The Fiercest in the Heavens

On Su Yu's side. At that moment, Su Yu's expression was grim. Watching Kong's aura swell, he suddenly said, "Kong, you want to kill me?" Kong did not speak. Su Yu quickly looked toward Shi and said hurriedly, "Senior Shi, is Kong determined to provoke internal strife? Is he in league with the Human Gate? Right now my grandfather is dealing with the Human Gate emissary, yet he wants to make a move against me..." Shi was in a truly difficult position! Truly in a bind! Did Su Yu make sense? To some extent, yes. Yet whether it was the Human Gate's emissaries, Su Yu's faction, or even the Heavenly Gate's disciples... all were people of the Heaven-Opening Era. Why must they fight like this? Killing people of the myriad realms was indeed a choice everyone would make right now. Yet Su Yu and his side were not from the myriad realms era. Su Yu had been born inside the Gate, while the Lord of Dead Spirits had emerged in the late Heaven-Opening Era and simply had not been sealed when heaven opened... They were different from the Human Sovereign's era! Right at that moment, Shi's gaze flickered slightly, and he let out a sudden sigh. "You all... look out for yourselves! There seems to be an unexpected turn over there... I will go have a look!" Boom! In the distance, an aura surged into the sky, and King Wen's furious roar resounded through heaven and earth! "Little Sister, hold on! Once I open heaven and unite dual heavens, I will butcher them all!" Rumble! The sound of a world being forged came echoing over. At this moment, Shi actually felt relieved. He truly could not intervene here, nor could he manage it. Taking either side might only spark greater internal strife. Siding with Su Yu might infuriate the Lord of Dead Spirits and Qiong; siding with Kong would lead to the same result. Therefore... the only thing he could do was stay out of it! Just in time! King Wen was opening a heaven! At this moment, Shi even felt this heaven was being opened at just the right time! If you hadn't opened heaven, I wouldn't even know where to go to deal with you. "You two... just spar a bit and call a truce. There is no need to fight to the bitter end!" Leaving those words behind, Shi drifted away. The three forbidden land masters—An, Ying, and Yuan—all changed color. Whom should they help? Damn it, helping anyone was dangerous! Time to run! They shifted their forbidden lands instantly and fled with Shi. It was far too dangerous! Short of the transcendent rank, even with all their methods and great strength, confronting true transcendent figures was still extraordinarily perilous. The three did not hesitate for a second and flew toward King Wen alongside Shi! Right at that moment, Su Yu's eyes flickered slightly. In the next instant, he abruptly flew toward the Lord of Dead Spirits, shouting, "Grandfather, stop fighting! Kong wants to kill me—you come deal with him!" The Lord of Dead Spirits had been pressing his opponent hard. However, without Dual Heaven Unification, he possessed only thirty-five daos of power, while the God Ancestor possessed thirty-four daos. The difference was not very large. Although he could suppress his opponent, trying to kill him... was difficult! Hearing Su Yu's shout, he felt intensely gloomy! This battle was not going to be easy! Yet an instant later, he disengaged from the battlefield. The God Ancestor was only too eager for him to leave and made no move to stop him. When the Lord of Dead Spirits flew away and Su Yu flew over, the God Ancestor actually breathed a sigh of relief. Against Su Yu with his thirty-two daos of power, he had nothing to fear. As for the Lord of Dead Spirits, the moment he flew out, a boom shook the void. Kong's single horn erupted with dazzling brilliance like a thunderstorm, striking straight toward the Lord of Dead Spirits! Meanwhile, between the Dragon and Phoenix pair, the Dragon was a powerhouse of thirty-two daos, and the Phoenix was not weak either, possessing thirty-one daos of power. Kong barked out, "Go, surround and kill Su Yu!" As for the Lord of Dead Spirits, he would handle him. The Lord of Dead Spirits had not united dual heavens yet! This time, he could forget about relying on power spreading over from his world like last time. Kong would not give him another chance to flee toward the Heavenly Gate! Right at that moment, a furious roar came from afar. "Die!" A massive blade cut across heaven and earth, its martial aura sweeping through the cosmos! King Wu had arrived! Blade in hand, King Wu slashed toward the Phoenix Ancestor, looking as though he meant to slay her on the spot. The Phoenix Ancestor instantly erupted with blazing fire power that incinerated the heavens. With a deafening boom, King Wu and the Phoenix Ancestor both fell back a distance. King Wu laughed loudly, blade in