《Nine Venoms Sect Founder》


 Cultivation Realms

    Cultivation Realms


    Hi, wee to Nine Venoms Sect Founder''s official spoiler page. Without further ado, let''s get started.


    Mortal Path:


    Purification (150 years)


    Hallowed (200)


    Daoist (300)


    Nihilty (500)


    Crossed Vicissitude (1000)


    ***


    From here on, this story has two cultivation paths you need to care about.


    ***


    Divine Path (This is most relevant in the first 20 chaps, then bes aparison tool for the other path):


    Celestial Kin (3,600)--The Mc starts here


    Celestial Guard (10,000)


    Celestial Knight (50,000)


    Ascending God (100,000)


    Heavenly God (Theoretically Immortal)


    Empyrean Monarch (Theoretically Immortal)


    ***


    Six Incarnations Bridge (Most relevant after the first 20 chaps. This is the one the mc will focus on):


    Human Realm


    Monstrous Realm


    Ghost Realm


    Infernal Realm


    Asura Realm


    Reincarnation Realm


    ***


    There are others, of course, but I think for now we''re good.

 Important Announcement

    Important Announcement


    Hi,


    I''ve been on an oversea trip for thest five days (mainly to rx and escape some frustrations), but also took this time to think about my future and consider my options.


    Writing is without a shred of doubt my number one passion. Nothing cane even close to challenging it. And in the most difficult periods of my existence, it has helped me stay away from a ton of fucked up shit. However, I''ve reached a point where how much money I have in my bank ount takes precedence over the daily rush I get from writing. I must be responsible for myself, and no matter how I look at it, an ongoing investment in this work is pure lunacy.


    I''m not going to discuss power stones. The majority have beening from the same people since day 1, and I thank them deeply for it. But while power stones basically measure readers'' supportor theck thereofI wouldn''t feel hopeless if not for another much more striking dta: the conversion rate.


    When we first went premium, the reader-to-paying-reader conversion rate was 0.16%. I did what I could to change that, and thanks to abination of cover changes and features, it rose to 3%. In the novel''s most stable days, I could barely get over 3%. When the instability hit, I stagnated between 2.5 and 3%. This shows that the update rate isn''t a significant factor for why readers don''t convert into paying readers.


    On the other hand, I don''t have a problem getting new readers. Features and cover changes have not let me down. I simply must ept that for the vast majority of readers, the story doesn''t generate enough appeal to warrant parting from their hard-earned cash. At the same time, I hope you can understand that with numbers like these, I can''t justify the time and energy I spend writing this story.


    I know this might look superficial to some, "If you really enjoy writing that much, why not do it for free," but as a self-reliant adult, you can''t joke with your ie.And across the first three months, I made $166.21 writing NVSF. Not ounting for taxes, this is barely half the cover''s price. I''m not just not making money. With every hour of writing, I''m losing some.


    I can''t see a viable path moving forward. All solutions fail to solve the core issue, which is the conversion rate. Therefore, unless in theing few days a life-changing event urs, I''ve decided to retire as a web novel author and focus on the avenues that secure me a stable ie. Apologies, but this is farewell.

 Im Back!

    I''m Back!


    Hey guys, after countless trials and tribtions on the Grand Dao of Life, I''m back to writing again. If you''re looking for stories like PPoD, please check out my new work, <strong><em>Reverend Ecstasy</em></strong>, by <strong>Evil_Dao</strong> (my alt ount). There you will find:


    -A nuanced but thoroughly evil mc that develops in unexpected directions and unlocks a vast array of demonic abilities


    -Apelling plotline


    -Intriguing characters


    -Smut


    -Comedy


    -Fairies, Monstergirls, Nuns, Saintesses, Demonesses, Goddesses, and all manners of mysterious creatures


    If any of these themes interest you, feel free to join our adventures, and I will make sure you learn to enjoy the rest!

 Chapter 1: The Oldest Scam

    Chapter 1: The Oldest Scam


    Fourth Heaven, Blood-Feather City.


    "Brothers, Celestial Ascension is a terrible scam," said a 14-year-old looking boy that sat crossed-legged in a circle alongside 11 men of various ages. With short, neatlybed ck hair, thin eyebrows and a friendly gaze, the boy would have looked handsome and harmless if not for the double pupils in his golden, left eye. To avoid attracting the divine bullies, he hid it behind an eyepatch. And like the 11 others, wore a white Taoist robe.


    "Cleanse your body to achieve Purification. Cleanse your soul to achieve Sanctification. Find your Dao Truth, reject your Dao Truth. Cross the Nine Cmities, refine your Celestial Nature and ride the Auspicious Clouds to ascend to Heaven. This is the road mortals call Ascension. Because we all went through it, we understand, we understand" the teenage-looking boy''s eyelids twitched and, with his fists balled up, he threw his head backroaring at the ceiling, "that it is a pile of shit!"


    "They tell you that you will be venerated as an immortal, ranking among celestials, and attending the God Empress'' Peach Banquets! But once you arrive, from the top of your mortal world, you be the lowest of the low! The pig that even floor sweepers can ughter! And of course, no damn peach!" The teenage-looking boy sobbed, his words making the 11 celestials beside him break into tears.


    "I started cultivating at 13, reached the first level of Purification at 16, the Hallowed Realm at 22, Daoist at 33, Nihility at 66, Crossed Vicissitudes at 108 and ascended to Celestial Kin at 163!


    Genius! Adored by millions, cursed by billions! More food and wine than I could digest! And I left all that behind toe sweep the floor in Heaven!" Harun, the boy celestial, squealed full of grief.


    Like the others, Harun was born in a Mortal Worldthe Noxious me World in his case. And after 150 years of cultivation, he ascended to Heaven. In his homeworld, he started out as an average child looked down on because of his low talent and unusual left eye. Aware of his own shorings, Harun put in five times his peers'' work but still took three years to reach the first level of Purification.


    Fortunately, the heavens wouldn''t abuse a diligent man. The first level of the Purification Realm unlocked Harun''s left eye, the Eye of Luminous Treasures, enabling him to locate the treasures and chances scattered in his homeworld. Harun thus set on a legendary path, broke all records of his world, and became a celestial.


    As he didn''t want to be fettered by gold diggers, despite all the princesses and saintesses he dallied with, Harun didn''t leave any wife or child behind, and triumphantly rose to Heaven.


    Or so it should have been. But the story refused to take that turn.


    Harun didn''t expect that despite ascending on Golden Cloudsthe highest attainment for a mortal cultivatorno one would respect his achievements. After asking him a few casual questions, the registrar assigned him the job of page, an official position of the ninth rank no better than a floor sweeper.


    Worse, they downgraded his Celestial Nature from a mighty World-Devouring Serpent to a tiny green viper! Just because the Devouring Serpent was reserved for some divine n, he went from an all-dominating, ovaries-squeaking reptile to an ordinary snake. Who could bear that shame?


    Enraged, Harun fought for his rights. But it seemed his luck expired in Heaven as, at the first protest, the registrar had him flogged 120 times. Aggrieved, poor Harun sought a judge and was flogged another 80 times.


    Without recourse, he could only ept his fate and start delivering messages for conceited officials while slowly nning hiseback. It''d now been two years since Harun arrived in Heaven, and to cope with depression, he started attending group therapy meetings with celestials in the same pit as him.


    "I was the supreme emperor of my world, a phoenix, downgraded to a pigeon."


    "A ck dragon, downgraded to a lizard!"


    "A flood dragon, downgraded to a fish!"


    "Here newborns start at the first level of the Celestial Kin Realm, born celestials. How can they not look down on us? They disdain our treasures, trample our dignity, and the worse of it all is that the God Emperor passed a Divine Law forbidding murder and suicide!"


    "As long as the God Emperor breathes, we must endure! Endure till the word "enduring" is written all over our stomped faces and buttocks!"


    "But how can he die?" Several celestials sobbed with outrage written all over their faces. Unlike Harun, most of these people had been trapped in Heaven for decades or centurieswhen they realized that they couldn''t return home before reaching the Heavenly God Realm, they all lost hope.


    At that time, the door flew open. rmed, the celestials all choked on their treasonous words, fearing that a bored superior spied on their meeting. Faster than the others, Harun had already turned into a snake and hid behind his peers.


    "The God Emperor is dead!" The new entrant, another ninth-rank official, eximed with exceptional delight.


    "Hahahaha! The God Emperor is dead!"


    In the Divine Harem, "The old goat is gone!"


    In the Heavenly Court, "Hahaha! Finally, that imperishable son of a bitch is dead!"


    Across the Heavens:


    "Praise the glorious heavens! The Emperor is dead!"


    On the 10,000 Mortal Worlds:


    "Why is the breeze so fresh, the sky so clear, and the sun so bright today?"


    "Look at all those rainbows, the Auspicious Clouds, the flying cranes and swans, something great must have happened in Heaven."


    "It must be so."


    After a reign of nine Cosmic Cycles, or 1,166,400 years, Agiri, the third God Emperor, copsed under a Cosmic Tribtionforever erased from the multiverse. His death threw the Heavens into an unprecedented wave of euphoria. From his children to ancient officials, none mourned him.


    But while Harun''s peers leaped and danced across the room, throwing scrolls into the air like unruly middle graders, he alone found the news disturbing.


    "Dumbos. Heaven''s Throne has no heir. How is this cause for celebration? When the civil war begins, we won''t even cut it as meat shields."


    Leaving his fellow celestials behind, Harun sneaked out of the gathering room to return to his chambers. On the road, conflicting thoughts shed in his mind. Initially a just and beloved monarch, past his eighth Cosmic Tribtion, Agiri went mad. From then on, he promulgated a session of absurd Divine Laws that shoveled the 33 Heavens into chaos.


    The Right of the First Night, giving him the right to sleep with new brides or concubines on the wedding night.


    The Bleeding Crown Law, forcing high-ranking officials to wear crowns of thorns.


    The two Anti-Death Laws, preventing celestials frommitting suicide or murder.


    The Imperial Curbing Law, that forced all imperial princes and kinsmen into house arrest.


    The Divine Right Law, that downgraded the Celestial Nature of the newly ascended celestials, and two others.


    Paranoid, insane, but unrivaled, as the only Dao Emperor of the 33 Heavens, Agiri could do as he pleased and was seen as the chief driver of all the resentment and enmity swelling in this vast realm. With his death, all Divine Laws lost effect, returning freedom to the 33 Heavens'' countless lives.


    What a false sense of freedom.


    Believing that his reign would oust the stars, Agiri never set up a crown prince. Thus, his seven sons, his brothers and surviving uncles, all had strong ims to the throne and wouldn''t let go of the chance to be the new Master of Heaven and Earth. In that mayhem, how many would fall to stray bullets, Harun wondered.


    But as his thoughts strayed, "Isn''t this our most venerated celestial pipsqueak?" A white-robbed youth, too generic for a full description, blocked his path. Four mook goons stood beside him, and together, they surrounded Harun. Forced out of his thoughts, Harun took a casual nce at the five youths, stopping on the band''s leader.


    "Dilsad?" Harun dug the name out of his immortal memories. Dilsad was the nephew of Blood-Feather City''s registrar, who recorded the names of all celestials that ascended to the Fourth Heaven and assigned them various ninth-rank positions. A registrar was just an eighth-rank official, but his position gave him tremendous power over the newly ascended celestials. Among them, few dared offend him.


    Dilsad, however, was a nobody. The only reason why Harun remembered him was that he was present during his "wee party." Since then, the two had never exchanged a word, not even the basic "screw your ancestors." Why was he blocking him?


    "Although the God Emperor just died, his death has already triggered many changes. The God Empress will hold the Peach Banquet early, and our magistrate decreed that all pages must gather in his office tomorrow. Six will be selected to serve in the God Empress'' uing Peach Banquet. But truth be told, there''s no way for a mortal-born celestial like you to attend that gathering. I''m here to tell you to not waste your time. Don''t try to look beyond what your eyes can see and ept your lot in life," Dilsad said with a broad grin, proud and ted.


    His cultivation had just broken through to the second level of the Celestial Kin Realm, putting him far above the newly promoted celestials. Like the majority of heaven-born scions, Dilsad despised the neersit was time to bully. And seeing Harun struck speechless, Dilsad stuck his chest out, unleashing the pressure of his cultivation base, intent on suppressing his prey.


    "Even if you resent me, I must do my good deed of the day. I know you must have been some big shot in your homeworld, but here, people like you are asmon as the clouds. Toss a stone into the street, and you can hit 1,000. Look at me, my talent is just okay, but I''ve already reached the second level of the Celestial Kin Realm. You have no merit to speak of and must try hard to prog-"


    *Bang*


    With an upward kick, Harun smashed Dilsad''s nuts. A cool breeze swept the scene, the pressure of Dilsad''s cultivation base copsed, his jaw dropped, and his eyes went bloodshot.


    In a sh, Dilsad felt the world around him spin. His legs gave out, all strength left his body, and he fell face-first.


    "Argh...argh...aaargh!" Dilsad howled in agony. And though without strength, his hands subconsciously reached for his nuts. Harun wouldn''t have it, and blocked Dilsad''s nuts under his right foot.


    With an angelic smile, the 14-year-old looking celestial leaned over and said, "Don''t misunderstand, I''m trying to help you. Even if you resent me, I must do my good deed of the day." Dilsad had barely registered the words that Harun pulled out a dark-green pill from his cosmic pouch and forced it down his throat.


    As the pill dissolved in his body, Dilsad''s skin turned blue, and the damage in his groins intensified till his nuts turned into dust.


    Right, he now had nothing to hold on. Dilsad''s pain slowly subsided, but no joy appeared in his eyes.


    Only terror remained.


    "Impossible. Impossible! You didn''t...you can''t...how? Give me back my balls!" The celestial neared madness. He''d just turned 120 and had yet to rob his first kiss that his balls went missing. Who could bear such a fate?


    Taking his foot off the empty crotch, Harun sighed and replied:


    "So sad. This is a lesson they don''t teach you in celestial kindergarten right? Even if you cultivate the Unbreakable Diamond Physique, your balls are still balls. Anyone can crack them. But don''t worry, if you stay home for one week and sincerely repent, they might just return. If you seek your uncle, you will die today. Your choice. As an elder, I''m just trying to help you avoid an early death."


    That said, Harun left the scene, and too startled by their boss'' fate, the mook goons dared not pursue him.

 Chapter 2: Art of the Decaying Flower

    Chapter 2: Art of the Decaying Flower


    Ten-thousand mortal worlds below, thirty-three heavens abovesuch was theposition of this multiverse. Balls of solidified Heavenly Qi, the 33 Heavens stood in a parallel dimension to the mortal worlds essible only through Ascension. Split into three ringsthe first 32 Heavens revolved around the 33rdthe Highest Heaven where the God Emperor reigned.


    Up here, the ground was a misty white substance, something Harun took some time to get used to. The sun, moon and stars, existed only if the ruling Gods wished them to, with sky-blue mountains of spirit stones or marble-white divine jade stretching across vast tracts ofnd. Regardless of their race, mortals couldn''t survive in Heaven. In open air, even Crossed Vicissitude level experts would suffocate under the abundance of Heavenly Qi. Lower-ranked cultivators would directly explode.


    But despite the celestials'' enormous lifespan, the Heavenly Realm''s colossal size, and its innumerable years of history, on average, each Heaven only had about 100 billion citizens, over three trillions in totalfar less than the 10,000 mortal worlds. Harun''s Fourth Heaven belonged to the Inner Ring, directly facing the Highest Heaven alongside five others.


    But while reaching the Fourth Heaven upon ascension was a remarkable feat, as he returned to his sector''s Page Mansion, Harun bitterly regretted it. On the surface, the Heavens followed a strictly bureaucratic structure. But each was de facto ruled by a Celestial Marquis. Heavenly God Realm experts, Celestial Marquismanded vast hosts and wielded tremendous power. The Fourth Heaven''s Celestial Marquis, current Golden Crow n lord, was notorious for creating nine suns in his Heaven.


    Nine suns, no night. Nine suns, twenty-four seven. For two years, Harun endured a temperature that hovered between 320 and 700 celsiusalmost stepping into volcano territory. Worse, heat storms were asmon as grass in a prairie. s, to transfer to another Heaven, Harun would at least need to reach the Celestial Knight Realm. At his current pace, another millennium wouldnt be enough.


    Harun''s steps ended before a sky-blue, rectangr residence. Built in spirit stones, as was the custom for Heaven''s low-level houses, this mansion glittered under the nine suns'' rays, emitting a considerable quantity of Spiritual Qi that, for celestials, was aplete nuisance.


    Spirit stones in Heaven were 95% Spiritual Qi, and 5% Heavenly Qithe exact opposite of the outside. Whenever celestials absorbed the atmosphere''s energies, their bodies produced and discharged thin quantities of Spiritual Qi. Over time, those thin strands gathered and condensed into spirit stone minerals which, with millions of years to develop, grew into mountains.


    So, though rare in the Mortal Realm, in Heaven spirit stones were asmon as grains of sands in a desert. Avable everywhere, but utterly worthless. Only Divine Jade mattered.


    Pushing the gate open, Harun returned to his dorm in the mansion''s west wing. Hundreds of fellow pages shared the wing with him. The rooms were seven square meters each, and as pages weren''t expected to sleep, no bed was provided. But while most pages kept the majority of their stuff in their cosmic pouches, leaving their room mostly empty, Harun''s abounded with crawling venomous snakes, spiders and poisonous frogs. Cultivated across decades, all these creatures followed Harun from the Noxious me World. Initially, they remained in his cosmic pouch, but since the house overflowed with Spiritual Qi, no different from a top tier mortal cultivator''s mansion, Harun let them out. Little did the high officials expect that their dwellings meant to restrain the growth of low-background celestials, enabled Harun to keep nurturing his toxic beasts, and develop stronger poisons.


    Controlled by a strand of Harun''s Divine Sense, the beasts circled yet never butted with one another, and formed a yin-yang diagram. Sitting in the lotus position, Harun activated his cultivation method, the Noxious Heart Mantra. Dark-green mes surged from his pores, forming nine toxic me clouds in the roomthe mark that he''d reached the pinnacle of the Noxious Heart Mantra.


    Cultivation methods, pills and artifacts were split into 12 star grades. The Noxious Heart Mantra was just of the fifth-star grade. Harun found it in an Inheritance Ground, and with it reached the peak of his previous world. But now, it no longer sufficed.


    Still rotating his cultivation base, Harun pped his cosmic pouch, making a green ray shoot forth and a cauldron manifest above the beast-made yin-yang diagram. Raising then dropping his hands, Harun forced the toxic clouds into the beasts, and lifted them toward the floating cauldron''s mouth.


    Shockingly, the beasts'' sizes increased till they crowded the space between Harun''s wallsand they spewed green mes into the cauldron. The mes became a boiling green liquid, then again mes, alternating between the two states while the beasts nimbly dropped on the floor. Aiming his right hand at the cauldron, Harun guided the poisonous concoction''s growth. His left hand rotated above his thigh, pushing his cultivation base to the limit.


    Grating, seething sounds followed, the substance shrank into a palm-sized orb, then burst into arge cloud of vaporleaving behind two sacramento-green pills. Grasping toward them, Harun made the pills fly into his hand. The cauldron returned to his pouch, and the beasts stayed behind.


    "After two years of nurturing and refinement, the Mother-Child Offering Pills are finallyplete," Harun said.


    As a cultivator, Harun initially didn''t have much aptitude. If not for the Eye of Luminous Treasures, he could have never built his current Dao Foundation. But there was one domain in which Harun dared say, that even if now he didn''t rank first, his talent knew no equal: Poisonous Arts.


    The Heavenly Realm abhorred Poisonous Arts. Here, finding a guebringer, as poison masters were called, was a daunting task. This made the Noxious me World the pinnacle of the Poisonous Arts. And Harun was the Noxious me World''s gue Overlord. Across his 150 years of cultivation, he''d invented and perfected innumerable poisons.


    Perhaps on pure fighting skills, he''d rank average among the Fourth Heaven''s billions of first-level Celestial Kins. But once he unleashed his Poisonous Arts, killing a second-level Celestial Kin was no big deal.


    Willful and erratic, Harun couldn''t stomach any injusticeat least when directed at him. And the more he was forced to endure, the more brutal his retaliation would be. Since the registrar almost had him whipped to death, it was time to pay him back.


    Exhausted by the poisonous pill refinement, the beasts would need a substantial quantity of Spiritual Qi to recover. Some might even pass away. For the past two years, Harun used them as conductors to absorb the mansion''s Spiritual Qi and transform it into Heavenly Qi. After several rounds of Qi Purification, he added his toxic ingredients.


    Transforming Spiritual into Heavenly Qi was a Celestial Kin''s basic skill, and a fundamental requirement to be a celestial, so the ability wasn''t that impressive. However, doing it by proxy was apletely different matter.


    If not for those beasts sharing decades worth of Harun''s Spiritual Sense, he couldn''t have aplished it. A pity that his mobility was heavily restricted in the Fourth Heaven, or Harun would build himself a better arsenal.


    Taking the smallest of the two pills, Harun directly swallowed it. For those at the Celestial Kin Realm, those two pills would seem like sixth-star Qi Pills with rich Heavenly Qi. And in the smallest pill''s case, they weren''t incorrect. But though thergest pill could at least make him breakthrough four levels, Harun didn''t touch itsitting crossed legged to digest the smallest pill instead.


    Bright-green mes erupted from his body, circling him in arcs while a drop of green blood shot out of his chest, hovering before his face. The blood drop represented Harun''s Celestial Nature.


    Celestial Kins cultivate nine blood drops to reach the peak of their realm. With each drop, the Celestial Nature is refined and strengthened,ying down the foundation for the Divine Path. Downgraded to green viper, Harun needed high-grade Heavenly Qi, and a top-tier scripture to bring his Celestial Nature back to Devouring Serpent.


    Fortunately, he now had both.


    "Life and Death intertwine in the shadows of the eternal night" Harun recited the mnemonics of a cultivation method he found 96 years ago in the deadliest ruins of his career: the Art of the Decaying Flower. Because his Eye of Luminous Treasures didn''t react to it, Harun could affirm that this method was at least of the sixth-star gradeprobably higher.


    Unfortunately, a rash attempt at cultivating it made him realize that it wasn''t something mortals could practice. After narrowly avoiding cultivation deviation, Harun''s body regressed to a 14-year-old''s appearance, and once every full moon, he''d be a child. Strangely, at that time, he was also at his strongest.


    And now that the Child Pill filled him with rich Heavenly Qi, Harun could finally cultivate the firstyer of this Poisonous Art.


    "...Wither to bloom, and in decay harvest the samsara."


    Dark-blue light surged, merging with Harun''s green blood drops to change its color and nature. At the same time, a second blood drop formed beside the first. Two dark-blue drops soon took shape, rippling with formidable Heavenly Qi. Meanwhile, a flower of the same shade, with nine petals appeared in Harun''s Divine Consciousness. One petal withered, and with it Harun''s body atrophied, then swelled back to pristine shape. The process repeated for three transformations before Harun''s eyes opened wide.


    In his brown pupils, the image of a dark-blue cobra flickered. The two blood drops returned to Harun''s chest, marking his breakthrough to the second-level of the Celestial Kin Realm.


    "Impressive" Harun whispered. With the firstyer of the Decaying Flower Art, Harun could feel his strength and speed triple. But at the same time, his defense was reduced by 25%.


    But as Harun appraised his body''s changes


    "Harun Erdevan, you''re hereby summoned to the registrar''s office!" A voice thundered in the mansion, almost splitting many pages'' eardrums. Shrugging off the pain, Harun nced at the Mother Pill in his hand, the pain turned to sweetness, and he stored the pill in his cosmic pouch.


    Standing up, Harun left his room to go meet the registrar.

 Chapter 3: Your Nephew Rebelled

    Chapter 3: Your Nephew Rebelled


    Gerden Derzin had been Blood-Feather City''s registrar for over 700 years. With average talent, his cultivation stagnated at the eighth level of the Celestial Kin Realm, and hopes to reach the Celestial Guard Realm before his lifespan expired approached zero. Celestial Kins had a lifespan of 3,600 years, tremendous on mortal standards, but negligible before true celestials. But as a Fourth Heaven City Registrar, as low as Gerden''s cultivation may be, he possessed a colossal quantity of underlings, and directly or indirectly controlled tens of thousands of ninth-rank officials.


    Even if he didn''t break through to the Celestial Guard Realm, Gerden would still live an opulent life. But without breaking through, for how much longer could he enjoy it? He had to break through!


    Having silently observed him across the past two years, Harun understood Gerden''s thoughts. This was the fundamental difference between the mortal-born and heaven-born. Resources and environmental advantage aside, the heaven-born were a massive pile of junk. Narrow vision, low willpower, undisciplined, and to top it all, an inexistent Dao Foundation.


    The Dao Foundation did not have much use in the early realms of the Divine Path, but without it, the Celestial Knight Realm was the limit. Worse, theck of a Dao Foundation drastically reduced a cultivator''s perception. For that reason, high-ranking celestials often incarnated themselves in Mortal Worlds to build a Dao Foundation. Some powerhouses even sent their children early to avoid ruining them at the roots.


    Still, if not for the organized and relentless suppression, more often than not, the mortal-born celestials woulde out on top. The current Grand Marshal of the Divine Army was only one of many examples that made heaven-born celestials take drastic measures to suppress the mortal-born.


    The registrar''s office was located in the northern side of the city, south of the magistrate''s and sandwiched by the custodian and sheriff''s offices. Four third-level Celestial Kins guarded the entrance door, and upon seeing Harun appear, they arched their eyebrows.


    "Wait, it''s really him?" When the news spread that Dilsad had his nuts crushed beyond repair by a certain Harun, many believed that the culprit was a new tycoon with a sizable background. Few linked the "Harun" name to Harun.


    "Hey, this boy is truly ballsy. You''re sure he''s not a secret descendant of the White Tiger n?"


    "What secret descendant? Since when do tigers give birth to snakes? If you have nothing to say, keep your mouth shutretard."


    "This isn''t the day for balls jokes. Anger the wrong nutcase, and you won''t even know when a kick cuts your family line off." The four guards exchanged mental messages as Harun stopped before them.


    "I was summoned by the registrar, please announce me," Harun said with a polite bow.


    "No need, they''re only waiting for you," the four stepped aside to let him pass, and with his back straight, Harun walked in. But as soon as he passed the door, Harun''s paced walk turned into hurried steps, and he rushed toward the registrar''s room, arms crossed before his waist, and eyes downcast.


    In the room, Dilsad wept before his uncle Gerden, the custodian and the sheriff. All three were tall and burly, with a domineering presence and rich Heavenly Qi. White mist swirled around the custodian, showing that he''d already reached the peak of the Celestial Kin Realm and was on the verge of condensing his first totem.


    As if scared out of his wits, Harun bowed low, not speaking a word.


    "Brothers, I''ve asked for your presence so that you stand witness to today''s events," the registrar began, eyes darting between his two peers, "Two years. It''s only been two years since we weed this boy into the Fourth Heaven, honoring him as one of our respected celestials. I personally weed him, and what does he do? What does he do? For no reason, he castrates my beloved nephew!"


    *BAM*


    The registrar''s gaze hardened, and he mmed his right palm onto the table.


    "Not only that, but the move was iparably vicious. Without a seventh-star medicine, healing him is impossible. Sheriff, Custodian sir, faced with such a vicious heart, what should we do?" The registrar asked. Position wise, the custodian and he were both officials of the eighth rank, but one was on the verge of breaking through to the Celestial Guard Realm while the other could never reach it in a lifetimean abysmal gap separated them.


    "He must die." Seated in marble-white chairs, the two directly said. From beginning to end, the three never even nced at Harun, speaking as if it was a corpse, not a person, standing there. Inwardly, he sneered, but on the surface maintained the same fidgeting appearance.


    When the sentence knocked, Harun directly kowtowed and sobbed:


    "Sir, please give me justice!"


    Instantly, Gerden, the custodian and sheriff''s eyes widened. Even Dilsad couldn''t believe his ears. Obviously he was the one suffering from grievances. Why was this homicidal creature asking for justice?


    "Justice? What justice? My nephew excluded, we have four witnesses to your crime. For breaking a man''s family line without just cause, thew demands that you be executed. With witnesses and evidence present, what more do you have to say? If you''re not satisfied, I can pull out the memories from my poor nephew''s mind and let the custodian try your case!" The registrar snapped at Harun.


    The words were music to Harun''s ears, and he directly replied: "Please do so!"


    Harun''s prompt reply left the registrar confused. ording to his nephew, this was a case of bullying gone wrong. The registrar firmly believed that his spineless nephew would never deceive him. But even if he spat in Harun''s face and dragged all his ancestors'' names through the mud, thetter couldn''t escape death.


    What was there to show? Now, both the sheriff and custodian who initially just wanted the farce over with felt their curiosity piqued.


    Well, the used has all the rights to request a disy of the evidence against him. Registrar, please show us the conflict from start to end," the custodian asked with a mild smile. Not only was his cultivation higher than the Registrar''s, the custodian position existed to monitor the local officials'' jobs. Be it in right or might, he had all the authority to order a full investigation.


    Though annoyed, Gerden stretched his right finger toward his nephew''s forehead. Soul searching was a damaging practice, so thew demanded that upon request, whoever made the usation had to present their memories. If the intiff didn''t dare, the case was immediately tossed.


    Dilsad didn''t have the time to squirm that his eyes zed over, and a white fment of light snuck out of his forehead, swelling into the picture of him leading five mook goons to ost Harun. Instantly, the custodian sneered. This uncle-nephew pair was indeed remarkably shameless. But as the custodian prepared to make a snide, Dilsad''s memory version spoke, "Isn''t this our Most Venerated Celestial Pipsqueak?" and instantly, Gerden, the sheriff and custodian froze.


    Ignoring what followed, Gerden rewinded the memories, hoping that his ears deceived him. They didn''t.


    "Isn''t this our Most Venerated Celestial Pipsqueak?"


    "Our Most Venerated Celestial Pipsqueak?"


    "Most Venerated Celestial."


    Gerden staggered, the custodian and sheriff stood up, eyes gleaming with ferocious killing intent, and the memories returned to their owner.


    Dilsad awoke to the sight of his terror-stricken uncle and the two backers he summoned now eying him as if he piged their wives.


    "Did...did I miss something? What''s wr"


    *PAH*


    Before anyone else could take action, Gerden regained his wits, leaped toward Dilsad, and backhanded him across the cheek. Struck by the unreserved p of an eighth-level Celestial Kin, Dilsad spiraled across the room, and with gushing blood and flying teeth, crashed into an adjacent wall.


    Usually, such a blow should have left Dilsad unconscious, but as if kept awake by rage and frustration, he dragged himself out of the wall.


    "Uncle! What crime did Imit? Why did you p me?!"


    "Why? Why? He dares ask me why!" Gerden threw his head back and roared at the ceiling.


    "Alright, let me ask you this one simple thing. Who is the Most Venerated Celestial?" Gerden asked, and though angry and confused, Dilsad directly replied:


    "The God Empero" Finally understanding where the problemy, Dilsad couldn''t finish his words. His eyes widened to impossible length, and his mouth stopped at the "o".


    "So you know! You know!


    Even a mortal child knows that Most Venerated Celestial means God Emperor! Together those three words form a taboo! God Emperor, Most Venerated Celestial, Master of Heaven and Earth! Those are his three titles! Any one of them must be uttered with absolute reverence! But you actually...you actually...dared refer to His Divine Majesty as a pipsqueak!


    If the Divine Laws were still in effect, you and all those within your nine generations would now stand on pikes in the Imperial Domain! That includes me!


    Our family doesn''t even have enough heads to atone for this!


    How can there be such a moron in this world? You...YOU! YOU''RE PISSING ME OFF!" Gerden screeched.

 Chapter 4: Mother Pill

    Chapter 4: Mother Pill


    Infamous and loathed Agiri may be, but God Emperor he still was. Whoever the Censorate or Divine Army caught publicly disparaging him was doomed to destruction. Don''t even mention a tiny city registrar, if exposed, even a Celestial Marquis couldn''t survive such words.


    How was this a nephew? Clearly, this was a mass murderer attempting to wipe out his bloodline! Wronged, in his 2,000 years of life, Gerden never felt so wronged!


    "Guards! Take away and give this fool 360 Thunder Whip Lashes!" Gerden bellowed for the guards outside to hear, forcing the still jesting bunch to lurch in. At first, they believed he targeted Harun, but when they saw his finger pointing at Dilsad, they instantly gawked.


    "Sir, are you serious? 360 Thunder Whip Lashes is the capital punishment for Celestial Guards. Don''t say 360, your nephew can''t take 20," the most serious of the guards probed, not wanting to handle a self-harming job.


    "I didn''t ask you to cite me the penal code! If I want a dead nephew, give me a dead nephew!" Gerden eximed, and waved for the four guards to take Dilsad out.


    "Uncle! You can''t do this to me! Uncle! Think about my mom!" Dilsad pleaded for mercy while thrashing against the guardsto no end.


    "You shut up to me! Your mother, that whore, must have peddled her ass to all the vandals of the street to give birth to you, this dog of a son! The first thing I will do when I see her is to punish her through familyw!" Gerden''s eyes went red, and he struck out, releasing a vast surge of Heavenly Qi that crushed all of his nephew''s resistance.


    This time, even Harun was speechless. A second prior wasn''t this same man seeking justice for his "beloved nephew?" Why was the change so radical? If he didn''t know better, he''d think Dilsad was his sworn enemy. Then again, considering the words'' implications, many would follow the same attitude change.


    "Brothers, I beg you to let this matter rest. From now on, if I can assist you in any way, I shall not shirk from fire and storms. What is mine is yours, what is yours is still yours. Please show some mercy," Gerden dropped onto his knee and begged the two, swaying to and fro as if at any moment, the weight of the situation could knock him down. Satisfied by Gerden''s words, custodian and sheriff exchangedplicit gazes. The times of chaos approached. Faced with an additional source of resources, who could resist?


    They couldn''t.


    "Hey, you can''t say things like these. After all, together we''ve handled this city for centuries. Our bonds run deep, thicker than blood brothers. Even without the offer, we''d still help you," the custodian said while reaching for Gerden''s cosmic pouch.


    "Well said. It''s in moments like these that brotherhood shines. Gerden, have no fear, your secret is safe with us," the sheriff approved, and shed opened Gerden''s left hand to unlock the cosmic pouch with his blood. Though aggrieved, Gerden kept a forced smile on his face, letting the two rob him of all he carried. For the sake of face, they left him clothes and underpants, then swaggered off.


    Now, only Harun and Gerden remained. Enraged, Gerden leaped to his feet, but before he could channel his fury at Harun"Sniff, Sniff"thetter broke into warm tears. Startled, Gerden frowned.


    "What are you crying for? I was robbed till I can''t even afford topare wealth with a death-row inmate, and will now have to send monthly bribes to those greedy pigs. My wife will probably leave me too, but I am not crying. So what are you crying for?!" Gerden asked, aggressive like a beast ready to pounce at the tiniest w.


    "I cry because I regret. This is all my fault," Harunmented, and hearing this, Gerden pped his thigh, "Damn right! Wait what?" then realized that something was off. Why was the boy suddenly admitting his wrongs? Or was he just afraid of retaliation and trying to weasel his way out of it?


    "When I arrived in the Fourth Heaven, I was insensible, rash and undisciplined. If not for Your Eminence giving me your guidance, who knows how many top characters I would offend? With one lesson you allowed me to avoid centuries of mistakes and an untimely death. But I...I" Harun''s voice broke, and biting his lower lip, he smashed his balled fist into the ground.


    "I actually caused you to get humiliated by those ruffians! I deserve death! I truly deserve death!" Rhythmically smashing his fists alongside his words, Harun seduced Gerden with his sincerity. Facing the teenaged-lookingd''s bleeding fist and tear-drenched face, even the old bully softened. Such innocence, such heartfelt emotions, really made men feel ashamed of their unsightly hearts. And as Gerden floundered, Harun pulled out his killing mace.


    "This is a pill I refined with my life''s worth of skills. I initially hoped to save it until I reached the upper levels of the Celestial Kin Realm. But now, I can''t. Since I caused you to lose everything, If you allow me sir, I will dedicate my life to paying you back!" Harun proimed with overflowing zeal while presenting the grape-sized pill to Gerden''s eyes. Feeling the rich Heavenly Qi undting in that pill, Gerden forgot everything that happened moments before, and greed shed in his gaze.


    Snatching the pill from Harun''s hands, Gerden brought it to his eyes, using his Divine Sense to analyze it with scrutiny.


    "A top sixth-star Qi Pill. Enough qi to take me to the peak of the Celestial Kin Realm. Once my insight reaches the required level, I can even rise to Celestial Guard. Holy shit, you''re a sixth-star Alchemist?"


    "Yes sir!" Harun didn''t lie. Or more urately, he was a sixth-star guebringer.


    Alchemy was a foundational skill for poison makers. A true master of the craft also had to be a master alchemist. As the Overlord of Poisonous Arts, Harun naturally was a master. A pity that with Gerden''s eyesight, he couldn''t spot the pill''s hidden attribute.


    Too eager to wait, Gerden swallowed the pill, letting it dissolve in his body and his strength rise alongside it. Eight white blood drops soared from his chest, with a ninth taking shape and liquefying beside them. As the ninth drop condensed, Gerden reached the pinnacle of the Celestial Kin Realm, his long-awaited ninth level. Better, he could feel himself backed by enough energy to start attacking the next Realm. True, he didn''t have the required insight yet, but the feeling left him full of hope.


    A new path had opened before him, and with the services of a growing Divine Alchemist, perhaps in the future, he could even rise to the Celestial Knight Realm!


    "Hahahaha! From now on, you must refine one such pill every month!" Unable to restrain his delight, Gerden burst intoughter. But at the same time, Harun beamed and stood up. A dark-green ray flew out of his chest, piercing through Gerden''s without a wound andtching onto his heart.


    Again, Gerden''s blood drops emerged. But this time, the ninth andtest drop burst into a hurricane of Heavenly Qi that flooded Harun''s body like a tidal wave. Splitting the qi wave into two, Harun fed half to the Decaying Flower in his soul, and with the other half condensed two more Blood Drops.


    The dark-blue cobra image again flickered in his eyes, with a seeminglyrger and more imposing frame.


    Gerden''s cultivation shrank back to the eighth-level, and Harun''s stabilized at the fourth. Instantly, Gerden''s world copsed.

 Chapter 5: You Were Already In

    Chapter 5: You Were Already In


    It was like nearing the top of Mount Everest, but stumbling at thest moment, crashing down an endless gulf. As if robbed of his sense of touch, Gerden couldn''t feel the ground. Losing bnce, he fell on his rear. Words couldn''t leave his mouth, and his eyes stretched to the limit.


    "What? Cat got your tongue? Alright, let me wake you up," Harun leaned over, with that same innocent gaze stained only by the eyepatch, and raised his right hand.


    *Smack*


    Whirling his hand in a mesmerizing arc, Harun struck Gerden''s cheek, sending the registrar''s head kiss the floor. Confused, Gerdeny there. Despite the p, he couldn''t feel any hatred or desire to retaliate against Harun. Rather, he secretly hoped that Harun could vent all his frustration on him, pummeling him till his heart felt at ease.


    "W-what demonic pill have you fed me?" Gerden flinched and asked in fright. The opponent clearly wasn''t his match, but he couldn''t even muster the thought to resist. In his 2,000 years of existence, never did he experience such an absurd sensation.


    "Demonic pill? No no no. I don''t swing that way. This is state-of-the-art poison, refined by yours truly," Harun stuck his chest out, shing a broad grin ofcence.


    "Nonsense! It is well known that poison cultivation is a heretical path used by hopeless mortals, with no effect on fifth-level Celestial Kins or above! How could such a thing affect me?" Gerden refused to believe Harun''s words. Celestials didn''t fear diseases, and above the fifth-level of the Celestial Kin Realm, became immune to poisons. In a distant past, the 33 Heavens used to have a guebringer Division, a subdivision of the Disaster Department tasked with spreading gues in mortal worlds and bncing poption growth.


    The highest officials of that division were of the eighth rank, most of them mortal-born celestials from Harun''s Noxious me World. However, the first thing Agiri did after bing God Emperor was to abolish the Disaster and Fate Bestowing Departmentsthenceforth leaving mortals'' fates in the hands of mortalsand Heaven''s Will, of course. As the most despised officials of Heaven, the guebringers all weed the change, and found more valued professions. No one would believe that poison could amount to anything here.


    "Conceited. Actually, poison is just a bunch of orders to your body. I order your heart to beat faster, I order you to sweat, I order you to have a fever, I order you to vomit, I order your internal organs to burst, I order you to fall into aa, I order you to diethat''s poison.


    There are so many varieties, so many options, some that haven''t been discovered yet. But as long as you possess a body driven by internal organs, and I can find the suitablemand, I can poison you," Harun said, and crouched before the startled Gerden.


    "What you''ve taken is part of a pill pair. The Mother-Child Offering Pills. I created them to punish my mother for abandoning me in a snake pit at birth. Individually, they''re just just Qi Pills. Taken together, they''re still just Qi Pills. But once consumed by two separate individuals, their true purpose kicks in.


    Interconnected by the creator''s Divine Sense, the pills recognize each other. The Mother Pill leaves amand in its owner''s body to live for and forever protect the child. From now on, you will feel all my emotions. My pain is your pain. My happiness is your happiness. You cannot challenge me, you cannot threaten me, if I die you die, and the best part is that I can siphon every cultivation gains you make after taking the pill. You''re basically my...Dual Pill Cauldron?"


    Terror-stricken, Gerden recoiled, frantically shaking his head to deny his new reality. But reality doesn''t change because of a head shake, so Gerden was still, Harun''s de facto cultivation bitch.


    "Dishonorable, despicable creature! As a celestial, a cultivator of the Divine Path, how can you still cling on such contemptible means? Do you think they can lead you anywhere? Having you flogged 180 times was too merciful!" Gerden aimed his trembling finger at Harun, and scolded with all that crossed his mind. What a pity that in Agiri''s reign, the Divine Laws forbade all murder. Otherwise, he would never allow upstart celestials such as this evil brat to step into the Heavens!


    Little did Gerden expect that the more he scolded Harun, the more delighted he became.


    "I''ve only ever cared about four things: Wine, food, poisons, and don''t fuck with me," Harun enumerated his priorities, paused, and trapped Gerden''s head between his hands. "If you treat me well I will repay the kindness if you harm me no matter how long it takes I will still pay it backthatis true righteousness," he reeled off, speaking so fast that Gerden almost failed to register the words.


    "But don''t worry, although you''re destined to stay locked at the eighth level, you get to keep your life. From now on, just cultivate in peace. I just need you to do me a tiny favor and use your influence to make sure I get selected to serve at the God Empress'' Peach Banquet," Harun said. Held once every 6,000 years, the God Empress'' Peach Banquet was a monumental event where only high-ranking celestials and officials were allowed to sit.


    Eating one Peach of Immortality would increase the lifespan by 6,000 for a non-immortal and dy Cosmic Tribtions by 6,000 years for immortal-level existences. Better, they gave massive cultivation benefits such as improving the cultivator''s constitution, and increasing their Qi reserves. ording to hearsay, one peach provided enough Heavenly Qi to cultivate to the Ascending God Realm. With three peaches, there would be no need to worry about Heavenly Qi until the Heavenly God Realm. Cultivators could only eat three peaches every 36,000 years. Past that, they lost effect. But even then, attending the banquet was in itself proof of high statusnone would miss it.


    Since the beginning of times, the God Empresses had always been in charge of the Peach Banquet. Using it to keep the officials fat and content. And while servants naturally couldn''t consume the peaches, countless benefits awaited them. Unless they died early, all those that served in the Peach Banquet went on to at least be officials of the fifth rank. Some even reached the third, bing vice ministers, heavenly generals, governors or inspectors.


    This time''s banquet would be different from the past, but if Harun could secure a spot, his future was set. And who knows, maybe he could even eat and drink some divine delicaciesgood food was always best.


    But once Harun made his request, Gerden bit his lower lip, shuddering for no apparent reason.


    "Y-you were...already in. The magistrate gave us a list of pages that must be present for tomorrow''s selection. That can only mean one thing: those people were handpicked early. Tomorrow is just a formality for them. Y-you are on t-that l-list," Gerden stuttered, and instantly, Harun furrowed his brows.


    "A mortal-born celestial, handpicked early? Why?" Harun asked. This matter was at best fishy, at worst disastrous. To say nothing of pre-selecting, why would the magistratea fifth-level Celestial Guard and seventh-rank officialknow of him?


    "I don''t know! I swear I don''t! There are other mortal-born peoI mean celestials, on the list. You''re not the only one. This matter is iprehensible. Usually, those handpicked to serve in the Peach Banquet eithere from the God Empress'' n, or the Highest Heaven''s hegemonic ns. But apparently, a Monarch-level expert argued that it''s time to give a chance to the other Heavens."


    "I am destined to join the Peach Banquet for reasons you don''t know, and you tried to have me executed?"


    "Today you weren''t supposed to die! I just wanted to give you someshes and cu" Gerden''s words abruptly stopped. How could he admit that he nned to squash Harun''s nuts and parade him naked across the street? Wasn''t that equal to courting death?


    However, Harun could guess half the n, and after asking Gerden a few other questionsin his grand generosity shoved a Lineage-Cutting Pill down his throatforever erasing the registrar''s nuts from the vast Heavens.

 Chapter 6: Bold and Unwavering

    Chapter 6: Bold and Unwavering


    Leaving his squealing cultivation ve behind, Harun returned to the page residence. ording to Gerden, there was only one thing inmon between the handpicked mortal-born. They all ascended on Golden Clouds. However, the words solved no mystery.


    Ascension had three levels: Blue Cloud Ascension, Purple Cloud Ascension and Golden Cloud Ascension. Blue Cloud Ascension would lead the new celestial to one of the Outer Ring''s 14 Heavens. Purple Clouds led to the Middle Ring''s 12 Heavens. And Golden Clouds to the Inner Ring''s six Heavens.


    Any mortal-born of the Fourth Heaven ascended on Golden Clouds, meaning that the only thing they truly had inmon was their mortal origin. Harun couldn''t believe that not even a day after Agiri''s death, those ancient deities'' attitude toward the mortal-born would experience such a 180 change. There had to be a pitfall hidden somewhere. And since he didn''t have a full grasp of the situation, he could only find a way to sit this one out.


    As he pictured all the delicacies he''d probably miss, Harun''s mood soured. But ultimately, his poor life was the most important thing. Only by keeping it could he create more beautiful poisons, eat and drink across eons.


    But again, the story refused to take that turn. Harun had barely reached the residence''s gate when a voice thundered across Blood-Feather City, startling its eight million residents.


    "All pages are summoned to the magistrate''s office. Immediately drop all you''re doing and head there at once. Failure to arrive within a minute means death!" To dare send an announcement across the whole city, the voice''s owner could only be the magistrate. That, or one of the hidden experts that ruled Blood-Feather City from the shadows.


    "The script is a bit too hard-coded right? After learning the truth, I don''t even have the time to get home that I''m summoned to the magistrate''s office? Who wrote this shit?" Aggrieved, Harun pped his thigh, and turned into a blur as he raced toward the magistrate''s office.


    In the Noxious me World, crossing 3,000 kilometers in one breath was child''s y. But in the 33 Heavens, the situation was entirely different. Not only could Celestial Kins not fly, their movement speed and destructive power became 100th of what they held in their mortal world. Overturning mountains and seas were all things of the past.


    Still, for Harun, one minute was more than enough to reach the magistrate''s office. The figures of tens of thousands of pages crowded the streets, all rushing toward the same point.


    To avoid standing out, Harun adjusted his speed to match his cultivation level, arriving among the first pages. Trying to hide his cultivation level from the magistrate made no sense. What he could do, however, was to hide the full extent of his abilities.


    The weakest pages were at the first level of the Celestial Kin Realm, the strongest were at the fifth. As soon as they arrived at the office''s gates, all stood in a perfect military order. The magistrate''s office was one of the few buildings across the city made of Divine Jade, a marble-white cultivation paradise stretching across four hectares, with two pagodas sandwiching a massive mansion. In that mansion, the magistrate held office.


    Just standing before the office made many pages'' cultivation base stir. If they could cultivate inside for a century, their strength would rise by leaps and bounds. The magistrate and custodian aside, only the members of local powers held quotas. The gate''s door opened, enabling the pages to rush in.


    Crowding the courtyard, the pages stopped before the mansion-shaped office, awaiting further instructions. The door opened, a blood-red me ray shot out,nding before the restless pages. From the mes emerged a middle-aged man with the same white Taoist robe as all the pages. Unlike them though, he also wore a ck hat with wing-like ps of thin, oval shaped boards on each side. Starting with the seventh rank, officials all had to wear such hats.


    "As all of you must know, His Divine Majesty, the Most Venerated Celestial of the 33 Heavens, just died. Following his final decree, Her Divine Majesty the God Empress canceled the mourning period and will hold the Peach Banquet early," Servan Diljen, the magistrate, started, sweeping over the 30,000 pages of Blood-Feather City with his ming-red eyes.


    Though they all held the same position and came at the same time, the heaven-born somehow managed to iste the mortal-born from their ranks. Used to it, they paid them no heed. Across the 33 Heavens'' trillions of lives, not everyone could be an official. They first had to pass an examination.


    For better resources, some would rather be merchants or servants of powerful ns. Others preferred to just cultivate in their families. The mortal-born were the only one without a choice, all forced to be pages upon arrival. Thus, the heaven-born pageswho had to pass an examination to get this bottom-tier positionhad a sense of superiority.


    "To feel superior because you studied for the right to sweep the floor. This is a form of talent. True, unrivaled talent. The 33 Heavens are indeed a ce of innumerable geniuses," Harun inwardly thought.


    "We''ve received orders to dispatch some of you to serve at the banquet. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity even I would kill for. The selected are destined to soar, reaching levels I can only dream of. In the future, please don''t forget who rmended you," Servan said. As a member of the Blood Crow branch of the Golden Crow n, he could lord over Blood-Feather city. But beyond, he wasn''t worth pig fart. Even in Blood-Feather City, he was far from the strongest expertowing his unchallenged position to his n''s support.


    However, with what he learned from Gerden, Harun guessed that this magistrate just wanted to let the pages take their guard down.


    "We initially nned to hold the selection tomorrow, but received an urgent message to dispatch the chosen today. Therefore, we must rush things. To ensure fairness, you will all write down and ce your names in an Infinity Urn. We will then have one of you pick six names. Any questions?"


    The good old rigged lottery. Harun couldn''t help but feel that the magistrate was taking the gathered folks for pigs. But with his position and cultivation deterring them, the pages didn''t dare argue.


    Or well, that''s how it should have been. But there are always people who defy all odds, bold and unwavering, risking their lives for the sake of righteousness. So this happened:


    "What?! Does this mean the mortal-born have equal chances to get chosen?"


    "I have been doing this for over 1,500 years! With my experience and seniority, why should I be treated the same as those upstarts?"


    "This isn''t fair! Magistrate sir, these rules aren''t fair!"


    "Aren''t you afraid of breeding future trouble?"


    Several heaven-born pages eximed, waving their hands for attention as if this was some rock star''s concert.


    Harun was speechless; the magistrate wasn''t, and raised his right hand.


    Immediately, the protesters felt their blood seethe, their temperature skyrocket, and by the time they realized what was going on, bright-red mes burst from their internal organs, setting them all aze.


    "Aaaaargh!" Shrill screams rang in the courtyard, reminding all that the Divine Laws had been repealed.


    Murder was now back in the game.

 Chapter 7: Riot

    Chapter 7: Riot


    "Divine Power: Searing Blood," Harun realized, as he witnessed the rash celestials'' brutal fate, that Servan had just used the Blood Crow n''s Divine Power: Searing Blood. After forming their Celestial Nature, cultivators all acquired a Divine Power. The heaven-born started with one. The Celestial Nature was intrinsically linked to the Dao cultivated in the mortal world and the cultivator''s true nature. And unlike what his passion for poison might suggest, Harun''s Dao was Gluttony.


    Thus, his Celestial Nature took the shape of the World-Devouring Serpent, granting him the dreaded Devouring Divine Power. A pity that before he could use it to fulfill his dream of 300mbs per day, he was downgraded, and now had to make do of a venom-based Divine Power. Oh well, Heaven didn''t havembs anyway.


    "Any other question?" Servan asked, and this time, silence reigned.


    "Very well. Please write down your names on paper slips, and ce them in this infinity urn," Servan said and pped his cosmic pouch, making arge gray urn appear and drop before the pages. As the name implied, the infinity urn could virtually hold anythinggranted it could pass its entrance.


    Yes, unlike cosmic pouches, infinity urns actually had a size limit. Thirty-thousand paper slips could fit in, but a pillow wouldn''t. Harun often wondered what kind of sick individual invented such a useless transportation tool. Rushing toplete the task, the 30,000 pages wrote down their names, and one after the other, dropped them in the urn.


    "I will now pick one page from the registry to select the six names," Servan said and pulled out the registry from his cosmic pouch, opening it at a totally not random location. Thus, as Harun daydreamed of phoenix meat and divine wine, "Harun Erdevan!" Servan picked his name.


    "What? Me? For real? Oh, ok," Harun vigorously nodded, and though silently cursing the vicious Servan, stepped toward the urn to pull the first name out.


    "Bager Loran. Dildar Geli. Yekta Erwin" Each time Harun pulled a name out, he read it for all to hear, then dropped the paper beside the urn. The closer he was to the sixth name, the faster his heart beat. The sixth name came, and shocked out of a functional state, Harun''s heart stopped still.


    "What''s wrong? Read the damned name!" Angered voices came from the nervous pages. This was the sixth name, their 0.003% chance of reaching Heaven in a single boundnot that it matters since they''re already in Heaven but you get the gist.


    "Well, don''t say I didn''t try to spare you all from a blood spurt. Let''s go," Harun shrugged, and waved the paper at the 30,000.


    "Harun Erdevan!" He eximed with a silly grimace and stuck his tongue out for good measure. rmed, the 30,000 swept the paper with their Divine Senses, even the five previous winners, that''d already formed a faction of their own, double checked. And once certain that he spoke true, they all lost their shit.


    "Bullshit! One name, over thirty-thousand options! And the one tasked with picking them is on the list? Who believes that?"


    "There is a 99.9966% chance that his name isn''t picked! How did he defeat the odds? Rigged! This lottery is rigged!"


    Harun wanted to say that the math probably wasn''t that precise, but reckoned it didn''t really matter. Further angering 30,000 moring folks of the same cultivation realm was probably not the best idea. The magistrate could handle that.


    "Oh? So what you''re saying is that I, a member of the Blood Crow n, rigged the game for a mortal-born celestial''s sake?" Servan asked, stressing the Blood Crow n part to wake up the protesters. Yet, Harun couldn''t help but feel that it was to him that Servan spoke, and so turned to face him.


    "Thank you sir for your grace! Without you, I couldn''t possibly get this chance. In the future I swear to repay the kindness you showed me manifolds!" Harun bowed toward Servan. Since it was now abundantly clear that Servan was dead-set on sending him to the Peach Banquet, Harun no longer bothered with restraint, and fanned the mes of war.


    If they initially felt that Servan''s words made sense, when they heard Harun''s heartfelt thanks, the 30,000 pages woke up to the scheme.


    "Despicable! Do you think that just because you''re the city magistrate you can invert ck and white?"


    "Servan Diljen, his Divine Majesty has just died that you''re already fostering a clique?! Are you trying to rebel?"


    "The urn is his, of course he chooses who appears and who doesn''t! This is bullshit!"


    "Even a tiny city magistrate is already this corrupt! How much did they pay you?!"


    "You can kill a few, but can you kill 30,000 Celestial Kins?"


    The protests turned into frenzied roars that boomed across the courtyard as the protesters closed on Servan. Initially, when he heard that Harun had left to meet Gerden, Servan had his spies monitor the registrar''s office and make sure that Harun wouldn''t be too bruised for the banquet.


    But Harun came out unscathed, making Servan realize that something unexpected must have urred. Fearing that the boy unveiled the n, Servan nned to use this rigged selection to demonstrate his absolute control of the pages'' fatesilently telling Harun that he could only resign to his arrangements.


    Never did he expect that with a few words, the situation would spiral out of control.


    "Get lost!" Vast Heavenly Qi erupted from Servan''s body, mming into the 30,000 and making the hundreds at the forefront directly burst into a blood fog. Scarlet mes followed, condensing the picture of five, three-legged blood-me crows in the sky.


    Over 100 meters tall, the mystical beasts spread their wings, unleashing scalding heat waves that rained on the protesters, burning over 1,000 to ashes in a single move.


    The ability to turn the Celestial Nature into Divine Totems, the mark of a Celestial Guard. Faced with such a destructive force, Celestial Kins could only surrender their lives. But while one thousand startled Celestial Kins couldn''t threaten Servan, the reckless offensive of tens of thousands was a different matter.


    "Brothers, we''re merely stating the facts, but being ughtered like cattle! Enough is enough! He''s cutting off our path to retreat, leaving us no other choice! Today if we can''t change the magistrate, our lives end! Charge!"


    Using the fact that all the attention had been shifted from him, Harun snuck into the mob, and screamed to lift the troops'' spirit. Galvanized, they all activated their Celestial Natures, turning into wolves, crows, snakes, pigeons, eagles, pigs, donkeys and so much more as they hurtled at the magistrate with the full might of their cultivation bases!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Divine Powers, martial arts and Daoist spells poured forth. Servan avoided many, but more mmed him in. Granted, the pages weren''t a military corps, but among them were past mortal sect masters, generals and emperors. In this asion where birth didn''t matter, they took the leadership and coordinated the assault.


    Initially, Harun wanted to use the chaos to escape, but Servan soared into the sky, and unleashed a seven-star martial art.


    "Sky-Rending me ws!"


    Servan''s blood mes turned into 30 massive me wseachrge enough to trap an elephantthat dropped on the page army with grating, metallic sounds.


    *BANG*


    Their moves collided, releasing an explosion of Heavenly Qi that sent both sides flying across the courtyard.


    This time, although he stood as far away from the conflict as possible, poor Harun couldn''t escape the cmity, and was sent reeling by a shock-wave.

 Chapter 8: Shipped to the Highest Heaven

    Chapter 8: Shipped to the Highest Heaven


    rmed by the explosion, guards from all over the city rushed toward the magistrate''s office, spearheaded by the sheriff and custodian. Blood-Feather City''s troops numbered about 40,000 Celestial Kins, ranging from the 3rd to the 8th level. Bonded through battle formations, their strength ovepped and multiplied, enabling them to stomp mid-level Celestial Guards with easeto say nothing of the rebellious riffraff.


    As the two men with the greatest military authority after the magistrate, in times of crisis, the sheriff and custodian could quickly mobilize the forces. However, little did they expect a scene of over 3,000 page-corpses, over 10,000 severely injured, and the rest with minor bruises. Smoke soared, rubble crumbled, and in this chaos, the city magistrate kneeled. With his right arm ruined, a bleeding face and splintered leg bones, Servan didn''t have it easy.


    Clinging on to ast hope, Harun swallowed a Life Severing Pill, a poison that first split the physical consciousness from the Divine Sense, then cut off all body functions for as long as the Divine Sense wished.


    With his Divine Sense alone, Harun observed the show.


    "What is the meaning of this? A rebellion of pages?" Confused by the scene, the sheriff staggered, unable to make a judgment call. In his centuries of officialdom, never had he seen or heard of a rebellion of pages. The very words made no sense. Yet the scene stood before them all.


    "Wrong! Custodian sir, you must give us all justice! The magistrate provoked public anger by rigging the Peach Banquet Service''s selection process! But instead of providing us with an exnation, he started killing people! Hundreds butchered arbitrarily!"


    "Is this still the Blood-Feather City, or Servan City?"


    "Is this the Fourth Heaven, or the Diljen Heaven?"


    "Thirty-thousand celestials can''t be killed at will!"


    "With officials such as these, no wonder His Divine Majesty forbade murder and suicide! What a pity that we didn''t understand his wisdom early on!" A choir of dissonant voices, one more piercing than the other, nailed the two officials. Instantly, they realized what went down.


    This was another case of bullying gone wrong. The magistrate chose the members of his six pages quota early, then yed an insulting show for the remaining pages. In another situation, they would likely not dare argue. But faced with the robbery of their literal, one in a lifetime chance to be a powerhouse, they protestedtriggering the magistrate''s brutal retaliation.


    A riot naturally followed.


    "Servan is done for," the custodian shook his head, and told the sheriff in a mental message. As custodian, he could only inspect and impeach the magistrate. Passing out judgment, however, was beyond him. In the Blood-Feather City, only one person could judge the magistrate.


    A blood-red sun formed in the sky, with a hundred meter radius, and enough Heavenly Qi to dwarf all on the scene. Before that fireball, all that still stood kneeled, and more than any other, Servan shuddered.


    "C-n lord?" Indeed, the master of the Diljen Blood Crow n, city lord and true leader of Blood-Feather City, now stood in the air, with his Celestial Knight cultivation crushing all dissidence.


    Titled Demigods, Celestial Knights were the true starting point of the Divine Path, each mastering formidable skills andmanding great forces. Bing a Celestial Knight was the first requirement to joining the Divine Army, or Lord Army as some called it. However, the Blood-Feather Lord preferred his millennia of secluded cultivation. Cultivation now disturbed by Servan''s failures.


    "What a fiasco. Such a trivial task, ruined so splendidly. Servan, Servan, you''ve just forfeited your office," anguid voice came from the fireball, followed by a dazzling me arrow that pierced and burned a terror-stricken Serdan to ashes. He didn''t even have the time to plead or protest.


    "Although in his will, thete emperor forbade mourning, as his servants and officials, how can we disturb the peace on this unique day? ughtering without just cause, oppressing your subordinates to the point where death or rebellion be their sole option. Naturally, you must die. The Diljem Blood Crows can''t afford such an insensible nsman."


    The Diljem n Lord said at Servan''s ashes, then swept all those below with his Divine Sense. Believing that ying dead before a Celestial Knight was akin to outsmarting oneself, Harun reactivated his body. And indeed


    "However, it is a fact that instead of seeking justice from the custodian or city lord, you, mere officials of the ninth rank, challenged and took arms against a superior of the seventh rankcontributing to the current mayhem.


    Guards, take them away. Since today is too early for a mass execution, keep them imprisoned until the new magistrate is appointed. Meanwhile, burn the dead, and take the selected pages to my mansion. They shall depart at once." When those words resounded, hundreds of dead bodies miraculously returned to life. Heaven''s grace, perhaps.


    ...


    They were shipped likemodities. As if fearing furtherplications, the Blood-Feather Lord had his servants activate the teleportation formation, and send the six chosen to the Fourth Heaven''s Capital: Golden Crow City.


    From then, they were again teleported, this time to the Highest Heaven''s capital. Before they could fully gawk, the sixnded before a reception of spirit servants. Unlike the mortal emperors, the God Emperors never employed eunuchsinstead relying on youths from the Spirit or Armament Divine ns.


    The members of these two ns possessed an iplete emotional spectrum, reproduced asexually, couldn''t feel love or lust, and lived to serve the imperial n. With such reliable servants, the God Emperors didn''t need to fear their fairy maids and consorts getting some extra D. elsewhere. Still, thete Agiri passed an Anti-Cheating Divine Law that revealed and banned all affairs across the 33 Heavens. Surprisingly, many vassals would thank him for it.


    "Wee to the Imperial Domain. You are the 321st batch. Please follow us," said the leading spirit youth, a silver-haired boytoy with the type of looks that''d make a married couple fight for his affection. Seeing him, Harun couldn''t help but feel that perhaps, the true reason behind the spirit servants'' use was*hum* *hum.*


    Getting out of the teleportation tform, Harun and his sixpanions of fortune followed the spirit youths, one more radiant than another, straight to the Peach Page Court. They didn''t dare let their gazes wander to the tall marble-white walls of Divine Jade, the floating Divine Mansions shrouded by swirling clouds, or the sky-piercing pagodas.


    Instead their gazes remained glued on the misty-white ground, with their senses wrecked by the tyrannical concentration of Heavenly Qi in the air. If he could sit and meditate, Harun didn''t doubt that in such an environment, it wouldn''t take him a year to reach the peak of the Celestial Kin Realm.


    This was a terrifying concept. On average, without pills and the like, a small talent took 100 years per Celestial Kin level. Less in the early stages and more in thete, while a prodigy took 10. Only the cream of the crop could breeze through those levels within a few years.


    Thanks to his current Dao Foundation, Harun could be considered a prodigy. If any random corner of the Imperial Domain could provide him with such a cultivation speed boost, Harun couldn''t estimate what cultivation level those spirit youths that''d been here for centuries or more, now stood at.


    A den of ferocious beasts hiding under a fair countenance. That was the Imperial Domain.


    Meanwhile, back in the Fourth Heaven, a middle-aged man dressed in a loose green robe kneeled before an armored man, his ming-red eyes glued on the ground.


    "They should have arrived by now."


    "Yes, My Lord."


    The middle-aged man, none other than the Blood-Feather Lord, replied with the utmost deference. The armored man spun, revealing daunting, ming-gold eyes that outshined everything else in the room. Those eyes could blind mortals with a nce, and make all those below the Celestial Knight Realm feel as if a pair of suns directly faced them.


    "We have given them what they asked for. It''s now time to make sure they can''t harvest the fruits. Heaven''s Destiny belongs to the Golden Crows," said the armored man.

 Chapter 9: A Lamb Under the Eyes of Beasts

    Chapter 9: A Lamb Under the Eyes of Beasts


    Each time the God Empress held the Peach Banquet, over 60,000 pages and 30,000 fairies served. Though startling at a first nce, this number was the bare minimum to ensure that the 26,000 invited officials were served to perfection. The 33 Heavens only had over 9,000 active officials of the third rank or above, but many more held void offices, official titles bestowed by the seeding God Emperors to those with matching cultivation basesgiving them the same status as officialsbut without the responsibilities or corresponding authority.


    Naturally, the void officials all came from mighty ns or sects, themselves boasting heaven-shaking cultivation. None of them needed the authority granted by a true office. In the Peach Page Court, over 1,900 pages already waited. With a surface of 200 hectares and 10 divine jade mansions each facing a spiritual garden of 10 acres, the Peach Page Court gave an air of opulence fit for a high-ranking celestial''s residence.


    The imperial n treated its servants fairly, providing them with ample resources and decent living quarters, but even on Heaven''s high standards, most couldn''t use such residences. This was the God Empress'' way of telling the Peach Pages that, even if today they were still servants, tomorrow all would be lords.


    "The first mansion still has thousands of bedchambers. Feel free to upy it. It holds the highest concentration of Heavenly Qi among the ten. As pages, we assume that you are used to serving your superiors. In five days, you just have to do the same. At the first gong of the fifth day, we will lead you to the Peach Forest.


    Each page brings a te of three peaches to the banquet. Two pages per official, the rest serve the imperial family. Tomorrow we start rehearsing the entrance part with the fairies. Be careful not to have any strange idea on them, their cultivation realm is not only leagues above yours, but their fathers aren''t to be trifled with."


    Fairy was an official position of the seventh rank reserved for females, meaning that in position or strength, they all were at least equal to a city magistrate. Compared to the current pages, a huge gulf existed.


    In Heaven, all official ranks first had a cultivation level requirement. And while some might argue that administrative skills had nothing to do with cultivation, could a genius mortal administrator force a god to obey his directives? Of course not.


    The first God Emperor understood that officials couldn''t do their job if they didn''t have enough cultivation tomand those they ought to. With a limit of seven Divine Laws, he didn''t want to waste his quota on such matters, and set up the cultivation requirement instead.


    "Granted, you''re only here five days, but the time here will let youy down a robust foundation for the Divine Path. Do your best," the leading spirit youth said, and turned heels, leading his subordinates away.


    At first the pages wished to express their thanks with a polite bow, but seeing that the spirit youths didn''t care for those, they rushed toward the first mansion''s door and dove in.


    While outwardly shing smiles and following the herd, Harun pondered the question of who wanted to harm him. Thanks to the magistrate and Blood-Feather Lord''s actions, he could assert that the ringleader was either a high-ranking member of the Golden Crow n, or of the imperial family.


    The reason was simple. The Golden Crows were the ancestors and ruling branch of Heaven''s Three-Legged Crow n. A mere city lord didn''t have any influence in the Divine Capital. What could he control or gain by sending Harun here? A superior clearly put him up to it.


    In the Fourth Heaven, only a high-ranking member of the Golden Crows could force the Blood-Feather Lord to take action. That, or a significant member of the imperial family sent an ultimatum. Maybe both. But the more he pondered the question, the more annoyed Harun felt. He disliked non-food or non-poison-rted thinking. Why could a man not justze around with wine and meat. Why did all those celestial cunts have to force him to misuse his brain?


    Still, for the sake of his hedonistic future, Harun forced himself to think and realized that on him, the only material thing worth of note was the left eye he kept hidden behind an eyepatch.


    "The Eye of Luminous Treasures never spotted a treasure trove or chance above the five-star grade. What significance can it have in the 33 Heavens where the six-star grade is the minimum? Inborn traits are unusual in the Mortal Realm, but not that rare in Heaven''s hegemonic ns. Do they have a way to upgrade it? Or am I just being paranoid? Never mind, the situation has reached a point that I can''t control with wits alone. Let''s wait and see," Harun thought, sincerely hoping that conflicting forces were part of the game. Otherwise, with his current cultivation, the die was cast.


    But even as he ran through the hallway to pick his room, little did he know that from the moment he set foot in the Imperial Domain, several pairs of eyes nailed him from the shadows.


    After a few probes, the pages realized that all rooms were the same, and randomly picked one. Harun did the same. Each room was over 25 square meters in surface, with a queen size bed lying in wait. The sheets were embroidered with divine-jade-carved leaves, so that even if the pages slept, their cultivation bases would rotate at maximum speed.


    And recalling how his page sry was only two divine jades per year, Harun didn''t know whether tough or cry. This room alone would cost him about 10,000 years of work. Before he broke through to the Celestial Guard Realm, his lifespan wasn''t enough to afford it.


    "Sniff, sniff," reminded of his own poverty, poor Harun sat crossed-legged on the bed, taking the lotus position to absorb the rich Heavenly Qi in the atmosphere. But instead of directing it toward his own Qi reserves, Harun gave 70% to the dark-blue flower in his soul and fed 20% to his Blood Drops to enhance their quality. The rest dissipated.


    Like most cultivation methods, the Art of the Decaying Flower had nineyers. With eachyer, the cultivator''s strength and speed was multiplied by an increasing multiple of three. Three, nine, twenty-seven, eighty-one, and so on. This meant that if Harun could cultivate it to the fourthyer, his overall strength and speed would be multiplied by 59,049.


    Such a terrifying concept could make the Heavenly Realm''s hegemonic forces go mad with greed. Harun himself didn''t have a full grasp of the significance. The art''s only weakness was that with eachyer, the cultivator lost 25% resilience and 20% lifespan. Ensuring that if he cultivated it to the fifthyer before reaching the Heavenly God Realm, Harun would die.


    Still, in the short term, the Art of the Decaying Flower was Harun''s most reliable card. If he could use those few days in the Imperial Domain to bring it to the secondyer, he could at least hold his own against a first-level Celestial Guard. At the same, he''d make potential watchers look down on his cultivation speed, hitting two birds with one stone.


    And after one hour of observation, one of the eye pairs observing Harun from a distance lost interest.


    "So much for Golden Clouds. The absorption speed is just average, and 80% of the Qi dissipates. What a terrible Qi Retention rate. In such an environment, a true prodigy would beying down the foundation for the Celestial Guard Realm already. Such a letdown. But as the saying goes, even if you feed a fish with Divine Water, it won''t turn into a dragon," the observer appraised.


    "If he isn''t a prodigy, why is he already at the fourth level? Can he refine Insight Pills?"


    "Of course not."


    "Let''s wait and see. In any case, his cultivation talent is irrelevant."

 Chapter 10: A True Deviant Appears

    Chapter 10: A True Deviant Appears


    The peach pages knew that this opportunity to cultivate in Heaven''s number one divinend wouldn''t happen again. None wasted time. But while some focused on direct cultivation, others stored as much Heavenly Qi as they could in their Divine Blood Drops. Mortal cultivators all had a limit to how much Qi their body could absorb or store. The limit increased with cultivation realm breakthroughs, but was still there.


    The same applied for celestials. However, Divine Blood Drops were likepressed Qi worlds. One drop could stash as much Qi as an entire mortal world possessed. In low-level celestials, this created the misconception that they were only restrained by their absorption rate and resources. That they could take in as much Heavenly Qi as they wanted to, andter use it for breakthroughs or to transform their Celestial Nature. The most gifted celestials could sessfully store 95% of their absorbed Qi in their Blood Drops, while the least gifted failed to retain over 10%.


    After the banquet, the Qi-storing pages aimed to take 100 year of cultivation holidays to digest their gainsignoring two ring issues:


    First, the more Heavenly Qi they stored, the more difficult purifying it became.


    Second, while at first nce, the practice didn''t cause direct harm, the Divine Blood Drops were like a human stomach. Once they reached their Foreign Qi limit, cultivators turned sluggish, with some extreme cases not being able to stand up while their hearts threatened to explode.


    Unrivaled treasures such as the Peaches of Immortality aside, all Foreign Qi produced this effect. And with the superabundance of Qi in the Highest Heaven, many risked reaching this state. By then, either they "vomited" all the absorbed Qi, or burst into blood and gore.


    Those Qi-storing pages were being greedier than they could afford to. And while they yed with fire, Harun put the avable Qi to immediate use. The second petal of his Decaying Flower withered at a slow, but visible pace and, at the current rate, would wither in four daysenabling Harun to reach the secondyer of his cultivation scripture.


    Each time the invisible strands of Heavenly Qi slid into his Blood Drops, Harun rotated his cultivation base. Driven by the Qi boost and Harun''s own foundation, the Divine Blood Drops gleamed dark-blue. The image of a mighty cobra appeared in Harun''s eyes, and the four drops shot out of his chest, swirling around his seated form to form a blue ring.


    As if bound to the Blood Drops'' rotation speed, the cobra in Harun''s eyes twisted and morphed, expanding in height and mass. The first day of cultivation passed by in a sh, and by the time the blood rotation stabilized, the fifth gong of the second day already echoed.


    The Blood Drops flew back into Harun''s body, noxious clouds gushed out of his pores, and from a teenaged-looking boy, he turned into a dark-blue serpent with the shape of a king cobra but the size and weight of an anaconda.


    The abomination stretched across the room, coiling while its colossal frame still experienced changes. Its venomous fangs dropped, reced by rows of jagged fangs fit for an apex predator. The neck ribs shrank, and the daunting beast''s size increased to that of a full-fledged titanoboa.


    "Hahaha! An Elephant-Swallowing Serpent! I''ve finally shed the bitch looks!" Harun wiggled his serpentine head in glee. Devouring Serpents were ssed in four levels: Elephant-Swallowing, Mountain-Swallowing, World-Devouring, and ast mythical level unseen in the 33 Heavens for countless Cosmic Cycles, the Star-Devouring Serpent.


    At the World-Devouring level, Devouring Serpents rivaled True Dragons, Golden Crows and Phoenixes in bloodline strength.


    One could thus imagine Harun''s grief at being downgraded to a green snake. Worse, as a six-star guebringer, the venomous snake path was, for him, redundant.


    ted by his achievement, for a second Harun forgot about the hidden forces plotting against himcoiling on himself as pictures of his past all-dominating form swirled in his mind. This time he would go beyond the World-Devouring level, be a Mythical Beast, eat the sun and moon, eat the Three-Legged Crow n, eat the Fourth Heaven, eat the...


    "Rehearsal time!"


    "Ok."


    Forced out of his dreams, Harun returned to his white-robbed teen appearance, adjusted his eyepatch, and left alongside the other pages to rehearse with the fairies. The Imperial Domain was a disjointed pyramid formed by one Ground Pce, nine Floating Cloud Mansions each representing a department, and the God Emperor''s Divine Pce overlooking it all. There, the Peach Garden, court, harem and the bulk of the Imperial Guardy.


    By the end of the second day, all selected pages had arrived. The rehearsals went without issue, with most of the pages'' time dedicated to cultivation. After a few page explosions, the cupid lot grew wiser.


    Harun''s only regret was that he couldn''t eat any of the medicines growing in the gardens. The pages could look but not touch.


    Thus, without any noteworthy events, three days passed. At the start of the fourth, the second petal of Harun''s Decaying Flower witheredenabling him to break through to the secondyer of the Decaying Flower Art. The breakthrough multiplied his strength and speed by nine, while reducing his resilience by another 25%.


    Fortunately, Harun''s Elephant-Swallowing Serpent Nature excelled at defense. But unless he found an effective way to counter the art''s drawback, Harun feared that in time he''d turn into a true ss cannon.


    The fifth day arrived, and even before the first gong, the pages had already assembled, forming 200 columns before the court''s entrance. The spirit servants and fairies arrived soon afterward and split into 200 groups. The procession subsequently went through various teleportation halls, rifting straight to the Peach Garden.


    Along the way, although they didn''t dare make noises, the pages'' eyes remained glued on the fairies. And who could me them? wless figures, pearl-white skin, overflowing grace. Pick one at random and she''d be the top beauty of a mortal world. For once, even Harun seemed engrossed in the beauties. So engrossed in fact that he subconsciously got closer to one, intently staring at her chest.


    Though annoyed, the fairy didn''t make any sound, thinking that a woman of her caliber must be a first for the country bumpkin. But then Harun opened his mouth, and she lost her shit.


    "Dear Heavens, what an enchanting fragrance! From the shape and scent alone, I can imagine the divine nectar contained inside. If I could just get one sip, just one, I''d die content."


    Harun joined his hands in a prayer sign, beseeching the stunned fairy with innocent, beady eyes.


    Numb from shock, she staggered, butting against another fairy at her back.


    "Lascivious, depraved, vile sexual deviant! In broad daylight, how dare you harass me?!" Red from rage, the fairy dropped the wine jug she kept pressed against her chest, and summoned a short fan.


    But before she could make her move, Harun grabbed the dropping wine jug, and took three steps back.


    "What are you talking about? I meant the wine. Is there anything else on you worthy of such an appraisal? This is a national treasure. Be more careful," Harun said while rubbing the wine jug as if it were the most exquisite treasure he''d everid his eyes on.


    What kind of barbaric woman could be so reckless with such precious wine? Definitely not marriage material.


    Blinking with her mouth ajar, the fairy squeezed her C cup breasts. Snickers broke out left and right, disturbing the group''s pace.


    "Oooooh, I see. Nah sorry, not my type," Harun said, pushed the jar back into the fairy''s hands, and left for the Peach Forest. Girls nowadays were getting too conceited.

 Chapter 11: Sugar Mommies

    Chapter 11: Sugar Mommies


    In a distantnd, three men sat in an ordinary-looking temple room, forming a triangle.


    "Agiri seeded. The damn brat traded his life for that thing. But so what? He''s dead. And the 33 Heavens don''t have a single man able to shoulder the Mandate. Brothers, what should we do?" asked the first man whose figure hid behind a mystical mist, as if shrouded by the Dao itself.


    The seeding God Emperors'' ability to promulgate Divine Laws stemmed from their ownership of the Imperial Seal and Mandate of Heaven. Divine Laws weren''t mere words, but sovereignmands that none below the Empyrean Monarch Realm could resist. For instance, by passing his Anti-Death Law, Agiri used his Mandate, or Heaven''s Will as some called it, to engrave an irresistible order in all celestials'' mindspreventing them from uwful killing and suicide.


    As for Empyrean Monarchs, while they could t out ignore the Divine Laws, challenging them triggered Defiance Tribtionssomething most would rather avoid.


    So far, only members of the Empyrean race seemed able to im the Seal and the Mandate it contained. However, not everyone could obtain the Seal''s approval.


    The two others in the temple room, a bald old man dressed in a saffron robe with a myriad of golden Sanskrit letters spiraling around himand a child wearing Taoist robes, akin to a masterfully carved doll, alive when he breathed in and dead when he breathed outbore conflicting expressions.


    "That there is none right now doesn''t mean one won''t emerge in the future," said the monk.


    "How long is the future? The world can''t afford to wait," the child countered.


    At that time, a white-haired man walked through the temple door, the three experts'' eyes locked on him, and immediately, they rose to their feet.


    "For the brat''s sake, I will take care of the rest for you," the neer said, and without a word, the three bowed toward him.


    ...


    One of the Ancient Marvels of the Heavenly Realm, the Peach Forest stood in an isted domain of the Divine Pce''s inner court. Directly under the God Empress'' supervision, the Peach Forest rarely saw any visitor, and was guarded by four Door Gods of the God Empress.


    Formed in the Celestial Knight Realm, Door Gods forever scaled with their master''s cultivation, and mirrored their Celestial Nature. As a member of the Empyrean race, the God Empress'' Door Gods all had human shapes, dreadful valkyries d in radiant-white armors. Each possessed the strength of a peak-level Heavenly God. The 33 Heavens didn''t have fifteen people able to break through such defenses.


    Without a word, they allowed the pages in but kept their Divine Senses locked on them. Ensuring that if any attempted to pocket a peach, they''d die on the spot.


    A forest of sangria trees, whose burned-red leaves rhythmically dropped as if mirroring autumn''s fall, appeared before the 60,000 pages. The tree branches swayed alongside the dropping leaves, waving their ripe, sangria peaches at the onlookers'' faces.


    Asrge as human heads, the peaches glowed in a transcendent blue light. The maids stood outside, waiting for the pages to pick three peaches each. When their eyesnded on the fruits, despite all their training and the Door Gods outside, greed welled up in the peach pages'' minds.


    Just one bite.


    They just wanted one bite. One bite to experience the peaches'' extraordinariness and engrave the taste in their minds. Though past the Nihility Realm, cultivators no longer felt hunger, those Celestial Kins rediscovered that mortal plight. Strangely, unlike the others, Harun didn''t lose himself. Appreciative of the peaches'' yet still in full control of his mind. But for those that knew of his cultivation path, this wasn''t surprising.


    "At the third level of the Daoist Realm, I chose the Dao of Gluttony and used it to forge my Dao Heart. But at the ninth level, I rejected my Dao Truth to achieve Nihility. Since then, no one or thing can use it against me. What a pity that you guys didn''t follow this righteous path," Harun whispered in a fellow page''s ears, then sashayed past his peers to pluck three peaches.


    "Be patient my dears. Although today I can''t taste you, in the near future I swear to break into you front and back, then bite, bite and bite, until your dripping juices fully stain my lips," Harun told his peaches before the incredulous pages'' eyes, and as they struggled to resist their urges, Harun gave his peaches three smooches, then rushed out of the Peach Forestreturning to the 30,000 fairies'' side.


    "There is no justice in this world. I have been cultivating the Dao of Self Hegemony for over 600 years, yet still tremble before these peaches'' scent. But such a monstrous deviant can go in and out as if it was his family''s backyard? Who designed this shit?" A former mortal emperor grieved.


    Faced with Harun''s bright smiling face and joyful hymns, the fairies wondered if the Peach Forest''s structure didn''t experience some changes.


    The rash rushed in and fell into the same struggle as the peach pages. On average, it took the pages three hours to extricate themselves and harvest the peaches. A few less fortunate couldn''t resist and bared their teeth at the peaches. Before they could graze them, they burst into blood and gore.


    Upon leaving the Peach Forest, the sessful peach pages saw Harun sitting crossed-legged with dozens of fairies forming circles around him.


    "I remember that my eldest brother almost lost his life in the past peach selection. Little brother, your foundation is incredible."


    "Right, my father''s cultivation is at the eighth-level of the Celestial Knight Realm, but he still dreads the peaches."


    "Fairy sisters, this is nothing. Although with an unbreakable Dao Heart, you can see through 10,000 illusions, impermeable to corruption. If I didn''t have your charming faces in mind, how could I seed?" Harun replied to his growing fan-club, and the blushing fairies felt that the words made perfect sense. With beauties such as them waiting at the door, why could those pages not rush back?


    Even the girl he "wronged" beforehand was starting to feel that she''d be too narrow minded. Such an adorable little-brother could, of course, not have those perverse thoughts.


    "Young, charming and reliable. In the future, you will have splendid achievements."


    "My grandfather is an official of the third rank. If you want, I can ask him to speed up your promotion."


    "Little brother don''t listen to her! That vixen hides countless boytoys in her house. My grandfather is a governor. Come with me once I leave the pce, and he can make you amandery lord."


    "Bitch! You''re ndering me!"


    Seeing a catfight break out for Harun''s sake, the peach pages turned green from envy. Fortunately, the one Harun whispered the truth to perished, or the scam would be exposed.


    And while he appeared cool and undisturbed, inwardly, Harun couldn''t restrain his joy.


    "Sugar mommies left, sugar mommies right.


    Sugar mommies front, sugar mommies back.


    With sugar mommies on the loose,


    How can bills not scram?"


    Imagining all the free pills, wines and feasts he''d swindle from those gals, Harun found the petty poet in his soul, and raised his fist at the sky.


    Separated by fellow fairies, the catfighters regained theirposure, and the procession resumed.


    This time, gravity shone in all pages, fairies and spirit servants'' eyes. For the next stop was thest: the Peach Banquet. Tens of thousands of celestials were flying toward the Divine Pce, with spirit servants weing them at the pce gate, and leading them across the halls to sit at the Peach Banquet.


    On this asion, rank didn''t matter. Third-rank officials could sit and drink with first-rank officials, the God Empress'' way of telling them all that regardless of their precise rank, the group formed the 33 Heaven''s backbones.


    The imperial family was the only exception, with the Divine Consorts sitting beside the God Empress. The princes and princesses sat a step below. A slender woman with lustrous-white hair, almond-shaped, icy-blue eyes, and inviting crimson lips, in this gathering of Heaven''s top officials and beauties, the God Empress stood out like a peacock in a flock ofmon birds.


    But as she exchanged tteries with the consorts, her Divine Sense swept the celestials, observing them all with scrutiny.

 Chapter 12: The Golden Crow Ancestor

    Chapter 12: The Golden Crow Ancestor


    Heaven''s history could be split into three Grand Eras: the Immemorial, the Prosperous and the Anarchic eras.


    The Prosperous Era corresponded to the time span between the First Emperor''s coronation and Agiri''s eighth Cosmic Tribtion. The Anarchic Era was the chaos that followed afterward. But while at a first nce, Agiri''s descent into madness looked like the source of all troubles, as she swept the officials, the God Empress knew that they merely inherited an umtion oftent threats dating back to the Immemorial Era.


    "Divine Mother, why don''t I see Jiyan?" A handsome youth with the white hair and blue eyes of the Empyrean race asked. Like all those sitting at the God Empress'' side, he wore a white and gold robe embroidered with a golden orchid. In the 33 Heavens, members of the imperial n aside, none could wear that orchid symbol.


    "Your father''s sudden death left her disturbed, so I''m letting her grieve in jails," the God Empress calmly replied. Heaven ranked its princes and princesses by their cultivation base. In this generation''s seven divine princes, the youth ranked second, making him one of the key contenders for the throne.


    However, he wasn''t the empress'' son. None of them were. And though he''d long gotten used to her ruthlessness, hearing her so casually speak of her only child''s fate, the second prince wondered if he shouldn''t find himself a less despotic backer. But as he experienced his internal struggle, the God Empress'' eyes locked on the banquet hall''s entrance.


    The imperial kins'' eyes followed her gaze, spotting a group of seven men and five women led by a gray-haired senior. Over two meters tall and dressed in golden armor, the old man easily towered above anyone on the scene. Wrinkles stretched his face, an unusual sight for a celestial of his rank, yet his ming-gold eyes burned with an irresistible martial pressure that forced all to look at him in awe.


    Still, despite knowing that the old man could reduce them all to dust with a finger snap, the spirit servants tasked with weing the guests all blocked his path.


    "What? Is our Golden Crow n no longer wee to the Peach Banquet?" Asked a tall, bearded man at the old deity''s side. Anyone that nced at them could see that the two were close rtives. But unlike the old deity''s peaceful yet imposing look, the bearded god''s eyes brimmed with a tyrannical pressure.


    Forced back by the bearded god''s nce, the spirit servants recoiled, sweat pouring from their foreheads. Most needed all their willpower to remain standing, but one still managed to say:


    "Regardless of position or rank, imperial guards aside, no one can bring armors or weapons into the Divine Pce. Your Lordship, please don''t give us trouble," the spirit servant said, and bowed toward the bearded god.


    In the banquet hall, silence fell. From imperial kins to chit-chatting officials, all stared at the 13 Golden Crow nsmen. Regardless of gender, they all wore golden armors and held long sword scabbards in their right hands. Following the First Emperor''s coronation, the Highest Heaven rarely, if ever, weed such overbearing guests. Even without a God Emperor''s suppression, most hegemonic ns wouldn''t dare antagonize the imperial family.


    The Dragons didn''t dare.


    The Phoenixes didn''t dare.


    The Great Rocs didn''t dare.


    But the Golden Crows dared, because they had this old man.


    "Since I set foot on the cultivation road, there are only two things I never let go off: my armor and my sword. His Majesty, the Heaven-Warding Emperor himself, granted me the eternal right to bring armor and sword into the Divine Pce. Your words challenge and disrespect his will, but considering your age and ignorance, I can forgive you," the old deity said. A mild, yet overpowering force surged from his eyes, pushing all spirit servants out of his path.


    Without further hindrances, the Golden Crows walked in. Regardless of their inherent dispositions, all exuded that same oppressive martial air that made many civil officials of the same cultivation level shiver. And as the old man crossed the banquet hall to reach her table, the God Empress inwardly cursed the First Emperor.


    At the beginning of the Immemorial Era, the Star-Devouring Serpent Emperor swallowed the Primordial Dragon, crushed the Ancient Roc, sent the Three-Legged Crow into exile and forced the Divine Phoenix to be his consort.


    But bing the matchless ruler of all creation, the one before whom all divine ns bowed, couldn''t sate the Serpent Emperor''s limitless appetite. He forced all ns to provide him with 300 consorts and swallowed worlds upon worlds until the Heavenly Realm took its current shape.


    The only active member left of the Divine Four, the Three-Legged Crow knew that her cultivation had reached its limits and could never overpower the Serpent Emperor, so she gathered all her most outstanding disciples, and attempted to train the resistancethey all failed her.


    It wasn''t until a mortal cultivated the Golden Crow Celestial Nature and ascended to Heaven that the Three-Legged Crow found her long-sought sessor. She took him as her disciple, taught him all she knew, and even managed to transfer her cultivation base to him. He surpassed all her expectations and became the Golden Crow Ancestor.


    Around the same time, a white-haired man appeared. Some im that celestials escaped to foreign dimensions and sought the man''s help. Others that Heaven''s wrath birthed him. But regardless of the truth, that mysterious man led a rebellion against the Serpent Emperor.


    At first on the losing trend, the mysterious man was saved by the timely assistance of the Golden Crow. Together, they destroyed the Serpent Emperor, forced his n into submission, and restored order to Heaven.


    The mysterious savior became the Heaven Warding Emperor, first ruler of the 33 remaining Heavens, and ancestor of the Empyrean race, while the Golden Crow Ancestor remained Grand Marshal of the Divine Army.


    And in the God Empress'' eyes, this is where her ancestor went astray.


    "Even mortal emperors know that the most meritorious officials to a new dynasty''s founding must be executed. But not only did he let the beast live, he even left him with full control of the army. The first emperor was a mighty fool," this was the empress'' appraisal of her n founder. And many secretly agreed.


    No one knew how someone stranded at the peak of the Empyrean Monarch Realm managed to outlive all God Emperors. But the Golden Crow Ancestor did. And after crossing over 30 Cosmic Tribtions, his true depth was impossible to estimate.


    Still, the empress didn''t flinch.


    "Golden Crow Ancestor, it''s not even been a full week since His Majesty''s death. Are you that eager to rebel?" She asked with a provocative smile.


    "You also know that it''s not even been a week? I thought you''d forgotten," the Golden Crow Ancestor said coolly, "Your husband''s ashes haven''t fully dispersed that you''re already trying to gauge the officials and ensure their loyalty. Dilnaz girl, aren''t you too eager?"


    Perhaps too direct for the officials'' taste, the words were like nails pricking their disloyal hearts.


    "Golden Crow, how dare you use the God Empress'' given name?"


    "It was His Majesty himself who forbade state mourning. What gives you the right to question his will?"


    "For an imperial kin''s misdeeds, we have the Ministry of the Imperial Household. If they fail to do their job, we still have the Censorate. Only those two departments hold the right to admonish the empress. They have yet to open their mouths, why do you?"


    Eager to please the God Empress, one hot-heated official after the other rose to question the Golden Crow Ancestor. Without an ounce of anger, he raised his scabbard and tapped the ground. Like the ripple of a water drop falling into ake, gentle vibration waves spread across the banquet hall and paralyzed the bodily functions of all aggressive officials.


    Regardless of their cultivation levels, none could move an inch. Terror-stricken, the officials floundered, fearing that the de of Heaven''s most ancient deity was about to lop their heads off.


    "Her ancestor called me big brother. If not for his sake, her head would now be rolling on the floor. Having been in seclusion for over 200,000 years, I didn''t witness any of the events that made you all despise ourte sovereign. My mistake. But considering your current actions, I can see the wisdom in histe moves.


    And now that I''ve returned, I must tell you one thing.


    Fight for the crown if you will, I do not care. My Divine Army exists for two reasons only: to protect the emperor''s dignity and ughter all that disturb the citizens'' peace.


    Insult histe majesty''s memory, endanger themon man''s livelihood, and you can follow these three to the grave." Three heads emerged from the Golden Crow Ancestor''s cosmic pouch and dropped on the empress'' table.


    This time, even she couldn''t keep herposure.


    "The Third Heaven''s Celestial Marquis, the old ancestor of the White Tiger n, the ck Dragon Monarch" Not even a day after he returned from seclusion, the Golden Crow Ancestor had already executed one world ruler, and two Monarch-level existences.


    Actions spoke louder than words. Officials and imperial kins alike gulped, keeping their mouths tightly shut. Seeing this, the twelve top-ranking Golden Crows at the ancestor''s side all sneered.


    "I''ve said all I had to. Rajan, my grandson, will stay to observe your behavior. Enjoy your...banquet." Without a care for the empress'' response, the Golden Crow Ancestor spun and left.


    Of his twelve kinsmen, only Rajan, the bearded god, remained behind. With no scruples, he took a random seat and lounged on his left side. As the Fourth Heaven''s marquis, n lord of the Golden Crow n and sect master of the Eternal Sun sect, Rajan''s strength and status stood at the world''s summit. Even without his grandfather, few could oppose him.


    But to ensure a foolproof n, he used the emperor''s sudden death to pull his grandfather out of seclusion. As Divine Laws had no effect on Monarchs, the Golden Crow Ancestor only remembered the good, and never experienced the erratic bouts of Agiri''s final years. But Rajan did, and saw it as a sign that the imperial nhad lost the Mandate of Heaven.


    ...


    By now, the pages and fairies had brought their tes and wine jugs to the banquet hall''s doors, unaware of the confrontation that just went down. But though they stepped aside to let the 12 Gods pass, for a second, the Golden Crow Ancestor paused, and as if alerted by an unknown force, he peered through tens of thousands to spot Harun.


    His brows creased, and after dispatching a few mental messages, he led his descendants away.

 Chapter 13: I Might as Well...

    Chapter 13: I Might as Well...


    Harun couldn''t feel the Golden Crow Ancestor''s gaze. With the gap of five realms separating them, his Decaying Flower aside, the old deity could see through him like an open book. But while the Golden Crow took care to not let Harun sense his probe, for some reason, Harun''s heart still skipped a beat. Hurriedly looking through the countless pairs of eyes, Harun sought the source of his unease, but found none.


    For 15 minutes, the page-fairy procession remained at the entrance door, dyed by the officials who, perhaps, needed time to digest the Grand Marshal''s oppression. Regardless, once the procession walked in, they didn''t meet any of the expectant gazes and festive atmosphere that should have been the norm for a gathering of this magnitude. Instead, lowered heads, gritted teeth and clenched fists joined hands to produce a cheerless atmosphere.


    Harun included, many of the pages and fairies realized that the departure of the 12 Gods they saw beforehand was linked to this result. But while the knowledgeable few could guess the ins and outs, as hecked a solid understanding of the 33 Heavens'' hegemonic forces, Harun couldn''t.


    Hell, because the Golden Crow had been in seclusion for over 200,000 years, the average celestial only knew that the Grand Marshal of the Divine Army used to be a mortal, but didn''t know of his full story or might.


    As expected of them, the pages and fairies headed to their assigned tables toy down the tes and pour the wine. Again, Harun''s heart skipped a beat. The ups and downs of mortal cultivation told him thatthiswas the critical instant of his time in the Imperial Domain. If he could leave this banquet hall in one piece, then from now on he could live in peace, and slowly cultivate to a free and unfettered altitude.


    However, the story wouldn''t take that turn. When did it ever? As "fate" would have it, Harun was part of the few pages tasked with serving the empress'' table. Though he kept his head lowered throughout, the empress didn''t restrain the intensity of her gaze, undressing him with a stare some might have found lecherous.


    But at his back, Harun felt a simr stare, as if two existences within the room chose to sh through him. Worse, several other eye pairs were starting to focus on himdrawn like moths to a me.


    And at that time...


    "Aaaah!" Shrill cries echoed. With a sigh, Harun turned and saw blue sparks flicker around his cosmic pouch.


    To weed out outstanding but disloyal seeds, the Peach Banquet kept one rule hidden from the pages. If an overly skillful page somehow managed to pocket a peach from under the Door Gods'' gazes, as it happened on average once every Cosmic Cycle, the banquet hall''s formations would resonate with the peaches, and produce a blue glow around the guilty page.


    Three peaches shot out from Harun''s Cosmic Pouch,nding in his hands. Immediately, all eyes fell on him. For a brief moment, most eyed him with confusion. Then they adjusted to nail him with contemptuous stares. Bncing the Golden Crow Ancestor''s suppression with this god-given opportunity tosh out, many officials had already stood up, eager to enforce justice on behalf of heaven. Others, however, had seen through the ploy, and stood ready to fight for benefits.


    Suffocating auras ranging from thete-stages of the Ascending God to the early-stages Empyrean Monarch Realm locked Harun from all corners. If those deities weren''t restraining their pressure to give themselves a chance to abuse him, he would have directly burst into blood and gore.


    Now from pages to fairies, all remained as far away from Harun as possible. As expected, those hoes weren''t loyal.


    "This Peach Banquet is getting more interesting by the second. Your Divine Majesty''s Door Gods must have been cking off that a mere fourth-level Celestial Kin can steal three peaches from under their nose. Or maybe he received some assistance?"


    Rajan, the Fourth Celestial Marquis said. Harun and the officials'' eyes darted toward Dilnaz, who calmly sipped the wine poured for her. At her right, the second prince sneered. Right now, the God Empress only had to say that she personally granted those peaches to Harun, and she could save his life.


    Throughout the vast heavens, only she had that authority. But once those words left her lips, Rajan would forcefully reveal Harun''s Double Pupils, and impeach the God Empress. Unfortunately, Rajan misunderstood the God Empress'' wishes.


    "A trivial Celestial Kin can indeed not achieve such a thing without some help. But for one who cultivates the Dao of Gluttony, snatching Heaven''s delicacies undetected is not unfeasible. Or perhaps a mighty God cleft open space to steal and put the peaches in his pouch? In any case, regardless of extra details, his guilt is evident to all. The death sentence is the least penalty. Gouge out his eyes, cut off his hands and scatter his soul," Dilnaz calmly said, startling Rajan who''d not expected her to adopt such a stance.


    Knowing that Agiri''s death approached, Dilnaz dispatched avatars to the various Heavens to determine their loyalties and bring non-imperial talents under her banner. Rajan had a simr attitude. Both witnessed Harun''s ascension to the Fourth Heaven, and sensed what others couldn''t: his Double Pupils.


    Immediately, the God Empress'' avatar attempted to capture him, but was foiled by Rajan who didn''t hesitate to alert some Monarch-level elders of his n. With her true body under Agiri''s gaze, Dilnaz could only maintain a stalemate.


    Thus, in the shadows of the Fourth Heaven, Dilnaz''s avatars and agents shed with the Golden Crow n to prevent Harun from falling into their hands. But now that Agiri perished, it was time to end the joust. Or so Rajan thought. But he didn''t expect Dilnaz to directly give up on this one in a million years treasure. Perhaps from the beginning, unlike him she never wanted the ownership of the Double Pupils. But how could it be?


    "Wise decision, Your Majesty. Such a scornful individual deserves to be damned. If allowed to grow, he can only bring disasters. We should make his punishment an example for all to see. Let all know that even in this interregnum, there arews to abide to," the Imperial Chancellor dered, backing his words with his Empyrean Monarch cultivation.


    By now, those peak-level Heavenly Gods and Empyrean Monarchs had sobered up, sensing the mysterious energy that none below their level could spot.


    "I must disagree with you, Imperial Chancellor. This is still not enough. Only the maximum sentence fits this crime. We of the Divine Censorate advocate that all ns jointly activate the Immortal Reaving Formation, and strip this vile creature of all he received from Heaven." The Grand Preceptor rose and chimed in.


    The Immortal Reaving Formation was reserved for the most treacherous of officials, those that rebelled against a God Emperor''s rule and threatened the stability of the 33 Heavens. Whoever suffered its de would be stripped of all powers and inborn abilities. The Formation then refined the absorbed force into cultivation pills.


    Created by the Ancient Roc, Phoenix and Dragon ns during the Immemorial Era to retaliate against the Serpent Emperor''s subordinates, the Formation''s activation needed their lines'' purest blood. The God Emperors would therefore reward them with a good portion of the pills.


    Since the Serpent Emperor''s defeat, one hand was enough to count how often it''d been used. How was a petty thief deserving of such a treatment?


    Many realized that something was off. Despite their words, the Imperial Chancellor, Grand Preceptor and God Empress clearly spoke on the same tuneas if they''d rehearsed all this beforehand.


    Some Ascending Gods could even see their seniors'' lips curve into expectant smiles. Knowing he''d outsmarted himself, Rajan clenched his fists.


    He couldn''t allow Harun''s essence to be refined by the empress''p dogs. Otherwise, in the race for the crown, his Golden Crow n would get the short end of the stick.


    But as Rajan prepared to interject


    *Crunch* *Crunch*


    Biting sounds drew the celestials'' attention, and from Dilnaz to Rajan, all turned to see Harun gnawing in the three peaches.


    "Mmmhm! Oh my god this is so good! Damn it, such good stuff makes a man regret not being born early," Harun said while savoring his peaches. Dumbfounded, all just stared at him, mouths ajar, and eyes wide open. By the time Harun finished his peaches, he reached for the God Empress'' wine jug, and chugged it in one go.

 Chapter 14: The Son of Heaven

    Chapter 14: The Son of Heaven


    "Aaaahfrom the scent I knew that this wine would be something else. Although the 33 Heavens enforce a vegetarian diet, you still got some amazing stuff. Well done," Harun said as he lowered Dilnaz''s jug, then swept all deities.


    "Y-you...are you crazy? How dare you eat the Peaches of Immortality?!" Rajan bellowed. Never did he expect that while he racked his brain to prevent Harun from turning into a cultivation pill, the boy would directly devour the peacheseven going as far as drinking the empress'' wine!


    How much crazier could a man get? With a theatrical spin, Harun faced Rajan, put his hands at his hips and leaned over.


    "Look, you retarded progeny of a flying fuck. I am not crazy, you are crazy. Your grandfather was crazy. So crazy that he banged your grandma. So crazy that he gave birth to your dad, and let him screw your mom to give birth to you, this obnoxious degenerate of a diety.


    How old are you? 50,000, 60,000, 100,000, 300,000? You have nothing better to do than to scheme against someone four or five realms lower than you? If I had half your cultivation base, I''d be pping you left and right! And you even have the gals to call yourself a Golden Crow? What is golden about you? Your shit?" Harun spat, arched his back, and pivoted to face the Imperial Chancellor and Grand Preceptor, only officials of the first rank in the room.


    "And you, you fucking simp bitches. You think I forgot about you? As men, you don''t strive to excel, and are content being the jovialp-dogs of a wannabe ice-queen, licking whatever leftovers she tosses at your wiggling tongues. How deplorable. I bet you suck her toes and rim her ass!


    No wonder thete emperor had to pass an anti-cheatingw. With your level of manhood, what woman wouldn''t green your heads? Go find a saw and castrate yourselves, if you haven''t already!" Harun dismissively waved his right hand and, with a look of disgust, shifted his attention from the highest-ranking officials.


    His words were like ming hands and heels, ruthlessly smashing the three''s faces and crushing their self-esteem. In their over 300,000 years of cultivation, never had they experienced such verbal abuse. Rajan, in particr, couldn''t conceive that in the 33 Heavens, someone dared insult his grandparents.


    Let''s not mention the God-Empress, who behind her mask of calm, gathered many years of self-control.


    And now it was time for the eager officials to taste Harun''s venom.


    "What? You also want to ask me why I dare eat the peaches? If anyone got the nerve to ask such a retarded question, go find a rope and hang yourself! From the moment I arrived in this wicked ce, I was guilty! Guilty for I exist! How sorrowful!


    You have already sentenced me to unimaginable torture! Why can I not eat the damn fruit? The whole thing is vexing. I have been cultivating for 150 years, yet still have to deal with the same greedy pigs trying to snatch whatever makes their eyes gleam. A fair contest for an inheritance ground, why not? But some shit I was born with? What enmity do we have? This is what you want, right? Come take it and let''s get this farce over with!" Harun bellowed, ripped his eyepatch off, and tossed it at Dilnaz''s table.


    The cultivation world again proved insufferable, making Harun feel that he should have just stopped at Crossed Vicissitude and be an invincible mortal emperor. Recalling how wonderful his final years in the Noxious me World were, Harun seriously wondered why he even bothered stepping into this quagmirethe wine, probably.


    Still, the easygoing celestial hadn''t lost his mind yet. From the moment Harun bit in the first peach, he was gambling. As it was now abundantly clear that Rajan wanted his eye for himself or no one else, Harun could infer that the Eye of Luminous Treasures was upgradable.


    What kind of thing could upgrade an innate trait? The Marvels of Heaven and Earth. And among them, the peaches ranked at the top. If they could make his Eye''s grade skyrocket, Harun could intensify the greed in the celestials'' hearts, trigger strife, and buy himself more time. History spoke for itself. More often than not, only the weak were content being vassals. When their strength outpaced the monarch''s, who didn''t want to im the throne?


    Now, could he use that time to escape? Perhaps not. But without it, he''d die within an hour. And as Harun expected, when his double pupils appeared, from the fairies to the Empyrean Monarchs, all staggered. In a sh, they turned deaf to his previous words, glueing their eyes on that golden iris and the double pupils it contained. The reaction was even stronger than what Harun anticipated, as some of those that''d already guessed the truth still failed to contain their shock.


    Instantly, Harun realized that while in his mortal world, double pupils were just cause for insult, in Heaven, they carried immeasurable weight. From the three peaches, boundless Heavenly Qi poured forth, but instead of diving into Harun''s blood drops, they filled his eyes with a blue glow. And as the left shed, devouring the rich force to grow to new heights, as if freed from ancient shackles, Harun''s right eye stirred too.


    The ck iris turned purple, and the single pupil split into two smaller dots from which a tyrannical force surged. The frustrated God-Empress'' gaze hardened. Rajan trembled, Heavenly Gods staggered, and Monarchs grew dignified.


    From outside the banquet hall, countless purple clouds assembled, bringing with them a veil of violet mist that forced its entrance into the banquet hall to surround Harun.


    His cultivation still stood at the fourth-level of the Celestial Kin Realm, but from Harun, the pressure of a peerless God-Emperor now rippled. As if Heaven itself had appeared to shelter its son and weave its mandate at the disobedient Gods'' eyes.


    Dilnaz, Rajan, the Imperial Chancellor and Grand Preceptor, all those ancient deities who plotted for Harun''s destiny, now realized they''d severely miscalcted the situation.


    "Myriad Treasures in the left. Sovereign Authority in the right. Unfettered by Divine Laws, wielding his own Mandate. Those are not merely double pupils, but the proof that...he is this era''s Son of Heaven.


    So long as he breathes, the Mandate will not acknowledge another master. And the Empyreans cannot wield the Imperial Seal.


    Boy, today you can live. But tomorrow you will still die. For across the 33 Heavens'' trillions of lives, you now only have...enemies," said the Golden Crow Ancestor, who eyed those events from a distance.

 Chapter 15: Extreme Yin Prison

    Chapter 15: Extreme Yin Prison


    Awe, dread, greed, envy, one after the other, those emotions and vices stretched the deities'' eyes. The fairies and those prominent-background peach pages all backpedaled, not stopping until their backs hit a wall. Sweat broke from their foreheads as stories of old surfaced in their minds.


    Their elders, however, soon suppressed any dread they should have felt. Greed and envy overshadowed all else. Loyalties copsed, individualism soared, and without exception, they stepped forwardunable to resist the temptation those four pupils and heterochromatic eyes triggered in them.


    Killing intent filled the hall. The Imperial Chancellor and Grand Preceptor no longer cared for the God Empress. They didn''t want to share. When the one chance to be the one true Master of Heaven and Earth stood before them, why should they?


    Three seconds, three seconds was all it took for the situation to spiral out of control. Imperial nsmen, consorts and officials all forgot their ces. The God Empress didnt doubt that whoever made the first move would trigger a berserk sh. But as she stared at those four pupils, she couldn''t me them.


    Harun didn''t mind. Although he didn''t understand why his eyes bore such a fatal temptation to those Heavenly Gods and Empyrean Monarchs, if he was destined to die, then at the very least, they should all follow him to the grave.


    Of course, if they coulde to an agreement and temporarily step back, all the better. After all, trading his life for this sorry lot...wasn''t worth it.


    But as Harun readied to wee the assault, the God Empress clenched her fists and swept the budding rebels with her chilling gaze.


    "Officials, sisters, children, should a fight break out now, the one most likely toe out on top is I. Our hegemonic ns'' Dao Reserves aside, only the Golden Crow Ancestor can suppress me. So this can only end in two ways:


    First, you join hands and kill methen ughter one another.


    Second, you refuse to unite, and I trample your corpses, ruin the 33 Heavens'' foundation to im the Double Pupils and rule a wastnd," Dilnaz started, making the Gods'' eyelids tremble, and their teeth clench harder.


    "However, can those Dao Reserves nearing their final Cosmic Tribtion watch us torch the world of their predecessors?


    Can Golden Crow watch us ruin the Highest Heaven he, his fallen subordinates, and his wife the Three-Legged Crow, shed blood and tears for? Do not let a moment of greed distract you from the big picture. One wrong move, only one, and tomorrow onward, we are the sinners of our ns," Dilnaz dered, and akin to an unbreakable wall, her words butted against the officials and Empyrean nsmen''s greed, stopping them all where they stood.


    Indeed, in the spur of the moment, they''d all forgotten a critical truth. The Golden Crow Ancestor was too proud to oppress a junior and rob his destinytoo proud to fight for titles and glorytoo proud to bring the tiniest shame to his name for the greatest of benefits.


    However, should they endanger the 33 Heavens'' peaceas they were very well about tothe God of War''s scorching de would incinerate them all. And thenceforth, the world would belong to the Golden Crows. What then would be of their ns? For the sake of stability, how many of their own would be ughtered?


    Restraint...they had to show restraint!


    With one speech, the God Empress dulled the deities'' cupidity, forcing them all to begrudgingly step back. Sharp and direct, eminent but cool-headed. In the instant she opened her mouth, Harun realized that while Rajan might have been the one that put the peaches in his pouch, if anyone caused him to die early, it would be Dilnaz.


    "Moreover, directly robbing even the most ordinary of inborn abilities triggers a Defiance Tribtion. The greater the gap between thief and victim, the stronger the tribtion is. Assuming you could take the Sovereign Pupils, do any of you here have confidence in surviving the ensuing tribtion?


    Better share what one cannot hold, than fight for the ruin of all. Guards, put him in the Extreme Yin Prison. Tonight, each hegemonic n prepares a proposal, and tomorrow, we will handle his case," Dilnaz ordered, and two imperial guards walked in to seize Harun, and bring him to the Extreme Yin Prison.


    The only force able to contend with the Divine Army, though they bore human looksimperial guards all belonged to the Armament ndivine weapons born servants to the Empyreans'' wills. Their loyalty followed an unbreakable hierarchical pattern: emperor, crown prince, empress, elders, princes and so on. In the absence of the first two, Dilnaz had full control of themhence why she could obtain the support of so many top officials.


    "That''s also fine. But one daynoone night. What can I possibly do in one night?" Harun wondered as the guards dragged him toward his new quarters. For an instant, he considered trying his new set off double pupils on the deities and hoping for the best. Perhaps he could suppress them all long enough to escape?


    But even if he was willing to throw himself into a desperate gamble, his eyes had yet to stabilize. And assuming they did, could they allow a Celestial Kin to wrestle with Heavenly Gods and Monarchs? Brute force wouldn''t get him out of this pit.


    "I believe that any feast past this point is meaningless. We have all seen what we''re capable of before supreme benefit. But I do not me you. The Sovereign Pupils belong to the ruler of an era and can open the gate to the Dao Emperor Realm. In this age where no God Emperor reigns, their appeal has never been stronger.


    But again, I advise caution. You may leave," Dilnaz said, and walked out of the banquet hall. Some felt ashamed, others grew fearful. But more secretly plotted how to get their hands on the Sovereign Pupils. If not for themselves, then at least for their most valued descendant.


    ...


    An underground prison where the worst of criminalsnded, the Extreme Yin Prison was built in dark-blue stones that produced waves of frigid air. The temperature in the prison''s cells hovered between -200 and -160 celsius, something even celestials would have a hard time digesting. Worse, as the name implied, the frigid air carried Extreme Yin Essence that made any thought about cultivation impossible.


    The main distinction between Qi and Essence is that Qi is invisible and cultivable by all, whereas Essence has a color, a glow, and not everyone can cultivate it.


    The Golden Crows, for example, cultivate Sr Essence, using it to strengthen their flesh, sword arts and Daoist magic. But should a Flood Dragon attempt to cultivate the same, they were likely to burn to ashes.


    Though scarce, with the right constitution and scripture, some could cultivate Lesser Yin, Pure Yin and Greater Yin Essence. But the world had yet to produce anyone capable of safely taking Extreme Yin into their bodies. Any attempt at cultivating that berserk, poisonous force resulted in crystalized blood and frozen bones.


    Or at least, that was themon assumption. But as Harun stepped into the Extreme Yin Prison, while the guards who came equipped with unique armors struggled to endure the poisonous yin, Harun felt like a fish in water. For the first time since he started cultivating it, the Decaying Flower in his Divine Consciousness stirred, trembling with excitement as if it''d finallynded where it belonged.


    Even without Harun''s call, the Decaying Flower started devouring the dark-blue Yin Essence in the prison. Knowing that a sudden drop in pressure would alert the guards, Harun stopped his Yin consumption. Rows of cells crowded the floor, with hundreds of criminals quivering under the abuse of the Extreme Yin.


    But while it seemed that the prison only had one floor, as they followed the Yin Essence patterns, Harun''s senses butted against an invisible wall, showing that the prison hid more than met the eye.


    The guards led him to his cell where two figures already stood. A ragged middle-aged man with wild, unkempt hair, and a delicate youth with the white hair and icy-blue eyes of the Empyreans.


    Confused, Harun nced at the guards'' faces. On the road here, no cell contained over two captives. Why was his the exception? If anything, considering his value, shouldn''t his cell be empty?


    Stranger still, although they ignored the ragged man, the guards'' eyes widened at the youth. As soon as they brought Harun in, the youth, who quivered in a corner, red at them and barked:


    "What, you''re not just having me share my cell with one, but two criminals?"


    Though the harsh-sounding voice was clearly masculine, the youth''s traits put women to shame and would make some men question their orientations. Harun ignored the youth, studying the guards'' expressions only.


    Their initial stupor vanished, and disregarding the Empyrean''s bark, they opened the cell, pushing Harun in.


    "Huh, interesting" Harun inwardly said. The cell surprisingly had three meditation cushions. Harun imed the only remaining one and paid his two partners no attention.


    "Hey, I''m talking to you! Damn it!" The boy roared, but seeing that the guards were dead-set on snubbing him, he didn''t waste more breath and switched his attention to Harun.


    When their gazes met, the boy''s eyes narrowed, then expanded with utter fright. Like the fairies and prominent-background pages, he first pressed his back against the wall. However, his reaction quickly grew more extreme.


    "Haha...ah...AAAAAARGH! Gold and Purple Double Pupils! The Serpent Emperor is back! The Serpent Emperor is back! Help! Help! The Gluttonous Sheep Fucker is back! Someone save me!" The boy squealed and rushed toward the bars, ignoring the cold to bang his fists against the frigid iron.


    Unprepared for such a blow, Harun staggered, fell on his back, then absentmindedly crawled toward the Empyrean boyhe only grew more desperate.


    "Please don''t screw me! Please don''t screw me! My cookie is not edible!" The hysteric boy waved his hands before his face and closed his eyes to avoid Harun''s. And from a harsh-sounding male, his voice turned into that of a desperate gal facing a horde of insatiable demons.

 Chapter 16: Screwed by Heaven

    Chapter 16: Screwed by Heaven


    "Of all the people I could be cellmate with, I had toe across a nutcase. Wait, he''s a she," Harun realized as he studied the terrified Empyrean''s looks and pondered her words. All the men her face disturbed could now regain their dignityfor she was no "he," but the cream of the crop among Heaven''s beauties. And while he didn''t know her exact identity, Harun could guess that she ranked very high among Empyrean nsmen. Otherwise, she couldn''t take such a conceited stance before the guards, not in the Extreme Yin Prison.


    Knowing that this cross-dressing girl was his first genuine shot at understanding the root of his situation, Harun took the bull by the horns.


    "Yes, it is I! I have returned to im my stash of boo" but then lost his willpower.


    "Alright, I can''t do this. Hi bitch, I don''t know who the Serpent Emperor is, but apparently he''s weak enough that any imperial guard can throw him into jails. Suspicious, right?" Harun rhetorically asked, forcing the gal to snap out of her nightmares.


    "Oh wait that''s true, you''re too weak to be that monster," enlightened by his words, the Empyrean girl said. Her lips curved into a smile, but immediately afterward, fright returned.


    "Wait, you''re really not the Serpent Emperor?"


    "Nope"


    "But your eyes"


    "The Empyrean race has white hairs and icy-blue eyes. Does that make all the cultivators with those traits your kinsmen?" Harun countered, and feeling that the words made sense, the girl heaved a long sigh of relief.


    "Woooh! You should have said that sooner! I was almost scared to death," the girl replied while wiping off her forehead, then recalled that people couldn''t sweat in the Extreme Yin Prison. Harun wanted to say that he didn''te prepared for such a debate, but realized hispanion of misfortune may not have enough brain cells to process his words.


    "My name is Jiyan, sorry for mistaking you for that mass murderer. Because I inherited some of my ancestors memories, I''m particrly scared of him. Nice to meet you," the dumb Empyrean girl said, and stretched her hand toward Harun.


    "Huhh...wait, did you just reveal that you inherited the First Emperor''s memories to a possible criminal?" Harun couldn''t believe his ears and squinted his eyes at Jiyan.


    "Oh it''s fine, everyone here is too busy surviving the Extreme Yin and can neither cultivate nor use their strength. You guys are basically mortal inmates waiting for death. So we might as well have something to talk about," Jiyan replied while rubbing her chin with a pondering look.


    "I thought you didn''t want cellmates?"


    "Oh that''s because all those I''ve seen so far are either damaged goods or have that look in their eyes that scream ''If I don''t kill 300 people per day, my life is meaningless.'' You seem fine."


    "Mhm...interesting. And here I thought Heaven didn''t havembs," Harun said following the exchange, and returned to his meditation cushion. Meanwhile, the third inmate snored in his corner, as if undisturbed by both the frigid air andmotion beside him.


    "But it''s strange. Since you have Sovereign Pupils, why are you in jails? Shouldn''t you be like super strong and a master of Fate? What cultivation level are you even at?" Jiyan asked. Within the prison''s walls, she couldn''t use her Divine Sense to probe Harun''s cultivation, and therefore couldn''t see his level.


    "Fourth-level Celestial Kin." Harun shrugged, unaware of what his new pupils could aplish. But once the words "Celestial Kin" left Harun''s lips, Jiyan''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.


    "Lies. You don''t need the ancestor''s memories to know that someone with Sovereign Pupils receives Heaven''s Blessing at birth and starts at the Heavenly God Realm. Upon adulthood, they automatically reach the Empyrean Monarch Realm. So unless you were born out of Heaven''s reach or someone messed with your birth, you should be on your way to Monarch-hood," Jiyan narrowed her eyes at Harun and said with suspicionmistaking him for an underage celestial.


    Since they were already behind bars, what use was there for deceit? That boy wasn''t nearly as nice as he first seemed to be. Or so Jiyan initially thought, but when she saw Harun''s jaw drop, as if trying to detach itself from his head, Jiyan wondered if she wasn''t wronging him.


    "B-born Heavenly God? Monarch upon adulthood? I should be an Empyrean Monarch? Me?" Unable to constrain his shock, Harun grabbed Jiyan''s hand and aimed her index at his face.


    "Isn''t thismon knowledge? Split into three tiers, Double Pupils are the highest form of innate traits across the 33 Heavens. All possess unique abilities and, without exception, Double Pupils owners all receive a blessing that makes them start above the Celestial Kin Realm.


    Monochromatic Pupils owners start at the Celestial Knight Realm and be Ascending Gods upon adulthood.


    Heterochromatic Pupils owners start as Ascending Gods and be Heavenly Gods.


    Sovereign Pupils owners start at the Heavenly God Realm and automatically rise to Empyrean Monarchs.


    Moreover, regardless of their tiers, Double Pupils contain various portions of Heaven''s Will Strandsa critical cultivation resource for Heavenly Gods and Monarchs. For those reasons, we call you guys inborn deities.


    ording to the ancestor, the Sovereign Pupils are the only ones whose color and abilities remain the same. Control of the world''s myriad treasures in your golden, left eye. Authority over the destiny of men in the purple right. There are limitations, but no wonders they call it Sovereign Pupils.


    In his heydays, the Serpent Emperor could not only find all relics of Heaven and Earth, but could take control of and nullify the effects of all his opponents'' treasures. Worse, he could bestow good fortune, alter his subordinates'' fate, cultivate Sovereign Essence, and strip those he disliked of their luck," Jiyan exined, but if at first she believed that Harun was ying a joke on her, as she studied his gaze, she realized she had it wrong.


    "This is not right. This is not fair. The script is incorrect. You''re telling me that because someone messed with my golden spoon, I went through 150 years of harrowing cultivation to reach a measly Celestial Kin Realm, when I should have started as a Heavenly God?" Harun''s trembling hands tightened around Jiyan''s wrist, but while the good-naturedss didn''t want to crush his heart, her straightforward soul handled the job.


    "150 years of cultivation? Oooh, I got it. You''re a mortal-born celestial. Well, I''ve never heard of a mortal born with double pupils so I can''t say with certainty that''s the reason but...it''s possible that since the Mortal Realm doesn''t have Heavenly Qi, your birth got messed up, and instead of receiving Heaven''s blessing you got a defective product you have to fix on your own.


    Then you ascended to Heaven, some greedy Gods sensed the strands of Heaven''s Will concealed in your eyes and started fighting for themsomehownding you here.


    Oh my god, you got screwed by Heaven." Jiyan covered her lip, and burst intoughter.

 Chapter 17: Yin Soul Incantation

    Chapter 17: Yin Soul Incantation


    From times immemorial, the Divine Path''s goal had always been to cultivate an Internal Heaven, to turn the Divine Consciousness into a paradise with its own set ofws and Heaven''s Will, and build a new world of worshippers. All processes of the previous realms led to that point. Divine Blood Drops became Totems, Totems became Door Gods, and from Door Gods came Divine Hosts.


    Past that point, the celestial became a God, and could start sensing and cultivating the strands of Heaven''s Will scattered in the 33 Heavens. To cultivate those strands and form their Internal Heaven, Gods endured countless trials, and often had to umte massive treasures and resources to rob strands from Heaven''s Will during Cosmic Tribtions.


    Of the 33 Heavens'' active Gods, the Golden Crow Ancestor was the only one with aplete Internal Heavena step away from condensing his own Mandate and reaching the fabled Dao Emperor Realm.


    But there was one man who never had to go through that path. From infancy to maturity, Heaven took care of all those pesky details for him, granting him the best strands, crafting for him the most robust Internal Heaven, and atst granting him his own Mandate. His only task was to build on that unparalleled foundation to be the 33 Heavens'' first Dao Emperor. That man was the Serpent Emperor: the Son of Heaven.


    And what Jiyan forgot to say, was that regardless of their tier, all Double Pupils wielders could retrace their ancestry to the Serpent Emperor. Through his Phoenix Empress and 300 consorts, at the exception of the Empyreans, the Serpent Emperor sowed his seed across all of Heaven''s ns. And although many wouldn''t acknowledge it, Heaven didn''t grant Double Pupils to those unrted to its favored son. A matter for another time.


    "All the time I could have saved, all the delicacies I could have snatched. My Treasure House of Food and Wine, that peerless monument for all eras, would have beenpleted 100 years ago! Why would I still need to deal with all those simps?!" Harun sobbed with warm tears.


    Shocked out of her wits, Jiyan blinked, mouth ajar with incredulity.


    "That''s what you''re grieving for? For real?" Jiyan asked, unable to believe her ears.


    "What else? You thought I wanted to be a peerless God-Emperor, shitting on conceited young masters for three million years? I have objectives, mind you. I cultivate for one reason only: to gather the tastiest goods of Heaven and Earth, assemble them in a grand pyramid, and savor their vor across eternity.


    If anyone dares stop me or dy my grand aspiration, I will batter them with my toxins, grow pustules in their rectums, smash their nuts, turn them into balloons, and hang them in the sky for all to see!" Harun raised his fist at the ceiling, and made a solemn pledge.


    "Cute, but I don''t believe you. In the instant you realized you could have been an unparalleled expert, are you sure you didn''t think of someone you failed? It can be one, two or three, but most of us at least have that someone, that source of eternal regret that pushes us toward bing the best version of ourselves. Did you fail to protect them, fail to live up to their expectations, or just fail to keep them? I wonder" Jiyan lightly tapped her chin and asked in a slightly absentminded tone.


    For the split of a second, Harun''s gaze hardened. But before Jiyan could notice the change, he returned to his usual self.


    "Lucky me then, I don''t have anyone that fits the bill. Also, aren''t you supposed to be a simpleton? Why are you trying to sound profound?"


    "Nonsense, I''m the number one genius of the 33 Heavens. If I am a simpleton, there is no cleverss in this world. But then again, what''s wrong with being a simpleton?" Jiyan countered and rested her back against the wall.


    "While those around you spend their existence shing for petty benefits, racing against time to break their backs all for illusions of splendor, wealth and rank, you can appreciate the world left by your predecessors, and strive to improve it. I think simpletons have a fairly decent life, until the vile choose to ruin it for them," there Jiyan paused, her eyes drifted in memories, and as he stared at her cloaked form, Harun felt as if she no longer referred to herself, but rather described the life of someone she held dear.


    "In any case, if you''re here, it means you''re dying soon or spending the rest of your life behind these bars. Considering the reason why you''re here, my money''s on the former. Since I feel like the world would be less interesting without a nutcase like you, let me give you a tip.


    Among thews known only to the hegemonic ns, there is one you can use to save yourself: the Trial of Wisdom. Once they drag you in for the fake trial, tell them that you wish to put your life in the First Emperor''s handsand if you''re good enough, you might just survive," Jiyan said, making Harun''s eyes narrow in confusion.


    "borate?"


    "In the twilight of his reign, the First Emperor sealed a ck and white stele in the emperor''s pce. He called it the Life and Death Revolution Stele, the missing half of an ancient monument he stole in his youth.


    However, the greatest regret of the First Emperor''s life was that he could neverprehend the mysteries. So he made the rule that whoever couldprehend them and resonate with the stele, could not onlymute any sentenceing their way but would instantly be an elite disciple of the Imperial Dao Pavillion. I''m not sure anyone ever seeded, though," Jiyan exined, but if he initially held some hopes, Harun quickly renounced them.


    "That''s naive. I''m not being put on trial because I''m guilty. Why would they give me the tiniest chance to escape?"


    "True, but even if they won''t, the Golden Crow will. That old fogey might look insufferably tyrannical, but he remains the most loyal official to the First Emperor''s will. If you request the Trial of Wisdom, he will uphold the right for you. Of course, this is a temporary measure. You still need to n the aftermath," Jiyan said, then for three hours proceeded to teach Harun about Heaven''s top factions, relevant stories and leading deities.


    "That''s about all I can tell you. Good luck...you whose name I still don''t know."


    "Harun"


    "Good luck, Harun. Hope you survive so that I don''t lose a goofy partner. Night," Jiyan gave Harun a salute, then curled into a ball, shutting down her senses to fall into torpor and resist the Extreme Yin.


    At Harun''s right, the ragged prisoner still snored, making no signs of waking up. Ignoring him, Harun took the lotus position, and closed his eyes.


    ...


    "Just to curry favor with the Golden Cicada Sect, you don''t even hesitate to sell your flesh and blood! Hateful, venomous woman! What did I ever find in you?!"


    "You''ve grown short-sighted. The boy isn''t just a freak, but also a cultivation waste. His only talent is his high tolerance to poisonous substances. By gifting him to the Golden Cicada Sect, we will not only obtain their favor, but get rid of that shameful creature you call sonhitting two birds with one stone. I call that a fantastic bargain."


    "Then let me make myself clear! As you said, Harun is my son! Whoever dares harm him, is who I kill!"


    "Nujen, your cultivation talent is astonishing. Why must you follow your father''s path and ruin your future for this waste?"


    "Sheltering the junior generation is an elder''s responsibility. Harun is my little brother, so even if billions bare their fangs at him, I will protect him."


    "Harun, remember that it is three lives you carry on your shoulders. For the sake of father and I...you must live splendidly. If there is an afterlife, elder brother will try...to still watch over you."


    ...


    Before he could fall into meditation, those memories of his youth resurfaced in Harun''s mind, and from his heterochromatic eyes, killing intent surged.


    "My life is too precious. Since you must insist on iming it, you cannot me me for being heartless. No one can threaten me, and if every debt has a debtor, it is time you start paying your bills," Harun inwardly said and unleashed the Decaying Flower.


    Atst allowed to rampage, the Decaying Flower wantonly sucked the Yin Essence within the cell, leaving an ordinary cold behind. But as it reached beyond the barsattempting to drain the prison to thest bitHarun joined his hands in an uttarabodhi mudra and muttered:


    "Yin Soul Incantation!"

 Chapter 18: The Divine Paths Failures

    Chapter 18: The Divine Path''s Failures


    Using the essence his Decaying Flower gathered as the foundation and the incantation as the medium, Harun overloaded his soul with yin and expelled it from his body. Tailored for espionage tasks, the Yin Soul Incantation enabled Harun to project his soul out of his body and merge with the flow of Yin throughout the atmosphere.


    Harun obtained that incantation alongside the Art of the Decaying Flower, but though he seeded inprehending both, mortal circumstances didn''t enable him to put them to maximum use. In the Extreme Yin Prison, however, the situation became entirely different. Harun''s soul form blurred, bing dark-blue mist before vanishing in the chilling yin waves and sinking into the ground.


    From the moment he set foot in the prison, Harun could feel that underground, a barrier isted an entire floor from both the guards and inmates. The concentration of Yin Essence in that sealed zone put the ground floor to shame. But while for Harun, the sealed zone could lead to massive cultivation gains, his focus remained on the auras shackled there.


    Even from the ground floor, Harun could feel their crushing force, and the closer he got to the source, the more suffocating the pressure became. At the zone''s gate, the quantity of Extreme Yin Essence could freeze a Celestial Knight within a secondmake Ascending Gods beg for their lives and force Heavenly Gods intoplete submission. Sheltered by their Internal Heaven, Empyrean Monarchs could barely maintain their bodily functions.


    Though his current form should have put him above all emotions and sensations, Harun couldn''t help but feel that once he moved past the entrance, he could forfeit his life. But then he recalled that he already had his back against a cliff''s edge, that if he didn''t strive for a way out, he''d die all the same. If not tomorrow, in a week, a month, a yearif the enemy felt generous. Dying the inevitable was no long term solution.


    Setting all apprehension aside, Harun dove incrossing the yin world of dark-blue light tond in a prison akin to the one abovealmost. Here, the floor was the cell. Thousands of divine beasts, from Flood Dragons to White Tigers, from Great Rocs to World Beasts, representatives of ancient divine species, some extinct, some still dominating the 33 Heavens, now stood before Harun bound in spiked chains like some expendable cattle.


    Though all seemed severely suppressed, judging from the quantity of Extreme Yin Essence weighing on them, Harun didn''t doubt that the weakest on the scene was at least at the Ascending God Realm.


    For Harun, this wasn''t difficult topute. Each Celestial Kin level multiplied battle power by two. Celestial Guard levels by three, Knight levels by four and Ascending God levels by six. In his youth, although Harun never gave up on cultivation, due to his low talent, he learned all he could about mathematics and administrative skills, hoping to be of use to the Erdevan n.


    Granted he ultimately refined half of them into cultivation pills and poisoned the rest with the Dancing gue, Harun never forgot what he learned, and could gauge the approximate level needed to survive in this ce.


    Piled up in a sickening pyramid, the fantastical beasts, the smallest of which was at least 15 meters tall, groaned, squealed and wept. Thergest beasts stood at the pyramid''s bottom, shouldering the weight of the smaller, weaker beasts with their willpower and whatever remained of their strength. The farther down the pyramid, the fewer tears and groans Harun heard.


    Those divinely monstrous creatures at the bottom, each over 300 meters tall, kept their eyes shut and their teeth gritted in rage and indignation. For a second, Harun was confused. For the extinct species, he could think of some conspiracy theory. But for those members of Heaven''s hegemonic ns, Harun''s mind formed no coherent reasoning.


    The 33 Heavens'' divine ns were split into four tiers: minor ns, branch ns, noble ns and hegemonic ns.


    The Green Vipers belonged to the minor ns, the Blood Crows to the branch ns and the Vermillion Birds to the noble ns. There were only four hegemonic ns: True Dragon, Phoenix, Great Roc and Golden Crow. As the current imperial n, the Empyreans stood above, and as the former rulers, the Devouring Serpents ranked nowhere.


    But the majority of those beasts under Harun''s gaze belonged to the noble or hegemonic ns. As if they''d been specifically handpicked to live in humiliation. Still one with the yin, Harun closed on the piled up beasts, heading straight toward the unfathomable entities at the bottom.


    But even though he possessed no physical shape, even though their cultivation was suppressed by the squalls of Extreme Yin, those beats felt Harun''s presence, and their ancient eyes locked him from all sides.


    "Golden Crow, false justiciar, sickening barbarian! Eons of siphoning our Life Essence wasn''t enough? Now you must y mind games with us?! Son of a cunt, show yourself!" Before the six other bottom monsters could voice their rage, their leader, a World Beast, opened his mouth.


    Ranking among the most ancient species of the 33 Heavens, World Beasts possessed the body of a white ape and the head of a lynx. Wielding the World-Smiting Divine Power, World Beasts initially stood at the summit of the divine hierarchy. However, the Serpent Emperor''s rise shoved them all into hell. So drastic was the change that some believed that Heaven created the Serpent Emperor to bnce the World Beaststhen lost control of him. Thest of the known members of that n perished in the Second Emperor''s reign. Little did the world know that underneath the Extreme Yin Prison, many still breathed.


    "Alright, I can''t stomach this. Dude, you really need to review your insult portfolio. Everyone''s the son of a cunt. That''s literally how you appear in the world. If you want to nail the guy through his mom, say something ssic like Son of a Bitchor Harlot if you wanna sound fancyor go bang his mom and hang it above his head. But please don''t repeat that C U N T thing. Makes me lose all respect for you, and I don''t even know you yet," Harun said, and turned into a cloud of dark-blue Yin Essence to hover before the World Beast.


    Instantly, the seven bottom hegemons realized that it wasn''t the Golden Crow Ancestor standing before them, and their monstrous eyes contorted into frowns.


    "Who...are you? And how did you step into this ce?" Ignoring Harun''s pique, the World Beast asked.


    "I''m kind of a yin soul. Just call me Extreme Yin Sir. I can do a lot for you, including merging with your bounds and draining them to thest bit. I just need you to do a simple thing: tell me why you''re here," Harun said, and the beasts'' eyes narrowed at him.


    Unless forced by an extreme battle, celestials typically didn''t take their divine beast form. In their minds, they didn''t resemble humans. Humans resembled them. There was no shame in maintaining their lithe and elegant humanoid form. But for one reason or another, the beasts before Harun''s gaze seemed unable to revert to that form. Perhaps the chains were crafted in a unique material preventing them to? Perhaps they merely didn''t want to harm those they held on their backs?


    But as Yin-Cloud-Harun pondered the situation, a nine-tailed White Fox sent the World Beast a mental message.


    "Can''t you feel it, that person exists with the yin. Either those above identally imprisoned someone able to cultivate Extreme Yin, or he''s a new guard with the ability. In any case, he sensed our presence and attempted to probe what he shouldn''t have. This is an opportunity," the White Fox said, and took control of the talks.


    "You want us to tell you why we''re here, but won''t even show your face? How do we know that you''re not the fruit of some sick joke yed by our captor?"


    "You don''t, and I won''t reveal myself until I feel safe. The cultivation road is a struggle for survival. In that struggle you failed and can only wait for death. If this meeting proves fruitless, I too may not have any good day ahead of me. Let''s help one another, shall we?" Harun countered, and the fox made what looked like a nod.


    "We are the failures," the White Fox stated, and instantly, Harun was confused. If entities of this power level called themselves failures, were there any sesses in this world? But knowing that more was on the way, Harun didn''t interrupt him.


    "Form a Divine Host to be a God, refine Heaven''s Will into a paradise to be a Monarch, and craft your own Mandate to take the Imperial Throne. The Divine Path does sound awe-inspiring, but there is one tiny detail no one ever mentions. What happens if you fail to break through?


    From Kin to Guard, from Knight to Ascending God...even from Empyrean Monarch to Dao Emperor, what happens if you fail to break through the peak? This happens. Tribtion clouds will batter you till you either perish, or be a monstrous beast with no rational thinking.


    Us seven Demi-Emperors aside, no monstrous beast could ever maintain their consciousness post breakthrough failure. But even us couldn''t resist the sentence and have been trapped in our beast forms for eons.


    But instead of letting the people n ordingly, the First Emperor used a Divine Law to erase this knowledge from all cultivators. To avoid a purge, Monarchs willingly forgot about it. But Golden Crow didn''t, and with the Emperor''s blessing, hunted down and captured all failures across the eons to refine their Life Essence for Heaven knows what!


    Underneath this world''s soil lies a massive teleportation formation that binds the 33 Heavens together, and automatically rifts surviving failures to this ce for that damned crow to siphon!" The White Fox barked, and his jaw trembled with every word.


    Unprepared for such words, Harun staggered.


    Meanwhile, within Harun''s cell, the ragged prisoner awoke from his sleep and stretched his arms.


    "Man, sleeping on cold prison grounds does have a sweet taste to it, almost makes you feel powerless" the prisoner yawned and nced at Jiyan.


    "I guess that''s why your mom sent you here. What a fucked up woman," the prisoner said and stood up. His unkempt ck hair became a lustrous white, his brown eyes turned icy-blue, but unlike the Empyreans, even the sclera took that shade.


    "Can''t believe the old bastard would give meof all peoplesuch a lousy assignment. Oh well, time to get this over with. I sure hope the boy can pass the test, so I don''t have to start this all over again."


    The white-haired man whispered and vanished in a rainbow-colored whirlwind.

 Chapter 19: Life and Death Stele

    Chapter 19: Life and Death Stele


    From Jiyan, Harun learned all there was to know about the Golden Crow Ancestor. Sworn brother of the Heaven Warding Emperor, disciple andter husband of the Three-Legged Crow, and number one sword of heaven. As his title implied, all Golden Crows could retrace their bloodline to himand history no longer remembered his mortal name.


    ording to Jiyan, following the Heaven Warding Emperor''s death the Golden Crow spent most of his time in seclusion, leaving the reins of the Divine Army in his generals'' hand. And while the Eternal Sun Sect took him as its ancestor, it was the Golden Crow''s eldest son, Rajan''s dead father, that founded it.


    As if trapped in a perpetual race against time, the Golden Crow never mingled with the Gods of his era, to say nothing of today''s deities who, in his eyes, were nothing but toddlers. Even his closest rtives rarely saw his face. If not for a major event such as Agiri''s death, Rajan could never pull him out of seclusion.


    But why did he cultivate? Why did an immortal need Life Essence, a tool primarily used to lengthen lifespans? Did the Golden Crow rely on Life Essence to cross his tribtions? Or did he need it for someone else? But as Harun pondered the truth, he recalled that for the current him, this didn''t matter. As long as he could exploit the situation to his advantage, nothing else mattered.


    "Interesting. But the knowledge of this reality doesn''t change much. It''s not like there is another cultivation path we can tread. So ultimately, we will still walk this one. Right now, billions believe that failure only means a brutal death, and therefore build the strongest foundation they can before attacking realm breakthroughs. Without confidence, many prefer sitting at the peak of their realm and only risk the breakthrough when their lifespan nears its end.


    But once they realize they risk more than death, that they risk turning into monstrous beasts thirsting for the blood of their beloved, how many will still brave uncertainty? I''ve seen the current generation of celestials. Most can only think about how to live the most splendid life possiblethat includes me. The only difference is that others disguise it behind lofty aspirations. I know that I live for loafing.


    The 33 Heavens face no natural enemy. All threatse from the inside. Why would people risk their all to pursue strength they have no use for? In such an environment, don''t say Monarchs. I''m afraid Heavenly Gods would be myths. Your so-called ''let the people n ordingly,'' just means making the world idle," Harun said, and immediately, the seven Demi-Emperors'' gazes hardened. True, if they knew they were destined to be mindless beasts, among the thousands of beasts piled up in this pyramid of flesh, scales, feather and fur, how many would still brave the breakthrough?


    "Still, this doesn''t change the fact that Golden Crow capitalized on your ignorance, that knowing that many of you were destined to this fate, he set up a formation to trap you all and drain you across eons. That the Heaven Warding Emperor knew of this and supported him. Perhaps from the beginning, it was the emperor himself who bound the 33 Heavens in that dreadful formationtreating you like pigs, filthy swine they can collect and butcher at will," Harun said in a level tone, but the calmer his words sounded, the more infuriated the seven Demi-Emperors became.


    "Shut up!"


    "Do you think that just because we''re tied up, you can insult us as you please?"


    "Yes I can," Harun cut before the monstrous beast leaders'' rant peaked. For a second, silence dropped and their eyes zed with incredulity.


    "I want to say that you''ve been turned into prettymbs, but the truth speaks for itself. Right now you''re the filthiest of pigs trapped in a divine ughterhouse, awaiting death with loud grunts. But I''m not telling you this to shame you. I''m reminding you of the reality because I want to know, what will you do once you''re out of here?


    Will you scatter and crawl toward the tiniest hope of survival? Or unite to make the 33 Heavens tremble? In this era where no Dao Emperor stands, will you raise the g of rebellion, challenge Golden Crow and perhaps...Heaven itself?" Harun asked. Although individually those seven beasts couldn''t match the Golden Crow Ancestor, each possessed aplete Internal Heaven and an iplete Mandate. Once they united, an unfathomable result awaited. And only in that chaos could Harun evade his current cmity.


    From the moment he realized the true value of his Double Pupils, Harun knew that in one way or another, he had to leave the 33 Heavens. How many could be like Jiyan and know of his abilities but still treat him with sincerity? He couldn''t count on the world. So the best option was to throw it into chaos and slip out of their reach.


    By now, the Demi-Emperors teemed with rage. Although some knew that Harun was purposely riling them up, the undeniable truth in his words struck them hard.


    "We didn''t set foot on the cultivation road to be the blood farm of some hypocritical god! Our only crime was a failed breakthrough. Why did we deserve such cruelty? It isn''t us who forsook Heaven. It is Heaven that forsook us! Extreme Yin Sir, if you can free us from this ce''s suppression, we pledge to rebel against Heaven''s Will, batter the 33 Heavens, and forge for our brethren..a new cultivation path!" Following a brief mental exchange, the seven Demi-Emperors proimed.


    "Then let''s make a Dao Pledge. Due to the quantity and potency of this ce''s Extreme Yin, I will need a few days to fully drain it. Afterward, do the both of us a favor andravage the Heavens!"


    ...


    Separated from its soul, Harun''s body lost many of its abilities. But with his Divine Sense, Harun could still pilot it. His eyes opened, darting between Jiyan and the sleeping prisoner. Right, in Harun''s eyes, the prisoner was still there.


    From the start, Harun found the man fishy. From how the guards didn''t seem aware of his existence, to how he could leisurely sleep in such an environment. It was almost as if he could alter truth and falsehood as he pleasedgoing beyond mere illusions. But the fisher he was, the less Harun wished to interact with him. Who knew what deranged mind hid in his brain?


    Instead, Harun''s eyes lingered on Jiyan, who without Yin Essence to worry about, slept like a dormouse. For a second, Harun couldn''t help but think that if she knew what he just did, perhaps Jiyan wouldn''t have been so eager to help him. An uneventful night followed, and at the first gong of the next day, guards came to bring him to the trial groundthis time, their eyes didn''t sweep either the ragged prisoner or Jiyan.


    Brought into an open-air courtroom, Harun stood before a gathering of high-ranking officials that nked the God-Empress, Grand Preceptor and Imperial Chancellor. With those three presiding the trial, all could foresee the verdict. Strangely, as if he''d already given up on the Sovereign Pupils, Rajan wasnt on the scene.


    "Harun Erdevan, you stand here used of robbing and consuming the Peaches of Immortality, disrespecting the 33 Heavens'' top officials, and smearing the name of the Imperial Family. After much deliberation, we have decided to" the Grand Preceptor began, but before he could finish his words, Harun yawned and raised his right hand.


    "I don''t have time for this. I wish to put my life in the First Emperor''s hands and request the Trial of Wisdom," Harun said, and for a second, as if their brains failed stopped at the words, the officials'' eyes zed over. Faster than the others, Dilnaz regained her witsa frown took hold.


    "How does he know?" was Dilnaz''s first thought. Considering Harun''s background and position, unless someone warned him beforehand, there was no way he could have known of the Life and Death Stele. And to prevent an unexpected turn, Dilnaz specifically asked to have him put in an empty cell.


    Where then did he get this knowledge?


    Confused, Dilnaz contacted Harun''s guards.


    "Didn''t I ask you to keep him isted from all other inmates?"


    "We did just that. The boy was alone from beginning to end," the guards replied to Dilnaz''s inquiry.


    Meanwhile, Chancellor and Preceptor regained their wits, both sneering at Harun.


    "Very well, is there anyone here willing to lead him to the Life and Death Revolution Stele?" The Imperial Chancellor asked, and instantly, the gathered officials burst intoughter. Although his venomous tongue could drown a saint, the boy was ultimately too nave. Did he really think that any one of them would help him out of this bind?


    "See? It''s not that I don''t want to help you. I don''t know the stele''s location. And apparently, no one here does. Who knows, maybe in one of his bouts thete emperor threw it into the sea? Without recourse, we can only follow thew. Guards, bring him to the Immortal Reaving Formation," the Imperial Chancellor shrugged and motioned for the guards to take Harun away.


    But at that time


    "This old man just so happens to know the way. Boy, follow me." A mild yet crushing voice boomed across the sky, a blinding sun took form, and from it descended an old deity d in golden armor. Landing beside Harun, the mighty god sped his shoulder, ready to take him away.


    "Damn it, Golden Crow! A wise man doesn''t go against the tide!"


    "The 33 Heavens'' hegemonic ns have all agreed to bury this boy, so he must be buried!"


    "Aren''t you worried about the rise of a new Serpent Emperor? Must we all return to the days of chafing in that tyrant''s yoke?"


    "Stop bullying us!" Preceptor and Chancellor bellowed in session. But their pleas fell on deaf ears, and ignoring them, Golden Crow turned into a shaft of golden lightleading Harun toward the Emperor''s Pce. At his speed that neared teleportation, Harun wouldn''t even get to observe the surroundings, one moment he stood before the officials, the next a white and ck stele reced them.


    High of three meters, besides its uncanny ck and white color, the stele looked ordinary, and didn''t seem to contain any profound mystery. However, on its surface, Harun found familiar words.


    "Life and Death intertwine in the shadow of the eternal night. One soul trapped in endless reincarnations. Wither to bloom and in decay harvest the samsara." Those words thundered in Harun''s mind, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. In that instant, Harun realized that perhaps, his luck hadn''t run out yet.


    "I know what you must be thinking. Those cryptic mnemonics left countless gods powerless. Even the First Emperor couldn''tprehend them. Although Sovereign Pupils give you sky-high sensitivity to the Grand Dao, you shouldn''t have much hope. Still, do your best," the Golden Crow Ancestor said and stepped back.


    "Do your best my ass. Those are the mnemonics of my cultivation method. At this point, even a pig can''t fail," Harun wanted to say, but restrained himself, instead lowering his head in a half-defeated stance.


    With a sigh, he sat crossed-legged before the stele, ignoring the waves of deities that made their way toward the Emperor''s Pce. An invisible wall blocked them at the gate, preventing them from interrupting the event.


    "It should be fine. Even with Sovereign Pupils, with a fourth-level Celestial Kin cultivation base, what can he aplish?"


    "Right, what kind of man was the First Emperor? A peerless powerhouse, the 33 Heavens'' second Dao Emperor. When even he couldn''t make the stele resonate, who can?"


    "The Empyreans have the highest sensitivity to the Grand Dao, but their three Dao Emperors all failed toprehend the stele''s mysteries. How can this boy possibly achieve it?"


    "Right, even if the Serpent Emperor returned, he would most likely f"


    GONG!


    "It''s resonating already?!"


    Before the gathered gods'' astonished gazes, ck and white mist poured out of the Life and Death Stele and the sound of a struck gong resounded across the 33 Heavens. Regardless of where they stood, all could hear that gong. Even the ancients sealed to evade Cosmic Tribtions heard it as if they stood on the scene.


    To say nothing of the officials, for the first time in many years, the Golden Crow Ancestor lost hisposure, and his entire body shook.


    "So fast? Wasn''t he struggling with thoughts of failure a moment ago? Why is the stele already ringing? It''s not even been three full seconds. What the hell is this?" Golden Crow snapped.


    Dilnaz, who all along feared this exact turn, seethed with rage. And while wild emotions shook his spectators, Harun''s Divine Sense drifted into the stele where a world of overwhelming darkness awaited. It was as if the weight of the eternal cycle, the weight of endless reincarnations stood in every corner of the stele''s inner world. One single light orb stood in the distance, struggling against the darkness to open a door into freedom.


    Subconsciously, Harun stood up, stepped toward the orb and reached out. The orb copsed into six strands of white light that dove into Harun''s brain, writing pages worth of mnemonics in his soul.


