"You are the ultimate weapon of the Human Realm, the dragon bestowed by the Dream Realm, Jue."
All around him turned to darkness.
Lines of Crimson Small Characters flickered nonstop before Gu Qingshan's eyes.
"The weapon's data will be reset in preparation for its final evolution."
"You may see some visions."
"They are merely remnants of data from the Past Era, about to be erased, so pay them no mind."
"Begin!"
Gu Qingshan vaguely heard a multitude of sounds.
Shouts.
The thunder of battle.
He seemed to see countless Mobile Armors attacking a city in the sky.
Beacons of smoke billowed.
A steel dragon swept past all the Mobile Armors, roaring as it shot into the sky.
A man stood atop the steel dragon's head and bellowed:
"Heavenly Emperor!"
"You can either die, or—"
"—come—fight!"
As this challenge rang out, electronic voices rose and fell across the land:
"Long live the Human Race!"
"Long live the Human Race!"
"Long live the Human Race!"
A figure appeared among the clouds.
It was the Previous Heavenly Emperor.
He looked down at the steel dragon beneath Cloud Top, his face clouded with an inscrutable expression.
"You've gone too far. It's too dangerous."
The Heavenly Emperor's sigh carried in every direction.
Deep in the sky, among the clouds, one bronze pillar after another suddenly appeared.
Voices spoke from those bronze pillars—
"The Human Race is a people who..."
"They keep learning, excel at improving, work too hard, and create far too many miracles."
"They are an uncontrollable factor."
"The Human Realm... is developing faster than anywhere else in the Six Paths. That makes me uneasy."
"Agreed."
"Then—let's first wipe out all the Holy Chosen of the Human Race."
"Together!"
The whole world quickly darkened, as though night had fallen.
The steel dragon seemed to