Back to the start of time.
In the beginning, before light existed, there was nothing but darkness.
As the darkness ruled over the entire realm of the universe, something emerged.
It materialized itself in a spherical form.
From the size of the atom, it came to be.
To the size of a gigantic world, it expanded over eons.
Until it outstretched from one side of the universe to another, it began to crack and crumble.
Every crumbled piece ranged from an ant size to planet size.
After the process was done, quadrillions of scattering pieces began to transform.
At that moment, a race was born.
…
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
A series of thunderous explosions sounded as three rays of darkness hit a luminous light barrier covering a planet.
“Seniors!! Please hurry up!! I don’t think we can hold on for long.”
A young man shouted as his blue eyes flashed with knitted brows, while the long dark hair of the fine young man waved by the wind caused by the explosions.
The young man clad in blood-color metal armor stood in front of an entrance of an ancient temple.
Beside the young man, there stood another person clad with a similar type of blood-color armor with a more dazzling glow. That person had red eyes, dark hair, stalwart figure with the look of a grown-up man. He was the one controlling the formation of the planet’s barrier.
The previous attacks came from outer space far away from the planet. Nevertheless, the destructive power they carried was world-destroying. If the barrier was not there to protect the planet, such attacks could destroy the whole planet in a single hit.
Inside the temple, there were twelve elders draped in tattered clothes sitting around a magic pattern of light in a circle while doing hand seals, performing some sort of ritual. Pure light was exuded from their bodies pouring into the magic pattern at the center of the temple hall.
The grown-up man harshly rebuked.
“Luotian, all twelve Immortals are here solely to carry out the only survival opportunity for the world. They are giving their all already. Just focus on your freaking job to protect them while they are working on it, and shut the hell up!!”
The young man whose name was called Feng Luotian wryly smiled at the scold.
“I know that, Father … But do you think we can hold on until they can complete the ‘Ritual’? Those damnable things already began their assault on us. It is a matter of time before their Kings or even their Emperor reach here. At that time, we won’t be able to stall them anymore.”
“I know that … we just have no other choice but to try.”
The grown-up man indifferently replied as he focused on what he was doing.
Feng Luotian could not help but sigh at the desperate situation they were in.
Images rushed back from his memories, where he saw annihilated one army after another. As for the innocence, their cultivations were stripped from their bodies making them unable to continue living peacefully as they lost their power to protect their homeland from the savaged monsters.
As he lost in his thought, a burst of deafening laughter sounded, waking the young man up.
“HAHAHAHAHA … it’s been a while, Demon God Emperor!!”
After the greeting, a huge figure appeared just outside the barrier. His voice was reverberating throughout the planet. He had over one hundred meters in height, an overly muscular build, a face full of beard, bared top, two ox horns on his head, and an enormous ax in his hand.
The title ‘Demon God Emperor’ was referred to the grown-up man, Feng Luotian’s father.
After his wide eyes gazed upon the young man on the planet, the killing intent flashed within them.
The ox-horned man harrumphed with a stern and domineering voice. “Blue-eyes Phoenix Young Emperor is here as well!! As I remember, you still owe me something.”
“OH? What do I owe you I wonder?”
Feng Luotian looked up at the guy and replied with a nonchalant attitude.
The ox-horned man: “…”
He was taken aback by the question. The furious rage burst out as he pointed at Feng Luotian.
“It’s the life of my son you took, you damn bastard!! Don’t you dare forget about it!!”
Feng Luotian: “What!? It’s not my intention to kill him at all. I just shot my arrow towards his army, and your son just happened to be there at the time. Should your son stay at home and play with his toys, he wouldn’t be obliterated like the rest of the army. It’s all incidental!! You can’t blame me for this, right, Father?”
Feng Luotian turned towards his father as if asking him for an agreement to his argument.
“You!!” The ox-horned man’s face twisted even uglier than before. And facing Feng Luotian’s casual attitude, the previous killing intent drastically multiplied. However, another easygoing voice sounded beside the young man.
