Chapter 380: Journey to the Immortal Mountain, the World Has Already Forgotten the Ultimate Divine

Chapter 380: The Journey to the Eternal Mountain; have the people of this world forgotten the terror of the Ultimate God-Emperor?!

The cosmos seethes because of one man, a storm sweeping across billions of races with the sea of stars as its stage.

The once-legendary "Ultimate God-Marquis" has returned from the dead under the title of "Ultimate God-Emperor," announcing his presence with the severed head of a top-tier Sovereign. This news, like a supernova cast into a tranquil lake, has sent ripples that continue to spread wildly, overturning the perceptions of countless powerhouses and the established order of the universe.

Alliances are being forged, murderous intent is brewing, celebrations are spreading, and awe is taking root.

The entire universe has become clamorous and turbulent because of the name "Qin Feng."

Yet, as the epicenter of this storm, Qin Feng himself remains entirely unaware of it.

Or rather, he is utterly indifferent.

In a region of absolute, deathly silence countless light-years away from the Feathered Empire, within a massive, long-dead rocky planet whose core has completely cooled, Qin Feng has used his supreme power to carve out a temporary dimensional abode where the very concepts of time and space seem to have been stripped away.

There is no light here, no sound, not even the slightest trace of escaping energy.

Qin Feng sits cross-legged in the center of the chamber, his imperial body—scarred and nearly shattered from ten thousand years of mortal combat—now radiating a faint aura of impending extinction.

The depletion of his imperial essence and the erosion of his law-inflicted wounds make him appear like a statue on the verge of weathering away, filled with a sense of deathly stillness.

All his consciousness has sunk to an unprecedented depth, completely isolated from the world outside.

Before him, the seven-colored crystal bottle containing the [Tear of the World Tree] floats silently.

Inside the bottle, the emerald droplet—seemingly tiny, yet containing the essence of a nascent universe—emits a gentle, vast halo of life.

That halo is the manifestation of the most primal law of life in the universe; merely gazing upon it is enough to bring peace and agitation to the soul of any living being.

This is one of the supreme divine artifacts of the Feathered race: the [Tear of the World Tree].

Legend has it that at the dawn of the universe, the World Tree, which spans all dimensions, shed a tear of joy upon witnessing the birth and prosperity of the first world.

It is not an artifact intended for combat, but for any practitioner needing to heal, consolidate their realm, or comprehend the laws, the life essence and world principles it contains are a supreme treasure beyond dreams.

Especially for Qin Feng, who has just emerged from a ten-thousand-year imperial death match, depleted and gravely wounded, this item is a timely gift, the key to completing his final metamorphosis.

Qin Feng’s eyes slowly open.

What kind of eyes are these? The sharpness of the past is gone, replaced only by a depth and tranquility that sees through the origin of all things.

He looks at the [Tear of the World Tree] before him and, without the slightest hesitation, extends a finger to tap the crystal bottle.

"Pop."

A soft sound, like a bursting bubble.

The indestructible crystal bottle instantly dissolves into pure energy particles, vanishing into nothingness.

Freed from its confinement, the [Tear of the World Tree] immediately blooms with an unprecedented, brilliant radiance.

The entire dark chamber is instantly flooded with emerald divine light.

The life force, so dense it has become tangible, forms a green ocean that completely submerges Qin Feng’s figure.

Within this sea of life, strange visions of grass sprouting and worlds rising and falling evolve continuously.

The mere aura leaking from it is enough to revitalize this planet that has been dead for billions of years, evolving it into a brand-new world of life.

Faced with such immense energy, Qin Feng’s expression remains as still as an ancient well.

He opens his mouth and draws a gentle breath.

It is like a great whale drinking the sea, or a black hole devouring all.

The [Tear of the World Tree], which any Sovereign would have to treat with extreme caution and spend tens or hundreds of thousands of years refining in batches, transforms into a streak of emerald light and is swallowed into his body in a single gulp.

Boom—!!!

An indescribable, gentle yet domineering torrent of creation-level life explodes within him instantly!

In that moment, Qin Feng feels as if he has swallowed an entire, ever-expanding, ever-creating universe!

The infinite source of life rushes through his limbs and bones like a burst celestial river, permeating every cell, every meridian, every thread of his soul.

His imperial essence, nearly dried up from the death match with the Golden Emperor, begins to be replenished at a frantic pace, like parched earth meeting long-awaited rain.

The law-wounds left behind by the Golden Emperor, stubborn as maggots boring into bone, are purified, smoothed, and erased with ease before this more primal, higher-order law of life and world.