    The figure of a 1.9 meters tall, muscr youth, with long white hair, icy-blue eyes and a face that reached divine perfection shed before Harun''s eyes. Dressed in a ck robe embroidered with a nine-headed blue dragon, the youth winked at Harun and vanished from his sight.


    For a reason he couldn''tprehend, Harun found that youth''s figure familiar, yet couldn''t put a name on it.


    The scene around him crumbled, and Harun''s divine sense returned to his body. His eyes opened wide. A ck-white beam shot toward the sky, tearing open a space crack from which three figures descended. The sudden change drew all deities'' attention, and no one noted the white-haired man that madly cackled in the skythen again, if he didn''t want them to see him, they couldn''t.


    "Hahaha! The boy seeded! The old bastard was right! He''s always right, actually. Well, good for me. Gotta go home before I find my wives lying in the old bastard''s bed," the man said, and stretched out his right hand. A golden token emerged from his palm, and while the deities'' eyes focused on the three neers, the token flew into Harun''s skull, and merged with his brain.


    "Congrattions, boy, this thing was crafted by the old bastard himself. Hopefully you don''t use it to make the world burn. Then again, wouldn''t that be fun?" The white-haired man chortled, and in swirling rainbow clouds, left the 33 Heavens.


    In the meantime, once the golden token stabilized in his brain, a robotic voice echoed in Harun''s mind:


    "Supreme Founder System Initialization


    Initializationplete...


    Voice recalibration...


    Heyo boss! Wee to the Supreme Founder System! You have been selected by the Ancestral One toplete the grand task of founding History''s Number One Sect!


    In sess, bitches and booze are yours to take!


    In failure...death will hug you tight!"

 Chapter 20: Ten-Thousand Sect War Declaration

    Chapter 20: Ten-Thousand Sect War Deration


    "Strange...why am I hearing voices? My brain must have gotten wrecked by the stele. No other exnation," Harun reasoned as the system''s entric voice rang in his mind, and ignored both the neers and voice to focus on the pages of mnemonics that flooded his brain.


    "Wait, he''s ignoring me? Why is he ignoring me? This is incorrect. Hey listen up, I''m your system! The Supreme Founder System! You need to get in and learn the gist of your job! Speak, damn it!" The system caterwauled within Harun''s mind, but to no avail. It was as if in that moment, Harun had reached anatmanputting him above all worldly matters. Regardless of how the system squealed, it couldn''t disturb Harun''s inner peace, and soon ran out of fuel.


    "Boss, sir, Your Grand Magnificence, please open your heart to your humble servant and let''s cooperate," the system changed its tune.


    "Ha, there''s really someone. My brain is upied by a sycophant. Or did I rub elbows with so many pricks that my mind created an alternative persona to glorify me? Must be so" Believing he cracked the mystery, Harun was about to again ignore the system when..."There''s a golden token in your brain," it used its killing mace. Skeptical, Harun studied his brain with his Divine Sense and realized that, indeed, a golden token now stood embedded within.


    rmed, Harun considered surgically removing his brain or possessing a fresh body. But as if expecting the thoughts, the system said, "and regardless of where you go, as long as you still have a body of flesh and blood, the token will follow you. To get rid of me, you only have two options:


    A) Get destroyed in body and soul. Whoever nuked you will receive the token.


    B) Complete the Main Quest.


    If you don''t believe me, we can try," the system said, and though Harun remained somehow skeptical, he was forced to ept that a new entity had somehow found its way into his brain. Meanwhile, the 33 Heavens top deities'' eyes locked on the spatial crack and the three men that emerged from it. The first hid behind a shroud that seemed cast by the Dao, the second, an old monk stood on top of a blooming lotus with golden Sanskrit flying around him, and the third, a child Daoist alternated between life and death.


    On the scene, besides Golden Crow, none could recognize those three''s appearances. However, by relying on their ns'' records, the deities could guess their identity.


    "The Three Primevals," Dilnaz whispered. In the 33 Heavens'' history, each time a God-Emperor imed the Imperial Seal and obtained the Mandate of Heaven, the Three Primevals appeared to give their congrattions and have a meeting with the new emperor. No one knew what they discussed, what cultivation base those three possessed, or where they came from. However, the seeding emperors all treated them with courtesy, making many believe that they should at least be Demi-Emperors. Or perhaps, just perhaps, true Dao Emperors!


    The three''s Divine Senses swept the gathered deities, lingering on Dilnaz and Golden Crow before staring at Harun. Those three aside, they didn''t pay anyone on the scene much attention. Beyond, however, they spotted several existences worth noting.


    "Agiri, the third God-Emperor, died without an heir. Of the current officials and divine princes, none is qualified to im the Imperial Seal and shoulder the Mandate of Heaven. Your ambitions and aspirations are irrelevant. In cultivation or heart, you do not have what it takes," the Shrouded Primeval started, and instantly, from high-ranking officials to imperial kin, all were incensed.


    Those Primevals had not even spent a minute in theirnd that they were already berating them. Could there be a more grant disy of disrespect? But while many wanted to quibble, in fear of the other party''s unknown strength, they didn''t dare risk their necks.


    "Still, the Mandate must have a master. For the sake of the 33 Heavens, someone must shoulder this responsibility. We''ve therefore set up a trial to ensure that from your lot, man or woman, someone rises and proves worthy of the Imperial Seal.


    Race and background hold no weight. Good and evil are irrelevant. The will and abilities you forge through this trial shall speak for themselves," the Shrouded Primeval exined, and as expected, his words made the deities'' eyes stretch to absurd length while their ears twitched, as if to make sure that they didn''t hear wrong.


    More than the others, Dilnaz''s eyes trembled. With one word from those outsiders, the title of imperial kin no longer held any weight. All were free to fight for the crownputting the rightful house at the same level as any pretender. If she allowed this to pass, a chaotic future awaited them all. For once, Dilnaz considered relying on the Golden Crow Ancestor, believing that the ancient deity would never permit the urrence of such a thing.


    However, Golden Crow seemed calm and unbotheredas if he not only expected but wished for the events to take this turn. Through the ancient deity''s eyes, Dilnaz realized that despite her empress rank, there were many truths and agreements she wasn''t privy to. Ultimately, having only cultivated for over 200,000 years, she was too young. With Agiri''s coronation having taken ce over 900,000 years before her birth, there was too much she didn''t witness. Only those sealed fossils could enlighten her.


    In tandem, the Three Primevals waved their hands, conjuring 9,999 silver tokens. A few flew into some of the present deities'' brains, the others, however, went beyond, seeking hosts to bury themselves into. At the exception of Golden Crow, all instantly forgot who received the 9,999 tokens.


    "Ten-thousand people were selected to hold Sect Masters Tokens. 9,999 silver tokens and 1 golden token. The silver tokens have no special ability and only give you an official position in the trial. The golden token is your true target, holding many unique functions that will assist its owner in building an invincible sect.


    Each token owner represents a sect. As such, if you don''t own one, hurry up and create or conquer it. But whether or not you possess a token, your task is to snatch the golden token from its host, and either exterminate or subjugate all silver token owners. At the end of this game, one sect master must hold all the tokens to proim himself the 10,000 Sect Sovereign. The Imperial Seal will subsequently fall in his hand, enabling him to im the Mandate of Heaven.


    We hereby announce the 10,000 Sect War.


    Loot, coerce, deceive, charm, plunder. Leave a blood sea in your wake if you please. Use whatever means you fancy. So long as in the end you wield the 10,000 tokens, this Realm and its trillions of lives are yours!"


    The Shrouded Primeval proimed, ushering the true beginning of the Anarchic Era.

 Chapter 21: Whos Challenging Who?

    Chapter 21: Who''s Challenging Who?


    The Shrouded Primeval''s words echoed like a thunderp, stirring the blood and rousing the spirits of the gathered Gods. Their taskplete, the three Primevals turned into streaks of light and vanished through the spatial crackit closed behind them.


    "I can be the emperor" For a second, regardless of their strength or background, those five words sprouted in many of the officials'' minds. But even as their blood boiled, their dted pupils gave them the looks of mortals trapped in irresistible fantasies. Then, as if bound in one mind, they burst intoughter.


    Meanwhile, Harun maintained a poised exterior. But in his heart, he couldn''t stop cursing the Primevals.


    "You gotta be kidding me. This is not funny. Please tell me there''s no way for them to realize I have that token," Harun asked the system.


    "Well, actually, there is one person who will soon be able to sense the tokens'' location. We call them the Hunter. Whoever controls the Hunter can track all other token holders. This is the kind of top-notch intel you can only get by having me. Impressed yet?" The system replied in acent tone. If it possessed a body, it''d probably be sticking its chest out, hands on either side of its waist.


    s, Harun had no time to feel proud and ted. The Life and Death Revolution Stele shrank to be a palm-sized stone, and without a word, Harun picked it up, storing it in his cosmic pouch. He then closed his eyes to study the pages of mnemonics he got from the stele with his Divine Sense.


    Lost in their surging emotions, the deities paid Harun no attention. Only the Golden Crow Ancestor saw the move, but again, he didn''t seem to care. And while the officials nned their next moves, Golden Crow''s voice thundered.


    "Harun Erdevan made the stele resonate, sessfullypleting the Trial of Wisdom. He will now be granted the title of Recognized Schr, absolved of all crimes, and weed into the Imperial Dao Pavilion as a core disciple," Golden Crow dered, turned into a ball of golden mes, and left the scene. His words reminded all officials that an unparalleled cultivation resourcey beneath their noses. But though frustrated by Harun''s sess, they weren''t too concerned.


    "It might be better this way. Once he returns to the wild, we can hunt him in the shadows and snatch his pupils before the others can," the Imperial Chancellor, current leader of the Great Roc n, told his nsmen through a mental message, and left alongside them.


    "From now on, we outwardly maintain a courteous rtionship with the imperial n but n their downfall. If we can force the Empyreans and Golden Crows into an all-out sh, with our Phoenix n''s resources, victory is within sight," the Grand Preceptor told his subordinates, bowed toward Dilnaz, and left the scene.


    Ignoring them, Dilnaz narrowed her eyes at Harun. The Golden Crow made his stance clear. Unless she was willing to draw swords, she could only let Harun escape.


    The Imperial Dao Pavilion was an academy founded by the second emperor to groom talents for the imperial n. Empyreans aside, many promising youths from houses loyal to the imperial n received the Imperial Dao Pavilion''s nurturing.


    While as God-Empress, Dilnaz wielded great authority in the pavilion, in the absence of a sitting emperor, the Minister of the Imperial n, Agiri''s youngest brother, was its true master. Worse, once they awoke from torpor, the old fossils would elect a new n master behind whom they could unite the nrobbing Dilnaz of her current authority.


    Divided by internal and external problems, step by step, the Empyreans headed toward a colossal disaster. Dilnaz didn''t trust any of her n''s men to set the situation right. If they could, they wouldn''t be here to begin with. All were worthless. She could only trust herself.


    Dilnaz''s eyes rxed, and she sent the imperial guards a mental message, "Release Jiyan and send the Commandant a message to return early and meet me in my pce." She ordered and teleported back to her quarters. Leader of the Divine Armament n, the Commandant of the Imperial Guard was a living tool of massacre who, until a new n master was appointed, only obeyed Dilnaz''s orders. By joining their strength, they could aplish much in a short time.


    But while officials and gods left to prepare their forces for the uing war, a bellicose voice broke the false peace.


    "Harun Erdevan, congrattions on making the stele resonateachieving what even God-Emperors couldn''t. Through this feat you proved the 33 Heavens'' disdain for the mortal-born celestials contemptible. Perhaps all along, our bias buried a myriad of talents.


    Awed by your aplishment, and eager to test the truth, the juniors of my Golden Crow n ask for apetition between mortal-born and heaven-born of the Celestial Kin Realm. You have one week to pick your team. Win and we shall grant you 500,000 Divine Jades and a cultivation method of your choice. Lose, and you must reject the Imperial Dao Pavilion to join my Eternal Sun Sect.


    Harun Erdevan, do you dare ept?" Rajan''s overbearing voice reverberated across the Highest Heaven, rming all regardless of where they stood. Even Dilnaz had not expected that Rajan would resort to such a moveas if from the get go, he had full confidence in Harun''s sess and was only waiting for this instant. Now Dilnaz couldn''t help but wonder if it wasn''t Rajan that told Harun about the Trial of Wisdom.


    But as all deities of the Highest Heaven cursed the Golden Crow n and wondered what Harun''s reaction would be, his eyes opened wide, and his lips curled into an angelic grin.


    "Unnecessary. Two years in the 33 Heavens was more than enough for me to realize that thisnd''s junior generation...is a huge pile of trash. Bitches that walk with a stick the size of a pagoda stuck in their asses. I do not have the time to smack them one after the other, and can''t bear forcing my fellow mortal-born to deal with such junk, so I give you all an open challenge!


    In one week, within the Imperial Dao Pavilion, I, Harun Erdevan, will ept the challenges of all celestials below the age of 200 and pledge on my Dao to willingly give up my eyes to whoever can defeat me!


    Feel free toe, the more the merrier. But if you happen to lose your life, please don''t me me!


    33 Heavens, do you dare ept?" Harun bellowed, instantly throwing Heaven into a frenzy.

 Chapter 22: Treating Lives as Casual Bids

    Chapter 22: Treating Lives as Casual Bids


    "He''s stark raving mad," officials and gods came to a unanimous conclusion. In the history of the 33 Heavens, the Serpent Emperor aside, who ever had the gall to challenge an entire generation? Did recent sesses inte the boy''s self-esteem past reasonable limits, or was he just that mad?


    "Did heprehend a profound secret art from the stele? Or...wait, the stele is gone?" Only now did the deities take notice of the stele''s disappearancewariness twisted their eyes. The Life and Death Stele was an iparably mysterious monument that left even emperors puzzled. But within three seconds, the boy could make it resonate. No one would believe that a deep connection between them didn''t exist.


    Worse, mysteries aside, they still had to figure out if the stele could turn into an artifact, what type of artifact, and the might it could disy. While most artifacts possessed matching Qi requirements, there were always exceptions to the rule. The more they reasoned, the more the officials felt that Harun''s goading attempt was too obvious. Clearly, he didn''t fear them.


    The Sovereign Pupils possessed irresistible appeal, but without their lives, how could they enjoy it? A probe became necessary.


    "The White Tiger nplies with the Dao agreement and will dispatch 300 disciples below 200," said a gruff man with bronze-skin and a burly frame. The 33 Heavens'' sects and ns were toorge. For those at the top, finding a few hundred sacrificialmbs posed no challenge. At the same time, for those young disciples, the chance to snatch the Sovereign Pupilsthereby bing the most honored members of their factionwas a once in a lifetime opportunity they wouldn''t miss for the world.


    No one cared that without his pupils, Harun would lose his life. But he bet that faced with his obvious taunt, most of those old goats wouldn''t dare risk their prized juniors. That craving the eye but unwilling to risk valuable necks, they''d send the expendable en masse to probe the truththereby giving him precisely what he wanted.


    For indeed, as hepleted the sorting of his new mnemonics, Harun realized...that it was time for him to die.


    Unlike what some might expect, those mnemonics weren''t cultivation methods or peerless secret artsbut remembrance chants. Each chant triggered the recollection of a person''s life and the myriad of reincarnations they went through before their soul copsed. Some chants even showed the past incarnations of men or women, creatures that still breathed somewhere in this vast world.


    Humans, beasts, ghosts, yamas, asuras; though many more species stood on the stele, those five held key positions, and seemed to point toward one precise mystery: the Power of Reincarnation.


    As he pondered their mysteries, Harun could feel a bridge, or rather a session of joined bridges, take shape in his mind. The joined bridges and the cycle they formed demanded that Harun abandon the false divine path to step on the true road. And as an indescribable feeling of enlightenment fueled him, even without guidance, Harun knew what he had to do.


    "The Vermillion Bird nplies with the Dao agreement and will send 400 disciples."


    "The Great Roc nplies with the Dao agreement and will send 550 disciples.


    "The Phoenix nplies with the Dao agreement and will send 600 disciples."


    "The Dragon nplies with the Dao agreement and will send 800 disciples."


    One after the other, Heaven''s noble and hegemonic ns pledged to dispatch hundreds of disciples to meet Harun''s challenge. Over thirty ns came forward, none put out less than 100, and on average, they each dispatched 300 disciples. With over 9000 contestants, Harun''s heart teemed with joy. By now, he was only waiting for two ns to make their pledges: the Empyrean and Golden Crow ns.


    Both hesitated. Dilnaz didn''t believe that anything worthwhile coulde out of this confrontation. Assuming Harun lost and died, whoever got his eyes automatically became the target of thousandsheading straight toward damnation. And that was a big "Assuming." The more she observed the youth, the more Dilnaz realized that while he seemed erratic and unreliable, he wouldn''t do anything that''d bring him no benefit. No longer taking Harun for a powerless boy, Dilnaz wondered how unwise it was to feed her foe''s ns.


    Rajan held simr thoughts. As he secretly held a high opinion of mortal-born celestials, Rajan believed that one with Sovereign Pupils could definitely break the stele''s mysteries and stood ready to point Harun toward that path through a mental message. Seeing that someone beat him to it, he remained in the shadows and focused on the aftermath. Now taking Harun as a man of indomitable spirit, Rajan believed that if strong juniors were destined to die, sending the weak ones only helped build a pile of corpses.


    In that instant, both Rajan and Dilnaz were ready to back off. But one voice shattered their thoughts.


    "The Empyrean nplies with the Dao agreement and will send one disciple," a harsh-sounding voice echoed, as if its owner forced the words out of his throat. Hearing that voice, at the exception of Harun, all were petrifiedDilnaz even more so.


    "Are those sealed fossils already emerging from torpor?" All wondered, and it didn''t take a genius to realize that if the Empyreans only sent one, that one would be worth 10,000. Instantly, the officials and gods realized...that only one person could fit the bill, and fury twisted Dilnaz''s mesmerizing face.


    Harun didn''t care, whoever came, whoever died. But as all deities'' thoughts went to that Empyrean disciple''s name, fearing that the Empyreans'' killing mace could indeed foil Harun''s ns, Rajan made his bid:


    "The Golden Crow nplies with the Dao agreement, and will send three disciples." Again, all could guess the three names. And while their appearances could tip the scales, the leaders of the noble and hegemonic ns didn''t change their ns. Unlike the Golden Crows and Empyreans, the junior generation of their ns hadn''t produced many prodigies.


    They couldn''t afford to risk them in uncertainty. And seeing that despite being faced by over 9,000 disciples from Heaven''s top factions, Harun remained stoic, they couldn''t help but cling on their previous choices.


    "Over 9,000 disciples from Heaven''s top factions, all for my little neck. Even if I die, my name will be remembered across all eras. What regret can I have? Gentlemen, go prepare yourds. We shall meet again in one wee" Harun started, but before he could finish his words, another voice came from the distance and butted in.


    "The Twin-Headed Purple Snake n will send 300 disciplesto back Harun Erdevan."


    And then it began.


    "The Sovereign Cobra n will send 500 disciplesto back Harun Erdevan."


    "The Feathered Python n will send 800 disciplesto back Harun Erdevan."


    "The Nine-Headed Hydra n will send 1000 disciplesto back Harun Erdevan."


    An unprecedented silence dropped on the scene, and this time, even Harun became speechless. But the worse had yet toe.


    "The Devouring Serpent nplies with the Dao agreement, and will send seven disciplesto back Harun Erdevan."

 Chapter 23: The Supreme Founders Plight

    Chapter 23: The Supreme Founder''s Plight


    "You gotta be kidding me. When you need support the world ignores you, but when you just wanna die, they send legions to back you up? What nonsense is this?" Harun inwardly scolded all serpents of the Highest Heavens. Unlike the other ns which were scattered across the 33 Heavens, all main branches of the serpent n lived in seclusion within the Highest Heaven, clouded by an ancient formation even Monarchs couldn''t peer through.


    ording to Jiyan, a Dao Emperor''s all-out attack was the minimum requirement to break that formation. A theory no one could prove, because after the Serpent Emperor''s defeat and his n''s retreat into the Serpent Domain, from the Heaven Warding Emperor to Agiri, no Dao Emperor ever attempted to breach the Serpent Domain''s formationleaving the remnant rulers of the Immemorial Era in peace.


    In the 3.5 million years following their defeat, members of the Devouring Serpents and their subordinate ns rarely left the Serpent Domain. But whenever they did, their deeds shocked the world. Most infamous among them was their contemporary n master, Lord Sv. Unlike lesser lines, the noble and hegemonic ns didn''t have family names. There was only one Golden Crow n, one Phoenix n, one Empyrean n, and of course, one Devouring Serpent n.


    Born within the second Cosmic Cycle of Agiri''s reign, wielding Heterochromatic Double Pupils, Sv reached the Empyrean Monarch Realm in 30,000 years,pleted his Internal Heaven in 100,000, and with the cultivation of a peak-level Monarch, defeated the Empyrean n''s elders to challenge Agiri in battle.


    Although the sh resulted in Sv''s defeat, he managed the unthinkable feat of slicing off Agiri''s left arm. And over 3.5 million years following the Serpent Emperor''s defeat, the Golden Crow Ancestor aside, Sv remains the only non-Emperor able to fight tooth and nails with a sitting Dao Emperor. And this...was nearly 900,000 years ago!


    Dark-green clouds gathered above the imperial pce, blending to form the illusory shape of a monstrous serpent with bulky arms and massive wed hands. Though that illusory serpent remained 300 meters tall, it gave the misconception that with a thought, it could extend to cover all across the Highest Heaven.


    From this domineering image, a middle-aged man dropped, dressed in a ck robe embroidered with a coiling serpent and phoenix, bright-red phoenix feathers hovered around him, contrasting with the serpent image above his head. Once he made his entrance, members of the Phoenix n felt the bitter taste of shame cover their tongues. Their eyes trembled with rage, but they dared not make any rash move.


    "The ruling line of the Devouring Serpent n sessfully inherited the blood of the Phoenix Empress and wield two crushing Divine Powers. Giving them a distinct advantage over other hegemonic ns," Harun recalled. Regardless of parentage, celestials could only wield one Divine Power. The Devouring Serpents were the exception to this rule, and could assimte one extra Divine Power in their lifeor start out with two if their parents came from different ns.


    As the Devouring Serpent blood overpowered all others, intermarriage with their subordinate ns enabled the former to assimte many Divine Powers. Making most of the Devouring Serpent nsmen start out with two. Still, the ruling line''sbination remained by far the strongest.


    Dropping at Harun''s right, Sv ignored all others to focus his orange and green Double Pupils on Harun. For a second, while Sv''s eyes observed him with scrutiny, Harun felt an ufortable silence settle in. Then the unthinkable urred. Sv sped his hands in greetings and kneeled toward Harun.


    "No no no no no! Don''t you dare!" Harun inwardly screamed, but to no avail. The words he feared still left Sv''s lips.


    "Greetings n master, greetings Son of Heaven, please forgive your humble servant for arrivingte to your rescue!" Sv eximed, making the eyes of all deities on the scene almost pop out of their sockets.


    "Rescue my ass! You are killing me!" Harun wanted to say, but forced himself to restrain the wordsinstead helping Sv up. And as confusion settled in the officials and deities'' eyes, Sv swept them with his Double Pupils:


    "Taking advantage of my Devouring Serpent n''s seclusion, you worthless pieces of trash, scums from the lowest reaches, dared bare your filthy fangs at my n''s reincarnated sovereign?


    The nerve!" Sv bellowed and stretched out his hands. Above his head, a rainbow-colored whirlpool formed, and from it emerged the picture of an idylld where billions of men and women lived in harmony, worshiping mighty idols representing Sv!


    "A seven-colored Internal Heaven" the deities realized in awe. Monarchs'' Internal Heavens could have seven colors, seven grades, each several times more terrifying than the other. For those that remembered his name, that Sv possessed aplete Internal Heaven of the highest grade wasn''t surprising. But faced with the pressure of that seven-colored Internal Heaven, even Monarchs could feel their legs tremble.


    Worst, unlike the weaker officials, Monarchs could feel a Divine Authority take shape within Sv''s Heaven, proof that he''d already taken half-a-step into the Dao Emperor Realm!


    But while this ancient god''s deterrence suppressed legions of officials, the system''s voice thundered in Harun''s mind.


    "Bullshit! What reincarnated n sovereign? Masterfuledian. Can a man be more shameless? He obviously wants to use the g of righteousness to take control of your eyes! If you believe him, you won''t even know how you die!" The system warned, speaking the words on Harun''s lips.


    Indeed, Harun wasn''t so nave as to think that just because he possessed Sovereign Pupils, the Devouring Serpent n would bow to him. How could a man who dared challenge a sitting emperor be so willing to bow to a "boy?"


    No, this was just an act to give Harun a sense of belonging and lead him into a fiery pit. And indeed, the system and Harun were both correct. While some members of the Devouring Serpent n could potentially submit to Harun, Sv didn''t belong to their ranks. For once he took the eyes, there was no need to wait for the ancestor''s return. He''d instantly be...the new Serpent Emperor.

 Chapter 24: He Lives in You

    Chapter 24: He Lives in You


    Oozing zeal, Sv spun toward Harun, again bowed in reverence, and cupped his hands toward him. Within the Devouring Serpent Lord''s palms, all were startled to see a silver tiger token around which fments of light swirled: a sect master token. From the Devouring Serpent apparition blotting the sky, four figures dropped, all presenting their tokens to Harun.


    "All serpents under the heavens only have one sovereignyou, master! That being the case, what use can those tokens have for us. Our resources are yours, our cultivators are yours, our sects are yours, our lives are yours! Since you''ve chosen to establish your might by trampling on all those worthless ns, we shan''t stop you and must support you! But Master, please return to the Serpent n and rally us all behind the one righteous banner!" Sv eximed, with his heterochromatic eyes reddened by emotion.


    In tandem, the other serpent n masters kowtowed and proimed the same words, "Master, please return to the Serpent n and rally us all behind the one righteous banner!"


    Instantly, Harun staggered. Although the identity of the sect masters remained secret, the officials and deities could guess that some people would definitely receive a token. The Golden Crow Ancestor, Dilnaz, Rajan, and of course, Sv. If the likes of them didn''t receive a token, who else was qualified? All hegemonic deities of the 33 Heavens most definitely possessed one. Thus, no one was surprised to see the silver tokens in the serpent leaders'' hands. But who could imagine that they''d so candidly pull them out and offer them to Harun?


    It was almost as if they were screaming to the world: "Even if you know that we have them, what can you do? We stand here, attack if you dare!" And no one dared. Such confidence put gods in awe, such loyalty put officials to shame. Now, many failed to doubt Sv''s sincerity, and for a second, just a second, Harun even questioned his skepticism. But right afterward, he regained his senses, and arched his head back.


    "To think that in this world, there are still such loyal subordinates. I have not lived in vain. Lord Sv, n leaders, please rise," Harun said while storing the tokens, and wiped off a teardrop tickling down his right cheek.


    "Since you insist on my return, I shall not disappoint you. However, I have made a Dao Pledge to meet the 33 Heavens'' challenge? How can I retreat? The agreement stands unbroken, for now I must head toward the Imperial Dao Pavilion and prepare for the war. Still, I wee your assistance. Lord Sv, I believe there is much you wish to discuss, please follow me," Harun said while helping the n leaders up, greeting them all with a warm gaze and a smile as soothing as the sunset.


    Believing Harun had been convinced by his disy of sincerity, Sv met his smile, making the two look like sworn brothers reunited after countless years of hardship.


    "Your Majesty, the Imperial Dao Pavilion is Empyrean territory. Even if the fight must take ce there, I believe that living on their soil for a week can lead to many issues. Why not seek an independent ce guarded by your subordinates first?" Sv offered. As he didn''t want Harun to feel that they were rushing him to the Serpent Domain, Sv carefully picked his words. In any case, as long he breathed, to say nothing of 9,000 babies, even 100,000 celestials couldn''t threaten Harun''s lifethat privilege belonged to him.


    "You speak true. But the Imperial Dao Pavilion has the best Origin Essence rooms across the 33 Heavens. There, I can quickly re-cultivate my World-Devouring Serpent Form and live up to your expectations. Moreover, how can we give them the impression that we fear their force? The prestige of my n is at stake. I shall not retreat," Harun countered, and realizing that he nned to cash in on his Recognized Schr status, Sv no longer dissuaded him. As things stood, the Imperial n wouldn''t make any rash move before the sh.


    "Very well, we shall escort Your Majesty," Sv said, and alongside the four other n leaders, lead Harun toward the Imperial Dao Pavilion. While the Devouring Serpent n''s return left many with bitter tastes, all understood that without a God-Emperor, none could suppress them. Even Golden Crow would have to think twice. After all, in terms of Demi-Emperors and Monarch quantity, the Devouring Serpents who once possessed all good fortuneovershadowed all ns.


    The Highest Heaven''s number one cultivation holynd, the Imperial Dao Pavilion stood perched on top of a Divine Jade mountain range. Asrge as a city, from aspiring to elite disciples, from workers to instructors, the Imperial Dao Pavilion counted 300,000 people. On top of the mountain, a massive white torana-style gateway greeted neers, followed by two rows of exquisite pagodas that led the way toward the main hall. There, three Pavilion Elders stood beside the Pavilion Master, who seemed to be expecting Harun''s arrival.


    A man of few words, the Pavilion Master greeted the serpent group with a smile and said, "We''ve already prepared your cultivation quarters and reward. The elder here will show you the way. If you have any questions, feel free to ask him." He then turned and stepped into the main hall.


    New disciples naturally wouldn''t receive the Pavilion master''s personal greeting. But with the Recognized Schr title and serpent n''s apparent backing, if only for the sake of appearances, they had to maintain the pretence. After reaching his assigned pagoda, Harun stepped in with Svleaving the others at the gate.


    Inside, a 40 square meters room with one meditation mat at the center, stood, surrounded by 38 divine jade chairs, 16 at the front and back, and three at the left and right. On top of those chairs, translucent crystal stones stood with white light fments swirling around them: Origin Essence Crystals.


    "The room provides a vast source of Heavenly Qi, and the crystals fuel you with Origin Essence of the highest grade. The Imperial Dao Pavilion does live up to its name," Sv appraised. Origin Essence was a raremodity that enabled cultivators to rapidly enhance their Celestial Nature. Once they shed their blood drops on the crystals, they''d mirror and assist them in transforming their naturehelping them save a tremendous amount of time.


    For those gifted mortal-born downgraded by Agiri, or those celestials born with high-talent but in low-ranking ns, Origin Essence Crystals possessed an irresistible appeal. Ignoring them, Harun grasped toward the cosmic pouch beside his meditation mat, making it fly toward him. Inside, 80,000 Divine Jades and several roommoditiesy. As expected, the Imperial Dao Pavilion provided everything he''d need toplete his n, and screw over the 33 Heavensgood folks.


    Pulling out two mats, Harun set them face to face, one for Sv, and the other for himself.


    "What makes you think that I''m the Serpent Emperor''s reincarnation? Harun directly asked. In the brain joust between Sv and he, before the appointed time, none could betray himself. For Harun who ascended to the Fourth Heaven unaware of his eyes'' significance, Sv''s words should seem puzzling.


    "First, although Double Pupils periodically appear in our line, in over 3.5 million years, the Sovereign Pupils Your Majesty now bear have only been wielded by one person: the Serpent Emperor. Even if you aren''t his reincarnation, a profound link must exist between you two.


    Second, and this is the most critical point. In the battle over 3.5 million years ago, His Majesty didn''t lose. He left," Sv said, and Harun''s face contorted at the words.


    "Thebined strength of Heaven Warding and the Golden Crow Ancestor could at best bring His Majesty to a draw. They didn''t have the strength to wound or kill him. Without recourse, Heaven Warding chose diplomacy and held a mental conversation with His Majesty. Afterward, he took the empress and leftleaving the rest of us behindand the world to the Heaven Warding Emperor. This is the reason why the seeding God Emperors never dared attack us.


    They feared that somewhere in this world, our ancestor still breathes, and that as long as they make a move, his wrath will descend on them all. All along, we also believed the same.


    But the world can only have one pair of Sovereign Pupils. If His Majesty didn''t perish and reincarnate in you...who the hell are you?" Sv asked, leaving Harun short of words.

 Chapter 25: Scourge Points

    Chapter 25: Scourge Points


    "Your dad, obviously." After some reasonable thinking, Harun almost blurted those words but restrained himself. While he nned to enter the reincarnation cycle, there was a way to do it that didn''t involve getting squashed into a meat paste by a berserk Demi-Emperor-level expert.


    "I suppose there is no other exnation," Harun shut his eyes and said with a pensive look, while his eyelids twitched as if he inwardly struggled to ept the reality. There were, of course, many other possibilities. Perhaps the Sovereign Pupils couldn''t reappear because the Serpent Emperor still breathed, and once he died in that unknownnd, they settled on a new owner. Perhaps the Sovereign Pupils'' reappearance rate was simply much lower than weaker Double Pupils. After all, in the 33 Heavens'' history, even Sv''s Heterochromatic Double Pupils rarely appeared.


    But beyond all the perhaps, as far as Harun was concerned, the truth didn''t matter. His name was Harun, born and bred in the Noxious me World. He had one father, one brother, and as sick as she might have been, didn''t doubt his mother''s identity. Why seek beyond all this life had already given him? He had neither the time nor the leisure for it.


    "That being the case, after dealing with those overreaching celestials, I will follow you back to the Serpent Domain. We can then n how to track and snatch our enemies'' tokens," Harun sighed and said after several minutes of false struggle. Convinced that the boy bought his words, Sv nodded in approval and tapped his cosmic pouch. Two rays of green light shot forth, turning into a blood vial and paper talisman that hovered before Harun.


    "This vial contains the Heart''s Blood of a fallen elder. Bybining it with this environment, I believe that before the deadline, you can re-cultivate the World-Devouring form and increase your victory odds. Should anything unexpected ur, tear this talisman and I will immediatelye to your aid. Your Majesty, the resurgence of our n relies on your future performance. We believe in you." Following those words, Sv bowed and leftleading his subordinates back to the Serpent Domain.


    "He not only gave you seven tokens but offered another tool to increase your odds of sess. What a loyal subordinate. In the future, you must make him the sect buffoon," the system told Harun who approved the words with a nod.


    "But of course. That said, how about you tell me what you can do for me?" Harun asked the system and focused his divine sense in the golden token lodged in his brain. The surrounding walls vanished, reced by a hallway with a dark-red carpet floor and seven towering doors that faced Harun.


    The hallway seemed to go on infinitely. Even with his Divine Sense, Harun couldn''t see the end, and at his back, brown walls stood.


    "Allow me to introduce you to your new job. As you know, the main quest''s purpose is to create history''s strongest sect, a straightforward but iparably ambitious goal. Your sect''s overall power, wealth and prestige will need to surpass all forces, known and unknown, past and present. To that end, the system provides you with many tools, rewards, and enables you to set up to nine objectives," the system''s voice said, and confused, Harun arched an eyebrow.


    "I set the objectives?"


    "Of course. You are the Supreme Founder, not the Supreme Pave My Road Master. I give you a maximum of nine objective slots, but you have to set them on your ownone at a time. After you make your choice, I appraise it and give you a deadline. If you seed, you receive rewards relevant to your sect and path. If you fail, you''re terminated, and I find someone else," the system exined with stunning tact.


    "How long do I have to set an objective?"


    "Typically, you only have 24 hours. Afterward, sentences start rolling in. But the Ancestral One foresaw that you''d leave the Divine Path for the Six Incarnations Bridge and granted you an exception. You can dy it until after youplete your reincarnation, but in exchange, I will multiply the rate at which you umte Scourge by three."


    Again puzzled by the system''s words, Harun frowned, but as if to answer him, a ck bar appeared above the middle door, with a glowing-red zero written on its surface.


    "Which brings us to the system''s most important feature: Scourge. All cultivation paths hold one thing inmon: Tribtions. They can take many forms but exist on all Bridges. Scourge increases the might of the tribtions you face throughout your path. An extra ten percent for each scourge point," the system started, and ignoring Harun''s changing expression, it went on:


    "You can only increase scourge, not reduce itand umte it through three forms of crimes: Crimes against men, crimes against nature and crimes against Heaven.


    Crimes against men are your usual murder, torture and so on. For every ten people you personally kill or torture, you get one scourge point.


    As the name implies, crimes against nature concern what endanger nature''s bnce. Genocides, deforestation, ughtering vital species and the like. For each crime against nature, you get 100 scourge points. Here, whether you''re the direct or indirect cause, you still get scourge.


    Last but not the least, crimes against Heaven involve changing cosmicws and threatening Heaven''s sovereignty. One such crime automaticallys you 1,000 scourge points.


    The system holds the right of final interpretation," the system exined, and Harun''s jaw almost dropped to the ground.


    "But then, what about my reincarnation n? By refining all those celestials into my Heart of Reincarnation, how much scourge will I get?" He slowly asked, as if dreading the answer.


    "Well, let''s go with 9,000 sacrifices as the base. That''s 900 scourge points for crimes against men. The Six Incarnations Bridge goes against Heaven''s Will, so that''s another 1,000 points for crimes against heaven. Multiplying that by three, we get 5,700, or a 57,000% tribtion-might bonus. And that''s not even considering that you n to unleash a horde of monstrous beasts on the 33 Heavens. Let''s just say that if you die early, it probably won''t be because of failing a quest.


    But it''s fine, scourge isn''t just a punishment. The stronger the tribtion, the more benefits you get post breakthroughs. You also need it to unlock the seven rooms. Just...try to not die."

 Chapter 26: Noxious Flame Flies

    Chapter 26: Noxious me Flies


    Cheated. As the system''s words lingered in his mind, Harun realized that across his 165 years of life, he''d never felt more cheated. Even the unexpected downgrade he suffered upon ascension couldn''tpare to the system''s maliciousness. With no care for standpoints, scourge points would drop left and right, bringing the might of Harun''s next tribtions to inconceivable heights. How sadistic could that so-called Ancestral One be that he came up with such a horrible device?


    Worse, through what he gleaned from the stele, Harun could see that in each realm, his new cultivation path would have at least two tribtions. With the scourge foundation he was about toy down, how could he breathe?


    "The Art of the Decaying Flower and the Double Pupils aren''t enough. For the physical tribtion, I must find a way to boost my fleshly body''s resilience drastically. But for the mental one" Knowing that worrying without alternatives never amounted to anything, Harun sealed those depressing thoughts at the back of his mind and left the system. Sitting on his cultivation mat, Harun set the Life and Death stele before him and browsed through the remembrance chants with his Divine Sensehoping to find his dead father and brother. s, neither stood on the stele.


    As it only contained the reincarnation cycles of 10,000 souls, that much was to be expected. Harun closed his eyes, and in his mind, the 10,000 cycles appeared, shaped like light dots that floated across the six joined bridges and the greater cycle they formed. In ancient times unknown to the 33 Heavens'' denizens, a supreme expert named this road all souls subconsciously trod, the Six Incarnation Bridge. Moreover, he postted that only those that crossed and transcended this bridge could achieve true freedom from Heaven''s grasp.


    After studying all those cycles had to show, Harun weaved silver threads through each dot, each soul, connecting those 10,000 reincarnation cycles in one constetion from which the mysteries of Life and Death, the mysteries of the Samsara, shone at their brightest.


    Reaching out, Harun plucked one fment from the reincarnation constetion, fusing it with his Divine Sense to get insight into Life and Death. Exhaling a breath of ck and white mist, Harun opened his eyes, and for an instant, they gave the misconception that a myriad of profound principles sparkled within.


    Testing his new insight, Harun made a hand sign, and his teenaged appearance changed to that of a burly giant, then a human baby, a dying old man, anky youth. It was as if with a thought, he could assume all human shapes and shield all secrets his body contained from his enemies.


    "First stepplete. What a pity that I didn''t have this skill before. But then again, if I did, none of this would have happened." For Harun, the reincarnation path wasn''t merely an escape tool or a mean to boost his strength. Down the road, it''d enable him to verify certain things and clear the thorns rooted in his heart.


    Pulling out the 80,000 Divine Jades he received as an award, Harun started the taxing process of filling them all with blood drops, restoring his losses with Blood Replenishing Pills and Divine Herbs in-between.


    At first, Harun believed he''d have to leave many resources behind. But fortunately, behind the system''s first doory a top-grade cultivation room equipped with an Inner Space World. There, Harun stored plenty.


    Within the Extreme Yin Prison, Harun''s soul siphoned colossal quantities of Extreme Yin, hastening the Decaying Flower''s petal withering. Within a day, the third petal withered, and Harun estimated that by the time he refined all the Extreme Yin trapping the monstrous divine beasts, the fourth would wither toobringing his strength and speed to absurd heights. Still, while he didn''t care for the lifespan drop, Harun wondered if the 100% resilience reduction wouldn''t leave him vulnerable before future tribtions.


    Afterpleting his blood stones, Harun nted them in various corners of the room for a traditional Blood Convergence Formationenabling him to further enhance his blood refinement speed. The day passed without hurdles, with Harun focusing on refining the Devouring Serpent elder''s blood drops.


    In the early stages of his reign, longing for the Mortal Realm, Agiri set up a day and night system in the Highest Heaven simr to what happened belowwith a full moon urring once a month.


    This was the full moon''s night, and as it rose in the Highest Heaven''s nocturnal sky, 32 cloaked figures raced past the Imperial Dao Pavilion''s pagodas. From their breathing style and the auras they concealed, an expert could see that they came from different sects and ns. But on this night, all aimed for the same thing, for Harun. Shut close, Harun''s gold and purple eyes ignored the silent assants, focusing on his cultivation while his appearance changed, going from a 14-year-old teenager to a nine-year-old boy.


    Too loose for his new appearance, the edges of Harun''s clothes dropped on the ground, his cor now covered his mouth, and when the 32 experts reached his pagoda''s gates, Harun''s lips curled into a smile.


    All spies ced by various factions in the Imperial Dao Pavilion, among the assants, the weakest was at the fourth-level of the Celestial Kin Realm while the strongest were at the ninth. Perhaps in their leaders'' eyes, this was more than enough for an initial probea terrible mistake.


    Before the spies-turned-assassins could break in, as if prepared beforehand, dark-orange flies emerged from the shadows and hurtled into twelve of the invaders.


    "Aaargh!" Too fast for their reaction speed, the insects bit their targets necks, forcing groans of pain out of their lips. Having never experienced an insect''s bite, to say nothing of that unique species, the twelve couldn''t restrain their sounds, instantly rming their peersthey wouldn''t have it easier.


    The pagoda''s entrance door opened wide, unleashing a swarm of the same dark-orange flies that surrounded and bit all invaders while dumping microscopic fluids into their wounds.


    Enraged by the silent flies'' relentless aggression, the invaders let their cultivation bases explode, and with berserk swipes, hacked all the flies into pieces. Fearing that they''d rmed the target, each pulled out a treasure and, on maximum alert rushed toward Harun''s pagodaalmost.


    A step away from the door, the 32 felt their body temperature increase at a frightening speed, reaching volcano tier within seconds. Their skin became a burning red, with smoke oozing out of their pores.


    "Aaargh...argh...aaaaargh! Hot...why is it so...hooooot?!" Eyes bloodshot, all tumbled onto the ground, clutching at their chests as if an inextinguishable brazier was born within, and roasted them from inside out.


    At that time, a ten-year-old in oversized clothes walked out of the door, dragging his sleeves on the ground while shing an innocent smile.


    "That, fes, would be the gue Overlord''s infamous Noxious me Poison. Turns your lungs into a furnace and keeps increasing your core body temperature until your blood and internal organs are set azemaking you burn to death from inside out," Harun exined with a gentle smile and waved the guys goodbye.


    Overwhelmed by the scalding heat, they convulsed on the ground, thrashing against the inevitableall to no avail. Vapor poured out of the intruders eyes, mouths, noses and pores, stifling their shrill cries as they burned to death.


    Satisfied, Harun crossed his arms behind his back, and spread his divine sense across the area.


    "Now that the fodder is out of the way, why don''t you show yourself?"

 Chapter 27: The Plague Overlords Style

    Chapter 27: The gue Overlord''s Style


    There were always those that couldn''t sit tight. That regardless of what course the story took, would seek to break the flow. Those people didn''t hesitate to expose the spies they buried in the Imperial Dao Pavilion, believing that even if they couldn''t snatch Harun, at least they could reveal the Life and Death Stele''s true abilities. Several leaders of hegemonic and noble ns took part in this ploy. But little did they know that the more they pushed him, the more relieved Harun felt.


    Men''s hearts weren''t made of stone. As harrowing as the cultivation path might be, Harun couldn''t just devastate a world with a smile. He''d do it if there was no other way to save himself. But the consequences and innocent lives lost in the crossfire would prevent him from feeling any satisfaction. Those relentless Gods made the choice easier.


    "Push," Harun wanted to say. "Keep pushing and make me think, make me feel that there is no one worth caring for in this heavenly cursed world. That me aside, all else deserve the grave. I thank you for making the choice easier on my soul. Heavens know it needed it," Harun inwardly chortled and reached out with his oversized sleeves. From the shadows of the full moon, three more figures appeared. Each boasting a third-level Celestial Guard cultivation base.


    With its recent breakthrough, if the Decaying Flower still stood in Harun''s body, he could effortlessly behead those three. But with his soul busy in the Extreme Yin Prison''s isted underground, Harun couldn''t digest the breakthrough''s gains. His current body only possessed the strength and speed of the Decaying Flower''s secondyerwithout any of the unique abilities it could disy.


    Those three third-level Celestial Guards therefore became serious threatsalmost. shing open his palms with his bare hands, Harun waved his blood-drenched sleeves:


    "Soul-Eroding me!" T-posing, Harun arched his head back, and from his oversized sleeves, dark-green, poisonous mes poured outspreading their noxious scent across dozens of square meters. Strangely, the mes didn''t seem to have any destructive power. Even mortals could push their hands through it. But as they protected their noses and avoided all contact with the mes, the three Celestial Guards soon realized...that their fleshly body...wasn''t the target!


    Those mes moved past physical barriers to bury themselves in their victims'' souls and leave a foul miasma within. Instantly, the three assassins could feel their strength dwindle. Although their cultivation bases still stood at the third-level of the Celestial Guard Realm, they couldn''t use more than a first-level Celestial Guard''s might. rmed, the three staggeredspreading their senses across all directions to spot a hidden assault of Noxious me Flies.


    They didn''t need to worry. Those flies were bred and nurtured within Harun''s poisonous blood and weren''tmodities he would exhaust here.


    "The information ispletely wrong. What Life and Death Stele? He''s strong, very strong, and backed by many devious means. We''re throwing our lives away for naught!" One of the three told his partners through a mental message, exhausting their morale with every word. The leader, however, didn''t surrender to panic.


    "Although the situation and tricks we now face are out of all our expectations, the fact of the matter remains that...this is a fourth-level Celestial Kin. So what if he can reduce our strengths? As long as we can get one sh in, we can take his head! Do not lose your mind to unforeseen twists and remain focused on the mission!" The leader ordered, instantly revitalizing his subordinates. Sensing this, Harun praised them with a nod.


    "Not bad. As they feel their strength copse, their bones and muscles clogged by unknown substances, many outright lose their fighting will. You''re more tenacious than I gave you" Before Harun finished his words, his tiny figure hurtled at the leader, reaching him before his brain processed the change.


    *PAH*


    With a left swing of his oversized sleeve, Harun smacked the leader across the cheek, sending him spiraling leftward. By the time he dropped on the ground, the other two had regained their senses. But ignoring them, Harun vanished, reappeared above the tumbling leader, and as the assassin''s teeth still fell, Harun condensed dark-green miasma around his palm and struck!


    "Organ-Melting Palm!" While the palm seemed hidden by the sleeves, the blow hit the leader''s chest with full force. The miasma spread across his internal organs, seeping into his heart, brain, lungs and moremaking them rot at naked-eye speed.


    "Aaaargh!" The two let out a high-pitched, prolonged cry, and at their backs, the dazzling forms of a massive tiger and whale took shape. Manifesting their totems, the two spread to Harun''s left and right, each unleashing their strongest move.


    "Divine Power: Tidal Wave!"


    "Divine Power: Crippling Roar!"


    A whirlpool formed at Harun''s left, turning into a wide-ranging blue wave that tumbled onto him while, at his right, the roar of a barbaric beast rattled his eardrums, attempting to crush his fighting will, and ruin his mobility.


    With a smile, Harun leaped into the air, aiming his sleeves at his two targets:


    "Divine Power: Devouring!" Irresistible suction force surged from Harun''s palms, making the tidal wave shrink, the roar copse, and siphoning whatever remained of the two moves within his sleeves. As if supporting himself on thin air, Harun leaped toward the tiger at his right, mming into him with a missile''s impact.


    "Organ-Melting Palm!" Harun raised his hand, and dreading the fate of his superior, who still dposed on the ground, the tiger transferred all his Heavenly Qi toward his legsleaping out of Harun''s range. But as the assassin bet all on his escape, Harun opened his mouth, and seven invisible needles stabbed the tiger''s forehead, eyes, neck, lungs and hearthe died on the spot.


    Now, the whale alone remained, and when Harun''s childish, innocent face turned to meet his eyes, he lost all martial will.


    "The target suddenly shrank in size and age, yet only became more dreadful than our intel suggested. What...the hell is this?


    Flee, I must flee! If only to report our findings, I must escape!" He convinced himself, and learning from his friends'' mistakes, zigzagged to avoid Harun''s projectiles while keeping a bronze shield treasure at his back to protect him from unexpected blows.


    "As if I''d let you," Harun whispered, but before he could close in on his target, thetter swallowed a red pill, and his speed shot upbing six times what he possessed at his peak.


    s, as both Harun and the runaway were starting to believe in his escape, a flying sword whistled across the night, and lopped his head off! And while the runaway assassin''s head soared high, a lithe figure dropped, as ifing out of the full moongracefullynding before Harun.


    "It''s you?"

 Chapter 28: There is Wine, There is Meat, There is Jiyan

    Chapter 28: There is Wine, There is Meat, There is Jiyan


    For an instant, even Harun felt dazed. In his 165 years of life, he''d seen countless women, countless beauties, and if at his age he still gawked before any, Harun felt that he should just find a rod to beat himself to death. But when that figure made her entrance, awestruck, Harun had to ce one hand before his lips to avoid betraying himself.


    Wearing a long cyan dress embroidered with the Empyreans'' orchid, like the moon goddess of mortal fairy tales, that figure robbed the luster of the starry skyoutshining the full moon. Her rosy-white skin glittered with a luster of its own, clearly setting her aside from human girls, and as she stepped toward him, Harun could smell a faint floral scent overpowering his sensespreventing him from getting a good look at that figure''s face.


    But how could the overlord of gues lose to a mere scent? Imperceptible dark-green light rippled in Harun''s eyes, and the scent''s effects copsedenabling him to see his helper''s faceJiyan''s face.


    "It''s you?" Harun doubted his sight. Though they looked 90% simr, the girl before him possessed apletely different aura from the Jiyan he met in his cell. Both possessed the white hair and icy-blue eyes of the Empyrean race, the same straight-edge nose, those small but inviting lips. But unlike the slightly airheaded Jiyan, this one held herself with matchless poise, more akin to the God Empressthat image soon copsed.


    "Besides me, who would care for you? d to see that despite meeting me in my full glory, you''ve not lost your heada promising man," Jiyan said with an impish smile, pulled out the hairpin holding her long hair tied, and tossed it at the runaway assassin''s corpse.


    "d to see that you still got your head on your neck. When I got out of jails and heard that you seeded, I initially wanted to celebrate and make more ns with you but...heard you''re nning to battle all under the heavens," Jiyan pursed her lips and, with a sideway nce, ambled at Harun.


    "At first I got depressed, thinking that you crumbled under all the pressure and decided to kiss death''s thigh with a big, juicy smile. But then I recalled how much you love being alive so...just decided to bring you wine and meat," Jiyan leaned over, and while staring into Harun''s eyes, summoned a wine jug in her right hand, and a bundled package in the left.


    From that package, tiny Harun could smell the mesmerizing scent of roasted meat, a unique species he''d never tasted before. With gleaming eyes and watered lips, Harun''s gaze wandered between the wine and meatnot knowing what to attack first. Meat won him over, and with a lightning fast grasp, he attempted to rob the package from Jiyan''s hand. But faster, and now much taller than him due to his age reduction, Jiyan raised the package as high as she could, forcing Tiny Shota Harun to leap toward it time and time again.


    "At your age, shouldn''t you know that women don''t like men that are too eager?" Jiyan chortled and patted Tiny Shota Harun''s head.


    "Who cares about women? Give me the meat!" Harun sobbed withrge beady eyes, making Jiyan roll her eyes in exasperation. In the history of Heaven and Earth, where could one find a man that loved wine and meat more than women? Perhaps instead of dolling up, she should have basted herself with meat grease? And knowing that Harun wouldn''t regain his cool before having the package in his hands, Jiyan sighed, and gave it to him.


    As if he''d just gotten his hands on a priceless treasure, Harun held it tight against his chest, crying endless tears of joy.


    "What a unique fragrance. After two years of sorrow, I''m finally rewarded for my good deeds! I thought the 33 Heavens enforced a vegetarian diet. Where did you get this?" Harun asked as his tears trickled down his cheeks.


    "It''s phoenix meat and contraband. Don''t ask how I got it, I think you don''t want to spoil the taste, do you?" Jiyan shrugged and said with an evasive nce. Knowing that some things were best kept secret, Harun didn''t probe further.


    "Never mind. There is wine, there is meat, there is Jiyan. What else can a man ask for? I give you an eternal pass to my house. Come when you want to, leave when you want to. You can stay for as long as you wishforever isn''t out of question!" Harun pledged, making Jiyan arch her eyebrows. While all those celestials and deities racked their brains and plotted to swindle Harun, she handled the job with two packages.


    Past today, who could say that she wasn''t the most brilliant person of the 33 Heavens? Her mother couldn''tpare. And as Harun readied to open the packaged phoenix meat, Jiyan reached down, took him in her arms, and walked toward his pagoda''s entrance.


    "Wait, let go of me. This is child abuse! The shotamunity doesn''t agree! Let go of me!" Harun thrashed against Jiyan''s grasp, but soon realized that his best efforts couldn''t break the slender girl''s grip.


    "What does ''shota'' even mean?"


    "Just one of the many things I invent in my dreams. Like cars, skyscrapers, starships, and all those things we will never see in this worlduntil I be the invincible monarch," Harun replied, sticking his chest out incence. How many could be like him, and with one casual dream, invent new worlds and a myriad of technological devices?


    Unfortunately, the cultivation road took too much of his time, or he''d have already revolutionized the world!


    Believing that in the recent days, Harun''s mind had suffered more damages than she expected, Jiyan didn''t probe further.


    The rest of the night was uneventfulwell, almost. Harun soon realized that he underestimated Jiyan''s brew, and while thetter drank with moderation, he gulped down cup upon cup as if his liver''s destruction had be his most ardent wish. Feeling as if he''d grown a pair of wings and flew acrossyers of paradise, Harun loosened his limbs in a frantic dance, giving Jiyan a memorable show.


    To make sure the world wouldn''t forget his performance, Jiyan took out a recording mirror and...recorded it all.


    "Although enhancing your Celestial Nature is critical, shouldn''t you focus on improving your cultivation too? I know a secret art that, with the right setting, can help you breakthrough three levels in a short time. There are many drawbacks, but nothing you can''t solve with time," Jiyan offered Harun, who after his performance, sat across the table he''d set for herstill drinking with no restraint.


    "Bah, forget about the Divine Path. It''s as clear as daylight that the Divine Path is a hoax. The fewer steps you cross, the better," Harun said between two sips, making Jiyan narrow her eyes in confusion.


    "A hoax?"


    "Isn''t that obvious? The cultivation path we know is divided into two steps: The Mortal, or Dao Traversing step, and the Celestial, or Divine Transformation step. But how do the two connect?" Harun asked, but before Jiyan could think of an answer, pursued:


    "Mortals first cleanse their bodies of impurities to achieve Purification, then cleanse their souls to achieve Sanctification. With flesh and mind purified, they can start seeking their Dao, build a Dao Heart, a Dao Truth, and abandon it all to master their path and achieve Nihility. Then they cross the nine cmities to reach Crossed Vicissitude. In my case, I went through decades of starvationtrapped by my own Dao of Gluttony.


    How can the end of such a path be to refine blood drops? If the Divine Path was correct, and if you heaven-born celestials were truly blessed, why do you incarnate yourselves in the mortal world, as early as the Celestial Guard Realm, to build a Dao Foundation?


    Crossed Vicissitude to Celestial Kin, Empyrean Monarch to Dao Emperor, those two breakthroughs...don''t add up!


    The whole Divine Path feels like a misguided step. As if someone put a sandstorm in our faces to trick us into this wrong move. If you don''t want to cultivate in vain, and like the rest forever stop at the Demi-Emperor stage, find another road!" Harun said, and immediately threw Jiyan''s mind into chaos.

 Chapter 29: Haruns Postulate

    Chapter 29: Harun''s Postte


    Harun''s words were correct. As the number one inheritor of the Empyrean n, Jiyan knew many secrets not essible to others. So when Harunid bare his theory, Jiyan quickly connected some dots, and had to agree with his train of thoughts. To refine strands of Heaven''s Will and build their Internal Heaven, Gods didn''tprehend that many mysteries. As long as they could connect their Divine Sense to Heaven''s Will, find and refine top-grade strands, reaching the Heavenly God Realm was a matter of time. Simrly, all thews they used to build their Internal Heavens came from the strands they refined.


    Of course, those top-grade strands were often only avable during Cosmic Tribtionsforcing a significant breakthrough dy on those deities not gifted enough to get all the strands they needed in one go. But even those unparalleled chosen such as the Golden Crow Ancestor and Sv, Gods with peerless foundations, seemed unable to cross thest hurdle and be Dao Emperors. At best, they could keep enhancing their strength through Cosmic Tribtions.


    Without Sovereign Pupils or the Imperial Seal, none ever managed to reach that mythical realm. If there weren''t issues with the Divine Path, how could Heaven''s history develop in such a way? Butso what if they knew?


    "Knowing is one thing, but solving, another. Even if we know that the Divine Path is a hoax, what other alternative do we have? Once we stop forging ahead, either we exhaust our lifespans or die under a Cosmic Tribtion. Some can ept thatmany won''t. Immortality possesses an irresistible appeal.


    Mortals yearn to be celestials, celestials yearn to be Gods, Gods yearn to be Monarchs. Power, wealth, prestige and eons to enjoy them all. How many can resist the hoax even if the truth hangs before their eyes?" Jiyan held her cheeks in her hands, facing Harun with nonchnce.


    "Truth is, most don''t even care about the so-called Grand Dao. Make them mighty, make them immortal, and they can take any road. As for the secrets of Heaven and Earth, either you''re one of the few born to seek them, or do so out of boredom in your waning years.


    Worse, the Dao is a singr path. Each takes his own. Even if you could reach the end, unless you could incorporate all Dao of this world, you would still be ignorant," Jiyan argued, and as her words rang in his mind, Harun''s eyes drifted to another scenery. Blurred memories he, in his drunkenness, couldn''t urately ce.


    "Dad, what is there at the end of the cultivation road?"


    "Curious? Good, there is still hope for you. But why must you look from the other side of the bridge? Why not look from the sky''s perspective? If the sky is not enough, make the stars your eyes, and when they have nothing more to tell you seek...the multiverse''s perspective.


    Cultivation is a boundless world, not a road. Toprehend it in its fullness, you cannot follow a single path. Seek the Cosmic Law. Seek..."


    "Harun!" Jiyan''s voice broke Harun''s recollection, preventing him from hearing the end of his father''s words. For an instant, Harun stood there dazed. How could his father, a Daoist Realm expert, have such a profound understanding of cultivation principles? Stranger still, the longer he remained conscious, the less Harun could remember of that blurry talk. It was as if it didn''t belong to this worldas if it stemmed from a dream.


    Believing he''d taken one drink too many, Harun mmed either side of his face between his hands.


    "Perhaps we''re looking beyond what we should, but you said one thing right. Most people...only care for strength. The rest is all excuses. So if you can give them strength independent of the Divine Path, why wouldn''t they take it?" Harun said and took another gulp of Jiyan''s infinite wine jug.


    "No matter how gifted, without a cultivation method, you cannot refine the Qi of Heaven and Earth, cannot build the steps of your path, cannot cultivate. Take away a cultivator''s method, and they can''t make any further progress. Give them a five-star method, and they probably can''t go beyond the Celestial Kin Realm. So which one takes precedence? The method or the road?" Harun rhetorically asked.


    "If it''s the method, then I postte that all methods can breed their own roads. What we now have seems bound to the Divine Path because we forged them to that end and can''t think outside that box. With enough talent,prehension and chance I believe...that anyone can create a new method, and from it evolve...a brand-new cultivation path!


    Let''s return to the origin, found our own methods, and from them build new bridges for the next generations! Thus, even if they cannot tread the true road, Heaven''s Will will not fetter them!" Harun proimed, smashed the jug on the table, and after 9.6 liters of celestial booze, passed out.


    "Insane," the only sober soul left in the room, Jiyan shook her head, staring at Harun with a mixture of admiration and amusement. Although her ancestor held a simr reasoning, even he dared not think of creating cultivation paths out of new methods. Such a heaven-defying act required a mind like Harun''s.


    And little did she know that while the body passed out before her, the soul gave a simr speech to the Beast Emperors, setting in motion the rise of the Heaven Rejecting Path.


    As if she came prepared, Jiyan tapped her cosmic pouch, and summoned a warm quilt to cover Harun in.


    "Who could imagine that such an adorable boy was ruining organs a few hours ago? No wonders they say that appearances can be deceptive." Jiyan leaned on the table, staring at Harun''s sleeping face with a gentle smile.


    "I should be thanking you. If not for you, I wouldn''t be out so early. But while I can refuse to take part in the grand elders'' game, I don''t know how I can help you. Perhaps it''d be best if you just vanished. But something in me tells me that...if you really did, I''d feel so...lonely," Jiyan said and stood up. Leaving the wine jug behind, she headed toward the exitbut at the gate, paused and looked over her shoulder.


    "See you tomorrow, Harun." Jiyan then left Harun''s pagoda and vanished in the night. Immediately, Harun''s eyes openedwith no hint of drunkenness in them.


    Gliding across the air, arms crossed behind her back, Jiyan leisurely returned to the Divine Pce. But not a second after she reached it, her mother''s voice rang hard.


    "In my pce, now," Dilnaz ordered and Jiyan obeyedcrossing the dark-blue sky tond in her mother''s quarters. No one stood in her way, enabling her to promptly reach Dilnaz who sat crossed-legged on a meditation mat. Jiyan had barely stepped in that Dilnaz turned into light-blue smoke, reformed before her, and pressed her against a wall.


    "Greetings, mother," Jiyan said, unfazed by Dilnaz''s sudden and brutal move.


    "Where were you?"


    "Don''t you know?"


    "Why?"


    "Curiosity."


    "Curiosity? Do you think this is the time for curiosity? Don''t you know who the grand elders n to send to confront him in a week''s time? Curiosity? You think that knowing where you''re from, he''s not on his guard with you? Curiosity? Have you learned nothing behind those bars?" Rage twisted Dilnaz''s face, and she trapped Jiyan''s face between her hands.


    "I sent you there to experience the coldness of the world. Coldness your father''s care blinded you to. We do not have the time to grieve or flounder. There is a world to seize and if we don''t, we die. Have you ever heard of dethroned houses living the rest of their lives in peace? Ever heard of copsed imperial families'' wives and daughters spending their remaining years embroidering floral patterns under peach blossom trees?


    The Devouring Serpents still breathe not out of mercy, but because our ancestor didn''t dare kill them. But who will ensure our safety? Who will deter the usurpers? If we do not reim the crown and cement our power, we have no futurethatis realitythatis what you should be focusing onthatis why we must fight!


    So shed off the childish thoughts and sharpen your sword. We''re at war!"

 Chapter 30: Holy Foundation

    Chapter 30: Holy Foundation


    Perhaps Dilnaz''s pep talk could sway others, but on Jiyan, the effect was minimal.


    "Sorry, not interested," Jiyan nced sideways, sighed and repliedforcing her mother''s ardent gaze to turn into a look of confusion.


    "Mother, why don''t we leave all this behind? Why don''t we leave the Highest Heaven and go wander the world? The world is so vast, there is so much to see in Heaven and Earth that perhaps our lifespans aren''t enough to cover it all," Jiyan asked, still not ncing at Dilnazalmost as if she spoke to herself.


    "With your cultivation, leaving this ce and traveling all worlds, mortal or heavenly, is child''s y. The Mountain Edge World, the Noxious me World, the Golden Reprieve World and so many others. We are cultivators, aren''t we? So let''s leave imperial strife to others and go find the secrets of Heaven and Earth. We can still grow, we can still progress. We won''t have to care for who sits on what throne or follow orders of elders we don''t give a shit about. If it''s really for us, for you and I, why don''t we just leave?" This time, Jiyan shifted her eyes back to Dilnaz''s, but a forced smile stretched her lips.


    Confused, Dilnaz backpedaled. But as if held in ce by the change in her daughter''s gaze, she stopped a few steps away.


    "You don''t want to, right? I understand. You can argue that you''re not suited for such a life. Just like you can argue that our survival is at stake, but the truth, mother, is simpler. You''re resentful. You resent that despite being the number one talent of your generation, that despite having the potential of bing a legendary existence at the level of Sv or the Golden Crow Ancestor, Empyreanws suppressed you.


    You resent that the only thing your talent and hard work got you was the privilege of giving birth to the emperor''s children. You resent the elders from seeing you as a top-grade broodmare and alliance building tool, rather than the prodigy you are. You resent all men that stand above you, and you resent me for being the living proof of your failures." Jiyan''s lips curved into a gentle smile, and arms crossed behind her back, she leaned toward Dilnaz.


    "It''s very likely that nothing in this world can please you more than wearing my father''s crown. Perhaps you''d even build your own imperial harem? Who knows, who cares? In any case, mother, please do me a favor and stop bothering me," a step away from Dilnaz''s face, Jiyan said and walked out. Dazed, Dilnaz didn''t stop her.


    Jiyan''s position in Dilnaz''s heart was a tricky topic. On the one hand, she was her proudest achievement, and on the other, her shame and bitterest disappointment. Yet, in rare moments, when she peered into Jiyan''s eyes, Dilnaz couldn''t suppress the thought that she was the one letting her daughter down.


    But as ambition and emotions battled in Dilnaz''s heart, a wrinkled hand sped her shoulder, catching her unprepared. Regaining her wits, Dilnaz turned to face the owner of that hand, an old Empyrean man with atrophied muscles that seemed to stick to his bare bones.


    "Granduncle?" Dilnaz said. Once per cosmic cycle, chalk-white coffins appeared in some of the 33 Heavens'' Origin Essence mines, forcing many deities into brutal shes: the Heaven Deceiving Coffins. As long as they possessed aplete Internal Heaven, anyone could bury themselves in those coffins to avoid subsequent Cosmic Tribtions and indefinitely dy their deaths.


    Still, the coffins weren''t all perks no drawbacks. The longer they remained in them, the more the deities'' bodies wasted away, making their awakening increasingly difficult. As the sole owners of those coffins, the hegemonic ns used them to preserve many of their Demi-Emperors and peak-stage Empyrean Monarchsgiving priority to the former. They called them Dao Reserves.


    Dilnaz''s granduncle, the supreme elder of the Empyrean n, belonged to that category. The Second Emperor''s brother and strongest match, he became one of the n''s Dao Reserves after losing the race for the imperial crown and was the one that spoke during Harun''s challenge.


    "Unable to control your child?" He asked with a deadpan look. Inwardly, Dilnaz boiled, but on the outside, she shed a smile and bowed toward the elder.


    "Wee back, granduncle. With you here, we can curb the arrogance of the Devouring Serpent and Golden Crow ns," Dilnaz said.


    "Nonsense. Sv and Golden Crow''s strength kept increasing through each Cosmic Tribtion while mine barely stagnated. If ites down to it, I am not their match. At best, I can activate our Imperial Formation to protect this domain from their reach," the supreme elder candidly said.


    "That is why we must take an unconventional approach. I know the ambitions you bury in your heart. Don''t you want the throne and Jiyan to seed it? I can give you both. Convince Harun to join our Empyrean n as a son-inw, and not only will Jiyan not have to draw her sword, but I will have the other elders elect you as n master," the supreme elder offered.


    "If you seed, we will retreat from the 10,000 Sect War for 3,000 years, seal our domain, protect our tokens and breed Double Pupil owners to overwhelm the 33 Heavens with. If you fail, the previous n proceeds. Whether or not she wants to, Jiyan must fight in our name and take the Sovereign Pupils. The Empyreans have no use for an exceptional nsman that won''t contribute to their glory." Following those words, the supreme elder turned heels and walked out, leaving behind Dilnaz who kept her eyes lowered to hide the scowl on her face.


    Meanwhile, the night still went on. After Jiyan''s departure, Harun collected the assassins'' corpses, using them as "fertilizers" to feed his Blood Convergence Formation. Sitting crossed-legged at the formation''s center, Harun extracted his four blood drops, directing massive quantities of Blood and Origin essence into them to transform their nature.


    One night of refinement was all it took for Harun''s Celestial Nature to rise from Elephant-Swallowing to Mountain-Swallowing serpent, making his true height increase to 90 meters. Driving the blood drops back into his body, Harun closed his eyes. Though Harun believed he could still put his Celestial Nature to use in the future, it no longer was his priority. The Blood Convergence Formation and Blood Refinement were all decoys meant to hide his true intentions from potential onlookers, and believing their curiosity satisfied, Harun moved on to the second step of his n: the Holy Foundation.


    For the typical reincarnation cultivator, the Six Incarnations Bridge was divided into six realms: the Human Realm, the Monstrous Realm, the Ghost Realm, the Infernal Realm, the Asura Realm and the Reincarnation Realm.


    Each realm possessed four stages: natal, attachment, sufferings and severing. However, there were those that trod a more dangerous path, refusing to sever the attachment they built across their roadrefusing nirvana to unlock a more dreadful final stage: the unyielding stage.


    And this was Harun''s chosen path. Knowing the dangers lying ahead, Harun resolved to build the strongest Holy Foundation possible, and fell into a meditation state to peer into his past, into the road he''d taken till now.

 Chapter 31: Golden Cicada Incarnation Seed

    Chapter 31: Golden Cicada Incarnation Seed


    165 years of existence, 153 years of cultivation. Though in a celestial''s eyes, this barely qualified as adolescence, for the mortal-born Harun, those 165 years concealed too many events to be recounted in a few minutes. Thus, Harun dove deep into his memories to seek the most defining steps of his existence. With his Dao in one hand and his trials in the other, Harun could build his Holy Foundatiopleting the second step of his n.


    Drifting through the memories, Harun''s Divine Sense located a suitable starting point, and focused on it.


    "To think that after 1,500 years of prestige, the Erdewan n would produce a worthless freak of your caliber. If I didn''t carry you for nine months, I''d question your parentage," said an indifferent woman with a variety of tattoos covering her arms, legs and cleavage.


    "Mother, you can''t say that. Aren''t you afraid of breaking my heart? I think my eye just makes me unique. You should be proud of giving birth to the one and only Double Pupil owner. As for cultivation talent, it''s overrated. I can just find a job. Don''t worry, with the knowledge of square roots,plex numbers and integrals, I won''t be your burden," a 16-year-old looking boyughed off the cruel words. With heterochromatic ck and golden eyes, he would have looked handsome if not for the double pupils in his left eye.


    In the Noxious me World''s history, such a mutation had never urred, and instantly marked him as a freak.


    "When will you stop calling me mother? I threw you into a snake pit at birth. If not for your father''s persistence, you would no longer be of this world. So if there''s one thing I''m not afraid of, it''s breaking your heart," the indifferent woman said and stood up from her honor seat, stepping toward the boy who kneeled before her.


    "Cultivation is overrated? Spoken like a waste. It''s been three years since you started cultivating. Three years your father and brother used to supply you with resources. But when even an average talent only needs one month to reach the first-level of Purification, you took three years toplete that step. Harun, you''re hopeless. My n can no longer afford to waste precious resources on you, so I will give you two options," said Harun''s mother.


    An established n of the Noxious me World, although the Erdewan n didn''t rank at the very top, they still controlled vastnds and resourceswielding substantial prestige. Mortal rulers bowed to them, hoping to marry their juniors into the n and receive mighty backers. All elders were at least at the Daoist Realm, with the strongest few in the early levels of Nihility.


    In such a n, someone like Harun who cultivated at a crippled tortoise''s pace would have been kicked out or executed a long time ago. However, because of his mother''s status and father''s backing, many restrained themselves. Little did they know that the one who, above all others, dreamed of his death, was that good mother of his. But Harun didn''t care. For his father and brother''s sake, he would be the better man, endure it all, and find his way in life. Or so he initially wished to. But this day twisted all nsforever wrecking his life and path.


    "I have consulted the elders and gained an opportunity for you. If you can reach the end of the Deste Abyss and stay there for six days, we will keep supplying you with resources. If you can''t or won''t, I will kill you now," Harun''s mother offered. And back then a nave child only wanting to live in peace, though he knew that cave hid a myriad of poisonous substances, Harun still dove inthe move sealed his fate.


    ...


    "As you can see, the boy seeded. His resistance to poisonous substances defies all cognition, as if he were a reincarnated gue God. With such a marvelous medicine ve, the Golden Cicada sect can experiment many of those brutal poisons whose effects you couldn''t fullyprehend before. You can even refine him into an unrivaled anti-poison artifact. My Erdewan n is willing to gift him to you. We only hope that you take good care of my son, Nujen," Harun''s mother told several Golden Cicada protectors who, alongside her, watched a projection of Harun''s trial.


    "Our Golden Cicada sect has already epted Nujen as an elite disciple. Several elders are nowpeting to make him their legacy sessor. You don''t have to worry about his future. The Golden Cicada sect will remember this gift. From now on, your n can always count on our support," one of the protectors said. Unlike what some might expect, Harun''s mother was the n master of the Erdewan n. An outsider, his father joined the n in his youth as a potential son-inw, and quickly spotting his talent, Harun''s mother used him to cement her position and snatch the n master seat.


    But as the years went by, he became increasingly more difficult to control. His relentless sheltering of the face-losing Harun was the best example. Using a n war as an excuse to send him away, the Erdewan n mistress formed an agreement with the Golden Cicada sect, using Harun''s life as a tool to secure their support.


    Harun''s father returned to witness the truth, slew the Golden Cicada protectors in a rage, and was in turn cornered by the Erdewan n. Grievously wounded, he couldn''t resist their Nihility Realm experts''bined assault and perished under their blows. As Harun desperately ran for his life, his n offered his father''s head in apology, buying themselves time to hunt him down.


    Little did Harun expect that when all seemed desperate, like a guardian spirit from folk tales, his elder brother would drop from the sky and unleash his poisonous arts to protect him. Cleaving a bloody road through the Erdewan nsmen, Nujen took Harun to safety and died from his mother''s wounds. All sacrifices soon proved useless. Golden Cicada elders caught their trails, tracked Harun down, and turned him into the sect''s prime medicine ve.


    "You...how can you so eagerly eat all that trash? Don''t you know they''re using us to test poisons?"


    "If I don''t eat, what should I do? Starve? A man cannot me injustice on fate and must strive for the tiniest hope to turn the tables. I will eat anything they throw at me and beg for more, because I know that one day I will leave this ce,e back, and screw them all to thest bitch," Harun told a fellow medicine ve and carried on with his toxic meal.


    The Golden Cicada sect took its name from a legend of rebirth and immortality and aimed to create an elixir of eternal life through their poisonous arts. They controlled thousands of medicine vesmost couldn''t survive one month. But while the average medicine ve couldn''t resist their grasp, the elders underestimated Harun''s physique. To be more urate, they didn''tprehend it.


    Poison didn''t harm Harun. On the contrary, it strengthened him. By consuming a myriad of organ-damaging substances, Harun reached the peak of Purification and created his Organ-Melting Palm. By doing the same with soul-crushing poisons, Harun reached the peak of the Hallowed Realm and condensed his Soul-Eroding me.


    Burying dreams of skyscrapers at the back of his mind, Harun escaped the Golden Cicada sect, using his left eye to track down treasures, recipes, pills and chances scattered across his world. And since gluttony enabled him to survive, he took gluttony as his Dao, and swore to live his life to the fullest so that the two that died for him could...at least rest in peacethe rest is history.


    Eyes still shut close, Harun joined his hands in a mudra. A formless energy of harrowing plight surged, coating Harun in an unapproachable aura:


    "Vicissitude Domain: Eternal Starvation," Harun cast his once-strongest ability, thest skill he mastered in the Mortal Path: the Vicissitude Domain. Combining his Dao of Gluttony with the decades of starvation he went through to reach Crossed Vicissitude, that Domain forced anyone in its range to experience starvation at its worst. After using it to destroy the Golden Cicada sect, Harun rarely disyed this ability.


    But as the Domain of Eternal Starvation rippled, in an inexplicable change, Harun''s Heavenly Qi reserves shrank. Though his four Divine Blood Drops remained, Harun''s Qi dropped at an rming pace. His celestial foundation copsed, and stretching out his hands, Harun released his past and Dao Foundation, all he''d umted in the mortal path, to condense a ck-white seed in his heart.


    The seed, Harun''s Incarnation Seed, morphed into a golden cicada that seemed in harmony with life and death. Golden light shed around Harun''s heartmarking thepletion of his Holy Foundation.


    Thus, Harun officially deviated from the Divine Path, bing a Quasi-Saint. While this was nothing but a transitional stage, his strength didn''t shrink, instead growing further.


    "Step twoplete. Third andst, the Heart of Reincarnation," Harun inwardly said, but at that time, Dilnaz appeared at his pagoda''s gate, and without announcing herself, walked in.

 Chapter 32: The God-Empress Offer

    Chapter 32: The God-Empress'' Offer


    While the sudden appearance of a divine beauty waltzing in their house could make many men leap from joy, Harun was less than pleased. Nevertheless, he greeted Dilnaz with a smile. The kind of fake smile anyone could spot miles away.


    "Wee, Your Majesty. Couldn''t restrain yourself anymore? Had toe sample the goods and y the honeypot trick to subdue me?" Harun said with a broad grin. With one hand on her hip and the other hanging by her side, Dilnaz shrugged.


    "Sort of." The casual reply took Harun off guard. How could he expect that the stately empress would openly admit to such crude thoughts. Then again, if he knew what she came to offer, he wouldn''t be that surprised.


    The rows of chairs surrounding Harun stood between Dilnaz and he. Standing up from his cultivation mat, Harun leaped toward his all-purpose table and motioned for Dilnaz to take a seat.


    "Please, make yourself at home. Considering how you came in, I''m sure you don''t need my permission. But since I was raised as a gentleman, I still have to speak the words," Harun said and sat before the table. Ignoring his pique, Dilnaz sat opposite to him, and for a second, the two faced one another. For once, Dilnaz didn''t look at Harun like meat on the cutting board. Her eyes even disyed undisguised appreciation.


    Harun, however, seemed to struggle with the proximityforcing his eyes to not nce at Dilnaz''s cleavage. Here''s why:


    "Holy cow, look at this broad! Those jugs, those lips, those hips, that ass! How can you not tap that? Look, it may sound far-fetched, but as the Supreme Founder, you should also think of establishing the supreme lineage. This gal is prime material for lineage building. Top-grade babies guaranteed. This is yourwful duty calling to you. I will even reward you!" The system''s voice boomed in Harun''s mind like an over-excited lecher facing a row of supermodels.


    Again, Harun was forced to wonder what kind of depraved individual came up with this system. Surely, the world would be a better ce without him? And while he shed with the system''s surging appetite, Dilnaz couldn''t help but wonder if her charms weren''t destabilizing the boy.


    "Ultimately, he''s too young. I suppose that can''t be helped. This level of self-control is alreadymendable. It should make the whole thing easier," she reasoned, bat her eyshes, and shed Harun an enticing smile.


    "I must say that I''m impressed. Fully aware that Heavenly Gods, Empyrean Monarchs and even Demi-Emperors are racing for your eyes, you can still cultivate in peace. In your shoes, many others would have copsed from the pressure and gone mad. At first, I admit that I didn''t take you seriouslya regretful mistake," Dilnaz started, maintaining eye contact to not lose any change in Harun''s countenance.


    "I''m here to fix that. The Empyrean n is willing to give you an official apology and wee you as its Crown-Prince-Consort. You can freely choose among all Empyreandies, married or unmarried. Even Jiyan, if you wish. In fact, out of selfish interests, I''d rather you choose Jiyan. Because whoever you pick will be the Empyrean n''s Crown Princess and will be nurtured for the throne which, in the future, will make you the Emperor-Consort.


    Moreover, you can take as many concubines from the n as you wish to. As many as you can handle, of course. We also give you a license to choose among our trusted vassals, will let you keep your eyes and give you maximum training. If you have any other requests, I''m all ears. In exchange for all this, we only ask two things:


    A) Make a Dao Pledge to live and die for the Empyrean n.


    B) Hide in an elerated Time World for 3,000 years to cultivate and breed Double Pupil children," Dilnaz offered, and Harun''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.


    Renowned as the top beauties of the 33 Heavens, the Vermillion Fox and Bewitching Snake ns aside, in beauty alone, Empyrean women didn''t have any rival. In grace and background, none could equal them. The celestials looking for an opportunity to get their hands could form lines from a mortal world to another. But not only was Dilnaz giving Harun license to make his choice, he could even pick as many concubines as he could handle? Regardless of their marital status?


    Those conditions alone would have broken many. But to top it off, he could keep his eyes and receive their full training? The only ring drawbacks were that on the one hand, Harun would have to give up a leadership position in the 10,000 Sect War, while on the other, he''d basically turn into an eternal subordinate of the Empyrean n.


    That much was to be expected. At the end of the day, the Empyreans wanted their crown and imperial authority back. Why would they sell their n''s women to be an outsider''s servant? If they couldn''t ensure Harun''s unquestionable allegiance, they''d never offer such conditions.


    "Even you?" Because of those drawbacks, Harun didn''t doubt Dilnaz''s sincerity, but still couldn''t resist the words.


    "Unless I do not count as an Empyreandy, even me," Dilnaz candidly replied.


    "It seems fairly obvious, but I still have to ask. What is your rtionship with Jiyan?"


    "She''s my daughter and only child."


    "I see." Harun closed his eyes, nodded at Dilnaz''s words, and arched his head back, "I respectfully decline," he said, and confused by such a swift refusal, Dilnaz frowned.


    "Why? Such conditions can water the mouths of Heavenly Gods and make many Monarchs flounder. What do you want that we cannot offer you? Or do you think that clinging onplete freedom can save you from your current predicament? Even if you can win the uing sh, even if you join the Serpent Domain, the hunt will not stop until someone steals your eyes.


    You are too young, too weak. You need time to grow and the backing of those you know, for sure, will not rob you of your life. Like I said, if there''s anything else you want, unless it infringes on those two conditions, we will indulge you.


    Harun, what do you want most in life?" Dilnaz asked.


    "Food and wine," Harun replied with a straight face, and unprepared, Dilnaz blinked.


    "Excuse me?" Though she knew Harun cultivated the Dao of Gluttony, she refused to believe that, deep down, he only cared for some trivial snacksHarun broke her expectations.


    "Food and wine. Give me that braised pork, that roastmb, those greasy turkey tails, pour me that wine, and I will love you for 1,000 years. However, this is not important." Opening his eyes, Harun nced at the ceiling, ignoring Dilnaz''s gaze.


    "God-Empress, even if you could find and fulfill all of my desires, even if you guaranteed my freedom on top of all other benefits, I''d still refuse, because regardless of where I stand on the moral spectrum, there is one thing I will never do" Here, Harun paused, and lowered his eyes back to Dilnaz''s with an intensity she didn''t seeing.


    "To consort with a n willing to sell its children for benefits. From the moment you made that offer, every second I nced at you made my eyes burn. So please do me a favor: get lost and stop sickening me.


    Words cannot begin to describe how sorry I feel for Jiyan," Harun said, struggling to restrain the rage twisting his face, and pped hard by his words, Dilnaz trembled.


    Gritting her teeth, Dilnaz restrained her aura outburst. Using the stakes of this agreement to cool her billowing fury.


    "What, are you one of those unrealistic fools that don''t understand the necessity ofpromise and sacrifice? The Empyrean n sheltered, raised, and led them all to their current standing. Glory, splendor, wealth and rank, what did the n not give them? But what did they provide in return? Besides siphoning resources, what purposes do they serve? So if now the n wants them to pay back a portion of all it gave them, why should they notply?


    This is the reality of our world. I expected be" Dilnaz used herte father''s words to sway Harun. But before she could speak them, a boundless pressure locked thest words in her throat. Purple fments grew and coiled around Harun''s form, a thick aura of violet mist surged alongside them, and his purple eye sparkled in the same shade.


    "I think you do not understand." Harun stressed every word, and as if tricked into an irresistible illusion, Dilnaz saw the figure of an infinitely tall, wed serpent form at his back.


    "I saidgetLOST!"


    *BANG*


    Walls of boundless aura rammed into Dilnaz, hurling her out of Harun''s pagoda in one ringing st. Breaking through the wall, Dilnaz crashed 100 meters away from Harun, the first rays of the new day shafted in the sky, and she spurted blood.

 Chapter 33: Mandate of Fate

    Chapter 33: Mandate of Fate


    "Why...how? This...is unbelievable." Locked on the ground by an irresistible force, Dilnaz stammered, unable toprehend this turn of events. Even if Harun''s fighting abilities and eyes transcended all conceptions, how could a Celestial Kin crush a Monarch''s defenses? The mere thought made no sense. But reality often struck people hard, challenging their thoughts and beliefs. Though Harun still sat before his table, the "Get Lost" still rang in Dilnaz''s mind, leaving her with two choices: leave, or remain at his mercy.


    But as her heart pounded against her chest, Dilnaz felt fissures spread across her iplete Internal Heaven. The lives and growing worshippers scattered within suffered unprecedented cmities, their faith vacited, and powerless to stop the change, Dilnaz floundered. With his lips curved into a fiendish grin, Harun stood up, leisurely walking toward Dilnaz. The closer he was, the more intense the pressure of his purple eye and aura became. And feeling the Divine Authority in Harun''s right eye, Dilnaz realized the problem.


    "A Mandate...the Mandate of Fate." Dilnaz said and focused all her cultivation base to fight against her Internal Heaven''s cmity. The end of the Divine Path, Mandates represented a sovereign authority over an aspect of reality. The Mandate of Fire, the Mandate of Joy, the Mandate of Ruin, the Mandate of Lust, as long as they could conceptualize it, peak-level Empyrean Monarchs could create Mandates out of anything.


    However, the more profound the concept, the more challenging turning it into a Mandate became. Even something basic such as the Mandate of Fire required a 100% understanding of all firews and principles. However, while those principles existed in Heaven''s Will''s strands, Gods refined but didn''t seek to understand them. Thus, once they reached the peak of the Empyrean Monarch Realm, they faced a blockade of their own ignorancepreventing them from bing Dao Emperors. Even those that knew of this pitfall couldn''t avoid it. Heaven gave them the right to refine its strands, but once they attempted to peer into its secrets, lethal tribtions awaited them.


    There were only two exceptions: the 33 Heavens'' Imperial Seal that chose its master and contained the Mandate of Heaven, and the Serpent Emperor''s Sovereign Pupils that contained the Mandate of Fate. Harunced his previous words in his Fate Mandate, and by challenging them, Dilnaz triggered a Defiance Tribtion that now threatened to ruin her Internal Heaven.


    "But how can he already use it?" That Harun''s purple double pupils contained the Mandate of Fate wasmon knowledge among hegemonic ns. However, no one believed that a Celestial Kin could wield the unfathomable power of fate. It''d already be impressive if he could y with his own luck. s, most of what they knew about Sovereign Pupils came from the Heaven Warding Emperor and their various ancestors sufferings under the Serpent Emperor''s tyrannythe rest were assumptions.


    How could Dilnaz imagine that even Harun didn''t understand the situation? More urately, he acted on instincts. He didn''t have to think, didn''t have to try. As long as he willed it, she had to obey. And if she didn''t, Heavenly Punishment should erase her existence. In that moment, Harun felt as if the fate of all living thingsby right existed in his palm and that, with a thought, he couldmand them all.


    Reaching out, Harun summoned a purple bow and aimed it at Dilnaz. Pulling the bowstring, Harun condensed an arrow a few centimeters away from Dilnaz''s face. Still struggling against the Defiance Tribtion wrecking her Internal Heaven and threatening to wipe out tens of thousands of years of hard work, Dilnaz shivered. The infinitely tall serpent shadow at Harun''s back weighed on her soul, convincing her that the tiniest mistake would cost her her life.


    "Damn it boss, snap out of it! If you fire this arrow, you will be the first to die!" The system caterwauled at the back of Harun''s mind, but couldn''t force him out of his trance. Facing the arrowhead, Dilnaz felt as if 10,000 fliestched on her body, draining her luck to thest bit. Images of her futures, countless variations of her fate, fluctuated in her mind, revealing diverse ways her life could end in. But above all else, the immediate threat of that arrow grasped her attention, and Dilnaz didn''t doubt that once it struck, she died.


    But as Harun''s fingers stood on the verge of releasing the bolt, the golden cicada in his heart unleashed waves of golden lighterasing the serpent shadow at his back. Instantly, Harun regained his wits, and as if his consciousness shed with the eye''s power, the bow and arrow vanished.


    Strangely, Harun didn''t feel confused. His mind fully grasped all that happened till now, as if a defense mechanism temporarily trapped his consciousness in the golden cicada, yet left him able to watch the events. The change didn''t escape Dilnaz, and sensing the shrinking weight of her internal cmity, she turned into blue smoke and fled back to the Divine Pce.


    "By all the lords of the underworld, this was close, fucking close. What do you think you are? The Primordial Dao Emperor? With your tiny body and negligible cultivation base, how could you aim you summon the power of your Mandate and aim it at a Monarch? Another step and your soul in the Extreme Yin Prison would have burned to nothingness!" The system snapped at Harun, but strangely, he could feel a trace of genuine concern in its voice.


    The farther she stood from Harun, the more manageable Dilnaz''s defiance tribtion felt, and by the time she reached her Empress Pce, the previous hopelessness had vanished from Dilnaz''s heart. At the same time, she no longer remembered the futures she saw in the arrow. Still, she didn''t dare dy and locked herself in secluded cultivation. Much damage had been done already. Even if she sessfully crossed this tribtion, Dilnaz knew that without centuries of work, she couldn''t regain all she lost to Harun''s two-wordmand.


    Never in her life did she feel so humiliated. Even that day when her father and elders used foul tricks to force her into marrying Agiri...couldn''tpare.


    "Since you made that offer, every second I nced at you made my eyes burn. So please do me a favor: get lost and stop sickening me.


    Words cannot begin to describe how sorry I feel for Jiyan."


    Harun''s words and deeds reyed in Dilnaz''s mind, and chaotic emotions clogged her heart.


    "Who are you to judge me? Who are you to insult me? All men are worthless, and after I prove that you''re no better...Harun Erdewan, I will kill you!" Dilnaz pledged.

 Chapter 34: Agiri’s Genius

    Chapter 34: Agiri¡¯s Genius


    "Troublesome" Ignoring the issues in the System''s words, Harun explored his body through his Divine Sensebut couldn''t find anything wrong with it. This only made him more vignt. And Harun now realized that his body carriedtent threats. Said bluntly, if he didn''tplete his Holy Foundation before Dilnaz''s visit, and condense that Golden Cicada Incarnation Seed, both Harun and Dilnaz would have died todaydestroyed in body and soul.


    The thought rang all of Harun''s alert gongs. But regardless of how he turned the problem, he couldn''te up with a coherent answer. At the start, his life wasn''t in danger. If not for Dilnaz''s words and the memories that recently resurfaced, Harun wouldn''t lose control in such an absolute way. But thanks to that, he could see that his self-control acted like shackles for his Sovereign Pupils, and once he lost himself, their powers were free to explode.


    But why would a part of his body drive him into ruin? That behavior went against all principles of self-preservation. It was almost as if the Sovereign Pupils hid a will of their own and, akin to an oppressive ruler, they couldn''t tolerate any form of disobedience or disrespect. Realizing he needed to learn more about this power and its origins, Harun sighed.


    "Never mind, I should fix the wall in case the girl returns. Can''t give the impression of a sloppy host to my favorite sugar mommy." Harun crossed his hands behind his head, and walked back into his pagoda withrge, exaggerated steps.


    "To not lose your sugar mommy. After all that just went down, that''s your main concern? What is your brain made of? Jelly?" The System cursed in Harun''s mind. Undisturbed, Harun hummed a joyful tone.


    "Fretting without answers never solved any problem. Instead of fiddling with my fingers, wondering how and if the eyes can be burdens, I should focus on my priority: to make the most out of life," Harun countered, and having nothing else to say, the system shut it.


    Back to his 14-year-old appearance, Harun patched the Dilnaz-hole in his wall, then carried on with refining his Blood Drops, hoping to reach the World-Devouring level before the battle''s start. Strangely, he could feel that since he started re-cultivating his Celestial Nature, in speed or blood quality, he stood far above the past. Now, Harun didn''t doubt that with enough time, he could attack the mythical Star-Devouring tiera matter for another time.


    Within Harun''s Heart, the Golden Cicada released a mystical haze that spread throughout Harun''s internal organs, making them all take its golden hue. Incarnation Seeds were more than steps toward the Six Incarnation Bridge. Each represented aption of the cultivator''s existence and took the shape most appropriate for their soul.


    More importantly, the Incarnation Seed protected the cultivator from death and other hazards. Unless it broke, its owner couldn''t die. This was the true final step of the mortal path: Sainthood.


    When the mysterious haze made all of Harun''s organs and bones take that gold color, he could call himself a True Saint and unleash Life Refining Chains on all those that didn''t possess aplete Dao Foundation.


    In the 33 Heavens where even outstanding juniors of hegemonic ns had to wait for the Celestial Guard Realm before incarnating themselves in a mortal world to build their Dao Foundation, below the age of 200, this ability made him invincible. Numbers didn''t matter. Whoever came, whoever died. But if Harun didn''t time this with the Monstrous Beasts'' release, once they realized the ploy, the deities would throw caution to the wind and attack him with all they got.


    After six hours of silent cultivation, while the Incarnation Seed did its internal cleaning, a blend of sweet and fruity scents reached Harun''s nose, breaking his focus. With two spontaneous sniffs, Harun lifted his eyes toward the entrance, and wasn''t surprised to see a young Empyrean princess standing at the door.


    "I heard I was always wee here, so I didn''t bother knocking. Hope you don''t mind," Jiyan said while waving a fruit basket in Harun''s direction.


    "Knocking is for outsiders. Some people will always be exempt. Regardless of the time, you can just dive in. Nowe here," Harun beckoned toward Jiyan withrge, sparkling eyes. Speaking with a smile that, if not for his teen appearance, would have given him the look of a child predator using candy to bait his victims.


    Stifling augh, Jiyan wondered if, by preying on this innocent soul, she wasn''t breaking a fewws somewhere in the multiverse. But reckoning that it didn''t matter, she shrugged, and brought Harun his bribe of the day.


    "Since you''ve chosen to fight against the world, in the few days you have left, I will make you taste all of Heaven''s delicacies, legal or illegal. That way, you won''t die with regrets. Today, we''re starting with a more healthy diet," Jiyan said while Harun tore through a pear-shaped fruit.


    Mortal or heaven-born, most celestials ate with as little sound and gestures as possible, prioritizing their appearance over their enjoyment of the meal. The Empyreans took that to the extreme. So, in Jiyan''s eyes, someone who, like Harun, didn''t care for crunching sounds and spilling juiceswas both odd and refreshing. Perhaps such a person would never care for appearances, and forever remain straightforward, unless forced by his enemies'' ploys. Or so Jiyan thought.


    "Nonsense, you''re obviously addicted to my presence. Otherwise why would you go through the trouble of hunting down the world''s top delicacies just for an excuse toe here? Can''t me you though, I''m just that cute." Harun wanted to say, but fearing that exposing Jiyan''s petty thoughts would deprive him of his only source of goodies, he restrained himself.


    "I still sense no Sovereign Essence in you. You should start cultivating it as soon as possible. It''s unfortunate that thete Emperor forcefully downgraded all newly ascended celestials, or you wouldn''t have to waste time on refining your Celestial Nature," Jiyan said. Commonly known as Purple Essence, Sovereign Essence was generated by and unique to the Sovereign Pupils, enabling its owner to strengthen their body''s defenses.


    Harun''s right eye produced some every day, but knowing he was destined to lose those gains upon reincarnation, he didn''t bother cultivating it.


    "Nah, Agiri was a genius. Don''t me the man. My only regret is that I couldn''t meet him in person to thank him for all he''s done for people like me," Harun said and, instantly, Jiyan''s eyes stretched in a blend of astonishment and confusion.


    "Come again?" Throughout the 33 Heavens, there was only one thing all, regardless of background, could agree on: after his eighth Cosmic Tribtion, God-Emperor Agiri went mad, and made everyone''s lives miserable. The mere thought of a celestial wanting to thank him would have made the world burst intoughter.


    Though she held entirely different views, Jiyan knew things others didn''t, and couldn''t imagine that anyone else would praise herte father. However, Harun''s following words baffled her.


    "Isn''t it obvious? In one way or another, each of thete God-Emperor''s Divine Laws aimed to protect the 33 Heavens'' citizens from the noble and hegemonic ns'' tyranny." Harun stated.


    "Let''s start with the Divine Right Law that automatically downgraded celestials upon ascension. Long before Agiri''s reign, themon sentiment among the top-ranking ns was that mortal-born celestials had to be culled. They kept enough to fill the pages jobs and hunted down the rest. Back then, Ascension was a sure death sentence for all Golden-Cloud celestials. The Second Emperor overlooked it. But Agiri didn''t.


    More importantly, he realized that those ns acted out of fear. They feared the results disyed by the mortal-born allowed to grow. So, using a Divine Law to stop the hunts would, at best, dy the massacres till Agiri''s reign ended. At worst, they''d change tactics, and achieve their goals in more subtle ways.


    Thus, the only viable solution was to erase the potential the ns feared by downgrading the new celestials, and giving them the time to find reliable support before re-cultivating their Divine Blood Drops," Harun exined, making Jiyan''s eyes sparkle with every word.


    "With a reliable backer, they could quickly regain what they lost and even go a step further. Without, they''re either waiting for death or eternal suppression. Looking back, thete emperor saved my life. When I ascended with the World-Devouring Serpent bloodline, if his Divine Law didn''t automatically downgrade me, no need to mention Double Pupils. Who wouldn''t kill me? Behind the veil of madness, his otherws also carry many hidden considerations. I only have admiration for the man." As Harun''s words reached the end, trembling with excitement, Jiyan could no longer restrain herself, and grabbed his hands.


    Inwardly, Harun let out a triumphant gloat.


    "What a despicable viin. The poorss got swindled. Obviously, knowing that Agiri is her father, you came up with all that bullshit to stay in her good graces, strengthen your position in her heart, and get even more delicacies. What admiration? Until yesterday, you were cursing him," the system sighed in Harun''s mind, feeling that poor Jiyan had thrown herself at a wolf in sheep''s clothing.

 Chapter 35: I Swear I Didnt Know!

    Chapter 35: I Swear I Didn''t Know!


    As she held Harun''s hands, words couldn''t describe Jiyan''s happiness. Since she could walk and understand men''s talks, she had to endure the countless voices cursing her father''s name. Chief among them was the imperial n who, confined in the Divine Pce by Agiri''sws, could no longer run amok in the outside word.


    "After the Golden Crow Ancestor went into seclusion 200,000 years ago, the Divine Army grew idle. Believing that my father wouldn''t care for it, many of the noble and Hegemonic ns returned to their past habits. Abusing men, snatching their women, forcing the citizens to pay them tributes, and setting up their own regimes in their domains while paying lip service to my father.


    They corrupted the petition system that allowedmoners to vent their grievances, making it seem like life in the 33 Heavens couldn''t be better. It wasn''t until my father disguised himself as a low-ranking celestial to explore the world that he realized the truth.


    Enraged, my father killed many of the culprits. And with an unstable state of mind, crossed his eighth tribtion, resulting in his Divine Consciousness getting damaged. Still, despite the so-called madness, he forgot none of his aspirations, and imposed a set of Divine Laws aimed at suppressing the abuse of the top-ranking divine ns. But...even the citizens only saw the bad, ignoring all those seemingly irrationalws protected them from." Trembling from a blend of rage and helplessness, Jiyan shed bitter tears. In that instant, she wanted to find and tell her father that at least one person saw the intent of his moves. That he didn''t ruin his immortality for a bunch of blind and deaf ingrates.


    But Agiri was gonedestroyed in body and soul. For people like him, even reincarnation became a luxury. Besides the memories she held on, nothing of him remained.


    "Harun...thank you. I...didn''t misjudge you." With nothing else to say, Jiyan could only thank Harun for giving herte father that bit of praise, and lowered her face to hide the tears trickling down. However, Harun stretched out his hand and lifted Jiyan''s chinforcing her to maintain eye contact.


    "You''re wee. If anything, I should be the one thanking you. So with me here, please don''t say things like ''I''m sorry,'' or ''thank you.'' That''d just make me feel awkward," Harun began, took a cup, and filled it with celestial wine. He then dumped the liquor on the grounda ritual offering for the deadand poured another one, this time for Jiyan.


    "Compared to the divine pce, this pagoda may not be thatrge. But if you need a ce to mourn, you can use it as you please. No one wants to be the guy whose funerals bring no tears. So while I believe your father would want you to forget the pain as soon as possible, and carry on with your life, I''m sure he wouldn''t me you...for shedding a few tears in his memory," Harun said while extending the wine cup toward Jiyan.


    It had just been over a week since Agiri died. But from the moment the news spread, none were allowed to mourn him properly. Even Jiyan had that privilege robbed from her.


    For a second, she stared into Harun''s eyes, and a myriad of gentle emotions fluctuated within. Jiyan''s lips curled into a smile, a radiant smile that contrasted with the tears still tracing her cheeksmaking them look like tears of joy instead. Now she couldn''t help but think that, somewhere in this world, her father still watched over her. Otherwise, how could she meet Harun so soon after his death?


    Without hesitation, Jiyan took the cup from Harun''s handsemptying it in one gulp.


    "Then starting now, and until your battle starts, every night I will drink till I pass out in your house. Anyints?" Jiyan asked in a bold and upromising tone.


    "My old man used to say that once you find a gal willing to pass out drunk in your house, you can stop looking for a wife. So, as a single and filial son, I won''t be the one stopping you. Just...don''t me me if my hands wander a bit and something happens during the night," Harun let out a breathy, gleefulugh, and moved his hands in threatening gestures.


    Rolling her eyes, Jiyan refilled their cups, and while Harun took down his, said: "That''s also fine. I will just have to marry you. Saves me the trouble of sending all the arrogant young lords flying."


    *Cough* *Cough*


    Unprepared for such a straightforward answer, Harun broke into a coughing fit, almost choking on his wine, "How shameless. I discover a new aspect of you every day. Makes me wonder how innocent you really are," Harun said, and an exchange of good-natured banter followed till Jiyan passed out drunk on hisp.


    Now the only sober soul, Harun dropped the jug, wrapped Jiyan in a warm quilt, and with one hand stroking her silky white hair, closed his eyes. A thin golden chain flew from Harun''s heart, bidding itself to Jiyan''s.


    "What are you doing?" The system''s voice echoed in Harun''s mind.


    "Linking her life to my Incarnation Seed. I''ve been taking too much advantage of her. Should at least give her something in return. Even after I leave the 33 Heavens, my Incarnation Seed can shelter her from harm," Harun replied, and surprisingly, the System burst intoughter.


    "You also know that you''ve been taking advantage of thess? How despicable. With the age gap between the two of you, don''t you feel the least bit ashamed? What a good son," the system chortled, making Harun unable to see if it was cursing or praising him.


    "She can''t be that much older, right?"


    "She? Hahahaha! I think it''s time you start using the stat screen. I will do the technical part for you. Look at her again," the system said and, perplexed, Harun lowered his eyes on Jiyan.


    [Name: Jiyan of the Empyrean n]


    [Attributes: Senses (10), Physique (10), Luck (9), Dao Attunement (10), Willpower (10), Charisma (8)]


    [Destiny: Undecided]


    [Age: 17]


    [Cultivatio]


    "Wait, age, what the fuck?" Harun''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets, refusing to believe the data he saw beside the sleeping Jiyan. However, the data refused the change, and the system''sughs validated them.


    "You''re almost ten times older than she is. Fucking pedofile, good job!" Harun could imagine the system raising a thumbs up toward him. His heart spiraled out of control, and he spurted bloodwell, almost.


    ...


    On the next morning, Jiyan awoke to the sight of Harun, unconscious but clutching at his chest as if experiencing an unending nightmare. Confused, she poured some Heavenly Qi into his body, fed him a Mind-Cleansing Pill, and after making sure that his condition had stabilized, stood up and left.


    But if on the road, Jiyan kept her contented smile, once she returned to the Divine Pce, and saw a gathering of high-ranking elders at her door, her smile vanished.

 Chapter 36: The Chained Swords Mutiny

    Chapter 36: The Chained Sword''s Mutiny


    In top expert quantity, the inscrutable Serpent Domain aside, the Empyreans didn''t have rivals. Theoretically, if not for their ancestor, the Golden Crows couldn''tpare, either. However, as she swept the elders gathered at her door, Jiyan realized that the Golden Crows possessed one thing that put them above her nsmen: a relentless martial will.


    Raised as soldiers from infancy to maturity, regardless of their goals in life, the Golden Crow nsmen all shared that traitenabling them to dominate the elite of the other ns. Once they set their eyes on something, they''d fight tooth and nails to get it. Retreat or surrender...were never options. In contrast, the Empyreans preferred their eons of politicking. Starting with the Second Emperor''s reign, aside from those princes thatpeted for the throne, Empyrean nsmen rarely fought with their lives on the lineand always kept a retreat n in mind.


    In this era, depending on her choices, Jiyan could be their advance or retreat n. Twelve of the n''s thirty-three active elders formed lines before Jiyan''s pce, all dressed in white and gold robes embroidered with a golden orchid.


    "Jiyan, although your father''s death is a burden on us all, we must forge aheadless our enemies take advantage of this moment of weakness to destroy our n," the third elder, a fifth-level Empyrean Monarch, started, and Jiyan could already foresee the heaps of bullshiting her way. The elders stepped aside, letting four ck-haired men pass.


    At the helm was a strikingly handsome youth with the slit silver eyes of the True Dragon n, ruling lineage of the world-renowned reptiles.


    In the Divine Pce''s Ancestral Hall, the supreme elder stood before Agiri''s stele, holding a seven-colored pill in his hand. Dilnaz kneeled behind him, her face livid, and her eyes locked on the ground.


    "Are you determined? Such a gift may be too much for even I to ept," the supreme elder said in a serious tone, but his eyes never left the seven-colored pill which seemed to ripple with the Laws of Heaven.


    "Yes. If you''re willing to rescind your order, please ept that pill and spare Jiyan. Although she seems insensible, she''s, after all, my daughter. With a week, no, four days, I know I can have here around," Dilnaz replied. But while her tone seemedced in resolve, her lips and limbs trembled, showing that she barely had enough strength to remain on her knees.


    "Well, this is an irresistible offer but...you didn''t seem that opposed to the previous deal. Didn''t you merely give birth to Jiyan to stay in Agiri''s favor? Why the sudden motherly heart?"


    "The True Dragon n is the most obscene lineage of the 33 Heavens. To say nothing of others, they treat even their n''s females as expendable dual cauldrons and their lust knows no limit. If not because the Primordial Dragon couldn''t restrain himself and attempted to abduct his Phoenix Empress, why would the Serpent Emperor ughter their n and allies to near extinctiontriggering a war against his own world?


    We may twist historical truths to suit the trend, but cannot cheat ourselves. Jiyan is my daughter, even if I were ten times crueler, I can''t possibly throw her into ruin just to give ourpetitors a false sense of fear and weakness! Please reconsider!" Dilnaz begged. As she suppressed her tribtion and recovered from Harun''s blow, Dilnaz''s failure and Jiyan''s unwillingness to represent her n in the uing sh both reached the supreme elder. Undisturbed, he reasoned that since Jiyan didn''t want to raise her sword, they might as well use her to trick their enemies.


    By marrying their n''s most gifted to the junior dragon lord, the Empyrean elders believed they''d create an impression of weakness and desperationconvincing their foes of their decline and inevitable destruction. That impression alone could buy them a substantial amount of time to strengthen their force.


    When the news reached her, Dilnaz refined her Internal Heaven into a Heaven''s Will pill, making her cultivation drop from the fifth-level of the Empyrean Monarch Realm to the peak of the Heavenly God Realm. With that pill, the supreme elder could dy his next Cosmic Tribtion by 12,000 years, and strengthen his iplete Mandatethereby removing his reliance on the Heaven Shrouding Coffins, and increasing his chances in the war. Faced with such enticement, the old monster couldn''t resist.


    "Fine. Offending the True Dragon n is no problem. However, Jiyan is too gifted. Such a monstrous talent transcends reason itself. If we cannot control her, we must suppress her. Which one will it be?"


    "You...can choose her end," Dilnaz said in a defeated tone. Logic-wise, mere suppression could never satisfy the supreme elder. The fear that one day she''d break free and ughter him ensured that he''d just find a way to end her life. Instead, by letting him take control of Jiyan''s soul and potential, Dilnaz could ensure her survival. The rest would take care of itself.


    On average, prodigies took 10 years per Celestial Kin level, 50 per Celestial Guard level and 350 per Knight level.


    Having reached the third-level of the Celestial Knight Realm in 1,200 years, the junior dragon lord ranked among the 33 Heavens'' top prodigiesdestined to be a Monarch. Unlike many of his peers who idled in thefort of their houses, the junior dragon lord devoted himself, body and soul, to cultivation. His goal: to reach the Empyrean Monarch Realm within 100,000 years, so that he could satisfy his desire of breaking the will of top-ranking Goddesses. Never did he expect that the Empyreans had declined to the point they''d offer Agiri''s only daughter''s hand to him, and thinking of all the games he''d y with her, he rushed toward the Divine Pce to seal the deal.


    Ignoring his elders'' advice, the junior dragon lord stepped toward Jiyan, arms crossed behind his back. Not sparing him a nce, Jiyan focused on the third elder.


    "This is what you mean by ''forging ahead?''" Jiyan rhetorically asked, and unsurprised by her reaction, the third elder nodded.


    "The dragon n produced many outstanding descendants, but the junior lord eclipses them all. As the future leader of a hegemonic n, his status is a match for yours. You''re thete emperor''s only daughter, so we must think for your sake. Talent and background fit; this will be a wonderful match," the third elder recited his part of the script, and Jiyan nodded in approval.


    "Very well." Hearing this, the junior dragon lord nearly leaped with joy. The longer he stared at Jiyan, the more he felt that this trip to the Divine Pce was the best decision of his life. Unable to restrain himself, he extended his hands toward Jiyan''s cheeks. The move rmed the Empyrean elders, and in another situation, the Dragon elders too wouldn''t have let it pass.


    However, recalling how quickly Jiyan submitted, and the nearly begging tone the Empyreans used to request this alliance, they shrugged off their fearsnot that it mattered. By the time they processed their junior lord''s intent, a cool breeze had grazed his arms. The junior dragon lord soon realized something amiss. By now, his fingers should have reached Jiyan, but were nowhere to be seen. Instead, blood jets gushed from his shoulders.


    Wait, blood?


    rmed, the junior dragon lord nced at his shoulders, and saw that, blood aside, nothing remained there. His arms dropped on the ground. Terrified by the sight of his arms tumbling in a pool of his own blood, the junior dragon lord wanted to step back and scream. Unfortunately, another breeze sliced off his legs from his hips, and he lost bnce instead.


    Confused, the junior dragon lord forgot to scream. Then reality struck, and his eyes stretched to impossible lengths.


    "Nonononono, no....ah...no...AAAAARGH!" The junior dragon lord broke into harsh, piercing cries, shaking his head to deny the reality. Silver chains shot from the ground, binding the junior dragon lord''s face to prevent any scream from leaking out. From beginning to end, Jiyan never nced at him, and stretching out her right hand, she summoned a silver longsword whose de seemed trapped by silver chains.


    "Then I must reject this n," Jiyan dered.

 Chapter 37: Lethal Miscalculation

    Chapter 37: Lethal Miscalction


    Meanwhile, Harun had recovered from his nightmares and engaged the system in a heated debate.


    "This is not possible! Absolutely impossible! Let''s assume that her age is correct. If you aren''t malfunctioning, how can a 17-year-old reach the peak of the Celestial Guard Realm? Only Double Pupil owners start higher than Celestial Kin. Even if she started cultivating from the womb, that''s not possible!" Harun argued, and none could me him. Although pills and the like could shorten breakthrough time, to say nothing of the peak of the Celestial Guard Realm, across the 33 Heavens'' history, none ever reached the peak of the Celestial Kin Realm in less than 50 years.


    Unless Jiyan started at a higher level than her peers, or received an inheritance that boosted her cultivation, the system''s data didn''t make sense. "Wait, inheritance?" Recalling his first meeting with Jiyan, Harun remembered that she inherited the First Emperor''s memories.


    In that process, who knows what other cultivation benefits she received? With all the mysteries surrounding the Heaven Warding Emperor, Harun wouldn''t be surprised if his sessor aplished a few abnormal feats.


    "You''ve guessed the gist of it. The girl inherited a rather terrible cultivation method from her ancestor. From the knowledge the Ancestral One granted me, I know that all Empyreans are linked to the n''s Ancestral Hall at birth. For most of them, the link will never matter. But when a peak-stage Empyrean Monarch or Demi-Emperor perishes, the link robs and seals their memories to prevent enemies from stealing the n''s secrets.


    The First Emperor set that rule, but didn''t apply it to himself. Instead, he built a mausoleum to not only store his inheritance, but test the Empyrean nsmen that attempted to obtain it. As long as they belong to the n, whoever can pass that trial can im his inheritance. Initially, the Imperial Mausoleum was meant to be the selection ground for the next monarch. But the First Emperor had to ept that none of his children could meet his criteria, and held a different trial to pick his heir," the system exined, and as Harun pondered his words, it pursued.


    "So while the Second Emperor imed the Seal, he couldn''t receive his father''s inheritance. Afterward, he banned female nsmen from taking part in the contest, believing that their participation went against all moral standards and endangered the n''s peace. Until Jiyan''s birth, no Empyrean could inherit the ancestor''s memories. Agiri could have, but rejected it to pursue his own path. Still, knowing that his death neared, and believing in Jiyan''s talent, Agiri changed the rules to let her take part in the trial.


    As the trial didn''t care for cultivation bases, Jiyan effortlessly defeated her brothers and cousins, bing the first inheritor to the First Emperor''s Daoshe''d just turned 12.


    Among other things, this enabled her to cultivate the Chained Sword Sutra, a cultivation method that transcends the limit of this world. Not only does it provide its cultivators with tremendous destructive power, speed and versatility, but it also multiplies their cultivation speed by 10 times theiryer. With her Ancestor''splete Dao Inheritance, Jiyan started at the fifthyer, multiplying her already dreadful cultivation speed by 50. More importantly, since the inheritance enabled her to experience all relevant parts of her Ancestor''s life, the assimtion didn''t harm her foundation."


    Judging from the system''s words, Harun felt that the Chained Sword Sutra and his Art of the Decaying Flower should be of simr levels. However, Harun had never heard of a method capable of multiplying the practitioner''s cultivation speed without drawbacks. Even his iparably profound Art of the Decaying Flower couldn''t aplish that. And as if reading through Harun''s mind, the system added:


    "Still, this is not necessarily a good thing. The Chained Sword Sutra''s extreme poweres at a matching price. When they start cultivating it, the practitioners must choose a condition for their strength, and pledge to never break it. As long as the chains deem their condition insufficient, they will never reach the First Layer. But once the chains approve, they bind themselves to the practitioner''s heart and soulready to crush both at the slightest transgression. However, Jiyan never got to make her choice, and inherited the method with a preset condition: the First Emperor''s condition. Knowing him, it should be fairly retarded."


    Destabilized by the system''s words, Harun forgot to note all the problems its speech manner and "granted" knowledge presented, focusing on one question only: "What could the condition be?"


    As the system unveiled the source of Jiyan''s strength, thetter resisted the pressure of the 12 Empyrean Elders. Too startled for words, the three True Dragon elders stared at their chained junior lordor whatever remained of himnot knowing how to react. Each possessed a Heavenly God Realm cultivation base. Even if she were one hundred times more gifted, Jiyan wasn''t their match. However, the decisiveness with which she massacred their young master''s life and future put them on maximum alert.


    From beginning to end, not an ounce of rage or killing intent fluctuated around her. Her moves came from nowhere, yet struck with surgical precision.


    Besides building false momentum, screaming a couple "How dare you?" or "Today you must surrender your life" solved no problem. Even if they brought a top-level divine medicine to heal his physical wounds, with the psychological traumas he suffered today, their junior lord could give up on the cultivation road. And as his protectors, those elders would be the first to take the me.


    All three sought the Empyrean elders'' support, but met 12 cold, apathetic gazes focused on Jiyan. Instantly, the dragon elders realized that in the Empyreans'' eyes, they weren''t worth a pig''s fart.


    "This marriage was a scam. They never considered us as alliance material. Otherwise, if only for appearances, they''d be cursing her and appeasing us. Did they expect such a reaction and wanted to coerce her into open revolt, or just wanted to get rid of her in one way or another?"


    "We overestimated ourselves. In the Empyreans'' eyes, there are only two threats to their sovereignty: the Golden Crow Ancestor and the Serpent Domain. Those two aside, the rest are toys they can y with as they see fit. We don''t even have a full understanding of their Dao Reserves, but rushed to ept their proposaleven bringing our junior lord into their walls"


    "Looking back, after the Immemorial War''s end, all noble and hegemonic ns med us for courting the Serpent Emperor''s fury and dragging them all into eons of misery. Since then, who dares marry their daughters into our n? If we didn''t snatch some here and there, there''d be no variety"


    "..."


    As all three regretted epting this assignment, pping sounds came from the sky, and all eyes rose to spot Dilnaz and the supreme elder, who pped with a hint of appreciation.


    "Well done. This is impressive work, Jiyan. Your father would be proud," the supreme elder started. And seeing him stand beside her mother, Jiyan arched an eyebrow. As if ridden with guilt, Dilnaz avoided all eye contact with Jiyan. But better than anyone, Jiyan knew that guilt had no ce in her mother''s vocabry.


    Ignoring the dragons, the supreme eldernded before Jiyan and cast a sidelong nce at the junior lord.


    "It''s not that you''re weak. She''s just too strong. me your old man for not raising you better," the supreme elder said in a half-serious, half-jesting tone. As soon as his eyes returned to Jiyan''s, the junior dragon lord implodedreduced to a pile of dust. The three dragon elders suffered the same fate. Even if the situation had taken a sour turn, they didn''t expect that the supreme elders ruthlessness would reach that pointit did.


    "They have seen too much. While many hegemonic n elders are aware of your inheritance, outsiders should never get the tiniest hint of the Chained Sword''s mysteries." In the current Empyrean n, no one understood the Chained Sword better than the supreme elder. As the First Emperor''s eldest son, he knew many of the secrets hidden from the junior generations, and believed that in this era, no one could stop him from iming his birthright.


    Taking control of Jiyan''s soul was merely the first step. If Dilnaz didn''t show up with her Heaven''s Will pill, after Jiyan joined the dragon n, the supreme elder nned to rob her soul, take her body, and coordinate with his most trusted subordinates to exterminate the dragon n.


    A pity that even with his ancient life and knowledge, he failed to understand one thingthat thing sealed his fate.


    With a gentle smile, the supreme elder stretched his atrophied hand toward Jiyan, condensing a pearl-white seal that flew toward her forehead. Before Jiyan could react, the seal struck, embedding itself in her soul. Her body shook, her eyes zed over, and like a deactivated puppet, she lowered her eyes and dropped on her knees.


    With a smile, the supreme elder walked toward her and whispered: "Activation."


    Bright-white light surged from Jiyan''s sea of consciousness. The supreme elder frowned, and Dilnaz''s lips curled into a fiendish grin.


    From Jiyan''s slender body, the pressure of aplete Mandate rippled, crushed the supreme elder''s seal, and brutalized his internal organs with a formless force.


    BANG!


    "NOW!" Dilnaz eximed in a mental message, and while the supreme elder flew backward, with blood pouring out of his eyes and lips, a pitch-ck longsword appeared beside his cosmic pouch, as if tracking an item within, and pierced through his heart!


    "A...Agiri? Damn son of a bitch. But...how?" More confused by Jiyan''s Mandate than the sword ending his life, the supreme elder cursed his previous lord. With blood gushing from his chest and back, he crashed on the ground. The 12 elders regained their wits, but faced with their strongest''s immediate defeat, didn''t know who to support.


    Dilnaz stepped forward, stopped beside the supreme elder and with a demonic smile, said, "Granduncle, granduncle, you don''t look too good. Want me to call a doctor?" Seeing her gloating above his bleeding face, the supreme elder realized that from the moment he epted that pill, Dilnaz somehow ensured his death. But how? The pitch-ck sword soared to Dilnaz''s side, and morphed into a burly armored man with bronze skin and a Guan-Yu-style beard. That man, the Commandant of the Imperial Guard, and master of the Divine Armament n, bowed toward Dilnaz.


    The supreme elder''s trembling gaze went between his Cosmic Pouch, Jiyan, Dilnaz and the Commandant. Atst, he realized the ploy.

 Chapter 38: Eternal Will

    Chapter 38: Eternal Will


    "I understand...Agiri didn''t get his Mandate from the Imperial Seal. Or more urately...before that, he already possessed aplete Mandate. Which means...that he can leave behind an Eternal Will. Most likely, the Will activates against anyone that puts the safety of Jiyan''s soul at risk. Only you knew the truth. So as soon as you heard of our decision, you used my secret desire for Jiyan''s body to trick me into messing with her soulready to use the Will''s counterattack to...deal me a fatal blow. But the sword teleportation..." the supreme elder choked out the words. Intertwining between loud gasps of air and coughing fits.


    Undeniably, he''d reached the end of his destiny. However, he still couldn''t understand how Dilnaz and the Commandant coordinated this attack and refused to die ignorant. Though the supreme elder possessed the strongest cultivation base and highest practical authority in the n, legally, until they selected a new n master, Dilnaz was the Empyrean n''s leader. Knowing that the Divine Armament n would only obey her, the supreme elder had all its key members monitored, and personally watched out for the Commandant. How did they evade his scrutiny?


    Some of his coughed blood stained Dilnaz''s face, giving her an air of heavenly demoness. With her smile unchanged, Dilnaz stood up and nodded in approval.


    "Nicely resumed. d to see you still got half a brain. Indeed, just like the First Emperor, Agiri cultivated aplete Mandate before receiving the Imperial Seal: the Mandate of Suppression. I don''t know the details of how he seeded, but this makes him a True Dao Emperorenabling him to leave behind an Eternal Will. Only one person knew this: I. Agiri kept that truth hidden from even his father, and never publicly used the power of his Mandate. In fact, he only revealed it to me because his death approached, and he needed me to have all the tools to protect his treasure: Jiyan.


    It is very likely that his true strength surpassed the First Emperor''s. If he didn''t conceal his true abilities, how could Sv possibly injure him? As for the sword teleportation" here Dilnaz paused and snapped her fingers. The Commandant, who still kneeled beside her, teleported to the supreme elder''s leftright beside his cosmic pouch.


    "After I became God-Empress, I created a rather useless ability: Self Chasing. Granted I have their permission, it enables me to teleport anyone to an item concealing the tiniest trace of my essence. The Heaven''s Will Pill you epted was refined from my Internal Heaven. Of course, it overflows with my essence. As soon as Agiri died, and I became the de facto master of the Divine Armament n, I asked the Commandant of the Imperial Guard to give me his permission, and sent him away on a semi-trivial errandwaiting for your awakening.


    We didn''t have tomunicate. I just needed to create one opportunity, and he could deal you a fatal blow. If you first chose to refine the pill, my essence would stain your body, and only make you die faster. Fortunately, you didn''t. Otherwise, I''d truly have to give up on my Internal Heaven," Dilnaz sighed, and again snapped her fingers. The Commandant turned into a pitch-ck longsword rippling with malevolent energies and flew into Dilnaz''s hand.


    But despite her revtions, the supreme elder couldn''t digest the truth. "You''re mad. Absolutely mad! What if I refused to ept the pill? You''d have traded 99% of your cultivation base for nothing!" The supreme elder roared, and wasn''t exaggerating the facts. While Dilnaz only lost five levels, those five Monarch levels represented over 99% of her cultivation base. To bet such stakes on a yes or no decision was pure madness.


    "Information is key to making the right choices. Just like I knew of Agiri''s Mandate, I knew that the temptation of a pill made from a seven-colored Internal Heaven wasn''t something you could resist. Why did you be a Dao Reserve? To evade your brother''s era, bide your time, and wait for a chance to take the crown. For that, you need more than petty schemes. You need time and strength. My pill offered both, how could you resist it? But above that" Dilnaz aligned her sword with the supreme elder''s neck.


    "When you choose to fight for the crown, you must be willing to gamble all you have at all times. I must be supreme. I must stand above all and rule this world. Should anything lie beyond, I must conquer it too. How dare you fetter my rise and threaten my daughter? You were just asking for it," Dilnaz dered and rammed her sword into the supreme elder''s neck.


    As he choked on his blood, the inconceivable urred. At a lightning fast pace, the ck sword drained the supreme elder''s cultivation base, draining it to thest bit. The Commandant was initially a peak-level Empyrean Monarch. Wielding his sword form, Dilnaz could use his strength as she pleased, and challenge all under the Demi-Emperor-level. But now that he refined all the supreme elder''s cultivation, the Golden Crow Ancestor and Sv aside, Dilnaz didn''t fear anyone. More importantly, the sword could transfer its cultivation to Dilnaz, opening the road to endless possibilities.


    Only the seeding God-Emperors knew that the masters of the Divine Armament n possessed that unique ability. Dilnaz only learned it after Agiri''s death. Without its cultivation base to support it, the supreme elder''s atrophied body couldn''t survive its lethal blows, and thest spark of life vanished from his eyes. A look of pure terror remained on, and twisted his wrinkled face.


    With his death, nothing stopped Dilnaz from taking his cosmic pouch and all it contained. Without hesitation, she swallowed her Heaven''s Will pill, regaining 95% of her lost cultivationthen drained the fallen elder''s strength from the sword. Dilnaz''s cultivation thus rose straight to the Demi-Emperor-level, and she spun to face the 12 elders, who quivered to no end.


    "W-we...we pledge loyalty to the new n mastno, to the new sovereign!" They said like a choir and kneeled before Dilnazas if they''d exchanged mental messages beforehand. Dilnaz''s smile broadened, and she stepped toward them.


    "Well said. However" by the time the words reached their ears, her sword had beheaded them all, and drained their cultivation bases. Each new gain seemed to intensify the madness in her eyes.


    "Unrivaled strength beats your shifting loyalty anytime of day. Don''t worry, your fellow elders will join you in the afterlife." As she watched her elders'' blood drench the ground, Dilnaz realized that all along, she never cared for the n''s wellbeing. It never mattered, and never would. Across the Empyrean n''s tens of thousands of kinsmen, the only one that mattered...stood at her back, and she spun to face her.


    Though weakened by the supreme elder''s attempt, Jiyan had already recovered her wits, and witnessed all that transpired. Dilnaz vanished, reappeared before Jiyan, and the two maintained eye contact.


    "There has to be a drawback, I can already see it in your eyes. You''re ying with fire and you know it. Is the appeal of supreme powerthatirresistible?" Jiyan asked in a sorrowful tone.


    "Without power, how could your father protect you from a Demi-Emperor''s grasp, even from the grave? Without power, how could I free myself of the elders'' control? Without power, how could the Serpent Emperor devour the Primordial Dragon, and protect his beloved from his clutches? Power is everything, the melody that dictates the rhythm of our world. Unless you have neither desire nor thing to protect, you need power. And I live to make mine peerless. So yes, to me, it is irresistible," Dilnaz replied.


    "Dad used to say that wealth is the ve of a wise man, and the master of a fool. I believe that applies to the current you," Jiyan countered, but, undisturbed, Dilnaz shrugged.


    "I''m willing to be the fool, so long as my master is my de," Dilnaz dered, reminding Jiyan that words couldn''t halt her ambitions. Gluing her eyes on Dilnaz''s forehead, Jiyan spotted the silver Sect Master Token hidden in her brain. Unlike Harun''s Golden Token, silver tokens could be pulled out and shifted at will. But Dilnaz always kept hers embedded in her brain. Another show of resolve, perhaps.


    Knowing the trouble it''d bring her, Jiyan never mentioned her ability to spot all tokens to anyone. And after this exchange, strengthened her resolve to keep the secret buried.


    Dropping on her knees, Jiyan thrice kowtowed toward Dilnaz, and while keeping her forehead pressed on the ground, said.


    "The first is to thank you for giving birth to me. The second for raising me. And the third for sheltering meeven if you did so in your own twisted way. Though we don''t see eye to eye, and I will never approve of your path, I know that there is a ce for me in your heart, and for that, I thank you. However, I do not want to see the day where your pursuit of supreme power conflicts with my existence. Farewell, mother."


    Jiyan said, and as Dilnaz''s expression twisted at the words, she stood up and left. Despite her iparably higher cultivation and desire to stop Jiyan, something in Dilnaz prevented her from making a movefor deep down, she too feared that day.

 Chapter 39: I Need a Place to Crash

    Chapter 39: I Need a ce to Crash


    All hegemonic and noble ns possessed a form of Soul Link, enabling them to track the life and death of their members. However, with those ns numbering in the tens of thousands at least, not all deaths rang the alert gong. Elders, n leaders and valued descendants were the only ones whose fall alerted the entire n. Naturally, the Divine Pce''s changes wreaked the True Dragons'' peace. The n master and 24 remaining elders, 3 of which stood at the Empyrean Monarch Realm, gathered in the main hall. Wrath and uncertainty twisted their looks.


    But as they discussed the possible reasons behind this sudden turn of events, a ringing st shook the Dragon Domainrming the gathered elders.


    "Master, master, hurry and activate the Formation! We are under att--" a mental message echoed in the dragon lord''s mind, but the owner could never finish his words. Based in the middle of the Second Heaven, the Dragon Domain, ancestralnd of the eponymous n, could no longerpare to its past glory three million years ago, when the overbearing Primordial Dragon led the Divine Four.


    But despite their decline, the True Dragons remained at the helm of the 33 Heavens'' powers, holding sway over the Second, Fifteenth, and Thirty-First Heavens. With dual cultivation as their primary path and source of progress, they quickly rebuilt their n''s numbers, and stood tall across three eras. In that time, never had anyoneunched a direct attack on the Dragon Domain. And while they believed the assault connected to the failed marriage deal, the leaders of the dragon n couldn''tprehend the root of this attack.


    Not that it mattered. The Dao Reserves, one Demi-Emperor and five peak-level Empyrean Monarchs, awoke from their torpor, and the dragon lord''s gaze hardened.


    "Who and why doesn''t matter. It is time we remind the world...of the might of the dragon n," he dered, and alongside his elders, rose to meet the invaders.


    Later that day, unprecedented news shocked the 33 Heavens. Leading a group of three elders, the junior dragon lord dove into the Divine Pce, and demanded the hand of Agiri and Dilnaz''s only child in marriage. Unwilling to challenge the dragons, the elders of the Empyrean n cowered, and unanimously pushed theirte lord''s daughter into a fiery pit. Enraged, the God-Empress brandished her sword, ughtered both the dragons and Empyrean elders, thenunched an unprecedented attack on the True Dragon n''s headquarters in the Second Heavenughtering them to thest baby.


    In that battle, the God-Empress demonstrated a terrifying battle-power that put even Demi-Emperors in awebutchering the dragon n''s leadership before they could activate the n''s formation. Seizing the dragon n''s resources, Dilnaz sentenced them post-mortem of over 100 crimes against women, and as the blood of over 100,000 still stained her de, proimed the creation of the Saint-Empress Court, weing all resentful fairies and Goddesses of the 33 Heavens to join her banner. She then returned to the Highest Heaven, put her n''s remaining Dao Reserves on trial and...beheaded them allthereby seizing absolute control of the Empyrean n''s resources. Imperial Princes of two generations gave up all im to the throne, pledging on their Dao to serve the new sovereign.


    Following Dilnaz''s announcement and shocking deeds, hundreds of fairies and Goddesses abandoned their various houses and factions to head toward the former Divine Pce, and be the first disciples of the Saint-Empress Court. Undeniably, this event would be one of the most sessful sect establishment of the Ten-Thousand Sect War.


    Meanwhile, Harun focused on his cultivation. Incarnation Seeds took various shapes depending on their owner''s life and soul, but the color marked the grade. Just like Ascension levels, from lowest to highest, Incarnation Seeds were ranked as blue, purple and golden seed. By the time hepleted his Holy Conversion and became a True Saint, on cultivation alone, Harun could match ate-stage Celestial Kin.


    But as he sat crossed-legged in meditation, unaware of the mighty waves sweeping the world, Harun received an early visit. Jiyan appeared at his doorwaving her hands in greetings.


    "Hi, I need a ce to crash for an...indefinite period of time," she said with a bright smiling face, and no shame whatsoever.


    "Huh." The words took Harun by surprise. Granted, he''d given Jiyan a free pass to his abode, he didn''t expect her to put it to maximum use so soon. Reckoning that something must have happened in the Divine Pce, Harun didn''t bother with trifles, and spread out his arms in a theatrical, weing stance.


    "Wee home. We don''t have any proper bed here, so you will have to suffer for a bit. As for space division..." At first, Harun maintained the tone and serious look of a seasoned administrator. But here he dropped the pretense and reverted to the roguish wolf he kept hidden behind his innocent face.


    "I think we''re past that step so...let''s just ovep," he said with a wolfish grin. But instead of floundering at the words, Jiyan met him with an equally dastardly smile.


    "Now, now, I hope you can live up those words," Jiyan replied, and set up a cultivation mat beside Harun. The two closed their eyes, falling into silent meditation, with Harun focusing on his Holy Conversion and Blood Refinement while Jiyan merely dispelled the stress of the supreme elder''s soul strike.


    "I meant to ask. Where do you see yourself in the 10,000 Sect War?" Jiyan asked. Not knowing that her ability to see tokens branded her as the Hunter didn''t stop Jiyan from understanding the unique position Harun was currently in. Would he seek a force to join and take control of bits by bits, establish his own faction, or just avoid the sh altogether?


    Again, her words startled Harun. And the question rang his alert bell. In Jiyan''s eyes, Harun should be nothing more than a Celestial Kin. What business did a Celestial Kin have with the 10,000 Sect War when Heavenly Gods, Empyrean Monarchs and Demi-Emperors controlled the stage? Considering his strength and already precarious position, the question wasn''t relevant. Did Jiyan speak such words because of the tokens he publicly received from the Serpent n? Or did she somehow find out his secret status?


    If it was the second option, lies were meaningless. Ten-thousand thoughts swirled in Harun''s mind. Since he set foot on the cultivation road, his life was riddled with hardship, and he didn''t easily trust anyone. Only after reaching Crossed Vicissitude, getting rid of his enemies, and dominating all powers of his native world did he rx. But even then, there weren''t many he could genuinely call friends.


    After all, when he was weak, he had half the world against him. When he rose to prominence, all naturally groveled. In-between the two, how many could he put his faith in? The 33 Heavens weren''t much different. But early on, Jiyan proved to be the exception; carefree and refreshing, that one person Harun always felt at ease around. She was like a captivating bird in flight, unwilling to let the strongest of cages tie her down. Harun''s senses told him that how he chose to answer this question would determine the future course of their rtionship.


    Little did he know that while he floundered, Jiyan too suffered internal struggles, wondering if she hadn''t said too much too soon, and with those few words, put their growing bond at stake. Didn''t she resolve to keep her ability a secret? Why couldn''t she keep her mouth shut?


    "Haha, I heard that you received seven tokens from the Serpent n leaders. Although they aren''t necessarily trustworthy, that still makes you a sect master. So I was wondering what you were going to do after" Jiyan started in a nervous tone, scratching her head with every word. But before she could finish, Harun cut in.


    "My position is different from others. Even if I don''t want to fight, I must. It''s not about glory. If I don''t win, I die. And since my life is at stake, triumph is my only road." The straightforward answer left no room for interpretation. What token Harun held never mattered. From birth, he only had two roads before him: victory or defeat, life or death.


    He couldn''t avoid one cmity after the other. Only by seizing the initiative and suppressing his foes could he regain freedom from the weight of his eyes. This...was the only answer, and Jiyan knew it well. The two had reached a crossroads. They could keep enjoying one another''spany for the rest of the week, but unless they settled this one point, past that, different paths awaited them. And Jiyan felt that, without someone to cross it with, the world was a lonely ce...


    "It just so happens that I''m officially homeless and looking for a job. What do you have for me?" She spoke the first words that crossed her mind.


    "At least an elder position. Future rank and perks depend on your performance," Harun replied, and his lips curved into a smile.


    "Then I guess I must umte some merit by cutting down the enemies of our unnamed sect," Jiyan chortled. So while Dilnaz established her authority and prepared her sect establishment ceremony, Harun and Jiyan formed their partnership, making thetter the first member of Harun''s faction.


    Meanwhile, in a farawaynd, the white-haired youth that ced the Golden Token in Harun''s brain crossed a colossal pce of imperial jade walls rippling with an ancient, malevolent force.


    With a step, he vanished, appearing in a valley where a tall, ck-robbed man lounged on his side, surrounded by auspicious clouds and an enrapturing formation of angelic and demonic beauties that moved in sensual dances to please his cold-blue eyes. Harun could recognize him as the figure he saw in the Life and Death Revolution Stele, while the three experts that announced the war knew him as its true instigator.


    "Old man, so this is where you were hiding? I''ve been looking for you everywhere. Whose life are you ruining today?" The fake prisoner started. Judging from their facial features, the two were undeniably close kin. But mortals would mistake them as brothers, instead of the father-son pair they were.


    "Don''t you call me ''old bastard'' at my back? Might as well continue," the ck-robed man said, making the youth break into a cold sweat.


    "Haha, we have a tacit understanding. I can mess around in foreign ces, but before you, I have to behave," the youth said with a forced smile, and fiddled with his hands like a mischievous child caught red-handed.


    "Good that you know," the ck-robed man casually replied. All along, he''d never shifted his focus from his dancing beauties.


    "Old man, I''ve been meaning to ask. Why did you bother helping them and give the Golden Token to that brat?" The youth asked. Though Harun''sprehension of the Life and Death Stele awed the 33 Heavens, in his eyes, it was a negligible feat. Within their lineage, anyone could aplish it.


    If his old man sincerely wanted to help the 33 Heavens avoid their cmity, there were many more straightforward ways to handle the job. But more importantly, that old bastard of his didn''t understand the meaning of charity.


    However, the youth never expected his old man''s words to be:


    "Help? Don''t be silly. I only care for the brat. He''s different from you, freeloaders."


    Coming from that devil, such an appraisal could startle a myriad of worlds. And the youth couldn''t help but ask:


    "How?"


    He got no answer.

 Chapter 40: Ancient Dream Chart

    Chapter 40: Ancient Dream Chart


    Back in Harun''s pagoda, Jiyan exined the circumstances of her desertion, revealing that even she didn''t know the condition her chains followed. Unless she triggered it by mistake, only when she reached the Heavenly God Realm or the seventhyer of her art would the condition reveal itself. Perhaps the condition was restrictive enough that the Heaven Warding Emperor feared that once Jiyan''s parents discovered it, they''d rather destroy her cultivation of the art and have her start over than continue? Or maybe his considerations were entirely different. In any case, a bomb hid in Jiyan''s heart, ready to go off at the slightest misstepeven with his Incarnation Seed and Agiri''s Will supporting her, Harun couldn''t suppress his worries. Jiyan, however, remained undisturbednever one to care for events she had no control on.


    In turn, Harun revealed a few of the Golden Token''s features, such as the ability to reward him with resources and its unbreakable link with his life. After all, Jiyan was no fool. Once unique devices and sect wonders started popping out of nowhere, her brain would connect the dots. He might as well take the opportunity to cement the bridge of trust between them. However, he didn''t mention scourge and other features yet, unwilling to overwhelm his partner. But as he spoke, Harun realized he''d made a terrible mistake, and his eyes widened in disbelief.


    "System, I can set up to nine objectives, correct?"


    "Correct."


    "There is no limitation on the type of objective I set. But the appraisal, timeframe and rewards are all up to you, correct?"


    "Correct."


    "If I wait until reincarnation, all of my scourge gains are forever multiplied by three."


    "Correct."


    "But I don''t have to, and can start now."


    "Correct. However, you''re more than 24 hourste. So if you choose to initialize the Main Quest and start now, I have to punish you for the dy. ording to the Ancestral One''s rule, for every day you go without setting up the new task, I must take 25% of your vitality. At the fourth, you die."


    "What do you base your appraisal on?"


    "A bnce between cultivation base and difficulty. However, there''s a hard cap on the time I can give you. The lower the objective number, the less time I can give. And if for some reason your brain and mental faculty get paralyzed, all counters stop."


    Hearing this, Harun''s eyes lit up, and he smacked his cheeks in frustration.


    "I am an idiot!" The move and words threw Jiyan into confusion, making her wonder what devil was ying tricks in Harun''s mind. But how could she understand the sorrow currently striking the poord? From the moment the system defined scourge points, Harun racked his brain toe up with ways to defeat his future tribtions. But no matter how prepared, unless he could kill people over two realms above his own, with the scourge points he was about to get pre-reincarnation, Harun couldn''t see how he''d survive his first tribtion. Best case scenario, he got 2,000 scourge points times three, or 6,000 pointsincreasing the might of his first tribtion by 60,000%. Who could defeat that? And even if he could, what about the future? So, Harun couldn''t ept the system''s offer, and had to initialize everything now!


    Didn''t he have nine slots? Who said all nine slots were required toplete the main quest? While Harun would definitely have to gradually set up his objectives to avoid overwhelming himself with impossible tasks, and to pile up as many rewards and boons from the system as possible, nothing prevented him from sacrificing one slot to avoid his current predicament!


    "So ording to what you said, I''d lose 50% vitality now?"


    "Correct. And it doesn''t regenerate until youplete the quest," the system replied, and immediately, Harun burst intoughter, "First Objective...Initialization!


    Description: The Golden Token Host''s current cultivation base is too weak to survive the attention of the 33 Heavens hegemonic and noble ns. To ensure thepletion of the main quest, the Host must first vanish from his enemies sight, return to the shadows, and from there build his force.


    Objective: Convince the 33 Heavens'' token holders of the host''s death through any means necessary.


    How does that sound, System?" Harun asked, and a silent followed as the system appraised the task.


    "And here I was wondering when I''d have to find myself another host. Oh well...First Objective...Activation!


    Timeframe: One year.


    Reward: Scripture Drafting Altar, 100 Poisonous Herbs, 1 Gradeless Gold-Silkworm Jar." Harun was beside himself with joy. While he couldn''t guess the exact herbs he''d receive upon questpletion, the Gradeless Golden Silkworm Jar alone more than made up for his troubles. All guebringers of note were masters at breeding venomous beasts. Golden Silkworm Jars were fundamental tools in venomous beast rearing. Experts would gather the most dreadful specimen they could and trap them in the jar to fight until only one remained. The jar''s unique essence enabled the victorious insects to devour their victims'' abilities, granting the victorious specimen numerous noxious skills. However, the beasts'' grades could never exceed the Jar''s level. Weak beasts could benefit from a high-grade Jar. But strong beasts would always make the jar explodeunleashing the dreadful creatures on their breeder.


    For guebringers, the Gradeless Jar was a legendary artifact, enabling them to trap beasts of all levels without having to fear bacshes. Although it didn''t provide them with outstanding boons, that ability alone was more than worth it. Even in the Noxious me World, Golden Silkworm Jars were rare treasures monopolized by the top-ranking sect. Harun had never heard of one above the five-star grade, and his homeworld didn''t have three such jars.


    At first confused by the erratic bouts Harun seemed to have fallen into, Jiyan realized that it must have been rted to the Golden Token, and didn''t probe further.


    ---


    [Sect Name: Unnamed Sect]


    [Sect Master: Harun Erdewan]


    [Sect Size: Hamlet]


    [Outer Disciples: 0]


    [Inner Disciples: 0]


    [Elders: 1]


    [Sect Ground Level: Nonexistent]


    [Sect Path: Undecided]


    [Reputation: Unknown Throughout Heaven and Earth]


    [Overall Strength: Too Weak To Mention]


    ---


    The system''s data poured into Harun''s mind, smashing him like a crashing jet. Unable to withstand the impact, Harun copsed on his backrming Jiyan who didn''t expect such a drastic reaction.


    "As the dream people say, Rome wasn''t built in one day. Patience is the mother of sess. We can do this." Those were Harun''s first words upon waking up. A blurry female figure weed his trembling eyes, clearing up to be Jiyan''s enchanting face.


    "Evening, sunshine. Didn''t expect that the Golden Token would be so bad for your mental health. From now on, I will have to take extra care of you. Does this count as merit?" She asked with an innocent yet mischievous smile. Harun rolled his eyes, but felt that without Jiyan by his side, he wouldn''t havee up with this alternative so soon.


    Too much stress clogged the brain. If she wasn''t here to let him rx, Harun didn''t doubt he''d have mindlessly gone through with his reincarnation n, not caring for the scourge issue before it was toote. In dream terms, Jiyan was his muse.


    "Naturally. In fact, I have a reward for you," Harun said, yet couldn''t bring himself to leave thefort of Jiyan''sp. Though she saw through his petty thoughts, Jiyan didn''t expose them, letting him take advantage of her while she ran her hands through his hair. Harun stood up, and without warning, led Jiyan out of the pagoda. By now, the world knew of Dilnaz''s aplishments. Only those two didn''t pay attention, like a pair of secluded dual cultivators too focused on enjoying the other''s warmth.


    Leaping across the pagoda''s wall, Harun led Jiyan to the top, and the two sat on the chalky roof. At first, Jiyan wondered if Harun wanted to moon-gaze alongside her, a rather clich setting, but one she''d still enjoy with him. Yes, as he held her hand and led her across the walls, it became obvious to Jiyan that as long as Harun stood beside her, she could enjoy anything. However, she''d underestimated his ingenuity.


    Once the two sat on the rooftop, right under the moon''s shine, Harun shed Jiyan a radiant smile, and closed his eyes. His hands joined in a dhyana mudra, and from his pores, multicolor light beams shot toward the sky, forming the twelve zodiac constetions circling the Azure Dragon east, the White Tiger west, the ck Tortoise north, and the Vermillion Bird south. At the center of this marvelous chart, shimmering lines from all constetions joined in one dazzling point. And dazed by this wondrous scene, Jiyan didn''t know what to say. Her lips parted in astonishment, and her eyes sparkledreflecting the constetions she stared at.


    "Astounding. What...how are you doing that?" Jiyan asked in amazement. Though high-ranking gods could summon stars and moon, Harun was still far from that level. Moreover, Jiyan could see that those weren''t genuine stars, but images condensed through a unique art.


    "This is my Ancient Dream Chart, gathering constetions that do not exist in our world. As for the how...it''s a secret," self-satisfied, Harun stroked his beardless chin. How could he tell Jiyan that those false stars were nothing more than luminous insects he refined specifically for this purpose? In his homeworld, Harun often used this trick to mess with romanticsses, but never felt more satisfied than he did today. Unwilling to waste the moment on pointless questions, Jiyan leaned on his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around hers and the two thus enjoyed the Ancient Dreamunaware of its implications.


    The week passed without hurdles. On the following day, Jiyan took Harun on a tour of the Imperial Dao Pavillion, and the two learned of Dilnaz''s feats. This would be thest disturbance they''d face pre-battle.


    On the fourth day, Harunpleted his Holy Conversion and became a True Saint. On the fifth day, his blood refinement reached the peak, returning his Celestial Nature to the World-Devouring-level. Harun considered bringing Jiyan on the true path. However, it was too early for her.


    Ultimately, Jiyan was only 17. Although she inherited the First Emperor''s Dao, she didn''t have a path of her own yet, didn''tplete the Mortal Path, and had yet toprehend the mysteries of Life and Death. In the future, they could handle that. Harun wanted to immediately hide Jiyan behind the system''s First Door, his personal space world and cultivation room.


    However, she insisted on beheading the enemies with him first.


    "The 33 Heavens'' junior generation below 200 aren''t worth much, but the Serpent Domain is different. Granted, the seven they will send have no reputation in our circles, I wouldn''t be surprised if two or three possessed Double Pupils, or worse, aplete Dao Foundation. Considering the Devouring Serpent''s ruling line''s intermarriage, their bloodline level should be extremely high. We can''t afford to underestimate them. You take care of the others, I will take care of them."


    She reasoned, and Harun had to agree with her. The Golden Crow Ancestor visited the Extreme Yin Prison once every 100 years to drain the beasts'' Life Essence. This routine had gone on for over three million years, so Harun didn''t fear a sudden visit.


    They were ready, and the time hade.


    On the seventh day''s morning, Harun and Jiyan stood up, side by side, and stepped out of the Pagoda. And as if awaiting their appearance, the Imperial Dao Pavillion''s earth shook under thebined advance of thousands of cultivators. They came from various sects and ns, possessed different aspirations, yet, in that instant, all only had one thing in mind: Harun''s Sovereign Pupils. And regardless of the cost, they would snatch them! Or so they thought.

 Chapter 41: Not in the Same League

    Chapter 41: Not in the Same League


    It had only been a week since the 10,000 Sect War deration, but a hegemonic faction of over three million years of history had already been wiped out clean. Worse, all other branches of the dragon n, millions of cultivatorsing from varying backgrounds, but guilty by association, were forced to flee for their lives, seek asylum in the Serpent Domain, change their names, hide for a lifetime, or die horrible deaths.


    That event awoke the celestials to the seriousness of their current situation. Driving many into instantaneous depression. Shallow cultivation bases, inexistent background, unremarkable deeds and low position wouldn''t protect them. As long as they came from the wrong side, stood at the wrong ce at the wrong time, they could suffer the dragon nsmen''s fate.


    Recognizing their need for irresistible strength and bargaining chips, many of the 33 Heavens'' low-level celestials came to the same conclusion: regardless of the cost, for their futures'' sake, they had to im the Sovereign Pupils. So it wasn''t 9,000 that Harun faced. Emboldened, determined topete with their betters, to use the chaos weaved by the colossal numbers to im the prize, a batch of 3,000 underdogs joined the fray. Three-thousand celestials from all walks of life that held one thing inmon: they came from the mortal worldmaking their Dao plete.


