Calamity in the East

In the Eastern Region stood the premier world, overseen by four eighth-rank sovereigns and more than a dozen seventh-rank powerhouses—an immense power dominating its corner of the cosmos. This was Samsara! Its world lord, Samsara Sovereign, held dominion over life and death, incomparably powerful. Though not the undisputed hegemon of the entire East, he was acknowledged as its foremost expert. Even the Extreme Ice Sovereign conceded he was no match for him. Yet today, three of Samsara World's eighth-rank sovereigns faced mortal peril at the same time. Fusheng was under fierce assault from the Xinwu Human King. The remaining two eighth-rank sovereigns, while traveling through the Great Dao Universe, had been violently knocked out of transit, crashing directly out of the Dao cosmos. As both struck out in unison, one of their ambushers brought down an overwhelmingly tyrannical fist, causing their expressions to change drastically! Bright Light? Nonsense! It was Long Zhan, a peak eighth-rank expert. A powerhouse commanding over six thousand Dao principles, possessing strength far exceeding even that of the Human King. Even Samsara Sovereign might not be able to match him. ... At this moment, soaring, domineering auras erupted across three distinct battlefields. Diyang was being besieged by an eighth-rank and multiple seventh-rank experts. Fusheng was being surrounded and battered by the Human King and two seventh-rank members of the Iron-Eating clan. And two eighth-rank sovereigns were enduring a joint assault from the Dragon Lord and Red Moon. Virtually everywhere, the defenders were being thoroughly suppressed. Just then, Samsara Sovereign ended his closed-door cultivation. Multiple seventh-rank sovereigns immediately manifested behind him, their faces grim and incredulous that anyone dared mount an ambush against experts of the Samsara Domain. It was simply unbelievable! Samsara Sovereign crossed the void in an instant, stirring the Great Dao and shaking the cosmos as he charged directly toward Long Zhan. He moved with blistering speed! Spanning the distance via the Great Dao Universe's reach, he had to descend upon the battlefield. Even if he could not slay Long Zhan, he could not allow this beast to butcher two eighth-rank sovereigns of the Samsara Domain; such a loss would be far too devastating. Behind him, the seventh-rank sovereigns prepared to follow, but Samsara Sovereign's voice boomed: "Stay and guard the world!" Today's crisis was immense. If someone capitalized on Samsara World's emptiness to raid their homeland, that would spell catastrophe. In particular, the Extreme Ice World possessed three eighth-rank sovereigns. He had to remain vigilant against them! Life and death manifested around his form as though he were transcending the cycle of reincarnation itself. Radiating pressure that shook heaven and earth, he charged straight for Long Zhan. In this moment, across the Ninth Heaven and the Eastern Region, countless powerful sovereigns looked up into the skies, deeply shaken! The foremost world of the East! Today, it had actually suffered an ambush. What reckless audacity; what utter madmen. Were these people insane? Were they experts from the Four Regions? Earlier, a massive war had broken out in the Four Regions with over a hundred high-rank sovereigns participating, which had already stunned the world and shown how rabid those barbarians were. But who could have imagined that they would bring their madness out into the open cosmos? Sensing Samsara Sovereign's descent, the Dragon Lord showed no fear, only a mocking sneer. "What boldness. The three emperors of Extreme Ice must be blind! What a golden opportunity to seize the Samsara Domain, yet they squander it. Hahaha!" With that, his aura surged to the heavens as a thunderous roar reverberated across the cosmos: "Now that you're here, don't even think of leaving! Samsara, let's see if you can withstand my Bright Divine Fist!" He threw a punch! The firmament shattered! At the sight of this fist, the eighth-rank sovereign facing him turned pale with terror. Countless Daos seemed to manifest between heaven and earth; the punch came crashing down as if a blazing sun were falling, as if an entire world were descending, as if a colossal dragon were rising. Boom! A deafening explosion rang out. The eighth-rank sovereign felt as though thousands of mountains had slammed into him. Bones fractured throughout his body, and his very soul felt battered out of his flesh. Great Daos, life, and death were all crushed beneath the sheer weight of that single blow! The sovereign was blasted backward, crashing through the firmament as boundless chaos energy erupted around him like falling meteors. In a single punch, he was sent flying into the unknown. Was he dead? Probably not, but whether this eighth-rank sovereign would dare return was another matter entirely. In that split second, the Dragon Lord soared into the air, charging straight toward Samsara Sovereign with wild laughter: "Your lackeys are useless! Samsara, take my Fist of Bright Light!" Boom! The punch landed! Samsara Sovereign, having just arrived, grimaced slightly. With a wave of his hand, heaven and earth seemed to turn into a cage. Space spun, life and death manifested, and a passage opened before him. The punch