The silver-white body of the [Ultimate Physique] begins to glow with emerald divine light from the inside out.

Every cell cheers and leaps; like beasts starved for billions of years, they frantically devour this life energy, undergoing the deepest level of repair and metamorphosis.

It is a long process.

To the outside universe, it might be but a flick of a finger, but in Qin Feng’s perception, the flow of time is stretched infinitely.

The ten-thousandth year.

Qin Feng’s wounds are healed.

Not just the deep, bone-exposing gashes on the surface, but the injuries deep within his essence and soul have been completely restored by the nourishment of the [Tear of the World Tree], leaving not a single flaw.

His [Ultimate Physique], which had grown dim from the depletion of his essence, shines brilliantly once more, silver divine radiance flowing ceaselessly, filled with immortal divinity.

His imperial essence is not only fully replenished but continues to expand and strengthen, its vigor already surpassing what it was when he first ascended to the rank of Sovereign.

Healing alone consumed ten thousand years and nearly one-tenth of the energy of the [Tear of the World Tree], a testament to the brutality of that battle and the terror of imperial-level law-wounds.

However, this is merely the beginning.

The thirty-thousandth year.

With his wounds healed and his essence full, the massive energy of the [Tear of the World Tree] begins to truly integrate and temper itself with Qin Feng’s own Dao and methods.

His [Ultimate Physique] is his foundation. This supreme battle body, which carries his "Ultimate" Dao, begins a new round of evolution under the infusion of the massive life source.

Upon his originally pure silver-white body, billions upon billions of emerald light spots, smaller than dust, begin to emerge.

Each light spot is like a miniature world rune, containing the supreme principles of "life" and "death."

These runes are not external additions; they are a brand-new form spontaneously evolved by the [Ultimate Physique] after absorbing the life laws of the World Tree.

It grants this battle body, already renowned for its recovery and resilience, a touch of the qualities of "creation" and "immortality."

The [Ultimate Physique] of today, in the attribute of "vitality" alone, likely surpasses the vast majority of special races in the universe known for their life force.

As long as his true spirit and essence are not completely erased in a single blow, he can theoretically regenerate and recover infinitely.

At the same time, his two core secret techniques are also undergoing a qualitative change.

The imperial-level secret technique [Ultimate Divine Light], baptized by the laws of the world, becomes more restrained and even more terrifying. The original aura of ultimate penetration and disintegration is now wrapped in a faint layer of "world" intent.

If he were to use this move now, wherever the divine light passes, the enemy would feel not just the disintegration of laws, but the supreme power of "world rejection."

It is as if you have become an enemy of the entire universe, denied and erased at the very root.

This attack has transcended the level of mere energy and laws, beginning to touch the realm of "concepts."

The god-level secret technique [Myriad Phenomena] is even more at home.

The core of this technique is analysis.

And the [Tear of the World Tree] contains the most primal laws of world composition. Immersed in it, Qin Feng seems to transform into a creator god, witnessing with his own eyes the entire process of a universe from nothing to something, from chaos to order.

His understanding of laws no longer stops at the level of "usage" but begins to leap toward the level of "creation." Now, any law below the imperial level holds no secrets in his eyes; he can easily see through their essence and even modify or distort them to a certain extent.

The seventy-thousandth year.

Qin Feng's cultivation realm began to loosen.

Having thoroughly digested nearly seventy percent of the energy from the Tear of the World Tree and synthesized all he had learned, his initial-stage Emperor-Sealing realm, only recently stabilized, began to ascend toward higher echelons as naturally as water flows to form a channel.

Emperor-Sealing realm: initial, middle, late, and peak stages.

For an ordinary sovereign, crossing each minor threshold requires millions, if not tens of millions, of years of arduous cultivation and sedimentation.

But for Qin Feng, this process was infinitely compressed.

His foundation was simply too profound.

The supreme Dao base forged by the Primordial Singularity granted him a capacity for energy and law far beyond his peers.

A cosmic wonder of the Tear of the World Tree's caliber might be a torrential flood for other sovereigns, requiring cautious and delicate navigation.

But to Qin Feng, it was merely an ocean in which his "true dragon" could roam at will.

His aura climbed steadily within the cavern.

Mid-stage Emperor-Sealing...

Late-stage Emperor-Sealing...

This process lasted for thirty thousand years.

The one hundred thousandth year.

When the final wisp of energy from the Tear of the World Tree was fully absorbed and refined by Qin Feng's Primordial Singularity.

