Chapter 1002: The Strong Gather

A light flashed. It was Di Wuque quickly flying towards Tian Youxi.

When Tian Youxi saw “Xiao Chen” place his hand on his saber, her expression changed slightly. She shouted, “Keepers of Light! Protect the prince!”

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Beams of light quickly shot out from behind Tian Youxi as the thirteen Keepers quickly rushed to Di Wuque’s back with their weapons drawn.

The Keepers all radiated divine light. Then, they merged the light, trying to summon out a Deities’ Nation image to block the space behind Di Wuque.

Just as the Deities’ Nation image formed, Xiao Chen, who was on the King’s road, drew the saber in his hand.

The lightning bird in the sky quickly entered the saber. Then, a saber light made of electricity swept through the place.

The Deities’ Nation image instantly faded. The merged light of the thirteen Keepers promptly ruptured and broke down. The saber light made them all vomit blood and sent them flying.

The saber light continued on to Di Wuque, its power undiminished. When it struck Di Wuque’s back, it chopped him in half at the waist.

However, Tian Youxi sent out a gentle divine white light and fused Di Wuque’s split body, then carried him as she flew away.

Agonized moans continuously escaped Di Wuque’s mouth. The sounds were heart-wrenching and contained boundless hatred and pain.

“Xiao Chen! Don’t think that this ends when you are conferred King. Just you wait! Wait for me to forge my Deity Statue and take in the faith from nine hundred divine realms. I will return this pain from today to you a hundredfold!”

Before Xiao Chen sheathed his saber, the entire place fell quiet. He walked forward on the King’s road step by step.

“Bang!” The sculptures behind Xiao Chen shattered one by one as he stepped forward, turning into ashes and scattering in the space.

It was like the fallen statues represented all the people Xiao Chen killed or defeated on his path here.

Those who want to defeat me will get defeated by me. Those that I desire to defeat, none of them can escape!

When Xiao Chen took the final step, all the sculptures shattered. Golden dust spread behind him, filling the air with many colors and looking extremely beautiful.

The dust surged up as if a new sculpture was about to form.

The Azure Dragon King’s insignia in the box the black-clad old man was holding trembled endlessly. He did his best to press down on the box but to no avail. The insignia leaped out and flew towards Xiao Chen’s chest. An azure light flashed and merged with his white robes.

Xiao Chen’s white robes turned illusionary. Soon, it transformed into a magnificent azure Battle Armor. The dragon-shaped insignia on the chest looked very prominent.

“I desire to be conferred King. Is there anyone else not convinced?!”

Who would dare to object? Xiao Chen even chopped Di Wuque in half. Stepping forward now would be the same as courting death.

Even after a long time, no one answered. The golden dust that filled the air condensed suddenly into a golden sculpture of Xiao Chen, and it stood on the shattered platform.

Xiao Chen’s statue showed an indomitable spirit, spreading its might in all directions.

The statue forged from hundreds of golden sculptures was one kilometer tall. It emanated a supreme King’s Might into every direction.

It showed a solemn and stern expression with the Lunar Shadow Saber hanging at its waist. As it stared at the sky, a golden dragon image swam around the sculpture, burnishing it with wonder.

“Azure Dragon King. He really succeeded in being conferred King!”

The master of this surreal King sculpture had chopped in half Di Wuque, who fled miserably.

Xiao Chen had flung Xia Houjue far away again, punched the face of the Cyclic Astral Palace’s Fu Hongyao, exchanged a thousand moves with Xie Zixuan, stabbing hundreds of holes in him, and defeated Xing Jue in a head-on clash of strength. I will be conferred King. No one dares to remain unconvinced!

“This person cannot be conferred King!”

Suddenly, a faintly audible voice sounded. A colossal hand transcended time and space, grabbing towards Tianwu City from the distant Deity Domain.

The colossal golden hand contained countless divine patterns of light. Everywhere it passed, a deluge of heavenly flowers appeared; bright, seven-colored divine flowers fell from the sky like rain.

This hand traveled several billions of kilometers, from the distant Deity Domain and all the way to Tianwu City in the Tianwu Domain’s Central Province, to grab Xiao Chen.

The words of this person were like they were the truth of the world, reverberating everywhere and echoed by divine sounds.

“The Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign!”

The expressions of everyone present all changed radically. Among the Deity Race, aside from the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign, there was no one who could exhibit such strength and create such a scene.

The attack of this person was very sudden, so fast that it did not even give anyone time to think.

As this colossal hand stretched over, a boundless Emperor’s Might descended. Everyone at the plaza became extremely minuscule and tiny. This scene was very similar to the one in the sea of bitterness behind the Bridge of Helplessness.

At this moment, Xiao Chen looked like an ant that would get squashed by this colossal hand.

A bolt of Divine Lightning roared, lighting up the sky, like a wild saber chopping down and hacking off this hand.

However, this colossal hand did not scatter. It paused for a moment before continuing to move towards Xiao Chen.

Take out the Azure Dragon Medallion! Xiao Chen said urgently to Ao Jiao.

Without a word, she controlled Xiao Chen’s body and brought out the Azure Dragon Medallion.

The Azure Dragon Medallion hovered over Xiao Chen’s head, and his body returned to normal. Then, he leaped into the air and dodged the attack of this colossal divine hand plummeting from the sky.

If not for the Azure Dragon Medallion helping Xiao Chen block the might of the hand, no matter how high he jumped or how far, he still would have been squashed like an ant.

“Di Qitian, are you trying to incite a great war between our two races?” A furious roar came from the Martial God Palace. The broken hand left by the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign completely shattered and dispersed.

