Descent

Chaos roared! Countless experts howled in frenzy! Li Hao reversed time, storming into the past while fishing from the future, dredging up the pseudo-Chaos Emperor from times to come... Past, future, present—a trinity! At this moment, time had been pushed to its absolute limit. The entire Time Star seemed unable to bear the strain, showing signs of imminent collapse. Meanwhile, the Chaos lightning tribulation greedily sucked power from all directions, draining the might of the Thunder Domain. Slay these people! Slay time cultivators... This was a decree enacted a million years ago by the Lord of Tribulation himself. Decreeing it was easy, but reversing it was grueling. The Lord of Tribulation was not currently in Chaos, and the spirituality of Chaos was vastly diminished compared to a million years before. All at once, there was simply no way to rewrite the rules. A ninth-rank expert could establish rules... yet today, those very rules were being ruthlessly exploited. Within the Thunder Domain. Venerable Thunder and his companions roared in fury, while Dao Chess and the others erupted in sheer ecstasy, bombarding their foes with renewed fervor! A Dao Domain unfolded. Myriad toxic stingers bristled! The Six Paths Divine Fist manifested amidst boundless thunderclaps. Sovereign Wanhua materialized, casting countless illusions that enshrouded the world, while Wushan turned the Wheel of Fate. At that instant, a glorious light seemed to break through their once-bleak destiny. The moment Li Hao struck, the entire situation seemed to reverse instantly! The Tianfang cultivators engaged in bloody combat with the Human King and his allies coughed up mouthfuls of blood, howling in sheer madness. "Li Hao!" "Stop!" "You owe Tianfang a debt of gratitude..." The Light Emissary bellowed. Li Hao was slaying their past selves. Although striking down their past did not truly kill them here and now, the wounds carved into their past were mirrored in the present. And how could figures like the Human King ever be lenient? Seizing the opening, they unleashed an apocalyptic onslaught. Nearby, the Supreme was equally shaken. Yet beneath his shock, a faint smile surfaced. This Supreme of Xinwu had always acted in an unhurried, measured manner that seemed utterly out of place alongside the Human King's frenzied madness. Yet at this very moment... the Yin and Yang Emissaries facing him were also grievously wounded. The Supreme chuckled softly, and the Great Dao Book suddenly manifested. In the blink of an eye, a portion of the endless lightning tribulation churning within the river was abruptly siphoned away! An incarnation materialized, resembling calamity descending upon the mortal realm. The Dao of Calamity! Many experts trembled in shock. The Dao of Calamity... even the Supreme of Xinwu possessed it? Boundless thunderbolts swept over. A cold look entered the Supreme's eyes. Finishing off the foes before him would normally have been quite troublesome. But now that they were wounded and the Chaos lightning tribulation raged directly above, it would be a shame not to make use of it. The teaching pointer in his grip suddenly transformed into a long saber. A pointer carried the intent to instruct. A saber... held the will to slaughter and wage war. His true title was not Supreme; his Dao title was the Martial King! The King of the Martial Dao, the King of Xinwu! Incarnation after incarnation strode out from the book, seamlessly merging into one. The Supreme's aura erupted exponentially. In the distance, the Human King's expression shifted slightly at the sight. *Fuck!* *When did you steal another massive stockpile of energy without me knowing?* *Where the hell did you steal it from?* Without energy, it was impossible to increase the number of incarnations. When the Supreme had first entered the eighth rank, he had commanded only a thousand incarnations. Yet today, his count seemed to exceed two thousand—nearly doubling his former strength. Such a staggering amount of energy might not even be provided by an entire eighth-rank great world. Where could he have stolen it from? The Human King could not resist barking, "Old Zhang, where did you get all that energy?" *I don't buy it!* *Could I possibly be blind to our Xinwu reserves?* *Where did you gouge out an entire eighth-rank great world—and not just any ordinary one—to hoard enough energy to polish your own Dao?* *How come I didn't catch a single whiff of this?!* The Supreme glanced back at the Human King and offered a faint smile laden with smugness, a hint of swagger, and an air of unfathomable mystery. Did you really think Xinwu was entirely within your grasp? You were wrong! In Xinwu, I'm the real boss! Right beside them, a cat muttered under its breath, "He stole all of this cat's fish..." The Human King was enraged! That was going too far! Stealing fish from a cat?! The worst part was that the Big Cat hadn't even reported it. "You idiot cat, why didn't you tell me?" Still, even if he had plundered the Big Cat's fish, it shouldn't have been enough. The Big Cat had plenty of fish, but they certainly couldn't match the essence of a top-tier eighth-rank world. Old Zhang definitely had other sources of revenue! The Human King had no time to interrogate him further. At that moment, the Supreme's aura surged violently. Originally, the Supreme had only