Chapter 262: Chapter 260: Wresting Fate from Heaven

The coalesced vortex of darkness emanated an endless black mist.

This black mist transformed into clusters of demonic shadows, like soul-reaping demons from the Endless Abyss reaching their claws for Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen felt as though his entire body was bound by invisible shackles.

He couldn’t move a muscle; even the True Essence within his body was suppressed.

He was like a fish on the chopping block, completely at another’s mercy.

"What in the world is happening? Why won’t my body obey me?" Jiang Chen’s face was a mask of alarm.

Before him, Grand Elder Zong Rui wore a smug grin, his lips curling into a cruel smile. "Jiang Chen, do you think I became the Grand Elder of the Outer Sect just by biding my time and relying on seniority? Hmph. I don’t mind telling you—my Martial Soul is an abyssal vortex connected to the Endless Abyss. Once trapped by my Five Yin Forbidden Realm, you can only await your fate: to be devoured by the Endless Abyss!"

"You... are dead meat!"

Grand Elder Zong Rui watched Jiang Chen, gloating.

His eyes gleamed with a chilling, triumphant light.

Jiang Chen glared furiously at Zong Rui.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

His expression was grim. The Endless Abyss... a legendary place where hordes of demons converged. Legend had it that any creature of flesh and blood who entered would be stripped of their body and have their soul imprisoned by the Lord of the Abyss. They would never be reincarnated, doomed to become just another demon in the Endless Abyss for all eternity.

It was a fate more painful than death itself.

It was no exaggeration to say that even a mighty expert at the Union Palace Realm would wish for death if they entered the Endless Abyss.

’Zong Rui is trying to send me to the Endless Abyss, to trap me in a state where I can neither live nor die!’

RATTLE—

From within the black vortex, jet-black chains shot out, their interlocking links pulsing with an unsteady black light.

The chains coiled around Jiang Chen’s body.

A surging power coursed through the chains, as if some herculean being in the Endless Abyss at the other end was trying with all its might to drag Jiang Chen into the depths.

’Damn it! I can’t break free from these blasted restraints.’

A hint of anxiety crossed Jiang Chen’s face. No matter how he struggled, the chains from the Five Yin Forbidden Realm held him fast, rendering him immobile.

Moreover, a powerful, corrosive energy surged relentlessly from the Five Yin Forbidden Realm into Jiang Chen’s body.

This energy could corrode and dissolve True Essence.

Even Jiang Chen’s Profound Yellow True Essence, the Overlord of all True Essences, grew sluggish and circulated unevenly when faced with this terrifying energy from the Endless Abyss.

As the center of the black vortex drew ever closer, the shadow of death fell over Jiang Chen’s heart.

Darkness, despair, and desolation pressed down on him like giant, invisible hands, pinning him in the gloom.

The spectators all wore complicated expressions...

The powerhouses of the Celestial Alliance were, of course, overjoyed. "Hahaha, that Evil Star is finally going to die!"

"Daring to oppose our Celestial Alliance is simply courting death!"

Elder Zhang nodded to himself, secretly thinking, ’That old fox Zong Rui is really something, to have created such a miraculous technique. Using his Martial Soul as a bridge to the Endless Abyss, borrowing its Dark Power... even I would struggle to break free if I were caught in his Five Yin Forbidden Realm. Jiang Chen is a dead man for sure!’

At this moment, the most excited of all was Zong Rui. A black light pulsed in his palm, coalescing into five black True Essence Long Whips, each over ten meters long.

"Hehehe," Zong Rui growled sinisterly, "Don’t you worry, Jiang Chen. I won’t give you a quick death. I’m going to make you suffer, let you die slowly in despair..." With a flick of his arm, the five True Essence Long Whips transformed into five streaks of black light, lashing toward Jiang Chen.

CRACK!

CRACK! CRACK!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!...

The True Essence Long Whips struck Jiang Chen again and again, each lash leaving a hideous wound.

The whips contained a powerful corrosive force. Once they made contact with the body, the pain clung to him like maggots on bone, impossible to shake off.

"Hahaha! Does it hurt, Jiang Chen? If it hurts, why don’t you get on your knees and beg me!" Zong Rui roared with laughter.

