The attempt at persuasion had failed. War erupted once more.
In this final battle, Gu Changsheng and the other two fought with the resolve to lay down their lives.
Monk Puxuan’s secret art was astonishingly effective, instantly killing an alien quasi-emperor. Yet its backlash was equally apparent. In mere moments, his enormous body was wholly engulfed by the so-called karmic flames.
Karmic flames could burn even the power of laws, let alone flesh and blood.
Though his sins did not compare to the aliens’ wanton slaughter of innocents, karmic flames appeared to burn away sins while in truth consuming all of one’s greed, anger, delusion, and other worldly attachments. With his quasi-emperor cultivation, he was still unable to control such flames freely.
His fate had already been decided. All he could hope for was to take another alien quasi-emperor down with him before he died.
The roars of battle could be heard clearly within a radius of ten thousand li. Led by cultivators of the Saint Realm, the billions of surviving cultivators of the Demon Province began leaving the protection of the formation and fleeing for their lives.
Yet low-level cultivators made up the overwhelming majority, and there were even mortals among the survivors. Evacuating everyone was easier said than done.
Nor could the six alien quasi-emperors possibly stand by and watch so many cultivators scatter in every direction.
Sure enough, before the masses could even leave the Demon Province, countless people were obliterated by the quasi-emperors’ casual long-range attacks.
Without the formation’s protection, even a stone casually thrown by a quasi-emperor was enough to make life miserable for any cultivator beneath the Saint Realm.
The three quasi-emperors of the Profound Yellow Realm were utterly incapable of stopping the aliens’ six quasi-emperors.
As time passed, Monk Puxuan’s aura grew increasingly frail. His enormous body, burned gaunt by karmic flames, was nearing the end of its strength.
Entangled by three quasi-emperors and unable to get close to him, Gu Changsheng and Lin Wanyi were likewise held back by three opponents. They had no time to attend to Puxuan’s situation.
In only a few days, without even being slain by his enemies, Puxuan had been burned to the brink of death by his own karmic flames.
“Old Baldy, it’s time for you to die!”
Several aliens wielding Imperial Artifacts besieged Puxuan. Before long, his body—already charred beyond recognition—was left riddled with wounds by the enemy. He no longer had the strength to resist.
Puxuan slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were gray-white and devoid of light. With his hands pressed together in prayer, his lips moved as a feeble voice emerged.
“If I do not enter hell, who will?”
A lonely, ancient aura radiated from Puxuan’s body. He raised his increasingly clouded gaze, gathered the strength of the karmic flames around him, and took one final step. Crossing a hundred li in an instant, he arrived at the center of the three aliens.
“You may defeat the human race, but you will never conquer the human race.”
Having spoken his final words, Puxuan peacefully closed his eyes. His cultivation erupted in one last, ultimate blaze. His dantian shattered, his soul was annihilated, and a vast surge of energy exploded outward.
The entire sky collapsed beneath the violent tremors of that power.
The pupils of the three alien quasi-emperors contracted. They raised their defensive Imperial Artifacts before them and rapidly fled into the distance.
BOOM!!!
The force of a quasi-emperor’s self-destruction sent the three alien quasi-emperors reeling, their organs churning violently. Each spat out a stream of blood eight zhang high.
“Fuck! Is something wrong with the people of the Profound Yellow Realm? Is this the only move they know every time?!”
Clearly, the aliens had experienced the Profound Yellow Realm’s quasi-emperors self-destructing more than once. Whenever the cultivators of the Profound Yellow Realm chose to fight to the death, they invariably ended by blowing themselves up.
A single moment of carelessness could leave one seriously wounded; with bad luck, one might even be blown to death on the spot.
A quasi-emperor’s self-destruction was no laughing matter. It contained the immense power of their Saint essence and soul, mixed with a wisp of law power. Its destructive force was no weaker than an imperial-grade divine art.
The tremendous disturbance was felt by every cultivator within ten thousand li of the Demon Sect. Hearing it, they realized that another quasi-emperor had fallen.
