From the Same Lineage

The avatar of Tribulation had fallen. Paying no mind to anything else, Li Hao swiftly devoured the power of tribulation, then turned and charged toward Tianfang. Huntian was already rushing in that direction. Whether they could deal with Tianfang was the true crux of the battle; if they could not defeat Tianfang, slaying a single avatar of Tribulation was utterly pointless. *** Tianfang. The battle was raging in full fury. The might of the Lord of Tianfang was truly beyond anything Tribulation could compare to. At best, Tribulation wielded eight thousand Dao principles, and without his Dao spirit, he had been reduced to Long Zhan's level—well, that was hardly weak. Yet compared to Tianfang, he fell drastically short. Tianfang was infinitesimally close to nine thousand Daos. Furthermore, his Dao spirit remained intact. Judged by the standards of the eighth rank, he had likely surpassed nine thousand Dao principles—or perhaps even reached the level of ten thousand Daos! Such strength was simply not something the group could withstand. Invincible at the ninth rank, and invincible even as an avatar—only with Tianfang was this truth laid completely bare. Tribulation had been an entire tier below him. At this moment, the Lord of Tianfang held the Human King, the Supreme, the Cang Emperor, Brightness, Long Zhan, Red Moon, and this whole flock of eighth-rank powerhouses in the palm of his hand. Spatial slicing, turbulence, and obliteration! Such a massive gathering of experts could not even get close to him! Long Zhan shattered space several times, seeking to close the distance, but before he could arrive, he was instantly displaced. The Human King charged with reckless, frenzied abandon, yet it was futile. No matter how ferocious your close-quarters combat was, if you could not reach your opponent, it counted for nothing! Sovereigns like the Five Elements Emissaries were reduced to mere spectators. All they felt now was veneration. Boundless veneration! The Lord of Tianfang was unimaginably powerful. Even as a mere avatar, against these powerhouses who had slaughtered the emissaries like chickens moments ago, he left them without the slightest power to fight back. Even with the fall of Tribulation, the Lord of Tianfang did not care in the slightest. It was just as well that he died. Besides, he had never intended for the man to revive anyway. Dead was dead. He had already seen through Li Hao's methods. Spirit Obliteration! A clever trick. If the opponents facing him had used it first, perhaps he might have suffered a minor setback. But now, it was useless. With a cautionary tale before him, even if his opponent possessed a spirit-obliterating method and could use it a second time, they could forget about catching him off guard like Tribulation. He sensed a ripple in the void. A figure materialized—it was Huntian. Tianfang was not surprised. Remaining calm and detached, he chuckled softly. "I have no desire to make enemies of you all. The Four Regions were originally Tianfang's domain, of that there is no doubt! Nor do I wish to slaughter anyone today. Though you killed some of the people from the Tianfang World, I understand that you are accustomed to supremacy and unaccustomed to migration. Even so, I hope you will consider the matter carefully and depart." "Long Zhan." Ethereal and aloof, he looked toward Long Zhan, who kept attempting to approach, and said softly, "The plight of the Chaos race was not caused by us. It is the inevitability of the era, the inevitability of Chaos's evolution. As you may already understand, the path of the ninth rank cannot expect Chaos cultivators to abandon their pursuit of the ninth rank simply to make way for the Chaos race. What do you think?" Natural selection! In Tianfang's eyes, this was not decided by any single person; it was determined by the entire system. The Chaos race was fated to decline. Long Zhan's resistance was nothing more than a dying struggle. Even without them, the next generation and the generation after that would advance toward the ninth rank, merge their Daos into Chaos, and siphon away the spirit of Chaos. Under such conditions, fewer and fewer Chaos beasts would be born in the Chaos. This was the general trend of all Chaos! Long Zhan's resistance was doomed to be meaningless. At that moment, Huntian strode through the air, crushing the void beneath his step as he moved to close in on Tianfang. Yet an instant later, powerful though Huntian was, he too was displaced away. Sovereign Huntian frowned slightly. His combat prowess was formidable. Truth be told, while these ninth-rank avatars were powerful, they were not strong enough to crush him. Yet Tianfang's Dao of Space seemed traceless and formless. Before Huntian could even draw near, he was instantly shunted away. Under such circumstances, it was nearly impossible to inflict fatal damage on Tianfang. He knit his brows. He knew Tianfang would be difficult to deal with, but right now... Tianfang could truly rival genuine ninth-rank experts. Even as an avatar, the foremost figure of Chaos lived up to his name. Moreover, the man did