entered, rattling the passage violently, but its force dissipated. The next instant, the passage convulsed violently, and a burst of fist force erupted like a deathly strike, rebounding toward the Dragon Lord. "Tricks!" the Dragon Lord barked. Samsara Sovereign also growled, "Insolent!" Utterly arrogant! He governed the Samsara Domain and was fighting close to home, commanding 5,800 Dao principles to dominate the eastern chaos. This person—this beast—was far too presumptuous! With 5,800 principles and the advantage of fighting on home turf, he was practically on par with top sovereigns wielding over six thousand principles. Though not an absolute hegemon, he was an unmatched powerhouse in the Eastern Region who rarely met his equal. Long Zhan was too reckless! The sky changed color as a domain of life and death seemed to manifest, filled with myriad wraiths and living beings. Yet the incoming fist tore straight through, splitting heaven and earth and shattering countless mini-domains! Samsara Sovereign was horrified. This man... was terrifyingly strong! He controlled over six thousand principles yet possessed a chaotic beast's physical body of unrivaled toughness, effectively putting his combat power on par with an overlord of seven thousand principles. Such an expert already possessed the might of a true hegemon! Spring-Autumn in the South and Five Elements in the North were roughly at this level, were they not? How was this possible? A human might achieve this, but a chaos beast? He could hardly believe it, but had no leisure to dwell on it. Capitalizing on his home turf, he had no time for hesitation. A great seal suddenly materialized in his grip, divided equally between life and death. He barked, "Samsara!" The seal hung suspended in the void, as if rebuilding the Great Dao itself. A nearby world was abruptly swept into it. In an instant, countless souls perished, and the world itself began to slide into death. Then, the cycle turned: life returned as countless souls were reborn, an eerie, terrifying cycle of existence. The Dragon Lord visibly aged in a flash, his hair turning white in the blink of an eye. Yet in that very breath, a titanic surge of power erupted, like a dying flash of glory bursting forth with unmatched vitality, and he drove his fist forward! No matter how profound or complex, I shall shatter it with a single punch! Boom! In that moment, top powerhouses across the Eastern Region witnessed a spectacle they would never forget. Samsara Sovereign, hailed as invincible, stumbled backward step by step from the clash, treading through chaos and collapsing space. Blood trickled from his lips and his hair came undone, clearly having fallen into the disadvantage. Long Zhan staggered slightly as well, but then he grinned. Samsara was no match for him! Samsara was strong, but... only this strong. No wonder the East had no true hegemon! The power of Samsara was indeed formidable, but suppressing others with it was difficult—far too difficult. Setting himself aside, even if the Xinwu Human King faced him alone, as long as he escaped the reach of Samsara's domain, Samsara Sovereign would struggle to detain him even if the Human King could not defeat him. A hush fell across the four quarters. For a moment, onlookers even forgot the other battlefields. He was too strong! This person was definitely not Bright Light. Even if their perception was blurred, they knew Bright Light could never possess such horrifying strength. If the Lord of Bright Light were this powerful, how terrifying would the Long Zhan who drove him out have to be? Ninth-rank? This man—no, this beast—had to be Long Zhan! The hegemon of the Four Regions! The group that had initially sneaked in was having their identities exposed one after another. Yet they hardly seemed to care. Staying hidden was ideal, but if exposed... so what? ... The Dragon Lord's display of might instantly overshadowed the battles of the Human King and Li Hao. The Human King's face turned livid. Caring about vanity was human nature, whether driven by fear, fury, or resentment. Wherever the Human King walked, all eyes were supposed to be on him. Never had there been a day like this, where someone else shone like a blazing sun while he drifted like duckweed, ignored by all—save perhaps for the desperate Fusheng before him. He had struck first and obliterated four seventh-rank sovereigns in an instant, yet someone had stolen his thunder! How utterly infuriating! He cared about face even more than Li Hao did. Li Hao was sometimes indifferent, but to the Human King, this was his first full-power battle since advancing to the eighth rank. Yet someone was stealing the spotlight right from under his nose! Damnable, hateful! Long Zhan, do you realize you've provoked me? The Human King glanced sideways toward Li Hao and suddenly bared his teeth in a cold smile. "Kid, Diyang isn't worth a damn... Where's our tacit understanding?" Li Hao and his companions were currently besieging Diyang. Sovereign Diyang was desperately summoning the Great Dao Universe, attempting several times to plunge into it and flee back to his home world. His homeland still had two seventh-rank sovereigns and the support of world power; he would be far safer there than out in the open. He wanted to escape, but was repeatedly intercepted. He was