Minghe: Arrogant!!

Dan Jing stepped forward.

With a light wave of his hand—

Hum!

Rays of auspicious golden Merit light flowed, and the Sun Essence Wheel appeared behind Dan Jing.

Then,

the fearsome, razor-sharp Sun Essence Wheel transformed into a great sun. It rose majestically into the sky above the Boundless Great Thousand World, replacing the brilliant sun already there.

Immediately afterward,

everyone within the Boundless Great Thousand World could clearly sense—

an incomparable power of the Solar Dao had arisen alongside the Sun Essence Wheel, making the entire world as impregnable as a fortress!

This power...

They all recognized it—

Dan Jing was sustaining and reinforcing the entire Boundless Great Thousand World!

Was he giving everyone a chance to unleash their full strength?

Dan Jing was as arrogant as ever.

He intended—

to sustain the entire Boundless Great Thousand World with one hand while fending off a host of Quasi-Sages with the other.

Such behavior was truly—

incomparably conceited!

And it made anger surge in their hearts!

How dare he?

Who did he think he was looking down on?

So many renowned powerhouses stood here, all of them mighty Quasi-Sages, yet even together they weren't enough to make Dan Jing fight at full strength?

He looked down on them far too much.

Among the assembled powerhouses,

Minghe was the angriest—and the first to attack Dan Jing. At the sight, his expression turned cold.

A surging killing intent burst from him, drawing on the power of the Slaughter Dao and shaking the Boundless Great Thousand World.

He roared coldly:

"Arrogant!!!"

Minghe strode forward and looked up at Dan Jing, anger surfacing on his face.

He held Yuantu and Abi in his hands, while the Karma Fire Red Lotus flew from beneath his feet to above his head, shedding protective light around him.

Against Dan Jing—

continuing to stand atop the Karma Fire Red Lotus like a fixed target would be far too risky.

Minghe was cautious. Angry as he was, he had not lost his reason.

Seeing Minghe's actions, Dan Jing had a fair idea of what he planned. His Golden Eyes lit up, and he held back the Chaos Bell he had been about to bring out.

No rush to make a move!

Something entertaining has delivered itself to my door.

He wanted to see—

what sort of performance that old rascal Minghe could put on for the great Dan Jing.

Whether it was good or not—

if there was amusement to be had, Dan Jing was happy to give Minghe the chance to put on a show!

"You brat!"

Minghe glared at Dan Jing in outrage and shouted again and again:

"Cease your arrogance!"

"..."

"The Primordial World is vast beyond measure! How could it tolerate such insolence from you?"

"..."

"Everyone, listen to me—"

"There are so many of us. If we all rush him at once, we might suppress him before his strength runs out."

"..."

Minghe's presence was overwhelming, and killing intent bristled around him.

It looked—

as though he was ready to fight Dan Jing to the death, whatever the cost!

Yet, strangely, Minghe went no further than those two steps forward.

Everything else—

remained words. He made no move to carry them out!

"..."

None of the powerhouses present were fools.

A few words from Minghe were hardly going to make anyone lose their head and charge at Dan Jing.

At that moment,

everyone watched Minghe as if he were an idiot. His speech was stirring, but his movements were exceedingly cautious; at any moment, he looked ready to put the others between himself and Dan Jing.

They were all renowned powerhouses across the cosmos. Who among them wasn't cunning?

Minghe, of all people—

who did he think he was fooling with that sweet act?

"..."

When his impassioned words failed to stir the slightest response, Minghe stopped performing and fell silent.

He hadn't truly expected his words to spur someone else into attacking first and testing the madman Dan Jing, who was watching them at his leisure.

But what did it matter?

Whether or not there was fruit on the tree, he might as well give it a shake!

What if some fool had rushed in?

After all, of the fifty paths of Heaven, forty-nine were manifest and one escaped!

The odds of a complete fool appearing were low, but they were certainly not zero.

Once Minghe shut up,

the Boundless Great Thousand World fell quiet.

The assembled powerhouses stood in silence.

While facing Dan Jing, they also roughly divided into camps—

Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi stood together.

The Queen Mother of the West stood with Xuan Nü and the others, forming the largest group.

Minghe and Kunpeng each occupied a position alone, ready for battle!

Seeing that they had fallen silent,

high in the sky,

Dan Jing sat at ease on the World-Purifying White Lotus, casually tossing the Chaos Bell in his right hand. He raised an eyebrow.

He laughed.

"Hahaha... Why so quiet?"

"Minghe, is your clown act over already?"

"And the rest of you—why aren't you shouting about 'love,' 'justice,' and 'the weak must not be humiliated' before charging me all at once?"

"Hahaha..."

Everyone could hear Dan Jing's delight.

Clearly—

he had found Minghe's clown act rather satisfying!

At Dan Jing's words,

the people in the Boundless Great Thousand World exchanged glances, then fell silent.

At that moment,

they had no idea how to face a powerhouse like Dan Jing.

One glimpse of the leopard was enough to know the whole beast—

Dan Jing had effortlessly pulled all of them into this Boundless Great Thousand World, a world he had opened with a casual wave of his hand.

That alone told them how great the gulf between them was.

Rushing him together would not bridge it!

This battle—

had lost all meaning.

Whether they had come to seize the Primordial Purple Qi or for some other reason,

the moment Dan Jing made his move—

they had all become playthings for his amusement!

