"SIGH—"

Wu Wang's sigh carried the scent of poverty as he crawled out of the tree hole, dusting himself off before heading towards the Human Domain's battered formation.

What needed to be done had been done, and the Beast Horde was temporarily interrupted due to the collapsing earth.

Fewer beasts flew in the sky, and the scattered ones that rushed over posed no real threat. The cultivators within the formation usually dealt with them with a few volleys of coordinated attacks.

Removing his mask, Wu Wang changed into light military armor and jogged to the edge of the large formation.

Xu Mu promptly stepped forward to greet him, pulling Wu Wang into the formation.

Instantly, gazes from within the formation converged upon him. Cultivators who were not currently engaged in repelling attacks all turned to look at Wu Wang.

One person performed a Daoist salute, and then everyone did the same.

A special gleam shone in the eyes of many female cultivators, while various Immortals also offered kind smiles, thanking Wu Wang with clasped hands.

Still, my heart aches for my Crystal Balls. It seems I need to find time to write a letter home, asking them to prepare more supplies in advance. I'll have to ask either the Grand Elder or Brother Mao to go back and get a resupply of the Star Thunder Technique. Without enough Crystal Balls to contend with a large Sect, I always feel a bit insecure.

"Brother Wuwang!"

Ji Mo hurried over, grinning and slapping Wu Wang's shoulder vigorously. "I owe you another life! I'll never be able to repay you! Is your Demonic Sect still recruiting?"

Wu Wang pondered for a moment. He was about to nod when he suddenly felt the gleam in Lin Qi's eyes beside him was far too dazzling.

"Well, whether the Sect recruits or not is up to the Transmitting Elder and the others to decide," Wu Wang tactfully refused. "I'm just the Sect Master; I don't usually handle such matters."

Ji Mo appeared contemplative, while Lin Qi muttered to himself something like, What does the Transmitting Elder like?

Forget about them, Wu Wang thought.

Having activated a large number of Crystal Balls simultaneously just now, Wu Wang felt somewhat exhausted. However, he forced himself to stay alert, waiting for the arrival of the Human Domain's Transcendent experts before he could rest easy.

As for how to hide my identity... that's something for the Benevolent Emperor Pavilion to worry about. I can't just not resist to hide my identity and end up losing my life. That would be truly mistaking the means for the end, losing the big picture over small concerns.

"Wuwang," Ling Xiaolan called out softly, drifting over with her hands clasped behind her back.

Wu Wangdao: "Thank you for your hard work."

Ling Xiaolan shook her head gently and said, "The Image Projection Bead..."

"Was it destroyed?"

"Destroyed."

"That's good." Wu Wang sighed with relief. If that thing had gotten out, I feel like it would have been social suicide for me. On careful reflection, it was also quite shameful.

Zhong Lin, the old general, quickly approached and saluted Wu Wang with a clasped fist, declaring, "Thank you, Sect Master Wuwang, for risking your life to save us! This general will ensure that Sect Master Wuwang's achievements are reported through military channels to the Benevolent Emperor Pavilion!"

"There's no need for such fanfare," Wu Wang waved his hand. "Just have the Benevolent Emperor Pavilion compensate me with some Spirit Stones."

"Excellent! HAHAHAHA!"

Zhong Lin burst into laughter upon hearing this, thinking this Demonic Sect's Sect Master was quite humorous. What kind of righteous hero, after performing such a remarkable feat, would still covet a reward of Spirit Stones?

Seeing his reaction, Wu Wang said no more. He looked around at the Beast Tide, halted by the fractures in the earth.

Such a violent tremor in Heaven and Earth should be enough to break through the blockade of the Evil God's aura here... right? Honestly, I'm not sure, but I still have some trust in Senior Shen Nong.

THUMP!

"Teacher, are we..."

Lin Qi's words suddenly caught in his throat. He had been stepping forward, but his body abruptly stiffened in place.

It wasn't just Lin Qi. Ji Mo, Ling Xiaolan, Xu Mu, and several Immortals beside them all seemed to turn to stone. Their breathing stopped, and their faces paled.

This situation occurred simultaneously everywhere within the formation. Every cultivator, from True Immortals down to those in the Nascent Soul Realm, found themselves unable to move.

A pressure.

