The hunched figure stepped out from the rift. White light gleamed from beneath his cracked skin.
He dragged coffin after coffin behind him. Each one bore a heart embedded in its surface—the hearts of ancient emperors. Every coffin represented one fallen emperor.
All eyes were drawn to him.
Tianling’s body turned ice-cold as he stared at Ancient Emperor Hao emerging from the rift. It felt as though a natural disaster had descended—dark, frigid aura blanketed the entire Nine Heavens, as if everything was about to be annihilated.
Ancient Emperor Hao had actually stepped out of the void rift?
For hundreds of thousands of years, he had been hiding there alongside the other ancient emperors.
And now, this supreme being had finally appeared in the world.
A terrifying aura crisscrossed the void.
Each coffin seemed to carry a taboo.
Tianling was puzzled.
What exactly had Ancient Emperor Hao been doing all these hundreds of thousands of years…?
If he had decided from the beginning to reclaim all the Heavenly Dao’s dispersed power in order to break through beyond Extreme Emperor, why wait until now?
He could have done it long ago—before Tianling ever discovered the truth.
No one would have been able to stop him.
But now that he had been discovered, he finally began the plan. Why?
Was it simply sentimentality?
Tianling truly couldn’t understand.
The Water Clan Ancient Emperor gazed gently at Ancient Emperor Hao’s withered, skeletal frame. Once, he had been peerlessly magnificent—even in his old age, he had carried a unique grace.
But now, he was hunched, decrepit, barely human…
Yet in the Water Clan Ancient Emperor’s eyes, he remained radiant.
“Did you think reclaiming the Heavenly Dao’s power would be so simple?”
“It requires a grand design—a meticulous formation that envelops the entire Nine Heavens, capable of stripping the energy from every world and every powerhouse.”
The Water Clan Ancient Emperor said.
“And this formation, this grand scheme, took hundreds of thousands of years to prepare. Even that was barely enough…”
“Anyone else would have failed. Only Hao could succeed.”
“Because he represents the Heavenly Dao…”
The Water Clan Ancient Emperor’s voice burned with fervor—an obsession etched deep into her soul.
In Lu’s words, she was a brain-dead fan.
Tianling’s expression shifted slightly.
Boom boom boom!
Wails of despair filled the Nine Heavens.
As the ancient emperors absorbed the Heavenly Dao’s scattered power, the worlds that had lost their maintenance and protection began to wither and collapse.
They turned to fine sand that slipped through fingers, impossible to grasp.
Mid- and high-martial worlds in the Nine Heavens fell from their golden age of cultivation into an era of decline in an instant.
Spiritual energy dried up. All energy was drained and fed back into the Heavenly Dao.
The auras of the ancient emperors surged into Extreme Emperor realm—and continued rising.
Boom!
Tianling exhaled slowly, his gaze trembling.
At this moment, Ancient Emperor Hao had truly begun his plan.
A plan laid out over hundreds of thousands of years.
The return of the ancient emperors brought not a golden age—but a great calamity.
A cleansing of the entire Nine Heavens.
A cleansing orchestrated by Ancient Emperor Hao—the Heavenly Dao itself.
Ancient Emperor Hao believed that if even the Heavenly Dao could not survive, the living beings of the Nine Heavens were doomed anyway.
Whether they withered away or were slaughtered by gods and demons, death was inevitable.
Since they were going to die either way, why not let the Heavenly Dao break through and forge a new era?
Boom!
Ancient Emperor Hao raised his head. His ancient, weary eyes gleamed beneath his disheveled hair.
His divine soul swept outward.
In that moment, it felt as though the entire Nine Heavens was enveloped by his will.
Ancient Emperor Hao was too strong.
His aura inspired dread, freezing the blood in one’s veins.
Tianling didn’t even have the courage to raise a fist against him.
“Just one more step… and I will surpass Extreme Emperor and enter a brand-new realm!”
Tianling drew in a sharp breath.
Even Lu Ping’an might not be his match now.
“Yes… just one step. But that step requires the power of the entire Nine Heavens to stack.”
The Water Clan Ancient Emperor sighed.
In the void.
Ancient Emperor Hao slowly raised his hand.
One after another, the coffins embedded with ancient emperors’ hearts floated upward, drifting toward the heads of the emperors who had absorbed vast power.
Soon, they hovered above each emperor.
