Demon

Li Hao's eyes lit up. Opposite him, Long Zhan was pressing forward with fearsome physical might, intent on suppressing Li Hao. But when he caught Li Hao’s gaze, his heart gave a sudden lurch. Among the various hegemons, Li Hao was the youngest. His strength was not of the very highest caliber; before this, he had even been the weakest. Yet this youngest, weakest cultivator had risen with astonishing speed, eclipsing an entire host of elders. Even one as immensely gifted as the Xinwu Human King had gradually been caught up to—and was now beginning to be surpassed.... How could Long Zhan dare underestimate him? Instinctively, he knew something was amiss. Where was the catch? Li Hao had already burned through virtually all his hidden trump cards and methods. Previously, he had summoned the myriad spirits, but this time he had been given no chance to do so. Before that, he had reversed past and future to summon someone from the future, but that figure had never been able to step out of the river. Even if he tried summoning them today... leaving aside whether Li Hao had enough time energy left, even if he did, what could someone trapped within the river do to him? Long Zhan was no localized tribulation lightning pinned down in one spot. In that case... Li Hao’s physical body was inferior to his own, and their Grand Daos were evenly matched at best. How could Li Hao possibly deal with him? He had no moves left! Moreover, Li Hao was currently drained and feeble. What method could he possibly have left to oppose him? His divine characters—those tens of thousands of divine characters—might have been his trump card, but he had already deployed them to suppress the Chaos Great Dao.... One had to admit Li Hao possessed an astonishing repertoire. Yet... at this juncture, what more could he do? He was out of options! These thoughts flashed rapidly through Long Zhan's mind. Yes, Li Hao had to be out of options. As for traveling to the past to intercept and kill his past self—leaving aside whether Li Hao could pull that off right under his nose, even if he could... Long Zhan would strike Li Hao dead long before Li Hao could eliminate his past incarnation. *He is trying to intimidate me!* The thought surfaced in Long Zhan’s mind. Yes, he was convinced Li Hao was merely putting on a show to frighten him. Was it just intimidation? At that moment, a smile played at the corners of Li Hao's lips. Long Zhan's onslaught grew fiercer. Bloody gashes tore across Li Hao's flesh, some piercing straight through him. The Great Dao river surged and churned in turmoil, and countless stars shattered. Yet this only seemed to make Li Hao happier. "Are you trying to scare me?" Long Zhan's eyes were frigid. Did Li Hao really think he would fall for it? *Li Hao, you cannot scare me!* *The more you act like this, the firmer my resolve to kill you becomes. I didn't want to turn on you so soon, but you forced my hand. You forced the entire world to become your enemy.* "Who has the leisure to scare you?" Li Hao murmured, a soft laugh escaping him. How could he be bluffing? *Long Zhan, a chaos beast is just a chaos beast in the end. Cultivating the physical body is well and good, but when you build up too much muscle, your brain stops working properly.* At that moment, stars materialized once again from every direction. Like a cage, they enveloped the two of them. Though Long Zhan had no idea what sinister scheme Li Hao was concocting, he wasn't about to just stand by. A colossal claw manifested and seized heaven and earth, instantly crushing the stars overhead to dust! Those formidable realms might have posed a threat to other Sovereigns, but before Long Zhan, they shattered one after another under his assault. *I will prevent your Dao domain from taking shape. No matter how many tricks you have, you won't be able to do a thing to me.* The dragon claw was impossibly sharp, rending the void as the starry realms fractured in succession. Li Hao did not seem to mind at all. Long Zhan could not help wondering again: *Is he trying to wear me down?* If so, Li Hao was sorely mistaken. Long Zhan's combat power was rooted primarily in his physical body, drawing energy from flesh and blood; his consumption of Great Dao power was minimal. In a battle of attrition, a cultivator like Li Hao who relied mainly on Great Dao power stood no chance against him. In an endurance match, Long Zhan was guaranteed to outlast Li Hao. Evidently, Li Hao wasn't aiming for attrition. Was he truly just putting on an empty show? The more Long Zhan thought about it, the more furious he grew. *Don't even dream of succeeding!* As star after star burst, dispersing Great Dao power to drift between heaven and earth, Sovereign Huntian—who was locked in combat with the Human King—suddenly glanced over at Li Hao, his expression shifting. The next instant, as if struck by a realization, his face tightened. Li Hao... Li Hao's astral power was drifting westward. He had dismantled the Time Star, dispersing it into illusory myriad realms, but their combat power was weak and lacked the backing of the former myriad Sovereign spirits, so no one had paid it much mind. Yet now... Huntian seemed to realize something. His expression shifted drastically! This was bad. It was... Order's Heavenly Policy! Order's Heavenly Policy was still in Li Hao's possession. When the battle erupted, Order's Heavenly Policy had seemed to vanish, and Huntian hadn't paid it much attention. Huntian had thought it a stroke of luck that Li Hao chose the western border, but now a thought struck him like lightning. Had Li Hao chosen the edge of the west simply because it was quiet? No, that wasn't it! It was because... Huntian had left the core of the west, and the control exerted over order by Order's Heavenly Policy might now surpass his own control over the region. *Disaster!