    This was the only w in Harun''s n. Once mortal-born celestials joined the battle en masse, the situation became more troublesome. Without the Decaying Flower in his soul and the 50% vitality he granted the system, defeating them became a painful task. However, as he stood before his pagoda, with his pale face brightened by the rising sun''s rays, Harun seemed undisturbed.


    Even without those extra fellows, he couldn''t unleash the chains at the battle''s start. First, he had to draw the attention of the 33 Heavens on this sh, only when all stood glued on his performance could his monstrous legions pour forth and strike with maximum efficiency. That being the case, he naturally came prepared.


    As per their agreement, Jiyan concealed her presence and hid in the shadows, convincing the invading army that Harun stood alone. But as she stared at his back, Jiyan had the misconception that deep in the easygoing Harun''s soul hid a beast of prey that enjoyed the gathering, enjoyed the thrill, and weed the enemy with open arms.


    Not all had joined the battle yet. In the Golden Crow n''s residence within the Highest Heaven, Rajan faced three youths dressed in battle armor, all with the ming-gold eyes of the Golden Crow n.


    "Each of you represents the future of this n. Were it not for all the variables this challenge presents, I wouldn''t risk you so early in your cultivation path. However, I must," Rajan said. The three understood well that sooner orter, they would stand on the front lines, battling other forces topete for resources and impose their n''s supremacy. As the n''s highest ranking chosen, this was their destiny, and they wouldn''t shirk from it.


    "We pledge to defeat the Serpent Domain''s juniors and im the eyes for our Golden Crow n!" They sped their hands, bowed and proimedfull of zeal. In those juniors'' eyes, the 2600 experts of the Serpent Domain, led by those seven unknown Devouring Serpents, were the genuine threat. Although logic wanted them right, the words made Rajan''s heart skip a beat. And a sense of foreboding welled up in his chest.


    "You two can go, Soran stays behind," Rajan ordered, and the two at the left and right vanished, leaving the middle one behind. He didn''t raise his eyes or rx his stance. Complicated emotions fluctuated in Rajan''s eyes.


    "Soran, there are many unknowns, be it on the Serpent or that Harun boy''s side. Sess is far from guaranteed. And while we must take risks, you are different. If you''re willing to back off, I can find an excuse for you. You...don''t have to do this, Rajan said, and though the words sickened him, still hoped to sway Soran. Granted, Rajan believed that lives didn''t have the same value, and talents should be given greater focus and care. But those weren''t his motivations. In fact, in this precise moment, he sincerely wished Soran was less gifted, so that he could avoid the problem altogether.


    What father worth the name could send his youngest child into a potential, lethal trap? As a n lord and sect master, Rajan wished to avoid bias and focus on benefit. But the father in him shed with his ambitions, preventing him from speaking the correct words. Soran, however, showed no hesitation.


    "A man must live up to his own words. Father, you are the first to say that we must lead by example less we lose the respect of our troops. How then can you justify keeping me out of this fight? If you can send others'' children to their death, you must have the resolve to do the same with your own. Otherwise, you cannot lead this n.


    In cultivation and wits, how many surpass you? Topete with them, you must be ruthless. Great-grandfather will not be here forever. I will bring you the eyes, so that you may spread your wings...or die trying!" Soran dered, and with another bow, left for the war. Ashamed, Rajan lowered his eyes and heaved a sigh.


    ...


    Led by Soran, the three Golden Crow nsmen flew toward the Imperial Dao Pavilion, reaching it fast enough to spot 2607 green-robbed youths descending from a battleship: the Serpent Domain''s juniors. At their helm stood seven men. Six of which possessed Monochromatic Double Pupils, meaning that their cultivation bases stood at the Celestial Knight Realm already.


    The seventh, however, drove the 12,000 celestials gathering in the za into a mix of awe and horror with his ck and brown, Heterochromatic Double Pupils. Even Jiyan hadn''t expected that Sv would be so candid and directly send one such monster for this event.


    "An Ascending God..." all celestials on the scene came to this conclusion. Braver than the others, 40% gathered their strength and resolve and...fled toward the Imperial Dao Pavillion''s entrance at maximum speed.


    "Bullshit! Who came here to fight with a God? My cultivation base is only at the ninth level of the Celestial Kin Realm! Are those braindead geezers trying to kill me?!"


    "Screw n glory! They made the Dao Pledge, let them deal with it!"


    Those were basically the thoughts swirling in the runaway celestials'' mind. Unfortunately for them, the Heterochromatic-eyed youth raised his right hand, conjuring an invisible barrier that locked all cultivators in the za.


    With a nimble descent, the seven Devouring Serpent youthsnded beside Harun.


    "Greetings, Your Majesty. My name is Baraw, 21st Chosen of the World Devouring Serpent n. Lord Sv sent me to support Your Majesty against the fleas," Baraw bowed toward Harun and said with a polite look. The six others did the same. But when Baraw''s words reached them, to say nothing of the low-level celestials, even the Golden Crow nsmen couldn''t take it.


    "21st?"

 Chapter 42: The Grand Cataclysm

    Chapter 42: The Grand Cataclysm


    Although most Divine ns physically and mentally matured at the same speed as mortals, they didn''t officially reach adulthood before 300. Without external help, three-hundred years was the time it took for innate gifts such as bloodlines and other inborn traits to express themselves fully. Therefore, the 33 Heavens also separated generations by 300 years. And at 3,600, celestials were no longer treated as members of the junior generation.


    Chosen represented the most outstanding talents of a given generation. There typically weren''t over three members per generation, or 36 in total. Soran, for example, was the number one of the Golden Crow n''s 12th generation, while the two with him ranked second and third. If they took Baraw''s words at face value, the World Devouring Serpent n''s 12th generation alone...had 20 others more gifted than him. To the celestials'' morale, this was an unprecedented blow.


    The juniors aside, their elders who watched the scene y out from a distance, couldn''t restrain their shock. With such an obscene gap, how could theypete with the Serpent Domain? At any time, Sv could order an invasion and overrun the 33 Heavens with an irresistible momentum. Perhaps, without the Golden Crow Ancestor''s deterrence, their houses would have already copsed!


    The effect of his words on the celestials caused no ripple in Baraw''s heart. The truth spoke for itself. Just like a sane mortal man wouldn''t gloat at a crushed or escaping flea, a chosen of the Devouring Serpent n had no time to waste delighting in those celestials'' fright. Harun''s gold and purple eyes studied Baraw with scrutiny, and he gave a nod of approval, "A fine piece of meat!" Naturally, Baraw couldn''t hear those words, or hisposure wouldn''t survive them.


    "You may rise, all of you. However, this war will enable me to establish my prestige as the new Serpent Emperor and true Son of Heaven. If I need you to fight it for me, how can I live up to that illustrious name? I have an understanding with Sv. Unless absolutely necessary, you shouldn''t intervene," Harun said. He came to harvest resources, they came to ughter. Once he allowed the Serpent Chosen to join the battle, they would reduce his prized resources to ashes within seconds.


    How could he let that pass?


    Having received express orders from Sv, Baraw nodded in approval. As per their pledge, they came to provide support. Harun rejecting them wasn''t their fault, and if he...lost inadvertently, as his vassals, they would naturally avenge him and save the eyes. With another polite bow, the seven chosen retreatedunaware that in the shadows, a riveting assassin hid, one hand sped around a chained swordready to strike.


    Jiyan''s concealment relied on a twelve-star Daoist spell: the Tenebrous Form Secretlearned from the Chained Sword Art and enabling her to hide from all below the mid Ascending God stage. Better, on pure battle power, with her fifthyer Chained Sword Art, she could meet a first-level Ascending God as an equ terrible concept. However, Baraw wasn''t the run-of-the-mill God, either. With his eyes'' abilities unknown, and two Divine Powers at hismand, taking him head on made no sense. Only in the heat of Harun''s battle could she seize the opportunity to deal Baraw a fatal blowand behead the rest.


    Knowing that the Serpent Domain''s experts wouldn''t join the battle early, the celestials'' eyes focused on Harun, and his on them. More precisely, Harun located the 3,000 mortal-born celestials in the lot.


    That the Highest Heaven housed 3,000 mortal-born celestials below 200 wasn''t out of his expectations. But how far could their cultivation go? Those 3,000 stood between the first and third level of the Celestial Kin Realmstrong by numbersbut individually negligible.


    Tension weighed on the za, with neither side making the first moves. The 12,000 were neither friends nor allies. Barring a few exceptions, all came aspetitorsyearning for the glory of snatching the Sovereign Pupils. And with the 33 Heavens'' eyes locked on him, Harun stepped forward, pping the right side of his chest to summon a two-mouth gourd. The move broke the silence, and like an erupting volcano, the celestials summoned their treasures and raced toward Harun. Two of the Golden Crow nsmen wanted to dive in, but Soran raised his hand, stopping them.


    "Let''s wait and see. Being the first to get the eyes is not the main issue. How to leave this ce with them is what we should focus on," he said, and the two halted their moves. Yet, those weren''t his true concerns. Since he heard of Harun''s challenge, Soran always had one question in mind, and saw something others didn''t. However, once he voiced those concerns, his father would never send him here.


    The battle thus began.


    Opening his gourd''s left mouthpiece, Harun released an alcoholic aroma akin to dandelion wine and took a casual sip. Instantly, his skin flushed red, veins bulged across his form, and though his muscles'' size didn''t increase, their density multiplied at an rming speed. Harun''s heart rate shot up, his arms morphed into the hulky, scaled, wed limbs of a Devouring Serpent, and he hurtled at his assants with explosive speed.


    BANG!


    Crouching like a feral creature, Harun hacked at his foes'' legs, tearing off several with each swipe. Tricked by the Incarnation Seed, those celestials believed Harun no different from a fourth-level Celestial Kindreading his Divine Power, only.


    Most of the noble and hegemonic ns didn''t dare send their prized juniors and prodigies into this fight, using the expendable en masse to overwhelm whatever trick Harun had in store. After all, a celestial''s Heavenly Qi was limited. Once he started unleashing his Daoist spells, martial skills and divine abilities, it wouldn''t be long before he ran out of juice and was forced to reveal his trump card.


    s, they misunderstood what they were dealing with. A glittering golden mist poured out of Harun''s pores, and while cleaving a bloody road through the celestials'' charge, he used his Divine Sense to control the gourd, pull off the second mouthpiece, and take another gulp of his poisoned wine.


    The celestials'' gazes had barely caught his trail that Harun halted his steps, sent the celestials too close by flying with whirling kicks, and spat the wine he just drank at the dozens of people surrounding him. Celestial Kins couldn''t fly in Heaven, meaning that the Golden Crow and Serpent Chosen aside, only winged beasts in their true form could use the air to their advantage. A small circle of celestials thus formed around Harun, drastically reducing how many could attack him at a given time.


    Confused by his inexplicable moves, the celestials had a one second dy in their response. Harun used that dy to drink and spit his poisoned wine at his closest foes, then leaped into another group to repeat the process. By the time the celestials regained their wits, and focused their numerous Divine Senses on Harun, the poison kicked in, and the gourd''s aroma spread throughout the troopsconnecting through the several groups Harun "marked."


    The screams of those unfortunate targets of Harun''s ws drew no attention, for a bbergasting scene urred. The eyes of those celestials marked by Harun''s poisoned wine zed over. Their lips curledshing witless smiles, and to their partners of misfortune''s awe, they broke into a fric dance.


    "Hahahahaha! Hahahaha!"


    Theirughs grew louder, but worse, those that smelled the spreading aroma could feel their limbs tremble, and even move without consent. Harun paused, taking another gulp from the left mouthpiece, forcing his physical abilities to go beyond what his body could tolerate, while numbing him to the current damages.


    The frantic, dancing celestials turned away from Harun, and with joy written all over their faces, smashed their treasures and weapons on the still sane celestials.


    "Idiot, snap out of it! We''re on the same side!" A sixth-level Celestial Kin screamed at his stronger friend, but was royally ignored, and rewarded by an ax breaking through his skull. The Dancing gue, one of Harun''s masterpieces, and the tool he once used to wipe out his Erdewan n, was thus unleashed on the celestials.


    "That poison most likely spreads through scent. By spraying it on them, he just forces the scent on their noses. They are doomed. Deaden your sense of smell and nose. Though all three of us possess Celestial Guard cultivation bases, we can''t be too careful," Soran told his partners, and the two obeyed him.


    He wasn''t incorrect. Granted, the brain was the target of Harun''s Dancing gue poison, if the victim didn''t take the scent in, they couldn''t suffer the effects. But in the action''s chaos, assaulted by friends and makeshift allies, andcking in practical experience, most of the celestials got dazedunable to respond fast enough. Harun''s wine rampage thus carried on unimpeded.


    Among the spectators, Soran was one of the first to realize that the gourd was nothing less than Harun''s Natal Treasure. Unlike other treasures and weapons, Natal Treasures were refined early in the cultivation path and scaled with their owner. Many thus considered them the strongest weapon at a celestial''s disposal.


    Since Harun had already released his Natal Treasure, some believed that he didn''t have many other tricks up his sleeve. But Soran remembered his worry, and swept the chaotic celestial troops, seeking the mortal-born inside. Unlike Harun, he couldn''t sense the state of a Dao Foundation. Hell, his own wasn''tplete. And it was then that it hit him. Soran swept his peers, the Serpent Chosen, the celestials, and his eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Why precisely 200 years? Because after we break through the Celestial Guard Realm, and use our n formations and Totems to incarnate ourselves in the Mortal World, 200 years is the average time it takes prodigies toplete their Dao Foundation. Meaning that on the scene, the unreliable mortal-born aside, there isn''t one personwith a Dao Foundation! And if a skill exists that can..."


    rmed, Soran turned, considering an immediate retreat. But Baraw''s barrier stood strong, unbreakable by one of his level. In their Cosmic Pouch, the three Golden Crow nsmen held teleportation tokens. But the trigger time ensured that, as long as the enemies had their eyes on them, they could still deal them serious damage.


    "Summon your Totems and attack with your strongest moves, now! If I''m correct, he''s waiting for something before he makes his true move. Attack him now, then activate your teleportation tokens, we will use thatpse to get the hell out of here!" Soran bellowed in a mental message that threw his friends into confusion.


    Instantly, they questioned his leadership, something they never did beforehand. However, attacking was still to their taste, so they didn''t disobey it all.


    As the Dancing gue Spread, driving celestial against celestial, bright golden mes surged from the three Golden Crow nsmen, and two 100 meters tall Golden Crows appeared at each of their backsan extra one for Soran.


    "Divine Power: Sr Destion!"


    Three golden suns appeared above the crows, shining at their brightest as if about to release a supernova.


    All three strikes focused on Harun, startling all spectators with the sudden change. It was almost as if the Golden Crows no longer cared for the eyes and were ready to burn Harun to ashes!


    But as confusion red in all''s eyes, Rajans'' included, Harun appeared before Soranshing a fiendish grin!


    "Took you long enough."


    "Divine Power: Devouring!"


    The shadow of a colossal serpent appeared at Harun''s back, and the energy released by Soran''s Divine Power flew toward himvanishing in the serpent''s maw. Shock stretched Soran''s eyes, Rajan''s face twisted with rage, the Golden Crow Ancestor''s eyes trembledand Harun broke into a maniacalugh, letting the Serpent refine and transmit Soran''s Divine Power...to him!


    With the same ease, the Serpent devoured the Divine Power of Soran''s peers. Revealing to the ignorant few, the most dreaded attribute of the Devouring, Divine Power.


    As long as a World-Devouring Serpent chose to, and didn''t have two already, they could refine their foe''s Divine Power as their ownand forever be immune to the effects. Robbed of his Divine Power, Soran could never again unleash the Golden Crows'' signature skill.


    All strength left his body, and Harun''s ws sank into his abdomen and neck, holding him in suspension.


    "NOW!"


    Harun bellowed in a mental message.


    Five flying chained swords appeared beside Jiyan, and she emerged from the shadows, hurtling at Baraw with full force!


    At the same time, Harun''s Yin Soul refined thest of the Extreme Yin Essence and broke the shackles of the Monstrous Beast hordeunleashing eons of suppressed rancor on the 33 Heavens!

 Chapter 43: Inverted Truth

    Chapter 43: Inverted Truth


    Thebined roars of over 16,000 beasts dropped on the 33 Heavens like a multitude of thunderps, resounding in a dissonant harmony. 12,000 stood half-step into the Heavenly God Realm, 4,000 half-step into the Empyrean Monarch Realm, and 7 at the Demi-Emperor stage. Each represented the peak of a realm and a failed breakthrough into the next. Yet, across the 33 Heavens, the unprobed Serpent Domain aside, no n could single-handedly take them on.


    It started with confusion, deadened by the nightmarish roars, feral screams and billowing killing intent, from the lowest to the highest-ranking celestials, most just stared at the sky, numb, and unable toe up with a coherent response. Themoners didn''t see a beast tide. No, their mind lost, they witnessed the apparition of a chimera of wrathcovering the entire Highest Heaven''s sky. Strangely, despite the irresistible element of surprise, the beast horde didn''t aim for the Divine Pce, a peculiar move that should have left many baffled, and ensured the destruction of the Empyreans.


    The beasts and Harun alone knew the why. The Golden Crow Ancestor had an inkling, but regardless, he ignored everything. Ignored the loss of his most outstanding descendant''s talent, ignored the "who" and "how" behind the beasts'' escape, cleared his mind of unnecessary thoughts, and stretched out his right hand. A golden greatsword surrounded by several floating ck feathers appeared in his hand, and without hesitation, he lunged at the seven Demi-Emperors.


    "Golden Crow n elders, Divine Army, gather in the capital to meet the invaders! Rajan, lead all the nsmen and subordinates below the Celestial Knight Realm we have in the Divine Capital to evacuate the civilians!" The Golden Crow Ancestor ordered, but while all the n elders at hand instantly obeyed hismand, Rajan floundered, not out of fear of the beast horde but


    Ignoring the rising tide, Rajan''s eyes shifted back to Soran, who stood at theplete mercy of Harununable to muster the tiniest bit of strength. The loss of Divine Power was a rare but documented urrence that''d leave a celestial powerless for three years at least. If Rajan didn''t throw caution to the wind ande to his son''s aid, Soran''s life ended here.


    Ruthless. He had to be ruthless, follow his grandfather''s directives, battle the enemy, and earn merit for the n by safeguarding the people! Did he, though? The words felt hollow in Rajan''s mind. He couldn''t give them any credit. The Dao Pledge too held no weight. Even if Soran was half-crippled, even if by going against his Dao Pledge he risked sure death, even if the world''s destruction stood at his back, Rajan couldn''t ignore Soran''s condition.


    He couldn''t abandon him to death!


    "Rajan! There are over 100 million celestials in the Divine Capital alone waiting for us to shelter them! Over 100 billion men and women in the Highest Heaven that may not survive this day without our response! Are you going to give them all up for one child? Did you forget why your father founded the Eternal Sun Valley and gave it that name? Damn it, snap out of it!" The Golden Crow Ancestor snapped in a mental message. Although the two sides had yet to trade blows, as he raced toward the unshackled beasts, the Golden Crow Ancestor realized that the situation...had already reached a catastrophic level. And depending on two people''s reactions, he might very well lose his life here.


    s, his words worked in reverse, and Rajan''s face twisted with rage.


    "You sick old thing, shut the fuck up! I am supposed to give up my flesh and blood to fight for the safety ofplete strangers? What do I know of them? What do I owe them? What do their lives and death have to do with me? It''s with bullshit like this that you caused my father to die early!" Rajan spun toward the Golden Crow Ancestor''s direction, stabbing him with a bloodshot gaze, despite the distance.


    "As a husband, you traded your wife''s life to reach the peak of your realm! As a father, you caused all of your children to die before their time! Who are you to shelter themon people, when you can''t even protect your own? Big words but little means! Mind your business!" Rajan spat at his grandfather, and without waiting for his reaction, barreled toward the Imperial Dao Pavilion.


    His words were like thorns pricking at the most sensitive parts of the Golden Crow Ancestor''s heart. Gritting his teeth, the Golden Crow Ancestor suppressed his emotions, had Rajan reced with another Golden Crow elder, and focused on his main task.


    Jiyan''s five, chained flying swords turned into silver light bolts as they pierced through Baraw''s skull, neck, heart and legs! The move came out of nowhere, without an ounce of presence or killing intent, yet the blows struck with brutal force and peerless precision. Too absorbed by the cmity taking shape before his eyes, Baraw didn''t realize the change until the whistle of Jiyan''s des reached his ears. But by then, it was toote.


    Before he could showcase his battle-prowess and divine skills, the World-Devouring Serpents'' 21st chosen copsed, his brain torn, his head severed, and his heart skewered.


    Instantly, the six lower-ranked chosen leaped out of Jiyan''s range, ignoring Baraw''s unchangeable fate to focus on escape and reorganization. Mental messages unfurled, and using thest breath of a God, that split of a second in which he saw through all that befell him, Baraw gathered all that remained of his cultivation and...self detonated!


    Or at least he tried to. But before his move could take effect, a golden chain pierced through Baraw''s chest, and erased all resistance from him. The same scene reyed all around. From poisoned to sane celestials, from serpents to former imperials, all those cultivators without Dao Foundations saw golden chains pierce through their chest andtch on their hearts.


    The Golden Crow nsmen were no different, and as Rajan''s form turned into a bright me meteor, breezing through kilometers in a breath to reach the scene, over 10,000 celestials'' eyes zed overSoran''s included!


    "I take my flesh as the furnace, their lives as the fuel, and my heart...as the me!" Harun started his incantation, while his soul teleported from the Extreme Yin Prison to return to his body.


    "No...nooo...NOOOO!" Seeing golden mes of an iprehensible origin wrap Soran, Rajan neared madness. s, often, a surge of rage and indignation couldn''t alter fate. Harun knew it well, and so brought the iplete celestials'' existences to a grand finale!


    "Heart Refining Incantation!"


    me whirlwinds trapped the 10,000 celestials, setting their very incarnation aze. In that instant, they regained their wits, and saw their lives unfurl before them. Rajan arrived fast enough to cling on the burning Soran''s frame, but despite his cultivation base, couldn''t suppress the golden mes.


    "Fare...well, fa" Soran didn''t get to finish his words, and vanished in a puff of smoke. The captured serpents and celestials suffered the same fatedestroyed in body and soul while Harun refined the very essence of their existence into his Heart of Reincarnation. Only the surviving mortal-born remained.


    Ominous clouds gathered above Rajan, while within his Internal Heaven, cmities abounded. By breaking his Dao Pledge, Rajan triggered the most dreadful Defiance Tribtion he could meet in his realmensuring that without external help, his life ended now. Without a word, he closed his eyes.


    Having achieved his goal, Harun would naturally not stay close to the grieving Rajan, and though he previously thought him at the peak of the Heavenly God Realm, it was now abundantly clear that Rajan was a genuine Monarch.


    Thankfully, from the moment he activated the Heart of Reincarnation, Harun entered a state of temporary acausalityboth alive and dead.


    Alongside Jiyan, he escaped from the Imperial Dao Pavillion, leaving the rest of the 33 Heavens'' fate in the shing ancients'' hands. But having anticipated Sv and Dilnaz''s position, Harun didn''t doubt that the Highest Heaven was beyond saving. Blood trickled down Rajan''s lips, and his eyes opened wide, brimming with a suicidal determination.


    "ording to ancient records, wee from the Golden Reprieve World. However, our n''s lifestyle and culture always vastly differed from others. It wasn''t until my generation that we started breaking those ancient customs and blended with this realm. But I know grandfather deceived us. The truth is elsewhere, hiding in the secret art transmitted from one n master to another.


    Soran, I was never fit to lead the Golden Crow n to hegemony. Neither is your great grandfather.


    This era belongs to you...and I shall give you back your chance!" Unprecedented determination red in Rajan''s eyes, and he spread out his arms.


    "Ancient Ones, I offer you my flesh, I offer you my life, I offer you my soulto call upon the Ancient Legacy!


    Ancient Legacy: Inverted Truth!" A misty-white glow formed around Rajan''s armsspreading across his body. Rajan''s heart turned into a white me, burning alongside his soul to fuel this legacy skill. In that instant, all could feel thews of causality challenged by Rajan''s will, and the truth of the events nearing reversal.


    But as Rajan saw sess in reach, the cracks in truth and causality came to an abrupt stop. Everything returned to the natural flow, and Rajan''s eyes trembled in confusion.


    "Why? Why? Why isn''t it working!" He squealed in grief.


    "Your bloodline is too far removed from the source, and your existence stained beyond repair. But above that, you''re weak. So weak that it makes my eyes bleed. With your insignificant cultivation and inexistent foundation, you want to alter reality? Laughable," an ancient voice rumbled in Rajan''s mind, crushing what remained of his hopes.


    His heart and soul burned to nothingness. And so Rajan died, aplishing nothing.

 Chapter 44: The First Emperors Condition

    Chapter 44: The First Emperor''s Condition


    At first, following Rajan''s intervention, Harun and Jiyan left the Imperial Dao Pavilionnning to use the chaos to vanish and bide their time. ording to their initial n, Jiyan would hide in Harun''s Inner Cultivation Room, waiting for the full integration of his Heart of Reincarnation.


    But as they raced across the mountain road, purple light shed in Harun''s right eye, and even before Rajan triggered his Ancient Legacy, "Rajan will die within 15 seconds," Harun foresaw his death. The words came without warning; yet, knowing that Harun''s right eye contained the Mandate of Fate, Jiyan didn''t doubt their truth. The Heart of Reincarnation required five to ten minutes toplete its integration. In that timeframe, Harun existed in a state of acausality.


    The mere thought of standing beyond the reach of cause and effect could throw the world into chaos. And though temporary, this state alone showed the profundity of the Six Incarnations Bridge. The current Harun had nothing to fear across the 33 Heavens, could kill but couldn''t be killed. His reincarnation n had reached the unstoppable phase, and within a minute, the 33 Heavens'' strongest experts would dive into a deadly sh.


    That being the case, shouldn''t he use his temporary invincibility to harvest resources? Sect building was a resource-robbing task. With his current financial means, Harun knew that the early days weren''t promising. He could already see himself counting his stones, struggling to make ends meet. However, about 2,000 mortal-born celestials remained in the Imperial Dao Pavilion, with no road to escape besides the one he trod. Even if each only had two treasures on average, they''d about 4,000 weapons Harun could snatch andter smelt to extract metals. He couldn''t give those up.


    Spinning 180, Harun faced the pavilion''s gates, but as he prepared to rush back in, an irregr heartbeat came from his left, alerting his acute hearing. Turning his head to the left, Harun saw Jiyan clutching at her hearttrembling to no end. His face twisted into a frown, but before he could make sense of the change, Jiyan dropped on her knees, and her skin took a deathly white shade.


    "Jiyan, you''ve betrayed my hopes and helped endanger the 33 Heavens'' peace. The condition has been broken. The chained sword shall im your life," the Heaven Warding Emperor''s voice rumbled in Jiyan''s mind, and the chains around her heart tightened, squeezing it with an irresistible grip. As if both annoyed and amused by the twist, Jiyan curled her lips into a forced smile.


    The n that''d secure Harun''s escape and pit the 33 Heavens'' strongest experts against one another was a resounding sess. Everything went without a hitch, but at thest moment, the First Emperor''s condition revealed itselfthreatening to end her life. Still, despite this sudden development, Jiyan remainedposed. She didn''t want to die, but wouldn''t cower before death, either. Who didn''t have hopes and dreams? Even many of those that lived in perpetual anguish refused to give up their lives, to say nothing of her whose journey had just started. But from the moment she chose Harun''s side, Jiyan acknowledged that, just like she was destined to end many lives and dreams, someone could end hers too.


    Closing her trembling eyes, Jiyan heaved a sigh. Harun kneeled beside her, his face twisted by rage. Granted, his Incarnation Seed and Agiri''s Eternal Will sheltered Jiyan, even if the two could preserve her life, the Chained Sword''s internal strike would leave extreme damages. At best, all she''d cultivated up until now would return to zero.


    White light surged from Jiyan''s form as Agiri''s Mandate of Suppression kicked into gear. Golden light from Harun''s Incarnation Seed followed, and the two forces wrestled with the Chained Sword to protect Jiyan from harm.


    "I...heard the Mountain Edge World possesses the tallest and widest mountain ranges in the universe. Even our 33 Heavens...can''tpare. I used to imagine myself...drinking at the highest mountain top...enjoying a dreamlike scenery. Buttely...there''s an extra person by my side," Jiyan stammered as the sh of the three forces wrecked her internal organs, and damaged her vitality.


    Blood trickled from her lips, and her consciousness waned.


    "Away from strife, away from woes, enjoying a drink by a loved one''s side...that ought to be...the true meaning of happiness," Jiyan whispered, and passed out in Harun''s arms. Fighting a desperate battle, the Eternal Will took the Chained Sword down in a self-destructive chargeleaving Harun''s Incarnation Seed to maintain Jiyan''sst breath. From now on, Agiri''s will would no longer shelter his daughter, and Harun could feel that the chain tying Jiyan''s life to his Seed neared copse.


    Two-thousand celestials desperate to escape the world''s chaos ran down the mountain road, but once their eyes locked on the kneeling Harun, panic overwhelmed them.


    Quieting the rollercoaster of emotions disturbing his mind''s bnce, Harun ced Jiyan in Infinite Space World of the system''s first room. He then turned to face the 2,000 mortal-born. But though deterred by his previous deeds, they regained their cool, and challenged him with determined res.


    "We were biting off more than we could chew. Trying to defeat this monster will only result in our deaths. However, such is the cultivation road. Without trying, how could we know the gap between us? On that point, I have no regret."


    "Plunder and death aremon matters. Who here doesn''t have hands stained in the blood of hundreds. In our hearts, progress is the light we pursue, and stagnation the darkness we strive to escape. My only regret...is that I failed."


    "There is only one path. Celestial Kins can''t fly in Heaven, so we either confront him, or jump from over 10 km of altitude. Which one will it be?"


    "Bah, speak for yourself. I am a pigeon, of course I can fly." The words caused a burst ofughter from the 2,000 celestials, and after waving theirpanions of misfortune goodbye, the flying beasts in the lots assumed their true formseager to escape cmity.


    Harun stood up. Dark-blue light surged from his body; his form blurredreappearing behind the 2,000 celestials. Finger-sized holes appeared in the middle of their foreheads. Blood spurts followed and, in tandem, they copsed on the ground.


    With his soul and Decaying Flower back, Harun could enjoy the benefits of his art''s breakthrough, and all the Extreme Yin Essence it refined. Empowered by the thirdyer of the Decaying Flower, even top-level Celestial Guards couldn''t resist his strikes. Without a word, Harun collected the celestials'' cosmic pouches, tossing them all into the system. By the time they realized their deaths, he''d already left the scene.


    Meanwhile, though he felt Rajan''s attempt and death, the Golden Crow Ancestor didn''t lose focus. Their house''s Ancient Legacy did possess extraordinary origins. However, even with the right foundation, triggering it in the 33 Heavens was a terrible gamble. Why then did the Golden Crow Ancestor transmit that skill to his children and grandchildren? A matter for another time.


    With seven of history''s strongest Demi-Emperors facing him, the 33 Heavens'' most ancient deity couldn''t spare his grandchild another thought.


    "World Beast, White Fox, Sea Dragon, Nether-Eye Lion, Amethyst Tiger, Hundred-Horns Barbaric Bull, Barrier-Breaking Millipede; each of you once boasted enough talent to seek the Dao Emperor road, but ultimately failedrejected by Heaven''s Will. You are failures, and failures should stay bound in chains. Why do you go against the natural order and try to escape your fates?" The Golden Crow Ancestor asked, attempting to destroy his opponents'' mental bnce.


    Only by creating an opening in his opponents'' guards could he destroy them in a sh and prevent the scenario he dreaded from bing a reality. However, well-trained by Harun, the seven didn''t bat an eyelid.


    "What a pathetic attempt. Golden Crow, we''re here to thank you for trapping us in that Extreme Yin Prison. We don''t know what method you used, but thanks to you and the First Emperor''s care, we could avoid all Cosmic Tribtionsenduring countless eras. You are right, we all once boasted enough talent to refine aplete Mandate, but failed at thest stepunlike you, who never dared take the gamble," the White Fox Demi-Emperor retorteddispelling the Golden Crow Ancestor''s momentum.


    The seven Demi-Emperors formed a circle around their hated foe, each holding a critical point and function. Knowing his words had no sway on them, the Golden Crow Ancestor brandished his sword, aiming for the World Beast Demi-Emperor, first.


    But at that time, a colossal wed serpent took shape in the sky, and a jovial voice echoed.


    "Golden Crow, my eyes can discern the truth. Under the mask of righteousness, you''vemitted countless sins. This is your day of reckoning, prepare to die!" Sv''s voice thundered, and the Serpent Domain''s lord dropped from the skyin his World-Devouring Serpent form, and joined the seven Beast Emperors'' side!


    An icy-blue vortex followed, and from it emerged a captivating woman, dressed in a golden robe embroidered with blue orchids. Silky white hair trailed at her back, embellishing her luscious, devilish curves.


    "Those words echo my thoughts. Golden Crow, every breath you take threatens the 33 Heavens'' stability. Do all of us a favor and...enjoy your retirement in hell," Dilnaz said and raised her pitch-ck sword.


    Seeing his fearse true, the Golden Crow Ancestor sighed, and spoke words that''dter be emblematic:


    "Brother, I tried my best, but duty cannot challenge men''s greed. The 33 Heavens are...finished."

 Chapter 45: Emperor War

    Chapter 45: Emperor War


    "The 33 Heavens are...finished," once the words left the Golden Crow Ancestor''s lips, Sv, Dilnaz and the seven Beast Demi-Emperors felt a chill in their hearts, as if the ancient deity''s words had forced a transition in his psyche. They couldn''t be more correct. The Golden Crow Ancestor lowered his face, and his lips curled into a fiendish grin.


    "And that is for the best. How sorrowful that I had to spend so many years caring for the lives of worthless beings. But instead of being grateful that I take my brother''s words seriously, you proved me correct. Then again, it''s not like I didn''t push you," the Golden Crow Ancestor raised his head and cracked his neck. Twisted by a look mixing amusement and contempt, his face no longer showed any of the past austere look.


    "You seven fools should thank us for sealing you. You''ve all been marked as ''rejected by Heaven''s Will,'' meaning that your existences will be fraught with cmities. At some point down the road, unless you reached the true Dao Emperor Realm or changed paths, you''d also lose your minds and lead your fellow monsters into berserk assaults against this world. Ask Sv, the Serpent Domain has been dealing with this for a while," the Golden Crow Ancestor sneered while aiming one finger at the seven Beast Emperors.


    Their attention shifted toward Sv, and in his eyes, they saw the truth of their hated foe''s words. Indeed, though the process took a full Cosmic Cycle, or 129,600 years, for Demi-Emperors, they were still destined to fall into madness. Their iplete Mandates could only protect them for so long. Thus, even the Serpent Domain had to seal its Monstrous Beastspreventing them from ravaging theirnd, while working on a cure. However, as long as they cultivated the Divine Path, the situation was hopeless.


    The Heaven-Warding Emperor feared the chaos this knowledge could spread in the 33 Heavens, and, at the exception of the Golden Crow Ancestor, erased it from his subordinates'' mind. Believing that Golden Crow alone could oversee them, he left the control and ess to that sealed yin space to himfocusing his efforts on the hidden cmity that''d been threatening the 33 Heavens for eons. A pity that he misread the man.


    "Brother, you were wrong. The people of this world have such little value. Their lives and deaths barely equal to guinea pigs and livestock. Why should we, of the Ancestral Land, ruin our existences to shelter food? But fortunately, brother, you''re not the only one whose words I value. If not for her, why would I still be here?" A grimace mixing rage and reminiscence twisted the Golden Crow Ancestor''s face. He loathed the people of the 33 Heavens for causing his brother''s early death. Yet also thanked them, for without that sacrifice, perhaps he''d now have to wield his de against that brother of his.


    "Golden Crow Ances" the Golden Crow Ancestor''s words left even Sv full of confusion. But before he could probe deeper, the ancient deity barked:


    "Do not call me Ancestor! Such an honor only befits the Ancestral Ones! My name is Nak...of the Myriad Devil Pce!" Matching words with deeds, Nak took his battle stance. Dark-purple energies of a profound, nauseating and malevolent origin rippled around his form, giving him the look of a barbaric fiend! The pitch-ck feathers multiplied, bing a ck-feather cloak that draped Nak, strengthening his aura further.


    Before the pressure of that aura, Sv, Dilnaz and the seven Demi-Emperors all felt as if a true Emperor had appeared before them. Yet, the Golden Crow, no, Nak''s cultivation had not changed one bitstill at the limit of the Demi-Emperor stage. More than the others, Dilnaz''s sword, the master of the Armament n, shivered in a blend of awe and excitement.


    If before, Dilnaz still doubted the correctness of her choice. Now, no such hesitation remained in her mind. Golden Crow, Nak, it didn''t matter. The man before her was the highest threat to her sovereignty, and a source of power beyond all others. Sv''s thoughts went beyond, wondering if the mystery of his ancestor''s disappearance didn''t lie in Nak''s mind. He had to search his soul!


    The seven Beast Emperors had it easier. Hatred had long since made their position clear. They had to break the Golden Crow Ancestor and feast on his skull! The strength of iplete Mandates rippled from the makeshift allies, phoenix feathers swirled around Sv''s form, and the nine brought their battle senses to the limitready to face the 33 Heavens'' strongest.


    "Divine Power: Heaven Smiting!" The World Beast Demi-Emperor was the first to strike. White light shed in his right hand, bing a 1,000 meters tall white-light de that barreled into Nak. This mountain-sized move signaled the start of the deadliest fight since the 33 Heavens'' founding.


    "Divine Power: Flooding World!" Boundless ocean waves formed above the Sea Dragon, crashing on Nak.


    "Divine Power: Nether Quintessence!" A pitch-ck ray shot out of the Nether-Eye Lion''s third eye, shooting toward Nak''s brain.


    "Divine Power: Crippling Roars!" Cast by the Amethyst Tiger, a session of deafening sound sts supported the others as they raced at their target.


    "..."


    The White Fox and Hundred-Horns Barbaric Bull followed with their own Divine Powers, each unleashing a world-destroying force at the Golden Crow Ancestor. The Barrier-Breaking Millipede, Dilnaz and Sv, had yet to make their moves. But as the six Divine Powers neared their target, the Barrier-Breaking Millipede made his. In a violet sh of light, his form blurred, reappearing above Nak.


    "Divine Power: Dimensional Seal!" An invisible cubic barrier formed around and trapped Nak in a tiny space sealed from the 33 Heavens. shing a contented smile, Nak whirled 180, meeting all strikes without an ounce of fear.


    "Bewitching de of Extermination!" A circr, dark-purple arc formed around Nak and spread, slow enough that a mortal''s eyes could follow it. But despite this tortoise-level speed, none of the Demi-Emperors could bring themselves to avoid the move, as if it called upon their hidden desiresdrawing them in like a moth to a me.


    BANG!


    The six Divine Powers shed with Nak''s Extermination de, bursting into an explosion that obliterated the Dimensional Seal. Sheltered by their Divine Powers'' sacrifices, the seven Demi-Emperors avoided the worst of the Extermination de, but were still sent reeling by the collision''s aftermath.


    The Golden Crow''s form blurred, appearing high above his opponents.


    "Divine Power: Sr Destion!" Turning into a dark-purple sun of malevolent energies, Nak dropped on his foes, the sun''s surface crackedannouncing an imminent st akin to a supernova.


    "Let''s use that move," Dilnaz ordered her sword-servant, while keeping her eyes locked on Nak.


    "As youmand, mistress. However, I cannot use it more than three times every 1,000 years. Otherwise, I will burst into smithereens," the sword-servant approved. ck mist and red lightning shed around Dilnaz''s sword as she channeled her strongest strike.


    As if bound by a tacit understanding, Sv realized Dilnaz needed time to charge a peerless strike, and rushed to meet Nak''s offensive.


    "Divine Power: Immortal Rebirth!" Sv activated the Phoenix n''s Divine Power he inherited from his grandmotherenabling him to use his colossal Heavenly Qi Reserves to mend all wounds instantaneously and avoid death once.


    At the same time, he summoned his Double Pupils'' abilities.


    "Deste Will!" Orange light shed in Sv''s left eye, siphoning his life-force to make all his physical abilities skyrocket. But with the Immortal Rebirth, Sv possessed an endless supply of life-force, enabling the Deste Will''s promotion to go on quasi-eternally. With such abination, Nak realized that Sv had to die before all others, and focused the impact of his Sr Destion on him!


    BANG!


    The dark supernova erupted, threatening to wipe out all that grazed its nefarious light.


    Green light shed in Sv''s right eye, and to Nak''s surprise, the supernova''s impact shrank, as ifpressed by space, and failed to reach Sv.


    "Old fiend, I don''t know where you and Heaven Warding came from, but my grandfather aside, I will not lose to anyone!" Sv proimed, appeared at Nak''s back, and hacked at him with his wed hands. In a sh, the two exchanged thousands of moves, and Dilnaz''s charge reached its peak.


    "Infinite Murdering!" Bringing her sword down in a vertical sh, Dilnaz unleashed her most destructive strike. A multitude of ck half-moons each over 100 meters tall poured forth, racing at Nak. His lips curved into a fiendish grin, and the unthinkable urred.


    As if it was an illusion and not a man standing before them, the ck half-moons traversed Naksmashing into Sv instead. And while the Serpent Lord faced an infinite charge of dreadful de strikes, Nak spun, appeared before Dilnaz, and hacked at her neck!


    CLANG!


    Suppressing her confusion to meet Nak''s sword strike, Dilnaz flew backward, crashing toward the ground.


    Nak didn''t pursue, his internal organs worked against him, and he vomited arge mouthful of blood. The Demi-Emperors thus realized that whatever Nak just used came at a hefty priceand Sv asidunched abined assault.


    Trapped between the never-ending des and his endless regeneration, Sv couldn''t move an inch, and cursed Nak''s name.


    Meanwhile, the Highest Heaven burned under the berserk assault of the Monstrous Beasts. Without their Grand Commandant to support them, the Divine Army failed to contain the invasionsuffering countless casualties. Dilnaz''s Imperial Guard didn''t intervene, awaiting their Empress'' orders.


    Standing on the Imperial Dao Pavilion''s highest mountain peak, Harun meditated on his Heart of Reincarnation, attempting to speed up the integration.


    "I was born supreme. From the moment I opened my eyes on this world, I knew...that I would never have rivals. My cultivation went without hurdles, and before I knew it, I''d reached the Dao Emperor Realm.


    Bored by my invincibility, I retreated to my birthce, wanting to spend the rest of my eternity by my beloved side. One fool took that move as a sign of weakness, and as fools often do, he overreached.


    Yet, it was thanks to that fool that I met him. Perhaps I should thank him..." an ancient voice echoed in Harun''s mind, and he drifted to another scenery.


    When Harun''s eyes opened, he no longer stood in the 33 Heavens, and now upied the body of an infinitely tall serpent with Gold and Purple Double Pupils. In that instant, Harun felt as if he could crush all across the universe, superior to all by virtue of his birth. But then, a slender man''s back appeared in Harun''s eyes. Dressed in a saffron monk robe that contrasted with his short ck hair, if he didn''t sit crossed-legged in the middle of the cosmos, the man would have looked ordinary.


    He turned, facing Harun with his finely chiseled face and golden eyes. An unalome lotus symbol stood in the middle of his forehead, rippling with rainbow-colored light. In that man''s eyes, Harun could feel that all mysteries of Heaven and Earth gathered. The Cosmic Law stood in its mostplete form.


    "What do you want?" The man asked, reminding Harun that he initially came to issue a challenge. Yet, no such thoughts remained in his mind, and assuming his human form, he bowed toward the man.


    "Golden Cicada, Dharma Ancestor, please ept me as your disciple!"

 Chapter 46: Three Moves to End the War

    Chapter 46: Three Moves to End the War


    He''d ruled a vast realm for tens of thousands of years, killed billions in a fit of rage. But once heid eyes on that monk, all the tyrannical will and battle intent in his heart vanishedwashed over by waves of humility. This was no longer a man, but the incarnation of the truth all cultivators sought, Cosmic Law made flesh: the Dharma incarnate. Before that existence, Harun, or the Serpent Emperor he now represented, couldn''t muster the tiniest thought of transgressionand now held the firm conviction that he existed to be this teenage-looking monk''s disciple.


    s, the monk thought otherwise.


    "Even in the Ancestral Land, your innate talent is outstanding. Unlike the one that led you here, you still have much room for improvement. Return to the Heavenly Dream Land and find the road to your next realm. Only then can you truly leave that ce. However" Here the monk paused and shook his head in rejection.


    "You are not suited for Dharma Seeking. Pursuing the Cosmic Law requires a specific mindset you do not, and will never possess, unless you change the fundamentals of who you are. The Myriad Devil Pce is a better ce for you. Join them instead," the monk said, rejecting the Serpent Emperor''s submission.


    Startled, the Serpent Emperor kowtowed at the monk, refusing this answer.


    "I will change! I do not want to join the Myriad Devil Pce, I do not want to return to the Heavenly Dream Land! I only wish to follow you for a lifetime! Dharma Ancestor, please guide me on the road of enlightenment!" Driven by a fervor he couldn''t understand, the Serpent Emperor beseeched the monk. From those outsiders, he''d heard of the Myriad Devil Pce''s terror, the meaning of Ancestor, and who truly ruled the omniverse.


    Awakened to bbergasting truths, the Serpent Emperor regained his lost battle will, left the Heavenly Dream Realm, and resolved to challenge those so-called Ancestral Ones. Never did he expect that a nce at his first choice would redefine his existence, leading him to reject all he previously believed in, and embark on a new road. Still, his heartfelt words failed to move the ck-haired monk.


    "Just call me Golden Cicada. Your reverence doesn''t stem from your will, but is the natural response all those below a certain realm have in my presence. Said bluntly, you are weak," Golden Cicada said, and his words were like thunderps in the Serpent Emperor''s ears. He? The master of Fate, weak? Unable to ept those words, the Serpent Emperor raised his eyes to arguebut couldn''t.


    "I know what you''re thinking. You can destroy stars with the blink of an eye, devoured 66 of the Heavenly Dream Land''s 99 Heavens without hurdles. If cultivation had universal ranks, you stand tall at the 12th, strong among your peers and not so far from the end. To this day, none has managed to wound you. But these feats change nothing. The Ancestral Ones represent the end of the road. Any one of them can erase you with a nce. And in that hierarchy, I rank second," the monk paused, anticipating the Serpent Emperor''s reaction. And as expected, he couldn''t believe it.


    "Impossible! If you''re second, who is first?" The Serpent Emperor could ept being insignificant before this monk, but couldn''t tolerate anyone standing above him. The mere thought rattled his ears, ringing like sphemy.


    "That is not relevant. But if I had to pick my disciples by strength or talent, I wouldn''t have any. Seek the Truth. Seek the Law. Seek the Dharma. That is all I care for. If you have that heart, even if your talent and strength both rank at the lowest level of the omniverse, I will teach you all I know. But if you don''t, like the rest you will halt at one pointsatisfied with the strength you gained," the monk closed his golden eyes and joined his hands in a mudra.


    A golden palm appeared below the Serpent Emperor, at first nce 50 meters wide, but in truth limitless. Instantly, he realized that one million lifetimes wouldn''t be enough to reach the monk''s altitude. With that move, the monk attempted to make him renounce his choice. But regaining his wits, the Serpent Emperor only felt more resolved, and with an indomitable spirit, faced his chosen master.


    "I do not want peerless strength. I do not want to be a Devil! Henceforth, whether you ept me or not, I will live to understand the Cosmic Law in Master''s eyes!" The Serpent Emperor dered, kowtowed onest time at Golden Cicada anddestroyed his cultivation base! Perhaps moved by his unbreakable resolve, Golden Cicada sighed and replied:


    "As you please."


    ...


    Back in the 33 Heavens, Harun opened his eyes, which both gleamed in their respective hues. He only had two minutes left before his heart forced him to enter the reincarnation cycle. His body burned in golden mes, but his shimmering eyes had zed overwith no luster of consciousness.


    The legendary battle between Demi-Emperors raged on. Harun smiled, stood up, vanished, and reappeared before Nak.


    "You''ve stained yourself with the breath of this world for over three million years, just so you could pave the road for that person. Was it worth it?" ''Harun'' asked in a curious tone. But it wasn''t his voice that left his lips. That voice evoked different emotions in the nine Demi-Emperors.


    Sv, who still wrestled against the Infinite Murdering''s vicious cycle, unwilling to waste his resurrection chance, looked confused. Dilnaz trembled uncontrobly, not knowing why the timbre of that voice prompted such a reaction from her. Backed by more reliable instincts, the seven Demi-Emperors fled at maximum speed, and Nak''s eyes stretched to impossible lengths.


    "It can''t be...how? You" Nak couldn''t finish those words. A golden palm, barely 50 meters wide, appeared above his headneither slow nor fast. Yet, Nak couldn''t consider escape. His body refused to react, as if hard-coded to prevent an irredeemable mistake. And what seemed like a 50 meters-wide hand in the others'' eyes became an infinite palm-strike in his!


    BANG!


    mmed hard, Nak turned into a ming meteor and cratered in the Divine Capital. Harun ced one index vertically against his lips, making a ''shush'' at Nak''s grievously wounded formthen turned toward Sv.


    "Infinite Murdering. Poorly cast, but brings back memories," he said, and waved his right hand, dispelling the ck half-moons surrounding Sv. And with that same dazed look, the Serpent Lord stared at him.


    "Are you truly...grandfather?" Seeing the Sovereign Pupils owner disy such absurd strength, Sv firmly believed that his grandfather...had returned. And thinking that he once tried to plot against him, Sv felt bitter regret. However, Harun arched an eyebrow, and his lips formed a sneer.


    "If I had a grandson like you, I''d ask for a refund," ''Harun'' jabbed, and with a dismissive wave of his hand, sent Sv hurtling back to the Serpent Domain. By now, the Highest Heaven was over 80% destroyedunable to sustain itself further. But the Divine Pce and Serpent Domain still stood strong, undisturbed by the cmity.


    Harun spun, stretched his right hand toward Dilnaz, and as his body burned at its brightest, reappeared before her.


    "I heard that you want to stand above all and rule supreme. That''s a long, tedious and suicidal road. Sure you got what it takes to make it to the end?" ''Harun'' asked, and as his hand neared her neck, just like Nak, Dilnaz couldn''t consider retreat. Her body only allowed her to stand at his mercy. Breaking into a cold sweat, Dilnaz shivered. But as Harun''s fingers grazed her neck, he burst into a soundless explosion of lightvanishing from the copsing Highest Heaven.


    Though freed from Harun''s suppression, Dilnaz felt her lungs tightening while her heart pounded against her chest. Too shocked to maintain her flight, she too copsedleaving the "victorious" Beast Emperors to exchange bewildered gazes.

 Chapter 47: Mythical Idol

    Chapter 47: Mythical Idol


    "Boss, congrattions onpleting the first objective! Reward timwait, boss, boss!" The system''s voice thundered in Harun''s mind, but though he''d regained control of his thoughts, it failed to reach him. Drifting in a whirlpool of ck and white strands, Harun closed his eyes, reminiscing thest moments before he dove into the Reincarnation Cycle.


    Again, though his body seemed to temporarily belong to another, Harun witnessed all that urred. Or perhaps he just remembered it. But what he saw displeased himleaving a sour taste in his mouth.


    "Who am I, what am I? Is the course of my existence, the entirety of my struggles, written somewhere on an unalterable stone? My breaths, my encounters, my conflicts, my progress, my resolve, my survival, my emotions and desires, what are they worth?" Harun asked himself, but couldn''t find an answer. He could tell himself that past lives and karma had no ties to the current him, but the recent events showed otherwise.


    Yet, Harun refused the ties, refused this attachment to worlds, events, existences he had no care for. If the cycle of life and death went on with no end, all possessed a past, and unless destroyed in soul by their enemies, could look forward to a future. Pigs, worms, nts, men, all possessed souls and could exchange ces throughout reincarnationsyet didn''t have to think of anything but the present.


    Perhaps, from the moment heid eyes on the Life and Death Stele, from the moment he seized the light orb and peered into the Six Incarnations Bridge, all was set in stone. Harun remembered the fake prisoner in his cell, the ck-robed youth in the stele, and wondered if the whole 10,000 Sect War wasn''t just an excuse to get to him. But then his eyes opened, and his resolve burned anew.


    "Be it the Severing or Unyielding Path, those who tread the Six Incarnations Bridge choose their Karmic Links. You cannot force attachment on me if I do not allow it. My name is Harun, and my destiny toplete the Breath of Toxic Realitiesno one can take that away from me," Harun said, and closed his eyes. The Breath of Toxic Realities was his, his father and elder brother''s dream, a bold yet unrealistic concept the three came up with through drunken talk. Before, Harun kept it buried in his heart. But now that he had the Six Incarnations Bridge to support him, he would see it to the end.


    Clearing his mind of thoughts he deemed unnecessary, Harun spiraled down the reincarnation cycle, leaving the darkness above for the light below.


    But in a distantnd, sitting amidst rainbow-colored clouds, a ck-robed youth watched a projection of Harun''sst deeds with a lopsided smile, rewinding it to no end. From a distance, several people watched this iprehensible scene, yet didn''t dare butt it.


    Meanwhile, the Highest Heaven had reached the end of its destiny. Regaining their wits, the Beast Emperors assumed that the peerless expert and Extreme Yin Sir possessed deep connections. Perhaps they were one and the same. In any case, he came to tip the scales in their favor, or so they thought. Without hesitation, theyunched abined assault at Nak, aggravating his injuries, and forcing him to escape the copsing Highest Heaven.


    The remnants of the Divine Army followed suit, leaving the Highest Heaven''s survivors at the mercy of the Monstrous Beasts. Sv and his n elders split off the Serpent Domain from the Highest Heaven, while Dilnaz did the same to the Divine Pce.


    "I don''t understand. This used to be a nice ce. Get a God-level cultivation and official rank, oppress men and take their women, enjoy glory, splendor, wealth and rank. Rinse, repeat. Wasn''t that a good arrangement? Why did our generation have to produce so many psychopaths?"


    "First there was Dilnaz. On one disagreement, she directly ughtered an ancient n, not even sparing her own elders. Then there was that Son of Heaven, so young yet so deviousdirectly frying 10,000 people just to protect his eyes, and who knows what he did to the rest!"


    "They treat people''s lives like dog piss!"


    "I just want to bully the weak! Why did they have to make my life so difficult!"


    The Highest Heaven''s remaining Gods wept in bitterness, yet couldn''t escape the fate of bing Monstrous Beast food. The Serpent Domain and Divine Pce aside, none survived the cmity. With a n formation set up and reinforced by the seeding God-Emperors, and a peak Demi-Emperor such as Dilnaz to control it, the Divine Pce stood in an impregnable position.


    Likewise, the Serpent Domain didn''t fear any assault. In fact, should they choose to meddle with their full force, they could force the Beast Emperors into an immediate retreat. However, they didn''t. And so the ancient capital of the Empyrean Dynasty copsed into ruins and gore.


    "How refreshing! In the future, if we have the opportunity, we must thank Extreme Yin Sir," said the World Beast Demi-Emperor, hovering in the cosmos alongside his peers and beast horde.


    "That is only natural, and this...is merely the beginning," the White Fox Emperor approved, but at that time, red vortexes formed above the beast hordeannouncing Heaven''s punishment. Unfazed, the Beast Emperors burst intoughter.


    "You have already rejected us. Bereft of support, do you think we still care for your wrath? Brothers, I will restrain this tribtion. Together, let''s lead it to the remaining Heavens and ransack all in our path!" The World Beast Demi-Emperor chortled, and raised his right hand, summoning his race''s Divine Power: Heaven Smiting.


    In pure destructive strength, Heaven Smiting ranked second among Divine Powers, but its true worthy in its ability to dominate Heavenly Tribtions. Relying on that Divine Power, World Beasts ran amok until the Serpent Emperor''s rise drove them into submission. Later on, their weakened state enabled the First and Second Emperors to gradually erase them from the 33 Heavens'' history.


    If not for Harun rmending that they avoid antagonizing Dilnaz from the get-go to use her strength against Nak and increase their odds, they would have smashed the Divine Pce first. Still, as he witnessed the ruins and debris drifting in the Cosmos, the World Beast Demi-Emperor felt satisfied.


    Bright-red asteroids, each about 150 meters wide, dropped from the vortexes in the thousands, all aiming for the seven Demi-Emperors.


    "Heaven Smiting Domain!" The World Beast sheltered his group with a formation of 18, gargantuan white-light des that sliced off all asteroids in range. Assured of his trustworthiness, the remaining Demi-Emperors led the horde and descended on the Second Heaven. Once ruled by the Dragon n and robbed of all key resources by Dilnaz, the Second Heaven didn''t have any hegemonic force to shelter it, and under thebined assault of the Beast Demi-Emperors and Heaven''s punishment, soon turned into a pile of rubble.


    Knowing that too much was as bad as not enough, the Monstrous Beasts joined their forces to destroy the Tribtion, then dropped on the Third Heaven''s Great Roc n. A swift battle ensued, ending with the Great Roc n''s destruction. The Monstrous Beasts made the Third Heaven their home-basebringing the Grand Cataclysm came to an endat least on the surface.


    In the meantime, a youth wandered through the reincarnation cycle. His consciousness fell into torpor, and at some point in time, his face became a mask of white light. His body and limbs followed suit, and after drifting for an unknown amount of time, that light reached the end of the cycle and emerged on the other side.


    Across the Mortal Realm''s 10,000 worlds, in prestige, one stood far above the rest, for the simple reason that it beat the Heavens in one area: mountain size. Known as the Mountain-Edge World, its tallest peak reached 100.25 km, while its mountain ranges could cover other worlds'' continents. Needless to say, it also ranked among thergest worlds.


    An uncanny ce, the Mountain Edge world wasn''t divided into continents. More urately, all the water ran across and around a single supercontinent, never splitting it into severalndmasses. However, six mountain ranges separated that supercontinent in isted domains. Each several times taller than the other, those mountain ranges weren''t something anyone could cross because they wanted to. The Mountain Edge World thus took the shape of a pyramid, with the six ranges representing the stairs to the next level. And in the first range''s northernmost corner, an outwardly unremarkable swamp drove a small vige into near-extinction.


    Citizens of the Dark Stone country, the people of the Evergreen vige enjoyed a simple and ripple-free life, until a swamp formed in the outskirts, colonizing their forests. How that swamp formed was a mystery. But from it grew eerie blood lotuses that paralyzed and drained the blood of all those unfortunate enough to breathe its pollen. Trees withered, animals grieved, and within three days, the Wailing Swamps, as the vigers came to name it, had decimated all prey in the vicinitypreventing the vigers from hunting meat or harvesting fruits.


    Worse, the pollen spread to their herds, nearly destroying their farms and cattle. Forced to relocate, and with taxes to pay at the end of the year, the vigers fell into depressioncursing the heavens for ying such a cruel joke on them. But as their grief reached its peak, a bright column of light descended from the sky, hitting the very middle of the Wailing Swamps.


    The light dispersed, revealing a newborn baby whose silent breathing siphoned the toxic pollen, ridding the air of its impurities. As if animated with a mind of their own, the blood lotuses shivered, yet couldn''t fight the baby''s breathing. Soon, the vigers heard loud wheezing soundse from the swamps, and while confusion spread among them, their surviving herd rushed into the cursed swamps, forcing the bravest to rush after them.


    Realizing that the destructive pollen was gone, the vigers sought the source of this miracle, and found the baby that absorbed all this poisonous essence to save them from cmity. Glowing in golden light, the baby made no sound, but had his hands joined in a prayer sign. Moved, the vigers dropped on their knees and kowtowed in worship. The trees'' withering halted. Green leaves grew anew. And as the forest regained its life, a wailing sound came from the retreating swampsrevealing a dark-red, massive toad-shaped beast that seemed to be the source of this disaster.


    Infuriated, the demonic toad leaped toward the baby, its elongated tongueshing out like a whip to strike the miracle down. But as the vigers feared the worst, a serpentine form took shape around the child, bing a wed serpent that hurled at the toad, and devoured it with one bite.


    "A guardian spirit!" The vigers screamed in tandem, now certain that this child was the incarnation of a spiritual god entering the mortal world. A light column shot toward the sky, and the baby turned into a four-year-old child that sat crossed-legged amidst the forest.


    The wed serpent shrunk to a palm-sized snake, and merged with his back, leaving a wed-serpent tattoo behind.


    The child opened his eyes, and the vigers bowed inplete reverence.


    "Greetings, oh Spiritual Lord!"


    "Spiritual Lord, thank you for saving us!"


    "Lord, our lives belong to you!"


    Henceforth, the vigers took the child as their lord and totem, providing him with tributes, devotion and worshiphe rejected the first, and ''reluctantly'' epted the rest. Little did they know that behind his holy exterior, he cursed this unexpected twist, "When your rebirth is so overpowered that it actually gives you headaches! How am I supposed to deal with this?!"


    Harun thuspleted his reincarnation, reaching the natal-stage of the Human Realm in a...disturbingly inhuman fashion.

 Chapter 48: Karmic Zone

    Chapter 48: Karmic Zone


    As soon as his eyes opened, the system''s voice thundered in Harun''s mind, rewarding him with goodies. To say nothing of the Scripture Drafting Altar, for a guebringer, 100 poisonous herbs and a gradeless Golden Silkworm Jar were prime resources, and should have been put to immediate use by Harun. However, he quickly realized that he''d over-performed,nding him in a troubling spot.


    [Sect Name: Unnamed Sect]


    [Sect Master: Nameless]


    [Sect Size: Hamlet]


    [Outer Disciples: 0]


    [Inner Disciples: 0]


    [Elders: 1]


    [Sect Ground Level: Nonexistent]


    [Sect Path: Undecided]


    [Reputation: Unknown Throughout Heaven and Earth]


    [Overall Strength: Too Weak To Mention]


    ---


    [Master''s Name: Awaiting Selection]


    [True Age: 165]


    [Cultivation Method: Art of the Decaying Flower (thirteen-star Grade)]


    [Cultivation Level: natal-stage of the Human Realm]


    [Physique: Innate Blight Master]


    [Path: Six Incarnations Bridge]


    [Incarnation: Mythical Idol]


    [Scourge Points: 2,506]


    [Tribtion Bonus: 25,060%]


    And this was precisely what left Harun speechless. A typical human reincarnation wouldnd him in a pregnant woman''s womb, enabling him to relive the traumatizing experience known as birth. But thanks to his Heart of Reincarnation being crafted on such abundant resources, Harun received the highest starting point possible: the Mythical Idol.


    With that physique, not only could Harun boast a terrifying battle power, he could gather the faith of all those that worshipped him as Spiritual Incense to enhance his offensive and defensive abilities, and aplish miracles. Granted, Spiritual Incense was a consumable, it could help Harun survive his uing tribtions. However...for that same reason, Harun was building attachment too fast. Each person whose worship he acknowledged became bound to his Karma. The Evergreen vige numbered 147 people that now all worshipped him. Unless he started to reject their worship and prayers, within a few days, they''d all be firmly ingrained in his Karmahurling him into the attachment stage.


    At the moment, what Harun dreaded the most was rapid cultivation advancement. If he built attachment too fast, he''d have to enter the suffering stage and face his first tribtion. A tribtion 251.6 times stronger than what a Human Realm cultivator should endure. The result would be a catastrophic failure, no way around it. Harun needed time to prepare his countermeasures, cultivate Sovereign Essence, prepare formations and all he could get his hands on to survive that cmity. But at that time, the system''s reassuring voice echoed.


    "You don''t have to be so pessimistic. The attachment stage is special in that there''s a lower limit, but no upper bound to how much attachment you can build. As long as you hit 100, you step into the attachment stage. But even if you attach yourself to ten million, you won''t have to deal with the suffering stage until you choose to." This was a big load of bullshit.


    Each person represented a Karmic Link. Through attachment, Harun could connect to the minds and heart of the humans that became a part of his karma, and experience all they did. In the early stages, the experience was limited. But the more time passed, the more exposed Harun became. A person''s mind could only take that much. Though the Mythical Idol Incarnation represented a peerless foundation, could Harun bind himself to the ongoing experiences of ten million souls and not go insane? Even if he could, with those numbers, the suffering stage would be his grave.


    He had to slowly increase the count, find his limit, and avoid reaching it until he knew he could take the tribtion on. With a sigh, Harun suppressed his worries. Those 147 were, ultimately, far from his limit. He could ept that much.


    For better or worse, Harun reincarnated with his Sovereign Pupils and, using the mystery of Life, he concealed thempreventing the news of his return from spreading.


    "How much time did I spend in the Reincarnation Cycle?"


    "165 years. The first reincarnation takes as long as your previous incarnation''s age. But since you spent those 165 years unconscious, I can''t add that to your True Age," the system replied. And hearing this, Harun was relieved. No matter how shocking his deeds were, 165 years was more than enough to return to the background. The 10,000 Sect War would rage on. Factions would fall, and in that bloodypetition, the Son of Heaven would be history. Atst, he could enjoy a moment of peace.


    "Anyway, it''s time for you to pick your new name, and name your second objective," the system said, but Harun ignored it, stepping into his Internal Cultivation Room instead. Two altars awaited him, the left one with a lc-colored orb floating above, and the right with a ck, nk book: Harun''s Space World and Scripture Drafting Altar.


    Ignoring thetter, Harun stepped into the Space World. There, Jiyany in aatose state, sheltered by swirling golden light. Time in cosmic pouches and other hoarding devices flowed at a drastically lower pace than the outside world. On average, 100 years in the outside world represented 1 year in a cosmic pouch. This allowed the items to endure the test of timefollowing their owner across eons. Of course, such items couldn''t cheat Heaven''s Will and didn''t protect from tribtions or provide any cultivation advantage.


    But for Jiyan, this was more than enough. Though she still looked pale, Harun could see that the Incarnation Seed did its job. Now he had to do his. With a gentle smile, he left the Space Worldreturning to his Inner Cultivation Room.


    "My first name will never change. From now on, automatically set it to Harun." The Harun name was fairlymon. Toss a coin in the street and you could hit three. But even if it weren''t, Harun would still keep it. As for thest name


    "Birusk. Harun Birusk," Harun said, and instantly, the systemined.


    "Isn''t that your previous life father''s name? Aren''t you giving him too much importance? Be" the system was far from done when Harun''s calm but chilling voice interrupted him.


    "That is not for a parasite to decide. Do your job, and don''t pry into what you shouldn''t." The system thus realized that Harun had his taboos, and some words were best left unspoken.


    "Second Objective, Initialization.


    Description: Without unique skills to pass on throughout generations, a sect isn''t worth the name, and cannot give its disciples a sense of individuality. Worse, the Divine Path is wed, whereas the Six Incarnations Bridge isn''t suitable for most. The host must use the Scripture Drafting Altar to develop a profound art, and from it develop a brand-new path for his future disciples. It must be at least stronger than the Divine Path, while remaining essible to many," Harun set up the second objective, and for a moment, the system grew silentappraising the requirements.


    In truth, Harun wanted this to be the third objective. Right now, preparing the sect''s holynd should be his priority. However, the circumstances spoke for themselves. Five a four-year-old''s appearance, Harun couldn''t go out to seek resources. He needed a strenuous enough objective that he could spend the next decade focused on it, and get that much time from the system.


    Creating a new scripture and path were the most suitable options. Even if this was but the second objective, unless the system existed to make him fail, he''d at least get a few decades.


    "Timeframe: 26 years.


    Reward: Hundred Insect Altar," the system set up the time and reward, making Harun nod in approval. Though a bit stingy on the reward side, with the peerless talent provided by his Mythical Idol Incarnation, he definitely wouldn''t need that much time.


    Immediately, Harun summoned his Scripture Drafting Altar, and using the Art of the Decaying Flower as his foundation, got to work. As expected, thanks to their relentless worship, the 147 vigers became part of Harun''s karmaboosting his cultivation while helping him grow his Spiritual Incense.


    Feeling that this was as good a ce as any, Harun condensed that Karma into a tree invisible to all but himself. Rooted in the soil, and connected by the vigers'' hearts, that tree became his respawn pointturning the entire vige into Harun''s Karmic zone. From now on, regardless of where he reincarnated, Harun could effortlessly return to this vige. But by setting up this Karmic Zone, he locked himself out of the Severing Pathbound to never give up any karmic link he forged.

 Chapter 49: Myriad Poisons Bridge

    Chapter 49: Myriad Poisons Bridge


    Within a vesara-style stone temple that stood in the middle of the vige, a four-year-old sat crossed-legged, with his brown eyes intently staring at arge book-carrying altar. Dressed in a spacious, gray linen robe, the boy held his chin in one hand, and stroked the altar with the other. At his right, a golden jar engraved with iprehensible markings stood.


    Six months had passed since Harun first appeared in the vige. Needing a resting ce essible to his worshipers, Harun erected this stone temple. It didn''t take him one hour, and the feat only strengthened their faith. The attachment-stage of the Human Realm was a wondrous state. Harun could now feel all the emotions and desires of those attached to him, and even direct their thoughts and trends. As for others, he could connect to their minds, and attempt to overwhelm them with an apparition of himself. Mortals could, of course, not resist it.


    Relying on those abilities, Harun had made a thorough assessment of the vigers, and learned what he could about the country he found himself in. The people around these parts were rather straightforward and simpleminded, more focused on survival than any plot or scheme. Harun''s appearance didn''t kindle any cultivation-hope in their hearts. As far as they were concerned, those were distant topics best left to those sects and ns.


    Their prayers toward Harun remained simple. Mainly revolving around health and bountiful harvests. Some asked for sess in some romance, or not being scolded for some mistake. Isting their voices with his Divine Sense, Harun focused on the Scripture Drafting Altarwondering how he should proceed.


    Over the past six months, the majority of Harun''s time went between breeding new poisonous beasts,prehending mysteries, and conceptualizing his sect''s fundamental art. But regardless of how he racked his brain, Harun made very little progress. This didn''t disturb him. He''d created new techniques before and knew the process was distressing. If anyone coulde up with a top-level cultivation method within a few months, Monarchs would be everywhere.


    With his current talent, experiences, and the altar that enabled him to multiply his focus and cultivation knowledge, Harun could easilye up with a six or seven-star cultivation method, and from it evolve a shallow path. But how could he settle for that? To say nothing of his future disciples, if only for Jiyan, he had toe up with an unprecedented road. The twelve-star grade was the least he''d ept.


    Jiyan''s cultivation talent was off the charts. Although she lost all her skills after helping Harun against the 33 Heavens, with the proper path and tools, she''d quickly regain all she lostand go far beyond. Keeping a strand of Divine Sense bound to the altar, Harun summoned the Life and Death stele, holding it on hisp. True to its name, the stele enabled him to cultivate the mysteries of Life and Death. With just an elementaryprehension, Harun could hide his Sovereign Pupils. But over the past six months, his understanding grew deeper.


    Poisonous arts existed between Life and Death; the stele couldn''t stay out of the equation. Rolling up his sleeves, Harun gashed his right arm, letting his blood flow on the stele.


    His body no longer housed any poisonous beasts, yet the toxins in his blood had never been strongercourtesy of the Innate Blight Master Physique. Coated in a deceitfully honeyed scent, Harun''s golden blood was like a nectar for savage and monstrous beasts, reaching and luring them across several kilometers. To prevent them from interrupting his work, Harun condensed an invisible barrierpreventing the scent from leaking out.


    "A myriad of toxins, of lethal and debilitating diseases, hide in that blood. One sip can kill a celestial guard, and there is no cure besides the blood itself. Ironic that the world''s deadliest poison...is its own medicine." Unless Harun came up with another antidote, only by giving the victim the same dosage of the blood infecting them could Harun cure their condition. Recent testing made that much clear. Better, the test subjects all grew noticeably stronger.


    "Killed by one sip, revived by the next. Dead in one breath, alive in the next. Withering to bloom. This is the principle of rotating life and death rooted in the Art of the Decaying Flower. In the Heavenly Dream Land, the twelve-star grade is the highest. Yet, the Art of the Decaying Flower goes beyond.


    Chances are that ites from the outer world. The Ancestral Land, perhaps. How then did it appear in an inheritance ground of the Noxious me World? Why did Golden Cicada im that unless he broke through to the next realm, the Serpent Emperor could never truly leave this world?" Questions abounded in Harun''s mind, but knowing that many of them wouldn''t find answers anytime soon, he focused on his trickling bloodbreaking down itsponents.


    In Harun''s mind, a link formed between his blood, the stele, the altar, and the Decaying Flower in his Sea of Consciousness. The link became a dark-green quadrteral, and on its surface, a myriad of poisonous herbs, toxins, pills and beasts known to Harun took shape, merging into one tall me pir. Meditating on its mysteries, Harun lost all notion of time, and months flew by.


    Post-reincarnation, Harun mostly remained in the temple, but often left to seek beasts and interact with the vigers. Thus, as the weeks passed, their hearts gradually grew fearfuldreading that their new bastion of faith had abandoned them to the cruel and ever changing world.


    Concerned, some vigers nned to dive into the temple, but the apparition of a bulky, wed serpent that coiled around the stone building stopped them all. At the same time, blinding light surged, soaking the vige in its glow. Reassured, and now believing that their Spiritual Lord was most likely inmunion with other deities, the vigers no longer probed the case.


    As the sixth month of seclusion neared its end, Haruns eyes sprang open, with dark-green mes burning in his pupils.


    "First step:


    -Quench the flesh with toxic ponds.


    -Quench the organs with noxious fumes.


    -Quench the blood with poisonous pills.


    -Quench the bones with Withering Essence. The better the quality, the stronger the physique.


    When theyplete those four stages, the cultivator obtains the Hundred Poisons Physique, impermeable to most toxins, extreme offensive and defensive power, the ability to melt physical matter upon touch and control Noxious mes. Here, they can y Celestial Kins.


    Second step:


    Cultivate Yin Essence of the pure grade or above. Strengthen the soul, find the Inner Truth, and refine countless poisonous beasts to condense three Noxious Yin Cores. Completing these steps will give them the strength of an Ascending God, explosive physical abilities, a Noxious Yin Domain, and control over Elemental Yin.


    I name this path the Myriad Poisons Bridge, and will give it three other steps," Harun dereying down the foundation of his sect''s cultivation path. Little did Harun know that withoutprehending the mysteries of Life and Death and getting enlightenment in reincarnation principles through the stele''s Remembrance Chants, even with 100 years, he could not develop a unique path.


    Of course, creating the path was one thing. Preparing the resources for the disciples to cultivate it, another. Besides his own abilities, Harun would have to rely on the system''s Second Door and the Hundred Insect Altar.


    Satisfied, Harun stood up, and after half-a-year of seclusion, opened his temple doors. A marvelous sight awaited him. Across the pastures and farnds, golden light surged, swirling around hundreds of spiritual herbs that grew under the auspicious light''s care.


    The cows and pigs that grazed the pasture, the farm insects that usually damaged the vigers'' work, all benefited from the spectacr herbsfalling into torpor as their bodies experienced unprecedented changes.


    With the temple as the center, the vige grounds and everything across one square kilometer received blessings from those surges of auspicious light. Confused, Harun swept the farndsmaking the count of all the miraculous herbs he lost to pigs and cowsthe results clutched at his chest, forcing him to restrain a blood spurt.


    At that time, the vigers gathered at the temple door, and with bright smiling faces, kneeled before Harun.


    "Spiritual Lord, thank you for these months of graces! One leaf from the herbs you blessed us with can feed a grown man for three months and restore 30 years of lifespan! Thanks to them we no longer have to fear hunger and diseases!"


    "Spiritual Lord, thank you for your generosity!"


    "You are our Evergreen vige''s pir!" The vigers said in tandem, overflowing with zeal and devotion.


    Harun''s body wobbled, but while his mind screamed one million curses, he forced his lips to curve into a radiant smilesuppressing the murder urges and grievances rising within him.


    "If I do not bleed for the people''s wellbeing, who will?" Harun spoke against his heart. How could he expect that his Mythical Idol Incarnation would turn him into a walking Holy Land battery? To think that he cheated Gods to get taken advantage of by mortal vigers. If the news spread, the gue Overlord''s dignity would sweep the floor.


    Worse, thanks to the attachment stage, Harun could feel the vigor and bliss fueling all those vigers. And though he couldn''t sense their sufferings yet, he didn''t doubt that they no longer had any.


    "No sufferings? Wait a second" Harun''s jaw dropped, and his eyes widened in enlightenment.

 Chapter 50: Founding the Birusk clan

    Chapter 50: Founding the Birusk n


    In each realm, Harun experienced four stages, natal, attachment, suffering and unyielding. But of the four, though the unyielding stage by far carried the deadliest tribtions, Harun most feared the suffering stage. The stage order made the mental tribtions weaker, but this didn''t change the fact that they had few natural enemies. Sovereign Essence could help Harun strengthen his flesh and mental fortitude, but that aside, he had nothing to rely on.


    On the contrary, even if the unyielding stage summoned a rain of asteroids, with his Mythical Idol, Spiritual Incense, Decaying Flower, World Devouring Serpent and other means, Harun had full confidence in his sess. But now, things were different. Harun realized that as long as he could keep his worshippers worry-free, the suffering stage posed no challenges. Of course, this could only work on a small scale. There was no way he could keep millions without troubles. But if he exhausted the Spiritual Incense he umted through them, dazzling their lives with miracles, perhaps he could maintain the bnce.


    Onerge city. He had to keep his faith centralized in onerge city, a ce he could reach and influence with ease, while still developing the Evergreen vige. A ce with advanced enough infrastructures that local powers could restrain the spread of newspreventing rumors of a rising cult from overwhelming the country. Instantly, Harun set his sight on Dark Stone city, capital of the eponymous country.


    But though he could now see a solution to his tribtion issue, a dilemma remained, "Based on the Spiritual Qi fluctuations, the soil is turning into a Blessed Land. Within three years, it will breed blessed-grade cultivation veins, and the longer I stay here, the higher they will go," Harun inwardly said.


    Sect and ns meticulously chose their faction''s home base. While all ces possessed some measure of Qi, without cultivation veins, the quantity remained scarce. Land and vein quality followed the same pattern: spiritual, blessed, treasure and holy. But on top of Qi benefits, high-gradends spontaneously bred cultivation resources such as herbs, flowers and trees.


    In Harun''s memory, the Noxious me World''s top-rankingnds were only of the blessed grade. And while Heaven''s hegemonic ns boasted the ownership of holynds, their sect grounds were just of the treasure grade. ording to the system, the Serpent Domain and Divine Pce were the only exceptions, but resulted from their Dao Emperors'' nurturing. At the current rate, Evergreen vige would be a Blessed Land within three years and a treasurend in 15. As long as Harun stayed here, perhaps in a few decades, it''d spontaneously reach the Holy Land gradea terrifying concept.


    If the Mortal realm remained unchanged, the Mountain Edge World''s top experts should be of the Crossed Vicissitude Realm. One million could assemble at his door, and Harun could smash them all into oblivion. However, 165 years had passed since his death. Following the events he triggered and the Ten-Thousand Sect War''s pressure, would the world not evolve? In the Evergreen vige, Harun didn''t have ess to any valuable information. But his right eye often stirred, warning him that this world carried a frightening destiny. Not one for carelessness, Harun wondered when a passing cultivator would sense the abundance of natural energies gathering in the arealeading to unnecessary trouble.


    Relying on the mystery of Life, Harun could alter his physique and conceal the aura of his Sovereign Pupils. But at his current level, that was the limit. He couldn''t conceal the aura of one square kilometers ofnd or suppress the blessings of his Mythical Idol. Such a feat would require either the mysteries of Dream, Illusion, or preferably, Truth. "Bah, can''t stress myself over this. This is as secluded as it gets. How could a God-level expert miraculously appear here? At worst, I will just purge the rted factions."


    Letting go of his worries, Harun swept the vigers, spotting several figures worth noting.


    ---


    [Name: Zoran]


    [Attributes: Senses (5) Physique (6), Luck (7), Dao Attunement (6), Willpower (8), Charisma (5)]


    [Destiny: Industrious Subordinate]


    [Age: 4]


    [Cultivation Base: None]


    ---


    [Name: Cildar]


    [Attributes: Senses (6) Physique (5), Luck (8), Dao Attunement (5), Willpower (7), Charisma (5)]


    [Destiny: Star of Fortune]


    [Age: 4]


    [Cultivation Base: None]


    ---


    [Name: Gulik]


    [Attributes: Senses (5) Physique (5), Luck (8), Dao Attunement (5), Willpower (8), Charisma (6)]


    [Destiny: Star of Fortune]


    [Age: 5]


    [Cultivation Base: None]


    ---


    In the cultivation world, those three were average. But for Harun, those results had great use. They couldn''t be his inner disciples, but all three possessed great luck and willpower.


    At the First Step, the Myriad Poison Bridge emphasized willpower and poison affinity. Harun could improve thetter, but had zero influence on the former. Thus, anyone with high willpower were potential outer disciples for him, which made the three worth nurturing. Above that, the luck stat ensured that the three would bring the sect treasures and good fortune. Especially those Star of Fortune, perhaps it was thanks to their luck that Harun reincarnated in this ce.


    By using his right eye to grant them good fortune, Harun could improve their luck stat by twomaking them the breeders of auspicious winds. Imagining all the benefits he''d get from those three rabbits, Harun couldn''t help but stroke his chin, staring at them like a doting elderforgetting that he didn''t look older than four.


    Adopting a serious stance unfit for his toddler look, Harun crossed his arms behind his back and soared into the sky. For that extra dramatic effect, he surrounded himself in bright golden light, dazzling the vigers'' eyes.


    "To free the people of sufferings and lead them onto the road of true enlightenment, such is my duty. You and I are bound by destiny. It has been one year since I arrived in this world. All along, I''ve been observing you," Harun started, making the awestruck viger''s eyes expand despite the dazzling light.


    "Instead of the base man''s greed, you showered me with love and care. I am not blind to your devotion and am pleased by the purity of your hearts. Therefore, I have decided to make you all my kin, bestow you with my bloodline, and teach the fated few my divine skills. Henceforth, you are the Birusk n of the Evergreen vige. Under the protection and mentorship of Spiritual Lord Birusk!" Harun proimed with righteous zeal, and overwhelmed by uncontroble waves of emotions, the vigers resumed their kowtows.


    "Spiritual Lord, we aren''t worthy!"


    "Thank you, oh Spiritual Lord!"


    "Thank you, Lord Birusk!"


    Before the tears and joy, Harun gave an approving nod. Gashing his palms, he summoned 147 golden blood drops in each hand. The first batch merged with the vigersinfecting them all. Instantly, they dropped deadshoved into theirst breath without an ounce of pain. But with the second batch, they returned to life, all several times stronger than they used to be.


    Harun then picked the "three chosen," showering them with purple mist to increase their luck stats. At that time, the system''s voice echoed in his mind.


    "Remind me, what kind of sect are you trying to create?"


    "One that specializes in poisoning, delicacies hunting, torture, espionage, assassination and sabotage," Harun straightforwardly replied.


    "And what are you going to use this ''blessed n'' for?"


    "Grow specific nts, wine brewing, steady faith supply, outer disciples source and inner too if gifted souls emerge."


    Struck speechless by Harun''s reply, the system pausedthen gave a new appraisal.


    "And he said that with a straight face. Sometimes, I wonder if the world wouldn''t be a better ce without you...what a despicable conman. The Ancestral One would be proud."

 Chapter 51: Resurrection Butterfly

    Chapter 51: Resurrection Butterfly


    Harun''s deration and bestowal pushed the Birusk n''s morale to its acme, and they got to work. First, they harvested all the nts spontaneously produced by the blessednd, hauled the sleeping beasts, and ced them at Harun''s temple gate in ordered piles. With a finger snap, he sent them all into his Space Worldusing his Divine Sense to prevent them from colliding with Jiyan.


    New instructions followed, and the nsmen weaved sets of ck robes embroidered with dark-green tree patterns for themselves, and an unadorned ck robe for Harun himself.


    "Those patterns exist to remind you of what you seek. The closer you are to the truth, the less use you have for them. May the glow of your enlightenment supersede the darkness of your garb," Harun started the indoctrination of his new kinsmen. Each possessed two of his blood drops that held one another in equilibrium. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, they did share his blood.


    At the moment, Harun''s blood baptism was the most reliable source of innate talent increase. A rare few could take more blood drops, but the others wouldn''t survive it. Harun took note of them, aiming to supervise their growth and dedication before granting more benefits. The 147 nsmen now each possessed the strength to crush tigers and bulls, and the stamina to match their new physiques, making farm work and hunting tasks less challenging than a morning jog.


    Overall, their willpower experienced a qualitative leap. The fear of the unknown vanished, reced by expectation for the world lying ahead. But Harun knew that those changes mainly relied on his presence and therefore didn''t take them as real boons.


    "To master causality, one must start by the source of woes: blight. Greed is blight, disease is blight, uncertainty is blight; all sources of negativity represent a form of blight. Remember that we aim toprehend concepts to their root and take absolute ownership of them. Do not attempt to detach yourselves from the root, and if one day you feel trapped by uncertainty and despair, sing my name, and my guiding hand shall pull you out of the darkness," Harun preached to the 147 Birusk kinsmen who sat in rows before him. They followed a strict order, with the children at the front row, and the adults at the back.


    Powered-up by Harun''s words, the adults prostrated themselves before him, leading their juniors to do the same. "All hail Lord Birusk!" They sang like a choir. With a nod, Harun carried on.


    "I will now give you all the Toxic Truth Mantra, and as you meditate on it, teach you the gospel. Understanding this mantra can further enhance your resistance to poisons and other forms of blight, enabling you to go farther in the pursuit of truth." Unlike the vast majority of cultivation paths, the Myriad Poison Bridge didn''t rely on a cultivation method. Said differently, cultivation methods acted as embellishments rather than inalienable requirements.


    Still, before he bred that path, Harun first had toe up with a unique method that, among other things, enabled its cultivators to transform their physique, increasing their poison affinity. He named it the Toxic Truth Mantra. Like most cultivation methods, it possessed nineyers. But Harun never expected anyone here to cultivate it to the peak.


    Comprehension relied on the Sense and Dao Attunement stats. On the scene, no one went beyond "6" in eithermaking the thirdyer their universal limit. Of course, those with high luck could turn their fate aroundaplishing miracles. Streaks of green light flew from Harun''s forehead, merging with the Birusk nsmen''s brains. Immediately, they closed their eyes, singing the mantra. Driven by Harun, the children were no exception.


    "The Nine Laws of the Birusk n.


    -First, the Spiritual Lord represents the guiding principle that will lead all nsmen to enlightenment. Abandon yourself to his will, findfort in his cradle, and an eternity of bliss awaits.


    -Second, all meat under the heavens carry taint. The more you take in, the greater the stain you carry. No creature with a pair of eyes or the sense of touch is meant for men''s te. We are observers, developers, students and guides. To return to a state of innocence, Birusk nsmen will no longer consume the meat they hunt or herd, and offer it all in sacrifice to their Spiritual Lord. The Spiritual Lord will purify the beasts'' souls, enabling them to reincarnate as men. This will also help the nsmen umte good karma," Harun started imparting the new Laws of the n, but as his devotees marveled at his gentle heart, unable to restrain itself any further, the system threw a fit.


    "How shameless! You obviously just want to keep all the meat for yourself, yet have the gall to make it a religious principle! Who raised you?!" The system snapped at Harun, unable to endure such straightforward shamelessness.


    "Hush! We''re doing important business here. As the wise one said, If I don''t enter hell, who will? Im sparing those people from the plight of meat and grease, sacrificing my own health and integrity to ensure they have the best diet under the heavens. How can you use me of such outrageous thoughts? I live to serve my people! Don''t insult a gentleman''s heart!" Harun dismissed the system and returned to his preaching.


    "Third, ecstasy is the mainstay of enlightenment. How can you grasp the truth when you suffer daily? Therefore, the Spiritual Lord orders you to live in constant delight. And to achieve this, we shall start brewing wine and other...lightening substances. I will personally lead those efforts and teach you all how to build and maintain the facilities."


    "Fourth" As Harunid down the Nine Laws, he felt that the Birusk nsmen were too few. In fact, poption-wise, this was more a hamlet than a genuine vige. The beast-ridden forests separating it from civilization ensured that the average man didn''t daree here. Even tax collectors came through flying chariots loaned by the kingdom. Harun met a rather obnoxious one in the second month following his arrival and made him pay all he could of the vigers'' share.


    Their numbers needed to grow fast. Due to the Spiritual Qi in the atmosphere, the infant mortality rate remained low. Thus, though mortals aged fast and lost much of their innate resilience to the strains of hard work, in their younger years,mon diseases didn''t bother them that much. Food supplies alone determined how many children they dared have, and before Harun''s arrival, one to two was the answer.


    But now that they didn''t have to worry about food, and lived to findfort in his light, it was time to kick things up a notch.


    "Ninth, children represent the mystery of life and the radiance of our world, spreading their numbers is the greatest show of filial piety toward the Spiritual Lord," Harun said, and instantly, the vigers resolved to work harder, and make breeding one of their top priorities.


    Months flew by, with Harun''s time split between perfecting and conceptualizing the next step of his Myriad Poison Bridge, guiding his Birusk nsmen, and working on breeding a variety of poisonous beasts through careful rearing and his gradeless Golden Silkworm Jar.


    One, in particr, upied most of his thoughts, a species Harun created during his mortal years out of selfish interest, but failed to bring to a high grade: the Resurrection Butterfly.


    As the name implied, the Resurrection Butterfly existed to overturn death. A pinky-sized creature, it secreted a necromantic essence that revitalized a dead body''s decaying organs, and brought them back to life. However, there were ring ws. Although the resurrected rose with greater physical abilities than they previously possessed, the butterfly couldn''t bring the soul backmaking 90% of the resurrected devoid of spiritual intelligence. As for the 10% that maintained their humanity, they all lost their memories.


    The Noxious me world''s people thus called it Corpse Poison, and the "resurrected," Barbaric Corpses. Though he learned to control the consequences'' scope, Harun never managed to beat those side effects and switched his attention to live subjectsthe results baffled him.


    If allowed in, after drinking some of their blood, the Resurrection Butterfly could merge with the living''s chest, and supplement their physical damages with its necromantic essence. Past a certain grade, it rose to its host''s Sea of Consciousnesshealing and supporting them from there. Unfortunately for Harun, the Decaying Flower''s Withering Essence destroyed his Resurrection Butterflypreventing him from enjoying that benefit.


    But as he stared at the pinky-sized moth floating above his jar, he knew Jiyan wouldn''t have this problem, and stepped into his Space World. There, the sleeping beautyy in a halfatose state, her eyelids twitching as if struggling to regain consciousness. Cutting a thin line of blood on Jiyan''s palm, Harun aimed the Resurrection Butterfly at itletting it drink and contract itself to Jiyan.


    It then flew toward her foreheadturning into a streak of blood-red light that merged with her Sea of Consciousness. Rooting itself there, the Resurrection Butterfly poured out its necromantic essence, mending the damages of Jiyan''s flesh and soul.


    Her twitching eyelids eased, and a red light swirled around her form. Seeing this, Harun heaved a sigh of relief. But as he prepared to enter a meditating state to make time pass faster, a vast malevolent force alerted Harun''s mind, and his half-closed eyes sprang open.


    "How...how could this be?" Harun stammered, for from Jiyan''s body, misty, dark-purple fments surged and swirled, even as the Resurrection Butterfly healed her wounds. From those fments, Harun sensed a force 100% simr to Nak''s aura. An ancient nefarious force that shouldn''t exist in this world: Devil Essence!

 Chapter 52: Rooted in the Past

    Chapter 52: Rooted in the Past


    Meanwhile, in a pce of imperial jade walls, a white-robbed man stood in a throne room, hands crossed behind his back. If the loosely hanging white dreadlocks and the textbook blue eyes typical of his n didn''t say enough, the malevolent energies seeping from his aura ensured that, in the Ancestral Land, all could guess his identity. Harun''s fake co-prisoner walked in, approaching the dreadlock man with rxed steps.


    "Second brother, why did you summon me?" Asked the fake prisoner with a toneced inziness.


    "It''s been 166 years already. Judging from what we know of the Six Incarnation Bridge, he should have reincarnated one year ago. Meaning that as we speak, he''s alive and growing. What should we do?" Asked the dreadlock youth, and instantly, seriousness filled the fake prisoner''s eyes.


    When Harun temporarily lost control of his body and suppressed Nak, many in the Ancestral Land felt his move and, the Devil Ancestor aside, none took it well. Were it not for the Heavenly Dream Land''s unique setting and The Devil''s unknown stance, many Ancestors were ready to dive in and execute that scourge.


    Unfortunately, after Harun entered the reincarnation cycle, they lost his trail.


    "Father and the Dharma Seeking Temple''s experts aside, no one can trace someone after they enter the reincarnation cycle. For us, entering and leaving the Heavenly Dream Land is not that big a deal. But how do we find him? Destroying it is not an option, and that''s assuming he is still there." The fake prisoner shrugged.


    "His Karma is bound to that world. He cannot be elsewhere. But that was never the problem," the dreadlock youth countered.


    "Right, if father doesn''t want us to, we cannot touch him. Whatever we do, he can undo, whatever we think of, he already knows. So, we can only ept his will, and endure the result." The fake prisoner tilted his head to the left and said with his eyes closed. At that time, the dreadlock youth turned, facing his younger brother with fearden eyes.


    "But father is invincible and has nothing to fear. His concerns are different from ours and, over the years, he has changed to the point few still understand him. If not for his old routine and strength, I''d wonder if he didn''t get possessed.


    I''m afraid...I''m truly afraid...that we''re courting a disaster. Looking back, this is all my fault. If back then I hadn''t been so soft-hearted, how could that scourge still breathe?" As he recalled events from millions of years ago, the dreadlock youth''s face twisted into a frown.


    Sighing at the words, the fake prisoner turned heels.


    "Considering how many thought the same, you can''t take the me. The day he walked out of the Myriad Devil Pce, we were all guilty. But I have lived for 73 trillion years. At the summit of all worlds for eons. Living for me is just a routine, so the thing I fear the least is...death."


    "In the past, the Ancestral Ones were called Almighty. Today, none even dares use the term ''Supreme.''


    In the past, Mandates didn''t exist. Today they are all the rage.


    In the past, who could think of Acausality, Ultimate Reality, Samsara Dominion, or worst, the unfathomable Cosmic Law? Today, who doesn''t want to join the Dharma Seeking Temple?


    True omnipotence is a paradox, so to this day, father''s Omnipotent Paradox keeps even the Ancestral Ones on their knees. But having lived for 73 trillions of years and seen the changes one man brought forth in such a trivial amount of time. What gives you the confidence that father''s invincibility can endure eternity? If only one person can achieve the peak of cultivation, is it still cultivation?


    Death is trivial. Living is the true challenge. We are Devils. Not fearing death is part of the deal. But what about our rtives, siblings, elders, children and grandchildren. What about seeing them dying one after the other like powerless fleas? Our house''s immortality, the eternity you seem so bored with, all hangs on father''s supremacy. We don''t even need someone to surpass him, they just have to be his equal, and all of us are mortals again," the dreadlock youth said, and ced one hand on his brother''s shoulder.


    "I cannot be like elder brother and abandon our house for one person. Father, elder brother, the two of them have bias engraved in their bones. The people they can bleed for so few, and the lives of others so meaningless. You and I are different. Behind our respective masks ofziness and indifference, we care for this Pce above all. Not just the people, but allthisrepresents," the dreadlock youth stretched out his arms, sweeping the imperial jade pce.


    "Third Devil Prince, are you willing to turn a blind eye and watch it all burn because of...one bloody misunderstanding?" The second Devil Prince asked the third, who raised his eyes at the ceiling.


    In that instant, the third prince recalled that same event. One man carrying a withered corpse and scabbard through the Pce gates, with boundless wrath twisting his face. So many died to stop him, all erased from existencewith most unable to remember their names.


    The ploy was so simple, coarse even. Yet no one doubted it, because too clever for their own good, they had too little faith...in their so-called kinship.


    Meanwhile, Harun''s confusion deepened. Granted he only had direct contact with Dilnaz and Jiyan, during the Peach Banquet, he''d met many Empyreans, but none of them fazed him as Jiyan did. Even Dilnaz couldn''t.


    Early, he realized that it had nothing to do with her beauty. Rather, it was that unique floral scent coating heran overpowering aroma clouding the minds of the weak or feeble-minded.


    In 166 years of life, Harun had faced many mysterious abilities. Illusions, mind control, hopes and dreams maniptions; yet he couldn''t identify the origin of Jiyan''s scent. The system also refused to cooperate.


    "Four possibilities. First, the Empyreans are descendants of a Devilenabling a few toplete an atavism and unlock their Devil Essence. Jiyan was already undergoing the process, and by tinkering with her life-death state, I forced her to release that energy.


    Second, Agiri is or received the guidance of an outsider who, like Nak, belongs to the Myriad Devil Pce. That''d exin why he managed toplete his Mandate despite this world''s shackles. And his children thus all have a shot at unlocking this force.


    Third, unbeknown to me, my Incarnation Seed contained Devil Essence, and it''s my chains, not her lineage, that filled Jiyan''s veins with that force. But that makes even less sense.


    Fourth, abination of the previous possibilities," Harun formed his conjectures, some of which raised even more questions. But at that time, Jiyan''s eyes opened to the Space World. The Devil Essence withdrew, hiding in her body. But with a thought, she could summon it. Puzzled by her condition, Jiyan knitted her brows, but ultimately ignored the changes to focus on the one standing beside her.


    "Are youmy son?" She asked, making the grimacing Harun''s heart skip a beat. Although his appearance wasn''t the same, with Jiyan''s brain, how could she not realize his identity? Wrong question, how could she have a son?! Did the healing process malfunction? Did she suffer too much damage? Or perhaps, was she just too confused by the change in scenery to form coherent thoughts? But as Harun''s thoughts trailed off, Jiyan broke into a peal ofughter.


    "Joking, joking. But you should see your face. Priceless," Jiyan said in-between herughs, making Harun roll his eyes.


    "That was so clich. Shame on you."

 Chapter 53: The Systems First Three Doors

    Chapter 53: The System''s First Three Doors


    Seeing that neo-Harun and she floated in the middle of a vast space world, Jiyan got the gist of what urred. After she suffered the rebound of the First Emperor''s broken condition, assisted by an unknown force, her father''s Suppression Mandate shed with and prevailed over the Chained Swordallowing her to preserve her life. Harun then hid her in the space world, and afterpleting his reincarnation, worked on pulling her out of hera. As for the unknown force''s owner, considering her circumstances, Harun was the most likely candidate.


    Closing her eyes, Jiyan sensed the pinky-sized butterfly fluttering in her Sea of Consciousness and filling it with sparkling red dots.


    The Necromantic Essence released by that butterfly was something she''d nevere into contact with. If not for the obvious healing and invigorating effects, she''d remain utterly oblivious to its purpose. Despite her young age, as the daughter of a God-Emperor and the inheritor of another, Jiyan carried profound knowledge of the cultivation world. That Harun could already create a form of essence even God-Emperors seemed oblivious to showed how dreadful his talent andprehension of the dark arts were. Perhaps even he didn''t have a full grasp of the implications.


    She was correct. As far as Harun was concerned,ing up with new poisons didn''t take much effort. Beyond that, his affinity with the disreputable arts had always transcended his peers and elders. Unfortunately, the negligible Qi refinement speed of his early years blinded all to his true value. Had she realized this sooner, his mother wouldn''t be feeding the worms.


    Stretching out her right hand, Jiyan unleashed dark-purple fments that snaked around her arm. Her cultivation base and Chained-Sword-level had returned to zero. However, this dark-purple essence alone gave her enough strength to crush any sub-celesti disturbing concept, considering she had no idea about its origins. Again, she hoped Harun was to me, but saw in his narrowing eyes that this had nothing to do with him.


    "You don''t have to be worried. This is Devil Essence. All I know is that ites from a force beyond our world known as the Myriad Devil Pce, and is only harmful to those with shallow willpower," Harun told Jiyan what he learned from the system. Of course, he didn''t trust it entirely. However, on the one hand, the system had no reason to mislead him. If it didn''t want to answer, it wouldn''t, just like how it refused to exin the origin of Jiyan''s unique scent, and Harun couldn''t do anything about it. At the same time, Harun recalled the confrontation with Nak and, at that time, saw through him like an open book. The Devil Essence gave him mighty boons and no drawbacks.


    The words stretched Jiyan''s eyes. Her Ancestor''s memories didn''t teach her anything about a world beyond this one. But the circumstances of the 10,000 Sect War and her father''s mysterious death showed that forces beyond this world did exist. And when her newfound strength came from a ce named "Myriad Devil Pce," Jiyan couldn''t help but feel restless.


    Questions poured forth. However, as she disliked blind conjectures and excessive thinking, she didn''t bother probing further, and shed Harun a half-mischievous, half-apologetic smile.


    "I''m afraid that from now on, I can''t be your sect elder anymore." Jiyan knew her condition better than anyone. The Chained Sword didn''t forgive transgressions. She might have evaded death, but in this life, she could never cultivate that overpowering art again. At best, she could transmit the mnemonics to help Harun''s sect grow. But despite the copse of her cultivation base, Jiyan remained serene.


    How many could go against the Chained Sword''s condition and survive? If she wasn''t Jiyan, if she neither had an Agiri nor a Harun to watch over her, would she still be breathing? Aware of her good fortune, Jiyan wouldn''t insult the blessings of fate by shedding tears for her lost strength.


    "Ten of Willpower is indeed formidable. If all my future inner disciples could have this level of mental fortitude, what can I not aplish?" Harun inwardly sighed. Rare paths aside, cultivation talent was never a synonym of wisdom. God-level spoiled brats and Heavenly-God-level imbeciles weren''t in short supply. That Jiyan could keep suchposure at 17 was worth praising.


    A radiant smile reced his sigh, and he met Jiyan''s words with a jovial tone:


    "With me here, disasters be blessings and sufferings make way. Severing emotions and desires, suffering from restricting conditions, sacrificing your freedom all for a bit of power is no worthy cultivation path. Since you became my first sect elder, I will naturally ensure that my disciples look at you in aweand will never give you up," Harun replied, and before Jiyan probed the source of his confidence, he snapped his fingerstransporting the two to his Inner Cultivation Room.


    Assaulted by chilling waves of potent Yin Essence, Jiyan instinctively released her Devil Essence, countering the room''s coldness.


    "First, let me take you on a brief tour. This is the first of the three ''rooms'' I currently have ess to. It''s tailored to suit my main cultivation method and needs, so an abundance of Yin Essence permeates the air. Unfortunately, it''s just of the Greater Yin level," Harun exined as Jiyan''s upturned eyes swept the blue dark-blue valley that acted as Harun''s cultivation abode.


    Besides the Greater Yin Essence, Jiyan couldn''t feel any force or Qi. Neither Spiritual nor Heavenly Qi existed here, an iprehensible state for ordinary cultivation ces, but natural for Harun who no longer relied on either. With a gant knight''s stance, Harun half-bowed, put one hand behind his back, and extended the other toward Jiyan. But his five-year-old''s appearance betrayed him, giving the move aical tone, and Jiyan had to bite her lower lip to restrain a burst ofughter.


    The scene changed, and the twonded in a district of gray stone walls split into eight sectors.


    "The second room. Here we have the Pill Furnace, the Refinement tform, the Melting Furnace, Smithy, Smelter, Kitchen, Brewery, andst but not the least, the Puppet Crafting Hall," Harun exined as he took Jiyan through each sector. With the first two rooms alone, Jiyan had turned speechless. Every item belonged to the top grade, ensuring that whoever held the Golden Token could quickly produce top resources. Of course, Jiyan didn''t know that those rooms cost Harun over 2,500 scourge points.


    Again, the scene changed, and theynded at the edge of a white-pine forest, facing a translucent pond.


    "Third, the Truth-Shaping Chamber. Unlike the first two, this room doesn''t offer any equipment, but can adopt any shape I imagine, and, barring a few exceptions, guarantees a 99% sess rate to any task attempted here. I created this pond myself with loads of toxic booze. Hope you enjoy it," Harun said, throwing Jiyan into confusion.


    "Wait, wait, wait...what?" Both rmed and fearful, she backpedaled. s, Harun held on her handpreventing any escape.


    "This is your bridge to the new world. Get ready to cross it," Harun tilted his head to the right, and said with a fiendish grin.

 Chapter 54: Undress

    Chapter 54: Undress


    As the system once exined, scourge points weren''t mere punishments, but also Harun''s key to unlocking new doors. The First Door aside, each of Harun''s Seven Doors required a specific amount of scourge points: 500, 1,500, 3,000, 6,000, 13,000, 30,000. Yes, to unlock the seventh, Harun needed 30,000 scourge points, or a 300,000% Tribtion Bonus. Said otherwise, if he dared fulfill the requirements of thest door, Harun''s tribtions would be at least 3,001 times stronger than what he should face. This wouldn''t be the average level-skipping, but realm skipping at its worst.


    In a way, the setting made sense. The 10,000 Sect War was but an appetizer. The System tasked Harun with founding history''s number one sect. Stronger than Golden Cicada''s faction, stronger than the Myriad Devil Pce. On the road to lead his sect beyond those two forces'' limits, how could Harun not be extraordinary. At the very least, he couldn''t lose to Golden Cicada or the Devil Ancestor.


    Realizing that Harun wasn''t just messing with her, Jiyan regained herposure. However, her eyes squinted at the alcoholic pond. Without her cultivation base, her senses couldn''tpare to what they used to be. Still, Jiyan could feel the damaging essence in that pond.


    Should they dive in, most people would die in drunken blissintoxicated by the liquor while their blood pressure increased till their skulls burst like a balloon. Devil Essence could allow Jiyan to resist, but outright negating the effects wouldn''t bring the desired results, so she sought Harun''s eyes and guidance.


    "After I give you a few of my blood drops, your gue affinity will skyrocket, enabling you to make a maximum use of this pond. Afterward, your willpower bes the only restricting factor," Harun started, clearing up Jiyan''s doubts.


    "This pond represents the first stage. To reach the peak of the First Step, you''ll have to cross three others. I am ready to take you through the second and fourth. But for the third, I still need to make some preparations, so you can take your time." The first four stages of the Myriad Poisons Bridge required Pond, Fumes, Pills and Withering Essence. Harun could produce the second with his poisonous arts and the fourth with his Decaying Flower. However, he still had to work on the third.


    One day only carried 24 hours. With so much to aplish but so little time, Harun had to take things one step at a time, andplete his tasks in order of importance. Still, by relying on the Second Door and the resources at hand, Harun could quickly produce enough pills to cultivate Jiyan.


    However, hesitation shone in her eyes. Willpower andmon sense didn''t work against one another. Through Harun''s words, Jiyan realized that he''de up with another path, one tailored to his sect''s needs. But as her eyes darted between the pond and his fiendish grin, she wondered what she''d have to give up to cross the first step.


    "Am I supposed to drink from it, or bathe in it?" She asked in a slow, cautious tone. Harun''s smile grew more demonicif that was possible. Leaning over, he stared into Jiyan''s eyes with a gaze that put the Heavens'' most dreadful criminals to shame and said:


    "If you just had to get drunk, why would I bother making it a pond? Of course you have to dip in," Harun said, making his innocent child face contrast with the immoral glint in his eyes. Again, Jiyan attempted to step back, but as before, Harun held on tight. Devil Essence alone couldn''t make up for the abysmal gap in their current strength, so no matter how she struggled, Jiyan couldn''t escape Harun''s grip.


    "Oh and, you can''t go in clothed, of course. That''d ruin the medicinal efficiency. You have to sink to the lowest level you can and stay there for as long as possible. The more you can endure, the faster youplete the quenching, and the better your results. I will stand beside the pond and oversee the entire process to...well, make sure you don''t suffer any ident. This is dangerous stuff, we can''t be too careful," Harun sighed in helplessness while Jiyan recoiled like a startled fawn. How could he tell her that he''d already set up a mechanism to automatically kick out those that reached their limits? But then again, a man couldn''t be too careful. If he didn''t hum...personally supervise the process...how could he feel relieved? This was all for the greater good.


    Jiyan didn''t buy it, "Harun, a man cannot be too shameless. You must have some limits."


    "Undress," Harun leisurely replied.


    "If the medicinal potency is as high as you described, what does it matter that"


    "Undress."


    "Don''t go too far."


    "Undress."


    "I''ve misjudged you!"


    "Undress."


    Sitting crossed-legged before Harun, Jiyan received the blood drop injections and capped at nine pairs. Unable to resist the nameless sect master''smand, she took off her blue dress and underwear, standing bare before the toxic wine pond like Aphrodite out of the seashell. In the end, Harun made some concessions, keeping his eyes closed, but carefully "supervising" the sect elder with his Divine Sense. Used to Harun''s despicable means, the system didn''t even bothermenting. But if it had a head, it''d be shaking it left and right, or maybe it''d give him a thumbs up instead. Who knows? Weird System.


    Wrapping her arms around her grapefruit-sized breasts, Jiyan dipped in, using the wine pond to hide her spotless and masterfully carved body from the little wolf''s avid gaze. But as soon as her foot sank in, seriousness returned to Jiyan''s eyes. Harun was correct. The nine Blood Drop Pairs he granted her may have enhanced her physique and gue affinity, but she couldn''t afford carelessness.


    Pulling in a deep breath, Jiyan closed her eyes and dove into the toxic ponddropping till she reached the bottom. The overbearing poisonous essence assaulted her from all sides, seeping into her flesh and muscles, refining them both at a rapid pace. Meanwhile, with a wine jug in hand, Harun observed her progress.


    "Though this pond is merely 180 square meters wide, its depth reaches about 30 meters. Every three meters represents a bottleneck, but she reached the bottom in one go. Granted she has ess to lots of my blood, this is still impressive. Ten of Physique, ten of Willpower, nine of luck...is making her the standard for my direct disciples too much to ask," Harun wondered between two sips of booze.


    Golden Cicada could take anyone with the determination to seek the Cosmic Law as his disciples, but Harun didn''t have that luxury. Talents made many things easier. On average, one injection of his blood drops increased the Physique stat by one. But those with five or less could only receive one injection. Two at six, three at seven, five at eight, seven at nine, and nine at ten.


    However, once they reached their limits, even if their physiques improved from the injection, they could no longer receive more drops. For outer disciples who, for a long while, were destined to peak between the First and Second Step, this wasn''t important. But for the inner sect, Harun reckoned he needed youths with at least seven in Physique so he could directly boost them to ten. But for critical stats such as Senses and Dao Attunement, he couldn''t y tricks, and so needed them to at least have eight.


    "For the inner disciples, charisma doesn''t matter much. But at the same time, it can''t be too low, or they won''t be able to influence the rest positively. Six should be the minimum. I can increase luck by two, and have my Star of Fortunes setup, so as long as they have at least five, we''re good," Harun whispered as Jiyan''s quenching went on. One session could go on for days, and knowing that he still had pills to refine, Harun stood up and teleported into his second chamber''s Artisan Districtright in the Pill Refinement Sector.


    Weed by the scent of divine herbs, and the sight of ordered shelves arranged against green stone walls, Harun nced at the two meters tall pill furnace standing before him, summoned his Golden Silkworm Jar, and walked toward one shelf to pick his ingredients.


    "With my two Stars of Fortune and two 9 Luck disciples, this ce will probably soon crawl with treasures and chances. Perhaps Heaven itself will grow jealous. Maybe I should increase Jiyan''s luck to 10. More Fortune, more resources, more free wealth!" Harun burst intoughter. But at that time, a cacophony of rmed voices rumbled in Harun''s mind, stopping him in his tracks.


    "Spiritual Lord, Spiritual Lord! The sky" Dozens of voices simultaneously tried to send a message. Suppressing them, Harun exited the system''s world, returning to his temple. At the gate, the Birusk nsmen gathered.


    Instantly, Harun could feel that the atmosphere''s scent and structure had experienced rapid changes. With furrowed brows, he stepped out, raising his eyes toward the sky. Disbelief struck immediately.


    Dark-purple clouds of malevolent energies spread as far as the eyes could see, covering the previous blue sky and blotting out the sun. The figure of a colossal, jet-ck bull with eyes of dark burning mes took shape, streaking under the sky like a shooting star.


    The bull''s gaze lowered toward the vige, sweeping across citizens and growing herbs alike. Its ming eyes narrowed and, halting its hooves, the bull hovered thereits thoughts unknown.

 Chapter 55: Luck is on Maternity Leave

    Chapter 55: Luck is on Maternity Leave


    "Self-Renewing Soil, Rejuvenation Herbs, me Spirit Grass, Body Refining Leaves, and so much more. Queer, in the northernmost reaches of the First Range, a Blessed Land is forming? No, can a Blessed Land alone have the potential to breed so many top-grade resources? This is a transition. Given a few years, this ce will be a Treasure Land. What should I do?" The Bull asked himself while his evilden gaze weighed on the Birusk vige.


    "Less than 150 upy thisnd, all wear the exact same garb, hitting at a cult. That five-year-old-looking boy around whom they subconsciously gather seems to be the only exception. A hidden expert leading a secret cult, or a true child ced as a figurehead by the genuine threat? Judging from their reactions to my presence, the majority of those people aren''t cultivators yet. But a few may hide within and y the pigs to eat tigers. Should I probe the truth, or retreat and gather reinforcements first?" The Bull''s thoughts trailed off.


    As an Emissary Bull of the Barbaric Demon Mountain, he had nothing to do under the First Range. But fortunately, a divination expert predicted the appearance of critical resources here within the next 20 years and sold the information to his sect leader, who in turn wanted to leverage it with the Vermilion Brides Sect. His luck had always been outstanding, and with the pretext of delivering a message, he traveled two Ranges and stumbled on a Devil Stoneforever changing his destiny.


    He only needed to deliver his sect master''s message to the Vermilion Brides Sect, 600 km from here, return to his faction, and he was destined to enjoy unrivaled glory. His sect master would bow to him, the experts of the Monster Paradise would descend to lead him into their ranks. Concubines, wealth and top nurturing would follow. Compared to those, was the risk of offending a secluded expert worth it? The Grand Cataclysm changed the world for the worst and dangers ran amok. Before uncertainty, retreat was the preferable option.


    But as the Emissary Bull considered withdrawal, the vigers'' attitude underwent drastic changes.


    From the moment the Emissary Bull appeared and unleashed his pressure, the vigers felt weak at their knees and, if not for Harun''s support, couldn''t remain standing. Folklore tales dictated that when Gods or Devils descended, mortals should kneel and hope for the best. However, with Harun here, the situation was different. Was kneeling to this fat bull not a heinous show of disrespect to their Spiritual Lord? Of course they couldn''t do it. But as they strengthened their resolve, Harun''s voice echoed in their minds.


    "The time of tribtion hase. The Heavens sent this bull to test your mental fortitude and devotion to your Spiritual Lord. Believe in your lord and no harm shall befall you. I will now battle the Bull of Heaven and trigger your trial. But first, let''s all bow toward the Heavens to thank them for the challenge," Harun said.


    That the Bull chose to first observe and make no aggressive move showed that he calcted all possibilities and considered a retreat. Were this an ordinary vige, Harun wouldn''t care. But should the news of this Land''s worth spread, trouble would rain on them no end. Just like the Bull couldn''t see his cultivation, Harun couldn''t sense his either, but with the system, saw words that troubled him: "mid-stage of the Earth Fusion Realm."


    Though he couldn''t see through their strength implications, those words made one thing clear. The world no longer relied on the Divine Path alone. Worse, the Bull carried Devil Essence. Be it for his safety or the information he held, Harun couldn''t let go of that bull and had to milk him dry. Spurred by his words, the Birusk nsmen threw looks of reverence at the sky, and bowed, full of zeal. Harun did the same, believing that since the Bull hesitated due to their unknown depth, this show ofplete submission would rekindle his greedit did.


    "I suppose I was worrying for naught. No expert worth his mettle would degrade himself by having his subordinates bow toward an equal or lesser being. Moohahaha, the loot is mine!" The "Bull of Heaven" burst into cowughter, pushed the pressure of his cultivation base to the peak, and dropped on the vige.


    "This Eminence is an Earth Fusion Realm expert of the Barbaric Demon Stronghold. Surrender all your resources without a fight, and I can spare your"


    BANG!


    The Emissary Bull had not finished his words that Harun''s right elbow crashed into his back, sending him cratering in the vige''s soil. His spine cracked, but before he could make sense of the move, a kick crashed into his thick neck, propelling him toward the forest. Though short of breath, the bull regained his senses soon enough to see the five-year-old boy streaking toward him with a fiendish grin.


    The limits of the Bull''s Devil Essence erupted in a surge of dark fments. Dark-purple mes snaked around his form, with rocks of the same color taking shape in a rushed formation.


    "The brat deceived me" the Bull cursed, but at the same time, no longer found Harun that fearful. By gambling on the element of surprise, Harun undoubtedly came at him with his full strength. Or so the bull thought. That "full" strength, however, couldn''t im his life. With a snort, the bull stomped his hooves, sending horrible cracks throughout the ground and vige. The vigers stood still, without an ounce of fear, Harun raised his right hand, emerald light from the mystery of Life rippled, and the cracks'' spread stopped. The ground fixed itself, and the bull''s eyes widened in fear.


    That moment of hesitation sealed his fate. Harun''s speed and destructive power shot up. In a sh, he reappeared before the bull, his nails expanded into dark-blue venomous ws that he sank right in the beast''s neck! Devil Essence could allow Jiyan to resist Harun''s pond because the aim wasn''t to destroy those that came in.


    But when faced with his true destructive means, that alone couldn''t solve the problem. The poison kicked in, paralyzing all the bull''s bodily functions while eroding his internal organs! Terror-stricken, the bull let out a desperate snort, causing six colossal earthen spikes to spring forth and target Harun...who''d already vanished and reappeared at his back!


    The spikes hit thin air and, grabbing the paralyzed bull''s tail, Harun hurled him toward the sky, letting him tumble on the deadly spikes he summoned. As if guided by a will of their own, the purple mes and rocks rained me and earthen projectiles against the spikes, crushing them into debris.


    Spreading his Monstrous Sense, the bull sought Harun''s location. But too fast for his body and reaction speed, Harun had already appeared above, dropping alongside the bull. Greeted by a sher smile that put veteran butchers to shame, the bull broke into tears.


    "Blight of the Underworld!" Harun activated his Physique''s ability. A bottomless swamp of blight and decay formed across the ground, with gray lotuses sprouting and blooming at naked eye speed. From those lotuses, gray fments poured out, staining the atmosphere with their Withering Essence. Instantly, the Bull could feel his colossal body break down. So fast was the dposition that he didn''t doubt that should no one rescue him, within ten seconds, he''d lose his life here.


    Worse, he couldn''t muster any of his abilities, merely able to watch his inevitable death.


    "I am a mid-stage Earth Fusion Realm expert,parable to a mid Celestial Guard! With my Devil Essence, I can fight peak-stage Celestial Guards without fear! In this tiny First Range, how could I suffer such a sordid fate?! Luck! Where are you?!"


    The bull wept as he tumbled into the swamp. But Luck didn''t answer his prayers, and that vile force of blight swallowed him whole. The Bull sank, unaware that in that swamp, Harun controlled his life and death.


    Darkness filled the Bull''s eyes, but at that time, the Withering Essence devouring his life with gluttonous speed paused, and he stood in suspension within the swamp liquid. With a nimble spin, Harunnded on top of the swamp water, staring at the bull from above.


    "Luck is on maternity leave, giving birth to protagonist-level brats for me. Now pal, let''s talk."

 Chapter 56: The New World

    Chapter 56: The New World


    Trapped in the seemingly bottomless swamp, the Bull could neither advance nor retreat. In a sh, he realized that Harun became the master of his body, able to end or save his life with a thought. The feeling of living at the mercy of another''s whim was never pleasant, but only fools would risk death for something as cheap as honor. If he could kiss Harun''s thigh, he would.


    Meanwhile, after witnessing the disy of their Lord''s formidable strength, the Birusk nsmen felt their jaws dropping on the ground, "Lord Birusk is invincible! All hail Lord Birusk!" They proimed and prostrated themselves toward Harun. At the same time, the vigers couldn''t help but feel that their Spiritual Lord''s skill-set was...a tad bit demonic? But recalling his teachings, they realized that the wrong came from their past conceptions. Besides those that mastered blight and woes, who could im understanding life and causality? Their Lord represented the righteous path!


    Recalling the sh of emerald light, the spotless ground behind the swamp and the principles of decay surrounding him, the Bull only felt more restless, "Did my balls reach the size of the moon? How could I fight someone that understands the mystery of Life?" The Mysteries of Heaven and Earth were by no means equal. Some even held sway over others. Just like the Mystery of Storms could dominate wind and lightning, the Mystery of Life held sway over earth and all organic matters. If Harun could cultivate it to Mandate-level, that alone would guarantee him a hegemonic position in this world.


    Harun snapped his fingers, enabling the Bull tomunicate through Divine Sense, "I will cooperate! I will cooperate! Whatever you want to know, as long as I can say it, I will! Senior, please have mercy on me!" Instantly, the Bull humbled himself. Were he at the Monstrous Realm, with the bull at his mercy, Harun could directly force attachment and learn all he wanted to. But for now, some diplomacy was in order.


    "Do not ask why and answer without hesitation. Let''s start with the basics, name and affiliation. Note that the swamp will warn me every time you liegiving me no choice but to destroy your body and search your soul." This was a half-lie. The swamp did possess a lie detector, but its uracy didn''t go over 70%. However, should he doubt the bull''s words, Harun wouldn''t hesitate to use extreme measures.


    "Mukri of the Reving n! This Lowly One was initially a mere Emissary Bull of the Barbaric Demon Stronghold, but chanced on a Devil Stone on the way here. Thanks to that stone, This Lowly One''s cultivation base and innate abilities improved by leaps and bounds!" Mukri replied immediately. Emissary Bulls stood at the bottom of the celestial hierarchy, useful only for their delivery speed. Said bluntly, mortals aside, only weak ns took them seriously. But with his recent gains, had he not crossed this ce, Mukri''s fate would have undergone unfathomable changes.


    "What cultivation path do you follow, what are Devil Stones, and why is a peak Celestial-Guard-level expert touring the mortal world?" Harun asked, and instantly, confusion shone in Mukri''s eyes. But with his life at stake, he dared not ponder or dy, and spat out all he knew.


    "To answer Your Excellency''s questions, we must go back to 166 years ago. I reached the peak of the Celestial Kin Realm at 2,000, with no hope for further progress. But as I epted my unremarkable future, and resolved to live the rest of my life in peace, the Son of Heaven appeared, and the Grand Cataclysm followed. To this day, I cannot forget the terror of those events.


    The Son of Heaven brought 12,000 celestials and the Golden Crow Marquis down with him, hordes of Monstrous Beasts emerged from and destroyed the Extreme Yin Prison, triggering the Grand Cataclysm. The Highest and Second Heaven fell, and even Heaven''s Punishment couldn''t stop the beast''s rampage...or so it initially looked like." Here, Mukri couldn''t help but pause, then carried on.


    "When the Seven Beast Demi-Emperors settled in the Third Heaven, the true cmity began. Mountain-sized asteroids crashed on the world, with a speed and strength that forced Monarchs and Demi-Emperors to coborate. This wasn''t merely the Monstrous Beasts'' punishment. Heaven sentenced the entire world to death for the Gods'' actions against its son. By the end of that Celestial Storm, seven more Heavens had been obliteratedhundreds of billions exterminated overnight.


    Of the previous Four Hegemonic ns, the Phoenixes and Golden Crows survived. But having lost all their Demi-Emperors and three-fourth their Monarchs, the Phoenixes'' decline became inevitable and, just like the surviving dragons, they pledged allegiance to the Serpent Domain.


    Henceforth, the world only had 24 Heavens, with many others damaged by the cataclysm. Led by their Heavenly God-level elders, some ns directly fled to the mortal worldleaving behind Dimensional Gaps that enabled Heavenly Qi and the asteroids'' debris to tumble down...and wipe out countless worlds." Starting with the Heavenly God Realm, Gods could open Dimensional Riftsusing them to travel between worlds and realmsor carry out some mischief. Back in the Peach Banquet, Rajan used that trick to ce three peaches in Harun''s Cosmic Pouch.


    "Of the 10,000 Mortal Worlds, 7,000 remain. But where disaster lies, rewards abound. The asteroids'' destruction released hundreds of dark-purple stones carrying a terrible amount of malevolent energies. Whoever refines one of those stones will see his cultivation base shoot up, and his talent and battle-power rise ordingly. Some stones carry more strength than others, but even the weakest can turn a waste into a titan. Because of the unmistakable evil power those stones carry, we named them Devil Stones.


    As they stood at the very center of the cmity, the Beast Emperors snatched dozens of stones, using them to make up for the gap between the Serpent Domain and their forces. The Saint Empress Court and Serpent Domain managed to snatch a few stones, the rest scattered throughout the world. With the stones'' mysteries as their foundation, the Beast Emperors founded the Monster Paradise, broke free of the Divine Path and created...the Elemental Fusion Bridge. Those that lost faith in the Divine Path joined them en masseabandoning their human forms to be Monstrous Beasts. I am one such case.


    At the same time, thanks to the Monstrous Beasts'' rampage, the criminals trapped in the Extreme Yin Prison, those diabolic individuals guilty of innumerable crimes and scorned by all sensible creatures, broke free. Most survived the cataclysm, some even got their hands on stones and conquered territories.


    In that chaos, akin to the Heaven Warding Emperor''s first appearance, a new force emerged from nowhere, offered another path to those willing to join their ranks, and helped some shackled titansplete their Mandates. Known as the Truth Scrying Grotto, that force fanned the mes of wars across the world, ushering the Hundred Infernal Years.


    Incarnadine blood seas as far as the eyes could see. All those you grew up with in graves or deep mourning. It was only ten years ago that the new hegemonic forces signed an armistice and brought that catastrophic sh for Devil Stones and Sect Master Tokens to an end. Still, rogue cultivators dare not exist.


    The Golden Crow Ancestor, or Nak as we now call him, vanished and, just like the Truth Scrying Grotto, the Golden Crow n''s headquarters became shrouded in mysteries. The world is now ruled by the Saint-Empress Court, Serpent Domain, Monster Paradise, ughter Syndicate and Truth Scrying Grottothe Five Great Holy Lands.


    The Mountain Edge World was the first changed by the Holy Lands to withstand all kinds of Qi and carry on war and recruitment in the Mortal World. It now represents the very center of the sh," Mukri exined, but though he didn''t let his face betray him, Harun''s mind experienced its own cataclysm.


    "Well, shit...I destroyed the world."

 Chapter 57: Preemptive Strike

    Chapter 57: Preemptive Strike


    Several more questions followed and, by the end of Mukri''s interrogation, Harun had a clear picture of the current world. The consequences of his final deeds were far more dreadful than he imagined. But though he wouldn''t gloat at the fall of trillions, Harun wouldn''t unjustly me himself, either.


    He didn''t ask the ns to leave Dimensional Gaps between the mortal and heavenly worlds, didn''t ask them to reach for what didn''t belong to them, didn''t ask them to ughter one another as if their lives depended on it, and make the world their casualty.


    Seeing how the Heavenly Dream Land''s cultivators so easily surrendered to greed and reckless ambitions, Harun realized why the Myriad Devil Pce stood at the summit of the cultivation world.


    When abhorrent thoughts ceaselessly thrived, how could the Devil not reign? Even if he didn''t possess omnipotent strength, by virtue of its fundamental principles, the cultivation world couldn''t escape the Devil''s graspa matter for another time.


    "In terms of sect strength, the Serpent Domain is still the strongest. Thenes the Monster Paradise, the Saint Empress Court and the ughter Syndicate formed by the ''diabolic'' jail-breakers. The Truth Scrying Grotto''s depth is a mystery, and no one dares rank them. Fortunately, I''ve seen some of the Serpent Emperor''s memories. The Truth Scrying Grotto most likely represents an Ancestral-Land-force, and considering my alter ego''s words to Nak, he spent three million years here for a certain someone''s sake.


    That person isn''t the Heaven Warding Emperor, but was important enough that Nak didn''t mind ruining his talent and future prospects to pave the way for them. The Heaven Warding Emperor was Nak''s sworn brother, their bonds thicker than blood. Who could overshadow that link? His master? A woman? Did Nak need to collect vast quantities of Life Essence to heal, resurrect, or assist that person? Or is there another ploy at y? I''m specting. None of that matters now."


    Harun stopped his conjectures. Sv, Dilnaz, the seven Beast Emperors, all either reached the true Dao Emperor Realm or its equivalent in another path. Nine God-Emperor-level existencespeted for the world, and to meet them as equals, the ughter Syndicate and Truth Scrying Grotto naturally also possessed their Emperor-tier experts.


    Below, cultivators were breaking through bottlenecks, experts multiplying. Even in this little First Range, three Celestial Knightspeted fornd and resources. Interestingly, Harun once came across one of them. Even as he interrogated Mukri, factions were tossing their promising disciples into Time Chambersforcing them to grow at the fastest pace possible. The so-called armistice was but a temporary measure to heal and rebuild. Whoever felt ready wouldn''t hesitate to break it. Such was the Anarchic Era.


    To freely roam throughout these chaotic times, Harun couldn''t idle. He had to rise at the fastest pace possible, catch up to and outpace the Holy Lands, then bring the Ten-Thousand Sects War to an end. Heaving a sigh, Harun aimed one index at Mukri.


    "Thanks to your cooperation, you''ve earned the right to livegranted you make a Dao Pledge to protect my sect and n," Harun said in an upromising tone. Mukri expected that much. On the contrary, if Harun imed that he''d release him free of charge, Mukri wouldn''t believe him.


    "My lord, I am willing to pledge allegiance to you and be a pir of your faction! But lord...what''s the sect name?" Mukri asked in a zealous but cautious tone and, as if pondering the words, Harun closed his eyes. Indeed, he''d yet toe up with a sect name. But now that the outer sect was taking shape, with one elder and guardian beast holding the fort and the support of a growing Blessed Land, perhaps it was time to name his faction?


    Raising his hands, Harun nced at his fingers, lost in unknown thoughts.


    "In the cultivation world, nine often is the highest number. Nine names, each packing enough venom to drown the world. Nine names, Nine Venoms" Harun''s thoughts stopped here, and he shifted his attention back to Mukri.


    "Undecided. For now, let''s just call you the...second Guardian of the Birusk n." Harun shrugged, making a speechless Mukri blink at the words.


    "So casual." With nearly 2,000 years of delivery tasks, Mukri had met his fair share of nutcases. But in this time and age, those that spoke of sect matters in such a rxed tone, typically had short lifespans. Believing that Harun must have been in seclusion for the past centuries and only recently emerged, Mukri feared for his future.


    "Moohahaha, with Your Excellency as its master, the Birusk n is destined to dominate all words. But may I ask, where is the first Guardian Beast? As a junior, I should pay my respects and relieve some burdens," Mukri inquired in a cautious tone. Although he didn''t have much expectations, if the other Guardian Beast was at least of the Tiger n, they might yet make it. If not, they had to figure out how to hide this ce from cultivators'' eyes as soon as possible.


    Six-hundred kilometers might be a vast distance for mortal means, but any cultivator of Celestial-level would have no trouble crossing it. The Vermilion Brides Sect Master''s cultivation base was at the first-level of the Celestial Knight Realm. Mukri estimated that Harun could at least meet her as an equal. However, what about the hundreds of Celestial-level disciples shemanded?


    Once the whole sect gathered andunched an assault, the mes of hell would torch this ce. Mukri didn''t want to stand among the casualties. But as his fears surged, a serpentine green tattoo gleamed on Harun''s back. A sinuous stream of light shot up, condensing the form of a 200 meters tall, wed serpent in the sky. The serpent''s slit eyes locked on Mukri, and he burst intoughter.


    "Hahahaha! A 200 meters tall World-Devouring Serpent!" By now, Harun had already pulled Mukri out of the swamp, giving him the ability to express himself. The Bull''s franticughter perplexed the vigers. But thinking that it might just be showing its satisfaction at their discipline, they didn''t probe further.


    But then it hit, Mukri paused, his lips and hooves trembled, "A World-Devouring Serpenteh...huh? AAAAAAAARGH!" and Mukri lost his shit. His eyes popped out of their sockets, his tongue lolled out, his brain took a hit, and he copsed back into the swamp.


    Before this scene, the vigers only had one thing to say: "Lord Birusk is mighty! All hail Lord Birusk!"


    Following Mukri''s mental copse, Harun gathered the vigers to reset the priorities. The existence of a Celestial-Knight-led sect 600 km from here was critical news. They couldn''t afford to let trouble knock on their doors and had to strike first.


    "Cut down two of our Perfect Spirit Trees into fine timber, harvest the herbs, check the vineyard and speed up the winery building. I will create 50 Spiritual Wood Puppets to handle all manual work so you can focus on the multiplication and cultivation tasks," Harun ordered, and the nsmen got to work. One, however, didn''t have that chance, as a surge of Harun''s telekic force pulled him toward the Spiritual Lord.


    "Serhed, I have a task for you," Harun started and pulled out a pouch of 1000 spirit stones. Divine jade wise, Harun didn''t have much, relying on his savings from the Imperial Dao Pavilion alone. But thanks to the looting of 2,000 mortal-born celestials and his own savings, Harun possessed over 1.1 billion spirit stones. Just like him, those mortal-born once ruled worlds and controlled colossal resources. In the mortal-needs department, few couldpete with them.


    Cupping his hands, Serhed, a middle-aged man, received the pouch, but stared at Harun with confusion.


    "Before my descent, you were this vige''s tavern owner. Your knowledge of ale-brewing is fairly decent, and you have experience managing a small tavern. I will grant you the knowledge youck and send you on a holy mission," Harun said, making Serhed straighten his back with a solemn look.


    "Because of this mission, you will spend 15 years away from your rtives, alone in foreignnds. Are you willing?"


    "The Spiritual Lord''s wish is ourmand!"


    "Well said! Take these 1000 spirit stones and head to the Dark Stone Capital. Trade them for gold coins with an underground dealer, get a permit, and open a tavern. Within 15 years, your tavern must be the number one beverage provider of the Dark Stone Capital, catering to nobles and cultivators alike. Fear not, I will bless you with a protection charm and watch over you from a distance. In 15 years, you will have an ident, break your legs, and let your only nephew inherit your tavernthat means me," Harun exined, and like a carefully trained servant, Serhav didn''t flinch.


    "For the sake of this holy mission''s sess, your reputation must be irreproachable and, regardless of how much sess you achieve, you cannot dally with women. When I arrive to rece you 15 years from now, you will receive your due rewards." Following those words, Harun transferred the relevant knowledge of winemaking and other necessary info to Serhav, then sent him on his way.


    Serhav didn''t dy, packed a small travel bag, and left with purposeful strides. Seeing their kin embark on the first holy mission, his rtives couldn''t restrain their tears.


    Satisfied, Harun pulled the still groggy Mukri toward him and nced in the direction of the Vermiion Brides'' mountain, 600 km from here.


    "Attack is the best defense. Apologies, but I will make you close your sect for at least 15 years."

 Chapter 58: Poisoned Fate (1)

    Chapter 58: Poisoned Fate (1)


    "What message were you meant to deliver to the Vermilion Brides'' Sect Master?" Harun asked Mukri who''d just regained consciousness. His cow lips formed the contours of a forced smile, and a matchingugh followed suit.


    "I am not allowed to say," Mukri admitted, fearful for his life. Harun had expected as much. Emissaries often suffered soul seals to ensure that the message they carried never fell into the wrong hands. Should Harun force the matter, Mukri''s corpse would be the only result. Still, it was worth a shot.


    Allied sects often possessed Linked Transmission Formations that enabled them to exchange messages through mirrors. However, skilled formation masters could hijack those messages, so for critical matters, a soul-locked Emissary Bull was often preferable. To say nothing that the Barbaric Demon Stronghold and Vermilion Brides weren''t allied, to begin with.


    "How long until your sect receives news of a dy? And what would be the consequences of your desertion?"


    "With my initial speed, I''d still need a week to arrive. They shouldn''t probe the matter before then. As for the consequences, in their eyes, I''m just an Emissary Bull. As long as they receive confirmation of the delivered message firstat worstI''d get a small bounty and wanted poster," Mukri exined, making Harun''s eyes shine with excitement.


    "Bounties are now mainstream?"


    "Yes sir! The World Association was founded 50 years ago to standardize cultivators'' ranks, host peace treaties, negotiations, auctions, and regte the bounty system. Each of the Holy Lands has one elder sitting in the council, on top of the Association''s own founding members. Some bounties get frozen due to alliances and treaties, but from the start till now, the one with the highest bounty is Nak, or 2.2 billion divine jades. Any kingdom capital of the Mountain Edge World has a branch of the World Association, you should check it one of those days," Mukri said, making Harun speechless.


    "Since when does the world have that much money?!" He blurted out. Before his death, even hegemonic ns only had a few million divine jades on averagewith only the Empyrean n standing far above those numbers. Of course, those were n reserves and didn''t ount for personal property.


    "Being the strongest is indeed a scourge. Due to his strength alone, Nak received bounties from all noteworthy factions under the heavens. Although he vanished long ago, the Holy Lands fear that his strength grows in the shadows. Perhaps he''s alreadypleted his Mandate. Some even inferred that he restrained his own growth. After all, Nak is the only God in the world''s history that cultivated the Mandate of Truth to near-perfection. Others can''t even start," Mukri sighed at his own words. Of all Mandates, Truth was the most mysterious. Few knew what it could aplish, because most couldn''t even grasp the elementary principles, much less master it. Worst, without exception, those that cultivated this Mandate suffered untimely deaths. The Curse of Truth stood unbroken for millions of years, with Nak alone standing on the verge of breaking ita pity that the world wanted his head.


    Harun asked Mukri no more questions, and finalized thest few details of his n, "In three days, you, my Serpent Totem and I, willunch an attack on the Vermilion Brides Sect. You will act as a decoy and lure out the sect mistress and elders by delivering the message you have to. As they wee you, I will sneak past their defenses and destroy their sect formation. The formation''s explosion will be the signal for our pincer attack," Harun ordered.


    Attacking a sect sheltered by a defensive formation was, more often than not, a vexing task. Without a strength gap of at least one realm between the attacker and Formation Controller, the assault would result in exhaustion and retreat. For this reason, when she carried out the True Dragon n''s extermination, Dilnaz attacked alone, using the dragons'' renowned hubris against themselvesleading them to confront her head on. Relying on the profound strength gap between them, she beheaded the dragon lord and elders, destroyed the formation, butchered their Dao Reserves, and wiped out the rest.


    Had the dragons suppressed their arrogance and first hid behind their n formation, they couldn''t suffer such a miserable fate. The Vermilion Brides wouldn''t knowingly make that mistake, so Harun had to help them a little. After casting a furtive nce at the World-Devouring Serpent, Mukri shivered and lowered his head.


    "As youmand, my lord!" Mukri then made three-pages worth of Dao Pledges, officially bing the Birusk n''s guardian. Meanwhile, the nsmen harvested the new herbs and cut down two sky-blue trees into timberhauling the logs toward Harun.


    Spirit Trees were valuedmodities in any noteworthy n. All provided vast quantities of Qi and, depending on their precise nature, added other boons. Perfect Spirit Trees elerated the growth of nts and the cultivation speed of those in the vicinity. Granted, the Birusk nsmen didn''t rely on Spiritual Qi for cultivation, but their value remained substantial.


    Cutting two down to build Spiritual Wood Puppets was no small investment, but for the sake of freeing his nsmen from sufferings, thereby saving his own neck, Harun had to do it. In any case, when this ce became a Treasure Land, he wouldn''tck trees.


    After waving Mukri off, Harun threw the materials into his space world and got to work. The system''s Puppet Refining Hall had the looks of a medieval carpenter''s workshop. But Harun ignored the tables and tools lying around to focus on the dark-gray grindstone standing on an oak table.


    Closing his eyes, Harun fired his Divine Sense into the grindstone. It rose in response, with light rays shooting out. As their name implied, Sense-Grinding Stones existed to sharpen the Divine Senses of cultivators. Sharper Divine Senses made treasure control, alchemy, artifact refining, and all tasks relying on Divine Sense much smoother.


    Harun routinely ground his Divine Sense for ten minutes before carrying out any rted task. When his eyes opened again, they radiated focus and determination. Splitting into a multitude of strands, Harun''s Divine Sense merged with the Perfect Spirit timber, slicing, molding and binding the spiritual energy contained within those logs, like a maic field, to create wooden puppets.


    About 17 hours of hard work followed, and at a rate of three puppets per hour, Harun crafted the 50 wooden puppets. Shaped like haired monks, wearing monastic robes, they all bowed toward Harundriven by their spiritual intelligence. Exiting the system, Harun sent the 50 puppets into the fields, letting them take over the vigers'' manualbor. From that moment on, Birusk nsmen never again had to till thend, and focused on cultivation and multiplication.


    Meanwhile, Jiyan emerged from the toxic wine pond, her pearl-white flesh glittering in a bright-red light: proof that she''d achieved the highest flesh grade possible. When he saw this, Harun swelled with pride. Their eyes met, and faced with Jiyan''s enchanting smile, Harun felt life as if a sweet breeze had swept his face.


    "Congrattions, I''m sure this record will remain unbeaten for ages toe," Harun praised.


    "Only because I''m notpeting with you, master," Jiyan jokingly replied. But in that instant, a misty fog filled Harun''s eyes, and his consciousness drifted to another scenery.


    There, a blurry woman sat crossed-legged before him.


    ...


    "Impressive. I''m sure your record will remain unbroken for ages toe," Harun said. The woman leaned over, resting her head against his shoulder.


    "Only because no records include you, master."


    The image broke, Harun returned to the true world. His sclera turned red, and he spurted blood.


    As his blood sttered the ground, Harun felt his world vacite. His consciousness waned, and he copsed on the ground.


    "Harun!" rmed by the sudden change, Jiyan rushed to Harun''s sidepulling him into her arms to check his condition.


    ...


    Meanwhile, within the Ancestral Land, the Devil Ancestor observed all this with a nk look.


    "How unfortunate that your survival relies on that poison. Should I take care of it before it bes your undoing?" The Devil Ancestor asked himself, and stretched out his right hand, bypassing a myriad of worlds to connect to Harun. But as he prepared to cure his condition, for the split of a second, the Devil''s face twisted with rage, and he aborted his move.


    "No. You should suffer."

 Chapter 59: Poisoned Fate (2)

    Chapter 59: Poisoned Fate (2)


    Harun''s unconsciousness didn''t stop whatever wrecked his body from carrying on. Laying him on herp, Jiyan could only watch, helpless as purple veins bulged and pulsed across his body. His heart rate sped up, his breathing turned erratic, and his body temperature rose to the point Jiyan had to rely on her Devil Essence to avoid burns and scars.


    Worse, dark clouds formed within the Truth Shaping Chamber, retracting and expanding as if debating whether they should unleash a Cosmic Tribtion on Harun or not. With her eyes darting between the clouds and Harun, Jiyan asked herself, "What should I do?" but found no answer. For a second, Jiyan considered pouring her Devil Essence into him, but feared it''d only worsen the situation.


    But as her worries peaked, a voice rang in her mind, "If you care for him, don''t try anything, don''t interfere. This is a normal process." Jiyan''s eyes went left, right, front, back, up and down, but she couldn''t find the voice''s owner.


    "Who...are you?" She asked. A pause followed, but the answer she sought never came.


    "That is irrelevant. What matters is his condition. From now on, you must remember two things:


    First, no one is allowed to interfere with this situation. Second, the problem''s root and solution both lie in his right eye," the voice said, and as Jiyan''s eyes locked on Harun''s twitching face, it went on.


    "In a past incarnation, this boy once suffered Complete Annihtion, and should have been erased from existence. To say nothing of reincarnation, even his name shouldn''t remain. But bybining the powers of the right eye with his once immeasurable cultivation base, he evaded Complete Annihtion, and entered the reincarnation cycle. Unfortunately, what saved him also harms him.


    Unlike the harmless left eye, the right one is a noxious, time-ticking bomb that grows more virulent with each use. At the same time, the Six Incarnation Bridge hurries the bomb''s growth, ensuring that in the Reincarnation Realm, he will have to defeat it or vanish...this time for good." Harun''s right eye, the Eye of Sovereign Fate as some called it, represented a direct connection to his Broken Fate, a save file and proof that he shouldn''t exist in this world.


    "Had he never unlocked the right eye, we wouldn''t be having this conversation. But now that he activated it, you must either find a Dao-Emperor-tier expert to seal it, or reduce its use till the Reincarnation Realm." The voice added, but instead of a thankful stance, Jiyan knitted her brows.


    "Why now? Since you knew it coulde to this, why didn''t you warn him before?" Jiyan probed. The voice''s appearance was far too convenient, as if it''d been watching Harun''s every step, able to intervene at all times. That being the case, why not act before? If not for the pulsing purple veins and Harun''s right eye remaining open despite his unconsciousness, Jiyan would doubt the words.


    "Don''t misunderstand. His life and death have nothing to do with me. He will live if he''s skilled enough and perish if he isn''t. I owe him nothing," the voice countered in a nonchnt tone. Jiyan found that voice''s owner quite contradictory. If he truly didn''t care for Harun''s life, couldn''t he just keep his mouth shut? Why bother to give her all this intel?


    "Cultivating Sovereign Essence is okayish, as it''s produced spontaneously and you can''t do anything about that. But for the rest, tread carefully. I have said all I had to. Farewell." The voice said and cut contact with Jiyan. There was one thing it omitted. Events strikingly simr to critical parts of Harun''s Broken Fate carried high risks. However, those words served no purpose besides creating chaos; so it didn''t bother.


    Aware that she couldn''t solve anything unless she reached the Dao-Emperor-tier, Jiyan wrapped Harun tightly against her chestkeeping his ears pressed against the drum of her restless heart, a heart that seemed to say: "Please wake up."


    In the past, Jiyan didn''t care much for cultivation, thinking of it as a tool to achieve freedom. But realizing that with her father''s cultivation base, she could have immediately solved Harun''s condition, Jiyan found her previous thoughts nave. Freedom, safety, joy. In this world, the preservation of so many things relied on a powerful cultivation. Without cultivation, all could copse in one breath. How could she neglect it? And as she stared into Harun''s reddened, purple eye, Jiyan resolved to bring her cultivation to the peak as soon as possible.


    Two hours passed in a torturously slow motion before Harun''s sclera returned to the initial white. The throbbing purple veins vanished, his fingers twitched, and Harun''s left eye opened. Feeling the soft mounds pressing half his face, Harun rubbed his cheeks against the cushy feel, alerting Jiyan that he''d regained consciousness.


    Only now did Jiyan remember that all along, she remained in her naked form, giving Harun freebies upon freebies. A shrill cry followed and, shoving Harun aside, Jiyan grabbed her dress and vanished in the woods.


    "Wait, wait, this is a critical therapeutic process. I need the medicinal properties to make a full recovery!" Harun stretched his hands toward the pine forest and said in a grave, serious tone. Both Jiyan and the system were speechless. So speechless in fact that Jiyan almost bought it, "Really? Wait, what? Did my brain get stomped by sprinting horses? How could I buy that scoundrel''s words?" Jiyan smacked her face.


    "For someone who almost died, you look awfully energetic," the system and Jiyan said in tandem and, as if hit by a wave of confusion, baby Harun pursed his lips. Crossing his arms and legs, Baby Harun took a ponderous stance, as if trying to recall the previous events.


    "Wait, that''s true. Oh shit, I almost died!" Baby Harun mmed his right fist into his left palm, and eximed as if he''d just found the solution to an ancient mathematical problem.


    "Oh well, happens I guess," he added with a firm nod, prompting the same shocked response from both Jiyan and the system.


    "That''s not a normal reaction!"


    Jiyan then went on to exin what she learned from "The Voice," and following a moment of reflection, Harun tilted his head.


    "I see. That''s rtively problematic. Never mind, I initially came to tell you that I have a sect to mess with, and will go awol in about two days. I will set up a Noxious Road with all you need for the First Step so that you can cultivate in my absence. This ce will be the starting point," Harun shrugged off his life and death matter, and said with a straight face.


    From the moment he started having those blurry visions, Harun connected the dots with the "Dreand" he often wandered to. The following events only strengthened his conjectures and, knowing that one of his past incarnations carried tremendous baggage, Harun wasn''t that surprised by Jiyan''s words.


    But again, who cares? This life posed enough problems already. He had neither the time nor the leisure to probe lost events and wasn''t the least bit curious in the so-called Broken Fate Standard.


    Little did he know that somewhere in the omniverse, this reaction made a certain person knit his browssubsequently, another mountain-sized asteroid crashed on the Heavenly Dream Land.

 Chapter 60: Moon Conjuring Incantation

    Chapter 60: Moon Conjuring Incantation


    "As carefree as the sea and as unrestrained as the wind," those were the words that popped up in Jiyan''s mind as she stared into Harun''s eyes. Instantly, the weight of her worries dropped and, wholly cheered up, she stifled augh. For a second, Jiyan considered following Harun, but recalled that at the moment, she could only fight with punches and kicks. To take a sect on, that didn''t cut it.


    Although she could still count on the Empyrean n''s Divine Power, using that signature ability would do Harun''s ns no good, and they both knew it. So she didn''t press the matter and epted his arrangements. Joining his hands in a hakini mudra, Harun connected to Jiyan''s soul, establishing an attachment link to cement her in his karma. Jiyan didn''t resist it, and so joined Harun''s Karmic Tree. This would enable them tomunicate even from impossible distances.


    Standing up, Harun took the toxic wine pond as the starting point and cleared up a ten meters wide and 100 meters long road for the First Step''s four stages. Of the four, the second and fourth stages didn''t pose much challenge. Harun nevercked in top-grade noxious fumes or Withering Essence and could set up those two zones in a heartbeat. Only the poisonous pills of the third stage required heavy work, and so Harun got to work.


    Teleporting to his Pill Refining Chamber within the Artisan District, Harun dragged stacks of herbs toward the furnace''s feet and summoned twenty gourds from his cosmic pouch. Each of these gourds contained carefully bred toxins from the poisonous beast he''d cultivated since his reincarnation. Although they couldn''t threaten celestials yet, for his current purpose, it was more than enough.


    The Toxic Ascension Road wasn''t for Jiyan alone. But would enable Harun to train the most reliable of the Birusk nsmen in batches while hepleted the infrastructures necessary for his inner disciple recruitment. After spending ten minutes polishing his Divine Sense on the Sense-Grinding Stone, Harun returned to the Pill Refining Chamber, sat in seiza position, and fired his Divine Sense into the ingredients. Dark-green mes surged from his palms, shooting into the furnace in measured jets while the strands of Divine Sense controlled the mixture.


    Twenty-six hours of non-stop pill refinement followed and, at a rate of seven pills per hour, Harun refined 182 Blood Burning Pills. By now, his sweat drenched his forehead, ck robe and pants, and while his eyelids didn''t tremble, Harun had to take long breaths to control the strain.


