A Mouthful of Fragrant Blood

In the endless void, colossal hands materialized one after another, striking toward the churning tribulation lightning. They had to shatter these rules! Otherwise, if Yunxiao died, the guardians would riot, the dead spirit realm would emerge, and chaos would engulf all the myriad worlds! Inside the ancient city, Yunxiao looked up at the sky, willful and entirely unyielding! Why! Why was everyone else allowed to strike her, but she was forbidden from fighting back? She had guarded the passageway for a hundred thousand years. Through the long passage of time, she had turned into a living corpse, faithfully fulfilling her duties from ancient days! Now, why should she be punished? She refused to accept it! Stiffening her neck in boundless rage, Yunxiao barked, "Boss, stay out of this! I want to see if these rules truly dare to kill me! I have guarded the myriad worlds for a hundred thousand years! I have merit! I am no sinner!" She was not guilty! She was neither convinced nor resigned! The Old Turtle ignored her. The rules were heartless—how could they care about merit or fault! At that moment, massive handprints slammed toward the tribulation lightning. Rumbling thunder shook the cosmos! The heavens changed color, and the void tore open. The lightning tribulation spread along the giant hands, exceedingly ferocious and growing stronger with every passing second as boundless power of the rules surged forth! Outsiders had intervened! This was unacceptable; the rules did not permit it! Streaks of tribulation lightning snaked along the giant hands, unimaginably fierce. The violent bolts shattered the void and struck outward toward the Immortal Realm, the God Realm, the Nether Realm, the Dragon Realm, the Demon Realm, the Spirit Realm... The rules constrained this entire era, not any single individual! Anyone who defied the rules was marked for destruction. Even if that person was a Half-Emperor! Above Yunxiao Ancient City, the Old Turtle also took action, returning to his true form. An immense turtle manifested—boom! The lightning tribulation descended! Terrifying, boundless blood-red lightning struck the Old Turtle's shell, throwing off showers of blazing sparks! Livid with fury, the Old Turtle's roar pierced the cosmos: "Do you still hope to preserve yourselves? If Yunxiao perishes, the tribulation of the myriad races begins today!" The calamity of the dead spirit realm! The wrath of the guardians! If Yunxiao was struck down today, the Old Turtle would make every last one of them pay! The void churned as Rivers of Time manifested. Phantom projections of Half-Emperors appeared, no longer striking across the void from afar. Space and time were broken open, and the auras of mighty figures bore down upon heaven and earth! Boom! The tribulation struck again, and the powerhouses swiftly acted! Not only that, but weapons materialized one after another, their auras boundlessly mighty. Woven along their lengths were lines of golden veins—each bearing over 140 solid golden veins! Solid golden veins! All of them were peak Heaven armaments! At that moment, the Old Turtle roared once more, "King Daqin, attack! Tianyuan, Archaic, Five Elements, Phoenix... you ancient races, do you intend to stand by and watch?" Across the ancient realms, powerhouse silhouettes rose into the air. Some sighed helplessly, while others cursed, "What is this nonsense? Did you have nothing better to do?" Why did you have to provoke those city guardians in the first place? Were you out of your minds! Now look at you—every single one of you has gone limp, terrified out of your wits. Once Yunxiao gets struck dead, let's see how you clean up the mess! Just then, the projection of Tiangu Immortal Emperor beamed over, accompanied by the coffin that suppressed the entire void. Tiangu spoke, "If Yunxiao falls, an Eternal from my Immortal race will take her place to guard the city..." "As if you're worthy!" The Old Turtle was infuriated! Suddenly, he ceased resisting the lightning, tore the void apart, and instantly appeared above the Immortal Realm. "Today, this venerable one will breach your Immortal Realm and send every last Immortal King among you to their graves!" Boom! A massive explosion resonated through the Immortal Realm once again, causing the entire realm to shake violently. The Old Turtle charged straight to the front of the Immortal Realm's