The ground beneath them groaned, fracturing with a deep, hungry crack. The Dead Spine Mountains shattered like glass as the earth split open—a jagged chasm yawning wide, revealing endless darkness.
Lei Shen's stormy eyes darted down the gaping maw, his expression darkening with unease.
> "What is this madness? This rift... it wasn't here before!"
His momentary distraction was all Yi Zhen needed.
A twisted smile cracked across Yi Zhen's face, the corrupted Qi coiling like vipers around his limbs.
They all think I was shocked, Yi Zhen mused coldly in his mind, but this—this was my plan.
With a roar, Yi Zhen surged forward, closing the distance in a blur of black flame and shadow.
Fists like thunder and shadows slammed into Lei Shen with brutal precision—no fancy technique, no grandstanding.
Just raw, calculated violence.
Each strike shattered Lei Shen's defenses, battering his torso and shattering his previously impervious stone-imbued skin.
The Demon Emperor staggered back, struggling to keep footing on the crumbling earth.
Yi Zhen's eyes gleamed with cruel amusement.
The mountain split was my distraction, but now the real fight begins.
---
Closing the gap, Yi Zhen's corrupted Qi spiraled into his hands—blades of black lightning that hummed with inverse energy.
His voice was low, venomous.
> "Your Dao of Gluttony consumes endlessly, but your meridians... your core, they are fragile."
With ruthless intent, Yi Zhen's palms pressed firmly against Lei Shen's chest, fingertips seeking the veins of Qi flowing beneath the skin.
Using the power of the Inverse Dao, he began to manipulate the flow of Qi inside the Demon Emperor's body—reversing, severing, and distorting every pathway.
A sickening crack echoed through the air as Lei Shen's spiritual core was assaulted by the anti-flow.
> Pure Dao Severance.
---
This was the holy grail of cultivation horrors—an execution no cultivator ever wished to face.
A severance that didn't just block the Qi, but eradicated the connection between the Dao and the body.
No Qi meant no cultivation, no defense, no power.
For mortals, it was paralysis. For demons like Lei Shen... it meant death.
Lei Shen's roar twisted into a strangled gasp as the black lightning burned through his core.
His hands clawed at his chest, but the damage was irreversible.
> "Impossible...! You dare—"
> "I do," Yi Zhen spat, eyes wild.
With one final, devastating punch charged with corrupted energy, Yi Zhen shattered the last of Lei Shen's defenses, sending him crashing back into the jagged rocks.
---
Lei Shen lay broken, panting, his Qi extinguished.
The great Demon Emperor, drained of his essence, was a shell.
And Yi Zhen stood over him—dark, terrifying, and victorious.
A twisted smile curling on his lips.
> "No longer will you feast on the weak."
> "This mountain is my throne. This war... my reckoning."
The mountain trembled once more—echoing the finality of his words.
---
Author's Note – Terry
Yi Zhen's plan was brutal, ruthless, and brilliantly executed. The mountain split wasn't a surprise—it was the ultimate distraction to trap Lei Shen.
The Inverse Dao Severance is the deadliest technique a cultivator could ever wield.
No Qi. No Dao. No mercy.
But while Yi Zhen's victory seems complete, the mountain's opening hints at something darker lurking beneath...