The river surged endlessly onward. Its dark waters rushed with terrifying force, carrying countless shattered shimmering chunks of ice that tumbled and collided against one another like the exposed tail fins of some unknown colossal beast breaching the river's surface.

Crack...

The old man in black stood frozen in the air, staring ahead in disbelief, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

Qu Buzhi had never been skilled at combat. He had only remained high in the air to observe the situation and stand ready to provide support at any moment. So when the mist first spread across the battlefield, he noticed absolutely nothing unusual.

Only when the rolling fog swept beneath his feet and receded northward like a retreating tide did he finally react. Even though it had never directly touched him, he still found himself staring blankly at it in a daze.

In the span of a single breath, the battlefield had transformed from deafening chaos into utter darkness and silence. The overwhelming uproar from the northern shore had vanished completely. The monks who had crossed the river one after another without fear, seeking a better next life, had all become white bones standing upright in the dark rain. The silence was horrifying beyond words.

Everything in his vision was dim and murky, while his spiritual sense felt as though it had been covered in ash. Endless white bones stood in every imaginable posture. Most remained upright in the darkness, staring blankly toward him. Qu Buzhi still failed to fully process what had happened and only felt a deep, creeping terror.

Only then did Qu Buzhi awaken, as though from a dream, and finally realize how wrong everything around him was. He stood there blankly for a moment before lowering his head.

After a sluggish pause of two breaths, he muttered, "Divine ability... a divine ability!"

His muttering quickly turned into a loud cry that echoed through the night. Qu Buzhi hurriedly summoned the wind and fled south in panic, almost stumbling over himself, when he suddenly heard a low shout in his ear.

"Guest Cultivator Qu!"

Li Zhouming hurried over on the wind with panic written across his face, not daring to release any dharma light. The moment he saw the old man, his pupils widened in shock as he cried out.

"Old Qu... you!"

Qu Buzhi lowered his head hazily and only then realized that the lower half of his body had already turned into white bone.

The heavy drowsiness clouding his mind, threatening to drag him into unconsciousness at any moment, became even stronger as he muttered, "Oh no... I've been struck by that divine ability!"

Li Zhouming had been farther from the center of the battlefield and thus suffered less from the effects of the divine ability. He had originally been waiting by the riverbank to receive his own clansmen, and had never expected to run into the old man here. Instantly, a pang of sorrow struck his heart.

He hurriedly lifted the old man up and used Bright Yang mana to protect his heart meridians. With astonishing speed, he flipped open his sleeve, took out a small pale-red flower, and stuffed it into the old man's mouth.

Looking across the deathly silent wilderness around them, he whispered in panic, "There's no one left... Come on... we need to get back to the northern shore first, Old Qu! Only once we return to the mountains can you be saved."

He picked Qu Buzhi up and glanced at the white bones beneath his feet that stretched into the distance. For some reason, his eyes suddenly stung with bitterness.

"What exactly were they fighting for... Why did they have to die... Millions of living beings... did even one of them truly understand?!"

He quickly suppressed his emotions and sped away at full speed. The terrifying divine ability still blanketed the battlefield, leaving spiritual sense clouded and unable to distinguish distance or direction. After flying for some time toward the center of the battlefield, an immensely powerful wave of mana suddenly rushed toward him head-on. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Who's there?!"

A chill surged through Li Zhouming's heart. He froze for an instant, only to realize that the incoming mana shimmered with silver light. It was carrying a woman clad in feathered robes. Her brows were tightly furrowed as dense blood-colored radiance intertwined with silver light across her body.

"Quewan?"

Li Zhouming's heart jolted violently. Yet Li Quewan was moving at astonishing speed, rushing anxiously past him. She only spared him a brief glance before vanishing into the layers of darkness.

"What happened?!"

The intense radiance mixed with spiritual wind buffeted Li Zhouming into a daze. After hesitating for only an instant, he finally gritted his teeth. Bright Yang mana surged through his body as dharma light flared around him, and he turned to chase after her.

