Yuan fell silent.
Sheng Nü fell silent.
The hot-tempered bearded man fell silent as well.
He was normally quick to anger and possessed a terrible temper, yet even he had never considered taking the initiative to attack Heitian and Heitu under such circumstances.
Generally speaking, whenever clashes arose in the Void Sea, the Divine Wood Universe avoided them if at all possible.
An unprovoked offensive had practically never occurred.
"If you can guarantee your own safety, Lord Realm Lord, you may act at your discretion," Yuan finally said in a calm tone.
The bearded man added, "Lord Realm Lord, be careful in all things. The Void Sea is treacherous and intricate; the slightest misstep will crush you to powder."
Even this irascible bearded fellow had begun advising Qi Yuan to keep a cool head.
"Understood. Sounds fine. I'll go have a look at this so-called Heitian-Heitu army."
Qi Yuan spoke no further, stepping into the Void Sea entirely alone.
The Void Sea was a swath of primordial chaos, strewn in all directions with motes of multicolored light.
These motes of brilliance seemed like fragmented shards of rules, yet also resembled the raw matter from before chaos had split, brimming with deadly peril.
They could even corrode the physical form of a Yang God.
Half a day passed in the blink of an eye before Qi Yuan's figure drew to a halt.
The seven pieces of Mankind-Kindled Light emanated a terrifying aura, blazing like a scorching sun.
Qi Yuan looked ahead and saw an immense battleship spanning the frigid Void Sea.
That vessel was massive—staggeringly so!
In fact, it was slightly larger than the entire Qingshan Realm.
"Heitian and Heitu truly live up to their name. Such a colossal ship... if it fell from the sky, wouldn't it crush ten thousand ants to death?" Qi Yuan murmured.
With seven pieces of Mankind-Kindled Light in hand, the surrounding environment of the Void Sea shifted around him, leaving him looking like a bright moon surrounded by a host of stars.
The blistering radiance framed him like a god of war.
"Lord Realm Lord, holding them at bay is enough! Merely halting the battleship's advance will suffice!" Yuan's voice chimed in caution.
The bearded man also hastily called out, "Lord Realm Lord, you must stay calm!"
Qi Yuan gazed at the grim, towering warship, his eyes darkening. "I'd like to just hold them at bay, but they have to agree to it first, don't they?"
Hearing this, Yuan's expression shifted drastically.
Could it be... an unforeseen development?
The minds of the other Ancestral Gods raced, and they too seemed to realize what was coming.
Just as Qi Yuan's words settled, a towering figure abruptly lunged out from the battleship.
Crackling flames burned eternally, their fury blasting aside the kaleidoscopic motes of light within the Void Sea.
A monstrous giant of fire roared, "Qi Yuan, die!"
Realm Lord Flame had struck in fury.
When a supreme being of this caliber attacked, they were overbearing beyond measure and brooked no reason.
In a mere instant, the surrounding space transformed into a domain of fire.
Upon attaining the realm of a Realm Lord, one could already manipulate the world's environment and rules.
It was no exaggeration to say that if Realm Lord Flame sneezed, he could turn a cultivation world the size of the Canglan Realm into a blazing hellscape, its inferno enduring for billions of years without going out.
That was merely the effect of a casual sneeze. When he struck with true intent, the might of his flames was sufficient to devour all things.
A searing wave of heat swept over Qi Yuan, intense enough that even someone of his strength felt the burn.
"My eternal fire can burn through heaven and earth itself! Qi Yuan... where can you run? Submit and be reduced to ash!" Realm Lord Flame bellowed, filling the void in all directions with surging fire.
Absolute Adaptation!
In that split second, Qi Yuan unleashed the rule he had comprehended.
Instantly, his entire body shifted into that of a burning man.
"Oh dear, I really have been set on fire. I'm a flame man now," Qi Yuan remarked cheerfully.
He did not employ Mankind-Kindled Light, relying purely on Absolute Adaptation to combat fire with fire.
Realm Lord Flame froze, his features twisting in rage. "Die!"
The flames flared once more, their ferocity multiplying tenfold, then a hundredfold!
Realm Lord Flame had witnessed rules similar to Qi Yuan's in the past.
Yet most were clumsy imitations.
