Inside the hotel room, Huang Tian stood in a rooted stance, guiding the medicinal potency as it circulated through him.
Rumble!
A series of deep, muffled roars suddenly sounded from within his body—the resonance of qi and blood surging through his limbs and bones, beating against muscle, bone, and skin.
As the torrential river of qi and blood roared onward, his skin took on a faint, platinum sheen, gleaming like white jade.
At the same time, every joint in his skeleton popped in rapid succession as his muscles swelled.
In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a three-meter-tall platinum mini-giant with broad shoulders, a thick back, and perfectly balanced, flawless muscular contours. A single glance conveyed the stupendous might contained within.
Whoosh... hah...
His chest rose and fell slowly. Between breaths, he exhaled scorching white vapor, like the breath of a mighty dragon.
"The Supreme realm... The body rivals ten thousand furnaces, harboring the true soul within, illuminating every direction—"
He concentrated and turned his gaze inward. Within his Huangting, a tremendous transformation was unfolding.
In that vast, primal expanse of chaos, a single speck of light suddenly sparked to life. It began to devour the energy pouring in from every corner of his physical frame with ravenous hunger. Brilliance coalesced, contours emerged, and the form expanded and solidified at breakneck speed.
A giant manifested!
This titan flowed with platinum radiance throughout, its muscles rippling and knotted. Its countenance was identical to his physical body in the outside world, yet it stood as imposing as a towering mountain.
It stood quietly within the void of the Huangting. Its eyes were like twin blazing white suns, dazzling, bright, solemn, and majestic!
"Not bad—"
The corners of his mouth curved up slightly. With a subtle shift of his frame, his bones and muscles cracked in a flurry of pops, and he reverted to his original appearance.
Walking to the side, he picked up his phone, intending to check what had happened in the outside world over the few days he had spent in seclusion.
Yet the moment he tapped the screen awake, he was greeted by "99+" unread group messages alongside countless news alerts pushed by various apps.
Raising an eyebrow, he first tapped into the Baidi Young Martial Artists Social Group chat and scrolled back to the earliest message.
[Group Owner He Zhengtong: @All Members, *sigh*, everyone, take a look at these two videos.]
Huang Tian opened the first video. The footage was extremely shaky; whoever had filmed it was clearly panicking.
Chug-chug-chug—
On the screen, a fighter jet appeared against the distant horizon. Two figures leapt out from the aircraft. The video had added captions identifying them: one was Martial Grandmaster Kruma, and the other was Martial Grandmaster Bilong—both among the planet's pinnacle combatants.
One brandished a saber and the other wielded a staff, charging to kill a white-robed figure. The white-robed man had an identifying caption as well: Gu Rong, High Priest of the Flesh Society.
The three clashed in midair. In a single exchange, both Kruma and Bilong were slain.
The video ended. Huang Tian tapped open the second clip.
This one was even blurrier. One could only see a figure flying across the distant sky, also captioned as High Priest Gu Rong of the Flesh Society.
Suddenly, a missile-like object streaked in from the horizon. Gu Rong halted in midair and threw a punch toward the missile. Behind him, a thousand-meter-tall phantom rose and threw a punch in unison. In the next instant, boundless light erupted, and a mushroom cloud billowed upward, churning with immense clouds of dust.
After a long while, the blinding light faded and the smoke settled, revealing Gu Rong's completely unharmed figure. With that, the video cut off.
"The high priests of the evil god cults have also broken through to the Supreme realm?"
Huang Tian fell into thought, then continued scrolling through the chat history.
[Liu Xuexue: Group Owner, please don't tell me that thing in the second video was a nuke!!]
[Steamed Cake Laughs: Face reality. That thing was humanity's ultimate weapon, yet it couldn't even scratch Gu Rong. And two Martial Grandmasters were killed by him as easily as crushing ants... In other words, from now on, every nation is utterly powerless before the evil god cults... *sigh*!]
[Group Owner He Zhengtong: Gu Rong has clearly broken through to the Supreme realm. 'Once a Supreme arises, he is invincible under the heavens.' I thought that was an outdated saying. After all, the last time a Supreme appeared was thousands of years ago, back when technology was primitive and a single man could match an army.
Nowadays, a Martial Grandmaster wouldn't dare charge head-on against thousands of fully armed soldiers. How much stronger could a Supreme—just one realm higher than a Martial Grandmaster—possibly be?
Yet I never imagined the gulf between the two could be so colossal. It's as though one is an ordinary mortal, while the other has already become an immortal!]
[Hidden Deep Beneath the Quilt: What are we supposed to do? I sure as hell don't want to worship some bullshit evil god! Is there really no way for the nations of the world to kill a Supreme? If one nuke won't do it, what about ten? A hundred?]
