Desolate Pagoda

The whispers of the supreme beings from the Divine Ruins sent chills down the spines of all saints.

The heaven and earth surged, star domains trembled, and supreme fluctuations swept across tens of millions of miles of the heavens.

With a loud crash, like the sky collapsing, a beam of light pierced through the Thirty-Three Layers of Heaven, and a figure soared into the air, making countless stars shudder and shaking the vast sea of stars.

He emerged into the world, breaking open the Immortal Origin, stepping out from the Divine Ruins, and lording over the entire world.

Like a long-dormant evil dragon waking up, the terrifying pressure threatened to freeze even the air.

The three realms trembled, the Supreme Dao Law surged, and the ancient emperor possessed a majestic posture, as if returning to his most glorious times. A single wispy aura crushed the firmament, spreading across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

"The sky has fallen. An event as rare as none in ancient history is about to take place."

"Supreme beings have emerged. Corpses will float in their billions, blood will flow like oars, and the mortal world will be no different from hell."

Without warning, the Dark Turmoil descended once again. This time, with no Great Emperor to shelter all living beings, the myriad spirits across the universe felt deep grief and sorrow.

The primeval emperor gave a cruel, cold chuckle, caring not at all about their grief. With a calm expression, he opened his mouth and inhaled the essence of the sun and moon, plunging the Big Dipper into darkness.

His eyes held only the Great Dao. Ignoring the pleas and mourning of all living beings, he remained cold and ruthless to the extreme, viewing them as livestock kept in captivity.

All living beings were merely losing their ant-like lives. If he did not replenish his Qi and blood, what he would lose was the chance to become an immortal.

"Fellow daoists, why do this? The time is nearly a thousand years earlier than we agreed."

Another voice rang out from the Divine Ruins, sounding somewhat dissatisfied.

"If I do not emerge now, my state will decline, which will be even more disadvantageous.

That Demonic Emperor has been dead for over a thousand years. Even with peerless talent, it is impossible for him to fake his death for so long; he must have died thoroughly long ago.

He is merely a dead man, why need we fear him?"

His voice was ringing and powerful, spreading throughout heaven and earth, possessing a peerless and dominant ambition.

The figure stepped into the universe, acting like a master, devouring the essence of ancient stars while entwined by streams of galaxy.

The saints panicked, fleeing desperately toward the borderlands. He was not in a rush to harvest them, casting a cold look their way.

"You run, but where can you run to? Sooner or later, you will be harvested."

With the entire universe in the palm of a supreme being, what use was running? In the end, they would all become blood food.

Whenever myriad spirits found themselves within the universe, there was no way up to heaven and no door down to earth; they could only act as lambs ready for slaughter.

"Sigh, very well. We shall do as you say. Let us all emerge together, first go and cut down that Great Accomplishment Hegemon Body, find the Demonic Emperor's remains, and devour him together."

Divine sense fluctuated, and yet another beam of light soared into the sky, shooting deep into the boundless universe.

When two supreme beings emerged together, even a Great Emperor of the current era had to temporarily avoid their sharp edge, let alone a mere Hegemon Body.

The universe ushered in a dark era. The supreme beings launched the turmoil together; who could suppress them? No one in the current era had yet achieved the status of Quasi-Emperor. The gap between the strongest and the supreme beings could be said to be that between ants and the blazing sun, vast enough to induce despair.

"Fellow daoists, let us first jointly deduce the location of the Hegemon Body. Delay brings changes.

The rest are merely a group of blood food; they cannot escape our palms. It won't be too late to devour them later."

The latter-emerging supreme being said.

He was not steady; rather, he cared more about the immortal artifacts, treating the turmoil as secondary.

The Demonic Emperor wielded three immortal artifacts—this was a well-known fact. It was very likely that they were buried alongside the Demonic Emperor on some life-bearing ancient star.

Facing all three together was difficult even for them to handle, so they had to make a quick decision to eliminate the Hegemon Body who might be connected to the immortal artifacts first.

After bathing in the Hegemon blood, launching the turmoil to restore their Qi and blood, and joining forces with the Underworld to deduce and find the location of the Demonic Emperor's burial ground, they would subjugate the immortal artifacts one by one.

