Desperation

The impact was so immense that it felt as if the very essence of the divine realm was being torn apart.

The force of the explosion created a void, a chasm in the very fabric of space, that seemed to swallow everything in its vicinity.

Debris flew in all directions, and the air was filled with the acrid scent of destruction.

Ling Tian, Zhang Wei, and Wang Tao were thrown back by the shockwave, their bodies slamming into the far wall with bone-crushing force.

Pain seared through Ling Tian's body, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

Tears streamed down his face as he stared at the void where Mu Lin had stood moments before.

"Mu Lin... no..." Zhang Wei's voice was barely a whisper, filled with a mix of sorrow and admiration for their fallen comrade.

Wang Tao, bloodied and bruised, struggled to his feet. "He didn't die in vain," he said through gritted teeth, his voice resolute. "We have to keep fighting, for his sake."

Zhang Wei, Wang Tao, and Ling Tian were looking toward where Mu Lin was before the explosion with red eyes.

Their hearts were heavy with grief and rage. But alas, the heavens are truly unfair.

Despite Mu Lin's selfless sacrifice, nothing major happened to any of the Jin clan members besides a few injuries. Jin Qiong, standing with a smug expression tinged with a hint of fear, spoke up.

"Good thing the old ancestor of my clan gave me a life-saving treasure for moments like this; otherwise, even if I didn't die from it, I wouldn't be far from it as well."

His words cut through the tension in the air like a knife.

He then looked toward Ling Tian's group and spoke with a cruel tone, his eyes gleaming with malice.

"Kill both of them, don't give them the chance to detonate their cultivation base as well; otherwise, we might very well die here from these pathetic ants."

The God King level elder from the Jin clan, his face a mask of cold determination, made his move.

In an instant, he appeared in front of Zhang Wei. With a swift and ruthless slash of his short sword, he severed Zhang Wei's neck.

Zhang Wei's eyes widened in shock and pain before his body crumpled to the ground, lifeless. Blood splattered across the stone floor, the sound echoing in the silent chamber.

Wang Tao and Ling Tian watched in horror and fury. Wang Tao's face twisted in a mix of grief and rage as he screamed, "ZHANG WEI!!!"

The elder wasted no time.

He turned his cold gaze towards Wang Tao, who was now trembling with a mix of fear and fury.

But before Wang Tao could even muster a response, the elder lunged again.

Ling Tian, despite his sealed cultivation, moved on instinct. He threw himself in front of Wang Tao, raising his sword to block the incoming strike.

The clash of metal on metal rang out, and the force of the impact sent shockwaves through Ling Tian's body.

Even with his formidable physical strength, his hand cracked under the pressure, blood streaming down his arm.

The elder's eyes narrowed, recognizing the threat Ling Tian posed even in his weakened state.

With a swift, brutal motion, the elder kicked Ling Tian squarely in the chest.

Ling Tian flew backward towards Jin Qiong and Han Ming, crashing into the stone wall with a sickening thud.

Pain radiated through his body, but he struggled to his feet, his determination unbroken.

"Run, Ling Tian!" Wang Tao shouted, desperation in his voice. "You have to survive!"

Elder Jin shifted his focus back to Wang Tao who was frozen in place due to God King level pressure that Elder Jin was exerting on him to restrict him from blowing himself up.

Elder Jin walked up to Wang Tao with deliberate, measured steps.

The weight of his God King level pressure pinned Wang Tao in place, rendering him unable to move or fight back.

Wang Tao's eyes, filled with a mix of fear and defiance, met Elder Jin's cold, merciless gaze.

In a swift and brutal motion, Elder Jin struck Wang Tao's dantian with pinpoint precision, shattering it completely.

Wang Tao let out a guttural cry of pain as his cultivation base crumbled into nothingness.

Elder Jin then lifted Wang Tao's now powerless body with ease and threw him like a ragdoll in front of Ling Tian.

The sound of Wang Tao's body hitting the ground was like a thunderclap in the silent chamber.

Ling Tian, still reeling from his own injuries and the loss of Zhang Wei, could only watch in horror as Elder Jin's next move unfolded with chilling inevitability.

With a swift, practiced motion, Elder Jin drew his short sword.

The blade gleamed with a cold, deadly light as he positioned it above Wang Tao's neck.

Time seemed to slow down as Ling Tian's eyes widened in a mixture of disbelief and despair.

"Nooo!!!" Ling Tian's voice broke, his cry a raw, anguished plea.

But his voice was powerless to stop the impending horror.

Elder Jin's sword descended in a flash, severing Wang Tao's neck with brutal efficiency.

