Chapter 1378: Chaos

The Holy Land of Jade Pool.

In the void, continuous explosions rang out. The Demon Lord stood suspended in the air, hands forming hand seals, his spatial law fluctuations surging violently. Before him in the void floated eighty-one black spikes, their runes flickering with eerie light.

"Go."

The Demon Lord let out a fierce shout and thrust both palms forward.

The eighty-one black spikes shot forth instantly, vanishing into the void.

In the next moment, a dull thunderclap exploded in the heavens. The eighty-one black spikes suddenly transformed into eighty-one towering pillars, encircling the chaotic vortex and forming a spatial grand array, sealing it in the center.

Around the spatial grand array, a distinct layer of spatial cracks appeared in the void, as if a region had been forcibly excised from this world, severing all connections with the entire heaven and earth, forming an independent space.

The method the Demon Clan had used to create the Demon Domain back then was largely similar, except that it had not relied on the Demon Lord's strength alone but had used his law power as a guide, gathering nearly all the power of the entire Demon Clan at that time.

Now, he had arranged this Heaven-Sealing Grand Array based on the eighty-one Heaven-Sealing Pillars he had refined. Although its power could not compare to creating a Demon Domain, it was sufficient to seal off this mere region of a million miles.

"The Demon Lord has quite the skill, attempting to isolate me and the Dao God Grand Array from heaven and earth. But unfortunately, he is still too petty," Gu Huojin quickly understood the Demon Lord's intention and mocked.

With that, he opened one hand, and an ancient rune appeared in his palm. He pointed a finger from afar at one of the surrounding Heaven-Sealing Pillars.

The rune in his palm instantly burst into brilliant golden light, transforming into a solid golden beam that shot toward the Heaven-Sealing Pillar, arriving in an instant.

"Don't even think about it!" At that moment, a fierce shout rang out.

The Reincarnation Palace Master's figure abruptly appeared before that Heaven-Sealing Pillar. He raised a hand and formed a hand seal, and immediately a ring-shaped dark red light screen lit up before him.

On the ring, there were six clusters of light, each of a different color, with a rune floating in the center of each.

The Time Dao Ancestor's sharp golden beam struck the center of the ring-shaped light screen, causing violent tremors. All its power was directly absorbed by the ring, transforming into a soft, strange light that traveled through the six light clusters once before dissipating.

"Reincarnation... Annihilation." The Reincarnation Palace Master formed a hand seal with one hand and pressed the other on the ring-shaped light screen, letting out a fierce shout.

As his words fell, a towering red light blazed behind him. Strands of law power, condensed as if solid, flowed through his body and poured entirely into the ring-shaped light screen.

The six light clusters on the circular light screen, with the six runes at the very center lighting up one after another, instantly expanded the entire screen a hundredfold. At the center, a massive dark red orb of light coalesced and suddenly shot toward Guhuojin.

The dark red orb was wreathed in blood mist, containing the karmic power of reincarnation accumulated by the Hall Master over millions of years. When it flew within a hundred li of Guhuojin, it suddenly exploded.

A tide of blood mist surged like an avalanche, directly rushing toward Guhuojin.

The latter had long been prepared for this, having erected a time barrier before him. Anything that approached would be frozen in time and could not pass through.

However, when the blood mist surged onto the golden light screen, it passed straight through without any obstruction.

A flicker of surprise passed through Guhuojin's eyes. He quickly swept his sleeve, trying to disperse the mist with a gust of wind, but as he stirred, the blood mist directly condensed into a thread, like an arrow, shooting straight into his sleeve.

In an instant, Guhuojin's entire body was covered in blood mist.

He felt his body sluggish, and the arm he used to activate the great array could no longer lift, dropping straight down.

"What kind of technique is this?" Guhuojin looked at the Reincarnation Hall Master and could not help asking.

"The karma of reincarnation has always been an existence beyond time; your time law power cannot block it... Besides, this karma is the sin created by the Heavenly Court under your command. I merely gathered it together and returned it to you," the Reincarnation Hall Master said with a smile.

"You think this little karma can make me pay? Hall Master, aren't you being a bit naive?" Guhuojin sneered.

As he spoke, golden light shone from his body. Strands of golden light, like fish, swam and circled around him. He seemed to bathe in the river of time, washing away the karmic sins bit by bit.

Seeing this, the Reincarnation Hall Master showed no sign of anxiety; instead, a smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

At the same time, his hands swiftly formed seals before him, and a phantom light rune array began to emerge out of thin air beneath Guhuojin.

On the other side, the Demon Lord, acting in tacit understanding, also cast his spell.

The eighty-one Heaven-Sealing Pillars immediately blazed with light, and with a clanking sound, eighty-one black crystalline chains shot out, binding Guhuojin firmly in place.

Once the chains were on him, the space around Guhuojin was instantly locked. The flowing time water, which should not have been hindered by space, could no longer circulate and came to a halt.

"It's up to you..." the Demon Lord shouted.

In the void behind Guhuojin, a flash of light appeared, and the figure of Yinming, the Heavenly Demon Ancestor, materialized out of thin air. It instantly stretched tens of feet and coiled around Guhuojin's body layer by layer.