Qi Yuan shrugged, his gaze shifting thoughtfully. "You're a bit tough to kill."
His eyes could perceive many things.
Those who had reached the Realm Lord level were never easy to put down.
Unless there was an overwhelming gulf in their cultivation.
Presently, Qi Yuan had only just advanced to the Myriad Things Realm.
To slay a Rule Realm cultivator like Realm Lord Flame with brute force would take at least an entire day.
To Qi Yuan, that was simply far too slow.
"Hmph, you're not easy to kill either," Realm Lord Flame stated grimly.
His understanding of 'tough to kill' differed entirely from Qi Yuan's.
What he meant was that given their respective powers, they could clash until they reached the outer fringes of the universe and still struggle to overwhelm each other.
"However... difficult though it may be, I will slaughter you today!" The flames in Realm Lord Flame's eyes raged with renewed fury, gleaming with an eerie madness. "I possess guiling source! I fear no death! What do you have?"
Outside the Void Sea, the expressions of Yuan, Sheng Nü, and the rest of the Ancestral Gods suddenly warped in horror.
"Not good—Realm Lord Flame has lost his mind! He intends to trade his life for his!"
"How can this be? Will the one revived by guiling source even still be him? Why would he be so utterly reckless?"
"Lord Realm Lord, fall back! Do not drag out the battle—get away from Realm Lord Flame!" Yuan urgently warned.
Every Ancestral God present clenched their fists in dread.
Under normal circumstances, Realm Lords could rarely destroy one another. But if one party threw away all regard for survival, burned through their origin rules, and detonated themselves, a single blast could grievously wound a peer. A second blast would guarantee mutual destruction.
In past encounters with Heitian and Heitu, no Yang God had ever resorted to such a measure, because none could know for certain whether the being resurrected by guiling source was truly their original self.
Yet Realm Lord Flame cast all caution aside.
"Wukong, lend me your guiling source and cut off his escape!" Realm Lord Flame roared.
Realm Lord Wukong's expression was utterly devoid of sorrow or joy. The guiling source in his grasp flew into Realm Lord Flame's hand, while his towering frame stepped forward to block Qi Yuan's path of retreat.
"With me here, he will not escape," Realm Lord Wukong said flatly.
"What are you planning to do?" Qi Yuan asked, a horrified conjecture rising in his heart.
"Hmph, don't you already know?" Realm Lord Flame's face was chillingly resolute.
"Doing this... is entirely unwise of you," Qi Yuan said, feigning profound terror.
Inside, he was practically bursting with joy.
As expected of Qi Huang's uncle—or rather, Qi Huang's true body. He was just as foolish as Qi Huang.
To actually choose self-detonation... didn't he know about his invulnerability cheat?
The heavier his injuries, the more terrifying Absolute Adaptation became under the amplification of Dying Radiance.
"Seven pieces of Mankind-Kindled Light can block my rule dissolution seven times at most, but what about after that?"
Rule dissolution was the self-detonation of a Realm Lord.
A Realm Lord's detonation did not simply blow apart their physical form; it was the unmaking of their rules.
The sheer destructive force released when those rules collapsed and dissolved was no less devastating than an earthquake tearing across the very dimensions of the cosmos.
"To ensure your death, I specially borrowed Realm Lord Wukong's guiling source. It is more than enough to sustain my rule dissolution thirty times over... How will you survive?"
Realm Lord Flame bellowed, his eyes blood-red.
Qi Yuan took on a solemn, panicked look. "No, don't!"
He had originally considered playing the part more convincingly by asking, 'Will the one revived by guiling source even still be you?'
Yet he feared pushing too hard and scaring Realm Lord Flame out of it.
Thus, he could only repeatedly plead for him to stop!
In truth, his inner voice was screaming: *Hurry up and blow yourself up!*
After all, killing him normally would take an entire day!
Self-detonation, on the other hand, was over in an instant!
"Die!" Realm Lord Flame bellowed.
Boundless flame rules dissolved in that very fraction of a second.
The entire Void Sea seemed to heave with the shockwave.
Even the imposing warship rocked violently under the violent tremors.
Seeing this, Qi Yuan raised Mankind-Kindled Light.
"Hold the line!"
In reality, every shred of the rule dissolution was absorbed directly by his own flesh.