When all the emerald-green world runes upon his silver-white Ultimate Body receded into his flesh, transforming into an introverted and unfathomable divine radiance.

When his aura, vast as a cosmic sea of stars, finally ceased its ascent, slowly retracting until it returned to a state of primordial simplicity and calm.

Qin Feng opened his eyes once more.

"Hum—"

The moment his eyes opened, two beams of tangible emerald-green divine light flashed from their depths.

Wherever the light swept, the stone walls of the cavern sprouted countless spiritual flowers and vines, and butterflies danced among them, as if the void itself had been imbued with the concept of "life" by his mere gaze.

Then, these visions vanished instantly, as if they had never existed.

Qin Feng exhaled a long, turbid breath.

This breath, shimmering with a faint silver-green hue, drifted out of the cavern and merged into the dead, silent planet.

The next moment, deep within the frozen core of this planet, which had been lifeless for eons, a sound like a heartbeat—"thump"—echoed softly.

A trace of vitality, so faint it was almost imperceptible, began to spread from the core throughout the entire world. Perhaps, in another billion years, a brand-new world of life would truly evolve here.

A single breath of waste air after a hundred-thousand-year retreat possessed such creative power!

Qin Feng looked down at his own hands.

They were the same hands, yet his perception was entirely different.

He could clearly "see" every cell in his body transformed into a miniature singularity, containing explosive power and infinite vitality. His sovereign essence had become a silver-green river, surging ceaselessly within him, its magnitude more than ten times greater than it had been a hundred thousand years ago!

His perception of the laws had reached an entirely new dimension.

In his "field of vision," the universe was no longer cold stars and vacuum, but composed of countless colorful "threads" of varying thickness.

These threads were the fundamental laws of the universe.

Time, space, causality, destiny, life, death...

He could even reach out and gently pluck some of the more "delicate" threads.

"So, this is the power of a late-stage Emperor-Sealing..."

Qin Feng whispered to himself.

He could feel that his current realm stood firmly at the late stage of the Emperor-Sealing realm, only a single step away from the peak.

This level of cultivation was fully comparable to those veteran powerhouses who had been immersed in the Emperor-Sealing realm for tens or even hundreds of millions of years, such as the late Golden Emperor.

Moreover, in terms of the intensity of his laws and the vigor of his essence, he was confident he could suppress the Golden Emperor!

"No..."

Qin Feng shook his head, a glimmer of confidence flashing in his eyes.

"This is more than just an improvement in realm."

He could clearly discern that his true combat strength was not strictly equivalent to his realm.

The supreme foundation of the Primordial Singularity, the perfected Ultimate Body, the Emperor-level secret technique Ultimate Divine Light that fused world laws, and the Myriad Phenomena Forest that had begun to touch the realm of "creation"...

Everything combined to produce a qualitative change that was staggering.

He had a strong intuition.

If he were to face the Golden Emperor of a hundred thousand years ago now, he might not need a ten-thousand-year death match.

He was confident he could obliterate him in a frontal assault within a hundred moves!

"Infinitely close to Saint-Sealing..."

Qin Feng arrived at a clear definition of his own combat power.

Saint-Sealing was a different level of existence. They had begun to transcend the constraints of cosmic laws, condensing their own "Saint Dao," where their words became law and a single thought could create or destroy worlds; they were the true giants of the universe.

Qin Feng acknowledged that he was still far from being a match for a true Saint.

However...

"Below the Saint-Sealing, I am invincible!"

This was not an arrogant slogan, but a conclusion reached with absolute certainty after a precise assessment of his current strength.

Whether it was a veteran peak Emperor-Sealing powerhouse or those peerless prodigies on the Heaven's Pride List walking the path of the gods, as long as they had not taken that final step, as long as they had not truly "Saint-Sealed."

Then, before him, they would no longer be opponents!

"A hundred thousand years of retreat, the harvest is greater than I imagined."

Qin Feng stood up slowly and stretched his body.

With his movement, the surrounding space groaned under the strain, as if it might shatter at any moment.

This was because he had just completed his transformation and could not yet perfectly control the surging power within him.

With a thought, the Primordial Singularity rotated slightly, and the terrifying aura that threatened to leak out and crush the stars was instantly retracted.

At this moment, he looked like an ordinary person without a trace of aura, utterly unremarkable.

Only in those deep eyes, in the occasional blink, could one see fleeting visions of the universe's birth and death, proving what kind of world-destroying power lay hidden within this seemingly ordinary frame.

