Chapter 1665: Killing Flame Venerable

Chapter 1665: Slaying the Flame Sovereign

Near-Will Transcendence Level!

When Zhou Zhou's power reached this stage, another wave of astonishment surged through all the onlookers.

Previously, they had believed that Zhou Zhou possessed a Near-Will Transcendence-level strength only due to the combined effects of power, will-based artifacts, law techniques, and lordly innate talents.

Now, however, it was pure strength—unadulterated and unaided—that had brought him to the Near-Will Transcendence level.

With all the other enhancements stacked upon it, Zhou Zhou might now be approaching, if not fully reaching, true Will Transcendence.

But...

Anyone with sharp eyes could still see that Zhou Zhou was still no match for the Flame Sovereign.

Indeed.

Upon seeing Zhou Zhou's current strength, the Flame Sovereign was momentarily stunned, yet he only smiled faintly:

"Only that, then?"

"I can give you time—enough to unleash every trick you have."

As he spoke, his confidence was absolute, unshakable.

Zhou Zhou shook his head, speaking plainly:

"I already have no other means left."

"If you wish to kill me, do it now."

Upon hearing this, the Yan Zun found the words odd, yet could not help but smirk.

"Have you truly given up?"

"Yes, I have."

"If it were me, faced with a foe of lower-tier transcendent will when I was weak, I would also give up."

"The Supreme Will must have truly misjudged you."

"How could it have chosen someone like you as its heir?"

"Didn't it at least assess your strength before engaging in battle?"

"If it were me, I'd wait until my power had fully ascended to the level of Supreme Will before challenging a being of your strength."

"Since you've already given up—"

"I shall, with boundless compassion, escort you on your final journey."

"Rest assured, I will guarantee that no means whatsoever will allow the Supreme Will to resurrect you."

"You will vanish completely."

"Upon seeing your utter destruction, the Supreme Will will surely be devastated."

"After all, you were a being nurtured with such great cost."

Yan Zun laughed loudly.

Though he had been confined beneath the Supreme Continent for eons, he could still observe the Supreme Continent, even parts of the myriad heavens and realms.

He had watched the entire contest of the paramount lords from all races, organized by the Supreme Will.

And precisely because of that,

he understood how deeply cherished such an heir as Zhou Zhou truly was.

To say that even if a mightier being offered the Heavenly Punishment God King and the Spring-Autumn Law Master in exchange for the Life of the People Emperor, he would not trade—this was not an exaggeration.

In the eyes of this lower-tier will, transcendent in strength,

Zhou Zhou clearly held greater potential, was more worthy of selection, and merited greater hope.

And as he thought of this—of the Supreme Will's profound sorrow at losing the Life of the People Emperor—his mind surged with a twisted, perverse exhilaration.

"This is what revenge feels like…"

He felt a surge of emotion, then appeared before Zhou Zhou in an instant, delivering a punch straight to his face.

A terrifying aura and willpower coalesced from the fist, pulsing with the force to shatter heaven and split the earth, threatening to burst Zhou Zhou’s skull apart.

As a master of martial arts, Zhou Zhou reacted instantly, raising his hand to block the incoming blow.

Ho!

The Infernal Holy Fire surged from the attacker’s body, spreading across Zhou Zhou’s entire frame like wildfire.

Though Zhou Zhou quickly absorbed all the Infernal Holy Fire through his Universal Methods Star Palm, he still furrowed his brow slightly.

How powerful!

Stronger than before.

Is this truly the full might of Yan Zun?

There was no time to dwell on it.

Yan Zun's attacks flowed without pause, and in mere moments, he had left Zhou Zhou battered and wounded throughout his body.

Though the Supreme Holy Body could swiftly heal its injuries, the situation remained dire.

Most of the powerful observers, witnessing this, immediately grew concerned, their faces etched with worry.

A few, however, watched coldly, or whispered behind closed doors, mocking Zhou Zhou's sheer arrogance.

Yet.

Within the midst of the battle, Yan Zun sensed something was amiss.

For he noticed that although he had utterly battered Zhou Zhou, leaving him unable to retaliate, there was not a flicker of panic on the other's face—only stillness.

As if...

the very crisis he had unleashed before him was, to that man, nothing more than a triviality.

Could there be any more undeclared trump cards hidden within this man's being?

The Flame Sovereign thought with quiet alarm.

Though he outwardly mocked Zhou Zhou,

in truth, his heart had never looked down upon him.

If Zhou Zhou truly were something to be dismissed, then the Supreme Will itself could not have chosen such a fool as his successor.

That is to say—

The Celestial People Sovereign remains calm, and surely there lies a trump card beyond my knowledge.

The Flame Sovereign instantly grasped this truth.

His gaze hardened.

Never mind!

Delay and chaos will arise!

