Chapter 6 - 2

Chapter

Ao Shen took a deep breath, ensuring he was in the best state possible. Then, he began to swallow these bloodlines and integrate them into the Chaos Seed.

At first, everything proceeded smoothly. With the Baishe Clan's Devouring Power, the process of swallowing these demons was easy. Furthermore, his Innate Dragon Bloodline also contained the blueprints for many demon bloods.

However, as he absorbed more Bloodline Source, Ao Shen had to face the Will contained in them. Many of his generals and soldiers possessed Emperor Bloodline.

And these bloodlines contained traces of the Emperor's Imprints and their Will. As he absorbed more of them, he could feel these Wills trying to twist his mind.

He knew if he did not do anything, his soul and Chaos Seed would collapse. However, Ao Shen was a ruthless man, tempered by his experience in the Martial Hegemony World.

He spent thousands of years being hunted down, killing and fighting people who wanted to drink his dragon blood, eat his dragon meat, pull his dragon muscle and dragon scale to make weapons, and even use his dragon soul.

Due to that experience, he had tempered his Willpower to an extremely high level. As such, he fought against these remnants of Wills and Imprints.

They manifested in the form of various shadows that attacked his Primordial Spirit inside his Sea of Consciousness. Each of these shadows contained Soul or Mind attacks on par with the one he used on Xiao Songxi.

However, Ao Shen did not give up and fought with all of them–until he destroyed everyone who tried to stop him.

Although the process was dangerous, he experienced an unprecedented tempering that purified his soul and increased his Willpower.

'Immortal Venerable 6-Leaf Strength,' thought Ao Shen as he exhaled. 'My plan is feasible.' Previously, he was only at the peak of 5-Leaf, but now, he made a breakthrough in such a short period.

He sensed the Dragon Chaos Bloodline Seed inside his body, releasing a power that nourished his body and slowly increased his overall prowess. Furthermore, Ao Shen knew he could use countless Bloodline Divine Abilities.

'But it's not enough–far from it,' he thought with a frown. He waved his hand to summon Xiao Songxi's body. The latter was still alive–although barely.

Ao Shen had removed most of his Baishe Clan's bloodline, but he did not kill him. He used his Divine Sense to search for Xiao Songxi's soul.

'His original plan is interesting.'

According to Xiao Songxi's original plan, he needed to gather seven people that broke the Mortal-Immortal Barrier and used a special formation. The array would allow them to bring out most of the power of an Innate Treasure, thus achieving the battle prowess of Dao Ancestors for a short period.

As for which Root of Power they reached, it would depend on the strength of the seven people.

'His plan is too flawed. It would be too difficult to get these seven people together and trust each other enough to cooperate–especially this late in the competition.'

Although this generation had more than seven people who broke the Mortal-Immortal Barrier, the core issue would be to gather them together and work for one purpose.

'It's difficult to complete this plan–especially with my demon race identity.'

Ao Shen shook his head. Although he had an even lower chance of success than Xiao Songxi, he was willing to try as a last resort. Ao Shen gazed in the distance at the location of the Sea Race Formation.

He took one step and appeared in their location. Using Xiao Songxi's knowledge, he controlled this formation, granting him entrance access. Then, with a flick of his hand, he killed all the Sea Race's generals and soldiers.

A swallowing vortex appeared in front of his body, absorbing the bloodline of these people, further nourishing his Chaos Seed. Ao Shen felt his power drastically increasing, approaching 7-Leaf.

He suddenly frowned as he felt a new power incubating inside his body. The ambitious dragon closed his eyes to sense this new power.

'Innate Chaos Law,' he thought with some excitement. With this law, it will be easier to drive the development of his Chaos Bloodline.

'The Innate Chaos Law is both good and bad news for me,' he thought. The good news is obvious. However, the bad news is his Heaven Path Tribulation will be hundred times more difficult because of this Chaos Law.

'However, I only need to worry about the tribulation if I fail this plan. And if I survive.'

Ao Shen squinted his eyes, focusing on the changes in his body. He guessed it would take some time before reaching 7-Leaf. Unfortunately, time was of the essence, given the current situation.

'It's not enough. I need more potent and pure bloodlines, preferably Innate Bloodlines,' he thought. A few people appeared in his mind, and a ruthless light flashed in his eyes.

'Should I also swallow Human Emperor Bloodline?'

After thinking about it for a moment, Ao Shen decided otherwise for a few reasons. The main one is that Human Emperor Bloodlines manifested differently than other races.

Human Great Emperors do not want their descendants to be restricted by their bloodlines, so it usually manifests in the form of cultivation talent, comprehension, special physiques, Energy Manipulation Talent, potent and pure soul, body refining talent, etc. This is why human cultivators whose ancestors were powerful Great Emperors do not have powerful Divine Abilities derived from their bloodlines. Many of them even have mediocre talent due to the thinning of bloodline through generations.

Another reason Ao Shen gave up was due to the potential danger this act would bring to the demon race. He did not want the world to see him as the next Heaven Devour Emperor and used this excuse to exterminate his demon clan.

'Although I can't absorb these people's bloodlines, I have alternatives,' thought Ao Shen. 'There are plenty of people with bloodlines on this battlefield, some dormant and not even awakened.'

In his current state, his seed could sense hidden and thin bloodlines from people. Although these powers are weak, they are better than nothing.

After making a preliminary plan, Ao Shen did not immediately leave but decided to take some time to prepare.

Central Quadrant:

Yin Gen–who was in the middle of a formation–suddenly opened his eyes. He used his Divine Sense to check something, frowning in the process.

"The Yin Qi gathered is way less than I calculated."

Yin Gen was an expert in two things: body refining and Yin Qi. If he cultivated law, his Dao would have been Yin Dao. So, after entering this battlefield, he created a formation to gather Yin Qi for his use.

'Could someone else be doing the same thing? But why can't I detect anything.'

While in deep thought, he suddenly felt something.

'The one in the north is dead?' His frown deepened as he waited. A few minutes later, three people appeared before him.

"How is the situation?" asked Yin Gen.

"I only gather a small amount in the East Quadrant. I feel danger, so I followed your order and did not force it."

"The Southern Quadrant had no problem. I gathered enough Yin Qi, but the quantity was less than calculated."

"I only gathered a small amount in the Western Quadrant."

Yin Gen looked at the last general with a questioning gaze.

"I felt a sense of danger, so I decided to be careful."

Yin Gen thought his general was acting cowardly, but he suddenly remembered something. Mo Xingyun once contacted him to join an alliance against Wang Wei and Di Tian. Additionally, another mysterious group contacted him for the same reason.

'There are rumors Di Tian is as much of a threat as Wang Wei. Could it be true?'

He frowned before gazing at the Western Quadrant.

"So be it," he said, and the third general sighed in relief.

"Let's mobilize–we are attacking the Eastern Quadrant," continued Yin Gen.

"Sir, isn't it too soon?" asked the first general. "Wouldn't it be better to wait? With more people dead, the more Yin Qi we can gather."

"The situation is changing with every passing second. There are too many variables, so let's attack first. We can test the opponent first and decide whether to take a prolonged approach."

"As you wish. But what about Liu Si?"

"He's dead," said Yin Gen.

"Someone in the Northern Quadrant is capable of killing him?"

Yin Gen nodded. He guessed these people might be the mysterious group who contacted him. He even deduced their identity and might be related to the 'traitors' Wang Wei mentioned during the beginning of the Clean-up.

"Should we avenge him?"

"Yes, but not now."

Yin Gen felt it was not the best time to attack these people. After defeating Wang Chong's descendant and perfecting his Dao Heart, he can learn the truth about these people and deal with them.

"Alright, let's move."

Under his order, his legion mobilized and teleported to the Eastern Quadrant; he did not waste time and directly attacked Wang Wei's group.

Chapter

Li Jun had just finished killing another idiot who did know tall the sky was when he sensed something. An intense spatial fluctuation appeared in front of him before a large group of people teleported.

Li Jun squinted his eyes, "Yin Gen."

Yin Gen calmly teleported with his troops. He gazed at Li Jun, "Where is Wang Chong's descendant? It's time for me to take my revenge and show the world my Body Dao Cave has the best body refining lineage."

Li Jun frowned for a moment before sneering, "You do know even if you defeat us, you won't prove anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Our group's defeat would only show we are not as good as our ancestors. If you want to prove your lineage is the best, you will have to defeat our ancestor himself."

Yin Gen looked pensive for a few seconds. Then, a light flashed in his eyes.

"Brat, are you trying to affect my mental state with your words?" said Yin Gen with slightly colder words. "It does not matter what you said. I will first get my revenge on his descendant.

"As of now, Wang Chong's cultivation level should have gone beyond the Emperor Realm. However, I believe I can catch up to him. Then, we will have another showdown."

Yin Gen had a clear plan for his future, so he was not affected by Li Jun's words.

"Enough wasting time. Where is Wang Wei? Is he going to face me or not?"

"Get through me first," said Li Lun, gathering his aura.

For the first time, Yin Gen took a deep look at Li Jun, and he felt a significant threat from the latter. So, he became serious.

