Boom!

  A terrifying explosion erupted in Pingyang Heaven, unleashing a hurricane that tore through the void. Countless worlds floated and sank within the chaos.

  Quasi-Emperor-level power—its might earth-shaking.

  Everyone was stunned.

  The excitement on the faces of the upper-realm holy clan Saints froze, then slowly drained away.

  No one had expected the Holy Hall Master Micah—the supreme powerhouse of the Heavenly Spirit Clan—to attack the nine heavens’ Heavenly Dao incarnation at this moment.

  What… what was happening?

  Wasn’t Micah one of them?

  Shouldn’t he stand with the Dao incarnation?

  Something was very wrong!

  Weren’t they supposed to strike Lu Ping’an of the Five Phoenixes together with the Dao incarnation, slay him, and completely overthrow the Five Phoenixes—restoring order to the nine heavens?

  How had it turned into attacking the nine heavens’ Dao incarnation?

  Not just the upper-realm holy clans were stunned—even the Five Phoenix powerhouses were dumbfounded.

  Gu Mangran sat in his coffin, momentarily dazed. The pressure had been immense, yet now he felt bewildered once again.

  Was this still the world he knew?

  He understood Micah’s threat clearly—even at his peak, victory against Micah would be uncertain.

  Yet now, this Quasi-Emperor had struck the Dao incarnation.

  Gu Mangran had already despaired, but in this moment, a spark reignited in his once-silent heart.

  He turned to look at the white-robed Lu.

  Lu held a chess piece, expression calm, as though everything had unfolded exactly as he expected.

  It seemed even Micah’s attack on the Dao incarnation was within his calculations.

  Hiss—

  This child… his mind ran deep!

  Micah and Lu had been in collusion all along!

  Gu Mangran realized he had known nothing of this.

  Bang!

  The void exploded.

  The Heavenly Dao will, possessing a Saint’s body, could only exert Quasi-Emperor-level power.

  Originally, it had tried to seize Micah’s body, but the Quasi-Emperor Micah had resisted—so it settled for second best.

  But that choice proved disastrous.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Terrifying shockwaves continued to erupt in Pingyang Heaven.

  A clash between Saints was already horrifying—let alone at Quasi-Emperor level.

  The world fell silent.

  The fleet of war vessels halted in the void.

  Every Saint stood frozen, hair standing on end.

  Soon, some reacted, shouting in horror:

  “Micah! What are you doing?!”

  This was the Heavenly Dao incarnation!

  As Holy Hall Master, attacking it would invite the Heavenly Dao’s judgment.

  In the nine heavens, only Emperors were free from the Dao’s restrictions.

  All other Saints were bound by it.

  Micah’s actions today were utterly suicidal.

  Bang!

  The Dao incarnation was smashed into the void.

  A massive black hole appeared, howling winds devouring everything around it.

  The Saint’s body that the incarnation possessed shattered instantly, cracking inch by inch.

  Yet white light blazed. Even after taking a full-force Quasi-Emperor strike, it had not collapsed.

  It floated upward.

  Micah’s expression was icy. He narrowed his eyes.

  “Not dead even after that… worthy of the nine heavens’ Dao incarnation.”

  His robes whipped wildly. In the next instant, his body transformed into a streak of light. Silver-white spatial mysteries tore through the void.

  He appeared before the Dao incarnation once more.

  A fist swung.

  Boom!

  Still Quasi-Emperor-level power. Since he had chosen to act, Micah had no regrets—there was no turning back.

  Between safety and gambling everything, Micah chose the gamble.

  The Five Phoenixes, with their independent Heavenly Dao, were his only hope of breaking through to Emperor.

  When the Dao incarnation first appeared, Micah had wavered—wondering whether to abandon the Five Phoenixes and let them perish.

  Becoming an Emperor… he would give up.

  But when he saw Lu contending with the Dao incarnation,

  His heart stirred again.

  He wanted to gamble. His goal was simple: to break through.

  Driven by that ambition, he acted.

  And this strike had achieved excellent results.

  “Young Master Lu, strike! Together, we slay the Dao!”

  Micah roared as he struck again.

  “Impudent!”

  The Dao incarnation struggled out of the black hole, roaring in fury.

