Those eyes held no emotion, only a pure, insatiable greed and hunger for everything that existed.
A single will instantly traversed endless space and time, locking onto Xiao Han's location.
On the battlefield, a cataclysmic storm is brewing. The Arbiter's Heavenly Retribution strike and Xiao Han's true demonic power are about to collide, turning this star field into nothingness.
However, at this critical moment...
A ferry made of countless skeletons appeared silently between the two without any warning.
The ethereal figure of the Skeleton Ferryman stood once more at the bow of the boat. He looked even more ethereal than before, as if he might vanish into the starlight at any moment.
He laughed hoarsely, two points of soul fire flickering in his empty eye sockets, carrying a hint of mockery.
The story... is not over yet.
"The birth of a new god needs witnesses..."
He gently waved his one arm.
A power of reincarnation, purer and more obscure than that on Soul-Weeping Island, was cast out like an invisible net.
The "Heavenly Retribution" energy, powerful enough to destroy Martial Venerable, and the "True Demon" power, capable of overturning the laws, were easily swallowed and dissolved the moment they touched this net, like two tamed fish, without even causing a ripple.
A devastating collision capable of wiping out a sea of stars vanished without a trace.
The boatman first glanced at the arbitrator, whose data core was frantically alarming and whose logic was in disarray, and then at Xiao Han was surrounded by demonic energy and on high alert.
Finally, his gaze fell upon the "Yang Heart" of the Asura Ancestor, who was imprisoned in the "Absolute Order Cage."
He spoke softly, his voice seemingly coming from eternity ago.
"Little brat from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, you stole something you shouldn't have."
"And you," his soul fire turned to Xiao Han, "The future new god, the path of Godslaying, has only just begun."
"Let's get on the ship."
"I'll take you to retrieve... your other half of your heart."
The Arbiter's Heavenly Retribution strike and Xiao Han's true demonic power, two terrifying energies capable of turning a star field into dust, were easily swallowed up by that invisible net without even causing a ripple.
Time and space seemed to lose their meaning at this moment.
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Arbiter's silver-white optical sensors flickered wildly, its internal data stream surging at an unprecedented speed, yet it was unable to construct any effective model of the scene before it. Defying physics and subverting the laws of nature, this power exceeded its computational capabilities, causing its core logic to briefly crash.
"A good performance."
The Skeleton Ferryman, or rather the Ferryman, had two points of soul fire flickering in his empty eye sockets, carrying a hint of playful mockery. He looked at Xiao Han, whose body was half-demonic due to activating the True Demon Brand, and who was on high alert.
But the story must go on. Now, it's time to pay for the next leg of the journey.
"Don't even think about it!" Xiao Han's voice was hoarse. The power of the True Demon surged within his body, allowing him to maintain the strength of the Pseudo-Martial Venerable Realm, but it also eroded his sanity like poison. He saw through the other party's scheme at a glance.
"Oh?" The Ferryman chuckled softly, as if he had heard some amusing childish remark. "This ticket is a 'Fate Contract' that you cannot refuse. It's very simple: you only need to promise to actively merge with the two hearts of the Asura Ancestor and become the new god I... created with my own hands."
To become a puppet deity in his hands?
Xiao Han's eyes turned cold, and he laughed angrily, "Get out!"
"Young man, don't be so quick to refuse." The Ferryman was unfazed by his anger. "Do you think you have a choice? The World Tree Runes within you, your Twin Martial Souls, and that wisp of the Genesis Divine Art have already resonated at the deepest level with the 'Yang Heart' imprisoned by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. Fusion is a pre-written script; I'm just here to turn the page for you."
Before the words were even finished, a sudden change occurred!
"Warning! Unknown logical singularity detected! Threat level... highest!" The Arbiter's system finally restarted, abandoning its lock on Xiao Han and concentrating all its computing power on this incomprehensible being before it.
"Initiate the 'Dimensional Exile' protocol!"
Without the slightest hesitation, the Arbiter transformed himself into a coordinate. In an instant, the void around the bone ship began to twist and fold, and the rudimentary form of a cage composed of pure data and laws appeared out of thin air, intending to drag this ominous bone ship, along with its owner, into an eternal dimensional prison.
"A trivial skill."
The Ferryman didn't even turn around; he merely waved his illusory bony arm casually.
Click--!
The nascent dimensional prison, capable of imprisoning Martial Venerable, shattered instantly, like a mirror struck by a heavy hammer, instantly covered in cracks.
He pointed his finger at the arbitrator.
An unbelievable scene unfolded. On the silver-white armor, forged from divine metal and symbolizing absolute Order and invulnerability, mottled rust appeared out of thin air, as if it had been eroded by billions of years of time. The power of "entropy" of a higher level was erasing the existence of "Order" from the conceptual level!
"No..." The adjudicator uttered a confused electronic voice for the first and last time in his life.
The Ferryman ignored his disintegration and reached out with his bone hand to grab him from afar.
"Buzz!"
The Absolute Order Cage that imprisoned the Asura's "Yang Heart" was easily snatched from the Arbiter's hands. At the same time, an irresistible force of reincarnation swept out, forcibly pulling Xiao Han, Lin Qingxia, and Su Linglong onto the Bone Ferryboat.
The moment Xiao Han's body touched the bone ship's deck, a pure "Order" power, completely opposite to the Asura's "Yin Heart" and chilling to the extreme, erupted from that imprisoned "Yang Heart," violently impacting his soul!
It was a terrifying force that wanted to format all his emotions, all his memories, and all his will, leaving only the most basic logic.
At the same time, the [True Demon Origin Imprint] deep within his bones and blood seemed to have been provoked to the most severe degree, erupting with chaos and disorder that could burn everything, and fiercely met the attack!
Half of it is an absolute silence frozen for eternity, and the other half is a destructive frenzy that burns the heavens to ashes.
Two completely different extreme forces clashed in the most primal and savage way, with Xiao Han's body as the battlefield!
"Puff!"
Xiao Han suddenly spat out a mouthful of black and gold blood. On one side of his body, intricate golden divine patterns appeared, while the other side was covered by twisted black demonic marks, as if he would be torn in two by this power at any moment.
[Red Warning! The host is suffering a double blow from 'Order Formatting' and 'Chaos Obliteration'! If a balance cannot be found, the host will be completely torn apart from the level of existence, or reduced to a logical puppet without self, only following absolute Order!]
The system's warning sound was sharp and piercing, but it did nothing to alleviate Xiao Han's pain.