“Stop with your provocation, Luotian!” said Demon God Emperor. “Or else, Taurus King here will be rushing to attack you and instantly killed by this slaughtering barrier. That would be rather disappointing … being a race King yet dying a stupid death.”
Feng Luotian’s words were already getting on the nerves, yet his father’s way of speaking was still a level above. The ox-horned man called Taurus King gritted his teeth so strong that its sound was heard from a mile away. It took a while before he calmed himself down as he said. “You, father and son, are as a bastard as one can be when it comes to words.”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
Another three rays of darkness once again stormed the planet causing tremor all around after hitting the protective barrier. This caused the corners of Taurus King’s lips to curl upwards. “Anyways, you all are going to die today. Either it was by my hands or others, I don’t mind as long as I can watch you all die a miserable death!!”
Woosh!! Woosh!!
Two figures arrived beside the Taurus King.
“Aries Queen. Capricorn King.” Taurus King turned and greeted them.
Two new arrivals returned the gesture without saying anything.
Woosh!! Woosh!! Woosh!! Woosh!!
Four more figures reached the scene.
One of the four: “Aiyah!! How unexpected, Taurus King!! You were usually the slowest one, yet here you are the first to arrive!? Your hands must be quite free after not needing to take care of that useless son of yours.”
An alluring voice was heard from a female among the four. She had a tall profile and exquisite curves of her body. Together with her purple hair and black eyes, a heavenly beauty of her countenance was enough to enchant every man in the world.
That said, contrasting to her look, the manner and posture she held were as seductive as a temptress, coupling with a black silk dress and three beautiful jade-like scorpion tails, which gave off a unique charm.
However, Taurus King was not bewitched by her in the slightest, rather, he was getting even angrier than before as he was reminded of his deceased son, and even more, this son was being scorned at.
“I initially thought you, Scorpio Queen, are here to do your job under the order of His Majesty … but it turns out you are here just wanting to run your mouth and die, YOU BITCH!!”
Taurus King raised his ax as he poured his power into his weapon.
Rumble!!
Space trembled as the ax turned even larger.
The ax that was already dozens of meters long enlarged about dozen times until its size resembled a mountain peak. It was emitting green flame all over by Taurus King’s power, then he ruthlessly swung at Scorpio Queen.
Clank!!
A crescent light engulfed by green flame shot towards the Queen. If it was an ordinary cultivator, they would become frozen in fear and despair upon facing such an attack and pressure, but the Scorpio Queen only needed to turn her body slightly to dodge the incoming attack.
Taurus King’s attack continued towards a star behind Scorpio Queen and …
Boom!!
Once the attack hit, the star exploded and was obliterated into smithereens.
Looking at the destroyed planet, Scorpio Queen playfully advised. “Aiyah!! He’s not even your crown prince. Why would you be this angry? I think your short temper needs help right away.”
At that moment, another female among the four voiced her mind. “Scorpio Queen, please stop. We didn’t come here to fight each other. We are here today to finish them once and for all. And His Majesty’s wish will finally come true.”
The speaker was garmented in white clothes, having smooth skin, a pretty face, and serene bearing, while calmly speaking with closed eyes, like a priestess.
Scorpio Queen: “I got it. I got it. You too, stop with your mama nagging, Aquarius Old Hag!!”
She waved away the words from Aquarius Queen as if chasing away the flies.
And a few seconds of silence before the storm came …
“Who is the Old Hag you talked about, YOU F****** BITCH!!?”
Once being poked at her age; Aquarius Queen’s tranquil manner got a 180 degree turn into a raging wraith.
However, before an internal fight broke out again, a gentle voice came from behind the lineups: “My Kings and Queens.”
With just four words, all previous conflicts and killing intents were settled.
There were four persons of newcomers.
The one with the gentle voice just now was a woman dressed in a dazzling light blue gown, but her white smooth skin was even more illuminating. Her beauty was peerless and impassable by anyone in that era. It would still be an understatement to call her ‘goddess’, but that was as far as one could go among the titles regarding beauties.
