145: The Sword of Annihilation is drawn, and the Dragon Soul awakens.

The giant Dragon skeleton was a hundred zhang long; even though it had fallen for endless years, the jade-like, crystalline bones still exuded terrifying pressure.

Especially that rusted longsword stuck in the center of the Dragon's brow; the two characters "Nirvana" on the sword's body seemed to contain an aura that could end everything, making anyone who looked at it feel a chill in their Divine Soul.

"Is this the sword of the Great Emperor of Annihilation?" Nangong Yu's voice trembled.

"No." Lin Fan stared at the sword and slowly shook his head. "The aura on this sword is of the same origin as the Dragon Baleful Qi, but it is even more ancient. It must be the murder weapon that killed this True Dragon."

"Killed a True Dragon?" Everyone gasped.

A True Dragon is at least a World Lord level existence, and the royal family among them can even reach the Transcendence Realm. To be able to kill a True Dragon with this sword, how terrifying must its owner be?

"Could it be that the Great Emperor of Annihilation killed this True Dragon himself?" Xia Qingyue speculated.

"It's possible." Lin Fan nodded. "The Great Emperor of Annihilation Cultivated the Dao of Nirvana. He killed a True Dragon, Sealed its resentment and Dragon Baleful Qi here, and formed the Dragon Burial Valley. And this sword is the key to suppressing the Dragon soul and maintaining the Formation."

"Then what do we do now?" Tieshan asked. "This sword looks very ominous."

"Of course we must take it." Lin Fan's gaze was firm. "This sword is likely one of the keys to opening the Nirvana Divine Palace. Moreover, I have a feeling that it has some kind of connection with the Eternal Indestructible Body within me."

He stepped toward the stone platform.

"Careful!" Xia Qingyue warned. "Those nine Dragon Baleful Orbs seem to be the core of the Formation."

As soon as she finished speaking, the nine gray Dragon Baleful Orbs around the stone platform suddenly lit up simultaneously!

"Hum—" The Dragon Baleful Qi in the entire Dragon Burial Valley surged wildly, turning into nine gray giant Dragon phantoms that circled above the stone platform, blocking all paths.

At the same time, two clusters of ghostly green flames suddenly lit up in the empty eye sockets of the giant Dragon skeleton!

"Roar!" A heaven-shaking Dragon roar resounded; it was not a real sound, but a direct attack on the Divine Soul!

"Pfft!" Liu Qingqing, having the weakest Cultivation, immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, her Divine Soul violently shaken.

Nangong Yu and Tieshan also turned pale, barely holding on.

Xia Qingyue snorted coldly, and a phantom of a bright moon appeared above her head, shedding cold moonlight to protect everyone's Divine Souls.

Lin Fan's Eternal Indestructible Body operated automatically, and the Chaos Qi turned into a layer of grayish halo, isolating the impact of the Dragon roar.

"It's the residual thought of the Dragon soul!" The Earth Dragon Beast sent a terrified thought. "This True Dragon had deep resentment before it died. The Dragon soul was suppressed by this sword, but it did not dissipate; instead, it merged with the Dragon Baleful Formation and became the Formation spirit!"

"Formation spirit?" Lin Fan's eyes narrowed.

A Formation spirit is a consciousness born from a Formation, capable of autonomously controlling the Formation to fight enemies. And this Formation spirit before them, with the True Dragon's residual soul as its core, its power could be imagined.

"Intruders must die..." A hoarse, ancient, and hateful voice resounded directly in everyone's minds.

The nine gray giant Dragon phantoms swooped down at the same time!

Each one contained the power of the Early Stage of the World Lord level!

"Retreat!" Xia Qingyue shouted, her azure longsword slashing out a sky full of sword light, turning into an ice-blue light curtain in an attempt to block the giant Dragons.

"Boom!" The light curtain shattered instantly, and Xia Qingyue groaned, retreating three steps.

Nangong Yu and the other two joined forces to set up a Sancai battle Formation, but they were slapped away by the claw of one giant Dragon phantom; the battle Formation was broken, and blood spilled from the corners of their mouths.

The Earth Dragon Beast roared and charged at one giant Dragon, but was hit from the side by another, its massive body rolling away as its scales shattered.

In just one encounter, everyone was injured!

Only Lin Fan stood in place without retreating.

The Chaos Qi around him churned, and he actually took the initiative to face one of the giant Dragon phantoms.