The Nether Treasure would belong to the Underworld, and the two supreme beings would each take one immortal artifact, returning triumphantly to the Divine Ruins.

Without a master to control them, artifacts were ultimately like water without a source; they could be worn down into submission.

They believed their calculations were foolproof. Unless other forbidden zones interfered, they would undoubtedly reap a very rich harvest.

The two great supreme beings stood alone in the starry sky, ignoring the shrimp-like sages fleeing for their lives, and used a forbidden secret technique to deduce. Their laws extended across the Six Harmonies and Eight Desolations, determined to find the Hegemon Body's hiding place.

The universe of Heaven and Earth turned into strands of Daoist law, encompassed within the supreme beings' deduction.

They attempted to join forces to uncover a corner of the heavenly secrets. Golden Dao patterns evolved, and scenes flickered around their bodies.

The scene was blurry, surging with extreme Dao divine light and carrying a sacred radiance.

It was the sight of the Demonic Court, situated within a star. The heavenly palace was vast, resembling a continuous mountain range, wreathed in Chaos Qi, magnificent and grand.

"This Demonic Emperor has achieved creation, hiding the location of the Demonic Court. Even when imperial dao figures join forces to deduce it, they cannot find it. Damn it."

One supreme being said with hatred.

The two of them joined forces and still failed to find the location of the Demonic Court. There were no clues to investigate; the heavenly secrets had long since been severed by the Demonic Emperor himself.

"No matter. If we cannot deduce it, we shall break it with brute force."

Deeply hidden though the Demonic Court might be, it was ultimately located within the universe. As long as they locked onto a region and wiped it out down to the last blade of grass using Imperial Dao Law, the remaining Demonic Court would be exposed sooner or later.

This tactic was ruthless enough to force the Demonic Court out, though it was uncertain how many star domains would be affected. Most likely, a vast expanse of starry sky would dim hereafter, devoid of all life force.

However, the supreme beings cared not; after them, the deluge.

They designated a massive set of coordinates encompassing a hundred thousand star domains, intending to obliterate them entirely.

Yet before they could act, a crisp, falling-coin sound reached the entire void, clear and distinct.

"It's a trap, run!"

One supreme being's spiritual sense shook violently, a sense of horror rising in his heart. An indescribable danger was about to descend.

The moment before, he intended to transform into a world-destroying demon god; the next moment, he flew backward on the spot, attempting to escape the region.

He practiced the Forward Secret, possessing extraordinarily powerful spiritual sense that could predict fortune and misfortune, and even peer into the future.

At this moment, his spiritual sense was uncharacteristically issuing warnings, as if he were standing inside the jaws of an irresistible, monstrous beast that would tear him into tiny fragments in the next second.

The other's reaction was much the same; most imperial dao figures had similar strengths across various aspects.

He exerted all his strength to fly away, seeing that something was wrong, but the surrounding void had unconsciously formed a solid cage, carving out a vast immortal array.

"It's the Heaven-Piercing Nether Treasure! It has carved array marks; we can't get out."

He had still been thinking of seizing the immortal artifact to wash away his humiliation, only to fall into the Demonic Emperor's trap so quickly. It looked like his chances of survival were slim.

Built using the Heaven-Piercing Nether Treasure, it drew in the essence of the eight directions, condensed peerless immortal power, and erupted with monstrous killing intent.

The peerless light expanded, tearing open a corner of heaven and earth, isolating them from the cosmos. It churned with immortal Qi, launching shockwaves one after another toward the two supreme beings.

"Join forces to break out! Even if we suffer some loss of Qi and blood, it doesn't matter; we can make it back. The longer we drag this out, the more disadvantageous it becomes."

A supreme being roared, clad in divine armor, snapping strands of order divine chains one by one as he coordinated with the other.

The two of them crashed forward with all their might, crushing everything like withered weeds and rotting wood, fighting to the point of madness and shattering everything along their path.

Imperial Dao Law intertwined to counter those immortal light dao principles, violently colliding.

He panted heavily, secretly lamenting his misfortune. Before his condition was even fully replenished, he had taken another hit; even if he could return alive today, it would be difficult to self-seal again.