hand, gazing across the battlefield as if he had only just made out the situation, and roared with laughter: "Fighting so merrily? You want to besiege my Little Sister Wen Yu? In your dreams!" Just then, Wen Yu screamed, "Brother Taishan, you hit the wrong one! You... that one was going to kill the bad guys... come to me..." "Hit the wrong one?" King Wu froze, looked toward Wen Yu, and then looked at the enraged Phoenix Ancestor, seeming to finally grasp what was happening. He quickly said, "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! I saw your big bird looked like it wanted to deal with my sister... Dragon and Phoenix vermin are the most troublesome. Little Sister Wen Yu ate too many of them in the myriad realms, so I thought you two wanted to kill her..." Wen Yu was so infuriated that she stamped her foot. "Brother Taishan!" "Sorry, sorry..." King Wu's expression also changed, because fury was already welling up from both the Dragon and Phoenix Ancestors! Killing Su Yu or killing King Wu... made little difference. Besides, this fellow King Wu had a foul mouth and mediocre strength. Su Yu facing the God Ancestor wouldn't meet a good end anyway! King Wu's face changed completely, filled with wariness as he hurriedly backed away several steps. "I said it was a mistake... You want to deal with someone else? Then go deal with them... The slaughter of dragons and phoenixes in the myriad realms wasn't my doing. Back then Second Brother Wen slaughtered them, and later Wen Yu ate a lot of them... Besides, that was in the myriad realms, not here!" He seemed cautious, constantly stepping back. Yet the more he spoke, the colder the Dragon Ancestor and Phoenix Ancestor became. True, after coming inside the Gate, they were indeed no longer of the same era or race as those in the myriad realms, and killing kin was nothing unusual. Yet King Wu bore contempt for dragons and phoenixes to his very bones! Yes, the contempt of treating them like food! Did a mere thirty-one daos think he was formidable? The Dragon Ancestor's body was immense, coiling through heaven and earth, and he said coldly, "Very well. Killing you can replenish plenty of yang qi to swell our strength... Though he isn't at Integration, Phoenix, if you devour him... you might just reach Integration!" The moment those words fell, the Phoenix Ancestor's massive eyes lit up brilliantly! Right! If they killed Su Yu, after all, he was at Integration, so it might not be her turn to claim him. Most likely Su Yu would go to the Dragon Ancestor, while the Lord of Dead Spirits went to Kong. The Phoenix Ancestor had only wondered if she could get a share, but now... killing King Wu was just right! She might well take that step by seizing this opportunity! "Kill him!" A phoenix cry pierced the heavens. The massive phoenix pounced toward King Wu. King Wu's expression changed, and he cursed, "Fuck, I said it was a mistake!" Wen Yu was frantic with rage. "Weren't you going to kill Su Yu? Kong, your people aren't listening—aren't you going to rein them in? Su Yu and the Lord of Dead Spirits are your true enemies... Are you an idiot?" Kong said nothing; he was currently locked in battle with the Lord of Dead Spirits! As for killing King Wu... an outsider of thirty-one daos, dead was dead. Who cared which one died? Besides, he could hardly force the Dragon and Phoenix to kill Su Yu now. That idiot King Wu had started swinging blindly the moment he arrived. The Dragon and Phoenix were both supreme powerhouses brimming with fury. If killing him allowed the Phoenix Ancestor to step into Integration, their chances would only grow! King Wu's face changed wildly as he tried to flee. Yet it was too late! A dragon and a phoenix pounced upon him in an instant. The Dragon Ancestor's power swept across heaven and earth. With a thunderous boom, a dragon claw tore through the firmament, striking toward King Wu! King Wu roared, his martial dao erupting! Killing intent flared! Empowered by killing intent! He was already close to thirty-two daos, his insights fully formed. Unfortunately, his Great Dao had not yet undergone its final transformation, preventing him from fully transcending. At this moment, his level of power was still inferior to his foes. Rumble! A barrage of thunderous impacts rang out. King Wu's killing intent soared into the sky, cowing both powerhouses as he roared furiously, "Fuck your ancestors! I already said it was a mistake, you vermin still want to come at me? Once Second Brother Wen achieves Dual Heaven Unification, he'll kill every last one of you!" He cursed wildly! And the more he cursed, the angrier the Dragon and Phoenix grew! You struck the wrong target, and you still think you're in the right? We were originally going after Su Yu, yet you insisted on seeking death! *** The others assumed King Wu had genuinely