* Seeing Long Zhan smashing those stars, Huntian roared furiously, "Stop shattering the stars... He is establishing order!" Long Zhan's heart jolted! Order? What order... Wasn't Huntian the one who controlled order? Where would a time cultivator like Li Hao get order from...? Order's Heavenly Policy? Even so, Order's Heavenly Policy was merely a fragment of the Dao of Order. Even if Huntian couldn't control it, relying solely on Order's Heavenly Policy wouldn't be enough to deal with him. Though these thoughts flashed through his mind, Long Zhan dared not be careless. He ceased destroying the stars. Li Hao let out a soft laugh. The Great Dao stars and Great Dao realms drifting throughout the surrounding space began to crumble naturally on their own. As star after star shattered, Li Hao murmured softly, "Unions and divisions come and go, yet the Great Dao remains. Without destruction, how can one rise from ruin?" A tome manifested: Order's Heavenly Policy. Within it, the power of order surged. The countless shattered stars seemed on the verge of rebirth, establishing rules once more. New rules! Yet Long Zhan still didn't understand. Even if order re-established these stars, what of it? He remained utterly baffled... Huntian, however, seemed to grasp it entirely. His expression morphed again, and without even sparing the breath to explain, the moment Order's Heavenly Policy manifested, he let out a savage roar and began siphoning the fluctuating power of order from the surrounding area! The west... damn it! At this moment, he fully understood why this lunatic Li Hao had chosen the west to open his heaven. He wanted to... usurp Huntian's hard-won fruits! Infuriating! Damn it, he should never have used Order's Heavenly Policy to invade Li Hao earlier. Now, he had likely handed Li Hao everything on a silver platter. Li Hao, who had been resisting order all this time, now wore a radiant smile. He stopped fighting Order's Heavenly Policy and, in that single instant, merged order completely into his own body. Lord of Order... This was the title Huntian had wanted him to assume. At that moment, five thousand realms, Great Dao power, and Great Dao characters scattered across heaven and earth, blanketing the entire west and descending upon various realms. The power of order converged at breakneck speed. Li Hao stepped directly into the ranks of order. His entire demeanor transformed; the smile vanished, replaced by pure detachment. "I thank Brother Huntian for fulfilling my path. Order is truly a wonderful thing!" As Li Hao integrated into order, Chunqiu, who was relentlessly assaulting Huntian, suddenly shrieked, "What are you playing at?!" If Li Hao merged with order and became the Lord of Order, wouldn't that play right into Huntian's hands? So after all this, was he still going to be Huntian's lackey in the end? Even if he killed Long Zhan, what was the point of all this effort if he wound up as Huntian's puppet? She was utterly bewildered by Li Hao's choice. So your final trump card was simply to turn yourself into the Lord of Order? What kind of sick joke was this?! Were she and the Human King fighting here for nothing? Chunqiu was incensed! *Damn you, Li Hao, messing around like this! If you can't open a heaven, just admit defeat! We don't have to fight to the death today!* "Calm yourself. Order does not belong to Huntian alone... It belongs to the human race. What is the rush?" Li Hao's voice echoed through the void. "In this primal chaos, humanity reigns supreme, humanity is sovereign. Do not billions upon trillions of living beings answer to the human race?" Who said order had to be Huntian? Hadn't Huntian's avatar already been shattered by them? Had she forgotten? Chunqiu, this great demon, truly had a short memory. Relying on order alone would not suffice to slay Long Zhan. At this moment, countless Great Dao divine characters descended into the various realms of the west, arraying themselves in formation like a resurrected Great Dao realm. "Long Zhan, be careful...!" Huntian suddenly bellowed. His feelings were deeply conflicted. This was bad—Li Hao entering order posed little threat to Huntian himself, but for Long Zhan... it meant enormous trouble! Long Zhan still didn't fully grasp what was happening, but he knew it was no trivial matter. He instantly lunged forward to slaughter Li Hao. A sweep of the dragon tail tore through the void, sweeping away the power of order! The ferocious force battered Li Hao backward repeatedly. Yet Li Hao was in no hurry. He retreated slowly, his voice growing ever more resonant: "I command order. Whosoever disrupts order shall be obliterated by heaven and earth!" "Across the western realms, humanity is sovereign! The