That the traitor truly was King Fenhai was something perhaps even his son, Zhang Qi, had never anticipated.
King Fenhai was rash and hot-tempered.
Not long after the Human Realm established its prefectures, eleven experts attained the Dao. Two had fallen, leaving nine.
King Jintian, King Tianzhu, King Miecan, King Fenhai... were among them. Four of them had attained the Dao in minor realms, two in the Human Realm, and three in the All-Heavens.
And King Fenhai was not considered weak; he had successfully attained the Dao within the Human Realm.
He did not belong to the weakest batch.
King Fenhai had a fiery temper, but in the eyes of many, that was solely due to his divine character cultivation. His primary cultivation was a fire divine character, naturally inclining him toward such a disposition. Even after what his son Zhang Qi had done earlier, everyone felt that the son was the son, and King Fenhai was King Fenhai.
King Fenhai had great merits to his name.
Before attaining the Dao, he had fought across the heavens alongside the other Invincibles, campaigning in all directions.
King Fenhai was a traitor?
And he had killed Ye Batian?
This truly caught many off guard, though beneath the shock, it also seemed somewhat plausible.
If it truly was over a personal grudge... then the likelihood of it being King Fenhai was quite high.
Because of his fiery temper!
Yet fiery as it was, to escalate to murder—how on earth had Ye Batian humiliated him back then?
King Fenhai had not gone into detail, but if one looked closely, it was surely not as simple as an ordinary sparring match. To drive an Invincible to resolve upon killing him, the humiliation had to have been beyond imagination.
Su Yu and the others were not involved back then, and with Ye Batian dead, there was no way to verify anything.
Inside the ruins, Su Yu, still locked in battle, only knew that the traitor had arrived. He wasn't close with the Invincibles; who cared? As long as the traitor showed up, that was enough. Whatever motives or justifications King Fenhai had were none of his concern.
Smoking him out was all that mattered!
Across the ruins, he glanced in that direction. Three Invincible-level combatants were locked in a death struggle; he couldn't make out any details, let alone whether the man had anything on his arm—there hadn't been anything on the future embodiment earlier.
Though Su Yu couldn't see much, Liu Wenyan was incandescent with fury. "Then kill me! Why slaughter the young and old of my Liu family?!"
"King Fenhai, back then my master brought me to visit you, and I treated you with the utmost respect. Is this how you repay my Liu family?!"
He was brimming with rage and grief!
If you wanted to kill me, come kill me! Why murder the old and young of the Liu family, sparing not even the infants in swaddling clothes?
Was this still an Invincible?
Disaster should not touch family! An Invincible like you slaughtered even them!
In the void, King Fenhai said coldly, "Killing them was never my intention. I merely ordered pressure to be applied to force you to rescue them. Who knew your Liu family would resist with all their might, resulting in a bloodbath!"
He hadn't planned to exterminate the Liu family; what point was there in wiping them out?
He had only wanted to use a crisis at the Liu family to draw Liu Wenyan back home.
It was just that his subordinates had misinterpreted certain instructions... Well, he hadn't cared overly much either. When the Liu family was wiped out back then, he had been somewhat surprised himself. His subordinates had applied pressure just as the myriad races launched an attack, leading to catastrophic casualties and the subsequent total annihilation of the Liu family.
Liu Wenyan burned with rage!
"You killed my master, exterminated my whole family, and a simple 'not my intention' is supposed to suffice?!"
Liu Wenyan roared frantically, his hair bristling with rage as his power surged, his killing intent taking on a bloody hue. The quasi-Invincible fighting him groaned in misery—another lunatic had lost his mind. Humanity simply had too many madmen.
King Fenhai said no more, nor did he have the leeway to speak.
Wan Tiansheng had unleashed his full combat might!
His murderous aura blanketed heaven and earth. A single sword strike sent Fiend King Lade flying backward as Wan Tiansheng bellowed, "Get lost, Lade! If you cause trouble again, I'll butcher you!"