Hardly knowing how much time had passed, the two fought their way through heavy blockages, shattering strand after strand of murderous intent. Even their ancient emperor weapons were beaten until they dimmed and were stained with blood.

Yet the immortal array ahead continued to evolve. Millions of strands of order divine chains snapped, only to endlessly regenerate—impossible to break, endless to sever.

The Heaven-Piercing Nether Treasure never once exerted force from the sidelines, yet the immortal array alone was so powerful that it caused both of them to feel a trace of despair.

This battle was truly a case of losing the wife and losing the troops as well. Even the other supreme being regretted it; had he known, he wouldn't have harbored designs on the immortal artifact, otherwise he wouldn't have ended up risking his life.

"Fucking Demonic Emperor, devious enough to force me to sublimate to the utmost."

The supreme being roared, his resentful words spreading across the Six Harmonies and Eight Desolations. Sublimation was equivalent to courting death; it was a choice made only when one had no other alternative.

Having waited so long for the Path to Immortality and given everything, only to face such an ending, resentment filled his heart, yet he had no other choice.

The immortal array trapped the supreme being. If he didn't escape soon, he would sit and transform right there. Since it came to this, he might as well ascend the imperial throne once more and welcome back the dignity of a lifetime of supremacy.

At the very least, he would make the Demonic Emperor pay a price. To fade away like this would mean he could never rest in peace for all eternity, his hatred burning until the end of the era without fading.

Blooming with peak glory amidst sublimation, his entire body shone brilliantly, and the myriad laws could no longer touch him.

Amidst the rain of light all over the sky, the supreme being uttered a resentful curse. His voice was unprecedentedly shrill, and the atmosphere of despair was shocking and terrifying.

His aura surpassed ancient and modern times; the supreme pressure was sensed even at the edge of the universe, and the entire starry sky shuddered.

One supreme being after another awoke, gazing from the forbidden zones, silently watching his final act.

"Demonic Emperor... You shall die a horrible death!"

His eyes were close to madness, his face distorted and exceptionally grief-stricken.

From then on, the grand array could no longer trap him as before. The supreme being unleashed blow after blow, fighting with berserk fury as Imperial Dao Law clashed with immortal power, turning the place into a region of void turbulence.

The earth-shattering attacks were stunning, their light illuminating eternity.

With a loud boom, the immortal array was pierced through at a gap, splitting open several cracks as immortal Qi drifted out.

The supreme being's roar shook the sun, moon, and stars, shocking the mortal world as he forcefully carved out a path to survival, his body covered in shocking blood.

The other supreme being remained silent. Seeing that the formation had a flaw, he immediately fled.

"Fellow Daoist, the Demonic Emperor is our common enemy. This debt is one I shall also settle with him in the future."

Fearing that the other party would be driven to desperation and target him to replenish their Qi and blood regardless of the consequences, he spoke first to placate him.

Yet before he could escape, a startling bolt of immortal light cleaved down fiercely, slicing him in half.

The divine light was dazzling, sweeping across the sea of stars and stirring the void with peerless brilliance.

It was like splitting open the chaos, terrifying to the extreme. Time and space were no longer constraints as a vast river slid past. Immortal light filled the sky, shining brilliantly, shaking the universe and scattering supreme dao principles.

The supreme being's blood splattered five paces away. His spiritual sense had no time to react before his essence, Qi, and spirit withered away, his eyes wide with disbelief.

A single sword strike could slay all immortals, demons, ghosts, and gods. In the lingering heaven and earth, there was only a single figure holding an immortal sword, obscuring the three thousand worlds, reversing past and present, and possessing an unstoppable might.

"You... You actually still aren't dead? Your previous sitting and transformation was merely a lure to draw us out."

He struggled to piece his body back together, attempting to reform, but Zhang Huan refused to give him a chance. Controlling the Nether Treasure, he suppressed him, bound his soul, and locked him within the Immortal Dao Symbols.

A generation of supreme beings fell easily, their souls failing to escape as they were collected along with their physical bodies.

"Demonic Emperor...!"

The sublimated supreme being saw him and opened his eyes wide in fury, killing his way toward him regardless of everything.