Her shimmering blue eyes seemed like a clear sky welcoming all living beings under her grace. The aura she emitted was filled with divine light, warmth, and caring. Anyone who was basked by it would surely want to serve her for the rest of their lives unable to part with such feelings.
Three other persons who came with her had power levels no different than those of the seven Kings and Queens who previously arrived.
“Greetings, Your Highness!!”
The seven Kings and Queens all knelt with one knee, and respectfully performed their greetings.
The goddess waved her hand, and all of them stood up and orderly retreated to the sides. The other three joined the lineups and quietly waited for her order.
The goddess silently looked at the barrier covering the planet for a couple of minutes and raised her hand. A wisp full of light was formed on her palm before being released towards the barrier.
Rumble!!
When it hit, the world quivered before the strike. The barrier had stood strong without a single scratch against any world-destroying assaults, and yet a simple attack from the goddess caused it to crack to the verge of completely collapsing.
Seeing the barrier’s current condition, Feng Luotian became even more worried than before.
“Father, now ‘she’ and all Kings and Queens are here. The situation doesn’t look too good. What do we do? From the look of it, Seniors will take at least one hour to complete the Ritual. If all of them attacked together at the same time, we are doomed!!”
Demon God Emperor’s complexion turned dark as he contemplated for a few seconds.
“Luotian, take over the control of the barrier formation. I will ad-lib the situation a bit.”
“I got it, Fa … what!? I take control!? I alone? I can’t even handle one King, let alone all of them. Hey, Father!!”
Without thinking much, he agreed to his father before hitting a full-brake when realizing what he had to do, but his father was already gone. So, he had no choice but to try his best to do as his father had commanded by summoning all of his remaining power to fuel the barrier formation.
…
Inside the temple where twelve elders were performing a certain ritual.
Suddenly, Demon God Emperor appeared next to the circle of people.
“Seniors, the situation has changed!! At this rate, we will not make it in time. Please use this as a tribute.”
Demon God Emperor flipped his hand, and an item appeared floating in front of him.
An egg-sized round spherical marble emanated a faint golden light with light runes hovering around it. Its color was ever-changing, and like a vortex that seemed to be absorbing all energy in the world within it.
“Eternal Dao Lotus Seed!! Are you willing to give away a Supreme Treasure? Even if the Ritual is complete, this Treasure may be lost forever.” One of the twelve elders who could recognize the item abruptly stated his mind.
Other elders started to agree with the speaker and shook their heads in unison thinking that even a Supreme Treasure may not survive this calamity after all.
“Seniors, you don’t have to worry about it. No matter how valuable a treasure is, it will never trump the value of one’s life, let alone the fate of all lives in the universe. Please use it to complete the Ritual as soon as possible” affirmed Demon God Emperor.
He pressed the issue and reminded the twelve elders.
Still, one of the twelve elders lamented at the loss of the Supreme Treasure. “Sigh … If it was another time, I would be willing to pay anything for this Treasure, regardless of the price.”
“Yes, we won’t be able to use it now even if we were to possess such an item.”
“Let’s stop wasting time talking and finish this Ritual!!”
The leader of the group interrupted. He awakened everyone from any wandering thoughts while carefully receiving Eternal Dao Lotus Seed from Demon God Emperor.
“Alright!”
The group came back to reality. They quickly channeled their energy into the magic pattern.
The leader controlled the Seed and let it float above the ritual. And with the change of his hand seal, the Seed began to pour out its inner energy into the ritual formation.
Buzz!!
The magic pattern started to rapidly spin showing that the process had been accelerated, following by a rumble from outside the hall.
At that moment, a figure hastily entered the temple hall with a worried expression.
Feng Luotian, whose face was pale white from exhausting energy, barged in and reported.
“Father!! What do we do now? The barrier will be breached within a matter of seconds. All Kings and Queens will be coming and … WHAT!?”
He was agitated at the very sight of the Seed’s energy being forced out.