Fiend King Lade cursed inwardly!
If my three incarnations hadn't been destroyed, would I fear you?
Unfortunately, he had only a future embodiment remaining.
Now that Fenhai was exposed, Lade couldn't be bothered to tangle with him any longer. In an instant, he fled, flying toward the ruins. As for Wan Tiansheng, let him slaughter it out with King Fenhai! Both were humans; losing one wouldn't be too many.
It would be even better if they both perished together!
Of course, King Fenhai winning would be the best possible outcome.
If he killed Wan Tiansheng, destroyed the Head of the Yellow Division, and butchered Xuanjia... humanity would suffer a devastating blow this time. With several Invincible-level combatants neutralized at once, even if three to five people attained the Dao on the All-Heavens Battlefield, it wouldn't amount to much.
Even as Wan Tiansheng struck fiercely at Fenhai, he roared, "Lan Tian, block Lade for me!"
If Lade went to the ruins, countless humans were there, including Su Yu and his companions.
With Lade here, Wan Tiansheng found it difficult to engage King Fenhai fully, but once Lade departed, Wan Tiansheng had to be wary of him slaughtering the humans.
Lan Tian was in the middle of Dao integration. Hearing this, his face immediately broke into a delighted smile. "Good, good, good! I like this! Wan Tiansheng, only like this do you look domineering enough! In that case... I'll just integrate the Fiend Dao first..."
The moment the words fell, he appeared right before Fiend King Lade, speaking with a plaintive tone, "Lade, long time no see. Did you miss me?"
"..."
Fiend King Lade cursed under his breath. He had no such inclinations!
Still, he had indeed met Lan Tian before, though anyone listening would think there was something between them.
He didn't bother wasting breath on Lan Tian. He feared Wan Tiansheng, but he had no fear of this fellow.
Boom! A fist smashed out, and with a bang, one Lan Tian was battered to death.
"Lade, how cruel of you!"
Hundreds of Lan Tians emerged once more. From within the river of time, Lan Tian said wistfully, "Why don't you just die? Once you're dead, leave your physical body to me so you and I can merge into one. You will be me, and I will be you. I'll help you capture your past, how about that?"
Countless Lan Tians surrounded Fiend King Lade, and a thunderous battle erupted.
The slaughter raged on! One corpse of Lan Tian after another dropped, yet Lan Tian still wore a smile as radiant as a flower.
"So fierce!"
"I like it!"
"Let us merge into one!"
Those spine-chilling voices issued from the mouths of hundreds of Lan Tians, some of whom were even decrepit old men. The sound made everyone's scalp tingle; on the human side, Marquis Xia and the others felt their skin crawl uncontrollably.
Moreover, Lan Tian's strength exceeded everyone's expectations. This fellow seemed to grow stronger the longer he fought!
Earlier, when fighting a quasi-Invincible, he had only held a slight advantage and was inferior to the Primal Cult Master. But right now, he vaguely possessed the power of the Primal Cult Master, trading blows evenly with Lade's future embodiment.
Sinister and bizarre as he was, there was no denying he was a tremendous help at the crucial moment.
Not only had he slain a quasi-Invincible, but now he was pinning down the future embodiment of an Invincible, allowing Marquis Xia and the others to breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness!
Without Lan Tian here, the pressure on everyone would have been vastly heavier. Many lives might have been lost!
Across the battlefield, the fiercest clash was between Wan Tiansheng and his opponent. The void turned pitch-black as the two powerhouses fought to the point where sun and moon sank away, the entire boundless void trembling, the realm barriers fracturing incessantly!
Wan Tiansheng's killing intent surged to the heavens. Possessing numerous divine characters, he unleashed their unique traits simultaneously. King Fenhai relied primarily on his 'Fire' character, with other divine characters supporting, but whenever those appeared, they were often shattered on the spot.
From all directions, every gaze was fixed upon them.
Among those present, there were only two true Invincible combat powers: Wan Tiansheng and King Fenhai!