not seem inclined to deliver lethal blows. Of course, it was also possible that his avatar was better suited for defense than offense. Formidable as the Great Spatial Slicing Technique was, cleanly bisecting top-tier overlords was still a tall order. Huntian's brow furrowed deeper as he said in a heavy voice, "Senior Tianfang, what is your purpose in returning at this juncture? If possible, we can act on your behalf, sparing you the need to descend in person! Although Senior's avatar is powerful, it remains, after all, only an avatar..." Tianfang chuckled. "The Tianfang World is our homeland. We are merely returning, not invading! Little Friend Huntian, and the rest of you young friends... We cultivate the Dao, and having reached our level, must even a journey home be so arduous? Years from now, if you return from distant travels and someone bars you from your home, what would you do?" The crowd fell silent. The Human King bared his teeth in a grin. "Whoever blocks me, I kill!" The logic was indeed sound. Tianfang was not wrong. He was merely returning to his own territory, his own homeland. Before he had done anything, he had been besieged. On the surface, this group of attackers seemed utterly unreasonable. "Indeed," Tianfang said with a smile. "So, my young friends, aren't you being rather unreasonable? Of course, Chaos is not a place for reasoned debate; the strong revere the strong here. Yet even if I am merely an avatar, you may not necessarily be able to do anything to me! Nor do I wish to vie with you. What we desire is fundamentally different. You desire supremacy, the path of the ninth rank, whereas I... have long since passed that stage." Their pursuits were different. Why must you bar my way? Huntian asked, "Then what does Senior pursue?" "The stabilization of Chaos, the stability of the Great Dao, order within Chaos, and the prosperity of worlds... If I put it this way, would you believe me?" Tianfang sighed softly. "To perfect the Daos of Chaos, to perfect the rules and systems of Chaos... and to allow the ninth ranks to return. There is no need to treat the ninth rank as an enemy. Everyone present will have such a day, such an opportunity. Could it be that when that day arrives, you will all seal yourselves away until death? "Then what was the purpose of cultivation in the first place?" He spoke with utmost sincerity. "You are not my enemies. In fact, no one is an enemy! Chaos may one day have a master, but not now, not today. You too will embark upon the ninth-rank path. When that day comes and your spirituality is exhausted, must you be forced into exile—no, not exile, but forced to seal your true bodies and hide in the cracks? Is that the outcome you seek? "Unless you believe you are incapable of stepping into the ninth rank, what grievance exists between us? "With ordinary people, words are wasted, but with you, I can speak a few more words... especially Little Friend Li Hao." He looked toward Li Hao, who was striding through the void in the distance, and said softly, "Time is what we have been waiting for. You may have worries and apprehensions, but there is no need. We await Time only in the hope that the ten thousand Daos will fully converge and all possess spirits, reshaping Chaos. In truth, we support your advancement into the ninth rank. "Perhaps some are unwilling, but that is only due to other ambitions or considerations for the distant future. At present, however, we share no enmity whatsoever!" This peerless expert spoke with complete earnestness. At this stage, there was no conflict of interest. Long Zhan, however, barked coldly, "If it is truly only for this... why did Senior's avatar need to descend at all? Why not remain dormant and wait until we step into the ninth rank before speaking of this?" He was normally a man of few words, yet today, he spoke at length. He did not believe a single word from Tianfang! With Huntian and Li Hao's arrival, his confidence had grown. Now, his stance became even firmer. "I ask that Senior's avatar return! Disperse your Dao spirit!" "Alas!" the Lord of Tianfang sighed. His figure became increasingly illusory. "Advised, you do not listen; told, you do not believe; believed, you are unwilling... To see you young friends so aggressive is truly regrettable!" As his words fell, he turned entirely ethereal! In a flash— Boom! The void shattered. Long Zhan's expression shifted drastically as he whipped his dragon tail, but it struck empty air. In an instant, the Lord of Tianfang appeared, his hand blotting out the sky as though compressing a world. An explosive roar erupted immediately! The dragon tail snapped! Long Zhan grunted in pain. The Human King slashed with his saber, and Huntian manifested instantly, but Tianfang vanished in a flash. Here, he seemed capable of appearing and disappearing anywhere at any moment. Having just arrived, Li Hao's expression shifted slightly. He raised his hand and swung his sword, yet he too cleaved only empty air, while explosive detonations rang in his ears. Li Hao growled low and traversed time. He vanished instantly! The space where he had stood transformed into