passageway. With a single claw, he crushed an Immortal King's physical body into paste, bellowing, "Today, I will open a dead spirit passageway right inside your Immortal Realm! If your Immortal race wishes to guard, I shall grant your wish!" You want to guard, don't you? I'll let you! The Old Turtle lunged straight for the Immortal Realm's passageway. At that moment, an ancient expert's true body manifested inside the passage—it was Tiangu. Feeling somewhat helpless, Tiangu sighed, "Brother Hongmeng, calm your wrath!" He had merely voiced the thought, figuring that if she really died, an Immortal King could step up to replace her. But instead, the Hongmeng Turtle had flown into a blind rage! Just then, over in the God Realm, the God Emperor barked, "Enough! Hurry and suppress the lightning tribulation!" What are you doing! At a time like this, if Yunxiao is really struck dead, do you think the other guardians will accept it? It wasn't as if they were mindless automatons! They were living beings with full intellect who had guarded the passageways together for a hundred thousand years. If one of them was killed by lightning, did you honestly believe shoving another person into the post would settle it? What a joke! They would fight you to the death. Even if you killed them, dozens of your own Eternals would die, and you would still have to replace them with dozens more Eternals to guard the passageways. Just like that, the myriad races would lose over a hundred Eternals. Then the Immortal race could play by itself! Tiangu had truly grown old. So old that his calculations had become entirely callous! Yunxiao was not just an ordinary guardian; she was one of the thirty-six guardians and shared deep bonds with them. If one died, how could the rest stand by? The Old Turtle gave another cold snort, cast a chilling glance at Tiangu, and withdrew from the Immortal Realm passageway. Vanishing in an instant, he reappeared above Yunxiao Ancient City. A bolt of tribulation lightning slammed down. A previous bolt had already landed, forcing Yunxiao to cough up blood. Consider it a punishment! The Old Turtle felt helpless as well. He had never expected this girl to simply fling the passageway wide open. Helping her was one thing, but Yunxiao still needed to understand the gravity of her actions! She really could have died! The rules could not be defied! He couldn't do it, Yunxiao couldn't do it, and though all the races in the cosmos united might be able to shatter them, they couldn't do so every single time! This time, the experts stepped in to help only because the Immortals and Gods had attacked the ancient cities first. Otherwise, even if the dead spirit passageway were breached, these fellows might not have lifted a finger—all because of the rules. As for the emergence of dead spirits, solutions naturally existed; they merely required a tremendous price. Boom! The tribulation lightning struck again. Rivers of Time manifested across the void. Even King Daqin steered a River of Time, spear in hand, joining the clash between the myriad races and the rules. Naturally, none of them had arrived in their true bodies. Even so, the addition of multiple experts instantly subdued the roiling blood clouds. Yet the blood clouds only grew more incensed, as if tolerating no defiance, and ever-greater amounts of the rules' power gathered! In the void, the Old Turtle shouted, "Fetch the All Races Councilor Tokens! Hurry and suppress the rules!" Silence answered. Rage blazed in the Old Turtle's chest as he roared, "Ninety-nine ancient races, ninety-nine All Races Councilor Tokens! I refuse to believe we cannot gather fifty!" The Nether Emperor's chilling voice rang out: "Brother Hongmeng, the All Races Councilor Tokens are not omnipotent. Using them even once expends a vast amount of the power of the rules..." Surprisingly, the Old Turtle's anger vanished. Transforming into human form, he let the lightning crash against his body. Looking in all directions, his composure returned, and he said with chilling detachment, "You won't use them? Fine. After today, let the dead spirit realm open. Everyone, we have fulfilled our duty... so let the myriad worlds fall into chaos!" Stone statues hovered in the sky, their phantom projections solidifying. Tianmie roared, "Boss, why waste your breath? Let's take them down! Damn it! You think reaching Dao Integration makes you hot