The others were either three-life embodiments or quasi-Invincibles; the only true Invincible whose three incarnations were fully present was King Fenhai.
Only now could one truly appreciate the power of an Invincible.
Wan Tiansheng cut Fenhai down with a single sword strike, yet the river of time flowed, and King Fenhai seemed immortal and indestructible, reviving once more, even more powerful than before!
Boom! Flames incinerated the heavens. From Wan Tiansheng's physical body came the sizzling sound of flesh being scorched; letting out a muffled grunt, he continued his brutal struggle.
Fifty-one years ago, King Fenhai had taken advantage of Wan Tiansheng and Ye Batian battling others to launch a sneak attack alongside another Invincible. At their weakest moment, King Fenhai and the God King of the Tianyuan race joined forces to kill Ye Batian, while the other person destroyed Wan Tiansheng's three incarnations.
Back then, he had been nearly exhausted, and so had Ye Batian.
Today, however, was different.
Today, there was only this single opponent before him. Fenhai! Kill, kill, kill!
Wan Tiansheng had lured him out specifically to kill him, for vengeance, for retribution. Slaying King Minghe was nothing, of no consequence to the overall situation.
Only by killing Fenhai could his lifelong desire be fulfilled.
Boom! The battle raged unabated. Wan Tiansheng's injuries grew heavier, while King Fenhai was also showing signs of exhaustion. Even with constant revival, there was a price to pay. After several cycles, with a wet slash, King Fenhai had an arm severed, and this time, it took a while for the limb to regenerate.
King Fenhai gritted his teeth. "You apprentice brothers are formidable indeed! Ye Batian was like this back then, and so are you. Wan Tiansheng, if you want to kill me, you are still not qualified!"
"Incinerate the Heavens!"
With an enraged roar, heaven and earth lost color as raging flames burned the entire world.
Wan Tiansheng was engulfed, scorched by those flames.
King Fenhai took a step into the fire as well, gnashing his teeth. "Wan Tiansheng, kneel, and I shall spare you!"
Wan Tiansheng said nothing, continuing to strike with his sword!
"Hahaha, are you indignant too? Back then, your senior brother ordered me to kneel! Who did he think he was?! I am an Invincible! I am an Eternal! He actually dared tell me to kneel—bastard!"
Wan Tiansheng frowned, saying coldly, "My senior brother was overbearing, but he was not an idiot!"
They were both humans with no mortal enmity between them. Though Ye Batian had been domineering, and had sparred with King Fenhai and won by a slight margin, to make him kneel... Was his senior brother insane? Wan Tiansheng grew suspicious.
King Fenhai was an Invincible. Clearly, he was referring to that private spar back then. His senior brother must have won, but perhaps there had been some excessive behavior, forcing an Invincible to kneel and admit defeat. If that were truly the case... his senior brother's death would hardly be undeserved.
King Fenhai was considered their senior, a human Invincible. But would his senior brother really do such a thing?
With a trace of suspicion, Wan Tiansheng glanced at the sword in his hand and gritted his teeth.
An Invincible, and a human Invincible who attained the Dao in the Human Realm at that—killing him was exceedingly difficult.
Yet immense difficulty did not mean impossible!
Wan Tiansheng took a deep breath and let out a low roar as the sword in his hand turned into a blade of pure light. "Sever!"
A single slash shone upon the Human Realm, illuminating it like broad daylight. The sea of fire cleaved apart! With a deafening rumble, the sky was split open.
King Fenhai roared as well. From all directions, boundless Yuan Qi converged as he threw a punch. Contemporary Civilization Master Invincibles were actually physical Invincibles; generally, their physical bodies were stronger than their divine characters.
At this moment, abandoning the sea of fire, he went all out and punched forward!
Boom! The long sword exploded, and along with it, seven or eight divine characters detonated. Wan Tiansheng retreated, coughing up blood, while King Fenhai was drenched in blood. Gritting his teeth, Fenhai spat, "The disassembly art?"