chaotic beasts are ignorant of the Heavenly Dao and defy order. By the power of order, let the rules be established to execute them!" Long Zhan roared, "Who do you think you are?!" "Do you think... you can make the myriad western realms worship you with a few empty words?" Preposterous! Yet at that moment, Huntian was filled with sorrowful dread... Truly, he knew they were in grave trouble. Things were looking terrible! Because the west... had already been thoroughly brainwashed by him! Yes, the entire west existed under the faith of order. Almost the entire western region had been brainwashed by him. He had extracted the desires, troubles, darkness, and ambitions of countless western beings, and planted a single seed within the myriad western realms: Order was the sole truth. Had the earlier invasion of Li Hao succeeded, Huntian's will would have remained woven into Order's Heavenly Policy, and Li Hao would have been powerless to do anything. That was the first point. Second... Li Hao possessed the power of faith from countless trillions of humans. Mingled with order, it held an innate allure for humanity. And the beings of the west were, without question, the most susceptible to such allure—provided it was channeled through order. This was the hidden peril Huntian had planted himself. To ensure western stability and keep the masses guarding order, he had continually used spiritual faith to brainwash everyone, including the experts of the Huntian Domain. This was one of the reasons he had been so determined to reclaim Order's Heavenly Policy earlier. He had simply never imagined Li Hao would truly dare to merge completely with order. Huntian could not help roaring, "Li Hao, if you merge with order, you will become its puppet! You know full well this costs me nothing. It isn't worth it just to slay Long Zhan...!" He didn't even know whether to rejoice or worry. He rejoiced because, with Li Hao merged into order, Huntian had a chance of seizing control of him once more. He worried because... if things spiraled out of control, Long Zhan might truly perish, while Huntian might fail to control Li Hao, losing both his prize and his leverage. By this point, Long Zhan seemed to realize what was happening as well. He couldn't help cursing, "Huntian, you...!" *You bastard!* In that instant, he felt an overwhelmingly potent force of faith suddenly erupt across the entire west—a spiritual will, a will of grand unification, a will to uphold order... These wills furiously nourished the divine characters Li Hao had scattered. Those divine characters swelled exponentially, bringing with them boundless spiritual intelligence. Li Hao's aura soared in an instant. Li Hao seemed to have merged entirely into order, becoming the guardian of order. An intensely concentrated will erupted to safeguard order and protect humanity... Across the entire west, throughout myriad worlds, countless humans stirred. At this moment, sensing the power of faith and order permeating the void, cultivators and common folk alike seemed to see a vision—a savior locked in a bitter struggle against a colossal dragon. A dark dragon that sought to destroy order! Darkness must be purged! "Kill it!" "Slay it!" "..." Voices seemed to rise from the depths of every heart, echoing across the entire west. Some of the experts engaged in brutal battle against the Supreme and his companions suddenly felt it too. Even among the formidable Ninefold Guard, several members' expressions shifted. They looked back toward the rear, their eyes burning with fervor. "It is... the Dao Lord..." The Dao Lord! This Dao Lord was not Huntian. It was... the true Lord of Order! Even the formidable Jieduan, whose sword had just severed Cang Cat's fishing line, could not help glancing back. His gaze was complicated. It was the Dao Lord... No, it was the energy fluctuation of the Lord of Order. Someone was establishing true order. Dao Lord Huntian... had never truly merged with order, nor had he merged with Order's Heavenly Policy. Though he wielded order, in Huntian's eyes, order was merely one of many usable Daos, not the only one. In truth, all top-tier experts operated this way. Just as Li Hao had never truly merged with the Time Star; he merely used it, treating time as one of his tools without letting himself become time incarnate. Huntian was the same. He had always wielded order, but he had never truly merged with it, for doing so meant his future would be confined strictly to the Grand Dao of Order. That was not a choice a supreme expert would make! Jieduan understood this clearly! Yet he had seen nothing wrong with Huntian's choice. As long as Huntian maintained control over order, it mattered not whether he was the Lord of Order, for the Dao of Order was controlled by Huntian alone. Yet at this very moment... Jieduan hesitated. Was it... Li Hao? Had he merged with Order's Heavenly Policy, incarnated into order, and completely seized control of western order? What... what on earth was happening? Had Dao Lord Huntian lost sufficient control over Order's Heavenly Policy? The entire west seemed to have been taken over by Li Hao's order. With so many people locked in battle, how had Li Hao managed to seize control of western order in an instant? Opposite him, the Supreme seemed to sense