    Blood Burning Pills were four-star poisonous pills and were the temte for Harun''s Noxious me Flies. A rather obnoxious poison, it starved the brain of oxygen and reduced its perception of the atmospheric pressure, thereby lowering internal fluids'' boiling points drastically. This resulted in forced ebullism and death within two minutes for all below Crossed Vicissitude. Nowadays, Harun could raise it to the seventh grade. Butck of time and material prevented him from developing such pills. Of course, even if he could, he wouldn''t use pills of that grade for the Toxic Ascension Road. No one would survive them.


    "It''s in moments like these that I wish I could multiply myself. If only I could recruit someone specialized in Alchemy, I could teach them the less pleasant parts of my craft, and lessen my workload," Harun sighed. As his sect grew, he''d need at least six elders: a Treasury Elder, a Refining Elder, an Alchemy Edler, a Law Enforcing Elder, a Lecturing Elder and a Great Elder to supervise them all.


    Harun estimated that many of these posts would be filled by his direct disciples. After all, considering the secrets they''d have ess to, he couldn''t just give such positions to those that already received training from other factions, and may still hold unknown affiliations. Another sigh followed, and carrying the batch of 182 pills, Harun returned to Truth Shaping Chamber.


    There, Jiyan sat in meditation, cultivating the Toxic Truth Mantra. Leaving her to her own device, Harunid down the Toxic Ascension Road''s Four Zones, enclosing thest three in a tunnel of cedar wood, and separating all by wooden doors. The road started with the toxic wine pond, followed with a potent miasma, seven crates of Blood Burning Pills, and ended with a gray fog of Withering Essence.


    Satisfied, Harun stepped out. Jiyan''s eyes opened, and without a word, she walked in. Exiting the system, Harun lifted his eyes toward the night sky, and saw the full moon hanging there.


    "Just in time," he whispered, and with a step, vanished from the vige. To him, this day represented an invible date, and though Harun knew that a night of full moon would maximize his chances against the Vermilion Brides, he didn''t intend to carry out his ns now.


    Finding a deserted prairie several kilometers ahead, Harun summoned a jar of bitter wine, a three-legged jade cup, pulled open the lid, and filled his cup with a smile. On this asion, Harun often forced himself to smile more than usual. With a polite bow, he raised his cup at the sky, and poured the wine on the ground, an offering to the dead. For indeed, this day marked his father''s death anniversary. And two dayster, his brother''s would follow. On those two dates, Harun never willingly shed blooda principle he kept unbroken across 150 years.


    Mortals could heal all wounds with time. But cultivators, who possessed an eternal memory past the Hallowed Realm, couldn''t say the same. All images remained fresh, keeping the emotions and sensations they carried unspoiled.


    "Don''t rely on me. If you fail to keep up, I will leave you behind," Harun recalled how much of a tsundere his brother could bealways showing the same indifferent look, yet still helping him at all times.


    "Talent is only one side of the equation. Remain serene and clear-headed, find what you wish to excel in, and even if you can''t reach the stars, with patience, hard-work and dedication, you will have results. Cultivation is not the only road in this world, but if you insist on following that path, I will fully support you." Harun recalled his father''s encouragements and closed his eyes. His lips curled upward, and he downed ten cups in session.


    "Old man, paradoxical bro, I became a Celestial in 150 years. But that didn''t work out well, so now I''m going to achieve Samsara Dominion. That''ll probably take more than 150 years. But when I reach that step, I will cheat fate so you can live well for the rest of eternitythat''s the least I can do," Harun pledged, and set down his cup to sit crossed-legged in meditation.


    On this particr night, as he stared into the moon, Harun felt lighter than he ever did before. An iprehensible sense of peace washed over him, and silver-blue streams of light swirled around his torso like shooting stars.


    Though present in all nights, Lunar Essence was iparably difficult to harvest. To refine it, Heavenly God and above-level experts created artificial moons, and prepared the soil to breed Lunar nts. But prompted by a surge of enlightenment, Harun achieved a connection to the Lunar Essence cast by the full moon. His Yin Soul took shape above his head, and a silver-blue ray shot from his forehead, binding to the moon.


    Two half-moons, one silver, one blue, formed on Harun''s foreheabining to be a full moon. The Yin Soul returned to his body, and Harun''s eyes opened wide. Three mudras followed, and a dazzling full moon appeared at Harun''s backenabling him to activate his peak state as he pleased.


    "Let''s call this...the Moon Conjuring Incantation," Harun said, then downed twenty more wine cups. The shadow of a dark-blue Dharma Idol shed beside the moon, but failed to maintain its shape.


    On the following day, Harun donned a red monastic robe, wore a golden mask, and sent Mukri toward the Vermillion Brides'' Sect. As the Emissary Bull crossed the sky, Harun''s form blurred across the ground. Both maintained the same speed, but one had already vanished in the shadows.

 Chapter 61: Vermilion Brides Sect

    Chapter 61: Vermilion Brides Sect


    "Founded 122 years ago by Gulseni of the Vermilion Bird n, though strength-wise it stands at the low-grade sect level, the Vermilion Brides Sect holds a unique position in the 10,000 Sect War, and is a distant branch of the Saint Empress Court. Gulseni belonged to the first batch of fairies to join the Saint Empress Court, but was given this specific task due to hercking strength and unique skill set," Harun recalled Mukri''s introduction of the Vermilion Brides Sect.


    An all-female sect, the Vermilion Brides represented the fantasies of many hot-headed youths. As the name suggested, each of those female cultivators trained to be a perfect bride. Most started with exquisite looks, further heightened by the sect''s unique cultivation method. But even those females with average looks turned into walking goddesses after a few years of cultivating the sect''s Mantra of Divine Conformity. Bred for dual cultivation, in a world where powerful men often held multiple consorts, the Vermilion Brides never failed to be their handpicked husband''s object of worship.


    Many disciples of Holy Lands fought to snatch one of thosedies'' hands. And although he couldn''t tell Harun his message''s content, Mukri admitted that the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master aimed for Gulseni''s handthat much was no secret. But while on the outside, the Vermilion Brides acted as glorified trophy wives, in the shadows they weaved a dreadful informationwork across the Mountain Edge World, enabling the Saint Empress Court and its stronger branches to control many factions and resources from the shadows.


    Within the First Range, the Vermilion Brides directly controlled 18 of the 40 kingdoms, and 1 of its 6 grand nations. Their resources and influence in this Range spoke for themselves. But thanks to Dilnaz keeping their growth margin suppressed, confident in their strength, some men of stronger factions neglected the obvious dangers they represented, and gambled it all to sample those honeypots. ording to hearsay, the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master was one such example.


    Mukri suppressed his Devil Essence, showing the appearance of a typical Emissary Bull while Harun summoned his World-Devouring Serpent totem, making it shrink to the size of a threadsnake and hiding it under his spacious red sleeve. Bound to Harun''s will, the World-Devouring Serpent totem was akin to a puppet or extra body that obeyed his every whim. When he moved on to the next realm, the totem would integrate all the benefits that didn''t carry over to his next incarnation, and grow stronger still.


    Once Mukri stood 80 km away from the Vermilion Brides'' mountain gates, Harun turned into a ball of light and merged with his shrunken totem. Dark-blue light flickered in the snake''s microscopic eyes and, now exceeding Mukri''s speed, it avoided the main entrance, crawling past the rocky surface to find another entrance. Meanwhile, Mukri reached the sect''s gates and announced himself.


    "On the stronghold masters orders, Mukri, Emissary Bull of the Barbaric Demon Stronghold, brings an important message." Mukri took an arrogant stance, and bellowed for all across the mountain to hear. A superpower of the Third Range, the Barbaric Demon Stronghold became infamous for its monstrous policies and sadistic disciples. While Mukri didn''t have their arrogance, faking it to lure the Brides out was no big deal.


    In the sect''s main hall, thirteen figures sat on ivory thrones, six on the left, six on the right, and one on the honor seat. Each wore V-neck vermilion gowns that left their right legs exposed, with one oval ruby bangle around each wrist: Ladies of the Vermilion Brides Sect.


    "Mistress, since the Barbaric Demon boor contacted us, you''ve remained half-dazed. Is that message that critical?" Asked one of the 12 Ladies of the Vermilion Brides Sect. Following the Saint-Empress Court''s hierarchy, they reced the elder rank by thedy rank, a practice many factions now imitated.


    The sect mistress, a voluptuous enchantress with back-length,yered red hair, swept her subordinates with her ming gaze, "You shouldn''t underestimate him. Beneath the greedy, unrefined exterior hides a shrewd and horrifying monster. The Holy Lands'' headquarters remain in Heaven. That includes our Saint Empress Court. Without their direct support, going against the Barbaric Demon Stronghold is, at best, unwise. To say nothing that this isn''t necessarily a poor deal," Gulseni ran one index over her full, glossy pink lips, as if musing on her own words.


    "This can change the bnce in the First Range, allowing us to destroy the Immtion de Sect and Soul Refining Hall...granted we alone have ess to that info, and I seriously doubt it. At the very least, the Soul Refining Hall won''t be behind. All the more reason why we must stay prepared. As for that Stronghold Master, we can slowly take care of him. Let''s go," Gulseni dered and stood up.


    Emissaries of the Third Range represented God-level factions. The sect mistress anddies had to wee him personally. Little did they know that hidden beneath their marble-white ceiling, a threadsnake observed them all. As soon as the sect leaders left their post, Harun sneaked out of a hole he dug in, and sought the middle point of the sect. Sects often build their formations around the middle point, enabling them to confront attacks from all directions with ease.


    But as the disciples left their posts en masse to meet the Emissary at the gates, Harun located the sect''s center. Therey a translucent river above which floated a hill-sized, twelve-leaf lotus. Shaped like bent fingers, the leaves'' extremities pointed upward, with orbs of light hovering above their tips.


    Four ninth-level Celestial Kin remained by the formation''s side. Inwardly, Harun chortled, and after giving an apologetic bow toward the Vermilion Brides'' Sect''s Main Hall, whispered:


    "Divine Power: Sr Destion."


    ...


    Hundreds of fairies assembled at the sect gate and bowed toward Mukri, putting a colossal pressure on his professionalism. Over 800 beauties, each more provocative than the other and with curves to die for, stood in a row before him. As an Emissary Bull, Mukri had never witnessed such a marvelous sight, and feared he might fail in his duty. The 13 at the forefront were especially lethal, boasting a mixture of grace and sex appeal that left Mukri breathless.


    Clearly, there was more than mere looks at y here. The Vermilion Brides all cultivated arts aimed at ensnaring and enving men, making them their opposite gender''s most lethal threat.


    "Lord Emissary, wee to my humble sect. Our mountain doesn''t have much to offer you, but if you give us the chance to, we Vermilion Brides will not fail to entertain Your Lordship," Gulseni curtsied, and faced with the sirenic tune of her voice, Mukri recoiled on seven steps.


    "No need, no need! I just have to deliver a message. A divination master of the Truth Scrying Grotto predicted that within 20 years, the First Range''s Dark Stone Country will breed an Obsidian Spirit Stone mine and Abyssal River. The precise location is unknown, but should be near the Forgotten Soul Graveyard," using his obviously flustered state as an excuse, Mukri screamed the message at Gulseni, instead of sending it through a mental message as custom demanded. This was the only loophole he could think of, and his way of showing Harun his loyalty.


    The words spread throughout the Mountain, leaving the 800 fairies thunderstruck. In that instant, Gulseni couldn''t even care for Mukri''s decorum breach, and seeing his words take effect, the Emissary Bull pushed further.


    "I believe you know better than I do who controls the Forgotten Soul Graveyard. The strength gap between your two forces is already not negligible. But if they get ownership of an Obsidian Spirit Stone mine and Abyssal River, you are finished. Unlike the rest of the world, they don''t care for sensual pleasures, and live forprehension and cultivation only. I have said what I had to. Good luck!"


    Mukri snorted and turned hoovesacting like an escaping thief. But as the Vermilion Brides weighed the consequences of Mukri''s words, his lips parted in a smile.


    "Or perhaps you are already finished"


    BOOM!


    Blinding golden mes geysered upward, filling the Vermilion Bride Sect''s sky with endless smoke and scalding heat. rmed, they spun toward the source of that disturbance, but never expected to see the area surrounding their formation turned into a ruinous inferno that spread at a frightening pace.


    "What the"


    BANG!


    Mukri''s Devil Essence poured forth, me tongues and dark-purple rocks swirled around his form and, without warning, he mmed into Gulsenisending her hurtling across the sky!


    But as she crashed toward the inferno, a tiny masked monk appeared in her trajectory, chopping at her neck!

 Chapter 62: Enlightened by Bloodied Hands

    Chapter 62: Enlightened by Bloodied Hands


    It was too fast. One second, Mukri''s words were still ringing in their ears, the next, an oppressive fire consumed the sect. A sneak attack from Mukri battered Gulseni, sending her hurtling toward the golden mes. By the time the masked monk''s hand dropped on her neck, Gulseni had still not processed the scene. Her trained body, however, moved on its own, whirling leftward to evade Harun''s knife-hand chop and counter with a sweeping kick.


    Harun''s right hand met thin air. But before Gulseni''s kick crashed into his face, as if it''d seen the moveing, his left palm mmed into her ankleseizing her leg. A sliding sound followed and, casting her heel aside, Gulseni wormed her leg out of Harun''s grip.


    It was like soap gliding on a wet surface. Regardless of Harun''s grip strength, he couldn''t hold on to Gulseni''s leg. Somersaulting nine meters, Gulseni stopped to face Harun, who was impressed by theck of damage on her body.


    Mukri couldn''t believe his eyes. In his previous strike, he held nothing back and rammed into Gulseni with his full strength. That blow was enough to decide a life and death match between peak-stage Celestial Guards, but didn''t even leave a dent on Gulseni''s unprepared body.


    Although her cultivation stood at the first-level of the Celestial Knight Realm, such natural defenses made no sense.


    "On top of the beauty benefits, the Mantra of Divine Conformity must give its cultivators a damage-absorbing and slippery skin. That, or she cultivated a secret art with those benefits," Harun reasoned. Keeping everything in the shadows, the Vermilion Brides never engaged in public fights, and as most didn''t have the heart to oppress them, no one knew all the benefits of their cultivation method. Pulling out a sandalwood m from his cosmic pouch, Harun joined his hands in a prayer sign and bowed toward Gulseni.


    Her eyes browsed the scene, analyzing all the dangers. "Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, Yin and Yang. The Elemental Fusion Bridge follows this precise order, meaning that this Emissary Bull''s strength is about mid-stage Celestial Guard level. Judging from thest move, his Devil Essence pushes him to the peak. They can handle him effortlessly," Gulseni sent her subordinates several mental messages, and shifted her attention back to Harun.


    "He''s the real problem. At the very least, he''s no weaker than a Celestial Knight. Those ruinous golden mes mirror the Sr Destion of the Golden Crow n, but the attire and behavior is that of the Liberation Temple of the ughter Syndicate. Odd. But while you can fake attire, Divine Powers represent lineages. The World-Devouring Serpents aside, no n can pose as another." In a sh, Gulseni considered all the possibilities.


    Formed by the worst criminals in the 33 Heavens'' history, the ughter Syndicate specialized in bounty hunting and assassination. Each of their divisions followed a specific code that rejoined the Myriad ughter creed. The Liberation Temple''s monks believed that all lived in perpetual sufferings, and that the destruction of the body and soul was the only way to free this world''s lives from the Cycle of Tormentsas they called it. Of course, this was nothing more than cult charade.


    At the end of the day, all were homicidal psychopaths looking for a justification to their senseless murders. The 12 Ladies and 800 disciples of the Vermilion Brides Sect surrounded Mukri. Of the 12, 3 reached the peak of the Celestial Guard Realm, while the 6 others stood between the 6th and 8th level. This wasn''t a battle that Mukri could win, and he knew it very well. Under heavy pressure, Mukri nced at the masked Harun, but couldn''t guess his thoughts, "Oh well, let''s just follow the n."


    Meanwhile, Harun stepped forward. The world didn''t have many celestial-level guebringers, to say nothing of one with the Golden Crow n''s Divine Power. Mukri couldn''t connect those dots because he didn''t know much about Harun. But Dilnaz could, so in this fight, just to be safe, Harun didn''t n to use his poisonous arts. At the same time, he could test the full extent of his other abilities.


    "Moon Conjuring Incantation." Silver-blue essence poured out, soaring toward the sky in mesmerizing arcs of shimmering blue fog. The sun''s rays retreated, the day sky darkened, night took overthrowing the Vermilion Brides Sect into total darkness. But as they trembled under this uncanny disy of magical powers, a radiant silver-blue moon formed amidst the gloomy sky, grasping the brides'' attention.


    Faced with that dreamlike scenery, some couldn''t help but wonder if this...wasn''t the perfect day to die. But before delirium took hold, Gulseni''s voice thundered in their minds, "Don''t let his trick distract you. This move shifted the bnce of yin and yang, which is beneficial to us all."


    Gulseni didn''t doubt that the Masked Assassin gained maximum benefits from this scenery change. But so what? Unless their cultivation stood leagues above them, men couldn''t defeat the Vermilion Brides. Neither side made unnecessary remarks, and the battle began.


    "Yang Sealing Chains!" In tandem, the Vermilion Brides aimed their open hands at Mukri, while Gulseni did the same toward Harun. Dark-blue chains surged from their palms, wrapping around their two targets. Unprepared for this array of chains, Mukri turned hooves and rushed toward the sect''s main gatebut realized that his vigor shrank at breakneck speed. By the time the chain stood before him, he no longer had the strength to bat an eyelidmuch less flee!


    "What the" were Mukri''sst words before the chains wrapped around him, bundling him in a prison of dark-blue locks. Meanwhile, Gulseni''s chains closed in on Harun but, unlike Mukri, the fake monk had no trouble avoiding them. Hands still joined in a prayer sign, Harun bent back to let three chains fly past him, whirled leftward, ducked, dropped and backflipped, all to evade the chains.


    Gulseni and the Vermilion Brides'' eyes narrowed in confusion.


    "Was I wrong? Is he not a man? No, how could I get someone''s gender wrong?" The sect mistress wondered, and her sisters thought the same. Unlike what their look suggested, Yang Sealing Chains were a domain-type ability that restrained the vigor of all males. Only women could cultivate that ability, and as the invisible domain made the opponent powerless, the chains trapped and put them at the mercy of the brides.


    Unfortunately, the domain only worked on those with more yang than yin, which made it useless against Harun and his Decaying Flower. Harun''s speed shot up and, leaving afterimages in his wake, he wormed his way through the chainsreappearing before Gulseni.


    "So fast" she thought. Aiming his right fist at Gulseni''s chest, Harun punched. Unafraid, she summoned a scarlet dagger and leaned forward, attempting to glide past Harun''s strike, then stab his neck. Harun''s punch stopped mid air, Gulseni collided with an afterimage but, hidden in its back, the real Harun poked at her eyespiercing them with four fingers.


    Blood poured forth, but before Harun''s fingers moved past the cranial cavity and reached her brain, Gulseni pushed her Heavenly Qi to the limit, forced herself off Harun''s fingers, and while recoiling with a shrill scream, hacked at Harun''s neck.


    Her blow didn''t graze him.


    "Aaargh...hahaha...for a man, you don''t seem to have muchpassion for the female gender. How ruthless..." Gulseni reced her screams with a gentleugh, and raised her shut, bleeding eyes to face Harun. Such a tragic look on such a riveting woman would have stirred many hearts. But Harun''s didn''t experience the tiniest ripple.


    "On the battlefield, age, gender, past, affiliation; none of those hold weight. Ally or enemy? That''s all I need to know. By choosing to be a Sect Master in this time and age, you abandoned all right to mercy," Harun said. The situation was simple; Harun was lucky.


    Had Gulseni and the Vermilion Brides flown by hisnd and spotted its value, the whole sect would have dropped on his vige, and ughtered all he couldn''t protect. In his 166 years of life, Harun had seen such scenes too often, and had long since abandoned any self-destructive sense of mercy.


    But hearing Harun''s words, as if struck by waves of electricity, Gulseni forgot her pain, and trembled mid-air. When was thest time a man remained clear-headed in her presence and aimed to destroy her at all costs? Her lips curled into an erratic grin, and she threw her head back.


    "Beautifully said. I almost wish I could pull off your mask and engrave obedience in your eyes. What a pity that you''re too strong for us to hold back. Girls" Still bent-back, Gulseni clutched at her armsstill trembling from excitementand as her dripping blood fell, she said:


    "st him." As if from the start, they''d been waiting for those words, the Vermilion Brides ced one hand against their chests, and pped their cosmic pouches with the other. Like a coordinated military force, each summoned their natal treasures and all the artifacts they could simultaneously control with their divine senses.


    Daggers, wires, chakrams and swords appeared in the hundreds, all aiming at Harun. Gulseni matched her subordinates, summoning a silver mirror and two daggers that hovered beside her.


    A finger snap followed, and nearly 2,000 artifacts shot toward Harun at the speed of ming meteors. Holding nothing back, the Vermilion Brides pushed their divine senses and cultivation to the limit, making their treasures'' speed and strength reach the acme. The artifact bombing could take down a third-level Celestial Knight in one breath. Granted, she couldn''t sense his cultivation, Gulseni believed that Harun''s battle-power didn''t go over that threshold.


    But while the Vermilion Brides saw victory within reach, Harun''s hands formed a prayer sign, golden light shed in his left eye, and all artifacts gunning for his life came to a standstillthen tumbled down. Confused, the blinking brides didn''t see a threadsnake sneak into their rank, and expand to be a 200 meters tall World-Devouring Serpent.


    By the time they awoke to the serpent''s crushing presence, its ws had snapped Mukri''s chains, and in a joint assault, serpent and bull swept through the Vermilion Brides, sending them flying against sect buildings--all with critical wounds.


    Harun''s skin took a golden hue. The strength of his Mythical Idol Incarnation fully erupted and, as Gulseni sought countermeasures, Harun''s fist crashed into her chest, ignoring her slippery physique''s defenses to crush all her bones in one st!


    BANG!


    Gulseni''s body cratered, forming a 100 meters wide hole around her.


    "Mid-level...Celestial Knight." Atst, Gulseni appraised Harun''s true strength and spurted blood. But as her consciousness waned, and her sect members copsed under the beasts'' joint attacksHarun dropped to Gulseni''s side and stared into her red eyes.


    The surroundings changed. Bewitched by Harun''s gaze, Gulseni appeared in a world of eternal spring, with singing birds and vast prairies. In thatnd, matriarchy reigned supreme, all men kneeled inplete submission, and the breath of peace permeated the world.


    Sitting crossed-legged, Harun ced one hand on her forehead, filling her wounded eyes with radiant light.


    "Are you willing to follow me onto the road of enlightenment?" Harun asked, and in that instant, it was as if he''d turned into Gulseni''s raison d''tre, as if his every word and deed represented the absolute truth: sacred and invible.


    "I...am," Gulseni couldn''t reject the call, weing attachment to Harun''s Karmic Tree. By the time she realized what she''d done, it was toote. Standing up, Harun found and subdued the 12 Ladies, attaching them all to his Karmic Tree. Henceforth, their destiny belonged to him.

 Chapter 63: Welcome Banquet

    Chapter 63: Wee Banquet


    "My 850 years of cultivation are so...fragile," Gulseni whispered and broke into a self-deprecatingugh. She came from the Vermilion Bird n, a once noble lineage of Heaven that degenerated into vassals of the True Dragon n during the Second Emperor''s reign. Based in the Second Heaven, the Vermilion Birds, who specialized in healing arts, couldn''t resist their neighbors'' covetous gaze, and turned into one of the Dragons'' "spouse providers." Believing that the great ns'' ongoing strife served his house''s interest, the Second Emperor turned a blind eye to the practice. Agiri stopped it in a blood storm, but his death left those he sheltered at the mercy of the strongest ns.


    When the dragons came knocking, to preserve the many at the expense of the few, Gulseni''s house didn''t hesitate to give her upboasting of her cultivation speed with fawning looks while parading her like livestock. Never did she expect that on her "wedding day," Dilnaz''s vengeance would drop on the True Dragon n, exterminating them to thest soul. Without hesitation, Gulseni abandoned her rtives to join the Saint-Empress Court, embracing Dilnaz''s utopia of matriarchal hegemony.


    Just like Sv worshipped and wished to emte his grandfather, the Serpent Emperor, Gulseni worshipped Dilnaz and lived to fulfill her mistress'' aspirations. To that end, she created arts meant to bewitch and enve the opposite gender, rejected the position of inner disciple of the Saint Empress Court to descend on the Mountain Edge World, and assist Dilnaz from below. A pity that before that masked monk, her loyalty and cultivation proved worthless. The whole sect, crushed within five minutes, how pathetic.


    Gulseni didn''t understand why her sect''s 2,000 artifacts became inert before Harun. Didn''t understand why his golden fist could outright ignore her body''s defenses. Didn''t understand why he attacked her sect, why the Emissary Bull turned coat, and so many other facts. But above all, she couldn''t understand why her mind so easily surrendered to his words.


    Her willpower...wasn''t that low.


    But as her thoughts, regrets and resentment intertwined, Harun subdued thest of the 12 Ladies, and swept the Vermilion Brides'' half-destroyed headquarters. At his back, a towering redwood tree stood, invisible to all but himself. Around that tree''s branches, 148 white leaves swayed, with 13 more taking shape. Each leaf represented a person of Harun''s Karmic Tree. But unlike the 148 others, those 13 new leaves took a gray hue, proof of a Forced Attachment.


    The creator of the Six Incarnations Bridge didn''t care for right or wrong, but believed in cause and effect. In the Human Realm, Harun could force Attachment on mortals and, thanks to his Mythical Idol, could do the same to the celestials he defeated. In the Monstrous Realm, Monstrous Beasts would join the list of preys, and so on.


    By adding someone to his Karmic Tree, Harun held absolute control of their destiny, and couldmand them as he pleased. However, he couldn''t alter their personality and, with Forced Attachment, would reach his cap faster. It also increased the difficulty of his future breakthroughs. For those reasons, Harun didn''t n to convert Gulseni''s 800 disciples. As long as he controlled the head, the body would follow. Those 13 were more than enough.


    From the start, Harun never nned to ughter the Vermilion Brides. On the one hand, he''d lose valuable assetsand on the other, breed disasters. The Vermilion Brides served the Saint-Empress Court''s interests and controlled many countries. Destroying them would prompt relentless investigations, overrunning the First Range with legions of celestials and several God-level experts. Harun''s disguise was a small precaution against a potential failure, not a get-away-with-murder card.


    On the contrary, by subduing them, Harun got himself over 800 Celestial-level subordinates, indirect control of 19 countries, a reliable informationwork and a supplier of cultivation resources. At the same time, he could control the information they gave the Saint-Empress Court. The benefits spoke for themselves. But as he swept the Vermilion Brides'' ruined headquarters, Harun heaved a sigh.


    "I''m really in it, aren''t I? This is nothingpared to the battles toe. How many will I knowingly lead into fatal dangers to win this war-game and save my neck? Almost makes me miss my rogue cultivator days," Harun inwardly said and turned toward Gulseni.


    "Until further notice, the 12 Ladies will handle all administrative tasks and focus on rebuilding the sect. Gulseni will follow me to the new headquarters andmunicate with you from a distance. For the next 15 years, the Vermilion Brides must pay 60% of their ie as tributes and donate all requested resources to the headquarters.


    Focus on information gathering, minimize overt interactions with the outside world, and notify the Barbaric Demon Stronghold that you received the message. The Stronghold Master must expect you to beg him for assistance against the Soul Refining Hall, ignore him." Harun gave the new directive, and like all brigands worth the name, hauled Gulseni onto his shoulder.


    Speechless, the 12 Ladies stared ck-jawed, but couldn''t resist Harun''smand.


    "Unscrupulous scoundrel, let go of me!" Gulseni barked. Yet, her body remained obedient, not showing Harun any resistance. Unlike Mukri, who only had ess tomon-celestial knowledge, Gulseni knew much about the world''s warring forces. How could Harun not milk her dry? The World-Devouring Serpent turned into a green orb and flew back into Harun''s back.


    Ambling toward Harun, Mukri bowed, offering his muscr back to his new boss, "Master, you''ve just exhausted yourself against those criminals and should rest. Please do me the honor of riding me," Mukri offered with fawning eyes that gave Harun waves of goosebumps. At first, despite Harun''s assurance, Mukri believed this sh would most likely end in a pyrrhic victory. But after witnessing this part of his boss'' skill-set, his thoughts underwent a 180 turn. A man that understood the times, Mukri didn''t doubt that Harun would soon rise to prominenceestablishing a dreadful force. This was the best time to ingratiate himself with him!


    But as Mukri pictured all the benefits he''d receive, Harun took three steps back, and in a serious tone, said:


    "Sorry, I do not ride horses and bullsa matter of principles." At first tricked by Harun''s serious tone, Mukri didn''t connect the dots until he saw the odd grimace twisting Gulseni''s face. His eyes widened, but before he could clear his name, Harun fled back to the Birusk vige.


    "Wait, Master wait! My intentions are pure!" Mukri pledged, but Harun only ran faster.


    Back to the Evergreen vige, Harun summoned his devotees and made a surprising announcement:


    "Bring the wine, bring the fruits, bring the pies, and let''s start a banquet...to wee our new member!" Harun proimed, but as his nsmen got to work, Mukri and Gulseni''s eyes narrowed at him.


    "What stunt are you trying to pull?" Gulseni probed. Although by now she could guess that Harun didn''t belong to the Liberation Temple, she didn''t believe that this fake monk had any kindness to offer her, either.


    "Hum...previously, we were enemies. But now that you''re my subordinate, I naturally must treat you well." Harun casually replied. How could he tell Gulseni that he just wanted to feast, but needed an excuse to still look professional?


    Yeah, she didn''t have to know that.

 Chapter 64: Mehran Hisyar

    Chapter 64: Mehran Hisyar


    Following Harun''s orders, the Birusk nsmen expanded the vige''s tavern and constructed a banquet hall for official feast purposes. However, it still couldn''t fit over 100 adults, so Harun opted for the traditional open-air feast. Delighted to serve their Lord, the Birusk nsmen prepared the tables and got to cooking work. Meanwhile, Harun took the central seat, keeping Gulseni at his right and a grumbling Mukri at his left. Gulseni''s eyes observed the vige with scrutiny and, astonished by all she saw, she failed to keep her mouth shut.


    "By all the Heavens, how could such a tiny vige stand above a future Treasure Land? Why didn''t I know that such a cultivation paradise stood within reach of my sect?" Gulseni asked herself. Perfect Spirit Trees, Self-Renewing Soil, Rejuvenation Herbs, me Spirit Grass, Body Refining Leaves, those five resources alone could attract thousands of disciples and breed a strong sect.


    Rejuvenation Herbs restrained aging, hunger and boosted Life Essence reserves. me Spirit Grass purified bloodlines, increased the potency of innate skills, and allowed cultivators to condense an Innate me. Body Refining Leaves strengthened the flesh and bones, and Perfect Spirit Trees sped up cultivation speed. Those were the basic benefits, not even ounting for the alchemicbinations possible. Better, Self-Renewing Soil ensured that all resources plucked would regrow within a short timesecuring endless suppliesand they still had more.


    In the cultivation world, such a dreadfulbination was rarely seen. The only problem was the currentck of cultivation veins. But within two-three years, they''d take shape. The First Range didn''t have a single Blessed Land, to say nothing of a future Treasure Land. Thinking of how she missed a genuine treasure house, Gulseni felt bitter and regretful. But then she nced at the still masked Harun, and realized that thisnd might very well be the reason for his attack.


    "You are correct," Harun replied to the unspoken question, reminding Gulseni that he could now see through her thoughts. Of course, even without that ability, it didn''t take a genius to guess what went through her mind. Hearing the confirmation, Gulseni sighed, and became more eptant of her fate. If before, the world was a cutthroat ce, following the Son of Heaven''s death, it became a full-blown ughternd. Had the Vermilion Brides learned of thisnd''s changes, Gulseni would be the first to rally her forces and order an all-out assault. A pity that they were one step short.


    "I have questions for you and want prompt answers. First, why are you based in the most backwater region of the Dark Stone Country?" Harun asked. With one Celestial Knight, dozens of Celestial Guards, and hundreds of Celestial Kin, the Vermilion Brides only had two rivals in the First Range, and could upy betternds than their current headquarters. Although the Dark Stone Country ranked first among the six grand nations, Harun couldn''t understand the sacrifice.


    "Up until 10 years ago, we operated in an average country of the Second Range. There, sects of our caliber are rtivelymon, and due to over 100 years of exposure, while we nted spies in many sects and countries, we were having a hard time making significant progress. Most Celestial-Knight-led sects disdain the First Range, so after the Peace Treaty, we moved here, and quickly took over 18 kingdoms and 1 grand nation," Gulseni started.


    Starting with the Hundred Infernal Years, mortals no longer dared call themselves emperors. They downgraded empires to grand nations, and their emperors to high kings.


    "Two other forces had the same thought: the Soul Refining Hall and Immtion de Sect. As a branch of the Truth Scrying Grotto, the Soul Refining Hall follows the Dream Seer Path. Relying on sinister cultivation methods and techniques, they took over 12 kingdoms and 3 grand nations. The Immtion de Sect controls 10 kingdoms and 1 grand nation, making it the weakest in terms of influence. But pure strength wise, we''re about the same. Of the grand nations, only the Dark Stone country remains independent.


    Their high king, Mehran Hisyar, is just a peak-stage Daoist Realm cultivator, but managed to use the strength gap between the Soul Refining Hall and our two sects to bnce the sh, and keep his country independent. When the Soul Refining Hall makes a move, he lets us unite and oppose them. Before we try to split the country or trigger revolts, he smothers the sources of strife through either diplomacy or direct eradication. To prevent assassinations, he cultivated a secret art that split his cultivation between over 100 avatars, but also made his cultivation speed 100 times slower. They''re scattered across the world. Kill one and another appears, and no one knows where the real monarch hides.


    He knows that we''re aiming for the country''s ck Titanium mines, critical resources for top-grade treasure refining, and are restrained by the Peace Treaty that prevents outright extermination ofrge sects or states so, he dares thwart our ns. With no alternatives, we all moved to the Dark Stone Country, aiming to gradually erode his prestige and have the Hisyar n rece him with a less troublesome prince," Gulseni exined, but recalling how Harun suppressed her sect''s 2,000 artifacts, she wondered if stronger treasures still had value.


    Harun thought otherwise. Only he possessed the Eye of Luminous Treasureenabling him to seek treasure troves and restrain all artifacts under the Heavens. Others didn''t have the same luck. His sect and disciples would need strong treasures to protect themselves. However, Harun couldn''t help but admire the High King of the Dark Stone country. Just a Daoist Realm expert, but to protect his country''s independence and resources, he dared oppose three Celestial-Knight-led sects.


    This was a genuine example of an ant challenging giants, or demigods in this case. Should no one intervene, his struggles were destined to end with his tragic death. Perhaps his own citizens would one day scorn him. Yet, he didn''t flinch, and put his all on the line to fulfill his role of monarch. Harun wasn''t the type to gamble his life for duty, but that didn''t stop him from showing such individuals the respect they deserved.


    A pity that while Mehran fought against the three sects'' conquest, Harun''s tavern grew in his capital and, in 15 years, would enable him to take over the Dark Stone country with an irresistible momentum.


    "Watching a fellow nobleman''s carriage crush a starving beggar, an enlightened boy asked his father, ''Is powerlessness a crime?'' The father wanted to tell him that it wasn''t. That the world was wrong and ought to be changed. But ultimately, he couldn''t bear deceiving his son and said:


    ''This isn''t about powerlessness but discrimination. You must understand that Heaven discriminates against all but itself, and just like a rabbit cannot resist a wolf''s fangs and must run to survive, a beggar shouldn''t crawl before a noble''s carriage. Nobles must bow to the king or face execution. The king bows before the Gods, and all bow before Heaven. Heaven gave us all precise ces, privileging some above others. Bing powerless before the privileged is natural. The beggar failed to respect his cefailed to transcend Heaven''s Wind so caused his own death.''"


    This was amon story in the Noxious me World''s aristocratic circles, a petty use of reverse psychology to teach noble scions why they stood above the masses but below the monarch. Harun didn''t buy it, but was forced to admit that, in this case, it somehow applied to Mehran. He refused to bow to the Gods but didn''t have the tools to exceed the ce Heaven granted him.


    But as Harun''s thoughts wandered, Gulseni pursued.


    "Of course, that was all in the past. When the Obsidian Soul Stone mine and Abyssal River appear, the Dark Stone Country will turn into a battlefield. The Forgotten Soul Graveyard is only 100 km north of the capital. Either the sects ally to stop the Soul Refining Hall, or it secures those two things and refines this country''s lives to breed God-level experts. Should they seed, the Truth Scrying Grotto will erase all traces of the matter, and the Dark Stone Country''s name will vanish from history."


    Unlike other sects, the Truth Scrying Grotto put its branches under rigorous tests. Only when they passed the tests could they be true subordinates of that mysterious faction. The disclosure of the divination was part of the Soul Refining Hall''s test. If they failed to resist thepetition, they didn''t deserve the emblem of the Truth Scrying Grotto!

 Chapter 65: Jiyan’s Blacklist

    Chapter 65: Jiyan¡¯s cklist


    More questions followed and, at the end of the discussion, Harun felt that the world had be an even bloodier mess than he initially thought. Annoyed, he took off his golden mask, throwing it onto the table. For the first time, Gulseni witnessed the looks of her new boss, and her jaw almost hit the floor.


    "What? Cat got your tongue? Never seen a baby-faced monk before? Don''t drool. Even if you throw yourself at me, I won''t necessarily bed you," Harun rebuked the captive sect mistress, and summoned a gourd of dandelion wine. A man of clear priorities, Harun always kept at least 10 varieties of alcohol-filled gourds on him. Before his devotees prepared the feast, he could enjoy an appetizer.


    At his right, Gulseni still couldn''t close her mouth. How could this adorable baby boy be the dreadful expert that crushed her sect? Did he cultivate the mythical Evesting Scripture? This couldn''t be his true appearance, right? Confused and annoyed, Gulseni kept staring at Harun''s face, but unable to endure it further, Mukri stepped in.


    "What is wrong with you? So old, yet so eager. Master is only five years old! Show some restraint!" Mukri snapped at Gulseni and snorted for good measure.


    "How do you know?" Harun and Gulseni both turned toward Mukri, and with squinting eyes, asked like a choir. Having not expected the sudden cooperation, Mukri floundered, but thinking that Harun was putting him to the test, he regained hisposure.


    "Humph, isn''t that obvious? So much for a Celestial Knight. If Master appears as a five-year-old, it means that he is five-year-old. His mental age doesn''t matter. The appearance he keeps reflects the image he desires! So, as subordinates, we need not probe further!" Mukri proimed with righteous zeal, turning Gulseni speechless. In her 864 years of existence, she''d seen her fair share of barefaced sycophants, but this Emissary Bull outdid them all. Undoubtedly, he''d be a pir of the


    BAM!


    But as Gulseni pictured Mukri''s future triumph, Harun''s right fist crashed into the bull, sending him shooting across the sky. Terror-stricken, Gulseni leaped back, and ignoring her, Harun made a grasping motion at Mukri, pulling him back with a surge of telekic energies to knock him down with a knuckle strike.


    "Master, what have I"


    "The gal! So you mean that for the past 150 years, I wanted to look like a pipsqueak? You even dare call the thorn in my heart the ''image I desire?'' Let me redesign your face!" Harun stood on top of Mukri''s downed body, and snapped without an ounce of Spiritual Lord dignity.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    "Master...I was wrong! I was wrong!" Mukri pleaded under the rain of tiny fists, but Harun showed no mercy. Before the sight of a baby boy pummeling a colossal bull, Gulseni''s face turned blue.


    "And so the baby-faced monk became a mobster," Gulseni blurted out. But the nearby Birusk children thought otherwise, believing that in his grand generosity, the Spiritual Lord braved public scorn to re-educate the depraved bull. What a selfless lord!


    After venting his frustration, Harun flew back to his chair, nced left and right, and realized he''d exposed himself. His gangster face took a 180 turn, and he shed theds a radiant smile. Graced with the Lord''s light, the Birusk children prostrated themselves and eximed, "All hail Lord Birusk!"


    Having nothing else to say, Gulseni nced at Mukri, who sobbed with uncontroble tears and said, "Instead of ying the wimp, go train your Devil Essence. How unsightly. Even with a Devil Stone, you''re still reduced to a punching bag. If I had half your luck, I''d have conquered the Mountain Edge World already." Recalling how Mukri stabbed her in the back, Gulseni couldn''t resist pouring salt on his wounds. The words had the opposite effect, and Mukri leaped back onto his feet.


    "Humph! After I''ve mastered my Devil Essence, I can beat you ck and blue. My future is limitless, but as a loyal servant, I won''t take offense from a future concubine''s words," Mukri jabbed back, making Gulseni''s face pale at the words. Mukri''s current control of Devil Essence reached near-zero. Besides activating and deactivating it, he couldn''t do much. But after several decades of harsh training, when he mastered the principles hidden within, Gulseni indeed couldn''t handle him.


    This time, Harun nodded in approval, thinking that the bull was quite sensible. But then the word "concubine" pealed in his mind, and Jiyan''s figure took shape. By now, the Birusk nsmen had finished the preparations, and carried booze and tes to fill the tables. Harun closed his eyes, and a slender girl of empyrean beauty appeared between Gulseni and he.


    "Beloved, missed me?" Harun jested.


    "Naturally," Jiyan spontaneously replied, meeting Harun''s jest with an enchanting smile. But then she assessed her surroundings, sweeping Mukri, the Birusk nsmen, and Gulseni at her right--her eyes stopped there. Feeling the temperature drop, and a chill running up her spine, Gulseni met Jiyan''s icy-blue gaze, and her eyes almost popped out of her sockets.


    "Mistress?" The great n elders and Empyrean nsmen aside, not many knew what Jiyan looked like. Still, in the contours of her face, Gulseni saw striking simrities to the mistress of her heart. The mistake didn''t trigger any change in Jiyan''s gaze, and though her current cultivation couldn''t match Gulseni''s, under the pressure of those piercing eyes, the sect mistress shivered.


    "So young yet so murderous. How did I offend her?" Gulseni asked herself.


    Sensing the atmosphere tense up, Harun believed that some presentations were in order and said, "Gulseni, Jiyan. Jiyan, Gulseni. Jiyan, I just conquered her sect and added her to our ranks. Gulseni, this is the great elder of my Birusk n. My right hand man, or woman in this case. Oh" Instantly, Harun realized the mistake, and his tone underwent a 180 turn.


    "Bold Gulseni! How dare you upy my right hand''s seat despite my repeated warnings?" Harun barked, and muddled by the change of tune, Gulseni didn''t take note of the name''s implications--stuttering to no end:


    "Y-you said"


    "Are you trying to drive a wedge between us?"


    "I"


    "Unrepentant! Mukri, take her and go runps! I''m sick of you two!" Harun ordered, and with a "I got you boss" wink, Mukri followed Gulseni, who under Harun''s orders, couldn''t resist runningps around the Birusk vige. Satisfied, Jiyan pulled out a jade slip, engraved the name "Gulseni" at the top of the list, and took her rightful seatasserting her dominance.


    "You were feelingcent. But now the house matron showed up and, just like me, you must runpson your wee banquet at that. This is karma!" Mukri chortled, making poor Gulseni break into tears. Perhaps, across all eras, no one ever experienced such a "Wee Banquet."


    Meanwhile, the Birusk nsmen''s dazed eyes darted between Jiyan and Gulseni, both that kind of appeared out of nowhere, and in awe, said:


    "Lord Birusk is extraordinary. With a breath, he summons peerless goddesses, and sets up his personal harem."


    "And here I was thinking of offering him my daughter."


    "Bah, his standards are too high for the current n. Maybe in the next generation"


    "Lord Birusk is almighty! All hail Lord Birusk!"

 Chapter 66: Why Should I?

    Chapter 66: Why Should I?


    Following the establishment of the pack hierarchy, Mukri and Gulseni returned to the banquet, upying two seats several meters from Jiyanwho filled Harun''s three-legged jade cup with gentle care. Faced with theplicity between Harun and Jiyan, Mukri and Gulseni both had the same reaction, "The die is cast. Our great elder will one day be the great mistress."


    Oblivious to the two''s thoughts, Jiyan used the excuse of his small frame to personally feed Harun several dishes.


    "You''re still growing and need your fill of fruit and vegetables. Eat this."


    "They added me Spirit Grass to this wine, which makes it useful to your cultivation, have a sip."


    "I''ve just tasted this Five-Divine-Fruits Pie, and it''s out of this world. Have a bite."


    "Mhm, this drink is softer but suits the mood. Just drink from my cup."


    "A pity that you can''t eat meat in the open. Don''t worry though, I predicted that you''d throw a feast upon return, and have roasted a few pigs for you in the Inner World''s kitchen."


    Unlike Harun, Jiyan couldn''t teleport from a room to another. However, the doors remained, enabling her to move freely within the System World. Again, Harun had to admit that Jiyan knew and cared for him the most. If the others were only half as sensible, the world would be his oyster.


    "As expected of my Jiyan. You alone outdo 100 subordinates and make me feel like I can just rx and let the world take its course. You''ve already turned into an irreceable pir of the sect, and it hasn''t been founded yet," Harun gave Jiyan some outrageous praise. But used to his unrivaled shamelessness, she arched one eyebrow, ignoring the unnecessary to target the main point.


    "Your...Jiyan?" Jiyan stressed the words and leaned forwardpressing her face closer to Harun''s. Unbothered, he leaned in, nearly brushing his lips against hers. Tipsy from all the liquor, she didn''t care. But as sober as a flying hawk, Harun merely took advantage of the situation.


    "I have already seen all you have to hide. If not my Jiyan, who else''s can you be? It''s toote to have second thoughts, and I''m never letting you go," Harun whispered in Jiyan''s ear, who closed her eyes and hummed as if to enjoy the melody of the words.


    Mukri and Gulseni observed it all from a distance and, despite her drunkenness, Gulseni felt that enjoying thefort of reciprocal affections, did hold much appeal. A pity that, for one reason or another, most disciples of the Saint-Empress Court didn''t believe in such fantasies. Dilnaz''s figure shed in Gulseni''s mind. The name, "Jiyan" followed, and her eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Oh, it''s the divine princess?" Gulseni muttered, then passed out drunk. With Devil Essence supporting him, Mukri endured a few more drinks and leaped on the dancefloor to shake his rump alongside the spinning Birusk nsmen.


    "I will be a hegemon, a Devil Monarch, and dominate the world!" Mukri pledged, then passed out. The songs and dances of the Birusk nsmen grew quieter, as one after the other, they copsed from drunkenness. Although Harun asideall got beverages matched to their cultivation basesthey still had limits and, half an hour afterward, only Harun remained sober. Jiyan passed out in his arms, and Harun held onto her like a priceless treasure.


    ...


    Meanwhile, within the Myriad Devil Pce, the Devil Ancestor lounged on a couch-shaped throne, with his eyes closed, and his right cheek resting on his fist. A session of voices echoed in his mind.


    "Your Majesty, following a minor disagreement, the fourth prince destroyed the Sentient Wood Land, and was subsequently imprisoned by the second prince. His Second Highness humbly requests that you restore that Land-Verse and its people."


    "I will make an exception and let him do it himself. As for the fourth prince, seal that unruly psychopath''s cultivation and throw him into the Ghost Vessel World. I may free him one of these days...or not. Next..."


    "Your Majesty, the ughter Ancestor is concerned by the Truth Scrying Grotto''s recent activities in the Heavenly Dream Land, and wonders if he should exterminate them."


    "No. Next"


    "Ancestral One, the God-Emperor of the Evanescent me Land broke through to the Primeval Exalt Realm. Knowing that he reached his limits, he wishes to offer you his empress, hoping for a few boons."


    "Unnecessary. She''s blowing his brothers already."


    "Huh...should I tell him that?"


    "Sure, and don''t forget to record his reaction. Next"


    "Your Majesty, the Night Ancestor emerged from his million-year seclusion cycle, and requests an audience." For the first time since the session''s start, the Devil Ancestor''s eyelids twitched, and he rose from his couch-throne.


    "From now on, unless it''s about Pure Wives Donations, do not disturb me. Let the Second Prince and Empyrean Ancestor handle all administrative matters for the next ten cosmic cycles. I will meet the Night Ancestor at the Boundless Sea''s shores," The Devil Ancestor ordered and vanished from the imperial jade pce.


    "They do already" the subordinate wanted to say, but knowing that a grim fate would follow, kept his mouth shut.


    The Devil Ancestor reappeared before a translucent sea that seemingly stretched to the world''s end. Arms crossed behind his back, he watched the rising waves with mild interest.


    A veil of darkness dropped from the sky, stopping at the Devil Ancestor''s right in the form of a pitch-ck cloud.


    "Greetings, Your Majesty," the Night Ancestor''s emotionless voice echoed.


    "Long time no see. But as an Ancestral One, you know better than anyone that you''ve reached the end of your path. What are you still spending trillions of years of cultivation on? Want to change the Ancestor rankings?" Without shifting his eyes from the Boundless Sea, the Devil Ancestor asked in a half-joking tone.


    "Your Majesty jests. All Ancestors that reached the end through the traditional path are at the same level. Cultivation for us is just a routine. Even the Empyrean and ughter Ancestors are not any stronger than us. Golden Cicada and Your Majesty are the only exceptions. Some even believe that if not for that event, Golden Cicada would now be Your Majesty''s equal. A pity..." the Night Ancestor replied.


    "Then I should thank them, shouldn''t I? If not for those Ancestors'' foolishness and petty schemes, Golden Cicada would still be alive. A pity that they couldn''t wait until he reached his peak. But tell me, if you had to choose between him and I, who would you give this world to?"


    "Utopias breed boredom. There is no wless order. But from a cultivator and non-Devil''s standpoint, I''d prefer Golden Cicada''s reign. Your Majesty has no interest in cultivation. You do not block progress, but don''t invest in it, either. In contrast, Golden Cicada revolutionized the cultivation world and was a much more reasonable man."


    "Are you sure it''s wise to speak so candidly beside an unreasonable tyrant?"


    "Hiding one''s thoughts before Your Majesty is pointless. On the contrary, I might anger you and suffer a fate worse than the Void Ancestor''s. I''d like to avoid choking on a pike for the rest of eternity."


    "A sensible man. Strange that some grow infinitely wiser after bing Ancestors, while others still cling on desperate hopes. If all of them were like you, that event wouldn''t have happened, and they would still be here." Here, the Devil Ancestor paused, closing his eyes as his mind drifted to distant memories.


    "But Your Majesty let it happen. Even at the critical point, you only had one thing to say to dispel the misunderstanding. Why didn''t y--"


    "Why should I?" Pitch-ck essence poured out of the Devil Ancestor, suppressing all words in the Night Ancestor''s throat.


    "I do not care for his circumstances. By challenging my authority, he offended my bottom line. How dare he ughter his way into my pce and bark questions at my face? Who does he think he is? Who does he think I am? Complete Annihtion is the least he deserved." Bending his head to the right, the Devil Ancestor cast the ck cloud a sidelong nce, then carried on.


    "Unlike what you all seem to think, I somewhat enjoy ignorance and dislike using my omniscience on close kin. I have conquered the world and mastered destiny. All follow my whims and none can challenge me. With a finger-snap, I can alter reality. Ancestors grovel and call me Eternal Sovereign. But who could think that when I tried to do things the normal way, the result would be...such an epic failure? As expected, sovereign power suits me best." Before those words, the Night Ancestor had nothing else to say.


    Their exchange went on for half an hour, after which the Night Ancestor vanished from the Boundless Sea''s shores. Alone, the Devil Ancestor waved his right hand, and a screen of Harun tearing through pork chops appeared before him.


    "Child, if you didn''t want to suffer Karmic Bonds, why did you still cultivate the Six Incarnation Bridge and follow the Unyielding Path? Only one Bridge enables cultivators to break free of all karma. But despite treading it, you refused to give your bonds up. It''s not that I don''t want to let you go. You just keeping back."

 Chapter 67: Nine Venoms Legacy

    Chapter 67: Nine Venoms Legacy


    The next morning, while the Spiritual Wood Puppets cleaned the banquet''s mess, Harun drove the n into maximum cultivation mode. Harun didn''t fear exposing the System World to the Birusk nsmen, but aiming to keep the entrance as a reward for the most outstanding or meritorious, Harun set up six Toxic Ascension Roads across the n, using them to train all his nsmen.


    And so time flew by. As the sect''s main crafter, refiner and alchemist, Harun had a tremendous amount of work to do, which hampered his own cultivation. In the early stages of his faction, that much was inevitable. To minimize his time consumption, Harun ignored treasure refining. Be it from his reserves or the Vermilion Brides'' treasury, Harun didn''tck in treasures suitable for his faction''s current needs. Instead, he just added poisons where needed.


    Across the following three years, Harun produced a plethora of pills for his sect, and freed 60 square meters of ground to bury the carcasses of countless beasts and bandit corpses to produce a steady supply of Yin Essence. The Vermilion Brides helped secure the supply, while also keeping him informed of all matters, small orrge, rted to the Dark Stone Country.


    Yin Essence primarily came from souls. Dead souls produced more than living souls, and the more resentful the fallen soul, the more extreme the Yin produced. The Extreme Yin Prison, for example, was the result of an ancient war belonging to the lost part of the Heavenly Dream Land''s history. As for why females typically possessed more yin than yang, this was due to their higher attunement to the Soul Realma matter for another time.


    Where the dead gathered, resentful souls followed. Three years of umtion enabled Harun''s graveyard to produce Lesser Yin Essence. Compared to his Decaying Flower and Inner Cultivation Room, it wasn''t worth mentioning. However, the Essence grew purer and more extreme with timeshowing great promise. The day-night bnce across the Birusk n''s one square kilometers ofnd shifted. Regardless of seasons, days became shorter, and nights longer. But the nsmen didn''t care, for their Lord''s golden light had long be the only radiance they relied on.


    Still, dozens of Luminous Pearls now floated in the vigebrightening it at night. The relentless pill refining not only enabled Harun to build a vast stockpile but also brought his refinement skills to the eighth-star grade, enabling him to produce resources of Celestial-Knight-level without much troublegranted he had the resourceshe did.


    Beneath the Birusk n''s soil, a blessed-grade cultivation vein condensed, and made fast progress toward the treasure grade. To not disappoint their Lord''s expectations, the nsmen spent their time between cultivation and breeding new children for the n. So great was their determination that Harun had to remind them to enjoy the asional banquet.


    The three lucky stars proved to be a formidable source of luck-gathering, and a Lunar God Flower bloomed in the Birusk n''s field, further pushing the bnce to the Yin side, while also providing exquisite Lunar and Greater Yin Essence. Harun moved the nt to his Soul Gathering Graveyard, hastening the Yin growth.


    Not one man cked off. All worked in concerted efforts, and moved by the Birusk n''s devotion and determination, Gulseni gradually became more epting of her fate. As a celestial, she often cultivated on top of Perfect Spirit Trees, transforming their wless Spiritual Qi into Heavenly Qi. Mukri focused on mastering his Devil Essence, and Jiyan, wellshe crossed the Toxic Ascension Road in one week, reaching the peak of the First Step.


    The Second Step was divided into four stages: Yin-Refining, Soul-Exalting, Inner Truth, and Tri-Yin Core. With free ess to Harun''s Inner Cultivation Room, Jiyan refined the finest Greater Yin Essence and reached the soul-exalting stage in three years. Fortunately, Harun kept up with her speed,pleting the Third Step. At the end of the third year, Harun''s focus shifted to his personal growth, leaving the n''s micromanagement to Gulseni and Jiyan, who also learned alchemy and the guebringer craft from him.


    Throughout the following years, besidespleting more steps for the Myriad Poisons Bridge, cultivating Sovereign Essence, mysteries, and honing his control of the Mythical Idol Incarnation''s abilities, Harun created several techniquesmainly relying on the mnemonics of the Art of the Decaying Flower and Jiyan''s Chained Sword Sutra to evolve arts and abilities suitable for his faction. Oftentimes, he''d merge his mind with Jiyan''s, and when the two worked in symbiosis, they achieved five times the results with half the effort.


    Thus, 12 years flew by. A total of 15 years since the banquet. Turbulent winds disturbed the Dark Stone Country as, thanks to the propaganda of the top sects, Mehran''s reputation dropped to abysmal levels. Frommoners to nobles, all cursed him.


    Jiyan reached the peak of the Inner-Truth stage andpleted her Dao Foundation. On cultivation alone, she could match ate-stage Celestial Knight. But having mastered her Devil Essence and a new secret art, her true strength was hard to fathom. At the very least, she didn''t lose to her past celestial strength. No, she surpassed that level already.


    On average, each of the Birusk n''s households produced four children. The vigers'' numbers soared to 350, with 315 bing fully fledged cultivators. 173 reached Organ-Quenching, 95 reached Blood-Quenching, 31 reached Bone-Quenching, 16pleted the First Step, with the 3 lucky stars, Zoran, Cildar and Gulik, standing at the helm. The remaining 45 were either flesh-quenching kids, or babies that''d yet to start cultivating, and weren''t counted in the outer sect.


    From a poverty-stricken hamlet, the Birusk n now rose to an affluent neighborhood of magnificent stone buildings, with 120 Spiritual Wood Puppets, each with the efficiency of ten veteran workers, handling all manualbor in perfect coordination.


    Resources abounded.


    Facilities filled the streets.


    The n ground and cultivation veins reached the Treasure-grade.


    The weakest of the outer disciples could defeat Daoist Realm experts, while the 19 strongest could y Celestial Kin. And the sect master aside, three experts above the Celestial Knight Realm held the fort. Now, across the First Range, unless the top experts all left the base, none could threaten the Birusk n.


    A youth sat crossed-legged on a sky-blue redwood''s branch. Purple mist swirled around his form alongside emerald-green and pitch-ck haze. The youth looked about 18, with medium-length ck hair tied in aid back ponytail. His pale-white skin shone under the multicolor haze, with the corners of his ck robe fluttering slightly. A silver-blue moon tattoo stood at the middle of his forehead, reminding all of his identity.


    "Congrattions, boss, onpleting the second quest! Reward time!" The system''s voice echoed in Harun''s mind, his lips curled into a lopsided grin, a dark-blue Dharma Protector took shape at his back, and his eyes sprang open.


    Releasing the pressure of his aura, Harun stretched out his arms, watching the result of his 15 years of hard work from over 100 meters of altitude.


    "Nine Venoms, an inherited line of Nine gue Lords, each pushing an aspect of the Myriad Poisons Bridge to the limitsall starting with and returning to my Ancestral Venom.


    Each of the Nine Venoms shall represent an eternal pir of the sect, and an inheritance in its own right.


    That being the case, I suppose there''s no harm in calling us...the Nine Venoms Sect."

 Chapter 68: Withering Sword Art vs. Infernal Claw Style (1)

    Chapter 68: Withering Sword Art vs. Infernal w Style (1)


    "In thosest 15 years, you''ve made tremendous progress. If not because you had to monitor the n''s growth, perhaps you''d have gone a step further. The Bridge you created is remarkable. Anyone with the determination can reach Celestial level within a few decadeswithout relying on Time Chambers. True talents possess a limitless future. Speed wise, it''s probably one of the fastest even in the Ancestral Landif not the fastest. Strength wise, it loses to three in the early steps, but can proudly face all in theter steps. The Fifth Step is a masterstroke, and bybining it with the Nine Venoms Legacy, a final breakthrough is possible.


    Son, I''m more than satisfied with your current results. Keep it up." The System gave Harun unexpected encouragements and summoned his reward. In the Birusk n''s sky, a dark-green vortex took shape, and from it descended a ten meters wide monument. Built in imperial jade, the monument, a jade-green pyramid of over 1,000, joint insect-shaped figurines above which rested a cultivation altar, nimblynded before Harun''s temple, briefly gathering the attention of the Birusk nsmen. But now used to miraculous sight, they didn''t dwell on it, and resumed their cultivation routine.


    "When you said Hundred Insects Altar, I don''t know why I expected a stone monument with 100 crawling insects. Your naming sense sucks but...hum, I guess this is better." Harun leaned over, observing the Hundred Insects Altar with his Divine Sense. Each of the insect figurines represented an insect species, beetles, butterflies, bees, ants, flies; there were far too many to count, and they all produced toxic beasts of the given species. For thest stage of the Second Step, this was critical.


    In the Tri-Yin-Core stage, experts had to refine the souls and essence of countless toxic beasts to condense three Noxious Yin Cores. Past that step, they''d at least possess Ascending-God-level strength. But while Harun stockpiled legions of toxic beasts and had several breeding stocks, he couldn''t guarantee that his sect''s growth pace wouldn''t outpace the supply. The Hundred Insect Altar solved this problem, automatically producing about 6,000 toxic beasts per day, which it stocked in its own Inner Space World.


    At the same time, insect reserves acted as fuel for a defensive formation the Birusk n could use to shelter itself. Harun could grant and strip control of the altar as he pleased, which simplified much. With a step, he crossed hundreds of meters to appear above a secluded grove east of the vige. After the n''s soil-grade rose to the treasure-grade, all Perfect Spirit Trees became Spirit God Trees, sky-blue redwoods that filled the atmosphere with boundless Qi, increased Essence grade, enlightenment and cultivation speed. Several of those redwoods formed the grove above which Harun now hovered.


    Bright-blue light coiled around the trunks and branches, and despite theck of breeze, the leaves swayed, as if filled with a will of their own. Ignoring this phenomenon, Harun kept his presence concealed and observed the scene below. Six people stood in the grove, three young men that sat against a redwood tree, observing a white-haired goddess standing against a humanoid bull and a red-haired vixen: Jiyan, Mukri and Gulseni.


    Fifteen years of cultivation only perfected Jiyan''s entrancing looks. Her gaze grew sharper, her aura mixed gentleness with an invible dignity. Though, in rare moments, an absentminded and slightly dunce look would make some question her genius. Mukri and Gulseni''s eyes shone with seriousness, while the three young men, Zoran, Cildar and Gulik, glued their attention on the uing sh.


    Gulseni and Mukri exchanged a nce. Thetter stomped his hooves, and the fight began.


    Cracks spread across the grove as Mukri''s stomp triggered a minor earthquake and raised six earthen walls before Jiyan. On the walls'' surface, dozens of pikes protruded, all aiming for Jiyan. A salvo of earthen projectiles followed, with hundreds upon hundreds of spears shooting toward Jiyan. In thosest 15 years, Mukri not only solidified his cultivation, but broke through to thete-stage of the Earth Fusion Realm. His control over the Fire and Earth elements had reached a splendid level, but better than anyone, he knew that this move alone couldn''t deter Jiyan.


    At his left, Gulseni pped her chest, summoning her natal artifact: a silver mirror. Silver light fments coiled around its frame, gathering at the center to form an orb of pure energy. The mirror soared into the sky, expanded to a full ten meters, and revolved on itself as if ready to shoot all in the vicinityit only fired at Jiyan. But before thebination of silver beams and earthen spears, Jiyan remained stoic and waved her right hand.


    An ordinary-looking steel sword appeared in her right hand, dark-gray essence poured out, and she swept her sword in a casual, horizontal sh. Waves of gray, Withering Essence rose toward the earthen spikes and walls, instantly turning them into debris. The silver beams from Gulseni mirrors collided with an invisible wall, preventing them from grazing Jiyan''s figure.


    However, by the time the earth formation copsed, both Mukri and Gulseni had vanished. And as Jiyan''s formless wall restrained the beams'' onught, massive rocks broke from the ground, soared into the air, and locked her from all directions. Bright-red mes set the rocks aze, dozens of ming stones set in rings, and leaving Jiyan no way out. To the onlooker, this didn''t look like a spar, but a life and death sh between arch-nemeses.


    Hurtling at their prey like meteors, the ming stones crashed into Jiyan. But undisturbed, she swept her sword in a 360 arc, and the ming rocks turned into smoke and dust. At that time, Mukri and Gulseni drilled out of the groundnking Jiyan with their strongest moves. Large orbs of seething magma surrounded Mukri''s fists. Thend beneath Jiyan''s feet cracked and trapped her legs underground. Bright-red mes surrounded Gulseni''s legs and, holding nothing back, Mukri released his Devil Essence.


    As if helpless, Jiyan floundered. But when the two''s moves crashed into her, they ignored her body and mmed into one another instead.


    BANG!


    Fueled by his Devil Essence, Mukri''s magma fists carried the strength to contend with a mid-stage Celestial Knight, and directly sent Gulseni flying against the closest tree. Repelled by the impact''s force, Mukri dropped beside Jiyan, his eyes full of confusion. But before Mukri could realize the ploy, a 20 cm long line appeared on his chest, his blood poured forth, and just like Gulseni, he copsed on the ground.


    The three spectators were confused. From beginning to end, they never saw Jiyan get trapped. Too fast for their eyes, she''d long vanished. Why then did those two still m into one another?


    "Maybe that''s their secret fetish? I heard that beyond the n, you can sometimes find people that enjoy brutal muttion," Gulik hypothesized.


    "Reasonable. After all, if they didn''t get a taste for savage beatdowns, why would they routinely challenge our great elder? Who doesn''t know that the Spiritual Lord aside, no one can resist one of her blows?" Zoran approved.


    "Nonsense, they obviously suffered from hallucinogens and believed they had the great elder pinned down. Are you even studying?" Cildar, the youngest and most outstanding of the three, realized what went down and knocked his brothers back to reality. But as the three''s chatter went on, Gulseni and Mukri regained consciousness, saw Jiyan winking at them, and understood their mistake.


    "Anotherplete failure." Aware of Jiyan''s strength, both had foreseen this result already. In fact, they wouldn''t be surprised if Jiyan could take them down in one hit, but restrained herself to not damage their self-esteem.


    What startled them was that Jiyan''s poisonous arts had already reached a level where, despite all their defenses, she could poison them both without leaving the tiniest trace. How and when did she do it?


    They never got the answer.


    A session of ps dropped from the sky, and a figure nimbly dropped before them all,nding before Jiyan.


    When the figure joined the fun, the three youths prostrated themselves, and in tandem, eximed:


    Greetings, Spiritual Lord!"


    With a wave of his hand, Harun let them rise, and focused on Jiyan.


    "Aren''t you tired of bullying the weak? At the very least, don''t smack them over three times per week. Otherwise, they will be too depressed to guard the fort in our absence," Harun said, half-serious, half-jesting, making Mukri and Gulseni speechless. Perhaps across the First Range, only those two could take a fight against Celestial-Knight-level experts as...bullying the weak.


    Hearing Harun''s words, Jiyan held her chin and, finding his words reasonable, beckoned to Harun like a temptingss inviting her lover into bed.


    "That''s more like it," Harun tilted his head, his nails morphed into sharp ws and, by the time Jiyan took her stance, Harun''s right hand was clutching at her neck.

 Chapter 69: Withering Sword Art vs. Infernal Claw Style (2)

    Chapter 69: Withering Sword Art vs. Infernal w Style (2)


    Rolling leaves and dust clouds billowed as Harun''s ws clutched at Jiyan''s neck. Spinning leftward, Jiyan raked her sword at Harun''s shoulder. But by throwing himself off bnce, he dropped toward the ground, avoided the blow by a hair''s breadthcaught himself on his handsand lunged at Jiyan!


    ng!


    The metallic sound of Harun''s ws shing with Jiyan''s de rang, and using the blow''s momentum, Jiyan flew backward, somersaulting tond on a redwood''s branch. Leaving her no time to n a counterattack, Harun rushed after her, reappearing beside Jiyan at a speed that mirrored teleportation. Predicting the move, Jiyan shed at her left. Harun deflected the move with an upward sweep of his ws, leaving Jiyan open to a fatal strike.


    Without hesitation, he stabbed at her chest with his w bent into a knife-hand strike. Jiyan''s gaze hardened, dark-green mes surged from her formsetting both Harun and the Spirit God Tree aze. Ignoring the result, Jiyan leaped down, and the Spirit God Tree at her back burned to ashes.


    Sheltered by their boundless Qi reserves, Spirit God Trees were immune to traditional fire, but couldn''t resist a second of the Noxious mes cast by Jiyan. Mukri, Gulseni, and the three youths were speechless.


    "Holy Fuck, they''re serious," Mukri blurted out, speaking the mind of his fellow spectators. Though Mukri and Gulseni never held back in their bouts against Jiyan, this was due to the horrible strength gap between them. It was simr to a spar between a child martial artist and his instructor. By holding back, the child would learn and aplish nothing. But if his instructor didn''t restrain himself, dreadful consequences awaited. But between Harun and Jiyan, no such gap existed. Once they went all-out, the tiniest mistake could result in death or grave injuries. Why were they going so far?


    Jiyan and the five''s eyes locked on the me column, but unlike the other four, Mukri and Gulseni were startled to see a stainless figure emerge from that brazier. All knew that Harun feared no poisons under the heavens. However, heat was heat, and under those tens of thousands of degree celsius, even a Celestial Knight couldn''t survivemuch less stand unharmed. Emerald light surged from Harun, the fire vanished, and from the ashes of the Spirit God Tree, another one grew anew.


    "Middle aplishment in the Mystery of Life already. And he probably did the same in Death too. The boss is the boss, my past thoughts wereughable," Mukri inwardly sighed. Mystery cultivation was divided into six stages: elementary insight, minor aplishment, middle aplishment, profound enlightenment, sublime state and mandate. ording to the Truth Scrying Grotto, each Mystery had a slot in the Sea of Consciousness, meaning that theoretically, one could cultivate all Mysteries to Mandate level.


    However, reality was often a brutal letdown. A Mandate represented absolute understanding and sovereignty over an element, concept or facet of the omniverse. Celestials and Gods had long realized that even without the Divine Path''s suppression, cultivating a minor Mystery such as Fire to Mandate level would take prodigies tens of thousands of years and, the more load the Sea of Consciousness bore, the greater the difficulty became. Who could possibly cultivate all Mysteries to Mandate-level? Going over four would already be a legendary achievement. So when the Truth Scrying Grotto imed that a secluded expert once achieved Mandate-level in all things in less than 10,000 years, no one took them seriously.


    But seeing the ease with which Harun reached middle aplishment, Mukri couldn''t help but feel that some people existed to defeatmon sense. To think that he once dreamed of challenging the boss, the audacity.


    Harun and Jiyan exchanged a nce, their lips curled into smiles, and to the five spectators'' awe, the pair vanished. Sonic booms, metallic shes, and trails of gray and silver light served as proof that a ferocious battle went on. Realizing that even with her Celestial Knight cultivation, she couldn''t follow the two''s speed, Gulseni despaired. In those 15 years, thanks to the Spirit God Trees, her cultivation made rapid progress, and she reached the second level of the Celestial Knight Realm.


    On celestial standards, such speed deserved a myriad of praises. But seeing dozens of babies reach celestial level within 15 years, and 19 able topete with first-level Celestial Guards, Gulseni realized the horrible gap between the Divine Path and Harun''s poisonous road. Confident in the future, she initially didn''t take it too hard. But now feared that in a century, the Birusk n''s five-year-old could beat her ck and blue.


    Wherever they went, Harun''s ws left silver light trails, and all they hit instantly turned into powder. Jiyan''s sword was the only exception, but likewise, the gray mist now coating her de reduced all except Harun''s w to dust. By relying on the Mystery of Death, Withering Essence, the Art of the Decaying Flower and the Chained Sword Sutra, they created those two arts, and each picked one to cultivate to the acme.


    Both destroyed vitality and eroded matter at an extreme speed. A few misceneous applications aside, there were no differences. The System ranked both as 13-star Martial Arts, and neither could im superiority.


    Jiyan soared into the air, Harun pursued, taking the fight to the skies. As the two collided and exchanged dozens of moves, Jiyan fired nine gray sword beams of overbearing destructive forces at Harun. His form blurred into several afterimages, and moving past the sword strikes, Harun closed on her. Dark-purple energies erupted from her form, gathering behind her shoulders to form a pair of disarming feathered wings at her back. Jiyan raised her sword, her massive wings fluttered, Harun''s eyelids twitched, and the sword turned into hundreds of searing chains that surrounded Haruntrapping him in an unbreakable.


    Unfazed, Harun raised his right hand. His ws sprang forth, extending like the Monkey King''s staff and sneaking past the locks of Jiyan''s chains to nail their target. But at that time, Jiyan clenched her left fist.


    "Divine Power: Forbidden Zone."


    The Empyrean n''s Divine Power kicked in, ripping all colors from everything across a 300 meters radius. Under the Divine Power''s pressure, Harun, Mukri, Gulseni, and the three youths now saw the world in shades of gray.


    Worse, Harun included, all felt an irresistible force trap, and keep them all pinned where they stoodunable to move even an eyelid. In this zone, all became powerless, and without Jiyan''s permission, nothing could enter or exit. But as even Zoran, Gulik and Cildar were starting to believe in Jiyan''s victory, amethyst haze surged from Harun''s bodyshattering Jiyan''s achromatic zone!


    Her chains dared not get closer, Harun''s elongated ws carried on unimpeded, and knowing she couldn''t confront them head on, Jiyan rushed back to the ground,nding before a redwood''s trunka fatal mistake.


    The tree''s branches shot toward Jiyan, wrapped around her arms and legs, tying her against the trunk. Empowered by her Devil Essence, Jiyan broke free of her bounds. But like a lightning bolt, Harun reappeared before herhis lips shed a wolfish grin, and before she could escapeHarun sealed the match with an unusual move.


    Seizing Jiyan by the waist, Harun pulled her toward his chest and nted his lips on herstrapping her in a prompt and sultry kiss. Jiyan''s eyes widened. All strength left her body, and keeping one hand around her waist, Harun drove her against the treeletting their tongues coil for a moment before breaking the kiss.


    "I...lost," Jiyan said, breathless and slightly shocked. But then, as if prompted by a sudden urge, she grabbed Harun''s cheeks, and pulled his lips back onto hers to resume the ardent kiss.


    Lost, the five spectators stared ck-jawed, then exchanged confused gazes.


    "You can also end a fight like this?"

 Chapter 70: Leaving the Birusk Clan

    Chapter 70: Leaving the Birusk n


    From a barbaric sh to an amorous kiss, in their longsting lives, Mukri and Gulseni had seen much, yet never dealt with such an erratic scene. But as the spectators exchanged perplexed looks, Harun waved his right hand in a "get lost" sign. Wind gusts mmed into the five, hurtling them toward various locations. Though full of grievances, they dared notin, and quietly rolled away.


    Meanwhile, Jiyan discovered an addiction to Harun''s lips. More urately, her primal instincts took over, clouding her brain in a haze of delight. As the only experienced party, Harun drove the dance, controlling both his and Jiyan''s rhythm. From the tree, he nimbly guided her toward the ground. But when his lips left hers, and his tongue trailed up Jiyan''s neck, her flushed cheeks reddened further, and she snapped out of the haze.


    "Wait, wait, too fast" The words stopped Harun in his tracks, and stepping back, he gave Jiyan some space, but maintained eye contact. With a ragged breath, Jiyan faced Harun, who stood above her with a disarming smile, and his arms nking her face.


    "Are you sure it is wise to jump a sword-wielding woman?" Jiyan asked after a pause, attempting to regain control of the situation. At the start, Jiyan inferred that Harun came to train her one deficiency:ck of same level, mortal sh. In her life, due to the bnce shift between her age and strength, Jiyan rarely fought people on her level. Either they were substantially stronger, or tremendously weaker. There was no right middle. Add to that her past status of divine princess, and the limits of her battle experience became clear.


    Regardless of how talented and martially trained she was, without experiencing a true life and death struggle against someone of a simr level, Jiyan could not perfect her killing skills. And while she knew Harun could never threaten her life, faced with his lethal attacks, her body entered survival modefor their training, that was more than enough. But never did she expect that at the edge of victory, Harun would switch to hooligan mode. Thus, though her recent actions showed otherwise, Jiyan''s eyes narrowed at Harun, nailing him with a "Don''t take me for granted" look.


    "As a gentleman, if I didn''t think you''d reciprocate, why would I risk it? I''m just slightly more honest than you are, and helping you acknowledge what we both know you want," Harun countered, lowering his face on Jiyan''s, but keeping it a few centimeters away. Too inexperienced to handle the wolf with a straight face, Jiyan felt her heart rate speed up. But thanks to her peerless mental fortitude, she regained her wits, and met his gaze without flinching.


    "If you''re a gentleman, this world doesn''t have a single rogue. But it''s fine" Here, Jiyan''s tone underwent a 180 turn, and her lips curled into a smile, "I just happen to like you this way."


    Sometimes, Jiyan felt that Harun had the hooligan trait engraved in his genes, as if he inherited it from his father and, regardless of his other characteristics, could never shake that trait off. Not that she cared. There were so many facets of his personality only she had ess to. The ws only made him look more endearing. Jiyan didn''t know when she stopped seeing Harun as a mere partner and started developing such thoughts about him.


    Post-reincarnation? Pre-reincarnation? Perhaps she always did, but merely deceived herself. None of that mattered anymore. Raising her right hand, Jiyan trailed her fingers across Harun''s cheeks. Holding her wrist, Harun lowered Jiyan''s hand, and ced a tender kiss on the back of her handthen again took her lips into hers. This time, he maintained a steady pace, not rushing her into more sensual settings.


    They meshed like a perfect match, but as their lips parted, Jiyan raised one eyebrow.


    "Aren''t you too good at this? You''d think that someone who invested three-fourth of his life into enving and destroying his mother wouldn''t be so casual with girls. How manysses did you cheat?" Jiyan teased her partner.


    "Ohe on. I''m a 181-year-old fossil. Unless I spent the past 165 years cultivating in a sealed cave, there is no way I haven''t fooled around. You celestials are the weird ones," Harun rolled his eyes at the words. Did he spend so much time wearing monk clothes that people now took him for one? But using this moment of distraction, Jiyan flipped Harun over, and exchanged ces, now standing on top of him.


    In pure cultivation and destructive power, Jiyan surpassed Harun by arge margin. However, when hebined his Sovereign Essence and Mythical Idol''s Golden Body, despite the Decaying Flower''s side effects, unless she went all out, even she couldn''t dent his body. At the same time, Harun''s Golden Body enabled him to ignore his foes'' physical defensesa dreadfulbination.


    But as a sensible man, Harun wouldn''t resist an alluring goddess wanting to sit on hisp, and so let Jiyan do as she pleased. About one hour of witty banter and smooches followed, and at the end of their games, Haruny on Jiyan''s thigh, with her gentle hand going through his sleek, dark hair.


    "We''re leaving tomorrow," Harun said after a moment of silence. Though the date took her aback, aware of Harun''s ns, Jiyan wasn''t that surprised, and knew precisely where they were going.


    "Are you leaving your totem here?"


    "Yes. Might as well let it cultivate in peace. Gulseni will temporarily return to the Vermilion Brides, leaving Mukri as the only Celestial-Knight-level expert to guard the n. Although we have some defensive methods, that situation is far from optimal. Only by leaving the totem behind can I feel relieved," Harun replied. His totem''s strength wasn''t proportionate to his own. But it could cultivate the Myriad Poisons Bridge and grew stronger by devouring rare treasures or delicacies. At the same time, its bloodline quality increased, steadily approaching the mythical Star-Devouring Serpent tiera matter for another time.


    "Why don''t you take those two onto the Myriad Poisons Bridge?"


    "Too soon. Both have been cultivating for centuries or thousands of years. As he already did so once, perhaps Mukri can easily give his path up. He has average willpower, but sky-high talent due to the Devil Essence. Once he finds the motivation, he can cross the First Step without too much trouble.


    But for Gulseni, it''s moreplicated. Her 865 years of cultivation carry an emotional baggage she may not be willing to give up so soon. Thus"


    "Forcing the change will only be counterproductive. They need at least enough motivation to ask for it on their own," Jiyan finished the words for Harun, who nodded in approval.


    Closing his eyes, Harun sent all members of the Birusk n a mental message, directing them all to the temple''s gates.

 Chapter 71: The First Venom Inheritor

    Chapter 71: The First Venom Inheritor


    Following their expulsion by Harun, Mukri, Gulseni, Cildar, Gulik and Zoran were sitting crossed-legged beside a Toxic Ascension Road, engaged in a mild debate.


    "I''m confused. Why are you two cultivating a different path from us? Is the Spiritual Lord punishing you?" Cildar asked, speaking words that''d already bemon gossip in the Birusk n. Recalling how Mukri and Gulseni joined their ranks, many nsmen believed that their Spiritual Lord resolved to challenge their mental fortitude before leading them onto the path of enlightenment. Aware of those thoughts, Mukri and Gulseni didn''t take it hard. Though thetter''s eyelids twitched.


    "Is a different road that uneptable? I didn''t peg you as the discriminating type," Gulseni countered, but unlike his simpleminded brothers who took a moment to ponder the words, Cildar waved his hand dismissively, "If it''s too slow, of course it''s uneptable. I can feel that at your current speed, it will take you at least 80 years to break through another level. After that, you will keep getting slower. On our end, should things stay the same, some will reach their limits, but the majority''s progress will leave you in the dust. Better, not only is each new generation more outstanding than the previous one, but thanks to our Spiritual Lord''s blessings, many more are breaking the talent barrier. Your future isn''t optimistic," Cildar spoke the facts, making both Mukri and Gulseni speechless.


    To them, 15 years was nothingat worstparable to a week or month in a mortal man''s life. So often, they could shut their eyes to the realities of their situation. Exchanging a nce, Mukri and Gulseni saw simr thoughts in one another''s eyes. But while Mukri''s eyes only had the fear of bing useless, Gulseni''s showed conflicting interests. So far, she could use Harun''s control of her existence to justify her current position. But once she willingly surrendered to his path, the betrayal wasplete.


    In Gulseni''s eyes, strength was an instrument. Loyalty came first. If she cared for strength more than loyalty, she''d still be in the Saint-Empress Court, enjoying the Holy Land''s resources. However, strength, wealth, resources and all those tools could only aplish so much. Without adamantine loyalty, all could copse given a single opportunity. Rtionships, bonds, factions, dreams neither of those could survive without a reliable form of loyalty. And in Gulseni''s heart, her loyalty belonged to one person only: Dilnaz. If not because she recognized Jiyan, and saw Dilnaz in her figure, Gulseni couldn''t sleep at night.


    But driven by simpler thoughts, Mukri shed a fawning smile at Cildar and said, "Boy, you make perfect sense. Actually, the Spiritual Lord isn''t punishing us or anything. We''re all loyal subordinates. Why would he suppress us? Truth is, he''s just testing our willpower and solidarity. As long as you three beg His Lordship alongside us, the problem is solved," Mukri sought support, unaware of how right he was.


    With Cildar as the Chief Disciple, those three brats led the outer sect and made more contributions in a month than Mukri did in a decade. With a casual trip, they''d bring back priceless treasures and receive the Lord''s praise. Mukri had long stopped trying topete with them.


    Although he didn''t possess a Divine Sense, like his brothers, Cildar''s physical senses had risen to a transcendental level, enabling him to observe all across hundreds of meters and smell the emotional fluctuations of those in his range. How could he not see through Mukri''s thoughts? But having received Harun''s guidance across 15 years, Cildar had learned much of His Lord''s disposition, and from the start aimed for this reaction. But before he could agree, Harun''s voice thundered in the five''s mind, ordering them to the temple''s gates.


    Instantly, the three youths vanishedracing toward the temple. Seeing the haste at which they answered their lord''s summon, Mukri and Gulseni shook their heads, and followed suitthough thettergged behind.


    Over 300 nsmen assembled at the gates of Harun''s temple, all sitting on their knees in perfect rows and columns, awaiting his appearance. Between the moment Harun sent the summon and their ordered gathering, only five seconds had passed. Despite having the highest speed, Gulseni and Mukri were far from the earliest to arrive. Both restrained a bout of cold sweat, feeling that the Birusk nsmen were too...intense.


    A column of golden light descended from the sky, and from it, Harun and Jiyan emerged. Immediately, the nsmen hailed their Lord''s name and bowed in greetings. With a hand wave, Harun let them rise, and alongside Jiyan, swept all nsmen. Their gazes triggered drastically different results. While they sought a direct connection to Harun''s gaze at all times, the Birusk nsmen avoided Jiyan''s like the gue. The Fortune Trio aside, there were few exceptions.


    ck lines stretched Harun''s forehead, while Jiyan sighed in helplessness. Across those fifteen years, though her innate abilities remained far from their limits, Jiyan''s figure reached perfection, with every inch carrying an irresistible appeal. At the same time, the floral scent surrounding her body grew deadlier, able to overwhelm those below the celestial-level within three seconds. Without someone to exin its source and guide her steps, it took Jiyan several weeks to put that beguiling force under control.


    But by then, the damage was done. Now, 90% of the n believed Jiyan was a fox demoness summoned by Harun to test the will of men and the self-confidence of women. At first, thinking the matter hrious, Harun didn''t deny it. But after the joke ran its course, awkwardness reced it. He had to put an end to that atmosphere.


    "Jiyan, sit at the forefront, what I have to say concerns you too," Harun said, and while she didn''t know what he had in mind, Jiyan stepped toward the group. Immediately, they slid back, freeing a plot ofnd for her. Ignoring the nsmen''s ring anxiety, Jiyan sat.


    "Sixteen years have passed since I descended into thisnd and formed our Karmic Bond. In that time, you''ve constantly challenged yourselves and shed with your natural limits. I am proud of you," Harun started, immediately grabbing the n''s attention.


    "Later, I will leave for the Dark Stone Capital to save this country from its woes and lead the willing ones onto the path of enlightenment. However, one person must follow me to spread our gospel and handpick the chosen ones. That person will keep receiving my direct guidance and inherit my legacy. Only someone with a stainless and transparent mind, wholly devoted to the road and gospel, can take that seat.


    I will now put you all to the test. The winner receives the title of Saint, and bes my partner on this journey to the west," Harun proimed in a grave and solemn tone, but lied through his teeth. Seeing the Birusk nsmen about to get conned by their Spiritual Lord, the System heaved a sigh that resounded in Harun''s mind.


    Unprecedented determination shone in the nsmen''s eyes. Faced with their absolute devotion, Harun almost felt ashamedalmostbut recalled that this was all for the greater good. Sitting crossed-legged, Harun joined his hands in a prayer sign, dark-blue light surged from his body, and a 10 meters tall Dharma Protector appeared at his back. With three heads, nine eyes and six arms, the Dharma Protector should have appeared unspeakably fearsome.


    However, five of his arms seemed bound in chains, and of his nine eyes, only the one in the middle of his central head opened. The rest remained tightly shut. Still, before that Dharma Protector, the nsmen felt a surge of awe and reverence unrted to Harun. As if the Cultivation Bridge they stood on stirred in its presence. Jiyan was no different. Strangely, Mukri and Gulseni couldn''t see or sense the Dharma Protector.


    But as Jiyan and the nsmen regained their wits, 316 dark-blue tendrils shot from the Dharma Protector''s eye--piercing all their foreheads!

 Chapter 72: From Demoness to Saintess

    Chapter 72: From Demoness to Saintess


    As Jiyan and the Birusk nsmen''s eyes zed over, Mukri trotted before them all, waving his tail at their faces to seek a reactionnone responded. Having maintained his consciousness, Harun made a grasping motion at Mukri, sending him rolling back to his initial seat.


    "An illusion? But how did he cast it, and why were we left out? Because we don''t cultivate the same path?" Gulseni pondered the sudden change. As only Mukri and she didn''t suffer the mysterious attack, she guessed that their different paths made them unqualified for the game. But above that, did Harun''s formless skill have no effect on non-guebringers? Or on the contrary, was it too extreme?


    While Gulseni''s thoughts trailed, the tendrils pumped a glistening liquid straight into the 316 victims'' souls. Their surroundings changed, and eachnded in worlds of endless wealth, madness, extravagance and debauchery. Trees of pure gold, with golden leaves and fruits at arm''s reach. Fountains of wine sprinkling the grassy ground. Four-faced mountains of crystal, gold, ruby andpiszuli. Towers of diamond and sapphire revolving in the sky, surrounding the top of a stairway into the eternal eden.


    The 316''s most suppressed desires took shape. Whoever they wanted, whatever they wanted, appeared in the hundreds to supplement this world of wealth and decadence. 80% directly lost their mind to this dreamrefusing to consider the possibility of an illusion. 19% struggled against their Ego, 3 stayed strong, but only one kept her cool.


    "This ce puts a heavy strain on senses and willpower," Jiyan inferred, and she was correct. The tendrils injected a spiritual venom straight into the victims'' souls, awakening all their attachments, suppressed or acknowledged desires, dreams and more. Greed for all that stood at their fingertips would overwhelm the victims and, should they fail to resist it, the spiritual venom would overload their souls, and either take over or outright make their Ego explode. Even if they could break free, the experience would haunt them across centuries, ultimately twisting their personalities.


    This was Harun''s Attachment Venom, first of the Nine Venoms Legacy, and the Ancestral Venom all others would stem from. Naturally, as he didn''t want to harm or scar his subordinates, Harun restrained the Attachment Venom''s powers. And knowing that the Senses, Willpower and Dao Attunement stats were the most critical to resisting the venom and grasping its essence, Harun didn''t doubt that Jiyan would seed first. Thus, exposed to the hidden darkness of their hearts, and the presumed holiness of Jiyan, the Birusk nsmen''s view of her would undergo a 180 change. What a foolproof n.


    And while the self-satisfied Harun stroked his beardless chin, trapped in their Corrupt Lands, the nsmen rushed toward the gates of edenlosing themselves in the madness. Others closed their eyes, struggling to no end. Only those with high stats in both Senses and Willpower could resist the Corrupt Land. But without a high Dao Attunement stat and profound cultivation base, they could only dy the inevitable.


    Without hesitation, Jiyan crossed the stairway toward "eden," but at the top paused and summoned a short sword. Driving her sword in a 360 arc, Jiyan shed all jeweled towers in one strike, splitting each into two perfect halves. The broken towers cratered, Jiyan pushed one hand into the gate and from it extracted a blue orb. The Corrupt Land copsed, and Jiyan''s eyes regained their light.


    Blue energies billowed, forming a halo above her head. Meanwhile, one after the other, the nsmen that surrendered to the Corrupt Land copsed, and soon their eyes opened to the sight of Jiyan bathing in a radiant glow, with the halo of sainthood marking her sess. Awed, the defeated cast dazed stares at this divine picture, unknowingly forming circles around her.


    Few noticed that unlike her starting position, Jiyan now sat in the very middle, but too dazed by the light, ignored that "negligible" point. As soon as Jiyan seized the Ancestral Venom''s Essence, all regained consciousnessand observed her gain enlightenment in Harun''s Attachment Venom. Exchangingplex stares, the nsmen saw the shame in one another''s eyes, and heaved long sighs. Ultimately, they were too narrow minded. Having experienced the trappings of the Corrupt Land, they knew how easily level-headed men could lose themselves.


    Even those that maintained a bit of alertness couldn''t understand how someone could escape that ce so quickly. Cildar estimated that he''d need at least one hour to escape the Corrupt Landto say nothing of grasping its essence. Instantly, they recalled Harun''s words.


    "Only someone with a stainless and transparent mind, wholly devoted to the road and gospel, can take that seat."


    Indeed, without a stainless and transparent mind, a pure and incorrupt heart, how could one seed so fast? To think that they used to treat this saintess as a fox demoness and mistook their lord''s motives in naming her great elder! How shameful!


    Seeing his con have the intended effects, Harun decided to deal the fatal blow, "Atst you understand. I initially wished to test your ability to look beyond first appearances and appraise the heart only. However, too awed by forces you couldn''t understand, you picked hostility over reason. How...disappointing. Can you imagine her grief?" Harun''s dramatic words rang in the nsmen''s minds like rolling thunder. The System wanted to say that between Harun''s teasing and relentless cultivation, Jiyan didn''t have the time to care for such trifles. But knowing that none could hear it, it kept its mouth shut.


    "This is fishy as hell. Why do I feel like I''m being taken for a fool?" Cildar asked himself. But as a Birusk nsman, he didn''t have the heart to doubt his Spiritual Lord''s words. Tears filled the other nsmen''s eyes, and while Jiyan''s eyes shone with enlightenment, they prostrated themselves toward her.


    "Saintess, please forgive our ignorance!" They proimed in tandem, forcing Harun to restrain a victoriousugh. But at that time, Jiyan shook her head, making Harun blink in a stupor. Was the girl going to ruin his magnificent y?


    "I can''t ept that title," Jiyan said in a modest tone, and while the nsmen prepared to encourage her, she waved her hand dismissively.


    "For us who wish to grasp causality, see through life and death, and achieve enlightenment. What''s the use of vain honorifics? Saint? Who in this world can righteously im such a title? A heart devoted to enlightenment, that''s all I need." Here Jiyan closed her eyes, paused, and pressed her hands on her chest.


    "For centuries I have wandered through Heaven''s astral seas and learned to master my self. That''s the only reason why I seeded so easily. I do not deserve your praise or worship, and still have much to work on. This tile is...too much for me," Jiyan sighed. Mukri, Gulseni, Harun and the System, all stared ck jawedunable to ept that tone.


    Moved beyond words, the nsmen kowtowed. What was holiness? This was holiness. Sensing an opportunity to earn merits, Mukri suppressed his shock, moved past the crowd and proimed:


    "We understand your concerns. But Saintess, you''ve already proven to us all that in this world, only you can live up to that title! Until someone more qualified shows up, Saintess, please ept the seat!"


    And without hesitation, the nsmen supported his words, "Saintess, please ept the seat!"


    Helpless before such words, Jiyan shrugged and reluctantly said:


    "Then I suppose I will have to ept."


    Cheers followed, Harun''s self-satisfaction vanished, reced by waves of doubt.


    "Why do I feel like my cult just got hijacked?" Harun scratched his head. And this time, the System didn''t spare him.


    "Because you''re too good at your job and raised another conman. You know what they say, right? The new generation exists to rece the old. Your CEO days are in jeopardy."


    After leaving instructions behind, Harun boarded a chariot sent beforehand by his subordinate in the capital. To avoid questions, Jiyan subdued the driver''s mind, a trick she mastered from training her Devil Essence. The pair then left for the Dark Stone Capital.


    "I''m curious, what did you see?" Harun asked Jiyan as they set off.


    "You don''t know? Mhm...interesting." Jiyan''s lips curled up. Raising her eyes in a ponderous look, she turned away from Harun, evading his gaze as if guilty of some unspeakable crime.


    "What?" Harun''s eyes narrowed at her.


    "You really want to know?"


    "Rubbish. Why else would I ask?"


    "Ok, a circle of ten, two meters tall men with broad shoulders and chiseled facesnaked, of course," Jiyan said in anguorous and absent-minded tone, but when Harun''s face twisted in a session of awful grimaces, she burst intoughter.


    "Come on, I''m joking. Don''t wanna say..." She leaned against Harun''s shoulder, oblivious to the changes in his face.


    With an innocent smile and beady eyes, Harun aimed one index at Jiyan and said:


    "Attachment Venom"


    Many squeals followed.

 Chapter 73: Dark Stone Drought

    Chapter 73: Dark Stone Drought


    While Harun and Jiyan left for the Dark Stone Capital, Mukri and Gulseni observed them from the temple''s roof. The World Devouring Serpent''s watchful eyes stood above them, with its outrageouslyrge body coiling around the vige. In the past 15 years, many of the Birusk n''s resources went to feed this silent beast whose size increased at an rming rate. And though all knew that it cultivated the Myriad Poisons Bridge, few knew its cultivation level.


    "With a guardian like this holding the fort, I''m afraid you won''t have much to do," Gulseni told Mukri, who in his humanoid bull form, had the looks of a hulking minotaur. That appearance heavily contrasted with his cult robeweaved by the puppets to fit the over two meters tall monster.


    "Perfect. I can use the extra time to build more connections in the n and prepare for the boss'' return. If at least those three brats vouch for me, I''m sure the boss won''t be stingy and pull me onto the Myriad Poisons Bridge," Mukri leisurely replied. A man of high adaptation skills, Mukri had already made a reputation for himself as a gentle and dependable bull, loved by all except Gulseni, who couldn''t stomach his polished fawning skills. The two stood at opposed ends of the moralpass, which made their rtionship a clusterfuck of conflicting viewsor so it seemed, at least.


    Unsurprised by Mukri''s reply, Gulseni shook her head. But as she prepared a ripost, the bull added:


    "I guess it''s time I give you a solid piece of advice. Girl, you are delusional. With all the Vermilion Brides have done for the boss already, your betrayal isplete. You think the Saint-Empress cares that you did it against your will? Nonsense. You''re only one of the many pawns she nted in the Mountain Edge World to sh with the other Holy Lands. But unlike those titans in the Sixth Range, you''re entirely expendable. Should you return to the Saint-Empress Court and plead mercy, the best result would be...memory theft plus execution," Mukri said in a level tone. Though he never stood in Heaven''s elite circles, with 2,000 years of emissary work, he''d seen many deities, and had long since learned how they functioned.


    Gulseni''s talent in yang-suppressing arts was rare, but not irreceable. At best, Dilnaz would take her memories and achievementstransferring them to someone more reliable. And though the words rattled her ears, Gulseni couldn''t refute them.


    "Indeed, there is no scenario where I salvage the situation. But so what? If before difficulty you can give up all principles, are they still principles? To know that you face destruction but still move onwardthatis true loyalty. My beliefs will not waver." Gulseni countered, but this time, Mukri sneered.


    "The problem is, no one gives a fuck. Who cares about your heart when the boss owns you, body and soul. The Ladies and high-ranking disciples of the Vermilion Brides have already turned coats, and secretly try to fawn over the boss. If not out of fear of the mistress'' sword, they''d crowd him day and night. You''re the only one still ying the bigot and failing to live with the times. Loyalty? Principles? Nonsense, Dilnaz created the Saint-Empress Court to capitalize on the resentment Fairies and Goddesses have been umting across millennia. The True Dragon n''s extermination was the strongest message she could send.


    Your mistress is one of the chief culprits of the anarchy and seas of blood that fill this world. To seize the Mandate of Heaven and be the new God-Emperor, she doesn''t hesitate to unleash wanton destruction on the innocents. What kind of principle makes you devote your life to that kind of barbaric lunatic with such a self-righteous stance. Hypocrisy?"


    "How dare you?!" Gulseni wanted to say, but restrained herself. Faced with Mukri''s sharp ridicule, she had no way to counter besides an outburst of rage. But the reaction felt so hollow that the words couldn''t leave her lips.


    "Most of your disciples joined you to dominate the historically stronger gender. With your skills, a Celestial Kin can control a top Celestial Guard, a Celestial Knight can control an Ascending God. How appealing? They can use all the moral justifications possible, but at the end of the day, everything in this world is about power. You now have two choices before you:


    A) Wallow in mediocrity for the rest of your existence.


    B) Move on, ept your new reality, and make the best of it." Leaving those words behind, Mukri turned heels and leftnot giving Gulseni the time to process or challenge them. But as conflicting thoughts shed in Gulseni''s mind, she didn''t notice that the serpent had awoken, and in silence, observed Mukri.


    In the meantime, Harun and Jiyan''s chariot exited the Birusk n''s territory to step on the royal road that led to the capital. Though there were several other paths, the royal road was the fastest and, in the past, also used to be the safest. Of course, nowadays, safety often was a matter of debate.


    "Third Objective, initialization.


    Description: With a unique cultivation path and diverse sect skills, the host is now ready to ept disciples, and should find three to inherit his craft. However, there can be no Supreme Founder without Supreme Disciples.


    Objective: Recruit three legacy disciples with an overall potential of at least 41, and a minimum of 6 in Charisma." Harun set up the new objective. In System terms, overall potential included Physique, Senses, Dao Attunement, Willpower and Luck. However, Charisma wasn''t a part of the equation. Some may argue that Luck wasn''t a part of potential. However, reality was different. With high talent but low luck, most cultivators could never achieve their full potential. And even if they did, they''d die before enjoying it fully. On the contrary, someone with low talent but sky-high luck could either turn his fate around, or live without mishaps. In the cultivation world, luck was of capital importance.


    But as he crossed the Dark Stone Country''s royal road, Harun wondered if Luck hadn''t abandoned this state.


    "Timeframe: 30 years.


    Reward: Infinite Dao Pit, Ancestral Hall choice." The system determined the appropriate timeframe and reward. Though he felt that 30 years to find the three disciples he needed was a bit low, Harun ignored it, and alongside Jiyan, spread his Divine Sense across the surroundings.


    Barely out of the Birusk n''s territory, the air had turned so dry that true mortals would break their lips with a random smile. The temperature went from a gentle spring to the harshest of summers, dust storms loomed on the horizon, and signs of soil erosion stretched far and widea hint of drought.

 Chapter 74: Mans Struggle Against Man

    Chapter 74: Man''s Struggle Against Man


    In thest 15 years, the Dark Stone Country''s political, economic and social situation had fallen to a catastrophic level. Overnight, the atmosphere dried out while the temperature shot up. Dehydration, asthma, skin irritation and other health hazards hastened by an overly dry air promptly followed. Rain went AWOL, and across the following decade, entire farms copsed.


    It is important to note that the Mountain Edge World numbers 120 billion mortal lives evenly split between the Six Ranges. Of the First Range''s 20 billion, about 1.6 called the Dark Stone Country home. That immense poption required tremendous food supplies, making the Dark Stone Country exceedingly reliant on agriculture. Imports deals with other grand nations were non-existent, as all faced the same problem. Farms were those countries'' cornerstones. A pity that farmers didn''t understand their own worth.


    As clever as he might be, Mehran, the Dark Stone High King, couldn''t challenge nature''s whims, and though he foresaw the first signs of the drought, strengthened the stockpiles and imposed rationing, his best efforts couldn''t prevent the inevitable. Only celestials could use Weather Spells and formations to sh with nature. But thanks to his repeated offenses against the First Range''s top three sects, Mehran couldn''t request the assistance of any Celestial-level expert.


    Now, from vigers to high-ranking officials, all that experienced this ruinous climate and didn''t see hope in the future, med Mehran for his "rash deeds." Even without propaganda, ill-sentiments against the monarch grew at an rming rate. No one cared that this drought was most likely man made. They just wanted it to stop, and if for that they needed Mehran''s head on a pike, then behead him they would. Organized and disordered rebellions broke out throughout the Dark Stone Countries'' 26 provinces. Even the capital saw looting and arson caused by warring aristocratic families, all eager to snatch whatever they could from their peers and secure their positions.


    The Hisyar royal n had all but given up on Mehran and plotted alongside the dissatisfied factions to force his abdication. If not for his 100 avatars, shifting location and solid cultivation, they''d have made their move already. Impatient, they contacted the top three sets, and promisedplete surrender of the country''s vast mineral resources as long as they stopped the drought and assisted them in overthrowing Mehran. The precise division coulde afterward.


    Harun learned all this from the Vermilion Brides, whose informationwork outpaced the Immtion de Sect and Soul Refining Hall. And to top it all off, in thest 10 years, one million kids mysteriously vanished. Most frommoners backgrounds, but even some from the aristocracy. Rumors that Mehran kidnapped those children, aiming to refine them to boost his cultivation base, freely circted. Of course, that was a big load of bullshit. But when did that ever matter?


    "You''d think that with the ongoing peace treaty, celestials would be more careful in casting spells on mortal countries, especially one of this size. But then again, for this level of damage, it''s not like the big shots will bother investigating," Jiyan said. The peace treaty forbaderge-scale extermination, but unless a ring transgression urred, or some factions'' benefits were endangered, the World Association wouldn''t investigate.


    Be it though the Divine Path or Elemental Fusion Bridge, many could cast Weather Spells. Perhaps even the Truth Scrying Grotto''s Dream Seer Bridge enabled them. Weather Spells didn''t leave clear traces. With so many suspects, only Divination Magic could uncover the truth. But when even Holy Lands didn''t have many such experts, what were they going to do? Ask the Truth Scrying Grotto and its branches for assistance? If they were involved, wasn''t that tantamount to asking the thief to catch himself? Might as well let the problem solve itself. Or so the World Association reasoned.


    "As you just said, those that matter won''t bother meddling, so they are being as careful as they need to be. The Scorching Sun Mantra is the traditional spell for this kind of setting. But as I recall, a single Celestial Kin cannot cast it on an entire country. It''d take at least 100 Celestial Kin, or a Celestial Guard. Even then, the list isn''t small. Mehran won''t be able to stay in hiding for much longer, or they''ll dere him dead and demote him in absentia. Handled well, this is an opportunity. Even if for now I only want the Attachment of a portion of the Dark Stone Capital''s citizens. If we can outright take over the country, it''d make a lot of things easier. The best-case scenario is to have Mehran work for us," Harun replied.


    Country management was the type of hurdle he never wanted to deal with. There were too many variables to take into ount, and too many lives to think for. Some people, most people, weren''t qualified for that job, and Harun didn''t think that he belonged to the gifted few. Sensing his thoughts, Jiyan leaned closer and asked:


    "Were the roles reversed, what would you have done?"


    "First, how about not antagonizing three sects whose every member can wipe out my state?" Harun tilted his head toward Jiyan, but seeing her roll her eyes, he pursed his lips and went on, "Alright, from the start, I''d surrender the resources to the Soul Refining Hall, curry their favor, and officially join them as a disciple. Then over the next 1,000 years, work on my growth and position. If talent and chance allow it, I''d aim for the Sect Master position and regain full control of the state. If not, I get the best deals I can, then move on," Harun seriously replied.


    "So you''d betray the country?" Jiyan asked in a jesting tone. For the Dark Stone Country, rare mineral resources such as ck Titanium represented their only source of wealth and bargaining chip on the international scale. Granted, they didn''t have the skills to use them at maximum potential, just by controlling the mines, they decided the price and supply of rare weapons in the First Range. Friends could trade with them, enemies could kiss their ass, and they kept enough supplies that their country''s armies remained a step above other grand nations.


    Once they lost those mines, nothing prevented their allies and enemies from invading and seizing their farmnds, plus whatever the top three sects didn''t plunder. Within a decade, they''dunch abined assault. The World Association wouldn''t intervene, as it didn''t concern itself with mortal conflicts...unless they threatened mighty factions'' benefits, of course. Knowing that, unless he was willing to see his country upied by eager wolves, Mehran couldn''t surrender to the three sects.


    "As a wise man once said, I''d rather betray men, than have men betray me. And in this case, it''s one or the other." Harun, however, had no such considerations.


    "How about you?" He asked Jiyan.


    "Abdicate and disappear as soon as possible."


    "Sensible girl."


    But as the two bantered, the carriage''s speed shot up, throwing them off bnce. Immediately, both spread their Divine Senses and spotted the source of themotion, a nearby merchant caravan being raided by masked brigands.


    This was amon urrence on the Dark Stone Country''s roads. Below the Nihility Realm, all suffered hunger and thirst. The 15 years of drought spared no one, and desperados gathered in gangs to plunder all carriages and caravans that crossed the roads. Typically, such a matter wouldn''t get Harun''s attention.


    But when their Divine Senses locked on the warring parties, Jiyan and he frowned.

 Chapter 75: Sin-Glazed Lily

    Chapter 75: Sin-zed Lily


    Thirteen masked men surrounded three chariots and seven carts of packaged trade goods. Each wore brown leather armors and pants and wielded long scimitars. But unlike the usual bandit, greed didn''t shine in their eyes, and while some suppressed the merchants and killed their servants, the rest calmly unloaded the carts.


    Although the merchants didn''t have an ounce of cultivation base, each of their chariots carried a white wing-shaped crestemblem of the World Association. With only 50 years of history, to maintain at least one branch in every state capital of the world, the World Association couldn''t rely on cultivators alone. At least on the business side of its operations, mortal merchants well versed in trading were of critical importance, and the World Association treated them very well.


    "Y...you are stark raving mad. In this time and age, who still has the nerve to assault a caravan of the World Association? Was life so sweet that you got tired of living?!" Pressed under a bandit''s boot, a merchant barked in a mixture of confusion and rage.


    The World Association''s caravans didn''t invest much in bodyguards because safety-wise, the white-wing crest alone could deter deities. One has to remember that the World Association represents the joint interests of the Holy Lands. Besides their trading division, they control the bounty system and also host peace treaties. More importantly,rge numbers of God-level experts drive or protect the Association''s work. An attack on a random caravan would trigger the investigation of deities. There was no shortage of sects and ns destroyed for threatening the Association''s workforce.


    Throughout the First Range, who could bear such consequences? To say nothing of the merchants, Harun who observed this scene couldn''t understand the motive, especially so since those brigands...were all celestial-level experts.


    "Why would celestials turn bandits, in the Dark Stone Country, and risk upsetting the World Association? Never mind that" Harun wondered. And before he opened his mouth, Jiyan snapped her fingers, forcing their driver to stop. The two exchanged a knowing nce and vanished from the chariot. No matter how reclusive this ce was, an attack on the World Association would lead to global consequences and bring rampant Gods upon the First Range. Harun was still too far from being able to take those on with confidence. Even low-level Ascending Gods posed serious threats, able to trigger endless disasters. Now, the only way out was to stop those celestials and take control of the situation.


    Using the Mystery of Life, Harun modified both Jiyan''s and his appearance, turning them into an ordinary looking pair of auburn-haired individuals. Of the 13 celestials, the strongest was just a sixth-level Celestial Kin, no match for the pair. Harun''s right hand jerked forth in a casual palm strike. One hand became six that smashed the celestial brigands right in the facetheir heads burst into blood and gore. Nearby, Jiyan chopped at six celestials with her bare hand, beheading them in one swipe.


    Harunnded at the leader''s right, backhanded him across the cheek, and sent him hurtling. Seizing the confused celestial''s neck, Jiyan released her Devil Essence, overwhelmed his Sea of Consciousness, and took control of his psyche. The leader''s eyes zed over. The merchants gawked and silence dropped on the scene.


    At first, the merchants felt no relief. One moment they stood at the mercy of ruthless raiders, the next, their assants led dead or broken. The change was too sudden for them to process it well, and they didn''t know how to respond. Ignoring them, Harun nced toward Jiyan.


    "So?" Although she couldn''t affect those above her cultivation level, Jiyan''s ability to take control of the weak-willed or mind-broken was more convenient than Harun''s Karmic Attachment. As for the Attachment Venom, that was an ultimate skill he wouldn''t waste on any Tom, Dick or Harry. Letting go of the leader''s neck, Jiyan spun to face Harun.


    "The Immtion de Sect. Apparently, they have a deal with a senior member of the Dark Stone City''s World Association. Mehram will take the me for the attack, and they will evenly split the carriage''s goods which" Here Jiyan paused, and a smile mixing amusement and expectations took hold, "...seem to have a lot to do with you."


    Instantly, Harun''s brows arched up, and he turned toward the carts'' bags, sweeping them with his Divine Sense. An obvious problem of mortal traders was that they couldn''t use cosmic pouches. Thus, without protection, they couldn''t conceal the contents of their caravans. At that time, the leading merchant regained his wits, and crawled toward Harun.


    "Benefactor, thank you for your assistance! As long as you can help us expose those criminals, we''re willing to cooperate with you!" He proimed, and prostrated himself toward Harun. Awoken from their stupor, his fellow merchants nced at their servants'' corpses, then did the same. More often than not, merchants had a deep care for their subordinates. Be it in a medieval or industrialized society, a merchant''s sess relied on more than business deals. How well they used and managed their subordinates, freeman or not, was critical to their sess.


    As merchants of a World Association branch, they belonged to the elite of their field, and invested considerable resources in grooming and ensuring the loyalty of their servants. For that alone, seeing those retainers bathing in a pool of blood was, to them, no different from having a 1,000 years old vase destroyed by a vindictive rival. But above that, by investing so much in securing loyalty, they subconsciously created strong bonds between the servants and themselves. They loved those peoplefor the wrong reasons, yesbut they still loved them, and couldn''t stomach their ughter. The need for revenge thus took hold.


    Unlike most cultivators, across the 160 years he spent in the Noxious me World, Harun never disconnected himself from mortals, and so fully understood what went on in those merchants'' minds.


    "Don''t bow, I''m not your lord or master. If helping you helps me, helping you I shall. If not, I will just move on. First, exin to me why Sin-zed Lilies fill your carts, and from there, I will make my choice," Harun said, making the merchants'' eyes widen in disbelief. On the surface, they brought water and unique flower wine ingredients to the Dark Stone Capital. But all those resources were decoy to hide the Sin-zed Lilies.


    Though those mortal merchants had little experience of the cultivation world, they knew that even celestials couldn''t easily identify Sin-zed Lilies. After all, on the surface, they weren''t any different from normal flowers. If not for that insurance, why would they trade in such dangerous goods. But since Harun already spotted their true packages, they didn''t bother concealing it.


    "As Your Excellency must know, following the destruction of the Noxious me World by the Saint-Empress, the gue Overlord''s inheritance was salvaged by the World Association. But many of his researches are encrypted in a code known only to himself. It was only three years ago that we cracked the code of how to breed Sin-zed Flowers."


    The leading merchant began, and it took Harun all his self-control to not let his eyes widen in disbelief. Jiyan didn''t have that much discipline, and rmed, directly asked:


    "The Noxious me World was...destroyed?"

 Chapter 76: Dilnazs Madness

    Chapter 76: Dilnaz''s Madness


    Across thest 15 years, through their various talks, Jiyan learned all important matters of Harun''s mortal life, and naturally knew about his homnd: the Noxious me World. Aside from his shes with the Erdewan and Golden Cicada Sect, the Noxious me World provided Harun with many fond memories. His father and brother''s graves, and the few people he befriended, all remained behind.


    After all, Harun was no neuroticd. Granted, he didn''t easily give his trust, but after spending over 160 years in that world, he naturally made some friends. Country monarchs, rogue cultivators, sect elders and masters counted among his drinking buddies. On his road to the Noxious me World''s peak, many of those provided valuable assistance. In the past, Harun didn''t know that ancient inheritance grounds were all shrouded in a formation that prevented those below the required cultivation level from spotting them. Thinking that his left eye was leading him to empty locations, Harun started doubting it. If not for a rogue cultivator''s pointers, perhaps he wouldn''t be here. Then, there were the intimate rtionships, which though nothing serious, still left good memories.


    Since his rebirth, Harun avoided the topic of the Noxious me World. Perhaps deep down, he already foresaw this result, and just didn''t want to face it. Denial was such a satisfying drug. Jiyan, however, couldn''t believe that her exceedingly proud mother would condescend to destroying an entire mortal world, just to vent against someone presumed dead. Such a petty and narrow-minded act defied her previous self.


    Shame and disappointment swelled in Jiyan''s mind. But recalling the subtle changes she saw in Dilnaz''s eyes when she started robbing the cultivation of her victims through her new sword, Jiyan realized that the seed of madness had been nted long ago. Perhaps, after getting foiled and trampled time and time again by Harun, Dilnaz''s seed grew into a wrathful madness all aimed at him. The merchant''s following words confirmed that theory.


    "Among celestials and members of the World Association, this is a well-known story. I just assumed that you were familiar with it. Please forgive my transgressions. For reasons unknown to those of my level, the Saint-Empress developed an obsession for the fallen Son of Heaven, and any trace he left behind. After investigating his contacts and background, she had all the celestials he had polite contacts with executed, then personally destroyed his homeworld.


    Fortunately, back then other experts had grown curious about his origins. After all, the Son of Heaven was the only recorded expert to sessfully poison cultivators above the fifth-level of the Celestial Kin Realm. Believing that he must have left some records behind, the future founders of the World Association descended on the Noxious me World, retraced his story, and found his scatteredboratories. The people of that world called him gue Overlord, and had erected statues of him in all major cities. I suppose that didn''t help them... "


    Here the merchant paused, squinting his eyes as if recalling an important piece of intel.


    "Though, there is a rumor that the White Fox Emperor of the Monster Paradise''s Seven Beast Emperors battled the Saint-Empress for the Noxious me World''s sake, and despite severe injuries, managed to save many lives. Still, those are merely rumors," the merchant mumbled those words. Nevertheless, they didn''t escape either Harun or Jiyan''s ears. But while thetter felt a tinge of relief, the former closed his eyes, his thoughts unknown.


    Meanwhile, in the Immtion de Sect''s main hall, the sect master, Sangar Diljem, sat crossed-legged in the air, with his eyes shut-close, and blood-red mes swirling around his form. Those eyes sprang open, revealing the ming-red hues of the Blood Crow n.


    "Twelve dead, one brain-damaged. Our involvement has been exposed," Sangar whispered. Although he acted in concert with a senior member of the World Association and had many insurances, an attack on the caravans was no small matter, and so Sangar only picked those that cultivated the same art as him, then merged tiny strands of consciousness with their soulsenabling him to act through them and sense mishaps.


    While more straightforward, unlike Harun''s Karmic Attachment, Jiyan''s Devil Essence half-wrecked the target''s mind, basically turning them into puppets driven only by their need to serve their lord. This helped Sangar infer that his sect''s aim had been revealed. Instantly, he probed the seven other groups, who now surrounded the remaining caravans.


    "That being the case, we can only sacrifice the few to preserve the many," Sangar whispered, and joined his hands in a mudra. Instantly, all "bandits," alive or dead, turned into columns of sanguine mes and...detonated! Blood-red zes swallowed all the caravans, devoured lives and goods, then vanished as if they never existed. Not even ashes remained. Sangar''s hands moved in incantation gestures, and a formless force cloaked the seven sitespreventing Divination.


    The Golden Crow n''s lineage carried an innate talent for Divination Magic, but more interested in battles, and deterred by the prices, most avoided them. As a branch of the Golden Crows, the Blood Crows inherited that talent. However, few dared to cultivate it. Sangar did, and so received Nak''s backing. Despite the Golden Crow n''s disappearance, the Divine Army remained, and sheltered the branches of Nak''s n.


    But when he probed the eighth site, Sangar realized that the situation had grown moreplicated.


    It happened with no warnings. One moment, Harun closed his eyes, the next, the 13 Immtion de Disciples turned into sanguine-red me columns that trapped them all in a massive ze. The merchants'' eyes widened with fright. Their screams followed. But as disorder conquered the scene, Jiyan raised her right hand.


    A dark-blue aura formed by her Elemental Yin poured forth, the temperature shrank to abysmal levels, and the mes turned into ice sculptures. As mentioned before, Harun divided the Second Step of the Myriad Poisons Bridge into four stages: Yin-Refining, Soul-Exalting, Inner Truth and Tri-Yin Core. After the Yin-Refining stage, experts couldmand Elemental Yin, abination of water, fire, ice and ghastly forces, all able to unleash extreme temperatures, on top of other properties. Now past the Inner Truth stage, Jiyan could naturally control it.


    Sangar didn''t expect that an expert of Yin forces stood among his enemies. Blood-red mes gathered in the sky, forming a blinding red palm that loomed over the terror-stricken mortals. Using his disciples'' souls as fuel, despite the distance, Sangar could unleash his full might. Throughout the First Range, the all-out assault of a third-level Celestial Knight was a nightmarish concept. However, Jiyan didn''t take it seriously.


    Blue mes coated her form, and she aimed one finger at Sangar''s palm. But as the two prepared to sh, Harun chimed in.


    "The Blood Feather City Lord, Sangar Diljem?" Harun said, and for the split of a second, the energy fluctuations in Sangar''s palm grew chaotic. Though the Immtion de Sect Master''s cultivation level was no secret. Only a handful knew his true identity. How did this man guess it?

 Chapter 77: Your Misery is My Reward

    Chapter 77: Your Misery is My Reward


    Though Sangar''s blood me palm had no emotions to show, Harun felt the brief instability in its energy fluctuations. The reaction somewhat perplexed him. From the Vermilion Brides, Harun had long learned of the Immtion de Sect Master''s identity. But even without them, as Sangar and he were bound by Karma, regardless of what disguise he took, Harun could recognize him. And recalling how Sangar shipped him off to the Highest Heaven, Harun felt the need to collect some overdue debts. Adopting the stance of a lofty expert, Harun summoned a horsetail whisk in his right hand, and stroked his beardless chin with the left.


    "In this time and age, for a member of the crow n to care about exposing his name more than his lineage is puzzling...for others, at least. Did you think you could hide the truth from This Eminence?" Harun asked, and as if forced by the endless stroking, his chin grew an impossibly long beard that nearly trailed on the ground.


    The merchants gawked. Jiyan facepalmed. And Sangar, who observed the scene through his disciples'' burning souls, was at a loss of words. When did the world produce such a cool-headed buffoon, he wondered? But not daring to take the words lightly, Sangar suppressed his emotions and asked, "What truth would that be?"


    Harun naturally had no idea, and hoped that hisedic disy plus Sandar''s skepticism would make the man blurt out some hints. Unfortunately, Sangar was a seasoned plotter older than Mukri and Gulsenibined. He couldn''t fall for such a petty trick.Tilting his head, Harun pondered the question. Heaven counted many Blood Crow ns, and following Nak''s disappearance, most left for the mortal world. Sangar was one of the first to vanish, changed his name, and founded a sect in the Second Range.


    "Each of the First Range''s top three masters'' possesses a Sect Master Token. But none of them can aim for sovereignty, and the Immtion des aside, all answer to mightier sects. The Divine Army''s headquarters are in Heaven, and their top experts don''t exceed the Empyrean Monarch Realm. With that strength, don''t mention sheltering Nak''s lineage, as remnants of the old system and subordinates of the public enemy number one, it''s a miracle that they haven''t been exterminated by the Holy Lands already. Which means...that they at least have an Emperor''s active protection. The Holy Lands or an outsider? Both? A force intrinsically linked to Nak? Truth Scrying...why does that feel so familiar?"


    As Harun''s thoughts trailed off, he realized that hints about Nak''s current position may hide in Sangar''s secret. Further, did Sangar care that his name spread, or to who it spread to? In a short time, Harun couldn''t prove either. But little did he know that he hit the mark.


    Sangar cultivated a Forbidden Magic granted by Nak as a reward for his aplishments in Divination: The Self-Immting Hex. By setting himself aze and chanting the incantation, Sangar could exterminate all those that bore him ill-will and knew his birth name, across 10 million square kilometers. However, there were several conditions. The hex took 100 years of lifespan for every person it killed, couldn''t kill someone over two levels above Sangar''s, and didn''t allow Sangar to pick his victims. Moreover, if used by an immortal, the hex would kill them first, before attacking the intended targets.


    Nak''s most outstanding son, the dead Rajan''s father, used that hex to suppress a rebellion that urred right after the Second Emperor''s death, and before Agiri''s crowning ceremony, then died as a result. At the time, Nak was crossing a Cosmic Tribtiona matter for another time. The Self-Immtion Hex was Sangar''s ticket to dominion over the First Range. For it, he purposely let a sect elder leak his identity to the troublesome factions'' high level. Strangely, however, he didn''t include the Soul Refining Hall''s master.


    Naturally, Harun didn''t know about any of this, but how could that stop him from dealing with the old fogey? Stretching his left hand toward the ground, Harun clenched his fist, making ethereal white fments emerge from the soil, and in the thousands, rise toward the ming palm Sangar spoke through. In those fments, all could see images of the Immtion de Disciple''s assaulting the caravan, their subsequent destruction and identity reveal. Sangra''s appearance, moves, and his brief exchange with Harun followed. Back in his hall, the Immtion de Sect Master''s face twisted into a hideous grimace.


    "I suppose that doesn''t really matter, does it? However, I wonder what will happen once I make those threads tour each of the World Association''s branches? Actually...how about the whole fucking globe? I guess that''s a bit overkill since you''ll be dead by then," Harun said while stroking his long auburn beard, which formed a heavy contrast with his teenaged looks.


    Instantly, the me palm turned into a three meters tall blood-red crow whose face seemed full of grief. Never in his wildest dream could Sangar expect Harun capable of Divination Magic. And of course he wasn''t. But all cultivators of the Six Incarnation Bridge could extract the Karma formed in an area and reveal the events through Karmic Threads. Strikingly simr to Divination Magic, those Karmic Threads misled Sangar...not that it mattered.


    "What do you want? Anything is discussable. What''s the point of doing something that brings neither of us benefits?" Sangra rhetorically asked. But even as the words left his beak, he realized he''d lost the initiative.


    "Why do you want the Sin-zed Lilies?" Harun inquired. Better than anyone, he knew those flowers'' effects. inly put, Sin-zed Lilies were a confidence drug. Smoking or grinding them in beverages enabled the consumer to experience a leap in confidence. Within five minutes, the belief that they could aplish all they set out to fueled them.


    As most emotion rted drugs, Sin-zed Lilies were extremely addictive. But unlike other drugs where consumers would gradually need to take more just to experience the same level of high, Sin-zed Lilies became more extreme with each new intake.


    Within a week of regr consumption, megalomania would rece the initial confidence boost. The consumers would believe themselves above Gods and Heaven, able to overturn dimensions with a casual flick of their hands. The need to crush all would soon settle in. Initially, Harun created that flower as one of the active ingredients of his Dancing gue Wine, and rarely used it on its own. There was nomercial value to such a berserk drug, so Harun couldn''t see why a senior member of the World Association, even a branch, would try his hands at that thing.


    Once they realized the Sin-zed Lilies'' destructive potential, in concert with the Holy Lands, the World Association banned the flower''s cultivation or use. And not even three yearster, it was back on the market?


    "Sin-zed Lilies are excellent tools for triggering wars. At the highest grade, they don''t even spare Empyrean Monarchs, and have brought destruction on more than one sect. The Holy Lands may have banned them on the surface, but that doesn''t stop them from cultivating stalks in the shadows. In these times of false peace, if we don''t equip ourselves with our foes'' weapons, how can we resist them?" Sangar straightforwardly replied. Yet, Harun felt that the feathered bastard left something out. Perhaps under certain conditions, those flowers had a use even he wasn''t aware of?


    Never mind that, "Did you or a member of your sect cast the Scorching Sun Mantra?"


    "Our sect name is Immtion de. I am not that silly."


    "Fair enough" Harun nodded in approval, then turned toward the east, "I suppose I could ckmail you for some hush money. However" Here Harun paused, and his lips curved into a fiendish grin.


    "Your misery is my first reward," Harun said, sent a few mental messages, then aimed his horsetail whisk at the Vermilion Brides'' direction. Instantly, the Karmic Threads showcasing the recent events flew toward the Vermilion Brides Sect, rming Sangar, who stared open-beaked at the budding disaster.


    "You only have ten seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7 6 5 4 3 2" Harun raced the count, and the Karmic Threads'' speed skyrocketedfading into the horizon.


    Snapping out of his stupor, Sangar left the scene. Gathered his strongest elders, and rushed toward the Vermilion Brides Sect. Seeing this, Harun let out a contented sigh, like a loving father watching his children single-handedly ride their first bicycles.


    "Isn''t that dangerous?" Jiyan asked, referring to the exposure of the Birusk n.


    "Nah, my Totem and Mukri are hidden near the forest''s entrance already. The Vermilion Brides are on their way to support them, and together they will ughter them to thest. I''ve already given instruction to let Sangar in, then use his shock at the Treasure Land to deal him a fatal blow. Then they can y volleyball with the rest."


    Harun said with a bright smiling face, making the nearby merchants wonder if they didn''t just form a pact with the devil.

 Chapter 78: Weeping Soul Reverend

    Chapter 78: Weeping Soul Reverend


    "This is obviously a trap, and yet I must jump in," Sangar reasoned as he led the strongest nine of his sect elders toward the Vermilion Brides'' Domain. In the past, Sangar didn''t believe the Vermilion Brides could cause him serious harm. But when, in a Second Range sh, he witnessed the fall of an expert three levels above him at Gulseni''s hands, he quickly changed his tune. In usual circumstances, that woman wasn''t his match. But once she unleashed her Yang Sealing Chains, even running for his life was no longer an option.


    Rushing straight into the wolf''s den was no doubt unwise. But in a sh between celestials, every second mattered. If he paused to contact his allies, the die was cast. At the same time, he couldn''t expose his link to the Soul Refining Hall just to cover for his mistakes. Wronged. In his over 3,000 years of life, Sangar had never felt as wronged as he did today.


    "If pushes to shove, I can just use the Self-Immting Art. But if that man''s cultivation base is far above mine..." Sangar pondered the possibility. With three elders still controlling the headquarters, should all else fail, his forces would merge with the Soul Refining Hall and carry out the task. His resolve renewed, Sangar gritted his teeth, and raced faster at the escaping Karmic Threads.


    The Birusk n''s entrance forest appeared in his sight, and Sangar sent his nine elders a mental message, "Remember, the goal is to destroy the evidence, not to engage in a senseless fight. If we can avoid a confrontation, do not target those vix..." As Sangar reminded the sect elders of the operation''s aim, the group flew past the forest''s entrance, and a colossal surge of spiritual energy mmed into them all. Going from a dry and stifling atmosphere to an earthly paradise, a cultivator''s dreand, they lost themselves. Sangar''s eyes stretched to impossible lengths, and the scene choked the words in his throat.


    Never in his life had he experienced such a level of purity. Though transforming Spiritual into Heavenly Qi created some losses, with Qi of this level, why would that matter? Subconsciously, he let his lips form a broad smile, but in that instant, failed to inspect his surroundings. Dark-purple lightning shot out of Sangar''s left, mming right into the Immtion des'' Sect Master.


    This was Mukri''s ability, mastered after 15 years of cultivating his Devil Essence. Whoever suffered that lightning strike would experience a minor Heavenly Tribtion. ck clouds formed above a dazed Sangar''s head, unleashing dozens of blue lightning bolts on the old cultivator.


    "Life often ys such sick jokes on us. One moment, you believe you found the gate to the true heaven, the next, hell hugs you tight," Sangar whispered, realizing the ploy. Clearly, the "buffoon" he inwardly scorned had prepared several traps to dispose of him, and never once nned to expose the evidence. Perhaps just like him, he couldn''t afford to have Gods descend on the First Range. Perhaps he was just that spiteful of a man, and wished to end him shily? None of that mattered now.


    Letting out a shrill cry, Sangar assumed his true form, bing a massive Blood Crow whose feathers glittered in red mes. Surrounding himself in a red sun ball, Sangar challenged the blue tribtion lightning. But when the first bolt smashed into his defenses, sending shivers straight into his soul, a gargantuan serpent tail tore its way out of the ground, and clobbered Sangar''s sun ball!


    BANG!


    All his skills, strength and desire to survive shattered on the spot! Reeling back from the impact, Sangar flew in-between nearby trees, and even when the shadow of a colossal wed serpent loomed over his copsing figure, Sangar couldn''t form a coherent response. In that single tail strike he saw a gap that willpower and brain couldn''t transcendthe might of ate-stage Celestial Knight.


    "Sect Master!" The elders roared and rushed to Sangar''s aid. But with their cultivation hovering between the sixth and ninth level of the Celestial Guard Realm, to say nothing of the serpent, they couldn''t even resist Mukri. The Emissary Bull became a meteor of raging purple mes and sharpened earth spikes as he crashed into the elders, goring, charing and riving them all with remarkable ease!


    The World Devouring Serpent''s cold and oppressive green hues nailed Sangar, its maw opened wide, and boundless suction force wrapped the sect masterswallowing him whole! The Serpent devoured Sangar''s bloodline strength, his energy, skills and knowledgetransferring the knowledge part to Harun.


    In the mountains north of the Dark Stone Capital, the Soul Refining Hall stood tall, with over 1,000 disciples whose cultivation bases and skills few could appraise. Twenty-two orreries floated above the inner sect, each housing an elder and revolving around a twenty-third orrery where the sect master, the Weeping Soul Reverend, cultivated between falses and astral bodies.


    The Weeping Soul Reverend trembled, and a mental message echoed in his mind, "Reverend, the Immtion de Sect Master is dead."


    For a second, the Weeping Soul Reverend said nothing. His blind eyes, as always, remained shut close, and with a forced smile, he replied:


    "I suppose that death is the reward for ipetence. Annex the Immtion des. The Dark Stone Country operation carries on as usual."


    "Should we track down the murderer''s identity?"


    "Murder? How spiteful. In the cultivation world, there is no murderer. Only sess and failure. Aren''t we all murderers? If you start judging them, who will judge us? A divination attempt on experts able to kill Sangar isn''t what you can aplish. Even for me, the price won''t be cheap. Crippling myself to find Sangar''s killer is at best unsound, and that''s only assuming they don''t have their own defense measures. We need our full strength to refine the Abyssal River and upy the Obsidian Soul Stone mine.


    Dispatch disciples to observe the Dark Stone Capital and its surroundings. Remain alert. They will show up, and should they stand in our way for the Truth, they will die all the same," the Weeping Soul Reverend said with a gentle smile. At his back, a 99 meters tall gray redwood stood, with weeping-faces-shaped fruits crowding all branches.


    A pair of eyes opened in the tree''s middle, rippling with an eerie, baleful force.


    The Weeping Soul Reverend lowered his face, and a single tear dropped from his left eye.

 Chapter 79: Treasure Hunting Gang

    Chapter 79: Treasure Hunting Gang


    While his totem devoured the ten Immtion de experts and digested the gains, Harun processed the knowledge stored in Sangar''s brainthe results baffled him.


    "Mhm...we might be in trouble," Harun whispered, more for himself than anyone else. Someone or Sangar himself put a memory seal on his mind, ensuring that all critical information would vanish when probed. However, that seal itself spoke many tales. What knowledge could Sangar have ess to that required a memory seal? Was it rted to Nak, or matters of the First Range? If thetter, who in the First Range possessed the strength or authority to force or let Sangar suppress his own memories?


    Only one name came to mind: the Soul Refining Hall Master, Reverend Weeping Soul. Of course, Harun didn''t exclude the possibilities of hidden masters, or Nak himself. However, Sangar didn''t bother sealing his skill or the clear memories of his rtionship to Nak. Yet, all things rted to the First Range suffered strict suppression. The cruxy here, and now aware of Sangar''s Divination Skills, Harun couldn''t avoid making a parallel with the Soul Refining Hall and Truth Scrying Grotto.


    Not a man to underestimate his foes, Harun reevaluated Reverend Weeping Soul. As the Truth Scrying Grotto and its branches avoided open conflicts or made sure witnesses couldn''t testify to what they saw, not much was known about the Dream Seer Path''s skills. ording tomon celestial knowledge, their cultivation levels were divided into seven realms: Canonized Soul, Awakened Wisdom, Truth Reverend, Void Return, Perfected Being, Sage King and Enlightened Emperor.


    Mortals first had to experience 99 years of study and enlightenment before stepping on the Dream Seer Bridge. There was no shortcut to this, and though the Truth Scrying Grotto and its branches provided Longevity Pills to the talented, few could withstand such conditions. However, the stronger the foundation they established during the 99 years, the faster their cultivation speed would be. The most gifted could directly reach the peak of Canonized Soul, and within several decades, achieve Awakened Wisdom.


    As his title implied, Reverend Weeping Soul stood at the Truth Reverend Realm. Most believed that his cultivation exceeded Sangar, as thetter didn''t dare confront him. But none knew his age or exact level. At the same time, he refused the Excellence Assessment of the World Association, making his precise battle-power hard to estimate.


    Harun was starting to believe that experts of the Truth Scrying Grotto had been hiding in the Heavenly Dream Land for much longer than estimated, and only made arge-scale "descent" due to the catastrophic events he prompted. But as Harun seemed lost in deep thoughts, stroking his beard as he pondered matters of a global scale, a slender hand grabbed the impossibly long beard, and stroked it with gentle care.


    "Mhm, so smooth and glossy, like phoenix feathers," Jiyan said in that enchanting voice of hers.


    "I know right? Enjoy," Satisfied, Harun stuck out his chest and nodded in approval, letting her cop a feel. But as Jiyan''s stroking grew more delicate, and her smile more radiant, she tightened her grip around the beard, and yanked it off!


    At first, Harun paused. But when Jiyan''s white hand tossed his beard onto the ground, his body registered the pain, and a shrill cry followed.


    "Aaaargh!" Harun patted his reddened chin while screaming his lungs out. Meanwhile, Jiyan gave the beard three good stomps, then burned it to ashes.


    "You!" Harun snapped in grief. But Jiyan met his outrage with an upromising stance, and snapped back:


    "Me what? Even if you don''t want face, don''t pull me down with you. Everything must have limits. So embarrassing. Shame on you! And stop pretending. I cut off your sense of pain already."


    "You don''t understand, this was a political move. In the gangsters'' paradise, we have to use tricks like these to throw our opponents off bnce and control the pace. It''s absolutely not that I wanted to grow a guan yu style beard out of the blue. Oh wait, that''s true," Only now did Harun realize that he indeed didn''t feel an ounce of pain. Perhaps he''d gotten so used to pretending that his brain automatically faked the pain? That was the most likely exnation, right?


    But in Jiyan and the merchants'' ears, the out-of-ce words sounded like an admission of guilt. And while they watched this theatrical disy with ring, "what the fuck" looks on their faces, the merchants'' thoughts grew chaotic.


    "Is this a celestial or a devil, a clown or a genius? I''m disturbed and confused. What am I even supposed to say or do?" As if united by one consciousness, the merchants had the same words circling in their minds. Brought back to seriousness by his responsible wife, Harun turned to face the mortals, and with a radiant smile, leaned over.


    "Alright, this is how things will go down. I will requisition your stash of Sin-zed Flowers, you will give me your Honored Guest Pass to the Dark Stone Capital''s Association branch. And when you reach the capital, reveal one-third the truth.


    You were assaulted by the Immtion des, saved by a passing expert, and thanked him with a Guest Pass. However, the bandits escaped with the Sin-zed Flowers." Harun exined, and though at first confused, the merchants soon reorganized the previous events, and realized his intent.


    It was likely that those merchants had been swindled by the higher ranked association member, that the branch never intended to trade in Sin-zed Flowers, and if all else failed, they would be scapegoats. However, with a savior and friend capable of challenging the Immtion des, the situation became different.


    If the branch insisted on shifting me, with Harun to support those merchants, the only way was to summon deities, and admit to the whole debacle. At best, no one would profit from that. At worst, many would die. The branch wasn''t likely to take that suicidal road, and would instead try to smother the affair. At the same time, the "transparent" exnation of the merchants would help the branch''s leaders realize that one of them had been ying a dangerous gamean internal investigation would follow.


    Although Harun didn''t think the mastermind would be silly enough to attempt murder, restlessness led to mistakes. And if he truly was that stupid, all the better.


    Granted, they didn''t have a profound understanding of the cultivation world, but the merchants mastered the politics of men a long time ago, and fully supported Harun''s plot. Without hesitation, the leader pulled out a silver card, and presented it to Harun.


    "Congrattions, Your Eminence, on bing an honored guest of the World Association. Each caravan only carries one such card, and cannot sell it for less than 50,000 low-grade Divine Jades, or 1,000,000 high-grade Spirit Stones. But given the circumstances, the seniors won''t dare argue. However, to make the card valid, you will still need to engrave your name and affiliation with your Divine Sense. When we return to the branch, we will handle the rted paperwork and open your ount."


    The merchant said. All things had grades. Spirit Stones and Divine Jades were no exception. One-thousand high-grade Spirit Stones were only worth one Divine Jade. But strangely, a sublime-grade Spirit Stone was worth one high-grade Divine Jadea matter for another time.


    Receiving the card, Harun engraved the name part with "Lord Revtion," and signed the affiliation part with"Treasure Hunting Gang."

 Chapter 80: Are You not the Son of Heaven?

    Chapter 80: Are You not the Son of Heaven?


    Patterns drawn by a cultivator''s Divine Sense left a unique signature, so when push came to shove, name-faking wasn''t of much use. However, on the one hand, Harun didn''t want to draw attention to the Birusk name already. On the other hand, he did n to create a Treasure Hunting Gang as a front to establish a reputation in the cultivation world, have ess to better potential disciples, and prepare some cannon fodders for when the time came to explore Ancient Inheritance Grounds.


    Unlike their modern counterparts, Ancient Inheritance Grounds were perverse killing fields where one in ten thousand lost their lives to kiss baubles. Their level requirements didn''t always reflect the dangers insideNow,, but at the same time, a low-level Ancient Ground could, in rare cases, hide startling rewards. With one nce at the silver card, the merchants took mental notes of Harun''s information.


    "We''ve recorded Your Lordship''s information, and will handle all we need to. I''m assuming Your Lordship''s Treasure Hunting Gang is a new force? Once you reach the Dark Stone Capital, you can officially register it to receive a temporary 30% discount on Association goods, on top of the eternal 20% your Silver Pass grants you. From territories to treasures, from ingredients to tame mounts, the association has no shortage of goods. We can also help you set up a disciple recruitment ceremony," the merchants said with a polite bow. From now on, their survival was tied to Harun''s support, and they would naturally fight to provide him the best benefits possible.


    "Too soon," Harun denied their offer. Even for a front faction, reputation was a must. To recruit useful experts, he had to spread "Lord Revtion''s" name first. The battle with the Soul Refining Hall would handle that. After giving them a few more instructions, Harun sent the merchants off, and alongside Jiyan, returned to the carriage.


    "Still thinking about the Noxious me World?" Jiyan asked as the driver resumed his job. While Harun didn''t react or probe the matter, Jiyan knew that it didn''t leave him indifferent, and could feel the emotions he kept suppressed underneath his jovial exterior.


    "I''m just wondering, what''s the use of resurrection? Who do we resurrect the dead for? Ourselves, obviously. Unless destroyed in body and soul, the dead will cross the reincarnation cycle, be reborn, and live another life. Their past self may miss us, but the future one has no link to us whatsoever? What gives us the right to rob that future and all its possibilities, just to heal the void they left behind? Is that not the epitome of selfishness?" Harun said in an absentminded tone.


    As a cultivator of the Unyielding Path, should Harun reach the end of the Six Incarnations Bridge, he''d obtain Samsara Dominion, and with it, sovereignty over life, death, karma, causality and the reincarnation cycle. With such powers in hand, reconstructing the Noxious me World and resurrecting all those he held dear would pose no challenge. However, should he? Interfering with the natural order was no joke. The reincarnation cycle existed for a reason. If everyone started robbing it of its fuel, what would the consequences be?


    This wasn''t about right or wrong, but egotism, causality, and so many other variables Harun had to take into ount. For those reasons, previously he merely wished to give his rtives wless future lives. Now, however, hesitation crept in.


    To such a question, Jiyan had no answer. Indeed, she too felt that resurrection was mostly the wish of the living. Souls unwilling to let go of their past lives still wandered the world. So why bother the ones that looked to the future?


    But as the two seemed short of words, the system chimed in.


    "Overthinking brats, selfishness is human nature. Who cares about order? Who imed that the current one was correct and immutable? If you want something, grab it! If someone stands in your way, crush them! Everything is yours if you so desire, and all should bow or suffer the consequences. So what if you plunge the world into anarchy to achieve your aim? As long as you can gloat across eternity, all is worth it!"


    Madness incarnate sang in Harun''s mind. As if the Devil himself had reced the system to lure Harun into its diabolic cradle. The words held a strange appeal, but shaking his head, Harun rejected them.


    "Diabolism is a depressing road. I''d like to avoid being public enemy number one across eternity. 150 years was more than enough," Harun countered, but failed to sway the system.


    "In the Ancestral Land, Unyielding Path cultivators are known as Tyrants. The road and goals may differ, but in the eyes of the many, you aren''t much different from Devils. But so what if they want your head, when your might stands supreme? On the contrary, there is nothing more pleasurable than knowing they hate your guts, want to crush your skull, yet still grovel inplete humility. Make even destiny your bitch. And who cares about what you do? Are you not the Son of Heaven? How can such petty concerns apply to you and disturb your mind?" The system said in a bold and upromising tone.


    But as its maniacal words spread, Harun recalled the figure of the ck-robbed youth he saw in the stele. Curiosity flickered in his eyes, then vanished.


    "But who is Heaven? Because sometimes it almost feels like I''m the Son of Hell," Harun asked after shifting his attention back to the system. Silence was its only answer. Harun had expected such a reaction and only wished to make it shut up. But if before he still had some doubts, the immediate silence proved that the system was fully aware of his eyes'' origins.


    Ignoring it, Harun shifted his gaze toward Jiyan, who had joined her hands in a meditation sign and shut her eyes. Five blue light orbs hovered before her, each housing a different species of butterfly. To break through to the Tri-Yin-Core stage, Jiyan had to start refining the souls of toxic creatures. Harun prepared and granted her a sack of various beasts, mostly butterfly species and some other stunning insects.


    After all, not everyone could be like him, and refine spiders or toads with a smile. The butterflies broke into light particles, leaving behind translucent versions of their mortal shells that dove into Jiyan''s abdomen, where they joined to form a rice-size blue orb. Each of the Yin Cores required 120 Toxic Beast Souls. Foundation and talent determined refinement speed, and after each session, a long cooldown followed. Fortunately, the system provided sect wonders. Otherwise, Harun couldn''t afford the cost.


    Closing his eyes, he too fell into meditation, nurturing the Attachment and Karmic Link to his devotees. Their joys, thoughts, challenges and regrets welled up in his soul. Over 300 names he knew through and through. Golden smoke surged as his Spiritual Incense poured forth, full of miraculous powers.


    Splitting the remaining trip time between banter and cultivation, the pair passed the rest of the trip without hurdles, and reached the Dark Stone Capital''s 120 meters tall, jet-ck gates.

 Chapter 81: Chaotic Capital

    Chapter 81: Chaotic Capital


    "Magnificent!" Jiyan''s eyes sparkled at the jet-ck gates like an archeologist in an eldorado of ancient monuments. Known as the God-Defying Gates, they predated the Dark Stone Country, going back to the Lost Era that preceded the Serpent Emperor''s hegemony. As its name implied, not much was known about the Lost Era. From the races and lords to the peak cultivators, the current generation knew virtually nothing. However, remnants of that time like the Ancient Inheritance Grounds, Eternal Monuments and World Beasts, existed to remind the future generations of the glory forgotten with those days.


    ording to hearsay, the God-Defying Gates were built by a group of mortals who imbued their life-force, souls and hatred for Gods in Obsidian Soul Stones, using them to erect this massive monument that prevented all between the Ascending God and Empyrean Monarch Realms from moving past these gates. Dynasties copsed, countries seeded one another. But the God-Defying Gates stood unbroken across millions of years, challenging the Gods'' supremacy.


    Of course, this didn''t stop the Gods from exerting their influence by proxy, or summon Door Gods and Divine Hosts tounch brutal assaults. Still, the mere fact that a ce where Gods couldn''t set foot into existed, was enough to lift the mortals'' spirits.


    Flocks of ck flying birds, falcons, eagles, cranes and swans, spread their wings above the gates, with their eyes aiming for the Heavens above. All that nced at those lifelike statues would hear the call of freedom stir their souls. But as Jiyan marveled at the Eternal Monument, Harun shook his head.


    "Nerd." Jiyan''s love for exploration and world wonders was a long-proven topic. But seeing how she lost herself before the God-Defying Gates, Harun had to admit that he underestimated her infatuation for those world wonders.


    "Hush, gluttonous ape. Do you know that in the Mountain Edge World''s history, all mortals that conquered the First Range started here? Do you know that the gates open and close automatically, and that all Gods that attempted to force their way in turned into roasted pigs? This ce is of inestimable historical and cultural worth. Can we take pictures and make recordings?" Like a child giddy before rows of ice creams, Jiyan held her cheeks, swaying back and forth, then spun toward Harun.


    Rolling his eyes, Harun avoided her gaze, but after three seconds of false struggle, still conceded, "Sure, darling. After we''re done with the proper business, we can record all you want to in memory crystals. Happy?" Harun rhetorically asked. Satisfied, Jiyan smooched his cheek and whispered in his ear, "Don''t pretend. I know you love me best."


    To that, Harun had nothing to add.


    The gates opened to let rows of chariots in. Guards barred the entrance to check the neers'' identity and purpose. And thus, the pair entered the Dark Stone Capital. What they saw inside robbed their breaths.


    An ancient stone city built upon and across a verdant hill took shape before them, with organized districts and quarters split intoyers of increasingly more affluent neighborhoods. Perched on the hilltop was a massive temple-styled pce with sky high pirs shouldering the dark-brown ceilings, and the entrance open to all that dared dive in. Surrounding it, however, was awork of barbicans and reinforced walls, with intimidating cannons that fired deadly metallic projectiles at assants.


    Yet, startling as it might be, this city couldn''t sway either Harun or Jiyan who''d seen the wonders of the Highest Heaven. No, a much simpler, yet harrowing scene grabbed their attention. Not even five meters west from the entrance, a crowd formed around five bare-chested men and women, tied against poles, and battered to death by relentless stone projectiles. The lynching went on even though the five had long lost their lives, with the crowd howling "dirty thief," with each stone they threw.


    Nine meters to the right, six burned at the stake. Twelve meters north, a nobleman''s carriage dragged bound captives across the ground, and at the city''s center, 32 horses quartered eight men of various frames.


    It was as if the city drowned its thirst and hunger in mayhem, galvanized by screams and blood thirst. The faces ofmoners and aristocrats had twisted into fiendish grimaces, and processions of hundreds of citizens from all walks of life held ques high in the sky with one bold word written on all surfaces: "ABDICATION!"


    In that instant, Harun was reminded that images spoke louder than words. Jiyan, who''d never seen such a barbaric picture floundered for a moment, and held tighter onto Harun''s arm. But even after she regained herposure, her stretched eyes spoke tales of her fright. Reddened by burning houses and wanton looting, the air choked under all the asphyxiating smoke. Hissing sounds left, metallic shes right. The smells of fear and raging wrath entangling with a paradoxical affinity. Chaos in its purest form took shape before the pair, and all this...urred right at the entrance door!


    The guards turned a blind eye to the chaos, some dead drunk, others preferring watch duty. A substantial number ofw enforcers took part in the looting, disguised as bandits. Those that aimed to do their sworn duty were trampled by stampedes of horses and menwith the cultivators sneak attacked by other cultivators that hoped to see the carnage go on unstopped.


    "Are they controlled?" Jiyan said. Despite all she saw, Jiyan couldn''t ept that such madness was the product of conscious activity. Harun, however, remained stoic, "Have you ever seen a city''s state after a sessful siege, or the darker sides of a revolution? Those are the types of things we hide to maintain the holy image of our nature. Don''t worry, as one once imed, this misery is just the passing of greed, and the bitterness of men. The hate will pass...after we meddle, of course," Harun said in a nonchnt tone. Used to the roads, the carriage driver took the least crowded one to lead the pair toward the Hypnotic Lute Tavern, number one drinking establishment of the Dark Stone Country.


    When the man left to fetch Harun and Jiyan, the situation was nowhere near this chaotic. But within three weeks, the city went from disturbing to outright nightmarish. Yet, even if he could foresee the future, he wouldn''t refuse the assignment. The Hypnotic Lute Tavern controlled 90% of the alcohol supply in the Dark Stone City, and possessedrge water reserves. For that water alone, many were willing to submit to them. At the same time, the owner created the Fancy Wife Inn, which supplied nobles and cultivators with high-grade meals and courtesans. In a measly 15 years, his influence in the Dark Stone Country reached legendary proportions. Three mercenarypanies answered hismand, a loophole few could use to own private soldiers.


    That meteoric rise and resources brought many enemies. But all their attempts seemed thwarted by destiny itself, giving many the misconception that the Hypnotic Lute Tavern''s owner was protected by Heaven itself.


    Who could imagine that such a blessed man, still in his prime, would one day break his legs, and have to bring his nephew to the capital to inherit the business? Many aristocrats and cultivators'' eyes watched out for that young master, who''d soon be one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest man of the Dark Stone City.