"No!"
Wan Tiansheng said coldly, "My divine character battle art was assembled by me, not inherited. I have no need for disassembly, because... the battle art itself was merely assembled by me!"
"Monster!"
King Fenhai spat blood, heavily wounded. In an instant, the two clashed once more.
The battle dragged on ceaselessly! After a long while, with a bang, the two separated.
Wan Tiansheng's arm was fractured, yet he crushed a divine character in his grip. King Fenhai coughed up blood again, his gaze somewhat dazed; his primary divine character, the 'Fire' character, had been shattered by Wan Tiansheng.
He was, after all, a divine character master at the peak of the Sun Moon Realm. With his character shattered, the backlash was severe.
"Cough, cough... Wan Tiansheng... I can die three times. How many times can you die?"
King Fenhai laughed, roared, and charged back into the fray!
This time, the clash lasted for an eternity. Finally, a thunderous explosion echoed through heaven and earth. A spark of flame drifted down from the void, and King Fenhai revived once more—yet now, only two incarnations remained.
His three incarnations had been broken apart; his future embodiment had been slain by Wan Tiansheng.
Wan Tiansheng's aura plummeted as well. Both of his arms were fractured, his long hair charred into a pitiful mess by the flames, his face streaked with bloody cuts.
Kill!
Both were completely frenzied. This was a battle to the death, not a spar. King Fenhai, fighting with disregard for his life, possessed immense combat power. Though he had lost to Ye Batian in the past, that did not mean he feared anyone in a life-or-death struggle.
Now, clashing with Wan Tiansheng, this veteran forged in slaughter fought with savage madness, both men staking their lives. The Xiuxin Pavilion sword in Wan Tiansheng's grasp shattered, divine characters detonating—of his twenty-four divine characters, several more burst apart in the blink of an eye.
With a bang, Wan Tiansheng detonated seven or eight more divine characters, blasting King Fenhai's physical body apart and utterly destroying his past embodiment.
At this moment, King Fenhai stepped back, a flicker of clarity returning to his eyes, less crazed than before.
Past and future had both fallen! Only his present embodiment remained!
Wan Tiansheng was also panting heavily. Most of his divine characters had detonated; by now, only six divine characters circled around him.
The two mighty powerhouses had fought until both were battered and bleeding!
...Meanwhile.
Above where the two fought, inside a swirl of light, the stone sculpture Xinghong was watching the spectacle.
He had no intention of interfering.
As a guardian, he could not act without cause, and being inside the Human Realm, it was best he didn't intervene.
Lest it worsen Su Yu's death qi.
Of course, if the Castellan were in mortal danger, he could act; that conformed to the rules—protect our city's Castellan!
After watching for a while, Xinghong clicked his tongue in wonder. These young folks were quite capable of fighting.
That Fenhai was mediocre.
That Wan Tiansheng he had seen last time across the river of time, but seeing him with his own eyes was somewhat different. He remarked with a slight sigh of regret, "A pity. Had he walked the orthodox three-incarnation path of Dao attainment and succeeded, he would have been a titan in his own right."
Wan Tiansheng had once possessed three incarnations and walked the three-incarnation Dao attainment method.
However, over fifty years ago, after his future embodiment was destroyed, he did not recapture a future embodiment. Instead, he chose another path. Wan Tiansheng's current state was so peculiar that even Xinghong could not see through it completely.
Xinghong watched for a while, then stared closely; life and death were about to be decided.
He loved watching this kind of spectacle!
However... soon Xinghong froze slightly, looking toward the distance and raising his brows, though he said nothing.
...At this moment, because his past and future had fallen, King Fenhai's eyes were somewhat clearer. Looking at Wan Tiansheng, he was no longer as irascible as before, saying calmly, "What a pity. Men like you and me ending up dead in internal strife..."
Wan Tiansheng coughed blood and chuckled. "Killing you is more effective than killing ten Invincibles!"
