54: Bloody battle at the sacred mountain, the Venerable One falls.

The energy storm from the barrier's destruction hadn't fully subsided when the members of the Alliance charged into the Dark Divine Mountain like a sharp blade. Beneath their feet was cold, hard black rock, and the air was thick with a suffocating Power of Annihilation, as if every breath was devouring their life force.

"Split up!" Lin Fan made a split-second decision, his voice ringing out clearly through the chaotic energy ripples. "Mo Yuan, Fairy Su, Buddha Son, Elf, the four of you work together to pin down the Curse Venerable on the mountainside! You must cut off its curse support to other areas! Brother Giant, Linger, Ethereal Moon, Qingxin, follow me to the foot of the mountain to slay the Flame Venerable first! I will take the lead against Control at the summit; the rest of you support as the opportunity arises!"

The tactic was clear: cut off the arms first, then decapitate the leader!

"Understood!" everyone responded in unison without the slightest hesitation.

Mo Yuan let out a long cry, fully unleashing his Demonic Blade Domain. He transformed into a black demonic rainbow, taking the lead to pounce toward the Curse Venerable, who was shrouded in a gray cloak on the mountainside! Su Zhiqing's Sword Qi soared into the clouds, with her Glazed Sword Domain following closely behind. The Buddha Son's Buddhist light was vast, and Elf's natural power surged. The four formed an encirclement, firmly locking the Curse Venerable within the battle circle.

On the mountainside, the Curse Venerable let out a sharp, piercing, eerie laugh. Its gray cloak billowed without wind, and countless twisted curse runes flew out like living things, clashing with the four. Power of Annihilation and purification power collided violently, and the area was instantly enveloped in gray, black, gold, and green light. The energy surged, but a stalemate was temporarily formed.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan had led the Giant Clan Warrior, Zi Linger, Ethereal Moon, and Primordial Void Dragon, crashing toward the foot of the mountain like falling stars!

"Roar! You're looking for death!" The Flame Venerable guarding the foot of the mountain was already beyond furious. Seeing Lin Fan and the others dare to attack proactively, it swung its massive axe, which was wrapped in pitch-black flames, with brutal force! With one swing, it seemed to split the world apart. An axe beam a thousand feet long, burning with Nirvana Flame, tore through the Void Realm, intending to devour everyone at once!

"Your opponent is me!" the Giant Clan Warrior roared. His body suddenly expanded to ten zhang tall during the charge, his blood-qi erupting like a volcano and transforming into a towering Blood-Qi Giant! He didn't dodge or evade, clenching his fists like two heaven-shaking divine hammers. Carrying the brute force to collapse mountains and rivers, he slammed them fiercely into the axe beam!

"Boom—!!!" The blood-qi fists and the Nirvana Flame axe beam collided violently! The Giant Clan Warrior's body shook violently, and his skin sizzled from the burn of the Nirvana Flame. But he gritted his teeth and didn't retreat a single step, using pure strength to stubbornly hold back and shatter the axe beam!

"Now's the chance!" Zi Linger and Ethereal Moon struck simultaneously!

"Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, Incinerating Heavens and Boiling Seas!" Zi Linger fully manifested her Celestial Fox form. Her nine purple fox tails were like world-destroying fire whips, wrapped in fox fire that could incinerate all things as they lashed toward the Flame Venerable from the side! Fox fire Wherever it passed, even the Nirvana Flame was ignited and assimilated!

"Reincarnation Tribulation, Severing Life Force!" Ethereal Moon pointed her slender fingers repeatedly. Ripples that were formless but contained the highest rules of Reincarnation crossed space, acting directly on the Flame Venerable's life Origin! The Flame Venerable felt the "life force" within its body, constructed from Power of Annihilation, begin to grow chaotic and diminish!

Primordial Void Dragon performed a Primordial Void Dragon Clan secret technique. Silver-white spatial power transformed into layers of shackles, wrapping around the Flame Venerable's body to restrict its movement and interfere with its Control over the flames.

The four coordinated perfectly, instantly suppressing the Flame Venerable, a Nirvana Venerable known for its violent strength!

As for Lin Fan, the moment the Giant Clan Warrior blocked the first axe, he had already appeared above the Flame Venerable's head like a ghost! Without any hesitation, he directly unleashed his killing move!