failed to grasp the situation and made an honest blunder. Yet Su Yu knew that was not the case. His heart shook slightly. King Wen had actually gone off to open a heaven! Trouble! Shi had charged over with three major powerhouses. Even though those three were not strong, Shi alone was someone King Wen could not withstand! King Wu's side was in the same predicament. Fighting the Phoenix alone, he might have had a chance of slaying her, but against the Dragon, he was outmatched. The gap between thirty-one and thirty-two daos was substantial. The Lord of Dead Spirits had not achieved Dual Heaven Unification and could not beat Kong. Su Yu had not achieved Unification either and could not beat the God Ancestor. Qiong was facing both the Immortal Ancestor and Zhou, unable to completely suppress them. Wen Yu was fighting two opponents, also unable to gain a decisive upper hand... They could fight, yet across all corners of the battlefield, not a single clash offered any hope of a steady victory! Only if the Lord of Dead Spirits achieved Dual Heaven Unification, and Su Yu did the same, would there be hope! Yet the Heavenly Gate was bound to intervene. It would obstruct at least two worlds! Lan Tian and the Human Sovereign! Su Yu muttered internally! Just as the thought crossed his mind, a fist came crashing in, carrying potent divine power. The God Ancestor sneered, "Fighting me and your mind is still wandering? Courting death!" Su Yu frowned slightly. Uniting his world as one, nine apertures erupted. Nine Great Daos rapidly wove together, transforming into the power of a single Great Dao, with the other aperture daos assisting. Boom! Eyes like the sun and moon, he struck out, life and death swirling around his blow! "Mm?" The God Ancestor was slightly startled. Su Yu, with his thirty-two daos of power, had only retreated a short distance under this strike without being knocked away. At thirty-two daos, an advantage of two daos was no small thing! Of course, fighting the Lord of Dead Spirits just now had drained him considerably. Even so, one needed only look at Wen Yu fighting two opponents without falling behind to see the standard. Was he, the God Ancestor, inferior to Wen Yu? In a one-on-one clash, he had failed to send Su Yu flying with a single blow, merely pushing him back a few steps! The God Ancestor frowned slightly and said coldly, "Interesting. You have some capital. A heaven-opener is indeed not weak—no wonder you act so arrogant!" For a junior to possess such strength was rare indeed! No, it was astonishing! Su Yu said nothing and struck again. Boom! Great Daos wound together, nine daos united, while the other apertures continued to assist. Yet Su Yu was already attempting to merge more daos into the mix! His fighting spirit surged! Boom! The two clashed repeatedly, wheeling through heaven and earth, shattering the void over and over. Su Yu remained at a disadvantage. A moment later, the God Ancestor punched a gaping hole through his chest, but the Great Dao of Life erupted, mending it instantly! Su Yu sneered. "The power of a heaven-opener is beyond your imagination! I possess myriad daos—I am immortal and imperishable!" "A joke!" Even though Su Yu had once crawled back from hell, the God Ancestor still did not believe he was truly immortal and imperishable! Right at that moment, high in the sky, the Lord of Dead Spirits suddenly grunted. Struck again by Kong's horn, his physical body cracked. He was furious beyond measure, but sweeping his gaze over the surrounding battlefield, his expression shifted slightly. There was no advantage whatsoever! The next instant, a thought struck him. Gritting his teeth, he roared, "Qiong, I can't beat Kong! Dual heavens can't unite... Earlier I helped you, now help me—swap opponents!" Qiong was facing two opponents of thirty-four daos and holding a slight advantage. He was enjoying the fight immensely and was unwilling to swap upon hearing this. "No..." The Lord of Dead Spirits' face turned ashen, and he roared, "I admit I am inferior to you! If you defeat Kong, you will be the number one within the Gate! Swap!" Qiong's eyes flickered, and he glanced in that direction. Kong... taking on Kong wasn't out of the question! Fighting the Immortal Ancestor was rather troublesome anyway. Every time he injured that fellow, he healed instantly, which was quite annoying. The next moment, he laughed. "Fine! Since you've yielded, this master will grant your wish!" Hum! A beam of sword qi pierced heaven and earth, forcing the Immortal Ancestor and Zhou to retreat rapidly. Meanwhile, the Lord of Dead Spirits gave a thunderous roar, throwing a punch wrapped in a world of death qi that made Kong grunt and stumble back several paces. When Kong regained his focus, Qiong was already standing before him! Kong's massive eyes darkened. "Qiong, you