“What’s that?”
Yu Miejue’s eyes widened.
“That door…”
Wen Duoqing could sense a kind of power that had never existed in this world being slowly released from that door behind Ding Hao.
Many experts of the two clans felt strange fear inside them at this moment.
The all-enveloping ghoul army, as plentiful as seawater, became more and more agitated. Many low-level Spirits of the Dead were already trembling with fear. Their illusory bodies had become more insubstantial, like the mist in the wind.
“The Hell Path? Could it be…”
Chu Kuangtu’s expression changed drastically as he suddenly recalled a legend.
The next moment—
“Devils and monsters, ghosts and ghouls, now’s the best time to reincarnate!”
Ding Hao in the state of emptiness opened his mouth again. His expression was solemn, like a god who was lording over all. Even the dazzling flames released by the gigantic gray light gate behind him could not overwhelm his figure.
He seemed to be issuing a decree.
As soon as he finished speaking, a force almost like the power of the rules radiated out in all directions.
The ghoul army looming over the sky suddenly became like smoke in the wind. Their human forms vaporized, turning into mist and gushing toward the gray light gate behind Ding Hao.
There was a cheer of relief in the void.
The boundless ghoul army was rushing madly toward the light gate, as if something was attracting them there. They were cheering loudly and ecstatically. They seemed a little more sentient and were no longer as stiff as ever.
“What happened? These Spirits of the Dead…”
The experts of the two clans were both surprised and delighted.
The speed at which the gray light gate was absorbing these Spirits of the Dead was simply unbelievable. In an instant, millions had been absorbed into the portal. There seemed to be another world that could hold countless Spirits of the Dead behind that light gate. As these Spirits of the Dead swarmed in, the power of the light gate intensified.
The gray light gate was simply the nemesis of these Spirits of the Dead.
“The Hell Path? I got it now. Young fella, you’re sending my ghoul army into the Hell Path? Don’t kid yourself. Stop right now!”
Chu Kuangtu seemed to have realized something.
He shouted and activated his power, trying to regain control of the ghoul army.
As soon as he finished speaking, some of the Spirits of the Dead stopped at the light gate. They looked at the Shadow of Destruction in awe and fear but did not remain in this state for long. The next moment, all the Spirits of the Dead, like roving spirits eager to return home, rushed madly toward the light gate.
“D*mned spirits, stop!”
The Shadow of Destruction shouted, and another burst of destructive power, like a light wave, radiated out in all directions, enwrapping countless Spirits of the Dead in an effort to control them.
Surrounded by that destructive light, the Spirits of the Dead all struggling and howling in pain, as if burned by a raging fire.
At almost the same time, the gray flame expanded vigorously and counterattacked from the gray light gate behind Ding Hao.
Wherever the gray flame passed, the destructive light wave unleashed by the Shadow of Destruction would disappear, like fine snow melted by boiling water.
“Uh…”
The Shadow of Destruction seemed to have been struck heavily. His body tottered.
The ghoul army rushed toward the gray light gate at a faster speed, like unstoppable raging waves. Seen from a distance, there seemed to be a huge eddying whirlpool with endless greenish Spirits of the Dead streaming into it, at the very spot where Ding Hao was standing.
“The power of reincarnation isn’t one that you can resist. You overestimate yourself if you try to pit mortal power against the might of Heaven!”
Ding Hao, who was in a state of emptiness, spoke again.
His voice was like the quiet proclamations of innumerable gods and devils, surging with invisible power. Each word was like a giant hammer, hitting everyone in the void hard—especially that Shadow of Destruction, Chu Kuangtu, who was terrified.
Yu Miejue, Wen Duoqing, the bronze-skinned middle-aged Martial Sage, the wizen-faced Great Saint of the Demon Clan, and the other absolute masters were all looking grave.
By now, everyone had realized that the six-colored divine disc behind Ding Hao represented a vague kind of Heavenly power. It was definitely no ordinary power. The ever-changing light from this six-colored light gate seemed sustained by countless gods and devils, almost about to evolve into a kind of power of the rules.
This was no longer the power of an ordinary Divine Artifact.
Ding Hao looked solemn at this moment, without a trace of joy or sadness on his face. He seemed to have integrated himself with that light gate behind him and was now an avatar of the Heavenly Tao and the rules. He overflowed with a kind of irresistible power that could make mortals prostrate at his feet.
What happened?