recently stepped into the eighth rank. After handing over Xinwu, he had barely maintained eighth-rank power. But as his incarnations multiplied and two thousand of them fused together, his strength surged in an instant to the equivalent of roughly four thousand Great Daos. Such power made him an equal to either the Yin or Yang Emissary on his own. Yet just then, the Yang God let out a low roar beside him. This seasoned Sovereign, the very first Sovereign of Xinwu to step into the seventh rank—even earlier than the Human King—let loose a fierce howl. Far in the distance, high above the river... The future emperor fending off the lightning tribulation suddenly changed countenance. He glanced downward and caught sight of that figure... He saw that middle-aged man! A trace of familiarity tugged at him. Slightly startled, he realized he had never seen this person before, yet felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Why? Meanwhile, the Yang God looked up at the young emperor. His gaze flickered with emotion, and a smile crept onto his face. His lips moved slightly: "Emperor Yu, we meet again!" With those words, divine characters manifested! Yes, divine characters. Countless divine characters surfaced across the Yang God's body. Star Suppressing City, the sacred grounds of Xinwu and the sanctuary of the martial arts, possessed an endless array of "character arts." Li Hao's divine characters had in fact evolved from the supreme techniques of Star Suppressing City. Li Hao had always assumed that since all Great Daos led to the same destination, some similarities were only natural. Having learned from Xinwu and subsequently refined and enhanced its character arts, he had never found anything amiss. Yet today... countless divine characters suddenly manifested across the Yang God, this peerless pinnacle of the martial path. "Break," "Suppress," "Shatter," "Kill," "Heaven," "Desolation"... Character after character emerged, seemingly bridging past and present! A brilliant grin broke across the Yang God's face. Looking up at Emperor Yu, he threw his head back and laughed heartily. "I... have found you!" *Boom!* A fist struck out, and heaven cracked open! All at once, his strength surged by a colossal leap, as if he had attained absolute enlightenment, as if the shackles upon his heart had been thoroughly shattered. He had found this man; he knew where the youth came from! The emperor of the future! Emperor Yu! He truly originated from the future. "Invincible under the sun!" With a low roar, heaven and earth tore apart. The Yang Emissary's face drained of color. The Yang God's punch brimmed with boundless masculine vigor, possessing a might beyond all imagination—as if it hailed from the past, reached from the future, and struck in the present! A trinity! The Three Incarnations method, the Three Incarnations technique... Past, future, and present seemed to merge into one. Heaven Suppressing King, the Yang God's disciple, had always possessed incarnation arts, cultivating different paths. Very few knew that the Yang God practiced incarnation arts as well, for no one had ever seen an incarnation of his. Yet today... two incarnations seemed to step forth from the endless void, emerging from the past and the future. They seemed to step out directly from Emperor Yu's side. Past, future, present... all stood upon the river. The Yang God grinned. This low-profile veteran powerhouse united his three incarnations at this moment, instantaneously unleashing an unrivaled, peerless masculine vigor. As that fist plowed forward, the Yang Emissary turned pale with sheer terror! *How could this be?!* Beside him, the Martial King slashed out with his saber, filling the Yin Emissary with dread as well! Both of these Xinwu experts had previously lingered at the threshold of the eighth rank. Yet suddenly, both erupted with terrifying might; taken individually, neither was weaker than either emissary. What was worse, both emissaries were currently suffering from the backlash inflicted upon their past selves. "How can this be?!" Neither could believe their eyes! What had just happened? Why had this Xinwu Yang God suddenly summoned incarnations? If he had them, they should have appeared earlier—why emerge only now? And these divine characters... the Silver Moon King seemed proficient in them, so why did the Yang God know them as well? Xinwu and Silver Moon did not walk the same Dao! Furthermore, why did that entity perched atop the river wield them as well? What was the connection between these three? Everyone was utterly dumbfounded; even the Human King froze for an instant. The Supreme, however, looked thoughtful, having apparently anticipated something of the sort. This Yang God, who spent his days loafing around in shorts, sipping coconut juice, and wandering aimlessly, had never seemed particularly invested in Xinwu's development. He had always carried some lingering preoccupation, an unresolved knot in his heart. Today... he seemed to have shattered it completely. The Yang God before them now was solemn, cold, arrogant, and ferocious... Not a single trace of his former laid-back self remained. "Die!" Divine characters suppressed the void, myriad runes erupting with a deafening blast. Opposite him, the Yang Emissary threw a desperate punch, unleashing his Supreme Yang Great Dao—only for it to be snapped clean in two! *Boom!