A protagonist slayer?
Viewers with normal intelligence immediately realized that this so-called "protagonist" was Super Horned Demon Roxstar, whom Zhou Zhe had slain.
Many viewers could not help complaining in the livestream.
"Where's the protagonist's plot armor? Where's the law of protagonist invincibility?"
"A dead protagonist still counts as a protagonist? Grandpa's laughing."
"Never read a protagonist-torture novel?"
"It's actually easy to understand! That Roxstar was obviously Sigma Star's Child of Destiny, and he might not even have been the only protagonist! This is the era of the great universe now, with countless civilizations colliding and churning against one another. There are probably hundreds of millions of so-called 'protagonists,' so they're not worth much at all."
"Honestly, I feel like casting Zhou Zhe as a villainous BOSS comes with zero sense of dissonance!"
"Stop talking nonsense! The thrilling moment is here! Dao's about to hand out rewards!"
"He's here, he's here!"
At the same time, Dao descended upon the Starry Dragon Bone Arena.
The form He manifested was that of a human youth—of course, if Roxstar had won, then the form He manifested now would have been that of a Horned Demon.
No one knew His true race or appearance.
Judging from the detail of Dao renaming Himself, perhaps it truly was as He claimed—born from nothingness, one and the beginning, as well as the end; gathering His selves across multiple dimensions into one body, with no past, no future, only the present, invincible throughout the universe.
Dao looked utterly ordinary, with no expression on His face.
He flicked a finger toward Zhou Zhe.
The vacuum tore apart, and a "coconut" wreathed in dazzling golden light and immortal aura emerged from the rift.
This coconut-like existence expanded and contracted like a heart, thumping loudly. With every beat, it drew energy from the spatial rift.
"Its name is the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation."
Dao's voice carried neither sorrow nor joy, as though it did not contain the slightest emotional fluctuation. "I stripped it from the Heavenly Dao of Cangxin Continent as your reward."
"Once you fully develop the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation, you will possess the ability to wield heavenly tribulation in place of Heaven."
"Though it is only the relatively weak Qianfeng Tribulation Lightning, it also possesses the potential to continue evolving upward. As a reward for this battle, it is highly suitable."
"The energy it accumulated has already been emptied by me and reset to its purest state."
As soon as Dao finished speaking, the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation floated before Zhou Zhe.
Zhou Zhe reached out and seized it fiercely.
In the blink of an eye, the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation slipped between his fingers, entered Zhou Zhe's chest cavity, and took up residence beside his right lung.
It beat with vigorous vitality. The power of heavenly tribulation it radiated continuously strengthened Zhou Zhe's body, making him feel as though he possessed inexhaustible strength!
The filled pentagrams within the Black Sword Shield Brand on the back of his hand had, without his noticing, become four!
The Wind Element accumulated throughout his limbs and bones was also being absorbed bit by bit, gradually refined into purer energy of a higher level.
According to Zhou Zhe's estimate, roughly one hundred portions of Wind Element could be converted into one portion of "Qianfeng Tribulation Lightning."
And that was not all!
The Heart of Heavenly Tribulation was also automatically absorbing Wind Element and another unfamiliar type of energy from the void.
In other words, Zhou Zhe did not even need to cultivate. Every moment, he was continuously growing stronger!
This Heart of Heavenly Tribulation was practically a twenty-four-hour automatic cultivation assistant!
It was simply heaven-defying!
When Dao distributed the reward, most Earthlings in the livestream merely felt that He was generous and that the reward He gave was incredibly cool.
Never mind the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation's lofty appearance, wreathed in immortal aura—even its backstory alone was enough to make people pursue it feverishly.
This was the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation stripped from the Heavenly Dao itself!
Dao's language could be understood by any intelligent lifeform in the universe. To many foreigners, this so-called Heart of Heavenly Tribulation was an existence stripped from the "Gaia Consciousness" or "God's Authority."
Bullet Comments dense enough to trigger trypophobia exploded across the livestream.
"If Zhou Zhe could travel to that Cangxin Continent or whatever, he'd definitely be favored by destiny, right? After all, he's a man with heavenly tribulation living inside him!"
"Does this count as an artificially manufactured protagonist?"
"Definitely! Those big shots of the cultivation world would absolutely kneel and lick his boots! After all, traditional cultivators have to undergo tribulation to break through realms! Also, anyone planning to say I'm talking bullshit can stop hammering away at your keyboards! My cousin was a Cosmic Gladiator and exchanged for information on cultivation civilizations! Though he's dead now, I swear I'm not making this up!"
"Am I the only one curious what will happen to Cangxin Continent after its heavenly tribulation has been taken away?"
"The world will inevitably be downgraded! With heavenly tribulation gone, its upper-tier combat power will definitely grow weaker year by year! In the future, perhaps someone in the Qi Refinement Realm will count as a major figure in one region, while someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm will be the strongest in the world? (The realm names might not match up, but that's roughly what I mean! Keyboard warriors, disperse! I've been fighting on the internet for ten years, and both my parents are alive! They call me the Little Keyboard Immortal! Anyone who argues with me can ***!)"
"I originally wanted to say it would be the end of the extraordinary path, but that doesn't seem very likely... That guy talking about world downgrading makes a lot of sense!"
"Who cares what happens to Cangxin Continent?! I only care when the extraordinary will become widespread on Earth!"
"Plus one! I'm so damn angry! The fire's almost burning our asses, and everyone's still this calm? Where are the big moves? Every time I see news about those extraordinary big shots, jealousy twists me out of shape!"
"Trust the country! The future will definitely get better!"
"I can't get my hands on the Swift Wind Pavilion's 'Wind Element Body Tempering Technique' in China, America's Holy Hall hoards its 'Pure White Prayer' like a broom it treasures and refuses to pass it on, and the Secret Master Association of the European Union's 'Mystic Meditation Method' is even more unattainable than the moon in the sky. I'm going crazy with anxiety!"
As for the well-informed non-Earth viewers, after seeing Zhou Zhe's reward, they were so jealous their cells nearly underwent plasmolysis.
According to the most widespread classification in the universe, the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation residing within Zhou Zhe should be categorized as a "supernatural organ."
Supernatural organs were divided into grades as well!
Take Roxstar, the Cosmic Gladiator from Sigma Star, as an example—this legendary Super Horned Demon possessed an Extraordinary Organ that had appeared in his right ear due to genetic mutation: a Super EX Gene crystal.
His Super EX Gene crystal had tremendous developmental potential and could be rated as a "Mid-Tier Extraordinary Organ." The ordinary EX Gene crystals within common Horned Demons could only be rated as "Low-Tier Extraordinary Organs."
And the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation Zhou Zhe had obtained...
Was among the very finest of High-Tier Extraordinary Organs.
It was the embodiment of world laws, capable of granting an utterly ordinary person endless potential!
After issuing the reward, Dao's incarnation did not leave immediately.
His gaze fell upon Zhou Zhe as He said indifferently, "I am issuing you an exclusive mission, with an additional reward."
"Of course, this is a side mission. You have the right to refuse."
Before you continue