a spatial cavern, detonating violently. The Lord of Tianfang appeared in that spot, smiling faintly. "Impressive. The art of traversing time is truly extraordinary. Long ago, I met a Time cultivator as well, and we had quite a pleasant conversation... What a pity..." He shook his head slightly. "He was exceptionally talented—and though you may not like to hear it, perhaps even more talented than you. It is truly a shame... Otherwise, had he survived to this day, he might not have stood in my way as you do." He turned his gaze toward the Human King. "Xinwu... Silver Moon... In truth, you share the same lineage. Your lineage is exceptionally strong, extraordinarily talented, and full of promise. I can understand why Long Zhan opposes me, but why must the two of you wade into these murky waters? Huntian seeks to establish order, while your lineage pursues freedom... No one will stop you from pursuing your freedom." No one spoke. Even Li Hao remained silent. Slaying Tribulation's avatar earlier had actually been relatively easy, but only when directly facing Tianfang's avatar did one truly grasp the terrifying might of the ninth rank. There were so many of them, all apex beings. Yet at this moment, a single avatar of their opponent was playing them like puppets. They could not even get close enough to strike him. If one person approached alone, they would only be slain; if they tried to converge and besiege him together, it was near impossible. The man could melt into the void and vanish whenever he pleased. Without a word, Li Hao cast down his Domain of Ten Thousand Worlds, attempting to seal the surroundings. Yet in a mere breath, one world shattered, the virtual world vanished, and a mental body within it disintegrated instantly. Tianfang materialized outside the domain, chuckling softly. "A very fine Dao, and a very fine concept, but it is far too dispersed. Can a domain like this truly bind me?" At that moment, the Human King burst forth from behind, slashing downward with his saber, but Tianfang disappeared once more. The Human King cursed under his breath! He wheeled around with another slash, nearly cleaving Huntian, who had just arrived. The Human King spat furiously, "I fucking despise people like you the most! If you've got the guts, stand still and duel me one-on-one!" He was no match in a duel either. Yet by hurling a few insults, what if the bastard actually stayed still? One-on-one, none of them could beat him. Moreover, the man could vanish and reappear at will, and sealing arts were utterly useless against him. A foe who could fight, flee, and hide at will was the most vexing opponent imaginable. The Dao of Space! Present everywhere. Wherever space existed, he could traverse it. It was easy to see why he had been hailed as the foremost expert of that era. Sovereign Huntian let out a low shout as several surrounding worlds materialized, forming a barrier to lock down the four directions and solidify space. Yet an instant later, one of the domains shattered. Tianfang reappeared. "It is futile!" All around, eighth-rank Sovereigns emerged in large numbers. Yet numerical superiority seemed to have lost all meaning; the siege of an entire crowd of eighth ranks remained utterly ineffective. Sovereign Huntian seemed to discern something and frowned slightly. "It seems... while it is difficult for us to kill you, your offensive power is not necessarily great enough to kill us either. Otherwise, you would have struck to kill long ago. The spirit you gathered this time is not an offensive spirit, but merely a spatial-escape spirit!" Tianfang did not deny it. He smiled and nodded slightly. "After all, it is merely a spirit gathered by a few eighth ranks; it cannot be all-encompassing. The Chaos as a whole cannot currently support the presence of the ninth rank, which is why I am only an avatar rather than my true body. Had it been my true body, I would not be so courteous." He admitted it openly. His offensive might was roughly on par with Huntian's. However, he had supreme speed and supreme flexibility; these people could do nothing to him. On the contrary, while they were safe gathered together, if they scattered, they would need to be careful. Such a powerhouse was someone everyone dreaded. Long Zhan, whose tail had nearly been sheared off, wore a grim expression. He glanced at Li Hao, then at the others. Tianfang's avatar posed an immense threat to everyone. At this moment, this was no longer just about the Chaos race. The entire Chaos did not wish for such a peerless powerhouse to descend right now, for he would pose a fatal threat to all of them! This was the true reason they had united. Yet Tianfang was far more difficult to deal with than anticipated, and this was merely an avatar. Earlier, they had thought they could handle him, but if they could not even lock onto him, how could they fight? Furthermore, Red Moon would find it even harder to stir Tianfang's desires. Because Li Hao had already employed that trick, Tianfang was surely prepared. This gave Long Zhan an even greater headache. That damned Li Hao had used both Spirit Obliteration and