With Dying Radiance combined with Absolute Adaptation, what he feared least was the self-detonation of someone weaker than himself.
Naturally, if someone ten times stronger than him were to detonate, his health probably wouldn't stay locked.
In a flash, an ocean of experience surged into him.
Qi Yuan felt completely invigorated.
This was vastly more exhilarating than spending years repeatedly slaughtering Qi Huang and his kin.
They truly were cut from the same cloth—equally dimwitted.
A mere breath passed, and Realm Lord Flame's figure condensed anew.
At this moment, he looked no different from how he had appeared moments before.
Even with Qi Yuan's extraordinary vision, he could only discern the faintest, most microscopic discrepancies between this entity and the earlier Realm Lord Flame.
Realm Lord Flame looked at the dimmed Mankind-Kindled Light, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes before he remarked, "Mankind-Kindled Light is somewhat sturdier than I anticipated. It seems the guiling source in my hands might fall slightly short."
He wasn't in the least bit anxious.
The warship held a vast reserve of guiling source.
At worst, he could borrow more from the other Yang Gods.
He would grind Qi Yuan down to dust through sheer attrition.
"Again!" Realm Lord Flame roared, shattering into a dazzling burst of brilliant destruction like a firework.
"Hold it!" Qi Yuan yelled again, though he desperately wanted to ask Realm Lord Flame something.
*Could you maybe stop giving speeches before you blow yourself up?*
*If you feel it lacks flair, how about I do the voice-over for you?*
Meanwhile, beyond the Void Sea, the ever-composed Yuan was beginning to lose his footing.
"Mankind-Kindled Light can only withstand... perhaps fifteen rule dissolutions at best. As for the rest... it will be exceedingly difficult for the Realm Lord to endure!"
"Despicable! Heitian and Heitu have completely discarded martial ethics!"
"Realm Lord Wukong is even cutting off his retreat. Lord Realm Lord has nowhere to run!"
"What do we do?"
A heavy gloom weighed down upon the hearts of everyone present.
In this battle, the determination of Heitian and Heitu was immense; their singular aim was to eradicate Qi Yuan once and for all.
Right at that juncture, a woman's voice abruptly echoed through the void.
"Yuan... in this matter, you can seek the aid of Dao Lord Yaoguang. Only Dao Lord Yaoguang can save Qi Yuan."
All the Ancestral Gods immediately turned toward the empty expanse, where a woman bearing a thirty percent resemblance to Yuan stood in the void.
Clad from head to toe in blood-red robes, she exuded an enchanting, alluring grace.
"Yi!"
The Ancestral Gods present were shaken.
This newcomer was none other than the leader of the Radiant Society, Yi—Yuan's younger sister.
The Radiant Society had long stood in opposition to the Renqi Society.
Seeing Yi appear, the crowd felt surprise, though not sheer terror.
Yuan's expression shifted through several nuances.
When it came to a being as monumental as Dao Lord Yaoguang, Yuan had no way of guessing what he might think.
However, if they wished for an audience, they would inevitably have to surrender something of immense value.
Otherwise, why would Dao Lord Yaoguang intervene?
Presently, Realm Lord Flame was detonating himself over and over again; time was rapidly running out.
There was no room left for hesitation.
"Very well," Yuan agreed.
Yet he understood full well that this was merely Yi's suggestion; Dao Lord Yaoguang was by no means guaranteed to lend a helping hand.
"Take this Light-Void Talisman." Yi looked at Yuan and tossed a talisman over.
Without a second thought, Yuan activated the Light-Void Talisman.
In an instant, his surrounding environment transformed.
When he reappeared, he found himself standing in a world bathed in boundless radiance.
This realm seemed entirely constructed of pure light.
Splendid and breathtakingly ethereal, it bore no resemblance to any light found in the mortal realm.
"The leader of the Radiant Society requests an audience with Lord Wuguang!" Yi bowed her head, her voice ringing clear.
Just as her words faded, a young boy appearing no older than six or seven stepped into view.
With vermilion lips and white teeth, his hair was dense and fine, yet instead of black, it was entirely snow-white.
It was as if not a single ray of light could cling to the child's form.
