Huangzhou, located in the central part of the three thousand provinces of Cangming, lay to the west of the Heavenly Sword Province, separated by three other provinces.
A massive battle was currently unfolding here, in Black Spirit City.
Four terrifying figures were slaughtering the dark creatures without restraint, just as they had done in Xunzhou and Zezhou, which had been decimated just days prior.
Space warped, the sky collapsed, and the city walls crumbled. Beneath the blood-red sky, wind and smoke surged violently.
“Wretches! How dare you trespass into the Spirit Tower? You shall be executed!”
“You dare bluster in my presence? Get down here!”
The Twilight Emperor reached out with a massive hand. He forcibly dragged the strongest being there, the Great Spirit Lord, down from the peak of the Spirit Tower. He proceeded to ravage and humiliate him, mopping the floor with the creature.
“Is this all the strength you have? And yet you still act so tough!” Jun’s laughter was wild and unrestrained.
The dark creatures of the entire city, driven by fear and despair, launched a desperate counterattack at all costs.
“Quickly! Protect the Lord!”
They threw themselves forward in wave after wave. A Death Spirit Tide surged from all directions outside the city, packing the streets and alleys of Huangzhou’s Black Spirit City so tightly that not a drop of water could pass.
But even so, these creatures were like ants before the four living souls. Even in swarms, they could not halt the group's advance by even half an inch.
The Water Qilin was having the time of its life, acting incredibly arrogant. “Jie jie jie! This is great! It feels so damn good to fight these ants who aren't afraid to die...”
It was hard to imagine that in this desolate land west of the spirit river, which had been ruled by darkness for nearly ten thousand years, living souls could actually carry out such a slaughter.
And it wasn't just one city or one location.
They had fought their way all the way from the Heavenly Sword Province. Every territory and city they passed along the way had been turned into a ghost town; anyone who stood in their way had fallen.
The Spirit Towers of two provinces had been shattered, and two powerful Great Spirit Lords had been erased.
Including the one in Huangzhou, this was the third.
After a brief struggle, Jun—whose cultivation had recovered to the early God Immortal stage—pinned the Great Spirit Lord, a late-stage God Immortal who guarded this Spirit Tower, beneath his foot, rendering him immobile.
Throughout the entire process, he hadn't suffered a single scratch.
He grabbed the Great Spirit Lord by the hair and leaped up, soaring like a sharp arrow against the wind until he stood atop the high tower.
With one hand, he gripped the Great Spirit Lord’s throat, dangling him like a helpless chick.
He looked down at the smoke-filled city below and spoke in a clear, resonant voice:
“Surrender or die?”
His voice surged like a flood, roaming across the mountains and rivers, echoing between heaven and earth.
Upon hearing this voice, the Grey Spirits, dark spirits, and Small Spirit Lords throughout the city stopped their fighting amidst the smoke. They looked up, their eyes filled with blood-red malice and coldness, their faces contorted with rage, but also with a profound sense of helplessness.
These four were simply too strong.
The myriad beings of Cangming called the dark creatures monsters.
But in the eyes of the dark creatures, the four people before them were the true monsters—especially that emperor clad in golden fur, who was a monster among monsters.
They were at a loss, yet their fury simmered.
In Jun’s hand, the Great Spirit Lord’s face was twisted and hideous. Even though he lacked the strength to resist and his life was held in another’s grasp, he refused to compromise or show any sign of weakness. He spat out fiercely:
“You slaughter my kin!”
“The darkness will surely have its reckoning!”
“The Ancestral Spirit Venerables will not let you go...”
Jun only found it amusing. He mocked, “Ancestral Spirits? Where are they? I’ve broken through three cities and destroyed three towers, so why haven't they shown themselves?”
The Great Spirit Lord’s gaze grew even more vicious.
Jun answered his own question. “I’ll tell you why. It’s because they’re afraid. They’re afraid of me. And why are they afraid? Because I am the true god! Hahaha!”
The Water Qilin, the Nightmare, and the Demon Flood Dragon also began to laugh wantonly.