To keep fighting... would only give that madman Dan Jing what he wanted.

After a moment of silence,

Kunpeng, who had suffered the gravest injuries, assumed his Innate Dao Body and stepped forward.

He cupped his hands toward Dan Jing in the sky.

"Your Majesty Sun God, I concede. If I have offended you, I hope you will forgive me!"

He was done fighting.

Kunpeng could feel the grievous wounds to his Dao within him—

if he fought on, wouldn't he have to spend dozens of cosmic cycles in seclusion at the Northern Dark Sea before he could recover?

He might exchange a few moves with someone else, but fighting Dan Jing was out of the question!

"Oh?"

Dan Jing's laughter faded a little, and his Golden Eyes flicked toward Kunpeng, who had conceded.

Then,

he looked at the others.

"Do the rest of you feel the same?"

At that question,

Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi exchanged a glance, then bowed to Dan Jing as well.

They said in unison:

"Your Majesty Sun God, neither of us wishes to be your enemy!"

Next,

the Queen Mother of the West stepped forward and bowed.

In a cool voice, she said:

"Your Majesty Sun God, I had no wish to disturb you. Please forgive the intrusion!"

The Queen Mother of the West spoke for Xuan Nü and the others.

As soon as she finished,

Xuan Nü and the others declared together:

"We had no wish to disturb you. Please forgive the intrusion!"

When their voices died away,

only one person in the Boundless Great Thousand World had yet to yield—and could not yield: Minghe.

"..."

Minghe's face darkened.

The others could concede.

But he alone had attacked and disturbed the great boss—

there was no way Dan Jing, high in the sky, would accept his surrender!

Of course,

Minghe had no intention of surrendering anyway.

Dan Jing was powerful indeed—

but did that make Minghe weak?

No!

He was no weakling!

Everyone knew Minghe never boasted about himself.

But he knew he was strong. Extremely strong. Strong in the literal sense—stronger than the literal sense could express, and stronger even than that!

Perhaps even...

In short—

he, Minghe, was not weak!

Dan Jing watched everyone else back down and concede.

Only Minghe remained, neck stiff, face grim, and mouth shut. Dan Jing found it all the more entertaining.

The clownish speech Minghe had just performed really had given him quite a bit of joy.

But right now—

Minghe had nowhere left to retreat. Watching him backed into a corner was every bit as entertaining!

So much so that—

Dan Jing, who had been irritated when so many of his "actors" threatened to quit the performance, turned his Golden Eyes fully upon Minghe.

Good, good, good—

As expected of Minghe. The entertainment he provided alone rivaled everyone else's combined.

Whoosh!

Minghe snapped his head up.

His blood-red eyes fixed on Dan Jing in the sky, and the vast power of the Slaughter Dao around him became a sea of blood.

Bloodlight surged across heaven and earth. Chilling murderous intent coursed through the entire Boundless Great Thousand World.

Tap—

Minghe took a step toward Dan Jing in earnest. Bloodlight flickered along the blades of Yuantu and Abi in his hands.

He advanced on Dan Jing like a hero staking everything on one last throw.

He declared:

"You are strong, but this old ancestor is no weakling!"

"You think a few words, one attack, and a little pressure are enough to make this old ancestor admit defeat?"

"Dream on!"

"Who do you think this old ancestor is?"

"Huh?!!"

He roared.

Boom!

Minghe launched his attack at Dan Jing—

The Endless Sea of Blood, born from the power of the Slaughter Dao, heaved up boundless waves that swallowed sky and earth. Carrying immeasurable killing power, they swept toward Dan Jing, who sat alone above.

Clang!

Yuantu and Abi slashed out. Their blood-red sword beams compressed to the utmost and cut across space and time without raising the slightest ripple.

Those two sword beams—

Held all their killing power within, awaiting the instant it would be unleashed!

"Heh!"

Seeing Minghe finally attack, Dan Jing smiled and gave a soft laugh.

Then—

He glanced at the two blood-red sword beams, now less than ten thousand li from him.

He blew out a gentle breath—

"Phew!"

That faint breath became Solar Wind, which burned all things away unseen, and reached the two blood-red sword beams in an instant.

Then—

Whoosh—

Under the Solar Wind's caress, the two blood-red sword beams were gently erased, as though they were no more than specks of impurity in heaven and earth.

The next moment—

Hum—

The Sun Essence Wheel, transformed into a blazing sun high in the sky, poured out a vast flood of sunlight.

In an instant—

The temperature throughout the Boundless Great Thousand World soared!

And the Endless Sea of Blood—the world-drowning manifestation of the Slaughter Dao's power that had surged toward Dan Jing—began to boil, evaporate, and vanish beneath the sunlight illuminating the world!

Three breaths later—

The Endless Sea of Blood—

Had vanished from the Boundless Great Thousand World.

When his blood-red sword beams were broken—

When the Endless Sea of Blood formed from his Slaughter Dao was boiled dry—

Minghe's once-mighty aura plummeted, and he spat out a mouthful of scarlet immortal blood.

"Pfft!!"

Spitting scarlet immortal blood, Minghe stumbled to a halt.

Before he could recover—

Dong—

A great bell rang out with a sudden, explosive peal!

Then—

The Chaos Bell, shimmering with Five-Colored Radiance and the killing power of the Supreme Treasures, grew to the size of a mountain.

It hurtled straight toward Minghe—

And slammed into him!