* The Yang Emissary could not believe it as his body was crushed to splinters. He let out a shrill scream: "Impossible..." How could the people of Xinwu become so horrifyingly powerful in an instant? The Yang God's eyes remained chilled to the bone. Ignoring his fallen foe, he looked back once more toward the figure enduring the lightning tribulation within the river, a faint smile gracing his lips... *Emperor Yu, I have waited for you! So this is the true union of the three incarnations! Only at this very moment can it truly be achieved!* Bridging past and future! Li Hao stepped into the past, you arrived from the future, and Xinwu stands in the present... This was the true union of the three incarnations! A terrifying aura battered heaven and earth. In the blink of an eye, he surged from the beginner eighth rank straight to four thousand Dao laws. He swung his fist again, striking blow after blow, his voice reverberating through the cosmos: "Emperor Yu, on what day shall you truly descend? I await you!" High above the river, the young emperor paused, slightly startled. He looked down at the man in confusion, but soon realized something, his eyes flickering. *Fuck!* *These divine characters... this Three Incarnations method... why do they look a bit like... like I was the one who passed them down?* *What the hell is going on?* *Do these old fossils in Chaos have some sort of connection with me?!* *Rumble!* A devastating explosion rang out. Below, the Yang God's second punch, packed with myriad divine characters, nearly tore the Yang Emissary into shreds, while the Supreme's saber cleaved the Yin Emissary's body into fragments! At this moment, these two erupted with peerless ferocity. Though not quite on par with the Human King's raw might, this corner of the battlefield was the very first to witness a complete, overwhelming reversal! Nearby, Cang Cat cast its fishing rod. In a single breath, the Yin-Yang stars deep within the Dao source of the Dao Universe were abruptly snagged by the fishhook. An unbelievable scene unfolded. The cat beamed with pure joy, its fishing rod piercing through heaven and earth. Gripping the rod firmly with its paws, it hauled backward with all its might, its chubby face brimming with glee: "Catching fish!" *Boom!* Two astral bodies were hooked right out of the Dao Universe by the cat. "Impossible..." The Yin and Yang Emissaries had not yet perished, their physical forms struggling to reassemble. Yet at this moment, their faces were pale with disbelief. How could this happen? That cat had fished their Great Dao stars directly out of the Dao Universe... What kind of ability was this? What divine art could accomplish such a feat? Having snagged the two stars in an instant, the Big Cat grinned widely. "Big Bad Zhang, don't you dare think of stealing this cat's fish this time..." In that split second, the two stars transformed into little fish—Yin and Yang fish—swimming between heaven and earth. Those were the Great Dao origin stars of two eighth-rank powerhouses! Both were pinnacle combatants who walked the path of Yin-Yang union, an irresistible temptation for any cultivator. Yet in the very next second, the cat opened its maw wide and swallowed both little fish straight into its belly. Even the Human King's expression twisted as he roared, "Save one for me, dammit!" *You ate them?!* *Why did you swallow them so fast?!* *I cultivate the paths of Yin and Yang too!* *Crunch!* The Big Cat chewed the stars to pieces. Both the Supreme and the Yang God looked on with helpless resignation. This fellow... was truly black-hearted. At the very least, they had fought together to take them down! Yet the cat had simply gulped them down. Fine, I stole your fish earlier, but I never said I was going to steal these... The Supreme chuckled and said no more, swinging his saber downward. *Boom!* Another deafening blast erupted! Having revived and descended for barely a day, the two formidable Sovereigns now wore expressions of utter despair. Defeated—a crushing defeat. Their physical forms were pulverized, their Great Daos shattered, and their very Dao sources fished out and eaten. What else was there to say? *Rumble!* Explosions thundered as the Yang God unleashed his fist at the same time. Both the Yin and Yang Emissaries bore faces of deathly defeat, offering tragic smiles. Returning... reviving... contending for hegemony... the ninth rank... In the end, it was all nothing more than a fleeting dream! *Rumble...* The sounds of detonations echoed endlessly. The Supreme chuckled softly. "You picked terrible Dao titles!" Of all things to call yourselves, you had to be the Yin and Yang Emissaries. If we didn't kill you, who else would we kill? Over on the other side, the Human King let out a savage roar, fighting with brutal ferocity while cursing angrily, "Long Zhan, are you mating over there?!" "..." Fighting the Five Elements Emissaries had dragged on until now! Long Zhan remained completely silent, though he was inwardly speechless and choking on his grievances. It was simple: Li Hao had not touched the past selves of the Five Elements Emissaries. Not at all! The Five Elements Emissaries were entirely uninjured. Li Hao had clearly done this on purpose. Having once owed favors to two of them, he had refrained from touching their past incarnations. As a