  It had been betrayed!

  The supreme Heavenly Dao will—betrayed!

  The creatures of the nine heavens had stabbed it in the back!

  Rage surged. The originally pure white light of the nine heavens’ Dao began to tint red!

  “Good.”

  Lu understood the principle: strike while the enemy is weak.

  Buzz…

  The Spirit-Pressure Chessboard instantly covered the black hole.

  Lu’s gaze sharpened. He placed a piece. Invisible force surged, whipping his white robes.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The piece fell.

  Lightning seemed to descend from the heavens.

  Suddenly!

  It struck the center of the chessboard.

  Qi Refining Layer 9—ten millionfold Spirit-Pressure!

  Boom!

  The beam crashed down into the black hole.

  The hole expanded further. Void shattered.

  The Dao incarnation’s protruding head was smashed back inside.

  “Attack!”

  “Stop them!”

  “Micah the traitor! He is unworthy to be Holy Hall Master!”

  The Holy Hall Saints roared in fury.

  Micah stood in the void. In this moment, he seemed towering. The authority of the Holy Hall Master was fully revealed.

  He glanced coldly toward the Holy Hall.

  Then he raised a hand and beckoned.

  Instantly…

  Chaos erupted in the Holy Hall!

  Bronze war vessels exploded. Shocks rang out. Saints were struck by their comrades, bodies cracking under devastating attacks.

  It turned out Micah had planted his own pieces in the Holy Hall long ago.

  The moment he attacked the Dao incarnation, he knew there was no retreat.

  So he no longer hid his pawns.

  As Holy Hall Master for hundreds of thousands of years, how could he have no preparations?

  Of course, if the Heavenly Spirit Ancient Emperor had not been absent for so long, leaving all major and minor affairs to the Holy Hall Saints,

  Micah would never have had such an opportunity.

  Chaos!

  The battle instantly descended into madness!

  Saints of the upper-realm holy clans began fighting among themselves.

  Micah’s planted agents struck. Many Saints were caught off guard and suffered attacks.

  But they quickly organized a counterattack.

  The saint ancestors of the other clans also joined in.

  After all, only a minority followed Micah. The Heavenly Spirit Clan’s true ruler was still the Heavenly Spirit Ancient Emperor.

  But don’t forget—there were also the Five Phoenix Xuan Immortals!

  “Good fellow…”

  Overlord’s eyes gleamed. He stared at the Holy Hall Saints, as though seeing the rolling fortune they represented!

  These Saints had come with the intent to destroy the Five Phoenixes—they naturally represented fortune!

  “Fight!”

  Overlord shouldered his axe and shield and charged forth. A river of fortune surged.

  Demonic qi roiled. One axe cleaved toward a saint ancestor.

  Tang Yimo’s body erupted like a volcano. Six consecutive explosions rang out.

  Six meridians opened. Like a demon god, he charged forward, clashing with a Saint.

  With the Five Phoenix Saints joining, the balance of this chaotic battle began to tilt.

  Tilt toward the Five Phoenixes.

  The moment they saw the Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao, everyone understood why the nine heavens’ Dao had descended its incarnation.

  A second Heavenly Dao in the nine heavens—how horrifying!

  One mountain cannot hold two tigers—let alone two Heavenly Daos.

  Thus, the nine heavens’ Dao had sent its incarnation to destroy the newborn, still-fragile Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao.

  The Saints’ gazes flickered.

  A newborn Heavenly Dao—that was a supreme treasure!

  Many suddenly understood why the Five Phoenixes had erupted with an Ancient Emperor incarnation’s aura earlier.

  The Ancient Emperors must have sensed the Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao’s birth and sent an incarnation to seize it…

  A newborn Heavenly Dao!

  A treasure more precious than imperial weapons!

  Unfortunately, the current Five Phoenixes were no longer a weak world anyone could bully.

  Hadn’t even the Holy Hall Master Micah chosen to stand with them?

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The battle exploded. Pingyang Heaven shook violently.

  The ancestors of the lower three heavens’ high-martial worlds didn’t even dare breathe. Though weaker than the ancient Emperor wars, this was still no small conflict.

  So many Saints clashing—unseen for hundreds of thousands of years.