"Heaven-Opening Fist Intent—World Breaker!" He threw a punch, and the space shattered.

The giant Dragon phantom was struck by the Fist Intent and actually developed cracks, but it did not dissipate; instead, it lunged even more violently.

"Chaos Qi has limited damage against it." Lin Fan frowned slightly. "These phantoms are condensed from Dragon Baleful Qi. Unless they are all defeated at once, they will continuously absorb the Dragon Baleful Qi in the valley to Rebirth."

"Then what should we do?" Xia Qingyue wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Capture the ringleader first." Lin Fan locked his gaze on the giant Dragon skeleton on the stone platform. "As long as we pull out that sword, the Formation will break on its own, and the residual thought of the Dragon soul will dissipate."

"But how do we get over there?" Nangong Yu smiled bitterly. "With nine World Lord level phantoms guarding it, it's hard for us to even get close."

"I have a way." Lin Fan took a deep breath. "Miss Xia, help me hold them off for a moment; ten breaths will suffice."

"Ten breaths?" Xia Qingyue looked at the nine violent giant Dragon phantoms and gritted her teeth. "Alright!"

She held her longsword vertically in front of her chest and chanted an ancient incantation.

"Moon God Descent—Guanghan Domain!" Cold moonlight spread out from her as the center, instantly covering a radius of a hundred zhang.

Wherever the moonlight passed, the Dragon Baleful Qi was temporarily purified, and the speed of the nine giant Dragon phantoms slowed by thirty percent.

"Let's go!" Nangong Yu, Tieshan, and Liu Qingqing erupted simultaneously, unleashing their strongest Moves, each entangling one giant Dragon phantom.

The Earth Dragon Beast also struggled to its feet and lunged at two of them.

There were four left.

"That's enough." Chaos Qi flowed in Lin Fan's eyes, and his figure suddenly disappeared.

It wasn't a disappearance, but rather his speed was so fast that he left an afterimage in place.

The second stage of the Eternal Indestructible Body not only makes the Physical Body powerful but also achieves extreme speed.

"Chaos Extreme Speed!"

He turned into a gray stream of light, weaving through the siege of the four giant Dragon phantoms, narrowly avoiding sharp claws and Dragon breath every time.

Three breaths; he crossed the hundred-zhang distance and stepped onto the stone platform.

"Seeking death!" The residual thought of the Dragon soul roared, and all nine giant Dragon phantoms abandoned their opponents and lunged crazily toward the stone platform.

Xia Qingyue and the others wanted to intercept, but it was already too late.

"It's too late..." Liu Qingqing's face turned pale.

Lin Fan, however, remained calm. He stood before the giant Dragon skeleton, looked at the rusted longsword, and reached out his hand.

The moment he grasped the hilt, "Boom!" Fragmented images flooded into his mind.

In the endless starry sky, a golden giant Dragon, ten thousand zhang long, was roaring. Its body was wrapped in chains of Law, and every swing of its tail could shatter stars.

And opposite the giant Dragon stood a blurry figure.

That figure held an ancient longsword; the sword's body was gray and dim, as if it could devour all light.

"Nirvana, why do you block my path to the Dao?" The giant Dragon spoke in human language, its voice shaking the universe.

"Your Dao is wrong." The blurry figure's voice was calm. "Existing for Eternity is not true Eternity; Nirvana is the ultimate destination. Today, I shall prove my Dao with your blood."

"Arrogant!" The giant Dragon roared, exhaling Dragon breath that burned the galaxy.

The blurry figure raised the sword and slashed gently.

There was no earth-shattering light, no world-destroying energy. But that golden giant Dragon, starting from the center of its brow, quickly turned into flying ash.

"No!!!" The giant Dragon's final scream echoed in the starry sky.

The images shattered.

Lin Fan suddenly came back to his senses and found himself still standing on the stone platform, holding the hilt of the sword.

The scene just now was a fragment of memory remaining in this sword.

The Great Emperor of Annihilation had truly killed a True Dragon! And that True Dragon seemed to have been attacking a higher Realm when it was killed by the Great Emperor of Annihilation under the pretext of "different Daos."

"Different Daos," Lin Fan muttered to himself.

His Eternal Indestructible Body pursues Eternity, while the Dao of Nirvana believes that Nirvana is the destination. These two Daos are indeed diametrically opposed.

But for some reason, he always felt that the two were not completely opposed.

"Roar!" The nine giant Dragon phantoms had already lunged in front of him; the nearest claw was only three feet away.

