Black mist billowed. A luxurious black chariot forged from immortal mystic gold, pulled by several ancient remnant ancestral beasts wreathed in a dark aura, raced through the great universe, heading straight for the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
The Fourth Sacrificial Priest of the Heavenly Faction, Qiluo, sat quietly inside the chariot. She appeared calm, but her hands clutching the hem of her sleeves betrayed a trace of nervousness.
The space inside the chariot was vast, like a small world. Dense Dark Matter interwove and permeated it. Sitting opposite her was a young woman wearing a gauze hat, at whose feet lay prostrate a snow-white True Hou.
If Zhu Xuan, who had once gone to search for the Pan Clan's Creation Pool, were here, he would certainly recognize this woman.
The group had journeyed through countless life-and-death perils before finally arriving at the ancestral land where the Pan Clan once dwelled. Amid the ruins and remnants, they found clues left behind by their people.
As the last surviving descendant of the Pan Clan, Zhu Xuan, relying on his own bloodline, eventually found the Creation Pool deep within the most profound secret cache of a void spacetime—left there by the master of the Pan Clan, the former Dong Huang.
After returning to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, the group parted ways along the journey. This young woman in the gauze hat with the snow-white True Hou had once helped them drive back a host of Dark Beings outside the Floating Continent.
"To send the hard-won Mirror of Reincarnation to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance—is this the intention of the Grand High Priest, or the Lord's?"
"Back then, you clearly had the chance to seize the Creation Pool. Why did you give it up in the end?"
Qiluo the Sacrificial Priest could not help but ask.
She wore a red robe, her hair pinned up in a cloud-like coiffure, her fragrant shoulders slightly exposed. Her flawless, snow-white skin was dazzling; every frown and smile carried boundless allure, dimming even the light of heaven.
"Why so many questions along the way? Since it was the Grand High Priest's order, it must have been with the Lord's approval. Otherwise, do you think the Grand High Priest could have obtained the Mirror of Reincarnation from the Lord's hands?"
The woman in the gauze hat was none other than A'Li. She spoke flatly, showing little respect even toward the Fourth Sacrificial Priest of the Heavenly Faction.
"Many of the Six Supreme Treasures of the First Civilization have already fallen into the hands of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance. I truly don't understand why, just to curry favor, we would still send the Mirror of Reincarnation."
"If in the future the Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance were to ally with other End of the Path beings, even figures from the True Path Realm, and move against our Lord together, then what?" Qiluo's face was full of worry and unease.
In the past, as the Fourth Sacrificial Priest of the Heavenly Faction, she possessed profound strength and formidable cultivation. Ordinary existences of the Ancestral Dao Realm never caught her eye.
But now, with the emergence of the various super multiverses and many End of the Path beings stepping onto the board, an Ancestral Dao Realm existence like her was completely outmatched, and she no longer dared to casually show herself or move about.
Back then, the Lord of Heaven's Proxy had been sealed by the Supreme Treasures of the First Civilization. At present, with an even greater number of supreme existences surfacing, her heart suddenly felt completely uncertain, somewhat hollow. She felt that the Heavenly Faction might not be as strong as she had imagined.
The Lord of Heaven's Proxy was stronger than End of the Path beings, but probably only at the True Path level.
And whether the Land of the Nine Heavens or the Ancient Treasure Civilization, both had more than one existence at the True Path level overseeing them.
"Shortsighted."
Seeing Qiluo's expression, a trace of mockery flickered deep in A'Li's eyes. Whether in the past or now, it was never possible to seal the Lord of Heaven's Proxy solely by relying on the Six Supreme Treasures of the First Civilization.
Moreover, the relationship between the Lord of Heaven's Proxy and the Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance seemed far more subtle than the world imagined.
When she had left the Floating Continent with Zhu Xuan and the others and gone to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, the moment she laid eyes on the Alliance Leader, a tremendous sense of terror and trembling had risen in her heart.
That feeling was even more terrifying than when she faced the surging aura spilling from the Coffin of World Burial. The Dark Matter within her body quaked uncontrollably, threatening to burst forth.
Such a sensation—she had never experienced it before in her life...
Perhaps that alone was nothing extraordinary.