shit? Xinghong, Yunxiao, let's team up, the three of us, and butcher a Dao Integration expert for fun!" Fuck! He had run out of patience long ago. In that instant, his true body soared into the air. Down below, Tianhe was instantly engulfed by death qi and cursed silently. Before Tianhe could speak, Tianmie began uprooting his ancient city! Tianmie Ancient City gradually transformed into an enormous iron staff. In that moment, a passageway began to materialize faintly below. In the void, the blood clouds instantly swelled by thirty percent! Tianmie was a madman. The Old Turtle might have been bluffing, but Tianmie wasn't—he was truly about to uproot his city and join the fray! Tianmie laughed boisterously. "I'm leaving the city! Just you wait—I'll turn heaven and earth upside down! Fuck, I'm coming out, I'm really coming out!" Hahaha! His laughter was maniacal as the colossal ancient city began to rise from the earth. At that very moment, blood-colored tokens emerged from ancient realms, shooting through the void. Each blood-colored token slightly subdued the blood clouds. Gradually, three arrived, then five... then ten... As more tokens gathered, they began suppressing the power of the rules. Just as Tianmie was about to rip his city completely from the ground, the God Emperor's chilling voice carried over: "Enough! Tianmie, do you truly want all the guardians buried alongside you?" Yunxiao alone had been trouble enough, and now this bastard Tianmie was causing chaos too! Tianmie glanced around, snorted, and suddenly hoisted the ancient city, which condensed instantly into a colossal staff. Stripping away his petrification in a flash, he swung the staff straight at the White-haired God King in the distance! This blow was vastly more powerful than any strike made through a stone statue. The White-haired God King was just about to slip into the void when—bam! Space was shredded, the River of Time severed, and his entire body shattered into pieces. With that single swing, Tianmie immediately transformed the massive staff back into an ancient city to suppress the passageway. Returning to his original post in an instant, he turned back into a stone statue and sneered coldly, "Just playing around with you! You really think a seventh-stage Eternal has the right to play with me? If you don't like it, come at me! See if I don't beat you to death, you grandson! And if you won't do, Jiwu, come yourself! When I attained the Dao, your ancestor was still a Sun Moon cultivator! How dare you bark at me!" Jiwu was the emperor of the God race. Tianmie was outrageously arrogant. The blood clouds continued to gather; though they had just been suppressed slightly, they swelled once more! That single blow had pulverized the White-haired God King's present incarnation. Only after a long while did a River of Time manifest, restoring his other two incarnations. His face was pale as he stared at Tianmie, eyes filled with utter terror. Tianmie let out a shrill, mocking laugh. "Back then, this venerable one nearly achieved Dao Integration. If not for this damn passageway, that grandson Jiwu wouldn't even be fit to call me grandfather! How dare your God race bully our sacred cities!" Silence fell! At that moment, countless Eternals among the myriad races were shaken to the core. Ninth-stage Eternal! An expert just one step away from Dao Integration. Tianmie! Hardly anyone had paid attention to Tianmie before, because the guardians had remained dormant for far too long. Recently, only Xinghong had acted, alongside a few interventions from Yunxiao, but their strength had not been overwhelming—at least not on the level of King Daqin. Yet Tianmie had pulverized the White-haired God King's present incarnation with a single staff strike. Clearly, he stood on par with King Daqin! Unimaginably powerful! The Eternals were thoroughly shaken. This fellow was a true peak Eternal. Aside from Tianmie, were there other such pinnacle beings among the thirty-six stone statues? *** Inside the ancient city. With the death qi gone, Tianhe stared at Tianmie in profound shock. Holy shit! Damn! What a thick thigh! A supreme powerhouse second only to Half-Emperors! He was that formidable! A being comparable to King Daqin... was actually this strong! He had never imagined it! Tianhe truly had not expected this, because Tianmie had never struck with his true body—only through projections. There had