"chaos bell, Suppress!" The hundred-zhang chaos bell descended thunderously, its mouth facing downward, completely enveloping the Flame Venerable along with the hundred zhang of space around it! This time, Lin Fan didn't just activate the Domain power of the Chaos Suppression; he also reversed the flow of the sliver of Intent of Creation and Life he had just refined, turning it into the ultimate "Plunder" and "End"!

"Dong—!!!" The bell rang again, but it wasn't a clear sound. Instead, it carried a terrifying melody of all things returning to the void and plundering everything! Inside the bell's mouth, Chaos Qi swirled frantically, forming a vortex that devoured all things!

The Flame Venerable was about to swing its axe to counterattack, but it discovered in horror that the Nirvana Flame burning around its body was uncontrollably leaving its body, being forcibly pulled away and devoured by the Chaos vortex! Not only that, but the pure nirvana Origin within its body also began to loosen violently under the vibration of the bell and the induction of that strange plundering intent, as if it were about to be pulled out alive!

"What kind of evil technique is this?!" The Flame Venerable was both shocked and furious. It had never encountered a power that could directly plunder nirvana Origin! After Lin Fan fused the true meanings of Nirvana and Creation, the Myriad Laws Return to Origin characteristic of the chaos bell had evolved to the point where it could forcibly "decompose" and "extract" an opponent's Origin!

"Die!" Lin Fan's eyes were cold, giving the Flame Venerable no room to breathe. With a thought, he slammed the chaos bell downward!

"Crack!" The space around the Flame Venerable was completely solidified and suppressed! Under the pressure of the chaos bell, its mighty axe actually let out an overwhelmed wail, and fine cracks appeared on the blade! The Flame Venerable itself felt as if it were carrying a hundred thousand divine mountains; its movements became incredibly sluggish, and its protective demonic flames were suppressed until only a thin layer remained.

"Now!" Lin Fan pointed his fingers like a sword. A gray Chaos Sword Qi, which contained a sharp Concept as if it were opening the heavens and earth, condensed behind him—it was precisely the Chaos Heaven-Opening Sword Qi he activated with the Chaos Domain Origin!

The Sword Qi was silent but reached the extreme of speed, instantly piercing through the brow of the suppressed Flame Venerable!

"Ugh—!" The Flame Venerable let out a short, shrill scream. The nirvana flame seed at its brow, which represented its core Origin, was suddenly extinguished like a candle in the wind under the impact of the Chaos Sword Qi! Its massive body froze in place, and then, starting from its brow, countless cracks quickly spread. Finally, with a "bang," it exploded into countless black-red light spots that scattered through the air, all of which were absorbed by the chaos bell above!

The Late-stage World Lord Nirvana Venerable guarding the foot of the mountain—the Flame Venerable—had fallen! From the start of the exchange to its death, it had only been ten breaths!

"Flame Venerable!!" On the mountainside, the Curse Venerable, who was in a fierce battle with Mo Yuan's group of four, let out a sharp shriek, its aura fluctuating violently. At the summit, Control's grand and cold aura also shook violently, clearly enraged.

"Great job!" Zi Linger cheered.

Lin Fan did not relax, however. He retracted the chaos bell, feeling the power within it grow slightly stronger. His gaze was already fixed on the mountainside. "Finish this quickly and support Mo Yuan and the others!"

However, just as they were about to turn toward the mountainside, an unexpected change occurred!

From within the Flame Venerable's Origin light spots absorbed by the chaos bell, an extremely obscure dark mark, containing the Flame Venerable's final frantic resentment and a strange connection, acted like a maggot on a bone. It instantly followed the mental connection between the chaos bell and Lin Fan, counter-eroding its way back and lunging straight for Lin Fan's Sea of Consciousness! This was the final curse and tracking mark left by the Flame Venerable before its death!

Lin Fan's Sea of Consciousness shook. The star pagoda and the Reincarnation vortex automatically protected their master, blocking and wearing down the dark mark. But in that brief moment of delay...

"Curse Destruction: Myriad Souls Heart-Devouring!" From the mountainside came the Curse Venerable's frantic and venomous shriek!

The Curse Venerable suddenly tore its gray cloak, revealing a body beneath that was riddled with holes and constantly oozing foul black blood! It was actually sacrificing most of its own Origin and flesh to activate its strongest curse forbidden art!