Realm Lord Wuguang was an attendant of Dao Lord Yaoguang, a Yang God of the Heaven-Opening Realm.
A faint smile played on his lips. "I already know the purpose of your visit."
"We beg Lord Wuguang to—"
"Stop." Realm Lord Wuguang raised a short, chubby, pale finger, the smile remaining on his face. "I will not intervene."
Yi's expression changed abruptly.
She had never anticipated such an outcome.
Yuan gritted his teeth and declared, "The Divine Wood Universe is willing to pay any price that satisfies your lordship!"
He assumed Realm Lord Wuguang was simply bargaining.
Time was slipping away; no matter how painful the loss, they had to bleed for it.
Yet Realm Lord Wuguang simply shook his head. "It is not a matter of price."
Both Yuan and Yi were momentarily stunned, baffled by what Realm Lord Wuguang meant.
"Come with me and see for yourselves." Realm Lord Wuguang gave a grand wave of his sleeve.
In an instant, the scene before the three of them shifted.
"Look... at that line the Master drew back then."
Realm Lord Wuguang's pale, tender finger pointed into the far distance.
Yuan and Yi looked in that direction. Their breath caught in their throats, expressions freezing into sheer terror and despair.
Even the perpetually calm Yuan turned as pale as death.
"The line... is gone... How is that possible? Weren't there still over ten thousand years remaining?" Yi cried aloud, agitated beyond measure.
Long ago, the Dao Lord had drawn a line.
The Dao Lord had once stated that the line was gradually fading, and the moment it vanished completely would mark the true 'awakening' of Heitian, the moment it would swallow the Divine Wood Universe whole.
The so-called Heitu were merely parasites clinging to Heitian.
Heitian was the true, primordial horror, an entity that even Dao Lord Yaoguang was unwilling to confront directly.
Judging by the rate at which the line was receding, the Divine Wood Universe should have had well over ten thousand years left.
Yet now... only a minuscule speck remained. This meant that Heitian could 'awaken' at any given moment.
Perhaps in the very next breath.
At this point, the battle unfolding within the Void Sea was no longer of any significance.
The paramount concern was how the Divine Wood Universe could possibly survive once Heitian woke.
"How could this be?" Yi murmured to herself. "The Dao Lord is omniscient and omnipotent. How could he have misjudged?"
Despair engulfed her.
In Yi's eyes, the Dao Lord was an all-knowing, all-powerful existence incapable of failure.
With a single word, the Dao Lord could reboot a universe; with a single word, he could reverse the rules of existence.
Yet now, the line the Dao Lord had drawn had strayed from its predicted trajectory. How could she not be horrified, desperately wishing it were all an illusion?
Realm Lord Wuguang shook his head. "The Dao Lord's omniscience and omnipotence are confined strictly to the Yaoguang Universe.
"As for Heitian... it is extraordinarily unique. Even the Dao Lord is prone to errors in deduction when it comes to that entity."
By now, Yuan's expression had shifted from numbness to cold resolve. Looking at Yi, he said solemnly, "Please send me back to the Tai Star Domain."
Now that the line drawn by the Dao Lord had vanished, he had to deliver this news to the Renqi Society.
The time truly left to them was scant—perhaps... less than a single day.
Never had Yuan imagined that what began as an ordinary standoff would not only escalate into a major battle, but spiral straight into the apocalypse.
"Take this Light-Void Talisman." Yi gritted her teeth and handed the talisman to Yuan.
"Thank you." Yuan expressed his gratitude, and his figure dissolved on the spot.
His thoughts were a tangled storm.
The Divine Wood Universe had so little time left—a single day... How... how could they possibly break this deadlock?
...
"Cough, cough... I'm just a hair's breadth from dying! Realm Lord Flame, you're too mighty!" Qi Yuan gasped, spitting a mouthful of blood from his lips.
Realm Lord Flame wore a grave expression, his eyes burning with fury. "You're playing me!"
He had detonated himself twenty-three times, and every single time, Qi Yuan looked as if he was on the verge of death.
Although his intellect and his discerning sight as a Realm Lord insisted that Qi Yuan was indeed hanging by a thread...
Still... he couldn't shake the conviction that the bastard was mocking him!
How could anyone remain half-dead while withstanding so many of his rule dissolutions?
Chapter 559