want to stand up for him?" "Wrong, just swapping opponents!" Qiong laughed boisterously. "Kong, weren't you supposed to be formidable? Come, let's play. Let's see whether you, the King of Myriad Beasts, are stronger, or if this master is!" Kong said coldly, "You truly have colluded with the myriad realms!" "Courting death!" Qiong was enraged. I already told you I haven't! Xingyu is merely a subject of my observation—lately I've just been studying his Human Sovereign Seal! I've said it multiple times, yet you still refuse to believe me. You are courting death! Hum! Sword qi shot into the sky and clashed against the horn with thunderous roars, sparks flying everywhere. Qiong facing Kong was by no means at a disadvantage. As fellow powerhouses of thirty-six daos, this was a true clash of equals! *** Meanwhile, the Lord of Dead Spirits was now facing two opponents, and the battle grew spirited all at once. Thirty-five daos against two thirty-four daos. Moreover, his death qi somewhat countered the Immortal Ancestor. Life and death stood opposed, but when the power of life fell short of death, it was suppressed. The reverse was also true: once life surpassed death, it could counter the other. The Lord of Dead Spirits had not swapped opponents merely to make things easier on himself. Facing these two together was certainly easier than facing thirty-six daos, yet continuing like this... might lead to one outcome: King Wu would die first, then King Wen would be slain over there, and then... a total collapse across the entire line! He was a clever man and knew the consequences! Leave aside now—even if Su Yu achieved Dual Heaven Unification, he might not be able to kill the God Ancestor. Under Unification, his strength would merely match the other's at thirty-four daos, gaining only a slight edge as a heaven-opener at best. "The only one who truly possesses the power to turn this situation around is me!" The Lord of Dead Spirits knew it in his heart. He was no fool; none of them were. He knew how Su Yu had turned the tables back then! Deathly extinction and resurrection! And for him now, this was the only way: slay the Immortal Ancestor, seize the Great Dao of Life, plunge into deathly extinction, resurrect in an instant, execute Zhou, and only then thoroughly reverse the entire board! Yet entering deathly extinction offered no guarantee that he would survive. A gamble! A massive gamble! "I possess grand ambitions, wishing to swallow the River of Time and vie with the Lord of Time..." "All these years, I have failed to cycle between life and death because... I feared death, not daring to embrace extinction..." The Lord of Dead Spirits looked toward Su Yu and the others, toward King Wu who was coughing blood under constant blows, and toward the distant King Wen, who was roaring frantically as he opened his heaven, only to be suppressed by Shi's massive mountain! A heaven-opening tribulation! This was King Wen's heaven-opening tribulation! Then he looked at Su Yu, repeatedly knocked backward yet charging in again and again... The Lord of Dead Spirits' thoughts settled down gradually. I am second in the heavens! Yes, aside from the Lord of Time, he yielded to no one! After Dual Heaven Unification, he feared no one either! Yet this was not the time for Unification. Dual Heaven Unification might not succeed right now, nor could he mobilize his world at this moment, for it required coordination from Su Yu's side. Once Su Yu made a move as well... everyone would know there was something wrong with them! This required an opportune moment, a breakthrough point! That breakthrough point lay with him! "Grandson..." At that moment, fighting the two powerhouses, the Lord of Dead Spirits laughed boisterously. "Do you know why one can kill foes above their rank when young, yet finds it so difficult at our stage?" Su Yu was just then sent flying by a punch from the God Ancestor, his physical body shattered, though it quickly restored itself. He smiled and said, "Because those who survive are all geniuses..." "No!" The Lord of Dead Spirits rejected that explanation, laughing loudly. "You don't understand, because you aren't old enough! Once you truly reach my stage, it isn't that you can't, but that... you dare not!" "When young, life is short, newborn calves fear no tigers, full of hot blood! You dare to fight, dare to kill, dare to stake it all!" "At my stage, one has grown old and fearful. Whether it's me, Kong, or Qiong... not one of us isn't afraid of dying! In a great battle, being cautious and walking on eggshells means that most of the time, it is merely probing, probing within set limits..." "It is a very simple truth: when you possess sixteen daos, swallowing another sixteen-dao expert's territory to expand your own is relatively simple. But once you have thirty-two