[Group Owner He Zhengtong: Extremely difficult. Gu Rong isn't stupid. He dared to take one nuke head-on, but he'd naturally dodge a hundred. With his speed, he could easily escape the epicenter before the blast, suffering minor injuries at most.
More importantly, if he stays in densely populated areas, how could anyone drop a bomb? We'd fail to kill him and end up wiping out countless innocent people instead.]
[Qu Xiao (Hit me up for pills and potions~): I don't want to die, but I sure as hell won't worship some twisted evil god. If those bastards from the cults come to our Yangbai Federation, the worst that can happen is we go down fighting! Better dead than living like cattle, damn it!]
[—]
Huang Tian scrolled rapidly down and saw that nearly every member had surfaced; everyone was discussing the evil god cults.
Interspersed were updates forwarded from various news platforms:
"Most of the Feiqiu Federation has fallen—"
"All four Martial Grandmasters of the Feiqiu Federation have fallen in battle. Nearly all resistance forces have been wiped out."
"Faisal, High Priest of the Dark Heaven Society who worships the [Night Mother], has begun an invasion of Sairila, a small country with a population of two million—"
"In just one hour, Sairila completely fell. Over one hundred and thirty thousand dead."
"Rudi, High Priest of the Destiny Society who worships the [Weaver Lord], has arrived at Garda, the second-largest city of the Guduo Federation. Hipat, the Martial Grandmaster stationed in Garda, surrendered without resistance and voluntarily joined the Destiny Society—"
...
With every new update, the mood in the group sank lower.
Finally, at this very moment, He Zhengtong forwarded yet another piece of breaking news that sent shockwaves through everyone's hearts.
"Reports confirm that High Priest Gu Rong of the Flesh Society and High Priest Moya of the Scarlet Society are advancing toward our Yangbai Federation. They are about to arrive at the southern border city of Juhua City—"
Ping! Ping! Ping!
Messages flooded in at a dizzying pace.
[Group Owner He Zhengtong: Juhua City isn't that far from us. In other words, once it falls, we'll soon be facing two Supreme realm martial artists directly... Between life and death, we must make a choice.]
[Qu Xiao: I'll say it again: to hell with those evil gods!]
[Hidden Deep Beneath the Quilt: God damn it, can't I even hide beneath my quilt in peace anymore?!]
[Steamed Cake Laughs: Doesn't matter. Worst case, I die. My only regret is that I'm too weak—I probably won't even be able to take down a few cultists with me.]
...
The group members had either resolved to fight the cultists head-on or planned to hide away. Still, those were easy words to type on the internet; when the moment of life and death truly arrived, no one knew what choice they would make.
"Actually, there's no need to make any choice—"
Huang Tian exited the chat, opened his contacts, and dialed Chen Mengzhu's number.
Buzz—
Two seconds later, the call connected.
"Mr. Huang?" Chen Mengzhu's voice sounded heavy, clearly weighed down by immense pressure.
Huang Tian asked, "I saw the news that Gu Rong and Moya are heading toward the Yangbai Federation?"
"Yes, the reports are accurate," Chen Mengzhu replied. "Our Baidi City Dawnlight branch is urgently preparing for war, and some of our personnel have already departed to reinforce Juhua City."
She continued slowly, "Our Yangbai Federation is the most powerful nation in the world, which is precisely why two high priests have joined forces to strike at us. If they can crush us, resistance from other countries will collapse far more easily—
In fact, even right now, people across the globe have begun brazenly preaching the doctrines of the five evil god cults, while opportunists are rioting, looting, and setting fires. We not only have to face the pressure of the cults, but we also have to maintain domestic order... It's extremely difficult. Countless people have been terrified by the power Gu Rong and the others displayed. They no longer believe the government can resist, and panic has taken hold everywhere."
Huang Tian understood.
Chen Mengzhu suddenly remembered something and hesitated before asking, "Mr. Huang, why did you contact me just now—?"
"Prepare an aircraft for me. I'm going to Juhua City," Huang Tian replied.
Chen Mengzhu's breath hitched. She realized Huang Tian intended to go to the front lines to fight Gu Rong and his cohort to the death—no, it would be more accurate to call it sacrificing his life for righteousness!
In the face of Supreme realm beings, no matter how strong a Martial Grandmaster was, they could never be an opponent.
"I... I will arrange an aircraft for you immediately," Chen Mengzhu said with a heavy heart.
"Also, arrange a global livestream for me," Huang Tian added. His journey to Juhua City was not only to slay Gu Rong and the others for potential points, but also the perfect opportunity to spread his name, allowing the effect of his Voice-Attuned Call to reach its peak.
Chen Mengzhu froze. "What do you mean?"
"The reason the situation across various nations is in chaos right now is that the public lacks confidence in humanity's ability to triumph over the evil god cults. I will provide that confidence."