    But as his carriage approached the tavern, Harun looked out the window, spotting a scene that grabbed his interest. One bald cultivator dressed in a ck monastic robe faced three teenagers and their respective parents. Besides two of the teenagers, all prostrated themselves before the bald cultivator.


    "Why aren''t you kneeling?" The baldy asked in a level tone that carried nothing besides a hint of curiosity.


    The two teenagers were of diametrically opposed frames. The left teen was tall and burly, and the right one slender, of average height, but with a strikingly handsome face. But while the burly teen seemed pensive and a bit out of ce, the boy at the right kept his back straight, oozing confidence and a schrly aloofness.


    "I only kneel to Heaven and my parents," the schrly pretty boy boldly imed. Hearing this, the bald cultivator nodded in understanding, and pped the schr''s head off his neck. Not caring for the gore and screams he just caused, the cultivator turned toward the remaining youth, and again asked the same thing.


    "Why aren''t you kneeling?"

 Chapter 82: The Hierarchy of Bended Knees

    Chapter 82: The Hierarchy of Bended Knees


    The burly youth nced at the mess of gore, then back at the bald cultivator, and scratched his head in nervousness. Awkwardness instead of genuine dread marked his face. Though he clearly feared the bald cultivator, it hadn''t reached the point where he''d lose his mind to the sensation. Desperate to preserve their son''s life, his parents crawled toward the bald cultivator.


    "Immortal, please have mercy! The boy was born a half-wit and barely understands basic courtesy. To say nothing of human rtionships, even the simplest of tasks take him weeks to master. How could he understand the situation? Please have mercy!" The father begged, and alongside his wife, kowtowed to no end. The bald cultivator''s eyes didn''t leave the teenager''s confused gaze. On the contrary, the more he stared into the boy''s brown eyes, the more interested he became.


    "Have no fear. I am not a barbaric man. If the boy is merely mentally challenged, I will of course not cause him trouble," the cultivator dismissed the parents'' fears. Coming from someone that just pped a youth''s head off, such words couldn''t satisfy anyone. But besides epting them, what other choices did they have?


    As he scratched his head, the youth''s awkwardness grew more pronounced, but realizing he had to give an answer, he weighed his words as carefully as he could, and replied:


    "Since I could understand the world around me, I was told that kneeling is a part of a son''s routine. You must kneel to your parents because they gave birth to you, fed you, and prepare you to be a productive member of society. But at the same time, you learn that age is no excuse to not kneel before officials, aristocrats and the king. As the lowest-ranked citizen, child, son and subject, kneeling is your routine. That''s when I realized that we kneel to our parents to show them deference and remind ourselves of the obedience we owe them. It''s a superior versus inferior sh," the "mentally challenged" teen started, making the bald cultivator and Harun''s eyes widen in expectation.


    "But even in that show of submission, there is a hierarchy. Kneeling is soplicated. Before an official, you cannot kneel to your parents. Before a high-ranking aristocrat, you cannot kneel to an official. Before a prince, you cannot kneel to aristocrats, and before the king, you kneel only to the king. But here we are, surrounded by hundreds, all of unknown backgrounds. Who and where are the officials, aristocrats, princes and king? And sir, if I may, who are you? I do not mind kneeling, I just need to understand where you stand in this hierarchy of bended knees. My parents and I are new to this city, just trying our luck to collect some water. If I kneel to the wrong person at the wrong time, am I not endangering us all? Who knows, the king might just be around the corner, ready to take offense," the burly man said in a humble tone.


    As his words poured out, his parents broke into cold sweat, and tears drenched their faces. In contrast, the bald cultivator''s eyes sparkled as if he''d stumbled on a priceless jewel. An eerie glint shed in his gaze, His lips curved into a bright smile, and as the schrly youth''s parents still wept on their son''s corpse, the cultivator waved his hand, making the unnecessary trio fly far, far away.


    "I am a cultivator, more precisely, a Dream Seer. Far above your king,parable to celestials and deities." rmed, the burly youth attempted to drop on his knees, but the cultivator stopped the move, and while lifting him up, asked, "Boy, are you willing to follow me onto the path of enlightenment, to break free from falsehood and pursue the Truth?"


    "I''m confused. If all you seek is enlightenment, what do you need me to kneel for?" The teen seriously asked. Though he stood over 1.85 meters tall, he''d just turned 16, and didn''t have much experience in such matters.


    "It was merely a test. Some wear the cloth yet do not have the heart, while the truly gifted live in darkness and vanish without the chance to probe their potential. I believe you are most suited for the Dream Seer path. Just say the world, and a whole new world shall open to you," the bald seer said. The Truth Scrying Grotto and its branches carefully picked their disciples. The 99 years of mandatory study only represented the final line. Unbeknown to him, the teen had passed the first test, and qualified with flying colors for the second part: The Grind.


    However, he first nced at his parents, then back at the Dream Seer, "I have two questions. What is the Truth?" He asked, but the Dream Seer shook his head.


    "I do not know."


    "You are asking me to follow you onto a road whose end you cannot even picture?"


    "Correct. And I suppose that wasn''t your second question?"


    "Right, what about my rtives?"


    "On the path to enlightenment, human bounds are tools for learning and self-introspection, not something you can cling on. Don''t worry, bonds are fickle. After you reach the Canonized Soul Realm, it will get easier," the Dream Seer exined. But at that time, golden clouds formed in the burning sky, dazzling rays poured out, and in a column of radiant light, a man descended.


    Dressed in a ck monastic robe, the man stopped eight meters above the Dream Seer, arms crossed behind his back, with an ethereal fog hiding his face. All that nced at him felt as if a Spiritual God had descended from the highestyer of Heaven to grace the world and bestow salvation. The man stretched out his right hand, seriousness reced the Dream Seer''s leisurely look, and he locked his senses on that intruder, believing himself the target.


    But as all eyes focused on him, irresistible suction forces surged from the divine man''s palm, wrapping the teenaged boy, and hurling him into the sky!


    "Stop this at once!" The Dream Seer roared, and driven by a transcendent force, the booming words paralyzed all that heard themone step toote. By the time the Dream Seer made his move, the godlike expert had grabbed the prized teen by the cor, and riding a golden cloud, vanished in the horizonhis thunderousughter rocked the Dark Stone Capital.


    Undeterred, the Dream Seer took flight, rushing after Harun.


    Meanwhile, Jiyan, who''d remained in the carriage, observed it all with an incredulous look. Her eyes darted between Harun, whose true body stayed in a trance by her side, and the avatar he condensed with his Spiritual Incense.


    "He really grabbed him. Just like that? At least buy the man dinner first," she said. Only with Harun could such jaw-dropping scenes seed one another. And knowing that the gue Overlord had a n to carry out, Jiyan observed from a distance, but kept her senses pinned on the confrontation.


    "Aaahahahaaah!" Meanwhile, the poord was losing it. And who could me him? One moment he was still having a civil conversation, the next, a golden-cloud riding man grabbed him by the cor, taking him to heaven knows where. Still, the teen didn''t despair, didn''t thrash against Harun, and pulled in a deep breath to first regain hisposure.


    "Yo Birandar, congrattions. You''ve just snatched the iparable honor of bing my number one disciple. Happy?" Harun asked in a jovial tone.


    But more confused than anything, Briandar narrowed his eyes at his wannabe master, and asked:


    "How do you know my name?"


    "I know everything. But that''s not relevant. Our Master-disciple fate can''t kick in yet. Your Fate Standard is as shitty as it gets, and left unchecked, you''re heading straight for a catastrophe. So" Harun paused. Purple mist surged from his right eye and wrapped Birandar in an amethyst halo.


    "I will make one exception and give you a second chance. Let''s hope you will prove my investment and sufferings the correct choice. From now on, you''ll experience waves upon waves of adversity. But regardless of how low you fall, remember to sing this mantra:


    ''Undisturbed I am, Undisturbed is my soul.''" Harun stopped here, spun 360, and hurled Birandar into the distance. The youth became a shooting star that raced across the First Range to crash in an unknown location.


    This time, the poord couldn''t stop himself from screaming. Of course, Harun ignored all of it, and turned to face his foe.


    "Reverend Weeping Soul, don''t you feel ashamed cheating a cluelessd out of his life?" Harun held one hand on either side of his hips, and said in a leisurely tone.

 Chapter 83: Dual Soul Root

    Chapter 83: Dual Soul Root


    To understand Harun''s actions toward Birandar, we must first reveal his stat screen.


    [Name: Birandar]


    [Attributes: Senses (9), Physique (10), Luck(1), Dao Attunement (10), Willpower (8), Charisma (5)]


    [Destiny: Star of Cmity]


    [Age: 16]


    [Cultivation Base: None]


    [Physique: Dual Soul Root]


    With the system, Harun had ess to the stat screens of all he came across of. This enabled him to figure out the Dream Seer''s true identity. Pairing that with Birandar''s data, he immediately deduced Reverend Weeping Soul''s aim. Throughout the Heavenly Dream Land, one man could only have one physique. Just like one could only have one soul, there was no loophole or way around this. A new physique would rece the old one, end of the story. However, there was one exception to this iron rule. Children born with an ethereal root in their soul that would slowly mature to produce a second soul. At that point, they could not only have two physiques, but condense an extra body connected to the original one. If kept separate, both possessed extreme talent. But oncebined, their deduction capabilities and aptitude transcended heaven''s will.


    For that reason, Heaven ced them all under the Star of Cmity, ensuring that before they set foot on the cultivation road, they''d experience a fatal disaster and perish in the cradleso to speak. Birandar''s Dual Soul Root neared maturity. Once its growth peaked, he''d grow a second head and an extra pair of armsdirectly bing ostracized by all throughout the world. Unfortunately, that wasn''t his ordained cmity. At first, Reverend Weeping Soul didn''t spot Birandar''s physique. But as a master of ethereal arts, a single probe enabled him to see the truth. And after taking an interest in the boy, he naturally probed his talent.


    Knowing that, Harun didn''t doubt that regardless of his choice or deeds, Birandar would be seized by Reverend Weeping Soul, and have his Dual Soul Root robbeddeath was the only result.


    Could the Truth Reverend resist the appeal of an extra soul and higher sensory aptitudes? Unlikely. And knowing that Harun had seen through the situation, Reverend Weeping Soul shook his head.


    "You misunderstand. If he showed a willingness to pursue the Truth, and progressed faster than I would have after stealing his Dual Soul Root, why would I harm his life? We Dream Seers have two fundamental values we shall never stray from:


    Respect the Founder and give all you have, your life and hopes included, to the achievement of the Truth. The most outstanding and devoted of our faction will naturally receive utmost care. But at the same time, if sacrificing one can push us faster toward the goal, why should we hesitate? If we cannot find a way to solve his ordained cmity and push him to the peak, why can''t we put his gifts to good use?" Reverend Weeping Soul casually replied, But met a derisiveughter made worse by his inability to see Harun''s face.


    "Is the so-called Truth not merely the Cosmic Law? What tragedy are you nning to cause with it? You''d think that the Dharma Ancestor''s inventions wouldn''t be the spears of blood-crazed lunatics," Harun jabbed at the Reverend''s beliefs. But once the words "Cosmic Law" and "Dharma Ancestor" echoed, his brain disjuncted, and he staggered.


    "How could you"


    A tearing sound halted the Reverend''s words.


    Bridging the distance at lightning speed, Harun rammed his wed hand into the Reverend''s chest, and tore through his heart, "Careful, don''t lose your cool in a fight. Your opponent might just be waiting for that," he said. Withering Essence of an eerie silver-gray mix surged from Harun''s ws to corrode the Reverendturning him into dust.


    But as Harun straightened his back, with his eyes half-closed in a grimace, dust particles assembled at his back, merging to form a pristine Reverend Weeping Soul. "Then let''s start over, shall we?" Reverend Weeping Soul whispered in Harun''s ears, and his hands chopped at the guebringer''s neck. Hidden by his clothes, Harun''s neckline took a golden hue. The Truth Reverend''s strike shed with a metallic surface, and without looking back, Harun smashed his elbows into Weeping Soul''s abdomen.


    Raising his right leg, the Dream Seer blocked Harun''s strike. A shockwave followed, pushing them both into opposite directions. Harun turned 180, Reverend Weeping Soul steadied himself, and for a second, the two reappraised one another.


    "Around the seventh Celestial Knight level in physical skills, and that''s just for a warmup," Reverend Weeping Soul inwardly said. Throughout the First Range, only he couldpete with an expert of that level. How could he not watch out for such a man''s appearance? However, up until today, the Reverend had not heard of such an individual in the First Range. Instantly, he linked Sangar''s death to the unknown man before him, and his heart soured.


    "Are you from the Ancestral Land?" The Truth Reverend directly asked. Harun ignored him. Through the system, he could see that the one before him was merely an avatar. At first, he wanted to use the chance to probe the Soul Refining Hall''s depths, but realized he''d underestimated his opponent. On paper, Reverend Weeping Soul was ate-stage Truth Reverend. But in that brief exchange, Harun felt that the true body''s battle-power went far beyond that.


    "Comparable to celestials or deities." Only now did Harun realize the exactness of the Reverend''s previous words to Birandar. Perhaps in this avatar form, Reverend Weeping Soul approached the limits of the celestial level. But once his true body emerged, Harun would sh against an entity of Ascending God level. No wonder he refused the World Association''s Excellence Assessment.


    Cracking his neck, Harun closed his eyes, and loosened his limbs in a poised yet fric dance. In the Reverend''s eyes, one man turned into 20 that encircled and controlled all escape roads. Silver vortexes formed before Harun''s palms, feeding the extreme forces of his Infernal ws. Harun created and added this dance to his Infernal w Style by studying Nak''s Bewitching de of Extermination. But while the de''s destabilizing skills relied on Nak''s Devil Essence, Harun''s came from particles released by bees he stored in his be.


    For a moment, all the Reverend''s mental fortitude copsed, and he caught himself following Harun''s moves while slowly getting closer to the dancing mirage. A brutal assault reced the tribal dance. Harun''s ws rained on the Reverenddrawing dazzling silver lines in their path.


    Snapping out of the enchantment, Weeping Soul narrowly avoided Harun''s ws, but the Withering Essence grazed his right arm, which directly turned into dust. The trick he used to rebuild his body consumed massive energy resources, and in the long run, wasn''t sustainable. So this time, the Weeping Soul Reverend didn''t bother. Dozens of elongated branches and vines emerged from his broken sleeve to rece his lost arm. Gray leaves and weeping-faces-shaped fruits adorned the branches, which rippled with a baleful force.


    Stretching to 100 meters each, the branches whipped at Harun and his afterimages, tearing through the false to m into the true!

 Chapter 84: Weeping Soul Tree

    Chapter 84: Weeping Soul Tree


    The united cries of dozens of aggrieved souls, men, women, children and elderly, reverberated across the sky as Weeping Soul''s elongated gray branches whipped at Harun! The Mysteries of Grief and Sacrifice rippled in those branches, filling Harun with sorrow at their mournful fate. So deep was his pain that he couldn''t bring himself to avoid the gray branches'' whipping. The belief that just by reaching out and giving himself up, he could save all those weeping souls, filled his mind. But as Harun prepared to sacrifice himself to a "greater cause," his Sovereign Essence kicked in, sting the foreign invasion out of his soul. Regaining his wits, Harun soared past the branches'' whipping strikestreading them to sprint toward the Weeping Soul Reverend.


    The purple essence ovepped with the Golden Incense, wooden spikes protruded to pierce Harun''s skin, but harder than titanium, Harun bulldozed his way through the barrages, and reached Weeping Soul''s face within a blink. Without a word, Harun raised his right leghardened by the Mythical Idol''s golden sheenand kicked at Weeping Soul''s face!


    CRACK!


    The Truth Reverend''s head made a 180 spin, his neck twisted beyond recognition. Yet, Harun didn''t stop here. Reappearing at the Reverend''s left side, he hacked his ws at his waist, slicing him into two halves! But again, that same uncanny scene repeated. From the Reverend''s missing half, a gray trunk grew. pping his broken head, Weeping Soul fixed his twisted neck, and faced Harun with a tranquil smile.


    "Strange. Depending on the method, an avatar''s destruction may not harm the creator, but how can he keep reappearing or regenerating here. He cannot use the Mystery of Life, so that regeneration trick must be ast resort that consumes vast energy resources. Moreover, the fleshly body seems to be a decoy, with the tree being his true appearancemeaning that either this isn''t the Reverend''s, but his Weeping Soul Tree''s avatar, or the Reverend became one with his Tree. Regardless, what an borate avatar technique," Harun reasoned. Avatar Refining Arts were not difficult to find. But those like this one that allowed the avatar to use most, if not all of the true body''s skills and strength, were few and far between. Harun could use his Spiritual Incense''s miraculous powers to create an avatar, but many of the abilities it disyed were siphoned straight from the true body.


    And while the guebringer marveled at his foe''s skills, Weeping Soul was inwardly full of praise. Regardless of the tricks he put forth, he couldn''t disturb Harun''s pace or probe his true limits. Unlike Harun, Weeping Soul believed he had the true body in front of him, and saw no reason to hold back.


    For a second, the two reappraised one another. Since he now knew he faced a tree and not a man, Harun switched tactics. Pulling in a deep breath, Harun sucked in all the oxygen and particles in the air across a 300 meters radius. His stomach ballooned as he devoured the particles, and sensing something amiss, Weeping Soul backpedaled.


    Breathing out, Harun released a foul, purple miasma that spread at a wildfire''s speed and consumed everything in its wakeWeeping Soul included. The Truth Reverend''s face turned blue. Breaking out into a cold sweat, he writhed and thrashed against the miasma, choking to no end. All the human flesh that remained on his body withered, and in desperation, the Reverend pped his thigh, summoning a small iron bell. The bell expanded to 10 meters, and with a melodious chime, split the miasma into twofreeing the Reverend from its control. But by then, Weeping Soul''s human facade had witheredpletely. A five meters tall gray tree now remained, with a pair of eyes in the middle of its trunk.


    From the chiming bell came a suppression force that shed with Harun''s Sovereign Essence and attempted to force him onto his kneesto no avail. Harun stood with his back straight, undisturbed by the bell''s attempts. The Reverend had grown perplexed. That someone from the Ancestral Land could use poisonous arts of this level didn''t surprise him. However, thebination between the noxious arts and that holy light seemed strange, at best. Who could cultivate such opposed forces to this level? And why did some of those skills seem so familiar?


    Weeping Soul wouldn''t have the time to probe further. Silver mes coated Harun''s wed hands while dozens of ming ws appeared beside him and aimed at the Weeping Soul Tree. A torrent of silver mes poured from each w, flooding Weeping Soul who, in desperation, shoved all his spiritual powers into an energy barrier.


    The sky darkened, a sulfuric scent pervaded the air as the mes battered the Tree''s barrier. Unable to resist the corrosion force, the barrier copsed, leaving its master open for a direct strike.


    Not letting go of this opportunity, each w shot at the miniature Weeping Soul Tree at a lightning bolt''s speed.


    Fast, too fast. Those ws'' speed had transcended the Celestial Knight limits and left Weeping Soul entirely helpless. Dark-blue light erupted from Harun, and he too joined the dance. Though Weeping Soul''s senses still saw Harun in his original spot, the guebringer had already appeared above the tree and stabbed into the eyes! His ming ws followed suit, shing at the trunk and branches to set the whole tree aze. Withering Essence could corrode and erase everythinggranted it possessed a solid shell.


    Weeping Soul now knew himself outmatched. Unless his true body appeared or he took drastic measures, this fight would end in his tragic defeat. So, in the instant Harun stabbed into his eye, the Reverend freed the face-shaped fruits. All burned in baleful mes, bing unwilling sacrifices to feed the Reverend''s might! Mournful cries poured forth, then a simpleugh, theugh of freedom perhapsand whatever remained of those souls vanishednever to be reincarnated.


    The Weeping Soul Tree expanded from 5 to 99 meters, towering above Harun in all its sinister glory. Immediately, Harun realized he no longer faced an entity of celestial level. The force before him had reached true godhood!


    "Hahaha, even I must admit that power easily bes an addictive drug. Another reason why all should learn to tamper their souls first. Don''t you agree, sir? Mhm...I just realized that I still don''t know your name," the Truth Reverend said in a calm and jovial tone, with his branches writhing like tendrils of darkness.


    Though faced with an enemy of godlike strength, Harun remained stoic. Better, his lips curved into a smile, "You may call me, Lord Revtion," Harun said in a polite tone. The Truth Reverend''s eyes shone with an eerie glint, and his branchesshed at Harun. But though he no longer feared Harun''s moves, Reverend Weeping Soul soon realized that Harun didn''t fear him either.


    At a speed that defiedmon sense, Harun moved past and dodged allshes with masterful ease. Hurling the massive iron bell at Harun, the Reverend hid sharpened branches behind its huge frame, and once Harun dodged to the right, the sharpened branches shifted trajectory, pierced his backbut hit an afterimage only.


    Hundreds of afterimages made a joke of Weeping Soul''s destructive powers, and the sh again reached a stalemateor so the Reverend thought. Too focused on Harun and too slow to see his moves clearly, Weeping Soul didn''t spot the nest of tree-boring insects the guebringer set on his back. Worse, Harun''s Mystery of Life concealed all energies they innately carriedpreventing the treant from sensing them.


    Fueled by the mystery''s vast energies, the colony forced its way into the Weeping Soul Tree, atst alerting the Reverend of their presencea step toote.


    By the time Weeping Soul realized the ploy, the first batch hadid eggs inside his tree body. The eggs hatched, releasing hundreds more insects that againid eggs, and within three seconds, thousands of harmful beasts crawled in the Reverend''s body.


    "Boom," Harun whispered, and the Life Essence teeming in each beast exploded in a session of nuclear-bomb-level sts!


    Half the Reverend''s body ruptured on the spot. But as the rest tumbled toward the ground, that very ground rose into the sky to ram faster into Harun''s opponent.


    "What the" Weeping Soul muttered, but before his shock peaked, Harun stretched out his hands, and activated his Physique''s ability.


    "Blight of the Underworld."


    A bottomless swamp of blight and decay formed across the ground, with gray lotuses sprouting and blooming at naked eye speed. From those lotuses, gray fments poured out, staining the atmosphere with an amalgam of lethal forces. Weeping Soul''s body broke down. So fast was the dposition that he didn''t have the time to react, and soon revealed a gray seed that hid in his trunk, right between his eyes.


    The seed attempted to escape, but the fments wrapped around itdestroying it like the rest. Without that seed, the body lost all strength and resistancecopsing right there.


    In the Soul Refining Hall''s headquarters, the Reverend''s true body clutched at his chest, his blind eyes went bloodshot, and he vomited blood.

 Chapter 85: BDSM and Weeping Soul

    Chapter 85: BDSM and Weeping Soul


    Reverend Weeping Soul''s body trembled. Blood dripped from his eyes, and as he struggled to regain hisposure, a burst ofughter rang right before him.


    "Hahahaha, to think that you''d receive such a beating from a cultivator of the First Range, Weeping Soul, shame on you. How did a failure of your level inherit the legacy skill of the Third Emperor?" a slender and androgynous youth asked. Dressed in bandage-like golden chains that wrapped nearly everything from his neck to his waist, and a long white skirt to cover the rest, the youth crossed his legs over a chess table, with his bare feet close to the blood-puking Reverend.


    The Third Emperor he referred to wasn''t Agiri, but one of the Truth Scrying Grotto''s Enlightened Emperors. As a faction whose rootsy in the Ancestral Land, the Truth Scrying Grotto naturally didn''tck in Emperor-level experts. But some would always stand out from the lot and receive a title. The Soul Emperor was one such expert, and his self-made secret art, the Weeping Soul Mantra filled the hearts of countless experts with terror. By sessfully inheriting this 12th-star secret art and cultivating it to quasi perfection, the Weeping Soul Reverend proved his high talent to the Grotto. Unfortunately, thest level possessed stringent requirements, requirements he couldn''t fulfill by cultivating in peace in the headquarters. If not for those, why would he bother to descend on the Second and First Range?


    Not offended by the androgynous youth''s words, Weeping Soul wiped off his trickling blood, stabilized his condition, and erased the red liquid staining the floor with a wave of his hand, "BDSM, your ignorance often baffles me. If I can find reasons to mess with this range, why can''t experts at my level do the same? Your cultivation base outsses mine. But aren''t you here?" Weeping Soul countered, interrupting the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master''s raucousugh. As a hegemon of the Third Range, his cultivation was indeed not what the Reverend couldpare himself to. However, since only close friends dared call him BDSM to his face, one could guess their rtionship level.


    Rolling his eyes, the Stronghold Master puffed in annoyance, "You can''t take a joke," he whispered.


    "Your jokes are as funny as a human supremacist''s views on farm ethics," Weeping Soul countered.


    "I am a monster supremacist."


    "That''s the joke."


    "..." Unwilling to argue with the Truth Reverend, the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master stopped the nonsense here, and shifted the talk back to proper business, "So, how was he?" He asked with a smile. Jokes aside, a cultivator strong enough to defeat an Origin Avatar of the Reverend was the type of variable that could overturn Weeping Soul''s ns.


    "Strong. About early-stage Ascending God in battle-power. From what I''ve seen, about the second level. However, there''s always the chance that he kept two or three tricks up his sleeve, and so his true strength could reach the third level. As for the cultivation level, he''s not a celestial or Dream Seer, so I have no way of finding that out," Weeping Soul appraised, and poured cups of tea for the Stronghold Master and himself.


    As besides his guebringer skills, Harun only used his golden body and purple essence, Weeping Soul couldn''t make a judgment on his path. Both were too rare, even in the Ancestral Land, for Weeping Soul to have had knowledge of them. At the same time, he didn''t know of any guebringer bridge. Most experts used such skills as auxiliary tools, and never as the main path.


    Raising his cup to his lips, the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master sipped the beverage, then emptied the cup in one gulp, "Ah!" He exhaled as his old friend shook his head in displeasure:


    "Uncultured swine." Used to the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master''s antics, Weeping Soul didn''t take it to heart, and quietly sipped his tea.


    "Though I prefer wine and other moresensual juices, I must admit that yours is the best tea I''ve had the displeasure of tasting. Just for that, I can avenge poor Sangar for youif you want me to, of course. I can see that you''re having trouble," the Stronghold Master offered, and his blue and amber double pupils intently stared at the Truth Reverend.


    Sangar, Weeping Soul and Xerzan, the Stronghold Master, all received Nak''s teachings in Divination Arts, and were closer to him than most of his descendants. However, thetter two''s growth pace outstripped Sangar, and both received the chance to study in a hidden base of the Truth Scrying Grotto. But to Nak''s chagrin, Xerzan proved to have zero interest in the Truth, and only Weeping Soul remained. Raised in utmost secrecy by Nak himself, Xerzan''s cultivation quickly eclipsed both of his senior brothers. Weeping Soul''s stagnation near the peak of his secret art didn''t help.


    The so-called Divination Master that warned the Barbaric Demon Stronghold of the future changes in the First Range was none other than Xerzan himself. Granted, he merely followed the grotto''s ways, and wished to oversee his old friend''s trialhe couldn''t help but feel that the spread of the news contributed to Sangar''s death.


    Sangar and Xerzan never saw eye to eye, and the Stronghold Master wouldn''t miss him that much. But recalling how close the other two used to be, he felt remorsef strange and foreign feeling he wished to get rid of as soon as possible.


    "No need. Who am I to cry for revenge when the souls of tens of thousands of innocents fuel my Weeping Tree? Moreover, this setback changes nothing. I now have a rough picture of the enemy, and he clearly isn''t my match," the Reverend replied, and lowered his face.


    "Fucking glorious. This is why I can''t pursue that nonsense Truth. It turns you all into brain-wrecked abominations. Anding from me, that should tell you how low you''ve fallen. Or maybe it''s just rooted in your crow bloodline? The old man would be proud..." Exasperated, Xerzan said and stood up, now eager to return to his stronghold.


    "No need to find excuses. We all know that you just want tits and ass galore. You sure you''re not abducting that Vermilion Brides mistress on the way?" Weeping Soul dismissed Xerzan''s words and probed his future moves. The Stronghold Master''s Heterochromatic Double Pupils shone with a frenzied glint, and dark-purple energies surged from his form.


    "No. Too soon...way too soon. Let the fruit mature, let the confidence and the hubris swell, then crush it all with one squeeze. That''s how you tame the unruly.


    Try not to die, old friend. Take over the First Range while I conquer the Third, then we sweep aside the Second, and make half this world our yground." Leaving those words behind, Xerzan turned and wed at the air, tearing open a spatial rift through which he vanished. The rift closed behind him.


    Meanwhile, Harun split his consciousness from his avatar, sent thetter on simple errands, and returned to his body. Blood dripped from his right eye, but with a handkerchief, Jiyan wiped off Harun''s blood, letting his Mythical Idol Incarnation take care of the rest.


    "I now know what we''re dealing with. Even with the two of us, it won''t be easy, but it''s doable. We just need to be better prepared," He said.


    "I know." Both Harun and Jiyan''s strength had reached Ascending-God-level. It was hard to imagine that someone able to resist them both still messed with the First Range''s mortals. But having witnessed the sh from afar, Jiyan agreed with the assessment. And after a pause, she added:


    "It''s not about how strong he is buthow strong he can be."

 Chapter 86: Lord Revelation on the Watch

    Chapter 86: Lord Revtion on the Watch


    Jiyan had touched the crux of the matter. Reverend Weeping Soul''s strength was one thing. But the true headachey in his ability to sacrifice those Soul Fruits to empower himself. If with a tree of a few dozen fruits, Weeping Soul could push his strength to God-level. What limits could he reach with his original body? How many fruits did he have? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Was there a hard cap to his soul empowerment and a time limit to the boosts he gained? All those were questions that needed immediate answers.


    "I have to admit that Reverend Weeping Soul''s secret art is extraordinary. It should be a 12th-star grade art created by some Titled Emperor," Harun said. Having learned of the rted hierarchy from the System, Harun now knew that traditional cultivation methods, abilities and secret arts, didn''t exceed the 13th-star grade. But unlike lower graded goods, 12th and 13th-star grade items possessed universal titles: Imperial and Primeval items.


    The Dream Seer Path was one of those that didn''t require a cultivation method for progress. As self enlightenment was the main concern, Seers could do without. Nheless, arts tailored for the path could hasten their progress while giving them ess to varied abilities. The Weeping Soul Mantra was one such art, created by the Truth Scrying Grotto''s Soul Emperor over one million years ago. Majoring in defense and minoring in destructive ability, the Weeping Soul Mantra enabled its practitioners to split off a strand of consciousness, and from it cultivate a Soul Tree.


    At first, the Soul Tree took the shape of a three meters tall oak tree, but once the practitioner started feeding it souls, it became a Weeping Soul Tree and expanded till it maxed out at 99 meters. The practitioner then had to either refine it into a natal treasure, and keep pushing for the final breakthrough, or stop here, and use it as a battle treasure or avatar producer. If they picked the first road, the Weeping Soul Tree took a gray shade, robbed their sight, and grew a pair of eyes on its trunkits battle power rose ordingly.


    Harun''s battle foundation currently relied on two Primeval Arts plus his innate abilities. The Art of the Decaying Flower granted him terrible speed and strength, but reduced his defense and lifespan. The Infernal w Style further enhanced his destructive powers, and added great versatility to the mix. But while the Golden Body and Sovereign Essence could take on hordes of rampaging elephants, Haruncked a skill specifically for defensive purposes. The Weeping Soul Mantra was of a substantial appeal, making Harun wonder if he couldn''t learn and improve that grim artpushing it to the next grade.


    At the end of the day, Harun''s strongest enemy was not Weeping Soul, but the tribtions he''d face in the suffering and unyielding stages. One extra trick could make the difference between sess and failure.


    "Do you want to cultivate the Weeping Soul Mantra? Who would your targets be?" Jiyan asked, as if seeing through Harun''s thoughts. The Weeping Soul Tree''s many spiritual and fleshly benefits came at a hefty price: sentient souls. For the Soul Refining Hall''s cultivators, innocent and sage souls were the best options. This made children, schrs and old men their prime targets. But Jiyan didn''t believe Harun would follow that path, and even as the question left her lips, the answer rang in her mind.


    "Don''t we have over 1,000 prime targets? All trained through at least 99 years of study, I don''t think we willck cultivation resources," Harun replied, referring to the Soul Refining Hall''s inner disciples and elders. The words made Jiyan''s eyebrows arch up, and as if anticipating Harun''s next words, her lips curled into a smile.


    "Meaning that"


    "After Lord Revtion pacifies Dark Stone City, we''re joining the Soul Refining Hall," Harun dered, and stretched out his right hand, making his Golden Silkworm Jar appear. There, a finger-long silk moth fluttered, with blood-red mist rotating in its beady eyes.


    Meanwhile, news of the horrible fight between the "golden-shroud expert" and the Truth Reverend spread throughout Dark Stone City and neighboring towns. Though Harun and Weeping Soul shed several kilometers away from any settlement, the tiniest ripples of their battle spread to and rocked all settlements within 300 square kilometers. Experts of celestial level locked their Divine Senses on the sh, and swiftly identified the Weeping Soul Reverend. This fight, the first recorded battle of the First Range''s most mysterious expert, drew the undivided attention of countless experts.


    Instantly, all realized that the inted rumors surrounding Weeping Soul''s might still failed to give a correct assessment of his skills. But the result, Weeping Soul''s brutal death, reminded them all that even in the First Range, more than one expert of godlike strength hid. And perhaps many more awaited the right opportunity to make their move.


    Livid, weaker celestials and mortals feared the wanton retaliation of the Soul Refining Hall. But an announcement of the Soul Refining Hall soothed all their fears:


    "Reverend Weeping Soul has not left the Soul Refining Hall in thest 20 years. The victim was just an avatar. The Reverend thanks Lord Revtion for this lesson and wees him anytime to finish what he started."


    At the same time, the Soul Refining Hall spread wanted posters of Birandar, with rewards of 10 Divine Jades for credible information, and 10,000 for anyone that could bring him alive to the Soul Refining Hall''s headquarters. Though mortals were riddled by problems money couldn''t solve, those celestials hoping to build connections with the top three sects were stirred by the posters, and started the hunt. Birandar''s name and rtives soon became public matters. But as dozens of celestials aimed to capture the parents to bait the boy, Lord Revtion made his move, destroyed their cultivation, and kicked them all into the sea.


    Though he gave no verbal reason for his actions, Lord Revtion burned all wanted posters and punched half the hunters till their faces swelled like pig''s runts. The other half didn''t dare rashly go outfearing that this hunt for Birandar would instead turn into their funerals. Of course, some daredevils wouldn''t relent. But when their fellows'' heads started hanging above city walls, they all grew obedient.


    The world now knew that young Birandar had the full protection of Lord Revtion, a mysterious expert that not even Reverend Weeping Soul would rashly offend. And from a balcony of the Dark Stone Country''s royal pce, a young man with bronze skin and a mane of ck hair, observed all this with a cool, pensive gaze. But as we often say in moments like these, a matter for another time.

 Chapter 87: Hypnotic Lute Tavern

    Chapter 87: Hypnotic Lute Tavern


    While a session of shocking events rocked the Dark Stone City, as if oblivious to the ongoing events, Harun exited his carriage and stepped into the Hypnotic Lute Tavern. A festive atmosphere in sharp contrast with the mayhem disrupting the streets weed him. Rows of nobles and cultivators ranging from the Purification to the early stage of the Daoist Realm sat across mahogany tables, emptying mugs of ale with raucousughter, bawdy jokes and friendly des.


    Shaded chandeliers powered by luminous orbs lighted the tavern, and paintings depicting legends of the most valiant houses in the Dark Stone Country''s history dressed the walls. On a high podium, three veiled, fair-skinned women yed the lute, d in elegant blue dresses fit for the upper ss. In the Dark Stone Country where men and women alike typically had bronze skin, their skin tone gave them an exotic appeal.


    Meanwhile, voluptuous tavern wenches carried pricey liquor bottles to various tables. Before this scene, Jiyan''s forehead creased. "What''s the point of refinement in a ce of debauch?" She asked Harun, while wrapping her arms around his, as if to signify ownership.


    "It''s all about atmosphere. The upper ss wants to feel and eat its high status while the lower ss aims to forget its low standing. Either way, it works," Harun replied, and as the two conversed, a tavern wench stepped forward, bowing to wee themshowcasing her ample cleavage.


    Though Harun had changed his and Jiyan''s appearances to fit the local expectations, thetter couldn''t suppress the elegance cultivated from infancy to maturity that gave the air of a free-spirited nobledy. As most of the Dark Stone Country''s upper ss women, Jiyan wore a backless maxi dress while Harun wore a traditional white tunic and ck pants. That plus the description she''d received beforehand helped the serving girl to realize that the new master had just arrived.


    "Wee, young master. The owner has been anxiously waiting for your arrival," the serving girl said in a courteous tone. Though of low social standing, as a girl trained to serve aristocrats and cultivators, she didn''tck in speech or manners. With a nod, Harun followed her, and didn''t fail to note the furtive and overt nces aimed at him. In an isted aisle of the second floor, the tavern owner rested. Unlike other amodations, his suite remained fairly simplemirroring his humility.


    "Hahaha, my beloved nephew! You weren''t taller than three apples when west met. Who could think that''d you grow so much so fast. Time really flies by," The tavern owner, a middle-aged man in a wheelchair, said, and drove himself toward Harun. After dismissing the serving girl, the owner waited for her to close the door, then bowed toward Harun.


    "Greetings, oh Spiritual Lord!" He eximed, oblivious to the crease on Harun''s forehead.


    "It''s fine. Don''t be petty. You have a reputation to maintain. You''ll have people to beat upter," Jiyan whispered while patting Harun''s back. Nerves pulsated on his temple, and it took him all his mental fortitude to not rain punches on his devotee. How could the poor owner know that his "not taller than three apples" hit Harun''s sore spot and stirred past wounds? Fortunately, Jiyan was there to protect his cheeks from a spontaneous beating.


    "Hum, hum. You have performed outstandingly. I am proud of you. The Holy Mission is a resounding sess. When in the future we bring salvation to the Dark Stone City, you shall be the number one meritorious nsman," Harun said, and raised his right hand. Emerald-green light surged from his palm, wrapping the tavern owner''s legs, and curing them from their harsh wounds.


    Using the Mystery of Life was much more cost effective than Spiritual Incense, so Harun didn''t waste that precious resource on such a simple task. But though he could feel his legs restored and stronger than ever, the tavern owner didn''t rise from the wheelchair, and still kept his head bowed in deference.


    "Spiritual Lord, doing our best to realize your vision is us Birusk nsmen''s glory. And with all the Spirit Stones you provided me with, any half-wit could have aplished this. I don''t dare im any merit," the tavern owner sincerely replied. This man left a wife and children behind to dive alone into the Dark Stone City''s chaotic atmosphere. Although Harun''s remained connected to and provided him with guidance, miracles and mental support, it was no mean feat. He didn''t get to see his children be fathers and mothers, didn''t get to see his wife and rtives'' cultivation improvements, and now undoubtedly was the weakest nsman in the entire hierarchy. Even newborns could p him silly.


    Yet, he had no regrets. This was fanaticism at its best, or worst, depending on how Harun used the Birusk n''s devotion. But as his first devotees and bearer of his name, they''d always upy a central ce in his sect.


    cing his right hand on the tavern owner''s forehead, Harun poured the emerald essence of his Mystery of Life into the man, reshaping his bone structure and physique to enhance his cultivation talent and senses. For a sect builder, the Mystery of Life carried many useful perks, and this was one of them.


    Startled by the change, the tavern owner''s eyes widened. He didn''t need a test to realize the immense physical boost he''d just received. From now on, throwing elephants like juggling balls would pose him no trouble. Better, there seemed to be several other perks he couldn''t gauge yet.


    "When you return to the n, you will have to work extra hard to catch up to those that left you behind. But with this new physique, it''s merely a matter of dedication. Still, do not grow overconfident. How far you go will still depend on you," Harun warned his devotee, who struggled to restrain his tears.


    But knowing that his lord''s ns took precedence, the tavern owner unlocked a safe and pulled two ledgers out, presenting them to Harun. The first detailed all the businesses, expenses and revenues controlled and generated by the Hypnotic Lute Tavern. Aside from the Fancy Wife Inn, several pawn shops, brothels and chambers ofmerce worked for the tavern owner, providing him with information he used to build the second ledger.


    There, the names of all key yers of the Dark Stone capital stood, encoded in a style taught by Harun to prevent mishaps. There was also a list of connections established by the tavern owner through skillful bribes and ckmail.


    "Oh lord, this country is so fucked up. I guess it''s time to move on to the second phase of this hostile takeover" Harun stretched out his right hand, making a colony of golden silkworms appear in his palm, "The crippled rebellion."


    Harun naturally didn''t invest all those Spirit Stones to control a mortal capital''s cash flow. Building grudges, anti-monarch sentiments, information and propaganda, were the sectors he wanted to remain on top of. And since the rebellion seemed inevitable, they might as well start it on their own terms.

 Chapter 88: Golden Silkworms

    Chapter 88: Golden Silkworms


    A dreaded beast of ancient folklore, the Golden Silkworm was one of the few high-level noxious creatures that Harun didn''t invent. Its use predated all written records of the Noxious me World, and besides adding a few improvements to make it less resource-heavy, Harun didn''t change much.


    Golden Silkworms, as one could guess, gave their names to Golden Silkworm Jars, as the first species bred from pitting caterpirs against caterpirs through those ancient jars. If history was to be trusted, the first golden silkworm emerged from a battle between over 3,000 insect species, and buried itself in silk for 99 days, only to surface as a golden caterpirthenceforth bing its own species.


    In the wild, Golden Silkworms only gathered in ces where the five elements, yin and yang stood in perfect harmony, making them nigh-impossible to find in mortal territory. Likewise, refining one cost Harun insects from the fire, earth, metal, water and wood elements. The white worm then wrapped itself in silk and bathed under the sun and moon for 33 days before turning into a Golden Silkworm. Though much less than the historical 99 days, and just a sneeze for old cultivators, Harun always felt that there still was much room for improvement.


    Left in the wild, Golden Silkworms couldn''t survive ten days without Five-Element plus Yin-Yang harmony, and reproduced asexually. Their silk was unbreakable to all below their grade level, and they could hide virtually anywhere. Food, liquor, the human body, all was fair y. The worm became invisible in the ce or substance it hid in, making countless experts unable to track it once ingrained. Worse, it could increase its lifespan by feeding on its host, then move on to another one using the ten days deadline. This host-jumping technique enabled the worms to virtually live forever. But after 99 cycles of 66 years, the Golden Silkworm would again wrap itself in a cocoon and emerge, not as a silkworm or moth, but a pair of Golden Nymphs, male and female. After exchanging their Yin and Yang Essence for 6,534 years, the pair merged into one Golden Cicada, and flew toward the starry sky.


    But to say nothing of the Golden Cicada, none had seen a Golden Silkworm old enough to achieve the Nymph Transformation. Thus, while the Noxious me World''s people still dreaded the silkworm, the Golden Cicada became, for them, a symbol of immortality.


    Harun didn''t care for the nymphs or cicadas. Golden Silkworms took control of their hosts without thetter ever realizing itand obeyed their mother wormforming an unbreakable chain ofmand going back to the Original Silkworm of their lineage. By subduing the original, one automatically controlled its descendantswherever they stood. In his time with the Birusk n, Harun bred and subdued 16 originals, feeding them all with his Life Essence. Few could imagine that those nail-sized creatures could seamlesslymand the emotions and desires of their hosts. No wonders the ancientbeled the use of Golden Silkworms as witchcraft.


    But as far as Harun was concerned, the silkworms were much more reliable in taking over sects and countries than Sin-zed Flowers. And thanks to Dilnaz blowing up the Noxious me World, the breeding method vanished as well. Even the World Association couldn''t salvage everything.


    "Those are revtion silkworms. We will use them to unleash all the nefarious ns those generals and top officials have been brewingthen suppress the people''sints at the roots. Across the next three days, you will ce those silkworms into our guests'' drinks and meals. Be it in the main establishment, the Fancy Wife Inn, and all sub-establishments we control, I want every mug of ale and apple pie filled with at least one of these creatures, more for shared dishes. Handle that and you can return to the Birusk n. Your personal Toxic Ascension Road awaits, and your wife is eager to assist you through its various stages," Harun said thest part with a gentle smile, and as images of his wife and children flickered in his mind, the tavern owner bowed in submission, then left to handle the job.


    Harun naturally couldn''t exin the silkworms'' true use, and nned to oversee all the workers used for this task with his Divine Sense. But since the tavern owner groomed his own lot of devotees by giving second chances to starving orphans, he didn''tck a trustworthy death squad, either.


    "How I hate to love the way you use your brain to develop the most...hum...abject of things, will never cease to amaze me," Jiyan whispered, half-jesting half-serious, as she watched an Origin Silkworm burrow into Harun''s palm, "Look, in my defense, I didn''t invent these. I just made them popr again," Harun countered with a dismissive wave of his hand, but had to prevent his lips from shing a broad grin.


    "And how did you sell them to the world? Let''s make worms great again? I''m really curious. What does it take to make a man inject worms into his bloodstream? She asked with an oomph of sass.


    "Says the one that''s refining toxic beast souls to improve her cultivation base."


    "I will stop you right there," Jiyan cut, and wrapped her arms around Harun''s neck, staring deep into his eyes. "I can only do that because I ache to be closer to youall of youIf not for you, why would I bother?" She rhetorically asked, then let herself drop, allowing Harun to catch her by the waist, then pull her lips onto his.


    But as the two grew more frisky, sounds of flying chairs and smacked faces broke their intimacy. Alerting them of the racket below.


    "Hick, hick...what? You don''t wee celestials here? Or is our Immtion de Sect no longer...hick...good enough for your establishment? Hick!" A tearful youth barked while pping an armored mercenary ck and blue.


    "Haha...hick, they only receive Dark Stone aristofucks...and, and...cultiwastes. How could they take us foreigners seriously?" A middle-aged man asked in a derisive tone, and several other disciples caused trouble nearby, seizing mugs, smacking nobles, and harassing waitresses. Each wore a yellow robe embroidered with flickering red me patternsmark of the Immtion de Sect. Their cultivation bases hovered between eighth level Celestial Kin and third level Celestial Guard, showing that their status in the sect should be fairly high.


    Following Sangar''s death, the remaining sect elders received an ultimatum from the Soul Refining Hall, and after some discussions, capitted without resistance. The disciples never got the time to mourn their sect master''s death, with those close to him forced to suppress their tears. Those bottled up emotions led to today''s events, where those disciples vented their frustration on various mortal establishments.


    In the Dark Stone Country, top officials and generals were only at the early-stages of the Daoist Realm. The mercenarypanies were no different, with their leaders also at the Daoist Realm. How could they resist a celestial gang''s abuse?


    But as Sangar''s close subordinates vented their loss in the most inept of ways, a teenaged-lookingdy clenched at wooden bars, restraining her bloodlust. Iron chains sprang from the ground, locking the necks of all the celestials.


    "Huh, why did the temperature drop so fast?" One trapped disciple asked himself. Thick maces hung at the chains'' tips, aiminglike baseball batsfor the celestials'' cheeks.


    "Holy mother"


    BANG!


    The thick maces smacked several teeth out of all the grieving celestials. The swift and iprehensible twist threw guests and celestials alike off-bnce. All sought the origin of this sorcery, but failed to find the target.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    When thest teeth the celestials had to spit flew across the room, Jiyan''s chains hauled them up for all to see, then hurled them out the window! Instantly, all grew convinced that hidden among the guests was a top powerhouse whose revelry had been disturbed by the ruffians.


    Little did they know that the "top powerhouse" was currently stomping her lovely feet, fuming in outrage.


    "Even a beast understands that there are times when discretion is a must. Do we really have to tour the world with a ''Do Not Disturb'' tag before you start behaving?" Jiyan wanted to ask, but knowing she had appearances to maintain, she kept those words for herselfmaking a speechless Harun confused at this berserk face devastation.

 Chapter 89: Even Gods Need to Blackmail

    Chapter 89: Even Gods Need to ckmail


    Minus the face-wrecked troublemakers, the first day of Harun''s takeover of the Hypnotic Lute Tavern went without a hitch. But as the tavern owner''s execution squads buried the golden silkworms in meals and drinks, Lord Revtion appeared before the World Association, setting off new waves ofmotion.


    The capital''s Branch House was one of the few areas wholly unaffected by the drought-driven chaos. Although business was now at an all-time low, water sales had never been more lucrative, and treasure materials were as cheap as dirt. To contend with the drought, unprepared noble houses didn''t hesitate to sell the rights to their ancestral mines andnds for several liters of water. One acre of arablend now sold for three liters, while one acre of miningnd sold for 18 liters on average, more or less depending on thend''s exact value. At such rates, the Association made a killing on the people''s misery, and once the drought passed, they''d hold a hefty percentage of the country''s lifeline.


    Thus, though the house''s halls didn''t teem with guests, many of the merchants basically danced on tiptoes. Lord Revtion''s appearance ruined their exuberance, and even before they could get ready to wee him, with his face still shrouded by a golden cloud, the expert sashayed in.


    The several merchants he''d saved previously rushed to meet their lord, with fawning smiles and the blessing of their superiorswho stood several steps backward. The senior members and leaders of this branch house were three peak-stage Celestial Guards, and one first-level Celestial Knight. Neither of those could cause Harun any trouble, but though they believed him at God-level, they appeared cool and undisturbed.


    This was the expected reaction. Senior members of the World Association represented the joint interests of the Holy Lands and their branches. Lord Revtion''s name had gathered a bit of fame, but it hadn''t reached the point where they had to grovel. At the same time, considering his cultivation, meeting him with a polite stance was the least they could do. Neither overboard nor underwhelming, this attitude filled Harun with admiration. So much in fact that he waved hisrge sleeves, summoning the batches of Sin-zed Flowers he seized from the merchants.


    Instantly, the senior members and leader''s faces experienced horrid fluctuations, and they rushed toward Harun, "Hahaha, Lord Revtion, wee to our humble branch. Tales of your handsomeness go from the First to the Sixth Range, making countless fairies and disreputable Gods swoon instantaneously. How may we assist you?" The leader asked with endless bows as his subordinates shed fawning smiles at Harun.


    "Want to y the immovable gentleman with me? Too bad, I got the dirt. Better behave, bitches." Harun wanted to say, but restrained himself. With the seniors to guide the way, Harun crossed the branch''s luxurious halls, heading for the room where they received the most distinguished guests.


    "There''s a lot you can do, actually. I''m mainly here to warn you of my private investigation in this matter. Your branchmitted a fatal mistake, and need to clean up before you get innocent people involved. As I cannot stand for mayhem and injustice, I have lobbied an old friend''s services. His Divination Skills are superb. As long as the culprit stands among us, we won''t have any trouble exposing him. Now the question is, does he arrive tomorrow, in three days, a week or longer? Traveling fees nowadays" Harun started, making the leaders understand that the so-called Lord Revtion was nowhere near as unreasonable as the rumors imed.


    Good old ckmail. Now that was anguage they could gather around of. Regardless of their involvement levels, the branch''s leaders had nothing to gain and everything to lose from this matter leaking. Depending on the investigator, at best, they faced demotion. At worst, their heads would roll. The God-Defying Gates wouldn''t protect them from those deities'' means.


    The best case scenario was, therefore, to solve the matter internally, and dispose of the ringleader. So while three lit up at Harun''s words, the fourth''s forehead creased, a millisecond change that didn''t escape Harun, who observed them all with scrutiny.


    "Mhm, but brothers, can we believe him? What if he''s bluffing and just trying to get free benefits from us?" Somewhat dissatisfied with Harun''s modus operandi, a guilt-free senior member asked in a mental message.


    "Imbecile. First, do you want to find out? Second, let''s assume for a second that the bastard is bluffing. The fact of the matter is that he currently holds the evidence of our involvement hostage, with many cronies to back his words. If once annoyed, he reveals the whole thing, can we afford the result?" The branch master countered, but couldn''t bring his subordinate back to reason.


    "But we can kill the three and frame him instead. Why should a branch of the World Association bow to a rogue cultivator''s racket?"


    "Ah shit. This is why I hate bloody upstarts like you. We are merchants, merchants! Before we achieve a monopoly in our field, the impression we give our customers is of vital importance. Even if we can brush it all off as base rumors, will ourpetitors take it lying down? It''s fellow branches, not outsiders, that will be the first to blow things out of proportion and strike us down! Think for the sake of long-term profit! What use does vanity have here?"


    Worse, what makes you think that the Divination Master is not Lord Revtion himself? What makes you think that since he can afford to give us a deadline, he doesn''t have 100% confidence in solving the matter whenever necessary? What benefit do we gain from risking exposure when a simpler solution stands right under our nose? At worst, he proves himself the fool, and we''ve lost some baubles! At least our heads will still be sitting on our necks! Without your life, how can you make money?!"


    "Only we will pay him for his silence. Best if we can solve this matter internally. But the more time passes, the less credibility he holds. Regardless of how you look at this, we do need thepse," another senior member chimed in. All three suspected one another, yet maintained false pretense. Only the fourth one, the guilty one, stayed out of the debateperhaps to avoid betraying himself.


    In the meeting room, Harun took the honor seat, and as if he owned the ce, motioned for the merchants to sit.


    "Now, let''s start the negotiations. I want 15,000 six-star Physique Pastes, 15,000 Sense-Grinding Stones, 1,000,000 top-grade seeds, 300,000 Divine Jades, a fief of 100,000 taxable households, and a Spiritual Land, close to said fief, to build my Treasure Hunting Gang''s headquarters on," Harun started, and instantly, the four staggered.


    Of the six things he asked for, only the Sense-Grinding Stones and taxable households seemed remotely reasonable. And even then, the Sense-Grinding Stones'' numbers were out of their league. Little did they know that Harun had no use for Sense-Grinding Stones. However, given his other requests, not asking for those could raise suspicion, and give hints into his path''s requirements. At the same time, he could fold there when needed.


    "What are you trying to build? A sect-raping army? Sir, we supply all three top sects, but three years of theirbined orders doesn''t amount to half what you just requested. Are you trying to put us on the streets? Because even if we peddle our rumps there for 300 years, we still can''t afford this," The branch leader countered, and the negotiations thus began.


    At the end, Lord Revtion settled for 6,000 Physique Pastes, 3,000 Sense-Grinding Stones, 420,000 seeds, 80,000 Divine Jades, 90,000 taxable households, and a quasi-Spiritual Land. To avoid embezzlement charges, the four shared the expenses, with the branch leader paying thergest share. Seeing how they lost centuries of umtions for a breather of one measly week, the leader''s hatred for the traitor in their ranks skyrocketed.


    Bloated by this righteous extortion, Lord Revtion swaggered out of the branch house, with a triumphant gloat speaking tales of his gains.


    "Hey, we live in a world where even Gods need to ckmail. This is a kind of honor. Not many celestials can boast having been robbed by a God. Who knows, many years from now on, when this hooligan deters the world, we will boast about today," the mildest of the senior members consoled himself, unaware of how right he was.

 Chapter 90: Mehrans Surrender

    Chapter 90: Mehran''s Surrender


    While Lord Revtion filled his pockets and spread terror, Harun sat crossed-legged in meditation, interacting with his Karmic Tree.


    "Lord Birusk, may your splendor guide the lost back to the holy path."


    "Lord Birusk, please watch over my son''s cultivation."


    "Lord Birusk, severalds were ogling my daughter today. Can I snap them?"


    "Lord Birusk, I want your babies!"


    "..."


    Harun stopped here. Although the Birusk nsmen were united in their fanatical devotion for their Spiritual Lord and Ancestor, on several topics, their thoughts differed. Some believed that given the chaos beyond nnd, they should impose their Lord''s faith through any means possibleachieving long-term peace through short-term bloodshed. Others argued that tolerance of foreign thoughts were core values of the Birusk n, and that a brutal takeover would undermine their foundational beliefs. Many more stayed out of such debates, trusting in their Lord''s guidance only.


    Granted, Harun didn''t wish to be the leader of a world-oppressing cult, but his actions and methods showed where he stood on the moralpass. Whenever necessary, he didn''t mind using dishonest tricks to achieve his goalsas long as they remained within certain boundaries. "Treat the ruthless ruthlessly," ranked high on his list of mottoes. But brutalizing a world into praying "Lord Birusk Almighty" was probably where he''d draw the line. To say nothing that Forced Attachment didn''t help him in the slightest. Making them sing "All hail Harun the Magnificent, God-Emperor of Gluttony, Whip of Anarchy, Leader of the Free World," was much more reasonable. He had to temper the more bellicose nsmen before their thoughts led to catastrophes.


    But as Harun''s thoughts trailed off, knocking sounds brought him back to reality. Though annoyed, Harun let the dream-breaker in. One of the three lute-ying girls he saw earlier walked in. "Greetings, Spiritual Lord," thedy said with a polite bow.


    "From You to Sir, and from Sir to Spiritual Lord. We''vee a long way, Gulseni. Who knows, maybe tomorrow you''ll call me Master," Harun said, and thedy''s face twitched under her veil. Thisdy was none other than Gulseni''s first Door God, or Goddess in this case, which she sent to the capital on Harun''s orders. Formed in the Celestial Knight Realm by the transformation of totems into Divine Gates, unlike what the name implied, Door Gods were just avatars, and forever remained half-a-realm weaker than their creator.


    Celestials often considered them the least useful of their boons on the Divine Path. However, only Door Gods could control the Divine Hosts of Ascending Gods and abovemaking them the number one generals at their masters'' disposal. Ignoring Harun''s pique, Gulseni summarized the reason for her visit.


    "The Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master invited me to join him in the third range, alongside my entire sect, and be his primary consort."


    She spoke the facts, not beating around the bush. The words made Harun''s heart skip a beat. On the way to the Vermilion Brides Sect, did the Stronghold Master note across his Treasure Land? And as if reading through his mind, Gulseni cleared that doubt.


    "The Stronghold Master is a Heavenly God Realm expert, he cane and go through spatial rifts. You don''t have to worry about that?" Sheforted, yet felt the words slightly insulting. Could the Treasure Land''s safety notpare to her sect''s 800dies? Then again, Harun didn''t owe them anything.


    "Phew...I really need to figure out how to turn my home-base into a flying battleship or something. In any case, how are you feeling? Did he upset you in any way?" Harun inquired, startling Gulseni who hadn''t expected this show of concern.


    "Don''t overthink. This is basic ''Boss-Subordinate'' rtionship. A good manager cares for his workers'' mental health. Let''s not lose our professionalism," Harun sshed cold water on Gulseni''s thoughts. The fairy wanted to say that considering his rtionship with Jiyan, Harun shouldn''t speak such words with a straight face. But knowing that no good result woulde from exposing this spiritual devil, she restrained herself.


    "Besides his fondness for voluptuous women and feminized boys, the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master is a well-known gentleman. How could he offend me?" Gulseni rhetorically asked. A legendary expert across all ranges, Xerzan, the Stronghold Master, was born with Heterochromatic Double Pupils, meaning that he automatically reached the Heavenly God Realm around 300. Thus, when he first appeared, no one questioned the roots of his formidable strength, but all were shocked to learn that he didn''t belong to the Serpent Domain, and wanted nothing to do with them.


    After defeating the top ten chosen of the Serpent Domain and butchering several Empyrean Monarchs of the ughter Syndicate, Xerzan was recognized as the undisputed number one of Heaven''s junior generation, and established the Barbaric Demon Stronghold in the Third Range. Notoriouslyzy and undisciplined, Xerzan''s fame went down the drain when his untraditional sexual orientations and disturbing balls became publot that he ever cared.


    Rumors of his dealings with the Truth Scrying Grotto were the only things Gulseni could get her hands on, making her wonder if even those weren''t leaked on purpose. Be that as it may, if there was one person she didn''t wish to antagonize, it was Xerzan. His growth rate was at best terrifying, and perhaps in the nearby future, he''d match up to the likes of Sv, Dilnaz and Nak.


    Harun''s thoughts were simpler. Xerzans were tumors. Ignoring them only helped inte the disease. The only solution was to sever it at the roots. A pity that they were way too weak for such radical measures.


    "As if we didn''t have enough problems already. A polite rebuttal is probably the best option right now. If pushes to shove, I will hide you. We will deal with him in the future...if he doesn''t die early, that is," Harun replied, and Gulseni agreed with the words. The Holy Lands built their peace treaty on ramshackle foundations. How long before it copsed, and the war returned, more brutal than ever?


    When it did, the likes of Xerzan that umted grievances like candies would stand among the first targets, and unless some hidden expert sheltered him, his fate looked grim.


    The next three days passed without much disturbances. The tavern ownerpleted his task and left for the Birusk n. Harun ensured that anyone that attempted to trail him ended in the reincarnation cycle.


    Stirring the Golden Silkworms in his unaware victims, Harun stimted their anti-monarch sentiments, gathering them all in an organized rebellion against the throne. The following two days saw waves of escting protests that culminated in the looting of the royal barracks. Experts of the Soul Refining Hall and Immtion de Sect fanned the mes, while also carrying out coordinated attacks under the rebels'' banner. On the next day, Mehran Hisyar, High King of the Dark Stone Country, announced that on his 79th birthday, he''d hold an Abdication Settlement; weing all officials, citizens or royals to present a better candidate, and plead their case.


    The rioters thus remembered that they carried out all this looting on the eve of the monarch''s birthdaysomemented the decline of the Hisyar Dynastyothers inwardly sneered. Faced with the world''s indignation, even a monarch had to bow his head and seekpromisesor so they thought.


    Believing that on this night, Mehran''s true body would stand in the royal pce, the Soul Refining Hall and Immtion des surrounded it with their hidden forces, and dispatched several men to catch and lobotomize Mehran.


    At the same time, Harun and Jiyan left the tavern and snuck into the royal pce.

 Chapter 91: Even if Millions Demand Your Head, Do not Give it Up (1)

    Chapter 91: Even if Millions Demand Your Head, Do not Give it Up (1)


    In the Soul Refining Hall, Reverend Weeping Soul discussed the Dark Stone City''s situation with his subordinates.


    "Reverend, why do we tread so carefully with a mortal? Given our abilities, finding and subduing him is child''s y," an inner disciple of the Soul Refining Hall asked.


    "Don''t underestimate him. One, he''s a hell of a lot more resourceful than many suspect. Two, thest person that tried a Divination on him burst into blood and gore. Threedon''t let the appearance, words and deeds trick you. Mehran Hisyaris stark raving mad."


    Outpacing hispetitors, Harun first crossed the pce''s walls, sneaking into that ancient house of kings. Jiyan remained outside, with her de choosing who stepped in and who didn''tHarun aside, none did. Mehran Hisyar, the celebrity of these nocturnal events, sat crossed-legged on his balcony, eyes shut in meditation. The Dao Truth of the Sovereign Warden rippled from his form, with an intensity that fully demonstrated the peak of the Daoist Realm. However,pared to the invaders, this cultivation was nothing. Even if he broke through to the next level, Mehran would still be helpless. Yet, he didn''t care.


    He didn''t bother splitting himself into 100 lesser selves, didn''t bother concealing his true body or cultivating behind closed doors. As far as he was concerned, none of that mattered anymore. The best he could do was to be the first andst Nihility Realm expert of the Dark Stone Countrya fallen state. Across these years of fruitless struggle, Mehran often wondered why the Soul Refining Hall didn''t use its Divination Magic to find his true body. Did they not care enough? Was the price not worth it given his strength and status? None of those mattered any longer.


    Having reached the peak of the Daoist Realm in 70 years, Mehran undoubtedly was an astonishing talent. s, state matters prevented any focus on his cultivation, and dyed his breakthrough.


    "What a nebulous threshold. I guess finding enlightenment under the moonlight is rubbish, after all," Mehran whispered. Daoist to Nihility was a checkpoint that stumped countless mortals. Without the guidance of predecessors, even a prodigy could spend decades in that step. Mehran didn''t doubt that he could one day step into Nihility. Since he was born, the belief that he could aplish all he set out to was firmly ingrained in his mind. It wasn''t conceit, but a truth that transcended his very existence.


    But even that truth needed time to grow. Time he didn''t have. Not wanting to miss the faces of hisst opponents, Mehran opened his eyes, and swept the scene. But as he expected celestial hordes to overrun his balcony, a voice thundered in his mind:


    "You know, the Dao of the Sovereign Warden isughed at for a reason. You people can only find purpose by living for others and end up wasting your glorious years on ingrates. A life for cucks, that''s how the cultivation world views the Sovereign Warden Dao. Why did you choose that path instead of the usual Self Hegemony?" Harun asked, but if the unknown voice startled him, Mehran didn''t show it, and focused on the question.


    "Hard to say. I was born sentient, able to understand speech and manners. Right after I left my mother''s womb, officials ced an oversized crown on my head and called me...Your Majesty. Kingship is your birthright, your raison d''tre, or so they said. The king is both the father and son of his country. Avoid self-interest, abhor indulgence, and live for the world. To live up to such expectations, I embraced the Dao of the Sovereign Warden." Here Mehran paused, and his lips curved into a derisive smile.


    "Later I realized that they wanted to raise me as a monarch that cared for peace, the people and humanity above all, so they could run amok under my nose and let me bear the consequences. When that didn''t work out, I became a tyrant. Decadester, the people I toiled for now demand my head, all for self-preservation. Both the educated and ignorant ignore the future trouble as long as they can satisfy their current needs. But how can I me them? They aren''t wrong. I am. From the moment I believed this country needed me to be responsible for it, I was wrong.


    The people only need scapegoats to dump all unpleasant responsibilities onto, andin about when all goes south. Only future tyrants and deluded youths look forward to being kings. What was so great about it? I have spent these 79 years in darkness, and will die for nothing" Mehran burst intoughter, ridiculing himself. In that instant, he let go of his Dao Truth, rejected his core beliefs, and achieved Nihility. A massive ck hole formed in his Sea of Consciousness, proof of his breakthrough. After crossing his cmities and forming his Vicissitude Domain, he could reduce it to a grain-sized particlenot that he''d ever have to.


    Standing up, Mehran arched his head back. His mane of ck hair swayed under his undting Qi, and his eyes sparkled in enlightenment. "Sir, if not for your appearance, I wouldn''t have broken through to the Nihility Realm tonight. May I thank you face to face?" Mehran asked in a polite tone.


    "If you only have death in mind, why bother? I dislike morbid folks."


    "What if I want to live?" Mehran probed. Harun sent Jiyan a mental message, and thetter hurled the corpses of dozens of Soul Refining Hall and Immtion de experts toward Mehran''s balcony. Before the monarch''s astounded gaze, the bodies tumbled down, "I can give you a way out," Harun replied, using the corpses to empower his message.


    "Lord Revtion?" Of the First Range''s top experts, only this recent addition could bother giving him a chance to survivegranted Mehran met his demands. The rest would only kill him faster.


    "Indeed," Harun didn''t deny Mehran''s guess, and appeared before the high king. For a second, both stared at one another, and while Mehran couldn''t see Harun''s face because of the golden shroud, he didn''t lose his bearings, and on the contrary, seemed more carefree.


    Harun, however, had the opposite reaction. "In this tiny First Range, between no-man''snd and this Dark Stone City alone, I first got three brats with cheated luck, one boy with a Dual Soul Root, and now this. Fuck, is this ce channeling the world''s destiny?" With his gaze glued on Mehran''s stat screen, Harun asked himself.


    [Name: Mehran Hisyar]


    [Attributes: Senses (10), Physique (8), Luck(5), Dao Attunement (10), Willpower (10), Charisma (9)]


    [Destiny: Invible]


    [Age: 79]


    [Cultivation Base: early-stage of the Nihility Realm]


    Stranger still, despite such cheated stats, Harun had no interest in making Mehran his disciple. Something in him screamed against it. Was it because of that unknown destiny, his average luck stat, or a reason that went beyond? Harun couldn''t exin it, and so sought the System''s help.


    "What does that Invible Destiny mean? Mess with him and you die?"


    "Not quite. It just means that in a past life, he possessed deep Karma with an Ancestor-level powerhouse. Friend, child, lover, disciple, frenemy...we can''t know the exact bond, but it isn''t shallow. Divination doesn''t work against people like him. Their souls can''t be destroyed, don''t mess with their Karmic Tree, and if for some spiteful reason you y with their past lives well...RIP," The system exined, and it took Harun all his self-control to not roll his eyes in exasperation.


    "Ah shit. Here we go again."

 Chapter 92: Even if Millions Demand Your Head, Do not Give it Up (2)

    Chapter 92: Even if Millions Demand Your Head, Do not Give it Up (2)


    There were two destinies whose purposes Harun couldn''tprehend so far. Jiyan''s Undecided, and Mehran''s Invible. Though the System shed some light in both, more in Mehran''s case, this still didn''t allow Harun to know who or what caused them to carry such destinies. With no answer to that question, at least with Mehran, Harun had to tread carefully. Still, given the events Mehran faced till now, it went without saying that whatever Ancestor once had a strong link to him no longer sheltered him.


    Fixing the Dark Stone High King with a steely gaze, Harun shook his head in disappointment, "Although you could reject your Dao Truth and achieve Nihility, I''m still disappointed in you. Since I''ve descended onto thisnd, I''ve heard much about you, Mehran Hisyar. Tenacity, wits, bnce between ruthlessness and gentleness. People have praised and given you so many skills that I''d already put you on a pedestal. Imagine my disappointment, when on our first meeting, I see that you''ve already surrendered to fate," Harun started, and indeed, from the moment Mehran made the announcement of his Abdication Settlement, he''d surrendered to fate.


    Worse, he didn''t just surrender his crown. With it, he''d given up on his life too. This was the part that truly infuriated Harun, and for a second, made him forget that an Ancestor''s rtive potentially stood before him.


    "Your life was given to you by destiny, your parents and you. Until the four can sit at a table and agree that it''s time for you to kick the bucket, even if millions demand your head, do not give it up. Who gave you the right to decide on your own? How presumptuous!" Harun snapped and indexed Mehran with his wobbling finger. But baffled by the words, Mehran stared at him with an incredulous look.


    "Then doesn''t that mean...that I''m never supposed to ept death?" He said in a barely audible tone, to which Harun gave a vigorous nod of approval.


    "Exactly! If it were me, I''d burn what remained of the granaries in the open, hurl the stored water at the streets, and get the fuck out! They can fight for the remains!"


    "Sir"


    "Maybe also burn the stables!"


    "With all due respect"


    "And loot their backyards while they fight!"


    "You are stark raving mad," Mehran couldn''t suppress the words, thus reminding Harun that he''d lost quite a bit of grand expert demeanor. Clearing his throat, Harun regained hisposure. Thankfully, from start to finish, Mehran couldn''t see his face.


    "Of course, all this in a moderate measure. In any case, I can give you a way out, but you need two things. First, a choice, here and now. Do you want to remain the Dark Stone High King, or be one of my inner disciples. I can''t be bothered with being your master, but I can give you pointers...from time to time. Regardless of what you choose, to the outside world, you remain the Dark Stone High King. The only difference is that in one case you sit on a wheelchair, drooling no end, and in the other, both your country and you rise alongside me.


    Second, granted you picked road number two, you need to show me what you''re made of by regaining control of this clusterfuck. The Dream Seers have been taken care of. The celestials will not bother you, and I will personally solve the weather problem if you perform well. From now on, you have no excuses," Harun offered, and ced his hands on either side of his hips, awaiting Mehran''s reply.


    Through his words, Mehran realized that besides those they''d disposed of already, more celestials hid, perhaps among the court officials, ready to cause trouble. Three faces shed in his mind, and the high king bowed toward Harun, "Then sir, I invite you to watch how I dispose of my state''s tumors," Mehran offered and turned heels. With a nod, Harun dispelled his golden shroud, Jiyan appeared at his right, and the two dropped beside Mehran, sandwiching him left and right. Not surprised that Harun had a helper nearby, Mehran didn''t flinch, and led the two toward the throne room.


    There, Mehran had royal seats prepared for both Harun and Jiyan behind a silk curtain, and the three awaited the rosy light of dawn, which marked the start of the Abdication Settlement gathering. The smiling face Mehran had greeted Harun with vanished, reced by a detached, yet oppressive gaze fit for a tyrant. Pages and heralds announced the start of the gathering. Officials, high nobles and royals poured in ording to their ranks, most facing Mehran with undisguised ridicule. Leading them were three people, one male and two females.


    The male, a square-jawed middle-aged man, wore the maroon heavy armor and cape of a Dark Stone general. The females both wore royal gowns distinguished only by the color themes. Warm for one and cool for the other: the country''s queen and dowager. The crown princey one step behind them. And at a nce, Harun could see that in looks or demeanor, the boy had inherited nothing of his "father." If anything


    "This position arrangement is wrong," Jiyan noted. And indeed, in a typical gathering, the dowager alone would stand at the front. The queen and crown prince followed, and then the top officials and princes after them. Why was the armored general at the front, fully equipped as if about to execute traitorous officials? Anyone with half a brain could understand what was going on. Mehran''s mother, wife and top official all banded together to deal him the fatal blow. With his informationwork, Harun knew many facts that even royals had no knowledge of, and had seen thising. Still, that didn''t stop him from finding the whole setting rather sordid.


    The dowager and queen both held their seals, but before Mehran could officially start the gathering, the armored man spoke up:


    "I believe everyone here knows precisely why we gather, so there''s no reason why we should waste time in trifles. Your Majesty''s stubbornness has brought disaster on this country. Only with your abdication can we pacify the celestials and seers. Only with your abdication can we end this debilitating drought, the rampant mayhem that clogs the streets. The crown prince is virtuous, groomed and educated, adored by officials and citizens alike. He''s now 32 years old, and more than ready to shoulder your burdens," The general-in-chief, leader of the armed forces, started.


    The queen and dowager nodded, and motioned for the crown prince to step forwardwhich he did in wobbling steps.


    "Mehran, as your mother, it pains me that we''ve reached this point. You could have been the number one monarch in this country''s 1,000 years of history. But instead of thinking for the citizens'' sake, you let your pride cloud your j"


    "Pipe down, will you?" The dowager had not finished her words that Mehran cut her dry. In a world where filial piety ruled supreme, this move caused universal outrage, and while the dowager grew livid, officials of the censorate boldly stepped forward.


    Full of righteous zeal, they raised usatory fingers at Mehran, ready to drown him in endless rebukes. But before the first word left their lips, Mehran waved his right hand, and the officials'' heads rolled off their necksbeheaded by clean strikes. Blood spattered the dowager, queen, and general-in-chief''s faces.


    "To speak before the monarch gives you permission is the highest of offenses. I do not execute you two because you still have a role to y, but don''t overstep." Mehran said, and instantly, all grew quiet. The strongest on the scene were the general and dowager, both at the middle-stage of the Daoist Realm. Yet, neither saw how nor when Mehran made his moveproof that an abysmal gap stood between them.


    "First, I don''t mind abdicating, but I don''t see how that will stop the drought I started. Since I summoned it, it seems to me that I am the most qualified to end it. Are you sure you want me out of the picture?" Mehran coolly asked, and as soon as those words echoed, Harun, who''d been observing it all with rapt attention, lost his bearings.

 Chapter 93: Formation Devil

    Chapter 93: Formation Devil


    "Hum...Jiyan are my ears failing me? Did thisd just im that he started the drought?" Harun asked, but was dissatisfied by Jiyan''s nod of approval. Her following words only disturbed him further, "And now that makes sense."


    "How exactly does that make sense to you?" He blinked at the words. Let''s not mention why the country''s monarch would want to plunge his realm into thirst, starvation and rampant anarchy. How could Mehran, who''d just now reached Nihility, cover a country of 1.6 billion in such a terrible drought? Only the joint work of 100 Celestial Kins or a Celestial Guard couldplete a project of this scope. If Mehran could show the strength of a Celestial Guard at the Daoist Realm, why would he be so helpless against the three sects'' encroachment? There were many simple ways to solve the problem, such as bing a Holy Land''s legacy disciple.


    Jiyan, however, thought otherwise:


    "Sangar said it himself. His sect''s name is Immtion des. Anyone can do this except them, because they instantly be the primary suspects. Which leaves us with the Vermilion Brides that you control, and the Soul Refining Hall, that likely was Sangar''s hidden master. And that''s only assuming that Dream Seers can use Weather Spells. I don''t think so, but even if they can, would the Soul Refining Hall risk the extreme reduction of lives they n to refine? That''s no different from torching their own farnd.


    We have a situation that aims all suspicion at celestials and ruins the entire country. The culprit should be someone with a deep grudge against both sides. Besides Mehran, who qualifies? He probably got sick of having to protect his citizens from themselves and receive spit as a rewardthenshed out. Or perhaps he just knew that he couldn''t hold on for much longer, and wanted to get something from the chaos," Jiyan reasoned, and Harun had to admit that in a world of raging lunatics, her words made sense. Yet, this still didn''t exin how Mehran pulled that off.


    In a sh, the pair pooled ideas, and two words surfaced: "Forbidden Formations!"


    Forbidden Arts were an exhaustive collection of techniques that were as reliable as disastrous. Most of the known ones originated from the Lost Era, but a few, like the Self-Immting Hex Nak passed on to Sangar and who knows else, appeared alongside Nak and the Heaven Warding Emperor. Needless to say, those originated from the Myriad Devil Pce. Spells, formations, artworks, poisons; virtually all categories carried some form of forbidden technique. If Mehran was a sixth-star Formation Master, a forbidden technique could enable him to achieve that feat. But was he?


    The answer came immediately. Mehran raised his right hand, summoned a painting brush, and as he waved it in mysterious patterns, spiral shapes took form, bing palm-sized whirlpools that flew toward the ceiling, floor, and high pirs. One whirlpool mark appeared on all surfaces, ocean-blue light columns poured out of each whirlpools, first trapping, then relocating all abdication advocates to suit Mehran''s tastes. This seemingly minor trick frightened all dissidents into submission. The lucid dropped on their knees, the rest stared dazed at Mehran''s brush-holding hand.


    "He can use his body as an energy source and set up formations nigh-instantaneously...proof that he''s a sixth-star Formation Master," Harun realized. In that instant, he didn''t doubt that if the Nihility version of him fought with Mehran, unless he used an extreme poison to exceed Mehran''s writing speed, the result would be hisplete defeat. Talent alone couldn''t help a Nihility Realm expert achieve this level. Mehran either obtained some blessing, or crossed a Formation Master''s inheritance ground. Considering his average luck stat, Harun leaned on thetter.


    Still sitting on his throne, Mehran made a grasping motion. The queen, dowager, crown prince andmandant all reappeared before himtheir faces stretched by the feeling of having been deceived for a lifetime.


    "I don''t understand. Who doesn''t know the worth of Formation Masters? With such abilities and talent, why did you let the matter develop into this? What did you hope to aplish? And why the hell would you trigger an event sure to end your reign?!" Themandant snapped at Mehran, unable to control that strange mix of rage, awe and humiliation churning his bowels. With a smile, Mehran nced at themandant, his once preceptor, his mother, wife and son, then replied in the most casual of tones:


    "Because I''m disappointed. Disappointed in you, you and you," he said in a barely audible tone, indexing the three leaders. His finger then fell onto the crown prince, who shook uncontrobly, like a feather amidst a storm, and dared not speak up. "Only you are not qualified to disappoint me. For that, we''d need to owe each other something," Mehran added, then pped his throne''s arm. A tablet rose from the ground, with ming-red patterns glittering on its surface. Seeing it, 99% grew confused. The queen, dowager andmandant, however, turned livid.


    "The...Lineage Tablet," the crown prince muttered, confused by the tablet''s appearance. Ignoring him, Mehran stepped toward his officials and nobles: "As I''ve said beforehand, I do not mind abdicating. There''s just one tiny detail I need to remind you of. Only someone of the Hisyar bloodline can inherit the throne. So unless you n to change the dynasty, we have another problem" Mehran paused, gashed the Crown Prince''s palm, and mmed it against the tabletits light vanished instantly, "After all, the crown prince isn''t my son. Problematic...right?" Mehran rhetorically asked and hurled the prince across the room.


    Despite crashing against an adamantine pir, too dazed by what he just witnessed, the prince didn''t register the pain, and justy there, trembling in sweat and confusion. Upon ascension, each new monarch shed his blood on the Lineage Tablet. The tabletpared the tester''s blood with the previous monarch''s to re-confirm the genealogy. A brother''s blood would make the tablet glow orange, dark-brown for a cousin, and bright-red for a son. All three qualified. However, if someone with no blood ties to the Hisyar lineage dripped his blood on the tablet, it''d lose all colors.


    Anyone on the scene knew what the crown prince''s results meant, and while rumors on that topic circted behind closed doors, they still couldn''t believe the facts: the king was cucked.


    "The Lineage Tablet is only used during the new monarch''s coronation ceremony to showcase his genealogy to the court. Privately, such a test would be no different from asking the queen and consorts to abdicate their titles andmit suicide. So for generations, we kept it out of our private lives. But since this concerns the unbroken line of the Hisyar n, I cannot but reveal the truth," Mehran began, and even before he said the rest, the royals'' eyes burned with frenzied rage and indignation, all aimed at the queen, dowager andmandant.


    "The crown prince is the bastard offspring of the grandmandant, my beloved preceptor. Thirty-two years ago, the dowager feared that my extreme focus on affairs of the state and ''unruly'' behavior would leave the throne without a suitable heir, an heir she and her house could control. So she pushed themandant, her cousin, and my queen, her niece, into one another''s arms. Once certain of conception, she immediately set up a romantic evening for the queen and I, letting me sleep with her to remove all potential doubts on the uing pregnancy. Following my death, they nned to use the coronation ceremony to reveal the truth, exterminate the Hisyar n, and change the ruling house.


    Royal elders, brothers and sisters, If you are fine with this, I can abdicate now. If not, maybe we should postpone this until better candidates show up," Mehran inquired.

 Chapter 94: Meet My Family

    Chapter 94: Meet My Family


    The hall grew silent. Neither themandant nor the dowager could understand why despite finding out the truth, Mehran kept it secret. The queen alone didn''t care, and in despair, crawled toward Mehran''s leg:


    "Mehran, I was forced by the dowager! I never wanted to do this! For the sake of our 50 years of marriage, please don''t do this to me! I beg you, please forgive me!" The queen broke into tears, and banged her forehead against the floor. For the queen to reach the Daoist Realm at 70, she naturally benefitted from Mehran''s experiences and guidance. Even though the king focused primarily on state matters, the little time he had left, he gave her without fail. But some could only see things from their own perspectives, refused to acknowledge the difficulties of their partners, and vented their frustration in the worst ways imaginable.


    As gentle as ever, Mehran held the queen''s hands and helped her up. "You misunderstand. I am disappointed, not angry. How could a king lose his mind for cheap dirt? What you do with yourself is your matter. Sadly, as the Dark Stone High King, there arews I need to follow," Mehran replied, and yanked the queen''s crown off her head. The contrast between his words and deeds made the queen lose all hope. The furious royals shivered, the nobles cowered, and themandant broke into a cold sweat.


    The gentler and sweeter Mehran appeared, the more extreme his next actions were. On the contrary, the angrier he looked, the more lenient he became. In that instant, all wished to scream: "Your Majesty, please scold us silly!" But didn''t have the cheeks for such words.


    "Since you''ve all grown quiet, I suppose I can freely use my royal powers. Very well, queen, you will be burned to death. Thew and all, you know. Commandant, you will be castrated and sold to the Barking ve Brothel, and dowagerdear mother...difficult," Mehran stressed thest three words, stepped toward the dowager, and gave her a gentle pat on her head.


    "I can''t kill my mother. Regardless of what she does to me, I cannotsh out. Those are the ancestral rules, and I shall not defy them. So" Mehran nced at the dowager''s prominent rtives, who all stood in the aristocracy''s ranks, "You will choose for her, and I will choose for you. Depending on your choice, your house may not have a tomorrow," Mehran exined. The dowager''s elder brother was the first to stand up:


    "Those vile creatures have brought eternal shame on our house. Your Majesty holds the world in his heart and is ever-merciful, but we can''t spare them! We will handle the dowager through familyw, pull out her entrails, dig out her eyes, bathe her in honey, and let legions of insects devour her alive!" The dowager''s elder brother offered, and instantly, the other nsmen kowtowed and asked for the same punishment. Some even argued that the queen should suffer the same fate, the royals gave such words firm support, brightening Mehran''s smile.


    From the Abdication Settlement''s leaders, the dowager, queen andmandant turned into the worst criminals in the country''s history, with fates 1,000 times worse than death awaiting them all. Imagining their noble bodies torn and defiled by base insects, the queen and dowager lost their minds, and hugged Mehran''s thighs.


    "Mehran, I carried you for nine months, got rid of all your brothers so that you could im the throne, raised and nurtured you the best I could! If not for me, how could you be here? Please give me a dignified death!" For some, dignity was more important than their lives.


    "Mehran, remember when you held me on a bed of thornless roses, promising to protect me for a lifetime? Where are those words now?!" But for others, life mattered above all.


    Mehran ignored them both. Knowing that his fate was set in stone, and eager tomit suicide, themander stood up, faced Mehran with a vicious sneer, and boldly dered: "At the end of the day, I still screwed your wife. Since you can''t avenge that, I suppose it''s fair that yoush out the best you can. Still, the fact remains that...hehehe."


    Strangely, Mehran''s smile grew more radiant, and he tapped themander''s shoulder, "I suppose it''s time I let you meet my family. Children,dies,e on in," Mehran said, and spread out his arms toward the door. As if they''d been waiting at the door all along, 12 women and 35 men walked in, ignoring the startled officials, nobles and royals to walk toward Mehran. Their appearance threw the court into chaos, and themandant above all couldn''t understand the meaning of their presence. Was Mehran nning to not even let his wives and children off the hook?


    But as such words trailed in his mind,dies and gentlemen kneeled before Mehran and said in tandem:


    "Beloved husband, long may you reign!"


    "Royal father, long may you reign!"


    Themandant wanted to say that they were kneeling toward the wrong person, that he wasn''t a king yet, but seeing how they didn''t bother ncing at him, and stared at Mehran withplete love and devotion, he teetered, gasping for breath.


    In his 120 years of existence, themandant believed that his greatest achievements weren''t his victories on the battlefield, his conquest of the queen, but his nine wives and thirty childrenall equally outstanding and devoted to him. First, 3 daughtersthen within 32 years27 sons. Even his daughters gave birth to 8 prodigious sons. He enjoyed countless praises,uded as the Father of the Nation.


    But within five seconds, all this went down the drain, and Mehran dealt the final blow:


    "I suppose I need to exin. Since you had to drop your pants in my house, I went ahead and did the same in yours. Thanks to my 100 selfs disguised as various established members of your household, I screwed your wives, screwed your daughters, and made them give birth to one big, happy family for me. But unlike you, I''m clever enough to let the kids know early who daddy is. That''s how you take control of a man''s household. In your next life, take notes and..." Mehran raised his right foot, and kicked at themandant''s crotch!


    BANG!


    Flung by the kick''s impact, themandant soared toward the ceilingencasing himself within.


    "Do better" Mehran added, but his words fell on deaf ears. This session of blows were too much for themandant to bear, his blood vessels bursted, and for the first time in 120 years, he suffered a stroke. The queen and dowager had it no better. The queen''s organs spiraled out of control, the dowager''s eyes zed over, and the two broke down subsequently.


    Ignoring them, Mehran lowered his gaze toward his children anddies, motioned for them to stand up, then nced at the officials:


    "Across the next month, we will hold a Royal Examination to choose an heir among the princes. Afterward, I will retire as King Emeritus. I''ve raised them to treat one another with love and courtesy. No need to fear princely strife," Mehran said. But at that time, seven of the frightened officials shot toward him at a speed that transcended all mortal limits.


    Knowing that he could not fight celestials head on, Mehran initially nned to blow up the castle, himself and all troublemakers, in a single night. But since he now had a reliable backer, he didn''t bother triggering the formation.


    One shockwave thundered before Mehran, and the seven celestials flew toward the ceiling, with one foot mark on their broken faces.


    To the court''s awe, Lord Revtion appeared before the king, as usual, shrouded in golden light.


    "Thank you, sir, for your assistance. Mehran Hisyar, at your service!"

 Chapter 95: Divine Soul Cauldron (1)

    Chapter 95: Divine Soul Cauldron (1)


    If before, Harun would have been delighted to receive such a promising subordinate, it was with mixed feelings that he watched Mehran''s disy. No scruples once slighted, vindictive to the extreme, shrewd and calcting, such traits formed a dangerousbination, and like Weeping Soul before him, Harun concluded that behind the veil of the poised monarch, Mehran was a lunatic. A lunatic with principles and beliefs only he knew of, but a lunatic all the same. At the same time, those traits somewhat reminded Harun of himself, creating a strong sense of familiarity with the Dark Stone High King.


    Thus, as he turned to face his faction''s new member, Harun''s pensive look became a grimace of disappointment, and while wrapping one arm around Mehran''s shoulders, he said: "You''re still too soft. At the very least, you should have added his mother. Give her five extra brats to tease him with. Don''t underestimate the mental trauma of a slutified mother."


    "Sir"


    "Just call me big bro. And recordings, where are the recordings? It''s the rule of thumb to record it all and present the images one by one. Such missed opportunities. Still, I give you full credit for effort," Harun''s casual words brought a deathly silence on the scene. To say nothing of those nobles and officials, even Mehran didn''t expect that the first to push for more extreme measures would be a dude shrouded in holy light. But as "Lord Revtion" gave his appraisal, Jiyan appeared at his right and asked with an eerie smile:


    "Oh, so cute. What a dutiful elder brother you''ve be. You must have a ton of experience in this field. Why don''t we discuss them? How many scattered children do I need to prepare myself for? Five, forty?"


    Reminded of his surroundings by Jiyan''s inquiry, Harun broke into a cold sweat, and brushed the words off with a nervousugh. "Hypotheticals, hypothetical. Even if I experimented some of these tricks on my old enemies, I would never choke myself with the burdens of fatherhood. Ah shit" Only after these words did Harun realize he''d betrayed himself. ck lines formed on every man''s forehead, with Mehran feeling that his reliable backer had suddenly turned...highly unreliable.


    But at that time, hordes of vast auras that transcended mortal limits pressed on the royal pce. Men, women, children, regardless of their age or cultivation base, Mehran''s courtiers copsed on the ground, suppressed by the pressure alone and unable to lift their heads. Mehran himself couldn''t keep standing, but before these auras forced him on his knees, Harun waved his hand, dispelling their effect.


    His eyes narrowed instantly. Jiyan summoned her sword, and the two returned to maximum seriousness. Three light rays shot through the court''s open door, dropping at Harun''s feetrevealing a trio of bedraggled celestialsthree of the World Association branch''s seniors.


    Without a care for status or decorum, the three clung onto Harun''s thigh, "Lord Revtion, the situation has spiraled out of control. If you don''t take matters into your own hands, this city is finished!" The branch leader eximed, making Harun''s forehead crease.


    "First thing first. How did you know that I''d be here?" Harun probed, ready to dispose of the three at the wrong word.


    Realizing they''d been led by the nose, the three gasped, and their eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Seems like this will be more troublesome than I expected."


    Above the royal gates, about 1,000 men dressed in yellow robes embroidered with swirling me patterns, floated in the sky, unfazed by the pce''s mortal defenses. Their cultivation went from low to peak-level Celestial Kin, and three Celestial Guards led their organized formation. Besides those celestials, 70 more experts stood, dressed in the same clothes, but with inscrutable cultivation bases. At their helm was a ck-robed man shrouded in a golden haze that prevented the tiniest nce at his appearance. Instantly, the mortals below recognized him as Lord Revtion, whose name had recently rocked the city.


    At "Lord Revtion''s" right, the traitorous association senior stood, fawning over the superior expert like a certified sycophant.


    "Thank you, fifth elder, for your assistance. If not for your timely help, I can only imagine what horrible fate I''d be suffering. But are you sure that letting them warn Lord Revtion won''t bite us back?" The association member carefully asked. By the time his three peers had gathered evidence of his deeds, and prepared to silently execute him, he received the visit of the Soul Refining Hall''s fifth elder, and was asked to take part in a show. But the more he thought about who they were dealing with, the more restless he became.


    With a dismissive wave of his hand, the fifth elder rejected the words, "You misunderstand. We need them with him, and we need him to put all his strength into resisting us. In this case, isn''t the truth the pain-free way to achieve both objectives?" The fifth elder replied. Knowing that arguing with a Truth Reverend would yield nothing good, the branch traitor stopped the inquiry here. And although his betrayal was about to lead to a megalopolis'' destruction, with all the gains he stood to make, he couldn''t prevent himself from smiling at the uing disaster.


    "Brothers, don''t me me for this turn of events. The First Range has long belonged to the Soul Refining Hall. Going against them is foolishness incarnate. And if by coordinating with them we can get substantial benefits, why hesitate?"


    ...


    Meanwhile, the three branch seniors revealed all they''d seen to Harun.


    "After we retraced the traitor''s moves, we nned to execute him and pass his death off as a mysterious disappearance. However, we stumbled on a chat between him and the Soul Refining Hall''s fifth elder. They revealed their involvement and connection to the Immtion des, and exined that in a Divination Master''s body, Sin-zed Flowers multiplied focus, enlightenment speed, and divination powers. The more enlightened the consumer was, the stronger the effects. Sangar only wanted the flowers as gifts for Reverend Weeping Soul. Afterward, the fifth elder warned that although Your Lordship hides in the royal pce, and could therefore shelter it from theirst move, a Divine Soul Formation of 1,000 celestials is not what you can resist. At best, your soul will join the millions...that perish tonight. As we speak, the traitor is likely using all of our branch''s resources to feed the formation."


    The words "Divine Soul Formation" didn''t trigger anything in the nobles and officials. Mehran, Harun and Jiyan, however, grew livid. Without hesitation, Mehran summoned his painting brush, and wrote formation upon formation patterns at lightning speed. But as the patterns flew toward the ceiling, floor and door, a sheen of golden light stopped them all. The intensified pressure of the united Dream Seers and Celestials dropped on the throne room. To say nothing of mortal cultivators, under such pressure, even a Celestial Knight would copse.


    Not only did the celestials and seers'' strength ovep, but many seemed to use secret arts to forcefully increase their abilities. Any tiny extra fluctuation triggered a domino effect that increased the formation''s might several folds.


    In his Lord Revtion disguise, the fifth elder stepped forward and raised his hands at the sky. Golden chains appeared, binding the celestials and seers to one another before setting them all aze. Over 1,000 jets of radiant mes shot toward the fifth elder''s handsblending there to form a miniature golden sun. Hurling the miniature sun at the sky, the fifth elder moved his hands in arcane gestures. His followers did the same, and the golden sun expanded to be a dazzling cauldron that hovered above the royal pceready to obliterate all that stood below.


    Wires of thin white light connected the cauldron to the 1,000 experts, whose positions shifted at various time intervals. Only the fifth elder''s position remained constant, at the center of all movements.


    "Lord Revtion and the Immtion de Sect officially unite to end the royal strife, purge the World Association, destroy the Soul Refining Hall, and return peace to this country!" The fifth elder proimed, changing his voice to match Lord Revtion''s, and without further ado, the cauldron poured a sea of goldenva onto the royal pce!

 Chapter 96: Divine Soul Cauldron (2)

    Chapter 96: Divine Soul Cauldron (2)


    An ancient and terrible formation that once shook the Immemorial Era, the Divine Soul Formation was first used by the Heaven Warding Emperor and Nak against the Serpent Emperor''s vanguard. The formation linked the souls of at least one thousand experts to condense a golden cauldron able to refine the lives, knowledge and souls of all it targeted to strengthen the formation''s users. With that formation, 1,000 Celestial Kin could defeat an Ascending God, 1,000 Ascending Gods could deter a Monarch, and 1,000 Monarchs could meet an Emperor without fear.


    Most high-end formations relied on static objects and were often more suitable to defend a sect''s headquarters than lead a brutal offensive. Others, like the Divine Soul Formation, were as practical as they were deadly, and could operate anywhere. Resource wise, besides the 1,000 experts, the formation needed enough Divine Jade to match the celestials'' Heavenly Qi, and Holy Iron Stones to cast the cauldron with.


    "Below the Ascending God level, no one can escape. And even for us at that strength tier, it won''t be simple," Harun stated. In a sh, he saw through the Soul Refining Hall''s ploy. ording to hearsay, after annexing the Immtion de Sect, the Soul Refining Hall oppressed them to no end, forcing several into escape or mutiny. Ill-sentiments against their new suzerains spread throughout the disciples, who all only awaited a chance to overthrow the Hall. At first, Harun believed that such rumors existed to bait him. That the seers expected him to reach out to the Immtion des and offer his assistance. Only now did he realize that it was all a show for the public.


    After refining the royal pce''s lives, the goldenva would spread to the citizens and destroy at least 95%. A few would escape so that they could report and spread the story throughout the Dark Stone Country and beyond.


    "In his haste for power and dominion of the Frist Range, Lord Revtion didn''t hesitate to ughter an entire city, destroy a World Association branch, and spread chaos to the world. Both he and the Immtion des spat on the peace treaty, and deserve to be exterminated." This would be the new narrative. If Harun died here, he couldn''t testify. If he survived, the Soul Refining Hall would seal any divination in this area, use the Immtion des as scapegoats, and kill him by proxy. In any case, both he and the Immtion des, who''d clearly turned into the reverend''s soul puppets, were doomedor so the hall believed.


    Having obtained an ancient formation master''s inheritance, Mehran understood the might of this formation, and didn''t have much hope. However, seeing calm and confidence return to Harun and Jiyan''s face, he forgot all his worries. Harun''s gaze hardened, and he raised his right hand. The golden shroud hiding his face vanished, revealing a cold, murderous gaze that contrasted with the bright rays shooting out of his eyes.


    Infinite strength and potential seemed to gather in Harun''s hands. The goldenva pouring onto the castle halted mid-air and, startled by this iprehensible pressure, Mehran backpedaled. But as Harun prepared to join his hands in a prayer sign, Jiyan grasped his wrist and shook her head, "That move can instantly solve the current problem, but will lead to future troubles. We should do this the hard way," Jiyan warned, reminding Harun of things they agreed on early.


    Thus brought back from an incorrect path, Harun closed his eyes, assessed his options and the dangers involved, then turned toward Mehran.


    "What formations can you use at the moment?"


    "I know some forbidden patterns that can suck all Qi across the city for a country-destroying strike, but not only will it make the Dark Stone city and its surroundings unsuitable for cultivation, but it might still not stop this cauldron. Besides that, I have patterns set up across the castle for arge scale explosion. But at best, it can kill Celestial Kinclearly not enough for this situation," Mehran replied immediately.


    Meanwhile, a force-field of Jiyan''s Elemental Yin energies shed with the Divine Soul Cauldron''sva.


    "We don''t need anything sophisticated. Our main advantage here is that they don''t know about Jiyan. In their eyes, there is only one Ascending-God-level expert on our side, this tiny detail can shift the siege to our advantage. I want you to use a Reversed Potential Formation. With your strength, you can''t hijack a God-level Formation. But with me as your formation''s Eye, the cauldron is ours. And then..."


    "We can refine them all instead." Mehran finished Harun''s words, yet didn''t look thrilled.


    "I should be the Eye. I haverger energy reserves than you do," Jiyan objected. Should anything go wrong, the Formation''s Eye was the first to die. Therefore, the role either went to the most powerful, or the most expendable. Thanks to her Devil Essence, Jiyan indeed possessedrger energy reserves than Harun did. But in survival skills, he was far ahead.


    "Bybining my Sovereign Essence and Mythical Idol Incarnation with my Life and Death Essence, I can survive any mistakeyou can''t. On the other hand, to maintain the subterfuge and our advantage, we need someone to act as me, and stop the cauldron for several minutes. Besides you, who can? I will use the rebels as decoys and extra batteries."


    Harun categorically refused. Each of the Immtion de disciples represented an extra pair of eyes for Reverend Weeping Soul. In this second-tost confrontation, they couldn''t expose all their strengths yet. Aware that he spoke true, Jiyan didn''t argue, and closed her eyes. Snapping his fingers, Harun surrounded her in a shroud of golden haze, also changing her clothes to match Lord Revtion''s. Mehran''s painting brush drew dozens of arcane patterns, and Harun sat crossed-legged in meditation.


    A cold-blue whirlwind formed around Harun. The ground underneath him turned into a whirlpool, and as he allowed Mehran to channel him, Harun stirred the golden silkworms scattered throughout the rebelsgathering them in organized phngesat strategic points Mehran could easily spread his Spiritual Sense to. Believing they were merely following the rebellion''s leaders into a new movement, the upromised rebels followed Harun''s arrangements to the letter, enabling Mehran to reach them all seamlessly.


    Jiyan turned into an icy-blue meteor, bashing and breaking through the barrier to reappear before the Divine Soul Cauldron. Without looking back, she knew that the barrier had reformed behind her. Perhaps the opponent even let her pass.


    Right beneath the cauldron, the fake Lord Revtion, fifth elder of the Soul Refining Hall, observed his opponent with a keen interest. Falling into a stance akin to a wolf, Jiyan stretched out her hands. Her nails morphed into silver ws, eerie light rays trailed each of themtextbook features of the Infernal w Style.


    As they created the two techniques in a moment of symbiosis, Harun and Jiyan could use both the Withering Sword Art and Infernal w Stylebut prioritized one over the other. So, although she couldn''tpare to Harun in thetter, Jiyan knew enough to act her part and face the formation. Terrible noxious energies poured alongside her Elemental Yin and Withering Essencegiving her the aura of an underworld judge upholding Yama''s will.


    But though faced with what looked like an incarnation of hell itself, the Dream Seers didn''t flinch. Their soul puppets couldn''t retreat, and so the 1,000 experts poured all they had and more into the radiant cauldron.


    Cracking earth and ear-splitting shockwaves marked the battle''s start. Jiyan''s form blurred as she countered the cauldron''s blows, froze its endlessva, and moved past it to stab the fifth elder''s neck!

 Chapter 97: Myriad Treasures Bombardment

    Chapter 97: Myriad Treasures Bombardment


    Grating sounds akin to a sharp sword scratching a steel wall rang as Jiyan''s wed hand stabbed at the fifth elder''s neck. His lips curled up. Unlike Harun and Jiyan''s, the fifth elder''s golden shroud wasn''t merely for show and built on the formation to provide him with God-level defenses. The Divine Soul Cauldron expanded to 100 meters and smashed into Jiyan''s back. An inch away from the cauldron''s strike, she vanished, and faster than a lightning boltreappeared behind her foemaking the cauldron smash into him instead. But as if animated with a will of its own, the cauldron stopped and whirled around the elder to chase its true target.


    Pressured by the formation-turned artifact, Jiyan soared higher into the air, and dropped down with an ax-kick!


    BANG!


    The kick turned the cauldron into a ming meteor that raced toward the formation-bound experts. But once the fifth elder joined his hands in a prayer signas if paying homage to the divine cauldronit stopped and hovered around him instead. Closing his eyes, the elder sat crossed-legged in the sky, spreading his senses to the entire city. Misty fog dropped down, trapping the mortals and sub-celestial cultivators in a haze that altered their perceptions of reality. Now, instead of a "Lord Revtion vs. Lord Revtion" sh, all saw the fifth elder confronting a joint force of World Association celestials and Dream Seers.


    Jiyan didn''t care. Before the final result, these petty propaganda tricks had no use.


    "Lord Revtion, what a pity that you chose battle instead of putting everything in your escape. At least you could have preserved your life for some time. How about this? We can still let you go. Our priority is to refine Mehran Hisyar and absorb the secrets he carries. Why don''t we make life easier for both of us?" The fifth elder offered. If anyone could set up a Divine Soul Formation, it wouldn''t be such a legendary technique. Even in the hall''s elder cycle, the fifth held a unique status, and was treasured by Weeping Soul. Likewise, his enlightenment level was noughing matter.


    Thus, although he possessed supreme confidence in his Divine Soul Cauldron, given Lord Revtion''s strength, the elder didn''t doubt that if he became dead-set on escaping, they couldn''t stop him. At the same time, Lord Revtion couldn''t save anyone of those they intended to butcher. That being the case, why waste one another''s time? When the story spread, Gods from the World Association would take care of this new threat. They didn''t have to do anything, and knowing that his master watched his performance through the celestial puppets, the fifth elder wanted to solve this in the cleanest way possible.


    s, different people held different perspectives. In Jiyan''s eyes, that truth-seeking elder was a sorrowful creature destined to live and die in ignorance. Ignoring him, she swept the formation, seeking all weaknesses to exploitthere weren''t any.


    Jiyan''s task was simple. On top of buying time for the Reversed Potential to take form, she had to create an opportunity for Harun to break the formation''s bnce, and overwhelm the seers with absolute momentum. However, the ws she spotted in the formation were just traps left for her to jump in. There was no mistake to take advantage of. This knowledge brightened Jiyan''s face. After all, the seers abilities would soon be Harun''s. The better they were at their jobs, the more benefit he''d gain.


    Letting her arms hang loosely by her side, Jiyan cracked her neck. The icy-blue aura coating her form turned into a shroud of chilling mes, and silver flower stems of countless varieties formed around her. All across the Dark Stone City, trees withered, the ground remained still, yet towering mansions shook. It was as if the world was losing its colors, as if life hade to an endmaking death the sole sovereign of mortal existences.


    Jiyan''s foundational method, the Fallen World Sutra, stemmed from Harun''s Art of the Decaying Flower, but focused on the death and withering aspects rather than the yin forces. This enabled Jiyan to disy far greater destructive powers than Harun could, but made her lose in speed and extra gimmicks. Jiyan stepped forward, and in that instant, the fifth elder had a misconception. The world was her yground, and her ws could reach the stars!


    A tearing sound shook the 1,000 man formation, and from the fifth elder to thest soul puppet, all found a gray w mark on their chests, filling them with a corrosion force that spread at breakneck speed. Jiyan took another step forward, and though the fifth elder bore the brunt of her strike, several celestials neared destruction.


    rmed, the fifth elder moved his hands in arcane gestures. Golden light burst from the 1,000 experts, and ignoring the soul-tearing pain Jiyanshed them with, they each fired a golden beam at her.


    Grand shafts of light illuminated the Dark Stone city''s sky, as if a choir of angelic gods had descended from the heavens above to bless all citizens. But as all expected her to whirl and jump, dancing across the sky to avoid this armada of dazzling bolts, Jiyan stretched out her hands, bing a ming ball of gray Withering Essence that shed with all at once!


    "Foolhardy!" Sensing a once in a lifetime opportunity, the fifth elder broke into a peal ofughter. The cauldron appeared above Jiyan, pouring out its goldenva alongside gargantuan thunderbolts that battered her from above. But as the seers foresaw her fall, the world across a 300 meters radius became an achromatd, and a sublime expression of the Empyrean n''s Divine PowerForbidden Zonekicked in.


    In that radius, everything came to a halt, and without Jiyan''s permission, none could move, enter or exit. The change onlysted for one second, but in thatpse, Jiyan connected to Harun''s mind and eximed: "Now!"


    He needn''t hear twice. While Mehran''s Reversed Potential Formation drained Harun''s energies, his left eye returned to its original golden hue. The cosmic pouches of every single cultivator across the Dark Stone City trembled uncontrobly, and the treasures they''d refined or gathered across a lifetime escaped their pockets, bing a vortex of endless, united weapons that bashed the Divine Soul Cauldron head on!


    Crack!


    Unable to withstand the impact of such a devastating blow, the Divine Soul Cauldron cracked, the fifth elder and his 1,000 experts'' brains fried on the spot, and Mehran''s Reversed Potential Formation kicked in!


    By the time the fifth elder regained his senses, a hurricane had surrounded him, his cauldron and the 1,000 experts, making the deluge of energies they threw at Jiyan strike them down instead!


    The cauldron''s goldenva swept through their ranks like a cannonball against a mud-brick wall, harvesting and refining the lives of seers and celestials alike. As the formation''s eye, the fifth elder was the first to perish, and as the cauldron turned his entire self into food for Harun, confusion filled his eyes.


    "How did ite to this? I have sought the Truth for 10,000 years, yet cannot even understand...why I die?"


    Those were his final words before his body and soul broke into gray fments and flew toward the royal pce!

 Chapter 98: Soul Refinement

    Chapter 98: Soul Refinement


    If there was one universal enemy all formations across the globe should avoid at all cost, it was the Reversed Potential Formation. With enough energy reserves and opportunities, there was virtually no set up a Reversed Potential Formation couldn''t hijack and hurl back at the opponents. s, though that skill scaled with the Formation Master and was rather simple pattern-wise, it relied on one unfair advantage: Extreme Talent.


    Unless the Formation Master could read andprehend the patterns and energy circuits he faced, he couldn''t set up the matching Reversed Potential Formation, and would just hasten his death. And while pure cultivation talent wise, Mehran was far from unparalleled and couldn''tpare to a monster like Jiyan, his talent in formations ridiculed ancient masters'' achievements. For him, understanding the patterns was a matter of a casual nce.


    Thousands of broken soul fments shot toward the Reversed Potential Formation''s eyetoward Harun. The fments poured into Harun''s mind, filling it with aggrieved or incredulous souls that mourned and raged against their hasty demise. Behind the dazzling atmosphere and posturing, the Divine Soul Formation was a sinister art that could rob legions of their reincarnation rights. Typically, the formation''s masters split the grief and resentment the refined souls carried among themselves. But as Harun alone bore the brunt, multiple challenges surrounded him.


    At teleportation-level speed, Jiyan struck down the traitorous association memberswho attempted to use the chaos to escapeand returned to the royal pce to assist her beloved. With the enemies out of the way, Mehran controlled the formation to reduce Harun''s burden, yet didn''t dare refine any of the souls. This was the primary reason why Mehran didn''t seem thrilled by their countermeasure. For sure they could destroy their enemies, but at the same time, they risked harming themselves. Each of the souls carried at least celestial level strength. Harun and Jiyan aside, none could afford to refine them.


    This wasn''t a problem willpower could solve. The gap was just that deep, so Mehran did what he excelled at, manipting the formation to Harun''s benefit. Jiyan sat crossed-legged, pressing her hands on Harun''s back to draw the excess souls. Thanks to his Death and Sovereign Essence, Harun could withstand much of the load, but through her cultivation base alone, Jiyan could handle the rest. After all, in the Second Step, the Myriad Poison Bridge required extreme soul attainments and tempering.


    Having exceeded the Soul Exalting stage, Jiyan could handle many of the fments. But as the pair shared the load, Harun fell into a trance. His right eye opened wide, purple rays shot out, and without Harun''s permission, the right eye awoke. Faced with a pair of golden and purple double pupils, in the current cultivation world, even a mortal expert such as Mehran understood who he faced. But knowing that the refinement''s sess relied on his input, Mehran suppressed the shock, the awe and billowing questions to focus on his task.


    The cries of hundreds of souls were like cracking thunder tearing through Harun''s mind. But with each he overwhelmed, his soul grew more potent and resilientincreasing his chances against future mental tribtions. But at the same time, the right eye yed tricks, making Harun experience past lives at critical junctures. When a loss in focus could cost him his life, such a reaction naturally made no sense. Once more, the Eye of Sovereign Fate went against all survival instincts, threatening to push Harun into destructionhe wouldn''t have it.


    Each extra soul boon became a weapon Harun bashed on his unruly eyesuppressing its frenzied awakening to focus on the soul refinement. Blood dripped from his right eye, and after seconds of strugglethe purple hue and double pupils vanishedmaking it return to an ordinary brown shade. On the contrary, Harun''s Eye of Luminous Treasures had never looked more enchanting, and he could feel that besides his soul, his physical senses were growing at an exponential rate.


    An Embryonic Seed formed in Harun''s Sea of Consciousness, a Soul Seed that opened the road to that intricate Mystery. On the Mandate cultivation road, each new Mystery started with a seed rooted in the Sea of Consciousness. Each seed had one color, and though some like Fire Seeds were simple to identify, others, like Soul Seeds, showed color schemes invisible to mortal eyes.


    Harun didn''t care, and focused on the growth in his soul and senses strength, as well as the knowledge the victims carried. At his back, Jiyan too received massive benefits. Mehran alone didn''t get anything from this ordeal. To remedy that, Harun tapped Mehran''s forehead, pouring the fifth elder''s aplishments in the Formation Arts into the high king''s mind. Overwhelmed by waves of information, Mehran sat crossed-legged, meditating on his gains. As his soul''s might and resilience rose to new heights, the silver-blue moon mark on Harun''s forehead shimmered.


    Beyond the castle, the citizens driven and arranged in phnges for Mehran to channel all lost their strength, and dropped on the groundas exhausted as one could get. The rebellion thus ended.


    Knowledge, abilities, pill recipes, formation arts, refining secrets, and evil arts flooded Harun''s mind. Sorting them all out, Harun focused on two categories: the Soul Refining Hall''s forces, and the Weeping Soul Mantra''s mnemonics. Meanwhile, a certain Reverend experienced an existential crisis.


    As he sat in his orrery, tapping his thigh with a pensive and disturbed look on his face, Reverend Weeping Soul recalled the sh from start to finish. From the beginning, Weeping Soul never took Lord Revtion as a cultivator of the Heavenly Dream Land, believing that just like so many in the Truth Scrying Grotto, he came from the outer world. But once "he" used the Divine Power: Forbidden Zone, the previous certitude turned into a thorny problemmaking the painful loss of the fifth elder look irrelevant.


    "That person''s bloodline level is extremely high. How could it possibly be one of those Empyreans? It has to be..." Weeping Soul stopped his thoughts here, because he didn''t dare speak the rest, didn''t dare ept the eventuality, didn''t dare be right. This was an enemy that all experts of the Truth Scrying Grottobined couldn''t scratch, an unforgiving tyrant standing below one and above myriads.


    Weeping Soul didn''t fear death, but if by mistake he offended that person''s close kin, the grotto was finished, and Nak''s ns forever destroyed. But at the same time, why would another one of that person''s close kin appear here, and with only that level of strength? When his thoughts reached this point, Weeping Soul stood up, and with a sequence of seemingly ordinary steps, crossed the sky to appear above the royal pce.


    In a stance that took the world by surprise, Weeping Soul joined his hands in a prayer sign and bowed toward the royal pce.


    "Lord Revtion, I was rash and impulsive, overreached, and offended my betters. If you''re willing to, why not make a Dao Pledge of truce?" Weeping Soul offered, startling the Dark Stone City.

 Chapter 99: Serene Soul Crystals

    Chapter 99: Serene Soul Crystals


    It was a probe. Though the bloodline level disyed by Jiyan put him on tiptoes, there were too many inconsistencies for the Reverend to believe his conjectures and outright surrender. "Rationally speaking, there''s a 99% chance that he''s a close-kin, son or grandson of that person, and only 1% chance of atavism. But considering the strength he disyed and his projects in the First Range, we can up the atavism chance to 40%," Weeping Soul reasoned, and depending on how "Lord Revtion" handled his words the Reverend could draw the final conclusion.


    Neither Harun, nor the Dark Stone city, was ready for Weeping Soul''s arrival. But while watching the Range''s most powerful man bend his back and ask for mercy could feel many with hubris, Harun knitted his brows, took a second to form all kinds of conjectures, then appeared before the seershaped like a golden cloud.


    "I have no need for a truce. You and I don''t belong to the same world to begin with," Harun yed along. Just like Weeping Soul, he''d asked himself much about Jiyan''s bloodline strength and Devil Essence, but instead believed that the problemy with Agiri. If there was one reason why the Reverend''s true body would instantly leave the Soul Refining Hall''s headquarters to check the truth, it was fear, fear that all along he''d been engaging entities that could smack all seers across the six ranges into the sea with a single p.


    They had to relieve him of that fear.


    In Weeping Soul''s ears, Harun''s words sounded like a direct admission of his true identity. But at the same time, if Harun was that willing to suppress him with his background, why not do so in the first ce? Unless absolutely necessary, Weeping Soul didn''t want to let go of the Abyssal River and Obsidian Soul Stone mine. The Abyssal River, especially, would enable him an all his sect elders to achieve Void Return within a few months, and be Perfected Beings after a millenium of diligent practice. In their eyes, 10,000 seductive goddesses couldn''tpare to that river.


    "As a member of that n, Your Lordship naturally doesn''t have to fear the likes of me. On the contrary, I have all the reasons to fear you. Everything up until now was just a misunderstanding, if there''s any way I can make up for it, don''t hesitate," Weeping Soul made a final probe, and though he knew exactly what not to say, Harun replied in a fearless young master''s arrogant tone:


    "As long as you don''t get in my way, I am disinclined to bother with you. However, you''ve offended me multiple times, and must pay a hefty price. Ten-thousand Serene Soul Crystals sound about right."


    On the outside, Weeping Soul frowned at Harun''s extortion. But deep down, peace returned to the Reverend''s heart.


    He''d never felt so relieved. "I was overthinking. This is no Empyrean Devil Spiritjust another buffoon trying to fake a mighty backgroundhe probably lucked on the atavism. Without a brain like Mehran''s and some luck, he''s no threat," He reassured himself, yet still didn''t drop the pretense.


    "Your Lordship makes perfect sense. This is a chance for us to build a working rtionship. In the future, I will rely on you," Weeping Soul acted as if he''d been tricked by Harun''s Super Hidden Ancient Family Young Master act. Not realizing that from beginning to end, he saw and grasped all the things Harun wanted him to. Later that day, 10,000 Serene Soul Crystals would drop at the pce''s gatesa matter for a very near time.


    Meanwhile, Harun returned to the royal pce, stopping between Mehran and Jiyan, both of whom observed at him with wildly different looks. Approval in thedy''s gaze, murder urges in the male''s.


    "What is wrong with you? Mehran stressed the first andst word, waving his hands like a party girl on crack, "This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to convince the number one threat across 10 million square kilometers that he should back off. You just had to y the aloof and disdainful young master. How could you get that wrong? Why the fuck did you ask him for loot?" The high king snapped. Though he didn''t have Harun''s information, Mehran too realized that Weeping Soul came out of shock and fright, and was scared witless by a higher background than they could imagine.


    This was a golden opportunity, and at first it seemed like Harun had gotten the act right. But how could the offspring of a Super Hidden Ancient Family tier faction care for a simple Truth Reverend''s resources? At best, Harun''sst request traded 10,000 Soul Crystals for the Reverend''s peace of mind. At worst...yuckthey gave the Reverend back his license to be a baby stealing dick for zero benifit. But as Mehran''s confusion and anger peaked, Jiyan brought him back to reality.


    "And here I thought you had a brain. Though he still hides lots of strength, Weeping Soul is someone we can handle with enough preparation. In fact I''m not even certain that he can resist ''that move.'' But once he''s convinced that he faced and offended a background beyond the Emperor level, what is he going to do?"


    "Seek peace and contact the Truth Scrying Grotto''s higher ups...oh," Mehran instantly realized the problem. Weeping Soul''s words would make the leadership investigate the truth. Perhaps they wouldn''t even hesitate to contact the family or faction they believed Jiyan belonged toif only for morepensation and apologies. And from then on, shit would hit the faneverything would go wrong. Imagining entities beyond Emperor level descend en mass to demand answers from the three of them, Mehran could see his lifespan getting reduced before his eyes.


    No doubt unwise. Ashamed for having lost faith in his short-term boss'' mental stability, Mehran lowered his head, reflecting on his shortsightedness. At the side, Harun pulled Jiyan toward his chest, with a smiling face and approving look.


    A man''s greatest blessing and worst nightmare: a clever wife. Each time he looked at her, a sense of pride and aplishment swelled in his chest, rushed up to his brain...and inted it with ecstasy level-satisfaction. But with such a clever wife, how could he fool around?


    Harun always believed that a man had to be phnthropic. Go out in the world, and give love to all the beautifuldies that needed it. But now that he had Jiyan, was it time to give up his ways? Was there ce for someone else? Was there a need...for someone else? Throwing those questions into the recycle bin of his mind, Harun turned to face the rest of the court. Association leaders, nobles and officials sprawled on the ground, acting dead or unconscious.


    Unlike the Soul Refining Hall, who the God-level duo wouldn''t allow to see the throneroom''s inside, those people saw everything, from Harun''s face to his true eyes, to Jiyan''s maddening strength, and the truth behind their moves.


    If they didn''t y dead at this juncture, perhaps in a year from this day, their neighbors would mourn their deaths. And in another time and ce, they would be right. Fortunately, Harun had just gotten his hands on many soul skills he had to experiment withthey could live for another day.


    Stretching his palm toward the folks, Harun attempted a technique he got from one of the seersthe Memory Stealing Lawself-exnatory skill that enabled him to free his targets of memories they didn''t need.


    Snaking soul light shot from their heads, dove into Harun''s palm, and vanished there. Harun then shifted his attention back to Mehran, who met his terrible eyes, wondering how he''d handle him.

 Chapter 100: Birandar’s Hurdles

    Chapter 100: Birandar¡¯s Hurdles


    "I''m curious. From what I know, my reputation in today''s world is as terrible as it gets. World Destroyer, gue Overlord, Herald of the End of Times...in the people''s hearts, Son of Heaven is usually at the bottom of that list. Why did you take the news so stoically?" Harun inquired. Though they didn''t know of his rtionship with the Beast Emperors, to avoid taking responsibility for their misdeeds, Heaven''s strongest still med the disastrous ordeal on Haruniming that he used the power of his eyes to summon Heaven''s Wrath on the world and obliterate all existence. Now, many firmly believed that the Son of Heaven represented the end of times, and that anyone with Sovereign Pupils should be killed on sight. Mehran, however, thought otherwise.


    "Those events took ce decades before my birth. A celestial''s words alone are not enough for me to brand someone as evil. To say nothing that back then, my life depended on you. Even if I didn''t want to, I''d still have to be stoic," Mehran shrugged, acting as if his reaction was the most natural and rational possible. Harun had to admit that perhaps he was the petty one, and after an approving nod, smashed a palm strike onto Mehran''s face. Unprepared and unable to resist the blow, the high king flew backward. A tiny whirlpool of Spiritual Incense formed on his forehead, infiltrated his soul, and spread throughout his body.


    By the time Mehran had recovered from the shock, Harun''s Spiritual Incense had wiped out his 70 years of cultivationreturning him to a quasi-mortal level. shing open his middle finger, Harun extracted 10 drops of golden blood and fused them with Mehran''s heartthenceforth rewriting his bloodline. When the blood merged with his internal organs, Mehran''s pupils lost all colors, and he died on the spot. But only three seconds afterward, his eyes regained their light, his heart beat once more, and his pulse now carried the tyrannical strength of a young Primordial Dragon.


    How many pairs of blood drops a cultivator could receive from Harun depended on their physique stat. With an eight, Mehran could receive five pairs. One drop killed instantly, the other returned the target to life. So due to the profound mysteries concealed in Harun''s Innate Blight Master blood, those that shared his lineage possessed supernatural gifts in Life and Death Essence cultivation. The thicker their bloodline, the easier the Essence cultivation would be once started. But while he could feel the extreme changes his body had just gone through, confusion and mixed feeling took hold of Mehran.


    "The Hisyar''s n rule of the Dark Stone country has officially ended. Test your lineage with the tablet, and you will see that you no longer belong to that n. My blood has rewritten your DNA to make you a member of the Birusk nmy n," Harun exined, and without giving Mehran enough time to process the words, went on. "I need one thing from you: 500 fresh corpses and 100 death row inmatesguilty without reasonable doubt of the most heinous crimes possible. Given the Dark Stone city''s current state, that shouldn''t be hard to find. If you can find 600 heinous criminals, all the best. But don''t go below the bottom line," Harun ordered, deepening Mehran''s inner turmoil.


    Jiyan, however, knew full-well why he needed those offerings. As exemplified by the Golden Silkworms and other species, be it in fauna or flora cultivation, Harun had tremendous achievements. Not only did he create or enhance new species, but he always ensured that they possessed a wless reproduction system, so that in the long term, a few specimens could produce colonies.


    Pens and nests dedicated to those creations abounded in Harun''s internal world. So, while not many had reached a high level, their numbers could shock the world. And chief among them was Harun''s most sinister project: the Ferocious Corpse Butterfly. Something that Jiyan, with all her wisdom, would rather stay far, far away from.


    After the initial hesitation, Mehran''s thoughts became simpler. If he could use Harun''s cutthroat hands to "discipline" the most crazed of the anarchists, why the hell not? His lips curled into a strange smile, and perhaps more eager than Harun, he gathered his subordinates and dispatched orders to round up the targets.


    ...


    Meanwhile, a 1.85 metres tall youth with a massive frame but reserved look, crossed the sterile fields of the Dark Stone countrywandering aimlessly. Several days had passed since Birandar was taken out of the Dark Stone city by Harun and hurled across the country. The youth crashed in foreignnds, but though surrounded by infertile territories and abused by the dry weather, he held on. Birandar wasn''t one to let setbacks hold him down, and though most people couldn''t rte to his train of thoughts, he had a clear code of conducts and values he always stuck to.


    But despite his overly gentle heart, the giant couldn''t help but resent those two celestials that separated him from his rtives, and forced him into this predicament. Neither seemed trustworthy, but the "Lord Birusk" was especially suspicious. "Never trust a man that won''t show his face and uses the holy to swindle those he faces," Birandar thought. But recalling the situation, he wondered why those "beyond the king" entities took such a keen interest in him. The answer came in the most unpleasant of ways.


    As Birandar reached the first vige, a second head identical to his grew out of his left shoulder, with an additional pair of arms sprouting from his sides. rmed, Birandar squealed at the head whose eyes remained shut. It didn''t seem to have a breath, and its arms had no use for Birandar as well, bing extra burdens that made his journey more difficult. Breaking into a cold sweat, Birandar turned toward the vigers, desperate and seeking help with the first human beings in sight.


    At first, there was a strange pause. The vige fell silent, with its emaciated citizens facing the strange youth with the peak of disbelief. That disbelief then turned into sheer terror, with the dozens of faces twisting in hideous grimaces.


    "Aaaaargh!" They screamed like a trained choir and ran as far away from Birandar as they could. The men grabbed saws, wooden axes and pitchforks. The fear of the unknown and the hatred of the grotesque drove their every step. They no longer faced a 16-year-old, but one of those monsters of folklore that brought disaster to the helpless.


    Yet in Birandar''s eyes, those vigers had be the exact thing they huntedgrotesque demons thirsting for his blood. Terrified, the boy squealed and ran. Ran as fast as he could, struggling against his inert head and new arms to keep his bnce. But though he wasn''t in peak condition, unlike the vigers, Birandar didn''t suffer from hunger or thirst, and soon escaped their pursuit. Still, he didn''t stop or look back. Only when he lost his footing and tumbled down the road, did he realize that he no longer had anyone on his trails.


    Gasping for breath, Birandar crawled to the nearest tree and curved into a ball, trembling uncontrobly. At that time, Harun''s previous words echoed in his mind: "From now on, you''ll experience waves upon waves of adversity. But regardless of low you fall, remember to sing this mantra:


    Undisturbed I am. Undisturbed is my soul." Birandar didn''t know why this happened to him and who was to me. But he didn''t doubt that without something to hold on, he wouldn''t survive for long. So with chattering teeth, he sang the mantra, "Undisturbed I am. Undisturbed is my soul. Undisturbed I am. Undisturbed is my soul. Undisturbed I am. Undisturbed is my soul" the more he repeated the words, the more rxed he felt, and unbeknown to him, a faint-white light hovered around him.


    Reinvigorated, Birandar stood up, and thinking that perhaps he would have better chances at another vige, tried to find another human settlement. The same treatment awaited himthat spontaneous response of fire and pitchforks. Fortunately, each time hunger, thirst and fatigue yed tricks, a purple mist would dispel them, enabling Birandar to always escape the chase. It took him several days to acknowledge...that the world of mortal men no longer epted him. Though they spoke the samenguage, there was no room for a dialogue. Birandar didn''t let that hold him down, found a ce in a hidden grove, and sat in meditationceaselessly repeating the mantra: "Undisturbed I am. Undisturbed is my soul."


    Immersing himself in the mantra, Birandar didn''t see the time pass. The white rays circling him became more pronounced, and after three days of lone cultivation, misty purple fments also took shape.


    "My breath, my steps, my heart, my eyes and will. My past and future. Undisturbed is my being, free from truth and falsehood. At the nexus of the Ultimate RealityI open my eyes." Unbeknown to him, Birandarpleted the missing part of the mantra, and a third eye opened on his two foreheads. The Dual Soul Root matured, the inert head''s eyes opened, full of a mind and wisdom separate from Birandar''s.


    Harun couldn''t expect that this nameless mantra widespread in his dreams would have such effects on Birandar. He only gave it because of how helpful that mantra was in calming his own mental troubles. However, his purple mist gift interacted with Birandar''s Dual Soul Root to produce this result. And from the shadows of that forest, Harun''s avatar, who watched over Birandar, witnessed all the changes.

 Chapter 101: Desolation Corpse Guard

    Chapter 101: Destion Corpse Guard


    "Mukri," Harun connected to his Karmic Tree and contacted Mukri, who leisurely patrolled the Birusk streets. Swathed by powers of a magnitude he couldn''t fathom, Mukri left the Birusk ntreading the void to appear beside Harun.


    "Master? Mooooray! The auspicious glow between your eyebrows has never shone brighter! Your light eclipses the sun and moon, outshines the starry sky, and brings salvation to the lost and bitchy. How have you been?" Mukri bootlicked. If there was a Mandate of Sycophancy, he''d probably be a Dao Emperor already.


    Approving many of the words, Harun patted Mukri''s clever head, then aimed one finger at Birandar. "I have a job for you. Watch over this bitch, make sure he doesn''t suffer any cultivation deviation, introduce yourself to him, and protect him across his journey. I need to dispel my avatar to focus on some work," Harun said, and Mukri nodded instantlythen realized he''d just signed up for babysitting duty.


    "Master, what about the headquarters? With Gulseni gone and me here, who will protect the homebase?"


    "With my serpent totem there, how much work can you do? How much merit can you snatch?"


    "True"


    "Complete this and after I destroy the Soul Refining Hall, I will help you switch paths."


    "Moooray! Assisting the junior generation is an elder''s duty. Have no fear, master, I will handle this!" With no more hesitation, Mukri backflipped his massive body, then locked his Divine Sense on Birandar. Knowing that he left his first disciple in Mukri''spetent hands, Harun dispelled the avatar, and returned 200% focus to his true body.


    At the same time, Birandar''s two heads nced at one another, two perfectly separate individuals sharing one body. Instantly, Mukri realized that one was destined to overpower the other to take full control of the bodya spiritual sh ensued. Birandar''s two selves grasped at the Dual Soul Root, wrestling for dominion over their shared body.


    White rays shot out of their eyes, and at the end of this silent battle, Birandar''s original self robbed the root and returned the extra persona to nothingness. The Dual Soul Root''s awakening was thusplete, making Birandar''s cultivation talent shoot through the sky, and p Heaven''s face.


    Meanwhile, in the underground dungeons of the royal pce, Harun received Mehran''s haul: 600 blood thirsters that oozed rape and looting. With his attachment-stage of the Human Realm, Harun could effortlessly connect to their mind and figure out what type of person he faced. Those felons'' brains had already sunk into vice and madness, utterly unredeemable.


    Satisfied, Harun gave Mehran a thumbs up. As far as he was concerned, the more barbaric the targets were, the better the result. "I will need to be alone for this one," Harun warned the two, and while Jiyan had no interest in viewing the sinister work, Mehran felt slightly annoyedjust slightly.


    Gagged and bound in chains, the convicts challenged or beseeched Harun with their gazes alone. Ignoring it all, Harun passed through all the rows, tapping the vicle of each man. Within five seconds, their nerves and muscles bulged to the limit. Shutting his eyes close, Harun spread out his hands and aimed his palms at the convicts. Dark-blue me orbs poured out in the hundreds, each covering a butterfly in a halo of darkness. The eerie mes aside, the butterflies bore a striking resemnce to the Resurrection Butterfly Harun once used to awake Jiyan. Surrounded by hundreds of ming butterflies, the convicts grew desperate and, driven by their hysterical fears, trashed against their bondsto no avail. The burning butterflies became a rain of me arrows as they pierced through the 600''s chestskilling them instantly.


    Mutated from Harun''s Resurrection Butterflies through Life and Death Essence, his totem''s blood, and a few experiments we will not describe, the Ferocious Corpse Butterfly represented Harun''s hope to convert even lost cases into productive citizens. But after three minutes of observing the changes in the 600 corpses, Harun sighed and shook his head.


    "Failure," he whispered. His enthusiasm vanished, and with slumped shoulders, he spun toward the exit. But as he took the first step, a cacophony of loud grunting sounds came from his back, filling his face with hope and expectations. Moved, Harun rushed back toward the corpses and was delighted to see 120 rise from the lot. Their muscles bulged to inhuman levels of perfection, making it look like a toon of culturists had risen before the gue Overlord.


    Their pulse, too fast for a human heart, conjured pictures of crawling wyverns about to sink their fangs in helpless prey. And from bronze, their skin became bright red, as if roasted by an internal fire only they knew of. The 120 sesses stepped forward. With every breath, steam flowed out of their mouths and noses. Their eyes no longer had pupils, but limitless killing intent shone in those empty sockets.


    Harun tapped his chest, and arger Ferocious Corpse Butterfly appeared before the toon. In awe of its aura, 95% instantly stopped all moves. Six, however, fought against the mother butterfly''s sovereignty, but could only resist for an instantthen surrendered like the rest. The 120 most barbaric killing machines the Heavenly Dream Land had ever seen, perfect tools of destruction fueled by the World Devouring and Golden Crow bloodlinesat the edge of life and deathassembled before Harun. In pure strength, they could tear down a Celestial Kin,parable to the average result of the Myriad Poison Bridge''s First Step.


    But though those soulless creatures relied on physical strength only, the strongest six could unleash and didn''t fear the Golden Crows'' Divine Power: Sr Destion. Considering that he only reached middle-aplishment in Life and Death, Harun was satisfied by these results. As his understanding of those mysteries improved, so would this toon. However


    "It''s a pity that I don''t know anything about a pure Body Refining road," Hemented. Regardless of the path, at some point, the cultivators had to integrate mysteries, external forces and mystical abilities. Harun didn''t know any purely physical bridge.


    "Well, there''s no bridge in the proper sense, but some techniques and bridges allow you to branch into flesh cultivation. Unfortunately, the process involves getting battered by thunderbolts and other forms of Heavenly Tribtion. Since I still don''t think you''ll survive your first tribtion, I don''t think you should worry about that," the system poured cold water on Harun''s achievements.


    "Bah, with all my preparations, I refuse to believe I won''t survive that shit." Harun stuck his chest out, challenging the system''s pessimism.


    "Son, your scourge value just increased by 60 points. Your fate is grim, at best." Harun had nothing else to say, and like a bedraggled youth, lurched out of the underground. The 120 silent corpse guard followed with wless discipline. Stifling the atmosphere with their oppressive killing intent and volcanic temperature.


    Mehran took a keen interest in the undead, but Jiyan stood as far away from them as she could. Believing that his first battalion needed a domineeringbel, Harun named them the Destion Corpse Guard.


    After some considerations, he sent his new toon into his Inner Cultivation Chamber and gave Mehran several orders. The two set up a Salvation Hall in the city''s center, inviting thousands of hungry, thirsty and homeless citizens to receive Lord Revtion''s blessings. There, the God-level expert performed oundish miracles, 300 per day to be exactand in a matter of several days built illustrious fame throughout the Dark Stone City.


    Meanwhile, Harun, the real one, hid in the systemfocused on his cultivation. Life and Death Essence snaked around his form, with the 120 Deste Corpses sitting crossed-legged and forming circles around him. The unnatural state of life and death they stood in echoed with Harun''s souldeepening his insight.

 Chapter 102: The Saint-Empress Collapse

    Chapter 102: The Saint-Empress'' Copse


    From elementary insight to mandate, each of a mystery''s six levels carried extreme difficulties. But the hardest to break into were the first, the fourth, and thest. Profound enlightenment in any Mystery was a massive leap, enabling the cultivator to aplish legendary feats such as creating tsunamis out of thin air or making me arrows rain from the sky. Before the Grand Cataclysm, most top Empyrean Monarchs were at the profound enlightenment stage, while Demi-Emperors either were at profound enlightenment or at the sublime state. Granted, Heaven''sws stunted their progress, Harun''s Mystery cultivation speed was still off the charts.


    But to cross this step, secluded cultivation wasn''t enough. Experts had to immerse themselves in the element they attempted toprehendcultivating in volcanos and graveyards was a routine matter. The 120 Destion Corpses were Harun''s Life and Death whirlpool, channeling those two forces at a perfect bnce to feed him insights. Three days of cultivation passed in a heartbeat, and though he was still far from a breakthrough, Harun had taken another step toward it. At the same time, his avatar''s free miracles helped him collect arge quantity of Spiritual Incense and worshippers by the hundreds. At this rate, one to two months of cultivation in the Dark Stone city would be enough to break through to the suffering-stage of the Human Realm.


    Of course, the attachment Harun built through the miracles wasn''t as strong as his Birusk nsmen''s yet. At the same time, it carried many sufferings that''d batter him during his breakthrough. Still, Harun was satisfied by his current achievements, and wasn''t the only one making headways. Jiyan refined plenty of toxic souls, making her first Yin Core growrger and more robust. Mehran studied andpared the fifth elder''s formation attainments to his ownand grew steadily as well.


    Tapping his cosmic pouch, Harun summoned andid down the 10,000 Serene Soul Crystals sent by Reverend Weeping Soul. As their name implied, Serene Soul Crystals were soul tranquilizers refined from a sentient being''s peaceful death. Few understood the refinement process, but not only did Serene Soul Crystals heal the soul, they also increased its fortitude and amplified soul-rted gains. For Harun and Jiyan who recently refined hundreds of souls, they had a superb appeal. Harun set aside 4,000 for himself, 3,000 for Jiyan, and the rest for future refinementsthen returned to cultivation.


    At first, he wished to infiltrate the Soul Refining Hall to steal their core method, and destroy them from the inside. But now that he obtained the mantra from the souls, he could start working onprehending and transforming it.


    "So many things to cultivate. So little time" Harunmented, but before he could shift back to cultivation mod, a desperate call of his avatar brought him out of the system. There, Jiyan stooddressed in an off-the-shoulder gownand weed Harun with a smile.


    "Took you long enough. Cultivation is all nice and good, but you can''t just lock yourself behind a door for a century. Break time," Jiyan dered, pulled Harun by the arms, andid him into the healing city''s nightlife.


    "Cultivation, night with Jiyan. Night with Jiyan, cultivation" Harun quickly weighed the options, and made the only rational choice possible.


    Meanwhile, a young woman with long, curly white hair, hobbled down a dim cavern''s alleyways. Fresh blood stained her golden robe, the embroidered blue orchids lost their shine, and the jet-ck sword she held in her right hand trembled uncontrobly. Gasping for breath, the woman used the walls to support herself as she limped at a distant gate. Who could imagine that the Saint-Empress, one of the main yers of the 10,000 Sect War, would fall to such dire straits?


    Tattered and bloodied, Dilnaz reached the gate and tumbled down. Though she knew that this ce carried extreme dangers that made past Emperors avoid it like the gue, she''d not expected that even the worst rumors couldn''tpare to the truthwhat a ughterhouse. Then again, considering her condition, it''s not like she had a choice. Dragging herself from the ground, Dilnaz sat up, resting her back against the cavern walls.


    *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*


    After coughing three mouthfuls of blood, she regained some of her breath, and nced at the gate which seemed so closeyetpletely out of reach. Nearly two centuries had passed since the Grand Cataclysm. But though Dilnaz''s strength and influence had increased massively, the years had not been kind to her. The unrivaled cultivation speed her sword granted her was soon offset by bouts of blind rage and madness that brought her increasingly closer toplete insanity.


    From the get-go, Dilnaz knew the risks. But even the threat of madness couldn''t challenge her devotion to supreme power. Dilnaz didn''t doubt that without the sword, to say nothing of a leading position, she''d have been sacrificed by the n already. But knowing that her madness wouldter lead her to self-destruction, Dilnaz rushed into this ancient ce, hoping to snatch some opportunitiesthe result spoke for itself.


    A veil of darkness covered the ground. Misty arrows shot up, stabbing Dilnaz''s forehead. Her eyes zed over, and again she tumbled down. This time, though, Dilnaz leaped up, full of strength, and moved left and rightseeking someone in an imaginary crowd.


    "Jiyan? Where are you? Come back. Jiyan! Jiyan! I''m sorry. I will try to be better. Come back, please? Jiyan!" Dilnaz''s voice grew more hysterical. Her eyes went bloodshot, and she wed at the cavern was if pulling something, someone, back to her. The Saint-Empress'' magnificent nails broke, the friction hacked at her palm and fingers, yet she still wed away. Stumbling, Dilnaz dropped on her knees. The imaginary crowd and hope to find Jiyan disappeared, reced by a middle-aged man with short white hair worn in a topknot.


    The man smiled at her and offered his right hand. But when their icy-blue eyes met, Dilnaz broke down, and tears freely streamed down her cheeks.


    "Agiri? You''re back? I knew you wouldn''t abandon me. Anyone can abandon me, anyone can betray me. But you...only you, will always stay with me," Dilnaz blurted and rushed into Agiri''s arms, but the illusion vanishedreturning her to the cavern world. Dilnaz''s face twisted with a blend of rage and grief. Hatred mixed in, and her eyes never seemed to know what emotion they wished to portray.


    "AAAAAAAAARGH!" She howled and banged her fists against the cavern walls. But as the walls could withstand the all-out attack of a peak-level Dao Emperor, Dilnaz only managed to break her fists, and exhaust that brief surge of strength.


    As weak as a mortal woman, Dilnaz fell, bit her lower lip till blood dripped, and nced at the door. Past memories flooded her brainhow a forced marriage became a fairy tale, yet still ended in a nightmare.


    "All men are worthless. And Agiri...you are the crown of worthlessness," Dilnaz barked and crawled toward the door. Another male face materialized in her mind, a seemingly helpless young man who twice held her fate in his palmdominating her entirely. More than anything, Dilnaz loathed that feeling. Using that hatred as fuel, she banged her bloodied palm against the door, sending ripples throughout the whole cavern.


    The move drained all her reserves, and falling unconscious, Dilnaz didn''t see the gate open. A young man dressed in a monastic robe stepped out, nced at the unconscious empress, and dragged her into the secret chamber.


    Hours passed before Dilnaz awoke, and she was startled to see the back of a young monk with short ck hair.


    "That''s a lot of animosity and grief for one person to carry. No wonder you dared jump into this ce with your cultivation level. You must not value your life. Still, impressive that you reached the gate," the monk started, but the words flew past Dilnaz''s ears. From the monk, she could feel a familiar and nauseating energy that gave her murder-urges. But at the same time, while he didn''t disy the tiniest bit of aura, the monk''s presence dispelled all negativity from her, preventing her from making a move.


    The pitch-ck sword by Dilnaz''s side morphed into an armored male''s appearance. Without ncing at Dilnaz, the male prostrated himself toward the monk, and dared not speak a word.


    "Who are you? What do you want?" Dilnaz blurted out. At her words, the monk arched his head back, casting his golden eyes at the ceiling.


    "Who am I? What do I want? Good questions. Unfortunately, I suffer from an identity struggle and can''t answer. Who am I supposed to be? Who do I want to be? I''d like to know as well," the monk replied, then cast a sidelong nce at Dilnaz.


    "Though, something does surface. You can call me Little Six."

 Chapter 103: Dilnazs Reward

    Chapter 103: Dilnaz''s Reward


    "Little Six?" Never in her massively long life had Dilnaz heard of such a silly name. A family nickname, perhaps? Not that it mattered. Dilnaz nced at her "sword," former Commandant of the Imperial Guard, who showed the amnesiac man more reverence than he ever did Dilnaz or Agiri. Even a fool could see that themandant knew precisely who they were dealing with, and put that person''s status far above the Empyrean n. Considering that the Armament n existed to serve the Empyreans, such a reaction was more than problematic.


    Dilnaz also realized that she only knew what the sword allowed her to, and still ignored much of the Armament n''s true background. Her attention shifted back to Little Six, who nced at her from the corner of his eyes. That golden hue captured Dilnaz''s attention, but conjured an entirely different and loathsome picture in her mind. Her eyes narrowed, but convinced that, even at her best, she couldn''t oppose this harmless youth, Dilnaz restrained herself.


    "If Emperors are not qualified to explore this ce, who is? This is still Heaven," Dilnaz countered, but Little Six shook his head immediately.


    "True, the Emperor Realm doesn''t have stages in the proper sense, but even among you guys, there''s a hierarchy. How many Mandates you master determines your strength, yet even mysteries have theirdder. Thanks to the sword, you robbed the insight of several expertsreceived four extra mysteries at the profound enlightenment stage, and rushed them to Mandate level thanks to a Devil Stone. Four Mandates means a top tier Emperor. And if we add your original mystery, you got Five.


    You should have been pretty strong. But the shortcut you used made your foundation shallow. You can''t disy your Mandates'' true strength and are too unstable to master your Devil Essence. At best, you''re decent," Little Six gave a thorough appraisal. Dilnaz wasn''t so self-imbued as to never imagine that experts above the Emperor-level existed, but to see someone speak of the Emperor-tier so casually still left a bitter taste in her mouth. But as she prepared to refute Little Six''s words, a mental message from themandant interrupted her.


    "Your Majesty, the First Emperor had the Mandate of Heaven, which made him invincible before all but the Serpent Emperor himself. But even if the two returned to life and stood here now, they''d kowtow without a second thought. One hand is too many fingers to count the people that dare misbehave in that man''s presence. We''re lucky that he is missing memories. If you want to leave this ce alive, please restrain yourself," Themandant''s pleading voice knocked Dilnaz back to reality.


    "I can hear you, you know. But I think I''ve always been a reasonable and tolerant man. Unless you owe me money, no need to be scared." With an instantaneous discement, Little Six appeared before the two, still sitting crossed-legged.


    "Argh!" Dilnaz and the stoicmandant both leaped back, and terrified by Little Six''s gentle smile, dared not step forward. "Scaredy-cats. Butdy, you must be supremely ignorant or supremely confident to carry a direct descendant of a Preeminent House as your sword. Your bloodline is wed too. So many problems. If someone doesn''t step in, I''m not sure you can survive another century," Little Six said, and aimed one index at Dilnaz''s forehead. A golden ray shot out, filling her mind with lost mnemonics.


    "This is an improved version of an ancient technique I learned by chance. I named it the Duality Severing Secret. It can solve all your problems, granted you''re willing to pay the cost. Though, if you''re not careful, or too greedy, it can easily be a nightmare. Consider it a ''Thank You for Trying" gift from yours truly. You''re not strong enough to reach the end of this mausoleum and don''t deserve the true reward. Try again after a few breakthroughs," Little Six exined, but as he prepared to send Dilnaz back whence she came, the Saint-Empress kowtowed, and in that bold and fearless voice of hers, eximed:


    "Your Eminence, please take me as your disciple!"


    Having not expected such an abrupt request, Little Six blinked for a moment, then gave Dilnaz the most memorable answer of her existence: "Eww"


    In the meantime, Harun and Jiyan enjoyed a moment of respite at the balcony of a watchtower, observing the city from a vantage point. Floating, luminous orbs of various shades brightened the districts, giving the night a mystical atmosphere. Rxing in Harun''s arms, Jiyan rested her head against his, and following a moment of tender silence, asked in a serious tone: "What do you n to do after you win the war?"


    "Isn''t that a tad bit early to ask? We have what, nine silver tokens? That''s a far cry from 9,999," Harun replied. Gulseni and Sangar each had one silver token, which, added to the seven Harun received from the serpent lords, gave them a tiny total of nine. Though the mightiest sects probably controlled hundreds of tokens on average, the end-goal was still out of sight.


    "Moreover, I have a feeling that winning will only reveal more problems. After all, it seems to me that the Truth Scrying Grotto isn''t dead-set on winning this war. If anything, they just give the other sects a push, letting them turn the oceans red, and make the world a ughterhouse."


    "Macabre but true," Jiyan had to agree.


    "There is also the problem of who receives the Imperial Seal and the Mandate it contains." Harun added. It was only thanks to Jiyan and the system that Harun learned of the many troubles the Imperial Seal carried. In a nutshell, true Dao Emperors such as Heaven Warding and Agiriwhopleted their Mandates without external forceswere immortals. Cosmic Tribtions couldn''t im their lives.


    However, once they seized the Mandate of Heaven, they lived on borrowed time, and after the ninth tribtionperished without exception. Their souls then left for another ce. Harun learned this from the system, and Jiyan confirmed it. This essentially meant that all those Emperor-level experts of the Holy Lands werepeting for the right to be the invincible mortal of a few Cosmic Cycles.


    Needless to say, Harun had no interest in fusing with that type of time-ticking bomb, and needed someone to shoulder that for him.


    "But none of that matters now. I suppose that if everything went smoothly, and we didn''t have to worry about Naks, Dream Seers and whatnot, I''d spend a thousand years...getting spoiled by you. Be careful though, I''m very high maintenance," Harun shamelessly replied.


    "Just one thousand?" Jiyan frowned at the words.


    "Many thousands," Harun conceded, and lifted her chin for an impromptu smooch.


    Later that night, Harun and Mehran got to less charming work. Weeping Soul ordered aplete retreat of all his spies across the Dark Stone city. Intercepting the order through one of his Golden Silkworms, Harun positioned his Deste Corpse Guards at all exits, dressing them in Mehran''s royal guard''s cold iron armors to suppress the extreme heat emanating from them.


    None of the spies had reached the celestial level. All weremon citizens seduced by the Soul Refining Hall''s promises of endless wisdom and power. But while Harun had spotted some through the silkworms, he couldn''t uproot thework in such a short time. Little did Weeping Soul expect that this move aimed at removing all traces of his sect''s work from the Dark Stone City would instead expose all the pawnsthe Deste Corpses ughtered 99%, and let the rest escape, as ordered by Harun.

 Chapter 104: Forgotten Soul Graveyard

    Chapter 104: Forgotten Soul Graveyard


    Eight spies escaped the Dark Stone City''s cleanupabandoning rtives and ancestral roots to flee north. Each followed a separate road, but they only had one direction in mind: the Soul Refining Hall''s headquarters. Lost in their desperate race, two of the disheveled eight didn''t spot the tiny white moths hugging their napes and pouring venom into microscopic wounds. There was over 100 km between the Dark Stone City and the Soul Refining Hall''s headquarters. None of them was getting there tonight, and while they found spots to hide and catch their breaths, the venoms kicked in, stopping the unfortunate two''s hearts.


    In the night sky, a pair of cold-blue souls, male and female, observed the two spies'' painless death. Even though he already got his hands on the Weeping Soul Mantra, Harun couldn''t waste this opportunity to infiltrate the Soul Refining Hall. Be it for the uing Abyssal River, or the Forgotten Soul Graveyard that made the hall infamous, Harun had to dive in. Jiyan''s thoughts weren''t much different. The Forgotten Soul Graveyard represented one of the strongest foundations of the Soul Refining Hall. Ruining it first put them at a clear advantage.


    Using the Yin Soul Incantation, both tailed their targetswaiting for the white moths toplete their job. The nocturnal insects abandoned their victims'' corpses and flew back to the Dark Stone City. Harun and Jiyan dropped on the deceased, merging with them to reanimate and take control of the corpses. Though versatile, the Yin Soul Incantation didn''t allow them to steal the bodies of the livingyet. And after one hour of "rest" the two resumed their pilgrimage to the Soul Refining Hallwhich they reached in another eight hours.


