The Demon Ancestor looked at the mission before him, the corners of his lips curling slightly upward. His smile sent a chill down the spines of the other cultivators from the Tai Xu Heavenly Palace nearby.
“Dongbo Xueying?” the Demon Ancestor murmured softly. “Our Primordial Universe has finally produced a promising young one after us. But he actually wandered all the way to the Eastern Sacred Lands.”
“Though it’s a bit far and troublesome to get there, it’s been a while since I ventured out. A little trip won’t hurt—plenty of killing to be done, and I might as well pay a visit to this fellow from my homeland.”
With a mere thought, the Demon Ancestor accepted the mission.
The mission details displayed on the crystal wall vanished instantly. The Demon Ancestor was more than qualified for this task. Though he was the youngest Chaos Realm expert in the Tai Xu Heavenly Palace, his strength was in no way inferior to those who had cultivated for eons. His reputation was carved from blood and slaughter!
With a whoosh, the Demon Ancestor turned and strode away, leaving the other cultivators to finally exhale in relief.
—
**Shen Tao Continent.**
Dongbo Xueying maintained a low profile here, quietly cultivating. Though he also studied the Voidwalker system, the Path of Ripples, and the Path of Illusions, the majority of his focus was on the *Thirteen Swords of Annihilation* from the Path of Slaughter. While the Voidwalker system granted him a terrifying physique and the ultra-lethal power of the Soldier’s Malevolence, the *Thirteen Swords of Annihilation* represented the pinnacle of rule-based profundities. And there was one extraordinary aspect of these profundities—once comprehended, even his avatars could wield them.
“Hmm?” A black-clothed avatar of Dongbo Xueying was deep in a desert, practicing the First Sword of Annihilation. Though his concealment techniques were superb, executing combat moves could still be detected if enemies were actively scouting. Thus, Xueying relied on distant avatars for training, ensuring his true body remained hidden.
“During my fifty million years of drifting through the Chaos Void, I had already grasped most of it, with only a few bottlenecks left. After just a few battles with those Void creatures, my First Sword of Annihilation made successive breakthroughs. Now, reflecting on those fights, I’ve achieved yet another major leap.” A pleased expression crossed Dongbo Xueying’s face. “Now, with a single spear thrust, I can control it to leave precisely thirty-five holes.”
This was only natural.
His long period of secluded cultivation had already brought his comprehension of the *First Sword of Annihilation* to an extremely high level—only a few insights remained, waiting to be verified in battle!
—
**Time flowed on.**
In one of the cities of Shen Tao Continent, within a blacksmith’s courtyard, a cold-faced youth hammered away at a blade blank. Suddenly, an invisible force seeped into his body, sealing his soul. At that moment, even suicide was beyond his reach.
The youth shuddered slightly before gently setting down his hammer.
“Winter Ye, the World God,” a hoarse voice rasped. A gray-robed elder appeared in the courtyard. “My master has chosen you.”
The blacksmith youth turned calmly to face the elder, his expression twisting into something between a sneer and a grin. “Chosen me? Chosen me as *food*?”
“Yes,” the gray-robed elder replied grimly.
“Hahaha… food. *Food*.” The blacksmith youth laughed maniacally, the ground trembling around him. Objects levitated before exploding one after another, yet the devastation remained confined within the courtyard, sparing the countless mortals outside.
“To cultivate all the way to the Third Heaven World God, only to end up as *food*.” The youth glared at the elder, eyes brimming with icy mockery. “And you so-called ‘transcendent’ mighty ones—you’ve become the claws of those Void abominations, hunting us down for them. You were once our seniors!”
The gray-robed elder sighed. “My master’s will can blanket this entire Chaos Continent. Even without sending us, he could pluck you away with a mere thought. I’m here only because he can’t be bothered to act personally.”
“You’re just afraid to die!” the youth spat. “We World Gods are devoured outright, while you lot only lose avatars—ones you can just cultivate again!”
“Merely food with a longer shelf life,” the elder said coldly.
“Then why even live?” The youth’s eyes burned with madness. “Just cowards clinging to life. I *hate* it—hate that I won’t live to see the day these Void abominations are wiped out! My wife was taken by you. My master. My closest friends. One by one, devoured by those monsters. And now… it’s my turn. Hahaha!”
“My only regret… is that I won’t witness their destruction.” The youth’s laughter bordered on hysteria.
The gray-robed elder sighed softly before seizing the youth and vanishing through space. He, too, clung to life—waiting, enduring. He loathed those Void creatures with every fiber of his being. The agony of having his avatars devoured alive, time and again—how could it *not* torment him? It was a living hell.
Yet they endured. They *had* to survive. Deep down, they clung to hope—but many of them yearned even more for the day the Void abominations would fall. They *ached* for vengeance.
—
**Inside a grand hall.**
A humanoid Void creature lounged on a throne, his elongated arms and gaunt face accentuated by a single eye gleaming with cold emerald light. Below him, cages held countless World Gods—mostly humans, but also beasts and other lifeforms—their faces twisted in fury, despair, and hatred.
“Kehehe…” The lanky Void creature chuckled darkly. With a thought, the “food” in the cages found their voices again.
“Void monster! Eat us if you dare—we’re not afraid!”
“One day, a mighty cultivator will come and slaughter you!”
“We’re just the first. You’ll follow soon!”
“O Supreme Being… I beg you, annihilate these Void abominations! I’ll devote my eternal faith to you!” Some raged, some wept, some remained silent.
Their hatred ran deep.
These Void creatures had turned the entire Chaos Continent into a living hell. So many they knew—lovers, sworn brothers, masters, disciples—had been devoured.
For transcendent mighty ones, the Void creatures left a sliver of mercy, as consuming them held some benefit. But weak World Gods? To these Void beings—at least at the Paramount level—devouring them did nothing for their strength.
They simply relished the despair of the powerless.
“Mmm…” The lanky Void creature closed his eyes, savoring the cacophony. “I hear fear. I hear hatred. I hear despair. How delightful. How *exquisite*.”
The attendants stood in silence.
They, the mighty ones, could survive—barely. But the weak were consumed in droves. Countless lesser gods, transcendents, and mortals were devoured by the city, by the nation, all because it amused the Void creatures.
“Now then… time for the feast.” The lanky Void creature licked his lips, his expression one of pure ecstasy. This was his happiest moment.
**THWACK!**
A spear materialized out of nowhere, spinning violently as it tore through the air, its tip gleaming with a sinister black light. The Void creature’s face twisted in terror as he frantically raised his arm—scales erupting over it—to block.
But this spear strike was *multiple times* stronger than before.
**THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!**
Twenty-six gaping holes punctured the creature’s body in an instant. Fewer holes meant *far* deadlier force—the countless slaughter energies within obliterated his form completely.
Only then did Dongbo Xueying step out of the void, spear in hand, his cold gaze fixed on the now-vanished throne. Only scattered remnants remained.
A single strike.
The Void creature was no more.
“I thought I had to grow stronger—to hold back, lest my actions provoke these monsters and endanger the mighty ones,” Xueying murmured, his eyes blazing with killing intent. “But I was wrong. By staying my hand, this continent’s World Gods, its countless gods, transcendents, and mortals… for them, it’s *already* the apocalypse.”
“To spare a few dozen mighty ones… while watching millions be devoured?”
“I can’t do it.”
“Then I’ll kill. I’ll slaughter them all—with everything I have.”
The fury in Dongbo Xueying’s eyes was a storm unto itself.
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