"Hand it over!"
The Sky Swallowing Sparrow let out a piercing shriek that could split stone and shatter metal.
"This belongs to me!"
Qiongqi roared and smashed a mountain peak with one swipe of its claw. Shattered rocks flew everywhere, raining down like shooting stars.
The Great Wilderness suffered for it.
Countless Fierce Beasts and birds living in the mountains trembled under the Venerables' pressure. Some were even shaken into clouds of blood by the aftershocks of the battle.
Countless human tribes were also wiped out in this calamity.
Though Stone Village was some distance from the center of the battlefield, the terrifying shock waves had already reached it.
Houses shook, and the ground began to crack.
The villagers' faces turned deathly pale, and the children wailed in terror.
"It's over... Is this Heaven's Punishment?"
"How can we possibly stand against Fierce Beasts of this level?"
Despair spread through the village.
Before a battle between Venerables, mortals were no more than ants. They didn't even have the chance to run.
At the center of the battlefield.
The Sky Swallowing Sparrow's cold eyes swept over the land below.
It saw the countless creatures of the Great Wilderness and the human tribes fleeing for their lives.
"Hmph."
A cold snort rang through heaven and earth.
"There are too many living beings in the Great Wilderness. Too many people mean too many loose tongues."
The Sky Swallowing Sparrow's voice was cold and merciless, utterly indifferent to life.
"The secret of this treasure must not get out."
"To keep the news from spreading..."
It opened its enormous mouth, large enough to swallow the heavens and earth. A black vortex formed within, unleashing a terrifying suction force.
"Today, I'll bathe the Great Wilderness in blood!"
"I'll start with the humans. Not one will be left alive!"
BOOM!
As its words fell, a destructive force swept across thousands of miles below.
Countless towering trees were ripped from the ground, and enormous rocks shot into the sky. Countless beasts and humans let out wails of agony as they were dragged helplessly toward that black-hole-like maw.
This was a massacre!
An extermination carried out to conceal a secret!
Though the Willow Deity protected Stone Village, keeping it from being swept away for now, the pressure of that apocalyptic force already left everyone gasping for breath.
"It's going to eat us!"
Shi Linhu's hand trembled around his bone knife, despair filling his eyes.
"Let's fight! We'll take it on!"
Some hot-blooded men tried to charge out, but Shi Yunfeng held them back with all his might.
"Don't go! It's a Venerable! You'd only be throwing your lives away!"
Crying, shouting, and desperate prayers mingled together.
Amid this apocalyptic scene.
Beneath the Willow Tree.
Ye Xuan's expression was terrifyingly calm.
He looked up. Through the immense distance, his Chaos Heavy Pupils fixed coldly on the arrogant Sky Swallowing Sparrow.
"Bathe the Great Wilderness in blood?"
"Eat people?"
A cold smile tugged at Ye Xuan's lips.
A mangy bird dared to say it would eat every human in front of the Human Emperor?
Did it really think I'm a pushover? Besides, the Willow Deity is here!
Ye Xuan turned to face the Willow Tree.
At that moment, the Willow Deity's hundreds of new branches swayed gently. She had clearly been angered by these ignorant upstarts who didn't know what was good for them.
Ye Xuan clasped his hands and bowed deeply.
"Master."
His voice was quiet, yet carried a biting murderous intent.
"A few noisy wild game have disturbed Stone Village's peace."
"Your disciple begs you to act and suppress them."
BZZZT—
At the village entrance, the Willow Tree that had always lain dormant suddenly unleashed an aura that made the Myriad Worlds tremble.
This wasn't an ordinary tree awakening. It was an Immortal King opening her eyes from slumber.
The hundreds of emerald branches that had hung softly at rest suddenly snapped taut.
SHING!
Without warning.
The Willow Twigs surged outward, transforming into Order Divine Chains that reached from heaven to earth.
Green radiance filled the sky. Each leaf bore a star, and each branch seemed to be unfolding a world of its own.