never been an opportunity before because Tianhe himself wasn't strong enough to hold down the fort. Even the Old Turtle had told Su Yu not to lift Tianmie's death-qi burden. Because he could handle it! He simply wanted to go out and raise hell, not reduce his burden. Tianmie had never once complained about reaching his limit; he merely wanted to step outside and stir up trouble. In that sense, he differed from Yunxiao and Yuhong. Yuhong was the weakest because she genuinely was nearing her end. Yunxiao was slightly better off, though in several more years she likely wouldn't last either. But Tianmie had never claimed he couldn't hold on; he just wanted to step outside for some fresh air. And seizing this chance, he had actually done so! Not only had he stepped out, but he had also blown apart a high-stage Eternal with a single strike, displaying terrifying might. Even King Daqin might not have managed that so easily—at least, King Daqin had never demonstrated such raw power to date. Tianmie chuckled. As for the blood clouds overhead, he paid them no mind at all. The blood clouds continued to gather; now that he had violated the rules as well, the power of the rules surged ever higher despite the suppression from the tokens! Many experts cursed inwardly! Damned Tianmie! He was deliberately causing havoc! At this point, even the God Emperor refrained from scolding, shouting instead, "Tiangu, use the Councilor Tokens!" With that, five blood-colored tokens shot out from the God Realm! All of them possessed terrifying might, their auras enveloping the void. Their emergence immediately pushed back the blood clouds, but it was still not enough; the clouds refused to disperse! Simultaneously, blood-colored tokens flew out from the Demon Realm, Nether Realm, Archaic Giant Realm, Spirit Realm, Dragon Realm, Iron-Eating Realm, and Hou Realm, suppressing the steadily rising power of the rules! Councilor Tokens! Twenty, thirty... A moment later, five also flew out from the Immortal Realm! By this point, the blood clouds were heavily suppressed by the Councilor Tokens, yet they remained. The Old Turtle snorted coldly and called out, "Only forty-three. We still need seven!" Then he barked, "Stop right there..." With that shout, the void trembled as two fur balls appeared, their mouths wide open as if preparing to devour something. Upon hearing the Old Turtle's roar, the big fur ball snapped its mouth shut and laughed heartily. "We're here to help, just helping out! We have a token too! Hurry, child's mother, take it out..." The mother ball tossed out a token! The big fur ball chuckled, its massive eyes darting toward Tiangu before saying dryly, "Didn't eat you, wasn't trying to eat you! Helping out, just doing some chores! Don't look at me like that. You smell delicious, but I'm not hungry, so I won't eat!" At the edge of the Immortal Realm passageway, Tiangu's expression shifted slightly, though he said nothing. The big fur ball felt somewhat dejected. Never mind—if it ate Tiangu right now, everyone would gang up on the couple. What a shame, what a pity! The meat was right in front of it, yet off-limits. Even Old Turtle Hongmeng wouldn't let it take a bite! The Old Turtle ignored it and called out again, "Are there any more? If not, we can only shatter it by force! If we break it by force, someone will have to bear the rules' backlash!" His eyes glowed faintly green as he glanced toward the God Realm and the Immortal Realm. Tiangu frowned, looked at the void, and said calmly, "Most of the power of the rules has been suppressed. Yunxiao can endure the rest! Let her face the tribulation. Once she finishes, the rules will disperse on their own!" Before the Old Turtle could answer, Tianmie cursed, "Face it my ass! You dare attack us guardians! Tiangu, you bear the backlash! If you dare say no, I will breach your Immortal Realm today! When your father met this venerable one in ancient times, he had to address me as Lord Tianmie! You've got some nerve!" Tiangu said indifferently, "Guardian Tianmie, the tribulation lightning has already weakened significantly. If Yunxiao faces it now, she will surely emerge unscathed. Must you be so overbearing?" If Yunxiao did not undergo the tribulation, the rules would not disperse. Forty-four tokens could only suppress them, not scatter them. Only when more than half the total tokens were present would the rules fade on