Elder White POV

The space suddenly split apart.

Slender white legs stepped out of the crack followed by the figure of a beautiful woman.

Elder White frowned the moment she saw the devastation.

Her gaze moved slowly across the land. Everything around her was scorched and emptied. The ground was glass. The air still trembled.

She then looked toward the faint location where she had last sensed him.

"…Did you die…? Why?"

Her voice was quiet.

She bit her lips hard, and a drop of blood slid down.

This area was under the Heavenly Sect.

Coming here was dangerous for any Martial Artist.

Yet she had ignored the risk and rushed here.

Only to realize Neo had died when she was barely half a day away.

Her shoulders trembled.

"Why did you… die?"

Her tone remained cold, but the pain inside it was clear.

It carried longing. It carried sorrow.

It took her several breaths to steady herself again.

She looked around more carefully.

She quickly formed a guess.

"Neo arrived here. He saw the Breeding Farm. He fought the Cultivators who came to collect the sacrifices. And he perished with them."

She wasn't sure, but this explanation fit the most.

Neo's personality was too kind. He would not ignore a Breeding Farm.

"I should ask the people from Breeding Farm about what happened. If Neo truly died to protect them, I will take them away."

Taking "resources" from a Breeding Farm would bring the wrath of the Cultivators onto her Sect.

But she did not care.

It was likely her Sect would refuse to help these "resources".

Even if her Sect refused, she would save the people herself.

"I just need to wait now."

Neo would revive.

He always did.

She only had to wait.

Days, weeks, years, or decades… it didn't matter.

She would wait for him.

She made her decision and was about to move when a powerful cry tore through the heavens.

A phoenix cry.

The sky shifted, turning into a false dawn filled with flames.

A giant phoenix descended toward her location with incredible speed.

Elder White narrowed her eyes.

"Is… that… Dawn Saint?"

She immediately prepared for battle.

Dawn Saint was a well-known Martial Artist of the western provinces in Saha County. Elder White's Sect was in Baize County, the exact opposite direction.

But she had heard the rumors about him.

A madman who lives for battle.

Her expression turned colder.

Just because they were both Martial Artists didn't mean they were allies.

Unlike Cultivators who stood together, Martial Artists often treated each other as enemies unless they came from the same Sect.

The phoenix landed, and the Dawn Saint leaped down from its back.

"Huh? The Cultivator already died? Damn it, I was too late."

His disappointed tone only reinforced the image Elder White had of him.

"Aah, well. I guess I'll have to make do with a Martial Artist then."

His energy rose.

Their eyes met.

Both froze.

"Mars?"

"…Professor?"

…

Vivi Hargraves POV

Vivi watched from within the hidden gap in the space.

She glared at the two Martial Artists standing in the ruined land.

Despite entering the True Blessed Land "recently", they were already among the strongest Martial Artists.

Still, Vivi wasn't afraid.

She scowled openly.

"Damn it… that woman really is her."

Vivi's Sect and Elder White's Sect were rivals in Baize County. They clashed often on the battlefield.

Because of that, Vivi didn't have any goodwill toward Elder White — Elizabeth.

"When I met other outside Gods, I heard the rumors. I knew she was a Witch. And when they described her, I realized she was the woman my dad likes but… damn it! Damn it!"

Vivi's mood dropped lower.

She had finally found a way to meet her dad.

Only for him to die before she arrived.

And since Elizabeth came here too, it confirmed that Elizabeth was also one of Neo's Avatars, just like Vivi herself.

"Ugh, why can't dad just be with mom—"

Vivi paused as she recalled her mother, Leonora von Villers.

If Neo and Leonora could be together…

She sighed.

"That's impossible. I already tried back when we were together. Dad doesn't look at Mom at all. And Mom… she's too lazy to bother with relationships."

Vivi clicked her tongue and looked at Elizabeth again.

"I don't mind if Mom and Dad aren't married. But I don't want her as my step-mother."

Her lips curled slowly.

A smile that didn't match her calculating gaze.

A plan started forming inside her mind.

One that would keep the damned woman away from her dad.

…

Thousand Brilliance Palace, Righteous Martial Alliance, Baize County.

Apollyon POV

The throne that had been empty for ages trembled.

Golden threads appeared in the air like thin streaks of sunlight.

A man's figure materialized on the throne in a flash.

He opened his eyes and looked around the hall.

"So, I returned to my palace."

Apollyon had awakened.

He was one of the strongest Martial Artists in the True Blessed Lands.

His Martial Alias was the Thousand Brilliance (Golden Sun).

Martial Aliases carried weight. Especially for Gods like Apollyon, who would eventually leave the True Blessed Land and return to the Cosmos.

A Martial Alias gave strength. Recognition gave power.

So having a famous and powerful Martial Alias was always good.

"Veydran must've appeared in a random location. I can leave him be. He can take care of himself."

He leaned back on the throne.

"I need to focus on finding the Heavenbreaker—"

"…!?"

His expression twisted.

His core trembled as if someone had scooped energy straight out of it.

"…I lost a lot of energy suddenly."

He narrowed his eyes.

"Judging by the amount, it seems a Life Flame was destroyed and resurrected… and it's a powerful Life Flame."

Apollyon mentally went through the list of names.

The people he had cursed.

He counted them one by one.

One of those people's Life Flame had just died, something normally impossible, and resurrected through his curse.

And only one name fit.

"This… it's the Heavenbreaker."

A cold expression spread across his face.

"I can't cancel the curse until we meet, but I can track him whenever the curse activates."

Outside the True Blessed Lands, Apollyon could have traced Neo instantly, no matter where he hid.

But inside the True Blessed Lands, his powers were suppressed.

He had fewer methods available.

"I must find him."

Apollyon stood, but his body swayed.

His legs trembled, and he staggered.

He frowned and lifted his hand.

It was shaking violently.

'Hehehehehe.'

The golden threads around the throne trembled with excitement.

The Golden Throne spoke in a voice only Apollyon could hear.

No— in a voice that did not exist.

'Your injuries are bad.'

'Suppress them! Suppress them! Hehehehe! Or you will breakthrough to Nirvana!'

Apollyon's jaw tightened.

Unlike what the world believed, Apollyon was not resting in the Forbidden Lands to heal from injuries inflicted by Ultris.

No.

Apollyon had been using Ultris's injuries to suppress his own strength.

He was fighting against himself.

Desperately trying to stop his body from surpassing Stage 9 and reaching Nirvana.

His original intention had been to suppress his power to an acceptable level, then slowly heal himself once the suppression stabilized.

The wounds that Ultris— a Third Step Heavenbreaker— had given him were perfect for holding him down.

But now, because he was forced to return early, the seals inside he placed on himself were cracking apart.

His strength evolved little by little, climbing toward the level beyond Stage 9.

'Hehehehe! Enter Nirvana! Go through rebirth! Go through rebirth! Go through rebirth! You will be reborn!'

'Rebornrebornrebornrebornrebornrebornrebornreborn—'

'You will be reborn as a Heavenbreaker!'

The childish, chaotic voice echoed inside the palace like laughter from another world.

Apollyon clenched his teeth hard.

He did not have much time left.

But even so—

He refused to die before he killed the Heavenbreaker Neo.

"Dao is corrupt."

Apollyon reminded himself through gritted teeth.

"Those who follow the Dao must be exterminated before they invite the calamity."

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