"True."
King Fenhai nodded slightly and smiled. "Killing me is indeed more useful than killing Invincibles of the myriad races... Wan Tiansheng, I am only curious about one thing..."
"Speak!"
Both were gathering their power, preparing for the final strike. King Fenhai smiled faintly. "Ye Batian once said... he was still far from becoming a Civilization Master Invincible. Why did he choose to attempt Dao attainment shortly thereafter? Was that attempt for physical body Dao attainment, or divine character Dao attainment?"
"The physical body."
Wan Tiansheng also replied calmly, "He felt something was wrong with his divine character cultivation and wanted to test what the problem was. Perhaps during physical body Dao attainment, he could detect the imbalance... In the end, before he could figure it out, you ambushed and murdered him."
King Fenhai nodded and smiled. "So that's how it was. In other words, he hadn't reached the end of divine characters either..."
He laughed loudly. "Then that fellow had no right to look down on anyone! He was too arrogant! Wan Tiansheng, go down and keep him company!"
"You should be the one to go!"
Boom! A world-shaking explosion illuminated heaven and earth. Under their singular clash, the Invincibles in the other combat zones were forced out. The space where the two fought had completely collapsed into a black hole, through which one could see past the realm barriers of the Human Realm into the boundless void beyond.
Before this, the place they fought had been situated within a spatial rift between barriers!
A moment later, the brilliance vanished, replaced by darkness.
After another moment, a sea of fire appeared.
Flames filled the sky! Blood-red fire rained toward the earth, and above the Human Realm, a colossal phantom materialized.
Within the sea of fire, his body battered and incomplete, his aura withered to a thread, Wan Tiansheng stood with only a single divine character remaining. Calmly, he looked back into the sea of fire.
The Human Realm trembled! This Invincible who had attained the Dao within the Human Realm was slain by his final strike.
The enemy who murdered Ye Batian had been slain by him!
And he himself was wounded to the absolute limit.
He didn't care about any of this. Killing this foe had been his greatest wish; he had succeeded. After lying low for so many years, he had finally succeeded.
He looked toward those on the periphery attempting to flee, then toward Zhang Qi, smiling faintly. With Fenhai dead, it was time to clean up these fellows.
He appeared before Zhang Qi in an instant, murmuring softly, "Go keep your father company..."
Zhang Qi's expression, however, was unnervingly calm. "With Fenhai dead, you were bound to come kill me..."
Wan Tiansheng started slightly. You... call your father by his name?
Zhang Qi looked at him, gently raised a palm, and struck down!
This palm strike was unimaginably powerful!
Wan Tiansheng was initially surprised, then came release, and finally a helpless smile.
"You... sure enough... Fenhai, that fool..." Wan Tiansheng sighed helplessly.
He had harbored such thoughts before, but apart from Fenhai leaving behind a few clues, anyone else was truly difficult to identify.
Zhang Qi! No, this could not be Zhang Qi.
This was a three-life embodiment, an exceedingly powerful embodiment. A single embodiment might not be much weaker than Fenhai. And Wan Tiansheng had reached the very end of his strength.
Killing a Sun Moon realm expert was still manageable, but slaying an Invincible embodiment like this was completely hopeless.
Today, he had fought two Invincibles. That alone was already shocking to the world!
Against a third, no matter what, he could not prevail.
Watching the giant palm descend, Wan Tiansheng let out a sigh and murmured, "Fenhai, that fool, was truly doing it for a personal grudge..."
He understood now. There were two traitors. One had betrayed humanity even earlier!
It was this person who disguised himself as Ye Batian to fight Fenhai. It was he who humiliated Fenhai, stoking the demonic impulse in his heart, because Fenhai was the easiest to provoke.
Sure enough, Fenhai had taken the bait, used as a pawn, a shield.
Wan Tiansheng looked at him, countless thoughts clicking into place. Ye Batian's records had likely been taken by this man. Even Fenhai targeting the Liu family might truly not have been an intentional plot to exterminate them; rather, this man... No, the subordinates under Fenhai... had probably all been supplied by him.