their own. Right now, there might still be Councilor Tokens scattered across the myriad worlds, but smaller races wouldn't dare produce them, and the major races hadn't necessarily brought out all they had. Some ancient races had already perished, vanishing into the river of history. Gathering all ninety-nine tokens was practically impossible. Reaching fifty might still be feasible. Yet at this stage, even without fifty tokens, Yunxiao could manage the tribulation—eighty percent of the rules' power had already been suppressed! Yet Tianmie refused! Tianmie was itching to leave the city and fight again. He sneered, "No tribulation! If you have the guts, don't intervene at all! Whoever caused this trouble should bear it! If the Immortals and Gods won't take the hit, then let all the myriad races suffer together! I'd like to see if the myriad races agree to that! Demons, Dragons, Nethers, Spirits—are you willing?" The assembled powerhouses remained silent. Willing? Like hell they were! Of course they weren't! The Immortals and Gods had conspired to assault the ancient cities, provoking Yunxiao's rebellion and Tianmie's riot. Having to intervene to clean up this mess was already infuriating enough; asking them to bear the backlash on top of that? Only a fool would agree! Space trembled as colossal figures manifested one after another. An ancient race powerhouse growled viciously, "Tiangu, bear the backlash yourself! Stop wasting words! I don't care what you squabble over, but my realm hasn't participated in war for ten thousand years. If you dare drag my realm into your conflict, I will breach your Immortal Realm!" "Jiwu, join Tiangu!" Another towering giant appeared, tall enough to pierce the heavens—the Archaic Giant Emperor! In the next instant, a gargantuan iron-eating beast appeared in the void, casually grabbing an unknown Immortal or God, biting the creature in half, and chewing noisily. "Hurry up. Once you're done fighting, I'm going back to sleep! Tiangu, Jiwu... stop stirring up trouble!" "Roaaar!" Just then, an ancient hou far more terrifying than the one Su Yu had encountered before emerged. "Tiangu, I hear Immortal flesh is the sweetest. Feed me a few Immortal Kings, and I'll settle this for you! I'll take the backlash—I'm not afraid of it anyway!" "..." This colossal ancient hou laughed menacingly. "Tiangu, back in the ancient era, I wanted to eat you, but your father refused. Now, give me a few of your descendants, and we'll have an easy time talking in the future!" "..." Silence fell among the surrounding Eternals, while countless Sun Moon and Shanhai cultivators shivered in terror. This confrontation had awakened a host of slumbering ancient powerhouses! Indeed, many of them were remnants from the ancient era. That giant hou was clearly one of them; otherwise, it wouldn't have brought up wanting to eat Tiangu and being stopped by Tiangu's father. The ancient city guardians were all ancient Eternals! So was Doubao of the God-Devouring race, and Tiangu, and likely the Half-Emperor of the Iron-eating race, along with the emperor of the Archaic Giants... Normally, one never saw these figures; even members of their own races rarely caught a glimpse of them. Yet today, all of them had appeared! Tiangu Immortal Emperor remained cold. The strike had been proposed by the God race, yet now everyone was singling out the Immortals. As for the God race, aside from taking a blow from Tianmie's staff, they had practically been forgotten. Why? Tiangu pondered inwardly. Striking the ancient cities had not been proposed by the Immortals, nor by Dao King; Dao King had simply agreed because he thought it was viable. Yet Tiangu could say nothing. Could he tell them to go find Jiwu instead? That would mean completely falling out with the God race! His gaze turned profound as he looked toward the ancient city and the Old Turtle, slowly saying, "Yunxiao can survive the tribulation. Afterward, the Immortal race will compensate for all losses." At this point, Yunxiao could successfully endure the tribulation. There was no great danger! The forty-four blood tokens had truly suppressed most of the power of the rules. Just as the Old Turtle was about to speak, Tianmie suddenly bellowed, "I don't agree! Kill, kill, kill! Let's turn heaven and earth upside down! Shatter this realm and bring about another ancient catastrophe!" "..." Silence enveloped all