Jiang Chen’s brow was tightly furrowed.

Every lash was agonizing, but right now, Jiang Chen felt no anger.

Instead, his heart was filled with excitement and exhilaration.

With each of Zong Rui’s lashes, the Dark Power that entered his body was actually converging on the Mixed Element Golden Pill in his Dantian. Like a flowing stream, the Dark Power washed over the Mixed Element Golden Pill, accelerating its dissolution and absorption!

’I never expected this Dark Power to have such a benefit!’ Jiang Chen was inwardly stunned. He then looked at Zong Rui with a deep sneer. "Old dog Zong Rui, did you forget to eat? Your whipping just feels like you’re scratching an itch for me! Put some muscle into it!"

"You dare call me an old dog? I’ll destroy you!"

Zong Rui’s face contorted in rage, veins bulging on his forehead as he whipped the five lashes again.

CRACK! CRACK! They landed on Jiang Chen’s body.

His robes were instantly shredded. The black whips struck him solidly, tearing open his skin and flesh. The corrosive Dark Power turned his wounds black, and a foul stench filled the air.

Waves of excruciating pain radiated from the wounds.

Jiang Chen’s face was contorted in a grimace. He looked inward at his Dantian and found that the Mixed Element Golden Pill was indeed being absorbed faster and faster.

In just this short time, he had absorbed more of the Mixed Element Golden Pill than he would have in over ten days of arduous cultivation.

’Soon,’ Jiang Chen’s lips curled into a deep, mocking smile as he watched Zong Rui’s whipping begin to slow. ’Just a little longer and I’ll truly step into the Heavenly Destiny Realm.’ He taunted, "Old dog Zong Rui, getting tired in your old age? Can’t swing that thing anymore?"

Zong Rui snorted. "Just die!"

The whips flew.

They moved like phantoms, landing on Jiang Chen in wave after wave.

He now bore no fewer than a hundred wounds.

Jiang Chen was a bloody mess, covered in wounds. His whole body had turned a purplish-black in a heart-wrenching sight.

"Damn it, Zong Rui is despicable."

"There’s no need for this. A swift death is one thing, but he’s going too far."

"Too far, my ass! Who told him to cross our Celestial Alliance?"

Hundreds of thousands watched Zong Rui flog Jiang Chen. Some couldn’t bear the sight and looked away, while others stared wide-eyed, thrilled to see Jiang Chen brutally tortured.

The crowd was a mix of emotions.

"Why’d you stop, old dog Zong Rui? Getting too old to keep it up? My bones are tougher than that. Keep going!" Jiang Chen taunted, enduring the searing pain. The light in his eyes grew brighter; he was so close, just a hair’s breadth away from breaking through to the Heavenly Destiny Realm.

Zong Rui’s face darkened, his expression turning even more savage. "Since you’re so eager to die, I’ll oblige you!"

SWOOSH—

Zong Rui brought his fingers together. The five black whips merged into one, forming a massive black python dozens of meters long. With the force of a Divine Dragon Tail Swing, it lashed down toward Jiang Chen with a deafening roar.

BOOM—

The whip struck Jiang Chen with immense force, sending him flying backward to crash violently onto the ground.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!—

Lash after lash rained down like a tempest, all striking Jiang Chen. The entire Cuiwei Pavilion trembled. Spiritual Qi surged through the world as dust plumed into the air, creating a scene like the apocalypse.

"Hahaha! Jiang Chen, you still dare to mock me now?"

"Provoke this Elder, and I’ll make sure there’s not even a corpse left to bury!"

Zong Rui roared in fury, slamming his palm downward. A jet-black handprint, massive as a mountain, descended to crush Jiang Chen.

It seemed this one palm strike would finally end Jiang Chen’s life.

But just at this critical moment, a golden light suddenly burst forth from the swirling dust. It was a figure bathed in a dark golden radiance, like a Golden Armor War God, who shattered the dark handprint with sheer force.

As everyone stared in utter shock, a calm voice emerged from the dark golden figure...

"Zong Rui, it’s all thanks to you that I was finally able to take this step. Today, I, Jiang Chen, shall seize my Heavenly Destiny and step into... the Heavenly! Destiny! Realm!"