result, while everyone else's opponents were heavily weakened, several enemies remained at peak strength. Sovereign Panlong and the Five Elements Emissaries had not been weakened in the slightest! That was what made this so agonizing! The Human King only knew how to bark. Did he have any idea what was actually going on? Who was mating? You're the one mating! ... At the same time. Farther upstream along the river. Sword in hand, Li Hao struck blow after blow, nearly wiping out the cultivators in the area. Yet several figures remained before him. Li Hao offered a faint smile. "Seniors Huo Yan, Panlong, and Shui Linglong... this time, I shall not kill you. Consider it partial repayment for the favors I owe. It may not be enough... but I will preserve your lives. Henceforth, the debt between us is settled!" Within that past world. The faces of the survivors warped in horror, and one of the Five Elements Emissaries roared, "Ungrateful wretch! Without our Tianfang, could you have ever reached this height? You slaughtered our bodies... yet you call sparing our lives repayment?!" Despicable! What kind of repayment was that?! Li Hao merely smiled and said softly, "You are mistaken. Repaying or not repaying depends entirely upon my heart. If I say it is repaid, then it is repaid... Besides, I... owe you nothing!" With that, he whirled around and slashed! A sword of time struck out instantly. With a colossal boom, the Metal Emissary among the Five Elements was blown to pieces. Sorrow washed over the past incarnations of Huo Yan and the others. Li Hao paid them no heed. Glancing around, he no longer cared whether lingering here would summon a storm of tribulation lightning. The more that came, the better—the fellow from the future would block it anyway; it had nothing to do with him! He had killed almost everyone he needed to kill. He did not yet know the exact situation outside, but presumably, the Human King and his allies would seize the opportunity, as would Dao Chess and the rest. If they couldn't grasp such a blatant opening at this stage, they were simply useless. He sped directly toward the airspace above the Tianfang Domain, where a statue stood. The statue of the Lord of Tianfang! Li Hao floated over. The statue seemed alive, yet also dead. As Li Hao took a step forward, the statue... seemed to open its eyes. Li Hao's gaze remained steady. He had long known that this statue might serve as the vessel for Tianfang's incarnation. Right now, Li Hao was merely observing; this was only a fragment of the past, not the true interior of Tianfang! After watching it for a moment, Li Hao sighed softly. "Your spirituality is insufficient, making it difficult for your incarnation to descend... It seems you prepared for both outcomes. If your people sweep across the four quarters and slaughter vast numbers of cultivators, you can descend. If they fail... and your Tianfang cultivators perish in droves, these experts possess ample spirituality, allowing you to use their deaths to descend all the same. An overlord is indeed an overlord—scheming without a flaw, utterly ruthless!" The Lord of Tianfang truly lived up to his reputation as an overlord! He had prepared two contingencies. If the Tianfang faction could conquer the surroundings, their spirituality would stabilize over time, their Great Dao would expand, and his incarnation could naturally descend. Yet if an unforeseen disaster struck and massive numbers of experts died, creating an anomaly on Tianfang's side, the fallen Tianfang cultivators were all powerhouses; with enough spirituality released, he could descend just as easily! As for how much power he could bring down, that remained to be seen. The statue merely watched him. Li Hao turned to leave. Suddenly, the statue spoke: "Li Hao, why make an enemy of Tianfang? From the day you rose to prominence, countless people urged me to abandon you, yet I never paid them any heed. Do you and I... harbor any grudge?" "No grudge!" Li Hao was not surprised that the statue had spoken. At this realm, supernatural arts were unfathomably profound. Without looking back, Li Hao said, "You and I have no grudge, but no one may control my fate—not even you! Abandon me? What right do you have to say such a thing? Do you believe everything I possess was bestowed by you? Or perhaps by Zhan? You are wrong. Everything I have, I fought for and claimed with my own hands!" He never believed his achievements were opportunities handed out by others. He had seized every bit of it himself! Even if he had obtained the Time Star, so what? He had taken it through his own blood and sweat! Silver Moon held so many people, so many powerhouses, and when he first rose, he was a nobody. To secure the Time Star, he had destroyed every foe in his path. All of it had been earned with his own two hands! This overlord of Tianfang indeed bore no personal grudge against him, yet looked down from above, assuming everything lay under his control, assuming Li Hao's accomplishments were a gift from him, that he had granted Li Hao an opportunity... Wrong! Li Hao would never accept such a notion. Your failure to prevent me from taking everything was your own incompetence; it did not mean you had no desire to alter things. If you had the ability, you could have mastered time yourself. The statue fell silent. After a long while, it chuckled softly. "Perhaps you are right. My thoughts were misguided." Li Hao smiled as well, drifting upward into the air. "I advise you not to let your incarnation descend. This time, my target is only Calamity, not you. But if your incarnation descends and threatens me, I may very well join forces with others to deal with you! It is not that we have a grudge; it is simply that... none of you have the right to decide my life!" Tianfang remained silent. Li Hao had already delved into the depths of the river, vanishing from the past in an instant. That temporal fragment began to dissolve slowly. "Li Hao..." Tianfang murmured softly, fading into nothingness as the fragment collapsed. ... *Boom!