But the young lady of the Heavenly Faction, Nan Qing, bore an uncanny resemblance to the Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, especially around the brows and eyes.
The many secrets, schemes, and stratagems of this world were simply beyond what a being of her level could observe or imagine.
Although Qiluo the Sacrificial Priest ranked fourth within the Heavenly Faction, she had not become a Sacrificial Priest from the very beginning. She had been chosen by several other High Priests and had then advanced step by step to where she was today.
The Heavenly Faction had once collapsed and scattered. Had that not happened, there would not have been the subsequent Heaven's Proxy Chaos, schemed and instigated behind the scenes by Progenitor Xu.
At this moment, Qiluo had far fewer thoughts than A'Li.
Her unease during this period did not merely stem from sensing her own weakness and inadequacy. The greater reason was that she carried... half a piece of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy's flesh and blood.
Now that the Lord of Heaven's Proxy had revived, why did those pieces of flesh and blood that had been stolen and plundered in the past still show no reaction whatsoever?
Now she was caught in a dilemma, completely at a loss on how to handle that half piece of flesh. With her current ability, she could not refine or absorb it at all. Even carrying a single wisp of its blood qi nearly caused her Dao Fruit to shatter.
Perhaps only an End of the Path figure was barely qualified to carry it.
But Progenitor Xu's whereabouts were unknown, and no one knew how many remnants of The Eight Tribes still lingered in the world.
To her, that half piece of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy's flesh was a hot potato. She had absolutely no idea how to hand it over.
"Perhaps I can use this chance of delivering the Mirror of Reincarnation to give that piece of flesh to the Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance."
"An existence of his level would surely be interested in the origin of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy..." Qiluo secretly thought.
...
With the various super multiverses successively establishing agreements that End of the Path beings must not take the field, the many Ancestral Dao Realm existences and True Dao Realm figures from the True World civilizations could not help but breathe a sigh of relief, feeling that the oppressive, suffocating pressure above their heads had greatly lessened.
After all, once End of the Path beings took the field, the aftermath of their clashes could obliterate a Supreme True World at any moment. No civilization could bear such a cost.
Under such checks and balances, the previously suppressed Vast Expanse instead began to glow with a certain vitality again. The great age shone brilliantly; fortune and opportunities surged forth. The Fortune's Favored Children and Protagonists of Heaven and Earth that emerged also seemed to break free from their shackles and began to make their mark.
Within some super multiverses, extremely formidable and dazzling figures emerged as well—so-called peerless geniuses and monstrous talents who achieved the Dao Realms in less than a single epoch, and People of Great Fortune who obtained the legacies left behind after the fall of certain End of the Path beings.
The great age was resplendent, the stars brilliant. Every day within the Vast Expanse, all sorts of battles and slaughter could be seen. Ruins appeared, ancient secret realms manifested, and some forbidden zones that had fallen into the deepest layers of time and space surfaced...
Everyone was growing rapidly. The followers of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance grew ever more numerous, providing it with an immense amount of fortune and faith.
Many felt that under such agreements, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance and the various super multiverses were giving the beings of the Vast Expanse a chance to grow. If the Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance were to persist in slaying heaven, constructing the so-called Heaven-Slaying Platform and causing the Heavenly Will to manifest with furious punishment, then the epoch of heaven and earth would arrive ahead of time, and the entire Vast Expanse would face a cataclysm of destruction.
All beings of the Vast Expanse might then return to dust, and no living creature would be spared.
The end of the heaven and earth epoch was entirely different from any previous Cataclysmic Tribulation throughout history. Otherwise, these super multiverses would not have jumped out one after another...
Thus, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance's construction of the Heaven-Slaying Platform drew extraordinary attention. Zhuo Fengxie, Hun Yuanjun, Chu Heng, and the others responsible for the construction began to encounter obstacles of varying severity.
Among them, the most chilling and terrifying was the unspeakable backlash curse from the unseen.
The skilled craftsmen selected from the various True World civilizations all suffered different anomalies and brushed against taboos. Some, while hurrying on their way, were blown by an unknown gray wind and instantly turned to ash—body and soul obliterated. Even the memory and traces of their existence were erased from the world.
Some were struck down by a single bolt of chaotic true thunder, and even their clans were annihilated and wiped out overnight.