daos, how many thirty-two-dao masters have you seen swallowing other forbidden lands?" "Because there are too many trump cards, the family fortune is too thick, and one doesn't want to risk it all!" "People are just like that... Going from weak to strong is easy, but going from strong to stronger is hard! Because the family estate is too large, one dares not! Even without risking it, there is enough to live on for a lifetime!" Su Yu understood! Cultivating to their level, they were simply too powerful. So powerful that in battle, they very rarely fought to the death. Unless they possessed absolute certainty, one hardly ever saw that razor's edge between life and death from their younger, weaker days! Even Su Yu currently lacked that kind of mortal crisis. The God Ancestor opposite him was strong, but he was not fighting with his life on the line. He, too, worried that Su Yu might deliver a desperate strike right before dying that severely injured him, which would bring endless trouble! The family estate was large, and the burdens were heavy! And for the Lord of Dead Spirits to speak of this in the middle of battle, combined with his claiming earlier that he was inferior to Qiong just to swap opponents—Su Yu already knew the Lord of Dead Spirits' objective! Fight the Immortal Ancestor to the death, and enter extinction! This might be a turning point! Yet... was he prepared? The Lord of Dead Spirits spoke loudly. Even as he assaulted the two powerhouses furiously, he laughed. "Trash like this, weaker than me—in the old days, anyone weaker than me who dared fight me would have been slaughtered on the spot long ago! Sadly... now I have grown old, and they have grown old too..." The Lord of Dead Spirits laughed! The Immortal Ancestor's face changed slightly. Looking toward Zhou, he said in a low voice, "Go all out! Curse him to death!" "Don't fear injury—I am here!" He barked the order, seeing that Zhou was holding back far too much! Otherwise, two thirty-four-dao experts fighting a thirty-five-dao master to the death was not an impossible match. Yet Zhou cursed inwardly. That's enough out of you! You're here? Only now did I learn you might belong to Hongtian. Both of us are Human Gate emissaries, but we don't work for the same Great Sage. Only a ghost would entrust his life to you! He couldn't be bothered to care. Just tangling with him was enough! With Qiong gone, he felt much more comfortable anyway. A thirty-five-dao Lord of Dead Spirits was strong, but unable to unite dual heavens, he had nothing to fear. He said rapidly, "Don't say too much. Just don't let him near the Heavenly Gate..." Last time, the Lord of Dead Spirits' battle against Kong had drifted near the Heavenly Gate, forcing the Heavenly Gate to compromise and allow him Dual Heaven Unification. If they denied him that chance today, the Lord of Dead Spirits could never turn the tables! Yet the Lord of Dead Spirits was currently fighting frantically in that direction, fighting toward the Heavenly Gate! The two assumed he wanted to approach the Heavenly Gate, but that was not it. He merely wanted to get away from Kong and the others, preventing them from disrupting his extinction! The Lord of Dead Spirits roared incessantly, ignoring his injuries with savage ferocity! He fought his way forward! Deathly extinction and resurrection—this was the key and the chance to break the deadlock! Only if he succeeded would the entire board truly come alive! By then, even if the others reacted, it would be too late! *** At that moment. Atop Mount Tianqiong. The Human Sovereign's phantom looked at the Lord of Dead Spirits, watching him lead the two powerhouses away in a frantic melee, a trace of uncertainty in his eyes. The Lord of Dead Spirits... what was he doing? Deathly extinction? Resurrection? From his choice of opponents, one could glean a hint or two. The Human Sovereign sighed inwardly, yet was helpless. At this stage, there was nothing he could change. The only thing he could do right now was... let a trickle of world power seep out, drifting toward King Wu! To allow King Wu to hold on a little longer! In truth, Qiong sensed it, but had no time to care, nor did he bother. He was busy dealing with Kong, and the Dragon and Phoenix belonged to Kong. King Wu holding on was a good thing for him as well! Yet in Kong's eyes, this fellow was dead set on cooperating with the myriad realms! Because he, too, had sensed the Human Sovereign's world power filtering through to help King Wu stabilize his battle! "Qiong, you are the greatest traitor of all!" Kong snorted coldly, brimming with murderous malice! Qiong couldn't care less! "Hmph!" Kong snorted again. He was in no hurry. Let them wait—once Shi thoroughly suppressed King Wen and returned, seeing the Human Sovereign meddling, Shi would inevitably strike. He would