Chapter 140: How Dare You!

The Obsidian Woodlands lay in utter devastation—fractured earth and scorched trees littered the once-thriving ecosystem. The aftermath of the battle had left swathes of demonic beasts slain, their bodies strewn across the land.

Ji Tianyu, the Ji Clan's leader, carried his unconscious daughter, Ji Moran, over his shoulder. His expression was grim, tinged with incredulity. Never before had he witnessed a junior wield such overwhelming combat power. And those spirit projections... they were unlike anything he had ever seen—mysterious, enigmatic, and formidable.

"Ji Kan," Ji Tianyu turned, his voice deep and filled with authority. "You say that this child and my daughter are an item?"

Ji Kan stood frozen, cold sweat beading on his forehead. Only now did he fully comprehend the truth. It had never been a cheap sneak attack that cost him his place among the top young elites.

His hands clenched into trembling fists. If not for the protection of the Obsidian Waterfall Realm, that single strike from Jiang Feng would have sent him to the afterlife—whether he had seen it coming or not. The realization sent a shiver down his spine, but he forced himself to steady his nerves. Bowing deeply, he spoke with measured reverence.

"Yes, Clan Leader. Jiang Feng fought to protect her, and he made it clear that anyone who targeted Ji Moran would suffer the worst consequences when laid his eyes on them. Their actions left no room for doubt."

Ji Tianyu's frown deepened. If this was true, then an enormous headache loomed on the horizon. His daughter was notoriously stubborn once she set her mind to something. More concerning, as the future leader of the Ji Clan, her decisions would shape the entire clan's fate. If she had truly bound herself to Jiang Feng, then their futures were now intertwined.

And Jiang Feng...

Ji Tianyu's expression darkened further. This boy was at odds with both Thunderclap City and Mist Ridge City. Now, judging by the presence of the man hovering in the sky—the one seemingly from the Celestial Shadow Church—Jiang Feng had drawn the attention of forces far beyond just those two cities.

"Moran... what have you gotten yourself and our family into?" Ji Tianyu murmured under his breath.

His eyes flickered with a sharp light as he processed the situation. But then, his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden, bone-chilling cold.

His brows furrowed. His shoulder—where Ji Moran rested—was frozen stiff. Not just that, but an eerie frost had begun creeping through the air, tendrils of cold snaking outward, sapping the warmth from the surroundings.

"The strongest ice body... truly troublesome," Ji Tianyu muttered, his breath visible in the freezing air. "Her talent will either be a blessing... or a curse upon us."

His gaze lifted to Lord Varelith, the figure in the sky. It was precisely because of the Celestial Shadow Church that he had kept Ji Moran's abilities a secret.

"Suppress."

With a wave of his hand, a luminous blue seal appeared on Ji Moran's forehead—a lotus-shaped mark, intricate and ethereal. The instant it formed, her icy aura dissipated completely, vanishing without a trace.

Houyan approached, his voice low. "Gao Yundian, a general of the Golden Steppe Royal Family, has arrived. Should we greet him? He appears to be keeping the Celestial Shadow Church's envoy at bay."

His body bore fresh wounds—slashes from the formation crafted by Zhen Chen, a formidable Nascent Soul expert at the fifth level. Yet despite the injuries, Houyan remained far from defeated. His combat strength was still intact.

Ji Tianyu's gaze remained sharp. "I've been watching closely. The one from the Celestial Shadow Church... I've never heard of him before, but he's strong. I suspect he's the one who raised the formation dome. And Lin Moyi's unknown death... I believe he's responsible."

His voice was grave. "Stay alert."

-

The giant, a monstrous embodiment of divine judgment, roared again, its voice a deafening crescendo that seemed to shake the very fabric of reality. The blood rain intensified, each drops a crimson tear shed by the heavens. The giant's fist descended, a force so immense it seemed to command the sky and earth to bow before it. Jiang Feng's lips curled into a bitter smile as he muttered, "Haha, so this is karma? The karma of the heavens, the judgment of the Gods?"

Though his body screamed in protest, Jiang Feng refused to yield. The Skyforge Flame stirred its power awakening with a ferocity that matched the storm around him. "Caelestis, forge the world! Skyforge Vortex, shattering reality!"

