Under the mantle of the immortal robe, the boundless, roiling sea fell tranquil in an instant.
Watching this scene through satellite feeds, high-ranking officials across nations were struck dumb for a long time.
One person, subduing the entire ocean alone!
Such mighty power was surely no less than that of a true immortal!
And this was merely an avatar shaped from a wisp of spiritual thought belonging to God Zhonghuang Taiyi, who ruled high within Zhonghuang Yuanji Heaven. If a mere avatar was already so like a god or demon, what kind of scene would unfold if His true body acted in person?
A whole galactic system in a single palm? An entire universe?
The moment this thought entered their minds, boundless fear and yearning welled within them.
"Whatever the case... the nightmare is over—" someone suddenly murmured.
Hearing those words, everyone felt as though a crushing thousand-jin burden had been lifted from their shoulders, and they let out long sighs of relief.
"Yes, the nightmare has ended."
"Humanity's future may remain uncertain, but at least we won't perish within a few years or decades. So long as we can keep surviving, the fire of civilization will never go out!"
"I can finally get a good night's sleep. Today I'm going to sleep for a full twenty hours, and no one better wake me!"
"Right, send out word that flights can resume as normal."
"And withdraw the tsunami and typhoon warnings. No need to keep scrambling."
"Should we issue a public announcement informing the populace that the nightmare has ended?"
"Don't rush it. Although we can essentially confirm that the demonic man was the root of the nightmares, we should wait until we make contact with Mr. Huang and confirm it with him first."
"—"
Soon, nations worldwide jointly released a new announcement stating that all flights were cleared for normal departure, coastal residents had no need to worry about typhoons or tsunamis, and so forth, instantly sending countless citizens into an uproar.
"Did the Great God Taiyi win?!"
"I live on the coast of Moya! About five minutes ago, dark clouds covered the sky, thunder and lightning clashed, and a typhoon was howling so hard it snapped trees in the city. A skinny person walking outside could have been swept off their feet by the wind! But now, all the dark clouds have scattered, the sun has come out, and the gale has stopped. Right now, I'm standing by the coast with a crowd of people, looking out into the distance, and the sea as far as the eye can see is calm. The two giants who were fighting earlier are nowhere to be seen. I can't say for sure what the outcome is, but the battle is definitely over."
"The god definitely won!! I live on Manga Island, a small island of just over a hundred thousand people. Just two or three minutes ago, massive waves surged crazily onto the shore, knocking down and drowning all the trees by the coast. Wave after wave kept coming, looking like they would submerge all of Manga Island, and everyone was terrified and running toward the highest mountain on the island. I reacted pretty quickly, and since my home is close to the mountain, the moment I saw things were bad, I ran up the mountain with my parents. You have no idea how terrified I was, standing on the mountain peak and looking at waves that seemed about to blot out the sky. I didn't want to end up buried in the sea, eaten by fish and shrimp. My parents, along with many, many others who fled up the mountain, were all earnestly praying to God Taiyi. Maybe our devout prayers were heard by the god. Suddenly, a burst of light rippled across the sky—no, that's not right, it wasn't light, it was like a swath of sheer gauze woven by a heavenly deity! The gauze was vast beyond measure, blanketing everywhere I could see. Beneath that robe of sheer gauze, every single one of those surging waves subsided! The god definitely won—if a demon had won, how could it possibly care about the lives of ordinary people?"
"...—"
All manner of discussions erupted across the internet, but virtually everyone held an optimistic attitude. While the authorities had not explicitly proclaimed the final result, the tone of their official bulletins carried a palpable, collective sigh of relief.
While the internet buzzed with impassioned debate, Huang Tian strode across the vast ocean, carrying the severely wounded, unconscious Fu Di until he arrived at a deserted island.
With a flick of his hand, he drew Fu Di before him. Pressing his right palm against the top of the man's head, Fu Di's frame shuddered, dazed as he awoke from his coma. Catching sight of Huang Tian, terror seized him. "Spare—"
*Bang!*
A flick of Huang Tian's left hand knocked Fu Di unconscious once more, and he proceeded with the soul search.
"Ugh..."
The process of soul searching was excruciating, but Fu Di's injuries were far too grave; he failed to wake again, only letting out involuntary whimpers from his throat.