surely shatter the Human Sovereign's Heavenly Gate, perhaps even slaying King Wu and Wen Yu! At that time, the Dragon and Phoenix would be freed, the God Ancestor would have finished Su Yu... let's see what you, Qiong, can pull off then! Harboring such thoughts, he said no more. Qiong was determined to join hands with the myriad realms! *** "Stop him!" The Immortal Ancestor roared once more, deeply dissatisfied with Zhou's lack of coordination. Right now the Lord of Dead Spirits was fighting furiously toward that area. If he truly reached the vicinity of the Heavenly Gate and summoned his worlds to merge, and the Heavenly Gate saw him so close and chose not to intercept him, wouldn't they be finished? After Dual Heaven Unification, the Lord of Dead Spirits would be stronger than Qiong and the others, possessing roughly thirty-seven daos of power. For the time being, he would indeed be the number one in the heavens! Dual Heaven Unification was not yet a complete fusion of worlds. If the Lord of Dead Spirits returned to the myriad realms and achieved complete world fusion, he might enter thirty-eight daos or even higher. Only then would he become truly terrifying. Therefore, none of them wanted him to return to the myriad realms. At this moment, the Lord of Dead Spirits remained utterly silent. Fight! Strike! There were no flashy moves, only a barrage of heavy punches brimming with death qi, constantly hammering the two backward, disregarding his own injuries and their counterattacks alike! He drove the fight onward, yet he would not draw too close. Shi and the others were over there! *** At that moment, King Wen also roared frantically, and a book abruptly appeared in his hand! The next instant, from within a phantom gateway, a figure flew out. "Master!" The Book Spirit's trembling voice rang out. King Wen said nothing, simply reaching out to draw him into his book. King Wen's aura surged instantly as the book's pages turned incessantly. The scriptures of the Classic of the Ten Thousand Daos! "Martial Emperor!" King Wen's voice resounded through heaven and earth. "Regarding the matter between you and Taishan—today, you transmitted the Book Spirit here, so this king will no longer meddle in whatever happens between you two. Look out for yourself!" That illusory gateway belonged to the Martial Emperor! At this moment, the Martial Emperor remained silent. Simultaneously, heaven and earth shook violently. With a thunderous boom, a massive mountain pressed down once more. The book rose, and with an explosion, a page was crushed to pieces. Shi's voice rang out, carrying a cold detachment: "Opening heaven? Give up! If you flee, you might still have a sliver of life. If you do not, only death awaits!" In the midst of opening heaven, King Wen could not run! Right at that moment, King Wen continued his work, the power of Great Daos spreading outward. At the same time, from within the gateway, another surge of world power poured forth, flooding into the book to reinforce the defensive system! Lan Tian's voice carried a hint of teasing: "Mighty Senior King Wen, how pathetic!" King Wen ignored him. He knew who this person was! Naturally, the other was currently helping him stabilize his world. Unfortunately, he was not strong enough, and the world power had suffered losses while seeping through, unable to offer substantial support. Still, it was decent enough—at least it could keep him afloat for a while! Shi's voice rang out again, tinged with coldness: "Are you Su Yu? What a coincidence—one over there, one over here... 'Yu' is quite a grand name. Xingyu, or the two Su Yus, all have opened heavens!" It had to be said that even he felt somewhat shaken. Could the character 'Yu' be the origin character of the myriad realms? For three heaven-openers to all bear the name Yu! It was truly shocking! "Oh, there's a Su Yu over there too? I heard the Human Sovereign mention it—one of our own!" Lan Tian's voice rang out again with a chuckle. "However... sharing a name with me isn't very auspicious. My name is too heavy; everyone who shared a name with me has died!" "A joke!" Shi continued to press down, rumble! The thunderous noise never ceased! He said coldly, "Far too weak! The Su Yu over there is at Integration, with thirty-two daos of power! The strength you seep through is a mere eighteen daos or so—in the myriad realms, low twenties at best... far, far too weak!" This Su Yu from the myriad realms was a bit on the weak side! Low twenties, surely not exceeding twenty-five daos. Such an existence wouldn't even count as upper-middle tier among forbidden lands, merely possessing slightly stronger world power than ordinary cultivators, and that was all! Had the other not been a heaven-opener, Shi wouldn't have bothered to pay him any mind. Just as he was shattering the defenses layer by