Chapter 537: Severing Karma

The moment the Demonic Spear struck, time seemed to stand still.

Wherever the spear's shaft passed, eternal cracks were left in the Void Realm; even the Chaos Battlefield's innate spatial self-repair ability was completely stripped away.

This single strike had touched upon the true essence of slaughter in the Immortal Realm—the annihilation of existence!

Zhou Chen took a deep breath.

Within the Small World in his body, the World Tree swayed frantically, its roots plunging into the endless Chaos as its branches and leaves pierced through the Three Thousand Great Daos.

The eight Initial Inscriptions detached from the chaos bell, transforming into eight streaks of light that merged into his palm.

Qian Heaven, Kun Earth, Zhen Thunder, Xun Wind, Kan Water, Li Fire, Gen Mountain, and Dui Lake—eight types of Origin power intertwined and fused within his hands.

"chaos bell, suppress the eight directions."

"Chaos lotus, derive creation."

Zhou Chen's hands formed seals as the two Dao Artifacts erupted with their full power simultaneously for the first time.

The chaos bell hummed and vibrated, its body manifesting phantom images of primordial mountains, rivers, the sun, the moon, and the stars. The bell's toll transformed into tangible golden ripples, meeting the Demonic Spear in layer upon layer.

The chaos lotus platform bloomed with immeasurable clear light. The black hole at the lotus's heart reversed, spewing out the life essence that nurtures all things, transforming into billions of azure lotuses. Each flower contained the prototype of a Small World.

Clang—!!!

The moment the Demonic Spear collided with the bell's ripples, the entire Spirit Realm trembled.

On the edge of the Central Celestial Domain, dozens of floating immortal islands could not withstand the impact of the Dao sound and crumbled into stardust in the starry sky.

The ground of the Chaos Battlefield collapsed once more, and a bottomless canyon was born out of thin air. Within it, spatial turbulence raged, swallowing thousands of demonic soldiers who had no time to escape.

The tip of the spear pierced three inches into the golden ripples, but then it could advance no further.

Billions of azure lotuses were like moths to a flame, throwing themselves at the spear's shaft one after another. The annihilation of each lotus wore away a portion of the Demonic Spear's power.

The Eternal Night Demon Emperor's expression changed slightly. He suddenly bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of his lifeblood demonic blood.

The demonic blood merged into the spear's shaft, and the crimson speck at the spear's tip suddenly expanded, transforming into a hideous demonic eye!

"Open!"

The demonic eye opened, and divine light of destruction burst forth!

The golden bell ripples were pierced through layer by layer, and the azure lotuses withered in vast patches.

The God-Slaying Spear's power surged, breaking through the defense line in an instant and stabbing straight toward Zhou Chen's forehead!

It was a moment of life and death.

Yet, Zhou Chen closed his eyes.

His Divine Sense sank into the Small World within his body, looking toward that World Tree that pierced through heaven and earth.

Above the tree's crown, the phantom images of the eight Initial Inscriptions rotated slowly. Beneath the tree, Chaos Qi surged like a tide.

"Intercept a sliver of life, sever the Dao's Opportunity."

In the next moment, Zhou Chen suddenly opened his eyes!

Eight-colored divine light rotated in his pupils, eventually returning to a state of Chaos.

He no longer defended himself. Instead, he took a step forward, proactively meeting that God-Slaying Demonic Spear.

His right hand held his fingers together like a sword, and a speck of Chaos radiance condensed at his fingertip. That radiance seemed weak, but it made alarm bells ring wildly in the Eternal Night Demon Emperor's heart!

"Heaven-Severing Slash."

Zhou Chen whispered, and his sword-finger slashed down.

There was no world-shaking momentum, no world-destroying power.

This single strike merely intercepted the 'Karmic connection' between the Demonic Spear and the Eternal Night Demon Emperor.

Wherever the sword light passed, that Demonic Spear, which contained immortal slaughtering power, actually dissipated inch by inch like a bubble, transforming back into ethereal Devilish Qi and returning to the world.

It was as if it had never been condensed, never been unleashed.

"What?!" The Eternal Night Demon Emperor's pupils shrank suddenly.

He felt that the unbreakable Origin connection between himself and the Demonic Spear had been severed.

No, it wasn't just the connection—even the fact that 'he had once condensed this spear' was being erased!

