Blood splattered, exquisitely pure, like crimson diamonds, brilliant and translucent, yet exuding a slightly mournful beauty. Shi Hao’s chest exploded open. He wore a smile, appearing serene, though sadness lingered in his gaze.
“Is this truly the end? Farewell, Shi Village… farewell, Mother and Father…” he whispered gently.
His blood, vivid red and horrifying, spewed in all directions. His ribcage shattered, and upon bursting outward, released a terrifying power capable of shattering the heavens.
Infinite glyphs erupted forth, coalescing into beams of light like celestial blades, sharp and invincible. The phantom of the Bronze Immortal Hall was pierced through, fading, dimming, and losing clarity in this space.
“No!” cried Huang Yu, his face pale as snow, experiencing fear for the first time. He felt as though the end of the world had arrived, and his heart quivered violently.
With all his might, he poured forth his spiritual power, burning his very essence to its primal source, channeling all his strength into the Bronze Immortal Hall, hoping it would reform and manifest once more.
This was his sole lifeline. If the Immortal Hall was destroyed, he too would perish, struck down and doomed to eternally vanish in this mortal world.
“The Immortal Hall descends!” Huang Yu roared.
His relentless infusion of power surged forth, and the copper Palace indeed became clearer, radiating once more and reappearing in the heavens above this mortal realm.
Shi Hao remained calm. His chest groaned and cracked. All other bones had already shattered, but only the Sovereign Bone had exploded slightly—it was just too sturdy!
Such formidable bone had fully formed and resisted destruction by outside forces. Only by a deliberate will to self-destruct could it disintegrate, and finally, it erupted from within his body.
“Boom!”
Shi Hao’s body trembled violently. No trace of blood remained on his face; his spirit wavered. The Sovereign Bone exploded completely, flying outward!
A mighty surge of energy arose, eclipsing the heavens and earth, darkening sun and moon, suppressing everything. Upon the shattered fragments of the Sovereign Bone sat a faint, tiny figure. It turned, glancing back at Shi Hao, then surged forward!
It embodied Shi Hao’s Dao, a law naturally cultivated within himself. It now fully erupted, unwavering in its mission of destruction, capable of severing all things.
“Crack!”
The Bronze Immortal Hall was pierced instantly, disintegrating in midair as a tremor echoed through space. It dimmed rapidly and then fragmented into nothingness.
“Ahh…” Huang Yu screamed, his face twisted with terror. Who among men could remain calm before death? Eventually, all would succumb to fear and unwillingness.
The aged servant of the Immortal Hall had descended to this world filled with ambition, originally intending to achieve great feats, to unify the Eight Realms, to claim the legendary blessings, and rise to greatness.
He had crossed realms not only for the Immortal Hall but for himself, seeking to break free from life’s shackles and carve a unique path of his own.
Yet in this moment, all his aspirations paled to nothing, his dream shattered in this mortal realm the moment the Sovereign Bone exploded. His path was at an end.
“I won’t accept this!” He howled in rage, terror, confusion, fury, and helplessness—but to no avail. Nothing could resist what was coming.
“Hiss!”
A fragment of Sovereign Bone flew forth, piercing his chest, tearing open a massive wound. Blood spurted outward, his body quickly disintegrating as the overwhelming energy consumed him, threatening to tear him apart.
In his final moments, Huang Yu glimpsed a vision: a youth shattered in body, yet with a serene smile upon his face, blood staining his lips as he gazed directly at him.
Huang Yu regretted everything. It was he who had driven this youth to the edge of oblivion, and now he himself was dragged down into ruin. He felt the same desperate, hopeless sorrow that came with being utterly cornered.
“No, I truly do not wish to die!” he cried aloud, his face pale and contorted as he struggled desperately but found no escape. There was no way out.
The Sovereign Bone exploded, releasing boundless waves of energy—a veritable ocean—slamming down on Huang Yu, tearing his body apart, snuffing out his life force entirely.
He screamed in pain, fear, and panic, clawing at the void, desperately wishing time would rewind and alter this terrifying outcome.
“Pfft!”
Another fragment of Sovereign Bone shot forward, piercing his forehead. His entire skull shattered into fragments, then ignited into flames!
“I’ve actually died… I never even used the artifacts and skills bestowed by the Immortal Hall…” his soul trembled within his shattered skull, nearing dispersal.
“The seven gods descended here, and all perished—truly tragic,” he growled lowly, then raised a fragment of green rust from his spirit, crying coldly, “This is a flower of curse, forged from the flaked rust of the Bronze Hall. Bloom now!”
Even in his shattered state, his malevolent spirit summoned this deadly technique, fearing Shi Hao might somehow survive.
“Pfft!”
The last fragments of Sovereign Bone flew forth, obliterating Huang Yu into dust. Both his body and soul were wiped away, leaving nothing behind.
Shi Hao had shattered his own Sovereign Bone. His condition was thus utterly dire. His body was immediately torn in half—his upper torso separated from the lower, the middle completely gone.
Then, amid the terrible fluctuations and destructive light, he continued to fragment. Every part of him disintegrated, bones snapped, flesh tore, and searing pain scorched his entire body.
He wasn’t better off than Huang Yu; he was undergoing self-annihilation, a process that tore apart his entire being.
Floating in the void, bone after bone exploded outward, flesh flying in all directions. The scene was horrifyingly tragic. Shi Hao was on the verge of vanishing forever from existence.
Even the bone of his skull began to crack, his brow bleeding, his soul dimming, nearly exploding!
Once that spot was destroyed, even a supreme Overlord couldn’t save him. Deprived of life’s mark, he’d vanish entirely from the mortal world.
