into the unknown white light behind the Heaven Gate.

Passing through that blinding white light, the Void Realm twisted violently.

Chu Chang prepared himself to face violent Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, or even the siege of countless Immortals.

However, when the sensation of weightlessness disappeared and his feet stood firmly on the ground again, what greeted him was a wind that was rotten, damp, and filled with the metallic scent of blood.

Chu Chang was slightly stunned; he concealed his aura and looked out.

The sky was not filled with swirling Immortal Qi or floating colorful clouds as he had imagined; instead, it was a gray, hazy color, even faintly revealing a dusky yellow, extremely similar to the twilight of the Tianqian Domain.

The air did indeed contain Spiritual Qi dozens of times denser than in the Tianqian Domain, but mixed within this Spiritual Qi was a violent, chaotic impurity that made it extremely difficult to absorb.

Underfoot was a desolate reddish-brown land where not a blade of grass grew. In the distance, one could faintly see rolling barren mountains; the landscape was so barren it was not even as good as some of the wilderness in the Tianqian Domain.

"This is… the Immortal Realm?"

Chu Chang frowned.

He strolled through the Void Realm, his Divine Sense spreading in all directions like a tide.

As his Divine Sense spread, his expression became strange.

Although the rules here were more solid than in the Tianqian Domain and space was harder to tear, in essence, there was no difference in quality.

There were no Immortal birds or Auspicious Beasts, no Spirit Medicine everywhere.

What he sensed were, likewise, Mortal cities struggling at the bottom, and likewise, low-level Cultivators fighting over a Spirit Stone or two.

"Boom!"

Just then, behind a barren mountain not far away, a violent fluctuation of Spiritual Power suddenly erupted, accompanied by roars and the sound of Magic Treasures colliding.

Chu Chang flickered and instantly disappeared from where he stood.

When he appeared again, he was above a valley, hidden in the Void Realm.

A slaughter was taking place inside the valley.

The two sides fighting were two groups of Cultivators, numbering about a dozen people.

"Li Mo! Hand over that Purple Cloud Ganoderma, otherwise today will be your burial ground in Mingyue Valley!"

A middle-aged Cultivator wearing a crimson robe with a sinister face sneered. This person's cultivation was at the Early Stage of Soul Transformation, and he held a flaming Flying Sword in his hand.

The one being besieged was a youth wearing a simple green shirt, covered in blood, with a cultivation of only the Late Stage of Nascent Soul.

The youth guarded the Spirit Medicine in his arms tightly and smiled miserably:

"Deacon Zhang, this Purple Cloud Ganoderma was something I snatched from the jaws of a Yao Beast with great difficulty, intended to be exchanged for a Medicinal Pill to break through to Soul Transformation. Your Lieyang Sect is stealing by force like this; are you not afraid of punishment from Qingyuan Palace?"

"Qingyuan Palace?"

The middle-aged Cultivator called Deacon Zhang laughed loudly, his eyes full of mockery:

"The lords of Qingyuan Palace are busy scraping up tributes from the Lower Realm; where would they have time to care about the petty grievances of us in the borderlands? Li Mo, the Immortal Realm is a place where the weak are prey to the strong; blame only yourself for having no background!"

"Do it, kill him!"

Several Lieyang Sect Cultivators immediately unleashed their Magic Treasures, about to blast the youth to death.

"Immortal Realm…"

Chu Chang, in mid-air, heard all of this clearly.

"Qingyuan Palace, Lower Realm tributes, the weak are prey to the strong."

He shook his head, a cold, disappointed smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

He had thought that behind the Heaven Gate would be a wonderful world of a higher dimension, but he had not expected that this was merely another Tianqian Domain.

The same proliferation of Sects, the same Law of the jungle, and even the division of Cultivators' cultivation and the methods of fighting for resources were exactly the same.

The so-called "Ascension" was nothing more than jumping from a slightly larger pond into another murky lake.

And the Lower Realm Cultivators, in the eyes of these people of the "Immortal Realm," were nothing more than nourishment providing resources and Luck.

"Who is up there?!"

Deacon Zhang seemed to have detected that extremely faint fluctuation of Law in the Void Realm; he looked up abruptly and shouted sternly.

Chu Chang sighed and stepped directly out of the Void Realm.