it as well. He coughed and chuckled. "How interesting... The Lord of Time refuses to merge with time, but runs off to merge with order! So who is the Lord of Order now? Whom does the Ninefold Guard follow—Huntian, or order?" The other members of the Ninefold Guard grew restless and hesitant. Jieduan's expression shifted slightly, and he growled, "Do not be swayed by their words! We have always followed order! It is just that... the order right now may not truly belong to Li Hao. The Dao Lord will find a way. Li Hao is merely a destroyer of order, a passing stranger!" The order of the west was being usurped by Li Hao. Only now did they understand why Li Hao had insisted on opening a heaven in the west. This was prime territory; by taking over order, he could instantly claim the vast western domain as his own! Huntian had already arranged and prepared everything for him. Yet Jieduan's words did little to soothe the Ninefold Guard. The Supreme's eerie laughter echoed again. "You are all mighty warriors under the Lord of Order, governing the nine heavens for the sake of order! Now that he has lost control over order, Huntian is nothing more than the incarnation of darkness. What, does the Ninefold Guard truly serve darkness? Not... order?" The expressions of the Ninefold Guard cultivators flickered uncertainly. What were they to do? Could the Dao Lord wrest back control over order? Just then, a ripple swept across the entire west. It was Huntian's will. Huntian had realized the gravity of the situation and, just as they anticipated, was actively trying to wrest back control over the western order! ... At the edge of the west. The power of order on Li Hao was towering and majestic! While battling two great experts, Sovereign Huntian roared, churning dark power as a formidable willpower swept in all directions. Huntian's will—the will of grand unification—enveloped heaven and earth! If Li Hao were allowed to continue, the entire sprawling west and every world governed by humanity might fall into Li Hao's grasp! Long Zhan dared not hold back either. Going all out, he frantically assaulted Li Hao. His dragon claws tore through layers of order barrier before Li Hao, roaring repeatedly, "Li Hao, didn't you want to open a heaven? Didn't you want to command time? Didn't you seek freedom? Didn't you want to debate the Dao across the heavens?" "Are you truly willing to become a puppet of order?" He wanted to curse out loud! *Fuck!* *If you merge completely into order, won't you just become a second Lord of Order?* *So all those ideals you spouted before were complete bullshit?* *And your heaven-opening was for nothing?* *Turning yourself into a guardian of order, a guardian of humanity—is this what you were striving for?* Li Hao completely merging with order was something Long Zhan had never anticipated. He would have found it far more believable if Li Hao had merged with time; after all, time was what Li Hao had been cultivating and mastering all along. Order's Heavenly Policy had only just been seized. Furthermore, it was tainted with a vast amount of faith energy that Li Hao had previously been unwilling to absorb. Yet here he was, swallowing it all in one gulp! If he had been willing to do this from the start, wouldn't yielding to Huntian's invasion have settled everything? Li Hao remained expressionless, silently watching him. Barrier after barrier formed before him as endless power of faith and order surged in frantically. The west was truly a marvelous place. Gathering this much power of order anywhere else would have been impossible. Nor would it have been so simple. After all, human hearts were terribly complex. But here... things were far simpler. Huntian had laid the groundwork, even thoughtfully obliterating all intricate, conflicting thoughts. The masses of the west were pure to a fault. Long Zhan shattered barrier after barrier, yet an endless stream of rule power continued to manifest. He was enraged! "Huntian!" *You bastard, do you really have no answer to this?* *Are you just going to let Li Hao usurp your west?* *Is this your home ground, or Li Hao's?* If this went on, once Li Hao amassed enough power of order, he might truly be able to slay Long Zhan. Long Zhan was growing anxious. If this continued and Huntian proved powerless to stop it, Long Zhan was not going to wait around for Li Hao to gather enough power of order and borrow the might of the west to kill him. He would have no choice but to retreat. Huntian, under fierce siege from two great powerhouses, rapidly projected his own will as well, barking in a low voice, "No need to worry! I will reclaim control. Li Hao, you are walking straight into a trap!" A surge of dark power spilled forth. The originally pristine power of order was suddenly tainted with darkness, spreading out toward the various worlds. *I only absorbed the darkness within their hearts!* *Once darkness invades, these people will not revere you over a few simple words. Li Hao, you are still too naive. On the contrary, I can use this opportunity to take complete control of you.* *The darkness was drawn out by me; naturally, I can return it!