  The sky tore open.

  Saints poured into the outer void battlefield, slaughtering freely.

  Lu placed another piece.

  The Spirit-Pressure beam crashed down. The Dao incarnation was smashed back into the black hole.

  Though furious, it could do nothing.

  Lu’s ten millionfold Spirit-Pressure pressed down like an entire world.

  Micah struck relentlessly. Quasi-Emperor power erupted again and again.

  Each blow shattered vast swaths of void.

  Buzz…

  The chains of rules binding heaven and earth began to snap.

  Clearly, the Dao incarnation was nearing collapse.

  In the outer void battlefield, the battling Saints saw this and began to flee.

  If the Dao incarnation fell, Micah would surely not spare them.

  After all, they had witnessed the Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao—and Micah’s betrayal of the Heavenly Spirit Clan.

  Micah would kill them all to silence them.

  But escape was difficult. The Five Phoenix cultivators grew fiercer with every passing moment—utterly mad.

  They fought without reason—meeting was killing.

  “I can’t hold on! Micah betrayed the Holy Hall—we’ll all die here!”

  A Saint roared.

  He tried to flee but could not.

  “Micah betrayed the Holy Hall—why are you still fighting for him?”

  A Holy Hall Saint wept blood, eyes red with fury.

  “Micah will die horribly! Colluding with the Five Phoenixes, crippling the Holy Hall… the Heavenly Spirit Ancient Emperor will never forgive him!”

  “Traitors to the Emperor meet no good end!”

  The Saints roared.

  Finally…

  In the chaos, one Saint’s body exploded. His divine soul shattered.

  He fell completely.

  Rumble!

  Rules and order emerged. Blood-colored clouds surged.

  Soon, torrential blood rain fell. A Saint of the nine heavens had perished—heaven and earth mourned together.

  Micah noticed this. Though his heart sank slightly, his gaze remained cold.

  Since he had chosen this path, he would see it through.

  His goal was simple: to break through.

  As a Saint, his lifespan was only a few hundred thousand years. His time was running out. If he could not break through, he would perish in the cold outer void battlefield like many old Saints of the Holy Hall.

  Micah refused to accept it.

  “I, Micah, a heaven-defying genius—reached Quasi-Saint realm hundreds of thousands of years ago…”

  “Yet bound by the Heavenly Dao, unable to become Emperor. Why? My talent, my aptitude—I am no less than any Ancient Emperor. Why, just because they were born earlier, could they attain the throne, while I, no matter how hard I cultivate, cannot cross the Emperor threshold? Why?!”

  Micah roared.

  His fist struck. The world fell silent for an instant—then a terrifying explosion erupted, annihilating everything. The Dao incarnation was swallowed by the blast.

  Micah panted heavily. The energy within him boiled.

  Hundreds of thousands of years of resentment poured out in this moment.

  Gu Mangran watched in silence.

  Seeing the frenzied Micah, he sighed deeply. Time truly could drive people mad.

  Gu Mangran thought: if he had not been gravely injured in that ancient war and buried in the tomb,

  Perhaps he too would have seized the last straw of hope with such madness.

  Hundreds of thousands of years at the peak, yet unable to take one more step—bound by damned rules.

  How could he accept it?

  The Five Phoenixes, birthing an independent Heavenly Dao, truly was Micah’s hope.

  Though even now, that hope seemed slim.

  But for a genius like Micah, better to burn brightly in a gamble than fade away quietly.

  Bang!

  Lu remained cold and ruthless. He placed another piece.

  The ten millionfold Spirit-Pressure completely crushed the Dao incarnation’s possessed body. Faintly, the body seemed on the verge of exploding.

  Suddenly.

  The blood rain in the sky ceased.

  The Dao aura within the clouds descended like beams, pouring into the battered Dao incarnation.

  The weakening incarnation began to grow stronger again.

  Micah’s expression changed slightly.

  The Dao incarnation seemed to have thought of something. A cold laugh echoed faintly.

  Boom!

  When the incarnation erupted with dazzling light,

  Micah hurriedly blocked, trying to withstand the explosion.

  The terrifying force sent him flying.

  White beams shot out like streaks of light across the sky.

  Pfft!