He was wearing a simple black robe, radiating no cultivation fluctuation, looking just like an ordinary Mortal.

"Who are you, Fellow Daoist? My Lieyang Sect is handling business here; I ask that you do not interfere, lest you bring trouble upon yourself."

Seeing that Chu Chang had an extraordinary bearing, Deacon Zhang was unsure of his background for a moment and his tone became slightly more polite, but the threat was evident.

Chu Chang landed slowly on the ground, looked at Deacon Zhang, and spoke indifferently:

"I have just come up from the Lower Realm, and I have some questions I would like to ask you."

"You came up from the Lower Realm?"

Deacon Zhang was stunned, then immediately overjoyed.

The surrounding Lieyang Sect Cultivators also revealed looks of greed.

"Are you that Lower Realm Cultivator who just smashed the Heaven Gate and forced your way up?!"

Deacon Zhang stared fixedly at Chu Chang, the greed in his eyes almost becoming tangible: "Hahahaha! There is a path to heaven, yet you do not take it; there is no door to Hell, yet you throw yourself in! Although I do not know how you escaped from the hands of those few Immortals, a Lower Realm sinner has not yet had his Luck washed away. As long as I offer you to Qingyuan Palace, I will never have to worry about cultivation resources for the rest of my life!"

In the cognition of the Immortal Realm Cultivators, Cultivators who came up from the Lower Realm were all highly nourishing substances, containing the Luck of the entire Lower Realm. As long as one caught them, it would be a massive merit.

"Attack!"

Deacon Zhang did not waste any words. The flaming Flying Sword in his hand turned into a fire snake several zhang long, carrying a scorching temperature, and madly rolled toward Chu Chang.

The other Cultivators also attacked one after another, various colorful Magic Treasures whistling as they enveloped Chu Chang.

"Truly, you do not know life from death."

Chu Chang stood in place, not even having the interest to draw his sword.

Before the absolute strength of the Undergoing Tribulation stage (which in this world could even be called the True Immortal Realm), these few Soul Transformation and Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were no different from ants on the ground.

He simply spat out a single word:

"Freeze."

Hum!

The space within a radius of several miles completely solidified in that instant.

The fire snakes and Magic Treasure flying in mid-air, and even the few Cultivators lunging through the air, were all frozen in the Void Realm in strange poses, unable to move.

The greed and ecstasy in their eyes froze instantly, replaced by endless terror and despair.

"Law of space… Speech becomes Law?!"

Deacon Zhang found that he could not move even a single finger, and even the mana within his body had stopped circulating, causing a monstrous wave to churn in his heart.

How could this be power possessed by a Lower Realm Cultivator?!

Even those Mahayana stage Old Ancestors of the Qingyuan Palace could absolutely not imprison space so casually!

Chu Chang walked to Deacon Zhang, his expression calm:

"Now, I ask, you answer."

"If you dare to speak even half a lie, I will extract your Primordial Spirit and roast it in the Solar Essence Fire for ten thousand years."

"Do you understand?"

Deacon Zhang frantically rolled his eyes to indicate submission, cold sweat already soaking his back.

Chu Chang flicked his sleeve slightly, releasing the restriction on Deacon Zhang's vocal cords.

"Se… Senior, spare me! This lowly one was blind and failed to recognize Mount Tai. Senior, please ask, this lowly one will certainly tell all and hold nothing back!"

Deacon Zhang had a mournful face, no longer possessing his previous arrogant air.

"What is the name of this realm?" Chu Chang asked.

"Reporting to Senior, this realm is called the Linghuan Realm, and it is one of the main realms of the Qingyuan Domain," Deacon Zhang answered honestly.

"Are there any Immortals?"

"Immortals?" Deacon Zhang was somewhat bewildered. "Legend has it that there were Immortals in the ancient era, but in this world today, the strongest are only at the Mahayana stage Great Perfection. Those Grand Elders of the Qingyuan Palace have cultivation that rivals the heavens and are called half-Immortals, but in the end, they still have not achieved eternal life."

"In other words, this is also an Age of Dharma Decline?" Chu Chang frowned slightly.