"The retreat is over; the outside world must be in an uproar by now."

A faint curve touched the corner of Qin Feng's lips.

Though he had been in deep seclusion, he was not cut off from the world. Through "Pilihuo," the God-Forbidden level servant he left at his base, the Qin Feng Cosmic City, he could indirectly grasp major intelligence from the outside.

The news of his "return from the dead and slaying of the Golden Emperor" had long since spread across the universe.

The jubilation of the human race and the panic and alliances of the myriad clans—all of this was within his expectations.

“Tremble, and unite…”

“The more you do so, the more absolute the terror I shall reap when I descend.”

He did not immediately emerge from seclusion to attend to these external disputes.

A reckoning was necessary.

But not yet.

He had more important matters to attend to.

Qin Feng’s divine consciousness sank into his own sea of soul, establishing contact with another body deep within the Mechanical Race’s territory—his avatar, “Vanguard.”

Having confirmed that the avatar was well, had fully consolidated its status as a Mechanical Race “God-Child,” and was methodically deciphering the twelve ancestral divine arts to lay the firmest foundation for his future plans, Qin Feng severed the connection.

Immediately thereafter, he contacted “Thunderfire” through the master-servant pact.

“You have emerged, Master?”

Thunderfire’s respectful voice resonated in Qin Feng’s mind.

“Yes,” Qin Feng replied indifferently. “How has the territory fared during my seclusion?”

“Reporting to Master, all is well.”

Thunderfire reported swiftly, “Since you last dispatched your subordinate to purge the internal rebellions with thunderous force and promulgated the new laws, all factions across the seven hundred cosmic nations have been thoroughly won over. The [Qin Feng Cosmic City] now truly commands absolute obedience, as secure as a fortress.”

“Very good.”

Qin Feng nodded.

The rear was secure, the avatar was proceeding smoothly, and his true self had completed its final metamorphosis.

Every chess piece he had laid for this day was now in its proper place.

And so…

“It is time to reclaim that which should have been mine.”

A sharp light flashed in Qin Feng’s eyes.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the endless sea of stars, looking toward a specific direction in the universe.

There lay one of the oldest and most mysterious forbidden zones in existence.

—The Mountain of Eternal Life.

According to the memories of his past life and the intelligence gathered in this one, it not only harbored the secret of “immortality” that could drive even Sovereign-tier powerhouses to madness, but it was also the ultimate objective he had set when he first devised his “faked death” plan.

For the final key he required—the one that would allow his [Path of the Limit] to reach true perfection and perhaps offer a glimpse into the mysteries of the “Saint Realm”—lay within.

He also knew that outside the Mountain of Eternal Life, a net of heaven and earth had surely been cast by the myriad races, specifically for him.

Thirty thousand years ago, he needed a “faked death” to escape the hunt. One hundred thousand years ago, as a newly ascended Sovereign, he might have needed careful planning and the search for flaws to survive such a killing trap.

But now…

“A net is meant to catch fish.”

“But what if what swims toward it is not a fish, but a prehistoric dragon… that has broken free from all its chains?”

A cold smile curled the corners of Qin Feng’s lips.

He took a single step, and his figure vanished instantly from the dimensional cave.

The next moment, he appeared in the deathly silence of the cosmic vacuum.

With a casual wave, the planet that had been revitalized by his breath, along with the dimensional cave within it, had every trace of his existence erased from the river of time and space in an instant, leaving not a shred of causality behind.

Having done this, he moved his mind.

Hum—

A god-level vessel, shimmering with dreamlike luster, possessing sleek, graceful lines and a sense of futuristic technology, appeared out of thin air before him.

It was the [Oracle].

Qin Feng stepped onto the bridge and set a new navigational coordinate on the main control screen.

[Target: Mountain of Eternal Life]

[Route Confirmed]

[Engaging Curvature Engines…]

The hull of the [Oracle] began to emit faint spatial ripples, and in the next second, it transformed into a stream of light invisible to the naked eye, instantly tearing through space and vanishing from this desolate star field.

Behind him, only an eternal, unchanging silence and darkness remained.

And before him lay a feast of slaughter, an unprecedented one, prepared for him by the entire universe!

…

The Mountain of Eternal Life.

This is one of the oldest and most mysterious forbidden zones of life in the universe.

It is not a mountain in the traditional sense, but a vast divine realm suspended in an independent spacetime fault, constructed from countless emerald-green divine crystals.

