Chapter 651: The Black Dragon Appears

Fear overwhelmed Qi Xu.

In her eyes, Li Yuqing's Sword of Fate was far more terrifying than Li Zhaotian's fusion with the barrier.

Yan Lie had once told her that only a handful of enigmatic Heavenly Daos held the potential to ascend to the rank of a Sovereign.

Even in the boundless starry skies, the Dao of Fate was revered as one of the most supreme and formidable Heavenly Daos.

The Heavenly Dao that Li Zhaotian pursued was to become the shield of the Abyss and merge with the barrier to safeguard the human race.

Within the Abyss, the barrier empowered his Heavenly Dao and granted him unparalleled might.

However, once he left the Abyss, his Heavenly Dao would offer little assistance in furthering his cultivation realm.

The power of Li Zhaotian's Heavenly Dao would be greatly diminished without the barrier.

But Li Yuqing was different.

Her Dao of Fate was unparalleled in both the Abyss and the starry skies!

Nobody in the Fifth World could stand against her if she ascended to godhood and gained more insights into the Dao of Fate.

Even Yan Lie would have to pay a price!

Only after experiencing the terror of this Heavenly Dao firsthand did Qi Xu truly understand just how formidable the girl before her was, even after suffering a backlash that rapidly drained her vitality away.

Pang Jian's absorption of Corruption suddenly seemed far less important than ensuring Li Yuqing's death.

If this girl ascends to godhood, she will easily break through the barrier. Beyond the Abyss, her mastery of the Dao of Fate will shine more brilliantly than any other, perhaps...

Yan Lie once said that the Sovereign ruling over the Dao of Fate was indifferent to the survival of the human race.

That Sovereign had spent years searching for those born with the Dao of Fate, hoping to bring them into their Temple of Fate. They sought someone capable of pushing this Heavenly Dao to new heights.

Unfortunately, those born with a natural affinity for fate were exceedingly rare, even across the starry skies.

Of the few possessing it, most could only perceive the past and present of others, and struggled to glimpse the future at all.

It had been many years since anyone had ascended to godhood through the Dao of Fate.

If Li Yuqing were to step out of the Abyss, or even if that Sovereign simply learned that a human girl within the Abyss had the potential to attain godhood through the Dao of Fate, they would surely take action.

When Li Yuqing broke through the barrier, that Sovereign would undoubtedly mobilize their power to welcome her into their domain.

Even if Li Yuqing remained in the Abyss, all it would take was for word to reach that Sovereign, and their influence alone would pave a path for her to leave.

Qi Xu's killing intent grew stronger at this realization.

Ignoring her severe injuries, Qi Xu grasped the drop of blood that Yan Lie bestowed upon her and used the Flame Star to burn away every last remnant of the terrifying sword intent.

"The Li Family's girl!" Qi Xu cried, her Fire World surging forward to engulf everything in its path.

A vast world of eternal fire swept across the bizarre mist. The divine artifact, the Flame Star, hovering above Qi Xu's head, descended beneath her slender figure.

"Pierce!"

Dozens of blazing meteor-like flames shot out from the Fire World.

Pang Jian, still fusing with Corruption near the boundary wall, abruptly flashed to Li Yuqing's side.

Li Yuqing suffered from the backlash of failing to sever Qi Xu's future, resulting in a devastating erosion of her own vitality.

Pang Jian grabbed Li Yuqing's hand of exposed bone and established a connection with the Rank Ten World Tree.

A surge of life energy powerful enough to resurrect the dead was channeled from Pang Ling.

This pure life energy entered Li Yuqing's body, stabilizing her vitality.

Although her vitality was still draining away, it was being restored rapidly enough to keep her alive.

She would not die as long as her last thread of vitality remained unextinguished, and the life energy surging from the Rank Ten World Tree was more than enough to keep her alive.

"Pang Jian, she won't survive, and neither will you!"

Dozens of blazing meteors coalesced into Flame Dragons, Fire Phoenixes, Fiery Qilins, and Scorchfire Birds. These fire-attribute ancient beasts roared in unison, shaking the Fire World.

The Fire World was the source of these fire-attribute ancient beasts. As their savage roars echoed, the raging inferno of the Fire World swelled ever more violently.

"A human wielder of the Dao of Fate. We will stop at nothing to eradicate her!" Qi Xu cried. "The human race can never touch the power of fate! Both of you have to die!"

Meanwhile, Pang Jian, still grasping Li Yuqing's skeletal hand, continued channeling life energy into her, even as he fused with Corruption.

Although he could move around and even serve as a bridge to transmit life energy to Li Yuqing, he could not summon his strength to fight while merging with Corruption, nor could he cast everything aside to engage Qi Xu in a battle of life and death.

This weakness was the reason Qi Xu could act with such reckless abandon. She was convinced that both he and Li Yuqing were doomed.

"Fate...if it is truly so profound and unfathomable, then she—" Pang Jian gazed at Li Yuqing, whose eyes had already closed, and murmured quietly, "She can likely glimpse her own future. She probably knows that she's not someone destined for an early death.

"The heavens favor her. How could she possibly die so soon? In other words, the one destined to die here is you, Qi Xu."

The Gate of the Abyss on Pang Jian's chest flared open in a burst of radiance, sending powerful spatial ripples surging outward.

A thunderous roar echoed, twisted with rage, bloodlust, and madness.

Slithering out from the blazing radiance was a ten-thousand-zhang-long dragon. Its entire body was clad in black, iron-like dragon scales that gleamed with an ominous luster.

The colossal Black Dragon King had barely entered the bizarre mist when an endless darkness rapidly engulfed fire-attribute ancient beasts.

The darkness swallowed all the Flame Dragons, Scorchfire Birds, Fire Phoenixes, Fiery Qilins, and the many other ancient beasts manifested within the Fire World in the blink of an eye.

Its eyes gleamed fiercely as it raised its head and let out another earth-shattering roar.

A torrent of black flames erupted from its maw, unfurling like a world of darkness as it engulfed the flaming meteors, Qi Xu's Fire World, and the Flame Star.

The boundless darkness spread millions of li in an instant.

The Black Dragon King lazily swayed its massive tail as it drifted through the darkness, circling its prey, ready to obliterate the Rank Ten powerhouse of the Flame Race.

"Don't kill her. Keep her alive for now," Pang Jian instructed firmly. "If she dies, the Corruption within her could return to the endless darkness.

"The powerful beings of the other races will sense the disturbance immediately, and more of their strongest will rush into the bizarre mist.

"Seal her away. She can die once I'm done."