"The 33 Heavens are...finished," once the words left the Golden Crow Ancestor's lips, Silav, Dilnaz and the seven Beast Demi-Emperors felt a chill in their hearts, as if the ancient deity's words had forced a transition in his psyche. They couldn't be more correct. The Golden Crow Ancestor lowered his face, and his lips curled into a fiendish grin.
"And that is for the best. How sorrowful that I had to spend so many years caring for the lives of worthless beings. But instead of being grateful that I take my brother's words seriously, you proved me correct. Then again, it's not like I didn't push you," the Golden Crow Ancestor raised his head and cracked his neck. Twisted by a look mixing amusement and contempt, his face no longer showed any of the past austere look.
"You seven fools should thank us for sealing you. You've all been marked as 'rejected by Heaven's Will,' meaning that your existences will be fraught with calamities. At some point down the road, unless you reached the true Dao Emperor Realm or changed paths, you'd also lose your minds and lead your fellow monsters into berserk assaults against this world. Ask Silav, the Serpent Domain has been dealing with this for a while," the Golden Crow Ancestor sneered while aiming one finger at the seven Beast Emperors.
Their attention shifted toward Silav, and in his eyes, they saw the truth of their hated foe's words. Indeed, though the process took a full Cosmic Cycle, or 129,600 years, for Demi-Emperors, they were still destined to fall into madness. Their incomplete Mandates could only protect them for so long. Thus, even the Serpent Domain had to seal its Monstrous Beasts—preventing them from ravaging their land, while working on a cure. However, as long as they cultivated the Divine Path, the situation was hopeless.
The Heaven-Warding Emperor feared the chaos this knowledge could spread in the 33 Heavens, and, at the exception of the Golden Crow Ancestor, erased it from his subordinates' mind. Believing that Golden Crow alone could oversee them, he left the control and access to that sealed yin space to him—focusing his efforts on the hidden calamity that'd been threatening the 33 Heavens for eons. A pity that he misread the man.
"Brother, you were wrong. The people of this world have such little value. Their lives and deaths barely equal to guinea pigs and livestock. Why should we, of the Ancestral Land, ruin our existences to shelter food? But fortunately, brother, you're not the only one whose words I value. If not for her, why would I still be here?" A grimace mixing rage and reminiscence twisted the Golden Crow Ancestor's face. He loathed the people of the 33 Heavens for causing his brother's early death. Yet also thanked them, for without that sacrifice, perhaps he'd now have to wield his blade against that brother of his.
"Golden Crow Ances…" the Golden Crow Ancestor's words left even Silav full of confusion. But before he could probe deeper, the ancient deity barked:
"Do not call me Ancestor! Such an honor only befits the Ancestral Ones! My name is Nakula...of the Myriad Devil Palace!" Matching words with deeds, Nakula took his battle stance. Dark-purple energies of a profound, nauseating and malevolent origin rippled around his form, giving him the look of a barbaric fiend! The pitch-black feathers multiplied, becoming a black-feather cloak that draped Nakula, strengthening his aura further.
Before the pressure of that aura, Silav, Dilnaz and the seven Demi-Emperors all felt as if a true Emperor had appeared before them. Yet, the Golden Crow, no, Nakula's cultivation had not changed one bit—still at the limit of the Demi-Emperor stage. More than the others, Dilnaz's sword, the master of the Armament clan, shivered in a blend of awe and excitement.
If before, Dilnaz still doubted the correctness of her choice. Now, no such hesitation remained in her mind. Golden Crow, Nakula, it didn't matter. The man before her was the highest threat to her sovereignty, and a source of power beyond all others. Silav's thoughts went beyond, wondering if the mystery of his ancestor's disappearance didn't lie in Nakula's mind. He had to search his soul!
The seven Beast Emperors had it easier. Hatred had long since made their position clear. They had to break the Golden Crow Ancestor and feast on his skull! The strength of incomplete Mandates rippled from the makeshift allies, phoenix feathers swirled around Silav's form, and the nine brought their battle senses to the limit—ready to face the 33 Heavens' strongest.
"Divine Power: Heaven Smiting!" The World Beast Demi-Emperor was the first to strike. White light flashed in his right hand, becoming a 1,000 meters tall white-light blade that barreled into Nakula. This mountain-sized move signaled the start of the deadliest fight since the 33 Heavens' founding.
"Divine Power: Flooding World!" Boundless ocean waves formed above the Sea Dragon, crashing on Nakula.
"Divine Power: Nether Quintessence!" A pitch-black ray shot out of the Nether-Eye Lion's third eye, shooting toward Nakula's brain.
"Divine Power: Crippling Roars!" Cast by the Amethyst Tiger, a succession of deafening sound blasts supported the others as they raced at their target.
"..."
The White Fox and Hundred-Horns Barbaric Bull followed with their own Divine Powers, each unleashing a world-destroying force at the Golden Crow Ancestor. The Barrier-Breaking Millipede, Dilnaz and Silav, had yet to make their moves. But as the six Divine Powers neared their target, the Barrier-Breaking Millipede made his. In a violet flash of light, his form blurred, reappearing above Nakula.
"Divine Power: Dimensional Seal!" An invisible cubic barrier formed around and trapped Nakula in a tiny space sealed from the 33 Heavens. Flashing a contented smile, Nakula whirled 180, meeting all strikes without an ounce of fear.
