Chapter 417: Destroying Heaven and Earth

As Jiang Fan cast it forth, the jade talisman unleashed a dazzling, world-illuminating divine radiance! The vast white snowfield was already glaring enough, yet before the divine light erupting from the talisman, it dimmed to the faintness of a firefly's glow. Jiang Fan was so blinded he couldn't open his eyes. Even Yue Mingzhu could only manage to open her eyes to a mere slit.

At the same time, from within the world-destroying light, a magnificent aura, transcending all earthly bounds, slowly emerged. Crackle, crackle—the thousand-mile snowfield could not withstand the descent of this aura. One ice mountain after another collapsed, emitting thunderous echoes that shook the heavens. Continuous snow-capped mountains experienced terrifying avalanches. Taihu Lake, ahead, suddenly surged with towering waves several feet high. Countless fish and water birds fled in terror. Little Bai, at their feet, whimpered, then fearfully prostrated itself on the ground, trembling uncontrollably. Blood Jiao and Sea Charm showed extreme terror on their faces.

Sea Charm shrieked, "Blood Jiao! This is all your fault! If I die, I'll haunt you even as a ghost!" Would such a devastating catastrophe have been unleashed if Blood Jiao hadn't insisted on attacking? Blood Jiao's eyes were already replaced by terror. There was not a trace of regret in its mind, which was entirely consumed by thoughts of "fleeing for its life." If it somehow managed to escape with its life, it swore it would absolutely change its bloodthirsty nature from then on. When facing humans, it would be extremely cautious! Unfortunately, it was too late!

That magnificent aura, amidst the intense white light, condensed into a colossal palm print, vast enough to blot out the sky. It was entirely golden, with clearly visible palm lines and even blood vessels. Lifelike, it seemed truly like the hand of the heavens! It exuded unparalleled might, slowly but inexorably descending towards Blood Jiao and Sea Charm as if to destroy the world.

Boom, boom, boom—The palm print was still in mid-air when the ground began to shake violently. Taihu Lake was like a bowl of water being jostled; its waters surged, overflowing the banks and crashing several miles inland. The fleeing Blood Jiao and Sea Charm, meanwhile, were like two insects trapped in viscous honey. No matter how much they struggled, their movements were slow, and escape was impossible. They watched helplessly as the world-destroying palm print ruthlessly descended. "No!!!" Blood Jiao let out an unwilling roar. Sea Charm also cried out repeatedly. But it was all in vain. All sounds were drowned out by the terrifying thunderous roar as the massive palm finally struck the earth.

Boom—The moment the palm print descended, invisible waves of destruction surged outwards in all directions! The ancient snowfield, existing since time immemorial, could no longer withstand this heaven-destroying might and immediately underwent a massive collapse! The snowfield beneath Jiang Fan's feet fractured instantly, transforming into dense ice shards that splattered in all directions. He frantically plucked the zither strings, using widespread sound wave attacks to shatter the ice shards hurtling towards them. Even so, large and small pieces of ice still struck them. Little Bai cried out in agony, and Jiang Fan and Yue Mingzhu's mouths twitched with pain. This collapse was far from over, rapidly spreading into the distance. In just a breath's time, the thousand-mile snowfield was completely annihilated! Taihu Lake, before them, had tens of feet of its water directly evaporated by the terrifying ripples. The lakebed was faintly visible, and more than half of the creatures in the lake were wiped out, floating densely on the surface, bobbing up and down with the still violently surging waves.

When the commotion between heaven and earth subsided, the intense white light slowly dissipated. Jiang Fan and Yue Mingzhu gazed at the scene before them, their faces filled with shock. Both felt a sense of dread. "This... this is an attack from a Nascent Soul expert?" Yue Mingzhu was inexplicably terrified. As a Core Formation Stage Eight practitioner, theoretically, she was only two levels away from the Nascent Soul stage. However, judging by the current level of destruction, the difference was not merely two levels; it was hundreds, even thousands of times! Nascent Soul martial artists and Core Formation martial artists were practically two different kinds of beings! Jiang Fan also hadn't expected a Nascent Soul attack to be so terrifying. According to the auction, this jade talisman was old, and its power was not as strong as it was in its prime. If it were in its full strength, what would that be like?

Suppressing the shock in his heart, he quickly looked towards the location of the palm print. Upon seeing it, his pupils contracted. There, on the bank of Taihu Lake, was a massive abyss, hundreds of feet deep, shaped exactly like a palm print! At its bottom lay a bloody giant crocodile, flattened into a paste and utterly lifeless. It was undeniably dead beyond belief. Blood Jiao, a generation's Demon Emperor's General, had fallen just like that.

