In the brief moment after his rebirth, Tonio seized the last moment before being slain and let out a heart-wrenching scream: "Stop..."
His face twisted in fear as his forehead slammed heavily against the ground. He frantically bowed to the void: "Your Majesty! I will do anything you ask, just please do not kill me again..."
This man, who had never bowed in his life, now knelt so naturally, as though this body had long been etched with the memory of servitude:
"Please, Your Majesty, have mercy, please show mercy..."
At this moment, he would rather be completely killed by Fang Yuan than continue to endure this endless torture.
"Very well, it seems you really have surrendered..." Fang Yuan gazed at the green name floating above Tonio's head, his lips curling into a satisfied smile.
It seems that sometimes, to win someone's favor, it's not necessary to treat them kindly in return.
"Since that's the case, just obediently do as I say." Fang Yuan finally appeared in front of Tonio, grabbing his golden hair.
After upgrading the [Flash] skill to [Shifting Shadows], it could now perform three consecutive instant teleports, and in this [Eternal Freezing Abyss] domain, the cooldown time was compressed to the extreme.
Crushing someone of the same realm was incredibly easy.
"Yes, yes..." Tonio, who was grabbed by Fang Yuan's hair, didn't dare to struggle. Instead, a crazy joy appeared on his face, as if he had escaped that endless torture.
At this moment, he didn't care what Fang Yuan would do to him. As long as he didn't fall back into that hellish agony, he would accept anything.
And so, Fang Yuan disappeared with Tonio into the icy wilderness.
"Just... just like that?" From a distance, Juno stood frozen in place, a little dazed. Did this Summer Empire Emperor completely forget that there was still someone here...?
But after witnessing Tonio's miserable experience, Juno silently swallowed his saliva—perhaps, at this moment, being invisible was the wisest choice.
...
The entire Federal Church, from the countless followers to the Emperor himself, were all frozen in place.
The words Tonio had just spoken still echoed in everyone's ears, and they all deeply agreed. The Pope was truly a genius, even predicting the possibility of an enemy ambush.
Everyone was expecting their archbishop to give the arrogant Summer Empire Emperor a good lesson.
But who would have thought that after Tonio made his threatening speech, he disappeared along with the Summer Empire Emperor out of thin air?
This sudden change plunged the entire hall into an eerie silence. The followers exchanged glances, and even the Emperor rubbed his eyes instinctively.
But after a while, the two appeared again, and the scene had completely turned upside down.
Tonio, who had once looked down on the world, was now like a defeated dog, being grabbed by his golden hair by the Summer Empire Emperor.
What was even more terrifying was that Tonio didn't show the slightest hint of anger. Instead, he wore an obsequious, sycophantic smile, like a tail-wagging dog.
The entire temple fell into dead silence. Everyone stared blankly at this scene... they had never imagined their archbishop would fall to such a state.
Even the Emperor, sitting on the throne in the great hall, forgot to breathe. In his memory, Tonio was a powerful figure, second only to the Pope!
But now...
"Now, take me to what I want," Fang Yuan casually tossed Tonio forward, and Tonio immediately understood, getting up quickly and bowing respectfully: "Your Majesty, please follow me."
Just as they were about to enter the hall, the Federal Emperor suddenly clenched his fists. He realized that he had to do something.
This country, though secretly controlled by the Pope for years, was at least in name—his territory!
"My land shall not be trampled by foreign invaders!"
This thought struck his mind like a thunderclap, and the Federal Emperor took a deep breath and marched out of the hall to confront Fang Yuan.
However, when their eyes met, the Federal Emperor shuddered. Only then did he realize how terribly wrong he was.
The young emperor before him exuded an aura of pressure that was even more imposing than a towering mountain or the deepest sea, and even... more overwhelming than the Pope!
Seeing the figure rushing from the hall, Fang Yuan smiled: "Federal Emperor, you have a lot of courage to stand before me."
Upon hearing these words, the Federal Emperor's previously rehearsed grandiose speeches all turned into bubbles. He fell to his knees with a thud and trembled as he cried out:
"I... I am willing to surrender!"
"The entire Federation is willing to submit to the Great Summer!"
With the sound of the Federal Emperor's "thud" as he knelt, the followers in the temple hall also knelt one by one, and the pleas for mercy filled the air.
Since even their two leaders had knelt, they could hardly refuse to kneel themselves.
Fang Yuan's footsteps did not falter.
"Very good, stay kneeling."
His light words made everyone lower their heads even further, and the young emperor's figure cast a long shadow on the ground as he passed. The kneeling crowd parted automatically, creating a path.
Through the many halls, Tonio stopped before a stone wall engraved with sacred symbols. He bit his finger and dripped blood onto a specific spot on the rune.
"Your Majesty, it's here."
The stone wall silently slid open, revealing a deep passage. Tonio respectfully stepped aside: "All the body secrets collected by the Church over a thousand years are hidden in this underground treasure vault."
"The Pope... no, that old witch only allowed me and her to enter here."
Fang Yuan's eyes finally flickered with a trace of emotion. As he had guessed, Tonio, as the Pope's carefully cultivated object, knew all the secrets of the Church.
The underground treasure vault contained a dazzling array of treasures, and the most eye-catching were the various body secrets displayed in the center.
"Except for the wood-type body secret, which is temporarily missing, the Church has already gathered all the other elements." Tonio said.
"Heh, as expected of the Pope..."
Back then, Emperor Yan Taizu had only gathered five volumes.
After a brief search, Fang Yuan quickly found the body secret he needed—the Yang-type body technique:
[Holy Radiance Glass Body]: The body is like pure glass, immune to most mental attacks, curses, and poisons, and the blood contains "Holy Radiance True Liquid," which can purify evil spirits.
Light Refraction: Can freely manipulate surrounding light, refracting and deflecting enemy light-type and fire-type attacks.
Light Affinity: Can absorb sunlight, moonlight, starlight, and other natural light sources to heal oneself.
This body technique description was quite good, so he chose it.
"Not bad, Tonio, you've done well..." Fang Yuan praised, then picked up the [Holy Radiance Glass Body] along with the required materials.
Finally, with the last body technique gathered, Fang Yuan couldn't wait to begin cultivating... well, might as well break through right here in the temple.
He had previously discussed with Yuan Tianhe, which gave him a clear understanding of the Martial Saint realm.
Once he completed the nine body techniques and entered the Martial Saint realm, he would immediately face rejection from this world's laws.
This omnipresent rejection would continually drain the Martial Saint's strength, weakening their power.
The more troublesome part was that this rejection would intensify over time until they could no longer resist.
When the rejection reached its peak, the Heavenly Tribulation would descend. If one could survive it, the Heavenly Gate would open, and ascension to the higher realms would be the only option.
If one didn't want to leave, they would have to follow in Yuan Tianhe's footsteps and sever their cultivation, falling back in realms.
This was the world's rule, and even Martial Saints couldn't resist it.
However... Fang Yuan was very clear that such world rules might not be able to bind him.
After all, he was an extra-dimensional Heavenly Demon who transcended the usual laws of this world!