Once the destructive power was condensed to its limit, the thunder orb finally launched.
"Heh, God of Destruction, ruthless enough," the Golden Dragon King sneered. He wasn't enraged by betrayal—he always knew the God of Destruction wanted him dead.
They were enemies—taking each other out together was only natural. If the situation were reversed, he'd certainly kill the God of Destruction as well.
"But killing me won't be that easy. Golden Dragon Tyrant Body!" The Golden Dragon King activated his strongest defensive skill, bracing to tank World-Annihilation.
At the same time, Ning Fengzhi pushed the Light of Undying to its limit. His plan was about to reach its final step.
The God of Destruction's gaze was grave. His terrifying destructive force could have turned tens of thousands of miles into ash, but he clearly didn't want a massacre. He compressed the energy as much as possible, finally causing it to explode only within the small area around Chen Xin and the Golden Dragon King.
Boom!
A pillar of annihilating light shot into the heavens. Power enough to erase all things made everyone's hearts clench.
"Grandpa Sword!" Ning Rongrong panicked, trying to rush into the beam to rescue Chen Xin.
The God of Lust immediately held her back. "Good girl, don't be rash. Chen Xin will be fine. Grandma promises."
As a key to the plan, the God of Lust also knew this step. As for Ning Rongrong, to make her emotions more genuine, Ning Fengzhi had told her nothing.
World-Annihilation's light was too powerful; it would take a long time to dissipate. Holding Bibi Dong as she flew, Qian Renxue glanced back.
She knew that battle had entered white-hot phase—so hers needed to end quickly too.
Just then, the captured Bibi Dong suddenly calmed, and the spider lances on her back stabbed at Qian Renxue's back.
Heart-Controlling Melody had only briefly affected her mind—she was controlled again.
Sensing danger, Qian Renxue used angelic wings to block the spider lances, then dragged Bibi Dong straight off the Douluo Star.
"Demon-Subduing Seal, Forbidden Seal, Binding Stasis!" Qian Renxue formed seals, sequentially casting three sealing arts Tianlin had taught her recently.
In an instant, Bibi Dong's Death Spider Emperor spirit, divine power, and bodily movement were entirely sealed.
Qian Renxue seized the moment, her mind leaving her body. Her soul became a sword and pointed at the space between Bibi Dong's brows, piercing directly into her sea of consciousness.
Bibi Dong's mental sea was pitch-black—nothing to be seen.
"So dark. Is this mother's heart? All these years, I never truly dispelled the darkness in her heart," Qian Renxue felt sorrow, but she didn't give up. She kept searching within.
Finally, in the deepest part of her heart, Qian Renxue saw a prison. Within it was a woman—Bibi Dong, or rather, Bibi Dong from her youth, before meeting the Grandmaster—Bibi Dong's good side.
At this moment, Bibi Dong sat on the ground, leaning against the bars, her head buried in her knees, motionless.
"Mother, I finally found you!" Qian Renxue was overjoyed. She swung the Angelic Holy Sword, cleaving open the cell, then flew to Bibi Dong. "Mother, look up at me. I'm Xue'er."
"Xue'er!" Hearing Qian Renxue's voice, Bibi Dong's body trembled, as if moved.
"Yes, mother, it's me. I've come to save you. Why are you still here? Come home with me, okay?" Qian Renxue said softly.
"Home? I have no home. It's quiet here. Xue'er, go back. This isn't a place you should come," Bibi Dong's head sank again. What truly bound her wasn't the cell, but this darkness.
"Why not go back, mother? What are you afraid of—the Evil Sword Immortal? We'll defeat him." Qian Renxue tried to influence Bibi Dong with angelic holy light, but in this darkness it was like a bull into a bog—vanishing without effect.
What the Asura God once said was true: trying to drive out this darkness with light was wishful thinking.
"I just feel this is where I belong. I am a wicked person who should dwell in darkness. This is my home." Bibi Dong had completely given up—her evil thought rampaged in the world while her good thought hid in darkness, deceiving herself.
Faced with this Bibi Dong, Qian Renxue was angry at her helplessness. She considered scolding or striking her, but knew it was useless. She could only go along and say, "You're right, mother. Your experiences destined you not to yearn for light. You should walk in darkness—but you must walk the path of true darkness."
"True darkness?" Bibi Dong was stunned. If Qian Renxue wanted to lead her to light, she neither wished to go nor to understand it. But "true darkness" stirred her curiosity.
"Yes, mother. Please, I beg you—open your eyes and take a look. Just one look—witness true darkness," Qian Renxue pleaded.
Bibi Dong was moved. However much she'd given up, she wouldn't refuse such a small request from Qian Renxue.
Thus, through her eyes, her good soul beheld a beautiful sight.
It was an incomparably vast darkness. Compared to it, her own darkness was but a drop in the ocean. The tiny points of light shining within were like gems, adorning it with breathtaking beauty.
At first glance, Bibi Dong loved it. She asked, "Xue'er, where is this?"
"Tianlin says this place is called the universe," Qian Renxue smiled. "Mother, before becoming a god, you didn't have the ability to come here. After becoming a god, you never had the chance. This is your first time seeing such beautiful darkness, isn't it?"
"The universe nurtures life—a gentle, dark world. No person or thing's darkness can surpass it. Would you consider such darkness evil?"
Qian Renxue gently embraced Bibi Dong. "Darkness doesn't mean evil. Though you possess the darkest Death Spider Emperor and Spider Emperor spirits, Grandpa told me you were once so pure and kind. Back then, you walked the path of true darkness."
"It's just that the Evil Spirit Pearl's darkness far exceeded yours, so your darkness was wrapped and devoured by it. But compared to the universe's darkness, the Evil Spirit Pearl's shadow is insignificant. Mother, feel it."
Qian Renxue released Bibi Dong's bodily bindings. Bibi Dong instinctively flew into space, sat cross-legged in the void, and began cultivating.
For Bibi Dong, it was like a natural simulated training ground—though using the universe's darkness as the medium was quite the grand gesture.