Wan Tiansheng pieced together so much in an instant! He laughed!
That idiot Fenhai had been a pawn from beginning to end, knowing nothing. Anger had burned away his senses; anger had dictated everything he did.
Fenhai only wanted to kill Ye Batian! He only wanted to kill Liu Wenyan!
Perhaps those subordinates of his had offered themselves up on a silver platter to act as Fenhai's blades, when in reality their true master behind the scenes was not Fenhai. People like Xiaofeng Sword and Gold Wing were in all likelihood subordinates of this man.
They had merely submitted to Fenhai deliberately, leading Fenhai to believe they were his own people.
Gold Wing had targeted Chen Yong for the Tombstone of Civilization, but Fenhai... what would Fenhai want with the Tombstone of Civilization?
Fenhai didn't care about that thing in the least! The one who cared was the person before him.
Wan Tiansheng was merely curious. Driven by this curiosity, he didn't even resist, transmitting his voice instead: "Could you tell me why you appeared at this moment? Had you not shown yourself, we would have thought Fenhai was the only traitor... You wouldn't have been exposed at all..."
Things had come this far; Fenhai was dead. Had this person not stepped out, no one would necessarily have known there was another traitor.
Even if someone harbored suspicions, with Fenhai dead, everything would have become the past. Who could have uncovered anything?
Perhaps this person had never even raised a hand! He hadn't been the one to kill Ye Batian, nor had he taken action on the several other occasions. He had merely watched quietly in the background, observing in silence, subtly egging others on.
So long as he didn't reveal himself and stayed quietly in the shadows, who could ever ferret him out? This was what Wan Tiansheng was genuinely curious about.
Just to kill us? Perhaps the threat we posed to you was simply too great? Perhaps that was it!
"Zhang Qi" looked at him. The descending palm aimed not only for him, but toward all of Nanyuan, toward the ruins, covering every direction. In a calm tone, he said, "Just because you noticed nothing doesn't mean no one noticed. They merely refrained from speaking up. But... once you are all dead, naturally no one will say a thing."
As he spoke, he glanced into the distance and said calmly, "Minister Huang, am I right?"
The Head of the Yellow Division was currently joining forces with Xuanjia against two Invincible embodiments. Hearing this, he turned his head and sighed. "What does that have to do with me? I'm not the one who suspected there was another person... Who did you take me for?"
Zhang Qi started slightly. "You..."
The Head of the Yellow Division chuckled. "You didn't think I was some newcomer, did you? You really guessed wrong. I'm not. My apologies..."
"Zhang Qi" said nothing, pressing his giant palm downward!
The Head of the Yellow Division felt helpless. "I really wasn't the one suspecting you... Why don't you believe me?"
I never even thought about that!
The next moment, he shattered his mask and laughed. "Since you don't believe me, how about you take a look?"
Zhang Qi's face changed slightly!
Wan Tiansheng, pinned down and unable to move, forced his head around to look.
The face looked somewhat unfamiliar—in fact, he truly didn't recognize it. Strange! A human Invincible?
Over there, Zhu Tiandao suddenly smashed the Immortal King flying with a pavilion. Panting, he cursed, "Fuck, Niu Baidao! I told you I wasn't my family's eldest, so why the hell wouldn't you believe me?! Look, didn't he just come out?! How many times did I say I'm not him, I'm not him! You insisted it was me, you dumbass! When you were two or three hundred years old, you were still wearing split-crotch pants having your balls flicked..."
Niu Baidao was stunned for a moment. He looked at the Head of the Yellow Division, then looked at Zhu Tiandao. The two... vaguely resembled each other.
The Head of the Yellow Division smiled. "Principal Niu, it has been a long time!"
"Uh... you..."
Niu Baidao was dumbfounded. At this moment, no one even had the mind to worry about Wan Tiansheng being on the verge of death. It was simply too shocking, and even if they wanted to help... they couldn't intervene anyway, as their adversaries were right in front of them.