"You cannot even break a mere array, yet you vainly attempt to stand beside me at the dome of heaven?"

Zhang Huan looked down condescendingly, holding the immortal sword that could sever the three thousand Daos. A mere supreme being was nothing more than a clay chicken or a earthenware dog, to be ended with a single sword strike.

The hazy River of Time surged with waves, encircling the boundless great universe and blooming with endless auspicious colors.

Grand celestial sounds rolled forth, resonating with the Dao. All manner of mighty forces gathered within the immortal sword, becoming the one and only thing between heaven and earth.

Countless strands of immortal light unfolded like brilliant neon garments, cutting through eternal silence and illuminating the universe.

Even in sublimation, the supreme being remained like an ant. With a single stroke of the sword, he was beaten into fine dust, along with the hardest immortal gold divine armor in the world.

Blood sprayed across the boundless sky as the supreme being wailed in despair, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. Despite trying with all his might, he still couldn't take even a single blow, following in the footsteps of the previous supreme being.

After the abruptness came a deathly silence akin to eternal night.

Regardless of whether it was across various star domains or within the forbidden zones, any expert capable of witnessing this battle had their past perceptions completely overturned.

In people's minds, the two words "Great Emperor" could crush past and present, representing the ultimate in combat power, the ultimate in the Dao, and the ultimate in humanity!

Yet today, people learned that even a Great Emperor was not peerlessly invincible. Catching sight of the Divine Emperor was like seeing the blazing sun from the perspective of a pale moon.

The Divine Emperor was a mountain standing before Great Emperors, difficult to surmount.

Zhang Huan didn't even use his full strength. Recalling the Nether Treasure to clean the battlefield, he stood amidst the wreathed immortal Qi and looked out toward the Big Dipper.

After thousands of years, the golden grand dao emerged once more. Ten thousand strands of divine radiance intertwined, hundreds of millions of Daos shone brilliantly, connecting the other shore of the cosmos.

Stepping on the golden light, he walked alone amidst the gazes of myriad spirits, stepping onto the Big Dipper and entering the Divine Ruins once more.

The creatures of the forbidden zone, intimidated by the pressure, knelt in submission and lowered their heads in fear.

The Southern Heavenly Gate remained, its ruined halls and pavilions unchanged in the slightest. He stepped inside, and the supreme beings proactively awakened to admit their wrongs.

The actions of those two had nothing to do with the other supreme beings in the forbidden zone; they were willing to offer compensation, hoping to prevent another Extreme Dao War from breaking out.

Having just watched how Zhang Huan slaughtered a supreme being, who dared to act tough? With no bottom left in their hearts, they preferred to make limitless concessions rather than provoke this disaster.

Zhang Huan let out a cold snort. As fellow forbidden zone supreme beings, turning a blind eye to the turmoil was no different from aiding and abetting. What was more, not a single supreme being here was innocent.

"Hand over the Emperor Tower and the Immortal Medicine within the Divine Ruins, as well as the divine materials and medicinal herbs you have collected over the years.

If you do not agree, I do not mind slaying a few more supreme beings."

His posture was immensely strong, demanding things overbearingly and directly cutting flesh from the supreme beings.

The air stagnated for a moment, and then the supreme being let out a long breath, unsure whether he was rejoicing or bracing himself mentally.

"Everything else is permissible, but the Emperor Tower already has a master, and we cannot drive it. It will depend on whether you are able to take it away."

They satisfied every demand, even willing to send out their offspring, solely to ease relations.

Zhang Huan's deep gaze remained unresponsive as he walked into the depths of the Divine Ruins.

The Emperor Tower was divided into nine levels, flowing with the power of time. Each level dropped auspicious light and flowed with immortal Qi.

The origin of this immortal artifact was unknown; it had appeared since before ancient history, existing forever in the world and holding extraordinary significance for the human race.

No one had ever been heard of becoming its master. The only news was that it had descended upon the Divine Ruins at some unknown time and vanished from the world ever since.

Zhang Huan stroked the body of the tower, muttering to himself in his heart.

It truly has a master. Who could it be? Is it him?

The next chapter is almost ready.