[TL Note: The meaning of Di Qitian is emperor abandoning heaven. Emperor is the family name, so when considering just his given name, Qitian, it is actually the same as his title, Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign.]

In a split second, the setting sun became blood red. The motes of light that the broken hand turned into looked like a shattered Deities’ Nation. Many angels fell, and countless lifeforms as well, as Deity Race cultivators all died at this moment.

Everyone in the plaza recovered back to normal, panting endlessly, their eyes filled with horror.

The Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign was one of the Kunlun Continent’s five strongest experts. Even from billions of kilometers away, he could kill people like squashing ants.

Xiao Chen looked at the scattering motes of light in the air and entered deep thought. This was the scene that he yearned to see.

He watched it attentively. In the future, his Dusk of Deities would definitely improve further.

---

In the distant Deity Domain, the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign sitting on the divine throne sighed. He had burned the lives of three million believers in the Deity Race’s lower realms for his earlier strike.

This strike was very different from an ordinary attack.

Originally, the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign thought he could fool the Thunder Sovereign and kill Xiao Chen. Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen had a treasure that could block the Emperor’s Might of a Sovereign Martial Emperor.

“However, even if you have overwhelming Luck, you cannot be conferred King today!”

The Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign wore his divine robes draped open, looking like he had toiled for long hours. His gaze sank and a will clone formed. This will clone descended on Tianwu City on a Deities’ Nation image.

The reason why the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign sent a will clone was, firstly, time. If he rushed over with his true body, even if he used a space-time tunnel, he would still need half a day to traverse such a vast distance unless he continued to burn the lives of lower-realm believers.

Secondly, he was cautious. It would be bad for the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign’s true body to descend under the eyes of the Martial God Palace.

In the skies of Tianwu City, a hazy white light covered the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign’s will clone, not allowing anyone to see his appearance clearly.

“Thunder Sovereign, you are the one that is inciting war, not me. This person absolutely cannot be conferred King!”

The Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign looked towards the clouds, like he was speaking to that Martial God Palace in the middle of reality and illusion.

“If you say he cannot be conferred, then he cannot be conferred? Do you really treat me as dying already?” A deep thunderous roar came from the Martial God Palace. This voice was like thunder, scattering the divine light all around.

“What if you add me?”

A ghostly fog appeared in the sky. Then a gentle-looking, middle-aged-looking man with pale skin and clad in white slowly descended from the sky.

“And me as well!”

A burly man wearing black Battle Armor and holding a huge ax walked over from the horizon.

“East Mountain Ghost Monarch!”

“Heaven Punishing Corpse God!”

Another two will clones of major characters appeared. This situation was no longer something with which Xiao Chen could interfere. His life and death depended on the will of heaven. Such a feeling was hard to swallow.

Ao Jiao, you do think that I can reach the same level as these people someday?

There is nothing impossible in this world. Your road of being conferred King has only just begun. Someday, you will not only reach these people’s level but even surpass them and treat them like ants.

The few major characters descended on Tianwu City to discuss Xiao Chen’s fate.

However, Xiao Chen, dressed in azure, stood on the rubble of the platform, looking at the sky with a calm expression.

Ao Jiao was right. His road to being conferred King was not over yet. Instead, this was the beginning.

Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign, Heaven Punishing Corpse God, and East Mountain Ghost Monarch, today, as you speak, you can decide my life or death in a matter of two or three sentences.

Some other day, the day will come when I will be able to decide the life or death of you three with one word. Even if you three are the strongest experts in this realm, you will be no exception!

These three strongest experts worked together to prevent Xiao Chen from being conferred King. They brought the hidden conflicts and their fear of a certain name to the surface.

Although the Thunder Sovereign was strong, a person who lived at the same time as the Azure Emperor ten thousand years ago, his cultivation had already reached the limits of a Sovereign Martial Emperor. He was a Prime, a level that no ordinary cultivator could imagine.

However, the Thunder Sovereign now faced three absolute experts who were also Primes. Furthermore, one of them was the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign, a person who tapped the power of faith. It would be hard for there to not be any pressure.

“Haha! Three mighty people fear the Azure Emperor to the point where they make things difficult for a child. Are you really not afraid of the world sneering at you?”

Clear laughter resounded. A pretty and graceful man came from behind the Martial God Palace. Immediately, all the Fiend Race cultivators recognized who he was.

It was the Spirit Fox King, the strongest expert of the Fiend Domain, one of the Kunlun Continent’s five strongest experts. Likewise, he was a powerful Sovereign Martial Emperor.

This matter was really momentous now. The five strongest experts of the Kunlun Continent all appeared, all for the sake of a single person’s King conferral ceremony.

Without a doubt, the Spirit Fox King’s appearance eased the pressure on the Thunder Sovereign. Now that the two sides were slightly more balanced, neither could do anything to the other.

The Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign frowned. Clearly, he had not expected the Spirit Fox King to appear in the end and turn things around.

“Spirit Fox King, even if you are here, it is useless. No matter what, he cannot be conferred King. I will not permit the appearance of another Azure Emperor.”

The moment the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign spoke, the East Mountain Ghost Monarch and Heaven Punishing Corpse God took a step forward. Based on their attitudes, they clearly wanted to force their way through.

“Humph! In that case, you can give it a try. I do not mind playing to the end before the Demonic Calamity arrives!”

That thunderous, rumbling voice resounded once again. The voice of the Thunder Sovereign shook the sky. Lightning descended and tore space, creating many extremely terrifying pitch-black tears.