Plague Demon represents death energy.
A technique that forcibly seizes the life force of a living being.
At this moment, Xu Zimo’s body was filled with dense death energy, the endless death energy merging with the outside world.
“Then let’s see which one of us can last longer,” Xu Zimo said with a wide grin.
Death energy lingered between his body and that of the three-headed, six-armed monster.
Xu Zimo was not afraid; even if his body were corroded by death energy, he had the Tree of Life.
But the monster was different. Although it had great resistance to death energy, once everything reached a critical point…
The monster’s original body gradually turned gray.
Its six arms began to fall off one by one, and its eyes gradually dimmed.
The dense death energy swirled between the two of them.
The monster raised its hand, as if wanting to say something, but no words came out. Its huge body simply began to collapse bit by bit.
The sound of “crack, crack” rang in Xu Zimo’s ears.
He took a deep breath, and only after the monster completely vanished did his stiff body begin to move again.
The death energy in his body was completely expelled.
“What a hassle,” he murmured.
His feet stepped into the trench, the ground was hard, and the death energy was no longer as dense as before.
Moving forward, Xu Zimo passed through the death-filled trench and arrived at a plain.
The Brush of Life and Death, which had been hidden in the void before, appeared before his eyes again.
The Brush of Life and Death carried strokes like splashes of ink, stretching from one end of the sky to the other.
Its tip skimmed across the heavens, seemingly about to write some character.
Xu Zimo didn’t want to waste time. He stepped into the air, charging toward the Brush of Life and Death.
Shadow Tyrant in his hand brought with it clouds, wind, thunder, and lightning. The heavens rumbled and churned.
The word the brush was about to write was interrupted, and it seemed somewhat enraged.
But Xu Zimo could do nothing about it.
For in this void, within the Land of Life and Death, the brush could come and go freely.
It could travel through the void at will.
Seeing this, Xu Zimo frowned slightly.
He took out the Codex of Life and Death from his True Fate World.
Originally, the Codex of Life and Death had been suppressed by his True Fate, restlessly stirring beneath the surface.
Now that it was released, it instantly erupted.
The sound of “hua la la” followed, and the black-and-white pages of the Codex of Life and Death flipped open to the first page.
Black and white light intertwined, soaring into the sky.
The Brush of Life and Death, previously hidden, seemed to sense something. It began to circle joyfully around the pillar of light.
…
In that moment, Xu Zimo’s entire body floated in the void.
He could not control his body, for his consciousness was drawn into a new world.
He stood frozen as one magnificent voice after another resounded.
The Dao of Life and Death, profound and mysterious as the sea.
The life and death of man are mutually transformative, the cyclical flow of heaven and earth’s single breath.
Every moment, every second, exists within the transformations between life and death, death and life.
…
With each utterance, countless words poured into Xu Zimo’s mind.
Only after a long time did he open his eyes again.
In his gaze swirled two colors, black and white.
The Dao of Life and Death is one of the most important branch of the Grand Dao of Yin-Yang.
All things under heaven cannot escape yin and yang, life and death, water and fire, large and small, black and white.
Everything exists in relative opposition.
And life and death are the most indispensable origins of all species.
Except for the legendary transcendent beings who, by opening the twelve meridian gates, achieve immortality and eternal life.
All living beings are bound by birth, aging, sickness, and death.
Put simply, in every moment of your existence, you are both living and dying at the same time.
Xu Zimo slowly stretched out his hand. The Codex of Life and Death, accompanied by the Brush of Life and Death, flew toward him from the horizon.
Carrying dense life-and-death energy, they floated before him.
“The Codex of Life and Death and the Brush of Life and Death are paired artifacts. Without one, the other cannot be used to its full power.”
Xu Zimo murmured.
“The Codex of Life and Death, formed when heaven and earth first opened, records the life and death cycles of all things. It can decide a person’s life or death, change fate, and seize opportunities. It is ranked eighteenth among the Supreme God Items of the Outer Heavens, in the Myriad Creations of Great Thousand World.”
This Codex of Life and Death was born of heaven and earth, created by none.
It is naturally formed, the most complete of the Grand Dao Runes.
As for what the Grand Dao Runes truly are, Xu Zimo frowned slightly, he had not yet come into contact with that realm.
This information had all been imparted to him by the Codex of Life and Death.
The last person to possess the complete Codex of Life and Death was the Undying Sage.
Later, he was hunted down, lingered for a thousand years, and prepared to leave the heavens beyond the heavens, paying a great price to destroy his future and escape to the Primordial Heartlands.
But in the end, he was still struck down.
In that battle, the Codex of Life and Death was left in the Primordial Heartlands, where it eventually came into the hands of Zhen Wu when he founded his lineage.
That was when it reappeared in the world.
The Brush of Life and Death, however, changed hands several times, eventually being brought to the Heavenly Dao Academy by the Yin-Yang Sage.
Taking in all this information, Xu Zimo took a deep breath.
He reached out his hands, holding the Codex of Life and Death in his palms, and began to study it.
…
The setting sun sank in the west.
The heartbroken man stood at the horizon.
At the Heavenly Dao Academy, the sky gradually darkened. Recently, the atmosphere there had been extremely tense.
Ever since the sky was torn open last time, someone had made a bold declaration, they would come in seven days to destroy the Heavenly Dao Academy.
Many students had already made their judgments.
Some had left Heavenly Dao City early, and in these days, fear had spread among the people.
But the Heavenly Dao Academy had made no public statement.
As night deepened, several figures gathered in a pavilion within the academy.
Whispered voices carried out.
“Looks like they can keep their cool.”
“Could it be they’ve decided to let the ship sink and take everyone down with them?”
“That shouldn’t be the case. After all, the Heavenly Dao Academy is the leader of human civilization.”
“Then how about we spread the news within the academy? Our target is only the academy, not others.”
“That fool Ao Nan, how will we explain this to the Ancient Dragon Dynasty?”
At that, silence fell.
“To be honest…”
“The people of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty are domineering by nature. What will we do if they blame us?”
“What can we do? He was too stupid, insisting on a life-and-death duel and making it hard for us to intervene.”
“True enough. Let’s all keep a low profile for now.”
After finishing, the few figures disappeared into the thick night.
All around, it was calm.
But it was a strange kind of calm, like the stillness before a storm.
…
Late at night, the gate of the Land of Life and Death slowly opened.
No one noticed, no one paid it any mind.
Xu Zimo, dressed in a purple robe, walked out with head held high.
His expression was calm, revealing nothing of what he had just experienced.
He oriented himself, then stepped into the air toward Vermilion Bird Island.
The familiar sound of hammering still echoed above the island, sparks flying, Rock Solid’s silhouette swaying in the darkness.