The crystalline sound of Cleo’s divine kingdom shattering spelled out his doom.
By the time snow stopped falling from the sky, the sound of pious chanting could no longer be heard within the divine kingdom. The battle had come to a close.
Su Chen stepped out of the destroyed microcosm, as if he had returned to his home realm.
However, his expression was quite strange.
It was as if he had encountered something unexpected in this fight.
After some thought, he said, “This matter has been concluded. Return to your former duties.”
The group of soldiers all dispersed, leaving Iron Cliff alone by Su Chen’s side.
When everyone departed, Su Chen spoke. “They’re gone.”
The Human Ancestor’s figure slowly emerged from thin air.
“There’s something that I don’t understand,” Su Chen said.
“You want to ask why I didn’t intervene during that large initial fight against the gods and keep them there, right?” the Human Ancestor asked with a smile.
Su Chen nodded.
The Human Ancestor sighed. “I wanted to do that as well, but unfortunately, I could not. There is only one of me and twenty-two of them. I am not that powerful.”
“I still think that you could have done so if you had used your full strength. After all, controlling and bewitching other people is your specialty, is it not?” Su Chen said.
The Human Ancestor chuckled dryly. “I know what you’re thinking. Do you believe that I am the Lord of the Dreamrealm?”
“Am I wrong?” Su Chen sharply countered. “If you aren’t, then there are too many things that wouldn’t make sense. For instance, why couldn’t the Lord of the Dreamrealm see through my disguise as the Shadowless Sky God? Why does the Lord of the Dreamrealm know so much about what is taking place in the Origin Realm, but not about what is happening in his home realm? And what about when I slaughtered the Astrals? Perhaps that was a part of your master plan as well, as you could then use that opportunity to issue me a warning. If you aren’t the Lord of the Dreamrealm, then all I can say is that he is an idiot. I do believe that the gods can make mistakes, but I don’t think that they are actually this stupid. Well? Are you still going to say that you are not him?”
The Human Ancestor gently sighed. “Some things are not as clear-cut as you think them to be. I truly was not able to intervene — it wasn’t that I didn’t want to.
Su Chen was slightly taken aback by this response.
Even now, the Human Ancestor was still refusing to admit to the truth?
“When the time comes for you to know, you will know. As for right now, you should focus on taking care of your own business.” As the Human Ancestor said this, a red dot of light flew into Su Chen’s body. “This is where two other gods are hiding. They are the last two that I know about. Your infiltration of Kun’s territory has already made them heavily suspect me, so many of the gods are refusing to reveal their whereabouts. I only know where these two are because I used special methods to pinpoint their location. Not long from now, they will attack me. You must handle things before then.”
Su Chen then asked, “So if I see them attack the Lord of the Dreamrealm, should I save him or not?”
Unexpectedly, the Human Ancestor resolutely replied. “Do not save him. Allow him to die!”
Su Chen was taken aback by this answer.
Was the Human Ancestor really not the Lord of the Dreamrealm?
But if that was the case, then there were too many unresolved mysteries!
“You will understand one day,” the Human Ancestor said. “This is not the most important matter at hand right now. The gods have already come up with a new plan.”
“What plan?”
“I cannot say.” The Human Ancestor shook his head.
“You cannot say? What does that even mean?”
“After the Twilight of the Gods, many of the gods died, but a few of them left unique Divine Tools behind. For instance, there is the Lord of Time’s Scepter of Time, which allows one to predict the future. Of course, like your Origin Bone Scepter, large sacrifices are necessary to activate it, and it cannot be used to make any predictions that concern individuals who are too powerful. Among these unique Divine Tools, there is one called the Soundless Sky. Its effect binds even gods to it, preventing them from violating any restrictive vows made using it.”
Su Chen instantly understood.
This Soundless Sky had undoubtedly been used on all the gods, including the Human Ancestor, preventing him from telling Su Chen what was happening even if he knew.
The activation of the Soundless Sky must be extremely expensive. Only in sensitive circumstances that could determine the gods’ fates would it be used. As such, this would prevent the Human Ancestor from leaking their plans even if he knew what was happening.