layer, Shi suddenly sensed something from afar, his brow furrowing with coldness. Were the Lord of Dead Spirits and the Immortal Ancestor's group fighting their way toward this place as well? He hesitated slightly—should he strike at the Lord of Dead Spirits? Just as the thought surfaced, the giant mountain suddenly trembled slightly. It was not from King Wen's counterattack, but because he sensed an extraordinarily dangerous aura rising. What was going on? *** At this moment, a faint smile appeared on the Lord of Dead Spirits' face. Just about right! He was situated right between Shi and Kong's groups. "Su Yu, don't you dare trick me... If you fooled me, you're finished too..." He muttered inwardly. Kid, if the method of life-and-death conversion you gave me is wrong, you won't just be harming me—you'll be bringing catastrophic bad luck upon yourself! If that happens, your death will be well deserved! "Will I be like him, sinking into deathly extinction and unable to come out?" He recalled Su Yu's state back then. Would he end up the same? "No!" "Because... I have ambition! That kid was a useless wreck without ambition, but as for me, the goal of my life... has yet to be fulfilled!" A brilliant smile spread across his face. Yes, my goal has yet to be fulfilled. I have always been second in the heavens, but I want to become the first! I want to meet that fellow who opened heaven before me! I want to fight him and tell him that the pupil surpasses the master, that a latecomer can overtake him! Even second in the heavens can surpass you all. Su Yu, your so-called schemes will never match absolute strength in the end! Strength is the only truth! "Grandson, you are still inferior to this old man!" A fierce roar rang through heaven and earth! The Immortal Ancestor and Zhou were caught completely off guard. In the distance, the powerhouses locked in fierce battle all looked over in shock! A black mist swept across heaven and earth, enveloping the cosmos! The Lord of Dead Spirits carried an icy chill and monstrous killing intent. "I loathe the Dao of Life, because... it is not my Dao!" "I will surely step out from hell once more, reborn from death! I am the terminator of death!" "Hahaha! Su Yu, my good grandson, watch your grandpa!" At this moment, under everyone's utterly astounded gazes, the Lord of Dead Spirits' death qi swept through heaven and earth. A black tome materialized, carrying monstrous death qi, and slammed down toward Zhou! Zhou's face changed drastically as he struck at the tome with all his might. Yet the Lord of Dead Spirits no longer paid him any heed. Countless Great Daos of Death spread outward, wrapping around the Immortal Ancestor, as he chuckled softly: "If a thirty-five-dao heaven-opener fighting with his life on the line cannot kill you, wouldn't I be utterly useless?" Stronger than his foe, fighting with his life, marching to his death—if he still couldn't kill the Immortal Ancestor, he truly was a waste! The Immortal Ancestor's face drained of all color! "Hongtian!" He let out a shrill scream. The next instant, the Human Gate opened, no longer concealed, and a phantom silhouette manifested instantly, appearing ready to descend upon this place. A monstrous aura surged into the sky! "Lend me strength!" The Immortal Ancestor roared. He hadn't asked him to descend! Yet Great Sage Hongtian didn't care; now that the Immortal Ancestor had willingly opened the entire Human Gate, he naturally seized the chance to descend. "Idiot!" The Lord of Dead Spirits sneered. Did you think this was a good opportunity to descend? Wrong! This was a prime opportunity to die! He could even claim one more kill. Though not his true body, it would still make him suffer terribly! The Immortal Ancestor roared in frenzy, howling, "Fuck your ancestors!" Hongtian was a complete idiot! Lend strength! Not descend in person! Although he knew the Human Gate people harbored ill intentions, he never expected that instead of lending strength, the other would try to force a descent at a moment like this! The phantom expanded rapidly, condensing into human form with a faint smile. Why lend strength? Isn't it better for me to come out in person? Just as the smile appeared, it vanished in the next instant! The Lord of Dead Spirits suddenly transformed into a dark cage, descending over them. Myriad Great Daos of Death wrapped around them like ropes, carrying a faint smile: "You two, let's play together!" "Death · Descent!" Boom! A cataclysmic blast swept across everything behind the Gate. A powerhouse of thirty-five daos chose deathly extinction at this very moment! Nearby, even though Zhou was not the primary target, the exploding black tome instantly blasted him until he vomited blood. Before he could even finish coughing, his face warped in horror! Because an aura powerful to the