"He came back to life?"
"No! He... he faked his death!"
Emotions surged through the crowd. They could hardly believe their eyes.
The Yaoguang Holy Land's Candidate Saint Son had not died. He had fooled them all!
All that talk of a dying man, all those last words-it had been a lie!
He still had the strength to fight!
Of course, his grievous injuries were real. He had indeed been crushed by overwhelming force, his body blasted apart.
But within him, a precious medicinal herb was dissolving, and a stone talisman flashed, radiating the brilliance of the saintly Dao!
Beneath that radiance, Dao patterns intertwined into vast, unending vitality!
Surging life force bathed the Candidate Saint Son in dazzling holy light. A battle spear appeared, its divine laws of order shaking the heavens. It possessed power beyond the Second Heaven of the Immortal Platform-a divine weapon of Severing the Dao!
"Kill!"
He roared, his entire body exuding a terrifying aura that towered over the nine heavens. The battle spear, forged from nine heavens divine jade, streaked across heaven and earth and thrust forward with overwhelming terror!
Everything erupted so abruptly that almost anyone would have been caught off guard.
But not Feng Jiu. He seemed to have anticipated it. Just as the spear was about to reach him, he stepped through an incomparably profound footwork pattern. Skirting the edge between life and death in that instant, his skill lending him audacity, he evaded the fatal strike!
"Playing dead, giving your last words, stalling for time, secretly popping medicine... my friend, where's your invincible heart?"
The spear tore through space, piercing heaven and earth, yet it remained a step too slow.
Feng Jiu remained unhurried, though a trace of bewilderment colored his voice.
Was this still someone from Shrouding the Heavens?
Was this still the spirit of Shrouding the Heavens?
Why was he so underhanded?
"An invincible heart?" the Yaoguang Holy Land's Candidate Saint Son said coldly. "A temporary defeat means nothing. Whoever laughs last is the winner!"
"The Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's deeds proved long ago that even after a hundred defeats, you can one day turn heaven and earth upside down!"
"..." Feng Jiu was speechless.
That... actually made a lot of sense.
The Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's life story was like a dose of medicine for everyone who had lost while contending on Emperor Road.
Lost?
Don't worry. Think of the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor. He lost so miserably and still turned the tables in the end. Your troubles have barely begun!
Just think of the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor.
Once you're dead, there's nothing left... only while you're alive is anything possible!
The Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's deeds were like a safety net, a spiritual refuge for every prodigy and outstanding talent who had ever suffered defeat!
Especially in this era, when the suppression of the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's Great Dao had only just faded. His influence had not diminished; instead, it grew ever more far-reaching amid the dazzling splendor of the golden age!
What was a golden age?
Prodigies gathered like clouds, and King Bodies fell like rain!
It meant an endless succession of contests and slaughter!
For someone to win, someone had to lose.
For someone to laugh, someone had to weep.
In the past, losing a battle shattered one's invincible heart. Even those who survived would lose their fighting spirit and eventually withdraw from Emperor Road in silence.
But now... things seemed different!
However bad I am, could I really be worse than the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor? / I should follow the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's example. / If the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor could do it, so can I...
-I can turn the tables!
One of life's four great delusions was terrifying indeed. It became an invisible erosion of the Dao, an alternative evolution of the invincible heart.
-Although I've lost now, I might still follow the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's path and win it all back later!
-Let me see. How did the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor manage to turn the tables?
-Hmm, the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor lived a troubled life, suffering many crushing defeats and repeatedly sinking into despair and dejection. But he encountered great opportunities, first obtaining some of the Ruthless Great Emperor's cultivation arts, then some of the Void Emperor's techniques. After a hundred defeats, he gave birth to a demonic fetus, broke free of his cocoon and was reborn, finally overturning everything, defeating all his former opponents, and standing alone at the summit?
"The ruthless inheritance, the Devouring Heaven Holy Land... they're going to be destroyed. In this lifetime, in this golden age..."
In that instant, understanding dawned on Feng Jiu. Although he had never cultivated the "Movement" Secret or entered the domain of time, he seemed to glimpse a corner of the future.
Even without knowing the original plot, he would have reached the same conclusion.
"Looking at the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's transformation, both the Void Emperor's and the Ruthless Great Emperor's arts played a part... clearly, the Ruthless Great Emperor's arts mattered more."
"After all, the legend of the Indestructible Heavenly Art's immortal fetus transformation corresponds more closely to the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's demonic fetus..."
"So here comes the question."
"If someone wanted to retrace the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's path, what should he do?"
"Well, isn't there a ready-made Devouring Heaven Holy Land right here in the Eastern Wasteland?"
If he himself someday suffered one crushing defeat after another on Emperor Road, survived by sheer luck, and still yearned for revenge, hoping to turn the tables... what should he do, taking the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's Emperor Road as his guide?
Naturally... the look in his eyes when he regarded the ruthless inheritance would change!
What if there were more than one such person? What if all the losers on Emperor Road joined forces?
Granted, this "alliance of losers" did not sound particularly impressive.
But anyone who had stepped onto Emperor Road, fought for supremacy, and survived had to have a few tricks up their sleeve!
It might well be a whole pack of Great Saints, perhaps even Quasi-Emperors!
Then they could work their connections and borrow a few Emperor Weapons...
Ordinarily, an Extreme Dao Holy Land stood above the world. With an Emperor Weapon in hand, it might not claim the whole world as its own, but it could at least swagger wherever it pleased.
Under normal circumstances, its destruction was impossible. So long as it stayed out of the dark turmoil, maintaining its inheritance for hundreds of thousands or even a million years was no great difficulty.
The existence of an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon provided deterrence far more savage than any nuclear arsenal!
But if a group of Great Saints and Quasi-Emperors, for the sake of their own Dao paths, followed the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor's example and borrowed a few Emperor Weapons with bloodshot eyes...
An Extreme Dao Holy Land?
Your ruthless inheritance is exactly what we're here to destroy!
Destroy your holy land and seize your Emperor Scriptures!
The Devouring Heaven Demon Jar, is it?
Even if an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon can't easily be destroyed, we'll still send that wretched little jar flying, leaving its lid and body separated and dormant for countless years!
What?
You're making threats? Saying you'll sink the Eastern Wasteland if you have to?
Then sink it! I don't live on Beidou anyway!
"All the world bustles for profit; all the world jostles for gain."
"The ruthless inheritance won't be destroyed because its followers act tyrannically, dig up graves everywhere, or devour prodigies..."
"On Emperor Road, life-and-death struggles are everywhere. Who cares about that? A few words of condemnation would be enough."
"Do they really think the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar is just for show?"
"But once the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor appeared and the world learned how he attained the Dao, no matter how powerful the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar was, it could not withstand
the terror of the human heart."
"As long as a few prodigies who lost everything on Emperor Road, who had nothing left and no longer feared even death, were willing to lead the charge... then the Devouring Heaven Holy Land's destruction would be only natural."
"Even if they later managed to rise again, obtained another Emperor Weapon, and regained their power of deterrence... they would still have to hide their heads and tuck away their tails, never daring to show themselves."
A sudden sense of satisfaction filled Feng Jiu's heart. He felt he had understood everything.
He looked again at the Yaoguang Holy Land's Candidate Saint Son, sensed his pride in the holy land he came from, and shook his head. Then he suddenly swung his sword.
The Candidate Saint Son had risen from his feigned death and even wielded a divine weapon of Severing the Dao. For someone at his cultivation level, his combat strength was terrifying to the extreme.
Yet beneath that single sword strike, he was sent flying. He abruptly froze in midair, then burst apart with a bang, blood and bone spraying everywhere in a ghastly spectacle!