Ji Zong collapsed on the throne, a sword of light buried deep in his stomach.
His eyes were dull and lifeless.
Blood dripped down, soaking his hands and staining the throne crimson.
Before him, an old servant knelt low, trembling.
"My lord… Who did this to you?"
Ji Zong's dead eyes flickered, and a faint smirk appeared on his face.
His voice was low and dry
"Who? Isn't it clear?"
A chuckle twisted his lips.
"I am a primordial god. The Demonic Venerable of Blood Calamity."
His fingers brushed the glowing hilt.
"Above me, only two. And this—this is no blade of black. It is light."
The old servant shook harder, his voice breaking as a single name escaped his lips.
"Heavenly Father…"
Ji Zong shifted his gaze from the servant to the window, staring at the sky.
He coughed, yet his face showed no regret."
The old servant looked at him with pity.
"My lord… Give me the order. I will prepare the army—"
A scroll landed before him. Ji Zong's voice cut in, sharp and cold.
"Shut up, old man. This is my last order. Call every Supreme Array Master and make the array exactly as described in that scroll. You have ten minutes."
The old servant picked up the scroll, bowed deeply, and whispered.
"Yes, my lord. I will do it. But… there is one thing. If I don't ask now, I will regret it my whole life. Please, allow me to ask."
Ji Zong's gaze hardened.
"Old man, do you want to know why the Heavenly Father stabbed me?"
"Nothing much."
He raised his trembling hand, arrogance still sharp in his eyes.
"I only took back a few of my things from his treasury. On my way out, his son saw me. I didn't kill him, out of respect for the Heavenly Father… I merely slapped him. The so-called Heir of Heaven. Then I left."
The old servant froze, silent.
As he turned to leave, a storm exploded, tearing the ceiling and front of the castle to pieces.
Thunder cracks.
From within the storm, two figures appeared—a man with blond hair and a woman who shared the same golden locks.
The man's face twisted with rage, a red handprint burning across his cheek.
Ji Zong glanced at them, then turned to the old servant.
"Hey, old man. What I said comes first."
The servant nodded and vanished.
The two landed heavily before Ji Zong.
The blond man shouted,
"Haha… you got what you deserved!"
He sneered and pointed at Ji Zong, his voice filled with spite.
"Look at him—Demonic Venerable of the Blood Calamity, drowning in his own blood!"
The woman beside him didn't reply.
A grin spread across Ji Zong's face.
"When I slapped you, you said nothing. You even apologized to me. Now look at you."
Embarrassment came on his face, and he yelled.
"Shut up, you bastard! You're dying, yet still grinning like that!""
The woman stepped forward, stopping him with a sharp look.
"Young Lord Bai Jin, we are here to deliver the verdict of the Great Heavenly Father. Let us finish that first. Afterward, you can do whatever you want with him. I will not report it."
Bai Jin clenched his fists but fell silent, staring at her.
Then the woman unrolled a golden scroll. It was so long its end dragged against the floor. Her voice echoed as she read:
"I, Xian Yun, the disciple of the heavenly court, present the list of crimes committed by the Demonic Venerable of the Blood Calamity."
"For the massacre of infants, butchered to forge your bloody Dao… For the devouring of souls by the millions… For striking down gods and forging forbidden arts that shatter order itself…"
She lowered her gaze, her tone colder.
"And you have committed other crimes, but I won't say anything more because you won't live until then."
Ji Zong rose from the throne, his form dripping blood.
In the form of a crimson ghost.
making Jin's and Yun's hearts leap and their defenses up.
They muttered.
"Hey, Heavenly Father said he wouldn't be able to move, didn't he?"
"Yes, he did say that," Jun retorted.
"But he also told me that he is very crafty and that he cannot feel pain or even emotions."
Fear flickered in her eyes.
"What have you done, young lord? If Heavenly Father himself called him crafty, that means he already prepared a way to kill us… or escape."
Bai Jin's breath quickened.
"Ahh—we ought to have used that relic Father gave us as soon as we got there to seal him."
Then, a cold voice rolled from Ji Zong's lips.
"You know those crimes I committed a decade ago… But do you know why he only chose to speak of them today—why he stabbed me now?"
Both of them stood dumbfounded, their faces pale.
Ji Zong raised a blood-stained finger and pointed at Bai Jin.
"Not because I slapped you, either."
His voice was calm and steady.
"Not for a slap. No. He stabbed me today… because I took something. Something that could make even him fall."
He took a step back, a small grin curling on his lips.
"And sent you two to die here."
The sarcastic curl turned into something lethal. His eyes turned crimson, glowing.
"Now… watch closely."
The blood dripping around him lifted into the air, swirling and reshaping into countless jagged
thorns as he raised his hand.
Bai Jin's face twisted with panic. He shouted at Xian Yun.
"Use every defense artifact we have!"
Ji Zong's lips parted.
"Shoot."
But nothing happened.
Bai Jun and Xian Yun stood tense, ready to strike, only to realize the thorns weren't aimed at them.
Instead, they tore through the space behind their backs, ripping reality apart with sheer force.
From the shattered void stepped a man—tall, with long blond hair cascading down, his presence towering like a blade.
Ji Zong's dull eyes lit with recognition.
"So… you've finally come."