For thirty thousand years of relentless slaughter, even Quasi-Immortal Emperors were nearing exhaustion. Engaged in ceaseless combat, their energy was drained to the brink.
From afar, the four supreme warriors resembled skeletal figures—flesh withered, bones exposed, their skin dull and lifeless, their essence blood utterly depleted.
In this state of battle, even grievous wounds no longer bled.
Though they could still draw upon the essence of heaven and earth, the blood they regenerated could not match their consumption. Their life forces waned, their soul flames flickering, teetering on the edge of extinction.
Quasi-Immortal Emperors could not be slain swiftly, but through attrition, even beings of their caliber could be ground down to nothing.
Yet even now, the divine techniques they unleashed remained peerless. Had they faltered, a single misstep could have spelled their doom.
This was why their essence blood had drained, their souls dimmed, their bodies ceaselessly taxed. Who could endure such torment indefinitely?
Amidst the roiling waves of the Realm Sea, the four warriors clashed with undying ferocity, their every move known to one another. Now, it was a battle of sheer will.
Alas, since Shi Hao had detonated his *Heaven Transformation* avatar, he could no longer summon another true body.
Even without the self-detonation, it would have been impossible—the three Quasi-Immortal Emperors harried him relentlessly, denying him any respite, suppressing him with their full might.
At first, Shi Hao had fought them with reckless abandon, refusing to retreat. The three emperors, equally frenzied, sought to end him here and now, fearing the calamity should he escape.
But as time wore on, they were all forced into this deadlock. None dared show weakness or flee, lest they invite the others’ merciless counterattack.
Now, what sustained them was sheer willpower—an unshakable belief in victory.
Hong Di and Yu Di seethed with frustration and rage. Their early injuries had crippled their full strength against Shi Hao, prolonging the war for thirty millennia.
Black waves surged in the Realm Sea, occasionally revealing skeletal remains—some from eons past, others from the last twenty or thirty thousand years of war.
The dark legions had marched forth, slaughtering their way across the Realm Sea. Some descended from the Summoning Ancient Halls, while others swept through the sea itself.
Shi Hao had fought the three emperors within the Realm Sea, desperate to prevent them from reaching the opposite shore. Yet after another thousand years of battle, the battlefield had shifted.
Finally, they emerged beyond the embankment.
On the shore, shadowy figures clashed in brutal combat. The Immortal Realm trembled, countless cultivators fallen, heroes buried in the dust.
The Summoning Ancient Halls had descended, overwhelming all resistance. They summoned the corrupted dark clans, swelling their ranks.
Fortunately, the Butcher, the Charlatan, and the Poultry-Keeper were mighty enough to shatter two of the Summoning Ancient Halls in the Realm Sea. They seized a transmission path, leading a host of ancient kings back to the Immortal Realm.
Without them, the Immortal Realm would have perished.
Yet the devastation was immense. Heroes had fallen, the realm fractured, its once-vast territories in ruins.
Even the Charlatan had perished.
This being, who had split his body into six to comprehend the myriad Daos and refine himself, had even touched the radiance of a Quasi-Immortal Emperor. Yet he still fell.
The dark legions were endless, their ranks filled with monstrous beings far surpassing even the Nine-Headed Fiend, having devoured countless Immortal Kings.
A century ago, the Poultry-Keeper had also fallen. This female Burial King perished under the ancient curses of multiple fallen kings.
Her death enraged the Burial Ground. Multiple Burial Kings emerged—beings originally shaped by the Origin Ancient Artifact, once tainted by dark essence, now rebelling against the Summoning Halls.
Most crucially, the progenitor of the Burial Kings had awakened.
None had expected that the female Burial King who raised phoenix birds was his descendant!
This progenitor, the first to touch the Origin Ancient Artifact, had vanished for eons, slumbering through countless epochs.
All had presumed him dead. Yet here he was, having sealed himself within an earthen jar buried deep beneath the Burial Ground.
The Burial Progenitor, self-styled as the Burial Lord, was incomparably mighty—stronger even than his descendants. Yet he still fell short of becoming a Quasi-Immortal Emperor.
He had once ventured into the Realm Sea but fled back, sensing the terror beyond. For ages, he had lain dormant.
His arrival eased the Butcher’s burden.
The Burial Lord’s Quasi-Immortal Emperor radiance was dense, his magic boundless, rivaling even the Butcher.
Yet the Immortal Realm and Burial Ground’s forces dwindled, heroes perishing one after another.