The cultivation of the Nine Heavens’ cultivators began to plummet rapidly.
Originally, saint-realm powerhouses could still wield grand techniques and protect the mortals of their worlds.
But as energy was drained dry,
even they felt their power slipping away.
Gradually, they could no longer sustain their strength and protect their people.
High-martial worlds shattered into mid-martial worlds. Mid-martial worlds withered into low-martial worlds…
In this moment, the Nine Heavens seemed to undergo a regression.
…
Origin Lake, Lakeheart Island.
Lu sat up straight, his expression grave.
Ancient Emperor Hao’s determination filled him with horror.
Reclaiming all of the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao power was equivalent to forcing every world back to low-martial levels—a dimensional downgrade, an artificial descent into an era of dharma extinction!
Lu found it bizarre.
He had worked tirelessly to elevate the world’s level.
Yet Ancient Emperor Hao had undone it all in a single moment.
Just so the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao could condense an immortal source and allow Hao to break into the Great Luo Immortal realm.
“It really is difficult.”
Lu could sense Ancient Emperor Hao’s despair.
It was an invisible bottleneck.
Even now, with his perfected Indestructible Golden Body, Lu had yet to break through to Great Luo Immortal-level combat power.
Even with the system, he could feel the difficulty.
Let alone Ancient Emperor Hao.
Human cultivation differed from that of gods and demons.
God-demons cultivated talent. Some were born at emperor rank. The most monstrous were born at Extreme Emperor—or even beyond.
Many god-demons who surpassed Extreme Emperor were born that way—something humans could never match.
“But I still feel that Ancient Emperor Hao’s urgency in executing this plan must have another reason…”
“Is he trying to break through before the Five Phoenix Continent fully matures into an immortal-martial world, then forcibly occupy it?”
Lu narrowed his eyes.
Ancient Emperor Hao’s actions felt like he had torn off all pretense—no more waiting, no more subtlety. He was forcing it.
“But there might be another reason…”
“For example… the threat of gods and demons?”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Lu narrowed his eyes. On the chessboard, the scene shifted.
…
Why was Ancient Emperor Hao in such a hurry to execute his plan?
Originally, he should have had a buffer—gradually reclaiming power like slowly boiling a frog. Even if saint-realm cultivators noticed, he could easily suppress them.
But now, he ignored the buffer and forcibly reclaimed the Heavenly Dao’s power.
Why?
This was Lu’s question—and Tianling’s as well.
Tianling looked toward the Water Clan Ancient Emperor. Perhaps she knew the answer.
Her azure eyes shimmered with brilliant light. She smiled.
Raising her slender hand, she pointed toward the direction where the Nine Heavens connected to the ancient starry void.
“Because the enemy has arrived.”
The Water Clan Ancient Emperor said.
Her words struck Tianling like thunder. He turned sharply toward the void.
He saw nothing.
But his heart sank.
He had sat guarding that direction for hundreds of thousands of years. How could he not understand what the Water Clan Ancient Emperor was pointing to?
Tianling couldn’t sense it because he was too weak.
But Lu was different.
With Lu’s strength, he naturally detected a faint, concealed energy fluctuation—still very far away.
Yet even from that distance, the fluctuation had reached him.
That meant the other party’s strength was… terrifying!
Very likely surpassing Extreme Emperor and immortal-rank god-demons!
“So it really is because of the gods and demons…”
Lu narrowed his eyes, realization dawning.
There was no chance for him to intervene now.
Ancient Emperor Hao’s plan had begun…
There was no turning back.
…
In the ancient starry void.
A streak of fiery red light closed in rapidly. The next moment, it halted above an ancient star with the force of a cataclysm.
The star beneath him couldn’t withstand the terrifying power and melted into slag.
Qiang Huo, the god-demon wreathed in crimson light, stood ten meters tall. His overwhelming aura radiated outward in waves, distorting the surrounding stars.
“Hm?”
He paused on the ruined star, frowning. Then he looked toward the Nine Heavens.
“The aura is gathering rapidly…”
“Is a human high-martial world attempting to break into immortal-martial?”
Qiang Huo narrowed his eyes. Cold light flickered beneath them.
Humanity was a major threat. For the ancient god-demons, suppressing humanity was the top priority.
The ordinary immortal-rank god-demon he was carrying trembled uncontrollably.
The bloodline pressure from this noble god-demon nearly suffocated him.