The gloomy sky was instantly illuminated by brilliant green light.
An indescribably colossal phantom of a willow slowly appeared above Stone Village.
It was enormous.
Its canopy covered the sun, moon, and stars, stretching over the entire Great Wilderness.
Its roots plunged into the depths of the void, drawing upon the essence of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
Before that magnificent Dharma Form, the Four Venerables who had just seemed invincible, as though they could destroy the world, suddenly became as tiny as ants.
The sheer visual impact left everyone holding their breath.
"Is that the Sacrificial Spirit?!"
The people of Stone Village fell to their knees, their souls trembling.
High above.
The Sky Swallowing Sparrow, still rampaging moments ago, showed utter terror in its cold eyes for the first time.
Its vaunted Devouring Black Hole looked like a ridiculous little bubble before this towering willow.
"Who are you? How can someone like you exist in the lower realm?!"
The Sky Swallowing Sparrow shrieked, its voice full of panic.
It sensed death—the absolute crushing difference between their Life Levels.
It beat its wings frantically, trying to tear open the void and escape.
"Quiet."
A wave of Divine Sense swept across heaven and earth.
The Willow Deity made no other move.
A single Willow Twig reached out, light as a feather.
It disregarded the distance between them and ignored the protective Black Mist swirling around the Sky Swallowing Sparrow, passing through as easily as through a sheet of paper.
PUFF!
A soft sound.
The jade-green Willow Twig pierced straight through the Sky Swallowing Sparrow's head, which was hard as divine iron.
Blood sprayed through the sky.
The Sky Swallowing Sparrow's enormous body jerked still, the ferocity fading swiftly from its eyes.
Its Primordial Spirit was utterly destroyed by the Order Divine Chains in that single strike.
One blow, and both body and soul were annihilated!
The infamous demon bird, which had devoured countless living beings, didn't even get the chance to beg for mercy before becoming a still-warm corpse.
"ROAR—!"
Nearby, Qiongqi was so terrified that its soul nearly fled its body.
Its vicious aura collapsed in an instant. It beat its wings frantically, desperate to escape this horrifying place.
"Since you're here, you might as well stay."
Another Willow Twig swept through the air.
It looked as soft and gentle as a willow stirred by the spring breeze.
But when it struck Qiongqi's back, it weighed a hundred million Jun.
CRACK!
The crisp sound of breaking bone rang through the clouds.
Qiongqi let out a miserable howl. The backbone it had always been so proud of snapped beneath the Willow Twig.
Its massive body lost all support and plunged from the sky like a heap of mud.
"Come."
The Willow Twig curled around them.
The enormous corpses of the Sky Swallowing Sparrow and Qiongqi shrank rapidly as the Order Divine Chains coiled around them.
All their essence and flesh were perfectly contained, without a trace being lost.
In the blink of an eye.
The two corpses had shrunk to the size of small hills. Wrapped in the Willow Twig, they were gently tossed onto Stone Village's threshing ground.
THUD! THUD!
Two muffled thumps—that was tonight's dinner.
It had all happened too fast.
From the moment Ye Xuan spoke to the deaths of the two Venerables, no more than three breaths had passed.
The sky and earth grew clear again.
Only the golden Zhu Yan, trembling high above, and the Vermilion Bird, which had snuffed out its flames and curled into a ball, remained.
The two had been fighting over the Mountain Treasure as well, but unlike the Sky Swallowing Sparrow, they hadn't attacked any mortals.
Now, seeing two "fellow daoists" of their own level die in an instant, the two Venerables were so terrified that every hair stood on end.
The Black Iron Staff in Zhu Yan's hand shook. Its golden eyes brimmed with innocence and a plea for mercy.
The Vermilion Bird buried its head in its wings, not daring to look at that terrifying willow.
How terrifying!
How could this be just a Sacrificial Spirit?
This was clearly an almighty god of the lower realm!
Before you continue