“You are sacrificing Eternal Dao Lotus Seed? Are you out of your freaking mind? The item may be lost forever at this rate …”
“We all know that already!!”
All elders including the Demon God Emperor concomitantly said with a stern voice.
“But…”
There was still some reluctance in Feng Luotian’s eyes as he glanced at his father. He knew how much was lost and how many lives were sacrificed for his father to acquire this item.
Half a minute later, Eternal Dao Lotus Seed’s ever-changing color came to stop at a dull grey, no different from a normal stone you could pick up on the ground. Afterward, it dropped down and disappeared into the ritual formation.
The magic pattern then gave off an immortal aura. An area inside it gradually turned into a blinding light.
“Demon God Emperor!! It is complete. Go in before it’s too late!!”
The leader of the twelve immortals declared.
Demon God Emperor nodded and turned to his son.
“Luotian, I will be going first.”
Demon God Emperor quickly walked towards the ritual formation.
“Father. What if all of this does not work?”
Feng Luotian hesitantly asked. He was previously told that this ritual had not been successful even once in all histories of the universe, so he became quite anxious.
However, Demon God Emperor was decisive.
“Hmph, what’s the point asking that now? Like we have any other choice.”
Facing such a situation, there was no time for thinking whether it would work or not.
“Follow me quickly and don’t hesitate!!”
Following that, the Demon God Emperor entered the ritual formation and disappeared.
Feng Luotian was still contemplating about something, not moving his legs towards the formation. That incited the hasty elders to shout at him waking him from introspection.
“Young Emperor!! Don’t delay any longer. Go in this instant!!”
There is no time for hesitation.
Feng Luotian advanced towards the ritual formation without hesitating anymore.
Yet …
Before he could go in …
With another step and he would be able to fully enter the formation and cross over like his father, a suppressive force came down and restricted his movement.
“Tian’er.”
A gentle voice came down at the same time as the appearance of the goddess. Seeing the goddess, all twelve elders alertly stood up and releasing their aura preparing for battle: “Virgo Empress!!”
Woosh!! Woosh!! … Woosh!!
All Kings and Queens followed up with the goddess and remained behind her.
“How may I help you, Your Highness?”
Feng Luotian scornfully asked as his back facing the goddess. He could not turn to face her anyway as his movement was completely restricted by her. Moreover, if he could perform even the slightest movement, he would not bother turning to talk, but all he would do was to take another step ahead.
Virgo Empress did not answer.
A few seconds of silence intervened before Feng Luotian started speaking with a wry smile.
“If there is nothing, I will be going now. Please kindly release this suppression on me, will you?”
This time Virgo Empress began to converse.
“Tian’er, come to my side and everything will be just fine. Don’t follow that man. He’s not someone who you think he is.”
Feng Luotian’s expression was darkened as he listened.
“Only with His Majesty’s grace, everyone will be able to live without fear. We can be free to do what we want. And you … you will be able to rule over the universe as you once desired.”
Now, being reminded of ‘His Majesty’s grace’, Feng Luotian was completely out of control of his emotions. Feng Luotian angrily retorted at the Empress and roared at her.
“Free!? You called that ‘free’!? After your kind massacred millions, crippled trillions, you said ‘everyone will be able to live without fear’!? Hmph!! Ridiculous!! … And what of my father? I don’t know what point you want to make, but at the very least, he fights to protect everyone. He’s a protector, not a cold murderer like you!!”
“How dare y…!!”
Taurus King angrily gave a rebuke because he felt the man was being disrespectful to his Empress, before being given a signal to stop from her.
It took quite a while before Feng Luotian could calm down. After that, he adjusted his mind and refused.
“Virgo Empress!! Thank you very much for your kind invitation. However, I have to reject such an offer. I want to rule all because I want to protect the peace of all innocent beings. But now … heh, what’s left to protect?”
Seeing an unyielding attitude from Feng Luotian, Virgo Empress did not press the issue, but she still did not release her suppressive force on him.