Suddenly, Jiang Fan's peripheral vision caught a movement. At the mouth of the abyss, a bloody mermaid, her body mangled and most of her tail gone, was painfully crawling out and heading towards Taihu Lake. It was indeed the heavily wounded Sea Charm. "It's still alive?" Jiang Fan's eyes turned cold. Sea Charm looked back, her face filled with hatred. At the last moment, she had burned her bloodline power to forcibly break free from the palm print's lock, narrowly escaping to its very edge. This way, she only lost a small portion of her body, surviving as a broken wreck. Otherwise, her fate would have been the same as Blood Jiao's, flattened into a paste! "Human... just you wait..." she hissed with hatred, then, mustering her remaining strength, ran towards Taihu Lake.

Yue Mingzhu's expression changed, and she struggled to stand up. "We can't let it get away. Once news of this place gets out, your trouble will be greater than the heavens." But her injuries were too severe. She swayed unsteadily and then collapsed back into Jiang Fan's arms. Jiang Fan said, "You should rest well. Do you think I'd let her escape?" Yue Mingzhu said with difficulty, "Though she's heavily wounded, she's still a Core Formation Stage Nine General. How can you possibly stop her?" Without the Nascent Soul jade talisman, Jiang Fan's Core Formation Stage Two strength was simply not enough to intercept Sea Charm in time.

Jiang Fan said no more. With a flick of his wrist, he drew the sword from his back, which had been tightly bound with cloth strips. With a gentle sweep, boundless sharpness shredded the cloth strips, revealing a shimmering purple longsword. "A spirit artifact?" Yue Mingzhu's pupils contracted, and she exclaimed in shock, "It's actually a spirit artifact!" One must know, the two best swords among the Nine Sects were still top-grade magic artifacts. One of them was wielded by the strongest Grand Elder, Sword King Xu Qingyang. Jiang Fan, merely a disciple, possessed a spirit artifact? No, just how many trump cards did Jiang Fan hide? She felt a little dizzy. "But it's too late now," Yue Mingzhu said, looking at Sea Charm, who was almost at the lake, feeling both anxious and helpless.

Jiang Fan said faintly, "She won't get away!" Immediately, he rubbed his hands together, and the purple sword began to spin at high speed. "Go!" To Yue Mingzhu's stunned amazement, the purple sword shot across the air. It transformed into a purple rainbow, instantly piercing Sea Charm and pinning her to the ground! Yue Mingzhu covered her mouth, her eyes wide, and exclaimed, "Sword-riding technique? Senior Xu Qingyang's Sword-riding technique? Wasn't it rumored that this sword technique was going to be lost? Why has Jiang Fan learned it?"

Jiang Fan put his arm around her, and his figure flickered repeatedly, quickly appearing before Sea Charm. At this moment, she was letting out pathetic wails, her face utterly wretched. Jiang Fan had no mercy. He drew his Sorrow Frost Sword and swung it towards her neck.

"Wait!" Yue Mingzhu suddenly called out to Jiang Fan, saying, "This is a living demon general. Even if we bring it back, it would be a great service." Jiang Fan, however, did not want to let Sea Charm go just like that. He shook his head indifferently. "She harmed my senior sister and you. Death is its best outcome! I don't care for any merits related to it!" With that, he raised his sword and swung it again.

Yue Mingzhu quickly said, "Please spare its life. Although Sea Charm also attacked me, it wasn't as brutal and bloodthirsty as Blood Jiao. Besides, its strength is so great; it would be a pity to kill it." Hearing this, Jiang Fan finally lowered his sword. He then frowned and said, "What use is its strength? At this level, it's not like it can be tamed into a spirit beast, can it? Taming spirit beasts requires training the demonic beasts from a young age. Sea Charm is already a general; how could it still be tamed?"

Yue Mingzhu pursed her lips. "The Spirit Beast Sect's abilities are only enough to tame ordinary demonic beasts. My Joyful Harmony Sect has plenty of ways to deal with powerful great demons like this one. We're guaranteed to make it obedient and eternally loyal." Jiang Fan was surprised. The Joyful Harmony Sect had such capabilities? He couldn't help but sigh in relief. "Then congratulations to your Joyful Harmony Sect for acquiring a powerful demonic beast." Yue Mingzhu said with a hint of resentment, "If it were male, I might consider taking it. Unfortunately, it's female, and so beautiful. It looks like you, little rascal, will get the benefit."