Blood sprayed from the wound, painting the stone floor in a macabre tableau of death.

Wang Tao's head rolled to the side, his lifeless eyes staring blankly, forever frozen in that final moment of pain and helplessness.

Ling Tian's world shattered in that instant.

The numbness that had gripped him gave way to a tidal wave of rage and sorrow.

His vision blurred with tears of fury, his breath coming in ragged, labored gasps.

He wanted to scream, to strike out, to avenge his fallen brothers, but his body, broken and weakened, betrayed him.

Elder Jin's cold stare met Ling Tian's eyes once more.

There was no pity, no remorse, only the relentless resolve to snuff out any potential threat to the Jin clan.

"You're next," Elder Jin declared, his voice devoid of emotion. He raised his sword, ready to deliver the final, killing blow to Ling Tian.

Elder Jin thought to himself.

'This brat is already at God Emperor level even though he is so young. He absolutely can't be allowed to leave this ruin alive otherwise it will be a calamity for our Jin clan.'

His gaze turned even colder when he thought up to here.

As Ling Tian stood amidst the chaos, his eyes filled with a mixture of despair, rage, and an unyielding determination.

His world had crumbled around him, his friends had fallen, and his power seemingly futile against the might of his enemies.

Yet, in the face of such overwhelming adversity, something within him stirred, a primal force fueled by his anguish and resolve.

With a roar that echoed through the chamber, Ling Tian unleashed a torrent of killing intent that seemed to shake the very foundations of the ruins.

His voice reverberated with a promise of vengeance, a vow to avenge his fallen comrades no matter the cost.

"AHHHH! I WILL FUKING KILL ALL OF YOU!! EVEN IF I TURN INTO AN ABYSSAL BEING, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN!!"

His words carried a weight that hung heavy in the air, a declaration of war against those who had wronged him and his friends.

Even Elder Jin, seasoned and hardened by countless battles, felt a chill run down his spine at the sheer intensity of Ling Tian's resolve.

But just as the tension reached its peak, something extraordinary happened.

A faint glow emanated from the depths of Ling Tian's soul, a glimmer of light amidst the darkness that surrounded him.

In that moment, time itself seemed to stand still, frozen in the wake of Ling Tian's newfound power.

Elder Jin, his sword poised inches from Ling Tian's neck, felt a surge of unease creeping into his heart.

Jin Qiang, his facade of smug superiority crumbling in the face of Ling Tian's fury, could only watch in horror as the events unfolded before him.

The other three clan members, already shaken by Ling Tian's outburst, now found themselves trembling on the ground, their fear palpable in the air.

And then, with a surge of energy that seemed to defy comprehension, everything changed.

The space around Ling Tian erupted in a blinding flash of light, engulfing him and his enemies in its radiance. In that moment of transcendence, Ling Tian's fate was forever altered, his soul bound to a path of vengeance and redemption.

The space within the chamber erupted in a violent explosion of chaotic energy, engulfing everyone in its wake.

The Jin clan members, caught off guard, were swept away by the maelstrom.

Ling Tian, at the epicenter, felt his body being torn apart, each fragment of his existence dissolving into the void.

As his physical form was shredded to pieces, his soul was thrust through a crack in the fabric of reality, carrying the cube with it into the unknown.

Outside the ruins, the Jin clan members stumbled into the daylight, their faces etched with horror and confusion.

Jin Qiong, his voice trembling, turned to Elder Jin, desperate for an explanation.

"What... what just happened?" he asked, his eyes wide with fear.

Elder Jin, still reeling from the intensity of the experience, tried to compose himself.

He took a deep breath and spoke, his voice steady but strained.

"That was a separate dimension; chaotic storms and similar things are common in them. We were just unlucky enough to encounter one," he explained, the lie rolling off his tongue with practiced ease. "But at least we are safe now that we are out of that place. Unlike that brat surnamed Yuan, even his body got shredded to pieces, not to mention his soul, which would be reduced to nothing in the void."

He paused, his gaze distant as he recalled the immense power that Ling Tian had briefly exhibited.

A shiver ran down his spine at the memory. "If he had fully unleashed his potential, we might not have escaped with our lives."

Jin Qiong and the other clan members nodded, their relief palpable.

They had narrowly avoided a catastrophe, though the memory of Ling Tian's final moments would haunt them for a long time.

Even until the very end, none of them noticed the strange crack lingering in the middle of the storm, a silent testament to the mysterious forces at play.

The crack pulsated briefly before fading into the void, its presence unnoticed by all, a doorway to unknown possibilities.