The Heavenly Samsara Disc, the God-suppressing Seal, and Sand of Time were known as the Three Great Divine Artifacts of the Final Divine Temple. Their power should be on a par. But when Yu Miejue unleashed the God-suppressing Seal, and Wen Duoqing and the wizen-faced Demon Saint activated the Sand of Time, they struggled to resist Chu Kuangtu. Yet this Heavenly Samsara Disc actually overcame the ghoul army and Chu Kuangtu the moment it appeared!
Was the Heavenly Samsara Disc now more than a Divine Artifact?
Or was it… the natural law of things that a particular object could counteract them?
But these were no longer the most important questions in the minds of most experts of the two clans. When they saw that Ding Hao’s power was able to restrain the Shadow of Destruction, there was hope once again in their hearts. They looked at Ding Hao with great expectation, praying silently that things would go their way. It was too tortuous to have their growing hope extinguished, only to be raised again.
“Impossible! I don’t believe this…”
The Shadow of Destruction, Chu Kuangtu, cried.
His whole body was surging with even crazier destructive power, like a huge wave billowing in all directions. It had a kind of annihilating power. It felt like an ancient mountain was weighing down on their hearts, suffocating them.
But nothing Chu Kuangtu did seemed to be working.
The gray light gate behind Ding Hao released endless gray flames—a natural nemesis of Chu Kuangtu’s destructive power. Wherever they passed, Chu Kuangtu’s power would melt like snow. He found it almost impossible to hold on.
“Ah, ah, ah…” Chu Kuangtu bellowed. He felt his strength gradually weakening.
All of a sudden, a new kind of power of the rules of this place suddenly started suppressing him.
Countless Spirits of the Dead streamed madly past him toward the gray light gate.
Whether they were the lowest-level Spirits of the Dead or the Generals and Warlords of the Dead—they were all now out of Chu Kuangtu’s control. The high-level Spirits of the Dead, which had been guarding him, were also released from their bodies, turning into greenish flames and rushing toward that gray light gate.
The once-possessed bodies, like sand sculptures, dispersed in wind like gray sand the moment the Spirits left.
Dust to dust, and earth to earth.
Whatever should go should not remain behind.
These dead experts could finally rest in peace.
In about 10 minutes, one-third of the entire ghoul army had been devoured by the gray light gate. The horrific speed was truly shocking.
“I won’t give in. I shall destroy you!”
Chu Kuangtu bellowed wildly, unable to stay calm anymore. Lethal black beams of light shot out of his empty eye sockets. He was once again using the Netherworld Transfer to destroy the gray light gate behind Ding Hao.
A kind of destructive power that had even defeated the two silvery shadows was now slashing through the void.
Like lightning, it also struck the hearts of countless experts.
The experts of the two clans were afraid that Ding Hao could not resist this horrible force. They feared that their last hope would be extinguished again.
Fortunately, their fear did not materialize.
When the deadly light beam of the Netherworld Transfer was ten meters away from Ding Hao, it was suddenly blocked by some invisible force. It disappeared, as if devoured by another space. It then reappeared ten meters behind Ding Hao, vanishing into the gray light gate.
It was so bizarre.
The deadly light beam of the Netherworld Transfer must have entered a very short space tunnel.
“Ah… why has it turned out this way?”
Chu Kuangtu, the Shadow of Destruction, suddenly roared in panic.
Deadly black beams of light burst out from his sunken eye sockets and kept streaming into the gray light gate behind Ding Hao. He struggled hard but was unable to stop the process. Vast power was pouring out of his body.
“Hey, it seems to be robbing Chu Kuangtu of his power.”
Yu Miejue seemed to have detected something.
The tables had turned. If Chu Kuangtu had been trying to destroy Ding Hao’s Hell Path with his Netherworld Transfer, the Hell Path was now using Chu Kuangtu’s Netherworld Transfer to rob him of his power.
Even more incredibly, Chu Kuangtu was struggling madly and could not stop the transfer. Things had gone completely out of his control.
Soon, everyone could sense Chu Kuangtu’s strength rapidly weakening.
Chu Kuangtu’s power was indeed waning fast.
“No… I won’t accept it! Impossible! How could there be such power in the world? How could it restrain the profundities of my Netherworld Transfer? Is everything predestined?”
Chu Kuangtu’s voice was full of sadness. He would not resign himself to defeat.
As his power was being robbed, the outlines of his figure slowly became more distinct. The destructive power that had been shrouding his body gradually dissipated. Soon, everyone could see his body clearly. His ragged robe, which looked like it could disintegrate in the wind at any moment, was ridden with small holes, its hem jagged like sawteeth. The robe seemed oversized, fluttering in the wind…
No one had expected this Commander-in-Chief of the terrifying ghoul army to be dressed in such rags.