An intensely strong pressure had enveloped them without any warning.

Zhong Lin and Wu Wang looked up at the same time. They saw that the overcast sky had somehow revealed stars above. Through a large hole torn in the clouds, a serpent's head, as massive as a mountain, was looking down at them.

Its eyes were like pools of water, its scales like rooftiles. Layers upon layers of 'peaks' adorned its head. Lightning flashed high in the sky, illuminating the serpent's body, which coiled across the entire heavens.

The serpent's head gazed down at the formation, its attention not fixed on anyone in particular. Yet, its presence was so formidable that most cultivators within had already lost all will to resist.

One of the Great Wilderness's Ten Evil Gods: the Ming Snake.

As the serpent's head descended slightly, the pressure below intensified, causing many cultivators who had not yet become Immortals to tremble.

It wasn't just the cultivators. The Beast Hordes on all sides prostrated themselves, while the fiends from the Ten Evils Hall, who had been driving the beasts, now lay on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

"HEH."

A cold, scornful, yet somehow casual sneer seemed to blossom in the hearts of Wu Wang and the others.

Commander Zhong Lin lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. Several nearby Immortals immediately sat down cross-legged to meditate.

CLANG! CLANG! A few sounds rang out as some cultivators could no longer hold onto their magic treasures and weapons. A large number of cultivators, unable to withstand the pressure, collapsed to the ground, panting heavily and breaking out in a cold sweat.

Ji Mo was one of them.

SHING!

Ling Xiaolan's longsword was half-drawn from its scabbard, but she could move it no further.

"Evil... God..."

Despair filled Zhong Lin's expression. His lips quivered as he uttered these two words. He staggered half a step forward and bellowed, "Evil God!"

Wu Wang's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He wanted to stop him, but his movements were sluggish from resisting the Evil God's pressure.

Zhong Lin suddenly leaped up, his eyes bulging with fury, his gray hair flying wildly. Gripping his horizontal sword with both hands, he roared incessantly!

His horizontal sword unleashed a blade light tens of yards long as he ferociously hacked toward the serpent head in the sky!

The old warhorse still harbored the ambition to slay a god.

Not a flicker of change showed in the serpent head's eyes, not even a trace of disdain. Only the scales on its forehead shimmered faintly. Zhong Lin's forward charge abruptly halted in mid-air.

All was silent between heaven and earth. Zhong Lin's body hung motionless like a clay statue, the blade light he had unleashed frozen strangely in the air.

The descending serpent head swayed slightly.

Heaven and Earth fractured like a shattered glass mirror, with cracks spreading everywhere. Zhong Lin's body, his Primordial Spirit, and his blade light were all caught within these fissures.

CRACK—

Such a sound suddenly echoed in the empty expanse of Heaven and Earth, as if a mirror had broken. Along with the mirror, the old general Zhong Lin shattered as well.

Before the bloody light could even scatter, his corpse dissipated like dust on the wind.

Zhong Lin's Dao, too, vanished in an instant, as if this being had never existed in the world.

The tip of the serpent's head had descended to a position only a thousand feet high. The massive snake's body suddenly became ethereal, and from within its head, a graceful figure emerged.

She was shrouded in a misty, blood-tinged vapor and wore a simple red dress. Her long, slender legs stepped down slowly, her feet clad in jade shoes that clicked like wooden clogs.

Her face was slightly narrow, and her elongated eyes resembled those of a serpent, exuding a faint, savage aura.

Yet, she was the transformed Ming Snake, one of the Great Wilderness's elite, ancient Evil Gods. Her human form's appearance was flawless, possessing a unique, cruel kind of beauty.

More critically, with each step she took downward, the pressure on everyone below intensified.

After she had taken merely ten leisurely steps, the Human Domain's battered army formation shattered. Only a few managed to remain standing; most cultivators were either sitting or kneeling, unable to lift a finger to fight back.

Wu Wang was still standing.

His forehead was drenched in cold sweat, yet he still looked up, gazing at the woman this Evil God had transformed into.

Beside him, Ling Xiaolan gritted her teeth and held her ground. Even though her Nascent Soul felt like it was about to crack, she refused to kneel or collapse onto the ground.

It's dirty there! she thought.