sides. Tianmie shouted madly, "Kill! I deeply regret missing out on the great ancient war! Let's have a go at it! Boss, are you in or not? If you won't do it, I'll go slaughter that little brat Tiangu myself!" With that, he prepared to uproot the city again! The Old Turtle merely watched him in silence. This fellow had far too much energy to burn! Uprooting the city... fine. When the tribulation comes, you take it! Yunxiao wasn't the only one who had broken the rules; Tianmie had too. The pressure could simply be transferred to Tianmie so he could face the lightning. Since you have so much energy, you're the perfect fit! Tianmie acted like a maniac... After roaring for a while and seeing the world remain dead quiet, he found it rather boring and cursed, "Fuck! Isn't there anyone who can fight? Are you all cowards? Step out! Come outside your realms and fight! Let's turn the world upside down!" His voice grew smaller and smaller. How dull! No one dared fight him! Boring as hell! He settled back down, turning back into a stone statue. Seeing that Tianhe was nearly consumed by death qi, he sighed speechlessly, drew away a portion of the death qi from Tianhe, and muttered inwardly, *Useless trash. I only left for a moment, and you're already dying!* *Trash!* He understood what the boss meant: enough was enough. They still had a mission to uphold. If the rules truly struck, the guardians would be the first to take the hit. As fiercely as they talked, if the myriad races truly refused to care, the guardians would die first, the passageways would shatter, and only then would the calamity of dead spirits erupt. Once dead, he wouldn't even be around to see the catastrophe. The boss's intention was clear: let everyone know the ancient cities were not to be trifled with, extract some compensation, and consider the matter settled. Yet Tianmie... genuinely wanted to go out and brawl! Unfortunately, there was no chance. If he stayed outside any longer, Tianhe would definitely perish. Once Tianhe died and Tianmie left, the passageway would open, dead spirits would rampage, and the next person struck dead by the rules would be Tianmie himself. Grudgingly, Tianmie settled back onto the passageway. Down below, a dead spirit monarch looked on with immense regret! *You were shouting so fiercely, why didn't you charge out!* *If you charged out, we could have had some fun too!* Alas, the fellow refused to leave again. Then there was the Flame Demon, who was in truly wretched shape, having been crushed to pieces by the Old Turtle. While not easy to kill outright, he was severely injured. Now a swarm of monarchs was converging on him; someone was bound to make a move on the Flame Demon! Devouring one another and seizing territory was an effective way to grow stronger. Because of Tianmie, things had reached a stalemate. Just when everyone remained silent, someone suddenly chuckled breathlessly, "Since this matter started because of me, why don't I offer a solution for everyone?" In all directions, countless powerhouses turned their gaze toward "Su Yu"—or rather, Liu Hong. Liu Hong marveled internally: having a massive backer really was invigorating! He was Su Yu right now, and this clash had been sparked because of Su Yu, drawing out ancient Half-Emperors one after another. This was thrilling beyond measure! However, it was obvious that this battle wouldn't actually break out. At this stage, whether Tiangu bore the backlash or Yunxiao underwent the tribulation, neither presented much of a problem. Tiangu refused because of pride. As the Immortal Emperor, he could not yield. Yunxiao and Tianmie refused out of spite, indignance, and pure frustration! In truth, once the forty-four blood tokens appeared, the situation was largely resolved. Seeing everyone look his way, Liu Hong showed no fear. He possessed immense boldness himself; an ordinary person might have been frightened to death by those glares, yet he kept a radiant smile on his face, genuinely carrying some of Su Yu's audacity and grit. "Our sacred cities exist to suppress the dead spirit realm. Surely none of you wish to see us abandon our posts entirely? This time, the Immortals and Gods took the initiative to provoke the sacred cities, nearly plunging the myriad worlds into chaos. That is the source and the cause!" "Of course, the Immortals and Gods are pillars of the myriad worlds. If the dead spirit realm truly