At the same time, an immense tide of memories flooded Huang Tian's mind.
The Ancient Demon Realm, the Origin Bead, the *Great Heavenly Demon Lord Expounds the Living Beings Sutra*, the *Three Life-Pledging Curses*—
After a long while, having reviewed every scrap of memory, Huang Tian released his grip, and Fu Di's body slumped limp onto the ground.
*Fwhoosh~*
A wisp of divine fire materialized from the void, drifting down upon Fu Di. In mere breaths, it reduced him to ashes, which scattered upon the ocean breeze.
"A bountiful harvest—"
Having disposed of Fu Di, Huang Tian unhurriedly sorted through the memories he had extracted.
The most extensive part was Fu Di's thousand-plus years of life experiences during his cultivation. For the most part, Huang Tian merely skimmed these, focusing intently only on the cultivation insights.
Next were the various cultivation methods and secret arts Fu Di had practiced, comprising both demonic disciplines and righteous techniques—seven in total, though none extended beyond the sixth rank. Even so, they offered Huang Tian immense inspiration.
Beyond that was information concerning seventh-rank immortals and demons. Only upon attaining True Immortal or True Demon status was one truly considered to have entered the Dao. Stepping into the seventh rank required condensing a Dao Seed—such as a Fear Dao Seed, a Depravity Dao Seed, or a Purification Dao Seed...
And so forth.
Of course, across the myriad heavens, this was not the only path to the seventh rank. Fu Di had once heard of cultivators who pursued the path of blessed lands, grotto-heavens, and worlds:
Forging a blessed land at the seventh rank, evolving a grotto-heaven at the eighth rank, and creating a great trichiliocosm at the ninth rank.
There were also those who attained the Dao through artifacts, fusing their bodies with seventh-rank supreme treasures to step into the True Immortal realm, and thereafter continuously elevating the grade of their Dharma treasure to drive their own cultivation higher.
In short, endless spacetime was unimaginably vast, and the paths to attaining the Dao were legion; one only had to choose the course best suited to oneself and walk it to the end.
Taking the Origin Bead in hand, Huang Tian sent his divine sense into it to carefully comprehend its essence.
Nearly half a day later, he withdrew his divine sense, looking pensive. "This Origin Bead truly qualifies as a treasure. Regrettably, the damage to it is far too severe, so its effectiveness for comprehending a Fear Dao Seed is rather lackluster—at least for me. However, a portion of origin still remains within it. If I refine and absorb it, it will be enough for me to break through to the Great Ascension realm, perhaps even consummate Great Ascension."
Refining it, however, would completely destroy the already heavily damaged Origin Bead.
"No rush for now—"
He stowed it away, then took a step, shooting toward the State of Dongping like a streak of flowing light. Before long, he reached Qingyang City. Sweeping his divine sense across the entire metropolis, his expression suddenly shifted, and his gaze settled on a house nestled in a secluded alleyway.
Inside the room, a young man with tattooed arms slouched on a sofa with his legs crossed. Another long-haired young man was grinning as he caressed a small case on the round table, inside of which lay more than a dozen bags of powdery substance. "Brother Yu, once this batch is sold off, we've got to treat ourselves to the good life."
Brother Yu chuckled. "Having money and not living it up would make us fools, wouldn't it? Not to mention, in our line of work, there's no telling when we might catch a bullet, so all the more reason to enjoy ourselves while we can."
The long-haired youth's eyelids twitched, but he shrugged it off. "If we catch a bullet, so be it. A man only lives once; as long as it's a thrilling ride, who cares about the rest?"
"I really admire your attitude, Zhang Qi. That's the mindset of someone who can make it big!"
Brother Yu bounced his leg. "Our crew will expand this business sooner or later. When we've really made enough dough, we'll head overseas to live large, instead of staying here living in fear day in and day out."
Zhang Qi nodded vigorously. "Going abroad is great, going abroad is the way—"
*Crash!!*
The words had barely left his mouth when the door was kicked open with a thunderous bang. A scarred man standing two meters tall, gripping an iron hammer the size of a human head, strode inside.
"Who the hell are you?!" The two froze, and Zhang Qi lashed out instinctively in fury.
The scarred man offered no reply. He swung the iron hammer, the wind howling as it struck toward Zhang Qi, shattering his right arm in the blink of an eye.
