Dao Heart Collapse? No! I Quit!

The disdainful smile that had once placed the entire Primordial World beneath his feet didn't linger on Yang Chen's face for too long.

It was like a crack on an ice surface, appearing and disappearing just as quickly.

This was because the terrifying burden, enough to crush the entire world, had not lessened in the slightest.

Above his head, the dark tribulation clouds continued to churn and gather silently. The Heavenly Punishment Divine Thunder brewing within them, its destructive aura, was climbing exponentially every moment, as if it would transform into the Heavenly Dao's most ruthless judgment in the next instant, completely erasing him from existence.

The supreme Saintly wills of the Six Paths had transformed into six invisible divine mountains of the universe, pinning him firmly in place from every temporal node of the past, present, and future, and from every level of law such as karma, destiny, and reincarnation.

That pressure wasn't acting upon his physical body, but was directly crushing his True Spirit.

The boiling blood that Yang Chen's system had ignited was being forcibly cooled by this icy will.

Within him, the curses and wails of the countless souls of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans had never ceased.

This was not an illusion.

It was real, an eternal brand etched into karma.

The shrill Dragon's Roar, carrying the endless resentment of betrayal, tore at his Divine Soul.

The mournful cry of the Divine Phoenix, imbued with the despair of its Nirvana Fire being extinguished, burned his Dao Heart.

The First Qilin's unending killing intent, even in death, transformed into the purest demonic sound, attempting to make him completely lose himself and become a madman who knew only slaughter.

Under such torment, any Grand Unity Golden Immortal would have their Dao Heart completely collapse and their Divine Soul lost within three breaths.

Yang Chen's eyes began to unfocus uncontrollably.

The muscles in his face twitched in agony, and his body trembled violently, like a sieve.

He knew that his brief, silent provocation was, in the eyes of these Saints who had lived for countless Aeons, perhaps merely the final, laughable struggle of an ant before its death.

They would not believe it.

They would not believe that someone could still try to bargain for their life in such a desperate situation.

They would only wait, waiting for him to be completely crushed by the immeasurable Karmic Force and Heavenly Might, to become an empty shell devoid of self-awareness, and then they would act to thoroughly purify him, this "Karma Vessel."

Therefore, he could not wait any longer.

He could not directly flip the table; that would be too abrupt and would only invite the most ferocious lightning strike.

He needed an opportunity.

An opportunity that all these high-and-mighty creditors would believe without question.

An opportunity that would make them believe he had truly reached his limit, that he truly "could not go on living."

He had to act.

Using all the cunning from his two lives, employing his deepest understanding of human nature, he would perform a show that could fool the Heavenly Dao and the Saints... a collapse of his Dao Heart!

This thought, like the coldest viper, coiled deep within his heart, which had been consumed by icy madness.

The next moment.

The last sliver of clarity and reason in Yang Chen's eyes completely "extinguished."

He released his final guard over his Divine Soul, allowing the endless negative emotions to engulf him like a breaching black flood.

"Ah--!"

A roar, unlike any human sound, filled with extreme pain and despair, exploded from the depths of his throat.

He suddenly clutched his head, curling into a ball, writhing and spasming in agony on the ground covered in immortal herbs and celestial flowers.

"Why!"

"Why me!"

His voice was hoarse and shrill, each word carrying a blood-soaked grief and a most vicious accusation against fate.

"I just wanted to cultivate immortality properly! I just wanted to attain eternal life! What did I do wrong!"

He slammed his head against the hard ground repeatedly, emitting dull "thudding" sounds.

He pounded the ground beneath him with his fists, each blow using all his strength. The skin and flesh of his knuckles instantly split open, blood mixing with the black aura of Karmic Force, corroding the immortal herbs beneath him into scorched earth.

But he couldn't feel the pain.

Or rather, the physical pain had long been completely overshadowed by the endless torment originating from the depths of his soul.

His performance was so real.

Because he didn't need to "act" in pain at all.

He only needed to reveal the one-ten-thousandth of the real pain he was enduring, without reservation, and it would be enough to move any living being to fear and dread.

The scene before his eyes had completely transformed into a hellscape of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

His ears were filled only with the endless wails and curses of countless souls.

His Dao Heart, under the scouring of the infinite Karmic Force, was emitting a mournful cry of cracking under unbearable strain.

"Too tired..."

His roars gradually turned into low, unintelligible murmurs.

"I'm really... so tired..."

His rolling movements stopped, and his entire body felt as if all its bones had been removed, slumping limply into the small pit he had created.

His chest heaved violently, each breath like a dying bellows, difficult and weak.

The last spark of light in his eyes gradually dimmed, bit by bit.

Finally, it transformed into a desolate, ashen gray, devoid of any hope.

It was as if all his will, all his hope, all his vitality had been completely worn away, devoured, and digested by the karma of this immeasurable kalpa.

This scene did not escape anyone's notice.

It was perceived with perfect clarity by the Heavenly Dao, suspended high above the nine heavens.

It was also fully witnessed by the supreme will of the Six Paths, spanning the universe.

In the Jade Void Palace on Eastern Kunlun Mountain, the cold and majestic will merely "watched" indifferently, without the slightest ripple. In its view, this was the fated outcome. An anomaly tainted by filth, its Dao Heart was inherently fragile; its collapse was only natural.

Within Biyou Palace on Golden Ao Island in the East Sea, the incomparably sharp aura of slaughter slightly receded. Sovereign of Heaven was waiting for the moment the source of this karmic force completely lost its ability to resist, then he would annihilate it with thunderous means to eliminate future trouble.

Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, in Wa Huang Palace, the trace of compassion grew more profound, yet also more powerless. She saw a being on the verge of perishing but was unable to intervene and save him due to her responsibilities as a Saint.

On Mount Sumeru in the West, the two wills filled with calculation now appeared somewhat "regretful." They regretted not Yang Chen's death, but rather that such an excellent "Karma Vessel" was about to be completely ruined, unable to contribute its final value to the grand aspirations of the Western Teachings.

In the Eight Sceneries Palace on Shouyang Mountain, Taishang's will of non-action remained as placid as a still ancient well. Life and death, in its view, were merely ordinary links in the operation of the Great Dao. The emergence of this anomaly was a variable, and its destruction was the return of all things to the righteous path of "non-action."

In the perception of the Heavenly Dao and the Six Saints, this unlucky fellow who inherited Rahula's lifetime of karma had finally failed to hold on.

His Dao Heart had collapsed.

His True Spirit was about to be annihilated.

He was only one step away from complete, irreversible destruction.

This was normal.

This was only to be expected.

This was the sole and inevitable outcome.

However, they did not know that this was merely the prelude to a world-shattering gamble meticulously prepared by Yang Chen.