At the call of that single command, the Void Mirror trembled at once, emitting a soft chime, erupting in brilliant radiance. There was excitement in it — and sorrow as well. Facing that “Void,” it shook with intensity.

Clang!

The ancient mirror rang out, its radiance illuminating ten thousand ages. This was the Void Emperor’s weapon — magnificent throughout his entire life, accompanying him in battle from beginning to end. In this moment, it was as though it had returned to that era of war, of blood-battles across the eight wildernesses, of pacifying the six harmonies.

It was responding to the “Void” in the distance — trembling without cease.

“Only one final step remains. Merge me into it as well — my blood, my bones, my soul — to awaken our ancestor, Void.” Ji Haoyue said, soaked in blood, a trace of grief in his voice.

He took one last look at this world, preparing to offer himself as a blood sacrifice. He had come bearing the hopes of an entire clan.

The celestial mirror at this moment was soaked entirely in crimson — dripping with blood. The blood of every member of the Ji Family had been poured upon it. Every living member, from sages on the verge of passing into seated meditation to newborns freshly entered into the world, had offered their blood to the celestial mirror as sacrifice.

And within his body burned the mark of every one of them — the blood and life fragments of the entire clan merged within him.

Ji Haoyue represented every member of the Ji Family. He would merge himself into the emperor mirror — his blood carrying the life of his ancestors — to allow the Void Emperor to briefly “revive” and emerge for one last battle.

“Father!”

At the far edge of heaven and earth, a small boy’s eyes brimmed with tears, and then he burst into loud, open weeping — stretching out his small hand, reaching desperately toward the depths of the lightless cosmos. He was Ji Chengdao. He knew his father would not be coming back.

Ji Ziyue, too, had tears streaming down her face. She knew that, barring a miracle, she would never see her elder brother again. This parting might well be eternal.

“Let me go instead — let me take my brother’s place!” Ji Ziyue wailed, and tried to rush forward, but was seized by a powerful grip and could not break free.

The entire Ji Family was consumed by grief. For a Divine King to depart like this meant certain non-return. He went with the resolve to die — to offer himself as a blood sacrifice — and would never be seen again.

Deep in the cosmos, Ji Haoyue’s body jolted, and he went rigid on the spot. A powerful hand had seized his shoulder, holding him utterly still, unable to move.

The void split open. A man of ordinary appearance — perfectly unremarkable — appeared, taking his place.

“Little Ancestor — what are you doing?!” Ji Haoyue cried out, his voice breaking.

The newcomer was Ji Zi. He stepped forward, took the emperor mirror into his hands, and in that instant his blood erupted, bursting out from the surface of his skin and flowing into the ancient mirror.

“Go back — little Chengdao is waiting for you.” Ji Zi’s Dao robe was stained with blood. He drew the entire clan’s blood and the fragments of their marks from Ji Haoyue to himself, his expression perfectly calm, not a single ripple of emotion crossing his face.

“Little Ancestor, you are…”

“Your road is still long. As for me — I was never a person of this age to begin with. My joys and sorrows… everything lies in the most ancient of times. I have lived to this age — perhaps I have been waiting for this very moment.” Ji Zi said, calm and unhurried.

He tore open a great crack in the void, pushed Ji Haoyue through it, sent him into exile — punched into a designated set of coordinates — and in an instant, Ji Haoyue was far away.

“Little Ancestor!” The void closed. That grieving cry was cut off.

And in that same moment, as the “Void” in the distance’s call of “fight alongside me” reached him, Ji Zi merged with the Void Mirror, blooming with boundless auspicious radiance, and flew toward the battle.

Mirror and man were both crimson — stained through with blood — yet they also shone with the most brilliant light, illuminating that dark heaven and earth.

Ji Zi and “Void” stood facing each other, holding the ancient mirror. Two men who looked exactly alike merged into a single entity.

Nothing could stop it. Only those of Ji Family bloodline could approach — for the celestial mirror was emitting its most blinding light, making the entire spectacle look mysterious and breathtaking.

“Void?!” The Stone Emperor was shaken. From the moment of his emergence into the world to this very point, the most he had ever displayed was a moment of being moved. Now, for the first time, he wore this expression.

“You may think of it that way — continuing the battle of a former life!” The aura of the man across from him abruptly surged, and primal chaos energy swept out in a collision across a hundred million li.

He possessed an emperor body. He held the Void Mirror in his hands, stained red by the blood of an entire clan — that blood flowing into his body. He had merged with the bloodied Ji Zi — and in this moment, it was as though he had become a different person entirely, manifesting the imperial law.