* The river churned violently. The instant Li Hao emerged, the lightning tribulation erupted once more across the void. The future emperor let out a miserable shriek, scorched black and crisp on the outside while tender within! "Bastard!" At that moment, he seemed to curse aloud! Damn it all! How could this lightning tribulation be so ridiculously powerful? When he saw Li Hao surface, Su Yu's face twisted with pure fury! This old geezer was far too wicked! Was this lightning tribulation really just an eighth-rank occurrence, found everywhere? Why did it feel... outrageously strong?! Sure, it hadn't struck him dead, but how strong was he? Invincible in Chaos... All right, pseudo-Chaos invincible, but that was still invincible! Did he have to be blasted into such a pitiful state by a single tribulation?! ... Li Hao merely glanced at him and gave him a thumbs-up! Impressive! Even this lightning tribulation hadn't struck him dead; he was truly formidable. Last time, the youth had repelled Fusheng with a single sword strike, leading Li Hao to assume he possessed only seventh- or eighth-rank might. Now it seemed that was merely because he hadn't truly descended. This time, by reversing time and hauling him forward, the young emperor had revealed his true strength. Incredibly powerful, no weaker than Long Zhan. *Could the world I opened be this strong?* *Capable of housing an expert approaching the ninth rank?* *That means... when I opened it, it might not have been in the near future. Right now, I lack such power, possessing only the strength of around five thousand Dao laws—weaker than this fellow.* He cast only a fleeting glance and paid him no further mind. Whether this figure was strong or weak, for now, he could only display his might within the river; he could not step out of it! Li Hao glanced toward the distant Thunder Domain, where fighting still raged. Even now, they hadn't slain their opponents... They were a bit slow. Then he turned his gaze toward the Tianfang battlefield... Huh? The Yin and Yang Emissaries were gone? Looking toward the Yang God and the Supreme... Li Hao was slightly taken aback. The Yang God—that eccentric-looking old man who wandered around in shorts—seemed rather different today. What was going on? Divine characters... Li Hao seemed to perceive something, his eyes narrowing slightly. The supreme techniques of Star Suppressing City—his own Dao of Divine Characters had indeed been developed through those arts, sharing the same origin. But... there was a fundamental difference. Specifically, the techniques of Star Suppressing City possessed the character but lacked force, devoid of spirit! They could only be called supreme techniques, not divine characters. Why did this Yang God's divine characters appear different today? Suddenly noticing and sensing something more, Li Hao let out a soft exclamation as a realization struck him. He recalled his past conversation with the Supreme: where had the world near Xinwu originally come from? He had harbored speculations, and today... they seemed to have found some validation! For a moment, Li Hao fell into a daze. *Does that mean... the Yang God's Dao of Divine Characters might actually hail from... the future?!* *And the Dao of Divine Characters in the future came from me, while mine came from the Yang God...* *Fuck!* *What kind of loop is this?!* Li Hao was utterly baffled, caught in a temporal paradox. The chicken and the egg... which came first? At this moment, with Li Hao's return, the lightning tribulation seemed to weaken slightly, having expended immense energy. Furthermore, now that Li Hao had stepped out of the past, the tribulation began to subside from its peak. How could that be allowed? Li Hao smiled. Suddenly, he looked in all directions, gazing up into the expanse above heaven and earth, a radiant grin spreading across his face: "How exactly did the origin of life come into being?" In an instant, he unleashed the power of time once more. This time, he did not target any individual, but rather... the Chaos Great Dao! He intended to reverse the Chaos Great Dao, eager to see how it had originally been born! In the past, when he reversed the source of life of a small world, the tribulation had nearly blasted him to death, and it was only because Er Mao severed the tribulation that his life had been saved. Clearly, exploring the origin of Chaos and the source of life touched upon the deepest secrets of the cosmos. Yet at this moment, adopting an attitude of having nothing to lose, Li Hao delved straight into the Chaos Great Dao, beginning to reverse time. Truth be told, he was genuinely fascinated by the creation of life's