"Ye… Yes, I heard from the superiors that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi is getting worse by the day. To maintain the cultivation of the Upper Sect, we can only continuously squeeze the various subordinate Mortal Realms, absorbing their Luck and Law through the Heavenly Gate to maintain the operation of the Linghuan Realm…"

Deacon Zhang's voice grew quieter as he spoke, because he noticed Chu Chang's expression becoming colder and colder.

Hearing this, Chu Chang understood completely.

What Immortal Realm, what Ascension.

This was merely a "second-class cabin" slightly more Advanced than the Tianqian Domain.

The Ten Thousand Sword Mountain of the Tianqian Domain, for the sake of their own cultivation, severed the Tianqian Domain and squeezed the Mortals and Cultivators at the bottom; while this Qingyuan Palace of the Linghuan Realm, for the sake of its own survival, was likewise severing the Void Realm, using the White Jade Heavenly Gate to feed like a vampire on Lower Realms similar to the Tianqian Domain.

Big fish eat little fish, little fish eat shrimp.

The order of this Universe was just that cold, cruel, and boring.

"Senior, this lowly one has said everything I know, I beg you to let…"

Deacon Zhang pleaded.

"Boring."

Chu Chang sighed.

He had originally thought that after smashing open the Heavenly Gate, there would be a heaven-shaking battle, more profound Heaven and Earth Laws waiting for him to comprehend, and a brand new Immortal path for him to blaze.

But in the end, it was just changing places to watch the same rotten play.

Since he already knew the answer, there was no need to keep these few people alive.

Chu Chang did not even make a move; a single thought flashed by.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Void Realm shook slightly, and the Primordial Spirits and Golden Cores inside the bodies of several Lieyang Sect Cultivators, including Deacon Zhang, instantly self-destructed, turning into clusters of blood mist that scattered, not even managing to emit a scream.

In the valley, only the green-robed youth Li Mo, who had been besieged, remained, slumped on the ground, watching all this in a daze.

In his eyes, the unattainable Deacon Zhang of the Lieyang Sect was not even worth an ant in front of this black-robed youth.

Chu Chang glanced at him and flicked his finger.

A Medicinal Pill emitting rich vitality landed in front of Li Mo.

"Eat it, and get lost."

"Tha… Thank you Senior for the grace of saving my life!"

Li Mo woke up as if from a dream, hurriedly swallowed the Medicinal Pill, kowtowed several times to Chu Chang, then grabbed the Purple Cloud Ganoderma on the ground and scrambled to escape outside the valley.

Chu Chang stood in the ruined valley, his long hair fluttering slightly in the wind.

"In this world, is there really a True Immortal?"

He looked down at the duanchen ancient sword in his hand, his expression somewhat lonely.

Half a day later.

A terrifying red light pierced the grey sky and descended upon the valley.

The person who arrived wore a green dragon-patterned robe, had a majestic face, and radiated the terrifying fluctuations of the Mahayana stage Great Perfection; he was none other than one of the Dominators of the Linghuan Realm, the Master of Qingyuan Palace, "Qing Yuanzi".

The moment the White Jade Heavenly Gate shattered, the Qingyuan Palace received the news.

The Divine Soul tablets of the several Elders they had sent to guard the Heavenly Gate had shattered, and in his fury, Qing Yuanzi had personally tracked down that powerful Lower Realm Luck.

"Lower Realm sinner, was it you who killed our Qingyuan Palace's gate-guarding Elders and destroyed the Heavenly Gate?!"

Qing Yuanzi stood in the Void Realm, looking down from above at Chu Chang, who was sitting on a boulder wiping his Flying Sword, his eyes full of heaven-shaking killing intent and greed.

"Undergoing Tribulation stage?"

Qing Yuanzi scrutinized Chu Chang, a flash of surprise in his eyes, and then sneered:

"To be able to cultivate to Undergoing Tribulation in such a barren place as the Lower Realm, you are indeed a rare genius. But unfortunately, you have come to the Linghuan Realm."

"In this world, the rules are set by my Qingyuan Palace! Even if you are a true Dragon, once you arrive here, you must coil up for me!"

"Hand over the Lower Realm Luck on you, and offer your Primordial Spirit to become a slave of my Qingyuan Palace, and perhaps I can spare your Sect members from death!"

Qing Yuanzi waved his large hand, and the surrounding space instantly rippled with countless green chains of Law, enveloping the sky and earth as they coiled toward Chu Chang.

