No matter how brilliant you once were, no matter how high you stood above the heavens, no matter if you were a demon emperor who commanded all races, none of it could stop you from dying alone in this darkness. A place without light, without the concept of time, with nothing left except endless black.

Xu Zimo let out a quiet sigh.

The Primal Dao of Light stirred in his hand. Outside, that Dao was powerful enough to illuminate the skies. But here it was dim, struggling even to brighten a small patch of darkness.

He continued walking forward. In this void, there was nothing else to do, he could only keep moving.

Eventually, Xu Zimo saw two figures in the distance.

Each radiated immense power. They stood facing each other, palms extended, locked in some ancient clash.

Both felt overwhelmingly strong.

One wore white robes, no one knew what they were made of, but after countless years they still looked pristine. Seeing him evoked a sense of light breeze and drifting clouds, calm, effortless, weightless.

The one opposing him was a woman. She wore a knee-length robe of red and white. The sleeves had clearly been tailored in some special way. Her expression was solemn. Look closer, though, and you would notice something strange, she seemed both male and female, impossible to classify. Like a Buddha filled with compassion for all beings. A manifestation of countless aspects of divinity.

The white-robed man and the red-robed woman stood in the darkness, yet despite the blackness constantly consuming everything, the power around them pushed it back and held open an untouched pocket of space.

Of all the corpses Xu Zimo had passed, these were the only two whose physical bodies remained perfectly intact.

But by carefully sensing them, he could tell they were completely lifeless. They had been dead a long time. And yet their bodies had not decayed even after tens of thousands of years. It was hard to imagine how powerful they had been in life.

…

As Xu Zimo approached, a surge of terrifying force burst outward. He barely dodged in time, another moment and he would have been blown away.

He steadied himself, eyes narrowed. He hadn’t expected these two to still radiate such power even in death.

His peak Saint Sovereign aura surged around him. He drew Shadow Tyrant, and charged toward them.

As expected, each time he neared them, a rebound of force lashed out. This time he struck with a single decisive slash, splitting the power down the middle.

The rebound grew stronger, and his blade aura intensified in return. Finally, he reached the two figures.

No names. No inscriptions. Nothing to identify them.

Just as he lightly touched the red-robed woman, a booming explosion of boundless light burst outward.

“I am the Envoy of Time. Who are you?”

The voice that came from her body was neither male nor female.

“You’re still alive?” Xu Zimo was startled.

“Who are you? Another one who fell into the abyss?” she asked.

Xu Zimo nodded slightly. “What is this place? I saw countless people dead behind me.”

“The place where the Oblivion Progenitor fell,” she replied calmly.

“Is there a way out?” he asked.

“Out?” She froze for a moment, as if the word itself was foreign to her. After a long time, her memory seemed to stir. She finally shook her head. “If escape were possible, the two of us would not have died trapped here.”

“And you? Are you still alive now?” Xu Zimo asked.

“A living dead,” she said with a faint shake of her head. “My entire life is bound to this darkness. I fear I will never leave. Go forward. There is a senior ahead. Perhaps he knows more.”

Xu Zimo nodded and prepared to move on, but the red-robed woman blocked his way.

“The senior dislikes being disturbed,” she said. “You must pass through our trial first. Only then do you have the right to proceed.”

As soon as she finished speaking, her hand rose, a palm filled with blazing light slamming toward Xu Zimo.

His eyes sharpened. He stepped back, and in the same instant, countless strands of blade aura burst from Shadow Tyrant.

Thunderous explosions echoed.

The vast palm shook the heavens, while the blade aura shattered everything in its path. The entire realm seemed ready to collapse.

“Sage Monarch?” the woman said. She saw through his cultivation at a glance, then smiled lightly. “Not bad. But still lacking.”

She brought her hands together. Light erupted. Behind her, a colossal golden Buddha appeared, lifelike, almost breathing, its presence filling the dark sky with sacred resonance.

“An Infinite Dao cultivator?” Xu Zimo frowned.

“Golden Dharma Lotus,” she declared.

The Buddha raised one massive hand and flicked a finger. Countless golden lotuses bloomed in an instant.

Each lotus carried the power of life and death. When the petals opened, it was life; when they closed, it was death. The very fabric of the Dao of Life and Death churned, forming a cage around Xu Zimo.

He snorted coldly. These were indeed the edicts of life and death, and normally he could not resist a true Infinite Dao cultivator. But this woman was already a living corpse.

“If you were alive, it would be different. But a dead thing cannot suppress me.”

Xu Zimo’s own life-death law erupted. His power hammered into the lotus domain, tearing cracks into it.

With his unending force pouring out, the golden lotuses began to shatter, weakening rapidly.

The red-robed woman remained calm. She joined her hands, forming seals that radiated immense power.

“Words of truth, shattering the heavens.”

The Buddha withdrew its hand. The golden lotuses faded. Its mouth began chanting.

What it recited was the Sutra of Shakyamuni.

Each Buddha-Mantra became tangible, falling from the sky. In moments, hundreds and then thousands of such characters condensed, each one hundreds of meters tall, a breathtaking sight.

A thousand characters descended.

The water character became an endless waterfall.

The fire character ignited a sky-burning blaze.

The wood character sprouted into a towering tree.

The evil character transformed into a fierce Asura demon.

The blood character became a flood of crimson washing over golden mountains.

Every character carried mysterious power, each manifesting a reality of its own. Each one weighed a thousand tons. Their might was unimaginable.

Xu Zimo, standing beneath this crushing scripture, felt it most clearly.

His eyes narrowed. He exhaled sharply.

All ten of his God-Scriptures activated at once. The Sky-Split blade intent in his hand stretched for millions of miles. Empowered by Heaven-Earth Dharma Codex, Xu Zimo charged upward, cutting straight toward the falling scripture.