"Stop talking nonsense. I'm very kind and full of positive energy—how could I possibly trick you?"
"Look, the blood vessels in my body have all ruptured!"
"Especially those capillaries—they're even bleeding!"
Qi Yuan spoke earnestly, extending his pale, tender arm to show Realm Lord Flame.
Realm Lord Flame's eyelids twitched violently. "Are you mocking me?"
At their level of cultivation, injuries were wounds of the Great Dao, wounds of rules.
Even having one's head severed was nothing.
Ruptured capillaries—that counted as an injury?
"No, absolutely not. I swear on my personal integrity! Hurry up and melt your rules down—I'm about to die! Hurry, grant me my wish!" As shameless as ever, Qi Yuan gave an explosive performance.
"Courting death!" Enraged, Realm Lord Flame ceased dissolving his rules and instead lunged in attack toward Qi Yuan.
Seeing this, Qi Yuan sighed leisurely. "If you want to die, just kill yourself. Why trouble me?"
He was no longer who he once was.
Realm Lord Flame had detonated himself twenty-three times, bringing Qi Yuan a colossal amount of experience.
His strength had increased considerably once more.
Most importantly, across Realm Lord Flame's repeated self-detonations, the rules of flame continuously dissolved. Holding the Mankind-Kindled Light that represented "fire," Qi Yuan's comprehension of the rules of flame had reached an absolute pinnacle.
"Back then, killing you would have taken an entire day. But now, having comprehended every flame in the world, I need only thirty breaths."
Following Qi Yuan's voice, a pale, eerie white flame surged up from his body.
"Ancestor of all fires, origin of myriad flames, condense in my hand and burn eternally!"
Along with Qi Yuan's words, one terrifying, extraordinary flame after another surged and spread.
Nether Fire!
Samadhi True Fire!
Red Lotus Karmic Fire!
True Solar Fire!
True Lunar Fire!
Every single flame bore an extraordinary, mystical hue.
Placed in any realm, each could create miracles and stir the profound.
At this moment, all the flames blazed, obliterating everything, reducing even the void, poles, and dark matter to pure ash.
"Since you're unwilling to commit suicide, then allow me to help you!" Qi Yuan's assault was ferocious.
"Impossible! How could you have grasped the true essence of flame?" Realm Lord Flame resisted frantically.
Unfortunately, he was no match for Qi Yuan.
After all, Qi Yuan had already entered the Myriad Things Realm.
Now wielding the exact same true essence of flame, his attacks were utterly devastating.
"Ten, nine, eight... three, two, die!"
Following Qi Yuan's countdown, Realm Lord Flame held out for merely twenty-nine breaths before falling right then and there.
"Realm Lord Wukong, join forces with me at once! He isn't in the Rule Realm!" the resurrected Realm Lord Flame roared.
In the distance, Realm Lord Wukong, who was cutting off any retreat, had a face that flickered through varied expressions before he finally said, "I only agreed to help block his escape path!"
The Realm Lord before them was simply far too mysterious and unfathomable, having inexplicably mastered Realm Lord Flame's rules.
He dared not make a move at all.
"I will die!" Realm Lord Flame bellowed. "Once I am dead, you will be next!"
Realm Lord Wukong remained unmoved.
Could Qi Yuan possibly charge into Heitian itself?
That was out of the question.
Thus, he chose to be a spectator.
After all, if he stepped in and Qi Yuan fathomed his own rules as well, the loss would far outweigh any gain.
"No!"
Realm Lord Flame roared in despair, only to be slain once more.
With every death, he perished even faster.
Meanwhile, upon the Emperor Star.
The assembled Ancestral Gods were deeply shaken. "He can actually slay a Realm Lord!"
"Earlier was all an act!"
"Slaying a Realm Lord... hiss!"
These Ancestral Gods could hardly conceive of it.
He could even slay a Realm Lord!
With such power, if Qi Yuan held down the Void Sea, who would dare invade the Divine Wood Universe!
