“Wang Kang, quietly surrender yourself and I’ll give you a quick death!”

“You damned demon, just because you wanted to cultivate some forbidden art to prolong your lifespan and attempt to break through, you’ve massacred thousands of cultivators in cold blood! You’ve committed too many unforgivable, heinous sins!“

“Old Devil, stop attempting to resist anymore, today all of the major righteous forces have combined together just to destroy you. This place is already surrounded, this time you will definitely be annihilated! Not even the gods can save you today!”

“Heinous demon, hundreds of years ago you destroyed my home and killed my entire family. From that moment onwards, I swore that I would get my revenge on you. Today, you will not escape death!”

At the highest point in the world, atop the Nine Dragon Mountain Range, hundreds of apex experts had gathered, all to kill one old man. The strongest devil Wang Kang, the one who had reached the very peak of this world.

Wang Kang was clad in his signature black-silver robes that had now been torn to shreds and held a black spear in his hand. His silver hair was disheveled and his entire body was covered in blood.

His bloody and tattered robes waved lightly in the mountain breeze like a war flag and fresh blood flowed like rivers from the numerous wounds on Wang Kang’s body. His sunken face was pale and his breath was ragged as he wheezed and coughed out blood. There were numerous wrinkles criss crossing his face due to age, but his eyes remained as bright and clear as ever.

Even in the face of death, Wang Kang’s expression did not change one bit. He was expressionless and his gaze was calm, his eyes like deep pools of water in a well, so deep that there seemed to be no bottom.

He swept his gaze over his enemies. The major righteous forces that had surrounded him were not just made up of experienced elders, but also young and talented heroes who had risen to fame in recent years. There were expressions of mockery, fury, fear, pain and suffering on each of their faces.

Despite the shouts and threats to kill Wang Kang, not a single person moved. They were afraid. Afraid of his final attack before his death. No one wanted to be the one that died. Even if they could kill Wang Kang in the process, it was not worth it.

Suddenly, Wang Kang raised his head and started laughing toward the sky. It was a hearty laugh, one of joy and exhilaration.

“Old Devil, what’s so funny?”

“Demon, have you gone crazy? Perhaps you’ve finally given up?”

“Why are you laughing? Just surrender quickly!” The surrounding cultivators cursed at him.

Wang Kang stopped laughing abruptly and his head snapped to face them. He had a wide eerie grin on his face.

“I’m laughing because all of you are going to die here.” He said in a voice filled with malice.

“Damned devil, what do you mean? You’re the one who’s going to die!” A young hero said with an arrogant look as he pointed his sword at Wang Kang.

“Wait, something’s wrong! Retreat-” One of the experienced elders started to speak but was suddenly cut off.

“Blood Imprisonment Formation, activate!” Wang Kang roared and stamped his foot on the ground. Directly after, he threw his spear aside and began chanting rapidly and executing hand seals at a rapid speed.

The entire mountain range immediately started shaking, and blood red text had materialized in the air, both above, to the sides and below, completely surrounding the hundreds of experts, forming a massive blood red cage. Some experts tried to attack the cage, but it seemed to be nigh indestructible as their attacks bounced off. It was like trying to strike a steel plate with a wooden stick.

“What in heaven’s name is this? What is happening?!” The cultivators started looking around in panic when they realized that they had been trapped.

Someone noticed Wang Kang chanting rapidly with his eyes closed and shouted while pointing: “Everyone, the formation is being controlled by the old devil, if we just kill him now, we can break free!”

“Kill him!” Several experts roared and charged over desperately, their weapons raised. They were ready to cut down Wang Kang, even at the cost of their own lives.

Unfortunately, even before they could reach him, Wang Kang’s eyes opened and were glowing a brilliant violet. It was already too late, the technique had been completed.

“Forbidden Divine Art: Inverting Heaven and Earth!” Wang Kang roared and clapped his palms together. A mysterious pulse of energy surged forth from his body, and spread through the world in an instant.

The sky rumbled as dark clouds rapidly gathered. Azure bolts of lightning flashed through the air like lightning snakes. Seas started to become turbulent, while mountains rumbled and cracked. The entire world seemed to tremble at this very moment.

Every single cultivator that was surrounding Wang Kang, including those that were attempting to strike him down, halted in their steps like statues the moment the energy wave hit them, their weapons raised in the midst of attacking. It was as if time had stopped in that area of a dozen kilometers for just a split second.

Then time instantly resumed and everyone began to visibly age. Their hair turned white rapidly, and their skin wrinkled. The young heroes, with handsome faces and prime physiques, began to wither like dry grass. The elders shriveled into dried husks, falling from the sky like dead birds. The survivors screamed and roared in fury and despair, their eyes full of hatred as they glared at Wang Kang. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do about it.

Similarly, the greenery in the surrounding dozen kilometers quickly withered, and the wildlife like beasts and birds, all shriveled up and died. Their life force had been completely drained.

Another pulse of energy surged forth, but this time it was in reverse. It spread from the surroundings back into Wang Kang, whose withered body began to return to how it was back in his youth. His muscles bulged out under his robes and his silver hair turned black once more. A terrifying aura emanated from his body, the pressure so great that cracks started to form on the surrounding terrain.

The remaining cultivators who had not died yet were mostly the young heroes, who were now old and weak, having been drained of their life force. They were thin and wrinkled, their hair white like snow, no longer having any strength in their bodies. They too would soon join their elders in death. Everyone watched on with eyes filled with terror and despair. The outcome had already been decided. Wang Kang had tricked all of them. His final attack was far deadlier than anyone could have imagined.

A tiny crack suddenly appeared on Wang Kang’s cheek, followed by many more appearing all over his body. The spell had allowed him to absorb all the vitality from the righteous faction cultivators, but his old body would not be able to handle so much life force.

The cracks were a sign that his body was falling apart. However, he was not surprised or shocked, it seemed that he had expected this from the start. A wistful smile mixed with a hint of sadness appeared on his face as he slowly closed his eyes.

"Is this the end for me? Too bad…I couldn’t fulfill my dream in the end."

Suddenly, his eyes widened, as if he was surprised about something. With a strange expression on his face, Wang Kang flipped his palm and a stone tablet appeared in his hand. It looked old and ancient, with mysterious text carved on its surface. The tablet was trembling. It was thirsting. Thirsting for an endless amount of energy!

"Then I shall bet everything on this. I already have nothing to lose.” Wang Kang said with a determined gaze.

Closing his eyes, Wang Kang held the tablet tightly in his hands. Blood began to seep out from the small cracks on his skin, as well as his eyes and mouth. The text on the tablet lit up more and more with each moment that passed, until the entire tablet lit up fully. It floated up from Wang Kang’s hands, glowing brighter and brighter until it resembled a miniature sun. Then there was a blinding flash of light that followed, so bright that the entire world could see it.

After the light faded, it could be seen that the tablet had vanished into thin air, with only Wang Kang’s now gray and lifeless body standing there. It stood for several seconds before slowly disintegrating into ash and blowing away into the wind, leaving only a set of silver-black robes behind. The skies cleared, the seas calmed and the wind stilled. The Nine Dragon Mountain Range fell into silence once more.

All that was left as evidence from the final battle that had taken place here was the shriveled corpses of the righteous faction members, as well as a set of bloody and tattered silver-black robes and a pitch black spear that had once belonged to the strongest devil.

The later generations of the righteous forces would turn this place into a holy site to honor their fallen seniors, however, no one really knew the actual course of events that had transpired on this legendary mountain range.