Zhong Lin's death hadn't actually shocked him too much. What surprised Wu Wang the most was that the pressure from this Evil God Ming Snake was far weaker than the pressure he had felt from the Star God in his vision. There truly is a vast difference in power between gods.

At last, her red lips slowly parted.

"Which of you is Lin Qi?"

Lin Qi was now slumped on the ground, his Adam's apple trembling, yet he couldn't make a sound.

Wu Wang didn't look at Lin Qi. He just felt he should step forward, so he took half a step.

He understood that if Lin Qi were taken, the two thousand or so people here would be obliterated by a mere flap of Ming Snake's wings or a single breath from her. One's fate must be grasped in one's own hands.

His raised foot landed firmly. Wu Wang fixed his gaze on Ming Snake's humanoid incarnation, whose slender eyes, in turn, locked onto him.

"You are Lin Qi?"

Wu Wang tried his best to control his voice, to at least keep it from trembling.

He said, "I am Wu Wangzi, Sect Master of the Heaven-Annihilating Dark Desire Lin Feng Great Demon Sect. I have a few words to say to you, Daoist friend."

"Oh? Speak with me?"

The Evil God Ming Snake gazed at Wu Wang and said indifferently, "Kneel."

Before her words even faded, an overwhelming pressure, like toppling mountains and overturning seas, bore down on Wu Wang. His footing faltered, his left leg buckled instantly, and the ground beneath him spiderwebbed with cracks.

But before his bent left knee could touch the grass, it stopped, trembling.

Wu Wang clenched his fists, the veins on his neck bulging, his nostrils flaring slightly. Yet, at that moment, he slowly straightened his left leg.

Resisting, standing firm, bracing against the ever-intensifying pressure, he painstakingly straightened his body, puffed out his chest, and looked up at the Evil God Ming Snake!

"I, Wu Wangzi, revere Heaven and Earth and fear no ghosts or deities.

I kneel to my parents and teachers, but not to Evil Gods or the Heavenly Emperor. Today… I'm afraid… I cannot kneel…"

A trickle of blood slid from the corner of Wu Wang's mouth.

The surrounding cultivators struggled fiercely, glaring angrily at the Evil God Ming Snake.

Ming Snake narrowed her eyes slightly, a cold smile playing on her lips, as if she found Wu Wang somewhat interesting.

Just as she was about to speak, another figure appeared beside Wu Wang.

It was a masked female cultivator at the Ascending Immortal Realm. Compared to Wu Wang, who was shrouded in secrets, she seemed far more straightforward.

But at this moment, this woman of the Human race had a Lotus Seal shining on her forehead. Her long hair cascaded down her back as she clutched her sword hilt, using the scabbard for support, stubbornly standing beside Wu Wang and looking up at Ming Snake's humanoid form.

A cold snort was all she could manage.

These humans... Ming Snake thought.

"TSK, TSK TSK."

Suddenly, a strange laugh came from the side. Ji Mo, who had been among the first to collapse, was now struggling to his feet. Beads of blood oozed from his skin, giving him a somewhat terrifying appearance.

But! How could a real man shrink back at a time like this! How could a real man cower at this moment! Today, even if I, the young master of the Ji Family, die here, get instantly killed, turn to ash, I must still show the courage of a man of the Human race! I must represent the men of the Human race, stand tall, look that Evil God in the eye, and proudly shout:

"Nice... waist…"

Wu Wang and Ling Xiaolan turned their heads in unison. Ji Mo, however, looked as if he were facing death with equanimity, staring nonstop at the Evil God Ming Snake.

"HA, HAHAHA."

Lin Qi suddenly chuckled softly. He struggled several times before finally getting up. Each faltering step he took felt as if it bore the weight of myriad tons, yet he still managed to walk behind Wu Wang and slowly exhale.

He didn't know what was right or wrong to do at this moment, so he said nothing, nor did he look up. But his straightened spine already answered for him. We face this together, advance or retreat as one.

The Evil God Ming Snake narrowed her eyes slightly and said coldly, "The Human Domain has indeed produced people capable of shouldering great responsibility once more. Those lords in the Heaven Palace are truly useless; all their suppression couldn't extinguish you humans.

Are you willing to become my divine slaves?"

