The wild winds howled across the desolate land as Dongbo Xueying stood there, calmly observing the terrifying presence billions of miles away. Though his heart burned with the desire for battle, he knew all too well… Even if he now had the qualifications to face the Night Eternal Ancestor head-on, the gap between them was still vast. At best, he could only ensure his own safety with relative ease—actively seeking combat would be nothing more than courting humiliation.
“Once my Hunyuan divine weapon is forged, the gap will narrow. But now is not the time,” Dongbo Xueying mused silently. His current strength was only on par with Fuyi the Revered—a level that, when faced with an invincible existence, would still leave him suppressed.
“Out of the nineteen cities, I’ve only saved three. The remaining sixteen will be troublesome… I’ll have to wait until the Night Eternal Ancestor leaves.”
Now was not the time for salvation.
The Night Eternal Ancestor was furious, scouring the land for him.
—
“Damn it, who was it?!” The Night Eternal Ancestor’s black cloak billowed as his cold, beautiful eyes swept over the land below. Every inch of space beneath him had solidified. Nearby cultivators felt their bodies stiffen, their minds blank—utterly powerless before his overwhelming presence.
He searched relentlessly.
Tracking secrets… soul imprints… time reversal…
“What is this?” The Night Eternal Ancestor’s expression darkened further. No matter how he probed, whenever he was about to glimpse the killer, interference would disrupt his vision.
“Even I can’t see through it… Could it be a Cosmos God at the ultimate stage? But even an ordinary ultimate-stage Cosmos God shouldn’t be able to annihilate the Black Monarch in an instant.” The Night Eternal Ancestor’s thoughts churned. The moment the Black Monarch had called for aid, he had rushed over—yet he was still too late. The Black Monarch’s initial message had been confident, but by the time he pleaded for help, his fate was already sealed.
The killer had concealed their strength at first, only revealing their fangs for a single, decisive strike.
“Who could kill him in an instant? Another invincible existence?” Countless possibilities flashed through the Night Eternal Ancestor’s mind. In the entire Heart Realm Continent, those capable of instantly slaying the Black Monarch were few. Even Dongbo Xueying could only gamble on it, with no certainty. Fuyi the Revered and others of similar strength might also succeed, but to do it in an instant? Unlikely.
The only ones who could claim absolute certainty were the invincible existences.
“To bully a mere Lord-level cultivator is one thing, but to hide like a coward, not even daring to show your true face?” The Night Eternal Ancestor narrowed his eyes, then focused on the distant cultivators below—especially the Unity realm experts among them. An invisible ripple seeped into their minds, sifting through their memories.
As the foremost master of crafting demonic servants in the Heart Realm Continent, the Night Eternal Ancestor’s expertise in soul manipulation was unparalleled. Even Chaos realm souls were an open book to him.
Within the memories, he saw a black-robed youth battling the Black Monarch, even manifesting nine avatars. However, the most crucial moment—when the “Voidfire Lotus” was unleashed—had been obscured by Dongbo Xueying’s deliberate distortion of space. None of the Unity realm witnesses had seen it.
“A black-robed youth with nine avatars… Judging by the combat techniques, undoubtedly a master of the Void Path. But who? There are only two invincible Void Path experts—Emperor Xia or the Wanderer? No… Before the Undying Nether Emperor’s return, Emperor Xia was the undisputed strongest in the Heart Realm Continent. A man of his pride would never conceal his identity just to assassinate the Black Monarch. The Wanderer? He is even more detached—this doesn’t fit his nature either.” The Night Eternal Ancestor dismissed the thought. “Fuyi the Revered… That’s a possibility. He has been known to resort to unscrupulous means at times. The ‘Beast King’ of the Myriad Realms Ancient Nation? His Void Path has reached the second-tier Cosmos God level, and his savage cunning aligns with this act. It could be him.”
“Who was it?!” The more he pondered, the more infuriated he became.
Because it hurt.
Lord-level experts were rare.
He had only five under his command—three of them the strongest among his crafted “Nine Nightwalkers,” and the other two being powerful Cosmos Gods who had willingly pledged allegiance: the Black Monarch and the Flame Monarch. The Night Eternal Ancestor had always treated them with care, hoping to attract more formidable experts to his side.
And now, the Black Monarch was dead.
—
Time passed.
The Night Eternal Ancestor hovered above the ruins for what felt like an eternity before finally vanishing with a frustrated step.
—
Dongbo Xueying, observing from beyond the borders of Fengzhong Nation, remained patient.
Day turned to night.
After a full day of waiting, the motionless figure in the wilderness finally stirred. “It’s time.”
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Across the vast expanse of the Heart Realm Continent—in ordinary courtyards of island nations, in secluded mountain huts, in cavernous depths, in underground palaces—one after another, black-robed figures emerged. Dongbo Xueying had tens of thousands of avatars. Aside from the nine that had already departed to other source worlds via the Great Void Transference Technique, the rest were scattered throughout the continent, living inconspicuously—some in solitary cultivation, some leading small sects, others running smithies.
Now, sixteen of them moved.
Each first teleported far from their hiding spots, then simultaneously activated the Void Transference Technique, heading toward the sixteen cities where the grotesque trees were hidden.
A spatial vortex swirled.
An avatar stepped through, arriving in a hidden chamber at the core of a formation—face to face with the twisted tree.
“Who dares trespass upon forbidden ground?!”
“Kill him!”
The two Chaos realm guardians reacted with shock and fury, activating defensive formations while desperately trying to contact their master, the Black Monarch. But with him already dead, their calls went unanswered.
Boom—
With a mere wave of his hand, Dongbo Xueying’s avatar—though only a tenth of his true strength—reduced the two to dust. He swiftly uprooted the grotesque tree, eyeing the three black crystals embedded in its bark with a faint smile before vanishing once more through the Void Transference Technique.
—
One by one, the avatars arrived. Most of the guardians were slain—save for two, whom Dongbo Xueying merely repelled. Though eccentric, they were not true fiends.
Yet one avatar encountered trouble.
The moment it stepped through the spatial distortion, a figure materialized beside it—cloaked in black with golden embroidery, his beautiful face cold as ice. A hand stretched out, radiating boundless golden light, each finger gleaming as it sought to seize the avatar.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” the Night Eternal Ancestor said, his voice dripping with frost.
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