origin! Instantly, the entire Chaos seemed to convulse! At that moment, the future emperor, who had remained mostly silent, suddenly cursed violently: "Fuck! Old fossil, you've gone too far!" He was about to lose his mind! By now, he understood where the tribulation was coming from. He had already managed to withstand the weakening lightning, yet in an instant, the tribulation swelled exponentially, drawing colossal amounts of tribulation power directly from the Thunder Domain! It sought to stop Li Hao! Reversing the Chaos Great Dao to pry into the origin of the cosmic Chaos... This was an unforgivable sin! This was something even the Lord of Tribulation himself could no longer control; even if he stood right here, he might not be able to rein it in. The Time Star seemed to tremble violently! Reversing a small world was one thing, but reversing the Chaos Great Dao was equivalent to reversing the entire Chaos. The Time Star was not yet a complete entity; right now, it shuddered fiercely, and the entire river churned in wild upheaval! Countless lightning bolts swept in, blanketing the entirety of Chaos! Over in the Thunder Domain, the expressions of Venerable Thunder and his companions completely changed as they muttered in disbelief, "Mad... completely mad... A ninth-rank tribulation might truly descend..." ... Long Zhan's face shifted, and the Human King's expression twisted as well. "That's enough!" The Human King bellowed, "We can kill them now!" *Stop playing around!* *Brat, the lightning tribulation is covering the entire Four Regions!* Bolt after bolt of lightning no longer targeted Li Hao or the river alone, but spread across the entire Four Regions! All around, the world masters fled in sheer terror, every seventh-rank Sovereign's face stark white. *Fuck!* *Madman!* Still, taking advantage of the Thunder Domain being nearly drained of its power, fleeing beyond the Four Regions was their only priority. As for worlds and territories, who cared at a time like this? Surviving was all that mattered! Long Zhan felt a splitting headache. When Xinwu arrived, they merely killed enemies; but when Li Hao stepped in, he wasn't just killing—he was trying to eradicate the Thunder Domain entirely, threatening to reduce the Four Regions to desolate ruins! Those countless lightning bolts were growing increasingly terrifying! *Rumble!* From every direction, boundless tribulation lightning blanketed the expanse, no longer focused on just one or two individuals. The power of time had scattered into every corner of heaven and earth. Yet Li Hao paid none of it any heed. It had nothing to do with him! Before his eyes lay an unimaginably massive Great Dao, vast beyond belief, seemingly propping up the entire Chaos. Only at this moment did he perceive the entire Chaos Great Dao with absolute clarity. Its laws were endless! Densely packed, some lay dormant, some surged with vitality, some seemed sentient, while others were severed entirely... Looking further upward, an entity resembling a beating heart seemed to exist. The Chaos Origin! Or perhaps, the fountainhead of all life in Chaos, and likely the origin of all Daos. *Thump...* The faint, almost imperceptible heartbeat reached Li Hao's ears, like the birth of a world, like the reopening of heaven and earth. He felt dazed. Almost intoxicated by the sight, he suddenly snapped to full awareness as a realization struck him, and the burning desire in his eyes could no longer be concealed: "This is... the fountainhead of Chaos life... They must be here!" The origin! Li Hao smiled, a hint of madness in his expression. Suddenly, he reversed time! A single drop of blood appeared in his palm... Reversing heaven and earth, rotating life and death! I want to revive them! Father, Mother, Xiao Yuan... If you had died of natural causes, I would not be so impatient, so desperate... But all of you were murdered; it was not a natural death, and it should never have happened! You can be revived... I have found the origin of Chaos! If I could not find you in Silver Moon, then here... I shall seek you out! Reverse time! Heaven and earth roared, and Chaos shook. Someone dared to commit the ultimate taboo, reaching into the origin of Chaos to seek human spirits, searching among countless living beings for the souls of three ordinary mortals who had perished long ago! The source of life had dissipated in Silver Moon, but it would never truly dissipate in Chaos, for Chaos... encompassed all things. Li Hao intended to reverse time at the very root of the Chaos Origin to resurrect those three souls... *Rumble!* Countless lightning bolts crashed down in madness, turning the entire expanse into a domain of thunder. Li Hao had touched the very root of Chaos. At that moment, Great Dao after Great Dao seemed to roar to life! "He is mad!" "Li Hao must be slain!" "Tianfang, this time no one can protect him! He has... cast aside all restraint, completely insane, tampering with the origin of Chaos..." That was the origin of everyone, of all experts, including the ninth-rank powerhouses. This man could not be allowed to live! The second-generation Time cultivator had to die. Regardless of who the third generation might be, he had to die. ... They were not the only ones who thought so; at this moment, even the reckless Human King felt that Li Hao had pushed things too far! Above the river, the future emperor burst out laughing with a cackle. His previously composed demeanor vanished as his eyes flushed red: "The old Time bastard is truly fascinating! I thought he was a scholar, a refined gentleman... Turns out he's a complete lunatic!" *Where is the man dressed in snow-white robes?