"We won! We've won!" The hot-tempered bearded man was overwhelmingly agitated with excitement.
The white-browed old man also showed a gratified smile.
How many years had it been? Facing the invasions of Heitian and Heitu, the Divine Wood Universe could only retreat in defeat step after step.
"With Realm Lord Flame falling in this battle, Heitian and Heitu will surely be filled with dread. In the remaining tens of thousands of years, we can forge curious treasures of light with peace of mind!"
"Yes! Once our curious treasures of light grow in number, we will no longer lack the power to resist when Heitian and Heitu invade!"
The Ancestral Gods present were thrilled.
For so many years, they had never felt such joy and excitement as they did today.
"He's dead... Realm Lord Flame has been completely slain!"
"Lord Qi Yuan... killed a Realm Lord!"
At this moment, all the Ancestral Gods present were profoundly moved.
Because this time, after Realm Lord Flame died, he never revived.
They had witnessed with their own eyes the fall of a Realm Lord.
That was a Realm Lord!
A terrifying, exalted entity that could not be resisted at all without Mankind-Kindled Light!
"Qi Yuan!"
"Realm Lord!"
All the Ancestral Gods cheered, long devoid of their previous arrogance and aloofness.
To them, with Qi Yuan having slain Realm Lord Flame, the remaining Realm Lords of Heitian and Heitu would undoubtedly be wary and dare not casually invade the Divine Wood Universe for the time being, granting the Divine Wood Universe a period of peace and stability.
Just then, a beam of light flashed.
Yuan's figure appeared.
Upon seeing Yuan, all the Ancestral Gods eagerly and excitedly cried out, "Yuan, there is no need to ask Dao Lord Yaoguang to intervene! Lord Qi Yuan... has already slain Realm Lord Flame!"
"Yes, Realm Lord Flame was slain by Lord Qi Yuan! What an exhilarating battle!"
"We... are about to welcome ten thousand years of peace and tranquility!"
The Ancestral Gods present shared their joy and excitement with Yuan one after another.
After all these years, they could finally hold their heads high and breathe a sigh of relief.
Yet many noticed that Yuan's expression was grim.
"Yuan... did something happen?" Sheng Nü asked carefully at this moment.
It had been a long time since she had seen such an expression on Yuan's face.
Last time, when Heitian and Heitu invaded and Yuan had ventured alone into the Void Sea, his face had never looked this grave.
"Yuan... what happened?" the hot-tempered bearded man could not help asking.
"The line... is gone," Yuan spoke with great difficulty, his voice laced with despair and boundless desolation.
"Line? What line? The line is gone?!!!" Hearing this, one Ancestral God froze, utter disbelief plastered across his face.
"How is that possible... How could the line be gone? Aren't there still tens of thousands of years left?" the hot-tempered bearded man murmured in disbelief.
The line was gone—every Ancestral God present understood the meaning of those words.
When the line ended, Heitian would awaken and officially invade the Divine Wood Universe.
When that time came... it would take merely a single day for the Divine Wood Universe to be utterly destroyed!
Seven pieces of Mankind-Kindled Light were nowhere near enough to illuminate all worlds and stave off Heitian; they needed far, far more pieces of Mankind-Kindled Light.
"How could this be? That line was perfectly fine—how could it just disappear? Could there be a mistake?" The white-browed old man looked at Yuan, desperate for a different answer.
Their immense joy felt as though a basin of icy water had been dumped over it, so chilling they could hardly breathe.
"Not good—the Void Sea! Quickly inform the Lord Realm Lord that the line is gone!" an Ancestral God realized.
When Heitian awakened, its swallowing of the Void Sea would be the slowest, taking perhaps half a day.
Half a day later, it would swallow the Divine Wood Universe.
Qi Yuan, standing inside the Void Sea, was in extreme danger.
Immediately, several Ancestral Gods transmitted their voices to Qi Yuan.
In the next breath, the expressions of all the Ancestral Gods froze.