Viewed from the outside, it resembles a boundless emerald gemstone, floating silently in the eternal void, radiating a majestic vitality that makes the very soul tremble.

Legend has it that this is the condensation point of the universe’s life laws, hiding the ultimate opportunity that allows even immortal Sovereigns to break through the shackles of life and glimpse the secret of “immortality.”

Since the dawn of the Golden Age, this place has become one of the supreme battlefields for the hegemony of the myriad races.

Yet at this moment, outside this forbidden zone, which should have been filled with divinity and peace, it is shrouded in a terrifying aura capable of freezing time and crushing the ages.

Dark, cold, and silent.

Centered on the Mountain of Eternal Life, the vast void for a radius of tens of thousands of light-years has been completely transformed into a “Death Domain.”

Within this domain, over a thousand figures, like demon gods stepped out of ancient myths, stand silently at various spatial coordinates.

Each figure exudes a Sovereign aura as vast as an abyss and as domineering as the heavens!

A thousand… Sovereigns!

They hail from the myriad races of the universe, each with distinct forms. There are the Demon-Horned Race, with bodies as massive as stars and hideous horns atop their heads; the Crystal Race, composed entirely of brilliant divine crystals refracting cold light; the Stone Race, clad in rocky armor with an aura as heavy as the earth; and the Zerg Race, with wings blotting out the sky and compound eyes flashing with cruel light…

They are the existences at the very pinnacle of this cosmic pyramid; any one of them, if they were to step out, would be enough to suppress the fortunes of a powerful race and dictate the rise and fall of a vast star sector.

And now, a thousand such beings have gathered here.

Using an arcane formation, they have tightly surrounded the entire Mountain of Eternal Life, forming a net of heaven and earth in the truest sense. The Sovereign laws emanating from their bodies intertwine and resonate, jointly powering a supreme array that envelops the entire divine realm—the [Myriad Heavens God-Sealing Array].

The array is formless and intangible, yet it has completely severed the Mountain of Eternal Life from all external causality, spacetime, and laws, turning it into a cage of despair.

Inside the cage are several top-tier human Sovereigns, including the long-renowned “Heaven-Propping Sword Sovereign” and the “Five Elements Sovereign.”

Outside the cage is the coalition of a thousand Sovereigns from the myriad races, and an ultimate killing trap that has been brewing for hundreds of thousands of years.

Originally, although the atmosphere here was murderous, everything was under control. These Sovereigns from the myriad races, with the composure and confidence of a cat playing with a mouse, were methodically wearing down the strength of the human Sovereigns within the array, waiting for the perfect moment to close the net.

But just a short while ago, a piece of news, notarized by the will of the universe itself, acted like a star dropped into a calm vat of oil, instantly shattering the “peace” here.

The Limit God-Sovereign, Qin Feng, has returned from the dead and slain the Golden Sovereign!

This news plunged every Sovereign of the myriad races participating in this “Dragon-Slaughtering Feast” into an eerie silence.

Beneath the silence lay an irrepressible shock, intertwined with two wildly diverging emotions currently festering in the dark: one was a burning, arrogant thirst for slaughter, while the other was a dread and panic born from the deepest recesses of the soul.

These two sentiments clashed and wove through the silence, ultimately tearing the makeshift coalition of a thousand emperors into two distinct, irreconcilable factions.

A fierce debate, critical to the trajectory of this entire death trap, erupted violently through the medium of hidden divine consciousness across this domain of mortality.

"...I still maintain that a mere Qin Feng is not worth fearing!"

A coarse, overbearing divine thought, possessing a metallic resonance, exploded like thunder in the minds of every emperor present.

The source was a Demon-Horn emperor of gargantuan proportions. Standing ten thousand zhang tall, he perched upon a shattered star he had claimed as his throne, his spiraling, hideous horns seemingly capable of piercing the very fabric of the cosmos. Dark red demonic flames wreathed his body, causing the surrounding void to twist and collapse in his wake.

He was the Demon-Horn Emperor, one of the coalition’s architects and a pinnacle sovereign of the Demon-Horn race—a veteran executioner who had wallowed in the realm of emperors for over thirty million years, his hands stained with endless gore.

His mental projection carried an unquestionable arrogance and dominance.

"Do not forget our purpose! Why have we laid out the Ten Thousand Heavens Sealing Array, at the cost of countless resources and blood?"

"It is for the Sky-Propping Sword Emperor, the Five Elements Emperor, and those other old relics of the human race within the Eternal Mountain! They are the true pillars of humanity today! If we bury them here, the human race’s high-end combat power will suffer a fracture lasting ten million years!"