He must swiftly eliminate Zhou Zhou, then escape this place and return to the Realm of Delusion.

With a sudden motion, he shoved Zhou Zhou aside and floated high above, observing him coldly.

"This next move is my strongest technique of will—since arriving in your Supreme Cosmos, I've only used it against Supreme Will."

"You will be the second to face it."

The voice echoed, shaking the heavens and all realms.

Zhou Zhou's expression grew serious.

Every part of his body was prepared for defense or escape.

In a sudden motion, Yan Zun raised his right hand high.

A terrifying force of true fire gathered upon his right hand.

As the oppressive pressure spread, a true flame spear began to take shape.

This true flame spear radiated an unimaginable aura. Even before it launched, merely existing in the space around it, it instilled in Zhou Zhou a terrifying sense of impending doom.

Zhou Zhou's expression grew stern.

How powerful a will technique!

With just this one move, if He had no other means of self-preservation, He would surely perish!

Whether in His true form or in any of His avatars, as soon as they were struck by this true flame spear, they would vanish from existence—erasing every trace of the Celestial Sovereign of Life from the world.

Then,

Zhou Zhou would have no choice but to evolve through the Master of Void's innate ability into a special Supreme Will-being—the Master of Void.

That was not something Zhou Zhou desired.

"Fortunately."

"My self-defense preparations here have finally been completed."

Zhou Zhou smiled slightly, then his expression suddenly grew stern.

"Nine-Teen, synchronize the Chaotic Body!"

"Good."

A soft, echoing voice came from within his mind.

……

A minute ago.

The Chaotic Sea of All Realms.

Deep within the ocean's abyss,

Zhou Jiuxing slowly opened his eyes, meditating in seclusion on the "Chaotic Body Technique."

He felt the new nature within him—the Chaotic Heart Body—his face breaking into a smile.

"Finally, I have mastered the Chaotic Heart Body Technique."

"I now possess the Chaotic Heart Body of the Lower Supreme Will Realm."

"Though it is merely the most basic form of the Chaotic Heart Body, it has granted me the qualification to transcend class boundaries and utilize Transcendent Techniques and Transcendent Weapons."

"Now, I, my other duplicates, and the original body—can employ Transcendent-level capabilities, greatly enhancing our combat power."

At that moment,

He heard a call from his original body, Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Shiwei smiled slightly, murmuring to himself, "It seems I've achieved just the right level."

"So…."

"Let's begin synchronizing our Chaotic Heart Bodies!"

With the thought of Zhou Shi-ji rising in his mind,

Since Zhou Zhou had first begun, from Zhou Zhan to Zhou Shi-ji—nineteen fragmented selves—each one's divine body erupted in a thunderous surge, beginning to seamlessly integrate the Chaotic Heart Body into their Supreme Sacred Form.

Yes.

Integration, not transformation.

Though the Chaotic Heart Body was formidable, it still paled in comparison to the Supreme Sacred Form. Yet the Supreme Sacred Form was boundless in capacity, with infinite potential—integrating the Chaotic Heart Body into it flawlessly was a simple, straightforward task.

"The speed is too slow,"

Zhou Zhou sensed the rate at which the Chaotic Heart Body was merging, his brow furrowing slightly.

At this pace, it would take a full century to fully integrate the Chaotic Heart Body into the Supreme Sacred Form.

If he had to wait that long, even his grave would be overgrown with weeds by now.

Shook his head.

His hands began rapidly forming time seals.

Under his command stood a supreme being of the Supreme Will Realm, known as the Will of Time and Space, a being originally captured from the site of Tian Jun's corpse.

The Will of Time and Space was not only skilled in summoning the original bodies from alternate timelines to fight on his behalf, but his most refined and masterful technique—his true specialty—was the trio of classic time-based will arts: time acceleration, time deceleration, and time stasis.

Now, with Zhou Zhou activating the "King" technique, which had infused every single subordinate beneath his command into his very being, he had naturally inherited every power the Will of Time and Space possessed.

Including the technique of time acceleration—a supreme will art of the highest rank!

The will technique he was currently channeling through his seals was precisely this one.

"Time acceleration!"

Zhou Zhou murmured softly.

At the same time,

All of His duplicates, save for Zhou Jiu, followed suit and mirrored Zhou Zhou's application of the time-accelerated will technique, speeding up the integration of the Chaotic Heart Body.

Eons pass in a blink; a century feels like a dream.

In barely a moment's glance, the Chaotic Heart Body had seamlessly fused into Zhou Zhou's Supreme Sacred Body.

Thus,

His Supreme Sacred Body now possessed the ability to wield higher-tier sacred artifacts beyond his current rank.

From now on, He would no longer need to dispatch duplicates specifically to cultivate the Chaotic Heart Body, raising it to greater levels.