both furious and terrified. Li Hao struck out repeatedly with his sword, frantic and fierce, yet struggled to slay this eighth-rank sovereign. But Li Hao was not as outraged as the Human King; his thunder had already been stolen by the Human King earlier. Adding another contender made little difference—whether one was second or third mattered not. There was only ever room for one person at the absolute center of attention. When first place was taken, and the brightest spotlight stolen... what difference was there between silver and bronze? None at all! Who remembered the runner-up or third place? When the Human King spoke, Li Hao exhaled and barked in a low voice, "Kongji, Wushan... go assist him!" What? The two were stunned! They were currently locked in combat with eighth-rank Diyang. Diyang was no weakling; even with five experts joining forces, they were barely suppressing him. He hailed from the Gemini Universe, after all, and here he could retreat into the Great Dao Universe at any moment, making him far stronger than during his foray into the Four Regions. If two of their strongest peeled away, could Li Hao, Dao Chess, and Er Mao still hold him down? Yet there was no time to ponder. Kongji understood in a flash. Vanishing in the blink of an eye, his domain of nirvana and revival spread across heaven and earth. A small flower blossomed instantly. The corpse of one of the eight slain seventh-rank sovereigns dissolved into pure energy, feeding the flower until it bore a fruit right before the Human King's lips. The Human King grinned. So what if Long Zhan shone brightly? Whoever slaughtered an eighth-rank first would claim the true spotlight! Today, I, Fang Ping, will be the first! Swallowing the fruit, he recovered nearly eighty percent of his depleted energy in an instant. He could not help but sigh inwardly: his nephew Kongji might be weak, but this domain was truly marvelous, and the fruit tasted great! Excellent, simply delicious! That kid Li Hao was sensible after all, knowing better than to steal his senior's thunder. Sending Kongji and Wushan as reinforcements was indeed the best choice. As for Diyang escaping? So what if the monk ran away—could the temple run with him? Once Fusheng was dead, if Long Zhan was still tangled up over there, they could march together on the Gemini Universe and forcefully shatter its domain! The Human King trusted that Li Hao would have considered such a straightforward matter. So when Li Hao dispatched two pivotal powerhouses to assist him, the Human King knew the kid had conceded the limelight for the day. Today, the most dazzling figure could only be me! With his strength partially replenished, Wushan shifted the heavenly mechanisms, seemingly defying fate itself. A massive war drum materialized once more between heaven and earth. Clenching his fingers into a fist, he struck out again—boom! Heaven and earth convulsed. Sovereign Fusheng felt dazed, as if glimpsing a grim destiny ahead, foreseeing that his blood would stain this ground and that he would meet a violent end. Impossible... It cannot be! I am a sovereign of the Samsara Domain, a master of life and death! This is the East, and I am a premier sovereign of a hegemonic realm—how could I perish here? I will not! Before him, a tiny house seemed to materialize, a cage drawn within a square inch. That was... the Human King's technique! The Human King was not merely a brute; he was exceptionally skilled in esoteric arts. Five thousand Daos formed a cage, manifesting like a miniature world where everything appeared tranquil yet profoundly enigmatic. Figures materialized along each Great Dao, as if myriad paths were uniting into one to suppress heaven and earth. Looking closely, every single figure was the Human King! Fusheng felt as though he were trapped in a dream, yet he knew he was in mortal danger! The world lord... appeared to have been suppressed as well. This was... unthinkable. None of the Samsara Domain's other three eighth-rank sovereigns could come to his aid. One had been blasted into the void by the Dragon Lord, his fate unknown and unheeded. Another was tangled up with Red Moon, a third was locked in a brutal clash with the Dragon Lord, and now three seventh-ranks and two eighth-ranks—including an existence like the Human King—were laying siege to him alone... Dying under such circumstances hardly seemed like a loss, did it? His thoughts blurred, everything feeling surreal. Nearby, Diyang was ecstatic. Better anyone else die than me! Besides, strictly speaking, he and Samsara were rivals. Now that Wushan and Kongji had been diverted, Li Hao, Er Mao, and Dao Chess—three combatants with merely seventh-rank might—would find it difficult to stop him. He had no thoughts of counterattacking. Even if he could wipe out the trio, any delay would spell disaster for him. At this moment, he had only one goal: flee! Return to the Gemini Domain first! His homeland still had two seventh-ranks and over a hundred sovereigns. United, even if only playing defense, they could hold out for a time. These madmen were acting with such wanton disregard that the various worlds of the East would soon band together to exterminate them! They were simply too unhinged. They had slaughtered eight seventh-rank sovereigns in a breath and were now hunting down eighth-ranks. Even