“Is that direction… the Nine Heavens?”
Qiang Huo asked.
The ordinary god-demon nodded frantically.
He feared that if he didn’t, this noble god-demon would kill him.
“Good. You’ve done well.”
“It seems they sensed my aura and sped up their breakthrough… unfortunately, there’s no time left.”
Qiang Huo grinned. His sharp teeth gleamed coldly.
Boom!
He stomped down.
His body shot forward, shattering space as he hurtled toward the Nine Heavens.
…
Ancient Emperor Hao’s hair fluttered wildly.
His entire demeanor grew colder, more indifferent.
Boom!
The coffins hovering above the ancient emperors slowly opened.
A vast suction force surged from within them. One by one, the ancient emperors lay down inside the coffins that represented their identities.
Rumble!
As the Extreme Emperor-powered coffins settled,
a deafening explosion rang out.
With each violent beat of the hearts,
it felt as though the Nine Heavens itself was exploding.
Worlds shattered. Realms collapsed.
They watched in despair as the coffins hovered above their heads.
Boom!
Suddenly.
Energy waves erupted from the coffins.
Every living being exploded, turning into rivers of crimson blood…
A sea of blood surged. Countless vengeful souls and resentments roiled within!
Gurgle gurgle…
The Nine Heavens was dyed red with endless blood.
Tianling felt chilled to the bone.
The Nine Heavens… was finished!
A true great annihilation—everyone dead!
The Water Clan Ancient Emperor smiled.
Then her figure flickered. She stepped forward, walking straight into the sea of blood.
Her body began to melt.
She turned back, gazing gently at Ancient Emperor Hao.
“Hao, you must succeed.”
Her voice lingered.
The next moment…
Her body melted completely. Flesh sloughed off, bones floated, and she was swallowed by the sea of blood!
Boom!
Countless resentments and vengeful souls turned into a terrifying storm.
From the abyss beyond, Dantai Xuan’s expression trembled as he witnessed this.
So much resentment—how much sin and karmic fire must this carry!
The threads in the coffins quivered.
Then energy flowed through them like pipelines, pouring into Ancient Emperor Hao’s body.
His aura rose continuously, climbing higher and higher!
He seemed to become a black hole—a massive black hole, crushing and distorting everything around him.
Tianling’s body trembled.
He floated amid the collapsing, ruined Nine Heavens.
This world that had flourished for countless ages… was extinguished in this moment.
Like a candle that burned through the night, snuffed out.
Tianling’s emotions were complicated—anger? Rage?
He felt all of it.
But…
He couldn’t find a way to vent it.
Though everything was Ancient Emperor Hao’s plan, his chess game.
The purpose of that game was to save the Nine Heavens from inevitable destruction.
To break and rebuild. To be reborn.
Boom!
Suddenly.
The passage between the Nine Heavens and the ancient starry void exploded open.
Even Tianling could now sense the terrifying aura rapidly approaching.
An aura like a great furnace.
Even Ancient Emperor Hao, at this moment, seemed slightly inferior to it!
“So… the enemy has really arrived?!”
“So strong… unbeatable!”
Tianling’s expression changed dramatically.
No wonder Ancient Emperor Hao had gone all-in with this gamble.
Boom!
At the edge of the Nine Heavens’ void, a massive gate stood.
Beyond the gate, just like the passage to the Five Phoenix Continent, lay an ancient starry expanse.
A ten-meter-tall crimson god-demon stepped forward slowly.
His overwhelming aura radiated outward.
From outside the passage, he gazed into the Nine Heavens.
At the surging sea of blood. At the countless resentful souls and vengeful spirits…
Qiang Huo’s lips curled into an intrigued smile.
“Interesting… sacrificing an entire world for a chance to break into immortal-martial?”
“Ruthless.”
Qiang Huo’s gaze fell on the sea of blood, gleaming.
“This passage once buried countless god-demons—even half-step great-path god-demons. So they tried to break through once and failed…”
Qiang Huo inhaled deeply.
Then he tossed the ordinary immortal-rank god-demon aside.
“Is this the place?”
The ordinary god-demon gasped for breath. Ancient Emperor Hao’s aura filled him with terror.
“Yes! It’s here! He is Hao! The one who tricked and killed twenty-two immortal-rank god-demons!”
The ordinary god-demon shouted desperately.