"Aaargh!" Zhang Qi collapsed to the floor, screaming in agony, his heart a turmoil of fury and terror.
Brother Yu scrambled backward in panic toward the back door. He twisted the handle, but the door refused to budge. Frantic, he yanked and wrenched at it, yet it remained completely useless, as though the door had fused seamlessly into the wall—impossible to push open, impossible to kick down.
*Thud, thud!*
Heavy footsteps hammered against his heart. Brother Yu turned back in dread, only to see the scarred man gripping the hammer, walking toward him step by step.
"Brother, whose crew are you with? There's no grudge between us, no reason for this to be a fight to the death, right? Just name a price, and I'll give you the cash!"
Brother Yu's face grew progressively paler, because no matter what he said, the man remained completely indifferent. Left with no alternative, he gritted his teeth, seized a chair near the doorway, let out a mad roar, and charged at the scarred man.
*Boom!*
The iron hammer swept through the air, smashing the chair into kindling before brutally slamming into Brother Yu's chest.
*Pfft—*
Blood sprayed violently as Brother Yu flew backward into the wall, sliding limply to the floor.
"You... motherfucker—" Brother Yu slurred, while Zhang Qi continued to wail and weep in agony.
Above the house, Huang Tian watched the Origin Bead absorbing the power of fear, his brow arching slightly. "Far too feeble."
With a thought, the environment inside the room shifted abruptly.
The walls went from pristine white to a grimy gray, the plaster flaking away. The floor turned yellowish like damp earth, the table and chairs rotted, the sunlight slanting through the window grew dim and murky, and the air filled with a foul, fishy stench.
At the same time, the scarred man, along with the iron hammer in his hand, melted away like candle wax, leaving behind only a puddle of foul fluid.
Even in their agonizing pain, Zhang Qi and Brother Yu stared wide-eyed in sheer horror at the sight.
*Sob, sob...*
Faint weeping arose as the light in the room grew dimmer still, a suffocating aura settling over both men's hearts.
Shivering, Zhang Qi followed the sound of weeping toward the side door. There, crouched on all fours, was a woman in a patient's gown. Her spine was arched, and long hair hung down to veil her face.
"A-Ab-Aberration!" Zhang Qi's mind went completely blank. Brother Yu was in no better state, gaping in frozen shock.
They knew of nightmare aberrations and dream expellers, but they had never imagined that they would one day be dragged into a nightmare event. Especially after the legendary deity had descended into the world, they had cared even less about nightmares. After all, everyone on the internet claimed that so long as one prayed to the Great God Zhonghuang Taiyi when a nightmare arrived, one would emerge safe and sound—
"Right! Right! The god!"
Brother Yu suddenly remembered, his mouth rapidly forming the words: "Zhonghuang Tai—"
Before he could finish, an inexplicable force clamped his mouth shut, preventing him from uttering a single sound.
"Mmph, mmph!"
Brother Yu strained with all his might to pry his mouth open, desperate to roar, yet not a squeak escaped. In desperation, he shot frantic glances at Zhang Qi. Snapping out of his stupor, Zhang Qi hurried to cry out, "Zhong—"
The moment that single word left his lips, he could not say another, his jaws locked shut.
*Roar—*
At that moment, the woman crawling on all fours snapped her head up. The long hair veiling her face fell aside, revealing a deathly pale face. Her mouth was torn open all the way to her ears, displaying two rows of razor-sharp fangs dripping with saliva.
Her four limbs, which had supported her frame, suddenly tensed and swelled with cords of muscle. With a bloodcurdling screech, she lunged straight at Brother Yu!
Her limbs pounded against the ground with booming thuds. That gaping maw bristling with fangs, accompanied by a heavy, nauseating stench of blood, magnified rapidly in Brother Yu's vision.
"Aaaagh—ghk—"
Brother Yu's eyes bulged so hard they nearly burst with blood. His heart pounded wildly, drumming with frenzied urgency, the beats growing louder and more frantic by the millisecond!
*Pop!*
With a muffled snap, the light in Brother Yu's eyes swiftly drained away, his pupils dimming into darkness. He had been scared to death—literally!
Seeing him die of fright, the female aberration wheeled around, pouncing toward the petrified Zhang Qi.