"This is the eternal grand plan that will shake the very foundations of humanity and relegate them to a second-rate race in the coming Golden Age!"

"A Qin Feng... hmph, what is he?" The Demon-Horn Emperor’s thought was dripping with disdain. "Yes, I admit he has some skill to have slain the Gold Emperor. But so what? That fool, the Gold Emperor, was arrogant and fought alone; he deserved his death!"

"But how many are we? One thousand, one hundred and twenty-three emperors!"

"We possess the Ten Thousand Heavens Sealing Array, refined over hundreds of thousands of years!"

"No matter how strong Qin Feng is, can he stand alone against a thousand emperors and this supreme array capable of sealing even a Saint?!"

"To jeopardize a plan we have prepared for a million years for the sake of a newly ascended junior is laughable! My stance is to ignore him! Concentrate all power, continue to grind down the array, and refine the Sword Emperor and his ilk as quickly as possible! That is the priority!"

The Demon-Horn Emperor’s will struck like a heavy hammer against the heart of every emperor.

His words found favor with a significant portion of the assembly, particularly the newly ascended emperors and those who had not directly participated in the hunt thirty thousand years ago.

To them, the Demon-Horn Emperor was right.

The advantage was theirs!

They held the mandate of heaven, the terrain, and the numbers. A thousand emperors acting in concert—what power was this? It was enough to sweep across the cosmic sea and annihilate any immortal legacy!

Though Qin Feng’s record was shocking, he was, in the end, only one man.

"The Demon-Horn Emperor speaks sense! Our target remains the human core within the Eternal Mountain!"

"Indeed! Qin Feng’s appearance is likely just an anomaly. We must not lose our footing over a mere accident."

"He is just a newly ascended emperor; no matter how strong his combat power, how far can it go? The Gold Emperor’s fall was likely due to carelessness. With a thousand pairs of eyes watching, if Qin Feng dares to come, he is merely seeking his own death!"

A chorus of arrogant and confident thoughts echoed in response. This collective will intensified the aura of slaughter within the domain.

However, at that moment, a cold, sharp divine thought—tinged with an unconcealable gravity and panic—cut through the torrent of fanaticism like a blade.

"Laughable? Demon-Horn Emperor, I believe the only thing truly laughable is your own foolish arrogance!"

The source of this thought was the Crystal Emperor of the Crystal race.

His body, composed of billions of crystalline facets, hung in the void, refracting the dying light of the stars and appearing chillingly cold.

His intervention brought the atmosphere to a sudden, jarring halt.

"Crystal Emperor, what is your meaning?" A flicker of displeasure crossed the Demon-Horn Emperor’s dark red pupils.

"My meaning?" The Crystal Emperor sneered, his thoughts filled with irony and lingering fear. "I mean that those of you who have never faced that monster have no idea what kind of existence we are dealing with!"

"A newly ascended emperor? A junior?"

"Which of you has ever seen a Marquis-rank warrior face a King-rank and win?!"

"Which of you has ever seen a King-rank escape a siege of dozens of emperors by calmly faking his own death?!"

"And now, he has used his status as a 'newly ascended emperor' to erase a top-tier emperor who had been famous for ten million years! You call that 'having some skill'?"

The Crystal Emperor’s thoughts fired like a barrage, questioning every emperor present. His words held a bone-deep terror, for he was one of the emperors who had participated in the original siege. He knew better than anyone how unreasonable Qin Feng’s growth rate truly was!

"You only see that he killed the Gold Emperor, but you ignore the most critical point—time!"

"How long has it been since his 'fall'? A mere thirty thousand years!"

"Thirty thousand years is nothing more than a nap to us! Yet, he went from a King-rank warrior we hunted to the ends of the universe to an 'Emperor Hunter' who can easily slaughter us!"

"I ask you, give him another three hundred thousand, three million years—what will he become? A Saint? Or... something even higher?"

The Crystal Emperor’s interrogation was like a basin of ice water poured over the heads of the fanatic emperors.

Indeed...

The growth rate!

That was the most terrifying aspect!

The strength of an enemy is not scary. What is scary is an enemy whose strength has no ceiling, and whose growth rate fills you with despair!

"Demon-Horn Emperor, you keep saying our target is the Sky-Propping Sword Emperor and those old relics. Yes, they are the pillars of humanity." The Crystal Emperor’s thoughts grew sharper. "But pillars eventually rot! Qin Feng is not a pillar; he is the future... heaven of the human race!"