spills over one day, we will still rely on the Immortals and Gods to resist them. Let us not damage our harmony!" Liu Hong chuckled. "In my view, Dao King and the God King Tianjue may not have intentionally targeted the sacred cities, and Tiangu Immortal Emperor and God Emperor Jiwu may not have known beforehand. It was all a misunderstanding..." "Dao King lost two of his three incarnations, and God King Tianjue lost one. The punishment has already been dealt!" "However, one issue remains: who will bear the lightning tribulation meant for Lord Yunxiao? In my opinion, Tiangu Immortal Emperor and God Emperor Jiwu shouldn't bear it. Instead, let the other seven Eternals who struck earlier take it!" Narrowing his eyes, Liu Hong smiled amiably. "Those who make mistakes must pay a price! You can't let parents shoulder the blame every time their children mess up—they aren't toddlers anymore, some are thousands or tens of thousands of years old! Let each of the seven bring forth one of their three-life embodiments and face the tribulation alongside Lord Yunxiao until it concludes. Then the matter will be settled! Why bother talking about compensation? None is needed. Punish the wrongdoers, and there's no need for reparations, right?" "..." The seven Eternals looked utterly grim. In particular, one Immortal King had already lost an embodiment to Yunxiao's sword; if he had to go through this again, he would truly become a single-bodied bachelor. Nowadays, there were quite a few single-bodied Eternals among the myriad races. Over recent days, only a handful of Eternals had died, but many more had lost their three-life embodiments—around thirty in total! As a result, carriers had become absolute treasures! Everyone wanted one! Many who had entered the Star Residence Mansion this time were doing so specifically to search for carriers for those Eternals. That item was currently more sought-after than anything else. Most people didn't dream of obtaining the Nine-Leaved Heavenly Lotus, but everyone desperately wanted a carrier. Liu Hong's proposal harbored venomous intent! If the seven Eternals truly faced the tribulation alongside Yunxiao, half of their embodiments might perish. Yunxiao was terrifyingly strong! Moreover, she would be present in her true body, whereas they were not. Even if they wanted to, they wouldn't dare bring their combined true bodies to help her endure it. Besides, helping someone endure a tribulation was fundamentally futile. With more people present, the power of the rules would only multiply. It wouldn't rest until it struck them dead! This was practically an order to execute the seven of them! *** *Brilliantly done!* In that moment, even Su Yu felt like cheering. Liu Hong was truly capable. Compensation? Did he lack their measly scraps? The Immortals and Gods wouldn't offer anything truly precious anyway. Striking down seven of their embodiments was worth far more than anything else. This time, four Eternals from the God race and five from the Immortal race had struck! Three had already lost embodiments, and three more on the Immortal side had been crushed by the Old Turtle. If four more fell, the Immortal race would likely weep. During the previous clash, the Immortals had already lost an Immortal King. Suffering another blow like this would make their losses unbearable. At that moment, the Old Turtle spoke chillingly: "Tiangu, Jiwu, Su Yu is right! Whoever made the mistake must bear the consequences! Let those nine undergo the tribulation with Yunxiao—life and death will be left to fate! If Yunxiao dies in the tribulation, I will personally suppress both cities to prevent the dead spirit passageway from opening!" "..." The big fur ball chimed in gleefully, "Yes, yes, exactly like that! Tiangu, how about you give me a few Immortal Kings to eat, and I'll help you bear the backlash? What do you say?" Both it and the giant hou shared the same idea: give them a few Immortal Kings to eat, and they would gladly help resolve the problem. The Immortals smelled so good! In the distance, Dao King's face turned deathly pale. Several Immortal Kings retreated toward him, while the White-haired God King looked equally grim. "Su Yu" had suggested seven, but the Old Turtle had gone further, demanding all nine take the field! If the White-haired God King lost another embodiment, he would be down to his last one! And Dao King... if Dao King