Countless eyes turned toward the Void Sea, filled with growing despair.
"Heitian..."
"Heitian truly has awakened!"
"It's over!"
"We aren't prepared at all! Even if we wanted to flee, there's nowhere to run!"
The Ancestral Gods were in despair.
Meanwhile, within the Void Sea, fear surged into the eyes of Realm Lord Wukong as well.
"Heitian awakens... How could Heitian awaken ahead of time?"
Aboard the battleship, countless guiling and Yang Gods were terrified out of their wits.
Their despair was no less profound than that of the Divine Wood Universe's Ancestral Gods.
Heitian's awakening meant... the destruction of everything, including... Heitu.
Qi Yuan stood in the Void Sea, wielding the seven pieces of Mankind-Kindled Light, his expression growing solemn.
"Has Heitian awakened?"
He looked into the depths of the Void Sea, only to see a colossal black bubble swelling at an unimaginable speed, swallowing everything in the world.
Even a place as terrifying and stable as the Void Sea was like brittle tofu before that black bubble.
In an instant, tens of millions of li of space were swallowed.
Countless colors, motes of light, and lines were consumed.
Qi Yuan held the Mankind-Kindled Light, standing tall above the Void Sea.
Through his transmission magical device came messages from numerous Ancestral Gods:
*Heitian has awakened! Retreat immediately!*
*The Divine Wood Universe has only one day left!*
"Retreat?" Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes.
He had never fought unprepared battles, always overpowering the weak with superior strength.
Yet this time, staring directly at that bubble, he felt small for the very first time.
His right eyebrow twitched madly.
The frequency of the twitching was over ten thousand times more violent than when he had encountered Qi Huang—an intensity beyond words.
And because it was his right eyebrow, it meant extreme peril.
A billion deaths, not a sliver of life.
The black bubble devoured relentlessly.
Qi Yuan stood in place, his gaze profound.
*My eyes... actually can't see any information about Heitian.*
All along, Qi Yuan's ability to see hidden information had been one of his greatest reliances.
In countless crises, he had relied on his eyes to break through the predicament.
He had even forged Creation Treasures as a Purple Mansion cultivator and slain Great Ultimate Principles from below.
Yet now, as his eyes peered into that terrifying, gloomy, chaotic black bubble, he saw nothing at all.
This was the first time he had ever encountered such a thing.
Even back on the Moon Gazing Continent, when facing foes far stronger than himself alone, he had never felt like this.
"What on earth... is Heitian?"
Qi Yuan stood where he was. The black bubble was devouring at incredible speed.
In perhaps an hour or so, it would consume everything up to his current position.
"Flee?"
Qi Yuan murmured.
Now, when it came to this game's final boss, he still had zero useful information on Heitian.
And his right eyebrow was twitching frantically in warning, telling him that pressing forward meant an absolute dead end.
A fatal impasse!
An inescapable fatal impasse!
"I'm just a gamer. If I'm scared of even a game virus... wouldn't that be completely humiliating?"
"Besides, I invested in this game. If I back down... wouldn't the game be gone?"
"Stealing my company? A despicable trade war?"
"Courting death!"
Qi Yuan's gaze hardened with resolve.
"A dead end, is it?"
"I'd like to see just how deadly you can be!"
At that moment, the seven pieces of Mankind-Kindled Light radiated inexhaustible brilliance.
The world within the Void Sea was illuminated by the radiant glow, standing as the sole light amidst the dark, abyssal depths.
"Let's see what this so-called Heitian is made of!"
Without the slightest hesitation, holding the Mankind-Kindled Light, Qi Yuan charged resolutely toward that colossal bubble.
He was going to find out what kind of holy entity this so-called Heitian really was.
"Lord Realm Lord!" Seeing this, all the Ancestral Gods were horrified.
No one had anticipated that Qi Yuan would actually wield the Mankind-Kindled Light and attack Heitian.
In everyone's consensus, Heitian was invincible and peerless.