Samsara was facing mortal peril today. If everyone did not unite to wipe them out, the disaster would engulf everyone sooner or later. With Wushan and Kongji gone, Li Hao was clearly no match for Diyang, meaning he had abandoned the kill. Er Mao did not particularly care, but Dao Chess felt disgruntled. It was over! Today, they had gained nothing and let others steal the march on them. Dao Chess was unhappy with both the Human King and Long Zhan; they were the ones who had targeted Gemini first, yet those two had swooped in to steal the spotlight! Yet had Li Hao truly given up? No. The moment Sovereign Diyang plunged into the Great Dao Universe, overjoyed at the prospect of escape, Li Hao smiled as well. Transit through the Great Dao Universe was exceptionally fast. One could travel anywhere the Dao's power reached at terrifying speeds. It was the most convenient mode of travel in the entire chaos, and remarkably safe. Feats like the Dragon Lord's, forcefully rupturing the Dao cosmos to blast someone out, were exceedingly rare. Li Hao naturally lacked such ability. However, he possessed another trick: summoning the chaos lightning tribulation. The River of Time manifested in a flash, and in the blink of an eye, Diyang, who had just stepped into the Dao cosmos, was seemingly wound backward through time. As his expression twisted in horror, lightning tribulation abruptly gathered above his head. Yet Li Hao did not linger to fight. Leaving the lightning to descend, he made no move to kill Diyang himself; he could not kill an eighth-rank with lightning alone, and the tribulation would strike him as well. Even if he could disperse a portion of it, whatever was strong enough to kill Diyang would certainly kill him too. At this moment, the River of Time unfurled before him. He stepped into the river, Dao Chess and Er Mao appearing beside him in an instant. Calmly, Li Hao looked at Dao Chess. "Merge into the River of Time..." Dao Chess started, not understanding, but complied instinctively. In that split second, the River of Time—originally incorporeal and lacking spatial transit capability—suddenly seemed to acquire it. Dao Chess possessed the power of spatial teleportation. Guided by Li Hao, the trio traveled along the River of Time. In a mere breath, the Gemini Domain appeared before them. Outside the world gate, one inside and one outside, two seventh-rank sovereigns were trembling. They were torn! Struggling! It was over—disaster had struck. What should they do? Before they could decide, a breathtaking sight unfolded: a long river pierced the void, and Li Hao's trio—or rather, one man, one cat, and one artifact—materialized instantly before their eyes. It truly took only an instant. The fusion of time and space unleashed power beyond imagination. In the span of a fleeting blossom, they leaped from the Seventh Heaven to the Gemini Universe in the Eighth Heaven. Appearing right before a seventh-rank sovereign! Strike! Devour! Suppress! The three experts struck simultaneously, even Er Mao having learned to coordinate. A sword thrust forth, a thousand worlds manifested, and in the distance, the Human King's furious roar shook the cosmos: "Fuck your ancestors!" That bastard Li Hao was entirely shameless! The Human King had nearly finished off Fusheng, hacking him half to death with a saber strike, when suddenly Diyang was dragged back, prompting Wushan and Kongji to rush off to fight Diyang instead! Fusheng had seized that opening to steady himself and evade the follow-up strike, nearly wrenching the Human King's back. That was bad enough, but worse, because the second strike had missed, the Dragon Lord over on the other battlefield had repelled Samsara Sovereign once more and turned to slaughter the eighth-rank sovereign tangled with Red Moon. With the Dragon Lord's terrifying strength, he might well bag that eighth-rank kill first... This was intolerable! Just because that bastard Li Hao couldn't steal the limelight, he wouldn't let me have it either? What was the point of killing a seventh-rank? Even if you slaughter all the remaining seventh-ranks... a seventh-rank is still just a seventh-rank, while an eighth-rank is an eighth-rank! Don't you understand? Don't you know how to respect your elders? Is it so hard to indulge an old man's wish? Why did you run off? It was just the Gemini Universe! If you wanted it, I would have gifted it to you after hacking this bastard to death! Did you really have to go conquer it yourself? You're driving me mad! ... At the Gemini Universe. Li Hao could not care less about the Human King's complaints. With a thunderous slash, his sword tore the firmament apart. Tribulation lightning manifested as the Tribulation Dao Sword descended like a chaos lightning tribulation, channeling the gathered storm above. Boom! A shattering detonation echoed. The seventh-rank sovereign outside the gate did not even have time to utter a groan before he was cleaved in two. He had not perished completely, but Er Mao and Dao Chess delivered the finishing blows in seamless harmony. Boom! With an explosive roar, this seventh-rank sovereign was slaughtered on the spot by Li Hao's ambush. The other seventh-rank, who had just flown out of the gate, frantically bolted back inside, his face painted with sheer terror! How had they appeared here so