"If a pillar breaks, you can build another. But if the sky collapses, there is nothing left!"

"This man is the true heart-threat to all our races! His threat level far exceeds those dozen old relics in the Eternal Mountain!"

"Therefore, my opinion is the exact opposite of yours!" The Crystal Emperor’s voice was iron-clad. "We must not ignore him; we must list him as the highest priority target of this operation!"

"Use the Eternal Mountain as a cage, use the lives of the Sword Emperor and his kin as bait, and lure him here! Then, at any cost, use all our power to erase him here—completely, utterly, leaving not a single trace!"

"That is the only way to settle this once and for all! Otherwise, if we let the tiger return to the mountains today, tomorrow, every one of us will become a sacrifice for his ascension to the Saint realm!"

The Crystal Emperor’s words struck home, instantly reversing the lopsided atmosphere.

Many emperors who had participated in the original hunt began to chime in.

"The Crystal Emperor speaks the truth! That Qin Feng is a monster! He cannot be measured by common sense!"

"I agree! Killing the Sword Emperor strikes at humanity’s present. Killing Qin Feng cuts off their future! The choice is clear!"

"We have missed one opportunity; we must not miss a second! Otherwise, the Gold Emperor’s fate will be the preview for us all!"

For a time, two diametrically opposed opinions clashed violently, neither side able to convince the other.

One faction, led by the Demon-Horn Emperor, were the "War-Hawks," who believed in a swift, thunderous strike to resolve the situation in the Eternal Mountain and seize the opportunity, viewing Qin Feng as a secondary threat.

The other, led by the Crystal Emperor, were the "Dragon-Slayers," who believed Qin Feng was the ultimate threat and that they must seize this once-in-a-millennium chance to set an eternal trap and strangle him in his cradle.

The argument intensified.

The wills of a thousand emperors collided in the void, stirring the laws into chaos and rendering space-time unstable.

Just as the coalition was on the verge of fracturing, an ancient, heavy divine thought—as if rising from the very core of the earth—slowly blanketed the field, forcibly suppressing all the clamoring wills.

"Enough."

A mere word, yet it contained a terrifying pressure that caused the heart of every emperor to sink.

Even the arrogant Demon-Horn Emperor and the agitated Crystal Emperor subconsciously reined in their auras.

For the master of this thought was one of the most senior and unfathomable beings in the coalition—the Stone Emperor of the Stone race.

He was an ancient relic who had lived for nearly a hundred million years; it was said he had already existed at the end of the last Golden Age.

The Stone Emperor’s mountain-like body shifted slowly, his eyes, composed of molten lava, sweeping across the Demon-Horn Emperor and the Crystal Emperor.

"Both of you," the voice resonated, "make valid points."

His divine sense, unhurried and calm, carried a weight that compelled absolute conviction.

"The concerns of the Horned Demon Emperor strike at the very foundation of this war. We have paid a staggering price, and our primary objective remains the severing of the human race's wings. This core goal must not be shaken."

"Yet, the Crystal Emperor speaks with the wisdom of experience. This youth, Qin Feng, is indeed a variable rarely seen in eons; his speed of growth is beyond comprehension. If he is not eradicated soon, he will surely become a monstrous calamity. This potential threat, likewise, cannot be ignored."

Hearing the Stone Emperor balance the scales, both monarchs let out cold snorts, falling silent as they awaited his conclusion.

"Since both are correct..." the Stone Emperor’s consciousness swept slowly over every monarch present, "then why, pray tell, must we choose?"

At these words, every monarch was taken aback.

What could he mean?

The ancient voice of the Stone Emperor continued:

"Only children make choices."

"We are emperors. We are the pinnacle of existence in this universe."

"We... shall have it all!"

Boom!

The final four words struck like a thunderclap at the dawn of the universe, exploding in the hearts of every monarch!

The dark red pupils of the Horned Demon Emperor contracted violently.

A flicker of sudden realization flashed across the Crystal Emperor’s crystalline face.

"Stone Emperor, do you mean..."

"Indeed." The Stone Emperor’s divine sense turned dense and steeped in murderous intent. "Our plan can be slightly adjusted."

"We shall not only slaughter the human emperors within the Eternal Mountain, but also... bury that self-righteous Limitless God Emperor here alongside them!"

"The Sky-Reaching Sword Emperor and his kin are the 'fish,' and Qin Feng is also a 'fish.' Our net is vast enough, and sturdy enough! Since that is the case, why not catch them all in one fell swoop?!"