Even more unexpected was the fact that Chu Kuangtu’s body…
It was as tattered as his black robe.
He looked extremely sinister and horrific, like a monster scooped up after being fried in an oil wok. Most of the muscles on his face had fallen off, revealing ghastly white bones. There was only a little flesh, blood vessels, and white tendons on his cheeks and forehead. There were nothing left of his neck but bones. Looking through the tattered black robe, one could see only mangled red flesh and white bones…
He looked like a skeleton dangling with a little flesh, indescribably grotesque and terrifying.
The experts of the two clans opened their mouths wide. They did not expect Chu Kuangtu to be such a shapeless monster. Even those ferocious Spirits of the Dead looked much cuter than him.
“What happened to him?”
They were utterly mystified.
“Ah, no, I can’t accept it, I can’t!” Chu Kuangtu roared wildly, but could not change the fact that his power was being robbed by the Hell Path in the gray light gate. He could not resist at all. His power and aura were waning.
The ghoul army all over the sky began to decrease in numbers.
Unlike Chu Kuangtu, who was frantically resisting, the ghoul army reacted totally unlike him. They let out cheerful howls and streamed toward the gray light gate, as if something there was attracting them.
The whole process, which left the experts dumbfounded, lasted for two hours.
As the invisible power of heaven and earth raged on, few could be involved in its process. And no one wanted to. They were afraid they might upset Ding Hao’s power, allowing that horrific half-skeleton, Chu Kuangtu, to escape.
Time passed.
The ghoul army that had once filled the sky was finally all gone.
As the last hoarse howl from the Spirits of the Dead died away in everyone’s ears, their overwhelming greenish light also disappeared. The depressing color faded away, replaced by a world of clarity. The bright azure sky, milky white clouds, and earthy-smelling wind were all full of life.
The gray light gate behind Ding Hao began to shrink.
In the end, it shrank to its former size, no bigger than a palm. It rejoined the other five-colored components, forming a complete Heavenly Samsara Disc. However, its scintillating flames did not disappear. After devouring tens of thousands of Spirits of the Dead, the gray light gate became more and more lustrous.
The solemn aura on Ding Hao, like that of a god or a devil, slowly dissipated.
He opened his eyes.
They were clear and resolute.
Although he could not control his body just now, as if another strange self was doing all the work, Ding Hao could still sense what was happening. He was now totally calm, after his initial shock.
What happened just now greatly enhanced his perception and mastery of the Heavenly Samsara Disc.
This Divine Artifact was not as powerful as the God-suppressing Seal or the Sand of Time. It did not seem able to attack directly but possessed six completely different kinds of power. Its unique magical powers were linked to six completely different, yet interconnected worlds.
Through the gray light gate, Ding Hao could vaguely see a new world.
“I can’t accept it. I’ve kept a low profile all this time, training hard and accumulating a lot of power. Now at the final stage, my efforts had gone down the drain. My great ambition actually was thwarted by a juvenile upstart! I can’t accept this…”
Chu Kuangtu, who was now in his real form, no longer possessed the same power. He looked up at the sky and bellowed, realizing that all was lost.
A breeze blew through his tattered black robe, making it flutter. The sound it made sounded like a funeral dirge.
“Could no one defeat the skills left behind by that man? He must be dead by now, and yet he can still defeat me from his 10,000-year-old grave! I hate him…”
Chu Kuangtu roared, unwilling to resign himself to defeat.
“Anyone who does evil will have to die.” Ding Hao looked pitilessly at this formidable enemy who was now no longer a threat. He knew from his conversation with the two shadows that this man was wicked. He was directly responsible for the destruction of the Sacred Hall.
“If heaven and earth are a chessboard and all living beings are chess pieces, who is the chess player?” Chu Kuangtu roared, raising his head to the sky. Then he started guffawing. “I have gone through so many hardships and thought that I could transcend above all. Alas, I’m utterly defeated. Hahaha, in the end, the Land of Infinity is just a minor realm, a mere corner!”
He sounded utterly dejected.
In the ears of the experts of the two clans, his words were like a thunderclap.
The Land of Infinity was just a minor realm?
How could this be?
Ding Hao had long known about the vast and even more glorious Land of Divine Grace, so he was not surprised. But Chu Kuangtu obviously knew much more than he did.
“Xiao Qiushui, you win. Although you were just making use of that man’s power, you have indeed won. Everything is now over. You and I are peerless fighters, but still just pawns in someone’s hands. Haha, you even lost the whole Sacred Hall! Let’s end this all. Who between us will be the final victor in Hell?”