suddenly? Too fast! Diyang had not even returned, yet these three had arrived ahead of him. Radiating murderous intent, they left the surviving sovereign too terrified to linger, fleeing as fast as his legs could carry him. Seventh-rank experts were normally invincible overlords, yet today they were dropping like flies. Diyang's world had originally boasted eight seventh-rank sovereigns, and now only this solitary survivor remained. Two had been slain by the Dragon Lord earlier. Four more had fallen moments ago, and now another had perished. Far away, Sovereign Diyang was overcome with rage, frenzy, and terror. How had he suddenly been dragged backward just now? It was... the power of time! Yes, it had to be! Silver Moon King Li Hao wielded time. They had struck at his home nest, which meant catastrophe. Even if he rushed back now, returning too late would be walking straight into a trap. The next instant, a bloodcurdling shriek pierced the cosmos. Under the overwhelming assault of Li Hao's trio, the eighth and final seventh-rank sovereign of the Gemini Domain was cornered once more. Ignoring the low- and mid-rank sovereigns rushing in from all directions, Li Hao unleashed slash after ruthless slash! The Tribulation Sword struck repeatedly. With a thunderous boom, the sole surviving seventh-rank was ultimately slain beneath the world gate by the trio. Around them, most of the low- and mid-rank sovereigns chose to flee in terror! The very next second, Li Hao vanished. Disappearing from the spot, he reappeared inside an alternate space where a pulsating, heart-like object resided—the world source, the very origin of the world. Li Hao thrust his sword forward. The heart seemed to throb, sensing mortal danger, yet the blade pierced straight through! The entire world fell silent in an instant. The world had died. Indeed, it was dead. When the world source shattered, the physical shell remained, but the world itself had perished. It would never spawn life again, and the Great Dao Universe linked to it would suffer severe reverberations. At that moment, the Great Dao Universe convulsed violently. Locked in combat with Wushan, Sovereign Diyang's expression changed drastically! He seemed... to realize their plan, to understand Li Hao's intent: to force him to sever his connection with the convulsing Great Dao Universe lest the backlash overwhelm him and lead to his death here. In essence, he was being forced to become a rogue cultivator, just like Red Moon Sovereign... Yet if he became a rogue cultivator, under today's circumstances, death was certain. However, if he did not, the death of six seventh-rank sovereigns and the destruction of the world source would plunge the Great Dao into violent turmoil, and he no longer possessed a sufficient world to suppress its rampage. Either way, death awaited him. Bastard! Meanwhile, the River of Time was already rippling again. Li Hao and his companions were rushing back, clearly cornering Diyang: would he sever his link to the Great Dao Universe and become a rogue cultivator, or endure the Dao's violent backlash? Of course, the outcome seemed identical either way. Sovereign Diyang's face drained of color! Nearby, the Human King ground his teeth, wildly hacking his saber toward the heavily wounded Sovereign Fusheng while roaring, "Die already! Just detonate yourself!" Damn it, what stubborn vitality! Why won't you self-detonate? You're already crippled, yet you refuse to die. If Diyang dies first, how humiliating would that be for me? Hurry up and die! He had reached the point of shouting for his opponent to self-detonate, clearly thinking that an explosion was better than delay. Li Hao was also rushing back furiously! Faster, faster, teleport! I must kill Diyang before the Human King kills his target... Only then can I save face. ... Every party was racing against time. The Dragon Lord had also sensed the urgency. He unleashed punch after punch, beating Red Moon's opponent until the sovereign coughed up mouthfuls of blood, yet Red Moon kept the man thoroughly entangled, preventing him from flying backward. Samsara Sovereign charged over once more to prevent his realm's powerhouse from being slain, roaring furiously, "Six seventh-ranks, come forth!" Damn it! He had actually been pushed back by the Dragon Lord. With a tremor of the Dao, six more seventh-rank sovereigns stepped into the Great Dao Universe from Samsara World, rapidly teleporting toward the battle. There was no time to care about Fusheng now. A single misstep today would mean utter ruin! ... Meanwhile, near the Extreme Ice Domain. In the darkness, the Supreme sighed: "Damn it, they're too cowardly! I miscalculated. I completely misread them!" "..." Beside him, Bright Light Sovereign was speechless. Indeed, they were not near the Samsara Domain, but lurking near the Extreme Ice Domain. According to the Supreme's reasoning, Samsara was too conspicuous; even if fighting broke out, they would remain cautious and keep their realm sealed. However... if the second hegemon of the East possessed even a shred of ambition, its three eighth-rank sovereigns might lead out their seventh-ranks to join the fray, presenting Xinwu with the perfect opening. To shatter Extreme Ice! Indeed, the Supreme, Bright Light, and the Cang Emperor were all waiting here alongside a horde