Under his order, Yin Gen's troops mobilized. He sent a large number of men to test the water. Li Jun did not want to be outdone, so he followed. His Slaughter Legion and Tie Gang's Undying Legion perfectly lined up in the Starry Sky, facing a group of men with pale complexions and yellow eyes.

The entire legion of 100 million soldiers had 2 Regular Commanders and 1 Special Commander, each in the Quasi-Emperor Realm, followed by a hundred Lieutenants, all in the Supreme Realm.

There were 10 million elite troops who all had the cultivation of Saint Realm. Then, the rest were all in the Void Shattering Realm.

Li Jun did not want to waste time and energy on Yin Gen, so he ordered his men to go all out. So, the two regular Commanders activated their Emperor Bodies and turned into humongous giants, wreaking havoc on the battlefield.

The Lieutenants summoned their Dharma Body to ensure their maximum power. The elite troops all cultivated a similar Slaughter and War Domain. They activated it before using formation to fuse their Domains, thus drastically increasing their battle prowess.

Shining lights flashed in the empty void as Li Jun's troops used all their powers for an ultimate offense. However, the result was not as satisfactory as he had imagined. The attack killed many of Yin Gen's troops, but the battle was not a one-sided slaughter as he believed it to be.

"Zombies," said Li Jun as he watched things unfold. He could tell the majority of these soldiers were zombies. As such, they had powerful bodies, did not fear most attacks, and could survive even if vital points in their bodies were destroyed.

"On these lists, people often say you are the best general," said Yin Gen with a sneer. "Some even say you can win the Heaven Will Battle for your king. How laughable."

Li Jun did not respond to him.

"If this continues, we will have to pay a terrible price to win."

"What do you want to do?" asked Yan Liling.

"Send Cai Song."

"Isn't it too early?"

"Not necessarily."

Yan Liling frowned, "She would have to pay a considerable price to destroy Yin Gen's legion. Isn't it a waste?"

"The Puppet Legion is a money-wasting business in the first place," explained Li Jun. "Plus, she can replenish her material."

"You mean?"

"Yes, the corpse of these zombies are the perfect material to make ordinary puppets or flesh puppets," explained Li Jun.

"That's a good idea."

Li Jun summoned the Special Commander–Cai Song, ordering her to take action.

Yin Gen was calmly watching this battle with his frown.

The opponent's troops were truly elite, with high cultivation and proper training. Furthermore, they shared their life force through some weird technique or Innate Talent, making them extremely difficult to kill.

However, he was not worried. With each death on the battlefield, he can gather more Yin Qi to strengthen the remaining soldiers. As such, the lesser soldiers he has, the more powerful they are.

'Time is on my side,' he thought, or so he believed. The void suddenly shook. Then, Yin Gen's face turned ugly. Countless people obstructed his vision.

'Impossible. Wasn't there a 100 million troop limit?' thought Yin Gen. As soon as these people appeared, they rushed toward his legion and relentlessly attacked.

These people did not care about injuries, pain, or stamina; they only cared about attacking, ensuring they killed their enemies.

Boom!

Thousands of these new troops exploded themselves, killing thousands of his men in the process.

'No, they are not people. They are puppets.'

Yin Gen gritted his teeth as he watched his men being slaughtered. He could tell the horror of the wave-after-wave tactics. These puppets were large in number and had no negative emotions, like fear, that would affect their strength.

They were mindless killing machines. freewёbnoνel.com

'Who knew that Puppet Dao had such potential,' thought Yin Gen, trying to calm down. Although Puppet Dao was a resource-burning profession, it was great for large-scale battles or confrontations like Emperor Dao War.

'I wanted to wait for more people on his side to die. But now, I can only be more ruthless.'

So, he calmly watched his men perish, one by one. Li Jun's group frowned as they felt something was off with Yin Gen's calmness. After such a prominent casualty, he should have stopped the battle or changed tactics. However, he did not do anything.

"We should be on guard," said Li Jun to the group, constantly communicating through Divine Sense.

"Do you think he has a way to revive his men?" asked Tie Gang.

"If that's his plan, then he's screwed," replied Li Jun with a sneer. He had learned from his experience with Huang Yuan and blessed his soldier with a True Death Technique, ensuring it was neigh impossible to revive the soldiers they killed.

"Things may not be as simple as they seem," added Yan Liling, and Li Jun agreed with her.

In less than half an hour, Yin Gen's troops only had less than 10,000 people remaining.

"Activate the formation," he secretly ordered his men.

Bang!

Numerous runes appeared in the void, followed by a gigantic black coffin larger than dozens of stars. The flesh and blood of Yin Gen's troops, followed by a massive amount of Yin Qi, entered the coffin.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh."

A bestial roar emanated from the coffin, followed by an intense aura of death. A towering claw opened the coffin. A creature wearing worn out blue clothes, gray skin, and golden eyes walked out of the coffin.

'My Starbeast Zombie,' thought Yin Gen with brilliant eyes. Inspired by the Star Beast World, he prepared this zombie for this final battle.

He shifted his eyes to Li Jun's group.

'As long as I defeat these people, I can turn their legion into zombies and make up for all my lost,' calculated Yin Gen. 'And in a worst-case scenario, I can sacrifice these troops to the Starbeast Zombie or make a second one.'

He waved his hand to manifest a terrifying palm print heading for the Slaughter Legion. With this one attack, Yin Gen would wipe out all 100 million soldiers.

Bang!

Li Jun appeared and blocked him. Yin Gen was not surprised as this was his objective in the first place; he did not want to waste time trying to overcome Yan Liling's formation. So, he brought them out.

"Huh?" muttered Yin Gen before punching above him.

Boom!

A second Li Jun appeared, sneak-attacking him.

'A clone?' he thought, looking at the one who blocked his previous attack. 'Or a decoy?' In the end, it did not matter.

"I didn't expect you would lower yourself to sneak attack," he taunted.

"Say the man who just sacrificed his people," replied Li Jun. Assassination was technically a part of his Slaughter Dao, so Li Jun did not mind using some techniques from it.

Furthermore, this was the Heaven Will Battle–a place where cultivators would sell their mothers and sisters for a chance to become a Great Emperor.

This competition is one of the few times where people will not be criticized for any vile or disgusting tactics used. On the contrary, if they can win, they will be praised and become historical figures forever celebrated by the Myriad Emperor World.

"Fair point," nodded Yin Gen before ordering his zombie to come in the offensive. Meanwhile, Tie Gang also stepped up to face the zombie.

Tie Gang did not waste time and swallowed a pill.

Bang!

His aura drastically increased. He used his Innate Talent to connect to the Undying Talent. He did not only share their life force but also borrowed their strength. Finally, he linked to Yan Liling's array, thus further sublimating his strength.

Yin Gen glanced at him with a frown. He instantly could tell the latter's power had reached the Immortal Venerable level through secret technique or other methods; thus, it was short-lived. So, he ordered his Starbeast Zombie to drag the battle until Tie Gang returned to normal.

"It not a good thing to be distracted in battle."

Boom!

After hearing this news, Yin Gen instinctively crossed his arm over his chest. Then, a powerful force hit him, pushing him flying away countless light-years away. Yin Gen crashed into a star.

The enormous celestial body exploded, creating a supernova. However, Yin Gen was unharmed by both the explosion and Li Jun's attack.

"His body,' muttered Yin Gen with a frown. He controlled the muscles in his legs, gathering an enormous force. The space underneath Yin Gen's foot cracked as he used it as leverage to jump with immense force.

Through his sheer strength, his speed reached an indescribable level. So, in less than a zeptosecond, he appeared before Li Jun and punched him. However, the latter did not want to be outmatched, so he returned tit-for-tat.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The fists clashed, generating shockwaves that can easily destroy superclusters of galaxies. In less than a minute, they exchanged more than a quintillion punches.

'His fleshly body,' thought with an ugly expression. He expected Wang Wei to have a potent fleshly body. But he did not expect the latter's general to have such a level.

The worse thing is he did not feel the breath of the [Ancient Desolate Body Refining Scripture], but an entirely different body refining scripture.

'Damn it,' roared Yin Gen in his mind before increasing the strength used. He punched Li Jun, sending him flying away. Li Jun crashed through hundreds of planets and a dozen galaxies before stopping.

However, his injuries were only superficial and healed instantly.

"What a wonderful body-refining technique. It's a shame."

"And what does that mean?" said Yin Gen, who appeared before him; he had controlled his emotions and calmed down.

"Our sect's [Ancient Desolate Body Refining Scipture] is known for its difficulty to cultivate, but there are still many people with the talent. However, the threshold for your technique is probably even higher. I'm guessing your sect would be lucky to find ten people capable of cultivating it to a high level–let alone willing to cultivate it in the first place."

Yin Gen knew the latter was correct. Since he created his technique, few people were willing to cultivate it. After all, the first step involved turning into a disgusting creature like Zombie. Although cultivators can change back into humans, it requires achieving a high level.

Unfortunately, his Golden Zombie Art–now call Immortal Zombie Art–is too difficult to cultivate. It requires immense suffering to absorb Yin Qi; there is a high chance of going insane–which requires a high Willpower to control–and the technique is weak to Light Dao, Yang Dao, Thunder Dao, and Buddhist Techniques in the early stages.