    Following the n, they kept separate ways, arriving not long after the fastest spies. A three kilometers tall mountain weed them all, with a mountain road of spiraling stairs fronted by a wide-open gate. It was as if the Soul Refining Hall weed everyone in its cradle. However, the three inner disciples flying down the mountaintop spoke a different tale. A pink-colored glow spiraled at the middle of their foreheads, proof that they reached the Canonized Soul Realm and possessed Celestial-level strength.


    All three rode pink clouds and stared at the eight survivors with suspicion.


    "Didn''t we receive news of a thorough purge? Howe those eight survived?" One of the three asked his peers.


    "Maybe they slipped by?"


    "With a God-level expert overseeing the city, mortals can also slip by? We can''t take responsibility for this. Let''s contact the higher ups first." After a brief exchange of mental messages, the three contacted their superiors, and in less than three seconds of mental connections, words reached the big boss.


    "Hmm...odd. I can''t figure out this Lord Revtion. Is he a clever man or a lucky fool? What is he trying to aplish here? As if we didn''t have enough problems already...hmmwe must consider that those eight have beenpromised. Deal with them ording to protocol and dispatch orders to the countries we control. I want them ready to execute the n whenever we need them to," Reverend Weeping Soul ordered, and the three seers shed Harun and Jiyan''s group, bright, weing smiles.


    "The Reverend mourns the loss of our brothers and is delighted by your sessful escape. Please follow us to receive your rewards. From now on, you are true disciples," the three said, took the group on their pink clouds, and flew up the mountain to reach the hall''s entrance. In that instant, Jiyan couldn''t help but shake her head, "If everyone''s going to fly on clouds anyway, why bother having so many stairs?"


    It only took a few seconds for the Dream Seers to drop the weed spies at the sect''s entrance. A dreamlike world of pink swirling clouds, massive floating orreries, and rows of magnificent jade towers dazzled the spies'' eyes. It was as if they left the world of men and transmigrated into a fairy tale. Little did they know that in the courtyards of this idyllic scene, inner disciples fed men of high wisdom or innocence to their Weeping Soul Trees.


    But as the eight became engrossed in the scene, the three disciples'' aimed their fingers at their backs. White rays shot out, piercing through the eight spies'' hearts and killing them instantlyalmost. Though clinically dead, Harun and Jiyan remained aware of all that went on through their Yin Souls.


    "This never gets old."


    "Don''t let the elders catch you saying that. You''re not supposed to enjoy the job."


    "But let''s face the stats, how many do not? If we didn''t get some pleasure from turning souls into fertilizers, we would have all gone insane already."


    "Hush!" The trio exchanged dark-humored remarks as they dragged the fresh corpses with their telekic powers. On the road, they crossed dozens of inner disciples who greeted them with jovial smiles and casual hand wavesnot sparing a nce to the eight floating corpses. In the Soul Refining Hall, such scenes were far toomon.


    East of the sect grounds, a broken valley with squalls of chilling winds, endless piles of bones drifting on ck water, decaying corpses and the putrid scent of death,y. The three disciples flung the eight corpses into the ravine and departed at once. A soul''s departure for the reincarnation cycle was no instantaneous process. The more confusing or aggrieving the death, the longer it took. Without closure, many souls could not transcend their deaths, and wandered across decades. But as the average soul didn''t have the ability to interact with the world of the living, their presence went unnoticed.


    The Soul Refining Hall used that principle to form the Forgotten Soul Graveyard, using the corpses and souls of men and women they had no use for to grow hordes of trapped poltergeists that altered the sect''s elemental atmospheremaking it more suitable for soul enlightenment.


    Harun and Jiyan''s Yin Souls exited the corpses. Neither felt thrilled by the new setting and immediately entered a state of profound meditation. With Greater Yin and abundant Death and Soul Essence, the Forgotten Soul Graveyard was a cultivation treasurend for both of them. Harun didn''t doubt that at the tiniest doubt, Weeping Soul would dispose of the survivors, and counted on that ruthlessness to get a free trip toward this ce.


    Granted, the pair could have infiltrated the sect with their Yin Soul Incantation, but there were many risks involved. The hall''s defenses were much more advanced than the Vermilion Brides Sect. Without carrier bodies "approved" by the seers, they risked exposure. And while the two cultivated in silencedraining the Soul Graveyard bits by bitsten days shed by. News that neighboring countries under the Soul Refining Hall''s leadership practiced routine drills at their borders, reached Mehran''s ears. But invested in the Salvation Hall, and knowing that the true disaster had yet to strike, he didn''t take drastic measures.


    At the dawn of the eleventh day, an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 spread south of the Forgotten Soul Graveyard, alerting the Soul Refining Hall''s top experts. A session of seismic shifts followed, culminating in the formation of an obsidian mine from which vast energy waves gushed out. A blood-red water column shot into the sky, announcing to all across the First Range, that the Abyssal River had surfaced atst!

 Chapter 105: Abyssal Upheaval

    Chapter 105: Abyssal Upheaval


    A paced breathing sound akin to a primordial beast resounded throughout the First Range. Dozens of countries, billions of citizens, all heard that same zephir-like sound that shed with the spreading red clouds to conjure images of a quiet storm. Indeed, following the blood water column''s surge, the First Range sky became bright red. From the Vermilion Brides Sect to the Second Mountain Range, all could see this world-shaking phenomenon. Mortals dropped on their knees, celestials lost their bearings, and far in the Second Range, several deities looked dignified.


    For the first time in centuries, Weeping Soul trembled in excitement. The tree at his back stretched its vines and branches, making them sway in a fric dance that mirrored the Reverend''s enthusiasm. The 21 elders of the Soul Refining Hall left their respective orreries and appeared at Weeping Soul''s side.


    "It''s even better than I expected. With this, no need to mention the First Range, we can sweep aside the second. Our enlightenment levels will soar to unfathomable heights. We mustn''t allow anyone to stand in the way. Order the mortal kingdoms'' armies to flood the Dark Stone Country. I want one billion armed men hacking through thisnd! Since Lord Revtion seems so concerned with them, he can fight for their safety," Weeping Soul ordered. The Soul Refining Hall had provided all the countries it controlled with coffers of spiritual leaves and teleportation formationsenabling them to field hordes of doomstacks without a care for time and food rations.


    With that one order, Weeping Soul made his intent clear. Even if all things across the First Range were reduced to ashes, he would im the Abyssal River. And while they originally saw the First Range''s lives as prime resources, the 21 eldersall Truth Reverends in their own rightapproved their master''s words, "But what about the Second Range''s divine sects and celestial kingdoms? We didn''t expect that the Obsidian Soul Stone Mine and Abyssal River''s awakening would trigger such a phenomenon. Now, even those Gods from the Second Range will notice the river''s importance, and personally lead their elites here," one of the low-ranking elders probed.


    Though they could dominate the First Range, the Soul Refining Hall was at best average in the Second. Once those Gods made their moves, variables upon variables would follow. But while the low-ranking elders shared those concerns, the top brass shed sinister grins, and burst into a dementedughter.


    "Let theme. As the old man would say, greed is the first of sins. If they''re all so eager to die, why stop them? I have been suppressing myself for so long that I''ve forgotten...the taste of Gods!" Weeping Soul proimed, and soared into the sky, rushing to the mine''s entrance alongside his subordinates.


    "To all disciples of the Soul Refining Hall, gather in Soul Matrixes of seven, and charge into the Obsidian Soul Stone Mine. Endless opportunities...await you all!" The words awoke the hall''s 1,000 disciples, and as they often did in drills, the disciples formed mini battle formations, and left for the Forgotten Soul Graveyard.


    Within five seconds, the First Range became a beacon of chaos. The semnce of peace that returned to the Dark Stone city following Lord Revtion''s appearance was once more threatened by forces the locals had no defenses against. Thergest armies the country had ever seen assembled at its three borders, south, southeast and west. Hundreds of million charged each border. The majority stood on horseback, while the rest rode flying shuttles and grand silver disks. Over 20 different armor schemes stood among those forces, proof that they came from various backgrounds. Yet, they all flew the same g. The Dark Stone Country''s g crossed by two red markseven a fool could see that they didn''te for tourism.


    After absorbing the Immtion de Sect, the Hall controlled 22 of the First Range''s 40 kingdoms, and 4 of its 6 grand nations. The Vermilion Brides controlled the rest, at the exception of the Dark Stone Country, which now belonged to Lord Revtion.


    From the start, Weeping Soul never counted the Vermilion Brides in his calctions. Without her superior''s backing, Gulseni was far too clever to wage a war against him over the dominion of the First Range. Not only did her Yang Sealing Chains have no effect on him, but several of his elders were immune as well. It would be strange if she didn''t start immediate relocation efforts. However, while the Soul Refining Hall''s mortal armada made its move, the countries under the Vermilion Brides'' whip gathered their forces as well.


    But if they too didn''t need to fear food shortages, they didn''t have teleportation formations to ease the gathering of million-men-strong armies''. Not that they needed tothe brides were there anyway. ming bolts descended from the sky as the Vermilion Brides appeared and took control of the borders. The textbook red gowns they wore warned the soldiers of their identitythe bravest stopped instantly.


    Without formations to back them up, mortals could not challenge celestials. Before the battle even started, panic had conquered the troops. Many considered retreat, but the pressure of the Soul Refining Hall cast a greater shadow than the brides ever couldconvincing the generals that a step back meant a fate worse than death.


    "Force your way in!" The generals came to a unanimous agreement, and without a care for their subordinates'' lives, sacrificed the vanguards to ensure the right and left nks could rush into the Dark Stone Country. The same scene yed at the three borders. Millions of vanguard soldiers led a desperate charge against the brides, hurling spears with superhuman strength, while marksmen at the back supported them with volleys of arrows. In the interval between the salvos, cultivators of the Purification and Hallowed Realms leaped across the sky to slice the enchanting brides'' tender necks.


    Meanwhile, right and left nks ignored the confrontation, and spread like unfolding wings across the borders. Each battleground only had about 30 brides of Celestial Kin level led by 1 Celestial Guarddy. Crossing their arms, the brides conjured barriers of invisible Heavenly Qi that stopped all projectiles effortlessly. The low-level cultivators'' frontal assault bounced against the same barriers, and as the first charge copsed, the brides unleashed the Vermilion Bird n''s signature skillthe Divine Power: Searing Paradise.


    Burning roses, lotuses, lilies and various other ming flowers sprouted from the ground, turning the three borders into magnificent blossom fields that mesmerized the millions of jammed troops.


    "Magnificent" A general whispered before vermilion me hurricanes took shape and burned every single soldier that crossed the borderon ground or in flightto ashes. Before this spectacle of dancing mes and ever-burning flowers, the remaining enemy forces lost their breaths, and could no longer muster the courage to press onward. And pped by the reality of such an insurmountable gap, who could carry on?


    "The Dark Stone Country belongs to the Vermilion Brides. None shall trespass," the threedies leading the brides'' forces dered. And under the blood-red sky, their words carried tremendous deterrence. But as if to challenge that im, a bold and unbridled voice thundered:


    "What if I insist on diving in?"


    A ming greatsword raced across the bloody sky, shooting past the southern border and the brides that blocked it. Irresistible waves of Heavenly Qi exploded, sending them all tumbling down like fleas patted by a giant!


    On top of that greatsword, a red-haired middle-aged man stood, and the strands of Heaven''s Will fused with his aura made his cultivation base clear to all.


    "The...me Spirit King?" One of the downeddies choked out. A of Yang Sealing Chains formed in the me Spirit King''s path. With a sneer, he snapped his fingers. Six zing greatswords formed and shot at the chains, making them recoil in a session of explosions. Clouds of smoke rose and dispersed, revealing Gulseni, who held her chestrestraining a blood spurt.


    "Girl, I''ve heard a lot about you, but you should pick your fights with better care. You were not born that I''d reached the Ascending God Realm already. What do you hope to aplish by standing in my way? And assuming that you could stop me"the me Spirit King sneered, then pointed one thumb at his back.


    "Can you stop them as well?" Twelve auras of God-level might erupted from the edge of the First Range alongside hundreds of Celestial Knights! Faced with this concentration of oppressive auras, Gulseni came to one conclusion: "We''re fucked."


    Meanwhile, Harun and Jiyan''s true bodies hovered above the royal pce, observing the changes from a safe distance.


    "Let''s explore with our Yin Souls before sending the true bodies in. This whole mine-river business has gone far beyond celestial-level dangers," Harun seriously said. But the words seemed to fly past Jiyan, whose attention remained glued on the shadow of a three meters tall oak tree floating at Harun''s back: an Evil Soul Tree!

 Chapter 106: The Beast that Killed You

    Chapter 106: The Beast that Killed You


    The Weeping Soul Mantra, a 12th star cultivation method he had zero foundation in, wasprehended by Harun in a single day. Across the remaining nine days, he merely perfected his enlightenmentincreasing his essence and insight levels as well. A part of Jiyan wanted to just feel delighted by her beloved''s absurdprehension speed. But the rational side disagreed, and as she recalled thetent threats rooted in Harun''s karmic past and eyes, her rational side won the inner debate. In that instant, Jiyan feared that down the road, she might have to protect Harun from himself.


    Harun''s thoughts never reached that point. As far as he was concerned, his preternatural understanding of organic and nefarious arts was the only true gift nature granted him, and the foundation of all his achievements. How could he take it as a threat? If there were ws in Harun''s state of mind, this would be the first.


    "Considerable dangers south, unknown perils north. I must say that I love miscalctions like these. Makes the game all the more interesting. Don''t you agree, Jiyan?"


    "I prefer a game of cards."


    "Strip poker?"


    "Too soon. Maybe afterwarddepending on your performance."


    But as the two bantered, the Obsidian Soul Stone Mine''s formation triggered seismic changes in the Forgotten Soul Graveyard. Changes that again altered Harun''s ns. All traces of jest vanished from the pair''s faces, and closing their eyes, they pulled their Yin Souls back into their bodies. With body and soul in symbiosis, Harun''s Evil Soul Tree fully materialized. But ignoring that perk, he sent Mehran several messages, then cast Jiyan a helpless nce.


    "I guess ying it safe won''t work out," Harun said.


    "Which means we have to make a choice. Who do we endanger?" Jiyan saw through the real dilemma. With their faction''s current resources and strength, there was only so much they could protect. Between the Birusk n, the Vermilion Brides, and the Dark Stone City, one could potentially be defenseless. Each was of capital importance. The n was the future. The Vermilion Brides, and more precisely Gulseni, represented an informationwork stretching to the Third Range. Last but not the least, the Dark Stone City provided vast and easy to earn faith resources.


    But once they stepped into the mine, they couldn''t defend all three. In that instant, Harun was reminded of the importance of sect pirs. Mighty subordinates could relieve so many burdens. Unfortunately, even the Myriad Devil Pce wasn''t built in one day.


    Closing his eyes, Harun pushed his brain to the extreme, considered all variables, and realized that be it for the current or future woes, he had to gamble himself. Chiming in, Jiyan poured options into his mind, and the two came to an agreement.


    Harun stretched out his hands. The golden incense representing his umted faith powers gushed forth, and from the Salvation Hall, a golden beam shot toward the sky. The blood-red clouds scattered, reced by infinite holy rays that captured the attention of the Dark Stone City''s millions.


    From this magnificent phenomenon, a splendid statue of Harun dressed in monastic robes dropped. 108 meters tall, the radiant statue sat in the lotus position, and from its eyes, golden rain dropped on the citizens, reviving their lost hopes in a paradisiacal future. The statue extended its weing hands to the city, and in that instant, from children to adults, fromplete mortals to Daoist Realm experts, all realized their duty.


    Faith, this simple word they defiled across years of anarchy called them back en masse. They needed faith. They had to pray and believe that the Lord would save them from hell''s cradle. The light of Revtion swindled millions of anarchists, making humble devouts out of hell''s fervent preachers.


    This free and unadulterated faith became millions of Karmic Threads that poured into the statueinto Harun! The Spiritual Incense he spent for this feat was replenished instantlythen multiplied to reach inconceivable levels. Millions of images and faces, expectations, desires, regrets, lives flooded Harun like gargantuan tsunamis, and though the attachment-stage of the Human Realm carried no risk, his mind still went into shock. When the nine millionth devotee reached him, Harun hit his limits and reeled back.


    Power. More Miraculous Powers than Harun ever nned to get his hands on, now stood at his fingertips. Delusions of grandeur, identity confusion, temptation and so many other mental plights threatened his easygoing nature. But Sovereign Essence gushed forth, assisting Harun''s reinforced soul to smack these challenges out of the way!


    Swallowing a mouthful of blood, Harun channeled his Miraculous Powers to cast a grand barrier around the Dark Stone City. At the north, south, east and west, four new statues took shape, defending all corners. The original idol remained at the center, sucking the supply of faith powers to feed the idols. Later on, Mehran would name this move...the Dharma Sheltering Array.


    Exhaling blood-stained air, Harun straightened his back, connected to his totem, and sent it to assist Gulseni. Its task was simple: save, deter, leave. Those Gods came for opportunities, not pointless bloodshed. By relying on the Hundred Insect Altar and its abilities, Harun''s Serpent Totem could give them the scare they needed. Although that''d temporarily leave the n without strong defenses, it was the best he could do now. Showy barriers would only have the opposite effect.


    "Take it easy. Restore your strength. Until you''re back to perfect condition, I will destroy whatever stands in the way," Jiyan pledged. Harun didn''t doubt it, and the two then vanished from the royal pce, crossing the blood-red sky to descend on the Forgotten Soul Graveyard.


    Following the mine and Abyssal River''s awakening, all souls, essence and formless energies across 300 square kilometers were sucked in clean. Devoured by nothingness, the dead no longer raged against their brutal fatesa form of peace, perhaps.


    Meanwhile, Gulseni faced the most rming scene of her life. Thirteen God-level experts, eight-hundred Celestial Knights, all hovered in the bloody sky with their Divine Senses locked on her. With her background, Gulseni had seen plenty of deities. But never did she endure the full pressure of their auras. Anyone of them could destroy her Yang Sealing Chains with a finger snapthe gap was just that deep. And without that advantage, just relying on her second-level Celestial Knight strength, she was powerless.


    "Girl, considering your father''s face, I initially wanted to give you a way out. But I''m afraid it''s now toote to back down. Mortals shouldn''t challenge Celestials. Celestials shouldn''t challenge Gods. Did you think the Saint-Empress'' name allowed you to run amok?" The me Spirit King sneered.


    Each of these Gods were enemies. But before their inferiors'' "disrespect," they became one united front.


    "Enough nonsense." A deity dressed in ck heavy armor cut. In this race for the abysses'' secrets. The Soul Refining Hall had a clear advantage. They couldn''t waste time here. Raising his armored hand, the deity let his Heavenly Qi erupt, condensing berserk and invisible energy waves that threatened to wipe out all brides in one move.


    But as they saw their lives shing before their eyes, boundless suction force dropped from the sky, draining the Qi to dispel the offensive. Recognizing this move, the Gods felt their hearts skip a beat. The brides went from despair to relief, and Gulseni''s eyes met the shadow of a colossal serpent that zigzagged through the clouds to drop before the Vermilion Brides.


    "Master ordered me to assist you. Stand back and behave. When I''m done, we leave," A grave, mechanical voice spread from the serpent''s lips, frightening Gulseni, who retreated instantly.


    "You...can speak?" She stressed every word. In the Birusk n, it wasmon knowledge that Lord Birusk''s Serpent Totem was just one infinitely mighty beastdevoid of speech or thoughts. Neither Mukri nor Gulseni thought otherwise. After all, who could spend 15 years without speaking a word?


    Ignoring her surprise and words, the Serpent Totem shifted his attention to the God-assembly. Faced with a World-Devouring Serpent whose bloodline level and strength they couldn''t estimate, the Gods instinctively recoiled.


    "Who...are you?" One of the deities'' asked. Cultivators of the Heavenly Dream Land only recognized one lineage as supreme: the Serpent Emperor''s. Yet, even Sv, his grandson, couldn''tpare to this serpent''s bloodline level.


    "Who? An errand boy, a ceholder body, my lord''s emblem and" A jade-green pyramid of over 1,000, joint insect-shaped figurinesnded before the Serpent Totem, "The beast that killed you."


    Dark-green rays shot out of the 1,000 figurines, bing a myriad of toxic beasts that assembled in a wless formation.

 Chapter 107: The Significance of Godhood

    Chapter 107: The Significance of Godhood


    Formations were split into three categories: Defensive, Offensive and Utility. Defensive didn''t just mean barriers. In fact, most defensive formations carried out attacks too. The fundamental difference with their offensive counterpart is that the defensive formations covered arge area, and relied only on a relic plus the formation controller''s strength. Offensive formations, however, could channel the strength of legions of experts, and make them ovep to turn weaklings into God-deterring terrors.


    The Hundred Insect Altar, Harun''s second Sect Wonder, wasn''t merely a self-running toxic beast factory, but could also produce a defensive formation shrouding a 300 square kilometers area. The cultivation altar on top of the figurine pyramid released a force-field that spread and trapped the deities, celestials and mortals in a zone where the Serpent Totem and its Toxic Beast Formation held sway.


    The centipedes, scorpions, bees, moths, butterflies, and so many other varieties of unique toxic beasts became a dark-green smoke cloud that blotted out the deities'' sight. Instantly, the God that most dreaded the Serpent Totem''s bloodline was surrounded by a jet of green smoke. The twelve others snapped out of their trancescattering to various spots. And as the disturbed regained their battle intent, the smoke jet dispersed, revealing their peer''s corroded skeleton. Blessed by Heaven''s Will, a God''s corpse could endure epochs with no sign of dposition. But don''t mention a full body. Even the bones looked like they''d turn into ground powder within secondsthey did.


    Instantly, in the celestials and deities'' eyes, the dark-green cloud became a smiling nightmare that promised them cold and fatal embraces. Let''s not even mention the mortal soldiers, who''d seen much more than they ever desired to. At this point, fear wasn''t even the problem. They just stood there, stupefied, neither advancing nor retreating.


    The Serpent Totem''s head peeked over the toxic cloudits slit eyes carrying a deep, and tyrannical force that for a second, convinced many of the deities that it wasn''t a mere beast, but an ancient and wrathful emperor that stood before their divine assembly. Shame reced the fear, rage surged anew, but from the beginning to now, three maintained their cool.


    "Hahaha. At best, that''s a third-level Ascending God''s strength. If that''s all you got, please die for me." The me Spirit King chortled and arched his head back. Red-mes gushed forth, turning the belligerent deity into an inextinguishable ze, from which a pair of ming eyes met the Serpent Totem''s stare without a silver of dread.


    Five red gates appeared at the me Spirit King''s back, and from them, blood-red crows of quasi-God strength popped out. And if the pressure of five new entities half-a-step into God territory wasn''t enough, each of those Door Gods led a host of 100,000 divine soldiersthat all possessed the strength of a Celestial Knight. They stood in an impable military order, masterfully controlled by the me Spirit King''s five Door Gods.


    "All those that rejected our Divine Path for foreign or new bridges, are either ipetent wastes, or unredeemable fools. So what if deities have a harder time mastering the mysteries? Thisnd exists by Heaven''s Will, and we who carry itshall forever rule supreme!" The me Spirit King eximed, and the aura of a fifth-level Ascending God filled the bloody-sky, forcing all mortals on their knees. Sheltered by the Serpent Totem, Gulseni and the brides avoided this insult, yet had to admit that this aura alone made them powerless.


    The armored deity that almost wiped out Gulseni''s group stepped forward. "I do not often agree with you, but on this one, our minds are in sync," he said and reached out, summoning a bronze war hammerced with blood veins. Five bronze gates opened behind him, unleashing five armored bulls of quasi-God strengthleading a Divine Host of 500,000 Celestial Knights.


    "Ants often find ways to justify their failings. This foolishness is akin to a shark wanting to turn into a monkey to explore the sea''s depths," an elegant and shapely goddess with ck-white hair drawn back in a chignon chimed in, and released the same terrifying aura and manpower as the other two. In her case, however, it was an army of 500,000 fairies led by five stately cranes.


    Granted, Heaven suppressed Celestials and Gods in mystery cultivation, but the tradeoff was clear. Each Ascending God represented a Divine Host. Each Heavenly God represented a Divine Court. And each Empyrean Monarch reigned on an Internal Heaven, a Divine World of epic proportions. Gods were factions on their own.


    At first, when the Grand Cataclysm nearly destroyed the Heavenly Dream Land, when the Elemental Fusion and Dream Seer bridges showed up, innumerable deities considered Path Defection. No one wanted to suffer the monstrous beasts'' fates, and above that, many yearned for the freedom those new bridges offered. The Elemental Fusion bridge, in particr, enabled high-level divine cultivators to transfer their strength through a unique ritual, and not start from scratch.


    But as the deities faltered, and the Hundred Infernal Years brewed, Sv, who at the cataclysm''s start was severely injured by an unknown experpleted his Mandatebing the first known True Emperor in the Heavenly Dream Land''s history. Unlike Dilnaz and the Beast Emperors who first got enlightenment into the Devil Stones, Svpleted it with zero external help, and after snatching several Devil Stones in cosmic shes, was hailed by the Heavenly Dream Land''s cultivators as the Immortal Emperor.


    His fame now eclipsed Nak, the three Empyrean Emperors, and pursued his grandfather''s. With that magnificent example, Gods regained their confidence. And after over 150 years of constant warfare, many talents emergedopenly scorning the other paths. Xerzan of the Barbaric Demon Stronghold was the prime example.


    "Be careful. The me Spirit King, Armored Bull Commander, and Uncorrupted Crane Mistress, are household names in the Second Range. During the Hundred Infernal Years, they''ve killed several same-level experts, and aren''t to be underestimated." Gulseni warned the Serpent Totem, who bobbed his head in understanding.


    The Serpent Totem stretched his wed hands out, and from his colossal frame, Sovereign Essence gushed alongside terrible Elemental Yin Essence. Though the deities knew about the mythical Sovereign Essence, having never experienced it firsthand, they couldn''t recognize it. Gulseni did, but if at first she didn''t understand why the Totem could use one of the true self''s signature abilitiesbelieving that the connection between the two allowed feats like this, she didn''t think much of it.


    A terrifying sh thus erupted.


    Meanwhile, Harun and Jiyan stepped into the Obsidian Soul Stone mine. But instead of a dimly lit cavernyered with abundant mineralswith narrow passageways that''d make a ustrophobic man quiver to no endthey got sky-high cavern walls embedded with radiant stones that illuminated the mine with an almost blinding, red light.


    Every three seconds, the stones lost their luster, throwing the spacew defying mine intoplete darkness. Relying on their potent senses, Harun and Jiyan remained alert of their surroundings, ignoring the disturbing phenomenon to focus on the exploration.


    A vast concentration of Yin, Death and Soul Essence filled this area. But on top of those, the pair felt an abundance of Earth, Metal and Blood Essence. Just this environment that''d speed up the cultivation of those six Mysteries, made the Obsidian Soul Stone mine a cultivation treasure house. But as the two crossed the rugged ground, they didn''t doubt they just scratched the surface.


    From time to time, the distant screams of the Soul Refining Hall''s disciples echoedreminding the pair that they''d step into a ughterhouse.


    At the intersection of two roads, the red light dimmed. An armored fistrge enough to squash two heads emerged from Harun''s right, aiming straight for his skull.

 Chapter 108: The Apocalypse has Come

    Chapter 108: The Apocalypse has Come


    Before Harun could react, Jiyan rushed past him and rammed her fist into the armored punch. Energy ripples and earth-shattering shock-waves rumbled from the collision. The armored fist cracked. But as the owner attempted to retract his move, Jiyan trapped the arm between her palms. Gray Withering Essence flowed outbreaking the punch into particles of metallic dust.


    "AAAAAAAAARGH!" A sharp, doleful scream pealed from the deepest reaches of the Obsidian Soul Stone mine, terrorizing the Soul Refining Hall''s disciplessome Reverends included. Although they couldn''t judge the owner''s cultivation, from this sound alone, they knew it''d surpassed all they ever confronteda God-level expert undoubtedly.


    Harun''s heart skipped a beat. Despite remaining alert of his surroundings, despite having better raw senses than Jiyan, he didn''t see that moveing. Had she not taken this blow for him, perhaps this day wouldter be his death anniversary. Instantly, Harun realized that the nine million believers'' impact on his soul and senses was even worse than he first estimated. If he didn''t find a ce to quietly siphon Soul Essence and mend the damages, disaster might strike him down.


    "And this is just the price of receiving their worship. The Heavens be merciful. If I attempted to breakthrough to the Suffering stage now, how could I survive?" Harun could free the Birusk n''s several hundreds from sufferings, but the Dark Stone City''s millions was another game altogether. In the short time, that wasn''t feasible. But if he didn''t break through soon, Harun faced another problem: fame.


    Karmic Attachment was a mysterious thing. As long as the Karmic Threads stemmed from Harun''s actions, he couldn''t easily reject them. For that, he''d not only need to actively reject his devotees'' worship, but demystify himself in their minds. Only by ruining the image and bond they clung on, could Harun escape that attachment. But even as he trod the Obsidian Soul Stone mine, his name spread across the Dark Stone Country. When the chaos peaked, and his feats reached the desperate'' ears, Harun would receive even more Karmic Threadshis soul and Mythical Idol Incarnation couldn''t endure that.


    Joining his hands in a prayer sign, Harun released his Spiritual Incense. The golden smoke plunged into the nearby walls and groundforming a radiant barrier around a ten meters radius. Centered on Harun, the barrier instantly alerted him of and expelled every existence with ill-intent aimed at him. However, it''d exhaust 10 incense points per minute.


    "How fast does your Spiritual Incense regenerates?" Jiyan asked. Harun''s Spiritual Incense was a consumable resource with a hard cap determined by how many worshippers he possessed.


    "Typically, about 24 hours. But it depends on prayer activity and could be as fast as one minute, or as long as a week. But it''s fine, I now have a hard cap of over nine million incense points, and only spent one million on the formation. Considering how desperate the citizens are, it shouldn''t take long to replenish," Harun exined.


    Meanwhile, in the recesses of the Obsidian Soul Stone mine, a bronze-armor-d giant over 30 meters tall, clutched his right shoulderstaring at his missing arm. Golden eyes akin to an orb of lightning, shed under his helmetreflecting his fury.


    In that room, the armless entity included, 27 creatures sat on obsidian thrones that formed a circle around a blood-redke. Blood-colored fishes fluttered at theke''s surface, trapped in blood bubbles of unknown function. Though separated by several meters, the 26 entities clearly saw their peer''s misery. Eight colossi, simrly d in bronze armors, snorted disdainfully and ignored their brother''s grief.


    However, the remaining 18, diminutive youths of porcin skin and crimson eyes, couldn''t restrain theirughter. "Mhmm, First Landgrave. Seems like these millions of years of slumber slightly dulled your skills. A pity that you Berserk Colossick...well, any form of regeneration abilities. Ha, the plight of brutes," said one of the 18 men. Dressed in ashen cloaks, the 18 shortiescked their peers'' oppressive presence. Yet, a profound and mystical forceced their porcin flesh, given them an air of invible, stainless saints. Thankfully, the clear murderlust in their eyes enabled most to see through their true nature.


    The First Landgrave leaped from his throne, the earth shook underneath his several tons of mass, and despite the profound strength gap between those 18 doll-like dwarves and he, clear battle intent billowed from his form.


    "Oh calm down will you? Though some are clearly more evolved than others, all of us Landgraves are brothers born from the same wombso to speak. Staying united is critical."


    "An Anasrava level refiner lost an arm to a girl barely in her thirties, in a physical contest, and still has the gall to show off his temper? Fuck, she''s not even old enough to be your 1,000th generation descendant''s 1,000th generation descendant. Brother, learn some shame." One after the other, the red-eyed dolls battered the First Landgrave with insults. And even his fellow Colossi didn''t bother assisting him.


    It had always been this way. As the eldest of this band, he was also the weakest. From infancy to maturity, he watched his brothers pop out of the Abyssal River, and steadily outpace him. Scorn, physical abuse and derision didn''t diminish his berserker spirit, but spirit alone couldn''t defeat the abysmal gap.


    But as the First Landgrave prepared to fight a lost battle, a blood-red ray surged from the Abyssal River, stabbed his chest, and rebuilt his lost arm. Instantly, peace returned to the Colossus'' mind. Although she bestowed more favor on his younger siblings, at least his mother...still cared for him.


    A crimson cloud formed above the Abyssal River, revealing two faces to the Landgrave Assembly: Harun and Weeping Soul''s.


    "Oh. Seems like mother made her choice. Lucky fellows. Who do you want? The Dream Seer or the mhm...even mother doesn''t recognize those two brats'' precise path. Interesting" One of the red-eyed dolls started. After studying the info collected by the Abyssal River, the 27 Landgraves made their choice.


    "Let''s probe them first. You Berserk Colossi can focus on the brats, we will study the blind donkeys," the 27th Landgrave, a baby-faced doll with curly ck hair, saidand none dared contradict him.


    For the Gods and Dream Seers, the Abyssal River and Obsidian Soul Stone mine werends of abundant resources and opportunities they could use to rapidly enhance their strength. As long as the river didn''t devour souls, this was correct. Only Weeping Soul and his top four elders knew of the river''s true identity: A slumbering, underground faction of the Lost Era whose location shifted across the First Range, surfacing only in ces of war, death and abundant souls.


    In the past, whoever took control of the Abyssal River merely obtained an inert treasure capable of refining flesh and souls to strengthen the master. But the river ultimately consumed its lord, making the expert "mysteriously" vanish from the cultivation world. But thanks to Weeping Soul''s malignant efforts, the entity hidden within the river would soon awakehow could she not hug him tight?


    As for Harun? He was just that tasty.


    In the meantime, the First Range went from a ce of disturbing social dynamics to a full-blown nightmare. The Dark Stone City aside, random fissures appeared across the Range, sparing no country. Wherever they popped up, crevasses and pits formed, swallowing the nearby men and women. Panic followed immediately.


    As if war, famine and death weren''t enough. Now the earth itself rose in rebellion, threatening to conquer the world. At the summit of despair, the Dark Stone Countries'' citizens no longer had any doubt:


    "The apocalypse hase."

 Chapter 109: If Only Ifs Could Remake the World

    Chapter 109: If Only Ifs Could Remake the World


    At the border of the Dark Stone country, the terrible sh between the Serpent Totem and the top three Gods raged on. The 9 remaining deities considered joining the battle dance, but realized early...the pointlessness of such a move.


    Expansive clouds of dark-green smoke encircled the me Spirit King, Armored Bull Commander, and Uncorrupted Crane Mistress. One after the other, the elite soldiers they marshaled across the sky turned into bone debrisfollowing the demise of their Door Gods. As long as the invoker breathed, Door Gods and the Divine Hosts couldn''t perish. However, without extraordinary means, it could take years, if not decades, for a Door God to reform, restore the lost troops, and again lead his divine master''s army.


    Knowing this, the Serpent Totem merged with the Hundred Insect Formation, and targeted the Door Gods firstthey couldn''t resist its might. "No matter how destructive, fists are fists. As long as the beast remains in this intangible state...how can we strike it down?" The bystanding deities asked one another. Meantime, the three leaders'' proud faces twitched uncontrobly. This wasn''t a fight, but an insulting proof of their own helplessness. If this went on, it wouldn''t be long before they lost all their forces. Knowing they still had benefits to fight for and faction wars to win, the three couldn''t let this show go on.


    The Uncorrupted Crane mistress was the first to withdraw her troops, and tapping her cosmic pouch, she summoned a ck-white, feathered fan, and waved at the misty formation. Great wind squalls took off, blowing the green smoke clouds out of the wayonly for them to reform a second afterward. Her nted eyes narrowed, and as her grip unknowingly hardened around the fan, veins bulged across her arms and temple.


    Not wasting energy and treasures attempting to get rid of the formation, the two others merely sent their troops back into the gates, and with a dignified look, stared at the noxious formation. Even without direct contact, the more time they spent here, the weaker they got. Toxic fumes of unknownposition seeped into their bodies, dulling their senses bits by bits. Worse, the Serpent Totem sometimes regained his physical shape to assault them at unpredictable angleslike now.


    A far-reaching serpentine tail sprang out of the smoke clouds, smashing into the Crane Mistress'' left side. With her focus ruined by her suppressed anger, the Uncorrupted Crane didn''t react in timeeating the blow head-on.


    BANG!


    By the time the Armored Bull Commander and me Spirit King caught the serpent''s trail. The Crane Mistress had flown past them, heading straight into the noxious clouds'' embrace. An indignant cry left the sect mistress'' lips, and assuming her true form, she turned into a mammoth-sized crane, and whirled into the sky instead. There, the serpent and its dropping wsy alreadyweing the Crane Mistress by tearing bloody gashes through her splendid, feathered skin.


    Seizing this opportunity, the Armored Bull Commander shot at the Serpent Totem, and at several times the speed of sound, smashed his war hammer right into the totem''s foreheadagain hitting a puff of noxious smoke. Realizing he leaped straight into death''s embrace, the Bull Commander pushed his cultivation base to the limit, diving fast enough to avoid a lethal strike. The Serpent Totem''s tail pierced through the Armored Bull Commander''s left shoulder, and while the bull gritted his teeth to silence the pain, the serpent''s body reappeared at the Crane Mistress'' back.


    Opening its maw, the Totem released the World Devouring Serpent n''s signature skillDivine Power: Devouring.


    "No...no...nooo!" Irresistible suction force trapped the Uncorrupted Crane Mistress. Unleashing every bit of her cultivation base, she thrashed against force, but the poison and wounds she suffered from reduced her strength drasticallymaking failures out of all her attempts. Maintaining a cold, apathetic gaze, the Totem grabbed the goddess'' wings and with one yanktore them off!


    "AAAAAAAAARGH!" A shrill, mournful cry flew out of her beak. But to herplete horror, the Totem didn''t stop, opened its maw, and sank its jagged teeth into her slender neckripping her head off!


    "MISTRESS!" In the distance, the Celestial Knight disciples of the Uncorrupted Crane Sect roared at their mistress'' gory end. Several rushed forward, toote, too weak, yet eager to alter fate. The totem, barbarous and relentless, gave them no opportunity and spat on their vain attempt by spitting the crane mistress'' head out. At that time, the me Spirit King became a ming red sword meteor, and sparing not one bit of his cultivation, stabbed into the Armored Bull Commander!


    Even as the me Spirit King pierced through his heart and reappeared at his back, even as his body burned to ashes and his soul broke down, the Armored Bull Commander couldn''t understand why the ally of an instant...became the sword that imed his life. Unfazed by this development, the Serpent Totem yanked its tail out of the roasted bull''s shoulder and swept it at the desperate crane disciples instead.


    Patted like fleas, three cratered amidst the awestruck mortals, their lives and death uncertain. A fourth was less fortunate andnded right in the totem''s ws. Knowing she couldn''t survive, the fairy didn''t struggle, and cast ast, defiant stare at the totem''s eyes. But chilled to the bone by the crushing coldness she found within...she couldn''t articte. "W-without that formation...i-if m-mistress fought y-you head on...she wouldn''t...l-lose," Loyal to the end, she still blurted those words out.


    "If only ifs could remake the world," the totem started in a rare show of acknowledgment. In that instant, the fairy saw an endless pit of rage concealed underneath the mask of coldness. "You and I wouldn''t be here." The beast''s massive ws tightened around the fairy, squashing her into blood and gore.


    A silence of confusion fell on the scene. The Serpent Totem turned to face the me Spirit King, who met it with a broad grin. "Heaven blesses you. If not for your help, I couldn''t have gotten rid of those pesky two fellows so easily. But I''m confused. Why aren''t you surprised?" The me Spirit King crossed his arms behind his back and asked in a jovial tone. From the start, he restrained his true abilities, waiting for a single opportunity to clean his rivals. As long as those two were out of the way, the mine n could carry on without hindrances.


    "Because I ate Sangar," the totem leisurely replied. The me Spirit King''s face turned livid, and the serpent''s tail stabbed at his neck.


    Surprise shifted back to amusement as the me Spirit King turned into a ze that soared upwardbreaking free of the formation to reappear before the bystanding Gods. Nine white rays shot from his forehead, piercing through the Gods'' Sea of Consciousness to take control of their bodies. Toote to resist, all instantly turned into the me Spirit King''s puppets.


    "Sangar? Goodd. My Diljem Blood Crows made much progress under his leadership. As his father, I have no regrets. A pity that in this era, juniors do not have the time to grow. Only those capable of wrestling extraordinary opportunities cane out on top. Failures need not be mourned. That said..." the me Spirit King started, then cast his Divine Sense beyond the Dark Stone Citylocking on the Obsidian Soul Stone mine.


    "I have opportunities to wrestle."


    Blood-red chains shot out of his back, stabbing into the hundreds of Celestial Knights to channel their strength. Armed to the teeth, the me Spirit King became an unstoppable shaft of light, dragging those celestials like rag dolls as he rushed into the Obsidian Soul Stone mine.

 Chapter 110: Destructive Identity

    Chapter 110: Destructive Identity


    "How did you know that the me Spirit King''s strength went so far beyond what he first showed?" Gulseni asked the Serpent Totem. As the head of the Vermilion Brides, she had ess to kilometers worth of information, and knew the me Spirit King''s true identity: Azad Diljem.


    Over 20,000 years ago, Azad Diljem led the Diljem Blood Crows as the n master. Just like Sangar, he first served as Blood-Feather City''s lord, but after bing a top-tier Celestial Knight, was promoted to be one of the Edict Supervisors of the Divine Pce. A promotion from the sixth to the fourth rank of officialdom wasn''t unheard of. But as such graces were typically reserved for the top ns, Agiri''s move drew much criticism. Azad, however, did his job to perfection, and shut down all the voices.


    A pity that hemitted the one mistake all sane men under the heavens stayed clear fromfalling for the God-Emperor''s wife: Dilnaz. After the matter was exposed, the mad Agiri considered that a man couldn''t be held ountable for his heart. And since Azad never attempted anything improper, he merely expelled him from the pce.


    At first, Azad sank into depression. Hedonism soon reced it, turning the hardworking celestial into a notorious rake and dual cultivator that gave zero fuck for his n''s wellbeing. So deep was his fall that he willingly worked for the Dragon n to learn their core Dual Cultivation methods. Sangar was only one of the many children he sired across the years.


    Following the Grand Cataclysm, Azad fled for the Mountain Edge World, founded a divine kingdom in the Second Range, and thenceforth proimed himself the me Spirit King.


    "ording to Sangar''s memories, he drained a fifth-level Ascending Goddess'' cultivation to breakthrough to the same level. The gap between each God level is extreme. Those who can cross it often rely on extraordinary means. Either they cultivated better methods, have unique physiques, souls, bloodlines, treasures, or Forbidden Techniques. He belongs to thest category and holds more tricks than he just showed," the Serpent Totem replied.


    "Since you already know that, why didn''t you share it with us?" Recalling how she seriously warned the totem about the three, Gulseni couldn''t help but feel stupid.


    "I am Master''s guardian and extra shell. What I learn, he learns. Only Master matters. The rest of you are not worth a fart...unless Master states otherwise, of course," the Serpent Totem directly replied, then shifted his attention to the mortals below.


    The me Spirit King''s betrayal brought the border disturbance to an end. Without any divine force to lead the vanguard, and a strength gap the size of the multiverse, the mortal forces lost any hope of breaking into the Dark Stone Country. At the same time, the generals received news from their respective monarchs and families, warning them of the dangers thrashing theirndthat soon proved unnecessary.


    Crevasses opened beneath the armies, making thousands tumble down pits of unfathomable depth. Screams and chaos red among the troops. Some butted into one another as they broke into desperate sprintsstumbling, rising, lurchingall to escape the crevasses and pits. With a breath of time, the pits had ravaged half the army. Only those cultivators riding their flying disks and shuttles escaped the disaster.


    Gulseni didn''t even have the time to rage and rebuke the Serpent Totem that this apocalyptic spectacle grabbed her attention. "The fuck is this?" She lost hernguage. The brides at her side were scared out of their wits. But the totem maintained its cool, as if such scenes weremon matters, with no weight on its soul.


    "Back to the n. You''ve spent too much time between Master and Mukri. Language shows. Might as well settle with one. When Master needsdies to bear him an invincible army, don''t forget to sign up."


    "Funny."


    "I never jest."


    In the meantime, a youth sat underneath a tree which glowed in rainbow light as if to reflect his enlightenment. Even in this chaotd where the sky had turned red, and the ground split open to swallow the living en masse, everything around this youth remained inplete harmony. Birds chirped on the tree branches. Foxes, racoons, rabbits, cats, dogs and hyenas, animals that should have never stood together, freely yed, raced and rolled around the youtharound Birandar.


    Mukri, who for days had been captivated by this iprehensible scene, couldn''t help but wonder if perhaps...this wasn''t the legendary Pure Land. He wasn''t incorrect. Everything in a five meters radius of Birandar had turned into and of purity and harmony where enemies of a lifetime could gather and hold a civil debate.


    But though doing so broke his heart, Mukri knew that with the cataclysmic changes conquering the First Range, they had to leave as soon as possible, and either return to the n or find Harun. Thus, after preparing an all-conquering speech, the Bull emerged from hiding and trotted toward Birandar. Instantly, the boy''s three eyes opened, and calmly stared at Mukri, who felt disarmed by the stare, and floundered for a moment.


    "Hum, hum! I am the Bull of Heaven, the divine envoy dispatched by His Glorious Eminence, the Venerable Lord Birusk, to lead you ac" Mukri regained his confidence and started his speech. But before he could finish, Birandar cut: "I know who you are."


    Again, Mukri staggered. Not only did the boy not fear the appearance of a mammoth-sized, talking bull, but his three eyes seemed to see through his entire existence, leaving him exposed and defenseless. It was almost as if Harun had been ying the imposter all along, forcing the true Lord Revtion to return to the world and expose the false idols.


    Birandar''s lips curved into a smile, and after giving each of his many pets a gentle pat, he stood up. In Mukri''s eyes, the tall and muscr youth had never looked more imposing. Gentle, yet invible. If he again stepped into those viges, even with 10 heads and 20 arms, the vigers would merely kneel and ask for guidance.


    "I''m ready. Let''s go." Birandar dered and walked past Mukri.


    "Where?" More confused than ever, Mukri asked as he followed Birandar''s steady steps.


    The youth''s eyes looked beyond the forest, beyond the Dark Stone City, bypassing even the Obsidian Soul Stone mine as it sought one person: "To find my master."


    In a distant verse far beyond the Heavenly Dream Land''s reach, in the most exalted pce of the omniverse, the Devil Ancestor sat on an irresistible woman''sp. With calf-length ck hair, slit eyes of an alluring emerald hue, and a figure that put goddesses to shame, that woman oozed enough sex appeal to make seasoned priests question their faith.


    The two fed cherries to one another, she first, he next, and so on.


    "You haven''t peeped on him for a while. Sure you don''t want to take a nce?"


    "With you here, I can''t split my focus."


    "Smooth. I like." The emerald-eyed woman gleefully replied and rewarded her man with another cherry.


    "Though, I must admit that they all face a greater struggle than we ever did back then: a destructive identity. Find the identity, challenge the identity, then either ept or transcend the true self," she mused in an absentminded tone.


    "Why can''t they do both?"

 Chapter 111: Never Play with a Plaguebringers Nerves

    Chapter 111: Never y with a guebringer''s Nerves


    As the Serpent Totem battled the second range''s Gods, all details of the sh appeared in Harun''s mind. Thus, when the me Spirit King''s potent aura spread across the mine''s walls, he wasn''t surprised. There was only one entrance to the mine, and so far, Harun and Jiyan only found one crossroads. Unlike the me Spirit King who raced across the walls as if his life depended on it, the two maintained an unhurried pace. So, by the time they reached the second crossroads, the me Spirit King was already on their trails.


    Yet, this was far from being the gravest problem. Six roads now stood before the pair, each leading to unknown areas. The Mystery of Space pervaded the atmosphere, twisting the senses of all cultivators treading the Obsidian Soul Stone Mine. At the previous crossroads, they could still track the Soul Refining Hall''s fodder disciples'' trails. But now it was as if one person could stand at ten thousand spots at the same time.


    But as Harun prepared to test his Eye of Luminous Treasures, the temperature across the mine rose to volcanic heights, and a ming greatsword shafted past the cavern walls, aiming straight for his skull. This time, a three meters tall oak tree formed behind Harun, stopping the ming greatsword at its trunk. Ember sparks and shock-waves marked the first confrontation between Harun and the me Spirit King.


    The ming greatsword rolled back. Nine Puppet Gods and hundreds of chained celestials stood at its back, ready to feed its might or obey itsmands. A visible dent formed on the Evil Soul Tree, then vanished subsequently. "Not bad. This blow wasparable to a third-level Ascending God''s strike. Seems like we''ve underestimated the First Range. So many delightful experts and resourcesalmost makes me wish that you were female," the me Spirit King chortled as he went from a greatsword to a red-haired middle-aged man.


    Subsequently, his eyes shifted to Jiyan who''d kept her disguise to avoid letting news of her identity and presence spread. As he couldn''t feel the two''s cultivation, the me Spirit King resorted to a quick probe. But besides the Evil Soul Tree''s defense level, he learned nothing of use. But as his gaze lingered on Jiyan, dark mist flickered in his ming-red eyes, and the staggering level of Yin Essence her body concealed became as clear as broad daylight.


    At first, the me Spirit King almost leaped with joy. But shifting his eyes to Harun, he realized that thetter''s body carried even more Yin Essence, albeit more berserk and uncontroble: Extreme Yin. "Extreme Yin is...cultivable?" The me Spirit King''s eyes widened with greed. If Jiyan represented a priceless cultivation resource, Harun became his hope to defeat the ancestral truth that neither Extreme Yin nor Extreme Yang could be cultivated. If he could snatch such secrets, in the future, his cultivation would improve by leaps and bounds, and his hope of surpassing the Saint-Empress would no longer be a mere dream.


    From the start, Harun didn''t pay the me Spirit King much attention. True, even at peak condition, unless he used his other self''s palm skill, his actual battle-power didn''t exceed the second-level of the Ascending God Realm. But with nine million incense points, if he didn''t want a wound, mid-level Gods could not injure him. However, once he felt the rapacious gaze aimed not only at him but Jiyan, hisposure broke, his heart drummed, adrenaline gushed forth, and the Decaying Flower appeared before the Evil Soul Tree.


    Icy-blue waves of Extreme Yin Essence flooded the area, instantly freezing the ming chains holding the hundreds of Celestial Knights captive. Having never confronted Extreme Yin before, the me Spirit King didn''t expect that even those chains that carried the Mystery of Souls couldn''t resist its pressure. No, it was precisely because they carried that mystery that they couldn''t. Before Extreme Yin, the average fire and soul skill couldn''t resist.


    Frightened, the me Spirit King unleashed his Heavenly Qi, attempting to restrain and erase the Extreme Yin''s pressurea step toote. The ming chains snapped, freeing the hundreds of Celestial Knights from his control. Spiritual incense billowed from Harun''s form, gathering in his right palm to form a golden light orb of over 100,000 incense points.


    Harun clenched his fist, the incense orb snapped, a blinding sh of golden light dazzled the me Spirit King making his nine puppets rebel and assault him with their full strength!


    BANG!


    Seven at the third level, two at the fourth. United by their hatred-consumed hearts, the nine Ascending Gods struck out, and destabilized by both Harun''s move, the me Spirit King failed to react. The nine divine strikes mmed into the wide-open God, sending him spiraling past Harun and Jiyan to crash into the leftmost road. Regaining their wits, the hundreds of Celestial Knights didn''t stay idle. The nine Gods didn''t hesitate either, and all shot past Harun to batter the me Spirit King.


    "Presumptuous!" He roared and turned into a sea of mesdisying the might of his Fire Mystery. Thanks to the Forbidden Techniques he cultivated, the me Spirit King quickly reached middle-aplishment in the Fire and Desecration Mysteries, enabling him to support a rapid cultivation growth and terrible battle power.


    Just like with the Serpent Totem''s formation, in this incorporeal me form, the average celestial or deity couldn''t harm him. This was the true worth of Mysteries. They gave ess to so many unique and exceptional abilities that the pure destructive might of deities could easily be useless.


    Shrill screams thundered as dozens of unfortunate Celestial Knights fell into the mesburning to ashes. The Gods and remaining Knights halted their moves, but incensed, the me Spirit King didn''t n to spare any. "Since you don''t cherish the opportunity of bing my meatshields, what purpose do you serve?" He spat and unleashed thousands of me bolts that rained on his foes like a meteor shower.


    Harun raised his right hand. Bolts of spiritual incense flew into the nine deities, filling them with unprecedented courage and endless strength! In that instant, each had the misconception that across the Ascending God Realm, none could resist them. Waves of Heavenly Qi streamed against the me Spirit King''s fire rain. An ear-splitting st followed, and seeing the nine Gods stand without a scratch, the me Spirit King was forced to admit that with this surge of strength, they didn''t have to fear him either.


    His eyes looked past them, seeking Harun, the puppeteer who all along controlled the battle''s flow. Dark-blue tendrils visible to Harun and Jiyan only stabbed into the me Spirit King''s incorporeal form, pumping a glistening liquid straight into his soul. The Attachment Venom kicked in, his surroundings changed, and as hended in a world of endless wealth, madness, extravagance and debaucherywith trees of pure gold, golden leaves and fruits at arm''s reachthe me Spirit King realized that he''d made a terrible mistake.


    But if his high cultivation base enabled him to maintain some sanity, the hedonist in him couldn''t resist the call of attachment, and before he knew it, his body drowned in fountains of wine. Dilnaz''s figure appeared in the Corrupt World''s sky, making the gold, wine and ongoing madness feel irrelevant. With a radiant smile, she spread out her arms. The me Spirit King''s cultivation base gave one thousand warnings, but faced with this once in a lifetime opportunity to embrace the woman his dreams and nightmares revolved around...he couldn''t resist.


    "Empress...Dilnazmy empress," the me Spirit King whispered as he flew toward Dilnaz. But the closer he was, the farther she looked. The acme of excitement and frustration abused his soul, leading to theplete copse of his consciousness.


    In the real world, the me Spirit King had returned to corporeal form, and kneeled before the deities with a stupid smile stretching his lips. But as they wondered what they owed this extreme change to, Harun stepped forward, plucked out the me Spirit King''s eyes, and tossed them aside like a piece of trash.

 Chapter 112: Dont Let him Bow!

    Chapter 112: Don''t Let him Bow!


    Chills ran up the deities and celestials'' spines. Rage or satisfaction; from beginning to end, Harun''s face showed no emotion. It was almost as if the matter had nothing to do with him, as if he just passed by to clean up the trash, then move on to more pressing matters. Despite his empty, bleeding eye sockets, the me Spirit King''s face kept that same stupid smiledrooling to no end.


    A step behind the Gods, Jiyan observed the development with a keen interest, nodding and pping several times to show her support. "Oooh...how protective. You''ve just been promoted from lifetime boyfriend to lifetime husband material. Though, for future references, you will have to work on that volcanic rage explosion. Cute, but almost scared me to death," Jiyan said in a mental message, half-serious, half-jesting. Though she could stand up for herself, she knew that there were times where she had to show some restraint and give her partner the opportunity to remind the world that she always had a shoulder to lean on.


    But with the Karmic Link and proximity, she could feel things others couldn''t. Harun plucking out the me Spirit King''s eyes was just the tip of the iceberg. If he could rip him to shreds, he would. However, the Heavenly Qi sheltering a fifth-level Ascending God''s life wasn''t something Harun could break at the moment. Even if the me Spirit King stood utterly powerless, Harun couldn''t kill him. Needless to say, he didn''t take that well.


    "Sure. Next time, I will prepare unparalleled Lineage Cutting Pills and solve the problem with guebringer diplomacy," Harun jested. But then Jiyan''s odd words pealed, and ignoring the me Spirit King, he spun to face her. "Wait, wait. Lifetime boyfriend to lifetime husband? There''s a difference?"


    "Nah, I just needed something to promote you to. Can''t let you get too conceited and think that you''re at the top already...even if it''s true," Jiyan straightforwardly replied.


    "That was strangely smooth," impressed, Harun blurted out.


    "I learned from the best."


    But as the two''s mental exchange carried on, dark-purple mes zed in the me Spirit King''s eyes. A spontaneousbustion followedsetting the fallen God''s body aze. "No!" The celestials raged, but by the time the nearby deities made their move, a child-sized purple me version of the me Spirit King had escaped from the body and shot into the distance.


    "Damn it!" One of the Gods mmed his fist against the cavern wall, sending tremors throughout the ground. On the contrary, it was Harun who remained stoic.


    "You let him escape?" Jiyan asked in another mental message to which Harun calmly nodded. "That man is rather resourceful. I already knew that he possessed a secret technique that let him sacrifice the body to take control of the soul and ensure his survival in desperate times," Harun started. Without secret arts, the Heavenly Dream Land''s cultivators had very little control over their souls. Even an Empyrean Monarch couldn''t escape death by relying on the soul only. "Escape is a big word, though. Since he sumbed to the venom, his existence is ruined. We can use what little juice he has left to mess with Weeping Soul''s ns."


    Although the Space Mysteries pervading the atmosphere messed up his tracking abilities, by relying on the nearby Karmic Threads, Harun could see what road Weeping Soul took. Was it the right one? He couldn''t tell yet. But as long as the weakened me Spirit King and Weeping Soul restrained one another, he could profit from their strife. Activating his Eye of Luminous Treasures, Harun sought and located the mine''s treasure troves and now no longer doubted that both the me Spirit King and Weeping Soul headed for a disaster. But perhaps that was precisely what thetter sought.


    In this purple me spirit form, the fallen God put as much distance between Harun and himself as he could. Fear shone in his overstretched eyes, but as he neared the cavern road''s end, his soul weakened, forcing him to stop and pant on the ground. "Damn...damn it all! I...hate women!" The me Spirit King raged against his fate. With all the secret arts and the few Forbidden Techniques he cultivated, he didn''t doubt that he''d soon rise to prominencebing an entity at Sv''s level. At that time, how could Dilnaz resist him? Perhaps she''d offer herself willingly and satisfy his darkest fantasies. Then they''d hold hands and whisper love in one another''s ears.


    s, the sane man in the me Spirit King''s mind realized that he''d gone insane for that woman, and lost himself a long time ago. Thus, as love and hatred intertwined in his depraved mind, he med his fate on the opposite gender.


    "I don''t think they like you, either." But as the fallen God grumbled, a mocking voice came from the infinitely high ceiling. rmed, he raised his eyes, seeking the voice''s origin, "And who could me them," but that same voice now came from underneath him, and right below his chin, the head of a red-eyed doll of a youth watched him with mild interest. "Boo."


    "Aaaargh!" If the me Spirit King still had a heart, it would have stopped now. Leaping back, the ming soul attempted to rush out of the red-eyed youth''s range, but no matter how fast he flew, he still stood in the same spot. "Don''t bother. Unlike those ipetent Colossi, we Sanguine Dolls are true masters of Space. Even without that, I''d be damned if a mere little tiny God like you could escape from my hands.


    But Lucky you! Your soul is the second most potent of all the dimwits that rushed into this graveyard. Worth more than a billion mortal ants. Give your meaningless life purpose by helping sweet mother''s recovery," the 20th Landgrave said and popped out of the ground. With a nonchnt grab, he seized the me Spirit King''s neckdragging him down an invisible space portal.


    Though gravely injured, the fallen expert still possessed 5% of his original strength, more than enough to defeat a fourth-level Ascending God. But in that doll''s hold, all strength left his body. "Path Suppression? How can this tiny world have so many monsters?!" The me Spirit King wailedseeing through the genuine problemforever toote.


    Meanwhile, the nine Gods and their Knights faced Harun with vignce. On the one hand, they owed him their liberation from the me Spirit King''s grasp. On the other, they werepetitors aiming for the mine''s resources and wished nothing more than to see a rock squash him into meat paste. Dreading the abilities and ruthlessness he showed, they dared not make a move, but at the same time, Harun knew that with their cultivation bases'' protection, the non-hedonists among those Gods didn''t have to fear his Attachment Venoma stalemate thus settled in.


    "Brothers, please ept my apologies. As you know, the me Spirit King stops at no evil, engineered countless tragedies and is scorned by billions. My beloved wife almost became his victim, so in a moment of indignation, I lost myselfresulting in this gruesome show." Harun shed a polite smile and bowed to express sincere "regrets." Seeing this, the Gods and celestials breathed out sighs of relief and immediately changed their stances.


    "Nonsense, you sir are a model of our generation. If only one-third of this world''s men had such a righteous spirit, how could peace not reign?"


    "With an expert of your moral standard overseeing it, the First Range is blessed indeed."


    ttering words seeded one another while the deities masked their antagonism and fears under friendliness. Seeing this, Jiyan shook her head, foreseeing the disaster the fools couldn''t see.


    "Poor fellows. Whenever Harun bows, someone''s life is ruined."

 Chapter 113: Stranger Things

    Chapter 113: Stranger Things


    Straightening his back, Harun swept the gathered Gods and Knights. A mix of pity, reluctance and regret fluctuated in his brown eyes, putting them on tiptoes. "s," Harun sighed and turned heels. Knowing how his cons proceeded, Jiyan walked toward him. But as the two faked an exit move, the worried experts rushed after them. "Wait, wait. What do you mean by that?"


    "Isn''t it obvious?" Harun asked, capturing the audience''s attention. "The strongest among you deities are two fourth-level Ascending Gods. In the Second Range, this might allow you to stand tall. But in this ce, it won''t even be enough to pick the enemy''s teeth. To say nothing of you. As we speak, the me Spirit King has been captured and turned into food already." It was the truth. Thanks to his Attachment Venom, Harun knew precisely where the me Spirit King stood, and what he suffered at the moment. And though he''d yet to turn into a meal, whoevertter consumed him would instantly be vulnerable to Harun''s Attachment Venoma matter for another time.


    Harun''s words triggered a momentous panic. On the scene, who''d not witnessed the me Spirit King''s strength and various abilities? If even he couldn''t survive half an hour in this ce, what would be of them? The intermittent screams of the Soul Refining Hall''s disciples didn''t help the mood. Many considered retreat. But knowing that Harun or someone else might luck on some once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, knowing that the results of this exploration could redefine the Ranges'' leadership, they couldn''t shrink from the mine''s dangers.


    Golden incense shed around Harun, making the Gods recall the terrifying surge of strength they experienced earlier. Back then, even the me Spirit King at his best was nothing to fear. If they could again receive that strength boon from Harun, with theirbined forces, could they not seize the mine''s resources? In a sh, a flurry of mental messages followed.


    "This expert is even more resourceful than the me Spirit King and is no doubt the primary threat of this mine. If we could get a temporary strength boon from him, stay by his side, and harvest the mine''s benefits, we can eliminate him at thest juncture and keep the treasures for ourselves." One thought trumped the rest, and suppressing their evil grins, the deities bowed toward Harun.


    "Sir, with the extraordinary skills you disyed, this mine''s dangers must not mean much to you. However, four fists are still better than two. If you could bestow another strength boon on us, we could be your swords and shields across the mine, enabling you to focus on seizing the opportunities. We only ask that you spare us some scraps at the end," the deities'' chosen spokesman said, and alongside the others, bowed toward Harun.


    Inwardly, Harun sneered. Greed and hubrisbined often produced delightful specimens. Hang a bone under their noses and they jump into the pit with no second thoughts. Spiritual Incense didn''t have many offensive applications. As a source of Miraculous Powers, its main purposes were to assist, protect and enhance. Harun couldn''t use it to summon meteors or turn into toads those that got on his nerves...unless they secretly wished to be toads.


    Thus, to use his Miraculous Powers against the Gods, he first needed their cooperation. "For me, strengthening you is no trouble at all. Be it Gods or Celestial Knights, as long as you make a Dao Pledge to assist me, I can even make the change permanent," Harun offered, instantly making the Gods and Knights leap from joy. Without hesitation, they raised their hands at the ceiling and made their pledges.


    "As long as Your Eminence strengthens us, we pledge to help you secure the Obsidian Soul Stone mine and Abyssal River''s opportunities!" Their heart-stirring words reverberated against the walls.


    "How nave. Even if we help you now, can''t we kill you afterward? Poord mustn''t have much experience of the world," they thought. But while some regretted this cruel era that pitted man against man for the tiniest benefit, others looked forward to crushing Harun''s skull and robbing his soul of all the secrets it carried. Satisfied, Harun shed his new helpers a radiant smile, and raised his left hand.


    A basketball-sized golden orb formed above his palm, shimmering with unfathomable powers. If the deities'' greed could move and speak, it''d be screaming and wing at the orb already. With a rare show of willpower, they hid all traces of their nefarious desiresweing Harun''s boon with a dutiful stance. Hundreds of golden rays shot from the incense orb, stabbing and merging with the hearts and souls of the divine assembly. Instantly, while their bodies swelled with unprecedented strength, they all felt their minds filled with a miraculous glow that pushed them onto new levels of enlightenment.


    "Howmind-expanding!" So fulfilling was the high, that they didn''t notice their bodies rising from the ground to merge with one another.


    Indeed, before Jiyan''s astonished eyes, the nine Gods and hundreds of Celestial Knights fused to create a pir of golden incense in which the shadows of twisted and abhorrent forms rotated. A jam of lightning cracks and buzzing sounds marked the rotation''s end. A massive wolf''s head emerged from the light column, with four green eyes that nailed both Harun and Jiyan. Thetter stepped back instantly.


    The light column vanished, revealing the horror''s immense frame in its full nightmarish glory. Instead of the expected furred, four-legged body, Jiyan now faced a chimeric, jet-ck creature, with the body of a spider and the head of a four-eyed wolf whose long protruding tusks could gore a boar. Dark-green energies swirled around the creature''s eight legs, melting the ground and spreading noxious scents across the atmosphere. Exhaling green mes, the spider-wolf fiend ambled at Harun and bowed to show its devotion.


    "Congrattions. You''ve all obtained the strength to crush a fifth-level Ascending God. From now on, I will be relying on you to clear the way," Harun seriously said and patted the fiendish creature''s head.


    "In the Ancestral Land, some people would call this Fiend Creation. A now lost practice that in forgotten times used to be extremely popr. But I''m not even sure that applies here. Impressive," the system gave its approval.


    "Fiend? I''d say this is art. But forck of better words, let''s just call it and all future such battle beats...Chimeric Fiends," Harun nonchntly replied.


    "You even n to create more already? I wasn''t wrong about you. But before that...maybe you should stabilize your beloved first." The System reminded Harun of his neglect. By now, Jiyan had long fled his side, ran whence she came, and hid in a corner.


    "Oh,e on. You''ve seen worse," Harun, who couldn''t understand the "extreme" reaction, said.


    "No, I haven''t. It has only been getting worse. But at least before you kept things at a reasonable scale. Damn it Harun, for the love of all that is sacred, can''t you just once in your life make a deer? Why are you alwayspeting with yourself...to create stranger things?!"


    Jiyan sobbed, making Harun realize that perhaps, just perhaps, he''d gone overboard. But recalling thatunless he died earlyhe''d soon reach the Monstrous Realm, Harun regained his cool. If she couldn''t even handle his abominations, how could she face his abominable forms.


    But as the two negotiated a truce, a tter of armored footsteps came from the front, back, and all corners of the six roads. And though no aura matched the steps, the two didn''t doubt that the mine''s first dangers had reached their doorso to speak.

 Chapter 114: Mythical Tyrant (1)

    Chapter 114: Mythical Tyrant (1)


    Ignoring the Chimeric Fiend''s horrific presence, Jiyan reappeared beside Harun, focusing her senses on the legions approaching with great strides. 31 squads of 600 colossi each crowded the various paths. Space itself bent to amodate them, enabling the 18,600 giants to lock all escape roads. With military discipline, the leading groups stepped forth to surround Harun, Jiyan, and the Chimeric Fiend. Hundreds of hulking, armored creatures, each with a disturbing pair of golden eyes, trod the ground, walls, air and ceilingstifling the atmosphere. The shortest were over 3 meters tall, whereas the tallest towered at 12 meters.


    "15,000 at 3 meters. 3,000 at 6, 600 at 12. If we consider that those Space controllers in the recesses of the mine are at God-level, this should be a Celestial Kin, Guard and Knight hierarchy," Harun started, yet felt no relief. In typical times, even one thousand times such numbers couldn''t deter him. Raw quantity didn''t make up for raw quality. However, this was only valid if the opponents didn''t rely on formations. Even the most unsophisticated of Offensive Formations could turn such an army into a God-ying machine.


    And while he couldn''t sense any formation, Harun didn''t believe that the opponent was so stupid that despite trading blows with Jiyan, it''d send fodders to their doomhe was right. The armored giants'' golden eyes lit up. Metallic dust particles sprouted from their bronze armors, bing a storm of rust that hid the soldiers from Harun and Jiyan''s senses. Worse, the rust storm connected them to one another, enabling their strength to ovep.


    "And now I wish we brought Mehran with us. After refining the fifth elder''s soul, how is your formation level?" Jiyan asked. In terms of formation talent, Mehran was undoubtedly the Birusk n''s freak. No one coulde close. And after sharing in the Soul Refining Hall''s fifth elder''s soul, his skills improved by leaps and bounds.


    "I am not a formation talent, but by digesting the fifth elder''s knowledge and abilities, I made many gains in that area. So, while I haven''t had the time to process all those gains, on understanding alone, I wouldn''t lose to an eighth-star Formation Master," Harun exined, but all his probes failed to spot the Rust Storm Formation''s Eye. The Eye was the formation''s core, so typically, a Formation Master couldn''t control the setup from a distance. But here, perhaps thanks to the mine''s structure or Space Mysteries, the Formation Master managed to manipte his formation from miles awaya formidable skill.


    Now trapped at the center of the rust storm, with virtually no knowledge of their opponents'' destructive potential, neither Harun nor Jiyan could rush head on and attempt to break the formation with sheer strength. Thus, while Harun''s Eye of Luminous Treasures had already located the nearest treasure trove, without getting rid of these armored giants, they would never have the opportunity to enjoy them.


    Dozens of rust-shaped cannons sprouted from the storm, all aiming for the pair. Instinctively, the Chimeric Fiend howled and spat out webs of silver silk that rolled and shifted to form a cocoon that sheltered it alongside its masters. Maroon orbs shed at the cannons'' tips, the rumbling sound of relentless artillery followed, battering the duo''s acute hearing. The Chimeric Fiend''s silk cocoon could resist a fifth-level Ascending God''s strike without a dent. But as the session of maroon beams bombed the webs, some threads snapped, creating openings for the rust storms to explore.


    A shower of rust javelins poured on the silk cocoon, forcing the Chimeric Fiend to stay on the defensive and reinforce its.


    Harun thus gained an urate picture of the enemy''s strength, and realized that while they could use their skills to ensure their survival, they couldn''t force their way out, either. Down the road, that stalemate would lead them to destruction. "Bless me with your Spiritual Incense so I can erase the formation with my Withering Essenceor at least cleave open an escape road," Jiyan offered, and it was indeed the only pertinent option. Unfortunately, this was a short-term solution to a much bigger problem.


    First, the armored giants were just a probe. The true experts were watching their every move, treating their struggle like a game of cat and mice. Even if they broke free, they wouldn''t get far.


    Second, Harun''s soul was in no good shape. The cycle of prayers going on in the Dark Stone City was taking its toll. Worse, faced with apocalyptic disasters that spared none besides the Dark Stone city, citizens of nearby towns and viges cast their hopes at the magnificent golden barrier, dispatched cultivators for help, and would soon realize who they had to pray to. Even without the armored giants to create trouble, those prayers would destroy Harun. At first, he hoped to find a stash of Obsidian Soul Stones, refine them to strengthen his soul, and attack the suffering-stage.


    But nothing could guarantee that he''d live long enough to grab those stones. There were only two foolproof solutions: A) Jiyan broke through to the Tri-Yin-Core stage, B) Harun broke through to the Suffering stage.


    "It is time to grow, but neither path gives us the tools for immediate progress," Harun whispered, more for himself than anyone else. And it was there that it struck him. Since when did he be so reliant on what the Path allowed him to do? Since when did he need the cultivation road''s help and blessing to transcend himself? If there was no door to salvation, why couldn''t he create one?


    A maniacal glint shed in Harun''s eyes, and with an unprecedented surge of determination, he turned, facing Jiyan with an almost rabid gaze. "After we leave this ce, you have to buy me 10 minutes," he dered, and though the madness in his eyes perturbed her, Jiyan didn''t lose faith in Harunnot now, neverand with unconditional trust, approved with her own grit. "I will give you 15."


    The words forced a chortle out of Harun''s lips, almost making him forget the endless bombardment awaiting them outside. cing his hand on Jiyan''s forehead, Harun flooded her body with waves of Spiritual Incense, blessing her already outstanding skills to make her strength shoot up. Summoning her Withering Sword, Jiyan swept her de in a 360 arc. Gray Withering Essence gushed out, erasing both the silk cocoon, maroon beams, and the rain of rust javelins dropping from all angles.


    Following the Eye of Luminous Treasure''s guidance, Harun nced at the spot furthest to the right, Jiyan''s sword followed his eyes, and with another swing, cleaved a path through the rust storm. The two shot through, the Chimeric Fiend raced after them, leaving shields of adamantine silk to resist the rust storm''s pursuit. Not even one minute of chase passed before Harun stopped and rammed his fists into the ground, excavating a stash of obsidian stones from which strange heartbeats echoed. But instead of refining those stones, Harun summoned his Evil Soul Tree, threw the stones at the starving nt, and sat crossed-legged in meditation.


    Immediately, the tree siphoned all energies in the stones, their heartbeats stopped, and retracting all his strengths, Harun fell into a trancmuning with the Evil Soul Tree to achieve minor aplishment in the Soul Mystery.


    By nting the Soul Seed and refining the Dream Seers, Harun had already achieved elementary insight in the Mystery of Souls. The Serene Soul Crystals and the Forgotten Soul Graveyard enabled him to deepen that insight. But for safe cultivation, Harun didn''t n to advance before several months of steady practice. Now, he no longer had that luxury.


    In a sense, the Evil Soul Tree and Weeping Soul Mantra carried the legacy of the Soul Emperor. Harun nowmuned with that legacy,prehending and challenging the Emperor''s insight to rush toward the next level. White fments flickered around his form while his skin turned deathly pale, then red, alternating between those two states as he stepped into minor aplishment.


    The Rust Storm again surrounded the trio, but taking the lead, Jiyan met it in a direct sh, forcing the armored giants to retreat with every swing of her nightmarish de. Within the formation, many of the armored giants turned into dust. And should things carry on this way, it wouldn''t be long before the whole team copsed. Yet...defeat never once crossed their minds.


    Meanwhile, following their "mother''s" directives, the Landgraves examined Weeping Soul and Harun. 8 of the 9 Berserk Colossi, each 33 meters tall, stared at the ongoing confrontation between the armored giants and Harun''s group. Only the First Landgrave, who controlled the formation, focused solely on Jiyan.


    "Mother''s choice is extraordinary. Even without a high-understanding of Soul Mysteries, he could locate the first batch."


    "Wasn''t that the mythical Sacred Eye mother sometimes rambles about?"


    "Nonsen"


    An absurd scene brought the colossi''s exchange to a hasty end. Harun achieved minor aplishment in the Soul Mystery. But in the next instant, broke his soul into countless particles, fused them with the Evil Tree, and set it all aze!

 Chapter 115: Mythical Tyrant (2)

    Chapter 115: Mythical Tyrant (2)


    "Shit...shit...shiiiiiiit!" The Ninth Landgrave, leader of the Berserk Colossi, mmed his throne''s arms as he cursed Harun''s move. His older brothers were no better, and even the First Landgrave, who untilthen only focused on Jiyan and the Rust Storm Formation, now fixed a muddled stare on the burning Harunnothe burning Evil Soul Tree. Harun as aplete, sentient entity had died the moment he shattered his soul into all those fragments. "Why? I don''t understand? Everything was going so well? Whymit suicide?"


    The Landgraves asked one another. From the start, they didn''t n to im Harun''s life. Between Weeping Soul and him, one was destined to be their mother''s food, while the other would either suffer the same fate or receive her favor. Although they didn''t know which one would get what yet...neither could die under their watch. If this mistake dyed their mother''s recovery, even ten deaths wouldn''t be enough to apologize.


    "Oooh. Sucks, sucks, sucks. You blew the whole thing, elder bros. I guess that''s it for you," the 20th Landgrave appeared to mock the Colossi. Eager for merit, he plucked and threw the me Spirit King''s soul into the Abyssal River. Thrilled by the soul''s potency, his mother gave him many praises and rewards, making him oozecence. At the peak of his glory, how could he not taunt those foolish, overgrown beans? Maybe a few wouldn''t be able to resist, enabling him to beat them ck and blue.


    But as the 20th Landgrave experienced schadenfreude at its best, the nine Colossi''s golden eyes lit up, forcing to shift his gaze back to the Harun''s image. There, the burning Evil Soul Tree sank its branches into Harun''s heart, and consumed his body! Yes, the branches became a conduit thatbits by bitsfed the entirety of Harun''s body and essence to the Evil Soul Tree. The mes went from red to green, from green to lc, and from lc to white.


    From the First to the Ninth Landgrave, even the 20th whose might far surpassed the Colossi...was scared out of his wits. "He''s turning himself into a circtory process, ying himself to return to life. Once his body bes a furnace and his heart turns into an ever-burning me, his body and soul can transcend all their limits and reach a terrifying level of potency. This...is Spiritual Alchemy. A human being can intuitively...call on andplete Spiritual Alchemy?" The 20th Landgrave blurted out. Even in the Lost Era, Spiritual Alchemy ranked among the worst of Forbidden Techniques. Too extreme and dangerous for both the caster and those that surrounded them, oftentimes it''d breed mad demons that went on catastrophic rampages to sate their endless hunger.


    Meanwhile, the Abyssal River bubbled in an unprecedented show of excitement.


    "I''ve never seen Mother this thrilled before. Sorry bros, I''m getting this one," the 20th Landgrave said, but even before the words left his lips, the First Landgrave had vanished and appeared before the Rust Storm Formation. "Hasty trash!" Eager to race and battle for the right to bring Harun to the Abyssal River, the nine others prepared their portals. But a step before they left, the Abyssal River sent the 20th Landgrave a mental message, making him stop abruptly.


    "Sweet mother, always knew you loved me best."


    ...


    As Jiyan''s sword danced against the armored giants'' formation, a 12 meters tall battle-ax shot out of the swirling cloud of rust, barreling into her like a stampede of mad bulls. Too fast for her to dodge, the battle-ax bashed in the t of Jiyan''s sword. Gray chains and Withering Essence gushed out, wrapping around the colossal ax to deflect and erode its might.


    BANG!


    Bouncing back from the impact, Jiyannded on her feet and raised her eyes to face the new entrant. An armored giant high of 33 meters, appeared at the very center of the formation, adding his strength to the mix. With the Rust Storm Formation making all its giants'' strength ovep, and his leading position in the setup, the First Landgrave''s might rose exponentiallygiving him the misconception that he could even overturn the Landgrave hierarchy. But eager to shatter those flimsy dreams, his younger brothers rushed out of invisible portals, dwarfing the formation with their presence alone.


    "Number one. How could you be so hasty? So greedy? Don''t you know that brothers should share everything? And that the eldest must make way for and shelter the younger ones? I know you can''t do much sheltering but...don''t forget your ce," the Ninth Landgrave jabbed.


    "This is my assignment! My Formation! Why...why must you always oppress me, rob my opportunities and drag me through the dirt?! We were born from the same source, yet each newborn receives more blessing than the previous one. I do not resent that, but instead of using your skills to make us all grow at a reasonable pace, the young suppress the old, maintaining this abject cycle where the oldest is scorned by all, and the youngest unanimously loathed by his elders! Damn it, what is wrong with you?!" The First Landgrave bawled at his younger brothers, but only managed to make them all burst intoughter.


    "Oh, please don''t cry. How unsightly. If the roles were reversed, wouldn''t you do the same? There is just an irresistible appeal" the Ninth Landgrave started, and at a speed that transcended all one could expect from such a beast, appeared above Jiyan with his right foot raised. "...in crushing your inferiors. Especially when they look so much like you."


    CRACK!


    The Ninth Landgrave stomped on Jiyan. Shaping her chains as a, with her sword acting as thest defense and Harun''s blessing fueling her, she resisted the monstrous foot. But her elbows snapped instantly. Without hesitation, Jiyan unleashed her Devil Essence. Dark-purple energies billowed from her form, healing the broken bones while massive feathered wings of that same hue sprouted her back.


    At first, the Colossus didn''t recognize the Devil Essence and didn''t think much of it. But seeing Jiyan steadily push him back, his eyes narrowed. Leaping into the air, the Chimeric Fiend spat foul miasma at the group. Golden light erupted from the Ninth Landgrave, dispelling the noxious substance.


    "Poison? Please. Refiners don''t fear such trifles." The Ninth Landgrave cast a disdainful gaze at the Chimeric Fiend. Three golden lightning bolt marks shed on his chest, creating a forcefield that reduced the might of Jiyan''s Devil Essence.


    "I seem to remember Mother iming that the Holy One created Refiners to help the weak to resist the influence of an ancient, malevolent force. Are you a member of that faction? If so...sucks to be you," the Eighth Landgrave chimed in, three golden lightning bolt marks also shed on his chest, albeit with less intensity than the Ninth.


    "You mean Devils? Mother rambles a lot. When have you ever seen Devils in the Heavenly Dream Land? Same thing goes for that Holy One. It''s all myths." Another Landgrave retorted, and as eight of the Landgraves debated, each unleashed his bolt marks. The lower numbers only had one, while the highest had three. From those bolt marks, Jiyan could feel an energy akin to Heavenly Tribtionas if each of those "refiners" fused the power of Tribtion Lightning in their armored flesh.


    Under the golden forcefields'' pressure, the nefarious energies in Jiyan''s Devil Essence became a crushing weight, and for the first time since she awoke it, that force became a liabilitymaking Jiyan feel that she missed something crucial before unleashing its true potential. The Landgraves didn''t n to let her unlock it.


    Tower-sized battle-axes and war-hammers filled the Berserk Colossi''s hands. Jokes and taunts made way for pure battlelust as the eight threw themselves into a macabre dance aimed at Jiyan''s life!


    Bang!


    A war-hammer smashed into Jiyan''s side. Her left devil wing moved on its own to resist the blow, but despite draining 90% of the impact, Jiyan still flew toward the adjacent cavern wall. Her bones shattered, blood dripped from her arm, but even before she crashed into that wall, a battle-ax cleft at her neck.


    Challenging the forcefields making her moves so sluggish, Jiyan avoided the de by a hair''s breadth and escaped into the airwhere another colossus'' foot shot out of a space portal and kicked her back toward the ground. Icy-blue waves of Elemental Yin shed with the forcefields, but with the Rust Storm Formation to support them, the Landgraves easily shattered Jiyan''s attempt.


    Not staying idle, the Chimeric Fiend rushed into the melee, spitting out silk threads to block and trap the Colossionly to get demolished by a single hammer swing of the Ninth Landgrave.


    In pure strength, even the Ninth Landgrave was only at the me Spirit King''s level. But due to the strange power of those golden lightning bolts, they could suppress all malevolent and toxic forcesputting guebringers and all manners of evil cultivators at a clear disadvantage. Jiyan didn''t believe they could use such a skill as they pleased, and knowing she only had one opportunity to turn the table, she endured, but after exchanging dozens of moves with the Colossi, blood streamed down her face, arms, chest and legs. Thus, while her appearance returned to her original Empyrean features, all the blood made her entirely unrecognizable.


    Her mind held on, but her knees gave out, forcing her to tumble down.


    "Valiant effort. Unfortunately, willpower alone cannot rewrite fate. For that, you need skill as well," the Ninth Landgrave seriously said and raised his hammer for the execution move. Knowing the battle was over, five of the top six Landgraves canceled their forcefieldsletting the ninth finish Jiyan with assurance. Even he could only maintain it for nine minutes per day. The bottom ranked had lost the protection of the golden lightning already.


    As they still had to suppress Harun, they couldn''t waste the four minutes they had left. But in that instant, the world became an achromatic zone where everything was ground to a still. An iprehensible force that seemed to incarnate freedom itself erupted from Jiyan, blowing the Ninth Landgrave''s pressure out of her way!


    Reappearing at the immobile Colossus'' back, Jiyan hacked at his neck, beheading him in a single move!


    At the peak ofcence, the ninth Colossus'' head leaped off his neck, rolling several meters before tumbling downlifeless.


    Not sparing a second, Jiyan rushed at the eighth, but by now they''d all snapped out of their trance. Their forcefields and the rust storm battered Jiyan''s Free and Unfettered Inner Truth, broke her Forbidden Zone, yet failed to hold her down. But before her sword lodged in the eighth Colossus'' forehead, the warrior traded an organ for his life, making Jiyan stab into his left eye instead.


    The Inner Truth stage of the Myriad Poisons Bridge didn''t bring a high leap in cultivation base, but instead enabled the guebringer to find their Inner Truth and from it evolve a Dao Art. Jiyan''s Dao Art enabled her to ignore most defenses and suppression for a short time. And knowing that the skill would only work once, she reserved it at risk of life.


    s...that wasn''t enough. Incandescent with rage, the Eighth Landgrave roared and smashed his battle-ax at Jiyan''s tiny body. But instead of the expected tearing sound and gore, a metallic ng echoed. A tree branch wrapped around Jiyan''s waist as another blocked the 12 meters tall ax. The Tree turned into Harun, whose golden double pupils looked over his beloved''s shoulderfixing the Eighth Landgrave with a spine-chilling rage. Rainbow-colored mes zed in the gue Overlord''s eyes, speaking tales of his mood.


    BANG!


    Before the Eighth could retreat, Harun''s left punch sted his head into metallic dustkilling him in one blow.

 Chapter 116: Mythical Tyrant (Final Part)

    Chapter 116: Mythical Tyrant (Final Part)


    From the moment Harun excavated the Obsidian Soul Stones, Jiyan locked her mind on one thing only: to resist all foes for 10 minutes. Regardless of the changes going on at her back, she didn''t shift focus, and so didn''t witness the various stages of Harun''s transformation. However, the sweet fragrance and kaleidoscopic mes flickering in her beloved''s eyes gave her the misconception that Harun performed alchemy on himself. It was as if his body had turned into a furnace, his heart into a me, and his soul became the pill produced by this esoteric refinementshe was correct.


    When Harun realized that his situation was utterly hopeless, that without extreme measures, all paths ended in death, he made the only choice madmen such as him would: to discard his soul. My soul isn''t resilient enough? Fine, I will destroy it and create a new one. Harun''s primary target was his soul, all fleshly gains were secondary.


    Toplete this mad gambit, Harun first reached minor-aplishment in the Soul Mystery, summoned his Evil Soul Tree and sated its appetite with the Obsidian Soul Stones. Only then could Harun shatter and feed the fragments of his soul to the tree without fearing it actively devouring them.


    His body became a corpse and his broken soul took over the Evil Soul Tree, enabling him to set it all aze. The spiritual fire burned all weaknesses and impurities in Harun''s new form, forcing him to transcend himself to achieve a new state of perfection. Likewise, by consuming his corpse, Harun not only drained all it offered, but removed the ws and perfected himself in this spiritual furnace.


    Although he didn''t know of this process beforehand and devised it from scratch, Harun also named it Spiritual Alchemy. And when it reached the culmination point, the Evil Soul Tree turned into a Scorching Soul Tree, with a kaleidoscopic me at its core: Harun''s Internal me.


    Now, while he''d yet to break through, Harun''s soul became seven-colored, making itparable to the best among Empyrean Monarchs. No amount of sufferings could restrain him any longer. A kaleidoscopic me acted as his new heart, his flesh reached the stainless state, giving this criminal chatan of a man a sacred aura.


    "Impressive. Your fleshly body has reached half-Anasrava level. If you could summon Heavenly Tribtion and condense the first bolt mark, you''d truly step on the refiner road. Refiners are different from cultivators. They do not seek to understand the mysteries of Heaven and Earth, in their eyes, the Dao is worthless. Their only goal is to liberate their fleshly body from all the shackles of existence. Still, thanks to the bolt marks, they can fuse mysteries with their flesh, enabling them to use abilities reserved for cultivators," the System exined. As it said when Harun created his Deste Corpse Guard, the System had serious doubts on whether he could survive the Suffering and Unyielding stages. The scourge points would turn a dreadful tribtion into an insurmountable nightmaremaking all gimmicks pointless.


    In such a situation, directing Harun to a road requiring more tribtions was no different from asking him to die. But now...things were different. "That said, it seems that you''re not done yet." The System added and was entirely correct. Still holding Jiyan in his right hand, Harun aimed the left at the ceiling, and as the Berserk Colossi recovered from their strongest two''s nigh-instantaneous fall, Golden Incense poured out of Harunmorphing into a statue of the gue Overlord: the Mythical Idol Incarnation.


    With the ever-increasing scourge values, Harun realized that the Mythical Idol was no longer enough to carry him across the Human Realm. Without a new form of existence, he couldn''t fulfill his true potential. And since the Six Incarnations Bridge didn''t have a pre-made one, he just had to upgrade his own.


    Kaleidoscopic me tongues gushed out of Harun''s palm, merging with and refining his Idol. A multicolored luster reced the previous golden hue, the idol became one with the me, and its gentle look twisted into an expression of wrath. With a grasping motion, Harun pulled the Incarnation back into his soul. A light column surged from underneath, wrapping him in its mystical glow.


    That glow went beyond the Mountain Edge World, beyond the Heavenly Dream Land and other Land-verses to connect to a world far in the Ancestral Land. There, angelic beings floated back and forth. Seated monks sang mantras, golden Sanskrit flew out their lipsforming stairways toward the sky where a marble-white temple hovered. There, a hulking monk sat on a lotus throne, with wrathful features that formed a severe contrast with his monastic garb.


    The monk''s eyes sprang open, revealing a full-red gaze that could make Emperors cower in utter dread. "Who...who dares contest my Right of Tyranny?" The wrathful monk barked and turned into a ck-white meteor that raced through the idyllic sky tond before a mountain-sized stele. On that stele, only one name stood: his. Across millions of years, this status quo remained unchanged. But now the stele trembled, eager to wee a new name.


    A whirlpool formed beside the monument, and to the hulking monk''s outrage, Harun''s soul appeared. Though the monk stood over two meters tall, with an aura so despotic that even the sun and moon dared not illuminate his skin, Harun ignored him, and stretched out his finger toward the stele.


    "Impudence! On the Six Incarnations Bridge, who dares challenge This Ancestor''s Dominion?! SCRAM!" The wrathful monk''s voice thundered across the ancient world, interrupting the meditation of billions of monks. Countless Divine Senses locked on the stele, Nirvana Saints emerged from their eons of seclusion, wondering who still dared engrave his name on the Stele of Tyranny.


    But when even those Nirvana Saints could only submit to the wrathful monk''smand, once it neared Harun''s form, the storm triggered by his voice dispersed. Before the billions of monks and Saints'' awestruck gazes, multicolored mist surged from the Stele, sheltering Harun from the wrathful monk''s fury. Harun turned, facing the monk with his Gold and Purple Double Pupils. The monk''s seething rage copsed instantly and, mouth agape, he staggered. Under the gaze of billions of experts, under the nose of an Ancestor, Harun raised his fist and punched the steleit shattered instantly.


    Multicolored fments flew out of the broken stele, feeding Harun''s soul toplete the final step and turn his Mythical Idol Incarnation into...a Mythical Tyrant Embodiment!


    Harun''s soul vanished from that world, but his double pupils never left the wrathful monk''s gaze. And despite the soul-tearing pain wreacking him, he focused on those eyes only. Endless emotions shed on his face. "It was true. The rumor was true. Revtion is alive, so Master...still breathes! Master still breathes!" Convulsing from excitement, the wrathful monk burst intoughter and spread his voice across countless worlds.


    "Our single opportunity to correct the past mistake hase. Dispatch all our experts at the Reincarnation Realm or above, scour the omniverse! Master is alive and needs us to lift him back to the peak! So long as Master returns, the Devil''s erratic reign...must end!"


    Meanwhile, Little Six and Dilnaz passed day and night in one another''spany. Well, more urately, clingy Dilnaz didn''t let go of Little Six, despite all his best efforts.


    "Look, Dilnaz, I love you but...don''t you have a life to go back to? No seriously, how many weeks has it been since you came into this mausoleum? I''ve already taught you so much. Aren''t you tired of me yet? Cause I''m tired of you!" Little Six ranted while Dilnaz prepared a dinner table with several heavenly dishes.


    "Master, open your mouth and say aaaa," ignoring all of Little Six''s falseints, Dilnaz raised her cake-filled spoon, and dangled it before him.


    "Really? Who do you think I am? Truly believe that a bit of cheesecake is going to make me fall? Huh, I must prove you wrong," Little Six said before opening his mouth wideletting Dilnaz spoon-feed him. Meanwhile, themandant hid in a corner and shook his head in disappointment. "The ancients were right. The garb doesn''t make the monk."


    After his initial refusal to take her as his disciple, Little Six copsed before Dilnaz''s instance and agreed to teach her some tricks in exchange of a few good meals. Little did he expect that Dilnaz actually carried cooking wares in her cosmic pouch and was more than ready to oblige. Defeated times and times again by the Saint-Empress'' culinary skills, Little Six realized that if he didn''t let her go now...he might never be able to.


    At the same time, Dilnaz had forgotten why she first came already, and wholly enjoyed this odd master-disciple dynamic. The initial apprehension had vanished as well, and now, even without the Duality Severing Secret, just by staying by Little Six''s side, Dilnaz felt at ease. Better, while this coarse cavern couldn''tpare to her magnificent pce, across over 200,000 years of existence, Dilnaz...never felt more carefree.


    "Oh my heaven...by all the lords and ancestors this feels sooo good! In other circumstances, I''d marry you." Little Six jested and tore through Dilnaz''s dishes.


    "Mhm...we can still arrange that. Though I must warn you, I have a daughter. That tends to put off some." Dilnaz followed suit.


    "What time is this? Negative 9,000th century? That''s fine. We can find someone that acts just like me to entertain her, so I can keep you all to myself," Little Six carried on with the joke, but here Dilnaz''s tone took a dramatic change. "Master, there is no one like you."


    A blend of sweetness and seriousnessced her words, but before Little Six could argue the opposite, his eyes went bloodshot. The bowl he held dropped on the ground, and he vomited blood.


    Under Dilnaz''s astonished eyes, Little Six''s form blurred like a defective hologram, and as the missing parts of his memories flooded himthe golden-eyed monk neared destruction.

 Chapter 117: Vestiges of the Past

    Chapter 117: Vestiges of the Past


    "No...no no nononono! Master! Master!" Dilnaz''s eyes stretched to their limit, and as she instinctively rushed to grab Little Six, despair surged in her ruthless heart. But as if he''d turned into a ghost or illusion, Little Six traversed her embrace, yet still dropped beside her. One moment, the golden-eyed monk regained a tangible form. The next, he returned to his illusory shape. As an expert of over 200,000 years, with countless trials, tribtions and tragedies at her back, Dilnaz was used to keeping her cool under extreme pressure. Without some mental maniptions at y, very few events could make her utterly desperatethis one did. Instantly, Dilnaz realized what her heart had long seen through. She''d grown dependent on Little Six''s gentle, carefree and exuberant nature. She loved doting on him and having him cajole and dote on her in return. Here, only the two of them mattered. The outer world was irrelevant. The simplicity of their rtionship had grown too sweet, too fast, and she couldn''t give up on it. Not now, not ever. And so Dilnaz panicked.


    "Master, I know you love jokes but this isn''t funny. You are so strong, what could ever go wrong with you? Master, please stand up. Why aren''t you standing up? Please! Please!" Dilnaz wed at Little Six, desperately trying to hold on to him. At times, her hands brushed his garb. But in the next instant, he became illusory again. Little Six''s face paled, and as memories of a past he''d rather forget resurfaced, he nced at the terrified Dilnaz and cast her a forced smile. "Dilnaz, I''m sorry, but I won''t be able to apany you any longer. Sorryfor misleading you but Ido not existnot in the proper sense. The Main Soul''s progress shattered my Right of Individuality. This is farewell," Little Six choked out the words, growing increasingly listless.


    The response brought Dilnaz nofort. Rage, confusion and unwillingness twisted her divine looks, but powerlessness reminded her that no matter how much she raged, she couldn''t alter something she didn''t even understand. "Idon''t understand. Master, you said it yourself. The world is infinitely vast. Even the Heavenly Dream Lands hosts thousands of worlds. The outer world is millions of times grander. Across this multitude of worlds, this vast omniverse, isn''t there a single person or thing that can help you? Master, just give me one direction and I will scour the omniverse, give my soul to the Devil if I mustto give you back your life. But first, please hold on and don''t die on me!" Dilnaz begged, not realizing that she''d broken into tears already.


    Inwardly, Little Six sighed. He wanted to tell her to not fret, that in a sh all problems would go away. But through his memories, he knew that there were only two ways to save him. Both uneptable. "The Devil, huh? Why would the one that killed me bring me back to life? Or perhaps it''s more urate to say that he helped me kill myself? Never mind that. Dilnaz, I know that all the meaningful men in your past have severely disappointed you. When you were young and weak, your father and uncles gave you three choices: attend your mother''s funeralsbe their shared dual cauldronor the God-Empress that served their faction''s interests.


    Too busy with his citizens to care for the Empyrean n''s internal matters, Agiri never once saw the abuse and brutality going on his house. When even death isn''t an option, to submit is all you can do. So you submitted, but while Agiri quickly became a wonderful spouse, when pushes to shove, there is only one thing he cares about: the Heavenly Dream Land. For that, he can even abandon his daughtersatisfying his conscience by leaving her the protection of his Mandate. To achieve freedom in the world of Gods, you craved limitless power and learned ruthlessness, but once faced with someone that only has you in his eyes, you lowered your guard. That''s not only toxic to yourself, but pointless sinceI''ve died a long time ago. Now whatever remainsare vestiges of the past. And Dilnaz, the past belongs to the past. To live splendidly, we must seekthe future," Little Six whispered, then copsed into light particlesleaving behind a golden orb carrying unfathomable energies.


    Dilnaz wanted to say that he was wrong, that she understood all that better than him, but in her life, didn''tck anyone devoted to her only. The me Spirit King was only one example among many. But among them, she never found someone worth her devotion. Hewas that different. Unfortunately, Little Six was gone. The orb couldn''t transmit her words. A sense of loss and hopelessness overwhelmed and robbed Dilnaz of all conscious response. She justy there, staring at the golden orb with nk, tear-soaked eyes.


    "Your Majesty, let me exin," the Commandant, Dilnaz''s sword, rose from his corner and returned to his mistress'' side. "Little Six''s true identity is Golden Cicada, the Dharma Ancestor. About 100,000 years after the Serpent Emperor left the Heavenly Dream Land, Golden Cicada lost his most beloved disciple to the Myriad Devil Pce''s ughter Ancestor. As all across the Ancestral Land know, the ughter and Empyrean Ancestors represent the Devil''s will. They do not make mistakes and only act on his orders. The events surrounding that disciple''s death are somewhatplex, but led Golden Cicada to obliterate half the Myriad Devil Pce''s experts, alongside several of their Ancestors, before finally meeting the omniverse''s ruler in battle.


    Their sh ripped the Ancestral Land asunder but also unveiled a fatal weakness in Golden Cicada''s Cosmic Law. Exploiting that weakness, the Devil turned the Cosmic Law against Golden Cicadadestroying him through Karmic Annihtion," the Commandant started, and though Dilnaz didn''t react to the words, he knew she silently processed them. "But as Golden Cicada drew hisst breath, out of love, kinship and duty, two people sacrificed their lives to save hisa terrible mistake. Those two killed him.


    Only the Devil Ancestor knew that Golden Cicada existed with the omniverse. Unless an expert erases all facets of the omniverse, all worlds and mysterieseverything including nothingnessthen erases himself, Golden Cicada would one day return. But by interfering with the Karmic Annihtion, they shattered his vanishing soul, enabling the main part to enter the reincarnation cycle while the lesser parts became Vestiges of his Existence that spread across the omniverse. And while the Main Soul holds most of the original self. Reincarnation has long erased Golden Cicada''s presence. Now, it''s also a vestige that at best can y tricks on the current self. Little Six was only one of the vestiges."


    "I don''t care! How can I bring Master back?" Dilnaz snapped, knowing full well that if he bothered speaking so much, the Commandant had the answer. And though she knew he hid countless secrets and likely manipted her to achieve his endsshe didn''t care.


    "That will be difficult. The Main Soul must have somewhat seized the Right of Tyranny in preparation for its future breakthroughs. This freed it from the vestiges'' pressure and canceled their Right of Individuality. Now, your only hope is to gather the other vestiges, unite them with the Main Soul, and let the past overwhelm him so Golden Cicada can return to this world. Fortunately or unfortunately, you''re not the only one hunting the vestiges. That Person has been doing this longer than you. That Person is the reason why Nak siphoned the Monstrous Beasts'' essence, That Person is the hand behind the Truth Scrying Grotto and will not rest until Golden Cicada''s radiant eyes again illuminate the world."


    "How can I find the Main Soul?"


    "You need to track down the two that attempted to save Golden Cicada at risk of life. Regardless of the incarnation, they''re never too far from him and ultimately be his protectors. One of them, you''ve met already: Harun Erdewan." Here, Dilnaz''s impatience turned into bewilderment.


    "Him? Impossible. How could it be?"


    "Yes. The Sovereign Pupils belong to Lord Revtion, formerly known as the Serpent EmperorGolden Cicada''sst disciple. Whoever owns them must be Revtion''s current incarnation. In the past, the eyes remained dormant. But thanks to the Peaches of Immortality, they fully awoke. He is still somewhere in this world. Find him, and he will lead you to the Main Soul without fail," the Commandant guaranteed.


    Taking in a deep breath, Dilnaz cast the golden orb ast nce, then stood up. Unbreakable determination shed in her eyes, and raising her hand, Dilnaz summoned a glowing red sword that stabbed into her skull. Instantly, her body broke into red particles that scattered to escape the mausoleum. The Commandant alone remained behind, and seeing how easily Dilnaz unleashed the Duality Severing Secret, he couldn''t help but shake his head.


    "The ancients were right. Emotions are such liabilities. Ancestral One, I wonderwhat are you thinking?"


    Meanwhile, Harun''s soul returned to his body, transforming it to fit the Mythical Tyrant Embodiment. The column of light dispersed, revealing Harun, who as before held Jiyan with utmost care.

 Chapter 118: Poison Immunity is a Hoax

    Chapter 118: Poison Immunity is a Hoax


    "Love, there is ''over the top,'' and then there is you. First it was golden incense and shrouds. Now it''s kaleidoscopic mes and multicolor incense. What''s next? The sun, the rain, the moon, the stars and the mountain? You put the bar too high already. In the future, how will you top that?" Jiyan asked with a zest of sass. Undisturbed, Harun ced his left hand on her forehead, releasing a surge of incense that healed her wounds and erased the blood stainsthen kissed her temple. "What can I say? I did not choose splendor. Splendor chose me. And the best proof isthe girl I have in my arms," Harun replied with a radiant smile, making Jiyan''s cheeks blush for a secondjust a second. "Shameless" she whispered, yet made herself morefortable in his grasp.


    The scene made the Colossi feel extra. Butt when they nced at their fallen brothers, seriousness returned to their golden hues. Though startled by the miracles Harun just performed, the colossi med their brothers'' instantaneous defeat on carelessness. First, Jiyan swindled them, breaking their pace long enough to behead and injure the Ninth and Eighth Landgrave respectively. Building on that momentum, Harun dealt the eighth a fatal blow. So while the destructive powers they disyed put the remaining colossi on high alert, very few feared an open confrontation.


    "Quick, join me in the formation. Once all seven of us make our powers ovep, while we won''t be able to use refiner abilities, the strength leap will more thanpensate for thatenabling us to crush him!" The First Landgrave offered, still shrouded by the Rust Storm Formation. However, his six brothers ignored him entirely. Red energy lines swirled across their forms, destroying their rationality to make their strength skyrocket: the Mystery of Savagery.


    That choice made the First Landgrave despair, "Even at this juncture, you''d rather look down on me than unite to fight?!" He barked, but got an insulting silence as his answer. The six Colossi''s eyes went from golden to crimson, and exhaling red vapor, they raised their battle-axes and war-hammers, taking resolute steps toward Harun. Under their feet''s pressure, the ground fractured, but ignoring the disy of physical might, Harun nced at the Chimeric Fiend whose skull had been crushed by the Ninth Landgrave''s hammer strike.


    "I heard that you refiners don''t fear any kind of poison. That''s the type of statement you better be able to back up. Let''s give it a shot," Harun said, released Jiyan from his grasp, and aimed one finger at the Chimeric Fiend. Multicolor incense mist poured out, restoring the wolf-spider chimera''s life and senses. Immediately, the beast''s four green eyes nailed the frenzied Colossi, and leaping toward the six, it spat out streams of silver liquid that twinkled like a sequin tree. Paying the stream no heed, the frenzied refiners left their Anasrava-level armored flesh resist the liquid''s properties, and rushed through it to demolish the Chimeric Fiend.


    The silver streams seeped into the armors, and to Jiyan''s surprise, the Colossi''s brute strength increased at an rming rate. Barbarous ax and hammer blows hissed through the air, raising rampant wind gusts in their path. Now several times faster than it used to be, the Chimeric Fiend wrapped itself in a silver cocoon, letting the blows bounce against its defenses. Each of the strikes carried enough strength to send the me Spirit King packing. Thankfully, they couldn''t all aim at the same area or the poor chimera would have again turned into a bloody pulp. Still, one-third of the silk threads broke instantly.


    Relentless, the colossi rammed their weapons in the Chimeric Fiend''s silk threads, putting 100% percent might behind each swing. But if their strength exceeded it, the Chimeric Fiends'' spider silk defenses regenerated too fast for the Colossi to break through. A stalemate settled in, but seeing the Colossi'' strength steadily increasing from the chimera''s venom, Jiyan was confused.


    "How is that poison? It just turned them into mons" she started, but before she could finish her words, the colossi teetered, lost their bnce and tumbledsome on their asses, the others on their knees. Jiyan''s eyes arched up, Harun''s lips curved into a grin of satisfaction. Silver light shone across the colossi''s bodies, and the First Landgrave who still hid in his formation witnessed his brothers'' stainless physiques turn into rust. Right, bits by bits, the colossi''s armored flesh rusted under the silver lights'' influence. The strength leap turned against them, making them unable to control their motions, and with the feral state they''d thrown themselves into, they had very little control to begin with.


    "Young guebringer, this is a lesson you must take down. Poison Immunity is a hoax. Stainless or not, the body is as clever as it''s stupid. Disguise your poison as a tonic, reinforce and feed the opponent''s pleasure center if they have one, let them enjoy clear benefits first, and when the substance has conquered their bodyreveal its true colors. Make the internal organs, circuits or whatever ensures their bodies'' functions breakdown, adapt your poisons to fit sentient or insentient foes, if they find a counter, change your toxins'' properties, and under these vast heavens few can resist your craft. The Nine Venoms Sect will subdue the world through its toxic arts, and the day wille when we can poison even Mysteries," Harun dered and raised his hand. Instantly, the First Landgrave realized that if he didn''t intervene, his brothers all faced destruction. And though his heart carried endless grudges, he couldn''t abandon them.


    "Stop this at once!" Magnified by the formation, the First Landgrave''s strength could match the best among fifth-level Ascending Gods, and his voice reverberated like a divinemand that subdued all in its wake. Sandy rust hands dropped from the formation, grabbing the six Landgraves to throw them into the stormalmost. A formless pressure rippled from Harun''s handsting away the First Landgrave''s sound waves and rust hands.


    Irresistible telekic forces pulled the six crippled Colossi toward Harunone after the otherand withpleteposure, Harun pped their heads off their necks. The First Landgrave used all the tricks at his disposal, maroon missiles, beams, hurricanes and so much more, but all failed to get into a 15 meters radius from Harun, and so he could only watch the gue Overlord p his brothers to death.


    Following the sixth''s fall, Harun raised his eyes toward the Rust Storm, looking past it to fix the First Landgrave whose trembling form and glowering eyes spoke tales of his incandescent rage. "I''m confused. In their eyes, you are no better than trash. Despite having your forte, they showed you no respect. Worse, they spit at your skills and bring you down at any given opportunity. Why work so hard to save them?" Arms crossed behind his back, Harun asked.


    The First Landgrave''s eyes went from a fallen brother to another, and his heart grew more chaotic. "Only a sick man would ask why the elder brother tolerates and supports the younger. We were born from the same source, share the same mother, so even if they despise and insult me, I can never turn my back on them." The First Landgrave clenched his hands as he spat out those words.


    Confusion shed in Harun''s eyes. "But even your mother abandoned you. Otherwise, why haven''t you received reinforcements yet? You''ve been sacrificed to either ess my strength or diffuse the feud," Harun said with a helpless shrug. The words hit the First Landgrave like a copsing mountain peak. His thoughts underwent a 180 turn, and instantly, he realized that Harun spoke true.


    From the start, the 20th Landgrave should have been here. Had he been leading the fight, the situation could never reach this point. But despite his eagerness for merit, he didn''t follow themthe reason was obvious.


    "Motherhow could y" As the First Landgrave realized that his "mother" had restrained the 20th Landgrave and sent them to probe Harun''s strength and satisfy his rage, the First Landgrave grew desperate, countless ws appeared in the formation, and exploiting them, Harun stabbed into the First Landgrave neckying him as well.Yet, even at the gate of death, the "why" was all he cared about.


    "If kinship strangles you, how is it still kinship? And why must you cling so hard on it? What a pity that you learned the basics of brotherhood, but never seeded in loving yourself."

 Chapter 119: Disciples Should Relieve their Masters’ Burdens

    Chapter 119: Disciples Should Relieve their Masters¡¯ Burdens


    Detached from his neck, the First Landgrave''s head tumbled down. His death marked the end of the Berserk Colossi and the copse of the Rust Storm Formation. The rusty sand tempest scattered till nothing remained, with the thousands of armored giants making it up, dropping like fleas. Devoid of anything but battlelust, they still maintained their steely, demolition-craving gazes on Harun. Ignoring them, hended next to the First Landgrave''s head, ncing at his now empty eye sockets with a contemting look.


    Just like the armored giants, the Landgraves were merely puppetsthe most sophisticated puppets Harun had ever seen, but puppets all the same. Each of the Colossi had an energy core embedded in his neck. The core controlled the various aspects of their half human, half mechanic bodies andthrough a randomized sequence of energy patternscreated their various "berserk" personalities.


    Harun didn''t know that refiners didn''t need a soul to progress, giving puppets or undead the right to follow that path. What he did know, however, was that unlike nts and trees, puppets had no souls. Yet, at the moment that he lost his life, the First Landgrave''s body bred one. This change had nothing to do with personality or mindset and was utterly iprehensible. Wondering if this had something to do with the Landgraves'' constitution, Harun swept the eight other corpses, but found nothing simr. Confronted with a mystery of life, death and souls, Harun realized how far he still was from mastering those esoteric principles.


    "Weaponizing a man''s emotions to crush his life, performing Spiritual Alchemy on your soul, destroying the Stele of Tyranny, you really at stop at no evil, don''t you? Sure you don''t wanna join the Myriad Devil Pce? I got connections, but I''m sure they''d just take you anyway," the System chortled at Harun''s deeds. Ignoring the insensitive prick, Harun summoned his Scorching Soul Tree, making it absorb the First Landgrave''s Soul to transform it into a ming skull.


    With his Scorching Soul Tree, Harun could now devour and turn his victims'' souls into energy bombs. And each of those ming Skulls could trigger a st carrying 100 times the deceased expert''s peak strength. At his best, the First Landgrave could match a third-level Ascending God. The energy bomb condensed from his soul could therefore send a fourth-level Ascending God packing. Better, Harun could make the ming Skulls ovep to magnify their destructive power. So while each energy bomb could only be used once, the Scorching Soul Tree could potentially turn Harun''s foes into a limitless source of country-destroying projectiles.


    *Thump* *Thump* *Thump*


    The tter of the Armored Giants'' footsteps snatched Harun''s attention. Facing the legions of armored giants closing on him, Harun joined his hands in a prayer sign. His Inner me gushed out, bing mammoth-sized me serpents that burned their way through the armored giants'' ranksrazing them to the ground. Sensing the quasi-endless heat and corrosion powers in those multicolor mes, Jiyan squinted her eyes at the burning cavern walls. "Enough corrosion forces to make Withering Essence seem nature-friendly. More heat than the sun''s surface. This is what I call a breakthrough," she appraised. Before they stepped into the mine, the difference between Harun and Jiyan''s battle power wasn''t significant. Experience and adaptability made the gap. But now, even if she received maximum blessings, Jiyan wasn''t sure that she could trade blows with him. Not wanting to be the type that just relied on their partner''s skills and shelter, Jiyan resolved to breakthrough as soon as possible.


    As their name implied, unless suppressed by a superior power, Harun''s ever-burning mes would never stop and keep spreading till the world was reduced to ashes and dust. Thankfully, he could recall that fire gue whenever he wished to. Stretching out his hands, Harun siphoned the mes back into his heartwhich had now turned into a kaleidoscopic fire ball.


    Turning heels, Harun was about to return to Jiyan''s side when a familiar spiritual resonance captured his attention. 130 souls materialized, shaped like translucent versions of the armored giants and floating where some of the puppets previously stood.


    "Wait, wait. Is thismy fault?" Harun spected. Of the original 18,600 Armored Giants, Jiyan had killed over 3,000 while Harun erased the rest. If this phenomenon was linked to him, there was a 0.87% chance that puppets and undead destroyed by Harun would leave a soul behindan iprehensible consequence that, if true, meant that Harun''s moves now messed up the samsara.


    "Wow, that was close. Imagine that the souls appeared three seconds before their deaths. So many Scourge Pointsperhaps even your current body couldn''t take the result," the System said in a serious tone.


    "This is my fault?"


    "Yep."


    "Why?"


    "When you destroyed the stele, you robbed the Right of Tyranny, which is a force no one under the Samsara Grasping Tyrant Realm can skillfully control. Thankfully, the stele recognized you as its lord. Otherwise, you''d have just blown yourself up. Why did you even do that?" The System inquired. Drawn by the Stele of Tyranny, Harun''s soul ascended to that ancient world. But as others before him, he just had to engrave his name on it to receive a Right of Contest. Only when his cultivation reached the Samsara Grasping Tyrant Realm could he actuallypete for the Right of Tyranny. Even that level was far from enough to challenge the wrathful monk. But by destroying the stele, Harun outright robbed the Right, something even the wrathful monk dared not do.


    "Mhm. To be honest, at first I just felt an impulse to write my name on that whatever stele. But when I saw that guy''s faceI couldn''t restrain myself. Dude was so ugly that I punched the stele in indignation." Harun crossed his arms below his chest and seriously replied.


    For the first time in several months, the System was speechless. "You''re jokingright?" It probed, wondering if Harun was making fun of its intellect. For a moment, the gue Overlord pursed his lips, and with a deep frown, mulled the question over. "Nah, he was just that ugly."


    That said, Harun absorbed and turned the 130 souls into ming skull bombs, and strutted back to Jiyan. Following the Eye of Luminous Treasures, the two left for wealthier areas. Obsidian Soul Stones were not only remarkable soul boosters, they ranked among the most precious treasure refining materials on the globe. Depending on the stone''s rank, artifacts had a high or low chance to breed a spirittremendously increasing their destructive powers.


    Meanwhile, the Soul Refining Hall experienced extreme casualties. But using the Mysteries of Soul and Sacrifice, Weeping Soul absorbed every single one of his fallen disciples, adding them to his Weeping Soul Tree. By now, half the disciples, over 500 loyal experts, had perished already. Each death stabbed the Reverend''s heart.


    At the 8thyer of the Weeping Soul Mantra, the cultivator would start feeling the grief and pain of all he directly or indirectly fed to his tree. Past, present and future victims united to punish the destroyer, betrayer and despoiler that refused to let them live or die in peace.


    By experiencing 100,000 grieving souls of exquisite quality and reaching Profound Enlightenment in the Mysteries of Soul, Grief and Sacrifice, a Dream Seer could break through to the 9thyer, not only making his cultivation base explode, but producing en Embryonic Seed of Life and Death. The higher the soul count and quality, the greater Weeping Soul''s boons would be. And what better resource than a fallen Empress'' sulent soul? For that soul, Weeping Soul had researched and prepared himself for centuries.


    With masterful ease, the Reverend crushed the skulls of hordes of porcin dolls that hunted the Soul Refining Hall''s expert on Landgrave orders. The elders formed a battle array around him, enabling their leader to fight and grieve at the same time.


    Weeping Soul knew of all the dangers in the Obsidian Soul Stone mine, the 27 Landgraves and the Mother they obeyed. So if he dared rush into this infernal den, he naturally had a n. But as he raced across the hallways, the Reverend''s eyes blurred, the anguish the past and new souls bred increased to nightmarish levels and, breaking into cold sweat, Weeping Soul copsed on the ground.


    rmed, the hall elders stopped and rushed toward their master. But before they could reach him, they too experienced an internal attack from all the souls they ruined across thousands of years. Raw anguish tore them from the inside out, and like epileptic youths, they convulsed on the ground.


    At the Dream Seers'' back, a 1.85 meters tall teenager appeared with a monstrous bull by his side. His three, striking eyes locked on the Dream Seers, and as his hands formed mudras, he cast an apologetic gaze at the Reverend.


    "Reverend, my sincere apologies. But I''ve just learned from reliable sources that disciples should never greet their masters without abundant gifts or tuition money. I have neither," Birandar started, and Mukri shook his rump as if to tell the world that all those ideas came from him. "Moreover, master''s name is destined to spread across the omniverse. Every single one of his disciples should be the titan of an era, with countless legends following their names.


    So, on behalf of my master, I must use you to aplish my first legendary feat," Birandar said, and raised his palms in an open-handed fighting stance. "The non-cultivatorcrushing the God."

 Chapter 120: The Invincible Mortal

    Chapter 120: The Invincible Mortal


    If when he first meet him, Mukri heard Birandar speak such words, he''d be the first to smack the brat unconscious and drag him out of harm''s way. But after what he witnessed his awakening, and the subsequent journey toward the mine, the bull no longer doubted that if one man could live up to those wordsit was him. Convulsing no end, the Soul Refining Hall''s 21 elders banged their heads against the floortears streaming down their cheeks as they endured the magnified grief of all their victims. The top four snapped back to consciousness, biting their lips to blood and trembling as they stood back up. And though he experienced the greatest trauma, Weeping Soul maintained his dignity of leader by rising before his subordinatesinspiring them with his straight back.


    "The Dual Soul Root boy? You crossed your cmity already? How is that possible?" Most cultivators could only recognize experts of their path. As a Dream Seer, Weeping Soul could identify Divine Path cultivators from experience, but that was as far as it went. Recalling that "Lord Revtion" sheltered the boy, Weeping Soul med that thorny expert for this oue. But in just several weeks of time, how far could Birandar''s cultivation go? Even in his wildest dreams, the Reverend could never imagine that the boy challenging his faction''s top expertshad not even set foot on a Cultivation Bridge yet.


    "By Master''s grace and guidance, I left the sea of bitterness and awoke," Birandar started, but before he could finish his words, eerie vines shot out of the ground alongside massive tree branches to trap his legs and stab his chest, respectively. Wasting no time, the top four elders moved their hands in arcane gestures, and with grasping motion, unleashed mystical forces thattched on and attempted to rip Birandar''s soul out of his body.


    Meanwhile, Weeping Soul supported the lower ranked elders'' souls, enabling them to break free from their internal disaster to support their peers. "Undisturbed I am. Undisturbed is my soul," Birandar said. White rays shot out of his third eye, bing a thin white sheen that wrapped his bodysheltering it from all harms. The vines and branches fled back into the ground. The four elders'' spiritual attacks bounced against the barrier and worked in reversewreaking the casters'' souls instead.


    Spewing grief-stricken screeches, the four elders backpedaled, and in a desperate attempt to resist their own move, turned into 87 meters tall Weeping Soul Trees. The trees'' eyes went bloodshot, their stic branches swayed in erratic dances, but as they suppressed the soul strike, Birandar appeared amidst the group, whirled 360, and sent them all flying with palm strikes.


    The four Weeping Soul Trees hurtled into the walls with clear palm prints on their trunks. The others were less fortunate.


    Smack! Smack! Smack!


    A session of pping sounds marked the greatest disgrace in the Soul Refining Hall''s history. Faster than any of them could handle, Birandar smacked the recovering elders across the cheek, sending them spiraling across the air like twirling ballerinas. Ignoring his subordinates'' precarious conditions, Weeping Soul leaped out of Birandar''s range, moving fast enough to avoid the palm strikeing his way. Birandar''s hands curved into a biting snake style and, chasing after the Reverend, he struck at his eyes and neck. A rapid session of blows followed, with Weeping Soul avoiding each of Birandar''s strikes by a hair''s breadth. This went on until the Reverend found his back against a wall.


    Pushing his instincts to the limit, Weeping Soul directly soared into the airor so he initially wanted to. But from Birandar''s third eye, a pressure he couldn''tprehend surged and pinned him down. That purple eye and white iris were like a mirror of Weeping Soul''s sins, revealing the Truth of his infinite misdeeds to his suppressed conscience. That suppression didn''tst one second, but was more than Birandar needed. Clenching his fists, the herculean youth rammed a double punch into Weeping Soul''s face and chestboth caved in, broken teeth and spraying blood stained Birandar''s fists, and to the elders'' shock, the Reverend shot through the cavern wallnding on another road.


    The hall fell still. Regardless of their precise rank, the 21 elders stared at the Reverend-shaped hole, unable to believe their eyes. Wrecked beyond recognition, Weeping Souly on the ground, coughing no end. His mangled face put scarecrows to shame, but never the materialistic sort or dating type to begin with, the Reverend didn''t care for such details. His mind formed countless conjectures, and yet he still came to the same conclusion.


    Even if he couldn''t appraise Birandar''s cultivation, cultivators all had something that set them aside from mortals: the luster of their skin, their breathing patterns, theplex energies in the bodies, the phenomenon that followed their tracks. In short, there had to be something an attentive expert could pick up, but that third eye aside, Birandar had nothing. Why then was he thrashing him?


    There was only one exnation: depending on his inborn gifts, aptitudes or some fortuitous encounters, Birandarprehended some top-tier Mysteries that enabled him to alter his mortal body to match deities. Even that made no sense, yet the next move proved the Reverend''s words.


    Eager to save their leader, the lower-ranked elders summoned chiming bronze bells which they hurled at Birandar. The four Weeping Soul Trees didn''t stay idle, unleashing mournful howls that turned the grief of thousands into a malignant spiritual attack. A horde of icy-blue banshees formed around Birandar, closing on him as the bells moved faster than the speed of sound to obliterate the mortal threat.


    Joining his hands in a prayer sign, Birandar closed his human eyes, mystical white mist gushed out of his chest, making the shrieking banshees and bells vanish from the cavern. Right, poofgone, as if they never existed to begin with. Worst, Weeping Soul could sense the confusion in his subordinates, as if they all wondered what they''d been doing until now and no longer recalled their previous movesthe Mystery of Truth!


    "In the Heavenly Dream Land, when even Monarchs dare not attempt it, a mortaprehended the Mystery of Truth?" The Reverend was scared out of his wits, and who could me him? Nak aside, very few cultivated the Mystery of Truth, and among those who did, only Xerzan was born in the Heavenly Dream Land. The rest came from the outer world. Cultivating and using the Mystery of Truth in the Heavenly Dream Land was an immemorial taboo. Rajan, the Golden Crow Marquis'' fate was the clearest example.


    But Birandar could use it as he pleased, and ording to Weeping Soul''s evaluation, he''d reached middle-aplishment already. Talent alone could never exin this situation, but knowing that his life was now at stake, Weeping Soul stood up and stretched out his hands. Just like his top four elders, he turned into a Weeping Soul Tree, a 99 meters tall treant that towered above all the rest. Tears trickled down the face-shaped fruits on his branches.


    By sacrificing those tens of thousands of fruits, Weeping Soul could make his strength reach a disastrous level. But if he did, his ns and hopes ended now. Understanding their master''s distress, the Soul Refining Hall''s top four elders took the bull by the hornand attacked their lower-ranked peers!


    Dark-green branches shot out from underneath the weaker seers, stabbing their hearts or foreheads. Immediately afterward, the top four ignited their soul fruits, turned against one another, and in a ritual suicide, destroyed the Soul Refining Hall''s elder cycle. A massive surge of Sacrifice Essence pervaded the atmosphere, bing a yellow whirlpool that siphoned the 21 corpsesturning them into a grotesque mass of flesh and twisted faces.

 Chapter 121: Grief Incarnation

    Chapter 121: Grief Incarnation


    "Never thought a bitch could get this gross," Mukri blurted out. With over 2,000 birthdays behind him, his portfolio of experiences carried a fair amount of sordid thingsnone could match the atrocity taking shape before his bull eyes. Across the growing mass of rosy flesh, the livid faces of the Soul Refining Hall''s elders and their legions of victims contorted in ever-changing grimaces that alternated between grief and madness. Blood tears dripped down their cheeks. Their eyes popped out, merging with and gathering at the center of the mass of flesh to be a single eyeball that stared at Birandar with stark hunger. Expanding to 100 meters, the flesh mass soared into the sky.


    "Rereverendh-hurry. We can''tlet the Blood Matron recover tooaaarghit hurts!" Thest conscious message of Weeping Soul''s top elders died down. Their awareness faded in the fesh mass, enabling it toplete its transformation and bea Grief Incarnation. But even though the monstrous beast had regressed to a primitive state, it would never lose sight of its sacred duty: to obey the Reverend and protect his goals.


    Words couldn''t describe Weeping Soul''s emotions. The closer he was to the finish line, the more humane he becameso to speak. Weeping Soul hoped that, at the very least, those four would remain by his side, and alongside him, enjoy the fruits of centuries ofbor. But ever since Harun''s appearance, things just kept getting worse. For the first time since their initial confrontation, Weeping Soul discovered a profound hatred for that con artist of a guebringer. Suppressing that base emotion, Weeping Soul returned to human form, bowed at the Grief Incarnation, and escaped deeper into the cavernleaving his subordinate to fend off Birandar.


    Dark-blue mes filled the faces'' empty eye sockets. Knowing that the situation had taken a turn for the worse, Mukri rushed to Birandar''s sidemeeting the grotesque beast alongside his boss'' first disciple. Unsurprisingly, Birandar didn''t lose hisposure. Bypleting his awakening, he freed himself from negativity, making his willpower as steadfast as a mountain. "You think Master would enjoy this thing as a gift?" Birandar asked Mukri, who for a second, seriously pondered the question. "The boss would probably be like ''oh, this is fantastic research material.'' But I''m not sure you wanna start your career by offending the madame. Let''s just bring some heads back." Mukri dissuaded Birandar, who promptly acknowledged the wisdom of the bull''s wordsthe battle thus started.


    Dark-blue energy balls formed across the air, filling nearly all avable corners of space. Blue me lines shot out of the Grief Incarnation''s eyes, stabbing through and connecting each of the orbs to create and trap the pair in an unbreakable of me. Six, massive rosy tendrils sprouted from the Grief Incarnation, swaying like sea waves while the orbs fired a session of beams at the Mukri-Birandar duo. The first salvo bounced against Birandar''s barrier, and at first, it seemed that the immovable sheen of light could repel all assaults. But when dropping hurricanes of dark-blue mes joined hands with the rapid-fire beams, even Birandar''s mantra couldn''t protect himto say nothing of Mukri.


    Worse, surrounded by the ming, they could neither advance nor retreat. Unwilling to remain trapped like a powerless mouse, the bull unleashed his Devil Essence and stomped his hooves. A volcanic eruption of dark-purple magma geysered upward, aiming straight for the Grief Incarnation. Its single eyeball shifted from Birandar to the infernal volcano, imperceptible ripples followed, hiding a terrifying eruption of telekic powers that stopped the dark magma mid-air. In awe of the beast''s sheer mental powers, Mukri''s eyes narrowed, but undaunted, Birandar flew upward. Mukri, who relied on Birandar''s barrier to not be a barbecued cow, followed instantly.


    With an immacte glow in his third eye, Birandar saw through the tiniest gaps in the and read all patterns and energy fluctuations to anticipate all beam strikes and know thepse between the salvos. Riding on thatpse, Birandar reached the top of the, a step away from breaking freethe Grief Incarnation wouldn''t have it. The legions of faces opened their mouths, the stench of death filled the air, and in an explosion of foul energies, the Grief Incarnation made all the orbsdetonate!


    Energy shes, smoke clouds and geysering mes marked the strongest st the Obsidian Soul Stone mine had experienced till now. But as Mukri saw Death''s scythe dropping on his thick neck, reality changed. The pair was now behind the Grief Incarnation, as if from the start it was aiming for a mirage. Always on maximum alert, Mukri directly released his signature diabolical skill. Dark clouds formed above the Grief Incarnation, with cracking thunder and shing lightning announcing the fury of Heavenly Tribtion.


    BOOM!


    As if scaling to match all the evil the Grief Incarnation represented, a deluge of purple lightning dropped from the dark clouds, smiting and tearing through this amalgam of pure malevolence. Its mournful howls became soul-rending screams that yed Mukri''s soul piece by piece. Even Birandar couldn''t take those stoically, veins beat on across his forehead, his eyes went bloodshot, but by relying on his Dual Soul Root''s fortitude, the teen resisted the blow. "Ugh" Mukri had no such protection. Struck hard by the Grief Incarnation''s scream, he lost control of the tribtion clouds and cratered below.


    "Bull of Heaven, hold on tight," Birandar warned, and rammed his fists into the flesh mass. No significant impact followed. Worse, the rosy flesh mass sucked in Birandar''s fists. The eyeball shifted back to him, with the six great tendrils dropping like guillotines to execute the youth. Closing his human eyes, Birandar released a dazzling sh of light from his third eyes. The tendrils froze, and as Birandar entered an unholymunion with the Grief Incarnation, a second Birandar leaped out of the original, appeared before the eyeball, and punched the sight out of it!


    Vibration waves demolished the ground and walls as the beast''s dissonant shrieks reverberated. Shrugging it off, the second Birand kept his fist lodged in the eyeball and activated his third eye. In symbiosis, the two Birandars attacked the beast''s emotional spectrum, revealing and breaking down the roots of its grief to reduce its strength drastically. Feeling its existence threatened by the mental assault, the beast let its survival instinct guide its movesand set itself aze. The ghostly fire was like a disease that gnawed at Birandar''s arms and souls. But worse, the mes sank into the ground, pulling out bones and remains of past experts too greedy for their own good. The remains assembled in an army of skeletal undead that rushed after Mukri, who groaned and convulsed under the beast''s mind-ying.


    A sense of urgency disturbed Birandar''s pace. The skeletal toons assembled to be mammoth-sized rhinoceroses that formed a stampede that threatened to impale every inch of Mukri''s incapacitated body.


    "Boss, I''m going to kick it! I''m going to kick it! Please save me!" Using the Karmic Link, Mukri connected to Harun''s soul, and warned him of his predicament. Though surprised by Mukri''s presence in the mine, Harun suppressed all questions that popped up and took control of Mukri''s body.


    With masterful control, Harun isted the grief strike from Mukri''s soul. Devil Essence gushed out, forming a purple shield wall that met the stampede in an ear-splitting confrontation. The skeletal rhinos shattered instantly. Birandar''s lips curled into a smile, his third eye''s light shone at its brightest, cleansing the Grief and Sacrifice Essence that made up the ghastly beast.


    Its screams died down. Harun returned control of the body to Mukri, who in rage and indignation, rammed into the weakened beast with his elongated horns. Malignant mes overpowered whatever remained of the beast''s defensesreducing it to ashes.


    Yanking their arms free from the burning creature, the two Birandars fused back into one youth, who stared at the flesh barbecue with mixed feelings.


    "Sorry Master, I guess there won''t be any trophy after all."

 Chapter 122: Please Accept Me!

    Chapter 122: Please ept Me!


    "Take this, and this, and that!" A rabid Mukri yelled as he smashed his hooves on the Grief Incarnation''s ashes. Several steps behind, Birandar watched the show with lopsided eyebrows. "Do you know it can''t hear you? It''s not returning from theherworld just to hear you scream. Or did I miss something?" Confused by Mukri''s deeds, Birandar couldn''t restrain his curiosity. The bull''s hoof stopped mid-air and, clearing his throat, he shifted back to his partner of misfortune. "This is all your fault! Instead of earning great merit, I lost face before the boss, all because you lured me into this ce! Do you think anyone can use top-tier Mysteries with a finger snap? Damn it, I almost kicked the bucket! And why the hell did you get so strong so fast?" Mukri rattled off. That control over top-tier Mysteries such as Truth and Fate enabled Birandar tomand great powers didn''t surprise Mukri. But how could a non-cultivator, overnight, reach middle-aplishment in top-tier Mysteries? Just because of that Third Eye? Even the boss couldn''t do that, and the boss was as cheated as cheats got.


    Believing he''d been somewhat inconsiderate, Birandar patted Mukri''s muzzle, and ignoring the bull''s inquiries, turned heels. "Come, Bull of Heaven. Master awaits."


    Meanwhile, after observing the battle''s end through Mukri''s eyes, Harun shifted back to his little corner of the Obsidian Soul Stone mine. Alongside Jiyan, he found and excavated hidden stashes of Obsidian Soul Stones. Some had reached such a high-grade that they bred a spiritual consciousness and fled at the first threat. Naturally, none escaped Harun''s evil clutches and silently joined his stash of Obsidian Stones. To refine their gains and improve their strength, the pair picked a silent cave at the mine''s center, away from strife and woes. Here, the walls were several times smaller. The red stones that intermittently lit up the previous hallways produced no light, but the Mysteries and Essence had never been stronger. Soul, Yin, Death, Earth, Metal and Space. Thick energy strands fluctuated across the cave, each representing a Mystery.


    To speed up their progress, Harun performed a miracle, and through his Spiritual Incense, created two lotus thrones for them to meditate on. Jiyan was still far frompleting her first Yin Core, and though each would drastically boost her cultivation and strength, only by forming the three would she truly step into the Tri-Yin-Core stage. And despite her terrible cultivation talent, the cooldown between each beast refinement session ensured that without several years of time, Jiyan couldn''t break through.


    The lotus thrones reduced that cooldown to three seconds. Better, Harun offered Jiyan the Chimeric Fiend, and while the spider-wolf hybrid disturbed her profoundly, Jiyan didn''t hesitate. Thus, after consuming several Serene and Obsidian stones, she refined the Chimeric Fiend''s soul.


    But even though it didn''t resist, the soul-potency of a creature akin to a sixth-level Ascending God was no minor challenge. Worse, that single soul gathered hundreds of experts'' merged consciousnesses, making the ordeal all the more painful. Dark-blue light streaked across Jiyan''s lithe form, her temperature plummeted, her skin paled and her body shivered. Still, she held on, and bits by bits, broke down the Chimeric Fiend''s Soulgathering the energy in her abdomen to condense her Yin Core. A magnificent spiral of icy-blue light formed around Jiyan, and her cultivation base skyrocketed.


    Harun, who watched on the sidelines, was full of admiration. "Fascinating. How I wish I could cultivate on the Myriad Poisons Bridge. This is so unfair," Harunined on the sidelines.


    "Not satisfied with Samsara Dominion?" The system rhetorically asked.


    "I want to create toxins, notmand karma and reincarnation loops." Harun experienced a mid-life crisisso to speak. The System was speechless, wondering how many people across the omniverse would smack this ungrateful son if they heard his words. "Different lives, different woes."


    Ignoring the System, Harun closed his eyes and connected to Mehran, who now ran the Dark Stone City like a theocratic state. "Little bro, you now have a free license to pull in all refugees and let my blessings spread far and wide. Across the next few days, take in as many as you can. I''m about to breakthrough to another stage and won''t avable if trouble finds you," Harun dered, making the High King roll his eyes in exasperation.


    "I''m not your brother. That said, the disasters have only been getting worse. By the time you leave the mine, I''m afraid the First Range''s poption would have been reduced by 90%at least. If those numbers disturb you, you know what to do," Mehran replied in an absentminded tone.


    "Shrouding the entire range will require astronomical incense reserves and focus. I can''t do that and be here at the same time. A man''s strength is limited. We can only do what we can and hope for the best," Harun said and hanged up. By now, Jiyan had condensed her first Yin Core and was on her way to the second. Refining the Chimeric Fiend''s soul sublimated her cultivation speed and strengthenabling her to absorb subsequent Toxic Beast Souls like candies. Each core demanded 120 toxic souls. So fast was Jiyan''s absorption speed that Harun became afraid that she might make herself explode.


    But, believing in her skills and wits, he left her to her own devices and turned to confront the neers. Without his guidance, as if they somehow ced a tracking devise on his soul, Mukri and Birandar walked into the cave, the former with a fawning look, while thetter''s eyes shed with reverence. "Boss! I was so scared! I missed you so badly! Why as this assignment several times more fearful than you promised? You left me with a freak!" Mukri poured out his grievances as he strutted toward Harun, and from time to time, peeked at Birandar from the corner of his eye. Knowing that this subordinate of his only wanted more benefits, Harun ignored him, and focused on the new enigma: his first disciple.


    As soon as the gue Overlord''s gaze met his, Birandar dropped on his knees and prostrated himself to showcase devotion:


    "Sir, please ept me as your disciple!" Birandar eximed, making Mukri cut the nonsense and stand on the sidelines. The cave fell silent. Before, there was no question on whether Harun would take him as his disciple or not. Hell, he found Birandar, not the other way around. Likewise, Birandar''s extreme transformation only urred because of the mantra Harun gave him. The Dual Soul Root was never meant to produce a third eyethe Awakening did.


    But even if he was to me, Harun had to tread carefully. The system''s new evaluation of Birandar didn''t make his choice easier.


    [Name: Birandar]


    [Attributes: Senses (10), Physique (10), Luck (7), Dao Attunement (10), Willpower (10), Charisma (9)]


    [Destiny: Invible]


    [Age:16]


    [Cultivation Base: None]


    [Physique: Dual Soul Root]


    Not only did he unlock a third eye that directly brought him to middle-aplishment in Truth and Fate, his raw talent had risen to Jiyan-level. Limitless potential, dreadful foundation and an Invible Destiny; for a disciple of such prowess, Harun could forget many questionsgiven that he could trust him.


    "Why should I?" He seriously asked.


    "I know that you must have several questions and do not wish to take unnecessary risks, but I can say this with certainty. You and I are bound by an unbreakable Karma. I exist to be your disciple, and even if you do not ept me, unless you kill me now, I will follow you across eternity.


    I can be your sword, shield, ax or broom. But the world be my witness, I will never fail you. So masterplease ept me as your disciple!" Birandar proimed and banged his forehead against the floor. With his current attainment in Souls and Karma, Harun could read the boy''s sincerity and feel the bond he spoke of.


    Still, the future was hard to fathom. Two men with close ties to Ancestors was not the type of publicity he needed now. But at the same timewho cares? Overcautiousness wouldn''t stop those issues from hunting him down. On the contrary, by overseeing Birandar''s growth, he could see through the problems before they struck. Just like with Mehran, the System remained silent, which only further convinced Harun of his choice.


    "As you please," Harun stated, thus weing the first inheritor of the Nine Venoms Sect.

 Chapter 123: Suffering Stage

    Chapter 123: Suffering Stage


    As soon as the words left his lips, Harun''s right eye quivered and his surroundings spun. It onlysted one second, but that second made him realize that by acknowledging this karma, he opened yet another door to the fate he wished to avoid. Now used to such events, Harun reckoned that instead of trying to escape the inevitable, he should hunt down the trutha matter for another time.


    "Stand up, I''m your master, not a feudal lord," Harun motioned for Birandar to rise and ced one hand on his forehead. Mnemonics poured out of his Sea of Consciousness, filling Birandar''s mind with a new mantra. "This is the foundational technique of our sect: the Toxic Truth Mantra. It will strengthen your resistance and affinity to the poisonous arts. When you reach the sixthyer, I will teach you more methods. Also, after we leave the mine, I will seal your third eye. I give you a temporary pass because we''re still in enemy territory. But should you grow too reliant on it, that thing will destroy your foundation. Let''s return to the basics first," Harun exined, and saw in Birandar''s limpid eye that the boy didn''t resent the suppression. On the contrary, he seemed to wee it. For once, Mukri agreed out of reason and not sycophancy and gave Harun a few nods. IF the sixthyer of the Toxic Truth Mantra seemed like a harsh requirement, with Birandar''s innate talent, it couldn''t be too problematic.


    Snapping his fingers, Harun created two more lotus thrones, sat on his own, and from his Cosmic Pouch summoned a stash of Obsidian Soul Stones. Seeing his master get to work, Birandar split his attention betweenprehending the Toxic Truth Mantra and watching out for any enemy attack. And with his Dual Soul Root backing him, multitasking posed zero trouble. Taking his Minotaur form, Mukri sat next to Birandar, hiding his boredom behind the front of a loyal watchdog.


    Several steps behind them, Harun drained the energies carried by the stones and retreated into his soul. At his back, the invisible Karmic Tree''s branches swayed, with millions of white leaves shimmering in a translucent sheen. Each of those leaves carried one of Harun''s Karmic Links, a connection to the millions of souls that worshiped him as either Lord Revtion or Lord Birusk. The Birusk group had long foundfort in their faith and wholly surrendered to their Spiritual Lord''s guidance and judgment. The rest, however, the crushing majorityprising the Dark Stone Country''s millions of citizens and those refugees that, on Harun''smand, flooded the statestill carried countless fears. Though they now only had him to rely on, Lord Revtions'' miracles couldn''t instantly erase their past and fears of the future. And while some could look beyond past sufferings, the fear of the unknown crippled even the bravest. Too much had happened too fast, and the worries they poured into their prayers now became an emotional storm that dragged Harun into a world of sufferings.


    "Lord Revtion, when I was five I broke my right leg and since then became an invalid. My parents didn''t give up on me. They convinced me that Heaven wouldn''t abandon its children. I believed them and so I toiled, toiled and toiled some more. I did all I could, swallowed my shame and tried so hard to not be a burden. But they lied. Not all of us receive Heaven''s favor. Heavenabandons its children.


    But Lord, I am afraid that this is the only life I will ever get, and that I lived it in vain. Lord, I don''t want to die. So long as I breathe, there is hope. Maybe tomorrow someone, something will cure my leg. Maybe I will stumble on an opportunity I can''t imagine. Lord, so long as I live, I can hope, hope that a cure to my misery exists out there. So Lord, please save me!" A bony middle-aged man wept before the Revtion statues. His life and woes became an ethereal dagger that joined the Storm of Misery to attack Harun.


    "Lord, when I was seven my parents sold me because they couldn''t afford to feed a weak daughter any longer. I drifted between owners until thest pupped me with his childmy life has never been worse. I''m afraidafraid that his wife will kill me, afraid that my child will grow up oppressed, afraid so afraid, that we will never have a chance to change our fates so Lordplease save us!" Another voice, another dagger, and the girl''s experiences expanded the mental storm.


    "Lord Revtion, youe toote. My life is ruined beyond repair, so why are you trying so hard to save this state? This is the day of reckoning. The time all of us be equalbefore death''sw!" Alone in his Sea of Consciousness, Harun faced a chaotic mass of blue-gray energies. Unfathomable suction force attempted to draw him into that misery storm, and though the Life and Death Stele enabled him to see through the past and present lives of myriad, Harun had to admit that thiswas something else entirely. The misery storm exploded into millions of daggers that stabbed Harun, enabling him to live through every bit of the past and present sufferings that weighed on his devotees'' hearts. Here, the de the System held over Harun''s life showed its sharpness. The 2,566 scourge points multiplied the Mental Tribtion''s might by 257.6, making Harun feel that it wasn''t daggers but millions of saws that slowly sliced him up.


    His surroundings became shades of gray. His body was like a paper drawing, torn and reassembled by neurotic brats. But still, Harun held on. Multicolor mes swirled around his form. Purple Essence gushed out, shrouding him in a spiritual armor that suppressed each of those dagger blows. In Harun''s Soul, the Embryonic Seed of Grief took shape. But prompted by the endless negative experiences the Mental Storm put him through, that seed matured at an rming pace, lifting up Harun''s understanding of Grief along the way. Stricken by the worst society had to offer, Harun lowered his eyes and nced at his bleeding hands. Sovereign Essence dulled the pain, the Internal me cleansed it, but even as those millions of anguished experiences turned into simple memories, they left immortal marks in Harun''s psychemaking him question many of his past choices and the domino effects they could have on an innocent''s life.


    Thus, while the Emotion Overload couldn''t exceed Harun''s soul strength and defenses, it threatened it with something just as deadly: regret. Once Harun failed to justify himself and let Regret settle in, even if he broke through to the suffering stage, his mind might never recover. Worse, even the methods he used on his mortal enemies, such as the Golden Cicada sect and Erdewan n, now seemed questionable.


    With his lips curving into a bitter smile, Harun sat crossed-legged. "Regret. How strange that such a tiny word can throw a man into infinite spirals of self-me and destruction," he started, passed his hands through his hair and burst intoughter. "It''s really unfortunate, and I feel so sorry for you all butfuck it. To all the people whose life I''ve messed with, sorry, better luck next time. To all the people whose life I''m going to fuck up, sorry, you can''t escape. So...just bear with it," Harun dered, summoned an ethereal pipe, lounged in his soul world, and took a puff of some mental weed.


    The daggers and emotional storm tried their hardest, but that weedcould shrug it all off!


    Thus, as Harun crossed his Mental Tribtion by smoking weed, Jiyan condensed her three coresbreaking through to the Tri-Yin-Core stage. The spirals of icy-blue energies surrounding her became a dark-blue akin to Harun''s Extreme Yin Essence. The temperature sank to abysmal degrees. A light column shafted through the cavern walls, and the pressure of Jiyan''s aura reached such extreme levels that both Birandar and Mukri spun, fixing their eyes on her breakthrough.


    "The house''s matronis the house''s matron. Thepetition won''t have it easy. Take this lesson to heart, Birandar boy, and don''t let sess go to your head. Under the sky of Harun Birusk, thisdy here will always be number one," After a rough estimate of Jiyan''s current abilities, Mukri said, but didn''t see Birandar''s eyes contract, as if deep down, he hoped that Jiyan wouldn''t be this gifted. A moment of hesitation followed, after which he sighed and returned to his post.


    Meanwhile, the 18 remaining Landgraves, all Sanguine Dolls, gathered around the Abyssal river, lost in an intense debate.

 Chapter 124: Lets Claim our Identities

    Chapter 124: Let''s im our Identities


    "Enough is enough. We must destroy that Dark Stone City before it''s toote," said the 13th Landgrave. Like his brothers, he stood on an oversized obsidian throne, and as he smashed his chair''s arm to stress his point, his doll-like face gave him a tantrum-throwing child''s look. Of the original 27 thrones, only 18 remained. Following the Colossi''s defeat, more delighted than Harun, the Sanguine Dolls promptly destroyed their elders'' thrones. As far as they were concerned, Harun cleaned up their assembly of all its vermin and deserved a medal. Such brotherly bonds were indeed hard toe by. Soon, however, a pressing matter brought them back to seriousness.


    Each of the Landgraves routinely created puppets to take care of invaders and explore the outside world. The Sanguine Dolls didn''t believe that the invaders were worth their fists and yed cat and mouse with the Soul Refining Hall''s disciples. At the same time, they had to guard the Abyssal River and couldn''t easily leave the mine. Hence, they used their dolls to see what their mother didn''t deign share with them. The results didn''t please them.


    "For once, we can all agree on this one thing. The more time passes, the more troublesome the situation bes. Not only does that city''s barrier suppress Mother''s powers, but the area it covers also keeps expanding. For now, it''s the Dark Stone City and its outskirts, but at this pace, it won''t be long before other towns, viges, cities and the entire country be sheltered by the barrier," the 15th Landgrave followed.


    Following his Spiritual Alchemy and incarnation breakthrough, Harun shifted the Dark Stone City''s barrier into a self-expanding mechanism. The barrier now spread proportionally to the prayers Harun received, and while he couldn''t predict how far it''d go, left unchecked, it wouldn''t be long before it shrouded the country. As a grand nation of 1.6 billion citizens, the Dark Stone Country was a poption hotspot and one of the Landgraves'' primary targets. For the sake of their mother''s recovery, they couldn''t let it off the hook.


    " Destroying the Dark Stone City to maintain mother''s influence on the country is not a significant sacrifice. Still, the change in energy structure clearly tells us who set up that barrier. What''s the point of sacrificing the Colossi to diffuse enmity if we''re going to antagonize him all over again. At the very least, we should wait for Mother to have him in her grasp first."


    "But by then, it might be toote." The 16th and 17th shed. Those were the opinions splitting the Landgraves. Their mother''sck of action andmunication didn''t help the matter. It was almost as if she gave them free license to do as they pleased, and if such freedom was typically cause for celebration, on this asion, it frustrated most of them. The argument went on no end, with the sub-20 numbers getting worked up while 21 and above stayed silent. But as some prepared to decide through bloodshed, the brilliant glow of 10 golden lightning bolts shed from one of the obsidian thrones. "Enough," a baby-faced vampire doll with curly ck hair ordered, and silence returned to the assembly.


    Tremendous strength discrepancies might exist between the Landgraves, but only he 27thcouldmand the others. And whenever his voice echoed, even the 26th didn''t dare contradict it. "You''ve all made salient points. But if mother hasn''t made her position clear, it means that regardless of what we choose, her ns will not be disturbed. If Mother has such confidence in her ns, who are we to doubt them? Or have you all spent so much time in torpor that your brains are now as muddled as the colossi''s? Do what you will. I will not interfere. However, 13th, I want you to clean up the remaining blind donkeys and bring mother their chief. We''ve had enough fun with thehumcreatures," the 27th Landgrave dered, and instantly, the 13th crossed an invisible space portal to aplish his task.


    Though they would never challenge their leader, some Sanguine Dolls didn''t believe their mother infallible. All sentient beings couldmit mistakes, and as her closest kin, it was their duty to make sure that she didn''t harm herself due to some flimsy infatuation. With that in mind, the 10th, 11th and 12th Landgrave left the assembly, heading straight for the Dark Stone Country.


    The 14th and 17th vanished as well, rushing to an unknown location. Intrigued by his brothers'' rash moves, the 26th fixed the 27th. "Was that wise? If you didn''t want them to act, you just had to give them one order. But now they''re all going to do as they please, and probably even try to kill that boy." The 26th probed in a mental message, unwittingly making his younger brother''s lips curl up. "How else could I make them do the things I secretly want to? Unfortunately, I can''t afford to be the one that got on mother''s nerves. Meanwhile, we can use the time they buy us to ponder a serious question."


    "What?" The 25th, who silently listened to the mental debate, chimed in. Granted, they lived in torpor for millions of years; the three shared a unique bond. The 25th and 26th aside, no Landgrave had the right to probe the baby boss'' real thoughts. "Names, of course. I believe it''s time we give ourselvesnames."