desire-induction on Tribulation. Tribulation was nothing. Once Tianfang was dead, joining hands to kill Tribulation would have been simple. But Li Hao had insisted on dealing with Tribulation first, and now that this old fox Tianfang was on guard, killing him was practically impossible! In the next instant, Long Zhan suddenly let out a deafening roar. A dragon's cry reverberated through heaven and earth! Boom! Space detonated. The Lord of Tianfang smiled, emerging from the darkness only to vanish into the void an instant later. Long Zhan raged, "Bastard!" Among those present, I am not the strongest—Huntian is. Nor am I the weakest; several are weaker than me. Why do you keep attacking me! Why not the Human King, why not Li Hao, why not the other weaker ones? Why target me alone? Hidden within the void, Tianfang continued to smile. Why Long Zhan? Because Long Zhan posed a potentially fatal threat to him. Li Hao might have earlier, but now it was difficult. As for Long Zhan... he suspected Long Zhan had a connection to the spirit of Chaos, making such an existence exceptionally dangerous. A situation might even arise where Long Zhan squeezed Tianfang's Dao out of the Great Dao of Chaos, causing him to lose his spirituality. Tianfang understood this very well! Thus, his strikes were repeatedly aimed at Long Zhan and no one else, his objective unmistakable. It was you! The others grew thoughtful as well. Clearly, targeting Long Zhan meant Long Zhan most likely held a sure-kill method. Both Li Hao and the Human King were aware of this; otherwise, Long Zhan would not have been so confident earlier. Yet now, something had clearly gone awry. Li Hao sensed the surroundings and noticed Sovereign Red Moon looking thoroughly frustrated nearby. A thought struck him... Was it because of desire? Perhaps! I used it prematurely, so Tianfang became prepared, and Long Zhan's plan was disrupted by me? Yet, relying on Red Moon? Li Hao laughed inwardly. That was a stretch... Red Moon's grasp of the Dao of Desire was superficial at best. Let alone Tianfang, his desires could scarcely move even the Lord of Tribulation. It was not that Li Hao looked down on Red Moon; it was simply a fact. Rather than counting on Red Moon, Long Zhan would be better off figuring out how to brute-force Tianfang to death. The group remained highly vigilant. Gradually, they drew closer together. The Human King grew impatient. He despised people like this... Of course, if he were the one who could both flee and kill at will, he would love it, but when an enemy did it, he hated it! Double standards were a universal trait among the strong. He could not help but roar, "Who can pin him down? Give me three strikes, and I will hack him to death!" He glared at Huntian. "Aren't you the foremost expert of Chaos? You can't even pin down his avatar? Are you really that pathetic?" "..." Huntian was speechless. Then, as if recalling something, he smiled and said softly, "It is not entirely impossible..." Long Zhan snorted coldly. "Don't even think about it!" Huntian sighed softly. "You heard him. I can do it. After all, it is only an avatar. All that is required is for you to hand the Four Regions completely over to me. I will use the power of will to establish order and seal space, leaving him nowhere to hide! Senior Tianfang would likely not dare enter my Huntian Domain; I can lock him down there... Why don't you all come as guests to the Huntian Domain? He will not dare follow." From the void, Tianfang also chuckled. "It makes no difference to me. If you young friends wish to leave, I will not stop you. Visiting Little Friend Huntian's domain sounds delightful. I have no wish to fight you to the death anyway; after all, you are all very young." The Human King was thoroughly exasperated. Go to the Huntian Domain? To become someone's lackey? Forget it! No wonder Long Zhan had refused immediately. If they went there, they would truly be finished. A gathering of eighth-rank powerhouses—barring a rare few, almost all the mighty figures of Chaos were here—yet they could do nothing against a single avatar. The Human King felt a surge of fury and scoffed coldly. "What a pity..." Pity that his internal world had not yet reached that level. Otherwise, once his internal world unfolded to seal the four directions, Tianfang would be unable to break it and could only be trapped and slaughtered! Right now, it wouldn't work; Tianfang was too strong. If his internal world manifested, Tianfang could easily shatter it. He had no way to counter him! Not far away, the Lord of Tianfang reappeared, completely relaxed. "Young friends... shall we call it a day?" With them joined together, it was hard for him to take them down. Yet once they scattered... Chaos was vast, but he was everywhere. He was no Tribulation. Easily hunted down like prey. Did Tribulation truly think he could compare to him? Long Zhan felt stifled to the extreme! If he did not kill Tianfang today and refused to leave, he would be the first to die later. He possessed a trump card to slay him... yet he could not completely lock onto him, and that was his greatest dilemma. At