“Your Highness, they performed some sort of ritual. This may pose some risks and problems later. Shouldn’t we stop them?”
Capricorn King noticed the magic pattern right in front of Feng Luotian and voiced his opinion. He was one of the Kings with a tall figure in a formal black suit.
Virgo Empress: “No. The ritual is already complete. And Demon God Emperor has already crossed over, meaning that they are already half-successful. What’s left is Tian’er to cross over as well. If we bring him away, the ritual will only be for naught.”
“Then, shouldn’t we attack right away? Kill them off to prevent further complications!!”
Taurus King was eager to take action and was filled with killing intent.
“Do you not realize who Young Emperor is to Her Highness!? Did you drop your brain somewhere?”
Scorpio Queen could not help but irritably remind the agitated King.
“I know. But…” The realization cooled down most of the Taurus King’s killing intent. Still, the death of his beloved son lingered in his mind.
Looking at the lineups behind Virgo Empress, Feng Luotian let out a dry laugh.
“So very kind of you to prepare such a great fanfare to send me off, Virgo Empress!! I am deeply grateful for this. But as the matter of fact, I am quite busy at the moment, so can you please just release me?”
“No. You are coming with me.”
Virgo Empress declined his request straightaway.
“And if I say no?” Feng Luotian frowned.
“Currently, you don’t have any negotiation power whatsoever.”
Virgo Empress indifferently replied. With that, she raised her hand to make a grabbing motion. Feng Luotian’s body started to levitate and drift towards the Empress.
“Damn it!!” cursed Feng Luotian. He loudly bellowed with unwillingness and despair.
At that moment, all twelve elders decided to take action. They launched their attacks against the Empress. But it was to no avail because her Kings and Queens stepped in and completely negated the elders’ attacks.
Alas, with their inferior cultivations, twelve elders had no hope to fight such force.
“My Kings and Queens.” Virgo Empress lightly beckoned.
All Kings and Queens kneelingly answered: “Yes, Your Highness!!”
“Kill them.” The command from the Empress had descended.
All Kings and Queens: “As your commands, Your Highness!!”
A fierce killing intent flashed in all of their eyes upon receiving the order. They launched with a speed one could not track with their eyes, which approached the twelve immortals in no time.
Seeing their enemies charging towards them, all elders looked at each other and nodded. With a thought, a crystal of different shapes and colors appeared in front of each elder.
“Seniors, you all!!”
Knowing what they were trying to do, Feng Luotian, who was currently floating in front of the Empress unable to move an inch, became flustered and saddened at the same time.
“Just finish what your father started!!”
The leader of the group said with determination.
Right after that, twelve elders crushed their own crystals in front.
Boom! Boom! Boom! … Boom!!!
Following a series of explosions of light, they all turned into twelve enormous immortal beasts with power levels overwhelming those of the Kings and Queens.
Virgo Empress frowned a little.
“The forbidden ultimate transformation skill: [Last Breath to Insanity]. The one that would make the user become thousands of folds stronger by transforming them into a beast forever. However, soon after that, they will gradually lose their control over their body, losing all rationality and becoming a real animal until the day they die.”
Then she let out a light chuckle.
“Heh … Is this the way you choose your death? As the Immortal Zodiacs, do you think it is worth it?”
The transformation was instantly recognized and explained by the Empress before she contemptuously asked them.
The leader of the twelve, who was now a several hundred meters Dragon Immortal, said with a low voice that sent a trembling ripple onto the world in every word.
“Worth it? Not worth it? That is not for you to decide. All we have to decide is … what to do with the time that is given to us.”
Every one of the twelve immortals knew in their heart, whether the plan was a success, they would soon cease to exist one way or another. So why would they care if they would become mindless beasts or not?
Dragon Immortal looked at his comrades in beast forms.
“Let’s give our best!! … All in all, if any of you can grab Feng Luotian, immediately throw him inside the formation at the cost of your life!!”
Dragon Immortal leaped out, followed by the rest of the bestial elders.
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!
