The floor of the Hall of Ancestors didn’t just open; it dissolved into a swirling vortex of molten gold and obsidian."Marshal! The Elders are at the door!" Shadow yelled, firing his suppressed rifle at the reinforced oak doors, which were already glowing red from the heat of the incoming Elders’ spells."Get in the hole!" Drake commanded. He grabbed the pinned Xiao Chen by his collar and threw him into the vortex, followed by the Ghost Walkers. "I'm right behind you!"Drake jumped just as the main doors exploded into splinters. First Elder Yan stepped into the hall, his three-pupiled eyes fixed on the closing vortex."You think you can hide in his grave, Drake?" Yan’s voice boomed. "I have waited a thousand years for someone to open that door. Thank you for doing the heavy lifting."The vortex snapped shut, leaving the Elders staring at a solid marble floor.Drake hit the ground—or rather, he hit a floor made of solid light.They were no longer under the mountain. They were in a pock

First Elder Yan didn’t hesitate. He knew he was looking at his own death."Forbidden Art: Sky-Cloud Soul Sacrifice!"Yan screamed, his skin splitting as he burned his very longevity to fuel one final strike. The remaining five Elders didn't have a choice; their Qi was forcibly yanked from their bodies by Yan, their life force merging into a single, blinding pillar of white light that reached the ceiling of the Hall.The pillar transformed into a gargantuan, three-eyed phantom of the First Ancestor, holding a sword made of pure celestial lightning."DIE, YOU ABOMINATION!" Yan shrieked.The phantom swung the lightning blade. The air in the hall turned into plasma. The temperature rose to ten thousand degrees, melting the stone floor into glass.Drake didn’t draw his sword. He didn't even raise his guard. He stood with his arms at his sides, his white "Void Eyes" reflecting the incoming apocalypse."Asura Ninth Style: The Devouring Abyss."As the lightning blade struck Drake’s head, it d

The golden carriage hovered over the Capital like a second sun. The four winged lions roared, their voices causing the windows of skyscrapers to shatter and the car alarms of the entire city to scream in unison.Lord Lu, a man in emerald robes with a jade crown, stepped out of the carriage. He didn't walk; he stood on a floating platform of condensed Spirit Qi. To the mortals below, he looked like a god. To Drake, he looked like a target."I am Lu Chenghui of the Second Heaven’s Inspection Bureau," the man announced, his voice booming across the city. "The Sky-Cloud Sect was a protected vassal of the Realm of Eternal Spring. To destroy it is to declare war on the Heavens themselves. Who is the lead rebel? Step forward and receive your Execution Bolt."The people of the Capital huddled in their homes, praying. Even the Black Legion soldiers felt their hands shaking. This wasn't a "King" or an "Elder." This was someone from a world where the air was made of gold.Drake stood on the air,

The skyscraper-sized spear didn't just sit in the neighboring mountain; it began to glow with a sickly, pulsating crimson light. It was an "Anchor of Desolation." Within seconds, the lush forests around the impact site began to boil and evaporate, the life force of the land being sucked into the spear to fuel the rift above.From the blood-red tear in the sky, a figure descended.He didn't use a carriage or a platform. He fell like a meteor, trailing a tail of red flames.BOOM!The figure landed on the pommel of the massive spear. He was a giant of a man, seven feet tall, clad in rusted iron armor that seemed to be fused to his skin. His skin was the color of dried blood, and he carried a jagged greatsword that radiated a heat so intense it distorted the air.This was General Kaelen, the "Meat-Grinder" of the Blood-Sun Sect."I smell Asura blood," Kaelen roared, his voice causing the red mist around the Asura Gate to swirl violently. "Which of you rats crawled out of the abyss to kill

The three beams of "Heavenly Execution" didn't destroy the Asura Gate.As the pillars of blue, green, and white energy struck the fortress, Drake stood at the center of the Void Anchor. He wasn't blocking the energy; he was "threading" it. He used the massive power of the Alliance's own attack to create a localized gravitational slingshot."They want to open a door?" Drake’s white eyes flared with a terrifying light. "Then I’ll provide the battering ram!"The entire mountain—miles of black obsidian and stone—shuddered and then shot upward.It passed through the clouds of the First Heaven in seconds. The soldiers of the Black Legion felt their stomachs drop as the sky turned from purple to a blinding, crystalline gold. They were breaking the "Firmament," the barrier that had kept mortals and immortals apart for eons.The Second Heaven: The Jade Sea TerritoryThe Second Heaven was a world of eternal twilight and floating islands, where waterfalls flowed upward and the air was thick with