that moment, Li Hao's voice transmission arrived: "Fellow Daoist Long Zhan, can you kill him? Are you a hundred percent certain you can kill him?" Long Zhan's eyes flickered. Nearby, the Lord of Tianfang's gaze shifted as well. He seemed to have sensed something. In an instant, he appeared beside Li Hao, slapping down a palm that shattered space into oblivion. Yet Li Hao vanished simultaneously, chuckling softly. "Senior is indeed strong, but the speed of time and space in evasion is roughly matched... It will not be easy for Senior to kill me..." "Li Hao, why must you do this?" Tianfang vanished once more. "I told you, you and I are not enemies." "No, we are. We might not have been in the past, but we are now," Li Hao replied. "I want to resurrect people. Unless... you step aside and let me enter the Chaos Source!" Tianfang was struck dumb! "Resurrecting people is not so complicated. As long as their Dao source exists, they can be revived at any time..." Do you understand? "I know, but unfortunately, those I wish to revive are mere ordinary mortals with no Dao source..." "Even ordinary mortals possess a Dao source; anyone who has cultivated has one." "They never cultivated!" "..." A dead silence fell over the area. Not only Tianfang, but the others were stunned as well. Fuck! You want to resurrect people who never cultivated at all? In their eyes, anyone below Sovereign counted as an ordinary person. But this guy... was even more absurd. He meant absolute mortals? In some great worlds, such people did not even exist. Because they were born with some level of cultivation. Only in minor worlds did true mortals exist. More importantly, once such mortals died, they were dead; who would ever bother to resurrect them? And to go rummaging through the Chaos Source for them?! This... At this moment, even Tianfang was speechless. Powerful as he was, resurrecting such ordinary mortals could likely only be achieved by delving into the Chaos Source, sifting through it bit by bit, stripping away fragments of source essence, and reconstructing them... What supreme being would go to such lengths for mere mortals? Not to mention offending a host of ninth-rank experts in the process. This... Tianfang had nothing left to say. If you were willing to offend everyone just for this, then words were meaningless. Clearly, Li Hao felt that resurrecting a few mortals was worth offending an entire flock of ninth ranks. There was no point reasoning with such a person. Li Hao was clearly plotting something with Long Zhan. Tianfang's gaze shifted slightly as he vanished once more, disappearing entirely from everyone's sight. An instant later, an explosion rang out from the rear! Among the cultivators rushing over, someone suddenly coughed up blood incessantly! The Thunder Emperor's body was cracking all over. Tianfang's voice resonated through the void: "I had no desire to act against juniors... Li Hao, take your people and leave, and I will not harm you. If you persist... perhaps today, I shall begin a slaughter!" He had not killed the Thunder Emperor, merely issued a warning! I may not be able to kill you instantly, but I can slaughter these people in a heartbeat. You, Li Hao, are willing to make enemies of the ninth rank just to save mortals. What about now? With a single phrase, he seemed to have grasped Li Hao's weakness. The same logic applied to the Human King as well. He smiled and said, "Fang Ping, the same goes for you! Xinwu or Silver Moon, neither is necessarily an enemy of Tianfang... I know a fair bit about you; you value loyalty and bonds. If so, why make an enemy of me over the Four Regions? This place is no longer your territory anyway; it belongs to Long Zhan..." The Human King merely chuckled, wearing a look of complete nonchalance. "Go ahead and kill them! If you kill them and I lack the power to revive them today, I will revive them another day. Unless you destroy the Chaos Source, I will bring them back sooner or later! Threatening us with this—Tianfang, have you gone senile with age?" Tianfang smiled. "Perhaps you don't care, but can Li Hao say the same? Can they truly be revived? Once revived, will they still be the same people? Long Zhan is merely an outsider..." Long Zhan's expression turned exceedingly grim. To fracture this alliance, Tianfang stopped at nothing, proving far more difficult to handle than imagined. He had actually resorted to threatening Li Hao and the Human King with the lives of others. If this continued... this fragile alliance truly might collapse. And all of this... had previously been tactics they used themselves. Li Hao, for instance, had threatened Long Zhan with the Four Regions, and the Human King had used such methods plenty of times. Now that an enemy was using it against them, they felt profoundly suffocated. At this point, Long Zhan could hold back no longer. He barked, "Tianfang, you're dreaming!" As the words fell, the Great Dao of Chaos suddenly convulsed. Not only Tianfang, but Li Hao also shuddered violently, unable to keep from cursing under his breath! This fellow Long Zhan truly had a trump card! Only, having been driven