Shi Hao’s return, holding back the three emperors near the embankment, shook the Immortal Realm and stunned the dark legions.
The Quasi-Immortal Emperor battle was ferocious.
From afar, the combatants resembled skeletons, their bodies broken, flesh desiccated—a horrifying sight.
All fell back. At this stage, none could intervene without certain death.
“*Huang! It’s Huang!*”
At last, someone cried out, overcome with emotion and awe.
Huang—gone for hundreds of millennia, vanished for so long.
Shi Hao had wandered the Realm Sea alone for countless years, far removed from the Immortal Realm.
The Butcher and others had last seen him thirty millennia ago.
“*Shi Hao, you’re alive!*”
From beyond the embankment, a familiar voice rang out, laced with emotion.
Shi Hao turned. It was the Heavenly Horned Ant, now an Immortal King, grievously wounded. His Primordial Mother Cauldron was shattered, his immortal metal staff broken.
The battle had been merciless.
The ant, hardened by years of war, had witnessed countless deaths. Yet seeing Shi Hao—reduced to a skeletal figure, locked in mortal combat—his eyes welled with tears.
“*Shi Hao, avenge Cao Yousheng and the others!*” the ant roared, hoping to ignite Shi Hao’s fighting spirit.
Shi Hao was at his limit, holding off three emperors alone.
“*What happened to Cao Yousheng?!*” Shi Hao’s voice was hoarse.
“*He fell. His soul scattered, only his remains buried in the Burial Ground,*” the ant lamented.
Most of their peers were dead. Cao Yousheng, once a drinking companion, was gone.
Too many had perished.
The puppy, too, lay beside Cao Yousheng’s grave.
The Primordial Chaos Immortal King, the Immortal Realm’s titans—all had fallen. Without the returnees from the Realm Sea, they would have been overwhelmed.
Yet some returnees had succumbed to darkness, turning against them.
This was an era of chaos, war everywhere.
“*What of the others?*” Shi Hao asked, noting the absence of the Undying Bird and the Immortal Gold Daoist.
“*Bird Grandpa and the Old Freak are gravely wounded, corrupted by darkness. They’ve entered seclusion, struggling to survive,*” the ant replied mournfully.
“*And the Dark Willow Deity?*”
“*Likely fallen. Surrounded by fallen kings, vanished in the fiercest battle.*”
“*ROAR!*” Shi Hao howled.
If the Dark Willow Deity was gone, could the true Willow Deity ever revive? Only a charred stump remained.
The battle in the Realm Sea intensified. Shi Hao fought like a madman, barring the three emperors from the embankment. Should they cross, the Immortal Realm would be annihilated.
The struggle was grueling.
Shi Hao was at a disadvantage, forced to defend against three. The emperors exploited this, striking with lethal techniques.
Yet for centuries, he held them back. Still, the Immortal Realm suffered, its skies darkened by blood.
Even the Burial Kings’ aid proved futile.
The dark legions pouring from the Summoning Halls were endless.
“*AHHH—!*”
An Immortal King in the Immortal Realm roared, his body exploding, his soul shattered, light illuminating the broken cosmos.
“*Pan King!*” someone wailed.
The Pan King had fallen, slain by a dark titan.
“*ROAR!*”
The Butcher charged, his weapon a blazing arc, beheading the killer and annihilating his soul.
But it changed nothing. The Pan King was dead.
“*Ancestor!*” Pan Yi cried, rushing toward the battlefield.
In the Realm Sea, Shi Hao raged, but the three emperors pinned him down.
“*Pan King once showed me great kindness. By the name of Huang, I command the Great Dao—let all karma fall upon me. Shield him!*” Shi Hao bellowed.
His voice, though hoarse, carried the weight of a Quasi-Immortal Emperor’s decree. Ripples of power enveloped the distant stars.
But this act left him vulnerable. The three emperors struck mercilessly.
In the shattered Immortal Realm, the Pan King’s fragmented body reassembled, traces of his soul coalescing.
A Quasi-Immortal Emperor’s power had limits. Shi Hao could only do so much because the Pan King’s body and a wisp of his soul remained.
He had been slain by a fallen king, not an emperor. A sliver of hope endured.
*Sizzle!*
The Pan King’s body transformed into a peach tree—his true form—wrapped in light, vanishing through a rift.