* *Where is the ethereal, immortal grace?* *Where is the gallant figure piercing heaven and earth with a single sword strike before drifting away?* *Why is he now bearing ten thousand tribulations, battered and wretched, yet fiercely deranged, his desires burning so intensely that they can be felt even in the future?* *Isn't the Great Dao supposed to be emotionless?* *Aren't you supposed to be free of worldly attachments?* *How did it turn out like this?* Rumors truly couldn't be trusted. Indeed, one's darkest history could only be captured in the present; after countless years, who would still remember your humiliating moments... *No, I have to record this!* At that instant, the future emperor paid no more heed to the lightning tribulation, allowing it to batter his body. Grinning radiantly, he retrieved a divine character and aimed it at Li Hao, laughing uncontrollably! How fun! How delightful! Though blasted charred-black from head to toe, he didn't care in the slightest, merely recording, watching, laughing, and baring his teeth. Yet at that moment, the river churned violently. Sensing something, he frowned slightly. Time was not strong enough; it seemed the old Time fellow had yet to fully master or empower it. It was about to give out! Reluctantly, he stowed away the recording talisman. He had resolved to place this recording of Time's pathetic state deep within the River of Time... so that invincible beings of all generations could admire it for eternity! However, noticing his form beginning to dissipate as surging waves on the river threatened to sweep him back to the future... Su Yu felt displeased. He hadn't dealt with the tribulation yet, nor had he finished watching the show. *You want me to leave, so I just leave?* "Open the heavens!" With a low bark, the Civilization Chronicle manifested, displaying the civilizations of the cosmos and myriad divine characters. A long spear materialized, resembling a giant writing brush in his grip. Chuckling, he brandished the brush and dotted it across the River of Time, as if painting something! Painting a world, creating a heaven and earth! A phantom world, an illusory realm, suddenly materialized above the entire river. The fluctuating river actually began to stabilize. Divine characters emerged from the brush, mending and reinforcing the tears, gradually bringing stability to the turbulent waters! Panting slightly, Su Yu let power of rules pour wildly from his body! Yet he cared nothing for the toll, grinning from ear to ear. The next instant, with a wave of his hand, a gateway materialized and stood upright upon the river. Flashing a brilliant smile, he thought to himself: *Leaving a back door. I'll come back later! This is the past! The era of Time! I will return.* "I've stabilized it for you for a bit... Don't break it! If you break it, the future might change..." Su Yu roared, then glared at the lightning tribulation still crashing down upon him, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. "Do you take me for an easy target?!" "Bless my body!" Behind him, the Great Daos and divine characters of cultivator after cultivator manifested, bestowing the strength of their world! The power of myriad realms empowered him! Su Yu's aura erupted exponentially, reaching an absolute pinnacle in an instant, drawing infinitely close to the ninth rank. The Civilization Chronicle manifested once more, instantly transforming into a long spear! "Shatter!" A monstrous power of tribulation materialized between heaven and earth, hovering above the river. *I am the rules! I dictate the rules! A mere lightning tribulation—did you truly think I couldn't crush you?!* *Rumble!* Countless lightning bolts shattered in an instant, and the spear in his hand also disintegrated. Su Yu spat out a mouthful of blood, and the ethereal figures behind him stumbled backward. Yet Su Yu burst into laughter. He seemed eager to do more, but realized that pushing any further might cause the fragile river to collapse entirely! He looked toward Li Hao, studying his possessed, desire-ridden state, his brow furrowing slightly before relaxing back into a smile: "Time, I... await you! Stop playing with illusions; next time, I shall truly descend!" *Boom!* The river began to fracture. He retreated rapidly, his laughter echoing across heaven and earth! *Rumble...* The Dao river swept through the cosmos, and he vanished from the spot in an instant. His voice continued to reverberate. Gradually, Li Hao regained his senses. Seeing the countless Great Dao rules blocking his path and threatening to crush him, he knew that this resurrection... would likely fail! The ninth-rank beings were barring his way. He looked toward that unimaginably colossal Great Dao in the void and suddenly chuckled softly: "You bar my path... You stop me from reviving my family and friends. You... are my mortal enemies. I will... eradicate every single one of you!" A sword struck! *Boom!