* Streams of dark will traced the origins of the power of order, rapidly flowing back. They poured toward those countless human worlds. At this moment, the myriad western worlds hung between the grips of these two men, their countless cultivators reduced to puppets and playthings in their hands, manipulated at will. As the dark power returned and invaded... the steadily gathering power of order around Li Hao ground to a halt, beginning to waver. When hearts scattered and regained their own desires, losing their unified faith, they were no longer easy to lead. Huntian let out a slight breath of relief, and so did Long Zhan. Fortunate indeed! If Huntian had lacked any countermeasure, it would have been deeply disappointing. A faint dark hue crept across Li Hao's face. He looked at Huntian and shook his head. "Huntian, with great effort you built this western pure land. Are you going to return it to chaos with your own hands today?" The dispersing dark power meant Huntian was returning all the desires, ambitions, and darkness he had previously erased. The western pure land would cease to exist. Huntian replied with utter coldness, "Once I slay you or bring you under my control, I can simply reclaim it all. Everything will return to normal! What difference does a momentary lapse in control make?" *Don't think you can shake my resolve!* The Human King paid no heed to their exchange. Taking advantage of the moment Huntian's dark power waned, he seized the opening, furiously hacking his massive saber in a frenzied assault! The Human King uttered not a single word. Only when he couldn't win would he chatter endlessly; when he had the upper hand, he always preferred to beat his opponent to death before talking. When he was endlessly talkative, it meant he was outmatched and trying to disrupt his foe. When he seized an opportunity, he wouldn't waste breath on curses. Whether the Human King could match his opponent was easily told by how much he spoke. Li Hao knew this well. Huntian's interference with Li Hao's control of order had caused his own strength to dip slightly. The Human King showed no mercy, seizing the combat window—his greatest forte. Ten thousand Daos manifested; he became the ten thousand Daos, and the ten thousand Daos paid homage to him. His inner world encircled heaven and earth, engulfing Huntian. Huntian's expression shifted slightly, a headache mounting. Li Hao and the Human King were both young, yet they were the two figures he was least willing to provoke. Both were utterly mad! The older one grew, the more one feared death. The younger one was... the less restraint one had, as if life and death meant nothing to them. Seeing the black miasma surface on Li Hao's face, Long Zhan breathed a sigh of relief. Li Hao had plenty of tricks, but he had still underestimated Huntian. Even if Huntian had yielded an advantage to the Human King, Li Hao was in for a miserable time now! Yet Li Hao smiled once more. Looking at Long Zhan, he raised his sword to parry. Order's Heavenly Policy remained hovering before him like a shield, blocking Long Zhan's advance, while Li Hao continued to absorb the increasingly tainted power of order. Long Zhan attacked frantically! *Boom! Boom! Boom!* Order's Heavenly Policy shuddered violently under his blows, cracks beginning to spiderweb across its surface. Long Zhan grew even more ferocious, his primal savagery fully stoked. "Shatter for me!" *Rumble!* Order's Heavenly Policy had already been cracked by Li Hao and the others earlier; now, the fissures expanded dramatically. *Crack...* A faint fracturing sound arose. Long Zhan was ecstatic! Destroying Order's Heavenly Policy would not only finish off Li Hao, but also weaken Huntian, leaving him unable to control order. Even if Huntian could, he would have to reconverge the power of order from scratch. Killing two birds with one stone! With renewed vigor, he poured all his strength into his strikes. Before long, the cracks widened further. Li Hao, who had integrated into the Dao of Order, coughed up another mouthful of blood heavily laced with black qi. He said eerily, "If you truly smash it, once Huntian defeats us, he will wipe out your Chaos clan!" Long Zhan remained cold and silent. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. He struck with his claw! *Boom!* The Dao of the Physical Body erupted once more with boundless might. The fracturing of Order's Heavenly Policy sounded again. In the distance, Huntian frowned slightly, but said nothing. If Order's Heavenly Policy wasn't destroyed, Long Zhan might not be able to finish Li Hao off. Entangled by the Human King and Chunqiu, Huntian could hardly spare the focus to deal with Li Hao himself. It was better to let Long Zhan smash it, severely wounding Li Hao, and plan from there. Yet at that very moment, Li Hao pulled another trick! The divine characters scattered across the western realms began to exude a faint spiritual intelligence—a spirituality of order mingled with dark chaos. ... At the edge of the west. Chaos Sovereign, observing from hiding while continuing to evade detection, suddenly raised an eyebrow. In the void, order was dissipating, darkness was invading, and the power of chaos was surging wildly. The spirit of chaos that he had previously obliterated began to reconverge, and at an astonishing speed! It seemed... on the verge of resurrection at any second! Chaos Sovereign was stunned, but understood