Qiang Huo’s gaze shifted, landing on Ancient Emperor Hao, who was pulling the coffins.
Ancient Emperor Hao’s withered, hunched body trembled slightly.
Then he raised his head. His profound eyes calmly regarded the figure outside the passage.
“So you’re the one who killed twenty-two immortal-rank god-demons of my race?”
Qiang Huo asked.
Ancient Emperor Hao simply looked at him calmly.
After a long silence, he spoke in a hoarse, aged voice.
“Killed?”
“We fought together. We killed the enemy. Where is the ‘trickery’?”
“Lu Ping’an is powerful. They were simply outmatched.”
Ancient Emperor Hao said calmly.
Qiang Huo looked at him coldly from outside the passage, radiating terrifying pressure.
“Outmatched?”
Qiang Huo’s eyes gleamed as he analyzed something.
He raised his head. Chaos-like flames burned in his gaze.
His vision pierced through the Void Abyss that separated the Nine Heavens and the Five Phoenix Continent.
Dantai Xuan, Lu Jiulian, Sima Qingshan, Nie Changqing, and others felt an overwhelming pressure as his gaze swept over them.
So strong!
Even from such a distance, he could oppress them like this!
“A newly born immortal-martial world?”
Qiang Huo’s sharp teeth gleamed coldly.
“Infighting among humans? How rare…”
Qiang Huo sneered.
Then his gaze shifted to the ordinary immortal-rank god-demon.
The god-demon shivered.
He screamed shrilly: “Don’t believe him! Hao is despicable! I hid in the void with my divine ability and personally heard Lu Ping’an say he and Ancient Emperor Hao were close allies. They worked together to trick and kill us god-demons!”
“Lu Ping’an once mentioned needing god-demons as reserves, and Hao immediately tricked twenty-two immortal-rank god-demons and nearly a hundred initial- and high-rank god-demons!”
The shrill voice echoed like a desperate cry.
It reverberated through the Nine Heavens.
Qiang Huo’s gaze sharpened. The ordinary god-demon was screaming with his soul on the line—staking his life on the truth!
Under Qiang Huo’s bloodline pressure, he didn’t dare lie. He didn’t have the courage.
Meanwhile, in the Nine Heavens.
Ancient Emperor Hao, who was in the midst of breaking through to the realm beyond Extreme Emperor, nearly spat blood.
Lu Ping’an, that bastard…
When had he ever been close allies with Lu Ping’an?!
Even at this critical moment, Ancient Emperor Hao nearly saw his plan of hundreds of thousands of years collapse from sheer rage.
But in truth, he had allied with those god-demons because he was confident he could deal with them.
Even without breaking through to surpass Extreme Emperor, he could handle a group of ordinary immortal-rank god-demons. That was his confidence.
But now… he hadn’t expected this.
That such a powerful god-demon as Qiang Huo would appear.
The terrifying aura radiating from the other party filled Ancient Emperor Hao with dread.
“A god-demon beyond immortal rank…”
Ancient Emperor Hao felt bitter.
He understood now—Qiang Huo’s arrival was a consequence of when he had sent the Water Clan Ancient Emperor to ally with other god-demons to attack the Five Phoenix Continent.
All of this karma… traced back to him.
“A bit of self-inflicted retribution…”
Boom rumble!
But Ancient Emperor Hao did not give up easily.
His gaze sharpened. Everything on his body began to slough off.
The next moment, he transformed into a blazing white figure of light.
He began to chant. A vast, majestic sound of array words rolled forth.
“Lin… Bing… Dou…”
These were Ancient Emperor Hao’s Nine-Character Array Words!
As the words surged, a colossal array-pattern cauldron formed around the Nine Heavens!
The Myriad Rune Cauldron?!
Tianling, protected within the cauldron, was slightly stunned!
After millions of years of nourishment, Ancient Emperor Hao’s first imperial weapon—the Myriad Rune Cauldron—had reached a terrifying level!
Having done this,
Ancient Emperor Hao ignored Qiang Huo outside the passage. He closed his eyes and continued pushing toward the realm beyond Extreme Emperor!
The sea of blood surged. Countless resentments roiled.
Ancient Emperor Hao’s aura climbed higher and higher!
“Courting death!”
Qiang Huo’s eyes turned cold.
He clenched his fist. Flames gathered on his fist, forming a roaring beast head!