And the Void Mirror was even more extraordinary. Myriads of flowing lights, hundreds of millions of threads of immortal radiance, spread outward — like a phoenix reborn in flame — illuminating the cosmos. It advanced directly to suppress, striking toward the Stone Emperor.

The master of the Undying Mountain, the Stone Emperor, raised his war halberd horizontally and thrust forward. His entire body was wrapped in order chains — like a demon sovereign who had charged out of the underworld, bound in shackles.

“Clang!”

The two weapons clashed. The Void Mirror blazed without limit. The war halberd, too, sent dark light rushing into the heavens. The Stone Emperor’s tiger-mouth was completely torn open — blood gushed forth — and his entire person was driven back continuously.

“He truly has the imperial law!” His eyes were ice-cold beyond measure.

He understood — this was certainly not Void. It was only the Void bloodline and the fragments of the great Dao, carried within the blood of the entire Ji Family, that had revived. In a certain sense, every living being was a continuation of the life of their ancestors.

“Kill!”

The Lord of Samsara came charging over. He had no wish for Void to truly reappear. In former days, Void had stood alone blocking the Samsara Sea, cutting down Supremes — the Samsara Sea and he shared the most bitter of blood vendettas.

Whether the Samsara Sea or the Undying Mountain, both bore a hatred for the Void Emperor that could not be dissolved.

“Clang!”

The Void Mirror shone, sending forth a ray of immortal light that dissolved the Samsara Supreme’s attack and scattered all his imperial law — a result that left everyone utterly astounded.

“No wonder — it is the celestial mirror that has drunk the blood of multiple Supremes. Its power is truly world-dominating.” The Stone Emperor said coldly. He waved a hand, signaling the Samsara Supreme not to interfere — he would fight “Void” alone and resolve the enmity of former days.

In that moment, the demon-suppressing pestle and the Supreme Emperor Sword — along with two other emperor-grade weapons — fell back, turning to attack the other Supremes, driving their pressure to increase dramatically.

“Kill!” The Stone Emperor let out a roar. His full head of dense hair flew about him like a peerless divine fiend, and with a single step he shattered the universe, advancing to slay “Void.”

Rumble!

He swung the war halberd, collapsing everything in its path. Countless stars shattered under the pressure, unable to bear the weight, as he drove straight for “Void’s” skull — intending to cleave him directly in two.

“Slash!”

The ancient mirror blazed, like a rising sun ascending to the heavens, flames burning furiously — fixing that snow-bright halberd blade in place between heaven and earth, stopping it from falling.

“Well done!” The Stone Emperor roared. “You are not him — yet you have made him temporarily revive, carrying his life mark and fragments of his great Dao.”

All the Supremes who heard this were startled, then fell into deep thought. This was worth pondering. Perhaps, if they studied it thoroughly, it might be another method of long life.

“Boom!”

While the Stone Emperor roared, his entire body blazed with radiance. His blood energy penetrated the vast heavens, shaking all eight directions. The order chains flew forth like rows of phoenix feathers, piercing toward “Void,” intent on running him through.

But the ancient mirror shook, the blood energy of “Void” condensing into a single entity with it. In that moment, it released a heavenly and overflowing divine might. The mirror face was smooth as jade, scattering brilliant light — all law-attacks were reflected back completely unchanged.

The sound was like the collapse of heaven itself. The Stone Emperor rocked. His entire body, like a demon mountain, was driven backward in retreat, collapsing and making entire star regions shudder.

“Kill!”

For the first time, “Void” uttered the sound of slaughter. It shook the eight wastelands. Every living being seemed to sense it — and an endless tide of thought-force surged and surged, converging upon him, causing the imperial law that had been dim to suddenly blaze with light.

The fractured and incomplete imperial law fragments seemed to crystallize and become whole — a strange transformation that left every Supreme genuinely startled.

“This sort of nourishment… the power of all living beings is truly unpredictable, worth pondering.” An ancient Supreme reflected, feeling there was much to gain from this.

“Rumble!”

“Void” went on the offensive. Before him, nine-colored light bloomed — the Flower of Void unfolding, space solidified, even time came to a stop, sealed and frozen by him. This supreme forbidden secret art belonged to the content of the ultimate secret chapters.

And now — it manifested once more.

This was the supreme absolute technique by which the Void Emperor in former days had suppressed the upheaval — it had killed no fewer than one Supreme.

“Void’s Stillness — time frozen — eternity suppressed and sealed…” In the distance, those not on the battlefield wore expressions of shock and very nearly came under its influence themselves.

The Stone Emperor could barely move. His body stiffened. His primordial spirit could hardly break free. After overexerting himself, his entire body convulsed — and yet he still could not escape the binding.