lost another, he would truly die! *** Inside the Immortal Realm. At the passageway entrance. Immortal Kings materialized around Tiangu. The unfortunate few whose embodiments had just been crushed harbored bitter resentment, their gazes none too friendly; they wished Dao King would simply be put to death! Damn it! Misfortune had truly fallen on them out of thin air while they were sitting at home! They had been minding their own business inside the Immortal Realm's stronghold when the Old Turtle shattered their embodiments. When the Immortal Realm shook, they had merely stepped out to take a look, only to suffer such catastrophic misfortune! Resentment festered in their hearts, though none voiced it aloud. Instead, they all looked toward Tiangu. Before outsiders, it was best to avoid open infighting. Though they secretly wished Tiangu would simply agree, they knew he would never abandon these Immortal Kings. Counting Dao King, there were five Immortal Kings involved! Sure enough, Tiangu looked around and sighed softly, his voice carrying far and wide: "I shall bear the backlash of the rules! Dao King and the others committed an unintentional mistake; there is no need for them to pay with their lives! Brother Hongmeng, the Immortal race had no intention of destroying the sacred cities..." With an expression of sorrow and benevolence, Tiangu added, "I shall bear the fault of the God race as well! Let this matter be put to rest!" With those words, an enormous, lidless coffin flew out from the Immortal Realm! In the next moment, the coffin, interwoven with countless golden veins, plunged straight into the blood clouds! Rumble! Terrific thunder clapped across heaven and earth. Strike after strike crashed down, shattering again and again, blowing apart the gathering blood clouds. Even so, the power of the rules continued to generate. Yet under the suppression of the blood tokens, the rules generated slower than the coffin shattered them. After a while, the coffin suddenly slammed against the endless void with a deafening boom, as though piercing through the heavens themselves! Just then, a faint River of Time emerged! That was the origin of the rules' power! Without hesitation, the coffin smashed straight toward the river! A deluge of blood poured down! Heaven and earth tore asunder! The faint River of Time suddenly snapped, and an unimaginably ferocious blood-red tribulation bolt plunged straight toward the Immortal Realm—the final strike of the rules' power! Boom! A colossal explosion reverberated across the realms. The coffin's golden veins fractured under the direct impact, and several of its wooden planks splintered. Within Tiangu's body, the power of the rules surged in and erupted all at once! Spurt! Tiangu coughed up a mouthful of blood. The blood gleamed gold, instantly igniting into flames. A fragrant aroma drifted in all directions. At that moment, outside the Immortal Realm, the big fur ball, the mother ball, the giant hou, the Archaic Golden Roc, the ancient iron-eating beast... all converged rapidly. Sniffling their noses, their eyes turned red as they stared hungrily at the Immortal Realm's passageway. The Immortal Kings behind Tiangu felt a chill run down their spines! Insane! They were all insane! Catching that scent, every single one of them actually wanted to eat Tiangu! Tiangu froze for an instant. Looking at the assembled beasts, his gaze turned chillingly cold. "Everyone... what more do you want?" "Nothing, nothing..." the big fur ball said hurriedly. "I see that you're injured, poor thing. Let me lick you! My God-Devouring race can heal wounds by licking your sea of will! My child's mother and I can both lick you... your wounds will heal in no time!" The mother ball nodded its body vigorously! *Just a lick, we'll just give you a lick to heal your wounds!* *We're good balls!* "Crunch..." The iron-eating giant beast took a bite of food, glanced at the two balls, and vanished on the spot. Those two balls really dared to say anything. It had only come over to watch; Tiangu wasn't someone they could easily swallow. Let them play by themselves! Now that the matter was resolved, it was heading back to sleep. Tiangu's expression shifted as he looked outside the realm. That mouthful of blood... might bring about considerable trouble. These fellows truly possessed boundless audacity. Every single one of them actually wanted to eat him!