Su Chen suddenly remembered that the Human Ancestor had indeed mentioned that there were some things that he could not speak about.
Now, he finally understood why the Human Ancestor could not say anything.
Actually, the Soundless Sky and the restrictive vows that the Human Ancestor had been bound by were what was preventing him from divulging any information.
The only reason why he could say anything at all about the matter was because the gods had been severely weakened. Now, the Soundless Sky was being used to restrict twenty or so gods, which allowed the Human Ancestor to mention a few smaller details.
“Will the consequences of the plan be disastrous?”
“I cannot say.”
“If the plan succeeds, will we fail?”
“I cannot say.”
“Are all the gods who are still alive participating?”
“I cannot say.
“Fine. It seems that the information is being guarded quite closely,” Su Chen replied helplessly.
The long lifespans of the gods meant that they preferred not to think when they needed to resolve issues. However, that only meant that they were lazy, not dumb. When a sizable threat emerged before them, they would not make a low-level mistake and leave a gaping hole for Su Chen to exploit.
“What should I do?” Su Chen asked after a moment’s thought.
“Find them and kill them all as quickly as you can!” the Human Ancestor replied decisively.
“Understood,” Su Chen said with a nod. “It’s a shame that you only have two targets for me. The other gods will have hidden themselves well and will not be easy to find.”
“That is your problem.”
After the Human Ancestor said this, he began to fade into the background.
Su Chen remained silent as he watched the Human Ancestor disappear from view.
Iron Cliff said, “Master, what do you think the Human Ancestor is up to? Is he or is he not the Lord of the Dreamrealm?”
Su Chen shook his head. “I don’t know, but even if he isn’t, I believe that they must be very closely related.”
Iron Cliff shrugged. “Then perhaps we should loosen our restrictions on the Lord of the Dreamrealm within the Origin Realm.”
“There’s no need,” Su Chen replied. “Did you not hear what he said earlier? Even if we run into the Lord of the Dreamrealm here, we should kill him all the same.”
“This really is impossible to understand.” Iron Cliff still seemed suspicious.
However, Su Chen was more focused on the secret plan that the Human Ancestor had mentioned.
What plan was he talking about?
Su Chen couldn’t help but think of what had happened after he had killed Cleo.
After killing Cleo, Su Chen had not obtained Cleo’s essence of divine power.
This had confused him greatly.
These essence fragments would naturally emerge and condense after a god’s death, and they contained a portion of the strength that the god had possessed in the past.
But this power seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
Was this related to the plan that the Human Ancestor had mentioned?
But just what was that plan?
Su Chen couldn’t figure it out.
But since that was the case, then there was no point in continuing to think about it.
Just as the Human Ancestor had said, killing the gods quickly was the best plan of action at the moment.
“Then kill them we shall. After the Twilight of the Gods will come the Winter of the Gods! This winter will be a permanent one, and they will have no opportunity to ever recover.”
Following this vicious command, a broad search of the gods was carried out.
Cultivators from the Origin Realm scattered across Kun’s territory, scouring the land for any sign of the gods.
Su Chen even constructed a large spatial detection apparatus himself. Any god who got too close to the apparatus would activate it.
And this plan actually succeeded.
With their exhaustive efforts, the Origin Realm army quickly found three more gods and killed them in rapid succession.
However, the gods were not idiots either. When they realized the situation that they were in, they began to keep an eye out for the apparatus as well. Naturally, it was far easier for the gods to discover the apparatus than it was the other way around, rendering it essentially useless. Su Chen, however, did not give up and followed it up by developing a vibration device to force the gods out of hiding.
This allowed him to uproot a few more of them.
But then, once again, the gods quickly adapted to this new tool and found a way to detect the vibration device’s presence as well.
This was like a game of cat-and-mouse, or an arms race of sorts. And throughout this game, ten or so gods had fallen. Naturally, the Origin Realm’s soldiers had paid a price as well.
None of the high-tier gods, however, made an appearance even once.
But the current situation still gave Su Chen an uneasy feeling. None of the gods who had recently died left any concentrated divine power behind.
