“Not a pawn,” Tantai Sun corrected. “A willing participant.” He gestured to Yun Ling. “Just as she was once a willing protector. Tell me, old friend, do you still dream of that ruined timeline? Of all the lives you failed to save?”

Yun Ling’s sword hummed softly. “I dream only of cutting you down.”

Yun Ling moved first. Her blue sword traced a perfect arc through the void, its edge singing with temporal energy. Tantai Sun blocked with his bare hand, sparks flying where blade met flesh.

BOOOOM!

The void trembled as Yun Ling’s sword clashed against Tantai Sun’s palm. The shockwave shattered the remnants of nearby celestial debris, sending fragments spiraling into the abyss.

Yue Yun and Hell Asura exchanged a glance before retreating slightly, their bodies still tense, ready to intervene at any moment.

“Stand back,” Yun Ling commanded, her voice calm but carrying the weight of absolute authority. “Help the others. He’s mine.”

Yue Yun hesitated for only a second before nodding. She knew Yun Ling’s strength—this woman had once fought against the collapse of an entire timeline. If anyone could face Tantai Sun, it was her.

With a final glare at the masked man, Yue Yun and Hell Asura vanished in flashes of light, rejoining the battlefield below where the armies of Chaos continued their relentless assault.

Tantai Sun chuckled, his featureless mask tilting slightly. “How nostalgic. The last time we fought, you barely escaped with your life.”

Yun Ling didn’t rise to the taunt. Her blue sword gleamed with an ethereal light, the edge humming with condensed law energy. “This time, I won’t need to escape.”

She moved.

Space itself fractured under her footstep as she appeared before Tantai Sun in an instant. Her sword descended—a simple slash, yet it carried the weight of a collapsing star.

Tantai Sun flicked his wrist, and a black halberd materialized in his grasp, intercepting the strike with a deafening CLANG!

The collision sent shockwaves rippling outward, distorting the fabric of reality around them.

“You’ve improved,” Tantai Sun mused, his voice laced with amusement. “But it won’t matter. Yun Lintian will die in my master’s hands, just like everything else in this doomed era.”

Yun Ling’s expression remained serene. “Your master overestimates himself.”

She twisted her blade, and the sword’s edge suddenly ignited with a dazzling array of colors—each hue representing a different God Mark of Law—Sword God Mark, Destruction God Mark, and Space God Mark.

The sheer density of divine power made the surrounding void tremble.

Tantai Sun’s stance shifted slightly, his grip tightening on his halberd. “Impressive. But do you really think laws alone can defeat me?”

In response, his own body began to radiate an oppressive aura. God Marks of Chaos manifested around him—twisted, writhing sigils that defied natural order—Chaos God Mark, Corruption God Mark, and Annihilation God Mark.

The two stood at the center of a storm of clashing energies, the very cosmos groaning under their pressure.

Then—they clashed again.

BOOOM!!

The battle was a blur of impossible speed and devastating force. Every exchange shattered fragments of reality, leaving behind scars in space-time.

Yun Ling’s sword techniques were flawless—each movement precise, each strike carrying the weight of countless years of refinement. She wielded her God Marks with terrifying mastery, bending the laws of existence to her will.

At one moment, she froze time mid-swing, her blade slipping past Tantai Sun’s guard.

At the next, she tore space apart, creating a rift that swallowed his counterattack.

Yet Tantai Sun was no less formidable. His halberd moved with eerie, unpredictable rhythms, as if dancing between the threads of fate itself. Where Yun Ling imposed order, he reveled in chaos.

When she slashed with the power of destruction, he dissolved it into nothingness.

When she rewound time to undo his strike, he corrupted the temporal flow, making it unstable.

Back and forth they fought, neither gaining a decisive advantage.

“You’re holding back,” Tantai Sun taunted as they separated briefly. “Afraid of breaking this fragile world?”

Yun Ling exhaled slowly, her sword steady. “No. I’m just measuring how far you’ve fallen.”

His mask hid his expression, but his voice darkened. “Fallen? I’ve ascended beyond the shackles of your so-called ‘order.'”

Yun Ling didn’t respond. Instead, she vanished.

Not speed—not teleportation. She simply ceased to exist within the current moment.

Tantai Sun’s head snapped to the side just as her sword materialized from a fold in time, aimed at his neck.

CLANG!

His halberd barely parried in time, but the force sent him skidding backward through the void.

For the first time, a flicker of irritation crossed his demeanor. “You always did rely on tricks.”

Yun Ling reappeared, her sword humming. “And you always talked too much.”

She raised her blade, and the cosmos itself seemed to hold its breath.

Then—

“Heavenly Annihilation Sword Art—Final Judgment.”

Her sword descended.

The void split.

A blade of pure divine judgment, forged from the combined might of all her God Marks, tore through existence itself. It was a strike meant to sever fate, rewrite destiny, and erase all that opposed its path.

Tantai Sun’s mask cracked.

For the first time, he moved with urgency. His halberd spun, summoning a vortex of chaotic energy as he roared—

“Chaos Devouring Abyss!”

The two supreme techniques collided.

And then—

Silence.

A sphere of absolute annihilation expanded where they clashed, swallowing light, sound, and even the concept of space.

When the explosion finally faded, the two figures stood amidst the ruins of shattered reality.

Yun Ling’s robes were torn, blood trickling from her lip.

Tantai Sun’s mask had split completely, revealing a face that was both young and ancient, his eyes burning with chaotic flames. A deep gash ran across his chest, black energy seeping from the wound.

For a long moment, neither spoke.

Then, Tantai Sun laughed.

“Good. Very good.” He wiped the black blood from his lips. “This is why my master finds you so interesting.”

Yun Ling’s grip on her sword didn’t waver. “Your master’s time is running out.”

Tantai Sun’s smile was chilling. “We’ll see.”

With that, his body began dissolving into chaotic mist, his form unraveling like a broken illusion.

“But remember this, Yun Ling,” his voice echoed as he faded. “No matter how strong you are… you can’t stop the inevitable.”

Then—he was gone.

Yun Ling stood alone in the wreckage of their battle, her sword still humming with residual power.

She exhaled slowly, her golden eyes reflecting the distant war below.

The battle was far from over.

And somewhere, in the depths of the Netherworld, Yun Lintian was still fighting his own war—one that would determine the fate of all existence.

She clenched her fist.

They couldn’t afford to lose…