Only by reaching the Golden Zombie Stage will these weaknesses against positive Dao or powers be eliminated. Unfortunately, few people can reach such a stage.

Yin Gen gazed at Li Jun, using Yin Power's coldness to remain calm. His obsession was proving his body-refining lineage was the best in the world. This obsession had made his Dao Heart unable to reach perfection.

The lack of perfection will not prevent Yin Gen from proving the Dao or even becoming an Eternal Emperor. On the contrary, it will become his motivation to move forward until he defeats Wang Chong. Regardless, this lack of perfection can be exploited by others if he is not careful.

And Li Jun has caught this flaw and used his word to affect his state of mind. So, he decided to no longer play around as he sensed the aura of his Starbeast Zombie was slowly but steadily decreasing.

Yin Gen turned his right hand into a claw shape and gathered his 66 Primordial Dragon Force. His battle prowess reached the peak of 6-Leaf.

[Yin Claw]

A colossal blue claw manifested before rushing toward Li Jun with unparalleled momentum

'Time to get serious,' thought Li Jun as he summoned his Proving Dao Artifact. He held the spear in his hand tightly before stabbing forward. The Power of Slaughter gathered on the tip of his weapon, swiftly eradicating the claw.

However, Li Jun's attack did not stop and continued moving forward. Yin Gen felt a sense of crisis, so he evaded. Unfortunately, his action was predicted.

Li Jun appeared before him and stabbed his head. Yin Gen felt an intense sense of danger. Typically, he would not care if his head was gone. However, he knew he could not tank this attack. Furthermore, it was also too late for him to completely evade.

So, he moved his body, so the spear pierced his body, leaving a hole the size of an adult human palm. Immediately, Yin Gen blew with his mouth, and the force sent Li Jun a few meters away. Taking this opportunity, he distanced himself from his opponent.

Yin Gen's complexion was not good-looking.

'He killed the Yin Qin in my body,' he analyzed as he observed his body. Yin Qi was embedded deep in his blood energy, bones, and organs. However, Li Jun's attack killed all the Yin, reducing his power by more than 15%.

With a thought, Yin Gen controlled the Yin Qi in the surroundings to replenish himself. After all, too many peopled died in the Eastern Quadrant, affecting this entire battlefield.

Unfortunately, Yin Gen discovered he could not control as many Yin Qi as he wished. And the culprit for this was Li Jun, who was looking at him calmly.

"Surprised?"

Yin Gen did not answer, retaining his calm and composed state. After seeing this, Li Jun chose not to say anymore since it was pointless. Yin Gen's absolute control of Yin Qi is based on his sublime control of Qi or Energy. However, he is a pure body refiner and does not cultivate Law or Dao.

Meanwhile, Li Jun's Slaughter Dao also involved Death Dao, which also involved Yin Qi.

Suddenly, the void near Yin Gen rippled as a new power entered his body, replacing the power of Yin Qi. His aura changed as he not only regained his strength but became higher and more powerful.

"Negative emotions, sins–this is the devil's karmic sins," analyzed Li Jun as he sensed the power entering Yin Gen's body. According to the information gathered on the latter, he did not have this power. However, the Fate Shadow Guard did state he immediately entered a state of retreat after returning from the Clean-Up.

'So, he used the Devil's Karmic Sins for his Zombie Art to reach a higher level,' analyzed Li Jun before waving his spear.

[Spear Meteor]

Millions of spears appeared in the empty space, rushing toward Yin Gen, who had an ugly expression. He had discovered a weird power that nullified his regeneration. The worse part is he could not remove it no matter what he did.

Yin Gen divided his mind in two, focusing on the oncoming attack. He clapped his hands together, generating a shockwave that destroyed most of the spears.

[Banshee Wail] Banshe are part of undead or Ghost–or creatures that thrive on the soul, negative energy, or Yin Qi.

Yin Gen opened his mouth to generate a sonic attack to stop the remaining spears. His attack was a two-prone method, attacking the spear and also affecting Li Jun's soul. Unfortunately, the latter did not respond, utterly ignoring his attempt.

Furthermore, he did not stop all the spears, as five still reached.

Bang!

Yin Gen punched the nearest spear. He then used the force of the attack to push himself backward countless light-years away. He stopped in a cluster of galaxies and absorbed the life energy they generated.

The Starry Sky Battlefield created for the Heaven Will does not have life. However, the planets, stars, and galaxies themselves can be considered living, full of life energy.

Yin Gen absorbed hundreds of them, hoping to heal himself. Unfortunately, he discovered he could store these energies but could not make the hole in his chest heal.

'Damn it, what is this power?' he thought. Unfortunately, he did not have long to contemplate and come up with a solution. Li Jun threw his spear, and the killing weapon was flying toward with unmatched momentum and the power to Slaughter all living beings.

Boom!

Yin Gen clashed with a nearby planet, coughing a large mouthful of blood. His organs shook by the vibration from the planet, but he regenerated this time.

"Huh? The power of Yin-Yang?" uttered Li Jun as he looked at the black and white shield around Yin Gen.

"I understand. The process of cultivating your Zombie Art is turning into an undead before reverting to the living. So, it makes sense you can control the Power of Yin and Yang. You should also have some control of Life and Death."

Yin Gen did not respond since the opponent was correct. His Zombie art embodies the saying: "The extreme life is death, and the extreme of death is life."

He started as a living person but turned into an undead after absorbing a massive amount of Yin Energy. Then, through long and arduous cultivation, he reversed life and death, returning from undead to a living being.

In the process, his fleshly body contained the power of Yin and Yang, Life and Death–similar to Wang Wei's nothingness.

'I need to remove this power that's preventing me from healing,' analyzed Yin Gen. Unfortunately, after discovering his ability, Li Jun was no longer giving him time; he went for the kill.

With a flick of his spear, an enormous river of blood manifested behind Li Jun, rushing toward Yin Gen to absorb his life energy. However, Yin Gen secretly sneered as he absorbed the river instead.

"Damn it," he cursed out loud before stopping. Green spots appeared on his left arm–he was poisoned. Meanwhile, Li Jun snickered as all this was his plan. He controlled the poison to spread from his left arm to other parts, destroying Yin Gen's body from the inside.

Li Jun knew body refiners were hard to kill. Yin Gen had a hole in his chest, but he was still moving completely fine. However, with the hole and the poison, he can slowly decrease the latter's stamina and defense until he kills him.

'If I didn't have to hide my trump cards, I could have used the Slaughter Spear and killed him in one hit,' secretly thought Li Jun while shaking his head.

[Wail of the Damn]

A weird cry echoed from Li Jun's body. The sound was the sound of trillions of people dying, mostly from cruel and inhumane methods. This attack directly bypassed Yin Gen's body and went for his soul.

However, he did not react. His Zombie Art made him an expert in the soul and death. Furthermore, as a powerful body refiner, his Willpower made it extremely challenging to succumb to soul attack.

Sadly, Li Jun knew of this and already expected this outcome.

Plush!

Yin Gen vomited a mouthful of blood. With a shocked look, he discovered his heart was shattered into million pieces. He looked at Li Jun and found the latter's heart was releasing a unique frequency that targeted his eyes. The previous attack was nothing but a smokescreen.

'I can regrow my heart; my stamina and defense have reached an all-time low,' analyzed Yin Gen, remaining calm during the entire ordeal. Then, he saw Li Jun change weapons from a spear to a hammer.

Realizing a weapon focusing on piercing was not the best when dealing with body refiners; he changed to a weapon focusing on smashing; he would be able to do much more damage. So, Li Jun used the Weapon Dao part of his Slaughter Dao, smashing his opponent with immense force.

A monstrous hammer manifested between Heaven and Earth with the sole intention of blasting his opponent into a flesh soup.

As Yin Gen watched the attack heading toward him, he knew he would suffer significant damage once it hit. Evading was not an option due to the sheer speed of the attack and the fact Li Jun locked the surrounding space to prevent teleportation.

Lastly, once he receives such massive damage and cannot heal his defeat–no, death–is guaranteed. Yin Gen watched as his life flashed before his eyes.

'No, I need to calm down.' He controlled himself to remain calm. He knew he could not give up until the last minute. In every situation, there must be a solution. And the crux of his current problem is the power preventing his regeneration. As long as he removes it, he can make a comeback.

All of Yin Gen's thoughts took less than an attosecond, as his mind worked faster than ever throughout his long life. Then, Yin Gen suddenly thought of something.

Crack! Boom!

The sounds of multiple bones cracking reverberated through the void, followed by the sound of an explosion. Yin Gen's body flew thousands of light years away, destroying any celestial bodies on its path.

However, upon stopping, he quickly stood up as if nothing had happened.

In the distance, Wang Wei suddenly opened his eyes, ignoring the innumerable length of space and gazing at Yin Gen.

"Willpower Manifestation, albeit incomplete," he muttered with squinted eyes. "This generation is truly full of talent."