    The older two froze at the alien notion. Their faces twitched, and while the 25th struggled to ept those words, the 26th pursued: "Names? Isn''t 27th enough for you? Why are you trying to mimic the outsiders?"


    "27th is my position, the symbol of my dominion over every one of you. However, it is not my name. A name represents an identity. Without one, how can we im true individuality? We must all pick meaningful names, and I''ve been thinking about one for a while. It starts withNakul."


    Meanwhile, Reverend Weeping Soul was rushing into the deepest recesses of the mine, when thest of his hall''s disciples'' death smacked his soul. Knowing precisely what was toe, Weeping Soul let the blow overwhelm him, stumbled, and copsed on the ground. The 13th Landgrave popped out of an adjacent wall, and with a mocking smile, stared at the Reverend, unaware that deep down, Weeping Soul sneered as well.


    ...


    Immediately after her breakthrough, Jiyan dove into Mysteryprehensionfocusing her efforts on the Mystery of Space. At her right, Harun acknowledged the damage he unintentionally caused innocents, epted his part of the guilt and went beyond it. As far as he was concerned, Harun did the best he could given the circumstances, and though he wouldn''t gloat at an innocent''s death, he couldn''t beat himself down for events beyond his control, either. As unfortunate as they might have been, he didn''t owe them much. His enemies, thoughmerely got what they deserved.


    Was that selfish? Perhaps, but since when did heroism be one of his qualities? At the same time, Harun believed that he should redouble his efforts and make sure that ns didn''t ripple on unnecessary victimsso that at the very leasthe didn''t drag foul Karma around.


    And while the guebringer crossed thest hurdles, the 10th, 11th and 12th Landgrave appeared above the Dark Stone City, fixing it with sher smiles.

 Chapter 125: Outstanding Subordinates Fix Even the Boss mistakes

    Chapter 125: Outstanding Subordinates Fix Even the Boss'' mistakes


    Following Harun''s incarnation change, on top of the qualitative boost, the Dharma Sheltering Array went from golden to kaleidoscopicmaking countless citizens believe that their ardent prayers kindled the change. Taking it as an auspicious sign, they redoubled their effortsthereby enhancing the barrier''s might and scope. The three Landgraves'' unsettling eyes swept the Dark Stone City, ignoring the four statues to seek the root of this barriernone popped up. Confused, the 10th and 11th kept sweeping through the city. But the 12th shifted to the kneeling citizens from whom he could sense the fluctuation of nigh-imperceptible energies.


    With lopsided eyebrows, the 12th Landgrave cast a sidelong nce at the refugees rushing into the Dark Stone City''s wide open gates. Clearly, the barrier could see through intent, and only allowed in those that came for shelter. shing a fiendish grin, the 12th Landgrave cast a sidelong nce at the tens of thousands of refugees cramming the royal road as they pushed their way into the cityand while his brothers still looked for clues, he chopped at the mortals. The casual hand move unleashed vibration waves that devastated the refugees'' eardrums. But before the thousands of citizens could hold their bleeding ears and scream, the ground cratered and their bodies burst into blood and gore. Tens of thousands dead instantly. A sea of flesh, bones and blood formed and streamed toward the barrierit let pass. The safe refugees, those already protected by the barrier but not quite past the city gates, turned to see their brothers of misfortune''s heart-wrenching state. Screams and wanton panic broke out, rming the praying citizens, who in shock, stared at the open gateswondering if the barrier had failed them already.


    The abrupt stop of faith supply ended the barrier''s growth, albeit not for long. Knowing they only had their prayers to cling on, most of the citizens resumed with even more fervor, but by now the 12th Landgrave had already figured out how the barrier worked. "Oh, so that''s how it is. The barrier has a minimum of defensive skills, but its ever-expansion and constant strengthening relies on the cattle''s prayers. To crush it, we have to destroy their spirit first," the 12th Landgrave said, and not blind to the changes, his brothers hade to the same conclusion. "And here I was wondering how we were going to break through. This is a lot simpler. Someone should abuse the cattle verbally, while the two others go out and bring as many corpses as they can. I refuse to believe that mortals can withstand the trauma of a blood and corpse rain. Who wants to do the boring job?" The 11th asked.


    "I will, but you better not exceed one million victims. All in all, those are mother''s meals. We must take care not to mess up her recovery speed," The 10th replied. In a silent agreement, the 11th and 12th Landgraves turned into blood whirlwinds as they raced toward nearby towns and viges. Cracking his neck, the 10th Landgrave pulled in a deep breath and screamed for all to hear: "Greetings, you worthless pieces of recycled shit. Well, not even recycled as we haven''t turned you into fertilizers yet. I, the 10th of the Landgrave Assembly, have terrible news to share with you," the Sanguine Doll started, and though the barrier made sure his booming voice couldn''t harm the citizens and refugees, how could they stand stoically before an existence of that level?


    For most of them, the 10th Landgrave was just a dot in the sky. Yet, hearts grew frantic, children and adults became short of breath, and the tiny figure of that childlike entity evolved into a shadow that clutched at their hearts. "To keep it short, in a very, very distant past, our mother had a terrible ident that crippled her strength and nearly imed her life, to survive, she retreated into her homebase, and while recovering her strength, created us, one by one, so that we could speed up the process. Unfortunately, there are only two paths to that recovery: gorging on billions of souls, or sacrificing a matchless specimen. The Soul Refining Hall''s splendid efforts enabled our mother to recover enoughto eat you all. But unwilling to take that extreme path, she gave Lord Revtion a chance to offer himself in exchange for your survival. He refused! Can you imagine that? And now because of Lord Revtion''sck of selflessnessyou all must choke to death in crevassesliterally," the 10th Landgrave''s words filled the citizens'' and refugees'' ears.


    At first, the city grew silent. But the more they pondered on the issue, the more the citizens found the Sanguine Doll''s words reasonable. Having heard countless tales on evil cultivators, they knew of sordid rituals that turned mortals into fuel or cauldrons for a cultivator''s progress. Therefore, that a godlike entity''s recovery required a country''s sacrifice, didn''t startle many. At the same time, quality often outweighed quantity, and it surprised none that Lord Revtion, who all now considered as the number one deity of the First Range, was the only life able to rece them all.


    As if united by one mind, the citizens sought answers in the Lord''s statues, but only received the age-old silence. Taking it as an admission of guilt, many felt their newfound faith vacite. "Lord Revtion couldn''t suppress the threat and refused to sacrifice himself to save us all. How despicable!" is what some wanted to say, but as they stared at the barrier and recalled the miracles performed by the Salvation Hall, the words couldn''t leave their lips. Few were shameless enough to speak such outrageous words. But in a poption of millions, shamelessness wasn''t that hard toe by, so this happened:


    "Preposterous! The Salvation Hall attempts to convince the city that Lord Revtion treats us all as his children and earnestly wishes for us to ept his call. But what kind of parent is not willing to die for his progeny? If only he had the nerve to embrace the ultimate sacrifice, our lives would have never been in such danger! Look at the gates! Look at the gory scene that will soon be our fate! Lord Revtion deceived us, and this is all his fault!"


    "He dares not save us, yet still wants us to call him Lord!" One after the other, the shameless few the 10th Landgrave counted on, stood up, cast aside prayers, and ranted at the one that kept their ungrateful heads on their ungrateful necks. The outrage of that minority started swaying the many. Out of fear and unwillingness, some convinced themselves that those ungrateful few spoke the true gospel, and also rose in outrage. But as chaos rose and prayers shrank, a childish voice thundered.


    "Stupid! You are all stupid! If anyone asked you tomit suicide to save a bunch of strangers, what would your answers be? Lord Revtion ended our country''s chaos, healed the wounded, changed fates, performed many miracles and selflessly protects us from all demons!"


    "What have you given him? What does he owe us that you all have the balls the spit on his name?"


    "Lord Revtion is the savior of the Dark Stone Country! The One True God and only worthy symbol of worship. If because you lose faith and start insulting him, he abandons this country to its fate, will spite save you?!" One after another, gangs of children from all walks of life took to the streets, proiming rousing speeches to protect their Lord''s faith.


    At that time, the 11th and 12th Landgrave returned and dropped countless corpses on the Dark Stone City''s barrier. "Wait, wait!" Sensing something amiss, the 10th attempted to restrain thema step toote. The barrier treated the corpses as enemy attacks, and without exception, burned them all to ashes.


    Trapped between the barrier''s marvelous work and the child gangs'' speeches, the citizens promptly regained their faith, and renewed their prayers with ten times the devotion. From a balcony of the Dark Stone City, Mehran and one of Gulseni''s Door Goddess watched all this with rapt attention.


    "Impressive. Not only did you guess that someone would figure out the barrier''s weakness and attempt to turn the citizens against our boss, you even trained gangs of children to counter their propaganda." the Door Goddess, who oversaw the Dark Stone City alongside Mehran, blurted out.


    "One man can''t possibly anticipate and prepare for all eventualities on such short notice. As the boss'' subordinates, it behooves us to fix those gaps for him," Mehran leisurely replied.


    Meanwhile, the 14th and 17th Landgraves popped out of the ground,nding before Mukri and Birandar, whose eyes nailed them both instantly. But while the 17th made no additional move, the 14th stepped forward, five golden lightning bolts shed on his chest, and the pressure of his tyrannical fleshly body crashed on the pair.

 Chapter 126: Quasi-Immortality

    Chapter 126: Quasi-Immortality


    Harun and Jiyan remained still like statues, letting the mystical phenomenons emanating from them mirror the intensity of their silent cultivation. Mukri''s eyes darted between the pairs at his front and back, seeking help in his boss'' closed eyes. The 14th Landgrave''s iing pressure snatched back his attention, and while fixing the diminutive doll with his bull eyes, Mukri sent Birandar a mental message. "Can you rey that ''mortal defeats the god'' show?" The bull seriously asked. s, Birandar shook his head. "That blood-craving monstrous doll is hundreds of times stronger than the Grief Incarnation. About seventh-level Ascending God. Worse, he has no soul and doesn''t possess the tiniest grief in him. My Wheel of Causality cannot create miracles here," Birandar stated the facts, while naming his third eye for the very first time.


    "You can even rank him on Divine Path standards? Holy cow, you are more knowledgeable than I am!" Forever impressed by young Birandar, Mukri blurted out. But as stoic as a rock, the youth didn''t let the praise get to his head. "You are a cow. And I''m not sure this is the right time to throwpliments," Birandar countered, stood up, and activated his third eye. Purple-white light shed in the Wheel of Causality, sheltering everything in a ten meters radius from the herculean youth in a forcefield.


    Golden aura shimmered across the 14th Landgrave''s porcin skin, giving it a holy luster his murderous eyes readily shed with. His lips curled into a lopsided grin, and without a word, he threw out a casual punch. Formless energies rippled from his fist, bing a space distorting squall that bulldozed its way through Birandar''s barrierand mmed the youth like a truck-sized sledgehammer. Flying backward, Birandar went past Harun and Mukri to crash in the wall behind.


    But altering thews of physics, Birandar vanished and crashed in the 14th Landgrave''s back instead, using the momentum of that terrible blow to ram his elbow into the doll''s skull. The move hit an invisible spatial wallstopping Birandar mid-air. Grabbing his arm, the 14th Landgrave hurled the youth into the ground and stomped his chest with an unforgiving kick.


    Birandar''s eyes went bloodshot, the iron taste of blood filled his mouth, but restraining a cough, the youth unleashed his extra pair of arms, grabbed the 14th Landgrave''s ankle, and attempted to yank his foot off his chestto no avail. The 14th Landgrave was like an immovable mountain pressing down on the youth. Birandar''s control of Truth and Fate shed with the Landgrave''s golden aura and mastery over Space, making all attempts to alter his condition end in failure. "You do realize that we see everything that happens in this mine, right? Whenever we make a move, we take your skills into consideration. So while I don''t understand the root of your powers, I do know how they work." The 14th started and increased the pressure on Birandar''s chest, making the ground crack underneath the youth.


    "With middle-aplishment in Truth, you can alter your fleshly body''s level to match a low-level God. With the same in Fate, you can foresee all my moves and possible patterns, and among them pick the most likely oue. The farther you go, the deadlier those abilities will be. But right now, they''re only useful before weaklings. Refiners excel at suppression. Add to that my fleshly body''s level and my Mystery of Space, and you be no better than a flea." If there was one thing the Sanguine Dolls excelled at, it was hubris. How could Birandar not know the gap between the two of them? And so what if he knew?


    Ignoring the Landgrave, Birandar activated his strongest skill. Hypnotic purple-white spirals rotated in his third eye, his Dual Soul Root turned into fuel, and engrossed by the Wheel of Causality, the 14th Landgravended in a maic world of spiraling mirrors, each drawing him toward a random fate.


    Seizing that moment of torpor, Mukri summoned a tribtion cloud right above the vulnerable Landgrave, battering him with dozens of lightning bolts. But before the first could even graze his hair, a golden shield formed around the 14th Landgrave, suppressing the tribtion lightning. His eyes regained their luster, and despite Birandar''s best efforts, the Wheel could no longer entrap him.


    "I told you"


    BANG!


    But as the 14th Landgrave prepared to gloat at Birandar''s desperate attempt, dark-blue chains smashed into his cheek,cerating his doll-like face while sending him to spiral across the cavern roads. The Landgrave''s surroundings spun, but before he could regain his footing, a silver sword dropped on his neck. Pushing his body and Space Mystery to the limit, the 14th Landgrave vanished and reappeared several steps behind. A perfect sword line appeared on his neck, blood gushed from his jugr, and before the 14th could make sense of this gruesome wound, a mesmerizing knee crashed into his face.


    His bones snapped instantly, and reeling back, the doll-like monster dropped beside his brother, who lunged at the assantat Jiyanwith a knife-hand thrust. Trapping the blow between her left elbow and knee, Jiyan rammed her sword straight at the 17th Landgrave''s forehead. His lips curled into a sneer, and as he prepared to alter space to turn her move against her, his surroundings became an achromatic zone where Jiyan''s will reigned supreme. "Oops," the 17th Landgrave thought before thedy''s sword stabbed into his brain.


    Ignoring the 17th''s fate, the 14th broke free from Jiyan''s Forbidden Zone and stabbed at her heart. A trio of massive tree branches sprouted from the rugged ground, locking the Landgrave''s waist, arms and legs. Shockingly, each of those three trunk-sized branches drained his formidable Life Essence, leaving him as weak as a wobbling toddler. Pulling her sword out of the 17th''s brain, Jiyan hacked it at the 14th''s neckthis time lopping it off, only to find 17th Landgrave''s fist aiming for her chin.


    BANG!


    A tree trunk rose to block the move and split the two sides. Leaping back, Jiyan returned to her original spot, standing beside Harun who, though awake, still sat crossed-legged. The 14th Landgrave''s blood-spewing head floated upward, fixing a savage re on Harun, whose eyes opened to meet the challenge.


    "One lost his brain, the other lost his neck. Why are they not dead?" Mukri, who''d never witnessed such absurd survival abilities, blurted out. Calmer than his bull partner, Birandar leaped back to Harun''s side. The Dual Soul Root and Third Eye''s exhaustion left his face livid, but though he barely had enough strength to stand on his own, the youth held on.


    "Mhmsome people can''t take the hint. Let''s try again," Harun said, and joined his hands in a prayer sign.


    <em>"Blight of the Underworld."</em>


    A bottomless swamp of blight and decay formed across the rugged ground, with gray lotuses sprouting and blooming at naked eye speed. From those lotuses, gray fments poured out, staining the atmosphere with an irresistible blend of lethal forces. The fmentstched on the two Landgraves, dragging their extraordinary bodies down the noxious swamp.

 Chapter 127: Just Squash it All

    Chapter 127: Just Squash it All


    In the Landgrave hierarchy, the 14th and 17th ranked around the middle, and in their millions of years of unlife, never had they experienced such abuse. It was like sinking to the bottom of a quagmireunable to breathe or die. Innovative pathogens shed with their Anasrava-level bodies, challenging the limits of their stainlessness while the foul stench of blight and decay filled their nostrils to the brim. Detached from his neck, the 14th Landgrave''s head independently thrashed against gray fments. At the same time, Death, Withering and Noxious Essence, battered his headless body which, still connected to him, fed him its pain.


    The 17th fared no better. His punctured brain couldn''t understand why Harun''s ability possessed such extreme suppression and corrosion powers. And who could me him? If before, Harun''s physique ability could dominate its victims with easefollowing his incarnation breakthroughit reached a whole new level of potency. Should things carry on this way, it wouldn''t be long before the Death and Withering Essence overwhelmed the Sanguine Dolls'' defenses and reduced them to ashesthe thought scared them witless.


    Letting out guttural howls, the Sanguine Dolls unleashed theplete might of their golden lightning marks. Radiant bolts flickered around the duo, pushing against the swamp''s suppression to help them escape the iing tragedy. Turning into golden lightning bolts, the dolls not only broke free from the swamp but also healed all their wounds. Even the 14th''s headnded back on his body.


    Eager to test all his abilities, Harun didn''t increase the pressure. After all, when would he find such prime training material again? A three meters tall oak tree appeared at Harun''s back, with its leaves, trunk and branches burning in multicolored mes. 130 ming skulls orbited the treeakin to burning worlds around a star. As soon as the mes appeared, the Sanguine Dolls flinched This change in countenance didn''t escape the Birusk camp. Matter of fact, Harun was particrly disturbed. "Wait, wait. Are they like dwarf vampires? But then where are the fangs and shit?" Harun blurted his thoughts out, causing confusion in the troops.


    "Dwarf vampires? Care to exin what that means?" Jiyan inquired, making Harun realize he''d forgotten to keep his mouth silent. "Never mind that. The cultural gap is too deep for you to understand. Even I don''t have a full grasp of what that means. Just think of pale-skinned bloodsuckers, with impractical fangs and poor sunscreen deals," Harun dismissed the question with a hand wave. Birandar wanted to say that the Sanguine Dolls were neither pale-skinned nor bloodsuckers, while Mukri didn''t believe that Harun was ready for midget jokes. But realizing that those words would only get them beaten to a pulp, they kept their mouths shut. The Sanguine Dolls'' eyes squinted at the Scorching Soul Tree, whose potential they couldn''t assess yet.


    In the previous darkness, the two''s eyes were like glowing red hues. But now that the radiant mes illuminated the dim cave, their childish faces stood in full view. Exchanging aplicit nce, the 14th and 17th Landgrave pushed their strength to limit. A golden barrier formed around them, suppressing all evil that came too near. Blood-red energy lines snaked around their slender arms and tiny fists, driving their vitality and fleshly bodies'' strength beyond the peak. In tandem, the two stepped forward, crossing an invisible space portal to arrive at Harun''s right and left. Ten ming skulls merged to form tworger bombs that fired straight at the Landgraves'' heads. The pyromania that previously shed in their eyes vanished, reced by a disdainful sneer.


    A Blood-colored water barrier formed around their bodies, meeting the ming skull bombs in a head-on st. Unmoved by the explosion, Harun remained on his lotus throne. The smoke cloud dispersed, revealing the unharmed Sanguine Dolls whose ws hacked at Harun''s eyes and neck. Clearly, the fear they showed for Harun''s mes was nothing more than a con aimed at reducing their foes'' vignce.


    Whirling 360, Jiyan swept her sword in a wless arc, tearing gashes in the two dolls'' strengthened palms. Extreme Yin and Withering Essence oozed out of her sword, infiltrating their stainless bodies. Again, the golden lightning bolts shed with the destructive forces, suppressing their effects fast enough that the dolls went on undisturbed, and rammed their knees into either side of Harun''s neck!


    The gue Overlord''s lips curled up. Life Essence gushed out, spreading throughout the soil and turning everything across 100 square meters into Harun''s home field. Dancing lianas sprouted from the ground, binding the two''s legs. Stopped mid-move and struggling to escape, they panicked, creating an opening Jiyan''s sword would never miss. By the time the two had regained theirposure, thedy''s de had forced its way through and hacked their adamantine waists, splitting them into two halves. Using the ghastly wound as an opportunity, the Sanguine Doll rushed out of Harun''s reach, leaving their bleeding lower bodies behind.


    But while they could heal from almost everything in a finger snap, the foul, oppressive essence in Jiyan''s sword robbed them of 1,000 years'' worth of lifespan with each swing. Granted, Anasrava-level refiners could live for much longer than the average God, but they were still far from immortality. At this rate, before the pair found the root of their "immortality," Jiyan''s Withering Essence would drain their lives. Bitting their lower lips, the Sanguine Dolls made their lower bodies detonate, hoping to st Harun into pieces. But teeming with Life Essence, the lianas suppressed the explosion, grinding it into an unremarkable puff of smoke.


    Activating his third eye, Birandar analyzed theposition of the two''s bodies. "They both have a red crystal underneath their brains. That crystal seems to be the root of their lives," Birandar inferred, and Harun, who also examined his opponents through his Life Essence, came to a simr conclusion. "Love, show me your new tricks," he whispered. A mischievous smirk shed on Jiyan''s face, and just like the Sanguine Dolls, she vanished through an invisible space portal. Lowering his eyes, Harun ced his hands on the ground, whichunder his maniptionsturned into a lush green prairie.


    The limits of Harun''s Life Essence gushed out, making woody trees rise from the soil and fill all corners of the cave hall. From the start, the dolls didn''t expect that Harun possessed such a mastery of Life Essencebelieving him limited to Yin, Souls and Witheringa lethal mistake. By the time the forest took shape, it was toote. Branches and lianas shot out in the hundreds, leaving the tiny two little room for maneuver. Worse, whenever they attempted to use their space portals, Jiyan would pop out of another one and stab at their skulls.


    It was as if the pair had seen through all their moves and covered all openings before they arose. Thus, in the greatest dance of their abject lives, the dolls spun and twirled to avoid this impablebination, but were soon overwhelmed and sent flying by several vine swipes. The two crashed into the same trunkwhere Jiyan''s sword popped out and stabbed into the 17th Landgrave''s crystalhe died instantly.


    At his left, the 14th Landgrave grew desperate and ignored the pain and wounds to dive into a rushed escapea pointless try. Jiyan''s chains chased him across space portals, wrapped around his neck, and forced him back to the tree. "Actually, the simplest solution is often the most effective," Jiyan said, then stomped the 14th Landgrave''s skullmaking it burst into blood and gore.


    "Just squash it all."

 Chapter 128: Why Wont You Just Die?

    Chapter 128: Why Won''t You Just Die?


    "Isn''t she beyond magnificent? I mean really, look at her. Talent, beauty, grace, wits, ahhthe whole package right there," Harun marveled at Jiyan, unaware that Mukri, the System, and even Birandar, stared at him with disdainful looks.


    "Master" "Boss" "Son"


    "You are simping so hard," the three rebuked the gue Overlord, who, as if oblivious to their words and looks, kept his eyes fixed on Jiyannot without merit. Though both improved substantially, as they followed distinct roads, Harun and Jiyan''s breakthroughs brought them vastly different boons. Harun''s Soul Strength, Kinesis Abilities, Attachment Venom, Essence Control and Mystery Comprehension improved by leaps and bounds. At the same time, he could use an ability simr to Birandar''s grief maniption. On the other hand, thanks to the three Yin Cores powering her, Jiyan''s raw abilities had not only received a terrifying boost, but her sensory and attunement skills had grown exponentially as well.


    From now on, the speed at which sheprehended Mysteries would leave most top talents in the dust. Harun didn''t doubt that both the setting and the quality of Jiyan''s Toxic Beast Souls yed a crucial role in this result. But at the same time, he couldn''t discount the skills that made the refinement and breakthrough possible.


    Crossing a Space Portal, Jiyan appeared before Harun. One shouldn''t confuse Birandar''s Truth Alteration with Jiyan and the Landgraves'' Space Portals. Though they achieved the same nigh-instantaneous movement, the former messed with reality while thetter created invisible riftsopening lightning-fast dimensional roads only Space Controllers could tread. Well, Space Controllers and Heavenly Godsor any God above that level, really.


    Top tier Mysteries often ovepped with lower-ranked onessome more than others. Just like the Mystery of Magma could aplish much of Fire and Earth, the Mystery of Truth could disy many of Space and Time''s feats. Still, the fundamental principles differed, and many skills required the weaker Mysteries.


    "It''s rude to stare. But on ount of my awesomeness, I will forgive youkeep going," Jiyan ran one hand through her hair and said in a natural tone. Seeing this, Harun lost all adoration, evaded eye contact, and grimaced like a grade-schooler before a tedious math exam. "Give them an inchshame on you. That said" The grimace made way for seriousness, and the silver-blue moon on Harun''s forehead glittered.


    "Time to cleanup the Landgrave Assembly and seize the genuine loot. I must feast by tomorrow midnight," a resplendent full moon appeared at the gue Overlord''s back, and his size shrank as he went from a strapping young man to an inoffensive-looking baby boss. Crossing his arms behind his back, baby Harun activated his Eye of Luminous Treasures, looking past the mine''s artifices to spot its greatest treasure: the Abyssal River. But as the boss''s focus peaked, Birandar''s eyes squinted at the oversized sleeves and tiny frame, "Master, why are you so small?" the youth blurted out.


    BANG!


    Smacked by Harun''s left sleeve an absurd strength, Birandar crashed into a cavern wall and directly fainted. At first, knowing the rules of the Birusk n, Mukri wanted to close his mouth. But too slow to save the day, the bull couldn''t prevent young Birandar frommitting this fatal mistake.


    Initially, Harun believed that he''d vanquished the Art of the Decaying Flower''s curse. And on the surface he did. Not only did he possess a normal appearance and height, but he could use the Mystery of Life to modify his looks as he pleased. However, each time he summoned a full moon, he''d drop right back to baby boss mode. Toozy to fix himself every goddamn time, Harun opted to just smack the shit out of all inconsiderate mouths.


    Though, in this case, he also sent Birandar a mental message.


    "Hm, hm, Mukri, put the boy on your back. Jiyan dearest, can you teleport us to the Landgraves'' headquarters?"


    "I can''t carry people across my portals yet. And are you sure you shouldn''t check on Mehran? If they can''t have their way with the Dark Stone City, the Landgraves might take drastic measures." No one doubted that, sooner orter, the Landgraves would sense the Dark Stone City''s peace and attempt to shatter it. Jiyan didn''t believe that Mehran alone could handle the situation. But thanks to the Karmic Link now uniting them, Harun thought otherwise.


    "Nah, my little bro got that covered. It will be an opportunity for him to stretch his limbs," Harun replied, and as Mukri tossed Birandar onto his back, the gue Overlord stepped forward. "That aside, I guess we can only do this the old-fashioned way. With me, fes." A spine-chilling, dark-blue aura erupted from Harun''s tiny form, and by the time Mukri hadpleted his assignment, Harun and Jiyan were already several kilometers away. With a shrill cry, the bull raced after them. But even his Devil Essence didn''t allow him to keep up with their ludicrous speed. At the end of the day, poor Mukri was only Celestial-Guard-level in cultivation. He was already trying his best.


    Meanwhile, the Landgrave Assembly watched two projections: the Dark Stone City and Harun''s group. Initially, believing that simr results awaited at either side, they evenly split their attention between the two. Soon, though, it became clear that one deserved a lot more attention. Never once would the Sanguine Dolls consider assisting their fellows. Nevertheless, they couldn''t let them drag their unholy names through the mud, either. But by the time they realized they needed to step in, skulls had been crushed already.


    "They''ve killedtwo of us?" The 15th and 16th Landgrave asked one another, as if seeking confirmation in the other''s gaze. They weren''t the only ones finding the scene hard to swallow. From the 13th to the 24th, all Landgraves clenched their throne''s arms. The 25th and 26th turned to the 27th, whose twisting face spoke tales of his annoyance. <em>"How troublesome. Why won''t you just die?"</em> He inwardly said.


    As his closest kin, the 25th and 26th knew something amiss. <em>"If his existence bothers you that much, why not just kill him?"</em> They probed. <em>"Because I''m not stupid. She''ll never forgive me."</em> He directly replied. The two instantly thought of their mother. Yet, something in their brother''s tone made them feel that he spoke of someone else.


    "I don''t like him either. If you want we"


    BANG!


    A ringing st cut the 25th Landgrave mid-talk. The ceiling copsed, and to the Assembly''s horror, Harun''s groupwhich they still saw on their screendropped from high above.


    Many of the Landgraves'' eyes shifted between the screen, which just yed their two brothers'' deaths, and baby Harun, who led a berserk charge into their headquarters. Even Weeping Soul who, trapped in a blood bubble, hovered above the Abyssal River, seemed dumbstrucknot knowing what to believe. Harun made the choice simple.


    Laced with paradoxical auras where Life and Death intertwined, pitch-ck, stic conifers sprouted from the ground, and wrapped around the 13th, 15th and 16th Landgraves. Immediately, they felt their life-force and destructive abilities drop at a distressing pace. As if the conifers not only robbed their energies, but eroded their stainless bodies as well.


    Faster than their siblings, the 18th and above escaped the blossoming trees, but slower than the rest, the 18th still fell for the formless, odorless pollen gas emitted from the trees'' cone-shaped leaves. Unable to evaluate the gas, his golden lightning bolts didn''t kick in, leaving the 18th defenseless to its debilitating effects. Losing control of his body, the 18th Landgrave sank right back into the conifers'' grasp.


    Harun appeared above him, multicolored-mes gushed out, and the gue Overlord rammed his fist through the 18th Landgrave''s skullpulverizing it in a single blow.


    As if he''d never been unconscious to begin with, Birandar leaped off Mukri''s back,nded before the crippled 13th Landgrave, and sted open his head with a direct palm strike.


    Jiyan shot at the 16th, stabbed through his crystal, teleported to the 15thand slew him as well.


    One entrance, four dead dolls. Team Birusk thus arrived at the Landgrave Assembly''s headquartersdrawing the insufferable Sanguine Dolls'' full attention. Realizing that it yed tricks, the 27th Landgrave nced at Birandar''s third eye. Indeed, even as he smacked the boy, Harun gave him clear directivesmaking him use his third eye to dy their enemies'' perception of the events by several seconds.


    "Snakes will be snakes. Now, now, what should I do?" The 27th whispered, and shed Harun an odd, forced smile.

 Chapter 129: Hymn of the Soulless World (1)

    Chapter 129: Hymn of the Soulless World (1)


    "What are you getting so nervous about?" The 25th Landgrave asked the 27th, eyes twitching in suspicion. Common sense wants a man to avoid revealing his mistrust to a psycho able to smash his skull open. Unfortunately, the 25th Landgrave did not know of such a basic survival tipthat slip wouldter cost him his life. For now, though, the 27th merely regained hisposure, dismissing the probe with a headshake.


    "Never mind that, we have guests to entertain. 20th, would you please set the mood?" The 27th Landgrave asked, and taking it as an invible order, the 20th crossed space to appear before Harun.


    "Last time, you and I almost met. Unfortunately, Mother didn''t want me to be at odds with her future mate. Respect the father-inw and all that," the 20th started, and raised his shoulders in a helpless shrug. "But nowyou''re kind of asking for it," a formless suppression force crashed on Team Harun. No ripple or extraordinary phenomenon shook thend, yet Mukri and Birandar fell on their knees. Jiyan and Harun''s eyes narrowed at the 20th Landgrave, who was pleasantly surprised to see that neither one floundered before his move. Still, the pair had a hard time processing the shock striking them both.


    Mukri shifted to minotaur form, and alongside Birandar, puked his entrailsso to speak. The youth had it worse. Blood trickled down his nostrils, eyes and lips. And as frustrating as it might have been, Birandar couldn''t muster the strength to activate his Third Eye. Casting his disciple and subordinate a sidelong nce, Harun sent Jiyan a mental messagenot expecting that she too had words on the way.


    "He''s attempting to suppress our Paths. How?" They asked one another. Mukri''s Elemental Fusion Bridge and Birandar''s Mortal Bridge couldn''t resist that suppression force, so the two copsed. Harun and Jiyan, however, walked superior Bridgesgiving them immunity to the bulk of the suppression''s effects. Still, the energy that continuously flowed out of the 20th Landgrave''s flesh, somewhat constricted their cultivation basesmaking them lose a couple percentages of their strength.


    "ording to Mother, the Holy One created Refiners to give the bravest among mortals and cultivators the strength to free themselves from the trapping of their worlds, and hunt down the Devils that feast on the world''s chaos. To that end, he forged the first Refinersthree puppetsaround three principles: liberation, immunity, and suppression. Those principles are the roots of Refiners'' skills. Only by mastering them can we fully express the powers of our Lightning Bolt marks," the 20th Landgrave gave Harun a crash course, and lifted his right hand. The intensity of that formless strength rose to excessive heights, and though Harun and Jiyan still had nothing to fear, Birandar and Mukri would soon turn into meat pastes.


    Without a word, Harun released his Spiritual Incense, which billowed like tidal waves to challenge this Path Suppression. Summoning her long sword, Jiyan cleaved at the 20th Landgrave, unleashing a silver crescent moon that went straight for his forehead.


    An inch away from the Landgrave''s skull, thews of space gathered around and stopped the crescent moon. Its size shrank till it could fit in a toddler''s hand, and with a little squeeze, the 20th crushed it into light particles.


    Undeterred, Jiyan threw a session of dozens of crescent moons at the 20th Landgrave, but with a wave of his hand, he created an imperceptible space portal that sent all the blows back whence they came. Whirling on herself, Jiyan turned into a twister of Withering Essence that shed with and destroyed all crescent moons. Still, the Empyreandy was forced to admit that everything that came within three meters of that doll confronted an rming mastery of Space that made all moves pointless.


    Sheltered by Harun''s Spiritual Incense, Birandar and Mukri regained their senses. The former activated his Third Eye, but before he could use the Mystery of Truth to challenge the 20th Landgrave''s Space mastery, Harun stopped him with a dismissive hand sign. "Don''t be rash. This is only one of them," he cautioned, making Birandar realize that he''d omitted a critical fact. Amused, the Landgraves stepped forward, and with the 27th at the middle, all lined up before Team Harun.


    "Very true. This is only one out of nine. Second tost among us here. If you need to break your backs to take him down, how the hell do you take us all on?" The Landgraves chortled at the 27th''s words. Blood mist seeped out of their pores, their porcin skins gleamed in a reddish white light, and their golden lightning bolts shed as they each sank into battle mode.


    With a courteous smile, the 27th Landgrave threw a casual palm strike. The tter of shockwaves, cannon balls and cracking bones rang as Harun, Jiyan, Mukri and Birandar flew across the cavern''s obsidian roads to crash into adamantine walls.


    <em>"To say nothing thatI am here. Your Highness, I never wanted things to reach this point. But since you''ve delivered yourself to my doorstep, what else can I do? I don''t want to kill you. Okay I dobut I don''t. And you''re trying very hardto make sure I seed,"</em> the 27th inwardly said.


    Meanwhile, as Team Harun''s confrontation with the Landgraves reached a crescendo, the other battle front didn''t have it easier. Incensed by the barrier, the 10th, 11th and 12th Landgraves rammed into it with their strongest moves, attempting to use brute force to obliterate the divine walls separating the Dark Stone City from the First Range''s nightmare. But while those behind the barrier had nothing to fear, potential refugees became a dying breed.


    Out of spite and deliberate savagery, the trio targeted and ughtered all potential refugees, making sure that every person that neared the barrier became blood and gore.


    Yet, many of the refugees didn''t stop. With death at their back and a glimmer of hope in the horizon, even if they knew that the three Landgraves wouldn''t let any one of them escape, they had to try their luck. So they did, and they dieddidn''t stopand kept on trying. This persistence annoyed the three dolls, who now sought more victims to vent their frustration on.


    Seeing this, Mehran turned to two of his royal guards, who kneeled a step behind. "Are the preparationsplete?" He asked, and the two nodded in approval. "As Your Majestymanded, we''ve gathered 12,960 criminals from the execution halls, and are ready to put them to use. The Destion Corpses have gathered as well," the royal guard replied.


    We must never forget that before Harun''s friendly takeover, the Dark Stone City''s residents were beating records of madness and destruction, daily. Afterward, there weren''t enough ces in jails to keep all the lunatics that needed to be disposed of, so in his grand generosity, Mehran donatedrge mansions to house them: the Execution Halls. And though the state beheaded hundreds, daily, tens of thousands still awaited judgment.


    Peering into the distance, Mehran spotted trails of the next wave of refugees, nced at the Landgraves, and raised a talisman.


    "My scribes have prepared 12,960 such talismans. Gather and ce them all on the convicts'' chests, one for eachthen send the citizens homes. They do not need to see what''s about to happen," Mehran said, prompting the royal guards to carry out his orders. Unaware of Mehran''s ns, the Door Goddess squinted her eyes at him, "What are you nning to aplish?"


    "Open the gates of hellI suppose," Mehran leisurely replied.

 Chapter 130: Hymn of the Soulless World (Final Part)

    Chapter 130: Hymn of the Soulless World (Final Part)


    Mehran couldn''t contend with the Landgraves. At best, he would stay underneath the barrier and control the situation within the city''s wall. This was Gulseni and many other experts'' initial appraisal of the situation. After all, if he couldn''t even handle the Soul Refining Hall, what could he aplish here? And at first, Mehran''s creased brows seemed to agree with the others'' thoughts. But soon after, as if he''d received critical information, Mehran smirked, dispatched directives, and watched the Landgraves'' misdeeds with a cool, almost detached stancehis calm stiffed the atmosphere.


    Unlike Harun who projected his emotions to his entourage, Mehran filled his people with inconsistent feelings. Whenever he idled, someone felt unsettled. When he smiled they flinched, when heughed they trembled, when he raged they smiled and perhapsif he ever sobbedthey''d feel relieved. The mane of ck hair trailing at his backan atypical trait for a monarchwas only one of many details that convinced Gulsenithat behind the collected demeanor, Mehran was insane. And now, he''d prove her right.


    "Whatdo you mean by th" Gulseni started, but saw in Mehran''s distant gaze that she''d never receive an answer. If the body still stood beside her, his mind had already left the balcony. Heaving a sigh, Mehran stepped on the handrail and leaped across dozens of meters of altitude tond within the city proper. While he no longer had any cultivation base, thanks to the mighty Birusk blood he received from Harun, Mehran received superhuman abilities.


    Arranged in arrays, the 120 Deste Corpses, which Harun gave Mehranmand of, formed 4 organized toons before the high king. Walking between two toons, a Deste Corpse stepped forward, dragging a ten meters long coffin to Mehran''s feet. Behind the toons, Mehran''s royal guard had gathered the 12,960 inmates, keeping them in line with chains and arms.


    As ordered by the high king, each prisoner had a talisman stuck on his bare chest. Outrage and uncertainty twisted in their eyes, for though they no doubt belonged to the worst of scum, each believed that they possessed unalienable rights Mehran vited by imprisoning and executing them without trials. Worse, he now dragged them, against their will, into some awful ritual. How could such a man lead the state? s, the gags blocking their mouths didn''t allow them to make noise.


    Mehran didn''t care. Ever since he rejected his Dao Truth, his heart felt liberated. Yet, the high king also realized that the Nihility Realm wasn''t about abandoning the Dao, but escaping its trappings. Although he no longer stood on that cultivation path, the Dao Heart wouldn''t change, and his truth remained the same. He existed to protect, and if not his people, then at the very leasthis liege.


    A royal guard brought Mehran a brush and ink. Receiving it, the high king drew several eldritch patterns on the coffin''s lid, then pushed it open. Lying in the coffin, Mehran let the Deste Corpses shut him in the darkness. Strangely, the cold silence put him at ease. Closing his eyes, he started chanting ancient incantations. ck mist poured out of the talismans stuck on the prisoners'' chests. Their eyes zed over, bing a pit of darkness as their souls bound to a world of death, torments and abominations. A formless force tore the gags to shreds, and as Mehran''s incantations flowed out, the prisoners sang a soul-stirring hymn; a hymn of regret, hope, of vengeance and madness. Their strikingly melodious voices blended with Mehran''s incantations to form an orb of condensed dark clouds that hovered above his coffin.


    Mehran''s Inheritance contained three Forbidden Formations. The first created several months of positive climate in exchange for years of excruciating conditions. The second sucked all the Qi across a city for a country-destroying nuke that even the Formation Master might not survive. And the third established a connection with an infernal world to target the unliving. Undead, puppets and other soulless abominations couldn''t resist it. For obvious reasons, Mehran named it, the Hymn of the Soulless World.


    As soon as the melody started, the Landgraves stopped their refugee ughter and cast trembling gazes at the Dark Stone City''s center. By now, the royal guard and army had sent the citizens back to their homes. A few nced at the uing confrontation, but the many merely carried on with their prayerspleading Lord Revtion to destroy the fiends.


    A veil of foul energies spread across the ground, dragging the capital into a world of endless darkness. Wielding iron javelins, the Deste Corpses stepped forward, and by groups of 12, stabbed Mehran''s coffin! Each time the set of 12 spears stabbed through his skull, neck, trunk and limbs, Mehran gaspedthen lost consciousness. But right afterward, the coffin''s energies would suppress the lethal wounds and keep Mehran''s soul bound to his bodyforever a step away from death.


    Fresh blood streamed down the coffin''s holes, but the remorseless Deste Corpses didn''t stop, and carried on till the 120 undead had shoved a spear through the buried king''s flesh. Absorbed by the darkness, Mehran''s dripping blood vanished. 120 tendrils flew out and stabbed the Deste Corpses, turning their barbarous eyes into dancing ck mes. Mehran''s eyes opened. Ebony rays shot out, and from the orb of darkness hovering above, an onyx gate emerged.


    For the first time in eons, the 10th, 11th and 12th Landgrave, felt their chests tighten and the urge to flee. s, the pride so typical for Sanguine Dolls made them dismiss their heart''s warningsthat rejection sealed their fate.


    The gate sprang open, unleashing three cored hounds tied to a massive skeletal hand by 12 wires. If the infernal beasts'' jet-ck fur and crimson eyes could deter many, it was their cider-like scent that made the trio panic. The 12,900 singing criminals atrophied till they turned into skeletons, copsed, and broke into swarms of flies that rushed to and trapped the Landgraves. Unleashing guttural howls, the hounds lunged at the Sanguine Dolls, sinking their shark-like teeth into the three.


    "AAAAAAAARGH!" Terror-stricken, the three dolls struggled against the flies, attempted to activate their golden bolt marks, but realized that they couldn''t gather the tiniest bit of strength. Even now, it was the flies that held them in suspension. What a pity that knowing and epting were often opposed matters. The Sanguine Dolls could never tolerate falling in such a ce, and tried all they could to challenge reality. The hounds'' fangs tore through their limbs, turning their fleshly bodies into energy sources they then transferred to the Deste Corpses. So while the Sanguine Dolls crumbled, the Deste Corpses'' fleshly bodies improved by leaps and bounds.


    Within several breaths, the 10th and 11th lost their minds. The 12th held strong, but soon sumbed to the same fate, and by the time the hounds were done munching them, the Sanguine Dolls had turned into hollow, skeletal shells. Kept alive by their crystals, the Sanguine Dolls tumbled toward the ground and burst into thousands of piecestheir crystals shattered instantly.


    The skeletal hand pulled the hounds back. The onyx gate vanished, and a deste guard pulled open Mehran''s lidrevealing the high king, who''d went from a handsome youth to a shriveled old man. <em>"It''s in moments like these that you should ask for a raise. Don''t worry little bro, I will fix youter,"</em> Harun teased Mehran in a mental message, despite his ongoing sh with thest Landgraves.


    <em>"Worry about yourself. Your n is either the stupidest or the boldest thing I''ve heard in a long while,"</em> to remain aware of the outside situation, Harun routinelymunicated with Mehran, Gulseni and the Birusk nsmen. And with the former, he also shared his attack nMehran disaproved, but as surbordinates could never impose their will on the Lordat least not without a convincing n, he kept his mouth shut.


    <em>"That said, the new guard is ready for the final strike. Oh and, I''m not your brother,"</em> The high king leisurely replied.

 Chapter 131: Scourge of Heaven

    Chapter 131: Scourge of Heaven


    Back to the Obsidian Soul Stone mine''s final yardor bloody cave, in caseTeam Harun struggled to survive thest and strongest Landgraves'' offensive. Survive, yes, because the fight quickly turned into a one-sided beatdown. Byying down all their cards, the current Harun and Jiyan could easily defeat mostte-stage Ascending Gods.


    But this strength only gave them a chance against the 19th and 20th Landgraves. Anyone higher ranked Landgrave was leagues above their level. Realizing this, the Sanguine Dolls did what they did best: y with the food.


    Lips stretched in sher smiles, the 19th, 20th and 21st Landgraves became flickering bolts of red light as they shot at Harun''s group. The 19th aimed at Mukri and Birandar, the 20th at Jiyan and the 21st at Harun. And while the strongest two could hold their own, Birandar and Mukri didn''t even have the chance to gasp for breath. With a raucousugh, the 19th descended like an eagle''s ws on Birandar, making the youth riposte with a session of Truth barriers which all copsed before the 19th Landgrave''s fleshly body. Punch after punch, he smashed through the barriers, bashed Birandar''s chestvanishedand kicked him toward the sky. Breaking into a frontal charge, Mukri rammed his ming horns into the 19th Landgrave, but was sent flying with a casual p.


    At lighting-bolt speed, Jiyan and the 20th traded blows. Powered by seven golden marks, the 20th met her corrosive sword blows with his bare flesh, casually punching at the de with no care for defense. Better, even though the corrosive energies that ripped the 14th and 17th Landgraves'' lifespan struck past his stainless body, the 20th didn''t bat an eyelid, as if telling Jiyan that he could end it all when he pleased.


    Harun had it worse. Activating his Golden Barrier, the 21st Landgrave attempted to outright suppress him, and while his Six Incarnation Bridge didn''t respond to the suppression, the legions of toxic lifeforms within Harun''s body shook, as if pleading guilty before the golden barrier''s inquisition. Harun''s Internal me gushed forth, morphing into a ten meters long spear that shot through the barrier. Squalls of mes hurtled at the 21st Landgrave, but with a grasping motion, he twisted space to hurl them at Jiyan, instead.


    On maximum alert, Jiyan attempted to cross a space portal. But expecting that move, the 20th Landgrave mmed his hand into the ground, unleashing vibration forces that sealed the spatialws surrounding Jiyan. Needless to say, in a pure sh of Mysteries, the 20th Landgrave couldn''t lose to Jiyan who''d just started her training. Whirling back, the Empyrean princess held her sword in a horizontal stance, dark-blue mes gushed out, making the temperature drop to absolute zero. Golden light coiled around the 20th and 19th Landgraves, protecting them from instantaneous destruction. Harun''s mes froze, broke free, then froze again, trapped in an endless battle with Jiyan''s Extreme Yin.


    Racing across the air, Harun ignored the confrontation between the 20th and Jiyan, and aimed his right hand at the 19th. Dozens of vines grew andshed at his limbs, but aware of his surroundings, the 19th Landgrave escaped through a Space Portal,nding straight before Jiyan''s sweeping kick. Neither the 19th nor the 20th had expected this burst of speed, and by the time the former crashed into Harun, a dropping ax kick smashed into thetter''s skull. Avoiding destruction by a hair''s breadth, the 20th Landgrave raced back, gasping for breath.


    Disrupting thews of space, the 19th reappeared beside his brother, and the two were startled to see two Jiyans now standing on the scene. Instantly, the 20th Landgrave nced at Birandar, whose third intently stared at one of the Jiyans. Blood streamed down his eye, proof that it''d reached its limits. With the Mystery of Truth, Birandar could make identical copies of virtually anything. However, the copy was an independent lifeform that would act exactly like the original. Birandar had no control over its actions, and at his current level of insight, couldn''t sustain a copy of Jiyan for over 10 seconds.


    Knowing that time was of the essence, the two Jiyans nked the 19th and 20th. Harun''s sh with the 21st still raged on. And though they fought on different fronts, Harun and Jiyan remained in synch, leading their enemies closer to the remaining Landgraves, who watched the show with amusementwell, all except the 27th. Indeed, seeing how much difficulty Harun had dealing with the 21st, the leading Sanguine Doll''s face twisted into a frown. <em>"How sorrowful. Should I feel pleased or offended? To think that even Your Highness would fall to the point you must try so hard before such insects. For the sake of the Myriad Devil Pce, should I give you a dignified death? I''m confused and conflicted. If only we''d we never met,"</em> the 27th Landgrave suppressed a sigh. Murderlust reced the frustration, and he raised his right hand. In-between an exchange of blows, boundless pressure crashed on Harun''s shoulders, forcing him on the ground.


    But though this moment of weakness would likely lead to his defeat, Harun remained stoic. <em>"Mukri, take a short breath and fire Heavenly Tribtion at me, then retreat with Birandar and Jiyan,"</em> Harun ordered as he gritted his teeth to take on the 21st Landgrave''s sweeping kick.


    BANG!


    In nearly 200 years of existence, Harun had never withstood such a dreadful blow. If not for his tyrannical defensive abilities, his skull would have shattered on the spot. But even as blood dripped down his face and faces, Harun''s lips curled into a smile. Catching him mid-air, Jiyan sent him flying back at the Landgraves, who now all stood within ten meters of one another. Taking in a short breath, Mukri didn''t question Harun''s words and summoned Heaven''s wrath. Dark clouds gathered above Harun''s forehead, but while Mukri and the confused Landgraves expected the typical, several meters wide clouds, a veil of darkness filled the whole mine. Outside, the crimson sky turned pitch-ck, and across tens of thousands of meters, growling thunder and red lightning bolts battered the listeners'' eardrums.


    Without exception, the nine Landgraves ignored Birandar, Mukri, Jiyan and Harun to nce at this unprecedented phenomenon. Jiyan''s brows creased, Mukri was scared out of his wits, and even Birandar dropped on his rear. With every sh of lightning and growling thunder, the earth shook, cracked, and made veterans such as the Landgraves and Weeping Soul fear for their lives. "What theIdid this?" Mukri reeled back, confused by his achievements. Only Harun remained stoic, as if he''d always expected the deluge of barbarous lightning forming above him.


    "Waitwe''re interfering in a tribtion. Damn it all" the 27th Landgrave realized, a step toote.


    Thanks to the me Spirit King''s captivity, Harun learned much of the Landgrave hierarchy. Started with the 25th, each was stronger than all the lower-ranked Landgravesbined. Therefore, Harun never hoped to defeat the Assembly in an honest confrontation.


    Endless rays of purple lightning shafted toward the Obsidian Soul Stone mine, sting through its walls to exterminate Harun and the Landgraves. s, as intruders, the Landgraves received thrice Harun''s punishment, and all faced an insurmountable nightmare.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Spiritual Incense, kaleidoscopic light and mes gushed out of Harun''s form. Purple and Life Essence followed, reinforcing his impregnable defenses while Death, Extreme Yin and Withering Essence eroded the lightning bolts'' might. The 27th, 26th and 25th Landgrave led their group''s resistance, unleashing the full might of their golden marks and Mysteries to resist the infernal strike. s, anything they put forth was pummeled into oblivion by the unending waves of red lightning.


    "All along, the bull was the strongest? How is this a God-level Tribtion? Even a Heavenly God may not survive! And where are his subordinates?" Weeping Soul thrashed in his blood bubble prison, and desperately sought Jiyan and the restthey were long gone.


    "Ran! They all ran! How despicable! Master, save yourself!" Weeping Soul lost his eternalposure and squealed at the 27th Landgrave. s, his cries didn''t carry the Mystery of Truth. The 27th Landgrave''s 11 bolt marks shone at their brightest, shing, but crumbling before the lightning strikes.


    BOOM!


    The lightning bolts pierced through thest defenses and struck their targets, triggering earsplitting explosions that sent Weeping Soul and hundreds of flying fishes crashing into distant walls. Even Jiyan, Mukri and Birandar, who raced down the cavern roads, couldn''t escape the explosions'' impact. Propelled across the rugged cavern walls, they rolled down several meters before stopping their fallsustaining minimal injuries.


    Looking above her shoulders, Jiyan nced at the red clouds of smoke, remembered Harun''s words, but still turned to Mukri with undisguised killing intent. "You better have a magnificent exnation ready. Otherwise, one year from today I will celebrate your death anniversary."

 Chapter 132: The Fisherwoman (1)

    Chapter 132: The Fisherwoman (1)


    "Wait, wait, I''m innocent. Well no but, I have no control over the tribtion lightning''s scope. Damn it, it''s supposed to scale to the target''s cultivation or strength, that''s how tribtions workremember? If even you can''t understand what just happened, how could I?" Mukri, who didn''t doubt that the wrong words could cost him his head, replied, full of grievances. Granted, his Devil Essence enabled him to summon Heavenly Tribtion, but Mukri didn''t decide its range or might. Though always reasonable, the tribtion scaled to the opponent''s abilities, making it a game-changing skill regardless of who Mukri faced. However, Harun carried a burden no one besides the System knew of: Scourge.


    With scourge values that multiplied the might of all his tribtions by 257.6, even the average Heavenly Tribtion turned into a disastrous cmity for the gue Overlord. As for the Landgraves who "identally" interfered with his tribtion, it''s no exaggeration to say that they faced a world-tearing cmity.


    "Don''t let fear cloud your judgment. Master is an all-resourceful talent. If he didn''t predict this, he wouldn''t use Mukri to cleanup the Landgraves," Birandar chimed in. Through their Karmic Links, all three could feel that Harun still breathed. However, they couldn''t estimate his precise condition. Overwhelmed by surprise and emotions, Jiyan no longer approached the problem from a rational angleleading to her almost gutting our poor bull. Realizing her mistake, the Empyrean princess closed her eyes and steadied her mood. "Sorry," she said. Heaving a sigh of relief, Mukri strutted to Birandar''s side and hid behind the herculean youth. Clearly, until the boss'' return, Birandar would be his shield.


    Spreading her senses to the battlefield, Jiyan looked past the red smoke clouds, attempting to appraise Harun and the Landgraves'' condition. For several minutes, none stood up. The temperature across the ruined mine made a joke of the sun''s surface, and even the tiniest contact with the spreading smoke could sear the average cultivator''s flesh. Again, Jiyan grew restless, but believing that Harun would never resort to a suicidal n, she restrained herselfa dreary silence settled in.


    Atst, one figure stood up, eyes gleaming red. Another one followed, with faint lightning marks shing on their chests. Nine for the first, ten for the second. Recognizing the 25th and 26th Landgraves, Jiyan''s heart skipped a beat. Grasping her sword, the Empyrean princess was about to rush in when the unthinkable urred. Two slender hands pierced through the 25th and 26th Landgraves'' skulls, grabbing their crystals. Eleven dim lightning bolts shed at their back, and though they would never see their murderer''s face, they recognized that aura without fail. Never in their wildest dreams could the 25th and 26th Landgraves imagine that after surviving this cmitous strike, they''d lose their lives at their leader''s hands.


    The charred corpses of the six other Landgraves surrounded them, but ignoring their fallen brothers, both remembered Weeping Soul''s words. The 25th went a step further andbined the previous inconsistencies with Weeping Soul''s actions to figure out the truthhis bloodshot eyes widened in disbelief. "You" he would never get the chance to finish his words. The 27th Landgrave''s hands tightened on the crystalsshattering them alongside his surviving brothers'' lives. Like lifeless puppets, they both tumblednever to rise again.


    "Sometimes, it pays to be stupid. Though I always nned to butcher you all, you could have lived for a bit longer." Alone amidst charred corpses, the 27th said and raised his hand, dispersing the smoke clouds. Just like Jiyan, from a distance Weeping Soul observed the changes and was delighted to see the 27th rise from the rubble. Still, his heart ached at the 27th Landgrave''s appearance.


    Like his fallen brothers, the 27th Landgrave''s Anasrava body was burned beyond repair, making his face utterly unrecognizable. His charred legs trembled, struggling to keep him standing while blood dripped from the dozens of holes the tribtion lightning poked in his chest and abdomen. To end his two brothers before they could end him, the 27th used up much of his remaining strength and could now not even disy two percent of his past prowess.


    Knowing that his ns wouldn''t survive this mess, the 27th nned to use hisst bit of strength to escape. Anticipating his thoughts, Weeping Soul hurtled at the 27th Landgrave. The blood bubble trapping the Reverend didn''t survive the explosion, but even if it didas the 27th had rigged it alreadyit couldn''t have stopped him. s, some are destined to always arrivete.


    A brutal knee strike bashed the 27th Landgrave''s skull, ruptured his spinal cord, and mmed him into the ground. A pool of blight and decay so familiar to Harun''s opponents formed underneath, bing arge swamp that trapped the 27th Landgrave in its murderous cradle. Better, red and golden lightning shed across the expert''s form, releasing a suppression force that worsened the 27th Landgrave''s predicament.


    "I sure as hell didn''t expect that you''d take that lightning storm so well. Golden Crow, why do you have to keep making my job a chore? Oh well" Standing on the back of the 27th Landgrave''s skull, Harun leisurely said. Through Sangar and the fifth elder of the Soul Refining Hall, Harun had learned all he needed to on the rtionship between Nak, Xerzan, Sangar and Weeping Soul. Therefore, though he couldn''t see through the 27th''s act, Weeping Souls'' words and deeds convinced him that the one pinned underneath his knee was none other than the master of the Golden Crows: Nak.


    Harun couldn''t begin toprehend how the crow hunted by all became the 27th Landgrave. But at the same time, he didn''t believe that he had the real Nak under control. An avatar, a clone, both? Either way, this was no Emperor-level expert. And as Weeping Soul raced across the Abyssal River, a blood-red arrow beam shot upward, piercing through he Reverend''s skull. His eyes went bloodshot, and his corpse plummeted into the Abyssal River.


    All along, Harun and the Landgraves vied for dominance, forgetting the Abyssal River, that sentient entity overlooking the whole confrontation. Since the moment she didn''t intervene to suppress the tribtion, Nak realized that the Abyssal River''s mistress had seen through him.


    "Impressive, you''re even using the tribtion lightning to condense your first bolt mark. I didn''t foresee that you''d have already figured out the way to be a Refiner. As expected of Your Highness, you can turn even such a disastrous situation into victory. A pity that killing me is pointless. If you don''t cooperate with Weeping Soul and I, get ready to spend the rest of eternity as a dual cauldron. Moreover" the eleven dim lightning marks shed, releasing a tyrannical suppression force that sted away Harun alongside the blight and decay. Pressuring his trembling legs, Nak stood up, and while locking his eyes on the Abyssal River, added, "1% of a Heavenly-God-level expert''s strength is still leagues above what you can measure up to," Nak dered and stretched out his quivering, right hand.


    Though his body barely hanged on its feet, the pressure of those bolt marks was enough to make most Gods escape at maximum speed. But before Harun could make sense of the words, a blood-colored vines shot from the ground, piercing through Nak''s battered skull to wrap and crush his crystal. <em>"But it''s nowhere near enough to contend with me,"</em> a mellifluous voice rang in Nak''s mindmarking his defeat.

 Chapter 133: The Fisherwoman (2)

    Chapter 133: The Fisherwoman (2)


    In a distant world of endless strife and monstrous battles, d in Devil Essence, a colossal golden crow shed with ancient dragons, immortal phoenixes, dreadful leviathans and other titanic beastscleaving his way through their ranks to rush into a towering, dark-purple portal. s, a step before his goal, his body shook, forcing him to crash from over ten-thousand meters of altitude. The Devil Essence became a chaotic mess of flickering energies, blood dripped from the golden crow''s eyes, and his bestial face twisted with endless rage. "Howwho was it that interfered and ruined my future? Weeping Souleven youfailed me?!" Confused and weakened by his n B''s loss, the true Nak spat, but how could the terrible enemies surrounding him miss this golden opportunity? Each shed monstrous smiles at the copsed crow and dropped on him with ravenous hunger.


    In the Obsidian Soul Stone Mine, a scream of rage, despair and unwillingness tore through the Abyssal River. A whirlpool formed at its center, and from it shot out a 99 meters tall treant whose eerie eyes locked on the 27th Landgrave. Desperate, the treant dropped at thest Landgrave''s side, and stretched its elongated branches at its corpse. "Mastermaster!" In ast, pointless attempt, Weeping Soul shook the 27th Landgrave''s body, poured in his essence, attempted to fix his bodybut failed at all corners. Few could challenge True Death, and though the Reverend had many skills, resurrection wasn''t one of themto say nothing that the Landgraves were all puppets to begin with. Tears dripped down the Weeping Soul trunk''s eyes.


    Aplete failure. Despite all his preparations, this expedition resulted in aplete failure. In Weeping Soul heart, his massive breakthrough was never the principal goal. First and foremost, he had to ensure two things: the 27th Landgrave''s safety and the Abyssal River mistress'' fall. Everything was going smoothly. Sess couldn''t escape his palm. But who could expect that the easiest task, the 27th Landgrave''s safety, would be the starting point of his failure. And thiswas but one person''s fault.


    The treant''s eyes shifted to Harun, whose body slowly integrated the lightning cracking and piercing through his diamond-like flesh. "Youit''s all your fault. One after another, you''ve pushed a session of variables into this sh and ruined centuries of hard work. Were it only me, I wouldn''t care. Mypanions'' loss, I can endure. But how dare youhow dare youinterfere with Master''s dreams?! How dare you force me to fail him?!" Boundless malevolent energies teemed from Weeping Soul''s treant form. Grief Essence rippled across the air, outpacing the Soul Essence Weeping Soul excelled at.


    Attached children often wish to make their parents proud. It ismon knowledge and a desire most of them confronts at least once. In the Heavenly Dream Land, Ancient Beasts had long been erased. But some Three-Legged crows survive, safe-kept in eggs by hundreds of thousands of years old deities. Weeping Soul was one such case. Born without parents, he escaped covert very thanks to Nak''s protection, and only saw the world as his master wished him to.


    All along, the Reverend lived his Master''s dream while desperately wishing to make that truth Nak so often told him about a reality. But beyond that truth, Weeping Soul simply hoped to make Nak proud. He breathed for those moments when the Golden Crow would smile at him and whisper, "Good job."


    He wasn''t the only one. Sv, the Serpent Lord who lived to live up to the Serpent Emperor''s legacy. Lord Revtion, of the Dharma Seeking Temple, who only wished to study beside Golden Cicada. The Devil Princes who, in one way or another, once pursued their unreachable father''s recognition. So many overbearing experts driven by such a simple goal. For some reason, Harun and Birandar saw themselves in Weeping Soul''s grief. But having passed the Suffering stage, Harun didn''t lose hisposure, and with a tone that some of his teammates found insensitive, replied:


    "ording to your faction''s fifth elder, you are a Tree-Legged Crow. Strangeyou do realize that Nak exterminated your kind, right? Doesn''t take a genius to figure that out. The Serpent Emperor cleaned up the primordial dragons, ancient rocs and leading phoenixes, who consorted with the reptiles. Of all the few primordial specimen, your Three-Legged Crows should have carried the most descendants, but Nak''s ascendance as the Golden Crow and marriage to your ancestor led to your lineage''s extinction. Nowaday, celestials only know the words Golden Crow, making your kind a relic of the past. How did ite to this? You are not an idiot and can figure it out on your own."


    "You are correct. But I will still kill you," Weeping Soul straightforwardly replied. Unlike what Harun expected, the words flew by the Reverend''s ears. Better than anyone, he knew that his bloodline''s extinction was the fruit of his master''s deeds. However, he didn''t care. The bond nurtured across all these years by Nak''s side went far beyond any illusory sense of belonging. Strangely, Harun felt relieved. Perhaps because using kinship to destroy a man''s mind brought him no joy?


    The teary-eyed fruits littering the Reverend''s branches radiated dark-gray energies. The branches swayed to mirror Weeping Soul''s excitement at ripping Harun''s heart out of his chest.


    Birandar and Jiyan were about to rush back in, but Harun''s voice cut them mid-move. "Beloved, the extraordinariness I love so much in you will be neededter on. Birandar, do your master a favor and behave," Harun said, unknowingly speaking the most effective words on those two. Though they both wished to press on, Birandar and Jiyan nced at one another, and suppressed their urge.


    Their eyes narrowed, but unwilling to disturb Harun''s well-crafted ns, they stood back. Going a step further, Jiyan sat crossed-legged, falling into a silent cultivation session. Birandar soon imitated his n mistress, leaving Mukri to watch over them.


    Harun''s mano a mano sh with Weeping Soul had yet to take off when, from the Abyssal River''s whirlpool, a golden light column rose and shafted through the broken ceilingpiercing the sky.


    Harun and Mukri nced at the phenomenon. Birandar snapped out of his cultivation trance, leaving only Jiyan in the dark. Expecting this turn of events, Weeping Soul didn''t shift focus, aiming both for Harun and the entity at his back. The light column faded away, revealing a voluptuous woman garbed in a skimpy red dress. Standing at about 1.78 meters, with a slightly bronzed skin and blood-red eyes, that woman looked past Weeping Soul, locking her eyes on Harun with an almost ravenous hunger.

 Chapter 134: Forlorn Memories (1)

    Chapter 134: Forlorn Memories (1)


    Even without looking back, Weeping Soul knew precisely who he was dealing with. But when a golden corona formed above the woman''s head, with 30, finger-sized lightning bolts swirling within, the Reverend rushed toward the broken ceiling and spun to face that formidable woman. Flowing ck hair cascaded over her shoulder, enhancing her luscious curves while striking red eyeshadow gave her alluring eyes a demonic pull. Those eyes ignored Weeping Soul, still fixed on Harun.


    "As Master predicted, she has returned to the Paramita stage already," Weeping Soul noted. Refiners were divided into seven stages, each requiring an increasing amount of golden lightning bolts. At twelve, refiners broke through to the Paramita stage, but needed 108 to reach the Anuttara stage. The next stratum required 1080, and considering that for many, each of those bolt marks represented a Heavenly Tribtion, ites as no surprise that refiners never reced cultivators. But for those with tremendous willpower and little talent, this brutal growth method carried tremendous appeal.


    In forgotten times, the red-eyed vixen had reached the refiner equivalent of the Emperor-level, tempered across over 1,000 tribtions. However, thanks to a prehistoric conflict that once made a ughterhouse of the Heavenly Dream Land, she was attacked post breakthrough and almost robbed of her life.


    But as she stared at Harun, with those sparkling eyes hidden behind a mask of seduction, the red-eyed vixen wondered if that past catastrophe wasn''t just Heaven''s blessing. Walking across the Abyssal River, thedy stepped into the sky, smiled at Harun, and cast a disinterested nce at Weeping Soul. "So, you truly were 27th''s aplice? You can leave if you want to. I''ve no interest in you," wanting to make a good impression on Harun, the red-eyeddy said, knowing fully well that Weeping Soul wouldn''t back off.


    "How did you figure it out?" More disturbed by the turn of events than anything, the Reverend probed the truth. Even among the Truth Scrying Grotto''s top experts, few knew of Nak''s backup body or its importance for the Golden Crow''s future. As mentioned by Golden Cicada, to spend all those eons in the Heavenly Dream Land, Nak sacrificed much. If nothing else, his status as a gifted disciple of the Myriad Devil Pce wasn''t what a low-tiernd''s God-Emperor couldpare to.


    Worse, Nak''s raw talent surpassed that of his sword brother, the Heaven Warding Emperor. If not for that, considering the tremendous gap in their houses, they could never meetmuch less be close friends.


    Unlike Heaven Warding, who didn''t just leave for phnthropic reasons, Nak had no known purpose in this Land, making many praise his steadfast devotion to brotherly ties. Of course, this was a big load of bullshit. Nak came for precise goals and wasn''t stupid enough to not leave a way out for himself. Thus, long before hended in the Heavenly Dream Land with his sworn brother, he used the Duality Severing Secreta dreadful but unpopr art passed onto him by devil royalty. Among other things, it allowed the user to sever pieces of their emotional spectrum to create an incarnation or possess a soulless body. Aware that his orignal body''s foundation wouldn''t survive the Heavenly Dream Land''s "abject" atmosphere and inferior Divine path, Nak severed his Pride and, unbeknown to the Landgrave Assembly, fused it with their 27th brother, turning him into his incarnation.


    Believing in Refiners'' potentials and the 27th Landgrave''s foundation, the Golden Crow didn''t doubt that this body would one day allow him to catch up to and surpass his original strengthit''d never have the chance. Tilting her head to the left, the red-eyeddy shed Weeping Soul a half-mocking, half-pitying smile. "You, of course. To be honest, I had no idea that the most reliable of my pet-children had beenpromised. Thankfully, the two of you joined hands to plot against me. What a pity that, while you''ve never shared any directmunication, you two made a petty mistake: the Blood Bubble," the red-eyeddy saidmaking Weeping Soul''s eerie eyes widen in enlightenment.


    The Blood Matron built her pet-children on one principle: hubris. Each new model was stronger and more arrogant than the previous one, making the 27th Landgrave the insufferable monarch of his elder brothers. She used this model so that scorn and resentment filled the Landgraves'' ranks. The weaker ones would band together to oppose the stronger models, who in turn would be too proud to form alliances. True unity would never existensuring that besides loving their "mother" or destroying one another, the Landgraves could aplish nothing.


    Many variables the Blood Matron never anticipated followed. The 1st Landgrave developed genuine brotherly affection. The 25th and 26th became linked to the 27th. But the core principle remained.


    <em>"Someone as proud and mighty as the 27th Landgrvae would never seal me personally, and instead drop the task on one of his subordinates. But as Master needed to rig my prison without attracting attention, he directly handled itthus revealing the w she built on,"</em> Weeping Soul realizedyet couldn''t ept this truth. All along, despite not allowing hubris to ruin his enlightenment, the Reverend believed himself a clever and resourceful man. Why then could he not think of that ring inconsistency and prevent this result?


    Ashamed, Weeping Soul waved his branches as his eyes narrowed at the Blood Matron. Even if his master had lost his n B, the primary targets remained: the Blood Matron''s body and soul. As long as he could get those two things, there was not much his master wouldn''t forgive.


    Unwilling to get dragged into an even more dangerous sh, Mukri hauled an exhausted Birandar and the meditating Jiyan on his backthen ran as fast and far as he couldleaving Harun to face the two monsters. Activating the Weeping Soul Mantra''s most sordid ability, Weeping Soul ignited the tens of thousands of teary-face-shaped fruits crowding his branches. Massive Soul, Grief and Sacrifice Essence gushed out, depleting the stash of sacrifices to carry the Reverend''s cultivation and strength to extreme levels.


    But while Weeping Soul''s battle-power peaked, the Blood Matron raised her right hand, dragging Harun into an orange-red world of rotating, geometric symbols. "Apologies for the gloomy wee, Harun. I know that you must have much prejudice toward me, but I never wished to harm you, and was just trying to survive. From a survivor to another, I hope that you can understand my predicament," as if reading through Harun''s eyes, the Blood Matron started, then stepped aside to let his gaze lock on the obsidian tablet floating at her back.


    "Let''s get back to square one, shall we? To show my sincerity, please let me to grant you this giftfree of charge. I believe you will find it most thrilling," she said, and while every word that escaped her red lips tasted like honey, Harun''s eyes forgot the Blood Matron, forgot the uncanny setting, and fixed the tablet with maximum intensity. The golden and purple double pupils shone like radiant stars and, against his best judgment, Harun stepped toward the tablet. Blurred drawings of past events and ancient texts covered the stone, describing the iplete inheritance on which the Blood Matron built all her achievements.


    Harun''s eyes ignored that text, locking on words even the Blood Matron couldn''t see.


    <em>"As you read this stele, I, we have forgotten the events that led us to this ce. I do not wish to throw you into a past that no longer concerns you, but if you don''t understand ithow can you survive? This is our story. Please ept it"</em> to the Blood Matron''s surprise, a golden sh of light shot out of the stelepiercing through Harun''s forehead. Subsequently, an ancient tale took shape in Harun''s mind.


    <em>"73 trillion years have passed since the Devil Ancestor crushed the Void Ancestor to seize the coveted throne of Eternal Sovereign. All along, the Myriad Devil Pce, which he formed to unify the various branches of his colossal empire under a single name, has dominated the omniverse and produced countless talents. Chief among them are the Devil Princes and Princesses, who inherited the most perfect form of their father''s invincible blood. </em>


    <em>But whererever a group stands, a hierarchy forms and lions emerge.</em>


    <em>73 trillion years after the establishment of the Myriad Devil Pce, the princely hierarchy remained unbroken, with the eldest, firstborn son of the empress, keeping his infernal brothers and sisters on tiptoes. With the princes as the example, the belief that the younger Devils could never outpace their elders polluted the Myriad Devil Pce, leading to the slow-paced decline of talented youths. One boy broke that myth, the sixth andst Devil Prince: Siegfried Konradson.</em>


    <em>Though born from a top-ranking consort, he wasn''t the son of the Empress, and therefore didn''t have the support of her Preeminent House. Not that it''d matter. The sixth prince broke all of his eldest brother''s records, bing the first besides his father to cultivate jet-ck Devil Essence. His mastery over energy was such that he could condenseplete armies and worlds out of his Essence alone, and on his 100th birthday, the sixth prince achieved the impossiblereaching the peak of the Devil Road.</em>


    <em>Besides himself with pride, the Devil Ancestor made his 100-year-old son God-Emperor of a coveted Landverse, while also granting him a unique permit to explore other Landverses as he pleased. Thus, though his strength could still notpare to his oldest three siblings, no one doubted that the sixth prince would rise to Ancestor-level, surpass his elders, and be the true sessor of his father''s profane legacy. What a pity that"</em>


    The tale stopped here, reced by the cultivation knowledge and inheritance carried by the Stele. If before, such critical knowledge would have filled Harun with joy, those mnemonics now felt like needles pricking his eyes. Furious, Harun threw a punch at the stele. His fist went past it, and to his confusion, Harunnded in a magnificent throne room of imperial jade walls.


    There, several men and women with unfathomable levels of Devil Essence formed lines before the Devil Ancestor. Sitting on the stairs leading to his throne, the Devil Ancestor smiled at the top-ranking members of the Myriad Devil Pce: the princes, princesses, consorts and elders, then dered:


    "Beloveddies and scorned gentlemen, wee to myst, live imperial decree. I''ve ruled the omniverse for 73 trillion years, so long that even my infallible memory barely remembers my mortal years. By now, there isn''t a single depravityknown or unknownthat I haven''t tested soI''m taking my girls and I''m out! Siegfried, you''re the emperor now."

 Chapter 135: Forlorn Memories (Final Part)

    Chapter 135: Forlorn Memories (Final Part)


    The throne room came to a screeching halt. From the consorts to the princes, from the princes to the elders, none had seen those wordsing. But while some grew unsettled, several remained stoic. All eyes turned toward a slender young man with mid-long white hair and slit, blue eyes: the sixth''s prince, Siegfried. On this asion, the exuberance with which he usually approached the world didn''t stand out, making several wonder what went on within his mind.


    "I disagree," the second Devil Prince, a white-haired man with loosely tied dreadlocks broke the silence. "Father, while I understand that you''re free to do as you please, and are too extreme to care about logic, I will still try to be honest. There is no scenario where this session choice ends well for Siegfried or the Myriad Devil Pce," the second prince started, echoing many of the devils'' thoughts. Stepping out of the ranks, the second prince nced at Siegfried, who silently stared at the ground, then shifted back to his fiendish father.


    "I believe that, at the very least, every single one of us has heard rumors about your next project. So I''m sure your departure doesn''t surprise that many. I won''t try to dissuade youI can''t. But father, please have mercy on us. I will be the first to admit that Siegfried''s cultivation talent exceeds all past, present, and future experts. Your elder brother, your father, our imperial mother, eldest brother and even you. Though he may not have the tools to reach your level, given enough time, Siegfried will surpass us all. Of that I have no doubts. But time, father, is all the problem here.


    Should you leave today and carry all your consorts with you, the Myriad Devil Pce will automatically lose one-third its Ancestors. That still makes us the most dreadful faction across the omniverse, but should all the Ancestral Sects and Preeminent Houses unite against usand they willcontrolling the entire Omniverse is impossible. At best, we will give up several Landverses. At worst, we face a global war.


    Now let''s assume that the outside forces don''t realize your departure for several centuries. We would still have plenty of internal problems to confront." Here, the second prince paused, and pointed at Siegfried with his left hand. "Everyone loves the sixth prince, but few would tolerate the second Devil Sovereign. This is the world of devils, you and elder brother aside, no one can keep us all in line. Among us princes, eldest brother is the only one with enough strength and prestige to maintain order. But if he ever showed the potential to be omnipotent, his supporters would be the first to cut him down. No one wants to trade you for another you. You could have the Empyrean and ughter Ancestors protect him that Siegfried would still not survive 300 yearsa civil war will inevitably follow." The second prince spoke his peers'' mind. Unless their sovereign dyed his abdication by one thousand year, the eldest prince was the most qualified to take on the burdens of the throne. Siegfried was both too immature and frightening for a smooth transition to ur.


    "Ohis that so? Do you also feel that way?" The Devil Ancestor asked his eldest son, a tall and muscr youth with short, neatlybed hair sitting on a martial figure. Closing his eyes, the eldest prince folded his arms below his chest and replied: "Your throne, your rules." And again, the room fell silent. With those four words, the eldest prince had made his stance clear. But even if he had no visible interest in the most exalted of seats, more than one Ancestor were ready to clear all obstacles for him. Amused by his children and subordinates'' reactions, the Devil Ancestor shifted his attention to Siegfried, who''d yet to speak a word. <em>"Old man, I usually support you doing whatever you please butSiegfried has not exactly been right since he returned from his trip. This is the first time in 100 years that he stays silent for over 10 seconds. That alone should tell you how bad things are. Maybe we should address that before handing him the omniverse?"</em> The third prince chimed in, attempting to bring the Devil''s attention to this overlooked fact.


    Indeed,pared to his entric exuberance and mad antics, the sixth prince''s cultivation talent was secondary. Calling him the number one rascal of the Ancestral Land was no exaggeration. However, following his omni-exploration, that same rogue seemed to have lost his spark. "What about you, Siegfried? Who do you think is more appropriate? Don''t hesitate to vote for yourself," the Devil Ancestor jested. At first, Siegfried didn''t respond. Harun, who observed the scene by his side, fused with Siegfried, and now experienced all he did.


    Memories of a blessed childhood shed with recent discoveries to conjure a vision of the sordid future this throne would grant him. Shame, disgust, rage, sorrow and helplessness flickered in the sixth prince''s eyes, intensifying the tension across the room. "I don''t think I can do this anymore," Siegfried stated, and lifted his eyes at the ceiling. "Yep, I''m done with this. Sorry fes, I quit," the youth chortled, and mmed his right palm against his chest.


    Jet-ck energies unfurled, a single blood drop flew out of Siegfried''s chest, surrounded by swirling arcs of Devil Essence. Before the surrounding Devils could make sense of the move, Siegfried closed his fist around the blood dropcrushing it instantly.


    The Devil Ancestor''s smile vanished, the princes'' faces twisted uncontrobly, the elders rose to maximum alert, and among the consorts, several recoiled in fright. However, Siegfried was merely getting started, and to his family''s horror, extracted all his cultivation to form an orb of foul energies which he subsequently sted into pieces.


    In one breath, the sixth prince had destroyed both his Blood Origin and cultivation base. The former carried his bloodline abilities while thetter resulted from decades of hard work. His hair and eyes became a dull ck, and his skin lost all luster. "Whathave you done?" A ravishing woman with an enchanting pair of slit blue eyes stepped out of the top consorts'' rank and grabbed Siegfried by the cor.


    Although it''d leave them badly weakened, cultivators could survive without their Blood Origin. Mortals, however, would wither and perish within several months. By destroying those two parts of himself, the sixth prince had virtually doomed himself to destruction. And considering the implications of his move, no one, not even close-kin, would save him.


    Most would never understand why the sixth prince took such extreme actions, but at the end of the catastrophic gathering, Siegfried left the Myriad Devil Pce, and was never heard of again. Scattered images of Siegfried''s past shed before Harun, failing to form a coherent picture. The memories blurred and stopped here.


    Back to the Blood Matron''s side, Harun kneeled before the stele, as breathless as bewildered. The belief that he missed several crutial pieces of the puzzle rattled his limbs. Still, those scattered images remained, convincing him that given enough time, he could figure out the rest. The Blood Matron, who''d not expected such an extreme reaction, narrowed her eyes at Harun. Intense curiosity shed in her crimson eyes and, crouching beside him, she watched out for all the changes in Harun''s heterochromatic eyes--both zed life ming stones.

 Chapter 136: Tantric Exaltation Mantra

    Chapter 136: Tantric Exaltation Mantra


    Within the Obsidian Soul Stone mine, after igniting and turning the tens of thousands of Weeping Soul fruits into fuel, the Reverend had pushed his strength far beyond Ascending-God level, and could now look down on the whole Landgrave Assembly. But for this temporary strength boost that brought him to the Blood Matron''s level, he paid a hefty price.


    The boost onlysted one hour, so unless the Reverend consumed the Blood Matron''s soul within that timeframe and broke through the finalyer of the Weeping Soul Mantraeven if he somewhat escapedhe''d lose centuries of umtion and suffer a severe setback. But by now, the Reverend could no longer see retreat as an option. The Blood Matron understood that very well.


    Joining her hands in a prayer sign, the matronmanded the Abyssal River, her most reliable tool, to suppress Weeping Soul. Blood mist formed around the Reverend, trapping his gargantuan treant form in a just as sizable blood sphere. This time, Weeping Soul thrashed against his bounds, attempting to break free as soon as possible to take down the Blood Matron and steal her body.


    Mukri, who observed the confrontation from a safe distance, was confused by Harun''s disappearance. Indeed, following the Blood Matron''s rise, Harun vanished. Mukri couldn''t track down his boss'' whereabouts. But sensing through the Karmic Link that Harun still breathed, he reckoned that the red-eyed vixen sealed him in another dimensionan urate guess.


    Back to the orange-red world of spiraling, geometric figures, Harun recovered from his mind trip. Seduced by his eyes, the Blood Matron couldn''t lift her sight from Harun''s Sovereign Pupils. More precisely, there was an uncanny intensity in the way she peered into the golden pups if that eye alone hid the world''s most delectable secrets. "Odd. Are youa silk" Unable to restrain her curiosity, the Blood Matron started. But realizing the terrible mistake she almostmitted, she restrained herselfinstead waiting for Harun to regain hisposure. Suppressing his thirst for the truth, Harun shifted to the left, facing the Blood Matron, whose gaze refused to part from him.


    "Though I knew it''d share a greater connection with you than me, I didn''t expect you to go through such an intense experience. My apologies," she said, leaned closer toward Harun, and ced one hand on his cheek. Red light gushed out of her palm, stabilizing his condition. Perhaps due to her refiner level, the lightning cracking around Harun''s form didn''t react to the Blood Matron''s touch. For an instant, the two maintained eye contact, and as they appraised and robbed information from one another''s nce, a silence crept in.


    "You have the look of someone with more questions than answers. I may not be able to reply to all you''ve seen, and don''t want to know what you are not willing to share. However, I will answer all you ask me to the best of my abilities," the Blood Matron pledged, and though he didn''t let his facial expression betray him, Harun remained skeptical. Thanks to the stele, he''d gained substantial insight into refiners'' abilities and training processeven receiving a new mantra. However, much of that knowledgey in shambles, preventing him from instantly grasping the stele''s teachings.


    "Let''s start with the basics. Harun, the gue Overlord, certified defiler. A pleasure to meet you," Harun sat crossed legged and started the introductions.


    "Dolma, the Blood Matron, certified soul eater. The pleasure is all mine," the Blood Matron sincerely replied, making Harun arc his eyebrows.


    <em>"Isn''t that a dish? Why do I feel someone handpicked that name specifically for me?"</em> Harun asked himself, but knowing there were more important matters at y, he restrained his curiosity.


    "Where are we? What precisely are refiners? Why can youmand such powers despite having no Bridge, and what do you want from me?" Though he already knew or could guess much of the answers, Harun needed to buy himself time, and so decided to y the card of ignorance. As if anticipating those questions, Dolma nodded and sat on her knees.


    "Fair questions. Luckily for me, I can answer all those in one go. This is my Mand, the Internal Meditation World unique to all refiners at the Paramitayer or above. Cultivators cross bridges, refiners perfect, and liberate themselves from the world''s shackles. I suppose you could say that our flesh is the bridge. But in the strictest of senses, we are ascetics that meditate on three principles: suppression, immunity and liberation. Do not take the Landgraves as reliable examples. The 20th and above aside, the rest were failures." Here, Dolma paused and snapped her fingers. A golden cloud formed above her forehead, showcasing the image of a young woman with short ck hair tied in a chignon. Dressed in the typical monk''s kasaya, the illusory woman fixed Harun with a striking pair of golden double pupils nigh identical to his left eye.


    "And she is our creator. Her name was lost to history. Even the stele doesn''t reveal it, so we merely call her the Holy One. In times you folks now refer to as the Lost Era, the Heavenly Dream Land was but one tiny world, a barrennd of blight and decay known as the Noxious me World. In those days, humans'' life expectancy was 38. Cultivation didn''t exist, and disease ruled thend. Seeking to bring order to her birthce, the Holy One used the Mysteries of Truth, Fate, Life, Death, Infinity, Nothingness, and other forces we cannotprehend to create three puppets: each with a unique attribute. Those puppets became the first refiners, spread the Holy One''s teachings, and warned humans of the dangers they faced outside thisnd: the Devils.


    To prepare for that unknown threat, the most determined among humans became refiners and through ritual dances, learned to summon Heavenly Tribtion to temper themselves.


    Get insight into the three principles, harness the energies concealed within Heaven''s Wrath, let them course through your veins, cleanse your will and exalt your flesh, only then can you fuse with Tribtion Lightning and bea true refiner. Or at leastthat''s how it was at first." Unable to hide her excitement, Dolma shed an expectant smile.


    "True refiners are not mere flesh tempering brutes, but schrs and researchers. While refiners can make substantial progress through their willpower alone, to say nothing of getting insight into the three fundamental principles, not many could survive the constant, scaling tribtions. The farther you go, the more bolt marks you need for the tiniest bit of progress.


    ording to the stele, her three puppets aside, the Holy One had a secretive partner who silently followed her throughout her adventures. Because they both had double pupils, some im that they were siblings, others that they were lovers from the same n. Regardless, to improve the Holy One''s work, that man created an art enabling refiners to exchange and condense more bolt marks through a moresensual form of enlightenment: the Tantric Exaltation Mantra.


    And that, Harun, is what brings me to you. Long story short, your Seven-Colored Internal me makes you one of the most desirable partners under all heavens. To all refiners across the omniverse, you possess an irresistible appeal. Even I, who used to disdain the practice, can''t resist you.


    At my current pace, I would need to consume the whole Mountain Edge World to recover half of my lost strength. But if you agree to be my partner, thanks to your Seven-Colored Internal me, one year of Tantric Exaltation is all I need to return to and exceed my previous peak. As for you, your strength will improve by leaps and bounds," Dolma exined. But as she expected, Harun''s thoughts stopped at the double pupils pair.


    "Of what color were the other expert''s eyes?" Harun asked, though he could already foresee the answer.


    "Purple, and if the stele speaks true, he killed our founder but left her inheritance behind."

 Chapter 137: The Mantis Preys on the Cicada, Unaware of its Corrupt Venom (1)

    Chapter 137: The Mantis Preys on the Cicada, Unaware of its Corrupt Venom (1)


    Golden and purple double pupils, two experts of questionable bonds and origins but with indisputable ties to Golden Cicada. "Golden cicada? Wait, wait, wait. Could it be thatoh." As a native of the Noxious me World, Harun was most familiar with certain legends, legends that allowed him to connect the dots Dolma didn''t want him to. A spark of enlightenment shed in the toxin lover''s mind, bringing him infinitely closer to solving the puzzle of his existence. But as our gue Overlord racked his brain to make sense of the new answers, unbeknown to him, the beguiling Blood Matron had unleashed her tricks already. Three blood-red leeches crawled through Harun''s mind, feasting on his consciousness tobits by bitserode his willpower. Shrouded by Dolma''s abilities, the leeches avoided detection from Harun''s soul and Decaying Flower. The System didn''t bother warning him, enabling the soul-suckers to carry on with impunity.


    Though she certainly hoped that Harun would sumb to her charms, Dolma couldn''t let his choice be the defining factor of her sess. Thus, while using a mask of warmth and openness to hold his attention, the Blood Matron infested Harun with one of her creations: the Void-Treading Leeches. As their name implied, Void-Treading Leeches could cross space and dimensions tond in their victims'' bodies. Worse, within their Mands, refiners held an undeniable superioritysuperiority that allowed Dolma to reduce Harun''s defenses without him ever realizing it. His pupils shrank, his mind went nk, discarding all thoughts and reasoning to focus on Dolma. In Harun''s eyes, a mystical glow now swirled around the Blood Matron, making every inch of her wless figure project a fascinating appeal.


    <em>"Set all the worries and fears aside. Forget the past, forget your aspirations, your hopes, love and dreams. Wee my embrace, and let it drive you into a haven of eternal bliss,</em>" Dolma''s melodious words sneaked into Harun''s mind. Still, the System remained stoot intending to interfere. In a sh, Harun felt that perhaps he''d been overthinking it all, that instead of devising plots to expend his influence and win the bloody war, he should just lean toward the demoness'' weing arms, close his eyes, and let the pressure fade away. Jiyan''s figure popped up, but suppressed by Dolma''s aura, she couldn''t get a hold of Harun''s attention.


    "I guessthat does sound like a fantastic idea," Harun whispered, brightening Dolma''s smile.


    "Following the Holy One''s demise, her partner expanded thisnd, created the myriad of worlds and principles that''dter form the Heavenly Dream Land, put the three puppets in charge, and left. As they each focused on one principle, they couldn''t get along, created their own schools of thought, and split the world into three.


    Building on the purple-eyed monk''s teachings and the new principles he left behind, outstanding mortals unsuitable for Body Refinement founded the Mortal Path, hoping to chase the hidden road that expert left them.But realizing the potential of Tantric Exaltation, the three puppets, now known as the Venerable Protectors, experimented on those mortals, hijacked, suppressed and twisted their cultivation path to destroy their human blood and turn them into the so-called divine beasts. Though more vulnerable to Tribtion, those divine beasts held the unique ability to fuse their souls with strands of Heaven''s Will, enabling them to reduce the damages of Heavenly Tribtion on their Refiner-masters.


    Better, at higher levels they became heavenly worlds of their own and perfect cultivation abodes for the lords they served. Thus, the Divine Path was born, and by making the first idols, or godsas you now call theminto their ves and catalysts, Refiners kept breaking through new levels, ushering a magnificent era." Sensing Harun''s mental defenses crumble, Dolma increased her leeches'' appetite. Blood-red rays shot out of her eyesintensifying the pressure on Harun''s mind.


    "But wherever men breathe, variables are bound to rise. Refiners never expected that the purple-eyed expert foresaw their degeneration and left a road for the idols to go beyond the Empyrean Monarch Realm. The first to ovee the trappings of Heaven''s Will and reach the Emperor-level suppressed their cultivation to the Monarch stage, tricking their ignorant masters into thinking that they couldn''t make further progress, while secretly training more Emperors and seeking higher levels.


    Eons afterward, led by the Venerable Protectors'' favorite ves, three World Beasts, the strongest faction this world would ever knowthe Million Emperor Sectrose in rebellion. Using their bond to Heaven''s Will and the sacrifice of 10,000 Emperors, they created the Imperial Seal, and after epochs of cmitous battles, destroyed their masters. An indiscriminate hunt for refiners followed, carrying on until we became a thing of the past.


    Eventually, seduced by the Imperial Sea''s fantastic powers, the Million Emperor Sect''s experts shed for its ownership, and destroyed one anotherburying their own legacy in a colossal mausoleum. This is the era I survived. But with your help, Harun, I can overturn the past, rebuild the radiant world of Refiners, of sages and philosophers, and lead thisnd into a new, prosperous era," Dolma dered, and stretched out her hands toward Harun.


    By now, his eyes had zed over, leaving him powerless to the vixen''s sultry touch. Golden mes poured out of Dolma''s form as she activated the Tantric Exaltation Mantra and guided Harun to do the same. sping his cheeks, Dolma pulled him into a sensuous kiss, locking him between her embrace and demonic fragrance.


    Sitting on top of Mukri''s back, Jiyan meditated on Harun''s Attachment Venom, building on the insight she previously gleamed from the Corrupt World to forge her own venom. But though she already had a thorough understanding of the Attachment Venom''s roots and could see countless paths toward sess, Jiyancked a driving factor, that unique ingredients that''d craft a specific poison out of her understanding. At that time, after half-an-hour of struggle, Weeping Soul broke free of the Abyssal River''s shackles and stretched out his oak branches.


    Tens of thousands of gray skulls formed across the sky, bing a nexus of malignant energies as they locked on Dolma. Just in time, Harun emerged from the Mand, and as the Blood Matron''s satisfied gaze rose to face the Reverend, Harun''s looked past the cavern roads to lock on Jiyan. A golden lightning mark shed on his chest, proof that he''d taken his first step as a refiner.


    With a casual step, Harun vanished, reappearing before the three. But if he''d typically rejoice at his master''s progress, faced with the emptiness in Harun''s gaze, Birandar grew confused. More practical, Mukri turned heels and ran. The emptiness morphed into killing intent, and to Birandar''s surprise, Harun bared his ws and shot at his partners.


    Jiyan''s eyes sprang open, and before Harun''s ws could tear through Mukri''s hide, thedy''s sword whistled through the air, meeting Harun''s noxious ws in a deafening ng.

 Chapter 138: The Mantis Preys on the Cicada, Unaware of its Corrupt Venom (2)

    Chapter 138: The Mantis Preys on the Cicada, Unaware of its Corrupt Venom (2)


    In a stasis of stupor and bewilderment, Birandar didn''t react to Harun''s move. But not one to gamble his life on pointless probes, Mukri didn''t dare waste a second and, using Jiyan as his shield, put as much distance between his rogue boss and himself as he could.


    Lips curled in a devious grin, Harun pushed against Jiyan''s de and, in an atypical show of hubris, dragged his elongated ws across its surface. The grating, screeching sounds couldn''t break Jiyan''sposure, but that loathsome stare and grant murderlust Harun faced her withmmed at her heart. Suppressing a rollercoaster of negativity, Jiyan vanished, reappearing several steps behind.


    Holding her sword in a two-handed fighting stance, Jiyan unleashed her Extreme Yin and Withering Essence which poured out in waves of dark-blue and gray energies. The temperature sank to absolute zero, the obsidian walls became frozen blocks of ice, and putting the full depth of her cultivation base on disy, Jiyan faced Harun whoakin to the fallen Landgravesseemed to treat the confrontation as a game of cat and mouse. Jiyan didn''t believe that defense could solve this problem, and became a sh of blue and silver light as she rushed at Harunshing at his legs.


    Radiant light shot out of Harun''s golden double pupils. The weight of Jiyan''s sword increased till it exceeded what her formidable strength could endure, and to Murki''s awe, the sword dragged Jiyan toward the groundthen flew out of her hands. Merciless, Harun grabbed the Withering Sword and threw a casual kick at Jiyan''s face.


    Canting her head to the left, Jiyan avoided the kick by a hair''s breadthor so she thoughtHarun''s right eye shed purple rays, and that same kick Jiyan avoided now threatened to bash her skull in. Using her arms as makeshift shields, Jiyan took on the blow and flew into the freezing cold walls.


    Wielding her sword against her, Harun thrusted at Jiyan''s chest, aiming straight for her heart. Knowing she couldn''t avoid that blow, Jiyan activated her n''s Forbidden Zone, turning the mine into an achromatic field where all things came to a screeching halt. The sword stopped an inch away from Jiyan''s chest. Not daring to waste a second, she rushed out of harm''s waya wise move.


    Golden light erupted from Harun''s lightning bolt markshattering the Forbidden Zone. Averting his sword thrust, Harun whirled 180, and chased Jiyan who retreated to escape his pursuit. In a sh, the two exchanged dozens of moves, but in each of those confrontations, she got the short end of the stick.


    Flying upward, Jiyan condensed dozens of boulder-sized, blue fire balls. Ice spires protruded from the ground, surrounding and trapping Harun. "What a pointless disy. You and I know that the current me is not someone you can oppose. But hey, let no one say I didn''t give you a chance," Harun spoke for the first time since his disturbing return, tossed the Withering Sword aside, and stretched out his hands as if weing Jiyan to do her worst.


    Poisonous arts had no effect on him, making half of a guebringer''s arsenal virtually useless. Fortunately, poison wasn''t only about harming the opponent, and thanks to the three Yin Cores in her abdomen, Jiyan now had ess to a massive array of noxious skills.


    "First, I need to make something clear. Whyare you trying to kill me?" She asked, against her best judgment. By using his right eye''s powers, Harun proved that he wasn''t in his right mind. But despite that knowledge, Jiyan couldn''t stop herself from asking those wordsas if regardless of his predicaments, she couldn''t digest Harun raising his fists at her. The cruel smirk Harun faced her with didn''t make it easier.


    "Isn''t that obvious? When mortals trade an older carriage for a new one, they don''t keep the older model around for memory''s sakes, do they? No, they dispose of it. That being the case, I also haveto dispose of you," Harun dered in a cheerful, yet callous tone. A strange glint shed in Jiyan''s eyes. Birandar''s face twisted in between conflicting emotions, while Mukri both praised Harun''s vicious tongue and cursed his fickleness.


    "Heinousthe boss is officially a lost cause. Should I bomb him?" Losing all loyalty for his master, Mukri asked Birandarforgetting about his past oath."Pointless, even if you could trigger the same cmitous tribtion again, he''d use it to condense more bolt marks. You''d just be speeding up our destruction." Birandar shook his head. Meanwhile, Dolma, who met Weeping Soul in a sh of epic proportions, paused to sh Harun a contented smile. This was precisely the type of scenario that delighted her.


    In her eyes, not only was Harun a one in a trillion stallion, he most likely descended from either the Holy One, her mysterious partner, or both. Naturally, the Blood Matron had no desire to share her prized catalyst with anyone elsemuch less an eyesore of a little girl. Once Harun severed Jiyan and his subordinates'' heads, even if he one day broke free of her control, he''d only have her.


    But despite knowing that the guebringer''s moves stemmed from her leeches'' maniption, Dolma took pride in his stance. On the contrary, Weeping Soul was full of disappointment, wondering how his arch-nemesis could have fallen prey to this vixen so easily. The two''s battle resumed with ten times the intensity, but while the Reverendmanded a horde of ghastly powers, by relying on the Abyssal River''s terrifying abilities, the Blood Matron effortlessly met the challenge.


    Harun''s words allowed Jiyan to suppress herst bit of reluctance. Fixing him with a chilling look, she released her Devil Essence, letting it pour out and morph to condense a pair of purple feathered wings that proudly pped at her back. White mist flowed out of the three cores in her energy center, eroding her vitality to push her skills to higher levels.


    The ice spires shattered, forming a myriad of broken shrapnel that rotated around Harun, creating an ice storm in their path. With Harun at the center, a hurricane of abysmal temperatures took shape, threatening to shred him into pieces. Worse, several meters above, the yin-made fireballs had broken into squalls of ruinous mesall aiming at Harun. Snapping her fingers, Jiyan let the elemental mayhem assault her lover from all sides. Green mist invisible to all but Harun swirled around her blue pupils, and as her battle-intent peaked, the illusory statue of a Dharma Protector appeared at her back.


    "That being the caseI can only be merciless."

 Chapter 139: The Mantis Preys on the Cicada, Unaware of its Corrupt Venom (Final Part)

    Chapter 139: The Mantis Preys on the Cicada, Unaware of its Corrupt Venom (Final Part)


    Curtains of yin mes plummeting from aboveraging tempests of ice at the front, back, left and right. Sandwiched by the extreme elemental assaults, Harun didn''t bat an eyelid. Kaleidoscopic mes surged from his outstretched hands, bing hordes of massive, coiling serpents that formed an unsurmountable barrage around him. The serpents opened their maws, baring forked tongues above which orbs of fiery light took shape. Each firing multicolor fire beams, the serpents sted through Jiyan''s ice-fire strike. d in Devil Essence, the Empyrean princess activated her Free and Unfettered Truth, forcing her way through Harun''s tyrannical mesa terrible mistake.


    While even the mes couldn''t stop her Inner Truth, Jiyan''s abilities could never outpace Harun''s Eye of Sovereign Fate. Now using it with impunity, he could foresee every single one of Jiyan''s moves before she raised her fists. Inarguably deadlier than his Eye of Luminous Treasures, if not for the ruinous consequences, Harun would abuse that right eye of his no end. Squads of ghostly butterflies appeared beside Jiyan, releasing a yellow pollen that enhanced her speed in exchange for a temporary loss of sight. Relying on her superhuman senses, Jiyan kicked at Harun''s neck. An inch away from its target, the kick passed through a space portal,nding on the back of Harun''s skull instead.


    Purple Sovereign Essence gathered at that area, putting an unbreakable energy shield in Jiyan''s path. Unable to break through, her kick bounced against Harun''s Sovereign Essence. But without looking back, Harun balled up his fist and smashed it into Jiyan''s chestagain sending her reeling across the cavern roads. Too fast for her reaction speed, Jiyan couldn''t evade Harun''s blow. But with the shelter of her Devil Essence, she reduced the impact to full-speed-truck impact-level, surviving it with minor blood losses, only. The illusory Dharma Protector''s figure grew more detailed. But as her body shook from Harun''s fist, Jiyan had to admit that she couldn''t hold on much longer.


    With the golden lightning mark shing on his chest, mystical principles oozed out of Harun''s flesh, giving him the aura of an autocratic behemoth. Thanks to his seven-colored soul and scourge values, Harun benefited a lot more from the lightning tribtions than any other refiner across the omniverse.


    That single lightning bolt markpared to three of the Landgraves, making the current Harunparable to some of the strongest Sanguine Dolls. The longer he watched the sh, the more convinced Mukri was that this beefier Harun had lost three-fourth of his boss'' witsnot that it mattered. Rushing back into the fray, Jiyan traded bare-handed blows with Harun, relying on the Infernal w Style to make up for her suppressed Withering Sword Art. And seeing her dance and twist to avoid Harun''s casual but devastating blows, Mukri felt rage and indignation well up in his chest, as if it was him and not Jiyan that Harun offended with this betrayal.


    The bull''s gaze hardened. Purple mes billowed from his hide as he prepared to ignore his oath and gamble his life to strike his boss down. Sensing the clear, murderous intent, Birandar, who stood beside Mukri, activated his third eyefully prepared to kill Mukri instead. "Birandar boy, you have not even been a disciple for three days that you''re already willing to follow your master into madness? Is it his butt or the guidance of his dick that you came here for?" Full of righteous indignation, Mukri jabbed at Birandar and spun to face his new opponent.


    "I believe that Master can turn the situation around and free himself from the vixen before it''s toote. If you don''t, maybe you''re not qualified to be his subordinategiving me all the reasons to butcher you before you go rogue," Birandar countered, and as the two circled one another, the confrontations on the two other fronts worsened.


    ording to the initial n, Weeping Soul and the 27th Landgrave, Nak''s backup n, had to cooperate to take down Dolma. Alone, Weeping Soul could take her down. But thanks to her lordship over the Abyssal River, he had no chance of victory.


    Ranking among the six Sentient Treasures of the Heavenly Dream Land, on top of its abilities to create life, elerate cultivation speed, and other misceneous skills, the Abyssal Rivermanded formidable offensive and defensive powers, making a direct confrontation in its vicinity a poor n.


    Routed times and times again, just like Jiyan, the Reverend struggled to keep up the paceleaving an increasing amount of openings. Meanwhile, Harun''s viciousness scaled to match Dolma''s soul thirst. Swarms of jet-ck bees stripped by colored lines flew out of hisrge sleeves, nking Jiyan with hundreds of thumb-sized stings.


    If Harun''s heartless words and fiendish gaze rattled her, the clouds of poisonous bees were the final straw. At the edge of each of those bees'' stingsy a drop of Harun''s blood, making the most destructive of all his toxic arsenal. As the blood''s lethal powers increased alongside Harun''s cultivation and incarnation breakthrough, to say nothing of Jiyan, even Harun couldn''t tell how toxic a single drop currently was.


    Trapped in the anteroom of death by her most beloved, Jiyan lost her long-standingposurespiraling out of control. A colossal and unbridled surge of Devil Essence exploded from her slender form, making her dress flutter and her eyes go bloodshot. Unable to resist this new explosion of malignant forces Harun''s bee swarms burned to nothingness. But at the same time, Jiyan''s heartbeat grew erratic. The world around her spun, and she dropped on her knees.


    Wearing the same condescending smile, Harun ambled at his victim and shook his in disappointment. "It''s not just monks that need to stay clear-headed. By now, you should understand how critical your emotional bnce is to your Devil Essence. Before ruling others, Devils first learn to rule themselves. With your current state of mind, using that power with impunity is reckless, at best." Learning from his recent snippets of memories, Harun preached, then aimed his right hand at Jiyan.


    Whacked by the internal chaos unleashed by her unruly Devil Essence, Jiyan could no longer resist Harun''s tricks. Now realizing that Harun used the significance of those bees to drive her into self-immtion, she broke into cold sweat and let out a bitter smile.


    A change of surroundings followed, and Jiyan now hovered in a ming-red world where only Harun and she stood, surrounded by all the roots of her grief.


    Images of Agiri''sst moments in the Divine Pce, of Jiyan''s conflicts with Dilnaz, of Harun''s words and each of the blows she traded with him, swirled around Jiyanspeeding up her mental breakdown. "You''re even using the Mystery of Grief on me? I guess this is what they call a bitter breakup. Haha, you almost make me wish to saythat mother was right," Jiyan said in a self-deprecating tone, as she trembled amidst series of oppressive nightmares.


    "While I do not mind losing, at the very least I hopedthat we could win and lose together." Borderingplete copse, Jiyan choked those words out. And mirroring her seething rage and disappointment, the Dharma Protector at her back turned into a ming-red idol of wrath that challenged Harun with its crushing presence.


    Back to the real world, Jiyany on the ground, an inch away from death. Taking several leisurely steps toward her, Harun raised his right hand, the pitch ck essence of death teemed from his palm, heralding a lethal move.


    Waves of panic made a mess of Mukri''s emotional bnce. But over 2,000 years old, the bull suppressed those emotions, and, without hesitation, summoned the Tribtion Cloudsalmost.


    Suppressed by the weight of Birandar''s third eye, Mukri couldn''t move an inch, and unable toplete his move, watched helplessly as Harun rammed his fist through Jiyan''s heart. No blood poured out, yet the spark of Jiyan''s life ended instantly. Dazed by this scene, Mukri, like most of the others on the scene, didn''t sense the dozens of presences breezing their way past Birandar and him.


    The end of Jiyan''s life filled the Blood Matron with a rush of ecstasy and, unable to restrain herself, she burst intoughter. Blood water jets surged from the Abyssal River, rushing up and blending to morph into a gigantic leviathan. With empty, golden eyes, the apocalyptic beast acted as Dolma''s battering ram, crushing the Weeping Soul Tree under the infinite weight of its scaled body.


    Unable to resist, the Reverend crateredsustaining a session of severe injuries. But as the Blood Matron prepared to steal his soul, an electrifying force struck from within hers. Her surroundings changed, bringing her to a corruptly magnificent world where all her wildest fantasies and most obscure desires became a reality. Led to chase the wonders of that irresistiblend, Dolma forgot her initial conditions.


    But before she could enjoy the fruits of the Corrupt Land,rge volcanic hands grabbed and tossed Dolma into another scenery. In this newnd of ming-red rocks,va springs and sulfuric scent, all the roots of Dolma''s scorn and resentment: the mortals, gods, weak-willed refiners, the Landgraves and so many others, became pirs of scorching mesbattering her till her squeals filled this Averse Land.


    Again, the Corrupt Land pulled Dolma back. But ten secondster, the Averse Land re-summoned her to face the judgment of its scorching rods. In the outside world, Harun and Jiyan nked a dazed Dolma, whose face twisted between maddening bliss and boundless rage. A dark-blue Dharma Idol stood at Harun''s back and a ming-red one at Jiyan''s, as both exerted the powers of their legacy venoms on the Blood Matron.


    The veiled presences that walked past the distracted Mukri revealed themselves, bing 120 herculean guards that surrounded the Weeping Soul Tree: Harun''s Deste Corpse Guard.


    <em>"Divine Power: Sr Destion."</em>


    By refining the abilities of three Sanguine Dolls, those state-of-the art zombies'' strength and blood potency increased tremendously, enabling them to end the sh with their strongest ability: the Golden Crows'' Divine Power. The corpses became 120 miniature suns that subsequently burst into a concert of chained nukes--threatening to wipe out everything across dozens of square kilometers.

 Chapter 140: The Blood Matrons Ascension

    Chapter 140: The Blood Matron''s Ascension


    Some mboyant victories tasted worse than defeat. Devoid of any sense of glee or achievement, Harun fixed the Blood Matron with apathetic eyes, and aimed his right hand at the sr explosion unleashed by his corpse guard. Backed by a surge of Spiritual Incense, his golden lightning mark released amorphous energy waves that sealed the Deste Corpse Guard''s surroundingkeeping the explosion confined to Weeping Soul and Dolma''s leviathan summon.


    Stupefied by this turn and event, Birandar and Mukri put an end to their conflictboth squinting at the startling result. All traces of Harun and Jiyan''s shno, about 90% of those traces, from the ever-burning mes to the ice hails and craters, no longer existed. A champion of Truth and Fate, Birandar''s third eye perused the scene, but if he could sense the lingering Fate Essence, the abilities of Harun''s right eye exceeded what his Wheel of Causality could see through.


    At first, torn between frenzy and hedonism, Dolma no longer reacted to her surroundings. But when fresh blood started dripping down Harun''s right eye, his hold over the Blood Matron weakened, enabling her formidable soul to escape an absolute captivity. Gray veins stretched from the corners of Harun''s right eye, spreading across half his face. Still, the gue Overlord maintained enough control that Dolma remained powerless. Seething with rage, the Blood Matron raised a defiant gaze at Jiyan, then Harun, going back and forth between the two as she tried to make sense of the oue. Just like Birandar, she too realized that much of the brutal battle she witnessed never urred, making her question her very sanity.


    "Howdid you achieve this?" Dolma, who didn''t understand the powers of Harun''s right eye, inquired. To say nothing of her, even the better informed would have a hard time processing things. Only Birandar could piece the pieces of the puzzle together.<em> "Even with that Eye, Master''s cultivation base is too low to alter the fates of all the people gathered here without blowing himself up. Meaning that everything that happened since master first activated his right eyewas just a glimpse into a potential future. We saw what would have happened if master did surrender to the vixen''s control. And while we all lost ourselves in that illusion, Master had those undead sneak into the mineconcealed by a minor formation. At the same time, he trained his wife-to-be, and yed some tricks with the vixen''s soulhitting too many birds with one stone."</em> Birandar was correct. Thanks to her consumption of the me Spirit King''s soul, Dolma swallowed Harun''s Attachment Venom, leavingherself vulnerable to his corruption.


    However, the Blood Matron''s soul was far too potent for Harun to override it with a finger snap. He needed time to let the venom mature, time to sneak in his upgraded forces, time to improve Jiyan''s abilities and give her the tools she needed to take over the Blood Matron''s seat.


    99% of the Heavenly Dream Land''s Divination Masters only had a rudimentary understanding of the Fate Mystery. But that alone enabled them to glimpse into the future and practice Divination Magic. With his right eye whichording to Dilnaz and the Systemat least carried the Mandate of Fate, Harun could do far worse. But as he didn''t have full control of the Eye''s tremendous and unstable powers, Harun didn''t dare y with firea pity that Dolma gave him no other choice. As for the Void-Treading Leeches, so long as he kept hold of the Right of Tyranny, those creatures and all other soul tricksters could neverpromise Harun''s soul.


    Not wanting to waste his breath on the Blood Matron, Harun ignored hersplitting his strength between suppressing Dolma, and restraining the side effects of his purple double pupils.


    There was only one person whose understanding he craved: Jiyan. Granted, she ultimately saw through the hoax, in her perspective, every single word or deed was true. The Aversion Venom she condensed was the clearest proof of her silent agony, of experiences she could neither unsee nor unlivethe thought intensified Harun''s grief. <em>"Now this is going to be priceless. Comedy, helplessness, pity, cajoleries, what card are you going to y to get out of this one? Better think hard and fast. The clock is ticking, and the more time you spend without addressing the problem, the bigger it bes,"</em> thrilled by Harun''s misery, the ever-insensitive System burst intoughtermaking Harun picture an old man sitting before aedy show with some popcorn in hand.


    Ignoring it as well, Harun nced at Jiyan, whose outwardly calm eyes didn''t budge from Dolmaan ufortable dynamic settled in. Now, Harun hoped that Jiyan would justsh out at him. Worsened by the weight of her silence, his mood sank further.


    Unwilling to endure Harun''s naked disdain and unustomed to being the least relevant woman in the room, Dolma let her rage get the better of her, unwittingly allowing Jiyan''s Aversion Venom to further poison her soul. Not letting the opportunity escape her, Jiyan pushed her venom to the extreme, multiplying the numbers of ming tendrils diving into the Blood Matron''s soul. In that condition, she could no longer channel the powers of the Abyssal River, whose evil nature rejoiced at being free from its soon-to-be-dead mistress. Still, Dolma couldn''t lift her rage-twisted eyes from Harun. "You are a fool, an unredeemable moron! What can she offer you that I cannot? In less than three years, your strength could reach inconceivable proportions. Together, we could overturn this Dream Land and usher a new era! Why would you cast this opportunity aside for this trivial girl?!" Dolma barked at Harunbut again hit a wall of indifference.


    shing the Blood Matron a resplendent smile, Jiyan ced one hand on her face. "And yet, the girl owns you now. Let''s not even mention that your kind, children-murdering mothers, rank high on the list of things he hates most. This is just the gap between ss and crass. Jiyan doesn''t need to bare tits, tricks and ass to have Harun''s undivided attention," she stated while using her Aversion Venom to erase Dolma''s individuality. All the screeches in the world couldn''t save the Blood Matron from that inevitable fate, and by the time the smoke clouds raised by the Deste Corpses'' chained nuke dispersed, Dolma''s eyes had zed overmarking her ascension as Jiyan''s puppet. With one less annoyance to worry about, Jiyan spun toward Harun.


    "What? Did you expect me to mop around, waiting for you to give half-baked excuses for why keeping me in the dark was necessary and how this hurt you more than it hurt me? Don''t worry, I know. I will still make you pay, one treat at a timebut I know," Believing that the tiniest mistake could worsen the right eye''s effects on Harun, Jiyan didn''t want to make his heart chaoticand therefore buried her pain. But seeing through the act, Harun held on hand, and gently pulled her into his embrace.


    "A wise woman once said that we should all learn to recognize luck when it''s waving at us. So Jiyan, thank you for waving at me...you are my blessing," Harun whispered.


    At first, though nestled against his chest, Jiyan didn''t react. But when his words reached her mind, the suppressed pain poured out, bing a stream of tears flowing down her cheeks.

 Chapter 141: Disciplining the Troops

    Chapter 141: Disciplining the Troops


    As she purged her demoralizing emotions on Harun''s chest, Jiyan''s drumming heart rxed. With a stroke of his thumbs, Harun wiped off her tears and ced a tender kiss on his beloved''s forehead. Soothed, Jiyan raised her eyes, fixing them on Harun''s heterochromatic hues which still glimmered like a starry sky. Ignoring the ash-gray, pulsing veins spreading from the purple eye and scarring half of Harun''s face, Jiyan stood on tiptoes, taking his lips into herstheir heartbeats meshed instantly, bing a melodious echo of their blooming affection.


    For an instant, engrossed in one another''s embrace, both forgot their surroundings, and for several minutes, smooched with impunity. Watching from the sidelines, Mukri and Birandar had drastically different reactions. Whereas the bull nodded in approval, the three-eyed youth frowned, as if the more connected the two appeared, the more fearful he became. Casting a sidelong nce at the youth, Mukri spotted the apprehension shing in his eyes and narrowed his eyes at him.


    "What, don''t tell me that you really swing that way. Fuck, I knew it! Can''t have no man drop from nowhere and go ''PLEASE ACCEPT ME'' without some dick-grabbing plot in mind. Sorry pal, but we are not liberals here. Restrain yourself!" Mukri rattled off, catching Birandar off-guard.


    Birandar wanted to say that Mukri misunderstood his intent, but not knowing how to speak those words without incriminating himself further, he just stood theremouth agape and blinking in confusion. But taking his silence as an admission of guilt, Mukri stomped his hooves and turned sideways.


    Pulled back to the boring world by the duo''s racket, Harun and Jiyan broke their kiss. By now, the smoke clouds had long dispersed. The 120 Deste Corpses formed circles around a calcined Weeping Soul Tree. Having taken the 120 chained Sr Destions point-nk, the treant''s eyes burned till nothing remained. Its body, however, survived as a ckened tree from which scalding vapor oozed out. Akin to an army of deathly loyal zealots, they stood straight like arrows, but fixed their lord with intense, ming gazes. After absorbing the three Sanguine Dolls'' abilities, each of those corpses'' fleshly bodies had reached half-Anasrava level. If they could go through Heavenly Tribtion and refine a bolt mark, Harun would instantly get 120 God-level undead. With Mehran to bind them in offensive formations, those undead would allow Harun to promptly conquer the Second Range and snatch all its tokens.


    Unfortunately, to say nothing of lightning refining, the Deste Corpses had little to no mental abilities. Unless he stole the secrets within Dolma''s broken soul, Harun would have to guide their progress step by step. With a hand gesture, Harun beckoned for Mukri and Birandar. Without dy, the two rushed toward himalmost as ifpeting for merit.


    "Boss, what an outstanding performance! How awe-inspiring! Across this world''s billions of lives, no, in the past present and future, none will ever be able to match your resourcefulness," recalling that he almost attempted to st Harun with Heavenly Tribtion, Mukri broke into cold sweat, and attempted to use his ttering tongue to make up for this life-threatening blunder. At his right, confident in his handling of the situation, Birandar appeared stoic, but inwardly sighed at Mukri''s misfortune.


    Ignoring Mukri''s sycophancy, Harun observed the two for a minute, lingered on the bull, then heaved a sigh.


    <em>"Ha, I''m so fucked. Why did I have to y the fool? The boss finally has an excuse to turn me into a T-Bone steak,"</em> Mukrimented, broke into tears, and wept at Harun''s feet.


    "Boss, please don''t eat me! I wasn''t thinking straight! I swear I will never rebel again!" Overwhelmed by fright, Mukri closed his eyes and made a desperate pledge. But ignoring him, Harun raised his right hand, and as both Birandar and Mukri believed that the bull''s life hade to an end, Harun patted Mukri''s muzzle. "There is still hope for you. After we return to the n, I will give you your due," he said with a gentle smile, taking the duo aback.


    Confused, Mukri blinked at Harun. Though this gue boss of his didn''t belong to the murderous blood-thirster type, he was no tenderd, either. Mukri didn''t believe that Harun would let the seed of rebellion grow under his nose, and was at least prepared for the thrashing of his life. More radical, Birandar was about to advocate harsh punishments, but once Harun''s eyes locked on him, the youth choked on his words.


    "There is one thing I need to understand. You had no prior knowledge of the tricks I yed, so when you prevented Mukri from summoning the tribtion clouds, what gave you the confidence that I could turn things around?" Harun asked in a calm, serious tone. In Birandar''s limpid eyes, Harun could see a gentle and caring soul with enough warmth to shelter the world.


    On that point, perhaps due to age and experiences, the two stood on drastically opposed ends. Yet, despite his gentle nature, whenever Harun''s name was involved, it seemed that Birandar forgot all principles and beliefs to make Harun''s security his sole prioritythe herculean youth''s following words proved him right.


    "I had no clue. But I hold the firm belief that Master can outfox all experts and tribtions. In the meantime, I can''t allow anyone to harm youregardless of the cost," Birandar straightforwardly replied. An unbreakable convictionced the boy''s words, convincing all that heard him that even if Harun asked him to die, he wouldn''t hesitate.


    "I see." Here, Harun paused. Something at Birandar''s back grabbed his attention, and his eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Holy crap, what is a three-legged goat doing behind you?" Like a startled fawn, Harun leaped back, and while Mukri and Jiyan narrowed skeptical eyes at him, Birandar spun 180seeking the goat that rmed his master. No goat appeared, and before the youth could make sense of this situation, Harun smacked the back of his headsending him flying toward the ground.


    "Aaargh!" As hurt as perplexed, Birandar shrieked, stroking the growing bump on his head.


    "Belief, my ass! Unbelievable! If one day I truly go mad, will you murder all those that attempt to save me while hoping that I will miraculously figure out a way to snap out of it? You are my disciple, not a blind zealot I picked up from the streets! If you only have blind devotion to offer and cannot adapt to the circumstances you face, what purpose does your talent serve? I might as well grant you the crown of puppet king!" Harun snapped at his overzealous disciple, and to Mukri''s shock, started kicking his disciple''s butt in the most literal of senses.


    It didn''t take one minute of ass-kicking for poor Birandar''s swollen butt to look uneven. Yet, Harun didn''t stop, and with ruthless efficiency, disciplined his boy.


    "Master, master! I was wrong! I was wrong! Please forgive me!" Birandar pleaded, and Jiyan, who for some reason found the ass-stomping quite pleasurable, pped in approval. On the contrary, Mukri was scared out of his wits, unable to stand why the roles were reversed so fast.


    <em>"Can''t believe it. I actually dodged a bullet. Hahaha, the Devil must owe me money!"</em> Mukri suppressed a burst ofughter. But as the quartet''s disciplinary session neared the finish line, ckened branches sprouted from the ground, aiming for their hearts.

 Chapter 142: Last Sacrifice: Self-Immolation

    Chapter 142: Last Sacrifice: Self-Immtion


    Two people faced immediate danger: Birandar and Mukri. Without a second thought, Harun wrapped Birandar in a cloud of Sovereign Essence while Jiyan grabbed Mukri''s tail and hurled him through a Space Portal. Though Jiyan could create a nigh-endless session of space portals, with her current abilities she could only keep two open at the same time. The second one formed three steps behind her, and as the startled Mukri emerged from it, Jiyan shed at the ckened branchesslicing them into two.


    Connecting to the Blood Matron puppet, Jiyan activated her new toy. Doing the same with his Deste Corpses, Harun ordered an immediate retreat. But though the corpses didn''t waste a second to execute his orders, ck rays shot out of the burned treant corpse, piercing through 17 of themin an instantaneous show of eldritch powers, they withered to ashes.


    Dolma Doll''s eyes shone in a bright red, marking her awakening. But while Jiyan had a decent grasp of her new tool, hercking experience and Dolma''s broken soul reduced the Doll''s battle power. A tragic consequence, for as a tall column of ck mes set Weeping Soul''s Corpse aze, bing a pir that shot through the broken ceiling, Harun knew that without the Abyssal River to back her up, even full-strength Dolma couldn''t necessarily triumph over this abomination. Awe-inspiring Sacrifice Essence overflowed from the ck me column, carrying the ghastly remains of 100,000 lives100,000 yes, for one more soul joined the Reverend''s macabre feast, sacrificed toplete the Weeping Soul Mantra and unleash a chthonian beast of prey: Weeping Soul himself.


    The treant corpse burned to ashes, the ck me pir twisted and morphed to be a grisly, wailing angel''s face. That face opened its mouth, releasing a dull-ck orb that hovered before Team Harun. At first, Harun was confused. Thanks to his middle-aplishment in Life and Death, across the First Range, none could cheat his senses by ying dead before him. Following his undead''s chained Sr Destion, Weeping Soul died. There was no doubt about that, so why was the Reverend still putting up this hateful struggle? Just like Weeping Soul profoundly loathed "Lord Revtion," Harun had gotten fed up with the grotesque treant. But suppressing the distracting emotions, Harun analyzed the wailing angel, the orb, the soul remains and every bit of information at his disposal to form conjectures.


    Even for Weeping Soul, the intensity of the malignant energies in the atmosphere, and the potency of the Sacrifice Essence, had reached an iprehensible level. This wasn''t merely the work of cultivation and mantra noa Forbidden Art was at y.


    <em>"Sangar''s Self-Immtion Hex?"</em> Harun hypothesized, but instantly rejected the idea. Thanks to his Serpent Totem consuming Sangar''s Soul, Harun had learned the Self-Immtion Hex and what it could aplish.


    By setting himself aze and chanting the incantation, Sangar could exterminate all those that bore him ill-will and knew his birth name across 10 million square kilometers. However, ignoring the lifespan cost and other burdens, this only worked on enemies and didn''t allow Sangar to pick his targets. That Forbidden Art passed on to Sangar by Nak was indeed dreadful, but didn''t apply to this situation. A pair of full-white eyes appeared on the ck orb''s surface. Its shape changed, and from a miniature ck sun, the orb turned into a three-legged crow. With feathers as ck as an ebony stone, the three-legged crow spread its wings, and though it only stood at three metersnegligible before the majority of Monstrous Beasts, the intensity of that crow''s aura allowed no contempt.


    The spark of life didn''t exist in that crow''s eyes, and like an infernal puppet driven by a singr purpose, it looked past Harun, fixing its eyes on Dolma Doll. That empty yet purposeful look was all it took for Harun to understand his new predicament. Weeping Soul did die. However, it wasn''t from the explosion. Perhaps, from the moment Dolma trapped him under her blood leviathan beastno, even beforethe Reverend was ready for a desperate move. And in the instant the Deste Corpses appeared to end his struggle, knowing that he''d never get the opportunity to steal Dolma''s soul, he used a modified or superior version of the Self-Immting Hex to make his soul the final sacrifice of his foul mantra. But while this process enabled him to reach the peak of his craft, Weeping Soul couldn''t avoid turning into a mindless undead. Thus, to make sure he''d fulfill his duty, the Reverend used all his mental faculties to engrave an order in the undead he''d leave behind: "steal Dolma''s body and bring it back to Nak."


    Harun was almost correct. Just like Sangar, Weeping Soul learned the Self-Immting Hex from his master and foster father. But whereas Sangar only received the main form, Weeping Soul learned the extra secret. By keeping his real name hidden from all those he held dear, the Reverend could immte himself at any given time to create a stronger, undead puppet that''d carry out one final task for him. For that reason, Nak never gave him a real name, letting Weeping Soul choose one for himselfand never reveal it. Bybining his Forbidden Art and Mantra, Weeping Soul left Harun this final gift: putting him in quite the distasteful situation.


    On the surface, Harun could just give the crow what it wanted: Dolma Doll. This raised two problems. On the one hand, Harun couldn''t guarantee that Weeping Soul hadn''t left the undead crow specific orders to ughter his team. On the other hand, Dolma''s body was so precious to Nak that Weeping Soul didn''t hesitate to sacrifice his faction, mates, life, everything, for the uncertain hope to snatch it. Any fool could see that should Nak get his hands on Dolma, disastrous consequences awaited them all.


    <em>"But if it''s that important, why doesn''t hee get it in person? It''s entirely possible that Weeping Soul''s excessive loyalty to his master twisted his judgment. This is noughing matter, if I make the wrong call, we might all get buried here,"</em> Harun reasoned. Even if they yed all their cards and gambled their lives herethey didn''t have over 30% chances of victory. At his back, Harun could feel the budding excitement of the Abyssal River which, now freed from Dolma''s control, awaited the chance to maul them all and suck their souls.


    "Ret"


    <em>"You must fight."</em>


    Speaking in a rare, authoritarian tone, the System cut Harun mid-talk, preventing him from issuing the retreat order. <em>"While I''m not here to guide you every step of the way, I get too much enjoyment being in your brain to let you take a suicidal road so, just this once, I will give you clear directives: Fight. Protect that new doll of yours at all cost. There are many reasons why Nak cannot do this in person, but if you let him get this body, there''s a 99.999% chance that it will be the death of you. If you''re willing to take that chance, leave now. If not, put your entire arsenal and life on the line if you must to crush that obnoxious crow into a paste of blood and gore."</em> The System dered, and though the change in tone perplexed him somewhat, Harun took the warning to heart.


    "That being the case, let''s bring the chapter of the Weeping Soul Reverend to an end."

 Chapter 143: Unyielding (1)

    Chapter 143: Unyielding (1)


    "Beloved, the Abyssal River is yours. Subdue it within half an hour, or get ready to collect my corpse. Meantime, I will do a co-op with Dolma. The sooner you seed, the sooner it ends." Taking a jesting tone, Haruny down the battle n. Restless under the weight of the Undying Crow''s intolerable pressure, Mukri backpedaled and shifted his gaze between Harun and Jiyan. "Boss, do we really want to do this? Not to bring down the troops'' morale butI''m not feeling this," Mukriid his fears bare. Harun wasn''t the only one to conclude that by giving up their new puppet, they might avoid this abomination''s attention. However, neither Birandar nor Jiyan believed in procrastination. It all had to end now. Realizing that he couldn''t sway their intent, Mukri lowered his head, cursing all the heavens for his superiors''ck of sensitivity.


    Passing control of Dolma Doll onto Harun, Jiyan ignored the Undying Crow''s overflowing aura, and turned toward the Abyssal River. As if boiling from excitement, the Abyssal River bubbled up. Blood-red steam surged upward, with flying fishes spiraling around the rising vapor. By now, sandwiched between the Undying Crow and Abyssal River, the whole Obsidian Soul Stone mine teemed with baleful energies, but undaunted, Jiyan rushed forth, and coated in thick purple energies, dove into the river. Weed by the Abyssal River, Jiyan faced no barrier. On the contrary, a potent suction force dragged her faster toward the river''s bottom, taking her on a fast-paced tour of that aquatic treasure''s depths. Massive packs of eels, freshwater fishes and basses swam under the watchful eyes of great whales, and shed for resources with hordes of venal sharks. Underneath them, algae abounded, forming circles around smaller aquatic nts.


    Instead of a river orke, Jiyan sank into an ever-expanding oceanic world, whose countless lives only had one thing inmon: a blood-red color. Directing the underwater troops, the sharks and whales locked their bloodthirsty eyes on Jiyan, punctuating their voracious hunger by opening their gigantic maws. Ignoring them, she carried on, letting the Abyssal River keep its children in check. Suppressed by the river''s will, the great sanguine beasts didn''t dare rush at Jiyan. The lower she went, the more abundant the Blood, Space, Water and other Essences became, giving Jiyan the sensation that, instead of a treasure, she faced a sentient cultivation worldshe was correct.


    In the early stages of the Heavenly Dream Land, refiners reigned supreme. But unlike the cultivators that seeded them, most refiners had a profound distaste for sectarian structures, and while some hid in their God-ves'' Internal Heavens, others put their vast knowledge to selfish use, crafting miniature worlds to meditate in peace.


    Even the three Venerable Protectors, who undeniably ruled the refiners'' era andmanded the strongest factions in the history of this Landverse, didn''t dare call themselves kings and masters, at least not with other refiners.


    Influenced by the endless mysteries oozing from mighty refiners'' flesh, the miniature worlds grew sentient, driving the schrly ascetics to study the phenomenon and devise precise methods to create sentient tools.


    Even the method used by the Million Emperor Sect to create the Imperial Seal stemmed from refiners'' insight. However, following the Million Emperor Sect''s extermination of the refiners and subsequent self-destruction, only six sentient treasures survived. Needless to say, as none inherited the refiners'' boundless knowledge, the method died with them. Now, even with the right materials, celestials and gods could at best create Awakened Treasuresstronger than lifeless tools, but a far cry from true sentience.


    Reaching the bottom of the Abyssal River, Jiyannded before Dolma''s lotus throne which, unlike the blood sea world she swam in, seemed carved in an incorruptible marble white. In that seat, the River''s ancient will was at its strongest, challenging Jiyan to defy and refine its spirit.


    Just like Jiyan needed to take control of the river, to leave the Obsidian Soul Stone mine and breakthrough its current limits, the Abyssal River needed an exceptional vessel: a Jiyan. Aware of the stakes, Jiyan sat on the lotus throne, resting her hands on her thighs as she spread her will throughout the Abyssal River, attempting to consume it before it consumed hertheir mental sh thus started.


    Entranced by its duty, the three-legged crow ignored Jiyan''s departure, ignored Harun''s stand, and opened its beak. Gray seeds flew out, tumbling onto the ground which, after all the battles, tribtions and bombing it suffered, had turned into a session of craters. As the seeds fused with the earth, eerie veils of dark pollen surged upward, staining the atmosphere with the oppressive scent of decay. Arching its head back, the three-legged crow spread its massive wings, and screamed at the broken ceiling.


    Ominous energy vortexes formed across the mine, each summoning flocks of crammed dark crows that nearly stole all the avable spots in the air as they formed battle squads around their master. Barely the size of an adult man''s head, the thousands of crows fixed their demonic-ck eyes on Harun''s group, overshadowing the Birusk side''s presence with their foul, linked auras. And while the raspy sound of cawing crows filled the mine, a misty blend of four colors circled the undead crow. Grief, Soul, Sacrifice and Death Essence oozed out, the first three at profound-enlightenment, and thest at minor-aplishmentconsequence of Weeping Soul''s final breakthrough.


    Casting a session of mental orders, Harun arranged his 103 Deste Corpses around Birandar and Mukri. In this fight, not only could those two only y a supportive role, but their worth to Harun''s forces went beyond 10,000 corpses. To ensure their safety, he would spare nothing. Understanding their position, neither objected to this arrangement, leaving Harun and the Blood Matron at the vanguard of the final battle.


    Strained by the purple eye''s use, Harun''s internal organs grew chaotic, his arteries tightened, causing jolts of stabbing pain that spread across his chest. Closing his eyes, Harun took in a deep breath, suppressing his internal damage as he mustered the full powers of his eyes. As they did in Dolma''s Mand, the Sovereign Pupils became burning gold and purple orbsshimmering as if reflecting the stars. All the way back to the Birusk n, the Serpent Totem turned into a bright-green shooting star, and at quasi-teleportation speed, raced past all barriers to merge with Harun''s body. His aura reached a new peak, and the battlebegan.

 Chapter 144: Unyielding (2)

    Chapter 144: Unyielding (2)


    BANG!


    Faster than a lightning bolt, the three-legged crow dropped on the Blood Matron Puppet, baring its elongated talons while its legions of cohorts became obsidian shes of light as they stabbed at Harun''s group. Great crevasses split the makeshift battlefield into several zones, a cacophony of cracking bones reverberated from within the gulfs, and to Mukri''s deepest dismay, legions of skeletal knights road tidal waves of darkness as they climbed the gulfs to join the battle dance. Cacklingughs of bitter resentment grated the Birusk camp''s ears, but undeterred, Harun joined his hands in a prayer sign.


    Rainbow-colored spiritual incense surged alongside rising tides of Life Essence, and as the two forces blended together, dazzling golden roots sprouted from the ground, spreading across its broken surface and growing to give birth to a session of gilded redwoods. Oozing a hallowed allure, the golden trees forced their way through what remained of the ceilingshattering it to pieces. Dancing vines, stic branches and lianas shot forth,tching on the belligerent but brainless crows, whonded straight in their grasp. Split by the radiant forest, the skeletal knights raked their bone swords and mmed their spears at the reinforced trunks. But whenever they seeded in scratching the surface, Essence and Incense healed the redwoods, enabling them to crush the bone soldiers with sweeping branch strikes.


    Ambling through the woods, Harun crossed his arms behind his back, looking past walls of unnatural vegetation to fix the crow, who traded blows with the Blood Matron Puppet. Three moves was all it took for Dolma Doll to lose her bnce. The undead crow''s massive wings smacked her in the face, sending her hurtling across the sky where Harun''s redwoodsy in wait.


    Cushioned by a bed of leaves, Dolma Doll activated her lightning marksunleashing a terrible suppression force that restrained the undead crows corrupt powers. Harun raised his right hand. The pitch-ck essence of death flowed out, turning the gilded trees into bleak, ebony woods.


    Ambling across the air, Harun stretched out his hands. ck fog surged out of his sleeves, taking the form of hissing vipers as it surrounded the skeletal knights. Suppressed by Dolma''s aura and restrained by Harun''s forest of life and death, the skeletal knights couldn''t escape the vipers'' bitesinstantly breaking down into piles of shattered bones. Commanding the osseous pile with the sheer force of his golden eye''s telekic powers, Harun bound them into dozens of ten-meters long clubs, riding one as a flying sword while the rest shot at the suppressed Crow, clobbering him with impunity.


    But though each of those blows could split a mountain, they bounced against the crow''s adamantine feathers, failing to put the tiniest dent in its weakened defenses.


    ck rays shot out of the crow''s lustrous plumage, soaring upward to condense a jet-ck mirror. Revolving on itself, the mirror registered the faces of Harun, Birandar, Mukri and the 103 corpses, peering through their destiny to strike at their future selvesthe Three-Legged Crows'' Divine Power: <em>Stygian Prophecy.</em>


    Though iparable to their ancestral founder''s ability, this Divine Power enabled Three-Legged Crows to divine the most likely future of whoever their mirror registered and erase that futurethereby destroying their target''s fate standard.


    99% urate and only useful against lower-ranked cultivators, in the rare cases where it failed, that Divine Power would turn against its caster instead. But as the mirror''s ult energies prepared to obliterate Team Harun''s future, the undying crow''s surroundings changed, and again it stood before Harun''s massive bone clubs, except that this time, Dolma''s wed hand stabbed into its neck as wellripping one-third its throat off! Harun''s golden lightning bolt ovepped with the Blood Matron''s marks, strengthening the suppression force restraining the crow.


    Flying backward, the three-legged beast couldn''t stop Harun''s bone clubs from clobbering its wounded neck. And for a second, took the beating in utter confusion.


    Granted itmanded tremendous powers, at the end of the day, the crow was nothing more than a brainless puppet. Functioning on bestial instinct, its strategic mind barely outpaced a child''s, making it unprepared for Harun''s superior Fate gimmicks.


    By giving the crow a glimpse of the future it sought, Harun bought Dolma enough time to deal their foe a brutal blow. But knowing that the opponent''s strength still exceeded her by a significant margin, Harun pressed on, intensifying the wound with some targeted clubbing. With protruding spikes all around their surface, Harun''s bone clubs tore through the dazed crow''s festering wound, but before they could deal irreversible damage, the undead beast pped its wings, sending squalls of ck winds to tear the clubs to shred.


    Joining his hands in a prayer sign, Harun crushed all the trapped crows into blood and gore, and as the essence unleashed by their deaths pervaded the atmosphere, Dolma became a sh of red light, chasing the three-legged crow who soared toward the sky.


    Under the pressure of the refiner''s tyrannical fleshly body, space itself cracked, but no matter how fast the Blood Matron became, she couldn''t measure up to this abomination. Setting itself aze, the three-legged crow became a dark me meteor, reached the peak of its speed, then dropped down on Dolma. Point nk, the impact of those full-speed, zing talons could no doubt end the fight. But as the beast neared her luscious face, an invisible space portal formed before the Blood Matron.


    Rushing through the portal''s front side, Dolma vanished, reappearing besides Mukri while Harun emerged from the spatial gate''s back sidenearing a blow that could end ten him with its aftermath alone.


    Yet, the gue Overlord shed the three-legged crow a radiant smile. The sky became a ming-red as Harun put his strongest card on the line: himself!


    Madness and savagery shed in the gue Overlord''s eyes, Birandar''s heart spiraled out of control, but before he could activate his Wheel of Causality, a genuine asteroid dropped from the heavens, carrying with it...the boundless might of a Cosmic Tribtion. Again, the undying beast was confused. But pursuing the speed of light, the asteroid, a 100 meters wide boulder of catastrophic destructive powers, sted through all of its defensesdragging it down as it aimed for Harunthe subsequent impact turned the First Range upside down.

 Chapter 145: Unyielding (Final Part)

    Chapter 145: Unyielding (Final Part)


    Pulled by an unprecedented cosmic phenomenon, tens of billions of men''s eyes rose to the starry sky, watching the fiery trails left by the asteroid''s fall. Regardless of their cultivation bases, none could react fast enough to see the source of that phenomenon, but the following impact, that single monstrous st that spread across hundreds of square kilometers, warned many of what went down.


    Countless houses should have copsedburying their owners instantly. However, the asteroid''s spreading impact shed with the ever-expanding Dharma Sheltering Array. Absorbing 90% of the impact, the Dharma Sheltering Array spared those innocent lives from a tragic oue.


    Others didn''t have it so good. The Obsidian Soul Stone Mine broke down. Many of the scattered soul stones burst into pieces. The trees and nts making up Harun''s forest didn''t survivested into smithereens by overbearing energy waves. Shattered at the impact point, the asteroid also burst into pieces of heated rocks and shrapnels which flew toward various areasleaving smoldering smoke and scalding, broken rocks to cover the area. The Abyssal River had nothing to fear. Dolma Doll pushed her hands forward, casting an impregnable barrier that sheltered not only her, but Birandar, Mukri and the undead guards by their side.


    Harun gave the puppets simple instructions: protect. She now only had this one job and would squash anyone that attempted to jeopardize it. As usual, Mukri let fear get over his head and, like a buffoon, ran in circles.


    "By all the unholy patrons of this broken world, this is a Cosmic Tribtion! We''re all dead! Dead! Who summoned it?! I didn''t sign up for this shit! Help! Help!" Mukri screamed out of his lungs while shaking his head and rump in desperation. And as Dolma Doll followed the pre-ordered instructions, Birandar ambled at the barrier keeping him safe from fatal harm, using his Third Eye, the Wheel of Causality, to chase his master''s shadow. Two broken, inert bodiesy amidst the smoke and rubble. One, a three meters tall, three-legged ck crow, who''d lost the left half of his body to the asteroid''s cosmic crash. Typically meant for immortal gods as a way to challenge their eternal life, Cosmic Tribtions differed from Heavenly Tribtions. The two didn''t carry the same energies, and the former wouldn''t enable its victims to condense bolt marks.


    However, basic rules still applied. As a trespasser, the unprepared crow experienced several times the tribtion meant for Harun. All of Weeping Soul''s preparations and efforts couldn''t foresee the Scourge trailing Harun''s step, and the tribtion he had to summon to breakthrough the final stage of his current Realm: the Unyielding stage. Unyielding for he refused to sever the bounds that tied him to his devotees, his subordinates, his fallen kin, and most importantly, to Jiyan. Indeed, as unbiased as Harun wished to be, he had to admit that in that moment, her name stood above the rest.


    For the majority of reincarnation cultivators, the Suffering stage was the deadliest step. Most would rather sever the attachment they built and move on from that incarnation. Very few dared swallow it all and endure the consequences of that choice. This didn''t mean that Severing cultivators couldn''t experience emotions and desire. Rather, they didn''t allow them to cloud their mind and hinder their quest for enlightenment. Regardless, as far as battle-power was concerned, Unyielding cultivators who faced 100 times the dangers were all leagues above their Severing peers.


    This was only one of the many reasons why the Ancestral Land''s denizensbeled them Tyrants. And while he didn''t lose any body part, Harun''s flesh crackedakin to a mirror bordering on destruction. Out of control, Birandar attempted to use his Wheel of Causality against the barrier, but weakened by a blend of exhaustion and overuse, his body rejected his attempt. Not allowing that setback to impede on his efforts, Birandar rushed at the barrier with his bare fists, punching with all his might. s, without the Wheel of Causality''s support, his punches didn''t carry much more strength than the average man. The first punch broke his right fist, the second shattered his right arm, and as he readied to throw out a third, Mukri knocked him outthen carried on with his screaming.


    Meanwhile, as Harun''s contest with death went on, that half-destroyed crow reared its ugly head, throwing it back as it rose on one foot and took to the sky. At that time, a shrill cry resounded from the Abyssal River, seven whirlpools formed across its surface, and before the crow could escape this disastrous twist, blood-red, horned whaleseach 300 meters longleaped out the whirlpools, riding crimson tsunamis as they shot at the crow. For reasons it couldn''tprehend, the crow felt what remained of its chest teem with fear. rmed, it forgot its duty, attempting to escape the horned whales'' pursuita futile attempt. The full might of the Abyssal River crashed on the broken crow, burying it under murderous tidal wavesit crashed subsequently.


    At the middle of the Abyssal River, a lithe figure emerged. Akin to an empyrean image of perfection, she instantly grabbed all attention. Initially, Mukri seemed thrilled, but as he nced at her blood-red eyes, the bull feared that the Birusk n faced a double tragedy: master and mistress both lost. Crossing space with a single step, Jiyan appeared beside Harun, and stretched out one hand toward his back. A wine-colored fluid poured out of her rosy palm, nourishing Harun''s broken body with the Abyssal River''s energies. Seeing how she ignored them all to focus on Harun, Mukri realized that despite the change in eye color, Jiyan was still Jiyan.


    Keeping one hand on Harun, Jiyan extended the other at the damaged crow, who still struggled to escape the tsunami''s suppression. s, energies it couldn''t resist rippled from that blood water, eroding all its defenses at lightning fast speed. Powerless, the crow cawed as it gathered itsst bits of strength, prepared to self-destruct to, at the very least, bring those threats down with it. What a pity that Jiyan had no intention to let it shine. Channeling the powers of the Abyssal River, Jiyan trapped the crow in a blood handcrushing it into a feathered meat paste.


    Meanwhile, Harun drifted into a fairnd where he sat on top of a floating cloud, with a livelyss leaning on his shoulder. Shrouded by mystical forces, that girl''s face eluded his eyes, but the familiar scent emanating from her convinced him that she belonged where she was.


    shing a gentle smile, the girl raised her eyes, seeking Harun''s gaze:


    "Master, everyone says that you were born beyond perfection, that there is nothing you can''t aplish once you set your mind to it. Even our unruly senior brother takes you as his God. But I don''t believe it. Every person I know and respect has fears and struggles, talented in some areas but inept in others. So what makes you so different? You must have something you fear and a secret to your sess. Tell me both, and I promise to not cause trouble for at least one week," she said while raising two fingers in a childish pledge.


    Only now did Harun realize that he upied Golden Cicada''s body, and though he now saw through his eyes, he didn''t control his actions. Rolling his eyes, Golden Cicada knocked on his spoiled disciple''s head, then sighed in false exasperation. A pause followed, after which the Dharma Ancestor closed his eyes, drifting to past memories.


    "Fair question. I have reached the peak of my first road in 100 years, shattered my cultivation, destroyed my bloodline, yet still managed to evade sure death. Escaping the ordained cultivation path, Ibined Laws and Supreme Principles into a single category, Mysteries, and forged two more practical ways to bring them to the true pinnacle. As a mortal, I mastered all Mysteries within 10,000 years. As a refiner, I steamrolled through all my Tribtions. As a cultivator, I crossed five perfect incarnations, each more magnificent than the previous one, then reached my Apotheosis.


    All my struggles were the consequences of my choices, and even then, there is no obstacle I couldn''t ovee with minimal effort. I was born to triumph, that is why even now...I am iplete. I am a child, so I suppose that my greatest fear...is a true setback. Funny how so many seek me for enlightenment, when I''m not even done enlightening myself.


    Am I equipped to handle true misfortune? To handle something even my omnipotent powers cannot ovee? Doubtful. I''d probably lose my mind and go berserk." Here, Golden Cicada stopped and nced at his disciple who seemed to drink his words with a mixture of skepticism and admiration. Clearly, like many others, she didn''t believe that such a case could ever arise. And who could me them? Across the Omniverse''s zillions of lives, only one person could put his powers to the test, and the two had never met...always staying clear from one anotheror so they thought, at least.


    Even in the Myriad Devil Pce, few knew of his past identitynot that it mattered.


    "As for the root of my sess, it''s simple, really: Energy Control. You could say that I am a walking catalyst for all the energies of this world. By refining that unique gift to perfection, I pushed my innate talent to abnormal levels. Dao Attunement, Senses, Physique, my Energy Control instantly takes all these to thresholds you cannot imagine. I can analyze, control and reshape all energy particles as I please, enabling me to do things like this,"


    Waving his right hand, Golden Cicada conjured a haze of rainbow-colored energies, which morphed to be one million armored giants, riding massive floating inds as they swirled around their summoner. Rivers andkes formed beside them, cascading on lustrous mountains that seemingly popped out of the void.


    Instantly, the girl''s eyes widened in disbelief, as a top-tier cultivator, she could see that her master didn''t use any Mandate whatsoever. Yet, each of those giants possessed a soul andplete existence. With the most casual of energy maniption, he could create a perfect world!


    "Incense, Essence, Qi, Souls, all of that is energy. Comprehending Mysteries and mastering energy are two different things. The former limits what you can do, thetter decides how well you achieve it. But once you reach the summit of Energy Control, your imagination bes a vector of creation. You write the rules, overshadowing even your Mystery level. If you could reach this state, even if you can''t inherit my Right of Tyranny, you too could aplish the same. A pity that you do not have the right starting point. None of you do. I am the first andst Transcendent Catalyst. Which is why only I can master the Cosmic Law." Again, Golden Cicada paused, but this time, his lips curled into a bright smile.


    "That said, nothing is set in stone. One day, perhaps, my Right of Tyranny will enable a new generation of unyielding cultivators to be true catalysts, regardless of path and roadsopening the doors to a splendid era."


    ...


    Back to the real world, Sovereign Essence erupted from Harun, startling Jiyan and Mukri who by now both stood beside him. Wrapped in a purple ball, Harun''s body rose into the air, hovering several meters above the ground while the shadow of a serpent coiled around him.

 Chapter 146: Enslave the Gods

    Chapter 146: Enve the Gods


    Spiritual Incense flowed out of Harun''s cracked body, merging with the coiling serpent whose height increased to 10 meters. But even as his wounds healed at a rapid pace, blood dripped from Harun''s injuries, fusing with the devastated ground to produce a bed of thumb-sized nts. Too absorbed by Harun''s condition, at first, Jiyan didn''t care for the nts'' rise. But when the floral species multiplied across dozens of square kilometers,ced in a foreign scent that filled both Mukri and her with a sense of foreboding, her eyes grew dignified. Thunderous cries pealed from the floral legions as they twisted and morphed into spiritual mandrakes. With emerald leaves and brown roots, those mandrakes carried the most toxic energies Jiyan had evere across of. At the roots, the faces of wrathful demons took shape, giving the eerie nts an oppressive aura.


    Jiyan had two choices: destroy them all, or watch them grow into whatever they aimed to. Her eyes darted between Harun and the growing mandrakes, which by now had reached one million, yet still kept growing. Worse, some split into two, three, four, and so much moreyet retained the same virulent potency. Jiyan couldn''t tell if those creatures somehow benefited Harun''s cultivation. After all, they stemmed from his blood. But at the same time, she couldn''t shake the feeling that the world would be a better ce with them six feet under. This hesitation would forever alter the pattern of the Mountain Edge World.


    The fiendish mandrakes shrank to be dark-green worms from which tiny tendril-like roots stretched out. Akin to shooting stars, each raced across the atmosphere, passing through the air, sky and ground as they escaped toward unknown locations. The cracks on Harun''s body vanished, but though all his external wounds seemed healed, Jiyan could not shake off the feeling that perhapsshe''dmitted a terrible mistake. For once Mukri kept his mouth shut, he too unable to foresee the consequences of thispse.


    Rousing from his momentary torpor, Birandar nced at the two, seeing in their grave looks that a major event just urred. Only Dolma Doll remained stoic. Worse, with a broken soul held up by the gue lords'' spiritual venoms, whenever she didn''t have clearmands driving her, the puppet sank into a vegetative state and lifelessly stood on her knees.