Chu Kuangtu laughed wildly.
As his voice died away…
Boom!
Chu Kuangtu’s half-human, half-ghostly form suddenly exploded softly, turning into a greenish plume of smoke, dispersing in the void like mist. His body and soul instantly dissipated in this realm. He no longer existed in this world.
His tattered black robe, ridden with small holes, drifted weakly down the air, landing somewhere…
Everything was over.
The most terrible calamity ended on a most unexpected note.
In this realm, there lingered the remnant aura left by this tragically fierce battle. Less than one-tenth of the Human and Demon Clan experts had survived, out of nearly 10,000. Some masters in the Sage Realm had also died in battle. As for the Emperor and Martial Grand Emperor-level experts, too many of them were killed…
The experts of the two clans felt extremely tired. They no longer had any desire to fight.
“Ding Hao, although you killed Chu Kuangtu only to save yourself, I still owe you a favor. A demon like me won’t easily accept the kindness of others. I can do one thing for you in the future… So long!”
The first to react was that Demon Clan genius, Wen Duoqing.
He cupped his hands, saluting Ding Hao, and departed with these words. With the severely injured Great Saint of the Demon Clan, he immediately turned into a stream of light and disappeared into the distant horizon.
The words of this Demon Clan genius were loud and forceful.
“Ding Hao, I’m from the Silver-armored Pangolin Tribe. I also owe you a favor, and will definitely repay you someday!” A Great Demon clad in silver armor, his true form that of a pangolin, cupped his hands and saluted Ding Hao. Then he pulled out a silver scale from his body and handed it to Ding Hao as a token. After that, he turned to leave.
“Haha, that’s right. Although the Human Clan and the Demon Clan are at odds with each other, I’m not an ingrate who forgets kindness. I’m the Master of Blood Pool in the Southern Wilderness. I owe you my life. You can ask me to do anything, so long as it won’t violate the laws of the Demon Clan,” a red Cod Demon Mutant said in a muffled voice, giving Ding Tao a fish whisker. He then departed as a stream of light.
“Yes, we owe you our lives!”
“Hehe, I didn’t expect that a human kid would save my life today. I will definitely repay you the favor!”
Many Demon Clan experts left their tokens behind and turned to leave.
Of course, there were also some demon experts who remained quiet, without thanking Ding Hao. They turned around and left. One of them was that Demon Saint Patriarch of the Black Demon Wolf Tribe.
The Black Demon Wolf Tribe had sent all their experts here, led by the Patriarch, an absolute master in the Saint Realm. In the end, only the Black Demon Patriarch had survived. It was an absolute catastrophe for their tribe. Ding Hao had also killed a lot of them, sowing the seeds of a future feud. The vengeful Black Demon Patriarch would of course not thank Ding Hao.
“Haha, Brother Ding, you made a lot of friends today. Few can make these conceited masters of the Demon Clan feel indebted.” Liao Juzhan of the War God Hall laughed, congratulating Ding Hao.
He was lucky enough to have survived this catastrophe.
Many other experts of the War God Hall also thanked Ding Hao.
Ding Hao made a date with Liao Juzhan and the others. Once he finished what he had to do, he would visit them at the War God Hall. The experts of the War God Hall saluted him and left.
“I didn’t expect to survive…” Wei Wubing from the Wuji Sect sighed.
He was very weak, having helped Ding Hao take part of the pressure and had consumed a lot of his vitality. He had expended a lot of his primordial Qi. Even as a Sage Realm master, his strength had declined sharply. Soon, he would fall below the Sage Realm.
“Brother Ding, I’m truly grateful to you this time. The Wuji Sect will definitely repay you someday.” There were complex emotions on Wei Wubing’s face. He left behind a token of the Wuji Sect, turned around, and left.
“He won’t live for long.” The bronze-skinned middle-aged Martial Sage sighed, staring at Wei Wubing’s back.
“Really? He’s still a Sage after all.” Ding Hao was surprised.
“Although a Sage has a long lifespan, Wei Wubing’s blood and Qi have been waning. He’s already very old and has expended too much energy here. I’m afraid he won’t live for more than three years,” the bronze-skinned Martial Sage explained.
Countless warriors would sigh at the demise of a Sage.
Ding Hao sighed quietly in his heart.
Some Human Clan experts came over to express their gratitude. Even Luo Guantian of the God-slaying Sect and other Martial Sages, who had been hostile to Ding Hao, came over to him, looking embarrassed. They now looked more friendly, eager to mend their relationship with Ding Hao.