an instant later. Order was still under Li Hao's control, but Li Hao's order had been infiltrated by darkness, while Huntian, in his bid to wrest control of the west from Li Hao, was constantly releasing primal desires, chaos, and darkness... All at once, the entire primal chaos was plunged into darkness and turmoil. Coupled with the frenzied slaughter among these powerhouses, chaos deepened further. The spiritual intelligence that had only recently been obliterated was now surging back to life! Chaos Sovereign's expression shifted. This was... remarkably fast! At this rate, he would soon recover his former combat strength, returning to his peak—no weaker than when he had clashed with Huntian earlier. "Li Hao?" he murmured. Was this fellow doing this on purpose, or by accident? Li Hao's divine characters, scattered across heaven and earth, were exuding spirituality and accelerating the growth of chaotic spirituality. Chaos Sovereign's expression flickered with indecision! Without his spirituality, he had been reduced to an ordinary rank eight. At that level of strength, let alone intervening in the clash of hegemons, he wouldn't even dare join the battle involving the Supreme and the others. Perishing there would be an unbearable loss. Yet as his spirituality revived and chaos reconverged, he might leap back to being the strongest among them. Huntian had lost a great deal of dark power, his order had been seized, and the Human King and Chunqiu were besieging him... Huntian's expenditure was immense. When the dust settled... would Chaos Sovereign become the strongest instead? He felt a thrill of excitement, yet remained deeply wary. *Li Hao!* *He is definitely... doing this on purpose.* *What is he after?* *What does he want me to do?* Chaos Sovereign's face darkened. Did Li Hao want him to revive his spirituality so he would deal with Huntian? Why should he?! Fight Huntian just to give Li Hao a chance to open a heaven? Why on earth would he help Li Hao? None of them were good people. There wasn't a single decent soul in this primal chaos—not Huntian, not himself, and certainly not Li Hao. "Counting on me to make a move?" Chaos sneered. Not a chance! *Keep fighting among yourselves; it's best if both sides end up crippled. I should thank you, Li Hao. If I recover my peak combat strength... once you are all battered and broken, that will be my moment!* Even as the thought crossed his mind, the chaotic power around him swelled stronger and stronger! The lost spirituality was rushing back at an incredible pace. Seeing this, Chaos Sovereign's expression changed. *Damn, that's fast!* Time to flee! He had to run first. Otherwise, once his spirituality fully gathered, he might be sensed. If Huntian discovered him here and, out of wariness, abandoned Li Hao to strike at him instead, that would be disastrous. Though he wouldn't fear Huntian once his spirituality was restored, why become Li Hao's meat shield? Just as he prepared to slip away... His expression transformed completely! In that single fraction of an instant, boundless spirituality converged upon him in a flash! ... At that exact moment, Order's Heavenly Policy, which had been holding the line, was finally shattered by Long Zhan! With a thunderous crash, Order's Heavenly Policy exploded into fragments. Li Hao was sent hurtling backward, bones fracturing throughout his body, flesh rupturing as order collapsed around him. Simultaneously! The moment Order's Heavenly Policy shattered, an overwhelmingly powerful wave of chaotic energy erupted right beside them. Hidden in the shadows, Chaos Sovereign couldn't help cursing viciously! *Fuck!* *Order's Heavenly Policy shattered?* *Order has collapsed?* *How could it happen so fast?!* Order and chaos were polar opposites. The instant order crumbled, the entire west seemed stripped of all order power, and chaotic power surged exponentially! In a flash, the spirit of chaos manifested, and the aura of the Chaos Dao Lord could no longer be concealed. A majestic, towering presence surged into the open. In the distance, Chaos Sovereign felt somewhat helpless and embarrassed. His voice drifted across the void: "I was just passing by to watch. I have no intention of interfering in your struggle..." As he spoke, he prepared to leave! Damn it all, he had no desire to get dragged into this mess. To be used as someone else's stepping stone! He had previously detonated his own spirituality just to escape the control of the rank nines. Clearly, he was no fool; there was no way he would let Li Hao use him as bait or a shield! Li Hao might be full of schemes, but Chaos wasn't taking the bait! *Better to flee first,* Chaos thought. *Now that my spirituality is restored, it won't be easy to evade the rank nines, but every coin has two sides. My strength has returned to what it was when I fought Huntian earlier.* *When they tear each other to pieces, I will be the foremost powerhouse of the primal chaos!* ... Huntian's expression turned ugly. Damn it! He had nearly forgotten about Chaos. Yet earlier, there had been no other choice. If order didn't break, Li Hao would eventually open a heaven; if order broke, Chaos would revive. If forced to choose... He would rather see Chaos revived than let Li Hao keep stirring up trouble. And now, Chaos had indeed revived. Huntian was irritated, but at this stage... so long as Chaos didn't interfere or cause trouble, he felt the loss was tolerable. Chaos was clearly a shrewd man. He wouldn't intervene right now! Huntian spoke in a low, grim voice: "Li Hao, hoping Chaos will help you... is sheer delusion!" *You are daydreaming!