Vaguely, golden light shimmered.
That was the Gold Origin mysteries he had comprehended from the Beast Ancestor statue!
This punch contained the Gold Origin mysteries!
Dong!
The Myriad Rune Cauldron trembled violently. In an instant, countless cracks spread densely across its surface!
Tianling drew in a sharp breath.
Ancient Emperor Hao’s body trembled, but he paid no mind. He continued absorbing the power fed back from the coffins.
On Lakeheart Island.
Lu frowned.
“Isn’t this exactly one of the Elemental Gods’ disciples who sat on the top five stars in the comprehension ground?”
Lu murmured.
He recognized the figure—because this one had attacked him!
Lu remembered that clearly!
“He actually tracked them here…”
Lu drew a deep breath.
Watching Ancient Emperor Hao withstand Qiang Huo’s assault, Lu’s gaze sharpened.
He swept his sleeve across the Spirit Pressure Chessboard.
He understood the principle of “lips die, teeth grow cold.”
If the Nine Heavens fell, Qiang Huo’s next target would be the Five Phoenix Continent…
But Lu also couldn’t be sure—if he helped Hao, and Hao broke through, would he then join forces with Qiang Huo against him?
This was a choice.
The next moment, Lu smiled.
A brilliant light gradually filled his eyes.
He rolled up his sleeve and picked up a chess piece.
His gaze blazed.
He placed the piece on the board.
Pop!
The piece landed. Instantly, a beam of Spirit Pressure tore through the void and descended from the heavens—straight toward Qiang Huo, who was smashing the Myriad Rune Cauldron to the brink of destruction.
“Ten billion times… Spirit Pressure!”
Boom!
Qiang Huo hadn’t expected such a move. Struck by the Spirit Pressure, his pupils contracted. His movements froze.
Ancient Emperor Hao, protected within the Myriad Rune Cauldron, trembled slightly.
Lu Ping’an… was actually helping him?
In that moment, Ancient Emperor Hao felt an overwhelming bitterness.
But thanks to Lu’s Spirit Pressure beam, the pressure on Ancient Emperor Hao eased.
Rumble rumble!
The sea of blood surged violently.
Then, under Tianling’s incredulous gaze,
all the blood gathered. The sea of blood seemed to dry up. Countless blood compressed. Countless resentments and karmic sins compressed.
A twelve-petaled blood lotus of karma was born, carrying endless resentment.
Rip!
Ancient Emperor Hao moved.
The threads connecting him to the coffins snapped.
The aura stuck at the bottleneck tore through like paper. After hundreds of thousands of years of meticulous planning, his scheme succeeded.
He broke through.
Like teleportation, Ancient Emperor Hao plucked the basin-sized blood lotus and appeared beside Tianling.
“Tianling, take this blood lotus to the Five Phoenix Continent. If I lose the battle… beg Lu Ping’an to give all the vengeful souls within it a chance at reincarnation.”
“You should have enough face with Lu Ping’an for that, right?”
Tianling held the blood lotus, his expression stiffening.
Do you… perhaps overestimate my face with Lu Ping’an?
But Ancient Emperor Hao said nothing more.
With a flick of his finger.
Tianling, clutching the blood lotus, was sent flying backward.
The abyss tore open, pushing him out of the Nine Heavens.
Ancient Emperor Hao sighed.
He turned back. In the dried-up sea of blood, a set of withered bones stood quietly.
Ancient Emperor Hao lifted the bones—the remains of the Water Clan Ancient Emperor. He gently caressed them, then placed them into a coffin.
Then he glanced toward the direction of the Five Phoenix Continent.
“Thank you.”
With that, he turned around. Alone, he walked through the empty, dead-silent Nine Heavens like a king inspecting his ruined domain.
Toward the end of the Nine Heavens.
Toward the passage.
Qiang Huo had already broken through Lu’s ten-billion-fold Spirit Pressure. His expression was cold as he stared at Ancient Emperor Hao approaching step by step.
Ancient Emperor Hao’s gaze flickered. The passage—the place where the heroes of the Nine Heavens had once died defending.
Why had he broken his shackles? Why had he pushed the Nine Heavens to break through?
Wasn’t it all so they could survive the invasion of gods and demons?
In truth, he had forgotten nothing.
Now, a powerful god-demon had come.
He would carry the weight of the entire Nine Heavens and fight one final battle.