Clearly, Shi Hao was walking down the path of extinction.
In his final moment, Shi Hao closed his eyes. So many memories surged to mind—scenes of joy, sorrow, desperation, and happiness. He clung to them, full of yearning.
As a child, his family had torn out his Sovereign Bone. He curled alone on a cold bed, his small body drenched in blood, begging his aunt with tearful eyes, asking why it had happened.
Soon, he’d gone to Shi Village, innocent and growing strong. He then walked out of the Wilds alone, beginning his life’s journey.
From Mount Hundred Breaks to the Kun Peng Nest of the Northern Sea, to the battles in Stone City—step by step, he rose until the world knew the name “Little Stone,” feared by all.
Orphaned at a young age, he walked forward alone, step by step, until he stood at the peak, slaying the seven gods. Yet now… he would fade away.
Cracks ran across Shi Hao’s brow. Bone fragment after bone fragment burst free, flying outward.
Dazed and lost, he gazed upon the world with longing and sorrow. Softly, he murmured, “I walked out from Shi Village, met little of my parents. I really wish to see them once more…”
But he knew he no longer had that chance. He would vanish from the world.
Time seemed to halt. Little Stone awaited his death, watching helplessly as the eternal dark swallowed him. His eyes brimmed with tears, and sorrow filled his soul.
For in this last moment, he saw no one.
Just as in his childhood, he lay alone on a cold little bed, bleeding from his chest, without warmth, without family, only cold loneliness, waiting to die.
He was fading alone, filled with sorrow, feeling once more the helplessness and chill of those days, and even deeper grief.
“Why haven’t I died yet?” Shi Hao softly asked himself, watching his own slow death, bidding himself farewell, ready to fall into eternal slumber.
Yet for some unknown reason, time truly seemed suspended, endlessly stretched. His skull had cracked yet did not explode outward. His consciousness remained clear.
“What is this?” he saw a glimmer of emerald light.
Faint green ripples spread like water, gently flowing toward his skull, halting the wound’s expansion, mending the cracks. Time itself appeared to freeze.
Emerald mist swirled gently around his head.
At the same time, from all corners of the battlefield, the scattered fragments—bones, flesh, and his severed lower torso—were drawn back by a mysterious force.
A green branch, adorned with shining young sprouts, radiated a soft glow. It was this branch that gathered every piece, drawing them together, showing signs of reconstitution.
“Willow God!”
Shi Hao called out. In this final moment, he felt loneliness and sadness, believing he would die forgotten. Never had he imagined feeling a familiar presence.
At this critical moment, seeing the branch brought him joy and emotion, his heart lightening somewhat.
This was not the true Willow God, merely a young branch it had left behind.
Long ago, when Shi Hao journeyed to the Kun Peng Nest in the Northern Sea, the Willow God had gifted him a branch, instructing him to keep it safe and use it in time of peril. Yet he had never used it.
As the Willow God left, entering the Primordial Gate to wage war in unknown realms, the branch lost its powers, unable to reach its master.
Over time, the branch dimmed, appearing near death, for the Willow God had severed all ties to this world.
Shi Hao had carried it on his person always. Now, upon sacrificing his own life and exploding his Sovereign Bone, certain death awaited. Yet at the final moment, the branch came alive once more, radiating a gentle green glow, drawing back the flesh and bones.
The branch glowed, and sprout after sprout, once dry, now bloomed with fresh vitality. They shed small ripples, sinking into Shi Hao’s shattered body, drawing the fragmented flesh and bones together once more.
To revive the dead and restore flesh to bone—this was usually mere exaggeration, for even sacred medicinal herbs could not achieve it.
Yet now, with every sprout falling away from the branch, Shi Hao’s body was pieced back together, reforming, reviving.
It was as if a shattered ceramic was reassembled, every piece refitted, though the entire body remained riddled with countless cracks.
This was but a temporary healing—his body could shatter again at any moment, exploding into the void.
Shi Hao lay on the mountainside, pale, lips trailing blood. He could hardly believe his broken flesh could reunite and restore him in the forest.
Yet some flesh and bone had already been lost to the explosion, leaving grievous wounds upon his form—his injuries were severe beyond measure.
Sprout after sprout faded, mending his form, closing the wounds and sealing the bloody holes.
The Sovereign Bone returned, though a third was missing—lost in the terrifying storm, burned away. It was now incomplete.
Moreover, the remaining fragment was merely a patchwork of smaller shards pieced into a broken whole.
“Crack!”
Suddenly, some bones within him cracked again, breaking anew, and his entire body nearly shattered once more in the mountains.
Shi Hao peered inside, seeing strange glyphs within his flesh and bone. They clashed violently with the Willow’s vitality—indicating a law actively destroying his body.
More disturbingly, this destructive rule proved stronger than the healing power of the Willow’s sprouts. His body weakened again, on the verge of collapse.
“The Immortal Hall’s law… fused into my flesh and bones?” Shi Hao examined within, understanding the truth. His eyes darkened, and he gave a faint sigh, realizing his fate: he was still going to die.
The Willow God had departed. The branch left behind had nearly withered. Though it had regained vitality, it held no powerful laws within.
But the Immortal Hall’s rule had fused into his flesh and blood entirely, wreaking unstoppable destruction—it was finishing him off!
“After all, escape from death is impossible. Was I given this brief hope, this lingering form, merely to let me see the ones I wish to see?” he murmured.
Shi Hao took a deep breath. He knew his time was brief. He had only a short while left in this world before his essence would fade forever. He had to act quickly.
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