I transmigrated to a chaotic world and became the sole player.

"Those rats of the Corpse Yin Sect dare to covet my sword intent?"

Lu Zhao's eyes were icy cold, filled with murderous intent. The Corpse Yin Sect cultivators cultivated through refining corpses, controlling ghosts, and absorbing yin and death energy. Their actions were insidious; they often slaughtered mortal towns and even plundered cultivators' graves for cultivation resources or to forge evil weapons. They were a universally acknowledged scourge of the cultivation world. When encountering such evil cultivators, there was no need for words; only death!

"Heh heh... Quite the boastful one!" The Corpse Yin Sect cultivator—the black-robed man who called himself "Shadow Killer"—let out a piercing, eerie laugh, his pale face contorted with rage. The black slender sword in his hand, the "Shadow Killer Sword," shone brightly, emanating an even stronger aura of chilling gloom and death, mixed with a nauseating stench of corpses.

"To encounter a living being who has comprehended the Sword Intent of Annihilation in this deadly Sword Tomb is truly a godsend! By devouring your soul and refining your sword intent, my Shadow Killing Sword Dao will surely reach its full potential!"

"Shadow Assassination - Night Parade of One Hundred Demons!"

He roared, and the Shadow Killing Sword in his hand trembled violently! Countless twisted, agonizing, wailing ghostly faces appeared on the blade! These ghostly faces, as if they were the souls he had refined, were filled with resentment and despair, emitting silent shrieks as they swarmed towards Lu Zhao! Wherever they passed, even the light seemed to be swallowed up, and the temperature plummeted!

"Evil and heretical sects dare to act so arrogantly!"

Lu Zhao snorted coldly, and instead of retreating, he advanced in the face of the terrifying phantoms of a hundred ghosts! The gray light of the broken sword "Return to Nothingness" in his hand was restrained, but the meaning of ending everything and returning all things to nothingness on the sword was becoming clearer.

"Nirvana—all things return to nothingness!"

He unleashed a sword strike! There was no dazzling sword light, no earth-shattering momentum, only a hazy gray sword mark that flashed and disappeared in the air.

However, wherever this seemingly ordinary sword mark passed, those hideous, roaring ghostly phantoms seemed to have encountered their nemesis, letting out mournful howls as they twisted, disintegrated, and turned into wisps of black smoke, completely annihilated by the annihilating power emanating from the sword mark!

"What?!" Ying Sha's expression changed drastically. His "Hundred Ghosts Parade" was an evil technique nurtured and refined from hundreds of living souls using his own blood essence. It could not only devour life force but also erode the soul, possessing astonishing power. Unexpectedly, it was so utterly vulnerable before Lu Zhao's Annihilation Sword Intent!

"Your Annihilation Sword Intent... has actually touched the edge of the laws?!" Greed and horror mingled in Ying Sha's eyes. He had originally thought Lu Zhao had only begun to comprehend the Annihilation Sword Intent, but he hadn't expected the other's understanding of the Dao of Annihilation to be so profound! This further strengthened his resolve to devour Lu Zhao's sword intent!

"Hmph, good that you know!" Lu Zhao took a step forward, his figure as fast as lightning, and slashed out with his broken sword once more! "Today, I will make you, this evil cultivator, return to utter annihilation!"

"Annihilation - Soul Severance!"

This sword strike wasn't fast, yet it seemed to lock onto Shadow Killer's soul, giving him a feeling that there was no way to dodge or hide! Before the sword even arrived, that terrifying aura that could freeze and annihilate one's soul had already descended upon him!

"Want to kill me? Not so easy!" A mad glint flashed in Shadow Killer's eyes. He bit his tongue hard, spitting a mouthful of jet-black blood, which reeked of a strong, foul stench, onto the Shadow Killer sword in his hand!

"With my lifeblood, I sacrifice to my evil sword! Corpse Yin Secret Technique—Ten Thousand Corpses Devouring Spirits!"

"Zheng—!"

The Shadow Kill Sword emitted a sharp, piercing sword cry. The black light on its blade instantly became viscous, as if it had materialized! Countless clearer, more ferocious ghost faces surged from the sword, these faces faintly coalescing into twisted, grotesque corpses, baring their fangs and claws, emitting silent roars as they lunged towards Lu Zhao! At the same time, a powerful suction force emanated from the viscous black light, as if it wanted to devour Lu Zhao's soul, spiritual power, and even his life force!