From Wu Hong, he knows powerful body refiners must manifest their Willpower. Then, they can essentially use it similar to the Dao Will of Pseudo and Eternal Emperors. However, most body refiners will achieve this state after opening the Gate of Power. In contrast, the talented one will attain an incomplete one in the later stages of the Infant Fiendgod Stage.

But Yin Gen succeeded while stile in the Primordial Dragon Stage, which shows his talent.

"Interesting," said Li Jun with shining eyes. "I did not expect you were such a talent for the body refining path."

"From your eyes and words, it seems I've done something impressive," said Yin Gen as he felt his lost regeneration. With his Willpower, he removed the Duyi Realm Power from his body, allowing him to reach his peak state.

"Indeed," replied Li Jun. "But this will not change anything."

Yin Gen squinted his eyes. He knew more than he let on, as his words simply wanted more information. The founder of the Body Dao Cave–the Body Ancestor–proved the Dao through the True Power Dao Realm, meaning he did not cultivate any Law and used the Heaven Will to reach Infant Fiendgod Force on par with Eternal Emperor. Such an accomplishment is something even the Ancient Desolate Emperor never achieved until he came to the upper dimension.

If the pure body refiner path were not so different, he would have been counted as one of the Myriad Emperor World's Eternal Emperors.

With such a talent, he accomplished an Incomplete Willpower manifestation. As such, Yin Gen saw some of the records the latter left regarding the incredible power of Willpower.

"We will see," he uttered after seeing Li Jun's silence.

Yin Gen's aura suddenly changed. His eyes turned dark purple, but a golden mark manifested on his forehead. His long hair floated behind him, creating a more majestic temperament.

He turned into a golden light and rushed toward his opponent, punching him with terrible force. Li Jun manifested a shield artifact and defended himself. However, the force of the attack pushed him back a few dozen of meters.

'His strength increased by at least 5 Primordial Dragon Force.'

Yin Gen waved his hand, and a colossal golden claw appeared between Heaven and Earth. Before the attack hit him, Li Jun felt uncomfortable by the golden light; he felt his Dao was restrained, unable to work correctly.

Bang!

He blocked the attack, but blood fell from the corner of his mouth.

"Buddhist Technique," he muttered. "The Buddha is merciful and strives to save all sentient beings. So, the power of Slaughter is not allowed in its presence."

"You catch on real quick," said Yin Gen. Buddhist Power was the nemesis of his Zombie Art, so he studied them with great detail, trying to learn from it. However, Yin Gen discovered most of his Buddhist Techniques became unusable after wakening up. Luckily, this battlefield seems unaffected. Without hesitation, he went on the offensive again since time was running out for his current form.

[K?itigarbha's Hell]

K?itigarbha once promised he would not leave hell until all souls were saved until he cleaned it from its filth. And what greater filth than the act of killing thousands–if not more–lives–the act of slaughter.

A vision of hell appeared above Li Jun, and he once again felt his power of Slaughter being restricted, weakened, or countered. Then, he sneered.

"When Buddha is angry, rivers of blood and mountain of corpses are possible. So, even the mighty Buddha cannot escape the power of Slaughter."

His spear appeared in his hand, and he stabbed forward. Visions of blood rivers and mountains of corpses appeared behind him.

Boom!

Yin Gen's hell was instantly destroyed, and the spear's power bombarded him. After the space dust settled, he was missing half of his upper body, with blood flowing from his face and lower body.

He immediately mobilized his Willpower to fight against Li Jun's Duyi Realm. However, things were not as smooth as before; this power was more tenacious than before. Furthermore, it seems alive now, fighting nonstop against him.

Yin Gen focused as he knew he needed to buy himself some time. And the best defense is a potent offense.

'He used that power to boost his attack. Could I do the same with my Willpower?'

Yin Gen's eyes lit up as he rushed toward Li Jun, fighting the latter with only one arm. He chose closed combat to give him an advantage since his fleshly body was more potent than the opponent.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They clashed nonstop, fighting for a few minutes straight.

'I guess it won't work,' thought Li Jun.

Chapter

Li Jun spent so much time fighting Yin Gen, even giving the latter so much time to remove the influence of his Duyi Realm because he had a purpose–he wanted to study his use of Willpower Manifestation so he could reach the same realm.

'I've learned a lot, but it's not enough,' he concluded. Willpower Manifestation is not as simple as the name suggested. Li Jun has read about some other World Communities' cultivation systems that train Willpower to affect the world or even control the Law or Dao.

But this is not the same as the body refiner's Willpower Manifestation. These methods are, at best, a way to train to reach such a stage. The word "manifestation" represented a sublimation of their Willpower to a higher form.

This sublimation allowed body refiners to use their Willpower the same way as Dao Will–including using it to remove Emperor's Dao Imprint in the Grand Dao Source.

And from the information he learned from his sister-in-law, Li Jun knew body refiner's Willpower has more magical means than Dao Will, and it's not one of the reasons their path is considered the best between Qi Refiners (Dao Comprehension) and Soul Path.

'It does not matter. I can use this experience as the foundation for later.' Li Jun understood Yin Gen's success in his Willpower Manifestation was not because of his talent and Willpower. After all, he did not lack behind the latter in any of these categories.

The main reason for his success is his pure dedication to body refining and the battle between life and death. Unfortunately, he was not a pure body refiner and did not have a similar life-and-death experience.

"Time to end this battle," he declared.

"How arrogant," sneered Yin Gen. However, the two suddenly sensed something and looked in a direction. Li Jun's face changed as he saw what had happened.

A shadow suddenly appeared and broke through their group's formation. Then, the shadowy figure headed directly toward Yan Liling.

The shadowy figure waved his hand to shoot a brilliant light cannon that ravaged the location Yan Liling stood. Everything in the light beam's path was instantly atomized, including the surrounding space-time.

The golden light that shone in the dark space in an area of millions of light years slowly disappeared, showing Yan Liling standing in the same path with a cauldron floating above her head. Besides her slightly elevated breathing, she appeared intact.

Then, she looked at the assassin with red eyes. If not for her [Defense Cauldron], she might have died in this attack since it reached the peak of 3-Leaf.

[Cauldron of Strength]

Another cauldron appeared next to her, full of designs of the demon race, Innate Demon, and Primordial Gods. Suddenly, a savage aura emanated from Yan Liling's body as she rushed toward the assassin.

In less than an instant, she was before him and punched him.

Boom!

The assassin's training allowed him to defend himself instinctively by crossing his arms. Sadly, the attack pulverized his skin, muscles, tendons, and bones–leaving two empty sockets for arms.

Yan Liling was an alchemist and had little time to dedicate her time to temper her body to the level of True Power Dao Realm. In her [Nine Cauldron Art], she created ways for alchemists to use fire to purify their skins, muscles, organs, bones, and blood, thus achieving a high level of body refining.

However, she was not satisfied, so she created the Cauldron of Strength, condensed through countless body refining pills, demon race blood, and Bloodline Purification Pills.

As long as she summons the cauldron, her fleshly body will be blessed and reach an unimaginable level.

Bang! Bang!

Yan Liling punched twice, instantly destroying the assassin's legs; she rendered him useless by leaving only his torso. Subsequently, she condensed the [Cauldron of Soul].

The purpose of this cauldron is to boost her soul. She used it to help her refine pills, using it to replenish her lost spiritual power while engraving Divine Runes. This cauldron is one of the main reasons she can succeed in creating Immortal Pills.

With this cauldron, Yan Liling wanted to search the assassin's soul for information. Although angered beyond words, she was rational enough to know what was necessary at the current moment.

Unfortunately, she failed. A seal suddenly activated, annihilating the assassin's soul and brain.

Yan Liling frowned, deep in thought.

"Was that you?" asked Li Jun, his eyes red. Adding to his crimson hair, he seemed the incarnation of death and slaughter.

"No, it wasn't," replied Yin Gen calmly before sneering. "But so what if it was? You should know nothing is off-limit in this battle."

"Good," said Li Jun with a hoarse voice, making Yin Gen tremble.

[Death of All Sentient Beings]

A small and simple red spear appeared before Li Jun. However, after seeing it, Yin Gen trembled. A terrifying power locked him, telling him he could not escape.

From this simple spear, he saw all the ways someone could kill any life forms that fall in the category of [sentient beings]: death by decapitation, death by weapons, death by poison, death by disease, death by mental breakdown, death by loneliness and sadness, death by war, etc.

'I…can't stop this spear,' Yin Gen thought, followed by, 'I will die.'

The fear of death began to overwhelm his mind, so he had to bite the tip of his tongue, using pain to regain control of his body and mind. Without hesitation, he used his last trump card–the Starbeast Zombie.

Yin Gen wanted to fuse the latter, thus drastically increasing his strength. Unfortunately, he discovered his opponent had already severed or killed the connection between him and the zombie.

'Damn it,' cursed Yin Gen as he mobilized all the defensive capabilities he could possibly muster–including an Emperor Artifact that looked like metal gloves. Pure Body Refiners can also create Proving Dao Artifacts but use their blood and Yang Energy to nourish the artifact instead of using their souls and Law.

As such, the Body Dao Cave has multiple Emperor Artifacts.

With the artifact, the spear barely slowed down.