"You… you have touched the level of the 'Dao'?!" The Eternal Night Demon Emperor's voice trembled.

Only the 'Dao' that stood above the Law could so arrogantly alter reality and sever Karma!

Zhou Chen did not speak.

He raised his sword-finger again, and this time, he pointed it at the Eternal Night Demon Emperor's forehead.

"This strike shall slash your Immortal Dao Fruit."

Before the sword light even emerged, the Eternal Night Demon Emperor had already retreated in horror.

The black Star Domain behind him burned frantically, and countless stars exploded, transforming into billowing Devilish Qi that was injected into his body.

His ten-thousand-foot demonic form expanded once more, and billions of demonic inscriptions appeared on his skin's surface. Each demonic inscription was the wailing of a devoured soul.

"Eternal Night True Form: Ten Thousand Demons Ancestor!"

The demonic form stood tall between heaven and earth. It opened its mouth and inhaled, and the remnant souls and blood Qi of the millions of Cultivators on the battlefield below, which had not yet dissipated, were forcibly pulled away, transforming into a blood-colored torrent that entered its mouth.

His aura climbed frantically, and he was faintly about to break through the shackles of his weakened period and return to his Peak!

"Devil, how dare you!" The Palace Master of the Grand Void Palace's eyes nearly split from rage.

Zhou Chen, however, remained calm.

He looked up at the demonic mouth that was devouring all living beings and lightly turned his sword-finger.

"Intercept Spirit."

As Zhou Chen uttered those two words.

The blood-colored torrent pouring into the demonic mouth abruptly froze in mid-air.

Immediately after, the torrent reversed, transforming into pure life essence that fell onto the battlefield like raindrops, merging into the earth.

On the scorched earth, tender green grass sprouts actually broke through the soil, and dead ancient trees sprouted new branches.

Plundering was reversed into bestowing.

"No—!!!" The Eternal Night Demon Emperor let out a desperate roar.

He felt that his 'plundering authority' over this world was being stripped away.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had stripped him from his status as a plunderer and knocked him back to the starting point of the plundered.

Zhou Chen took a third step and arrived before the Demon Emperor.

The two were no more than three feet apart. He could clearly see his own reflection in the other's eyes—his green robes fluttering, his gaze as deep as an abyss.

Zhou Chen's sword-finger lightly tapped the Eternal Night Demon Emperor's forehead.

There was no radiance, no sound.

The Eternal Night Demon Emperor's movements froze in place.

His mouth was open, as if he wanted to say something, but he could not make any sound.

At his forehead, a crack as thin as a hair slowly appeared and spread downward.

What this crack severed was the fundamental definition of his existence as the 'Eternal Night Demon Emperor'.

From this moment on, there would no longer be any trace of the Eternal Night Demon Emperor's aura in heaven and earth.

The Demonic Technique he practiced, the Dao Fruit he condensed, and the traces of his existence were all erased from the root of the Great Dao by this single strike.

Crack.

The ten-thousand-foot demonic form split down the middle into two halves and crashed down.

There was no blood spray, no Devilish Qi dissipation.

It was like a drawing being erased by an eraser, clean to the point of making one's heart turn cold.

The Eternal Night Demon Emperor had thoroughly perished.

He completely ceased to exist.

Zhou Chen withdrew his finger and stood in the Void Realm with his hands behind his back.

Beneath his feet, the chaos lotus platform's light dimmed, and the chaos bell above his head quietly returned into his body.

He looked down at his fingertip, where a trace of the 'Severing' Dao charm still remained.

"So that's how it is…"

He whispered to himself.

The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stared blankly at this scene, their minds completely blank.

The Eternal Night Demon Emperor… was dead?

That immortal Demon Emperor who had made the entire Spirit Realm despair, who had slaughtered millions of Cultivators, and who could not be shaken in the slightest even by the self-detonation of over a dozen Immortal Emperors… just like that… was dead?

Dead at the hands of a green-robed man who had suddenly appeared?

"We won… we won?!"

It was unknown who was the first to react, letting out a raspy shout.

"We won! The Spirit Realm is saved?!"

"Heavenly Emperor Zhou! Heavenly Emperor Zhou! Heavenly Emperor Zhou!"

Countless Cultivators cheered frantically, their voices converging into a tide that soared into the sky.

They did not know Zhou Chen's Origins, nor did they know his past.