of seventh-rank sovereigns. All waiting! Waiting for the three eighth-rank sovereigns to depart, so they could launch a devastating assault on Extreme Ice, shatter the Extreme Ice Universe, and annihilate an entire realm. Yet... Now, the Supreme was wondering: Where did I go wrong? Was my reasoning flawed? The foremost world is in mortal danger—whether to offer aid or reap profits, shouldn't you mobilize? Can't you even do that much? Are you just going to sit there watching? Completely motionless? All three eighth-ranks are just spectating, not a single one leaving? Are you fools? He truly wanted to curse aloud. Anyone with half a brain wouldn't just sit here watching the show. He desperately wished these people had some sense. A brilliant scheme was useless if the enemy lacked the brains to take the bait—there was simply nothing one could do! "Damn it!" He cursed again. Had I known, I would have gone to Samsara instead. There would have been plenty of opportunities there. But now... these eighth-ranks of Extreme Ice must have cultivated the Dao of Extreme Ice until their brains froze solid, lacking even a shred of ambition. Forget it, forget it! The Supreme could not even be bothered to move, settling in to watch. It was too late to head over now anyway. In the distance within Extreme Ice World, the three eighth-rank sovereigns had indeed been tempted. Two of them had wanted to seize the chance to deploy, but the third had hesitated, harboring doubts and concerns... As a result, the three had failed to reach a consensus. That slight delay had allowed the battle to unfold so quickly that they now hesitated over whether it was even worth intervening. The first two were currently berating the third for squandering the opportunity... All the sovereigns felt deep regret. Little did they know that had they left, Extreme Ice World would likely have been the first to fall today. Such chaos was precisely what Xinwu's powerhouses loved and excelled at exploiting. Opportunities lay within chaos! Unfortunately, Xinwu had missed this chance. The Three Emperors of Extreme Ice remained steeped in regret and frustration, entirely unaware that the Supreme nearby had been practically itching to pry open their skulls! He had wished they would charge out immediately so he could strike. ... Every faction was striving to be the first to slay an eighth-rank, wanting the outer regions to see who would claim the first kill of an eighth-rank sovereign in these lands and make their name resound across the world! Fame and glory meant nothing when competing against mediocre men, but when one's rivals were peerless figures... face still mattered. Even the young Li Hao could not contain his competitive spirit, let alone someone like the Human King. Yet just as all three factions were frantically competing to be first... A tremendous detonation suddenly shook heaven and earth. Far away in a certain realm, lightning erupted as the hell of myriad manifestations manifested. The Thunder Lord's infuriated roar reverberated across the cosmos: "Bastard!" Boom! A catastrophic explosion echoed. The Thunder Lord was truly enraged, erupting like a tempest of thunder! He had been minding his own business, bothering no one, quietly conferring with Senlan over whether they should assist Li Hao, when suddenly a figure crashed straight into the Thunder Realm, nearly cracking the world apart. The entire Thunder Realm shuddered as if struck by a massive earthquake, obliterating untold numbers of mountains and rivers. The Thunder Lord had been sitting peacefully at home when disaster struck out of nowhere. An eighth-rank sovereign, propelled by the full-power strike of a peak eighth-rank expert, had pierced heaven and earth and smashed directly into his domain. The Thunder Realm was not yet a complete eighth-rank grand world, so one could imagine the catastrophic damage caused. How could he not be furious? In his towering rage, finding the intruder heavily wounded on his own home turf with Senlan by his side, he decided to go all the way. A thunderous strike erupted, unleashing tens of thousands of lightning bolts! Utterly bewildered, filled with indignation and grievance, the heavily wounded Samsara sovereign was bombarded by countless bolts of lightning beneath the shroud of Senluo Hell, ultimately battered to death on the spot! Boom! The Great Dao severed, life and death erupted, and heaven and earth overturned. In the outer regions—or rather, the Eastern Region—the first eighth-rank sovereign in a million years had fallen. Eighth-ranks had already fallen in the West... Wait, if Sovereign Tianyang was not counted, this nameless eighth-rank sovereign of Samsara became the first eighth-rank to die in this campaign. "..." For a moment, the world fell dead silent. Not a sound stirred. The next instant, Samsara Sovereign's enraged roar reverberated in all directions: "How dare you!" Who was that? That area had clearly been empty space, devoid of people or worlds. That was why he had not paid mind when his injured peer fell in that direction—assuming it best for him to recover for a moment before returning. Yet... why had a world suddenly popped up there? And an eighth-rank sovereign to boot? Were eighth-ranks scattered across the entire chaos now? The Thunder Lord's voice thundered out like rolling