The Dragon King's killing intent subsided slightly as he watched the grand formation shatter before his eyes.
A hint of approval flickered in his gaze as he looked at Ji Zhu again.
He would give Chen Fan face.
"Very good."
The Dragon King nodded with satisfaction.
Ji Zhu shook his head, saying nothing more.
With a corner of the Four Directions Grand Formation gone, a chain reaction rippled through the entire structure.
"Crack."
The mirror-like light shield began to show dense cracks.
The grand formation that enveloped the entire Ninth Land, crisscrossed with a dense network of lines, then… began to disintegrate.
Boom!
This disintegration was no small matter.
Everything was being annihilated.
"Wuu wuu wuu."
An eerie wind swept through the Ninth Land.
From the shattered formation, countless Yin spirits emerged, drifting through every corner of the Ninth Land.
The Dragon King watched with cold eyes.
Most of these were human spirits, with only the occasional Yin spirit of a demon or a Chaos Beast eliciting a flash of anger in his gaze.
At this moment, everyone looked up, gazing at the endless, chilling specters.
There were too many.
Tens of billions, hundreds of billions, trillions… This was the sin committed by the Upper Nine Heavens.
The Immortal Emperor nearly gritted his teeth to the point of breaking.
His scarlet eyes flared with overwhelming killing intent. With a mere flick of his hand, he seized a seventh-tier Great Emperor from the Eighth Heaven and crushed his skull.
"Beasts." His mad eyes blazed with murderous intent.
These countless Yin spirits were all beings from the Ninth Land.
It was one thing for cultivators, who, having embarked on that path, should be prepared for death.
But among these were ordinary people.
They had killed, but they had also kept their souls, trapping them within the grand formation, awaiting final refinement.
Bang bang bang.
The grand formation shattered at an ever-increasing speed.
Xie Jun and the others also began to speed up, as a corner of the formation had already been broken, making the rest much simpler.
The more the formation shattered, the more Yin spirits appeared.
Slowly, they almost occupied the vast Ninth Land.
"Wuu wuu wuu."
Cries of grief, wails, and unwilling roars pierced eardrums like demonic music.
At this moment, within the entire Ninth Land, no sound remained except for the cries of lamentation.
So many had died.
Silence reigned.
In the end, even the Dragon King and other Chaos Beasts could no longer bear it.
They were all living beings, and too many had perished.
All life in this land had been extinguished.
Zhan looked up, the usual placidity in his eyes rippling slightly. "They… how could they dare?"
He had never considered himself a righteous person.
Yet, the scene before him was something even Zhan could not endure.
There were too many people.
Right before Zhan, a tiny Yin spirit floated. It had not yet opened its eyes to see the world. It had been killed shortly after birth and refined into essence blood, energy for the advancement of the strong.
Zhan carefully reached out his hand. The infant Yin spirit instinctively clung to his finger.
Bang.
Zhan's aura was too powerful for the tiny Yin spirit to withstand.
The moment they touched, the spirit vanished like smoke.
Zhan, however, acted like a child who had done something wrong, shrinking back in despair. "I'm sorry, I…"
In his life, he had never apologized to anyone.
Now, because of an unintentional act of his own, he was apologizing to a tiny Yin spirit.
"He should be grateful to you, Senior."
Chen Fan's voice rang out, calm to the point of unease.
His eyes, like a tranquil ancient well, seemed unable to perceive the tragic scene before him. He spoke, "They are already dead. To remain in this world would ultimately lead to their dissipation, or perhaps they would be devoured by others, turned into energy."
"Since that is the case, why not hasten their reincarnation? There is still a chance to be human again."
His composure sent shivers down Zhan's spine.
He didn't know why, but looking at Chen Fan beside him, he suddenly felt a profound sense of unfamiliarity.
Though Chen Fan's expression was blank and he exuded no aura, Zhan still felt this way.
"Wuu wuu wuu."
The cries continued.
The cultivators of the Eighth Heaven who had not yet completely died felt a tremor of fear.
It was not without reason; the pairs of eyes that seemed to wish to flay them alive inspired terror.
"Alas."
At this moment, Chen Fan's sigh echoed through heaven and earth.
Boom!
In the next instant, an endless power of life and death spread across the land.
The River of Life and Death stood at the zenith of the heavens.
His voice, like that of a deity, resounded, "Please, proceed."
Boom!
The moment his voice fell, a massive suction force erupted from the River of Life and Death.
The countless tiny Yin spirits, millions upon billions, were all drawn towards the River of Life and Death.
"City Lord…"
From afar, cries of alarm arose.
The expressions of everyone present were etched with silent, profound sorrow.
Witnessing the City Lord's cold, unfeeling actions, they felt a chill penetrate their hearts.
All of them were moved, yet it seemed only the City Lord remained unmoved.
Was this… cold-bloodedness?
For the first time, they harbored doubts about their City Lord.
All because of his actions.
However, Chen Fan remained unmoved, even though the gazes of doubt felt like thorns in his back.
Yet, he did not waver.
"Hum."
A curtain of pure light appeared outside the River of Life and Death.
All Yin spirits drawn into the River of Life and Death were cleansed by this luminous screen.
"Wuu wuu wuu."
Cries of grief echoed through heaven and earth.
Some did not wish to go, but were forcibly dragged into the River of Life and Death by its suction.
They had no choice but to go.
…
A silent stillness descended.
Everyone watched Chen Fan's heartless actions.
He wasn't even going to allow them to leave final words.
"City Lord."
A rising Heavenly Emperor from the Realm of Life and Death spoke, his face grim.
This prodigy, nurtured by the endless Dao power of the Realm of Life and Death, had finally reached the sixth tier.
He was a prodigy, and the future of the Realm of Life and Death.
But now, looking at the figure that seemed to touch the heavens, he subconsciously asked, "Is this action not too unfeeling…"
Bang.
The moment the words left his lips, divine light flashed before him.
A great sun of the killing Dao bloomed, and with a 'bang,' shattered the speaker's physical body.
The Great Dao trembled, and the young prodigy emerged from the River of Dao with a look of confusion.
"Senior Qi Sha, what are you doing?" The confusion in the young prodigy's eyes vanished, replaced by fury.
Qi Sha's sudden action enraged him.
"What did you just say?"
Qi Sha's eyes blazed with intense killing intent. "This is the first and last time. If I ever hear you question the City Lord again, I will personally kill you."
Qi Sha had held back.
Otherwise, that single strike would have been enough to shatter the opponent's origin Dao.
An eighth-tier cultivator could easily kill a mere sixth-tier.
Upon hearing this, the young prodigy's expression changed instantly.
At this moment, he truly felt the killing intent radiating from the other party.
"..."
The young prodigy dared not retort further.
He knew that if he dared to utter another word, death would be his only fate.
Qi Sha had genuinely harbored murderous intent.
He then looked at the others, finding the Rain King. The Rain King merely gave him a look of profound disappointment before averting his gaze.
The young prodigy's gaze continued to shift. The eyes of everyone he looked at no longer held their usual praise and satisfaction.
Instead, they held only endless disappointment.
"I…"
The young prodigy panicked. He didn't believe he had done anything wrong.
But the expressions of everyone were telling him, you… are wrong.