In some universes under survey and construction, terrifying heavenly disasters of varying degrees occurred—blood rained from the sky, and eerie wailing resounded continuously.
Great holes appeared in the universe; the sky seemed to collapse. Heavenly flames, meteors, and floods raged, and from them emerged creatures never seen before. Some of these creatures existed between the virtual and the real, making it impossible for cultivators to handle them. They were like a vast, sweeping plague of locusts, rampaging through all worlds.
Without a doubt, these were all signs that the Heavenly Will was enraged and was meting out punishment.
The process of building the Heaven-Slaying Platform was far more difficult than the world imagined. This was only the beginning; no one knew what would happen later.
In some universes, signs of panic had already appeared. Even though experts from the Heaven-Slaying Alliance went to reassure them, it did little good.
The Black Lotus Cult, which had once vanished without a trace, also made a comeback at this time, loudly proclaiming that the Lord of the Black Lotus would deliver all beings and save them from suffering and hardship, and that only by believing in the Lord of the Black Lotus could one survive this great catastrophe.
Throughout this, voices opposing the Heaven-Slaying Alliance were inevitably present as well, arguing that only by destroying the Heaven-Slaying Alliance and eliminating its Alliance Leader could heaven's wrath be quelled and this heaven-and-earth catastrophe be pacified.
However, such voices were ultimately only spread privately among the various True World civilizations. No super multiverse dared to openly stand against the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
This had already become a prevailing trend. Even the powerful End of the Path beings wisely kept silent, placing their faint hopes in the future.
Deep within the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, inside the magnificent and towering grand hall, the Alliance Leader Gu Changge rarely received guests in person. But this uninvited guest, whether in terms of background or strength, held extraordinary significance within the current Vast Expanse.
Fire God Zhu Rong also stood respectfully behind him, looking very deferential.
The Strength Master was bare-chested, with bronze-colored skin, wearing a straw hat. His frame was burly and robust, and an oldish axe hung at his waist. He looked no different from an ordinary woodcutter.
If he were walking outside, no one would believe that the Strength Master, who held the Authority of Strength, would look like this.
"I pride myself on being the strongest person since the Vast Expanse was created from chaos. In the future as I know it, no one will surpass me. When others wield the Authority of the Heavenly Dao, they cling to it like parasites, but I am different. I have taken the Authority of Strength and made it my own, making it obey me. That is why I can be the Strength Master. In terms of strength, no one in the myriad worlds of the Vast Expanse can match me.
"Yet I still cannot comprehend or study what the Authority of Strength truly is. It's like obtaining a treasured blade—I have tamed it, but I cannot understand it. It is as if something has severed the path by which I might understand it.
"For all beings of the Vast Expanse, that simultaneously means the Path Ahead has been cut off...
"From the Creation and Immortality that the Alliance Leader has condensed, I have faintly glimpsed a ray of light shining out from that already severed Path Ahead. From that moment on, I understood that relying solely on the beings within the Vast Expanse, even if they exhaust their entire lives, they can never take that step.
"I am very puzzled and confused. I came to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance precisely to seek guidance and answers from the Alliance Leader: what exactly is the Path Ahead..."
At this moment, before Gu Changge, the Strength Master was completely assuming the attitude of a junior humbly seeking instruction.
At his level, to hear the Dao in the morning and die in the evening would be fulfillment enough. Eternal life, strength—these things no longer held any meaning for him.
Fire God Zhu Rong could vaguely understand, but seeing this scene still left him greatly shaken.
Outside the grand hall, Qiluo, the Fourth Sacrificial Priest of the Heavenly Faction who had come to escort the Mirror of Reincarnation, and A'Li were being led this way by Deputy Alliance Leader Ling Yuling.
They had no idea of the identity of the burly man standing inside the hall. Hearing his words, huge waves likewise rose in their hearts.
Such tremendous arrogance—since the Vast Expanse was created, no one's strength surpasses his?
Of course, for the Strength Master, this was indeed true. If beings such as Gu Changge, the Lord of the Heavenly Faction, and that leader from the Palace of Fate Defiance who had once led all beings in the Great War Against Heaven had not appeared in the Vast Expanse, his strength truly would have been unmatched.
Throughout the ages, unrivaled in power—well deserved.