Wu Wang spoke softly, "You are an Evil God, yet you come here to bully us juniors of the Human Domain. Have you no shame?"

Ming Snake chuckled lightly and pointed a finger at Wu Wang.

"To be an Evil God means... to be... without... any... prohibitions... or taboos."

Instantly, a black hole, merely the size of a fist, appeared in Heaven and Earth. Yet, it caused Wu Wang's spiritual mind to tremble unceasingly.

Death would come in the next instant. In the next moment, I'll be torn apart by this black hole. But I can barely make a move right now; I'm bearing the brunt of the Evil God's pressure. Even my Bloodline Power is suppressed. The sea of qi in my body has solidified, my Spirit Platform has dimmed, and I can hardly find any strength to use. Is this a hopeless situation? Has the Human race always faced enemies like this?

Wu Wang suddenly froze.

This moment seemed to stretch endlessly, drawn out.

He seemed to hear Senior Shen Nong, sitting by a bonfire, sighing with deep emotion.

'That truly was... a long, dark night...'

He seemed to see an unremarkable figure of average height, wearing a straw raincoat, walking across a parched land, looking up at the Ancient Fire God seated upon a mountain peak.

A spark ignited in the darkness; a flame danced gently before him.

Suddenly, Wu Wang seemed to hear screams, roars, and cries filled with unwilling defiance.

In that dark night, a glimmering light appeared. Tiny specks of Spirit Light flew from unknown places, converging into that spark, making it burn hotter, brighter.

At this moment, the Evil God Ming Snake's eyes shone as she stared intently at Wu Wang.

She sensed it! She suddenly felt a radiance bursting from this young human, a radiance strikingly similar to that of Emperor Fu Xi and the Shennong Family...

"So, you are...?" she murmured, her eyes widening slightly, then she exclaimed, "A human of the Northern Wilderness!"

Wu Wang fiercely clenched his fists and glared upward defiantly, his legs slightly parted. His essence, qi, and spirit blazed together. Roaring at the sky, he swung his right fist straight at the black hole!

I yield to no one!

A clap of thunder seemed to burst from his fist as a shadow of his punch smashed toward the black hole.

Suddenly, the Evil God Ming Snake's expression changed dramatically. She looked up abruptly at the starry sky.

A streak of silver-white lightning cleaved straight down. It ripped apart Heaven and Earth, tore through the layers of protective aura Ming Snake had deployed, and appeared before her without hindrance. The lightning bolt shattered the black hole, forcing the Evil God to retreat and dodge!

In that very instant!

Through the fissure in Heaven and Earth torn open by the lightning, a somewhat plump figure forcibly squeezed out.

This figure's arrival almost perfectly coincided with Wu Wang's punch!

It was the expert summoned by Wu Wang's punch, the Transcendent he had pulled here!

Without hesitation, this figure swung his fist forward. His aura solidified into a mountainous force that charged recklessly, blasting the true body of the Evil God Ming Snake away. The oppressive pressure that weighed on the cultivators instantly vanished.

"I am here! Who dares harm the younger generation of my Human race!"

Thunder rolled, and the long serpent hissed.

The elderly man, his hair and beard bristling, raised his hand as if to prop up the sky. Ripples spread through Heaven and Earth. A cyan portal appeared behind him, and streaks of Liu Guang shot out from within, all charging toward Ming Snake in the sky.

Heaven and earth suddenly blazed with light!

Wu Wang looked up, stunned. He staggered back half a step, barely managed to steady himself, and let out a slight sigh of relief.

What a ferocious Evil God.

He turned his head to look at Ji Mo and found him unconscious with his eyes open, soaked in blood and sweat. Lin Qi, beside him, was in a similar state.

"Brother Wuwang," Fairy Ling murmured softly. Her figure suddenly collapsed toward Wu Wang; she too had succumbed to exhaustion and fallen unconscious.

On instinct, Wu Wang reached out and caught her smooth, delicate arm, secretly sighing in relief.

This time I caught her! I didn't let the scene of a Fairy Immortal falling into a mud pit happen again! Wait, my Ice Crystal film seemed to have shattered earlier...

Wu Wang's vision went black. He felt the world spin as he, still holding Fairy Ling, toppled sideways.

Smooth, delicate... a distinct sensation... then unconsciousness.

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