At this moment, every member of the Demon Transformation Tribe—including the red-haired leader and the Xianhai Guardian—felt an unprecedented shock ripple through their hearts.
The scene before them was a nightmare so terrifying it defied even their wildest dreams.
It completely overturned everything they believed they knew about the strength of the Demon Transformation Tribe.
The Demon Transformation Tribe—a clan that had once ruled an entire Heavenly River, whose power had only grown formidable since—considered by every force across the vast world of martial cultivation to be among the most dangerous evil existences.
And now, every last one of them had been locked away like prisoners, subjected to the excruciating torment of having their bloodlines stripped from them.
Even their clan leader—whom they had always regarded as lofty and omnipotent—was not spared.
That clan leader whom they had once revered, feared, yet trusted.
Now, there was no trace of his former majestic bearing, that indomitable air of a sovereign who brooked no rival.
His face was twisted in agony, his eyes filled with despair. He had been tortured to the point of near-dehumanization, letting out pained wails while instinctively begging for mercy.
Suddenly, the Xianhai Guardian pulled his gaze away from that world and turned it back to the middle-aged man before him.
"Who… who exactly are you?"
The Xianhai Guardian's voice was trembling.
He could no longer contain his emotions.
His entire body was shaking, his very soul quaking.
He had not yet been tortured, but he was already on the verge of collapse.
This man before him had brought him a despair and an oppressive weight like nothing he had ever experienced.
Thud—
Thud—
Thud—
Yet, just as the Xianhai Guardian spoke, the members of the Demon Transformation Tribe behind him had already dropped to their knees one after another upon the starry sky, beginning to beg
Even the red-haired leader had fallen to his knees.
He, who moments ago had gripped his weapon ready to strike at Chu Xuanyuan, was now so terrified he had nearly lost control of himself. His pleas for mercy came out threaded with sobs.
This was a figure of considerable standing within the Demon Transformation Tribe.
And yet he had been scared to the point of breaking.
But the Xianhai Guardian understood this scene all too well—even he himself had already broken.
"Heh…"
Suddenly, the Xianhai Guardian let out a laugh. There was a strange sense of release in it—the laughter of one who had accepted his fate.
"All my life, I've heard people say: there are always skies beyond the sky, and people beyond people."
"When I was young, I believed that too—felt that I was still far too small, and that this world held countless cultivators stronger than me."
"But as my cultivation advanced, as my experience grew, I began to think that I had become the very person beyond people, the sky beyond skies."
"I began to believe that even if someone out there was stronger than me, there couldn't be more than a handful."
"But today, I finally understand… I was nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well."
At this point, the Xianhai Guardian looked at Chu Xuanyuan.
"Meeting you—I accept it. This is the fate of a cultivator. When you encounter someone you cannot afford to provoke, there is nothing left but to accept death."
"I have only one request. Could you at least tell me… what realm have you reached?"
The Xianhai Guardian asked this of Chu Xuanyuan.
Hearing those words, the faintest arc of a smile curved the corner of Chu Xuanyuan's lips.
"You are not worthy of knowing."
The moment those words left his mouth, the world behind Chu Xuanyuan released a terrifying gravitational pull.
Under the force of that pull, the Xianhai Guardian, the red-haired leader, and every member of the Demon Transformation Tribe were all swept into the world within.
Once inside, the lightning that filled that world lashed out and bound them, then bored into their bodies.
From that moment on, the number of voices crying out in agony within that world increased by over three hundred.
Yet even if one listened carefully, the difference was virtually imperceptible.
After all, compared to the countless billions of voices already wailing, an additional three hundred-odd was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
Hummm—
After pulling the Xianhai Guardian and the others into that world…
The world sealed itself shut once more, shrinking back into a sphere that drifted gently down into Chu Xuanyuan's hand.
As he tucked the world-sphere away, Chu Xuanyuan lowered his gaze toward
This was the man who had driven even the Xianhai Guardian to the edge of collapse.