"Bewitching Blade of Extermination!" A circular, dark-purple arc formed around Nakula and spread, slow enough that a mortal's eyes could follow it. But despite this tortoise-level speed, none of the Demi-Emperors could bring themselves to avoid the move, as if it called upon their hidden desires—drawing them in like a moth to a flame.
BANG!
The six Divine Powers clashed with Nakula's Extermination Blade, bursting into an explosion that obliterated the Dimensional Seal. Sheltered by their Divine Powers' sacrifices, the seven Demi-Emperors avoided the worst of the Extermination Blade, but were still sent reeling by the collision's aftermath.
The Golden Crow's form blurred, appearing high above his opponents.
"Divine Power: Solar Desolation!" Turning into a dark-purple sun of malevolent energies, Nakula dropped on his foes, the sun's surface cracked—announcing an imminent blast akin to a supernova.
"Let's use that move," Dilnaz ordered her sword-servant, while keeping her eyes locked on Nakula.
"As you command, mistress. However, I cannot use it more than three times every 1,000 years. Otherwise, I will burst into smithereens," the sword-servant approved. Black mist and red lightning flashed around Dilnaz's sword as she channeled her strongest strike.
As if bound by a tacit understanding, Silav realized Dilnaz needed time to charge a peerless strike, and rushed to meet Nakula's offensive.
"Divine Power: Immortal Rebirth!" Silav activated the Phoenix clan's Divine Power he inherited from his grandmother—enabling him to use his colossal Heavenly Qi Reserves to mend all wounds instantaneously and avoid death once.
At the same time, he summoned his Double Pupils' abilities.
"Desolate Will!" Orange light flashed in Silav's left eye, siphoning his life-force to make all his physical abilities skyrocket. But with the Immortal Rebirth, Silav possessed an endless supply of life-force, enabling the Desolate Will's promotion to go on quasi-eternally. With such a combination, Nakula realized that Silav had to die before all others, and focused the impact of his Solar Desolation on him!
BANG!
The dark supernova erupted, threatening to wipe out all that grazed its nefarious light.
Green light flashed in Silav's right eye, and to Nakula's surprise, the supernova's impact shrank, as if compressed by space, and failed to reach Silav.
"Old fiend, I don't know where you and Heaven Warding came from, but my grandfather aside, I will not lose to anyone!" Silav proclaimed, appeared at Nakula's back, and hacked at him with his clawed hands. In a flash, the two exchanged thousands of moves, and Dilnaz's charge reached its peak.
"Infinite Murdering!" Bringing her sword down in a vertical slash, Dilnaz unleashed her most destructive strike. A multitude of black half-moons each over 100 meters tall poured forth, racing at Nakula. His lips curved into a fiendish grin, and the unthinkable occurred.
As if it was an illusion and not a man standing before them, the black half-moons traversed Nakula—smashing into Silav instead. And while the Serpent Lord faced an infinite charge of dreadful blade strikes, Nakula spun, appeared before Dilnaz, and hacked at her neck!
CLANG!
Suppressing her confusion to meet Nakula's sword strike, Dilnaz flew backward, crashing toward the ground.
Nakula didn't pursue, his internal organs worked against him, and he vomited a large mouthful of blood. The Demi-Emperors thus realized that whatever Nakula just used came at a hefty price—and Silav aside—launched a combined assault.
Trapped between the never-ending blades and his endless regeneration, Silav couldn't move an inch, and cursed Nakula's name.
Meanwhile, the Highest Heaven burned under the berserk assault of the Monstrous Beasts. Without their Grand Commandant to support them, the Divine Army failed to contain the invasion—suffering countless casualties. Dilnaz's Imperial Guard didn't intervene, awaiting their Empress' orders.
Standing on the Imperial Dao Pavilion's highest mountain peak, Harun meditated on his Heart of Reincarnation, attempting to speed up the integration.
"I was born supreme. From the moment I opened my eyes on this world, I knew...that I would never have rivals. My cultivation went without hurdles, and before I knew it, I'd reached the Dao Emperor Realm.
Bored by my invincibility, I retreated to my birthplace, wanting to spend the rest of my eternity by my beloved side. One fool took that move as a sign of weakness, and as fools often do, he overreached.
Yet, it was thanks to that fool that I met him. Perhaps I should thank him..." an ancient voice echoed in Harun's mind, and he drifted to another scenery.
…
When Harun's eyes opened, he no longer stood in the 33 Heavens, and now occupied the body of an infinitely tall serpent with Gold and Purple Double Pupils. In that instant, Harun felt as if he could crush all across the universe, superior to all by virtue of his birth. But then, a slender man's back appeared in Harun's eyes. Dressed in a saffron monk robe that contrasted with his short black hair, if he didn't sit crossed-legged in the middle of the cosmos, the man would have looked ordinary.
He turned, facing Harun with his finely chiseled face and golden eyes. An unalome lotus symbol stood in the middle of his forehead, rippling with rainbow-colored light. In that man's eyes, Harun could feel that all mysteries of Heaven and Earth gathered. The Cosmic Law stood in its most complete form.
"What do you want?" The man asked, reminding Harun that he initially came to issue a challenge. Yet, no such thoughts remained in his mind, and assuming his human form, he bowed toward the man.
"Golden Cicada, Dharma Ancestor, please accept me as your disciple!"