extreme swept toward him! It was the colossal might of two... no, three powerhouses instantly reduced to dust, tearing through the entire world! The Immortal Ancestor's despairing voice rang out, laden with unwillingness, disbelief, and refusal... a hopeless roar: "Hongtian!" You fool! If you had lent your strength, we might have blocked it! You insisted on descending with an avatar—did you think some great benefit was waiting for you here? Did you think I opened the Human Gate fully because I was an idiot who wanted you to descend? Would I have done that if I hadn't sensed a mortal crisis? What were you thinking?! Boom! The first to shatter was Hongtian's avatar. Before it could even utter a word, it was blown to pieces, every trace of its imprint obliterated! *** At this moment, within the Human Gate. A formidable existence suddenly grunted, a mouthful of blood erupting from his lips. His physical body cracked, his aura scattering, and with a boom, the surrounding void was reduced to nothingness... The figure looked irritated and coughed, wanting to vomit blood! Have you lost your mind? Was the Lord of Dead Spirits insane? He self-destructed! Fuck! He hadn't even united dual heavens or summoned his world, and he still possessed numerous methods. He was fighting two against one, not necessarily facing defeat. Only the weak self-destructed to plead for a way out—who had ever seen a powerhouse self-destruct just to kill an enemy? How much hatred and malice did it take to do something like this? Great Sage Hongtian could not fathom it. Filled with vexation, he thought: it's over! The Immortal Ancestor had been slain! Dead beyond doubt, with no chance of survival. A thirty-five-dao heaven-opener dragging you down in a self-destruction—if a thirty-four-dao cultivator could survive that, there would be no justice in heaven! "Are people's hearts... truly this hard to read?" Even as a master of manipulating hearts, he now felt that human hearts were simply too unfathomable! It defied all reason! Great Sage Hongtian sighed. He had suffered a massive loss; years of arrangements inside the Heavenly Gate had gone up in smoke! *** Rumble! The monstrous power of life and death swept through heaven and earth—far too immense! It was vastly more potent than when Su Yu had dragged down the Lord of Soul Falling Valley back then! Even with Su Yu and the others standing at a distance, the shockwave slammed into them until they spat blood! Qiong, locked in battle with Kong, dropped his jaw and muttered, "Insane... even if you can't win, there's no need to blow yourself up, is there?" At this moment, he didn't even care that the Immortal Ancestor had been exposed as a Human Gate emissary. The man was dead—why bother caring? He watched a Great Dao brimming with the power of life disintegrate, collapsing violently, while a force of intertwined life and death transformed into a mighty wave that swept outward once more! Qiong was stunned, and Kong was stunned as well. In the distance, Shi forgot all about suppressing King Wen, completely dazed. Resurrection... you have to be joking! No one believed that someone at the Lord of Dead Spirits' level could die and return whenever he pleased. That was impossible! Yet the Lord of Dead Spirits' self-destruction was, in all probability, a desperate gamble on resurrection! Where did he get such confidence? Death meant true death! Even if he took a powerhouse down with him, it was still a terrible loss. Once he walked out of the Heavenly Gate, he would be a truly invincible sovereign! At this moment, only that terrifying power howled between heaven and earth. Some of the rogue cultivators who hadn't fled far enough were engulfed directly, wiped out in an instant! Regardless of how many daos they possessed! The strongest rogue cultivators were only so-so, and right now, two powerhouses above thirty-two daos had detonated. That power was simply too overwhelming! *** Meanwhile, Su Yu's expression was grim. Could he resurrect? I don't know! Intertwined life and death could bring resurrection, but that applied only to himself. King Wu had merely piggybacked on Su Yu because the Great Dao in Su Yu's world could also undergo extinction. Yet regarding the Lord of Dead Spirits, Su Yu truly did not know! "Your world doesn't even have a breath of life... relying entirely on external power... Can you... truly return?" Su Yu felt a trace of helplessness! You're far too ferocious! Decisive, extraordinarily decisive, taking out the Immortal Ancestor in one stroke—otherwise, the Immortal Ancestor would have been exceedingly difficult to kill. But... but you went too far! Right now... I'm truly at a loss! Opposite him, the God Ancestor had forgotten to attack, his face twisted in disbelief. Just like that... two supreme powerhouses had died? Fuck! Too terrifying!