"Y-You've broken through?!" Chen Mengzhu's mind raced, seizing upon a conjecture she could barely bring herself to believe.
"That's right."
Receiving Huang Tian's clear confirmation, Chen Mengzhu was overcome with wild joy. Then another thought struck her. "Even though you've advanced to the Supreme realm, fighting one against two—"
"It doesn't matter. Killing them won't be difficult."
Though his tone was entirely calm, Chen Mengzhu could hear the boundless confidence beneath it. She immediately recalled how Huang Tian had effortlessly slain evil god kin of his own tier before his breakthrough.
Invincible among peers!
Now that he had broken through to the Supreme realm, even if he couldn't guarantee invincibility among peers, he certainly wouldn't be weak. Coupled with the support of several Martial Grandmasters and the military, he should have a solid chance against Gu Rong and Moya—or at least be able to keep his life.
That was more than enough!
"Please hold on, I'll submit a report and request approval right away!" Chen Mengzhu said excitedly.
Six minutes later, his phone vibrated.
He answered, and Chen Mengzhu's voice came through: "The helicopter has taken off and will arrive near your residence shortly. Dedicated personnel on board will film you, broadcasting synchronously via satellite."
"Good."
Hanging up, Huang Tian stepped out of the hotel and walked to an open, level patch of ground. About five minutes later, a helicopter flew in their direction.
Chug-chug-chug—
The aircraft descended slowly. A sharp, capable young man leapt out and saluted Huang Tian. "Mr. Huang, please!"
Huang Tian stepped aboard. A camera operator had already been stationed inside; seeing him board, the operator immediately started the livestream.
Soon, on computers and phones across the entire Yangbai Federation—and indeed the world—a livestream window popped up out of nowhere. The title bore only six words: Humanity's Supreme, Huang Tian.
Countless people were astonished and agitated. Tapping into the stream, they saw an "unremarkable" young man sitting with his eyes closed, utterly silent.
"Is this 'Supreme' the same Supreme as the one we're thinking of?!"
"It has to be! It must be!"
"We humans have a Supreme-tier powerhouse too?! Or is this just something made up by the authorities to calm the public?"
"He's on a helicopter. Where is he headed?"
"A martial artist from the Yangbai Federation...? As expected of the top superpower, they actually had a Supreme realm martial artist hidden away. Their foundation runs deep!"
"Fools, you've been duped by the Yangbai Federation! No Supreme realm powerhouse has emerged in thousands of years. How could the Yangbai Federation magically produce one the moment the five cults had theirs appear?"
"What would be the point of lying? If it's a lie, wouldn't it be exposed in a day or two? After all, the high priests of the Flesh Society and the Scarlet Society have already crossed into the Yangbai Federation. A battle between them is inevitable. Wouldn't the truth come out the moment they fight?"
"Wait, a battle is inevitable? Is he rushing to Juhua City right now to fight the two high priests?"
"Very likely!"
...
All over the world, countless pairs of eyes watched the broadcast in breathless suspense.
The Baidi Young Martial Artists Social Group was in utter pandemonium.
[Qu Xiao: Holy shit, holy shit! This guy, this Huang Tian—I know him! He bought herbs from my dispensary earlier, and I was the one who pulled him into our group!]
[Liu Xuexue: ?? I just checked the member list, there really is someone named Huang Tian! (screaming with excitement)]
[Hidden Deep Beneath the Quilt: Holy hell! I'm in the same chat group as a boss among bosses?! Did he read all my bragging?!]
[Group Owner He Zhengtong: I get it now! Everything lines up! The young powerhouse who suppressed the void passage all by himself before was him!]
[Steamed Cake Laughs: !!!]
While the chat was boiling over, in a dormitory room at Baidi University, Fang Yun stared at his phone in dazed disbelief. "Why does this guy have the same name and look identical to my roommate?"
After freezing for a long time, he suddenly slapped himself across the face, grimacing in pain. "Hiss—that hurts!"
He rubbed his cheek, his eyes gleaming brighter by the second as he shouted with theatrical passion, "It really is Huang Tian! Damn, and here I thought you'd sneaked off to have fun somewhere, but you were actually going to save the world! Huang Tian, carry the light I've given you and slaughter every last bastard in those evil god cults!!!"
Chug-chug-chug—
Over half an hour later, the helicopter arrived in the airspace above Juhua City. Looking down from above, several dozen white-robed figures could be seen on the city outskirts, craning their necks to look up at the hovering aircraft.
Standing at the very front were Gu Rong and Moya. They had clearly watched the livestream as well and were not surprised by Huang Tian's arrival. Cold, cruel smiles curved their lips. "A bug that got lucky and broke through is still just a bug!"
Huang Tian met their gaze with aloof indifference. Without a single wasted word, he took a step forward and plunged straight down from several hundred meters in the air!
Chapter 219