"You're a talented individual, Yin Gen," said Li Jun, his voice terribly calm. "Unfortunately, your luck and destiny are subpar. You were born in the wrong era and lost to our sect's ancestors.

"And now, you also woke up in the wrong era and will lose to his descendants."

Li Jun waved his hand to manifest an Emperor Artifact that looked like a turtle shell, suppressing Yin Gen's artifact.

Then, the spear continued his journey, bringing him closer to death.

Yin Gen still remained calm as he analyzed the situation. He knew he could not use another Emperor Artifact in his current state–especially since the enemy could do the same.

He knew it would be best to bring out more power from the Glove Artifact he was using instead of bringing out more of them.

So, he continued pondering.

'My only chance is to use my Willpower to boost my defense.'

Yin Gen entered a deep focus state, trying to mobilize the new power he awakened. Unfortunately, his luck or foundation had run out. In such a short time, he could not successfully comprehend a decent defensive method using his Willpower.

So, the spear continued its journey of destruction, death, and annihilation.

When it was less than a meter away from him, Yin Gen found his lower body rapidly disintegrated into infinitely small particles. So, he watched his life pass him as the spear slowly approached.

Luckily for him, fate was on his side. After the spear reached less than 50 centimeters from him, its power fluctuated violently as if it had lost control.

'Opportunity,' thought Yin Gen as he moved his only remaining head to open a space portal and left the Eastern Quadrant. Meanwhile, Li Jun calmly watched him disappear before teleporting to see his wife.

"How are you?" he asked as he held her in his arms.

"I'm fine."

"Do you know what happens? Any idea who did it?"

"Tong Ruobing," declared Yan Liling.

"Her? What makes you say that?"

"The assassin used an Array Breaking Talisman, and it was Immortal Tier. Then, it also used an Immortal Tier Light Erasure Talisman–only she has such capability."

"You might be right," nodded Li Jun. "However, we should also consider the possibility that the traitors and Mo Xingyun are trying to frame her, plotting against us using her."

Yan Liling agreed with this analysis. However, her intuition told her this was Tong Ruobing's doing.

"What do you want to do with it?' She asked, looking at the Starbeast Zombie Tie Gang defeated and captured. "Do you want to use it as material to increase the Puppet Legion?:

Li Jun shook his head.

"High-Tier Power is more important than the Low-Tier Legions. This thing already has Immortal Tier strength. With a few changes, Cai Song can turn it into a powerful puppet."

"That's good."

Central Quadrant, in an isolated array:

Yin Gen's head appeared, and he breathed in relief.

"This Li Jun is not only strength, but his Battle IQ is even more insane," he muttered before beginning his healing journey. He saved a lot of his Yin Qi as a last resort. And now, he would use it to heal himself.

So, using the Yin Qi, numerous pills, and resources in his Space Ring, Yin Gen swiftly returned to his peak state.

"This defeat meant nothing," he muttered. "Plus, I still have a chance."

He looked in a direction, his eyes twinkling.

Chapter

Yin Gen looked into the Western Quadrant, deep in thought. He pondered for a few minutes before a ruthless light flashed in his eyes.

"Blood Energy," he muttered to himself. His Zombie Art was technically an evil technique. After all, zombies were abominations, creatures whose existence is rejected by Heaven and Earth since they defy the Order of Samsara.

As such, there is one way Yin Gen could use to increase the speed of cultivating his art–absorbing Blood Energy. By absorbing the yang energy from flesh and blood of creatures, he can balance the Yin Qi in the zombie's bodies, thus accelerating the cultivation of the technique and ensuring users can reach the Golden Zombie Stage and revert to a living creature.

Additionally, absorbing souls can also accelerate this technique since they are Yin Nature.

However, he has never done such a thing throughout his entire cultivation journey. He even warned future descendants of the Body Dao Cave never to use this method.

Yin Gen had many reasons. Firstly, doing so would garner Heavenly Tribulations, making cultivating his technique even more difficult. He knew Heavenly Dao would never allow any shortcut for such a powerful technique.

The second reason was Karmic Sins. If someone used the crooked method to cultivate his technique, Buddhist Technique, and Yang Power would still remain the nemesis of this art–even after reverting to a living creature. Yin Gen desired to create the best technique, so he would not allow such an apparent weakness.

Finally, absorbing other people's flesh and blood energy would make the fleshly body less pure, making it difficult to continue cultivating in the future.

'But now, I have no choice,' thought Yin Gen. He would deal with the side effects later by purifying his body. And since he won't kill many people, he won't have to worry about karmic sins.

'I need to be swift,' he planned. 'Rush straight for Di Tian, kill him, and absorb his flesh and blood. His generals will be a pain, but as long as I use my most powerful state and attack, I can quickly get rid of them.'

Yin Gen took a moment to review his plan and perfect it; he decided to imprison these generals before going straight for Di Tian.

'He is the king and my goal. I will have a chance to prove the Dao in this generation as long as I get his blood energy.'

After making a plan, he no longer hesitated. He summoned his Emperor Artifact and put the gloves on.

Bang!

A colossal cosmic being appeared in the Western Quadrant, right in front of Di Tian's group. The being did not have skins, eyes, mouths, and noses like creatures of flesh and blood. Instead, it had a body made of mountains, rivers, forests, volcanoes, and his two eyes were the moon and the sun.

As soon as the cosmic being appeared, it attacked Di Jiaying, making the latter's face contort.

'This attack has broken the limit of 7-Leaf and is approaching the peak of 8-Leaf.'

Di Jiaying instantly knew she could not block this attack with her current strength. However, she did not despair.

'Gao Buqin,' she roared through Divine Sense. Then, a golden armor suddenly manifested out of nowhere, and she equipped it.

'Devil,' she roared, and Gluttony immediately lent her his power.

[A Country's Sacrifice]

A Tyrant can sacrifice millions of people for its benefit, and they can even sacrifice the very people they should be protecting and governing. A Tyrant's Will and desires are above everything–including the lives of all sentient beings.

Di Jiaying raised her to create a black, red shield that contained countless grievances, hatred, and curses. The essence of this shield was the lives and souls of countless people sacrificed by their king or monarch.

The sad part is even if these people are unwilling, they have no choice but to protect this tyrant–because his will is absolute.

Boom!

Yin Gen's fist hit the protective shield. The shockwave of their clash did terrible damage to the surrounding million galaxies. Additionally, a wail full of sadness traveled throughout most of the Western Quadrant, and its origin was the shield.

Di Jiaying's shield cracked, but it withstood the attack–at least temporarily. Her body trembled as she mobilized power beyond her limit. With her Tyrant Dao, she gathered more grievances to reinforce the seal.

It was as if she was sacrificing trillions of lives every passing second, but these souls did not seem real. However, that was the brilliance of her technique–it ignored the concept of reality and illusion, or real and falseness.

As soon as Yin Gen appeared, someone noticed him–Di Tian. He opened his eyes and looked at the cosmic being attacking his camp.

'Is that the Body Ancestor's [Heaven and Earth Body]?'

Based on his judgment, there were two brilliant body refining techniques from this era where Qi Refining dominated–the [Ancient Desolate Body Refining Scripture] and the [Heaven and Earth Body].

And if he had to choose the better of the two, he would choose the former. The [Heaven and Earth Body] was a brilliant body refining technique, but the downside was it took too many resources to cultivate; this is why it was not as popular as the [Ancient Desolate Body Refining Scripture].

The essence of this technique was similar to most body refining techniques–tempering the skin, muscles, bones, organs, and blood. And it was similar to the [Ancient Desolate Body Refining Scripture] that requires absorbing resources for the body.

However, the resources required were scary. To temper the skin, a cultivator must absorb the protective shield that protects a world. Whether it is Lower, Middle, Greater, or Heaven Will World, there is a protective shield around it as they float in the Endless Void. And the first step of this technique is to absorb that protective shield into the skin.

For the muscles, the cultivator must absorb the Spirit Veins of the world. Afterward, the muscle will have endless Spiritual Qi to nourish them.

The bones require World Source for the tempering process. The organs will require the Five Elements for the different Zhang Organs. Mountains for the earth element, forests for the wood element, oceans for the water elements, earth cores for the fire element, and ore veins for the metal element. Finally, the eyes will absorb stars and moons.

Di Tian even knows some people in the Body Dao Cave suggested tempering the brain by absorbing Heavenly Dao.

This technique was genuinely brilliant, and the Body Ancestor was an unparalleled genius. Sadly, few people can cultivate this technique to success due to the talent and resources needed.

Di Tian calmly watched Yin Gen's state and detected the latter was only using a spell to imitate the [Heaven and Earth Body].

'I can sense Wang Wei's power from him. It should be a Spiritual Hint. Is he using a discarded pawn to test me?' analyzed Di Tian before making a move.

A towering black and white hand appeared, even larger than Yin Gen's current body. As he gazed at that hand, the body refiner felt death approaching him, and he realized he was powerless. At that moment, between life and death, his eyes became bright and pure, untainted by any haze.

'This is the end of my road,' he thought.

Bang! The void fluctuated.