"Burning essence and blood to activate evil magic?" Lu Zhao's eyes narrowed. He could feel that the power of this move was several times stronger than before! The devouring power even made the annihilation dragon energy in his body somewhat sluggish.

"But evil is evil after all!"

Lu Zhao took a deep breath and held the broken sword "Return to the Void" horizontally in front of his chest. His eyes became incredibly focused, as if everything in the world had faded away at this moment, leaving only the sword in his hand and the all-consuming darkness before him.

"Nirvana... is not the end, but the beginning of reincarnation, the final destination of all things."

"My sword, I offer to you... the Void!"

"The Sword of Return to the Void!"

He chanted softly, and for the first time, the broken sword "Return to Nothingness" in his hand spontaneously emitted light! It wasn't the restrained gray light from before, but a darkness so profound it seemed capable of devouring all light! This darkness wasn't evil, but a pure, ultimate nothingness and end!

"cut!"

The broken sword slashed out! A jet-black sword mark appeared silently in the air. This sword mark seemed to be a wound in the world, the end of all existence.

"Boom!"

The pitch-black sword marks collided fiercely with the thick, ink-like, and howling black light of the evil magic!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a silent annihilation. It was like ink dripping into clear water, or like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun.

The grotesque phantom of the corpse shattered and vanished silently like bubbles the moment it encountered the dark sword mark. The viscous black light, containing terrifying devouring power, was wiped away as if by an invisible hand, rapidly fading and thinning until it disappeared completely.

"No--!"

Shadow Killer let out a shrill scream filled with fear and resentment! He could feel that his strongest secret technique, unleashed with his lifeblood and natal evil sword, was as fragile as paper before that pitch-black sword mark! It was an absolute suppression on a different level!

"puff!"

A jet-black sword mark silently grazed across Shadow Killer's body.

Shadow Killer's movements froze. The madness, greed, and horror on his face all solidified. He looked down at his chest. There was no wound, no blood, but he could clearly feel his life force, his spiritual power, and even his soul rapidly draining away, as if being slowly "wiped" away from this world by an invisible hand.

"This...is this...true...annihilation...?" Shadow Killer's eyes dimmed rapidly, eventually losing all their luster. His body, like a sand sculpture weathered for millennia, quickly turned to ash from his feet, scattering in the wind. Even the jet-black Shadow Killer sword in his hand turned to dust.

Only a faint trace, as if erased by an invisible force, and a pitch-black storage ring that had fallen to the ground remained on the spot.

"Huff... Huff..." Lu Zhao supported himself with the broken sword, panting heavily, his face as pale as paper. That final sword strike, "The Return to the Void Sword," had almost drained all the annihilating dragon energy within him, even overdrawing some of his divine soul power. This was the strongest sword strike he could currently unleash, containing a trace of the true essence of the "Return to the Void" broken sword; its power was astonishing, but the consumption was equally terrifying.

"The Corpse Yin Sect... is indeed troublesome." Lu Zhao thought with a chill. The Shadow Assassin's strength was definitely among the top in the Foundation Establishment stage, especially his strange Shadow Escape and Soul Devouring Evil Technique, which were impossible to defend against. If it weren't for his Annihilation Sword Intent just happened to counter the opponent, and at the last moment, he had a flash of inspiration and activated that trace of true meaning in the "Return to the Void" Broken Sword, the outcome would probably still be unknown.

He stepped forward and picked up the pitch-black storage ring from the ground. Probing it with his divine sense, he found the space inside to be quite large, filled with spirit stones, pills, and some eerie materials such as "Yin Soul Wood," "Corpse King Saliva," and "Hundred-Year Corpse Pills"—clearly intended for evil cultivators. There were also several jade slips recording the Corpse Yin Sect's techniques and secret arts, as well as a pitch-black token.

"Shadow Kill Token?" V Zhao picked up the pitch-black token, its surface icy cold to the touch. A ferocious ghost head was engraved on the front, while the words "Shadow Kill" were inscribed on the back. Within the token, there was a faint trace of divine soul imprint, but this imprint rapidly dissipated with the death of the Shadow Killer.