Even if the darkness had consumed Cangming, and even if they had been sealed in the mortal realm for ten thousand years, the kings of the past were still kings. They were still more than capable of fighting and sweeping away all opposition.
This was an indisputable fact!
Suddenly, a mass of thick, black clouds appeared out of nowhere in the western sky and pressed down toward them.
A great wind rose, howling with a mournful wail. In just a few moments, it reached the city walls.
The leading mournful wind instantly cleared the smoke from the city. A cold, baleful qi spread out, coating the desolate earth in frost and freezing the fires wherever it passed.
Atop the Spirit Tower, the blood-red sun darkened in an instant, as if bowing in submission. An ancient and powerful aura occupied the entire giant city in the blink of an eye.
The Water Qilin, the Nightmare, and the Demon Flood Dragon felt a bone-chilling cold. Their scalps went numb, and they instinctively shuddered. In a few bounds, they reached the high platform and stood behind Jun, staring at the black clouds as if facing a great enemy.
In Black Spirit City, the ordinary dark spirits and Grey Spirits also showed expressions of terror upon sensing this aura.
Only the surviving Small Spirit Lords felt more than just fear; they were excited, thrilled, and filled with awe...
Because they knew that reinforcements had arrived.
Those four were finished!
Atop the Spirit Tower, Jun’s laughter came to an abrupt halt. In his hand, the hideous Spirit Lord crowed triumphantly, “The Ancestral Spirit has arrived! You’re finished! None of you will escape...”
Jun didn't say a word. He stared intently at the black clouds that were crushing the world, bringing with them the descent of ultimate darkness.
Was he afraid?
No.
He had been waiting for this all along.
Now that they were here, why would he be afraid? He had simply gotten what he wanted.
A few moments later, the grey sky was replaced by a pitch-black void. Baleful qi permeated the black clouds, and within them, blood-red light flickered and roamed. As the clouds gathered and dispersed, they formed a massive face.
It flickered in and out of existence within the layers of clouds.
It looked down upon the giant city. A gaze seemed to cross endless mountains and rivers to fall upon the Twilight Emperor at the peak of the Spirit Tower.
It spoke, its voice deafening and ear-splitting, as if surging through the stars.
“Enough!”
The Twilight Emperor did not show the slightest fear under the gaze of that divine sense. The corners of his mouth curled into a slight upward arc, and an imperceptible flash of excitement and playfulness crossed his deep, blood-red eyes.
He suddenly exerted force with his hand.
A sharp crack echoed.
The triumphant Great Spirit Lord’s expression of agony intensified, his pupils constricted for a moment, and then his breath ceased. Just like that, he crumbled into countless specks of dust in the Twilight Emperor’s hand, drifting away into nothingness.
In the end, only a tattered long robe remained, falling at his feet.
A commotion erupted throughout the giant city.
Even with the Ancestral Spirit present, he still dared to deliver a killing blow. This person was truly fearless, surpassing even the Death Spirits in his audacity.
Even the three behind him broke into a cold sweat. They thought to themselves that the Emperor was indeed the Emperor—still just as bold as ever.
As for the man himself, he merely carelessly brushed the dust from his fingers. He shook out his wide sleeves, tucked his hands into his waist, and looked up at the giant face in the sky with a look of disdain. He challenged:
“So, you’re the Ancestral Spirit?”
The giant face of the Ancestral Spirit churned rapidly, the crimson within it growing more intense as it filled with a blood-red mist. It seemed to be enraged.
“You knew I was coming, yet you still dared to kill?”
The Twilight Emperor sneered and said arrogantly, “I killed him. What are you going to do about it?”
Facing this provocation, the enraged giant face actually took the initiative to restrain its aura and killing intent. It asked slowly, “You are clearly a living soul, yet I smell the scent of my race on you. Who exactly are you?”
The Twilight Emperor shouted, “I don't change my name for anyone! I am the Undying Great Emperor who roamed the era of Ancient Immortals, peerless and invincible under heaven, the Twilight Emperor...”
“...Jun!”
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