'Escape? Why did he save him?' frowned Di Tian, who thought Yin Gen was a sacrificial pawn. He knew Wang Wei never did anything without reason, so he analyzed the latter's purpose.

'Could he be acquiring another general?' He felt this conclusion was wrong. However, after thinking about it for a few seconds, he could not deduce a reason he was satisfied with. So, he gave up and prepared to close his eyes.

"Huh?" he muttered with a frown; he noticed something else that also required his attention.

Central Quadrant:

Yin Gen appeared in his regular form. However, he was in terrible shape. He was skinnier than bones, his face was full of wrinkles and age spots, and his hair was all white–his body had entered its twilight moment. freeweɓnøvel.com

"Hahaha, a discarded pawn," he muttered wrily, his body exuding an incomprehensible sadness. "No, I guess I'm still a valuable pawn.'

Yin Gen could not help but remember Li Jun's words–he was born in the wrong era.

"I lost to Wang Chang, but now, even after abandoning my values, I lost to his descendant and even became a pawn."

He sighed heavily; this battle was a great blow to him.

'Well, it doesn't matter. Since I am alive, there is hope." The word given up was not part of Yin Gen's vocabulary. When he was a mortal, he knelt for five years before being accepted by the Body Dao Cave. In those five years, he did not eat or drink, and his body was on the verge of falling after only three months.

But he resisted and used his Willpower to sustain himself. Back then, he was prepared to spend his mortal life span–roughly 80 to 90 years–kneeling before someone accepted him.

And after his failure against Wang Chong, he sealed himself and spent at least a dozen times longer than usual to wash away his karma, using the experience to temper himself and improve.

'I only need to sleep for a few more million years.'

Yin Gen exhaled deeply before uttering, "I give up this battle."

A white light flashed on his body, and Yin Gen knew he was officially eliminated from this battle.

Eastern Quadrant:

Wang Wei calmly watched Yin Gen's confrontation with Di Jiaying. After seeing his form, he also thought of the Body Ancestor's [Heaven and Earth Body]. His Fate Shadow Guard got their hands on that technique, and he had to agree it was superior to his [Ancient Desolate Body Refining Scripture].

Simultaneously, he also thanked the Heavens that the Body Ancestor was a good-hearted individual after studying that technique. According to his analysis, the Body Ancestor's strength reached 1-Root Dao Ancestor before getting his hands on the Heaven Will, and that's a minimum prediction.

And after proving the Dao, his strength was on par with Eternal Supremes, meaning above 25% Grand Dao Source. If the latter wanted to absorb the Myriad Emperor World to cultivate his technique, no one at that age could stop him.

No, this man had the potential to be a catastrophe to the entire lower dimension. If he had the ambition to open the Gate of Power before ascending, he would have to destroy countless Heaven Will Worlds in his cultivation process.

Wang Wei theorized the latter used thousands of Great Thousand Worlds to temper his fleshly body, destroying these worlds in the process. Or he found many destroyed worlds from the Innate-Acquired War and used them for his cultivation.

'It's a shame this technique takes too much time and requires too many resources. Not to mention the karma debts from destroying these worlds,' he pondered.

He often sighed and praised the Body Ancestor's genius and madness for creating such a technique. After all, no sane person would create such a thing. However, after many analyses and discussions with Wu Hong, he realized the appearance of this technique was inevitable.

The cultivators in the Ancient Emperor Era studied Heaven and Earth to perfect the Cultivation Civilization. Array Masters studied Innate Formations; Alchemists, Talisman Makers, and Weapon Refiners studied Divine Runes found in nature.

So, it's not out of the ordinary for someone to use nature as the foundation for a body refining technique. However, the Body Ancestor took things to the extreme; he used the idea that the human body contains a universe and slowly turned it into one.

Of course, Wang Wei also understood why the Body Ancestor's dream of creating a supplementary body refining technique for the Origin System did not work.

If he made his [Heaven and Earth Body], the cultivators of the Myriad Emperor World would definitely be the best in the lower dimension. However, they would also become a scourge civilization, invading countless World Communities and destroying millions of worlds.

And the final fate of such a civilization would be worse than the devil race. It would prosper for a short period before becoming extinct.

Wang Wei calmly watched the battle. And when Di Tian took action, he sent Yin Gen away.

…

Di Jiaying sighed in relief. The armor on her body turned into numerous motes of lights, disappearing into the unknown. She was not surprised by this fact. Gao Buqin's talent was very high, but he did not quite reach Yan Liling and Tong Ruobing's level.

This also meant he could not create Immortal Tier Artifacts. However, he could create temporary ones who would disappear after a short use–similar to Talismans.

'This person should be Yin Gen? But, what's gotten into him?' she thought, wondering why he was so ferocious in his attack. Then, Di Jiaying's face suddenly changed as a figure dressed in black suddenly appeared from her shadow, stabbing her back.

The entire process was so fast that she could not even react. For a moment, she felt the shadow of death looming over her head.

Clink!

A hooded figure appeared and blocked the attack for Di Jiaying. Unfortunately, the latter was also slightly too late. The assassin's dagger spewed a black light that grazed Di Jiaying's sides.

"Wang Ju," said Di Tian's Shadow–also called the Silent Sleeper–in a hoarse voice. However, Wang Ju did not answer him as she sensed a terrifying gaze. She did not waste time as she dispersed; it was like she was never here in the first place.

"Damn it," suddenly said Di Jiaying, catching the attention of the others. They saw a mysterious shadow-esque power emanating from her injuries.

"Shadow-based Poison?" asked Gao Buqin.

"It should be."

"Can you remove it?"

"Does it look like I can remove it?" she snarled, and Gao Buqin decided to keep his mouth shut. Gluttony remained quiet–as always. Meanwhile, Silent Sleeper did not immediately aid her but looked at his master.

Di Tian frowned as he knew he had already lost the initiative. Wang Wei's move made him display one of his general's trump cards. Subsequently, whether he or Silent Sleeper takes action to remove this poison, they will further reveal information about them.

And in this battle, information is power.

After pondering for a moment, he motioned for his shadow to take action. The best option is for the latter to take action and reveal his information instead of him.

Furthermore, he can also gather information from his opponent from this opportunity. Silent Sleeper moved next to Di Jiaying and used his power to remove the Shadow Poison. The process was not smooth, and he had to use quite an effort before succeeding.

"You guys have disappointed me," said Di Tian, his voice colder than usual. "Don't let it happen again."

The group's body involuntarily trembled. They knew Wang Wei's group was their greatest obstacle, but after the first confrontation, they lost the initiative, which could lead to their defeat later in the battle.

"We won't," replied Di Jiaying with gritted teeth. Di Tian didn't say anything else and returned to his closed-eyes state. He did not wholly blame them as he realized his strategy for this battle was too passive.

Eastern Continent:

Wang Ju appeared next to Wang Wei and handed him the information gathered in this strategy. Although she also revealed her strength, the knowledge she acquired was worth the price paid.

"Modify our plans accordingly," said Wang Wei before taking one last look at Yin Gen. He spared the latter because of his talent. So, he plans to traffic him into the upper dimension to fight for the resistance against the Seven Moons.

And, of course, Yin Gen also owes him karma.

Central Quadrant, Planet AF568979:

Tong Ruobing was talking to someone through a Communication Array.

"I've done what I promise," she said.

"Yes, but you fail."

"So? I told you it would not work."

"Did you try your best?"

"I wasted two Immortal Tier Talismans. What else do you want me to do? Personally take action?" she retorted. The other person did not answer, so she sneered.

"Even you don't dare directly attack him, but you want me to be your pawn? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Alright, alright. I know you did your best."

"I don't want to waste time with you," said Tong Ruobing. "I only agree with your alliance because you said you had a way to deal with the two of them. I believe you because of your identity, but so far, you have shown me no proof."

Parasyte frowned; he could tell she was becoming impatient.

'She is still useful, so it is not time to become enemies,' he calculated. Then, he waved his hand to send something to her across billions of light years in an instant.

Tong Ruobing opened her formation and received the package–it was a binding contract backed by True Heavenly Dao.

"Sign it, and I can tell you some of our plans."

Tong Ruobing only glanced at the contract before saying, "I won't sign anything I don't know much about."

She could tell the contract was of high level, most likely something from the upper dimension.

"I have shown you our sincerity," said Parasyte.

"I'm willing to swear a Grand Dao Oath not to reveal a word. Take this deal, or we can part ways."

"Are you threatening me?" asked Parasyte with red eyes.

"I'm simply telling you my terms," she replied calmly, gazing directly into his eyes. After more than a minute of constant staring and no communication, someone relented.

"Fine, but I don't want any loopholes. Be straightforward in your wording."

Tong Ruobing no longer hesitated and made the oath. Then, Parasyte told them of their trump card.

"An artifact that can strike with the power of a Third Class Emperor."

Her eyes lit up as she knew this weapon was enough to deal with Wang Wei and Di Tian's Nine Extremity Foundation. Now, her only concern is how many times they can use this weapon.

If it's more than two times, she has to find ways to deal with them afterward.

'It's a shame I cannot secretly reveal the news to Wang Wei and Di Tian.'

"Now, you should have more confidence in our alliance."

