“Little one, daring to ruin this venerable ancestor’s plans?” The Black Monarch spoke, still unwilling to reveal his true identity. “A mere Chaos Realm cultivator like you shouldn’t have the audacity. Tell me, who sent you?”
“No one sent me,” Dongbo Xueying replied, glancing at the grotesque tree beside him and the three black crystals embedded in its trunk. With a faint smile, he asked, “Esteemed ancestor, could you enlighten me as to what this strange tree is?”
The Black Monarch seethed inwardly.
So composed?
And still claiming no one is behind him?
“You’re a Chaos Realm cultivator—surely not a fool. If no one sent you, are you here to throw your life away like an idiot?” The Black Monarch’s voice dripped with killing intent. “Speak your true purpose.”
“I already told you, no one sent me. Instead, I’d like to ask you something. For nearly a million years, the calamities plaguing the nineteen surrounding cities have been ignored by the entire Tian Gu Alliance. Nineteen cities! Countless lives have perished in this nightmare, batch after batch. Who could possibly make the Tian Gu Alliance turn a blind eye? I suspect such a mighty figure wouldn’t bother dealing with me just for killing two Chaos Realm cultivators.”
The Black Monarch sneered. “Still utterly unshaken. Are you from one of the great clans of the Six Ancient Kingdoms? Very well. Let me test your strength and see which family you truly belong to!”
The moment his words fell, the Black Monarch struck. His body erupted with dark radiance, engulfing the entire hall—and Dongbo Xueying along with it.
“Let’s see how you handle this.” Dongbo Xueying threw a punch in response.
Before his fist, the void fractured into countless fissures, instantly enveloping the Black Monarch hidden within the black mist. To Dongbo Xueying’s shock, the Black Monarch’s figure shattered upon impact.
“What?” Dongbo Xueying was stunned.
I barely even exerted any strength!
He had only begun with a feint to mislead his opponent, intending to prepare a killing blow in secret to eliminate a Sovereign-level expert. Yet, even this casual, deceptive strike had obliterated the Black Monarch’s body.
“Since when was the Black Monarch this weak? Is his body so fragile? Or was that just a shadow avatar?” Dongbo Xueying pondered. During his trial in the Twelve Calamity Gates, he had witnessed the Black Monarch employing shadow avatars—perfect replicas indistinguishable from the original in aura. Only such a technique could deceive an enemy.
Though shadow avatars possessed considerable power—several tenths of the true body’s strength—without peak-tier treasures, they were merely at the Universe God Twofold level. Moreover, their physical resilience was lacking. Dongbo Xueying had deliberately held back, using only a tenth of his strength to mislead his foe. Yet, without relying on treasures, his base power far surpassed the Black Monarch’s. Even a tenth of his strength in a feigned attack was enough to disperse the shadow avatar.
“Hmph. So much for being a ‘venerable ancestor’ and the mastermind behind all this,” Dongbo Xueying scoffed. Without hesitation, he reached out and seized the grotesque tree before him. With a forceful tug, he uprooted it entirely. The three black crystals embedded in the tree, which had been pulsing with energy, dimmed instantly. He then stored the tree away in his spatial treasure.
“Strange. He didn’t even try to stop me from taking the tree,” Dongbo Xueying mused. “No matter. This just makes it easier for me to dismantle the cores of the other cities. Let’s see how long the Black Monarch can endure.”
Killing the Black Monarch was one of his objectives.
But now, he also wanted to uncover who dared orchestrate such atrocities with such impunity.
—
“It’s gone! The black mist is gone!”
Experts observing from afar watched in exhilaration as the dark mist shrouding the city rapidly dissipated. The faint, pervasive haze that had plagued the air for so long vanished within mere breaths, leaving the city clear and untainted once more.
The city had returned to normal.
Every living being within felt the oppressive force that had gnawed at their minds fade away. The madness, gloom, and rage that had tormented them abruptly vanished. As denizens of the Heartworld Continent, even the weakest among them were born as transcendents. Those who had endured this nightmare for nearly a million years possessed formidable mental fortitude.
In fact, the prolonged suffering had even sharpened the minds of many cultivators.
Now, with the black mist gone, they were free.
“It’s over.”
Even those who had secluded themselves in meditation emerged, stepping out of their dwellings to gaze at the clear skies. Many couldn’t hold back their tears.
They had been drowning in despair. Now, hope had finally returned.
“We can leave! We can finally leave!”