Thankfully, the two globules that he had gathered from the initial battle allowed him to bring both Ye Fenghan and Le Feng into the Nascent Soul Realm.
And Gu Qingluo and Zhu Xianyao had also formed their Golden Pill.
By this point, there were quite a few power Origin Energy cultivators who also possessed some mastery of immortal energy. Many of them had reached the Foundation Establishment stage already.
As a result, with every passing day, the human race’s strength was steadily increasing.
The gods were continually discovered and killed as their numbers continued to dwindle.
Even so, Su Chen couldn’t shake the sense of unease creeping over him.
It was as if a monstrous storm was brewing on the horizon. Su Chen simply could not get used to his feelings of unease.
Even so, he had no other choice but to continue hunting the gods down.
In the blink of an eye, three years passed.
Within the Myriad Star Field.
This place was a naturally formed forbidden land in Kun’s territory. Apparently, it had once belonged to the God of Death. Even now, the place was still filled with an intense aura of death. This aura posed a substantial threat as it could corrode all living creatures.
Even so, the Origin Realm’s cultivators had searched through this place no less than sixteen times. Their implacable stance could be seen in how determined they were to find the gods regardless of where they might be hiding.
On this day, yet another group of Origin Realm cultivators arrived.
This group, however, was no ordinary search party. Su Chen had personally come himself.
He calmly strolled through the Myriad Star Field, followed by countless Boundless Sect disciples.
As he gazed at the field’s barren landscape, Su Chen called out, “Come on out, Yormak. Hiding here will no longer keep you safe.”
There was no reply.
Su Chen chuckled. “You won’t give up until the very last nail is hammered into your coffin, huh?”
He then raised his hand and shoved his palm out in front of him.
The space in front of him suddenly tore apart as a dark shadow appeared. It was emanating an intense aura of death and surrounded by fragments of his divine kingdom.
Even Su Chen was slightly taken aback by this horrid scene.
Yormak’s divine kingdom had been ripped to shreds?
The worshippers that had once occupied it were all lying on the ground in a pitiful condition, as if they had been afflicted by a plague.
Even so, they were still alive and continuing to diligently pray, supplying Yormak with a stream of faith.
“You’re finally here,” Yormak spoke in a low, gravelly voice.
He appeared above his broken divine kingdom, revealing a relatively common face. His face was not majestic or mysterious like what a stereotypical god looked like.
Even Su Chen couldn’t help but comment, “Have you already fallen this far? It seems that your days were numbered even if I didn’t show up.”
Yormak chuckled darkly. “You seem quite delighted by my plight. Yes, you may have won this time and found me. My only regret is that I will not be able to hold out until the end! However, that’s alright. Even if I cannot be one of the gods who enjoys the fruits of his success, I will still do my part.”
Upon hearing this, the sense of uneasiness dwelling in Su Chen’s heart suddenly surfaced and intensified even further. “What are you saying, Yormak?”
Yormak began to laugh wildly.
Following this laugh, the remnants of his divine kingdom and all of his worshippers were suddenly set ablaze.
At the same time, the familiar glow of divine power appeared once again.
This was Yormak’s final display of strength!
Even so, he was not using this strength to fight against Su Chen. Instead, the former divine kingdom and worshippers just burned fiercely as Yormak continued to howl with maniacal laughter.
This was Su Chen’s first time witnessing a genuinely crazy god.
Yormak’s body slowly began to catch on fire as well, and the flames eventually spread to cover his entire body. The powerful energy released when Yormak’s body was used as fuel began to surge wildly in all directions.
This foreign Method Power was causing alarm bells to ring off in Su Chen’s mind.
He finally realized what the gods’ plan was from the very beginning.
“Not good!” he cried out.
Boom!
Off in the horizon, a resounding, echoing explosion could be heard.
This ancient sound was long and drawn out. It was heard both in Kun’s territory as well as the Origin Realm. Every person and creature in these two realms heard the foreboding rumbling sound and could sense that something unprecedented had happened.
The Barrier had collapsed.