thunder across the cosmos: "I am the Thunder Emperor! A cultivator of the Silver Moon faction..." Yes, he even added a suffix. Though an eighth-rank lord possessed his own pride and dignity, the current situation seemed different. Every faction was trying to make a name for itself, so adding an affiliation did no harm. Besides, without aligning with Silver Moon, that Samsara Sovereign was terrifyingly strong! He could not afford to provoke him alone! In that instant, the title of Thunder Emperor resounded across the four quarters. The first expert to slay an eighth-rank! From the Four Regions, the Thunder Emperor! ... Li Hao descended. His expression remained impassive; it did not matter, for he had not lost face. The Human King, however, let out a furious roar and slashed with savage abandon, finally detonating the exasperating Fusheng completely. Yet the words on the tip of his tongue came out before he could hold them back! "Xinwu Fang Ping slays Fusheng here today—" His shout shook the cosmos, but the Human King instantly regretted it. Why the hell had he shouted? How humiliating! Killing the first eighth-rank brought glory, but did second place carry any prestige? None at all! He was a step too late! It was infuriating! In the distance, Samsara Sovereign's face turned completely pale. Two eighth-rank sovereigns had died in an instant, causing the Great Dao Universe to convulse. In that split second, the Dragon Lord seized the opening, delivering punch after relentless punch—boom! The third eighth-rank was blown apart by his fists! The Dragon Lord remained expressionless as well. Third. Mediocre. He had assumed he would easily claim the first kill, yet he had underestimated these people. Of course, he could say nothing about that lucky bastard, the Thunder Lord. The man he had blasted away had coincidentally crashed right into the Thunder Realm to be finished off... Where was the justice in that? At this moment, Samsara Sovereign was utterly shaken and screamed, "Retreat!" Fall back! Retreat inside! Three of his four eighth-ranks had been butchered in an instant. It felt as though heaven and earth had collapsed; he was on the verge of madness. Worse, one of them had been slaughtered right before his very eyes! Bastards! Retreat! If they did not pull back immediately, he might meet disaster today as well. He retreated swiftly. Behind him, six seventh-rank sovereigns hurriedly followed suit. Outside the world gate of the Samsara Domain, four more seventh-rank sovereigns appeared; the Samsara Domain possessed over a dozen seventh-ranks. Now, all of them manifested in the blink of an eye. Every sovereign stood as if facing a mortal crisis. Samsara Sovereign hurried back with a host of sovereigns behind him—over ten seventh-ranks, more than a hundred total sovereigns, and a multitude of sixth-ranks. Every face was weighed down with grave solemnity! A catastrophe was upon them; the realm faced annihilation. Samsara Sovereign had no time to explain. He swiftly suppressed the Great Dao Universe, shrinking its reach. World power surged into him, and countless Dao principles were drawn into his flesh. He was prepared for a fight to the death, roaring furiously: "The Four Regions have invaded! If my Samsara falls today, no force in the East will be able to oppose them, and the other eastern worlds will surely be breached! These barbarians and savage beasts destroy realms and slaughter domains without restraint; they will leave no survivors! Will the various worlds merely sit by and watch?" Once upon a time, Samsara Sovereign had aspired to hegemony over the East; yet today, at this very moment, he was reduced to pleading for aid! If I fall, the lips are gone and the teeth will freeze! ... While Samsara Sovereign roared desperately, Li Hao's group thoroughly surrounded Sovereign Diyang. Diyang had watched helplessly as Fusheng was hacked down by the Human King and Samsara's three eighth-rank sovereigns were wiped out. Even the hegemonic Samsara was begging for aid, frantically seeking an alliance to repel the invasion from the Four Regions. Diyang's face was ashen. The Four Regions... Who could have imagined that the powerhouses of the Four Regions would be so crazed, so... vicious! Looking at Li Hao's group, he knew he was completely finished today. Despite his overwhelming unwillingness and hatred, a tragic smile crept onto his face. In an instant, the Dao power within his body surged violently. Li Hao felt helpless! Self-detonation? How bloody unlucky can I get! His strength was simply still too weak. Never had he felt as frustrated as he did now. Not getting the first eighth-rank kill was one thing, but whether it was the Thunder Lord, the Human King, or the Dragon Lord, none of them had even given their targets the chance to self-detonate. Yet when it came to him... Diyang was going to blow himself up! In this moment, Li Hao yearned desperately for strength. Earlier, he had felt that being sixth- or seventh-rank mattered little, but now... it was different. It truly mattered! It mattered immensely! The seventh rank was simply far more powerful. "Time Stagnation!" With a soft murmur, Li Hao barked out a command, and time seemed to freeze. In an instant, countless bolts of tribulation lightning materialized once more. Li Hao looked up at the tribulation