* *Today, I would rather see Chaos revived and flee to become a future menace than let a wretch like you off the hook!* The order across the entire west was collapsing. Chaos's aura grew increasingly formidable, yet he was rapidly fleeing into the distance! Sovereign Chunqiu could bear it no longer: "Li Hao!" She had had enough! Huntian wasn't dead, Long Zhan wasn't dead, Li Hao had battered himself into near-fatal ruin, and now he had revived that meddlesome Chaos. At this rate, enemies in the primal chaos would only multiply. She must have lost her mind to side with him; trouble was looming large! The Human King hadn't pulled out yet, but she was ready to bail! Better to let him be beaten to death! With the destruction of Order's Heavenly Policy, Li Hao—having only just begun integrating into order without fully completing the process—suffered devastating backlash from the collapse of order, coughing up blood incessantly. Long Zhan seized the opening, hurtling forward in a berserk frenzy! What good was reviving Chaos? No one was a fool; who would let themselves be manipulated by him? *Li Hao, you overestimated yourself and underestimated everyone else.* *Boom!* A deafening explosion rang out. Nearly half of Li Hao's torso was blasted apart in an instant, flesh and blood flying in all directions, painting heaven and earth red. "Heh..." Li Hao let out a mocking laugh. Just as Long Zhan moved to take the final step and obliterate him once and for all... Li Hao looked into the distance at the fleeing Chaos. Stepping onto the board, taking the benefits, and expecting to walk away scot-free... Where in the world was there such a bargain? There wasn't one! There was no such thing as a free lunch under the heavens. "My spirituality isn't so easily digested..." Li Hao murmured. His broken body splattered countless drops of blood, and the spirituality he had gathered earlier transformed entirely into chaotic spirituality. Ten thousand rays of spiritual light flashed! The fleeing Chaos Dao Lord sensed something amiss. Assuming it was grave trouble, he moved to suppress and expel these surging rays of light... Yet the next moment, he froze. He was momentarily stunned! It wasn't that Li Hao had taken control of him. Rather, in that single instant... within the Dao of Chaos he commanded, those faint ten thousand spiritual lights suddenly began to radiate brilliance. In the blink of an eye, the ten thousand spiritual lights seemed to coalesce into a single star. A faint trace of the power of time surfaced around him. At that moment, deep within the Chaos Great Dao, someone let out a gasp of surprise. The next instant, even the Lord of Tianfang's expression shifted dramatically. Simultaneously, multiple rank nines cried out in alarm: "Not good!" *Fuck!* Li Hao had gone completely insane! He... he had sliced the spirituality of time into ten thousand spiritual rays and merged them into the spirit of chaos. Right now, the Chaos Dao Lord was condensing the Dao of Time! Chaos Sovereign had initially moved to suppress it. Yet now... he hesitated, faltered, and then... could no longer hold back. He simply could not resist... the temptation! He couldn't help roaring, "Li Hao, are you mad?!" Li Hao was stripping away his own mastery over time and transferring the power of time into the spirit of chaos. In doing so, Chaos was being designated by the second-generation Time Master as the third-generation heir to time! And time... showed no resistance at all! It was actually... actually gathering around him. At this rate, his identity would shift from the Lord of Chaos... to the Lord of Time. And a rank-nine Lord of Time at that! Li Hao's laughter drifted over: "You are welcome. Lingyue... clear the path..." Queen Lingyue instantly retracted her Divine Kingdom. She had no idea what this lunatic Li Hao was trying to do, but she knew... she had to obey him, or she would die a miserable death! Sure enough, the moment she withdrew from the Chaos Great Dao... In a single instant, illusory figures materialized and solidified. Their true bodies had not descended, but in that fraction of a second, nearly all the rank nines, including the Lord of Tianfang, condensed avatars simultaneously. Regardless of their strength, their combat prowess, or how great the loss would be if they perished... At this moment, these rank nines could restrain themselves no longer! Even if it meant slaughtering trillions of humans, even if it meant being tainted by faith, they had to descend. Li Hao wielding time was tolerable; after all, he was not sufficiently powerful. However... if someone like Chaos, an inherent rank-nine Sovereign, were to command time—and with order collapsed and chaos strengthened—they might lose every opportunity forever! They would lose the chance to ever truly descend and return! Phantom after phantom appeared in an instant. In the blink of an eye, boundless Great Dao power was siphoned from heaven and earth, rapidly