"Zhu Tianfang greets you all!"
The Head of the Yellow Division smiled. He was remarkably handsome. "My brother and I—square heavens and round earth. I'm not Zhu Diyuan..."
Zhu Tiandao couldn't help cursing, "That shared a character with the old man! He was a brute who gave out names blindly! I changed mine long ago to Zhu Tiandao!"
Indeed, his original name had been Zhu Diyuan.
Niu Baidao was completely dumbstruck! After all this time, the Head of the Yellow Division was King Daming's son—his eldest son... He wasn't dead, nor had he disguised himself as Zhu Tiandao. He was Zhu Tianfang, who had never vanished and had been here all along, only... completely unknown to the world.
And the Head of the Yellow Division had become an Invincible over a century ago—which meant Zhu Tianfang had attained the Dao long ago!
Zhu Tianfang apologized once more, sounding contrite. "Principal Niu, my apologies. Back then, my father actually stumbled upon two ruins. He kept one for himself and originally intended to give you the other. But you... failed to snatch a ruin yourself and cursed him every single day. He got furious, and then he sired me... and gave it to me instead. He said your luck was too wretched, and giving it to you would be a waste. I'm sorry!"
"..."
The surroundings were frighteningly silent—so quiet that no one even seemed to care about the descending palm anymore. There was nothing they could do about it anyway.
Meanwhile, "Zhang Qi" seemed to have realized something, his expression shifting.
At this moment, a river of time opened upon his body! He was directly summoning his true body!
The All-Heavens Battlefield... could no longer be stayed in!
He had thought the Head of the Yellow Division was the man he suspected, but as it turned out, he wasn't!
Which meant his deduction was wrong.
And being wrong meant danger! Extreme danger!
The Head of the Yellow Division was an entirely unexpected figure. King Daming's eldest son actually existed, had not died, and was not Zhu Tiandao either. At some unknown point, he had infiltrated the All-Heavens Battlefield, entered the Heaven Hunting Pavilion, and risen to become the Head of the Yellow Division!
Only now did "Zhang Qi" realize that something had slipped past his calculations.
In fact, he had deduced, observed, and discovered many things. In his estimation, the Head of the Yellow Division shouldn't have been Zhu Tianfang, but Zhou Tianyuan.
Zhou Tianyuan, younger brother of King Dazhou—Junior King Zhou.
He had investigated, and he was aware of everything, including some of Zhou Polong's experiments. He had suspected whether that man had truly died, whether he was hiding somewhere, whether he was secretly suspecting something, investigating something...
Therefore, once Fenhai and Wan Tiansheng fought to mutual ruin, he came to slaughter Wan Tiansheng and eradicate the Head of the Yellow Division and the others. He possessed the confidence and strength to do so; no one present was stronger than him.
Yet... he had been mistaken about one detail: the Head of the Yellow Division was not that man! It was someone entirely outside his calculations!
The Head of the Yellow Division sighed. "Summoning your true body... it seems you intend to slaughter us all!"
He chuckled. "Sure enough, that fellow was right. Judging from certain methods, there was never just one traitor; there were at least two. How could Fenhai ever have had the ability to deceive everyone? Someone was playing dumb for him, covering his tracks. Fenhai might not even have known someone was shielding him, smugly thinking no one had discovered him... In truth, we had already suspected Fenhai long ago..."
"Hindsight is twenty-twenty!" someone cursed. It was Zhu Tiandao. "Why didn't you speak up earlier?! Who told you? Does Dad know?"
"He knows..." The Head of the Yellow Division smiled, then sighed again. "I only fear it's too late. This one... is a truly big fish!"
This man's reaction had been too swift! Revealing his true identity had only been intended to buy time and secure a sliver of hope for Wan Tiansheng, yet this man had immediately summoned his true body without a second thought!