“Uncle-Master Puxuan...”
Among the survivors from the Western Region, the monks of the Great Thunderclap Temple wore grief-stricken expressions. Monk Wuxin stared toward the distant battlefield. The bloodshot veins in his eyes made his once-demonic features seem somewhat terrifying.
He hated only that he was too weak, that he did not even qualify to join the battle. When the Profound Yellow Realm faced such a calamity, when his Buddhist brethren faced such a calamity, there was nothing he could do.
“Senior Brother Wuxin, I want to avenge Master.”
Beside him, the bald man built like an iron tower wore an exceptionally calm expression. Yet his gaze held a resolve more unwavering than ever before, as though enlightenment had suddenly dawned upon him. It shone with startling brilliance.
Monk Wuxin paused, then nodded.
“Good.”
“Monk Puxuan is dead too.”
Gu Changsheng and Lin Wanyi noticed what had happened to Puxuan. They could only sigh in regret; there was no time even for grief. Puxuan’s death meant that the two of them now had to face six alien quasi-emperors.
At this rate, it would not be long before they met Puxuan on the road to the underworld.
“Hahahaha! Only the two of you remain. Are you still going to persist in this pointless resistance?”
Seeing Puxuan self-destruct, Huangfu Yunteng was the first to jump out and howl. With that arrogant, overbearing manner, anyone unaware of the truth might have thought he was the aliens’ leader.
“I can’t understand beasts when they speak. Could you stop barking? Your master hasn’t even said a word yet. Does a dog want to become its master?”
Gu Changsheng gave Huangfu Yunteng a disdainful glance.
“Back when your Huangfu clan bullied the Young Sect Master of my Demon Sect, I should have led men to wipe out your entire Huangfu clan. Letting you bark until now was merely a moment of softness on my part.”
Gu Changsheng regretted it somewhat. When he had heard that Mo Tianxiao was being bullied by the Huangfu clan in the Eastern Region, he had originally intended to bring his five brothers to the Eastern Region and settle the score with them.
But after Yue Liuli cut down the Huangfu clan’s quasi-emperor ancestor with a single sword strike, he decided to let the matter rest and spare the Huangfu clan.
He had never expected that his momentary leniency would produce such a lackey for the Profound Yellow Realm today.
“You say we bullied the Young Sect Master of your Demon Sect? Who exactly bullied whom?! If Mo Tianxiao and the Jade Pool Heavenly Palace hadn’t joined forces to suppress my Huangfu clan, how could my clan have ended up like this?!”
At Gu Changsheng’s words, Huangfu Yunteng’s face twisted with savage fury as he roared in rage.
Now, he was the only surviving member of the entire Huangfu clan. The Demon Sect was responsible for all of it. Had Mo Tianxiao and the Jade Pool Heavenly Palace not acted on a whim back then, how could the Huangfu clan have suffered such a catastrophe?
“Fellow Daoist Gu, why waste words on this traitor? The Huangfu clan has only itself to blame for ending up as it has. If they cannot discipline their own clansmen, there are plenty of others willing to teach them a lesson.”
Lin Wanyi cast Huangfu Yunteng a disgusted look, feeling nothing but revulsion.
What kind of people were the Huangfu clan members? Frankly speaking, compared with the things they had done, what Huangfu Yunteng had done could even be considered decent.
“Yunteng, there’s no need for any more nonsense. Since they have chosen death, we merely need to send them on their way.”
Moke stepped forward and patted Huangfu Yunteng on the shoulder. Looking toward Gu Changsheng and Lin Wanyi, he said, “I think highly of you. To help you vent your anger, I’ll give you a task.”
“My lord, please command me!” Huangfu Yunteng lowered his head respectfully.
The corners of Moke’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “Slaughter every cultivator within a radius of ten thousand li. Bring me their immortal bones.”
Hearing this, Huangfu Yunteng likewise revealed a cruel and eager smile.
“My lord, do you only want the immortal bones...?”
“I only want the immortal bones. The person is yours to deal with however you wish.”
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