into a corner, he had unleashed it right now. Tianfang might not even be harmed, but Li Hao was in danger of being tormented to death first! Li Hao was relatively fortunate... In the distance, the Queen, who had been gathering the world's populace, suddenly let out a miserable shriek as the power of the Great Dao erupted within her, showing signs of detonating. At that moment, the Lord of Tianfang sighed in realization. "Indeed. You were born of Chaos. Perhaps... this counts as the final counterattack of the spirit of Chaos?" What a pity... When you shake the Great Dao of Chaos, I am not the only one affected. Without precise targeting, before your spirituality is exhausted, the first one you kill might be Li Hao, not me! How interesting! Long Zhan could no longer care. Enraged by his inability to pin down his foe, he had no choice but to unleash an indiscriminate attack. As for Li Hao... who told him to merge into Chaos? He had no alternative! He could only do his best to minimize the impact on Li Hao, but doing so weakened the effect on Tianfang as well. It was simply impossible to deal a heavy blow to the man! Long Zhan was consumed by rage! Li Hao was suffering collateral damage... With the Great Dao of Chaos violently convulsing, merged into it as he was, he finally realized the trouble he was in. Long Zhan truly had a lethal trump card... but right now, Li Hao was bearing the brunt of it! He had just attempted to merge his spirit into it earlier, so the backlash he suffered was even greater. The Human King gritted his teeth and barked, "Forget it! Li Hao, hold on! Everyone join hands and kill that bastard! Long Zhan, keep shaking the Dao—as long as his traces are exposed, let's see where he runs!" The Lord of Tianfang vanished instantly, but this time, he carried ripples of the Dao's tremors! Seeing this, Huntian and the Human King both brightened. Good news. It truly worked! With this, the man could no longer conceal his movements. The two struck simultaneously. No longer looking or searching blindly, they lashed out swiftly along that faint ripple! Boom! A thunderous roar shook the void. For the first time, Tianfang was intercepted. His expression darkened slightly, but quickly returned to normal. "Long Zhan cannot sustain this for long. Li Hao is also trapped, suffering even more than I am... For the two of you to kill me... you are still lacking." Fine then! Let Long Zhan exhaust himself. His meager spirituality would run dry sooner or later! The Human King was enraged. This bastard clearly looked down on him. He had already been furious enough today. And now, this fellow was provoking him. Li Hao had slain Tribulation's avatar, that man from the future had repelled the terrifying lightning tribulation, Long Zhan had stripped Tianfang of his concealment, and while Huntian was not on his home turf to fully unleash his Dao of Order... Only the Human King, aside from killing the emissaries of Light and Darkness, had achieved practically nothing! The Human King's eyes turned blood-red! Huntian was following the ripples, relentlessly disrupting, suppressing, and stalling Tianfang. Yet in the next moment, everyone felt a sudden tremor of dread. The entire Great Dao of Chaos was shaking violently, but the sense of dread did not come from Long Zhan—it came from the Human King! The Human King seemed to have been thoroughly provoked! "Old Zhang!" He looked back toward the crowd, toward the Xinwu experts, grinding his teeth in uncontrollable fury! The Supreme felt a splitting headache! "Self-detonation?" Tianfang seemed well aware of their habits, yet he merely smiled. You must be joking. These people could not even lock onto my movements. Even if they self-detonated... what could it achieve? "Fuck it! Everyone else is showing off their might, while I'm out here losing face!" "God Casting Envoy, project me across all the heavens!" The Human King was thoroughly enraged, roaring at the top of his lungs, "Everyone! If we don't display our might across the heavens today, Xinwu won't have the face to show itself anywhere!" At first, the others thought the Human King wanted them to self-detonate and felt helpless... Yet an instant later, they seemed to understand. The Supreme's head throbbed excruciatingly, and he could no longer hold back: "This is Long Zhan's problem..." Don't do this! Once this lunatic went berserk, no one could stop him, but the price was simply too great, far too great. "I don't give a damn!" the Human King roared. "At worst, we start all over again! I'm going to kill him!" "..." Tianfang felt a slight chill. Kill me? What arrogant boasting! "Are you coming or not?" The Supreme let out a deep, utterly helpless sigh, then nodded. "Let's do it!" He turned to look at the crowd, smiling bitterly. "He's gone mad with rage. Let's begin!" The Xinwu cultivators exchanged glances, all understanding what was to come. They understood! They felt a touch of helplessness, yet also... a thrill of excitement. At that moment, the Human King's internal world suddenly manifested, a boundless world unfurling. In an instant, the Supreme began to combust... Suddenly, the