Some soared into the heavens, reveling in their regained freedom. Others teleported beyond the city’s borders, laughing, weeping, or collapsing to their knees in overwhelming emotion. Cultivators were still living beings, after all. Emerging from the abyss of despair, even the strongest minds trembled with relief.
Amidst the jubilant chaos, Dongbo Xueying hovered in the sky, watching with a smile.
Feeling the genuine joy radiating from countless cultivators filled him with warmth. “Many cultivators treat the weak as ants, willing to annihilate entire worlds for the sake of their own path. But is cultivation truly all that matters? What meaning does invincibility hold if the world is reduced to nothingness, leaving only a single soul in the void?”
“The strong rise from among the weak. They are intelligent beings, just like us. Those who slaughter countless lives for their own gain have fallen into demonhood. And demons… deserve death.” Dongbo Xueying’s gaze was serene.
Take Fan Zu, for example.
Fan Zu also cultivated the Illusory Realm of the Void, but he reveled in manipulating others’ desires, dragging them into illusory divine worlds, enslaving their souls, and forcing them to worship him.
Dongbo Xueying, however, treated all lives equally. To him, any being with self-awareness, emotions, and a journey of existence was real—even those born of illusion. Thus, he regarded illusory worlds as no less real than the material one. His very heart believed this, and so he integrated desire, illusion, destruction, and soul into his world, making it his foundation.
—
Amidst the celebrations, Dongbo Xueying departed quietly. The countless survivors of the city clamored to know who their savior was.
Gradually, a rumor spread—the one who had delivered them was a black-robed youth skilled in the Dao of Void.
Descriptions of the youth’s appearance circulated, and the city’s inhabitants yearned to uncover the identity of their benefactor. But for now, he remained a mystery. Only a later, grand battle would reveal his true name—though that was a tale for another time.
For now, Dongbo Xueying had already arrived at another city. After all, the Fengzhong Kingdom held eighteen more such nightmare-plagued cities. He had only saved one.
—
**Boom!**
Through his perception of the void’s fundamental particles, he instantly located the source of corruption in the next city.
With a single step, he traversed the boundaries of space, appearing high above the city. Without hesitation, he threw a punch downward toward a grand estate. The force of his strike rippled through the air, sending invisible shockwaves that fractured everything in their path.
**Rumble—**
Having already revealed a sliver of his true power during his clash with the Black Monarch, he saw no need to hold back further. His fist descended, and the entire estate—along with its hidden underground structures—collapsed into ruin.
A Universe God Twofold’s strike, specializing in internal destruction, reduced the subterranean complex to rubble in an instant.
As the dust settled, Dongbo Xueying descended, his hand reaching for another grotesque tree embedded with three black crystals. The two Chaos Realm guardians stationed there? Already obliterated by his earlier attack.
It was inevitable. Against a Universe God Twofold, ordinary Chaos Realm cultivators stood no chance. The gap between them was simply too vast.
—
In a secluded cave deep within the wilderness, the Black Monarch sat cross-legged in a dimly lit chamber. His expression was dark as he observed nineteen floating projections—each displaying the core of one of the cities under his control.
Now, the black-robed youth had already destroyed two of them and was advancing toward a third.
The Black Monarch cared little for the deaths of the Chaos Realm cultivators—they were expendable pawns of the Tian Gu Alliance, after all.
“Ancestor,” he transmitted mentally. “This mysterious Void Dao expert is disguising himself as a Chaos Realm cultivator, but the power he’s displayed already reaches Universe God Twofold. Moreover, he’s rampaging through the cities, dismantling the sources of the calamities at an alarming rate. What should I do?”
Even the Black Monarch felt a sliver of fear.
What if this black-robed youth was a hidden powerhouse from one of the terrifying factions like the Myriad Worlds Ancient Nation or the Xiawind Ancient Nation?
“Engage him. Probe his origins. If an invincible existence is bullying the weak, I will intervene immediately,” the Eternal Night Ancestor replied.
“Understood.” The Black Monarch’s confidence surged at his ancestor’s assurance. His greatest fear had been that the mysterious youth’s background would be too formidable, prompting the Eternal Night Ancestor to abandon him. But with the ancestor’s personal guarantee—a being of his stature never went back on his word—the Black Monarch felt emboldened.
“Let’s see who you really are,” the Black Monarch muttered, eyes glinting with cold light. Then, with a flicker, he vanished.
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