"Sovereign, I'll take your soul now..." Yinming's shadow-like face, mere three feet from Guhuojin's, said with a sinister smile.

Having witnessed the schemes of the Time Ancestor earlier, he had agreed to the Reincarnation Palace Master's proposal to join forces without any hesitation. The two of them would be responsible for restraining Gu Huojin, while he would devour the other's divine soul.

As long as he successfully devoured Gu Huojin's divine soul, Yinming himself could hardly imagine to what extent his power would skyrocket. Stopping the Time Ancestor's plot would certainly not be difficult, and it might even be possible to eliminate both the Reincarnation Palace Master and the Demon Lord in one fell swoop.

The thought that those who stood at the pinnacle of the three supreme laws would be destroyed by his own hand filled Yinming with barely contained excitement.

His towering body suddenly lunged forward, plunging straight toward the center of Gu Huojin's brow.

Once he entered the sea of consciousness, Gu Huojin would have no chance of victory.

"Dong..."

A sound like a bronze bell suddenly rang out from the center of Gu Huojin's brow. Golden ripples spread outward from his sea of consciousness, directly colliding with the oncoming Yinming.

Yinming felt an intense heat all around him, and his vital essence began to burn uncontrollably.

"No, impossible..." Yinming panicked, his body flickering with light as he tried to flee from Gu Huojin's side.

But at that moment, a large hand had already broken free from its restraints and seized him by the throat.

"On the path of seeking the Great Dao, I have traveled farther than all of you combined. You should not have underestimated me so," Gu Huojin said slowly.

As he spoke, a surge of time law power—utterly incomparable to before—emanated from his palm, spinning violently like a golden millstone, grinding Yinming's form into dust that completely dissipated between heaven and earth.

At the same time, the layer of blood mist covering his body peeled off like aged paint, flake by flake, vanishing like smoke before it could touch the ground.

Seeing this, the Reincarnation Palace Master's palm, which had been forming a seal, split open on its own. A drop of essence blood surged into his palm, and his body immediately blazed with brilliant light.

In response, the illusory light talisman array beneath Gu Huojin shone brightly and soared into the sky.

Within the talisman light, it seemed a passage to the netherworld had opened, revealing a blood-colored space from which came heart-rending screams.

Countless blood-colored figures were piled layer upon layer, climbing toward the opening, but no matter how hard they struggled, they could never crawl out.

From that opening, a powerful tearing force pulled at Gu Huojin, trying to drag him inside.

"A trifling trick..."

Gu Huojin murmured softly, and with a gesture of his fingers downward, a spiral gray light descended from the chaotic vortex above his head, plunging directly into the cave entrance.

The blood-colored space within the cave was instantly disrupted by an immensely powerful force. Countless blood-colored figures, unable to react in time, were shattered into pieces, spiraling upward along the gray light and merging into the chaotic vortex.

The chaotic vortex, which had just stopped expanding, suddenly surged again.

Seeing this, the Reincarnation Palace Master's expression darkened. He changed his hand seals, dispelling the technique, and the rune-lit formation slowly contracted, causing the blood-colored cave entrance to vanish once more.

The Demon Lord exchanged a glance with the Reincarnation Palace Master, both their expressions becoming extremely complex.

"It seems you've finally learned fear..." Gu Huojin chuckled softly, raising his hand condensed from golden light and brushing it over the crystalline chains binding him.

All the crystalline chains instantly decayed and shattered, turning into dust and disappearing.

"The law force contained in this Divine Creation Array is the chaotic law that has existed since the beginning of heaven and earth—a true creation law, far more ancient than the three supreme laws. One could say that all laws of the Heavenly Dao were born from chaos. So, do you think isolating it with the power of spatial law will be of any use?" Gu Huojin asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the Demon Lord's expression turned extremely grim.

The next moment, a thunderous roar resounded from the chaotic vortex above the three of them. The vortex, resembling a gray mist, suddenly expanded, directly engulfing the eighty-one Heaven-Sealing Pillars.

"The time has come. None of you can stop it anymore. Let us welcome the arrival of this grand era together," Gu Huojin declared loudly.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

A series of rumbling sounds echoed continuously. The massive chaotic vortex kept expanding, and the void at its edges constantly shattered, swallowed by the vortex's gray light.

Across the entire Heavenly Palace Continent, the flow of heaven and earth spiritual energy in the void became instantly chaotic. All law forces seemed to be disrupted, and every rule governing the operation of heaven and earth over endless ages was broken at this moment.

The already dilapidated Jade Pool Scenic Realm no longer floated in the air but plummeted straight down toward the Heavenly Palace Continent. Before it could even hit the ground, it began to disintegrate, breaking apart in midair.

Li Yuanjiu and the other survivors steadied themselves and swiftly flew toward the ground.

But before they could land, the Heavenly Palace Continent beneath them began to split into bottomless chasms. Almost all volcanoes erupted violently, and tsunamis rolled back from the continental edges—a scene of doomsday everywhere.

"Enjoy the final sight of the old world..." Gu Huojin said slowly, his eyes filled with fervor.

The Demon Lord sighed inwardly, his brows deeply furrowed, and looked toward the Reincarnation Palace Master.

Though the latter's expression was equally grim, there was still a hint of contemplation in his eyes, suggesting he had no intention of giving up just yet.