Staring at the rancid gale rushing at him and the mouth full of ghastly white fangs, a low, rattling wheeze escaped Zhang Qi's throat. His eyes rolled back into white, his head tilted sideways, and he passed out from pure terror.
The instant he lost consciousness, the female aberration's form froze. Everything in the room seemed to reverse through time, returning to normal. Gentle sunlight poured through the window once more, bringing a comforting warmth.
Huang Tian swept his sleeve, and both Brother Yu and Zhang Qi, slumped on the ground, dissolved into scattering ash.
"This so-called power of fear is practically equivalent to devouring human beings—"
He produced the Origin Bead, sighing softly.
Earlier, when facing the hammer-wielding man, Zhang Qi and his partner had been injured and nearly beaten to death. They had undoubtedly felt immense fear, yet that trickle of fear power had been far too weak, negligible at best.
Yet when Brother Yu was frightened to death by the female aberration, the fear power generated was incomparably greater. It was as if his entire emotional and spiritual essence had been squeezed dry in a single, explosive burst—surpassing the previous amount not only in quantity, but in quality by an enormous margin.
Shaking his head, Huang Tian took a step forward. In the next instant, he appeared outside the door of Room 301, where Li Ding and Zhou Zhenhong were standing respectfully, waiting.
The moment they saw Huang Tian, both men bowed courteously. "Mr. Huang!"
Knowing the purpose of their visit, Huang Tian spoke succinctly: "The root of the nightmares has been eradicated. From this day forward, no more nightmare aberrations will manifest upon the Ancient Star."
Hearing this, delight spread across their faces, and they thanked him profusely. Huang Tian waved a hand. "You may take your leave."
With that, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Standing outside, the two exchanged a glance, then quietly departed with lightened steps.
Once they reached the ground floor and returned to their car, Zhou Zhenhong broke into ecstatic laughter. "Haha! The source of the nightmares truly was slain by Mr. Huang! Peace has finally returned to the world!"
Li Ding was equally overjoyed. He took out his phone and made calls to several high-ranking officials awaiting the news, ringing one after another in a flurry of jubilation.
Soon, having received confirmed word, the State of Dongping contacted senior officials of various nations to relay the information. Ten minutes later, governments across the world jointly released an announcement declaring that the root of the nightmares had been eradicated, and the haze of doomsday had entirely dispersed!
Learning the news, countless citizens erupted in wild joy. Crowds poured into the streets, high-fiving and hugging strangers they met along the way. Others set off fireworks, filling the air with an endless, crackling chorus of celebrations.
On this day, the entire globe rejoiced.
On this day, nations collectively named the occasion "Taiyi Day" to commemorate the grace of God Zhonghuang Taiyi descending to purge evil from the world.
And on this day, draining the pond to catch the fish, Huang Tian began refining the final vestiges of origin within the Origin Bead. At the same time, he set aside a portion of his mind to study and absorb the most cutting-edge knowledge across various fields on the Ancient Star.
A month slipped past in the blink of an eye—
The night sky was serene, a bright moon suspended high at the zenith, casting an ivory-white, cool sheen across heaven and earth. From an apartment building in Qingyang City, a solitary figure stepped forth, drifting aloft into the high heavens to look down upon the earth. The divine light in his eyes shone in tandem with the descending moonlight.
"So this is consummate Great Ascension. My resonance with the qi dynamics of heaven and earth, and with the formless Dao, grows ever more vivid."
He savored the sensation for a time, then cast one final glance across heaven and earth, sighing softly: "Return, return—"
With those words, his figure dispersed like mist and clouds, turning into crystalline motes of light like stars studding the night sky, winking briefly before settling into eternal stillness—
The first person to discover Huang Tian's departure was Li Ding.
When he came to visit and received no response, he assumed Huang Tian was in secluded cultivation and dared not disturb him, quietly departing.
A month later, he came knocking again. Still there was no reply; after careful consideration, he departed once more.
Another month passed. On his third visit, met again with silence, he opened the door with trepidation. Only then did he find the interior completely vacant, with a thin layer of dust settled upon the floor.
He stood frozen on the spot, overwhelmed by a flood of emotions. After a long while, he murmured softly:
"The nightmares are eradicated, the immortal has departed, and many troubles shall now arise in the mortal realm—"
Chapter 179