Great Dao Book transformed into a colossal Great Dao, majestic imperial aura surging forth! The Dao stood erect between heaven and earth. Like a titanic pillar! Merging naturally in flawless unison, a multitude of citizens suddenly bowed in worship all around. Among the Xinwu Sovereigns, some were helpless, some cursed softly, and some laughed bitterly... What were they doing? Sacrifice! Yes, the Xinwu sacrificial method. The Human King and the Martial King cultivated the same Dao. And the Supreme Martial King's Dao was the Dao of the People, originating from Xinwu and bound to Xinwu. Long ago, the Human King had relied on this very method to slay Xinwu's greatest nemesis, the Heavenly Emperor. However... it required the sacrifice of all Xinwu. Such a method could never be deployed lightly unless Xinwu faced total destruction. Once used, everyone else in Xinwu would perish into stillness. Xinwu had spent countless years resurrecting them and replenishing their yang qi... and today, it might all be wiped out in a single stroke. Yet at this moment, while the Human King seemed completely mad, he had not truly lost his mind to demonic madness. Tianfang had to die! He had to die. Others might possess other means—Huntian, for example—but were unwilling to use them. After all, the east was not his domain, and Long Zhan was now out of moves. As for Li Hao... he might still have cards to play, but the price would not be small either. Since that was the case... I'll do it! Xinwu had many experts, and resurrecting them was difficult and costly... but once Tianfang was killed, the power contained within Tianfang could perhaps make up for it. As for the deficiency in yang qi... it didn't matter! The Tianfang World! Yes, at this moment, the Human King's eyes were already fixed on the Tianfang World. A deficiency in yang qi? Would a ninth-rank great world suffice? He let out a fierce shout: "Long Zhan, Huntian, once he's dead, everything is mine!" Boom! The Supreme instantly detonated, completely fusing into the internal world... Seeing this, Long Zhan felt his heart shudder. Fuck! In the next instant, the exceedingly powerful Yang God felt helpless as well. Last time, he hadn't taken part, but this time... clearly, the Human King was reclaiming everyone's energy, including his own! It was truly... infuriating. Second only to the Supreme, the Yang God soon stepped into the internal world, detonating with a thunderous roar. Carrying a hint of helplessness and exasperation, his lingering voice echoed between heaven and earth: "Next time... really, don't do this again..." Who could possibly endure this? Once, twice, every single one of them—self-detonating day in and day out. When would this ever end? One eighth-rank expert after another stepped inside, including the Cang Emperor, who looked completely innocent. His plump body plunged into the internal world, detonating with a loud rumble... "You have to compensate this cat with piles of fish..." The Cang Emperor's voice echoed! The Human King barked, "Huntian, pin him down! I'm going to hack him to pieces with one strike!" At this moment, the Lord of Tianfang's expression changed as well! Madman! Is it worth going this far just to kill a single avatar of mine? What is wrong with this Chaos! Have the cultivators of this era all gone insane? Having reached the eighth rank, you self-detonate at the drop of a hat... This matter hardly concerned Xinwu, yet this lunatic of a Xinwu Human King had... had practically wiped out everyone in Xinwu in an instant! Yes, he had slaughtered them himself. Bastard! At this moment, everyone felt a shiver of dread. Being ruthless to enemies was one thing, but being ruthless to his own people to this degree... This Human King was not putting on a show of madness; he was genuinely deranged. Even Long Zhan could not help but stare at him. Long Zhan was trembling all over, sustaining the tremors of the Great Dao of Chaos at immense personal cost, but now... he suddenly felt that fundamentally, he was nowhere near as mad as this bunch. Li Hao was like this, the Human King was like this... and even that man summoned from the future was like this. Were all these people cut from the same cloth? At this moment, the Human King's aura surged wildly. Fusing the Supreme, fusing the Cang Emperor, fusing the Yang God, fusing the Sword Venerable... The experts of Xinwu detonated one after another, transforming into energy, transforming into the power of ten thousand Daos. In an instant, his internal world seemed pushed to its absolute zenith, the power of the Great Dao churning in a frantic frenzy! *** Watching this scene unfold, Li Hao endured the discomfort of the Dao's tremors as he looked toward the Human King, toward Xinwu... Silver Moon had its share of madmen, but none had reached this extent. Xinwu! Li Hao considered himself decisive and ruthless enough... Yet compared to the Human King, he sighed inwardly. He could never become someone like the Human King. That peerless domineering aura, that mad, insatiable thirst for victory—he did not understand it. Or perhaps he understood, but could never