With a few exchanges, the Kings and Queens were being forced to retreat towards the Empress and Feng Luotian’s position. It was obvious that the [Last Breath to Insanity] gave the twelve elders enough power to fight against their enemies.
Boom!!
Once they were within one thousand meters from Feng Luotian, the elders exploded the rest of their energies to the maximum power and divided their force into three groups.
Four of them were rushing towards the Kings and Queens, pushing and stalling them from intervention.
Another four used all of their power to restrict the Empress from any action.
And the last four were directly launched towards Feng Luotian.
Virgo Empress felt her body being restricted and gradually losing her control over Feng Luotian. Nevertheless, she still had the power to counterattack the four elders that came for Feng Luotian in front of her.
She waved her right hand, and four wisps of light were formed and shot towards the four.
One of the four, Marten Immortal: “You guys use the opportunity to reach Feng Luotian as quickly as possible, okay?” He quickly flew in front to take a blunt attack from the four wisps of light.
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!
Subsequently, Marten Immortal was turned into a bloody mist upon being struck by the Empress’s attack.
All of the elders gritted their teeth in agony with the death of Marten Immortal. However, not even one moment of pause, the remaining three were constantly moving towards Feng Luotian.
The Empress’s movement was getting slower due to the restrictive force from the other four elders. She summoned a silver sword to her right hand and channeled her power into it.
Seeing their deaths were imminent, two of the four, Hare Immortal and Python Immortal, swiftly joined hands and together sent Ape Immortal away from the attacking line.
Clank!!
Once the silver sword’s light descended, the two beasts were sliced into tens of thousands of pieces, while Ape Immortal barely escaped the slaughter.
At the sight of their deaths, Feng Luotian gave a final struggle in fury to break free of the Empress’s suppressive force, which left her no time to attack anymore. Virgo Empress had no choice but to focus all of her power to suppress him again.
That gave Ape Immortal a chance to close in.
After Feng Luotian was in the reach of the Ape Immortal …
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!
With a vision of success appearing in their minds, the four who were restricting Virgo Empress detonated their bodies in unison and used their last bit of energy to give an ultimate boost to their restrictive power and finally cut off the Empress’s suppressive power from Feng Luotian.
Grab!!
Ape Immortal finally had Feng Luotian in its grasp. It was the only one full of energy. With just a simple toss, the task will all be complete.
At the moment right before being thrown, Feng Luotian looked at the Empress and said.
“Farewell, Virgo Empress. I will talk to you over this matter when I see you … again!?”
Clank!!
As he wanted to say goodbye in his usual nonchalance, Feng Luotian suddenly noticed a cold gaze from the Empress, then he heard a slashing sound. His eyes were wide open in shock as he looked over at Ape Immortal, but its head was no longer there.
The full-force suppressive power with the sacrifice of four immortals was only able to restrict the Empress while she was in her normal state, but once she activated her power to another step, she could move as easily as she could breathe. This made one wondered … just how strong is she exactly!?
“Tian’er, be obedient, and come with me!!”
Virgo Empress firmly ordered. A gentle voice woke Feng Luotian up to a cruel reality.
Eight of the twelve elders were dead.
The other four were about to give in to their exhaustion while battling against their foes.
The light within his eyes was getting dimmer.
There was no longer hope within them.
“…!!”
Suddenly, the hand grabbing Feng Luotian moved. It seemed that even being beheaded, Ape Immortal was … still, be able to move. That sparked the last glimmer of hope in his eyes.
“Thank goodness!! This must be a unique ability to Ape Immortal bloodline!!”
“No!!”
Virgo Empress shouted. This was the first time today where she acted out of her calm manner. But at this moment, she could do nothing but watch. And with that, Feng Luotian was thrown down by Ape Immortal into the ritual formation and disappeared from the current world.
BOOM!!
Once the ritual was complete, a flash of light illuminated and covered everything in the universe.
Shortly after, everything was turned to light particles, then vanished into thin air as they were completely erased from time itself.