The Skyforge Flame roared to life, its vortex spinning with such velocity that the sky itself seemed to ignite in blue fire. The fabric of reality groaned and splintered, the heavens splitting as if made of fragile glass. For the first time, the inborn ability of the Skyforge Flame manifested—a power to bend and forge reality itself. The air crackled with energy, the world trembling as Jiang Feng channeled every ounce of his strength into this desperate act.

The giant's fist loomed closer, but Jiang Feng stood tall, his eyes blazing with defiance. The dark crown on his head shimmered, its form growing more solid with each passing moment. He could feel the Dark World's power surging within him, a tide of darkness ready to meet the divine judgment head-on. The battle was far from over, and Jiang Feng would not fall—not while the flames of his will still burned.

The heavenly giant's fist plummeted like a falling star, its descent igniting the sky with blinding torrents of light. Lightning clawed outward in jagged veins, a furious dance of silver and white that scorched the heavens. The air trembled under an oppressive weight, and Jiang Feng staggered, a sharp pain lancing through his chest. His lips parted, and a gout of crimson blood sprayed forth, staining the cracked earth beneath his feet.

Ahead, the sky fractured like a pane of glass struck by a divine hammer, spilling sapphire flames that licked hungrily at the horizon. At the heart of this chaos, the Skyforge Flame Vortex whirled with ferocious grace, a tempest of fire and fury. Its molten waves surged upward, meeting the giant's fist with a defiance that shook the very air.

Tan Shuixian, the grizzled escort elder from Obsidian Lake City, stood rooted to the spot, his breath caught in his throat. "My God, what are we witnessing?" His voice was a low murmur, barely audible over the howling wind. He was no stranger to the trials of cultivation—teetering on the cusp of the Nascent Soul realm, he had faced tempests and treachery aplenty.

His family boasted a lineage touched by the upper realms, a kin who had ascended and left behind whispered secrets of the cosmos. Yet this—this raw, untamed power erupting from a mere junior—was beyond anything he'd encountered. His weathered eyes widened as the heavens seemed to split, a gaping maw forming amidst the clouds, crimson tears raining down like the blood of a wounded god.

Nearby, Qiao Ping an elder of Silver Sword City stood shoulder to shoulder with Cheng Yutian, the proclaimed Little Sword Emperor, and Duan Feihong, the second runner-up of their generation's trials. "If this child has no flaws or shortcomings in the future," Qiao Ping said, his tone grave, "his future will stretch beyond the stars and we will all need to bow down to him sooner or later." His words hung heavy in the air, a prophecy woven with both awe and uneasiness. Duan Feihong said nothing, his fists clenched tight, knuckles whitening as he stared at the spectacle. Words failed him; the sheer magnitude of Jiang Feng's might render his achievements dim and distant.

Cheng Yutian drew a shuddering breath, his mind a storm of doubt and resolve. The ground around them lay in ruin—trees splintered into kindling, earth gouged and scarred—making his newly awakened strength feel as frail as a child's first steps. "No matter what," he growled through gritted teeth, forcing his gaze upward to the roiling clouds, "I won't let the sword in my heart shatter." His voice trembled with defiance, a vow to himself amidst the chaos.

A thunderous roar tore through the sky—RAAOORR!—as the giant pressed forward, its momentum a tidal wave of power. When its fist met the Skyforge vortex, silence reigned for a fleeting heartbeat, an eerie stillness that belied the violence to come. Then, a blinding light erupted, searing the eyes of all below, spreading like a tide of molten gold across the heavens.

"Shield yourselves!"

BOOM!

The silence shattered. A deafening explosion rocked the Obsidian Woodlands, its reverberations sinking deep into the earth's bones. The giant's arm disintegrated into a cascade of pure lightning, raining down from shoulder to fist in a dazzling deluge. Jiang Feng coughed violently, blood gushing from his mouth in thick, dark streams. His meridians screamed in protest, fissures spiderwebbing through their fragile channels. The Skyforge Flame Vortex faltered, its fiery essence guttering out—not destroyed, but too weakened to sustain itself beyond the sanctuary of his body.

This lightning giant had wounded him more deeply than the Chaos Lightning Tribulation he'd endured months prior. The Aetherion Dragon's warning echoed in his mind: Karma had found him, a reckoning for the seeds he'd unwittingly sown. The Titans were a forbidden enigma of the heavenly realms, a secret no mortal should've come across or possess. Though Jiang Feng's bloodline traced back to the upper realms—a tangled legacy of power and peril—he lacked the strength to bear such knowledge, let alone its consequences.