empowering the avatars. Rank-nine Sovereigns manifested in the skies above the west. More than twenty in all! Tianfang's voice carried indignation and disbelief as he growled, "What a Li Hao... you madman..." "Bastard!" "The third-generation Time Master is Chaos?!" "He must not be allowed to master it! Seize time, slay Chaos!" "..." Long Zhan and the others were dumbfounded! They watched helplessly as formidable figures materialized overhead—one, two, three... Individually, none of them were stronger than the current hegemons. Yet with over twenty avatars present, almost every single one possessing the power of seven to eight thousand Daos... Such beings, in such numbers, were enough to upend heaven and earth! Meanwhile, Chaos Dao Lord let out a bitter laugh, looking at Li Hao in the distance... He couldn't help sighing, "Fuck! I... I can't resist!" He truly couldn't. Time was coalescing around him; he was on the verge of becoming the third-generation Lord of Time... and he was already rank nine. If he could resist this, he wouldn't be human. *Li Hao, oh Li Hao!* *You madman, you are... forcing me onto a path of no return.* At this moment, it wasn't just the rank nines who panicked. Huntian and Chunqiu were in a frenzy. Long Zhan panicked as well! This was disastrous! If Chaos took command of time, the heavens would collapse, and the entire primal chaos would fall under the reign of chaos! "Li Hao, you are a sinner... a sinner against primal chaos!" Long Zhan roared. Huntian bellowed in fury as well: "You damned wretch! If you had handed it to me, opening a heaven could have been negotiated! Why him?!" He was beside himself with rage! He could no longer maintain any semblance of composure. *If you had said earlier that time would belong to me, what would it matter if I let you open a heaven?!* *Fuck!* *Giving it to Chaos, pitting us against each other—what the hell is wrong with your head?!* The Human King, on the other hand, smacked his lips. *Now this... is lively!* Things were utterly chaotic now. He had said long ago that no normal person could resist the temptation of time. Li Hao wasn't normal, but Chaos was. Even knowing the danger, even knowing everyone would stand in his way, Chaos... would never give it up! A grand show was about to unfold! A wide grin split the Human King's face! Things were about to get wild. Over twenty formidable rank-eight auras had appeared in the surroundings, while Chaos in the distance radiated terrifying might, rapidly returning to his peak from a million years ago. Tianfang's avatar barked, "Cease all fighting! Slay Chaos! On no account may Chaos become the Lord of Time!" Long Zhan gritted his teeth, wanting to strike Li Hao dead first. But Li Hao's voice drifted over faintly: "I cannot die. If I die, Chaos will completely master time. If I die, even if you slay Chaos, no one will be able to inherit time, and time... will vanish from primal chaos forever!" Tianfang's avatar naturally heard this, and roared instantly, "A few of you, protect Li Hao and slay Chaos! Long Zhan, you must not kill him! If you dare lay a finger on him, your entire clan will be slaughtered!" Long Zhan froze, his fury boiling over as he roared, "Kill him! What does it matter if time vanishes completely?!" "Fuck your mother!" A chorus of rank nines cursed in unison! If time vanished, they would never be able to truly return. What did a brute like him know?! Instantly, three figures lunged toward Long Zhan, their formidable auras sweeping across heaven and earth. If Long Zhan dared touch Li Hao, they would wipe out his Chaos clan first! Meanwhile, Li Hao, missing half his torso, retreated unhurriedly. His smile was dazzling, yet radiated an uncanny, sinister air. Indeed. When he held time, they felt no fear. What about Chaos? Giving it to Chaos... were they scared now? They were terrified! In the end, it was because he wasn't strong enough that they had dared to look down on him. But handing it to Chaos... now the fun was beginning. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Long Zhan and smiled—a look brimming with provocation and madness. *Come on... kill me!* Charging toward Chaos, the Lord of Tianfang glanced back at Li Hao. Seeing the smile on Li Hao's face, a single thought crystallized in the deepest recesses of his mind: *This man must be eliminated at all costs!* Even if they had to help him open a heaven today, they had to ensure another generation of time cultivators emerged—anyone, so long as it wasn't Li Hao, Chaos, or any of the other rank nines. Li Hao had to die! He was too deranged. He actually dared—and was actually willing—to cast time aside! Li Hao seemed to notice his gaze. Toward that direction, he waved his remaining arm, that smile surfacing once more. *You... will help me open a heaven! Right?* *You would rather let someone else wield it than leave it to me. Am I... making you afraid?* Opposite him, fury burned in Long Zhan's massive eyes. Unable to bear it any longer, he charged straight for Li Hao. No... no matter what, he had to kill Li Hao, and it would be best if time was completely obliterated along with him! He was terrified! Yes, this version of Li Hao terrified him. He ignored the three formidable figures behind him. Nothing else mattered—Li Hao had to die!