He merely needed to focus on refining his Supreme Sacred Body—within that body, the Chaotic Heart Body would naturally evolve and ascend alongside it.

Even reaching the level of eternal immortality would be entirely feasible.

This had surpassed the very limits of the Chaotic Heart Body.

The limit of a chaotic body of the chaotic essence is nothing more than a physique transcending the upper realm of will.

A chaotic body at this level can even tap into a fraction of the might of an immortal holy artifact.

Yet beyond this limit, reaching the realm of eternal immortality, a chaotic body becomes capable of fully commanding the power of one or even multiple immortal holy artifacts.

True to that extent—

Zhou Zhou, wielding the supreme holy body and the chaotic essence of the eternal immortality realm, stood among the weaker of the eternal immortality realm's elite.

He shook his head, banishing the excess thoughts from his mind.

What of a chaotic body at the eternal immortality level?

He would deal with this challenge first.

With a mere thought, a dark golden staff appeared in his hands.

This staff was a lower will holy artifact he had obtained from the corpse site of Tian Jun, known as the "Ten Thousand Mind and Soul Staff."

It was originally merely a lower-tier artifact of will.

Later, through the aid of supreme destiny, it ascended with an extremely low probability to become a lower-tier transcendent holy artifact.

The Ten-Thousand-Soul-Will Staff was forged from the will cores of ten thousand upper-tier supreme will beings, supplemented by numerous will-transcendent auxiliary materials.

Yet even thus, it could only be elevated to the status of a lower-tier transcendent holy artifact.

This clearly demonstrated the immense difficulty in crafting transcendent holy artifacts.

Zhou Zhou held the Ten-Thousand-Soul-Will Staff, and his will force flowed continuously into it. After consuming the will forces of one thousand supreme will beings, he finally felt he could barely activate the staff.

Zhou Zhou checked the remaining will force within himself.

Approximately nine-tenths remained!

Nine breaths!

Zhou Zhou realized this.

He must defeat this Flame Sovereign within nine breaths—otherwise, once the time expires, the willpower within his body will be entirely consumed, leaving him powerless to fight. Then…

He would have no choice but to send one of his duplicates into battle.

A single duplicate can fight for nine breaths!

Nineteen duplicates could fight for a total of 171 breaths—nearly three minutes.

As long as the Flame Sovereign has no hidden reserves, this would be more than enough to eliminate him.

Meanwhile,

The True Fire Sacred Spear of the Flame Sovereign had been fully prepared.

He gazed down upon Zhou, as if staring at a corpse.

"Your arrogance, a mere pseudo-Immortal Will Realm cultivator, is already enough to boast of—dying beneath my renowned transcendent technique."

"Go and repent your hubris after death."

"Hmm?"

The Flame Sovereign suddenly noticed the Wànshén Língpò Staff in Zhou Zhou's hands.

The aura of transcendent will emanating from it informed the Flame Sovereign—this was clearly a lower-tier Transcendent Sacred Artifact!

"A pseudo-Transcendent Will cultivator possessing a lower-tier Transcendent Sacred Artifact?!"

The astonishment and greed in the Flame Sovereign's eyes were almost uncontrollable.

Was this the highest will truly being so generous toward this heir?

How could such a rare and precious artifact—something only the most elite could possess—be bestowed upon this successor?

Could he even use it?

The Flame Sovereign couldn't help but lick his lips.

No matter.

He can't use it—I can.

Exactly when he had just finished eliminating Zhou Zhou and began to worry about whether he could escape the Supreme Continent and return to the World of Void,

if he possessed a transcendent holy artifact, his chances of survival would at least increase by two tenths.

With this thought in mind,

his inner flame could no longer be restrained. He roared aloud:

"Youngling!"

"Hand over the sacred treasure to me without resistance!"

"I'll grant you one chance at reincarnation!"

Upon speaking,

he saw Zhou Zhou show no intention of complying, and with a cold smile, he directly hurled the true-fire holy spear he had concentrated in his hand at Zhou Zhou.

Hmph!

If I kill you, that transcendent artifact will be mine.

He thought weakly.

In an instant, the True Fire Holy Spear had appeared before Zhou Zhou, its tip aimed directly at his head.

Holding the Ten Thousand Spirit and Soul Pole in his hands, Zhou Zhou struck it with a single blow, shattering the spear. Then, with a flicker of space, he materialized before the Flame Sovereign, and delivered a blow to the very crown of his head.

Having expended all his inner strength in fusing with the True Fire Holy Spear, the Flame Sovereign was powerless but could only watch as the blow struck his mind, shattering his transcendent core. Darkness then swallowed him whole.

"What... how...?"

His final words were never fully spoken—before he vanished entirely, his life extinguished, and he fell from existence.