Chu Chang did not even lift his head.

He simply blew gently on the blade of the duanchen ancient sword, emitting an ethereal sword hum.

"You so-called Dominators, why does your tone of voice sound exactly like those two old monsters from the Ten Thousand Sword Mountain?"

Chu Chang slowly stood up.

The moment he stood up, the sky of the entire Qingyuan Domain suddenly darkened.

A terrifying pressure, indescribable in words and surpassing the limits of what this world could bear, poured out from his body like a mountain toppling and a sea overturning.

Rumble!

The Void Realm within a radius of tens of thousands of miles collapsed layer by layer in that instant, revealing a pitch-black void space.

Qing Yuanzi's sure-to-succeed green chains of Law, the moment they touched this pressure, were directly shaken into the most primitive Spiritual Qi molecules and dissipated.

"This… this power?!"

Qing Yuanzi's expression changed wildly; his original majesty and greed vanished in an instant, replaced by endless terror.

His body trembled in the air; that terrifying sense of oppression made him, a Mahayana stage Great Perfection, almost kneel to the ground.

"You are not Undergoing Tribulation stage! You… you are already a True Immortal?!"

"True Immortal?"

Chu Chang laughed at himself, his figure flickering, and he instantly appeared in front of Qing Yuanzi.

It was too fast; even the Law of time could not capture his traces.

"I do not know what a True Immortal is."

Chu Chang looked at Qing Yuanzi, who was close at hand and streaming with cold sweat, his tone flat and without a trace of warmth:

"I only know that in this world, whoever I want to die, must die."

"No! I am the Master of Qingyuan Palace, you cannot…"

Qing Yuanzi screamed, about to cast a forbidden technique to escape.

However, Chu Chang merely raised his right hand and gently pointed a finger at the center of Qing Yuanzi's brow.

[Chaos, Annihilation.]

A wisp of subtle black Chaos fire flashed and vanished from his fingertip.

Qing Yuanzi's voice came to an abrupt end.

His body, starting from the center of his brow, turned bit by bit into void black ash; as the wind blew, it dissipated between Heaven and Earth.

Along with his Mahayana stage Great Perfection Primordial Spirit, and all the Laws within his body, under this one finger, they were completely erased, leaving not a trace.

A generation's Dominator of the Linghuan Realm thus fell.

Chu Chang stood high in the sky, his white robes like snow, standing with his hands behind his back.

His Divine Sense pierced through the Void Realm, taking in the entire Linghuan Realm, and even the dozen or so attached Lower Realms surrounding it.

Inside the Qingyuan Palace, countless experts looked at Qing Yuanzi's shattered Divine Soul tablet, falling into Chaos, with wails filling the land;

In the cities of Mortals, the common people were still rushing about, busy for their three daily meals;

In the great Sects, Cultivators were still scheming against each other for Cultivation Techniques and Medicinal Pills, killing and seizing treasures.

In this world, there was no Immortal Realm, nor was there any end.

There was only an endless cycle, and a cage that kept getting bigger.

And he, now, already stood at the very top of all these cages.

In this Universe named the "Linghuan Realm", there was no longer any person or power capable of taking his sword strike.

"Is this… invincibility?"

Chu Chang looked at his hands, his eyes devoid of joy or excitement, only a loneliness as calm as stagnant water.

Back then, he carried the duanchen ancient sword on his back, for the sake of revenge and survival, fighting his way through a storm of blood to the Ten Thousand Sword Mountain.

At that time, he had hatred and goals in his heart.

But now, his enemies were all destroyed, the Heavenly Gate opened, and he, alone with his sword, had stepped onto the peak of this world.

Yet he found that the scenery at this peak was so desolate.

"Forget it."

Chu Chang put away the duanchen ancient sword, turned around, took a step, and disappeared into the endless Void Realm.

Since this Heaven was a cage, then he would be a spectator at the very top of this cage.

Watching the seas change into mulberry fields, watching the eras alternate.

Until the day he could find the boundary that truly transcended this world, and split open the end of this Universe with a single sword strike.

The legend of the Tianqian Domain continued, and in the Linghuan Realm, there was one more invincible myth about the "Black-Robed Sword God".

But for Chu Chang.

All of this had long since become insipid.

(End of Book)