The red clouds and colorful glows constituted the giant’s body, and the vigorous flames of spiritual energy turned into its facial organs and armor. What a splendid and unstoppable giant that almost looked like the giant that created the universe!
The floating mountains and pavilions in the sky were as insignificant and vulnerable as children’s toys in front of the monolithic fiery fiend. The highest peak of the Angry Fire Mountain that rose to the clouds did not seem enough to suffer a sneeze from the fiend. Even the valley that held hundreds of thousands of Cultivators and ordinary soldiers seemed to have been opened by the hands of the fiend, who could rip another ravine in the broken ground that led to the core of the planet and bury everyone in it as long as it wanted to.
So magnificent and dominating!
Every hair on ‘Green Willow’ Fang Chengzhi stood on end. He could not help but feel the deepest reverence from the bottom of his heart.
It was not until this moment that he finally understood what his father meant by ‘son of destiny’!
When light that was even more dazzling than the sun beamed out of the behemothic giant covered the entire valley, Fang Chengzhi truly felt that he, his father, and the elders of all the major sects had turned into ants, dust, and water drops that would be vaporized at any point!
They could only obey but not resist, because they would be obliterated in the blink of an eye if they so much as grew the thought of resistance.
That was the unparalleled dominance of Elder Scorching Sun, the strongest Cultivator of the Ancient Sages Sector!
For a moment, Fang Chengzhi was almost dumbfounded.
There were a lot of people who were as dumbfounded as him. The whole valley fell silent. The only sounds that were echoing now and then were the gasps of the panicked low-level Cultivators and their clattering teeth.
The fiery fiend extended its arms and grabbed two hills that were several kilometers away from each other. Then, it leaned toward the valley, building an overwhelming effect with the fire and clouds. Putting on a casual smile, it said, shaking the entire sky with its voice, “Please do excuse me for not greeting you earlier, fellow Cultivators.”
The voices fell from the sky like a waterfall and bashed the heart of every Cultivator, who felt that a pair of iron hands was pressing their shoulders hard to the ground. Some of the less capable Cultivators could not help but feel suffocated, and they almost vomited blood.
The fiery fiend released the hands that were holding onto the two hills. The marks that were furiously on fire on the two hills were clearly visible. Opening its hands, it laughed and went on. “Fellow Cultivators, what do you think of my ‘Rising Sun Array’? Is it magnificent enough?”
Hardly had the voice died down when light and fire were flashing in the hundred square kilometers around the Angry Fire Mountain, as if ten thousand volcanoes were erupting from beneath the earth.
The fiery fiend’s body, which could not have been larger, further expanded. Not only the armor around its body became gold and dazzling, it even grew three heads and six arms.
The three heads were enshrouded in red, green, and purple fire respectively, and the six enormous hands were holding six fireballs that were even more violent than the sun. Outside of the fireballs, colorful arcs of light were dancing, each roaring like a ravenous dragon!
Hu!
A great wind was blowing inside the valley. As if an overwhelming river of magma flowed right above everyone’s head, all the Cultivators felt that their hair was standing on end, and their eyes were bloodshot. Their fingernails were cracking beyond their control, too!
The ‘Rising Sun Array’ was as powerful as that!
All the Cultivators looked at each other in bewilderment, feeling that they were mired in a nightmare.
Of course, they knew that Elder Scorching Sun could not have built such a magnificent image with his own Cultivation. Even a real Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator would have been barely capable of constructing such an overwhelming image of a fiend with all their Cultivation.
However, it was already an unparalleled view in the past thousand years even if the effect was supported by the Rising Sun Array in the underground relic of the Saint Fire Dynasty.
The so-called Three Saints and Four Rapscallions were truly incomparable to even Elder Scorching Sun’s little finger considering his dominance at that moment.
Seeing that, the Cultivators who were hesitating previously could not help but feel genuinely convinced. With tears in their eyes, they shouted at the same time.
“The Rising Sun Array is truly invincible!”
“Elder Scorching Sun is invincible!”
“Elder Scorching Sun’s enterprise will last forever!”
“Haha. Hahaha!”
The three heads of the fiery fiend burst into laughter at the same time, and its six arms shook so crazily as if they were going to burn six holes in the sky. It remarked, “The dominance of the array is exactly like the future of my school. Like a rising sun in the morning, it will soar unstoppably! Now that the fellow Cultivators here understand the logic of following the trend instead of going against it, I will certainly not wrong you. One day, when the sun truly shines at the highest sky and illuminates the earth, all fellow Cultivators will be flowers, woods, and grass on the ground that will benefit from the light and heat!”
The Cultivators looked at each other. Naturally, another round of applause and adulation began.
“However…” The three faces of the fiery fiend turned gloomy at the same time. “Ever since I fully grasped the unparalleled arts and broke out of seclusion, most Cultivators have proved wise enough to understand the unstoppable trend of history like you do. But still, there are blind, obstinate guys who choose to fight against me!