"Indeed," replied Tong Ruobing. "I did not expect Designer to be so capable."

Yan Liling and her achievement of creating Immortal Tier Pills and Talismans are enough for them to be forever entrenched in the annals of history. However, Designer can even make such a weapon.

Of course, she also understood it's primarily because he has access to a much higher civilization.

"Well, be prepared," continued Parasyte. "When the time is right, I will contact you."

Tong Ruobing ended the communication, deep in thought.

'When I talked to Designer, he seemed to have some desire for me. Maybe, I can use that to my advantage.'

She was not entirely sure as their conversation was brief. However, Tong Ruobing noticed the glint in the latter's eyes when they talked. Furthermore, he attempted to communicate with her twice again, but Parasyte seemed to have intervened.

"Huh?"

Tong Ruobing noticed someone approaching her location.

"It's her," she muttered, looking at Jingwu Hua.

Tong Ruobing remembered seeing Jingwu Hua during Gu Xuan's Deception Trial. Her battle against the Immortal Child caught her attention because she felt Jingwu Hua did not use all her strength despite losing.

And given the strength displayed by the latter, Tong Ruobing took notice of her and actively searched for information to know her details. She learned she was a Heaven Chosen from a past era, and she most likely failed the Heaven Will Battle once.

Tong Ruobing walked out of the formation, glancing at her opponent.

"What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious?" replied Jingwu Hua with a frown.

"The battle has just begun. There is no need for people of our level to fight."

Tong Ruobing did not want to fight–at least not now. She did not want to reveal her powers, abilities, and trump cards.

"People like you become more dangerous as time passes, so it's a good strategy to eliminate them early," calmly replied Jingwu Hua.

"Confident, aren't we?"

"You should know confidence is one of the basic qualities to reach this far."

"True," replied Tong Ruobing, but something flashed deep in her eyes.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Why would I answer?"

"If you do, I promise not to use the formation behind me or my legion."

Jingwu Hua frowned. She knew her opponent's primary Dao was one of the professions, and she was one of the best in her fields. As such, Tong Ruobing will have the advantage when using formations.

Additionally, Jingwu Hua knew her opponent's Dao would make her legion very scary. After all, if Tong Ruobing and the Great Talisman City decided to use a large number of resources on this legion, equipping them with thousands of powerful Talismans, they would be a force to reckon with.

"Fine. Ask your question."

"How did you lose your first battle? Were you not as powerful now, or did you meet a peerless genius?"

"That's your question?"

"Yes."

Jingwu Hua frowned for a few seconds, "The answer is both."

"Is that so? Who did you lose to?"

"That's more than one question."

"Are you not going to keep your word?" asked Tong Ruobing with a slightly colder tone.

Jingwu Hua snorted coldly, "It was the Flame Emperor."

"Him? It is rumored he was a Master Alchemist and reached the pinnacle of the Flame Dao."

"Indeed." Jingwu Hua lied, and effortlessly at that. She lost to that devil, the Heaven-Devouring Emperor. That battle was scary as he swallowed 95% of the participants, and only a few were lucky enough to escape.

However, her father did fight and lost to the Flame Emperor. However, he sealed himself and woke up during the Middle Emperor Era and proved the Dao. Her father's example is why she could remove the shadow of her defeat--he's the reason her Dao Heart remained intact.

After all, her father lost to Flame Emperor while cultivating the same Dao. According to him, this was the most humiliating defeat in his cultivation journey. However, he overcame this obstacle and became a First Class Emperor.

"If I remember correctly, the Flame Emperor proved the Dao in the period between the collapse of the Incense Era and the beginning of the Devil Era. That's a long time. With your status, why didn't you wake up earlier?"

All Emperor Lineages will have sealed Heaven Chosen. However, these people will not immediately be awakened after washing away their karma. Only some people can be sealed in the first place.

So, these factions will wait for the proper generation full of destiny and opportunity to wake these Heaven Chosens. And they also have to consider whether there is anyone to represent them in that generation.

After all, these sealed Heaven Chosens are not as trusted and worthy as their own people. They don't know much about them besides the records left to the sect, so, for all they knew, these sealed Heaven Chosens might no longer be as loyal to their factions.

Lastly, most of these sealed people are very unlucky individuals, and this might not change after waking up.

However, if a Heaven Chosen has certain status before being sealed, the situation will be different.

"I have answered all your questions," Jingwu Hua replied calmly. She did not want to continue this conversation and accidentally revealed more information.

"Fair enough," said Tong Ruobing, preparing for battle. She only wanted to use the sore spot in the latter's heart to disturb her mind and have an advantage in this battle. However, she could not detect whether her plan was successful or not.

[Spirit of Ten Thousand Ancestors]

Jingwu Hua no longer wasted time and went on the offensive. She activated one of her many Bloodline abilities and summoned many of the ancestors of her Golden Crow Clans.

Millions of Golden Crows manifested, burning with golden flames. The slight heat released from the flame could burn hundreds of galaxies, killing trillions of sentient beings. The crows flew toward their target with the sole purpose of reducing her to ashes.

'Peak 5-Leaf–she has become way more powerful since the trial,' analyzed Tong Ruobing. Regardless, she was calmed and waved her hand:

[Freezing Domain Talisman]

In an instant, the Golden Crows, the surrounding million galaxies, matter, energy, and space-time all froze. It was like a winter storm hit a supercluster of galaxies, turning everything in its path into ice.

Bang!

Jingwu Hua burst out from her cocoon of ice, brilliant golden flame emanating from her body.

'Her Talisman Dao is very versatile, granting her extreme mastery over ice and Yin Dao.'

Since their existence, the Golden Crow has mastered Fire and Yang Dao. And Ice and Yin Dao are their nemeses.

'What is the best approach to fighting an opponent like her? Use long-distance spells and or use hand-to-hand combat?'

Jingwu Hua could not decide because she had too much to lose once she made the wrong choice; she needed to prove the Dao to ascend and search for her father's whereabouts.

Tong Ruobing calmly watched her.

'She's taken too long. Is this some kind of trap to lower my guard?' She frowned as she sensed things were not as they seemed. So, she waved her hand to create numerous Ice Spears, testing the water.

Jingwu Hua subconsciously avoided most of the attacks. As for the ones she could not, her golden flame took care of them. After more than half a minute of testing the water, Tong Ruobing went on the offensive.

[Absolute Yin Imprisonment]

Four runes formed a cage to imprison Jingwu Hua. The terrifying power of Yin suppressed the flames on her, almost extinguishing them.

'Damn it; this is not the time to be indecisive.'

[Pure Yang Body]

She injected a terrifying amount of Pure Yang Energy into her body– mainly her blood. Her aura drastically increased as the power of her fleshly body also improved exponentially.

Most body refiners will have a high amount of Yang Energy in their bodies; it is why their blood will emit heat and have an effect against Yin creatures like Ghosts or Souls.

Using this fact, Jingwu Hua developed a technique to increase the power of her fleshy body. As a demon race with Royal Bloodline, her physical body was not bad compared to ordinary genius body refiners.

But now, she successfully reached another level.

Bang!

Jingwu Hua tore apart her imprisonment before rushing toward her opponent. Tong Ruobing immediately displayed her high Combat IQ and used numerous talismans targeting body refiners.

[Curse of Weakness Talisman]

[Lowering Defense Talisman]

[Stamina Draining Talisman]

[Force Dispelling Talisman]

Regrettably, Jingwu Hua bulldozed through these talismans, making them ineffective. Without stopping, she rushed toward Tong Ruobing and punched her.

To her surprise, Tong Ruobing only flew a few dozen kilometers after crossing her arm to block.

'A talisman that disperses force,' analyzed Jingwu Hua. Then, her face suddenly changed. 'No, she also used a talisman that absorbed the Yang Energy in my body.'

However, Jingwu Hua did not even detect when the talisman entered her body. She guessed it must have been when her body contacted Tong Ruobing's cross-armed.

'What's going on? Why can't I remove the talisman? The Duyi Realm.'

She did not expect her opponent to reach this stage. Jingwu Hua quickly mobilized her Duyi Realm to counter. Unfortunately, she realized hers was too weak.

She only entered the Duyi Realm during the Divine Body Realm. Instead of tempering her body and opening the orifices using the Flame of Good Fortune, she turned it into the Flame of Pure Yang and used it instead.

Unfortunately, she barely trained her Duyi Realm and was only in the Third Stage. Meanwhile, Tong Ruobing had reached the Ninth Stage.

While Jingwu Hua was trying to stop her talisman, Tong Ruobing did not give her more time and went on the offensive.

[Five Trigram Sealing Talisman]

Five paper talismans appeared to make a circle with Jingwu Hua in the middle. They connected to form a star above her head.

The Emperor Offspring felt threatened as she sensed the immense sealing power heading for her.

'No choice–I have to use that method.'

Jingwu Hua did not think she had to use this method so soon in the battle. This was one of her final trump cards.

Bang!

A strange aura emanated from her body, making Tong Ruobing squint. Her heart trembled:

"That's…Impossible."

