Chapter 357: Stealing Life and Death

Chen Xiao’s entire consciousness sea was filled with the blazing flames of the laws, and even the starry space formed from star power was completely burned away. In an instant, Chen Xiao’s consciousness sea turned into a sea of fire, and his soul began to burn along with those flames. Yet, his soul, though burned by the flames of the laws, did not perish.

The flames of the laws were not real flames at all; they were completely different from the primordial spiritual fire. Chen Xiao’s soul had begun to slowly merge with those flames. By now, only a dim, lifeless black-and-white main divine entity remained in his dantian. This main divine entity was left by the Water Domain’s ruler, Kanrelas, and it was slowly rotating within Chen Xiao’s dantian.

……
“It’s absolutely incredible.”
Mo Xian stared at Chen Xiao. She never expected that merely helping him absorb that star power would lead to such changes.
“He’s really strange. Such flames…” Mo Xian frowned, pondering carefully. She reached out and tried to calculate something, but couldn’t figure anything out.
“Does he possess the Heavenly Instrument of the Self-Reliant Heavenly Lord? Could he be a descendant of him?”
Mo Xian stared at Chen Xiao’s face for a long time before giving up on further investigation. She picked up her small medicine basket and walked into the courtyard, ignoring Chen Xiao altogether.

By now, Chen Xiao had completely lost his sense of self. His entire being seemed immersed in a strange realm. All sorts of creatures kept appearing in his mind—born, growing, declining, and dying. These creatures ranged from tiny insects to supreme deities, cycling endlessly through life and death. There seemed to be some underlying rule guiding all of this.

Suddenly, a tall and imposing figure appeared in Chen Xiao’s vision. It was a tall man with long, pitch-black hair that fluttered wildly in the strong winds. His eyes, bright as stars, emitted sharp, icy glints. In his hand, he held an enormous battle axe, pointing it skyward as he roared fiercely. In an instant, dark clouds gathered from all directions in the sky, turning the entire world black.

A giant hand descended from behind the clouds, almost covering the entire world. Under that giant hand, the man with black hair appeared like an ant. That hand carried immense power as it slammed down toward the man’s body.

“My life and death are under my own control, not yours!” the man with black hair roared again.
This time, Chen Xiao also heard clearly what he said.
“Life and death?”
Chen Xiao’s brows furrowed involuntarily.
“Those who steal the laws of life and death and attempt to break them shall be destroyed!”
A majestic voice came from the sky, followed by that giant hand slamming down fiercely on the man’s body.
“Punish the Heavens!”

The dark-haired man roared loudly, swinging his battle sword fiercely at the giant hand. The black sword moved as if following the most fundamental path in the universe. With one strike, the giant hand was shattered. The dark-haired man stood there, facing the wind, his gaze fixed on the sky. “Is this… the Fundamental Path?!” Chen Xiao could clearly see that the way the man’s sword moved was indeed the Fundamental Path. If it weren’t for Chen Xiao having possessed the Fundamental Spirit Fire earlier and even simulating the Fundamental Path with his own flesh and blood, he likely wouldn’t have been able to discern this strike at all. Suddenly, it seemed as though a great door had opened deep within Chen Xiao’s mind. “The Fundamental Path…” Chen Xiao murmured to himself. The next moment, another giant hand descended from the sky. This hand was completely different from the previous one—while the first one resembled a human hand, this one was a beast’s claw. Covered in green fur and armed with sharp claws, it reached out to attack the dark-haired man’s body. The man’s long hair fluttered in the wind, yet he showed no fear. “Destruct Heaven!” The man roared again, swinging his sword a second time. The black-and-white blade light spun endlessly in the void, embodying two opposing concepts—life and death—emanating waves of destructive energy that filled the entire realm. The green beast claw was instantly destroyed by the black-and-white blade light. “What is this?!” Chen Xiao’s mind surged violently. What the dark-haired man had used was precisely the Life-and-Death Dual Kill technique he had acquired before! Yet this technique, which he named Destruct Heaven, was tens of thousands of times stronger than what Chen Xiao had used. “Using the Life-and-Death Dual Kill technique, moving along the Fundamental Path…” Chen Xiao murmured. Boom… Boom… Boom! At that moment, a loud thunderclap echoed in the sky as a third giant hand descended. This hand was surrounded by purple lightning. Unlike the Purple Sky Divine Thunder, which symbolized judgment and decree, the purple lightning around this hand meant only one thing: destruction! Faced with the lightning-encircled hand, the dark-haired man’s expression turned grave as he slowly raised his battle sword. “Without Heaven!” Boom! Boom! Boom! Three loud explosions erupted around the man’s body. Then, a black and a white light slowly rose from his sides, along with his sword, forming a “three” that pointed straight at the lightning-encircled hand. Three! Three gives rise to all things! The rules of life, the rules of death, along with the sword in the dark-haired man’s hand, formed a perfect “three.” Within this “three,” countless beings, laws, and rules evolved and formed, creating countless spaces and worlds, cycling endlessly through birth and death. It seemed as though the wills of all beings were fully channeled into this “three” at that moment. Heaven, earth, and man. The rules of death became heaven, the rules of life became earth, and the sword became the man between heaven and earth. A complete universe.

The dark-haired man seemed to have become one with the world around him. Roaring, he charged at that giant hand.
Boom!
The entire world trembled violently, and the dark clouds in the sky vanished in an instant.
The dark-haired man’s face was pale, with a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. Yet his gaze remained firm, his body upright like a spear.
In the sky, a pair of enormous eyes watched him coldly. Unfazed, the dark-haired man raised his battle axe once again.