"Just die, will you!" Jiang Feng's voice was a feral roar as black scales rippled across his skin, shimmering like obsidian in the flickering light. His blood surged, a wildfire coursing through his veins, chaotic and untamed. Behind him, the Aetherion Dragon reared, its jaws parting to reveal a gathering darkness—a beam of light that devoured the surrounding energy with ravenous hunger. The sky dimmed as the dragon's belly swelled, straining with the weight of stolen power.

RUMBLE RUMBLE!

"Death Beam!" The dragon's head snapped upward, and the black light erupted, cleaving the clouds as though a bomb had detonated in their midst. Shockwaves rippled outward, a tide of force that battered the air. The lightning giant bellowed in defiance, its remaining arm sweeping forth—not empty-handed this time, but clutching a spear that gleamed with an unyielding aura, causing all to shudder in its wake.

"This is bad," Jiang Feng muttered, his senses prickling. The spear pulsed with a will that refused to bend, just like the one the Titans had in the dreamscape, a resolve to see its purpose through to the bitter end, even in death. He knew that feeling—the relentless drive that courted death without flinching. Yet, as he faced the giant and its descending weapon, a strange calm settled over him, quieting the storm in his chest.

"That's right," he whispered, clarity cutting through the haze. "I too, am like a spear, unyielding, like a sword, sharp and steady. Why should I fear? The Dao is vast, the sky boundless, my heart wide enough to hold it all." His hand reached out, fingers closing around the hilt of the massive Celestial Dagger that was so large it part clouds, veins bulging on his neck the moment it gripped his dagger.

BOOOOM!

The dark beam collided with the spear, and the impact was cataclysmic. Blood sprayed from the mouths of the juniors below, their faces paling despite the elders' protective barriers. Even the old Golden Core cultivators staggered, their cores quaking under the pressure, crimson staining their lips.

"Protect the juniors!" The cry rang out as clans mobilized—Zhen, Ji, Lei, Fang, and Bia weaving their strength together. The Azure Spirit Hall, Crimson Sky Pavilion, and Ironwood Sect threw their forces into the fray, shields of qi flaring against the onslaught of shockwaves. The other five cities did the same, all working together to weather the storm, only the Nascent Soul cultivators stood their ground.

Ji Tianyu, bearing the unconscious Ji Moran across his shoulder, grimaced as his Golden Core shuddered within him. The Ji clan summoned a dozen treasures, their light coalescing into layered barriers. Jin Kael the Golden Steppe general shielded Lieutenant Mira with every ounce of his power, while Lord Varelith braced himself to guard Elder Bia from the relentless tempest.

The beam shattered the giant's long spear, its dark radiance unrelenting as it drove onward. The shockwave hurled Jiang Feng backward, his draconic scales peeling away in jagged shards. His insides churned, organs rattled by the force of the colliding impact, until the beam struck the giant's chest, boring a gaping hole through its lightning-wrought form.

Gritting his teeth, Jiang Feng summoned his will. His golden cores spun furiously, flooding his fractured meridians with dark energy. The Earth Meridian flared to life as he crashed into the ground, the impact splintering the soil. Energy surged upward through his feet, drawn from the earth's depths in wild, unrefined waves. He had no time to marvel at the now fully active Earth Meridian which hummed nonstop.

"Die!" Twisting his body with the strength of Draconic resilience, Jiang Feng channeled every shred of strength into his arms to swing the Celestial Dagger. Against all expectation, he swung not at the giant made of heavenly lightning, but toward Lord Varelith. The blade cleaved the air, its weight igniting a sonic boom, runes aglow with a suffocating pressure, the entire sky was instantly locked down by the dagger, and around it, space seemed to shatter.

With a violent tremor, the Gate of Darkness erupted behind the dagger, unleashing a soul-devouring vortex that zeroed in on Varelith and Elder Bia. But that was just the beginning. The sky above them was ensnared by dark threads, weaving a tapestry of shadows that watched with chilling eyes. Peering deeper into this abyss, one could glimpse a colossal shadowy world, and at its heart, a black crystal palace soared upward, as if summoned by some unseen force. Varelith and Elder Bia's eyes widened in disbelief, their expressions a mix of shock and wonder as disbelief coursed through them.

"How dare you!" Lord Varelith's voice thundered, a storm of fury and rage, as the dagger's arc closed the distance between them and the gate of darkness summons forth the world of darkness.