“Although kindness is a great virtue, I shall show no mercy to those who are determined to get killed.
“Someone! Bring the ‘Heaven Sweeping King’ Zhao Changlie here!”
In Elder Scorching Sun’s sneer, five flying boats slowly ascended from the valley, each pulling a thick chain that was bound to the limbs and neck of a dirty man whose face was covered in blood. The man’s body was stretched out and about to be split apart when he was dragged into the sky.
“Elder Scorching Sun has captured ‘Heaven Sweeping King’ Zhao Changlie!”
The Cultivators in the valley were all shocked.
The ‘Heaven Sweeping King’ Zhao Changlie was a sworn brother of the ‘Heaven Battering King’ Qi Changsheng, one of the Four Rapscallions and one of the top ten experts of the Ancient Sages Sector.
Before Qi Changsheng established the Heaven Battering Army, the man had already been following Qi Changsheng to excavate ancient tombs and relics in the northwest. The two of them were life-and-death friends. Although they were not from the same family, they were closer to each other than many blood relatives.
After Qi Changsheng established the Heaven Battering Army, it was annihilated by the court many times, and he even had to surrender to the court himself on several occasions. During his failures, a lot of his past brothers betrayed him and even stabbed him in the back. But Zhao Changlie always remained loyal to him. Even when Qi Changsheng had only nine subordinates left with him, Zhao Changlie was still by his side.
Therefore, Zhao Changlie had been most trusted by Qi Changsheng. Qi Changsheng called himself the ‘Heaven Battering King’ and named Zhao Changlie the ‘Heaven Sweeping King’ as the vice commander of the Heaven Battering Army!
It was said that Qi Changsheng entrusted the remaining troops of the Heaven Battering Army to Zhao Changlie before he and other nine experts went to visit the deities’ realm with the other nine experts three years ago.
It had never occurred to the Cultivators that even ‘Heaven Sweeping King’ Zhao Changlie had become Elder Scorching Sun’s prisoner. Did it mean that the Heaven Battering Army had been completely crushed by the Angry Fire Army and the Red Fire Sect?
All the Cultivators present could not help but swallow hard.
They recalled the ‘Divine Wrath Order’ at the same time.
It was said to be a decree left by the ten experts three years ago before they left the Ancient Sages Sector, warning all the sects and unaffiliated Cultivators in the world not to make any reckless moves while they were away. Whoever dared to start a war would be punished gravely after they were back.
But right now, not only had Elder Scorching Sun started a war, but he was also directly touching one of ‘Heaven Battering King’ Qi Changsheng’s subordinates, which was equivalent to kicking the ‘Divine Wrath Order’ away and smashing it into pieces!
Well. What if the top ten experts including the Three Saints, the Four Rapscallions, and Master Spiritual Vulture are not dead and truly return from the deities’ realm someday…
A lot of Cultivators could not help but feel cold sweat popping up.
However, when they saw the overwhelming fiery fiend above the valley, they laughed at their own paranoia. With the dominance of Elder Scorching Sun, what could the top ten experts do even if they came back? Would there be any outcome other than being killed by Elder Scorching Sun without leaving any bones behind?
“Zhao Changlie!” The fiery fiend craned a gigantic head toward the man who was about to be split apart, grinning hideously. “I sent a Proud Sun Badge to your Heaven Battering Army out of good will and invited you to appreciate the magnificence of the Rising Sun Array. Not only did you turn a blind eye on it, you even killed my envoy and destroyed my badge. You have insulted my school to such an extent that I was forced to invite you here in such a way. Why do you choose to be humiliated instead of being respected as a guest?”
Huala! Huala! Huala!
The five thick chains shook violently for a while. Zhao Changlie, whose hair was messy and whose face was covered in blood, finally gathered enough strength to spit out. He shouted, “Elder Scorching Sun, you are the most shameless scoundrel in the world. Under the pretext of sending the Proud Sun Badge, you were merely trying to figure out where I was so that you could launch a clandestine ambush! Even if you do crush the Heaven Battering Army and split me apart, do you think you are a man worthy of respect?”
“Hehe…” The fiery fiend sneered and waved its six arms. “You have seen the dominance of the Angry Fire Army and the Red Sun Sect with your own eyes. Crushing the Heaven Battering Army is as easy as crushing a bunch of ants! Had I not been sincerely inviting the famous ‘Heaven Sweeping King’ to attend the ceremony, and had you not been fleeing here and there like a wild rat, would I have been forced to resort to such a method?
“Today is a great day for the Angry Fire Army and the Red Sun Sect. I do not intend to cause much death today. So, let me ask you one last time. ‘Heaven Sweeping King’ Zhao Changlie, are you going to surrender or not?”