storm above and let out a laugh: "If I cannot slay an eighth-rank today, then... I shall borrow the lightning tribulation to step into the seventh rank. It won't have been a wasted trip!" If I cannot slay an eighth-rank, I shall advance to the seventh rank right here, right now, and become a Seventh-Rank Tribulation Emperor! Can any of you compete with me for this? Straightening his robes, Li Hao floated into the air like an immortal. A thousand worlds manifested, myriad swords filled the sky, and the Dao of Tribulation greedily swallowed the tribulation lightning, internalizing the ways of catastrophe. If I cannot be the head of a phoenix, I will be the head of a rooster. I shall attain the seventh rank this very moment, showing you all that I, Li Hao, have my own capabilities! Beneath the chaos lightning tribulation, I attain the seventh rank! "Tribulation disperses, sword completes!" A low shout rang across heaven and earth. The tribulation lightning shattered in an instant, and boundless tribulation power flooded into Li Hao. With a low grunt, another corner of the Cangqiong Sword in his hand crumbled away. The myriad tribulation forces became Li Hao's nourishment. A seventh-rank aura rippled outward. Gripping his longsword, Li Hao slashed toward Diyang. Wushan, Er Mao, Dao Chess, and Kongji erupted with all their might to suppress Diyang, going all out simply to give Li Hao this moment of glory! All so that Li Hao would not lose face. To let him slay Diyang with a single sword! Not far away, the Human King curled his lip. Truly... enough was enough! Whatever, whatever! With a flick of his hand, an invisible force materialized in the void, and a concealed saber intent slashed toward Diyang! Simultaneously, Li Hao's Tribulation Sword Dao descended! Sovereign Diyang wore a look of utter sorrow and helplessness. Was this not absurd? These beasts! Just to let Li Hao claim the kill, they had erupted with frantic power without uttering a sound, even desperately suppressing their energy ripples. What... was the point of all this? Two eighth-ranks, multiple seventh-ranks—an entire mob ganging up to butcher him alone... His death was perhaps more grand than Fusheng's, wasn't it? More glorious than those two fellows, right? Boom! The sword descended like ten thousand bolts of lightning. With that single slash, Diyang shattered completely, detonating into the chaos. The chaos fell silent. Four eighth-rank sovereigns and ten seventh-rank sovereigns had fallen on this single day within less than half an hour, setting the record for the most catastrophic slaughter in the outer regions in a million years. And the number of eighth-ranks who had participated was unimaginably high. Heaven and earth fell silent. The four quarters fell still. The Human King curled his lip, while Li Hao remained expressionless. Neither seemed particularly pleased. In the distance, Long Zhan and Red Moon stood suspended in the void. Long Zhan's expression was chilly. He suddenly let out a faint, cold laugh: "Bright Light has business today and will participate no further. Samsara, I spare your life; I hope you survive! Only then... will things be amusing!" In an instant, the two eighth-ranks vanished from the world. Far away, Samsara Sovereign looked devastated. Long Zhan, why are you still putting on an act at a time like this? Today, the Samsara Domain had lost three eighth-rank sovereigns and four seventh-rank sovereigns... the heaviest loss since the dawn of creation, utterly shattering his dream of hegemony! It was a tragic ruin! "Four Regions!" he screamed, his voice echoing endlessly, shaking the nine heavens. The Four Regions! On this day, everyone etched the Four Regions into their memory—a barbarian domain in a forgotten corner near them. In a single day, more high-rank sovereigns had died than one had fingers on both hands. Terrifying, dreadful, hateful! Thunder Emperor of the Thunder Realm, Xinwu Human King, Silver Moon Li Hao, Bright Light Sovereign... Indeed, some still did not know of Long Zhan, genuinely believing it was Bright Light Sovereign. Far in the distance... Bright Light Sovereign was utterly speechless! Damn it, that beast Long Zhan! Though he had made Bright Light famous, many powerhouses already knew the truth, while the other three regions might not. If a ninth-rank powerhouse like Huntian didn't know and insisted on seeking him out for a spar, what was he supposed to do? He was truly... at a loss for words. Yet trying to defend himself publicly now would achieve nothing. Even if weaker cultivators believed him, so what? They might only think Bright Light Sovereign had grown terrified and was trying to hide his identity! Beside him, the Supreme shook his head. Those people had made names for themselves today, which he cared little about, but watching the ripe Extreme Ice slip through his fingers cut him to the heart. At this moment, among the various powerhouses, almost no one was happy. The Thunder Lord was not happy either; a massive hole had been punched into the Thunder Realm, and he was in the mood to whip a corpse, with no mind to celebrate anything. A chaotic, bloody battle had ended with countless dead and wounded, yet the victors remained stone-faced, as if there were nothing worth being glad about. Such a sight was truly rare under the heavens.