Otherwise, even the Void Realm Lord of the Zhou Universe, who had once claimed that incorporating the Divine Wood Universe into his cycle might allow him to ascend another level, had flatly dared not set foot in the Divine Wood Universe because of Heitian's existence.
Beyond that, the even more exalted and unfathomable Dao Lord Yaoguang had never descended upon the Divine Wood Universe either.
Heitian... was simply unconquerable!
And now, holding the Mankind-Kindled Light, Qi Yuan was actually charging straight at Heitian.
"Can he... hold it back?" someone asked hesitantly, yet deep within their eyes lay only despair.
"A Dragon Extinction layout—this is a Dragon Extinction layout!" The chess piece in the white-browed old man's hand dropped, forming a divination hexagram... Dragon Extinction.
In his path of divination, this was the absolute most hopeless layout.
It was also the first time in all his years of casting divinations that such a hexagram had appeared.
*Thump!*
The hot-tempered bearded man kicked the divination layout over.
"What bullshit Dragon Extinction! The Lord Realm Lord is facing Heitian all by himself, and what we should be thinking about is... what on earth we should do!"
"Qi Yuan is a Realm Lord wielding seven pieces of Mankind-Kindled Light... Perhaps he can hold Heitian back for... seven shichen," the Yang God of the Tian Clan said.
Back when Heitian descended in the past, the Human King had held half a curious treasure of light and held Heitian back for half an incense stick of time.
Mankind-Kindled Light was a Realm Lord-grade curious treasure, but by no means an ordinary one.
"Seven shichen..." Yuan's expression was calm, his voice chilly. "That means we still have nineteen shichen."
"Nineteen shichen... is too short," the other Ancestral Gods said bitterly.
"No more wasting words! We must preserve the sparks of our civilization!" the hot-tempered bearded man declared.
At that moment, Sheng Nü cast a deep glance toward the Void Sea, her pretty face clouded with sorrow.
Within the Void Sea.
The seven beams of light were colossal, seeming capable of reflecting across the heavens.
In the Divine Wood Universe, countless worlds and myriad living beings seemed to witness the appearance of seven beams of light, and above those seven beams was the pitch-black, profound Heitian.
The original Heitu battleship shattered at this moment.
All the people of the Heitu clan, including Realm Lord Wukong, vanished without a trace in an instant.
Heitian's awakening meant the end of Heitu—or rather, a transition into a different form of existence.
And by now, Qi Yuan was infinitely close to that terrifying black bubble.
His right eyebrow twitched madly, and Qi Yuan sensed an aura of utmost peril.
"Feudal superstitions aren't to be trusted!"
"Sever!"
All his ultimate abilities, Absolute Adaptation, and more were unleashed at this moment.
The seven pieces of Mankind-Kindled Light also performed their due roles.
At this instant, Qi Yuan unleashed the strongest strike of his current life.
The mere aura overflowing from this strike was enough to annihilate stars.
Yet... the black bubble ahead did not move in the slightest.
And... Qi Yuan's vision shifted at that very moment.
"Am I... inside Heitian?"
Qi Yuan scanned what lay ahead and above.
The world here was an endless darkness—a pitch-black void beyond description. Even Qi Yuan could perceive no matter, no distance, no flow of time.
Only within a single meter around Mankind-Kindled Light was there a faint illumination.
Right then, countless points of light flickered densely within Heitian.
They resembled pairs of living eyes.
At this moment, Qi Yuan perceived what seemed to be billions of terrifying beings all gazing down upon him.
They truly were the eyes of living creatures!
These beings were none other than the former Heitu clan—or perhaps... countless other terrifying entities as well.
"Realm Lord Wukong?" Qi Yuan looked toward the nearest figure, surprise flashing in his eyes.
"I am Wukong, and I am not Wukong," that shadowy, profound figure spoke. He reached a hand out toward Qi Yuan, his expression cold and devoid of any emotion. "Welcome to our ranks."
Chapter 560