Lin Fan did not hesitate any longer and pulled with all his might!

"Clang!" The longsword left its sheath.

The rusted sword body suddenly erupted with blinding gray light the moment it broke free from the Dragon bone.

The gray light swept past, and the nine giant Dragon phantoms instantly dissipated like snow meeting the scorching sun.

The nine Dragon Baleful Orbs around the stone platform also shattered simultaneously.

The ghostly green flames in the eye sockets of the giant Dragon skeleton slowly extinguished.

"Finally, I am liberated." The residual thought of the Dragon soul sent a final thought of liberation and completely dissipated.

In the Dragon Burial Valley, the dense Dragon Baleful Qi began to slowly dissipate.

The stone platform began to shake, and the giant Dragon skeleton shattered inch by inch, turning into a sky full of light spots.

Below the skeleton, a deep passage entrance was revealed, blocked by a layer of gray light film at the entrance.

From within the passage came an ancient, vicissitudinous aura that seemed to come from the end of time.

"The entrance to the Nirvana Divine Palace!" Nangong Yu said excitedly.

Lin Fan gripped the nirvana sword in his hand. Although the sword body was still rusted, he could feel the terrifying power contained within it.

It was just that this power was currently Sealed and required a special method to unseal.

"Let's leave here first." Xia Qingyue suddenly said. "The commotion just now was too big; others will arrive soon."

Sure enough, the sound of breaking through the air came from afar.

The people from the Golden Sun Sect, Netherworld Hall, and Xia Yuanming were all approaching rapidly.

"Go!" Lin Fan made a decisive decision, put away the nirvana sword, and jumped into the passage first.

Xia Qingyue and the others followed closely behind.

The Earth Dragon Beast hesitated for a moment before following in as well.

After everyone entered, the light film at the passage entrance closed again. From the outside, the stone platform had collapsed, leaving only a pile of ruins.

A few breaths later, Jin Xuanzi, the Black-robed figures from the Netherworld Hall, and Xia Yuanming arrived simultaneously.

"Damn it, a step too late!" Xia Yuanming's face was livid.

Jin Xuanzi sensed carefully and said in a deep voice, "The entrance has been closed, and there is the aura of the nirvana sword. It seems that the brat not only got the sword but also opened the entrance to the Divine Palace."

The Black-robed figures from the Netherworld Hall said hoarsely, "No matter. Since the entrance is here, we can always open it. It just needs time."

"Then do it as quickly as possible!" Xia Yuanming said coldly. "We absolutely cannot let that brat Lin Fan monopolize the Legacy of the Divine Palace!"

The three forces began to join hands, attempting to blast open the passage entrance.

Inside the passage was a staircase extending downwards.

The staircase was built of unknown Materials; it was neither gold nor jade, and stepping on it felt ice-cold to the bone.

Ancient murals were carved on the walls on both sides, depicting the life of the Great Emperor of Annihilation.

From his ordinariness at birth, to Cultivating the Dao of Nirvana, killing Dragons, destroying nations, and slaughtering gods; finally, in a magnificent Divine Palace, he sat cross-legged, and his body began to turn into flying ash.

The last mural showed him disappearing completely, leaving only a gray heart suspended in the center of the Divine Palace.

"The heart of nirvana," Lin Fan said softly.

Everyone walked along the staircase for about half an hour, and a huge stone door appeared in front of them.

There were two grooves on the stone door.

One groove was sword-shaped, matching the nirvana sword.

The other groove was in the shape of a drop of blood.

"As expected, two keys are needed." Xia Qingyue looked at Lin Fan. "We have the sword, but the emperor blood..."

Lin Fan was silent for a moment, then suddenly cut his fingertip.

A drop of blood glowing with the luster of Chaos dripped into the groove.

"Brother Lin, you..." Nangong Yu was surprised.

"My Eternal Indestructible Body is said to be inherited from an ancient Great Emperor." Lin Fan said calmly. "Although I don't know if it's the emperor blood the Great Emperor of Annihilation needs, it's worth a try."

The moment the blood dripped into the groove, the stone door suddenly lit up.

"Hum—"

The entire passage began to shake.

Lin Fan inserted the nirvana sword into the other groove.

"Click." The stone door slowly opened.

An aura that was even more ancient, more vicissitudinous, and seemed capable of ending everything gushed out from inside the door.

The Nirvana Divine Palace finally opened its doors to them.