    Knowing that she could not handle an incident she did not understand, Jiyan focused on what mattered the most: Harun.


    "We''re moving Harun and the Abyssal River back to the Dark Stone City. As we wait for him to wake up, Gulseni''s spies will watch out for any change in the First Range. Let''s go," Jiyan ordered. Just like Dolma before her, Jiyan couldn''t seal the Abyssal River in a cosmic pouch, or any other storage device for that matter. At the same time, she could only summon its powers when she stood in its vicinity. This wouldn''t change until she reached profound enlightenment in the Mysteries of Life, Blood and Space. Pushing her Devil Essence to the limits, Jiyan ced one hand on the ground, attempting to excavate all that supported the Abyssal River. Meanwhile, she sent her puppet a mental order,manding her to assist her efforts. With the two joining hands, carrying the Abyssal River across the sky became a simple matter. A floating ind rose into the sky, leading fuzzy Mukri, weak Birandar, Dolma Doll, unsettled Jiyan andatose Harun back to the Dark Stone City.


    As all would expect, the barrier didn''t stop them. Still lying in his coffin, Mehran weed them through his royal guard, freeing his personal quarters for Harun''s use. Gulseni''s spies got to work, and for several days, the Birusk n watched over theatose Harun. Little did they know that, failing to recognize an intruder, the barrier let something else pass, enabling the God-ruled Mountain Edge World to kick-start a new age.


    One of the six grand nations that dominated the First Range''s secr life, the Treasured Jewel Country seduced its neighbors and tributaries through its massive supply of red diamonds, ck opal, and most importantly, jadeite. Not to be confused with the lower quality jade, jadeite was a prized and scarce material that, throughout the omniverse, ranked at the very top of luxury stones. Regardless of the world and history, jadeite somehow became the most coveted stone, as if all lives were destined to gravitate toward it. And while all knew of its mystical properties and irresistible appeal, very few dared carve it into jewelry. Only the Ancestral Land''s citizens knew the reason behind this supernatural phenomenon: the Devil''s Will.


    Even in the Treasured Jewel Country, jadeite was more a symbol of luck and heavenly blessing than a marketed stone. Around it, to say nothing of mortals, even celestials and gods behaved. Jadeite''s protection enabled the Treasured Jewel Country to escape much of Dolma''s treachery, and although they too bowed to the Soul Refining Hall, Weeping Soul never once let his disciples encroach on the jadeite-blessed areas. In recent days, those mineral spots had turned into massive churches where the grand nation''s billions of citizens prayed to the jadeite veins for safety. All knew of the chaos ransacking the jadeite-free areas of the Treasured Jewel Country and therefore fled toward the country''srgest veins to escape the scourge.


    In the past, this worked just fine. But as the Treasured Jewel citizens kowtowed toward the mineral veins, nanoscopic worms raced across the atmosphere and infested 15% of the refugees! Settling in the unaware men and women''s hearts, the worms spread their tendril-shaped roots throughout their hosts'' bodies, making them swell with bulging gray veins. The victims'' eyes went bloodshot, and to their rtives and friends'' shock, they all copsed, writhing and gasping as if a formless forcepressed their lungs.


    "Ohh"


    "Ugh"


    "AAAAAAAARGH!"


    Muffled cries turned into full-blown screams as the victims'' skin tone turned into a dark-gray. Under the alien worms'' maniption, the very nature of the victims'' bodies and genes changed, evolving for arcane purposes. Dark-green cocoons wrapped all the infested, making panic fill the refugees'' ranks. Across the First Range, this scene reyed in 15% of the poption, billions twisted and reshaped by hordes of ever-multiplying worms that sang victory hymns in their hosts'' bodies.


    For three days and three nights, the transformation carried on. Terror-stricken friends and rtives had no choice but to abandon their loved ones and rush to safer grounds, leaving the transforming victims to their fate. Authorities attempted to destroy the scourge before it arose, but were reduced to ashes by dreadful bursts of noxious energies.


    About 20% of the First Range''s poption had fallen to Dolma''s attacks, leaving roughly 16 billion behind. From those survivors, 2.4 billion creatures emerged, breaking free of their noxious cocoons to return to their homes and kinnot quite. Driven by an eldritch link, the infested citizens left their houses to gather in packs. From mutated wolves to humanoid nt monsters, none retained a human shapeunited only by their green color and the guiding voice within their mind: Harun''s voice.


    That voice spoke to the newly ascended mutants, granting them a singr purpose:


    <em>"Cleanse this world of its corruption, exterminate all cultivators, and enve the gods!"</em>

 Chapter 147: All Hail the Holy One

    Chapter 147: All Hail the Holy One


    Nearly two centuries ago, before the Grand Cataclysm, the world transformation and subsequent Hundred Infernal Years, Crossed Vicissitude level sects dominated the Mountain Edge World''s Sixth Rangechief among them being the Daoist Creed Mountain. Head of the righteous path, the Daoist Creed once lorded over the Sixth Range,manding Range-wide hunts for all unorthodox cultivators on the globe. Using this pretext they coerced weaker factions into submitting to their rule while plundering the resources of their victims. When the Gods descended on the Mountain Edge World, the Daoist Creed Mountain was the first to bend the knee. Unfortunately, they faced the renegades that wouldter form the ughter Syndicate and were butchered to thest babyalmost.


    Few escaped the tribtion, and for nearly 200 years, hid among mortal countries of the First Rangechanging identities every decade to avoid raising suspicion. The First Range was thest ce were mortals still ownednd. Beyond, everything belonged to celestials and deities. One of those survivors, once a dreaded elder of the Daoist Creed Mountain, was drinking his fill in a deserted tavern of the Treasured Jewel Country, a ritual he repeated once a year to reminisce his lost glory. Ten mugs of aley on his cedar table, with alcohol stains still trickling down. Two other customers upied other tables, both several meters from the cultivator, both dead-drunk.


    In a slow, grating pattern, the door opened, revealing the towering shadow of a humanoid figure that hunched forward to push its head past the entrance door. That head, a veiny, emerald elk face carrying a mild and peaceful gaze, snatched the three drunkards'' attention. Only the cultivator ignored it, focusing on his booze.


    "EhhhI think I had one too many drink...the heck why I''m seeing a standing deer?" One of the three stammered. Not all mortals were familiar with Monstrous Beasts. For most of them, in the First Range at least, Monstrous Beasts still belonged to fairy tales. But even if he didn''t wish for anyone to disturb his drinking session, thanks to his sharp senses, the Crossed Vicissitude cultivator heard the drunk mortal''s words, and from the corner of his eyes, nced at the door. The emerald elk''s peaceful gaze weed him. Instantly, the cultivator shifted his eyes back on his drink, not daring to nce at the door again.


    The bipedal elk walked in, straightening his back to stand at 2.4 meters. Lustrous vines coiled around his furred, muscr arm, and with every one of his steps, the tavern shook. Polite, the elk closed the door behind him before striding toward the cultivator with purposeful steps. Feeling the alien beast''s shadow loom over him, the cultivator couldn''t resist the urge, and raised his eyes to again face the elk. The same calm pair of ck eyes awaited, the elk opened his maw, revealing a sharp set of jagged fangs that dropped on the cultivator with no warning. Too fast for him to handle, the cultivator couldn''t resist the elk''s move, and by the time he realized the threat, the beast had already ripped his head off. Not bothering to chew the meal, the elk directly swallowed it, letting the worm within his heart refine the nutrimentsturning them into strength.


    Blood spurted from the cultivator''s neck, the drunk mortals and thezy tavern owner''s jaws dropped. Turning heels, the elk walked back to the door, politely opened it, and left the tavernthe cultivator''s bleeding corpse tumbled down, and scared out of their wits, the four mortals dropped on their rearsscreaming no end. Across the Treasured Jewel country, simr events abounded. As if guided by wless detectors, the mutants tracked down and mauled all cultivators to death, never causing harm or destruction in mortal ranks, but at the same time, not caring for right or wrong. What kind of individual the cultivator was didn''t matter. As long as they possessed a cultivation base, the mutants struck and devoured them. Worse, a significant percentage of the cultivators'' strength fed the mutants'' growth, enabling them to rise through butchery. Giving the rogue Celestial Kin and World Association branches top priority, the mutants feasted their way through their ranks, yet always maintained a minimum of poise.


    As days of clean carnage went on, the packs grew more structured, with several making their way toward the massive mountain range separating the First Range from the second. Unable to fly, the mutant hordes crouched and leaped across the mountain range''s wall, shrugging off the suppression forces as they climbed toward the Second Range. Meanwhile, the Dark Stone City''s rulers, Harun''s folks, realized that the barrier they put their confidence in had failed them atst.


    Just like all other cities of the First Range, 15% of the citizens mutated into walking abominations that assembled in packs of 1,000 each as they strode toward the royal pce. When the phenomenon started, Mehran dispatched the city guard to observe the afflicted, but forbade them from taking any further action. That move saved their liveswell, most of them. Indeed, once the mutants arose, they did the exact same thing as all the others: hunt cultivators. From the Mortal Path''s experts to the few, unaffiliated celestials, the Dark Stone City''s cultivators suffered a brutal purge. Strangely, however, the mutants spared the World Association branch, spared the Vermilion Brides running the Salvation Hall in lieu of Harun, then marched on the royal pce.


    Obviously, when the mayhem began, Jiyan, Mehran and co. didn''t stay idle. However, Gulseni soon reported news that forced them to consider their position carefully.


    "As we speak, the mutants are settling in a rough structure of packs and hordes that seems to revolve around unique specimens. We believe they will get increasingly more organized as time goes by, however, they''re clearly driven by entities of superior intelligence with a clear objective in mind: the end of the cultivation world," Gulseni started. Unbeknown to herself, the Vermilion Brides mistress had taken the gravest tone in her existence, and who could me her? This was an unprecedented situation that heralded no end of disasters.


    "Strength-wise, we can''t urately estimate their abilities. All we know is that Celestial Kin don''t even have the means to struggle before their jaws. That is terrifying enough, but I strongly believe that their individual strength goes beyond Celestial Knights...and there are billions of them." Here, she paused, took a deep breath to suppress her anxiety, and swept the n''s top brass to assess their reactions. As expected, none took this news stoically.


    "Nevertheless, one thing we can say for sure is that they make clear exceptions to their hunting rules. They didn''t target the Birusk n and the Vermilion Brides headquarters. Even here in the Dark Stone City, we can see that all cultivators with a strong karmic bond to our master don''t have to fear them. The barrier doesn''t react to their presence, further cementing this truth. Rumors are starting already, and some believe that thisis Lord Revtion''s attempt to wipe out the unbelievers," Gulseni stressed thosest words, then sank back in her seat. Gathered around a round table, the Birusk n''s top brass carefully weighed the implications.


    Mehran, who was pulled out of his coffin and healed by Jiyan''s Abyssal Water, lightly tapped the table. "We have to blow up those rumors. We must convince the citizens that the mutation is a blessing, that the hunted are unbelievers erased for their sins against our master and turn this country into a true theocratic state," Mehran dered, startling the audience.


    "You are going too far. These are rampant beasts with overflowing murderlust whose true goals we cannot appraise. Is this Harun''s work? I don''t believe it. Not only does it not fit his style, but if Harun had the power to create billions of Celestial-Knight-level experts or above, all divine sects across this world would already be bowing to him. For crying out loud, Heaven itself doesn''t have that many such experts.


    How were they born? Why were they born? For how long will they avoid us? What if theyter turn against mortals as well? We know nothing, and you want us to convince the devotees that this is Harun''s will?" Jiyan snapped, wracked with guilt at having allowed this catastrophe to take ce. Birandar and Mukri firmly stood on her side, though Mehran could spot a strange glint in the first disciple''s eyes.


    "You''re being nave. First, the hypothetical is irrelevant here. Our strongest defense mechanism is the Dharma Sheltering Array. If it could prevent the Landgraves and that puppet of yours'' assault, it can prevent all threats across three Ranges at least. Keeping it stable is our top priority, and for that, we need the devotees unwavering faith. Unless we convince them that all this is the lord''s work, they will start doubting him. Doubt will lead to unrest, and chaos shall ensue. Assuming you''re correct, when those mutants be genuine threats, I have no doubt that the barrier will send them packing. It doesn''t affect them because we do not have to fear them. Because, like it or not, they''re somehow acting in the lord''s interest.


    But if theyter turn coats, at a moment when Harun is still in aa and the barrier no longer functions, what are we going to do?" Mehran seriously asked, leaning forward to challenge Jiyan''s beliefs.


    "This is not the time for pedantry. We''re talking about 2.4 billion experts that likely possess Celestial Knight level strength. They could level the First Range before any of us could react. And that''s only assuming that they are indeed at Celestial Knight level. What if they each possess God-level powers. Who knows? Should they rebel now, can you single-handedly wipe them all out? Of course you can''t. You''d have to gather 2.4 billion in one ce, use your puppet and river, all of that while they stand still and watch you strike. If we can''t secure the barrier, we be powerless. <em>That</em> is the only fact. If you do not wish to be involved in the nasty business, leave that to me.


    The barrier''s expansion cannot stop. This a time for bold reforms. I will proim an abdication decree to give up my throne to Harun, downgrade myself to State Governor, promote him to Spiritual Monarch, and start building more statues across the country. Paintings depicting him with those kneeling mutants, songs promoting the end of wickedness. We will spare nothing to, within a week, cement the new narrative."


    Mehran dered, and as expected, Gulseni supported his position. Mental messages echoed in their minds, making them take a quick nce at one another before shifting back to the opposition.


    "I guess the mutants are attempting to give me reason. As we speak, all of those in the Dark Stone City are forming lines before the royal pce, and prostrating themselves to sing <em>All Hail the Holy One</em>," Mehran said with a helpless shrug.

 Chapter 148: Plague Worshipping Cult (1)

    Chapter 148: gue Worshipping Cult (1)


    Reason spoke for itself. No matter how hard Jiyan wished to argue the opposite, the situation didn''t enable her to refute Mehran''s words. When even the 1,500 packs, the 1.5 million mutants roaming the Dark Stone City''s streets, gathered and kneeled toward the castle, toward Harun, what else could they do? By spreading her senses to the outside, Jiyan spotted the million-man-strong cult, its zeal like an unstoppable hurricane that swept aside all moral principles in its wake. Meanwhile, though Harun remained in aatose state, hovering in an orb of unbreakable Sovereign Essence, the incense serpent coiling around him only grewrger, now reaching 30 meters. An ominous feeling welled up in Jiyan''s chest, as if that serpent''s increasing height represented a deepening gap between Harun and her. More than once, she considered having Mukri summon Heavenly Tribtion, but each time, dismissed the thought.


    From beginning to now, Birandar remained quiet. Some assumed that the youth found it hard to fit in, only Mehran could see that unlike the rest of them, he seemed familiar with the phenomenon. Perhaps he could even retrace it to the root, and that bothered him. What did he know that they didn''t? For a second, Mehran considered a sneak attack on the new disciple, but reasoned that these times called for unity. Handled well, this disaster could turn into the sword, armor and shield that cemented the Birusk n''s position in the Mountain Edge World. On the mutant topic, Gulseni held simr thoughts, and contacted her brides to prepare them for Mehran''s decrees while also monitoring the First and Second Ranges'' conditions.


    By now, the barrier covered 30% of the state and expanded faster with every new faith gain. As he pledged, Mehran proimed a session of shocking decrees. First, iming to follow Lord Revtion''s will, he abandoned his Hisyar n to adopt the Birusk name, removed the royal privileges of all Hisyar nsmen and downgraded them tomoner. Putting his children on a waiting list, Mehran had them join the Salvation Hall and pray Lord Revtion daily to receive his blessings and regain their privileges. Subsequently, he abolished his royal title, downgraded himself to anointed state governor, and proimed Lord Revtion, Lord Birusk, as the only sovereign of the Dark Stone Country: the Spiritual Monarch.


    Putting his subordinates and the Deste Corpses to maximum use, Mehran kick-started an unprecedented propaganda campaign, building lecturing halls, grand statues, and evenmissioning songs and paintings to illustrate Lord Birusk''s almightiness and the intricate bond uniting him to the Ascended. For indeed, in Mehran''s narrative, the mutants became the blessed ones, Ascended Knights handpicked for their loyalty to Harun''s lightexisting to purge the unworthy in a storm of blight.


    At first, some skepticism endured. But as the days flew by, the mutants'' unending prayers and steadfast devotion convinced the most suspicious that those creatures did serve Harun''s will. With the Vermilion Brides assisting the artistic side, the propaganda campaign became a stunning sess.


    Now, citizens flocked to theaters depicting the chosen ones'' rise to Ascended Knights. Promptly after leaving those theaters, they rushed to the Salvation Hall, to Lord Birusk''s statues, and other growing ces of worship to sing the hymns taught in the lecture hall. With the Vermilion Brides using their celestial powers to perform miracles such as healing the maimed and terminally ill, none felt that they were getting driven into zealotry. Better, they reveled in the new world order where immediate, earthly delight rewarded ardent devotion. Men and women had never been more willing to serve and entrust themselves to the state. Thus, while the neighboring governments copsed at a terrifying pace, with the Dark Stone City as its center, Mehran''s realm stepped into a golden age.


    Meanwhile, the foreign governments experienced a drastic overhauled. Following the mutants'' cleanup, all cultivators across the First Range unrted to Harunperished. Not a single one escaped. Naturally, from the generals to the top civil officials, from the nobles to the royals, all hailed from mortal cultivator houses. The mutants'' uprising decimated entire governments overnight, leaving those countries without leadership. As soon as Gulseni gave him the news, Mehran seized the opportunity. Using his organized armies and the Deste Corpses as dissuasive powers, the former monarch started arge-scale upation of the First Range, handpicking talented civilians to fill the vacant posts.


    And while the Dark Stone Country took advantage of its momentum to conquer the First Range  Deus Vult, the mutants'' hordes dropped on the Second Range, where celestial lords, divine rulers and sects kept mortals in a quasi-ve status.


    In recent times, three prominent factions shed against internal and external threats as they attempted to rece their fallen leaders: the Uncorrupted Crane Sect, the Armored Bull Army and the me Spirit Kingdom. Previously, all three used their masters'' hegemonic positions in the Second Range to run amok. But after the fall of the Crane Mistress, Bull Commander and me Spirit King, not only did their subordinates attempt to seize power, but enemy factions now carried covert attacks on their influence.


    All that stopped with the mutants'' appearance. A pack of 1,000 humanoid mutants strode toward the me Spirit Kingdom''s border walls. Each carrying massive boulders in one hand, they circled an emerald direwolf, with four antennae protruding from his forehead. Dazzling rays shed in the direwolf''s ink-like eyessetting him aside from his peers. At the border, 6,000 Celestial Kinmanded by two dozen Celestial Guards and a handful of Celestial Knights, guarded the 80-meters-tall walls. In usual times, the me Spirit Kingdom wouldn''t dispatch such experts for a mere border wall. But as their three remaining Gods had thrown the celestial state into civil war, they had to watch out for invaders.


    Leaving watch-duty to their subordinates, the Knights cultivated in seclusion. Consequently, by the time the inept guards spotted the enemy, it was toote. <em></em>


    <em>"Strike,"</em> the direwolf ordered in a mental message, and without the tiniest dy, the 1,000 mutants hurled their boulders at the border walls. Thrown by quasi-divine strength, the 1,000 boulders became ming meteors that sted through the border walls before any of the guards could react.


    "Holy mo" sensing the chaos and impending tragedy, one the three Celestial Knights cursed, but was squashed into broken organs and flying limbs before he could ever finish his words. With sheer luck, one of the three survived the first salvo with minimal wounds. But luck alone never carries a man too far. Thus, as he turned heels and ran for his life, the direwolf sent his second order: <em>"Excavate and strike."</em> The mutants needn''t hear it twice, and with their hands, ws or whatever served that purpose, extracted new projectiles from the ground to batter what remained of the border army into pieces.


    <em>"Hunt,"</em> thest of three dreadful orders resounded in the mutants'' minds. Breaking into a feral dance, theyunched themselves at the me Spirit Kingdom''s cultivation world, traversing all cities to tear every single celestial into pieces. At the end of the carnage, the mutants captured all three deities, forced their way into the me Spirit Kingdom''s treasury, and collected all the sect tokens stashed within. Leaping on top of the royal pce, the direwolf nted a dark-green banner on the roof. It read three simple words:


    "gue Worshipping Cult."

 Chapter 149: Plague Worshipping Cult (2)

    Chapter 149: gue Worshipping Cult (2)


    The me Spirit Kingdom''s fall was but the first of the upheavals putting the Second Range''s cultivation world to a hopeless test. The Uncorrupted Crane Sect, the Armored Bull Army and many other dominant factions of the Second Range copsed like crawling ants before a stampede of giants. Seers, Monstrous Beasts, Celestials, the mutants spared none, ughtering their way deeper into the Second Range with an irresistible momentum. Only the Gods escaped destruction, instead turning into captives and ves for the mutants'' leading abominations. And as the ughter carried on, by feasting on the thousands of cultivators they put down, the creatures evolved. Physically, mentally, spiritually, each fallen city, province or country became a g that warned neighboring factions of the mutants'' growth. Merely five days in, eight divine factions had fallen already. Entire kingdoms and sects gutted to thest disciple.


    "Whywhy is this happening?" Bundled in vines and naked from head to toe, a captive god whimpered. A third-level Ascending God and former top general of the Armored Bull Army, he''d experienced many battles and enjoyed countless praises. Specialized in raids, the Armored Bull Army followed a nomadic lifestyle, only stopping to plunder resources from enemy factions. The army shared everythingfrom ves to wealthbased on merit, with the treasure house locked by all the generals'' blood. As far as this god was concerned, this was the fairest arrangement, and the primary reason why he remained loyal to hismander, even after his death.


    Never did this general expect that he who enjoyed loot and plunder for centuries would now turn into a defenseless, nude ve dragged amidst lines of divine captives. With barely enough space to not butt into one another, the deities cast lifeless eyes at the ground, not daring to look ahead. The vines suppressed their cultivation bases to zero, preventing them from considering revolt. The lofty dignity they''d umted throughout their tens of thousands of years of lives had copsed entirely. Some had it worse, piled on one another while the mutants dragged them through y and concrete.


    "Is thisthe new Cataclysm? Has the Son of Heavenreturned?" It didn''t take long for such words to fill the divine ves'' ranks. But as many expected the invading hordes to press on, in a twist none sawing, they stopped, settled on the Celestial and Gods''ndsthen started farming.


    Right, besides their emerald color, the mutants had one other thing inmon: nts growing from their skin, fur or scales. Those nts each carried seeds the mutants now nted on former celestialnds.


    Led by their "alpha," each pack got to work, and started producing resources for the mutant armies. Needless to say, they put their divine ves to work. But instead of using them to nurture the ntations, the mutants forced the restrained deities to build massive idols for them to pray to: idols of a sleeping youth none could identify.


    Feeling that their celestial dignity couldn''t endure such an insult, some deities refused to work. But after several minutes of noxious whipping, they all fell in line, and with forced smiles, did their job. The news spread like wildfire, leaving the Second Range to reach the Third.


    Unlike the First and Second Range, the Third didn''t have much strife orpetition. The reason was simple, one faction lorded over all others: the Barbaric Demon Stronghold. The Stronghold only had one recruitment rule: celestials and monsters as disciples, humans as servants. Moreover, all celestials were forced to remain in their true form and embrace their Divine Nature until they reached the Heavenly God Realm.


    Headed by the undisputed number one expert of the junior generation, Xerzan, the Barbaric Demon Stronghold promptly established itself as the preeminent force of the Third Range, and within several decades, destroyed itspetition. In previous years, some belligerent factions still opposed Xerzan''s leadership, but following his meeting with Weeping Soul, the Stronghold Master shut down thest defiant forces, then secluded himself for weeks of cultivation orgy.


    Satisfied atst, Xerzan walked out of his orgy chambers, leaving steamy and ecstatic bodies of various genders and races behind. Dressed in bandages of golden chains, the androgynous youth trotted toward his desk, sat, and crossed his barefooted legs over the mahogany table. "Haaaa, Weeping Soul, Weeping Soul, you don''t know what you''re missing. I have to pull you out of your shell before you die a 3,000 years old virgin. Now that''d be a crying shame," Xerzan sighed while mystical energies swirled in his blue and amber double pupils.


    Stretching out his hand, the Stronghold Master conjured a divination image of Weeping Soul''s location. But instead of the usual reverend sitting crossed-legged below a creepy tree, Xerzan saw nothinghis heart skipped a beat. At that time, a ck puma sashayed in, keeping a scroll in suspension through his telekic powers.


    "Stronghold Master, congrattions on another delightful breakthrough. I''ve prepared a supper with two feminized boys and one milf to let you blow off some more steam," the ck puma, an Ascending-God-level deacon of the Barbaric Demon Stronghold and Xerzan''s assistant, chortled.


    In other circumstances, Xerzan would just give him a pat on the head. But in that instant, he couldn''t care less for depravity. "Where is Weeping Soul?" the Stronghold Master directly asked, taking his subordinate aback. Though he''d served under Xerzan for decades, the puma couldn''t imagine that his master put some lives above others. Thatck of foresight sealed his fate. "The Soul Refining Hall''s master? Oh, he''s dead. The Truth Scrying Grotto sent us the news. They wanted you to investigate the circumstances of his failure and capture the candidate, the puma candidly replied.


    Instantly, Xerzan''s eyes stretched to the limit. "How could you not sayanything?" Xerzan''s voice trembled with surging fury. But as if deaf to the change of tone, the puma shrugged. "It wasn''t a significant problem. With so many allies and sycophants, one more, one less, what does it matter? I couldn''t possibly interrupt your cultivation for something so trivial. Heck, the Second Range is being overrun by foreign mutants that will probably aim for our necks next, a much more sensitive matter, but I haven''t warned you either," the puma proudly replied, believing that Xerzan would definitely praise and reward him for this.


    *Smack*


    The Stronghold Master''s response exceeded all his subordinate''s expectation. With one move, Xerzan beheaded the fool and rushed toward the second range.


    Meanwhile, trapped in aa, Harun drifted to yet another scenery, where two monks, male and female, appeared locked in a heated debate. But while the male''s purple double pupils bulged with wrath, the female''s golden eyes remained stoic.

 Chapter 150: Birth of the Cicada

    Chapter 150: Birth of the Cicada


    Neither the stele nor Dolma had warned Harun about the purple-eyed expert''s identity or looks. All he knew was that he possessed the Eye of Sovereign Fate, created the Tantric Exaltation Mantra and killed the Holy One. However, one look at that expertat Golden Cicadagave Harun all the answers he needed, enabling him to support his previous guesses with irrefutable evidence.


    Both experts sat on lotus thrones, facing one another with drastically opposed stances. Standing on the sidelines, Harun watched the two engage in a heated debate. More urately, as Golden Cicada raged, the Holy One stayed cool-headed.


    "Akanista, you raving, fanatical autocrat, what have you done?!" Golden Cicada snapped at the nun, who raised her eyebrows in a lopsided slope. Rainbow-colored silkworms floated around her lotus throne, each writhing in orbs of raw energy.


    "Ac, I''m confused. What''s all this indignation for?" Akanista bluntly asked. Yet, the honesty in her tone only further incensed the monk, and leaping from his lotus throne, he aimed an using finger at her.


    "What? She dares ask me what? How about using our blood to create trillions of parasites that turn the average man into a cultivator-mauling barbarian? How about spreading this gue across our Landverse and overnight raising mobs of starving fiends driven by an irrational hatred of cultivation itself? Oh, and I almost forgot, who gave you the gal" here Ac paused, shed a bright smile, then let his rage twist his face into a grimace fit for a wrathful demon, "TO AIM YOUR CREATIONS AT THE MYRIAD DEVIL PALACE?!"


    Spatial rifts spread across the atmosphere as the purple-eyed monk''s words thundered in the isted dimension. Across the omniverse, few could shoulder this emotional storm without bursting into blood and gore. Fewer could pull out such a reaction from him. Needless to say, Akanista ranked at the top of that list. Half-annoyed by her partner''s words, Akanista squinted her golden eyes at him, and as her double pupils contracted, so did her patience. "You must be out of your mind. Have you forgotten the reason for our existence, why only we, among zillions, enjoy all these blessings? Or is it possible that you still cling to that identityto Siegfried?" Akanista challenged rage with reason and rose to her feet.


    "Born without ws and spoiled by destiny, we exist to end the world''s anarchy, obliterate diabolism, and pacify the omniverse. But while the Devil Road heavily contributes to the violence and destruction that haunts so many Landverses, we cannot ignore the fundament truth: cultivation and free will have ruined all worlds.


    Unlike us refiners, cultivators of all walks of life rely on external resources. Without, either they can''t reach the peak, or they fall behind their peers. This toxic dependence that the cultivation world nurtured from immemorial times now trantes into constant wars, suppression, or oppression, all for the sake of growth and resources. The knowledgeable take the Devil''s life as a fairy tale, deep down hoping to emte his legend, while the ignorant pursue breakthroughs upon breakthroughs, unaware that the peak they seek belongs to one man only.


    Worse, even in barrennds such as the Omega Landverse and its 13 Earths, pure mortals have reached such a technological level that for them, cultivation holds minimal appeal. Immortality serums, biological disasters,arysers, cosmic shields, energy armors, robotic armies, etc. Strength wise, they''ve achieved everything cultivation promises and so much morewith only technology. Under the Emperor-level, no one can threaten that Landverse. As its former God-Emperor, you know that better than anyone.


    This is terrifying, and so we must ensure that following the destruction of cultivation, all civilizations return to a primitive state. This time, we will restrict their mental faculties, ambition and curiosity to unite them around pure asceticism and usher eons of peace. Refiners are the future. The only future the omniverse demands, and my Salvation Worms willy down the foundation we need to fight this unprecedented war. Right now, we''re too young, too weak. But once we unite as the Golden Cicada, fulfill our potential and perfect our mutants, who can stand in our way?" Striding through the air, Akanista stopped before Ac and reached for his cheeks.


    "You and I stem from the same source: the Golden Silkworm. Though we may represent opposed principles, aren''t our end goals and thought processes the same? I''m sure that deep down, you see this the way I do. Isn''t this why you raised the sixth prince''s empathy to an unbearable level, leading him to reject his house, name and everything?" Akanista whispered in her partner''s earsreminding him of their birth.


    She was correct. None could imagine that Siegfried, the Sixth Devil Prince, was born with a Golden Silkworm buried in his heart. Fusing all energies across the omniverse, that silkworm amplified Siegfried''s unique talent, granting him the Transcendent Catalyst constitution that''dter enable him to exceed all records.


    Born from and sheltered by the Omniverse''s defiant will, the worm aimed to turn Siegfried against his kin, and make him the sword that''d end the Devil''s reign. Little did it expect that following its stimtion, instead of nning changes from the inside, Siegfried outright cut his bloodline and destroyed his cultivation.


    While some might mistake this as the highest form of rejection, in truth, it was a cowardly move. Siegfried didn''t have the heart to rebel against his father, challenge his kin, and shed Devil Blood. He was too gentle, too soft, to let this new sense of righteous duty supersede the affection his house showered him with. Thus, unable to pick a side, he rejected both and rushed straight into self-destruction.


    The silkworm realized toote that the omniverse had picked the wrong candidate. The Sixth Princecked the devious cunning and barbarous nature that enabled his father to oppress all his enemies. But unlike future golden silkworms, tied to his heart and soul, this one couldn''t live without Siegfried. Therefore, the parasite took control of the host, turning the sixth prince into the Golden Silkworm. After draining the world''s essence for 99 cycles of 66 years, the silkworm wrapped itself in a cocoon and split into a pair of Golden Nymphs, male and femalethe first double pupil owners: Ac and Akanista.


    They soon gained human form, and though Akanista took credit for much of the work, it''s together that they created the first refiners.


    Unfortunately, Ac, Akanista, and the omniverse itself had underestimated the Sixth Prince''s will to exceed expectations. Scattered within Ac''s soul, Siegfried''s consciousness united and staged a silent counterattack, slowly eroding Ac''s nature to snatch back control of the body. They''d reached a critical point, but thanks to Akanista''s rash words and extreme move, move that destabilized even her partner, Siegfried triumphedatst freeing himself from Ac''s.


    Dazzling purple rays shot out of the youth''s double pupils, making Akanista recoil from the mystical pressure she felt within. Siegfried''s sclera turned bright-red, and as he cracked his neck, his muscles bulked to impressive proportions. "If there''s one thing I''ve learned from my mortal friends, it''s this: a government''s duty is to protect its citizens from one another, not from themselves. Men deserve the freedom to ruin their own lives. My wish is to offer them guidance and security, not chains." Siegfried dered, and instantly, Akanista realized that her partner was lost.


    Dark-blue mist billowed from her immacte flesh, rising into the heavens to be a vast starry sky. Marble-white, floating pces descended, hovering between thousands of golden lightning stars that dazzled the isted dimension. Blinding light surged from Akanista''s flesh, and as she rose into the starry sky, bing the focal point of this celestial phenomenon, Harun first witnessed the true summit of a refiner''s potential.


    "Siegfried, resistance is futile. We are bound by amon destiny. You can never free yourselffrom this karmic link," Akanista stated, and joined her hands in a prayer sign. Thousands of colossal, golden lightning hands shot out of the stars, dropping on Siegfried with enough strength to obliterate a Landverse. Undisturbed, the youthful monk formed a mudra and the lightning hands broke down into energy particles.


    Unable to ept this reality, Akanista''s eyes widened in disbelief. A pity that this changed nothing to the result. The same blinding light surged from Siegfried''s flesh, prompting the grand cosmic phenomenon unique to Ancestor-level refiners.


    "As my old man would say, destiny exists to be trampled. If, as a refiner, I cannot free myself from you parasites, I shall create a new cultivation bridge, master karma, acausality, reincarnation and the samsara itself if I mustto regain the freedom that should be mine by right!" Siegfried proimed and raised his right hand. A golden palm of infinite proportion formed above Akanista, convincing her that regardless of where she fled to, that palm could smack her downGolden Cicada''s signature skill: the Genesis Palm!


    Beyond all measures of speed, that palm smashed into Akanista, breaking through the heavenly abodes and lightning stars powering her to st her toward the ground. One move, an instantaneous defeat. Even as she cratered, Akanista knew that she''d never be able to turn the tide. The gap between Ac and she was bad enough, but when Siegfried took control, that difference became an insurmountable mountain.


    Why? Why was it that she who followed her duty to the letter, couldn''t enjoy the same blessings as this unredeemable rebel? It wasn''t fair. It wasn''t right!


    With a single step, Siegfried appeared above Akanista, whose crumbling flesh and golden blood formed a lustrous puddle underneath her. "You...cannot destroy me! Either you absorb me, or you set me loose. Be that as it may, I will never let you go!" She was correct. Until he severed the intricate bounds uniting them, Siegfried only had those two optionswell, almost.


    Aiming one hand at Akanista''s right eye, Siegfried ced the other on his double pupilsextracting his ocr powers to transfer them to Akanista''s right eye. Powerless to resist, and too confused to say a word, the motionless Akanista watched Siegfried transfer all of his double pupils'' powers to her. And as the eye of Sovereign Fate settled in its new owner, a golden blood drop flew out of Akanista''s chest to merge with Siegfried: her Blood Origin.


    Destroying a refiner''s flesh was no different from crippling their cultivation. Without extraordinary circumstances or external help, it''d take them millennia to restore their strength. But now that she''d also lost her Blood Origin, Akanista was like a mortal cripple hit by a full-speed truck.


    On the contrary, Siegfried''s skin had never looked more vigorous, as if at the moment he stolenoretrieved that blood, his flesh had reached its true limit. Matching his blood origin, his eyes took a golden shade, and though he no longer possessed double pupils, Akanista didn''t doubt that he''d never been stronger. What remained of Akanista''s flesh broke down, bing nutrient for Siegfried while her soul left for the reincarnation cycle.


    Thus, Golden Cicada was born. And before they unleashed the chaos Akanista created them for, Golden Cicada destroyed the Salvation Wormspreventing a cmity.

 Chapter 151: Irresistible Blight

    Chapter 151: Irresistible Blight


    Glued on Golden Cicada''s execution of the Genesis Palm, Harun didn''t pay much attention to the following events. More precisely, as he''d already guessed that the Holy One and her partner were likely a pair of Golden Nymphs awaiting reunification, he''d seen all thising.


    Granted, the news carried disturbing implications on his existence, Harun didn''t care. On the contrary, the more time he spent in this illusory world, the less sensible he became of his surroundings. It was almost as if someone, something pulled at his emotional spectrum, making it less diverse. "Odd. Am I bing a simpler lifeform? Did I fail?" Harun asked himself, thereby questioning his Unyielding Tribtion''s results.


    Golden Cicada split the Six Incarnation Bridge into two distinct paths: Severing and Unyielding. Severing cultivators pursued the Perfect Peace. A state granting them immunity to Karmic Links, freedom from suffering, desires, or even their sense of selfif they so wished. On the contrary, Unyielding cultivators demanded sovereignty over it alloften bing emotional roller coasters. In a sense, both paths took extreme approaches. But for Golden Cicada who needed to free himself from the Omniverse''s Will, extremism was the only choice.


    Be that as it may, as an Unyielding cultivator, Harun''s current condition was a clear sign of failureyet even that didn''t bother him. Strangely, this detachment from mortal emotions and desires filled Harun with a new sense of peace. It was almost as if he was looking at himself through a truth mirror, able to appraise his qualities and ws with an entirely objective outlooka fascinating sensation. And if the Right of Tyranny could protect Harun''s soul from outer maniptions, it couldn''t prevent changes kick-started by his own failings. Worst case scenario, Harun would lose the Right as well.


    Not caring for the implications, Harun meditated on Golden Cicada''s abilities. Having witnessed firsthand how his past self used a gentle version of the Genesis Palm against Nak, Harun resolved to master it. But while the 15 years in the Birusk n enabled him toprehend most of it, Harun could never reach true sess. The reason was simple, theplete Genesis Palm required Golden Cicada''s omnipotent mastery of energy. Without, it was as dangerous to the caster as it was to the victim. Thus, while it undeniably was Harun''s strongest skill, even in extreme circumstances such as the Divine Soul Cauldron fight or Weeping Soul''sst gift, he didn''t dare unleash it. And while Harun considered ways to reduce the risks, clouds of dark fogs rose all around him, attempting to consume what remained of his identity.


    Instantly, a column of rainbow light dropped from the sky, sting the corruption out of Harun''s way. Slit, serpentine eyes appeared in the light column, and while its master still pondered on Golden Cicada''s move, the Serpent Totem emerged, slithering toward Harun.


    "Master, for someone that almost lost his individuality, you seem oddly at ease," the totem started, engaging Harun for the first time since its birth. Unlike Gulseni and co. Harun was well aware of his totem''s speech ability. Regardless, hearing that hoarse, polite yet aloof voice disturbed him somewhat.


    "Obviously, from the moment the meteor struck me down, I''ve been suffering from cultivation deviation. If someone or something hadn''t been watching over me, let''s not even mention taking a trip down memoryne, I''d be long gone. Since I know that my guardian will shelter me of all those pesky troubles, why bother?" In nearly 200 years of existence, Harun had never felt more logical. The answers to all the problems he faced seemed as clear daylight. There was no room for hesitation, and even though he sometimes wondered if he''d achieved perfection, his logical mind kept him sober.


    "What a wee surprise. I must admit that I didn''t see thising. All along I''d been worried that you''d go down your past self''s roadallowing emotions and humanity to make you weak and irrational. This must be what they call a blessing in disguise. And yet" the Serpent Totem paused, tilted his head leftward, and with a lopsided stare, added, "I can''t help but dislike a you that is not really you. Conflictingbut at least it will allow us to discuss the ongoing situation from a rational point of view."


    Opening its daunting maw, the Serpent Totem conjured a purple orb that rose above Harun, depicting images of the war ravaging the Second Range. In that orb, Harun saw rows of mutants assemble in mighty legions and merging to be colossal abominations that shed with one androgynous youth: Xerzhan. The image changed, now taking Harun to the grand abominations'' insides, where dark-green worms sang eldritch hymns, revolving around superior specimen as they guided thebined mutants'' fight.


    "A guebringer version of Akanista''s Salvation Worms. You did this?" Recognizing the worms'' nature, Harun probed, and without hesitation, the serpent nodded in approval. "Indeed. Your breakthrough is only half-failed. Said otherwise, you seeded, but took so much damage that you deviated from the proper breakthrough path. Together, we can fix that. What we cannot change, however, is the aftermath of your victory." As it spoke, the totem''s voice grew graver, and even before it finished, Harun knew what it meant to say.


    "Weeping Soul, Xerzan, and the Truth Scrying Grotto?" Another probe, another sess.


    "Correct. The Reverend died because of you. Considering what we''ve learned from that fallen elder''s soul, even if Nak and the Truth Scrying Grotto don''t react, Xerzhan will. No matter how prodigious you might be, there is no way for you to defeat that man. This projection is the best example. When a pack of gue Worshipping Mutants unite as one abomination, they can match an Empyrean Monarch. Yet, several packs working together is barely enough to contend with Xerzhan. Even in the Ancestral Land, such a talent is hard toe by.


    Head on we stand no chance. Foreseeing this, I used Akanista''s form, adjusted it to your noxious arts, and unleashed a salvation gue on the First Range. As we speak, billions of mutants have taken over the Second Range. Organized in packs and hordes, they will keep growing and multiplying, produce resources to further enhance their forces, and be the new Holy Land. Gods, Monsters and Seers do not understand what they face. By the time the Holy Lands dispatch the first Emperor-level expert, it will be toote.


    Xerzhan knows that if he ignores them, the Third Range''s cultivation world will perish within days. To preserve his work and ns, he doesn''t have a choice. Of course, stopping him is only one of many reasons. Regardless of what they be, the mutants will always see you as their lord. My objective is to use this force to exterminate our lesser opponents, put down the sects, turn all Gods into cultivation resources, restrain the Holy Lands, and pave the way for your faction''s conquest of this world," the Serpent Totem exined, studying Harun to spot any dissatisfaction.


    The scene was oddly simr to Golden Cicada and Akinista''s confrontation. But if before the totem didn''t doubt that Harun would disapprove, the current him likely had a different vision. None could tell how long this version of Harun would persist, but regardless of his choice, the die was cast.


    If the creation of Salvation Worms followed a rather straightforward form, their destruction demanded powers that Harun, or any expert of the Mountain Edge World for that matter, didn''t possess.


    None could stop the gue Worshipping Cult from establishing itself asthe sixth Holy Land.

 Chapter 152: If Only Youd Asked

    Chapter 152: If Only You''d Asked


    Barring entities of transcendent powers, no one can conquer a world, much less a Landverse, by giving precedence to innocent lives. Harun''s considerations for those he harmed might seem praiseworthy to the righteous masses, but in the top experts'' eyes, it made no sense. The System set Harun on a path of sheer carnage. Yet even without it, the Omniverse didn''tck in hegemonic powerhouses eager to hunt him down, eager to revive or erase the tiniest trace of Golden Cicada. Devils, Seers, Refiners, Saints and Tyrants, driven by frantic zeal or self-serving objectives, how many would put him at an impasse? Said otherwise, if not for the System pushing him on this vicious course early, Harun would be long dead and thiswasn''t even the worse part.


    The Myriad Devil Pce''s top brass aside, only the Serpent Totem knew that, from the start, the Sovereign Pupils belonged to Golden Cicada. The belief that the Serpent Emperor, or Lord Revtion whom heter became, was the only owner of those eyes convinced many that by finding the Sovereign Pupils, they''d find Revtion as we half correct statement.


    Due to the unique structure of their souls, only the Holy One, Golden Cicada and their reincarnations can bear the Sovereign Pupils. At the same time, they can freely transfer it to one another. Using this unknown fact, Lord Revtion enacted a con which he hoped would, in the worst-case scenario, keep his master safe. Harun didn''t know of this, and perhaps for now it didn''t matter. But even as a "perfectly" logical being, there are some things he''d never budge from.


    The gue Overlord lived for Jiyan, meat, wine and poison craftingin that order. Stealing fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons and daughterstearing entire families apart just to secure his position, would do his mental health no good. And even if he didn''t care now, when he recovered from his tribtion damages, who knows what''d happen to him?


    "I have done much evil in my lifehumiliated and ughtered the Golden Cicada sect and Erdewan n to thest despite knowing full-well that some owed me nothing. Though I''ve confronted my sins through the Suffering stage, I can never erase the pleasure I felt when I forced those two factions to starve or dance to death. Hardened by centuries of ferocious conflict, I''ve long lost my innocence and can resort to plenty of treacherous plots to save my neck.


    But dear totem, the difference between cleverness and insanity isa bottom line. No matter how insidious his actions might be, a bottom line allows a clever man to never stray from his original intent, and stay clear-headed. Madness on the other hand has no limits, and before you know it you''re building concentration camps to dispose of or rewire those that oppose you.


    Today it is the gue Worshiping Cult. Tomorrow, it is the Omniverse''s Blight. Past a certain point, you can not redeem yourself. I do not wish to be Dilnaz, to pursue power with such convictions that I''d let what truly matters slip out of my grasp. And though he''s no longer of this world, I''d like to remain a man my father would be proud to call his son. But thanks to you, I''m forced to y a very dangerous game," taking a pause, Harun pointed one finger at the purple orb disying the mutants'' fight and actions.


    "The Landgraves served Dolma with their heart and soul. They lived for the bitch, but that didn''t stop them from making moves she disapproved of. What gave you the confidence that those mutants'' vision of my best interest ismy best interest? You think that not attacking cultivators connected to me solves all problems? How nave. What about potential subordinates, potential disciples, potential allies?


    Do you recall my connections to the Monster Paradise? Recall that the Fox Emperor fought Dilnaz for my homeworld and saved many, despite the widespread belief that I am either dead or gone? When his children, grandchildren or fellow white foxes get mauled to pieces by the hordes you unleashed; when the world realizesand it willthat this is our work, I''m sure he will rethink his position. For crying out loud, you''ve alienated me from all the reliable souls to unleash bigotryon a fucking Landverse." With every word he spoke, Harun felt that the whole debacle got increasingly more ridiculous.


    Having since then done his homework, he knew that not only did the Fox Emperor shelter many of his homeworld''s people, but the whole Monster Paradise waged an anti-propaganda campaign to preserve his name. Granted, they didn''t seed; the attempt showed where they stood on the matter. Grateful, powerful allies were about to get killed en masse by "his servants." Afterward, what could he possibly negotiate?


    "Pointless words. What other solution do you have?" Unfortunately, the Serpent Totem''s considerations were simpler. It didn''t care for how many corpse piles it built so long as it ensured its master''s safety. But surprisingly, Harun smiled at the words and swaggered toward his totem. "Surprise, surprise. I did have a n. A n dyed by my predicament, yes. But a n all the same!" Harun shrugged, visibly torn between helplessness and amusement.


    "You did?" Confused by Harun''s words, the Serpent Totem squinted his eyes at him, and asked in a high-pitched, suspicious tone.


    "True I didn''t expect to fall into aa, but if you''d just asked for directives, if you just shared your n, I could have given you a logical alternative and let you handle it.


    First, many of those involved in this conflict have an Invible Destinymaking Divination useless. Second, who cares about Xerzan''s animosity when we have a near-endless supply of Spiritual Incense? We could have rewritten what happened here, and he''d be none the wiser. Third, we could have used our World Association branch to contact the Monster Paradise, strengthening our ties through boons only I can give.


    You need more? No problem. How about breaking through to the Monstrous Realm and taking my faction to the Monstrous Vessel World? How about transforming the First Range into a Theocratic Dominion to make our barrier virtually unbreakable?


    So many options. Constructive, progressive methods, all avable. I''m no longer a helpless guebringer being chased by Gods. But because extremists like you employ simple solutions for the hardest problems, everything has gone to shit. Now I have tosomehowclean up the mess you started. But don''t worry, it will be fine. After all, I''m a clever cunt. We will work this shit out," With a fake smile and faker enthusiasm, Harun patted the totem''s scaled body. But if the Serpent Totem now realized that, in his attempt to protect his master from all harm, he''d undermined Harun''s authority and ns, it still believed that the Salvation Worms were a hundred time more reliable than the Monstrous Beastsor anyone else for that matter.


    Different standpoints, different visions. But when the contradicting view came from inside, for how long could that work out?


    Meanwhile, through divine channels, Xerzan''s raging battle with the mutants spread to the higher Ranges, leading scores of Heavenly God and Empyrean-Monarch-level factions to take note of the new scourge. After alerting their superiors in Heaven, those factions came to a simr conclusion.


    "We have been at peace for too long. This is a Heaven-given opportunity to shift me, abolish the peace treaty, and unleash the mes of war."

 Chapter 153: The Barbaric Demon’s Might

    Chapter 153: The Barbaric Demon¡¯s Might


    At the border of a fallen divine kingdom, five hiveminds, each over 300 meters tall, drifted in the sky. With dozens of writhing ck tentacles stretching out of a dark-green brain, the mountainous hiveminds conjured pictures of extra-terrestrial entities leaping out from sheer fiction to corrupt the world of men. But if their unprecedented shape was worrying enough, the obscenelyrge and thick lips at the bottom of their brain-shaped heads, made even deities shiver.


    Trapped between those horrible beasts, an androgynous youth dressed in a long white skirt and bandages of golden chains that left much of his skin exposed, danced passed the sweeping tentacles and baleful gases as he soared toward the sky. "Heeeeeeeee!" A shrill cry thundered from the hiveminds and, uniting their sentience in one collective consciousness, they cast a shapeless barrier across the areablocking the youth''s escape. Sensing the noxious energies flowing out of the invisible wall, Xerzan recoiled and twirled back to his original spot, still surrounded by the five abominations.


    Independently, those creatures possessed early-stage Empyrean-Monarch-strength. At the fourth-level of the Heavenly God Realm, Xerzan could defeat early-stage Monarchs. Now at the fifth, he should have nothing to fear from the freaks. A pity that once they joined forces, although their destructive powers didn''t increase by much, their defensive skills left no room for breakthroughs.


    For three days and three nights, Xerzan shed with the creatures, never once gaining an advantage. Annoyedhe''d never felt more annoyed. The more time he lost here, the lower his chances became. He couldn''t let this drag on any longer. "Repugnant vermin, stop wasting my time!" With veins pulsing on his temple, Xerzan raised his right hand. Silver light gushed out of his form, the broken celestial houses and monuments nearly two kilometers below rose into the sky, morphing into metallic structures of various shapes. Thousands of swords, battle-axes, war-hammers and chakrams filled the heavensaiming for the hiveminds. Dark-purple Devil Essence gushed out of Xerzan, and underneath him a silver spear formed. Riding his metallic spear like a surfboard, the androgynous deity lowered his handunleashing the Mystery of Metal on his foes.


    It is no secret that Mystery cultivation was the Divine Path''s primary weakness. Starting with the Immemorial Era, Sv, the Serpent Lord, was the only recorded expert that cultivated a Mandate from scratch. This didn''t take Agiri, Nak, and other secretive experts into ount, but regardless of the case or talent, no God could cultivate a Mystery to Mandate-level without at least 10,000 years of hard work. One can therefore understand why Xerzan, who reached the sublime-state of Metal in 3,000 years, only a step away from his first mandate, could trigger reckless assassination attempts.


    To protect himself, Xerzan often suppressed the might of his eyes and mysteries, relying on his Devil Essence and peerless foundation to fight above his realm. But now he couldn''t afford to waste another second. In a rain of silver light, the armada of infantry weapons dropped on the five hiveminds, sting through their toxic barriers to stab, hack, and ram into their flesh!


    Dark-green fog poured out of the hiveminds'' grotesque mouths, melting Xerzan''s projectiles before they nailed their targetalmost. Forcing its way past the noxious clouds, the lingering metallic dust flowed into the abominations'' mouths but butted against their internal defensesfailing to harm the worms. Undisturbed, Xerzan pressed on. A deafening shockwave thundered from his spear, but by the time the sound reached the hiveminds, shrouded in Devil Essence, Xerzan had pushed past the toxic cloud and appeared before one of them already. Lowering his right hand, Xerzan altered the structure of the lingering rust, shaping it into titanium spears that lunged toward the hiveminds'' inner-flesh wallsstabbing them from the inside out!


    Not leaving anything to chance, Xerzan wrapped his left fist in an orb of pure Devil Essence, and punched at his targetsetting it aze with an explosion of malignant energies. The nanoscopic worm''s regeneration powers kicked into gears, challenging the diabolic forces to restore the mend the hivemind''s injuries. Xerzan had two choices, use this opening to escape and descend on the First Range, or bring the fight to an end: he chose thetter.


    <em>"Devil Armament!"</em> The coat of foul essence hardened around Xerzan''s wless skin, bing a skintight dark-purple armor with spikes protruding from the youth''s demonic helmet. Two sets of chains wrapped Xerzan''s gauntlets, but as if animated with a will of their own, the chains unfolded and rushed at the hivemindsattempting to capture them all. sts of green mes and tentacle shes blocked the chains'' offensive, but no barrier could stop Xerzan''s wed hands from tearing through his target''s regeneration process and ruin the worm''s safety. For the first time since its birth, the Salvation Worm felt threatened, but a voice, Harun''s voice, echoed from withinfueling it with fanatical adoration.


    Unbeknown to Xerzan, an aura of pure madness erupted from the nanoscopic worm''s body. Using a wavelength unique to Salvation Worms, it spread sound messages to its peers across the Second Range, warning them of the threat, urging them to grow faster and make up for its failures thenself-detonated! Too fast, too close, even Xerzan''s overpowering body couldn''t survive the Salvation Worm''s sacrifice. But as death seemed ready to harvest the Stronghold Master''s life, his blue double pupils gleamed like an adrescent gemstone. The time flow across a 30 meters-radius stopped instantly. Neither Xerzan nor the hiveminds could move, but unlike his opponents, the Stronghold Master retained his consciousness and reaction time. Thus, when time started flowing again, Xerzan teleported out of the explosion''s range.


    But never did he expect that the first worm''s move gave the remaining ones the same suicidal hope, and by the time he evaded the first bomb, four more wereing his wayovepping in a chain-reaction to unleash destruction few Monarchs could survive. As dazzling as toxic, the green, exploding sun left by the hiveminds'' sacrifice carried enough energy to wipe out the Second Range. Perhaps the other mutants could stop the spread, but by the time they did, too many would have died already.


    Xerzan didn''t care for the mortal casualties, but he certainly didn''t n to fall here. Arching his head back, the youth opened his mouthactivating one of his strongest, most reliable skills: <em>"Divine Power: Devouring!"</em>


    The World Devouring Serpent n''s legendary Divine Power kicked into gear, siphoning all the energies driving the explosion into Xerzan''s belly. With no more hindrance on his path, Xerzan swept the Second Range, tracking the location and deeds of the other mutants. Coming to a simple conclusion, the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master summoned a bronze bell, ringing it to contact a certain someone.


    "The mutants are gathering in hordes of 1,000 packs each. This isn''t something I can handle and I fear that the worst has yet toe. If packs can unite as one Monarch-tier abomination, the Devil-only knows what a horde can aplish. I will send you all I''ve experienced, then descend on the First Range," Xerzan told the bell, and after a moment of silence, a grave male voice answered him.


    "Fine. The third Imperial Cave has been stirring for a while. We believe His Majesty will soon wake up from the Dreand. If need be, he will take actions. In the meantime, we Sage Kings will investigate the situation." Nodding in approval, Xerzan cleft open a space portal, crossing thousands of kilometers to appear above the Soul Refining Hall''s headquartersburning ruins looted to thest dime awaited him.


    ...


    Meanwhile, theatose Harun''s eyelids trembledmarking his imminent awakening.

 Chapter 154: Summit of the Human Realm

    Chapter 154: Summit of the Human Realm


    Weeks had passed since Harun fell into hisa. At first, the Dark Stone City''s mutants mostly followed their initial pattern, either praying at the pce''s gates or at the various statues'' feet. By now, few could still connect this illustrious example of devotion to the polite fiends ripping off cultivator heads as if their lives depended on it. But as time went by, the devout mutants evolved in a direction Mehran had not seening, and started contributing to the mortal society they hailed from. Out of the 8.5 million uninfected citizens, the most dedicated to Lord Revtion''s worship received the protection and assistance of the mutants, who often set aside five hours per day for manualbor and mystical healing. Using their unusual understanding of poisonous arts, the 1.5 million mutants handled many afflictions, even going as far as increasing the energy and lifespan of those mortal citizens by breeding inoffensive, Vitality Worms.


    Soon enough, the Salvation Hall, which now brimmed with Vermilion Brides, was out of work. With their overpowering numbers and worm-breeding arts, the mutants solved all problems the mortal citizens confronted at a lightning-fast pace. Lord Revtion''s name strengthened the masses, leading to a sense of love, kinship and unity between the mutants and their fellow devouts. Mehran and Gulseni''s propaganda efforts supported this trend, enabling the citizens to see the mutants'' victims as a necessary purge. The Hisyar royal n, the aristocratic houses, generals or loose cultivators, as long as they couldn''t im a healthy tie to Harun, all perished. At the same time, the ever-increasing supply of faith expanded the barrier across the First Range. Ignoring the Soul Refining Hall''s ruins or other such cescking any faith connection to Harun, the First Range had fallen to theatose guebringuer''s control. Needless to say, Gulseni and Mehran didn''t hesitate to loot the fallen sects to thest penny.


    Meantime, Birandar roamed the First Range''s cities, towns and viges, seeking the ces without helpful mutants or a substantial number of Vermilion Brides. Low-level cultivators and mortals interacted all the time. Some even led entire mortal houses. It would be nave to think that the mutants'' rampage only affected cultivators, and even if it did, did they all deserve their fate? Birandar didn''t think so, and after a brief reunion with his parents, the youth left the capital to track down the mournful and provide them with all the help his Karmic Wheel could give.


    To Mehran, it almost seemed as if the boy felt guilty or ashamed for what went downan unsettling reaction. Leaving the demagoguery to Mehran and Gulseni, Jiyan and Mukri stood by Harun''s side, watching the coiling serpent expand at an rming rate.


    By now, they''d gotten used to the incense-made beast and its growth, but while Mukri no longer found it worrying, as she stared at her inert love, Jiyan often twiddled her thumbs while biting her lower lip. And if she often considered forcing her way through the serpent to douse Harun with some of her Abyssal River, knowing that he no longer suffered from any physical damage, she restrained herself. But as time flew by and Harun''s condition showed no sign of improvement, restlessness shed with Jiyan''s optimism. The first twitch of Harun''s eyelids rewarded weeks of patience.


    The coiling serpent burst into a rain of light, giving free ess to Harun''s floating body. Multicolored light radiated from his flesh, giving it the exquisite luster of a heavenly being.


    Unbeknown to the world, from the Second Range to the First, from the fallen Divine Kingdoms and mutant-crowded cities, billions of pearl-white Karmic Strands rose and flew toward Harunfusing with his Karmic Tree. Unaware of this, Jiyan rushed to Harun''s side, watching his eyes open with rapt attention. But feeling unsettled, Mukri took several steps back. Granted, the bull was renowned for hisck of courage, but there was no reason for him to tremble and recoil before Harun. Yet, Mukri couldn''t suppress that distressing sensation pushing him back.


    If Jiyan felt the same, her face showed none of it, and as she reached for Harun''s hands, his golden and purple double pupils turned into miniature starsforcing both Jiyan and Mukri to shut their eyes close. In the instant his eyes opened, Harun felt as if he''d stepped into a new world. His senses stretched far and wide, connecting to the hearts, minds and souls of all humans across the First Range. From the tiniest heartbeat to the feelings driving them. Passions, concerns, woes, desires, thoughts; Harun could sense and withstand the torrent of emotions emanating from the First Range''s human lives while staying tolerant to themviewing the mortal ne with an unyielding heart and weing all around him.


    Mind-reading, emotion theft and so much more. Even without artifice, a natural holy glow enhanced his presence, and before the current Harun, human-based entities could no longer conceal anything. Better, Harun had the firm conviction thatto say nothing of mortalsunder the Ascending God Realm, no divine cultivator could resist hismands. The purple orb keeping Harun in suspension broke down, enabling the risen expert to nimbly drop onto the ground. Dissatisfied by his tattered clothes, Harun pped, dressing himself in a long-sleeved, green robethe color only made Mukri feel more restless.


    "Father, I''m confused. Why is Little Six''s Right so different from imperial mother and eldest brother''s?" Asked a white-haired, bespectacled youth who sat at one side of a walnut chessboard, with the Devil Ancestor facing him. Equipped with a mild and studious look unusual within the Myriad Devil Pce, the youth would have seemed out-of-ce if not for the eyes and looks that unmistakably marked him as a Devil Prince.


    "Is it? I suppose that''s not incorrect. Traditional Rights are bridge-independent and exceed all their norms. Little Six''s Right of Tyranny, though, was tailor-made for the Six Incarnation Bridge and is closely linked to Samsara Dominion. Besides the other perks, whoever wields and master it canmand all life forms connected to the Six Incarnation Bridge. Mortals, Celestials, Monsters, Ghosts, Yamas, Asuras, and even the two others.


    Once the Right''s owner reaches the Samsara Grasping Tyrant Realm andprehends it to the fullest, all cultivators of the Six Incarnations Bridge or members of those ns will belong to him. And as Rights overshadow most tricks, unless you have one of your own, you can''t resist them. Last but not the least, it''s also an ingredient of the Cosmic Law. Thus, to reach the true limits of the Six Incarnations Bridge, the Right of Tyranny is a must," while leaning on his thigh, the Devil Ancestor exined, making his bespectacled son nod in understanding.


    "Oh, I see. A pity that Little Six''s current form cannot harness the Right''s true powers. I''m sure it''d make his life much easwait, wait! Why did you leave such a terrifying tool in the hands of that insane baldy? Fortunately he never mastered it." Feeling that he''d missed the crux of the matter, the fifth prince probed, making his father roll his eyes in exasperation.


    "Give me a break. How is such an insignificant ant worthy of your father''s attention? As long as he doesn''t interfere in matters that don''t concern him, I won''t crush his skull," the Devil Ancestor casually replied.


    Speechless, the fifth Devil Prince readjusted his sses. He wanted to say that if the Tantric Ancestor of the Dharma Seeking Temple was an ant, 99.999% of the Myriad Devil Pce''s experts weren''t worth dog-shit. However, he realized that once separated by a certain altitude, men no longer saw the same world. In the Devil Ancestor''s eyeswho wasn''t an ant?


    Again, the fifth prince couldn''t help but envy his younger brother, first andst to put the Eternal Sovereign''s Omnipotence Paradox to the test. Snapping out of his reverie, the fifth prince lowered his eyes at the chessboard, but was instantly confused by what he saw.


    "That is so not where I left my rook."

 Chapter 155: This is Illegal

    Chapter 155: This is Illegal


    Meanwhile, disconnecting himself from the torrent of karmic bounds, Harun nced at Jiyan, whose eyes opened to meet his. At first, her heart almost leaped out of her chest. But a second afterward, the surge of enthusiasm lifting her upward crashed to ground zero. Having been by Harun''s side for so long, both Jiyan and Mukri could see the fundamental difference in Harun''s gaze. Yes, his radiant eyes had never looked more enchanting, but the casual goofiness that separated Harun from self-imbued experts seemed reced by a divine and invible splendor. And while Mukri didn''t know how to take the change, Jiyan disliked it instantly.


    The world had no shortage of overbearing talents and future hegemons. Xerzan, the top chosen of the Serpent Domain, the Empyrean Princes, confident in their illustrious bloodline, background and achievements, how many carried an innate disdain for "inferior" lives. Harun''s eyes projected a different feeling. Perfection, sanctity, close yet aloof, weing yet unreachable. All those traits gathered in his Sovereign Pupils, convincing Jiyan that this version of her love didn''t have her in his mind. That wasn''t a big deal. At this precise moment, she didn''t matter. But if the change ruined Harun to the corewhat would the consequences be? At that time, the System chimed in.


    <em>"Oh, you''re finally awake. Took you long enough. I was almost getting ready to look for a new host,"</em> the System started in a rather casual tone. As if all along, it never doubted that Harun would recover from the blow. Or perhaps it just didn''t care. Regardless, the heckling voice in his mind snatched Harun''s attention, pulling him back to data his mind refused to consider.


    <em>"I must say that I''m impressed. As a member of the Myriad Devil Pce, I''ve seen much evil. You wouldn''t believe the atrocities some of our disciples engineer for cultivation breakthroughs. However, never did I expect that you''d outpace them all, and set the globe on fire. Good son, this is precisely the kind of shit I love to see,"</em> the System started, filling Harun with confusion.


    "What are you talking about? I''m innocent. I haven''t done anything, directly or indirecargh argh!" Atst, Harun remembered the System''s three crime rules. For every ten crimes against man, Harun received one Scourge Point. Murder and torture all counted as crimes against men, but for the System to dish out the points, Harun had to get his hands dirty. The next two rules worked differently. For crimes against nature or heaven, whether Harun was the direct or indirect cause, he got Scourge Points. The formerted a sweet 100 for each crime, while thetter added 1,000 per offense to the count. If nothing else, the Salvation Worms went against Heaven''s Will. How could the unreliable System waste this opportunity to bring Harun down?


    <em>"Gotta love having a clever host. Don''t even need to spell it all for him. I will still do it for sure, but it''s nice to know that your grief will follow along."</em> The System chortled, and summoned the status screen. Harun''s eyes ignored everything, ignored the sect status, the sect master, disciple, elder status and all other misceneous information to lock on two things:


    [Scourge Points: 2,566, 2,666, 2,766, 2,866]


    [Tribtion Bonus: 25,660, 26,660, 27,660, 28,660]


    Harun''s heart stopped. His eyes stretched to impossible lengths, his limbs trembled, and his lips twisted into a horrible grimace. To the Totem''s shock, the logical Harun copsed instantly, and all the emotions suppressed by the tribtion damages rushed back into his heart.


    "Nono. You can''t do this to me! This is wrong! This is illegal! Illegal! I forbid you to do this to me! Stop! Stop at once! Please?"


    <em>"Remember? While you''re out of the game, the System can''t update. This ain''t my fault. But I swear to God, I''m enjoying this shit,"</em> the System burst into a peal of diabolicalughter. Meanwhile, the count kept moving upward, and as Harun''s heart copsed, the System''s glee went off the charts. Atst, Harun''s Scourge Points stabilized at 3,966 while his tribtion bonus reached 39,660%.


    "Son of a bitch kill me now! You are inhuman! Inhuman! I''ve barely escaped with my life! How am I supposed to survive this? This is wrong! This is immoral! I''m out! I retire! I quit!" Harun screamed out of the top of his lungs, rming the whole royal pce. But the more he squealed, the more delighted Jiyan became. <em>"Now that''s more like it,"</em> she thought.


    <em>"We''ve been over this already. Unless you can exceed the rules imposed by the Ancestral One. I''m with you, forever and even after. Wellnot quite. But unless you kick the bucket, we remain inseparable partners. But it''s fine, you just unlocked a new Door and some substantial benefits. Enjoy!"</em> The ever-jovial system brought Harun back to earth. Stabbed till he could stand no longer, Harun fell face-first.


    "Bullshit! When have your Doors ever given me life-changing boons?! Why does this feel like I''m paying back student loans on a minimum-wage job?! This is the greatest scam in history! AAARGH! A strokeI''m having a stroke! Help! Someone! Someone! Jiyan, help!" Writhing on the ground, Harun pleaded. Besides herself with joy, Jiyan rushed toward Harun and pulled him onto herp. "Don''t worry, beloved. Feel free to copse. I will be here for you," Jiyan said with a bright smiling face.


    Although he couldn''t understand this iprehensible situation, for the first time since he joined the Birusk n, Mukri felt bad for his boss. Five minutes of unendingints passed before Harun calmed down and leaped back onto his feet.


    "Whelp, it''s life I guess. Let''s check the Fourth Door," Harun shrugged, and stepped into the Systemleaving behind a dazed Jiyan, and an even more frustrated Mukri. ncing at one another, the bull and Empyrean princess pair came to the same conclusion.


    "All that for this?!"


    In the meantime, as mentioned by Xerzan, the gue Worshiping Cult gathered in hordes of 1,000 packs each. Centered at the former me Spirit Kingdom, the million-mutant-strong hordes formed nigh-infinite spirals of flesh as they danced around 2,400 unique mutants. Unlike their peers, those 2,400 each possessed an emerald crystal on his chest, and the wless intelligence in their eyes made it clear that they paused more danger than any of their lesser brethren.


    "Zararahina hinahina hina hinahina hina, hinahina hina. Zararahina hinahina hina hinahina hina, hinahina hina!"


    Driven by their worm masters, the mutants sang iprehensible hymns. But as the incantations poured out, dazzling green rays shot out of the 2,400 leading specimen''s eyes.

 Chapter 156: Purgatory Coffins

    Chapter 156: Purgatory Coffins


    The System''s seventh doors often filled Harun with grief. On the one hand, each brought remarkable utility. On the other hand, they didn''t seem to fit the title of Supreme Founder. As one that prioritized fun over achievement, Harun would never be against a System that handled all the heavy lifting for him, enabling him to reach all the goals with minimal effort. But then again, with such a System, what use would the host have? Landing in the red-carpeted halls of his unreliable System, Harun appeared right before a maroon door which gleamed to greet him. Pushing it open, he walked in.


    Harun used to think that the scene behind each door followed an ordered pattern. The first was an industrious cultivator''s dream. The second could drive an artisan to instant ecstasy. The third literally fulfilled fantasies and therefore the fourthwell the fourth should have been fantastic in some way. Perhaps a tower of ancient spiritual pets or awe-inspiring treasures awaiting the lucky master: the lucky Harun. But as Harun didn''t have half the luck of Mehran, Jiyan or the three lucky stars heading the Birusk n, no such ce awaited him. Instead, dark-red smoke clouds buffeted his faceweing him in and of fire and brimstone somewhat simr to Jiyan''s Averse Land. Not jumping to conclusions, Harun covered his face and stepped in, crossing the smoke clouding his vision to approach the center of that scorching ce.


    Volcanic eruptions burst from the ground, with streams of magma shooting toward the obscure sky. Believing that the System atst chose to eliminate him, Harun spun 180. But before he left the chamber, the System''s voice rang from all sides. "Oh don''t be a pussy. Check the bloody items at the top of the magma columns," the System snapped, drawing Harun''s attention to the clouded, coffin-shaped structures standing on top of said columns. "Warm, soft andfortable, with just the right level of moisturewho wouldn''t want to be a pussy," Harun quipped, and soared into the sky, rushing toward the first structure. Chained amber coffins floated on top of each magma columns. Dozens of morbid devices Harun could feel nothing from. But as the System provided him with those items, he didn''t doubt that they hid some exceptional use.


    A wooden tablet covered each coffin, with cryptic words written in anguage few in the Heavenly Dream Land could read. "I will now exin the game to you. Each of these coffins hides a peerless relic of the past. Lost artifacts, forbidden arts, pills, or ancient immortals. The immortals only represent 10% of the total count, but, without exception, the tools in the other coffins once belonged to them.


    They were sealed by the Ancestral One for various crimes theymitted against him before or after his apotheosis. Those felons have been suffering the worst torments since the beginning of mankind, and most have gone insane already. They can be your Dao Protectors on the road to the summit, cementing your position as a mighty sect master," the System started, and for the first time since he started unlocking the doors, Harun went mad with glee. This was it, the supreme-tier help he''d be waiting for, the tool to exceed all Scourge Problems and defeat the Holy Lands at a record pace. But as poor Harun''s expectations skyrocketed, the System doused his hopes with cold water.


    "However, there are several issues. First, to unlock the coffins you have to solve the riddle on the sealing tablet. You only get three chances, after which that coffin will never open. Second, just like some of your Obsidian Soul Stones, the artifacts, pills and what not all have sentience and can refuse to fall in your hands. Needless to say, the same thing goes for those ancient immortals. You will have to subdue or convince your target to work with you. And sometimes, this will require obtaining a certain item from another coffin." The System''s tutorial ended, and Harun''s eyes widened in confusion.


    "Let me get this straight. It is possible that I unlock a coffin, but because I already failed to get another one, I will never enjoy my due benefits?" Harun probed.


    "Correct, and I must warn you that some of those immortals simultaneously exist at several ces. Meaning that while they suffer in your coffins, another version is bleeding in the Myriad Devil Pce or any other prison the Ancestral One saw fit to build for them. This may have future Karmic consequences, and you probably want to stay clear from them," the System added.


    At first, Harun was speechless. Of all the cons the System put him through, this was arguably the worst. It was is if it waved top delicacies at his nose, then told to gnaw rocks for a 10% chance to taste the fragrant meal. "Oh and,st but not the least. Regardless of sess or failure, you can only unlock three coffins max. Afterward, you need to bring in more people. So Harun gets three shots, Jiyan gets three shots, Mehran, Mukri, Gulseni and so on all get three shots. Of course, you can''t help them solve the riddle either sochoose carefully."


    If before, Harun felt dazed, his indignation was now off the charts. But quickly, the guebringer realized that he''d ced his hopes in the wrong device. The System would never just solve any problem for him. And if he didn''t make prudent ns, it might even make things worse.


    "Business as usual, aye? Fine, let''s see what those humPurgatory Coffins have to offer." Harun dered and studied the first tablet''s words: <strong>"The empty child."</strong> Instantly, Harun squinted his eyes. With only three chances per coffins, and three coffins to go for, he had to pick his targets with extreme care.


    If those riddles didn''t provide any context to work with, how could he find a reasonable answer to such vague and cryptic words? An emotionless being? Someone who lost all he cared for and never matured from the tragedy? No. The "the" represented uniqueness and pointed to a precise existence. Not willing to take this shot, Harun ignored this coffin and rushed to the next one.


    For the next 30 minutes, he went through six coffinsappraising them all with a vignt look. As he reached the seventh, Harun realized that he could always find a reason to not make an attempt. Should things carry on this way, he''d go through the whole set without a reasonable option. Therefore, setting his apprehension aside, he decided to try his luck. The seventh coffin''s words greeted him: <strong>"The first Sun."</strong>


    Arching his eyebrows, Harun tilted his head to the left. The sun could represent many things: life, influence, enlightenment, strength, masculinity and so on. But in many ancient cultures, some traits stood out: the monarch or the supreme god. Closing his eyes, Harun weighed his options, and decided to go with thosest two.


    "The first king?" He said, but triggered no reaction from the tablet.


    "Wrong," the system replied.


    "The first god?" He made a second try, but again the System denied him. Folding his arms below his chest, Harun pursed his lips. Why did the "Sun" start with a capital letter? Who wrote these annoying riddles? The System''s creator? The Devil? And if so, what would that omniverse-ruling man whose ego likely transcended all lifeforms'' see asthe Sun? Himself?


    With a shrug, Harun made onest attempt:


    "The first omniarch."


    Three seconds of stifling silence followed. But as Harun wondered if he got it all wrong, the tablet turned into a bright-red me, and the System''s answer echoed.


    "Correct."

 Chapter 157: The First Omniarch

    Chapter 157: The First Omniarch


    In a series of gunshot sounds, the chains burst into pieces, giving Harun free ess to the amber coffin. But instead of pushing the lid open to find his potential protector, Harun paused and reconsidered his options. The "correct answer" spoke volumes about the entity buried in that coffin. And while the System would likely not leave him defenseless before the prisoners, Harun couldn''t help but feel skeptical, and had the nagging suspicion that he didn''t win the lottery.


    Older didn''t mean better. The first omniarch was likely the strongest cultivator of a forgotten era. But in his time, how far did the cultivation world go? What was the highest realm? Emperor-level? Below? Beyond? Harun couldn''t tell, yet that information determined the prisoner''s worth. "What can you tell me about that person?" He asked the System, but soon realized that he shouldn''t have bothered. "Depending on who you ask, he''s very strong. If you want background information on the prisoners, you''ll have to hunt down the lore. There''s reliable info about many of them scattered in the Heavenly Dream Land. What I can tell you, however, is that they cannot harm you in any way, shape or form. Moreover, you decide if and when they leave the coffin, and can send them back whenever."


    Comforted in the knowledge that he wouldn''t get gutted by some vindictive psychopath, Harun pushed open the coffin''s lid. An orange vortexy underneath, and without further ado, the guebringer dived ininstantlynding on an ordinary-looking wheat farm. Lying amidst the swaying stems and leaves was a young man with sky-blue hair and a blindfold covering his eyes. Misty-white arrows stabbed through his brain and heart, while thick ck nails kept his hands and feet glued to the ground. Blood tears trickled down his cheeks, but though the man writhed and spasmed in agony, his stitched up lips silenced all his screamsrobbing him from even that bit of relief.


    Instantly, Harun was confused. As far as punishment was concerned, this didn''t even rank in his top 100to say nothing of the Devil''s. How was this benign situation one of the "worst torments since the beginning of mankind?" But as if reading his thoughts, the System cleared his doubts:


    "Physical pain has no use on this one. On the contrary, it gives him an odd sense of relief. The right memories, though, can tear him to shreds without fail. Realizing this, the Ancestral One handpicked his worst nightmares, and trapped him in an infinite loop of grief, despair and failures forabout 73 trillion years. Each time the sun rises, he relives his worst nightmares as if it was the first day."


    "73trillion? Fucking trillions of years? How can a man possibly be this vindictive?" Speechless, Harun shook his head, thinking that the Devil didn''t let his name down. If this was only one of many torture settings, he couldn''t imagine what kind of damages the Devil caused to that man''s soul.


    "He''s the ancestral founder of diabolism. What the hell did you expect?" Believing that the ins and outs of this matter had nothing to do with him, Harun didn''t probe the past, instead studying the aura of this writhing youthhe couldn''t sense anything. However, the longer he stared at the trapped youth, the more unsettled he felt. It was almost as if his soul recognized the threat and warned him to stay far away. The Serpent Totem soon supported this theory.


    "Master, I advise you to not mess with that person. His cultivation base is immeasurably deep, and though I cannot tell for sure, I remember a legend that most likely refers to him. In the Ancestral Land, onemon story is that the right to rule the omniverse has always belonged to one house: the Void Ancestor''s. But while he dominated the omniverse at various points of time, he could never im the title of Omniarch. Only two people did, his strongest two sons. You know the second one well-enough, but the first might very well be standing before you." The Totem warned through a mental message, making Harun''s eyes stretch in amazement. For inexplicable reasons, Harun couldn''t conceive that the Devil too had a father and older sibling. It almost seemed toonormal?


    But if anything, this only emboldened him. Harun knew nothing about the Void Ancestor, but the "Ancestor" part was more than enough to understand the depth of his powers. As someone who could achieve what an Ancestor couldn''t, this blue-haired youth would likely be one of the most formidable, if not the most formidable Dao Protector the Fourth Door had to offer.


    "However, the stories contradict one another. Some im that he, and not his father, became the first Ancestor, but self-destructed upon reaching the peak of cultivation. Others argue that he never reached that step and died trying to. Others still im that he never existed. I sure as hell didn''t expect that he still breathed. If not for the tablet, I would never venture such a guess," the Totem added. Fortunately, this devious subordinate of his still had a use, otherwise Harun would truly rue the day he stepped on the Six Incarnations Bridge.


    Nodding at the words, Harun strode toward the blue-haired youth and crouched at his feet. Instantly, the youth''s spasms stopped, and pushing the against the arrows stabbing his brains, he nced in Harun''s direction.


    Though separated by the blindfold, their eyes met, and a fleeting sense of familiarity flickered in their gazes. A pause followed, but as Harun''s eyes squinted at the prisoner, thetter''s stitched up lips trembledan obvious attempt to speak words it couldn''t. Snapping his fingers, Harun destroyed the sutures tying the youth''s lips together, giving him back his freedom of speech.


    "Strangethe soul feels familiar, yet the essence is entirely different. An enlightened reincarnation? A disguise? Not that it matters. What do you want, child?" The youth asked. Unless they mastered Karma or Reincarnation, none could see through a cultivator''s past lives. But as their souls carried thick stains of the past karma, enlightened reincarnations were different. Not disturbed by the youth''s words, Harun shed him a bright smile and replied:


    "You." A pause followed, and while the System wondered if Harun had finally gone off the proper path, the guebringer pursued. "I will keep it short and simple. I''m your jailor and can, with a singlemand, free you from this ce and the torment you endure daily. You will never be free from me, but through a mutual arrangement, we can coexist. I need a sword and shield against my enemies, you probably want a way out. Why not help one another?" Harun probed, and instantly, the youth realized what was going on.


    "Am I in a system? How ironic. Regardless, you''re mistaken. I do not want to be free. What would I do outside of here? Fight? Rage? Kill? Live? Die? It''s all senseless. There is nothing I want that you can give me, and this pain makes me feel bnced. Thisis what I deserve." The youth straightforwardly said, and no longer paid Harun any attention.


    <em>"Ah shit, another nutcase,"</em> Harun inwardly sighed, but knowing that he couldn''t waste this opportunity, he approached the problem from another angle.


    "There are healthier ways to cling on memories than an eternity of torturous nightmares. Think hard and fast. Is there any item, any token, something you left behind but now wish to recover? As long as the request isn''t unreasonable, I don''t mind fetching it for you. Likewise, I don''t expect you to move mountains for trinkets." Aware that he dealt with an entity of incalcble powers, Harun prioritized diplomacy, and kept the bar low.


    Little did he expect that his words would make the blindfolded youth fall into a short trance. His bleeding lips curled into a smile, and following a mild chuckle, he said: "Actually, there is one thing I miss. If you can bring me a leaf from an Immortal Phoenix Tree, I will make one move for you. For each leaf you bring me, you get one move. How does that sound?"


    Taken aback by the youth''s offer, Harun arched one eyebrow. ording to ancient legends, when phoenixes died, their ashes formed and Immortal Phoenix Root that, after thousands of years, grew into a tree whose leaves could grant quasi-immortality. Of course, no such phenomenon urred with the Heavenly Dream Land''s Phoenixes; otherwise they''d have long been driven to extinction. But ording to this ancient immortal, Immortal Phoenix Trees did exist.


    <em>"Which means that it''s likely a rare bloodline phenomenon. Either this only applies to a certain branch of the phoenix race, or only the most illustrious bloodlines possess the ability. Regardless, I need more info,"</em> Harun reasoned.


    "Before we can make this a deal, you have to" Harun started, but before he could finish his words, the ancient immortal''s face reddened, his eyelids trembled, and his bleeding lips twisted into a horrible grimace.


    "DRAGON WARDEN! I WILL KILL YOU! KILL YOU! KILL YOU! ARRRRRRRGH! DIE DIE DIE!!! STAY DEAD! Don''t move. I warn you. You''ll make me angry. You don''t wanna do this. DIDN''T WARN YOU?! WHY WON''T YOU STAY DEAD?! AAAAAAAARGH!" The ancient immortal broke into an all-out frenzy, thrashing against the nails holding him down as he body spasmed and his tongue lolled out in an unprecedented disy of insanity.


    rmed, Harun leaped back, somersaulting to put maximum distance between the ancient prisoner and himself.


    "Sweet mother of God, he''s stark raving mad!"

 Chapter 158: Subduing Lunacy

    Chapter 158: Subduing Lunacy


    With nearly two centuries of exploration, Harun had seen his fair share of entrics, madmen, sociopaths and any other kind of certified or uncertified lunatics. Considering the System''s warnings, he came prepared for the worst. But the ongoing interaction with this captive convinced him that, while the fallen expert definitely had some issues, it hadn''t reached the point where he''d turn into Gollum''s twin brother. Wait, Gollum?


    Snapping out of his stupor, Harun realized that he''d been looking at this the wrong way. This was yet another case of chronic insanity. Perhaps the man''s psyche had been abused to the point his mind needed these explosive bouts to relieve itself. Perhaps he''d always been this way. Regardless, unless he could keep that madness focused on his enemies, Harun didn''t see much benefit in consorting with this blue-haired immortal. And while the System guaranteed that the man couldn''t turn against him, the tiniest mistake, a miscalcted Qi st from a potential Ancestor could very wellend the Heavenly Dream Land.


    "HAHAHA! Hateful, so hateful! The FATHER, the SONALL SO HATEFUL! AAAARGH THE HATRED! I love the hatred. Hatred is the shit. Feels so right and proper. Yes, yes, yeswhy don''t we let hate out more often? Would make everyone''s life so much more fulfilling! Where''s the misery? WHERE ARE THE ME?! I WILL KILL YOU BOTH! I WILL KILL YOU ALLand then blow myself up. HahahaAAAAARGH!" The fallen omniarch pushed his hands and feet against the nails pinning them down. The needles pricking his brain and heart sank deeper into their targetsworsening the his mental disorder.


    Sitting in the lotus position, Harun joined his hands in a prayer sign and shut his eyes close.


    <strong>"Undisturbed I am, Undisturbed is my soul. My breaths, my steps, my heart, my eyes and will. Undisturbed is my being, free from truth and falsehood. At the nexus of the Ultimate Reality, I open my eyes."</strong>


    With nothing else to try, Harun used the same mantra he''d given Birandar. Thanks to his disciple, Harun now had theplete version. And while he''d not used it yet, the results couldn''t possibly be worse than this nightmare. When the first words resounded, the fallen omniarch''s thrashing reached the acme. Driven by a suicidal impulse, he contorted his head, smashed his skull against the ground, bit his lips with the full power of his jawyet couldn''t harm himself. The blood tears streamed like a breaking dam, and the screams chilled the atmosphere.


    Not losing confidence in the mantra, Harun chanted with a singr purpose, strengthening his Karmic Link to the erratic expert. For half a minute, the immortal''s spasms intensified, his eyes rolled back, but when any clear-headed soul would have written him off as a lost cause, Harun persevered. A wheel of white and purple mist formed above the crazed expert''s foreheadrotating at maximum speed. No third eye followed, but the faster the wheel spun, the stabler the man became. Multicolored light burst from Harun''s body, his Inner me and Spiritual Incense gushed forth, empowering the chant that connected him to the fallen omniarch''s frenzied soul. The spasms and screams came to a screeching halt. The blindfold broke into pieces, revealing a pair of deadpan, scarlet eyes. Minutes of odd silence followed, with neither Harun nor the fallen expert making the tiniest move.


    "My apologies. This happens from time to time. I didn''t expect that one so weak could master such a profound mantra. You remind of an oddd. If you don''t follow in his footsteps, your future is undoubtedly limitless," the fallen omniarch said in a distant but serious tone, then closed his eyes.


    "To thank you for your help, the first move is free. As for the Immortal Phoenix Tree leaves, I suppose that the best ce to look for one is a world of humwhat''s the word nowadaysAncient and Mythical Bloodlines? Good luck."


    Although the fallen expert didn''t have any connection to the Six Incarnations Bridge, the fluctuations of his heart rate and breathing pattern fed Harun countless information. With a finger-snap, he restored the blindfold and left the coffin''s internal world. Little did Harun know that, as soon as he left the coffin, a voice rang in the blue-haired expert''s mind. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. And here I was wondering what it would take. Cucks will be cucks, I suppose." Hearing that disapproving voice, the blue-haired captive trembled, but ultimately remained stoic.


    Returning to the outside world, Harun wasn''t surprised to see that aside from Jiyan and Mukri, Mehran and Gulseni also stood beside him. In their eyes, he could see countless questions taking shape. But long before they could voice their concerns, he''d seen through all they had to say.


    <em>"How ironic that you can now control all divine cultivators below the Ascending God Realm, when those are precisely the targets your totem''s worms will not spare. I wonder, should you warn your subordinates about your Scourge Points? And mention that, with every genocide theyplete, the worms are effectively speeding up your destruction? What an insufferable situation. On the one hand, you want to be honest with them. On the other hand, making them unable to sleep at night is not exactly what your faction needs. And let''s not forget that, handled well, this scenario could bring your future bolt marks to an unrivaled level. Tough situation,"</em> the System told Harun.


    It was entirely correct. The current situation was catastrophic at best. True, one could argue that if Harun challenged the Unyielding Tribtion in another setting, he would have crossed it without much damage. After all, as he took himself as a bait and used it to cripple Weeping Soul''s "final gift," Harun didn''t have the luxury to set up defensive formations or use all the tools at his disposal with maximum efficiency. But now, none of that mattered. No matter how mighty the formation, if the Scourge Points kept going up, unless Harun became immortal, he couldn''t survive the next challenge. Right now, he couldn''t even consider using Heavenly Tribtion to condense more bolt marks. Fortunately, he didn''t have to.


    Sweeping his partner and subordinates, Harun reassured them with a confident gaze, then stopped on Mehran. "I''ve seen what you''ve done in my absence. Good job. The situation called for extreme measures; you couldn''t have handled it better. I assume Birandar is on the way back?" Harun asked, and Mehran replied with an affirmative nod.


    After a gentle brush of Jiyan''s cheeks, Harun stood up, leading the way toward the official meeting room. Taking the honor seat, Harun closed his eyes and manifested in Birandar''s mind. "Let''s speed this up, shall we?" He said and wrapped Birandar in Spiritual Incense, making him race across dozens of kilometers in a single breath. Rushing past the former royal pce''s gates, Birandar teleported into the meeting room,nding at the opposite end of the table.


    After appraising Harun''s condition with his Karmic Wheel, Birandar dropped on his knees and in silence, kowtowed toward his master. The move confused them all. In fact, Harun, who could read the guilt and bubbling emotions in his disciple''s heart, was the most baffled of all. It was almost as if it was Birandar, and not the Serpent Totem, that cast this gue on the Mountain Edge World. Moreover, Harun could sense that the only reason why Birandar didn''t open up, was that he knew of and feared an adverse reaction from the Eye of Sovereign Fate.


    But with the Right of Tyranny sheltering his soul, at the very least, Harun didn''t fear past truths, and so probed his disciple''s thoughts. The result left him speechless.

 Chapter 159: This Disciple Will Not Fail You

    Chapter 159: This Disciple Will Not Fail You


    "So that''s how it was, huh?" Little did Harun expect that a wall of karmicws sheltered Birandar''s thoughts and incarnations, preventing anyone without the right keys from unlocking the past he sat on. Clearly, whoever set up that defense mechanism reached the top of the Mystery of Karma and likely possessed Samsara Dominion. Knowing that forcing the matter would do no one no good, Harun dropped it entirely.


    "Stand up and take your fucking seat; we ain''t got time for bullshit," Harun started, but while Gulseni was somewhat surprised by his tone, having served in the Birusk n for some time, she quickly realized that this was just the start of a rallying cry. Not one to disobey his master''s orders, Birandar stood up and sat next to Mukri. At first, Mehran''s inquisitive gaze didn''t leave him, but drawn by Harun''s tone, the former monarch shifted his attention to his boss.


    "Fes, I''m not gonna sugarcoat it; we''re in deep shit. The situation is so bad that if the First Emperor returned from the grave to confront this, his first reaction would be ''Fuck this, I''m out!'' And then he''d kill himself to escape it all," Harun started, making Jiyan, Gulseni, Mehran and Birandar''s jaws drop while Mukri broke into a cold sweat. To say nothing of them, even Jiyan didn''t expect that Harun would take such an rming stance. If even the first recorded owner of the Mandate of Heaven would kill himself to avoid this gue, what could they possibly do? But clearly, Harun was only getting started.


    "Boss, this is bad leadership. You''re supposed to reassure the troops and boost morale, not scare us witless!" Mukri blurted in a high-pitched squeal. But the words had barely left his lips that Harun stabbed him with an unprecedented, despotic look.


    "Oh but this is just the tip of the iceberg. What we have here is a gathering of leaders, not goons. I need motherfuckers that can the heat when it strikes, not babies eager for me to spoon-feed them a false sense of security. If you can''t take it, I don''t mind putting you out of your misery and cooking some top-tier beef to lift the troop''s morale!" Smacking the table to stress his words, Harun leaned toward Mukri, who now had the misconception that with the wrong word, he''d turn into his boss'' dinner. Believing that Harun''s appetite was more terrifying than 10 trillion worms, Mukri lowered his head, not daring to draw more attention.


    "This might sound harsh to you all, but tough times demand tough changes. Northeast, Xerzan, the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master, has realized his buddy''s death, and is setting up a strange formation. Within the city, 1.5 million mutant zealots are waiting for me to send them on a crusade, while their 2.4 billion peers are ransacking the Second Range, and producing more abominations. Not only do their deeds have direct consequences on me, but the statues they''re having captive Gods build to ''honor'' me will tell the world all it needs to know. Soon, Lord Revtion will be the Son of Heaven. Our few friends will bare their fangs, and as Mehran openly took on the Birusk name, the Birusk n might not be spared eithernot that I me you," Harun pursued, forcing Mukri to bite his lower lip to restrain his growing terror.


    "There are so many reasons why this can go wrong that it is safe to assume that the world is our enemy. But while the words chime with a rock-and-roll feel, I have no intention to be public enemy number oneof a bloody Landverse. So, we will spin this around and through a blend of aggression and careful deception, regain all we lose and so much more. I hereby dere that with the Dark Stone Country as its center, the First Range will enter a renaissance! From clothing style to culture, from culture to science, across the following decades we will revolution thisndmass with aplete upheaval. We''ll put the mutants to maximum use, gather them under the banner of the Treasure Hunting Gang and Lord Revtion''s name to seek and plunder inheritance grounds for our coffers'' sake. But first thing first," Harun paused, and spun toward Birandar. "Dear disciple, from now on, you''re Lord Revtion," Harun straightforwardly said, throwing the assembly into a massive uproar.


    "Boss you can''t be this irresponsible! Are you trying to shift the me on your disciple and flee? If you''re fleeing at least take me with you!" Unable to restrain himself, Mukri pleaded, but a doubly murderous nce from Harun and Gulseni shut the poor bull up.


    Stunned by Harun''s words, Birandar didn''t react. At first, Mehran, Jiyan and Gulseni were taken aback, but believing in Harun''s foresight, they reckoned he had more to offer, and as they exchanged nces, the three came to the same conclusiontheir eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Indeed, there is no scenario where we can prevent the Holy Lands and other factions from seeing through the Son of Heaven''s involvement. And while we could use the barrier to hide the connection between the Birusk name, Lord Revtion and I, at this point, it serves no purpose. On the contrary, if we can portray Lord Revtion as an usurper attempting to use my name to justify his hostile takeover of the Heavenly Dream Land, then destroy that usurper and subdue the gue Worshiping Cult, we can not only preserve our connection to the Monster Paradise, but go from viins to heroes in a single step," Harun exined, making Mukri''srge lips curl into an "O" shape.


    While they clearly didn''t have the tools to handle the worm pandemic yet, as long as they could spread some doubts regarding the mastermind''s identity, the Emperor-level experts wouldn''t jump to conclusion, buying themselves time to counterattack. In all top-experts'' eyes, Harun left the Heavenly Dream Land''s public scene on an invincible stance. In their minds, if he ever returned, it would be as a powerhouse that even Emperors would have to look up to. This misconception was their greatest advantage.


    By now, all knew that Harun bore his mother''s name and destroyed his maternal house, so the name change wouldn''t surprise many. On the contrary, leaving the name he loathed for the one he adored woulde out as a powerful statement to the Heavenly Dream Land. Thus, once "Lord Revtion" imed Harun''s name and title, but refused to stand at the forefront of the mutants'' crusades or leave the First Range, skepticism would fill the various factions'' ranks.


    The cleverer the expert, the more suspicious they''d be, and suspicion was all Harun needed to make his "True Return" a resounding sess. And while for Harun, time was of the essence, as far as the subterfuge was concerned, it didn''t matter much. God-level cultivators didn''t have the same perception of time as mortals. Ten, twenty or thirty years meant nothing to them, and Harun certainly didn''t n to spend three decades on subduing these mutants.


    Standing up, Birandar sped his hands and bowed toward Harun: "Master, your wish is mymand. From now on, I amLord Revtion!" Birandar dered, but little did Harun expect that the words would trigger a seismic shift in his heart rate, the scenery changed, and he now stood before a prostrated youth dressed in brown monk clothes.


    "You have reached the peak of the Six Incarnations Bridge in record times, liberated your fleshly body, and mastered causality. Of my disciples, you''re neither the cleverest nor the most talented, but your devotion to your studies enabled you to catch up to and surpass them all. More importantly, only you could get the essence of the Undisturbed Mantra. The Karmic Wheel is the proof that your training is nowplete, but I hope you can spread what you learned to those willing to listen. Never force, never demand, but whenever a man, woman, child or elder asks you for enlightenment, do not reject them. Master hopes that you will not be like your eldest brother and lose the heart you''ve built on this tedious road to enlightenment," Golden Cicada said, and without dy, his disciple rewarded his expectations.


    "Master, your disciple will never fail you. Be it to honor your wishes or the teachings you''ve imparted onto me, I will set out on a long journey, and spread your words to all those willing to listen to them. From now on, I am Revtion." The youth said and raised his head, facing Harun with three distinct eyes. The Serpent Emperor''s Sovereign Pupils, and Birandar''s Karmic Wheel.

 Chapter 160: Chasing Fantasies

    Chapter 160: Chasing Fantasies


    Snapping out of this fragment of Golden Cicada''s life, Harun observed Birandar with scrutiny, then shook his head. Who could imagine that the tyrannical Serpent Emperor who didn''t hesitate to set a Landverse on fire out of spite wouldter turn into a meek monk, and after Heaven-only knows how many reincarnations, be his obedient disciple?


    Atst, Harun realized why post-awakening Birandar faced him with such unswerving loyalty. This was no Birandar. The youth had died already, reced by Lord Revtionminus the immeasurable cultivation base. But though deep down, he''d realized this long ago, Harun still felt sour.


    Most lives across the omniverse are reincarnations. As long as they possess a soul, the likelihood that said soul has experienced hundreds of past lives is over 90%. Too few souls are born out of the void. Most just get recycled through the reincarnation cycle. Ancient sects and eminent houses treat Awakened Lifeforms as treasures, providing them with the best resources and treatment. Their senses, attunement to the Dao, willpower and luck often leave most geniuses in the dust. As for physiques, factions of that level can manufacture the majority, and so don''t value them. Among the Ancestral Land''s elite forces, "Better have an Awakened Lifeform than an Emperor-level talent," is amon saying. Harun learned this from the System, who from time to time, fed him anecdotes of the Ancestral Land.


    But Harun didn''t want an Awakened disciple, not so fast, not so soon. He''d much rather have a useless boy with no formidable backstory, driving only by an unwavering determination to reach the peak of cultivation. <em>That</em> was someone he could train and shape. Someone whose personal growth he could feel at every step of the way. Someone whose achievementswould undoubtedly delight him. Could he get the same feeling from Birandar, who was more thanplete already? Harun didn''t think so. But perhaps that shouldn''t stop him from trying. Harun thus settled on Birandar''s training program. The goal was simple: give him back the individuality he lost by bing Golden Cicada''s wless disciple.


    <em>"Why can''t so many people move on from Karma that doesn''t even belong to their current existence? My next disciple better note with past-incarnation baggage or I will drown the fool in the Abyssal River,"</em> Harun told himself.


    <em>"This sounds like Severing cultivator talk to me. You sure you didn''t miss student orientation?"</em> Unable to tolerate such words, the System chimed in.


    <em>"Don''t misinterpret my words. Acknowledging and pursuing are two different concepts. Living in the past disrespects the present. Not one incarnation should take precedence over another, for no matter how insignificant, they each possess an unquestionable value,"</em> Harun countered.


    <em>"So you''re saying that if youpleted your awakening, if you experienced Golden Cicada''s life in its entirety, experienced the bonds, joy and struggles as if they were yours, you would dismiss them without a second thought?"</em> Not willing to drop the matter, the System asked in a level yet inquisitive tone.


    <em>"Wouldn''t you? Although we disagree on about everything, you''ve always struck me as a rational being. Golden Cicada likely died millions of years ago. After him, I probably became a farmer, andlord, a doctor, a cultivator, a fish, a turtle, a dog, a celestial, a god, a toad, and so much more. Are you telling me that I''m supposed to retrace those thousands of lives, find all my significant others, alive or dead, and bring them back to my side? That''s absurd. Sometimes, you just have to let go.</em>


    <em>My name is Harun, not Siegfried. I wasn''t born in the Myriad Devil Pce as the son of the omniverse''s ruler. I do not have a golden silkworm embedded with my heart and soul. I am not a Transcendent Catalyst. I do not have Devil Essence. And though I still possess Sovereign Pupils, I wouldn''t hesitate to discard them if necessary. My story is an ongoing project; I am far fromplete and will not disrespect this chance of writing a memorable tale by chasing fantasies,"</em> Harun dered, and a weighty silence ensued. Believing that he was processing info unavable to them, Jiyan and co. didn''t interrupt him.


    <em>"Interesting, I''ve been called many things, but ''rational'' was never one of them. Matter of fact, in my younger days, the words shameless, petty and unreasonabledescribed me best,"</em> the System replied, then went silent. With a wave of his hand, Harun motioned for Birandar to return to his seat, then faced the assembly.


    "First, questions?" Harun probed, and as expected, Mehran was the first to speak up. "I have no problem with the n, but once Birandar bes Revtion the Usurper and you turn into True Lord Birusk, how will the change affect your faith collection. As we speak, the Abyssal River and Blood Matron Puppet are undoubtedly our most destructive cards. Can we afford to weaken the barrier?"


    "As long as the faith only fluctuates between Revtion and Birusk, I still have 100% control of it. This will not be a problem," Harun rified the situation, and no more questions followed. Satisfied, he carried on.


    "As you all know, I cultivate on a distinct bridge from other Birusk nsmen. My bridge isn''t suited to faction building, so I created another one for you guys. With each breakthrough to a higher realm, I must reincarnate in another world. Fortunately, I will not lose my memories, and after some adjustments, can always return to my Karmic Zone: the Birusk n. It just so happens that I''ve reached the peak of my first realm, and must prepare my breakthrough into the next. For that, I need 150 kg of Sr Ore. The Treasure Hunting Gang will handle the acquisition. Afterward, I will build a Star-zed Gate and step into a unique zone. This is an extraordinary opportunity, but not everyone can follow me. Those who can''t will have to stay in the Dark Stone Country."


    Sr ore was a unique mineral usually found at the core of the hottest volcanos. Some inheritance grounds also packed many. With his left eye, Harun could direct the mutants to those ces and have them harvest the minerals. The Heavenly Dream Land no longer had a way to process Sr Ore, but Dolma''s brain and damaged soul teemed with information Harun could harvest at will.


    To breakthrough to the Monstrous Realm, Harun first needed to refine a Beast Constetion. Therger the constetion, the better his next incarnation would be. But without a Star-zed Gate, Harun couldn''t enter the Monstrous Heaven Chart that contained all those constetions.


    As a faction leader, Harun couldn''t always hunt resources personally. It was time to put his elitebor force to use. In the meantime, he''d use his recent gains to strengthen his faction. But little did Harun know that as he discussed ns with his most trusted, Karma threatened to hit him like a crashing airne.


    Following Harun''s breakthrough to the Unyielding stage, the first major step on the path of Tyranny, the Tantric Ancestor of the Dharma Seeking Temple who''d been watching out for this precise moment, locked on the massive Karmic fluctuations and retraced Harun''s Landverse.


    "Hahahahaha! Master will be master. This cultivation speed is indeed not what the rest of us canpare to. However, how can an inferior ce such as the Heavenly Dream Land be worthy of your esteemed self? Only in my Tantric Exaltation Hall can you return to the peak at maximum speed!" The Tantric Ancestor proimed. His full-red eyes shed with a frenzied glint and, with a single step, he crossed several Landverses to appear in the Heavenly Dream Land.


    Just like the Devil Princes beforehand, the Tantric Ancestor couldn''t locate the exact world. But unlike them, he walked and exceeded the Six Incarnations Bridge. As long as he clung onto this karmic disruption, filtering the Heavenly Dream Land to find Harun wouldn''t give him much trouble.


    In a sh, the Tantric Ancestor''s overbearing spiritual sense swept the Heavenly Dream Land, making countless lives go mad and copse from fright.


    <strong>"Impudence."</strong>


    But not even a second after the Tantric Ancestor''s investigation started. Asteroids, celestial bodies, and the void itself trembled as one voice, one word, ripped the Tantric Ancestor''s mind asunder.


    "AAAAAAAAAARGH!" Defenseless against that single word''s might, the Tantric Ancestor grabbed his damaged skull and squealed in grief. Red veins pulsated across his herculean form, but no amount of muscle or power could free him from this mental trauma.


    "D-Devil Anceshow could thisaaaaargh!" The Tantric Ancestor couldn''t finish his words. Blood gushed out of all his orifices and cracks formed across his wless body.


    The rtionship between the new generation of Ancestors and the Devil was somewhat simr to mortals and the deities they worshiped. On the one hand, they believed him invincible. On the other hand, none had witnessed his might. Thus, many of those nigh omnipotent entities were starting to question his sovereignty. As Golden Cicada''s first disciple, the Tantric Ancestor ranked high among them, believing that his master would lead Saints, Refiners and Tyrants to end the Devil''s reign.


    However, his masterhe wasn''t.


    <strong>"Get lost,"</strong> the Devil Ancestor ordered, unleashing waves of irresistible might that bashed the Tantric Ancestor intearing through his indestructible flesh and bones to hurl him back into the Darma Seeking Temple!


    <em>"This Sovereign doesn''t have the time to squash all the insignificant bugs the omniverse has to offer. But should you misbehave once more, I do not mind reminding you all why my reignousts the stars."</em>


    The Devil Ancestor dered, and with one message, forced all Ancestors on their knees.

 Chapter 161: The Heralds of Salvation

    Chapter 161: The Heralds of Salvation


    Of the many Landverses thatposed the Devil''s world, the Ancestral Land was by far thergest. Sorge in fact that it ounted for one-third of the Omniverse. All other Landverses orbited the Ancestral Land, forever submissive to the Devil''s favorite yground. Each of those verses counted zillions of native lives, each except one: the ughter Feast Land. An infinitelyrge teau of crystalline red stones, the ughter Feast Land had no diversity, no unique life forms, and only acted as a venue for the Omniverse''s most sinister game: the Festival of Skulls. Once every 3,600 years, the Omniverse''s factions dispatched legions of disciples on this battleground to fight in a grim war that wouldn''t end till only one team remained. That team and the victorious faction then received the Devil''s blessings, making its overall strength soar far beyond the rest.


    Besides fixed team numbers and cultivation limits, there were no requirements, no restrictions, no rules. Anyone coulde, anyone could die. And more often than not, death was the easy way out.


    Devils thrived on debauchery, negativity and malevolence. The more perverse the Omniverse, the stronger they became. But while the world didn''tck in perversion, few could harvest the negative energies scattered across the entire Omniverse. The Festival of Skulls was an ancient tradition enabling the Myriad Devil Pce''s disciple to refine pure malignant energies, and at the same time, an opportunity to receive the Devil''s attention. Some God-Emperors didn''t hesitate to personally lead their factions'' teams into this reckless war, and over the seeding Cosmic Cycles, thousands of sects and houses established strongholds in this corpse-infestednd.


    Building shrines to the Devil''s glory, they often traded their disciples'' blood for lesser rewards--sending the bold and naive juniors to sure death.


    Founded by unknown experts, the Truth Scrying Grotto was one such force. Rising shortly after the death of Golden Cicada, at first, this faction drew much attention for its unique cultivation bridge. But as they didn''t possess experts above the Emperor level, they quickly lost the public''s interest.


    Needless to say, in the Festival of Skulls where even Emperor-level experts couldn''t guarantee their lives, the Truth Scrying Grotto faced disastrous results. Yet, they refused to leave the ughter Feast Land, and thanks to those misled, sacrificed disciples, received a steady supply of minor benefits. But little did the world know, that buried underneath the Truth Scrying Grotto''s headquarters was a shriveled old man with excessively long, gray eyebrows, and curly mustache whiskers.


    Lifting his trembling right hand, the old man summoned an orb of magnificent light, from which limitless energies rippled. "Why? This is iprehensible. We''ve all reached the peak of cultivation, so why is the gap this extreme? If even the full depth of our cultivation bases cannot resist the most casual of the Devil''s words, how can we im to belong to the same realm? Masterdid you deceive us? What is the Truth?" The shriveled old man muttered, dispatched a series of mental messages, then shut his eyes close.


    Though the Mountain Edge World didn''t experience the Tantric Ancestor''s mind-shattering spiritual sense, many other worlds didn''t have the same luck. Overnight, myriads went insane, and entire civilizations copsed. Perhaps Golden Cicada himself couldn''t imagine that his very first disciple would be the architect of such ruin. Or perhaps he did, for as soon as the Tantric Ancestor was forced back whence he came, a golden lotus bloomed above each of the afflicted words, sprinkling holy rain on the frenzied lifeforms. Instantly, they all regained their sanity, forgot about the previous event, and returned to their ordinary lives.


    Meanwhile, the Mountain Edge World''s fate hung in the bnce. The gue Worshiping Cult''s ceremony reached a crescendo. Dark-green light wrapped the 2,400 mutants at the center of the ritual, trapping them in a maelstrom of noxious energies while their subordinates sang the same iprehensible hymn.


    Breaking down into atomic particles, the 2,400 mutants merged in one organic whole, bing a 66 meters tall green egg marked with ck, coiling worm patterns. Stretching across thousands of kilometers, the billions of mutants bowed toward the egg, singing their eldritch song with 100 times the fervor. At that time, from the Heavenly Dream Land''s Truth Scrying Grotto, 30 experts flew out, dropping from their concealed hideout in the Heavens tond on the mortal world.


    In a breath, those 30 experts arrived before the masses of mutants. Each surrounded by swirling pink clouds that concealed their mysterious appearances, they radiated auras fit for venerable sages. Yet, at the same time, sharp cultivators could sense the eerie energiescing their otherwise perfect auras.


    "Immediately destroy that thing," the leading expert ordered, and instantly, the 30 experts aimed at the egg. Ranking among the Truth Scrying Grotto''s Sage Kings, those Seers could each overpower the average Empyrean Monarch. Yet, when facing the egg, a terrible sense of foreboding welled up in their chests. It was almost as if their very cultivation bridge was warning them about the future the egg would push the Mountain-Edge World into.


    Out of thin air, 30 tinum treasure bells appeared before the Sage Kings and shot at the egg. Turning into rays of pink-colored light, the bells each carried enough energy to st an unprepared Monarch to pieces. s, as soon as they entered the egg''s territory, a thick-lipped mouth formed at its center. Spreading wide, that mouth released dark-purple clouds that stopped and broke the bells down into metallic particles. Struck hard by the bells'' destruction, the Sage Kings recoiledsuppressing a blood spurt. Terror reced stupor, and their eyes widened to match their fright.


    Oozing zeal, regardless of shape or form, the mutants arched their heads back, bending as far as they could and screaming for all to heard, "Rise, oh heralds of salvation! In Lord Birusk''s name, rise and purge this degraded world of its corrupt cultivation principles!"


    The cacophony of synchronized voices pealed across the Second Range. Twenty-four emerald orbs shot out of the egg''s mouth, each carrying 1.7 meters tall, humanoid creatures of gray, grotesque and alien features.


    The Sage Kings couldn''t appraise the so-called heralds'' strength, but the pressure of their horrifying presence was more info than they would ever need. Without hesitation, the Sage Kings turned tails and ranor well, attempted to.


    <em>"Divine Power: Devouring,"</em> waving their tendril-like hands, the Heralds released the World Devouring Serpent n''s Divine Power. Boundless suction forces wrapped the 30 Sage Kings, dragging them toward the nightmarish mutants whose stic mouths stretched to fit the iing meal. In a single bite, the mutants devoured 24, and equally split the remaining six between themselves.


    Without wasting time on digestion, the Heralds raised their hands, motioning for their hordes to advance. Thus, the Serpent Totem''s prophecy became reality. As they wasted time on how to best exploit the mutants'' appearance, the Mountain-Edge World''s top factions gave the gue Worshiping Cult the time it needed to make the sixth Holy Land''s birth...a foregone conclusion.

 Chapter 162: The Holy Lands Choose their Camps

    Chapter 162: The Holy Lands'' Choose their Camps


    The news of the Sage Kings'' death spread like candy boxes in an assembly of hyperactive children. And so, as the mutant hordes carried on with their ceaseless faction pige, the leaders of the higher Ranges unanimously contacted their superiors in Heaven to ask for guidance.


    "24 Emperor-level guebringers of alien features have risen in the Second Range, subdued it at blitzkrieg speed, and set sight on the third. At this pace, it won''t be long before they topple our bases in the Sixth Range." Though framed somewhat differently, depending on the faction, this message reached all Holy Lands'' headquarters. Clearly, the branches in the Mountain Edge World couldn''t see through the 24 Heralds'' abilities and just gave the most rming assessment they could to prompt their bosses into immediate actions.


    But having witnessed the terror of the alien beasts firsthand, the Truth Scrying Grotto wisely chose to sit this one out, giving celestials and monsters the opportunity to defend their homnd''s cultivation world. Unfortunately, as leaders of enemy forces, the Holy Lands each had their own load of skepticism and selfish interests to consider. And so, this happened:


    "24 Emperors? One faction overnight produced 24 Emperors? Equipped of what Mandate? The Mandate of Bullshit?" The World Beast Emperor, muscle-boss of the seven Beast Emperors leading the Monster Paradise, asked his Mountain-Edge World subordinates through a transmission mirror. In his white lynx ears, the news was simply not credible. If producing Emperor-level expert had gotten simpler than farming peas, shouldn''t the Holy Lands all disband their factions to start tilling thend? Unless the 24 ambushed and beat him till he stood half-an-inch from death, he would never believe it. And who could me him? In those aged monsters'' ears, the Emperor-level was the mythical altitude they chased for a lifetime. If not for the Devil Stones, none of the Beast Emperors would have broken through the final hurdle.


    More importantly, the Truth Scrying Grotto aside, the Holy Lands knew very well of their rivals'' Emperor-level experts. The Saint-Empress Court had Dilnaz, two Grand Empyrean Princesses, and two outsiders that all broke through thanks to the Devil Stones. In sheer Emperor numbers, this ced them at the bottom of the Holy Lands, equal to the ughter Syndicate. However, in the Heavenly Dream Land''s Imperial Hierarchy, Dilnaz ranked third. Her strength plus the Empyrean n''s vast resources enabled the Saint-Empress Court to outpace the Monster Paradise.


    The ughter Syndicate excelled at vice and murder. A pity that the various branches had too much independence, with their five Emperors bound only by the desperate need to resist the other Holy Lands.


    Thus, from bottom to top, we have the ughter Syndicate, the Monster Paradise and the Saint-Empress Court, all ranking below the Serpent Domain and its 18 Emperors. It thereforees as no surprise that those factions were often forced to cooperate to restrain the Serpent Domain''s conquests. Now, in a matter of weeksdays evena faction with more Emperors than Heaven''s most-spoiled n had risenwho could believe such a tale? The World Beast Emperor didn''t.


    Fortunately for the Monster Paradise, he was only the muscle-boss. The White Fox Emperor, brain of the organization, took the matter a lot more seriously. "The Mountain-Edge World has be the capital of the Ten-Thousand Sects War, most essible inheritance grounds gather there. Its environment changes are the fastest of all mortal worlds, and in just a few centuries, the resources our subordinate branches produce there will exceed what we grow here in Heaven. Regardless of how we handle this gue Worshiping Cult, this is a world we cannot afford to lose," the White Fox started. But as his six brothers nodded to support his words, his tone changed drastically.


    "However, what''s the point of controlling the richestnd if we do not have the manpower to administrate it? When the Truth Scrying Grotto emerged from the shadows and spread its knowledge to our world, how many refused to believe them? If not for that Soul Emperor''s demonstrations, we would still not be taking them seriously. When the Devil Stones descended and granted us the chance to break through to the Emperor level, how many couldn''t believe their eyes. This world hides a plethora of ancient forces, tools and principles we do not understand, so what gives us the audacity to dismiss this new threat as ''Bullshit?''" Unable to refute the White Fox''s words, the World Beast Emperor snorted, and left all handling of the situation to his wiser brother''s hands.


    "They scour the cultivation world to exterminate all non-deities. Meanwhile, they capture and force Gods to build statues of a young man they dub the Holy One. At first nce, this seems to be a gaudy and unrefined herd of over-buffed sheep. But anyone or thing that can unleash 2.4 billion experts of God-level strength or above, isn''t what we can single-handedly challenge. Immediately withdraw all our troops in the Mountain Edge World. We must contact the ughter Syndicate, Saint-Empress Court and Serpent Domain fora coalition. If need be, we must not hesitate to obliterate the Mountain-Edge World," the White Fox ordered through the transmission mirror, scaring his fellows and subordinates out of their wits.


    "Aren''t you overreacting? Such a coalition will put us right under the Serpent Domain''s leadership. Assuming that 24 Emperor-level guebringers lead those hordes, this matter is likely connected to the Son of Heaven. With the rtionship we''ve built, shouldn''t we exploit this chance to dispose of our enemies?" The Barrier-Breaking Millipede''s high-pitched voice echoed, but as he stared at a projection of mutant packs tearing through celestial cities, the White Fox thought otherwise.


    "I sure as hell hope it''s not. These folks don''t look open to discussion to me. If this is indeed our Extreme Yin Sir''s work, we''ve been treating our worst enemy as an ally," he whispered, then dispatched a series of mental message. Driven by self-interest, the ughter Syndicate agreed to the coalition, but refused to abandon its base. In the two other factions, however, the situation wasn''t that simple.

 Chapter 163: Xerzans Fury (1)

    Chapter 163: Xerzan''s Fury (1)


    "Ain''t this a bitch? Why does her Holy Majesty never listen to our advice? In the history of our n, who dared break into the Million Emperor Tomb? And now that the world will expect her to make a statement, she''s nowhere to be found!"


    "Language! ording to her Soul Lamp, she''s neither dead nor alive. I suppose it''s fair to prepare for the worst. Once those vultures realize that we''ve lost our strongest pir, we will automatically be the cannon fodders of this so-called coalition."


    "Correct. Since the Saint-Empress Court''s formation, too many hungry wolves have been eying us, tracking all opportunities to capture our disciples. As far as I''m concerned, falling into those mutants'' hands is much safer than what awaits once news of Her Majesty''s disappearance spread."


    In a magnificent hall of tall silver walls, four Goddesses sat on sky-high golden thrones, dressed in radiant-white court robes that firmly hugged their perfect curves. The two at the left shared the textbook white hair and blue eyes of the Empyrean n, while their peers at the right proudly disyed the jet-ck hair and ming-gold eyes of the Golden Crow n.


    Though Dilnaz most despised the Golden Crow n, she never underestimated the power and influence they wielded in Heaven. Thus, long before Agiri''s death, she used an age-old enmity to nt the seed of rebellion in two of Nak''s daughters. Why the Golden Crow''s flesh and blood would rather surrender to Dilnaz is a longer story than we have time for. But though they gave Dilnaz unquestionable loyalty, serving a dead leader was rarely the wise choice.


    "Let''s pull back our disciples and nominally agree to the coalition. We will use them to buy ourselves the time we need to secure our defenses," Nak''s eldest daughter proposed, and the three others agreed instantly.


    Last but never the least, the Serpent Domain received the invitation. Sitting crossed-legged in his Heavenly Cave, Sv, the Immortal Emperor,municated with his n''s elder council.


    "Reject the coalition," he ordered, prompting a wave of confusion to sweep through his elders'' ranks. "From beginning to now, the Truth Scrying Grotto has always been our number one shackle. That Soul Emperor alone shouldn''t be much weaker than me, and is likely not their strongest expert. I wouldn''t be surprised if they had twice our Emperors. Once we lead the Holy Lands against those mutants, regardless of victory or defeat, our forces will suffer extreme damagesleaving us vulnerable to the Truth Scrying Grotto. And for what? The cultivation world? Nonsensical.


    I always had the nagging suspension that the grotto''s ns require our cultivation world to go far beyond its current limits. They want us to grow in a controlled environment. The prompt descent of 30 Sage Kings is a warning sign we cannot overlook. That being the case, if the mutants threaten to wipe out our cultivation world prematurely, the Truth Scrying Grotto will confront themthereby revealing its arsenal. Order aplete retreat of our branches. We will use this opportunity to probe that mysterious faction''s depths," Sv dered.


    Naturally, the Serpent Domain''s elders didn''t all appreciate this turn of events. For millions of years, they hid. When the Empyrean n lost control of the Mandate of Heaven, they returned, only to hide again at the first major threat. Were the descendants of the Serpent Emperor no better than a rabble of cowering turtles?


    The hegemonic blood coursing through the World Devouring Serpents'' veins demanded a brutal war. And if Sv couldn''t provide thatperhaps it was time to find better leadership. Thus, cracks formed in the Serpent Domain''s leadership. But though he could foresee the problem, Sv didn''t doubt his ability to suppress his kin.


    "What about the young master?" A loyal elder probed, and for the first time since the beginning of the assembly, Sv''s face twisted into a frown. "He will never listen to us. Leave him be. So long as I breathe, no one can harm him." Thoughced in supreme confidence, Sv''s words hid a sour taste that didn''t escape the elder council.


    None doubted that, if not for that "young master," Sv would never go to such lengths to attack the Truth Scrying Grotto.


    If the threat of the rising horde was more than enough to make Holy Lands rethink their positions, it couldn''t stop Xerzan from clinging on and challenging his fallen friend''s fate. Xerzan didn''t care for Sangar''s death, but he absolutely couldn''t tolerate Weeping Soul''s. Few could understand the bonds uniting the hedonistic stronghold master and Truth-seeking reverend. Perhaps the uncanny circumstances of their births brought them closer than Nak ever expected them to be. Perhaps Xerzan just had a thing for monks. Nevertheless, the stronghold master set up a massive ritual circle across the Soul Refining Hall and Obsidian Soul Stone mine''s ruins, gashed his wrists, and let his ever-replenishing blood sink into the ritual circle''s bizarre patterns.


    Floating above the center of the ritual circle, Xerzan raised his arms at the sky and unleashed his Heavenly Qi. The shapeless energies spread across the ruins, fusing with the ritual circle and Xerzan''s fresh blood to breed ominous energy waves that carried an ancient feel. Dark-gray steam billowed from the ritual circle. Coiling as it shot upward, the steam morphed into the face of a demonic ogre whose curved ck horns reached an adult man''s height. Staring at that fiendish face, Xerzan joined his hands in a prayer sign. The demonic ogre opened its jagged mouth, revealing a foot-long blue tongue that stretched toward Xerzan.


    Depending on their potential and worth, each of Nak''s disciples inherited sinister arts and forbidden techniques. Xerzan''s arsenal naturally ranked high above his peers'', and to reward his outstanding results, Nak taught him a unique Forbidden Ritual, enabling him to roll back time across a surface of 150 square kilometers. But as expected of a forbidden technique, the ritual came at a hefty price. Only immortals could cast this ritual. First, the demonic ogre devoured their immortality, left 100 years behind, and for every 10 years it rolled back, stole one more year from its contractor.


    Cultivation breakthrough wouldn''t restore the lost lifespan. Thus, unless the contractor became immortal again through Mysteries or some lifeform change, they''d have a maximum of 100 years left. To say nothing of the consequences of time disruption. The lifespan blow alone made sure that few ever resorted to this ritual.


    But as Xerzan prepared to sign the pact, bright golden mes surged from his chest, revealing a golden feather embedded in his heart. Unleashing a storm of golden mes, the featherid waste to Xerzan''s ritual, sent the ogre back into the void, and forced Xerzan onto his knees.


    "Damn it you cantankerous old man! Mind your goddamn business!" Clutching his burning chest, Xerzan barked at the golden feather. The blurry figure of an armored old man, of Nak, appeared before him, and though he couldn''t see through his master''s blurry figure, Xerzan could feel the disapproving gaze weighing on him.


    "Devil Essence builds on a steady heart. The more potent your diabolic energies, the steadier your heart should be. These ruins are not going anywhere. In 99 years, if you still want to do this, I will not stop you. But for now, I need you to quiet your deranged mind and bring me the candidate. The situation doesn''t look favorable. Weeping Soul''s failure could cost us more than expected. If you truly want to undo his death, you know what to do," Nak stated, then vanished from the ruins.

 Chapter 164: Xerzans Fury (2)

    Chapter 164: Xerzan''s Fury (2)


    Nak''s disappearance didn''t prompt an immediate response from Xerzan. Instead, the stronghold master sat amidst the Soul Refining Hall''s ruins, staring at the debris of Weeping Soul''s abode. An advocate of anti-conformity,wlessness and hedonism, Xerzan had zero interest in kinship. As far as he was concerned, all ties were man-made constructs built on self-deceit. Thus, more than anyone else, he couldn''t understand how and why he got so close to his fellow disciple.


    "Howfrustrating," Xerzan whispered. And if his deadbeat gaze revealed deep weariness, the intermittent shes of foul energies ensured that no sane man would stay too close to the current him.


    A deeply ingrained rage often needed handy outlets. But after 30 minutes of silent mopping, Xerzan still had nothing to vent his frustration onnothing besides Weeping Soul''s target.


    Even a fool could guess that the reverend''s death stemmed from his failure to capture the Blood Matron. But while Dolma''s abilities and Abyssal River put Weeping Soul at serious risk, Xerzan didn''t believe that the woman alone cost him his partner''s life.


    Weeping Soul came equipped for the job. Something else, someone else, an unexpected variable that flipped the game around to weave this unfortunate scenario...was to me. Thus, from the messy pile that made up Xerzan''s immortal memories, two words popped out: Lord Revtion.


    Back when Weeping Soul''s avatar fell to that mysterious expert''s tricks, Xerzan didn''t take him seriously. But now that he couldn''t even collect his mate''s ashes, the stronghold master realized his mistake. Perhaps from the start, they''d misunderstood what they faced. Perhaps even the mutant gue tearing through the Six Ranges was that expert''s work, but as he rose from the cracked ground, Xerzan couldn''t spare any thought to "estimations."


    "If...only if," he slowly whispered.


    Allowing his chaotic emotions to explode, Xerzan snapped his fingers. Gray divination clouds gathered,tching on Dolma and the Abyssal River''s traces to build an illusory bridge toward the Blood Matron''s most likely location. Xerzan might not be able to track down Harun, Birandar or Mehran, but Dolma, Gulseni and Mukri didn''t have the karmic protection that prevented Divination tracking.


    Convinced that the Blood Matron and Lord Revtion had somehow partnered to destroy Weeping Soul, Xerzan unleashed his Devil Essence and soared into the sky, racing across the illusory bridge to hunt his targets down.


    Unfortunately, as the First Range''s barrier only expanded through faith and worship, it never spread in the Soul Refining Hall''s direction. Thus, Xerzan, who reached the ruins through teleportation, wasn''t prepared for the barrier surroundingabout everything else across the First Rangethe sight didn''t help his mood.


    Meanwhile, as the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master''s existential crisis peaked, Harun drained all the knowledge that Dolma''s brain and broken soul had to offer, officially turning whatever remained of her into an empty husk. A treasure trove in its own right, the Blood Matron''s mind fed Harun all the lost tales, info, techniques, and insights Dolma had ess to, enabling him to not onlyy hands on the Sr Stones'' processing method, but also to figure out how to produce Sentient Treasures. Better, Harun could also use Obsidian Soul Stones and the Abyssal River to craft his own Landgrave Assembly.


    In a world where Monarchs and Emperors would kill for such intel, Dolma''s knowledge set Harun''s forces aside from thepetition. As long as they milked it well, even the weakest disciples could soon fight above their level.


    Following extensive nning, Mehran and co. had left the meeting room. Harun, Jiyan and the passive Dolma doll remained behindwith the former two locked in a sultry exchange. Sitting sideways on Harun''s thighs, Jiyan cored his neck between her slender arms and leaned against his temple. With a smile mixing joy, mischievousness and relief, she smooched Harun''s lips, going from the leftmost corner to the right, while sometimes pausing to pull in his gaze.


    For once, unrestrained craving shed in the empyrean princess'' eyes, outshining all other emotions. Suppressing the mounting urge to nibble Harun''s neck, Jiyan pressed her cushy mounds against his chest, luring in his primal instincts with her irresistible charms.


    "Almost thought I''d lost you there," pausing to maintain eye contact, Jiyan whispered in a mellow and tempting tone, bitting Harun''s lower lip to stress her words. Unwilling to resist the pull, Harun met her move with a gripping kisskeeping her locked on him, with no hope of release.


    Neither gave Dolma Doll the tiniest bit of attention, making the static doll look like a passionless stalker. Little did they know that as they bounded on the armchair, a microscopic energy orb eyed Dolma from outside the barrier, devising ways to possess the puppetnot that it mattered. "You almost did. But as Iy in a pit of dark delusion, trapped by a myriad of crawling vixen hands, one voiceyourspulled me out of those rottennds," Harun whispered back, making Jiyan roll her eyes.


    "What an over-the-top and unbelievable lie. Worthy of a centuries-old fogey. But just for you, I will pretend that it''s true," she quipped, and with a mischievous grin, straddled her beloved. "When don''t you ever? But this time it''s actually true. I even received a brand-new cultivation mantra from the vixens. It will allow the two of us to refine our fleshly bodies without summoning Heavenly Tribtion. We could even reach Dolma''s flesh level within a few decades."


    "Really? A dual cultivation method?" With a toneced in suspicion, Jiyan arched one eyebrow, yet didn''t reject Harun''s words. In fact, her batting eyshes and yful eyes seemed to be asking for more. "Dual cultivation sounds so bad. I prefer the original term: Tantric Exaltation. You will be my divine catalyst, and I yours. That said, we should explore it as soon as possible. Matter of fact, let''s start now," Harun countered, and while holding onto Jiyan''s thighs, lifted her effortlessly.


    Dropping his beloved on the office desk, Harun let her back rest on the walnut table while nting hickeys on her lustrous neck. By the time he''d shared the Tantric Exaltation Mantra''s mnemonics with her, Jiyan''s tantalizing whimpers were already echoing in the room. But as the two reached a sensitive moment, diabolic energies filled the Dark Stone City''s sky, instantly choking all the citizens whose beliefs Harun relied on.


    In a sh, Mehran, Mukri, Birandar and Gulseni rushed back into the office room. But if thetter was struck speechless by what she saw, the three others t-out ignored their leaders'' intimacy. "He is here," they said like a perfectly synchronized, cock-blocking choir. For a second, Harun considered putting them all on the execution block, but remembering that he had a reputation to maintain, he restrained himself and put on his reliable face.


    "Well, bitches sure do know how to pick their time. Very well, let''s teach the Third Range''s master a memorable lesson," Harun dered, and motioned for Birandar to step forward.

 Chapter 165: Law-Enforcing Dao Pillar

    Chapter 165: Law-Enforcing Dao Pir


    Harun''s forces only had four ways to deal with Xerzan: y turtles, send the mutants after him, summon the blue-haired immortal, or defeat him in the traditional fashion. Needless to say, Harun wasn''t about to use his only Ancestor-tier blow to take Xerzan''s life. Even if Nak himself appeared, he would think thrice before unleashing it. And while the 1.5 million mutants could likely solve the problem, they couldn''t give Harun what he wanted. This was not only a chance to introduce Lord Revtion to the world, but a unique opportunity to steal a crucial tool for Harun''s growth.


    Pale and sweaty, Birandar stepped forward, presented a tinum cudgel, and bowed toward Harun. As the faithful disciple awaited his master''s orders, Mehran frowned at the thick, metallic rod, then spun to face his boss. "Following youra, the Hundred Insects Altar moved to the castle, courtesy of the totem, I suppose. Adding it to the Abyssal River, Dharma Sheltering Array, and a traditional formation, we definitely have solid chances butwhy not just send the mutants?" Mehran inquired. This was inarguably one of the few moments where the mutants'' rampage arranged everyone. Unfortunately, the Dark Stone city''s specimens were born too close to Harun, and following his awakening, no longer budged without his permission.


    Moving faster than his subordinates could follow, Harun appeared before Birandar and grabbed the cudgel. "He has something I want. Might as well strip it while we can," Harun stated, and gave the cudgel a few swings. Crafted through Birandar''s Karmic Wheel, the cudgel incorporated the Mystery of Truth. Thus, though it was theoretically no different from an ordinary club, it carried more destructive power than the average celestial''s artifact.


    Harun only needed an ordinary club, but clearly, the staff''s creation exhausted much of Birandar''s vitality. And thinking of how he wouldter use it to discipline all his disciples, Harun couldn''t help but feel like a monstrous beast.


    Heaving a sigh, Harun raised his right hand. From the most remote viges to the capital, the billions of First Range residents that enjoyed the barrier''s protection felt the tiniest shred of grief and misery they previously endured leave them entirely. Waves of euphoria reced the lost negativity and, as if prompted by a superior impulse, they broke into festive dances. Thus, unbeknownst to all but Harun, dark-gray fments gathered above the pce, forming a malignant vortex right underneath Xerzan. That invisible vortex broke into a myriad of energy particles that fused with Harun''s cudgel, lighting it up with shes of gray lightning.


    The lightning dispersed, and from its lustrous tinum shade, the cudgel took on a dark-brown color. Though their eyes couldn''t see all that Harun''s could, Mehran and co. could feel the shocking abundance of misery the cudgel now carried. It was almost as if, with a single blow, it could drown the world in grief. Bending his new tool left and right, Harun passed his hand over it, then gave it a casual swing. The rounded tip brushed Mehran''s chin. His heartbeat spiraled out of control, and as his heart drummed at an rming speed, the former monarch tumbled down. Instantly, all eyes widened at the cudgel, but having expected the result, Harun only gave a simple nod.


    "What have you done?" They asked in tandemminus Birandar, who for entirely different reasons, also marveled at the cudgel. "I severed and sealed the grief and misery carried by all our mortal citizens in this staff. You can think of it as the embodiment of despair and sufferings. The more such feelings you experience, the more helpless you be before this staff. It can''t kill, but you better believe that a full-powered blow can drive the unprepared insane," Harun started in a half-serious, halfcent tone. "Now, now, how do we name it? Dog-Beating Staff? Nah, copyright vitions. Let''s go with Law Enforcing Dao Pir. Got some over-the-top oomph to it. Take notes. In the future, when any one of you misbehaves, this rod will bludgeon your ass," Harun pledged, and tossed the staff at Birandar.


    The hall fell still. None had expected that after reaching the peak of his first realm, Harun could outright strip and seal emotions in items. Didn''t this mean that he could produce artifacts of ruinous powers at will? Although there seemed to be some limitations, this ability alone would make Emperors risk their lives for control of his magical hands. Paralyzed by the Law-Enforcing Dao Pir''s weight, Birandar didn''t dare move an inch. But as all eyes locked on the dreadful cudgel, the Barbaric Demon Stronghold Master made his first move.


    Raising one index at the sky, Xerzan channeled the foul energies oozing from his diabolic essence in one orb of dark-purple energy. From a palm-sized energy ball, the orb expanded into a boulder-sized projectile that loomed over the Dark Stone capital with all its sinister magnificence. If before, the citizens still ignored his presence, this unprecedented concentration of energy snatched theirplete attention.


    Lowering his right hand, Xerzan fired the diabolic-essence ball at the barrier, and again it expanded, this time reaching the width of a small hill.


    BANG!


    By the time Team Harun''s attention had returned to the sky, the energy bomb had smashed into the barrier already. But while the Dharma Sheltering Array didn''t vacite, the subsequent tremors rattled the citizens'' minds. Worse, the mere fact that someone still dared offend Lord Revtion filled some with doubt and confusion.


    "Give me your body," Harun ordered Birandar and, not wasting a second, the youth gave his approvalenabling Harun to possess him. Joining his hands in a prayer sign, Harun activated the Yin Soul Incantation and fused with Birandar''s Dual Soul Root. Although he could use their Karmic Link to take control of Birandar, this would only enable Harun to use Birandar''s abilities. Only by adding the Yin Soul Incantation to the mix could he pool in their two skill sets.


    And as the herculean youth''s brown eyes took Harun''s golden and purple shade, the Serpent Totem left Harun''s body to fuse with the master-disciple duo. If the Tantric Ancestor stood on the scene, he''d once more have the misconceptionthat Revtion had returned from the reincarnation cycle.


    Resting his Law-Enforcing Dao Pir on his shoulder, Harun sent Jiyan and Mehran a series of mental messages, then shot at Xerzan!

 Chapter 166: Infernal Providence (1)

    Chapter 166: Infernal Providence (1)


    From the Dark Stone city''s royal pce, one figure flew outignoring thefort of the barrier to challenge the belligerent Xerzan. With six swirling radiant clouds and a kaleidoscopic haze hiding its features, that figure appeared as the breathing summary of excessive holiness. And while the kaleidoscopic haze prevented even Xerzan from seeing through the figure''s gender or abilities, across the Heavenly Dream Land, only one had enough gal for such a mboyant entrance. "Lord Revtion? With all your distasteful statues polluting the First and Second Range, is there still a sentient lifeform unaware of your looks? What purpose does this insufferable disguise serve?" Xerzan didn''t hide his scorn.


    Initially, the stronghold master had no proof regarding "Lord Revtion''s" link to the rampaging gue worshipers and the Holy One they served. But the presence of 1.5 million subdued mutants at the very heart of the Dark Stone Country silenced all the doubts he might have had. From the Soul Refining Hall''s destruction to the mutants'' invasion, everything was this man''s work. But while Xerzan had seen firsthand what mutant packs could aplish, the word "retreat" never once crossed his mind.


    "Look at that. If it isn''t the poster child of the venereal bitchboy disease. If I ever need advice in taste and swagger, remind me to cklist you. Wouldn''t want my fans to get the wrong idea," undisturbed by Xerzan''s jab, Harun countered. True, thanks to the overabundance of statues crafted by Mehran''s artisans in the First Range, and the mutants'' divine ves in the Second, Harun''s real looks had spread across the world, and would soon reach the Heavens.


    In Essence, this wasn''t a significant problem, but for Harun who wished to make Birandar''s face the front of this mutant gue, the statues created an additional hurdle. Still, as with all otherplications, Harun had a na n made simpler by Xerzan''s "timely assistance."


    In other circumstances, the stronghold master would take Harun''s words as praise and proof that he lived his life proper. But with the images of the Soul Refining Hall''s ruins still fresh in his mind, his eyes grew cold, and his aura erupted. Like a breaking dam, Xerzan''s Devil Essence flooded the skyspreading like tendrils of darkness as it conjured a disturbing mixture of bone-chilling winds and extreme heat storms.


    Traditionally, most essences didn''t take unique characteristics per given user. The primary differences stemmed from talents, skills and sheer might. Devil Essence was one of those few exceptions. So while all users showed the same basic characteristics, as they mastered the perverse energy, each would develop a unique set of attributes and skills. s, no matter how gifted, both Xerzan and Jiyancked a fundamental tool: a Devil''s Heart. Without, their diabolic energies would forever remain hazardous powers bnced solely by their state of mind.


    Clearly, Xerzan had long-stopped considering those variables, threw caution to the wind, and pushed that corrupt force to its limits. Add to that his formidable cultivation base, and Harun''s momentum sank to the bottom. But where others would automatically seek ways to appease or escape Xerzan''s wrath, Harun sat-crossed legged, and with a mild chortle, beckoned for his foe.


    "A fellow that puts homies over hoes. Rare andmendable. But since you''re so eager to join your morbid tree friend in the grave of creeps, how can I not help you?" Harun rhetorically asked, thereby acknowledging his deed. The words made Xerzan forget about his primary target, and at a speed that transcended all mortal cognition, the stronghold master lunged at Harun.


    Summoning his mastery of metal, Xerzan transformed his right hand into a damascus steel sword and stabbed at Harun''s neck. To say nothing of Birandar''s, even in his original body, Harun didn''t have the reaction speed or resilience to survive one of Xerzan''s blows. Without a barrier of Spiritual Incense to protect him, that single move should have ended the fight, but as Xerzan''s sword-hand drove through the swirling clouds, his heart-rate went off the roof, his moves turned sluggishand as his eyes went bloodshot, Harun smacked Xerzan''s stab aside with his misery-ruling cudgel, and clobbered the stronghold master''s chest.


    Defenseless before the Law Enforcing Dao Pir''s monstrous force, Xerzan took the blow head-on and hurtled back. Feeding his grief and tearing down his hopes, the dreadful weapon sapped Xerzan''s consciousness, preventing him from spotting Harun who''d appeared at his left and swung his foul weapon at the stronghold master''s skull. The blue double pupils in Xerzan''s left eye kicked into gear, stopping the time flow around the two contendersalmost. Akin to an erupting volcano, Harun''s billions-of-believers-strong Spiritual Incense battled and crushed the double pupils'' time hold. But that timepse was all the stronghold master needed to vanish from Harun''s sight.


    Appearing higher in the sky, Xerzan no longer dared engage Harun in close-quarterbat. Though he couldn''t tell what it was or how it worked, the stronghold master realized that Harun came equipped with a formidable treasure that enabled him to take advantage of his mental state to reduce his battle-power drastically.


    Thanks to his Spiritual Incense and Birandar''s third eye, Harun erased the aura of pure anguish coating the Law Enforcing Dao Pir, preventing Xerzan from taking it as anything but a fat metallic rod. Worse, the stronghold master''s assessment wasn''t entirely correct. If a few meters of distance could suppress Harun''s cudgel, how could it be...the incarnation of despair?


    Leaving a trail of sonic booms, Harun rushed after Xerzan. Six orbs of concentrated Devil Essence formed around the stronghold master, each firing a multitude of dark-purple rays at the gue Overlord. Knowing that he didn''t have the speed to evade, Harun let the rapid-fire salvo crash against a barrier of pure spiritual incense, hoping to deflect enough damage to mitigate or outright avoid the rest.


    But to both Harun and Xerzan''s surprise, the stronghold master''s diabolic beams couldn''t put a dent on Harun''s Spiritual Incense barrier. Sanctified by the faithful prayers of billions, the potency of Harun''s Spiritual Incense had gone too far beyond its past limits. Even Harun didn''t predict that a casual Incense Barrier could take on Monarch-level blows without a hitch. From now on, few could put his life at riskcourtesy of Mehran''s good work.


    With acent smile, Harun bulldozed his way past Xerzan''s strikes and whirled his club at his foe''s side. With a disdainful sneer, the stronghold master broke into dozens of silver shrapnel that stabbed into Harun''s arms, flesh, skull, heart and thighs.


    Though the resilience of Harun''s barriers took Xerzan by surprise, he didn''t care for them. No man could engage in close-quarterbat while maintaining a barrier, so whenever Harun took a swing, he left himself open for a counterattack. How could Xerzan not take advantage of that?


    Atst seeing Harun''s face through the shrapnel, Xerzan was startled to see him alternate between an average-sized, short-haired teen, and a tall, herculean youth. But before he could make sense of what this meant, Harun broke into Spiritual Incense, and re-materialized at Xerzan''s backwith his cudgel dropping to bash the stronghold master''s skull in!


    Again, Xerzan fell prey to a limitless pit of despair that engulfed his heart and soul. Even if he knew of the ability, he couldn''t just snap his fingers and erase his emotions. That being the case, he didn''t bother, and as his strength plummeted once more, focused all his energies at the back of his skull.


    Seeing thising, Harun switched his blow''s trajectory and aimed for Xerzan''s back instead. But prepared for this scenario, Xerzan spun 180, shrugged off the despair ripping him from inside out, and smashed one elbow into the left side of Harun''s cudgel.


    Thrown off bnce, Harun immediately surrounded himself with a thick incense barrierreacting fast enough to block Xerzan''s iing de kick. The two thus dove into a lightning fast exchange of murderous blows, with Xerzan''s de storms mming into Harun''s relentless clubbing.


    At various points, the two broke apart, only to meet again in head-on shes analogous to a collision of meteors. But though they seemed evenly matched, as pulsating red veins spread across his body, Xerzan knew that if this fight dragged on...his fate was sealed.

 Chapter 167: Infernal Providence (2)

    Chapter 167: Infernal Providence (2)


    Kicking Harun aside, Xerzan summoned his Devil Armament, coating his badly bruised body with the demonic armor. Senses, speed, strength, resilience. As soon as he donned that armor, Xerzan''s battle-power rose exponentially. But if it only came with perks, why not use it till now?


    The Devil Armament was proof that Xerzan''s mastery of Devil Essence had reached the traditional peak. But without the matching Devil Heart, this armor would quickly make him spiral out of control. Three minutes was all it would take for him to turn into a barbarous beast. Even with the armor, unless he somehow destroyed Harun''s hold over his erratic heart, Xerzan didn''t believe that he could defeat the gue god in three minutes. And with the threat of 1.5 million mutants eying him from below, how could he afford to lose his sanity? But now, he couldn''t care for such details.


    Turning into a purple shooting star, Xerzan raced past Harun''s defenses, grabbed him by the cor, and hurled him at the Dark Stone City underneath them both. The two''s fight took them to terrifying altitudes. But as Harun crashed down hundreds of meters, Xerzan soared upward, reached a full 10 kilometers of elevation, then stretched out his hands.


    Nine splendid gates appeared at the Heavenly God''s back. Each of intimidating height, the gates opened in a slow grating pattern that, despite the distance, rmed the First Range''s citizens. Thanks to Harun''s Emotion Severing, those mortals no longer experienced grief, misery or despair. But that didn''t stop them from spotting danger where ity. And as the gates opened, danger bared its fangs in the form of nine World Devouring Serpents, each at quasi-Heavenly God-level strength: Xerzan''s Door Gods and leading officials of his Heavenly Court.


    "Buy me time," he ordered and, after nodding to acknowledge their master''s orders, the colossal serpents rushed out of the divine gates, leading a host of 100,000 God-level beast each. As a fifth-level Heavenly God, Xerzan''s divine host members were naturally at Ascending God level. Unfortunately, Door Gods couldn''t learn formations, preventing most deities from abusing their Divine Hosts'' numbers.


    Still, the conjoined efforts of 900,000 Gods led by 9 quasi-Heavenly Gods wasn''t something a run-of-the-mill Heavenly God could survive. Thus, while Xerzan didn''t count on them to take down the all-resourceful Lord Revtion, he didn''t doubt that they could buy him the time he needed for his strongest strike.


    The amber double pupils in the stronghold master''s right eye gleamed like an adrescent gemstone. Xerzan''s androgynous features twisted, and as his armies descended on the Dark Stone City, the stronghold master assumed his true form, expanding to a full 300 meters as he morphed into a dark-green serpent. With two wed hands and massive spikes protruding from his back, Xerzan bared his fangs at the First Range. The diabolic armor adjusted to fit the stronghold master''s serpentine form, only leaving his eyes exposed.


    Double Pupils didn''t always grant utility skills. Sometimes, the wielder received a unique destructive power instead. Xerzan''s amber eye was one such case, enabling him to pool and fuse the entirety of his abilities and skills in one strikewith twenty times the might. That strike required half-a-minute of charge time, but ensured Xerzan could obliterate any mid-stage Monarch that barred his pathand sendte-stage Monarchs packing with severe injuries. To this day, he''d never used it in publicreserving for hopeless circumstances.


    Little did he know that Harun had glimpsed into fate and saw the moveing. But even if he did, how could he stop it?


    Meantime, the divine host''s nine leaders opened their jagged maw, signaling their troops to unleash the Heavenly Dream Land''s number one bloodline skill: "Divine Power: Devouring!"


    BOOM!


    With over 900,000 Gods casting it in perfect sync, the World Devouring Serpents'' Divine Power reached ruinous proportions. For the first time since its creation, the Dharma Sheltering Array trembled, and if not for the shelter of its impregnable defenses, all countries across the First Range would have been swallowedminus those mystical inheritance grounds that enjoyed unknown protection.


    The Soul Refining Hall''s ruins, forests, trees and hills, those unprotected few ces and the ordinary beasts inhabiting them couldn''t resist the devouring call, and flew toward the divine host. With an appetite that put Harun''s gluttony to shame, the serpents gobbled all that fell in their vicinitynot even sparing weed and rocks.


    Shrouded by an Incense Barrier, Harun resisted the pull and raised his club at the sky.


    To the divine host''s surprise, the cudgel expanded to a full kilometer. Wielding it like a baseball bat, Harun took aim, "Home..." and smashed "...run!"


    Powered by the Mysteries of Truth, Fate, Life and Death, Harun''s Law Enforcing Dao Pir projected an aura of invincibility. As if wherever it struck, all lives could only surrender and ept their inevitable destruction.


    This was no misconception, for in ancient times, Mastery over Truth, Fate, Life and Death was enough to call oneself Supreme. And while Harun was still far from that level, his aplishments in Life and Death plus Birandar''s Karmic Wheel enabled him to merge those mysteries in a series of devastating blows.


    With the first swing, Harun sent 400 serpents flying across the sky and crash into the Second Rangewhere they burst into blood fog. With the second swing, 600 more serpents copsed in the distance. Breaking into a maniacal dance, Harun clubbed the descending serpents with reckless abandon, dropping hundreds with each swing.


    At the same time, from within a courtyard of the Dark Stone City''s royal pce, Jiyan made her move, driving the Abyssal River to drown the nine leading Door Gods in corrosive sea waves. For ages toe, this day would mark the First Range''s formal split from any non-Birusk influence. But as all focused on Jiyan''s tsunami strikes and Harun''s legendary home runs, none noticed that in the Dark Stone City, the mutants aligned in a specific formation. Sitting on a flying disc, Mehran floated above them.


    The 30 seconds countdown ended with 90% of Xerzan''s Heavenly Court lost or severely injured. But as he locked onto Harun, the stronghold master couldn''t resist a heartyugh.


    Nine dark-purple great-swords appeared in the sky, surrounded by unique time alterations that enabled them to move at quasi-teleportation speed. Orbiting a vortex of diabolic energies, the swords gleamed with a myriad of sigils, each representing one of Xerzan''s abilities.


    "Infernal Providence!" Xerzan thus unleashed his strongest skill, merged with the move, and dropped on Harun. Without a hint of fear, Harun coated himself in a Spiritual Incense Barrier. Jiyan''s Abyssal River formed a double protectionyer around him, and Mehran''s hands shed in incantation gestures.


    Golden chains took form, binding the mutant horde to one another before setting them all aze. Over 1.5 million jets of radiant mes shot toward Mehran''s handsblending there to form a mini golden sun. Without dy, Mehran hurled the miniature sun at the sky and resumed his arcane gestures. The mutants followed suit, and the golden sun expanded to be a dazzling cauldron that rushed past the barrier, past Harun, and confronted Xerzan''s final move.


    "The Divine Soul Formation? F..." Xerzan couldn''t finish his thoughts. The Divine Soul Cauldron met his Infernal Providence with absolute confidence, and in an explosion of cataclysmic forces, the two collided.


    The Mountain Edge World shook, leading the higher ranges'' top experts to track down the source of this seism. All witnessed the number one expert of the junior generation shooting toward the stars.


    Seizing the long-awaited opportunity, Harun hurled the Law Enforcing Dao Pir at Xerzan, who watched helpless as a song of eternal doom echoed from the clutching on his wretched soul. By the time Xerzan had passed the stratosphere, Harun had appeared above him and pressed his palm right against the stronghold master''s heart.


    "Divine Power: Devouring."


    Harun, Birandar and the Serpent Totem executed the move as one, making Xerzan face the most sublime expression of his n''s bloodline skill. And as realization dawned onto the stronghold master, his Blood Origin stormed out of his heart to hover before Harun!


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!