Indeed, that fellow had told him not to underestimate this person. He had still underestimated him; he was far too decisive!
...And at this very moment, on the All-Heavens Battlefield.
King Dazhou frowned slightly, looking into the distance. With a heavy sigh, he shook his head. "You... I truly couldn't believe it, nor did I want to believe it!"
With that sigh, he no longer paid heed to Qin Zhen, Zhou Polong, and the others, tearing through the void in an instant to charge into the distance!
Zhou Polong also frowned slightly, feeling helpless. It had happened too fast. Seeing Qin Zhen standing dazed beside him, he sighed, "What are you staring at? Forget attaining the Dao, run!"
"Huh?"
"Run!"
Zhou Polong roared. "My uncle has left, and you're still gawking? Gawking at your own ass! Fool! Run while the others haven't reacted yet!"
Only then did Qin Zhen snap to his senses, fleeing alongside him in an instant. On the perimeter, several human Invincibles were also momentarily stunned, but without a word, they unleashed attacks, blasting the myriad race Invincibles blocking their path.
Yet each of them felt dazed, gazing into the distance where a temporal passage had opened, through which a figure was slowly departing.
Meanwhile, King Dazhou attacked swiftly, attempting to cross the river of time directly to slay him.
Yet that was no ordinary Invincible.
Several human Invincibles were lost in utter bewilderment. This was the first time—the first time since becoming Invincibles—that they felt so lost and helpless.
He was the traitor?
When Fenhai betrayed them, everyone had thought: "Oh, it's him. No wonder!" Fenhai had such an explosive temper and had attained the Dao later; if he betrayed them, so be it—at least he was exposed. When Fenhai died, they had breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, he's dead. Now we can rest easy!"
Yet when this figure vanished into the river of time and even King Dazhou roared in fury, they were utterly bewildered. Why?!
King Dazhou was also roaring in righteous fury, "Why?! Tell me, why?! Have you forgotten the oath we swore together conquering the heavens?!"
Opening the river of time and walking toward the Human Realm, the man said calmly, "I haven't forgotten! I have never forgotten! But I see no hope. I only see a future soaked in blood. I only see a future permeated with death qi. I only see that the future you and the future me will both die. I only see that if Ye Batian had succeeded, all the races of the heavens would have joined forces to eradicate humanity. I only see that these heavens would no longer belong to the human race... Brother Zhou, I am sorry! I merely wanted this Human Realm to know peace for another century, another millennium, even if... it is merely an illusion of peace... I am sorry!"
"Why?! You could have told me! You could have spoken to me! Why did you have to do this—why betray us?! Was it not enough to incite Fenhai to betray humanity? You even had him murder Ye Batian! Do you have any idea what a mistake you've made—an irreversible, catastrophic mistake?!"
The man looked at him. "Didn't you suspect me long ago? Did you not? We were closest of friends. Had you not suspected me, Tianyuan wouldn't have faked his death, nor would Polong have repeatedly dropped hints to me that the Multiple Divine Characters faction deserved to be wiped out... Brother Zhou, you are somewhat indecisive. You are unfit to be the leader of the Civilization Masters..."
He smiled and said, "This was my intention alone. If I fail, Brother Zhou, please do not vent your wrath upon others. Aside from me... humanity has no third Eternal traitor!"
With those words, the man vanished from the All-Heavens Battlefield.
King Dazhou roared in frantic anguish, unwilling to believe it. Tearing through the void, he hurtled toward the Human Realm.
Soon, several Invincibles of the myriad races arrived, their faces etched with shock. Even they had never expected this man to turn traitor.
Many could have been suspects, but this person... was entirely beyond their expectations.
Someone muttered in disbelief, "What was the Great Han King after? What was he after?! That fellow... he has guarded the Quest Realm for years, so no wonder... but still..."
Truly no one had imagined it would be him. Because he had guarded the Quest Realm for years without managing affairs, allowing the Eight Great Families to act without restraint, people had never suspected him!
Chapter 490