* The descending lightning tribulation was instantly shattered by his blade. At this moment, in the distant Thunder Domain, wretched screams finally rang out as immense amounts of tribulation power were siphoned away. The Sovereigns of the Thunder Domain were weakened to the extreme. At this moment, their falls began. *Rumble...* like mountains crumbling, like the earth splitting apart... The eighth-rank experts of the Thunder Domain began to perish. Meanwhile, Wushan and the others roared in fury, manifesting towering phantoms of immense might that blanketed heaven and earth. "I, Wushan, slay Ancient Pestilence here!" "I, Kongji, slay Ancient Landslide here!" "..." Sovereign after Sovereign bellowed aloud as they struck down their mighty foes! Simultaneously, the Human King struck with his saber, exhausting every ounce of his power with a ferocious roar. The long saber transformed into an exact double of himself, as if two Human Kings had descended upon the field. "Die for me!" Everyone else was racking up kills, while he, the one who had boasted the loudest, had been entangled until now—it was utterly humiliating! *Boom!* A deafening explosion rang out as the Dark Demon Emissary was split in two by the saber, carrying a trace of helplessness and sorrow... The day of revival was the day of their demise! Could the Dao Lord revive them? Would he even be willing to? The Light Emissary was petrified. Setting aside all other thoughts, he turned and fled. With the Dark Demon Emissary slain, their union of light and darkness was broken, leaving him with no hope of matching the Human King. The Human King had gone mad with bloodlust, gnashing his teeth in fury; lingering any longer meant certain death! Yet how could the Human King let him escape?! In that split second, he let out a thunderous roar: "Merge!" Instantly, several figures vanished from the crowd. When they reappeared, a handful of Xinwu Sovereigns had merged directly into his physical form! The Blood Sovereign merged into his vitality, Sovereign Iron Head became his armor, the God-Splitting Sovereign transformed into a long spear... Not only that, but the Cang Emperor suddenly merged into his origin as well... The Human King's aura surged exponentially once more. With a single thrust, the spear pierced the void, shattered the firmament, and fractured the Tianfang cosmos! Filled with shame and fury, he roared, *Why won't you just die?! Did you have to force my hand like this?!* Ever since slaying the Heavenly Emperor, he had never used this merging method again. It was simple: merging was a legacy left behind by Zhan, something Zhan had developed that he didn't particularly care for. Using humans as vitality, using humans as spirit... it was indeed a combat art, a unique one, but profoundly inhumane! Normally, no matter how dire the struggle, he refused to employ it. Yet today... he truly couldn't afford to lose face. He had to use it. He had sworn at the very beginning to slay the Emissaries of Light and Darkness, and he would never become a laughingstock by failing to deliver on his words! *Rumble!* As the spear thrust forward, the Light Emissary's face drained of all color. He screamed in terror: "Dao Lord, save me..." Cornered with nowhere left to run, his only hope lay in the Dao Lord's descent! Yet the Human King merely sneered, whispering in an undertone, "If you don't die, how can he descend?" He seemed to have deduced something as well. The deaths of Yin, Yang, and the Dark Demon Emissary were not enough! Without your death, how could that fellow descend so easily? Expecting him to save you was pure delusion! Long Zhan's expression shifted slightly as he looked at the Human King, thoughts racing. Did you know that killing both Light and Darkness would provide enough essence for Tianfang's incarnation to descend?! The Human King looked up and flashed a disdainful grin, as if to say... *So what?* Nearby, Li Hao's face was as pale as a corpse. He merely watched in silence, gazing into the heavens. He could already see a glimmer of spiritual light emerging from the depths of the Chaos Great Dao! A figure was walking toward this realm. Tianfang was about to descend! Li Hao smiled faintly, looking down at the Human King and the others, then glancing toward Long Zhan. He said softly, "Senior Tianfang's incarnation will likely arrive soon..." Then he looked toward the distant Thunder Domain and chuckled again. "The old ghost Calamity wants to descend at this moment as well... Does he think not enough people have died?" At this juncture, both ninth-rank beings had chosen to descend! Long Zhan, who had remained relatively calm until now, suddenly flared with anger, cursing under his breath: "Fuck!" *Can't you two be a little more reliable?!* One descending was within expectations, but two... he had never planned for this. Did these lunatics have no fear of death? He didn't want to die so early! With two coming... they couldn't withstand them! Stop joking around! The Human King chuckled, muttering to himself, "Two... now that's where the fun begins. Old Dragon, you better not run. If you run, I'll slaughter all your people!" "..." Long Zhan's face went completely rigid. He believed every word this lunatic said. If he dared to flee, this bunch might truly exterminate the entire Chaos race! He was riding a tiger with no way down! Sure enough, cooperating with these madmen felt exhilarating, but when push came to shove... it could lead to an utter disaster!