Countless strands of gray curse Qi, condensed to the extreme and mixed with foul blood, transformed into a giant net of resentful souls that blotted out the sky. It not only enveloped the four it was fighting, but also split off a large portion to lunge like a maggot on a bone toward Lin Fan and the others, whose minds were slightly distracted after just dealing with the Flame Venerable! The venomous and erosive power contained in this curse net was a hundred times greater than before!

"Glazed Pure World, Heart Lamp Ever-Bright!" Su Zhiqing's face turned slightly pale as she pushed her Glazed Sword Domain to its limit. The light of the Heart Lamp shone brightly, attempting to purify the giant net.

Mo Yuan danced wildly with his demonic blade, cutting down patches of gray Qi, yet more continued to wrap around him.

The Buddha Son's Buddhist light was quickly polluted and dimmed, and Elf's natural Domain began to wither.

On Lin Fan's side, the giant curse net was already upon them! The foul and venomous aura caused Zi Linger, Ethereal Moon, and the others to feel a stinging pain in their Divine Souls and a stagnation in their blood-qi.

"A trivial trick!" Lin Fan snorted coldly. Although he had been interfered with for a moment by that dark mark, his reaction was extremely fast. The chaos bell was summoned again, hovering above his head. On the bell's body, the black light representing Nirvana and the life force of Creation suddenly accelerated their rotation, forming a phantom of a Chaos Taiji Diagram!

"Chaos Evolution, Myriad Laws Cannot Invade!" The chaos bell hung down billions of strands of Chaos Qi, firmly protecting Lin Fan and the four people beside him. The venomous giant curse net descended and struck the Chaos Qi, making a violent "hissing" sound of corrosion, but it was unable to break through! Chaos Qi encompasses all things and can evolve life force, possessing a natural suppression and purification effect against such venomous curses!

However, the purpose of the Curse Venerable's desperate strike was not just to attack! The giant curse net enveloping all directions was actually constantly extracting the nirvana earth vein qi of the Dark Divine Mountain itself while resisting the Chaos Qi, echoing the aura of Control at the summit!

At the summit, Control's grand and cold voice finally rang out, carrying endless killing intent: "Ants, you dare to cut off my arms one after another? Today, I shall use your blood and souls to sacrifice to my Lord! Origin of the Divine Mountain, heed my command—Nirvana Origin-Returning Grand Formation, activate!"

"Boom, rumble—!!!" The entire Dark Divine Mountain suddenly shook violently! On the mountain's surface, countless thick black pillars of light shot into the sky, connecting with the nirvana black clouds in the firmament! A massive Formation, covering the entire range of the Divine Mountain and more than ten times more terrifying than the previous outer barrier, was suddenly activated!

The nirvana black clouds in the sky swirled frantically, forming a massive vortex. In the center of the vortex, an indescribable, terrifying suction force that seemed capable of ending all worlds in the heavens descended thunderously! This suction force wasn't aimed at the Physical Body but acted directly on the living beings' Origin, Divine Soul, and even the Concept of their existence! It intended to forcibly extract and refine everything in the Formation, returning it all to the center of the vortex, returning it to nirvana!

At the same time, on the mountainside, the Curse Venerable let out one last crazed laugh before its entire body exploded, transforming into the purest curse Origin and merging into the grand Formation. This caused the soul-eroding effect of the devouring force to increase several times over!

Meanwhile, the aura of Control at the summit climbed frantically under the enhancement of the grand Formation, faintly touching the Peak Realm Lord stage, or even a higher level!

"Not good! It's a certain-kill Formation activated by sacrificing oneself and drawing upon the Divine Mountain's Origin!" Primordial Void Dragon's face paled with shock.

Mo Yuan, Su Zhiqing, and the others were also suppressed by this sudden grand Formation. Their Domains fluctuated violently and were in critical danger.

Lin Fan looked up at the nirvana vortex that seemed ready to devour everything, then glanced at his comrades struggling in the Formation. His gaze instantly became incredibly sharp.

The Flame Venerable had been slain, and the Curse Venerable had self-detonated. Now, only the final guardian remained—Control—along with this certain-kill Formation activated with the full power of the Divine Mountain!

Break the Formation, slay the venerable—the time is now! He gripped the chaos bell in his hand, and the three-thousand-zhang Chaos Domain roared within his body. All his power began to condense frantically toward a single point.