Yet despite Shi Hao’s efforts, the Pan King’s will had dissipated. Only the tree remained. Perhaps in eons, a new consciousness would awaken, bearing fragments of memory.
“*ROAR—!*”
A golden-haired Qilin exploded. Shi Hao recognized it—his former steed.
“*How much strength do you have left to aid others?*” Yu Di mocked.
Shi Hao indeed felt his power waning. Saving the Pan King had cost him dearly.
“*Golden Qilin!*” Shi Hao growled, still yearning to intervene.
“*No need. I go first!*” The Qilin burned its remnant soul, its essence blood as fuel, charging the enemy in a final blaze.
*BOOM!*
A cataclysmic eruption lit the void.
Shi Hao’s eyes blazed.
He noticed something peculiar—the Heavenly Horned Ant fought there, the Qilin had died there, and the Pan King’s fall was nearby.
“*KILL!*”
A battle cry rose.
An army was forming a battle array there.
Banners unfurled, bearing two words: *Heavenly Court*.
Shi Hao’s breath caught.
A young man, resembling him strikingly, fought with ferocity—a young Immortal King, drenched in blood, battling fallen kings.
Behind him, eight hundred veterans roared, clutching formation banners, weaving an Immortal King’s grand array.
Tears threatened Shi Hao’s eyes.
The youth was his son, emerging in this cataclysmic era to join the war.
But what truly moved him were the eight hundred veterans.
His old comrades, now fighting alongside his son.
Descendants of the Seven Kings of the Borderlands, warriors from Stone Village—those who had followed him into the Nine Heavens in the Age of Law’s End.
Time had been cruel. In the Lawless Era, only Mu Qing and a handful remained. The rest were presumed dead.
Shi Hao had erected tombstones for them, mourning their passing.
Yet in truth, he had sealed them in divine sources, vanishing with Stone Village.
“*We drank Immortal King blood, reborn anew! We trained for this day! Death is a warrior’s homecoming—what is there to fear?!*”
The veterans roared, shielding the Little Stone, battling alongside him.
Shi Hao had never intended for them to fight again, hoping they would live out their days in peace.
Yet here they were, spilling their blood.
“*Huang, the Heavenly Emperor!*”
A veteran bellowed, gazing toward the Realm Sea.
“*AHHH—!*” Shi Hao howled like a wounded beast, watching his old comrades and son fight, their blood staining the stars.
“*Huang, the Heavenly Emperor!*”
As if sensing him, the eight hundred veterans turned, their cries filled with grief.
*BOOM!*
The three emperors breached Shi Hao’s defense, finally stepping onto the embankment.
“*Hahaha…*” Yu Di laughed maniacally.
“*Huang, your end is here!*” Hong Di sneered, murder in his eyes.
Shi Hao lunged, intercepting them on the shore.
“*Futile. The balance is broken,*” Cang Di said coldly.
With a breath, dark mist rose from nearby fallen kings, traces of blood essence flowing into him.
Yu Di’s laughter boomed as his wings flexed, his body rejuvenating slightly.
The equilibrium had shattered.
After millennia of battle, their essence blood had dried up. But here, the fallen kings bore remnants of their power.
“*We once bestowed drops of our blood, creating commanders. Though scant, it tips the scales!*” Hong Di declared.
The fallen kings withered, dying instantly.
Though the emperors gained little, it was enough to shift the balance.
Dark mist surged into them, replenishing their depleted reserves.
“*This ends now,*” Cang Di said.
With the balance broken, they would grind Shi Hao down—especially here, where he dared not risk the Immortal Realm’s destruction.
The Immortal Realm’s defenders shuddered at the emperors’ proclamation.
“*KILL!*”
The Heavenly Horned Ant rallied the remaining kings, fighting on.
“*I must go to him!*”
The young Immortal King—Shi Hao’s son—pushed forward, his veterans guarding him fiercely.
“*Father, my blood is yours, my soul your legacy. Let me replenish you!*” the Little Stone whispered, his voice reaching Shi Hao through their bond.
Shi Hao’s head snapped up, his body trembling.
*No!*
The veterans sensed it too, howling as they fought toward him.
“*I had parents, elders—yet could not see them. I sealed away my wife, my child, my village… I wandered alone through time. Must I lose my son now too? AHHH—!*”
Shi Hao’s heart bled, his eyes cracking with fury. He threw back his head and screamed.
His aura surged, fueled by boundless grief and killing intent. Light erupted from his body—
**The battle reached its zenith.**
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