imitate it. To pay such a staggering price for the sake of the Four Regions, for the sake of Long Zhan... he might not do it, and would never do it. If those people could not be resurrected... all of Xinwu would be gone! In truth, Li Hao had not been entirely out of options. He still had cards left, including detonating the Time Star, or completely merging into the Great Dao of Chaos to attempt becoming its spirit... Before he could even try, the Human King had already gone mad. Merging all of Xinwu into one! He actually knew of this move, having seen it in memories of the past... Yet witnessing it with his own eyes, he still felt that the cultivators of Xinwu were perhaps addicted to self-detonation. He had thought the Supreme was relatively rational, but now it seemed... rational was hardly the word. At this moment, even the Lord of Tianfang looked shaken! This madman! In two million years, what kind of person hadn't he seen? Yet today... he had witnessed every variety of monster and fiend. Had he personally wiped out Xinwu, he would have accepted this, but he had tried to talk sense with the man! It seemed not a single word had gotten through! This was... a hatred deeper than if he had slaughtered the man's entire family! The Lord of Tianfang was utterly lost for words. What on earth did I do to you? Meanwhile, Sovereign Huntian remained silent, yet he unleashed his power frantically, following the Dao ripples to suppress and entangle his opponent. Even he felt a touch of dread! The lunatics of Xinwu... had genuinely made him wary. The Human King seemed weak at times, yet at other times he appeared invincibly mighty. In some eyes, he was just a rogue thug, hardly worth worrying about. Yet today... over a mere disagreement, he had personally wiped out all of Xinwu... A lunatic like this—it was fortunate Su Yu from the future hadn't witnessed it, or even he would have cursed this old bastard for being sick in the head! In an instant, the Human King's aura surged boundlessly! He threw his head back in roaring laughter! "Old bastard Tianfang, take my blade!" The saber descended! Ten thousand Daos manifested, the four directions bowing in reverence, like an emperor among men! A sovereign! Not Hong Yitang's path of enlightenment, but... overbearing might, boundless and supreme, brooking no rival! Over heaven, earth, and all creation, I alone reign supreme! I alone am invincible! I am the king among men, the peerless king! As the saber fell, the void seemed to shatter. The Lord of Tianfang felt helpless. He had anticipated everything; he knew Li Hao and Long Zhan posed threats to him, and he knew Huntian would not necessarily pay a staggering price to deal with a mere avatar... The only thing he had failed to foresee was overlooking this rogue thug! Even less had he anticipated that this rogue thug, merely to kill him... would actually go this far! He laughed bitterly. He did not feel particularly aggrieved. After all, it was merely an avatar; dead was dead. It only disrupted one part of his plans, and the loss was not truly catastrophic. Yet... was it worth it? He did not even bother dodging anymore. Instead, he struck back, boundless Dao power erupting forth, carrying a trace of genuine bewilderment. "Fang Ping... is this... truly the first time we've met?" Such bewilderment was rather untimely, but at this moment, he genuinely doubted it. Could we have met before? The kind where I slaughtered your entire clan? The Human King brought his long saber down, cleaving heaven, destroying earth, obliterating all things. Hearing this, he snorted coldly, "In this life, I despise people who can run faster than me above all else!" "..." I am the one who runs best. You dare repeatedly flee before my eyes? You dare threaten to destroy my Xinwu? Fine, I'll destroy it myself! Let's see you destroy it now! The blade fell! In all of Chaos, only this single blade remained. Heaven and earth lost all color, leaving only the descending saber! The Lord of Tianfang sighed softly. A streak of blood surfaced upon his forehead, spreading frantically until his entire form split apart, tinged with a hint of resignation. "You and I... shall meet again!" Boom! His body detonated, blowing apart into nothingness. The Human King gasped for breath, yet he broke into a grin. Looking toward the distant mirror, he bared his teeth. "Tianfang, nothing more than this!" Chaos fell into dead silence. In that split second, even Huntian felt a jolt of fear and wanted to flee! Did this psychopath... do all this just to show off? My earlier guess was wrong. He truly did it just for face! *** Deep within Chaos. All the ninth-rank experts remained utterly silent until Tianfang opened his eyes, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Only then did someone speak slowly: "Has... another one gone mad?" They were rendered completely speechless! Tianfang let out a soft sigh. "This world is uncanny... Zhan... just what kind of people did you raise?" A bitter smile spread across his face. Zhan, you were a cultured gentleman, yet why are the ones who inherited your legacy... all so... so utterly deranged?