  One Saint after another—clashing with Five Phoenix Xuan Immortals—was pierced by the beams. Heads exploded!

  Divine souls perished. Saints fell.

  Thick blood seemed to come alive, writhing across the heavens.

  Thick blood clouds gathered.

  So many Saints had died—summoning tribulation clouds and blood rain infused with Dao aura!

  “Damn it!”

  “What did it do?”

  Micah drew a deep breath.

  Looking at the thick clouds above, radiating dense Dao aura, his face paled.

  The Dao incarnation had sensed the Saints’ deaths would summon tribulation clouds and blood rain infused with Dao aura!

  And used it to slaughter many Saints!

  The incarnation grew stronger!

  In the lower three heavens, it seemed a colossal figure of light stood.

  Lu’s expression grew grave.

  The Dao incarnation’s actions stunned even Gu Mangran. He acted, swinging his coffin and charging alongside Micah.

  But the empowered incarnation was too powerful.

  It suppressed Micah’s Quasi-Emperor strength.

  And Gu Mangran, even after consuming divine herbs, had not fully recovered. He was sent flying again and again.

  His coffin lid shattered completely.

  Gu Mangran crashed back from the void.

  “I am heaven. Heaven establishes rules. If I decree your death—you die!”

  The Dao incarnation roared.

  It swung both arms like hammers, smashing down.

  Micah’s arms exploded!

  Blood rained through the void. In that moment, all of Pingyang Heaven seemed ready to shatter!

  Lu sat in his thousand-blade chair, placed a piece, and unleashed ten millionfold Spirit-Pressure.

  Yet the Dao incarnation withstood it.

  Its arm swept.

  Countless rules in Void Heaven transformed into cold chains, slowly coiling around Lu’s body.

  Creak… creak…

  The icy chains of order made Lu frown.

  Boom!

  Suddenly.

  A massive rift tore open in the sky above Void Heaven.

  Vast energy surged within.

  The Dao incarnation glanced coldly, then ignored it. Its palm slowly closed.

  As it tightened, the chains binding Lu seemed ready to crush him alive.

  Micah’s arms regrew. Quasi-Emperor power erupted—but he too was bound by the chains.

  These chains were formed from Heavenly Dao rules—indestructible, nearly impossible to break.

  The more they struggled, the tighter they bound.

  “The rules of heaven and earth—all established by me. My words are the rules!”

  The Dao incarnation proclaimed grandly.

  Lu felt the chains tightening further.

  He exhaled slowly.

  Then, a voice echoed in his ear.

  It seemed to come from the rift in Void Heaven.

  Within the rift, a massive eyeball rolled.

  The voice transmitted into Lu’s ear and mind.

  “Need help? Hand over control of the Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao… and this Emperor will act, slaying the incarnation for you.”

  Lu paused. His expression gradually turned cold.

  “Taking advantage of the chaos?”

  “Shameless. Trying to rob me—I’ll remember this.”

  Lu said.

  “Want control of the Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao? Keep dreaming.”

  Lu’s lips curled.

  The next moment.

  The thousand-blade chair beneath him began to disassemble. Terrifying demonic qi erupted from his body.

  The chains binding him swelled under the demonic qi—though they did not break.

  Lu paid it no mind.

  The silver blades transformed, clanging and stacking, forming silver wings behind him.

  The nine-section phoenix plume sword hovered before him.

  His white robes turned black. Lu’s expression was ice-cold.

  He raised his hand and grasped the Five Phoenix Bow.

  Vast divine soul power, chaos power, spiritual energy, and Dao intent…

  From the four phoenix mouths on the bow, power surged.

  Under the “Union” array rune, they fused into an extremely terrifying four-colored arrow!

  The arrow materialized.

  Then, Lu released his grip.

  Boom!

  The arrow shot forth.

  It struck the Heavenly Dao’s order chains.

  Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

  The chains coiled.

  Yet under this arrow, the unbreakable rules were pierced!

  The arrow’s power undiminished, it continued straight toward the Dao incarnation.

  In an instant, it tore a massive black hole through the incarnation’s chest. Terrifying explosive energy raged within, destroying everything.

  One arrow—pierced the Heavenly Dao incarnation.