As everyone gazed upon the words carved into the massive stone, a heavy silence fell upon them. Those who had not reached the Holy Stage were now more angry than worried. Out of a million people, less than the Holy Stage had survived, leaving only forty. In the face of the Holy Stage, they harbored no hope for life.
The Holy Stage powerhouses were consumed with rage. For this event, almost every family or power had brought all their elite members below the Holy Stage, never anticipating such a catastrophic outcome. Who could bear the thought of their own kin or members, nurtured with great effort and time, being slaughtered?
Excluding the Dragon Clan and the Sword Sect, the remaining two factions found themselves in a dire dilemma. Each of these two regions housed nearly half a million people, including members from over a dozen families or powers. According to Ye Han's game rules, some families faced the threat of complete annihilation.
After a moment of silence, several Holy Stage individuals burst out in anger. "You devil, devising such a cruel method!"
"The greedy must pay a price," Ye Han calmly retorted, standing atop the grand formation, watching everyone within it. "All of this is a consequence of your own actions."
"Don't think of buying time. I can maintain this formation for a hundred years," his voice echoed throughout, quashing many people's hopes.
A late-stage Holy powerhouse from the Swordsmen Guild in the third area suddenly roared, "Kill the swordsmen!" Before anyone could react, he attacked, unleashing his fighting spirit. His hands traced a spatial ripple in the air, striking a nearby Holy powerhouse.
"You..." The victim, gazing at the hands piercing his chest, was in disbelief.
Chaos erupted below as the Swordsmen Guild initiated the attack. Everyone released their fighting spirit and drew their weapons, striking those nearby.
"What are you doing, Laotun?" some Holy Stage individuals shouted in anger at the sudden offensive.
"To kill, of course. Haven't you felt the absence of energy here?" Laotun, the initiator, replied furiously. With a shake of his arm, the Holy powerhouse he struck was torn apart, his blood scattering across the space.
The air grew thick with the scent of blood, triggering a bloodlust among the densely packed crowd. Powerful fighting techniques and magic flew everywhere, and the battle in the air slowly spread.
Reaching the Holy Stage meant a lifespan of ten thousand years, but only if sustained by enough energy. Without it, as their internal energy dwindled over time, they would die of hunger or old age, just like ordinary people. In a desperate bid to survive, the battle among the Holy Stage finally erupted in full force.
As the battle in the other three regions erupted, the most ferocious was undoubtedly the Dragon Clan's area. Thirteen massive creatures, each over twenty zhang in length, engaged in a brutal fight. Their roars shook the heavens and earth, with their colossal tails and claws serving as their most lethal weapons.
The conflict between the Sword Sect and the Law Sect was more refined. Being millennia-old superpowers with deep relations, they remained composed in the face of this bizarre situation. Ultimately, after a discussion between Kapulos and Katie, it was decided that aside from the two of them, the remaining fourteen would fight individually, with the winners earning their survival.
The brutal slaughter was everywhere, with nearly a million people in the three regions fighting to the death. Blood flowed like rivers, and shattered bones and flesh flew all around. Amidst the carnage, nobody noticed the blood slowly trickling out of the formation through a small channel underground.
Ye Han, having set the massacre in motion, paid no further attention to the chaos inside. He had immense confidence in the formation's strength, powered by the energy of a middle-ranked god and reinforced by thousands of magic cores and eight Holy Stage masters. Even a lower-ranked god, without a powerful weapon, would struggle to break it. The gap between the God and Holy Stages was not something that could be bridged by mere numbers.
The copious amount of blood flowing from the formation gradually converged into a small pool in front of Ye Han. The blood-red crystals in the pool emitted bursts of red light, continuously absorbing the blood. As the master of the Half-Life Realm, Ye Han keenly felt its transformation.
"Once the Half-Life Realm grows, I won't need to hide anymore," Ye Han said coldly. He was aware that without the realm as his safeguard, he would have long perished under the siege of numerous Holy Stages.
Strength was everything, and yet Ye Han was stuck at the peak of a Level Four Zombie, with no signs of breakthrough. Many of his trump cards had been revealed to the mainlanders, and anyone who thought about it could pinpoint his weakness and potentially kill him in one strike.
In the domains of Holy Stage powerhouses, if they activated their domains immediately, Ye Han stood no chance of escape. The Half-Life Realm was his last protection until he reached the Level Three Zombie stage.
As the day turned to night and then to dawn again, the under-Holy Stage combatants were all but annihilated. Of the fifty-plus Holy Stage powerhouses from various powers and families, less than thirty survived. In one day, more than twenty Holy Stages perished in Ye Han's deadly game, along with nearly a million below the Holy Stage.
The blood crystals emitted a subtle energy twice in one day, indicating the growth of the Half-Life Realm. Ye Han, unable to sense the laws of the world as a zombie, returned to the Doomsday Prison. The three God Stage undead slaves sensed a clearer presence of laws than before, inspiring awe and submission from others, though this had no effect on Ye Han.
The Holy Stage undead slaves and zombie beasts, along with the high-ranked magical beasts Ye Han captured, felt the overwhelming authority of the God Stage powerhouses, trembling in their presence.
Pleased with the changes in the Doomsday Prison, Ye Han left it as day broke. After a day and night of relentless fighting, not a single person in the formation was unscathed. The worst hit was the Dragon Clan's area, where the surviving dragons bore horrific wounds, and dragon blood spurted freely.
Looking at everything within the formation, Ye Han smiled, a crazed and triumphant grin. He had single-handedly manipulated the forces of the continent, causing the demise of a million people for his zombie army, his blood boiling with excitement.