The Stone Emperor’s proposal was like a bolt of lightning, instantly illuminating the minds of every monarch.

Indeed!

Why must they choose between the two?

They possessed over a thousand emperors!

They held the [Ten Thousand Heavens God-Sealing Array]!

They possessed the absolute power to crush all opposition!

"How shall we proceed?" the Horned Demon Emperor asked in a deep voice, his tone already betraying a flicker of excitement.

"It is simple," the Stone Emperor said with the confidence of one who holds the cards. "Our plan proceeds as usual. Continue to drive the array and grind down the strength of the Sky-Reaching Sword Emperor and the others. This, in itself, is the best 'invitation' for Qin Feng."

"Given his character and his past style of action, if he learns that his kin are trapped and facing certain death, will he... not come?"

"He will surely come!" the Crystal Emperor interjected immediately, his voice tinged with a morbid excitement. "He appears cold, but in truth, he places immense value on causality and his kin! He will come to save them! He will charge headlong into our trap!"

"Precisely," the Stone Emperor continued. "Once he arrives, we shall divert half our strength—no, eight hundred emperors—to form a 'Death-Seal Array' specifically to deal with him alone! The remaining three hundred-plus comrades will continue to maintain the main array, suppressing the Sky-Reaching Sword Emperor and the others to prevent them from coordinating from within."

"With the power of eight hundred emperors forming a killing formation, we shall surround and slaughter him head-on! Even if he had three heads and six arms, or heaven-defying abilities, there is no possibility of his survival!"

"Once Qin Feng is slain, we shall unite our forces and slaughter the remaining human remnants in the Eternal Mountain, who will by then be at the end of their tether!"

"In this way, the present and the future of the human race will be destroyed... in one single stroke!"

The Stone Emperor’s plan was clear, ruthless, and highly feasible.

He had perfectly unified two seemingly contradictory goals.

He had elevated a tactic of "besieging a point to strike reinforcements" into a grander, bloodier, and more ultimate feast where both the "siege" and the "strike" occurred simultaneously!

Having heard the plan, the Horned Demon Emperor and the Crystal Emperor, who had been arguing fiercely, fell into silence.

In their minds, they rapidly simulated every detail of the plan, searching for flaws.

Yet, they realized that in the face of absolute power, any scheme or trickery appeared pale and weak.

This plan was, in essence... an open conspiracy!

A death trap laid out in plain sight, one that you were forced to walk into!

"Good!"

After a long moment, the Horned Demon Emperor was the first to break the silence. In his massive demonic eyes burned an unprecedented cruelty and excitement.

"Let it be done! I wish to see how that so-called God Emperor can defy the heavens when faced with our killing formation of eight hundred!"

"I... have no objections." The Crystal Emperor also signaled his agreement. This plan placed his greatest fear at the forefront, utilizing absolute power to strangle it; he could find no reason to oppose it.

As the three supreme monarchs reached a consensus, the other emperors naturally had no further dissent.

In an instant, the will of the thousand-strong coalition became unified as never before.

The slight fissures caused by previous arguments were mended by a grander, more insane objective.

A cold, bone-chilling, and unified murderous intent, several times stronger than before, rose from the thousand emperors, converging into a visible, blood-colored cloud that shrouded the entire spatial rift!

"Pass my orders!"

The Stone Emperor’s ancient and majestic voice echoed in the heart of every monarch.

"All units, take your positions!"

"Array masters, adjust the operation mode of the [Ten Thousand Heavens God-Sealing Array] and reserve eight hundred nodes for the 'Death-Seal'!"

"Those responsible for the main assault, increase the intensity of the law-grinding! Add more fuel to the fire for our guests in the Eternal Mountain!"

"All others, suppress your auras and enter a state of ambush! Await the arrival of our 'honored guest'!"

"Today, this place shall be the... final resting ground of the human race's Golden Age!"

"Understood!"

A thousand divine senses, laden with endless killing intent, merged into a torrent that shook the cosmos!

As the orders were issued, the entire trap, like a precise and massive war machine, began to rumble into motion.

The [Ten Thousand Heavens God-Sealing Array], once merely a cage, began to undergo eerie structural changes as countless hidden lethal prohibitions were quietly activated.

This web of death, meticulously prepared for a million years for Qin Feng and the entire human race, finally bared its most hideous fangs.

And the prey they awaited was currently piloting the [Oracle], tearing through layers of space, hurtling toward this most dangerous hunting ground in the universe with unstoppable momentum.