The "One Line of Sky" gorge truly lives up to its name.

Two towering stone walls, as if split open by a giant axe, leave only a narrow passage between them, just wide enough for two horses to walk side by side. This is the necessary route into Shanxi, and also a natural burial ground.


Chongzhen and I rode on horseback, slowly entering the gorge from the western entrance.

I could feel that on the cliffs to either side, Sun Chuanting's soldiers were holding their breath, poised and ready. Their aura mingled with tension, determination, and a hint of... fear.

They were afraid, not just of the approaching enemy, but more so of the two of us leading at the front... the "monsters."


I was wearing ordinary cloth garments, with a sword borrowed from Sun Chuanting hanging at my waist, merely for decoration. As for Chongzhen, he still wore that dragon robe stained with indelible blood. He carried no weapons, because he himself was the most terrifying weapon.

"They're here."


Chongzhen, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

I listened intently and indeed, from the other end of the canyon came the sound of heavy, rhythmic footsteps.

Soon, a force of about five hundred troops appeared in our field of vision.

They were well-organized and well-equipped, but the entire unit exuded a kind of... extremely unsettling "strange feeling."

At the very front was a row of heavy infantry holding massive shields. Beneath their armor, there wasn't the slightest trace of human presence, only a cold, deathly silence like the grinding of steel. Through the gaps in their helmets shone not eyes, but... flickering, dark red lights.

[Unit Identification: "Abyssal Walker" · Heavy Type]

[Characteristics: Extremely high physical resistance, no pain sensation, able to spread "Madness" aura in small areas]

[Weaknesses: Holy, Fire, and... higher-level "Abyssal Power"]

Behind them were numerous ordinary rebel soldiers armed with spears. But their eyes all carried a fanatical and hollow look, as if they were under the influence of drugs or mind control.

In the center of the formation was a chariot like a mobile fortress, pulled by four giant black horses. On the chariot sat a burly commander with a fleshy face.

Liu Zongmin. Li Zicheng's most fierce general.

He wore no armor, his chest exposed, revealing a torso covered with scars and bizarre tattoos. He held no weapon in his hands, only playing with... a still-beating, bloody human heart.

[Unit Identification: "Divine Champion" · Flesh Butcher]

[Characteristics: Can regenerate itself by consuming flesh and blood, and control "flesh puppets"]

[Threat Level: High]

Our appearance immediately drew their attention.

Liu Zongmin's small eyes flashed with greedy and cruel light the moment he saw Chongzhen.

"Hahahahaha!" He let out a thunderous laugh, "How fortunate! I've found you without any effort! Old Chongzhen, you actually dare to come out and seek death!"

The soldiers around him also let out beast-like howls.

"You are... Liu Zongmin?"

Chongzhen slowly raised his head, those pitch-black eye sockets, for the first time, directly looked at his "enemy."

"It's your Grandfather Liu!" Liu Zongmin sneered, crushing the heart in his hand into a burst of blood and gore, "Chongzhen, do you know that the Shun Emperor has already decreed you as 'Spawn of the Old Gods'? Any citizen of Great Shun may kill you, eat your flesh, drink your blood, and receive the 'New God's' blessing!"

"Blessing?" In Chongzhen's tone there was a hint of unprecedented, icy mockery, "From that... blood and plague-manipulating... impostor you worship?"

Liu Zongmin's laughter came to an abrupt halt.

"You... are seeking death!" he roared, violently waving his hand.

The "Abyss Walkers" in the front row immediately started their heavy-footed charge toward us.

The ground itself trembled.

"Now!"

I commanded in my mind.

The next second, boulders and logs cascaded down like torrential rain from the canyon walls on both sides!

Sun Chuanting's ambush forces had been activated!

With a thunderous roar, large numbers of rebel soldiers were crushed into a bloody mess, instantly throwing their formation into chaos.

But those "Abyss Walkers" paid no attention to these physical attacks. Huge rolling boulders crashed into them, only causing a series of sparks, not even making them sway.

They continued charging toward us under the falling rocks.

"It's our turn now," I whispered to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen didn't answer.

He just slowly dismounted from his horse.

Then, he made a move that surprised me.

He extended his right hand and used the nail of his left hand to gently cut open a small wound on his palm.

No fresh blood flowed out.

What flowed out was a drop of... pure black, mercury-like viscous... liquid.

That drop of liquid fell to the ground.

Then, the entire "Single-File Pass" canyon fell silent.

Whether it was the charging "Abyss Walkers," the wailing rebel soldiers, or Sun Chuanting's troops throwing rolling stones from the mountainside, everyone's movements, at this moment, froze.

A great terror that cannot be described in words, originating from the deepest part of life... descended upon them.

With that drop of black liquid as the center, the earth began to "die."

Not burning, not freezing, not decaying.

But rather... a "disappearance" at the conceptual level.

Vegetation instantly withered and turned to ash. Rocks lost their color and texture, becoming grayish-white powder. All sounds, light, and even temperature in the air were devoured by that small, black "singularity."

An absolute "Domain of Silence," about fifty meters in diameter, formed.

Within the domain, all "Abyss Walkers," their impenetrable armor, their frenzied will, the "Abyss Power" within their bodies, were instantly "annihilated."

They didn't even have time to let out a scream before they, like the air around them, were reduced to the most primitive, meaningless... nothingness.

Outside the domain, Liu Zongmin's vicious smile completely froze.

The greed and cruelty in his eyes were, for the first time, replaced by an emotion called "fear."

He could feel the "New God's Power" within his body trembling in the face of that terrifying "Silent Domain."

It wasn't a difference in power levels.

It was... a fundamental crushing at the level of life forms themselves.

If the "New God" he worshipped was an evil deity representing "chaotic life,"

Then the "Old God's Spawn" before him represented... the absolute, ultimate... nemesis of life itself.

After devouring all the "Abyssal Walkers," the "Annihilation" domain slowly ceased its expansion.

Chongzhen raised his head, those pitch-black eye sockets, piercing through fifty meters of silent void, locked onto that magnificent war chariot from afar.

"Now..." he slowly began speaking in that icy, emotionless tone.

"It's your turn."