Jungwu Hua had many runes on her, similar to when she was in the Supernatural Realm. However, the runes were not on her skin but floated around her. The runes were beautiful and mysterious as they displayed the charm of the Dao.

Dao sounds or musing emanated from them, displaying the people to allow people to understand the Dao better. In an instant, she became noble, supreme, grand, and mighty.

"Emperor Body Awakening," muttered Tong Ruobing, unable to contain her shock. The technique of [Awakening] was something only Emperors could achieve after Grand Dao Source nourished their Pseudo Dao Body.

A Great Emperor's Dao Body is a manifestation of their foundation during the Mortal Stage of Cultivation. It's the result of their Qi/Energy, physical body, Innate Talent, Divine Abilities, Bloodline, soul, Willpower, and even Dao Heart.

As such, after [Awakening] it, a Great Emperor's strength will increase by a few percent, depending on the individual. From Tier 10 and above, the Grand Dao Source's percentage determined strength. However, the [Awakening] can give people of similar percentage a winning edge over the other.

Of course, this is not the reason the Dao Body Awakening is crucial to Great Emperors. This technique is one of the main ways Eternal Supremes are born. Their awakening can boost their strength by at least 1%, allowing them to kill Eternal Emperors with only 20% Grand Dao Source.

The awakening technique is why people who broke the Mortal-Immortal Barrier have a higher chance of becoming Eternal Supreme. Their Dao Foundation is so strong that it manifests in the shape of the Emperor Body Awakening.

Wu Hong once told Wang Wei that his Nine Extremity Foundation would grant him a 5% Grand Dao Source boost, and it would manifest in his [Awakening].

Tong Ruobing knew a little about the importance of this technique. So, she could not control her emotions after seeing Jingwu Hua's current state.

"No, something is not right,' she muttered, controlling herself and observing. According to the records she read, the [Awakening] often manifested in the shape of an armor made of runes. The records also dictated it could also take the form of different weapons, wings, animals, or various odd shapes–but they were all made of Dao Runes or Rhymes.

However, Jingwu Hua's runes seemed scattered and with no shape as they floated before her.

'This should be a technique that achieves an Incomplete Awakening,' she analyzed. She took a moment to check Jingwu Hua's aura and discovered the latter's strength was at the peak of 6-Leaf.

'An Emperor Offspring has too many trump cards,' calculated Tong Ruobing with slight envy. She could imagine how many trump cards Jingwu Hua's parents left for her. And these trump cards would be things allowed within the rules and regulations.

'I need to finish this battle as quickly as possible before something unexpected occurs.'

Tong Ruobing waved her hand, and a talisman appeared before her:

[Atomized Beam Talisman]

Tong Ruobing discovered it was challenging to create talismans involving the Supreme Outlaw. And using Law Resonance, she could, at best, bring about 70-80% of their powers.

She then experimented with refining a physical talisman and discovered how difficult the process was. Furthermore, she has to survive a terrifying Thunder Tribulation afterward.

However, she lusted after their tremendous power and sought a way to use their full power. Her solution was to use one of their sub-Dao and elevate it to a higher level.

The [Atomized Beam Talisman] used the Atomization from Destruction Dao and elevated it to a level on par with its superior.

So, a terrifying beam rushed toward Jingwu Hua, eradicating anything in its path. Numerous black holes appeared on the beam's path as it tore through space and collapsed the surrounding gravity.

Swish!

Jingwu Hua evaded this powerful attack that was traveling an unquantifiable amount of times faster than the speed of light. Speed and Slowness are a concept of Yin and Yang. So, she used her Yang Dao to control the Dao of Speed.

The beam changed direction and followed her. For the next 15 seconds, it followed Jingwu Hua everywhere she went, preventing her from escaping. Finally, she rushed toward Tong Ruobing, intending to lead the attack back to its owner.

Jingwu Hua evaded all of the talismans in her path before reaching her destination.

'Damn it,' she cursed. She used her Bloodline Ability [Fiery Eyes] to see the unseen, the truth, and the unknown. Unfortunately, it was only after reaching Tong Ruobing she discovered it was fake.

The heat from Jingwu Hua's body eviscerated Tong Ruobing's illusion. Then, she turned around to face the beam.

[Nine Yang Flame]

A pure red flame that embodied the ultimate of Yang Energy shot out from Jungwu Hua's mouth, confronting the Atomization Beam.

Boom!

The Saintess of the Golden Crow survived the attack. However, she was not intact as a hole appeared in the lower left quadrant of her stomach, leaving the left part of her body in a moon shape.

'Luckily, I had used my Duyi Realm as a defense,' analyzed Jingwu Hua while scanning around her with her eyes and Divine Sense.

[Phoenix Flame]

She gathered the life (Yang) aspect from Life and Death (Yin-Yang) and combined it with her Flame Dao to create a Flame full of life and the power of regeneration. With a boost from her Duyi Realm, she was barely healing from this injury.

[Space Bomb Talisman]

A cube the size of a basketball appeared before Jingwu Hua and exploded. To create the cube, Tong Ruobing compressed a large amount of space comparable in size to hundreds of the Myriad Emperor World's Domains into a cube before detonating them.

The space turbulence created by this explosion was enough to destroy thousands of Middle Thousand Worlds.

Boom!

Jingwu Hua's flame burned the space around her. However, the shockwave from the explosion crashed into her, injuring most of her organs.

[World of Yang]

Nine Suns suddenly appeared above Jingwu Hua's head, burning the surrounding billions of light years. Tong Ruobing could no longer hide and showed up. Then, nine massive Golden Crows rushed toward with the power to incinerate the world.

Tong Ruobing wanted to take action but discovered her actions were very slow. Her movement, thinking, Origin Essence Operation, and even Law Control became extremely slow.

Soul Protecting Talismans appeared in her Sea of Consciousness, breaking the effect of this attack on her soul. Her thinking returned to normal, and she swiftly analyzed the situation.

'A domain that boosts her Yang Dao,' she observed. 'Using Yang Dao to control speed, she then robbed me of all my speed, thus achieving control of slowness. What a brilliant application of her Dao.'

Jingwu Hua's Dao should only allow her to control speed and not slowness. However, she achieved the same result by removing speed from her opponent.

Tong Ruobing's mind quickly calculated the most efficient way to get out of this technique, and the first thing eliminated was using absolute strength. In less than a nanosecond, she thought of a method.

Then, she blessed herself with a few talismans: [Speed Talisman], [Light Blessing Talisman], [Wind Blessing Talisman], [Sound Control Talisman], and [Thunder Blessing Talisman].

With these talismans, Tong Ruobing brought the concept of [speed] back to her body, allowing her free mobility. Then, she waved her hand to manifest nine Fire Phoenixes that overwhelmed her opponent's Golden Crows.

Tong Ruobing knew the benefit of defeating the opponent using their own specialty–it is devastating to their state of mind. And her strategy worked.

Jingwu Hua's body trembled when she saw her flame being overwhelmed.

[Pillar of Purification]

A pillar of golden flame descended on Tong Ruobing's head, purifying everything on its path. The flame contained the most profound meaning of Purification from Yang Dao.

Tack!

Tong Ruobing snapped her finger to manifest a large magical circle. It swallowed the flame pillar with no effort. Then, the magic circle spread so fast that Jingwu Hua could not react.

'A sealing array? When did she set it up?' Her face was difficult to look at. She felt a strange fluctuation from the array, but she could not analyze more information.

'I am outclassed. I need to run away.'

Jingwu Hua felt humiliated and unwilling. She used her father's special Emperor Bone to achieve an Incomplete Awakening. But even then, she was easily defeated and now has to run away.

However, she knew it was the best choice.

[Bloodline Ability: Fire Escape]

Jingwu Hua exploded into a large quantity of golden flame before condensing into a tiny dot like an implosion. Then, she was gone.

Tong Ruobing calmly watched this without any action. She never planned to kill Jingwu Hua for many reasons.

Firstly, she had reservations about the latter's father. On the chance she succeeded in proving the Dao, this might become a problem in the upper dimension.

Secondly, she wanted to use this battle to temper herself. However, Tong Ruobing discovered her opponent was not in the best shape. Jingwu Hua was distracted during the entire fight, making many mistakes, including not transforming into her demon form. It was as if something was preoccupying her mind.

Finally, Tong Ruobing wanted plausible deniability. Her current status was on the side of these traitors. However, she only did so out of desperation to have a chance to win this battle.

So, after she betrays these people, she can use the excuse she never killed any of the Heaven Chosens to show her innocence, to show this was all her plan from the beginning.

Of course, Tong Ruobing also knows her plan was obvious to some people. However, as long as they do not have direct evidence, she can argue her innocence that she wanted to infiltrate these people and destroy them from the inside.

The cultivation world has certain rules that it must follow as a society. And because of these rules, Wang Wei can secretly help the devil race but would never openly admit it. So, even if someone knows the truth, they can't do anything unless there is obvious evidence.

Tong Ruobing was using the same logic.

Northern Quadrant:

Jingwu Hua appeared with even more significant injuries. She hurriedly found a place to set up formations and hide. Unfortunately, someone found her before she could swallow a few healing pills.

"Damn it," she cursed after seeing who it was.