The sky above the ruins finally broke.
It wasn't a natural storm. The clouds were torn apart by the arrival of a Dragon-Kite Spirit Ship, a vessel the size of a continent, constructed from Void,Matter and gold. This was the flagship of the Great Northern Emperor.
The pressure that descended was enough to flatten the remaining coral ruins. This was the weight of a Peak Soul Formation master, a man who treated the laws of physics as mere suggestions.
Xuan Ye felt the pressure and immediately collapsed to his knees, shielding Zhao Ling with his body. He suppressed his Ink-Wash Heart until it was a microscopic point of darkness, hidden deep within his marrow.
A beam of golden light descended from the ship.
A man stepped out. He wore robes embroidered with the Nine-Clawed Azure Dragon, and his hair was a mane of white fire. His eyes were not normal they were twin galaxies, swirling with the law of gravity.
The Northern Emperor, Zhao Feng.
He looked at the blackened Pillar of Absolute Infinity. He looked at the evaporated silver sea. His expression didn't change, but the air for a thousand miles turned as cold as Glacial Ice Energy.
"The White Lotus... has fallen," the Emperor said, his voice a low roll of thunder.
He turned his gaze to the two figures on the ground. With a single step, he bypassed the distance a mastery of Space Energy that made the air scream. He stood before Xuan Ye.
"Father..." Zhao Ling whispered, her eyes fluttering open.
The Emperor ignored his daughter for a moment, his gaze piercing through Xuan Ye. He was looking for the anomaly. He was looking for the truth in the script.
Xuan Ye didn't look up. He trembled, his forehead pressed into the ash. "Great... Great Emperor..."
Zhao Feng's Soul Energy swept over Xuan Ye. He saw a boy with broken meridians.a mortal.
"You," the Emperor said, his voice devoid of emotion. "You carried my daughter out of the center of the erasure?"
"I... I just ran, Your Majesty," Xuan Ye stammered, his voice muffled by the ash. "The darkness was eating the light. I didn't want to be eaten."
The Emperor looked back at the Pillar. His Dao Heart was telling him something was wrong, but the Actual World in front of him offered no evidence. The evidence was all demonic.
"A miracle of the incompetent," the Emperor murmured. He reached out, and a wave of Verdant Life Energy washed over Zhao Ling and Xuan Ye.
Xuan Ye felt his wounds healing, but he carefully diverted the energy into the Unwritten Library, using the Emperor's own power to fuel his next evolution.
"Bring them aboard," the Emperor commanded his guards. "The Sanctuary is dead. We must prepare for the Blood Moon Transit. If the world above senses this weakness, the North will…no not just the north the whole finite world would be in danger."