But whether in cultivation or mastery, Li Quewan had already far surpassed this uncle of hers. Li Zhouming flew after her for quite some time and nearly lost track of her altogether. Fortunately, after wandering through the darkness in confusion for a while, he finally spotted a faint silver glow ahead.

Li Quewan had already descended to the ground, and the flickering silver light around her was especially conspicuous. Excessively exhausting her mana in such a short time had left her face deathly pale. Cold sweat seeped from her skin, dampening the black hair at her temples into wisps, yet the woman paid it no mind at all. One hand formed incantation seals while the other swept her sleeve forcefully toward the ground.

The rolling white bones immediately scattered apart. She dropped to her knees and used mana to lift a round object from the muddy filth below. Only then did Li Zhouming stumble to a halt next to her. Lowering his gaze for a look, his pupils abruptly widened.

That round object was actually a human head. The man had a square face with thick brows. His eyes were tightly shut while his teeth were clenched painfully together, forcing the muscles in his cheeks to stand out in sharp relief. Yet the flesh on his entire face looked as though it had been ravaged by some terrible force, hanging in shredded strands like torn cotton.

Beneath the head lay mangled flesh and white bones. The man's upper body was torn apart and collapsed upon the sandy riverbank, internal organs scattered everywhere. His entire lower half had already become white bone, so brittle it looked ready to crumble at the slightest touch.

Ash from burned talismans and shattered fragments of dharma artifacts littered the ground beside the severed head. Li Zhouming felt as though he had been struck by lightning.

He dropped heavily to his knees and cried out in horror, "Zhouda!"

This man was none other than Li Zhouda!

Whenever battle arose, Li Zhouda was always the first to charge forward. Over the years, both his cultivation and skills had advanced rapidly. Thus, he had naturally suffered the worst impact from a catastrophic divine ability of this level. Even with the family's talismans and dharma artifacts protecting him, and despite the desperate rescue measures he had clearly attempted after being struck by the divine ability, he was now only a breath away from death.

Li Quewan coughed painfully twice, spitting out a mouthful of blood essence from her throat. She lightly pressed both fingers against the center of his brows before immediately stuffing the Wanlin Blossom into the head's mouth.

Raising her head, her eyes reddened slightly as she said in a hoarse voice, "Uncle, leave first..."

Li Zhouming wanted to say more, yet he dared not interrupt her rescue efforts. At that moment, he finally understood why she had rushed over so desperately.

The remnants of the divine ability still linger. Even though the water mist has already moved north and become extremely diluted across such a vast area, ordinary methods would never be able to locate one of our own. The only way was to rush to the battlefield as quickly as possible and use shamanic spell arts within the surrounding area to calculate their position...

But no matter how weakened those remnants are, they're still divine abilities. Even using shamanic spell arts to bypass them and perform calculations would exact an unimaginable price!

Bitterness and pain welled up together in his heart, We never even got to drink together to celebrate my breakthrough...

Li Quewan no longer had the leisure to speak with him. With a sweep of her sleeve, all kinds of spirit items appeared before her, which she desperately fed into the severed head's mouth without regard for cost. Li Zhouda's current state was already beyond the reach of medicine, but as long as he could hold on a little longer... a divine ability could still save him in the end!

Though anxiety had driven tears from her eyes, the countless years she had spent handling spirit items made her hands steady and swift as ever. Most importantly, she possessed the one irreplaceable life-saving treasure, the Wanlin Blossom!

Li Zhouda's vitality had already fallen to its lowest point, yet the spirit item forcibly kept him alive. But as time passed second by second, cold sweat poured from Li Quewan like rain.

She looked up once more and urgently said, "Uncle... go ask Guest Cultivator Sun to help!"

Li Zhouming jumped to his feet in panic, only to see brilliant radiance descend before him. His elder brother's figure had already appeared above him.