“Boom!”

“Void” struck. One palm cut forward — a hanging star river turned to smoke in an instant. His palm descended toward the Stone Emperor’s skull.

At the same moment, the emperor mirror blazed brilliantly, carrying the blood of the entire Ji Family as it fell — suppressing and killing the Stone Emperor’s primordial spirit, aiming to extinguish him in one decisive blow.

“Ahh…”

The Stone Emperor’s roar rang out. As the palm-strike closed in, his body suddenly moved. His eyes became so icy that one felt as though plunged into a frozen abyss. A cruel smile touched his face. He swung the war halberd and said: “What a pity — you are ultimately not him. You cannot excite me enough.”

Boom!

A terrifying great collision erupted. The celestial vault collapsed, star clusters fell, and that star region dimmed in an instant — the power was boundless.

“Void” met the attack head-on, blocking with a great seal imprint — and the emperor mirror blazed even more intensely, pressing forward to suppress, crashing against the blade of the sky-desolating halberd and making the great halberd cry out in anguish without cease.

Blood splattered. “Void” and the Stone Emperor were both sent flying sideways.

Both possessed emperor bodies — yet under the force of that collision, both were impacted. Relatively speaking, that was ultimately not the true “Void” of former days — he sustained a grievous wound. But the Stone Emperor, too, vomited a large mouthful of blood.

As for the upheaval and blood-battle of the emperor-grade weapons — that, too, was fierce. In a collision of this magnitude, one weapon might be destroyed.

Clearly, the celestial mirror was the stronger — its radiance blazing intensely. The sky-desolating halberd, however, had grown somewhat dim. A chipped notch appeared at the blade’s edge, along with several cracks — the weapon itself had suffered grave damage.

The Stone Emperor was fighting “Void,” and they drove their battle deep into the cosmos.

“Even if this is not the true Void — yet he now carries the imperial law, and makes me feel anticipation, makes me feel joy!” The Lord of Samsara said with cruelty, following after. He wanted to drink the blood of Void.

And the emperor-grade weapons trembled, pressing in to slay him. The battle continued, its scope expanding wider and wider.

The heavens were trembling. The stars were exploding. The world was crying out. Everything seemed to be approaching its end — all things were on the verge of falling silent.

The Stone Emperor and “Void” fought to white-hot intensity. The master of the Undying Mountain could scarcely believe any of this. “Perhaps we have all been wrong — the true Void seems to have returned!”

For “Void” was growing more powerful with every passing moment — far more difficult to deal with than before. And in particular, that gaze was far too familiar. Those were the eyes of the spirit — representing the light of a person’s soul.

“Kill!” The Stone Emperor roared, fighting with absolute force. He considered himself first under heaven — unmatched throughout all of antiquity and modernity. Even if the true Void were to appear before him, he would feel no fear.

“Is that so — Void has returned? I very much wish to see what he has to offer.” The Lord of Samsara arrived. This time he paid the Stone Emperor no heed — he struck directly, shattering the celestial vault.

“Boom!”

The Void Mirror shuddered. From within it, a torrent of eternal light burst forth. A massive ancient formation appeared, and fell directly upon them, submerging the Lord of Samsara within it.

“Boom!”

Boundless light erupted. Endless energy surged and churned, blazing in its brilliance — this was a killing formation laid down by the Void Emperor in the endless ages of antiquity, preserved all the way to this day, emerging for the very first time.

And in that moment, “Void” abandoned the Stone Emperor and charged directly into the formation, holding the celestial mirror to do battle with the Lord of Samsara.

“Aahh…” The Lord of Samsara screamed, roaring with fury. A blood-soaked arm was struck off and sent flying out of the formation — then exploded.

“Void!” Then came another furious roar, accompanied by heaven-shattering shockwaves. The Lord of Samsara was trapped by the great formation. Formation-inscriptions and an emperor-grade weapon worked in concert — and with the Void Emperor body delivering blows from within — the battle armor on his chest was shattered through a large section, and then his chest itself was blasted apart by “Void’s” emperor fist and the emperor mirror. Blood and several bones flew out from the formation.

With the emperor formation trapping a Supreme, and the emperor weapon executing the kill — had the true Void Emperor truly returned? Could he slay a Supreme? Every heart in the universe was hammering.

“We pray to heaven — let us offer our lives to extend the Void Emperor’s existence!”

“This world has need of the Void Emperor — let him fight one more battle for his people…”

Across the boundless star regions, an unknowable number of people were praying. The thought-force of all living beings surged and billowed, converging from every direction. All living beings were chanting the name of the Void Emperor.