"It seems that Shadow Assassin holds a fairly high position within the Corpse Yin Sect." V Zhao carefully put away the token. Most of the Corpse Yin Sect's items are sinister and evil, which he can't use, but selling them to those who need them or exchanging them for other resources is a good option. He naturally wouldn't cultivate those evil techniques, but understanding them is always beneficial.

After collecting his spoils, V Zhao sat cross-legged, took out several pills to restore his spiritual power and soul, and began to meditate. The battle with Shadow Assassin, though brief, was extremely dangerous and draining.

A moment later, his complexion regained some color, and he opened his eyes, looking towards the very core of the Sword Tomb. There, the towering sword light still shone brightly, and the fluctuations of the inherited sword seal, like a heartbeat, continuously emanated, attracting all the sword cultivators who had entered the Sword Tomb.

"I must recover as quickly as possible and then get there," V Zhao thought to himself. Zhao Wuji, Lin Jingyu, and the others had definitely already gone to the core area, along with people from other sects. Moreover, the appearance of this Shadow Assassin had served as a wake-up call. Within this Sword Tomb, there were likely not only the well-known geniuses of various sects, but also lurking evil cultivators like those from the Corpse Yin Sect, and perhaps even other entities with ill intentions. He had to maintain peak condition.

However, just as he closed his eyes, preparing to continue regulating his breathing—

"what?"

His gaze inadvertently swept over the spot where Shadow Killer had turned to ashes. There, besides the traces erased by the "Return to the Void Sword," there seemed to be something unusual.

At the edge of that faint mark, a tiny, almost imperceptible black dot of light was flickering.

"What is this...?" V Zhao frowned and walked over warily.

He crouched down, carefully probing with his divine sense. The black dot of light was only the size of a grain of rice, like a fragment of black crystal, but it emanated an aura completely different from Shadow Killer's. It was a more ancient, purer... Yin energy? No, more than that, it seemed to also contain a trace of... sword intent?

"Could it be... that there's something else on this Shadow Assassin?" V Zhao wondered. He remembered that he had just used "Return to the Void Sword" to turn Shadow Assassin, along with his magical artifacts and clothes, into ashes. How could such a small thing have been left behind?

He reached out, enveloped his fingers in the aura of the Annihilating Dragon, and carefully touched the black dot of light.

The instant his finger touched the point of light—

"Buzz!"

The black light suddenly shone brightly! A chilling, yet indescribably sharp power burst forth, flowing into Lu Zhao's body through his fingers!

"Oh no!" V Zhao's expression changed, and he tried to pull his hand back, but it was too late!

That power, like a flood bursting its banks, instantly surged into his meridians, rushing towards his dantian and sea of ​​consciousness! This power was extremely cold, as if it could freeze the soul, but the sharp energy contained within it was like thousands of ice needles, piercing his meridians with excruciating pain!

"Damn it! It's a trap?!" V Zhao was terrified and quickly activated his Annihilation Dragon Qi, trying to force out or refine the invading power.

However, this icy and sharp power, of extremely high quality, actually clashed with his Annihilation Dragon Qi! The two forces clashed wildly within his body, causing his face to turn red and white in turns, his whole body to tremble, and cold sweat to pour from his forehead!

"What on earth is this thing?!" V Zhao gritted his teeth and persisted. He could feel that although this power was icy cold, the sword intent contained within it was an extremely pure and cold sword intent that he had never seen before. It was completely different from the scorching incineration of the "Burning Heaven" sword and the annihilation of the "Return to the Void" sword!

"Could it be... that this is also a fragment of a inherited sword seal? And one that leans towards the yin and cold attribute?" A thought suddenly flashed through Lu Zhao's mind.

Just as he was fighting against the icy power within his body, another unexpected event occurred!

The "Burning Heaven" sword he had just acquired in his storage bag suddenly began to vibrate violently! A scorching and violent sword intent burst out uncontrollably from the storage bag, forming a stark contrast with the icy and sharp power within his body!

"boom!"

Ice and fire, two extreme forces, collided violently within Lu Zhao's body!