A Huge Loss

Gu Qingfeng stiffly turned his head, only to see countless chains of divine law.

They coiled like venomous snakes, their tips raised high as they stared unblinkingly at him.

At that moment, only one thought crossed Gu Qingfeng’s mind:

Damn it, I’ve become the substitute!

He knew the power of these chains all too well—they were the work of the Heavenly Dao, something even the Heavenly Emperor could barely resist. As for the Heavenly Conveyance Array? Forget about it. Trying to escape now was like raising your hand in an exam hall and telling the proctor, Hey, teacher, step aside—I’m about to cheat.

Swallowing hard, he kept his eyes locked on the chains as he inched backward.

Yet, with every step he took, the chains stretched longer, matching his movements. When he shifted direction, they twisted to follow.

“Dammit! Might as well go all out!”

Gritting his teeth, Gu Qingfeng activated the Earth-Treading Golden Light technique, darting outward like a flash.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The chains were faster. In an instant, they blocked his path, spreading like a spider’s web, wrapping and closing in around him.

Just as the dense net of chains was about to engulf him, Gu Qingfeng froze.

Strangely, the chains froze too, hovering mid-air.

The closest one was barely a centimeter from his face.

Shit! What now?

I just became invincible—I can’t end up like the Abandoned Heavenly Emperor, sealed away forever!

If immortality meant eternal imprisonment, he’d rather die.

If only the Heavenly Dao of the Cangming Realm were also a demon…

Gu Qingfeng clung to this desperate hope, but it was just a fantasy. He sensed no evil from the realm’s Heavenly Dao.

Wait!

A sudden realization struck him. If he had truly become the Ultimate Sin, shouldn’t he have been instantly suppressed like the Abandoned Heavenly Emperor? Yet, the chains weren’t crushing him—they were just restricting him, reacting only when he made aggressive moves.

Does this mean I’ve gained the power of the Ultimate Sin without fully becoming it? A half-Sin, perhaps? The chains lack sentience—they act on rules, not judgment. That’s why they’re hesitating.

Exactly! Just like when I tried to exploit the loophole to become a Human-Demon. The system stopped me from fully transforming. Now, the system announced I “obtained” the Ultimate Sin, not that I “became” it.

To test his theory, Gu Qingfeng bit down hard on his tongue—Crack!

He misjudged the force and bit off half of it.

Black mist swirled, and his tongue regenerated instantly.

This proved he wasn’t the Ultimate Sin. If he were, attacking himself wouldn’t cause injury—it would make him stronger.

Now he understood: The chains didn’t suppress him because he wasn’t the Ultimate Sin, but they wouldn’t let him leave because the Sin’s power resided within him.

But so what if he grasped the chains’ logic?

Do I have to give up the Ultimate Sin to escape?

Hell no!

Gu Qingfeng scowled. You don’t spit out what you’ve swallowed!

Yet, under the chains’ relentless gaze, he reconsidered. Fine, maybe just a little.

He separated a wisp of the Sin’s essence and tossed it aside, like throwing a bone scrap to a pack of rabid dogs.

The “dogs” didn’t budge. They didn’t even glance at it.

Furious, Gu Qingfeng yelled, “Don’t push your luck!”

He threw a slightly larger wisp—equivalent to two bone scraps.

Still, the chains ignored it.

“Bastards! Insatiable, lawless greed!”

Cursing, he continued testing, tossing out tiny fragments bit by bit.

Finally, after sacrificing half of the Sin’s essence, the chains reacted.

Half of them split away, coiling tightly around the discarded power.

But the other half remained fixed on him.

“Fine. One day, your greed will be your downfall. One day, I will annihilate the Heavenly Dao!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Gu Qingfeng hurled out more of the Sin’s essence until only one percent remained.

At last, the chains abandoned him, turning their full attention to the sealed power.

He was free to leave—but there was no joy in his escape. After all his struggles, he could keep only a fraction of the Ultimate Sin’s might.

The near-omnipotent power to erase the minds of Quasi-Emperors? Gone. He was back to square one, just slightly stronger than before—and now, annoyingly immortal.

What a colossal waste.

“!” Gu Qingfeng spat as he stormed out of that accursed space.

Seeing the few Dao Slave underlings waiting outside, Gu Qingfeng grew increasingly irritated. In a fit of rage, he dispatched all his subordinates to scour the land for every Heavenly Supreme-level Dao Slave.

Since the Sin of Annihilation and the Indestructible Demonic Soul shared the same origin, the one percent of the Sin of Annihilation’s essence also slightly strengthened the Indestructible Demonic Soul, allowing Gu Qingfeng to control even more Dao Slaves.

Thus, after a long while,

every single Heavenly Supreme Dao Slave deep within the Primordial Forbidden Land had been captured by Gu Qingfeng.

In total, there were one hundred and eight. Among them, five were Eight-Star Heavenly Supremes, while the rest were scattered across other ranks—hardly worth mentioning.

The Primordial Forbidden Land had stood since the Primordial Era, so it naturally couldn’t have only one hundred and eight Heavenly Supremes. However, losses were inevitable—every peerless expert who came seeking treasures would inevitably slaughter a batch.

Moreover, the Abandoned Heavenly Emperor had once visited, likely wiping out the Dao Slaves entirely on occasion.

Coupled with the dangers lurking within the forbidden land and the havoc wreaked by the Sin of Annihilation, having one hundred and eight remaining was already quite impressive.

After completing his task, Gu Qingfeng left the Primordial Forbidden Land.

Before departing, he cast a resentful glance back, as if searing the memory of this place that had dealt him such a heavy blow into his mind.

"Let’s go. Follow me back to the Sword Sect."

With a grand wave of his hand, the one hundred and eight Heavenly Supremes behind him roared in unison, "As you command, Supreme One!"

Their voices merged like rolling thunder, shaking the void itself.

The sheer momentum was earth-shattering—the unleashed pressure from one hundred and eight Heavenly Supremes nearly crushed the heavens, teetering on the brink of collapse.

To an uninformed observer, such a mighty procession might have seemed like the combined forces of several Imperial Courts and Immortal Sects marching forth in full strength.

After all, even a power as formidable as the Heavenly Court couldn’t muster one hundred and eight Heavenly Supremes—even counting both their public and hidden forces, having a few dozen would already be considered astonishing.

In an era where Quasi-Emperors remained absent, Heavenly Supremes stood as the pinnacle of power.

And Gu Qingfeng commanded one hundred and eight of them.