“Nie Tian!”
Countless gazes focused on him.
Many of the top experts in the three worlds couldn’t help but exclaim in astonishment, “What on earth...?!”
By merely looking at this Nie Tian in front of them, they felt piercing pain in their eyes and went light-headed, as if they were trying to comprehend some profound truths that were simply beyond their capacity.
Gazing at Nie Tian, they felt as if they were looking up at and wors.h.i.+ping the embodiment of the Dao.
It was an incomparably strange feeling.
The dark pupils of Zhao Shanling, who was currently stranded, suddenly sank like two black holes.
A pure black spark lit up in the depths of his pupils, but vanished in the next moment!
A violent shudder ran through his body, and he cried out in shock, “It’s the power of the origin of darkness!”
Having awakened his soul imprints and channeled Devil Qi into his dantian region to form devil power cores, he could sense the aura of the origin of darkness even without a dark bloodline now.
Right now, Nie Tian’s bloodline and soul were clearly exuding the aura of the origin of darkness.
This gave him the wrong impression. “Nie Tian, did you become a paragon again after it pa.s.sed the Dao of darkness on to you?”
Standing beside Nie Tian, the black tortoise, the Rampage Behemoth, and even the five evil G.o.ds were exuding dark auras now.
Also, their original bloodlines had corresponded to the origin of darkness.
Therefore, Zhao Shanling had mistakenly a.s.sumed that the origin of darkness had abandoned Dong Li and made Nie Tian the next Dark King.
As soon as a faint smile appeared on Nie Tian’s face, the aura he exuded changed. “Why don’t you take another look?”
In one moment, he was surrounded by starlight. In the next, he shone with golden light. He exuded frigid coldness in one moment. Time seemed to flow through his body in the next...
These were changes that even Grand Monarch Heaven Devil hadn’t been able to manifest.
All of the human experts looked blankly at him, completely dumbfounded.
Among them, there were experts like Yuan Jiuchuan, who practiced lightning power, experts like You Qimiao, who practiced fire and ice power, and experts like Zu Guangyao, who practiced star power.
However, at this moment, all of them were sensing the Dao they had spent their whole lives pursuing on Nie Tian!
It was as if he was the embodiment of all of the profound truths they pursued.
Many Saint and G.o.d domain experts muttered, looking completely confused, “Why? How can this be?
“No way! It’s impossible for one person to carry so many different auras at the same time. Plus, each of them corresponds to an origin and is as strong as it can possibly be!”
“This must be an illusion!”
“Young Lord!” Yuan Jiuchuan exclaimed with a blazing look in his eyes, “I am at my current position thanks to you. If you disagree with the lord’s proposal, what do you think we should do?”
His words seemed to pull everyone present back to reality.
They forced themselves to stop thinking about the enlightenment they had derived by simply looking at Nie Tian.
Killing the outsiders that used to be at the eighth grade or higher and sparing the rest to ensure humanity’s supremacy was the proposal of the Doomed Star Sea. Qin Yao had weighed the pros and cons before deciding to adopt this policy. Was Nie Tian really going to overturn it?
“All humans will return to the Mortal World, which is where they belong, and shall not enter the Void World or the Spirit World for a hundred thousand years,” Nie Tian said expressionlessly.
Many powerful experts from the four great sects clamored upon hearing this. “What?”
“Why?”
“That’s not fair!”
Fan Tianze almost lost control of himself. However, after seeing Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Master Blood Spirit, the Rampage Behemoth, the black tortoise, and the five evil G.o.ds that were standing behind Nie Tian, he forced himself to calm down.
Yuan Jiuchuan was flabbergasted as well. “Young Lord...”
“Nie Tian!” Zhao Shanling couldn’t mask his elation. “Why did you make such a decision?”
The Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits were also baffled.
“This is the new rule, whether you agree or not,” Nie Tian answered, looking surprisingly calm.
As soon as he said these words, great changes took place throughout the starry river!
The Qi warriors from the secondary human sects and clans that had swarmed into the Void World to wreak havoc and plunder spiritual materials suddenly lost control of themselves.
Like marionettes, they seemed to be possessed, and plunged into spatial rifts that split open in the void.
It didn’t matter what cultivation base they were at. None of them were able to fight it.
Meanwhile, in the Mortal World, human cultivators were tossed out of the gaping spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Domain of the Falling Stars.
All of them were cultivators who had marched into the Void World, the Spirit World, the Doomed Star Sea, and the Dead Star Sea not long ago.
...
In the Seven Stars Realm Sea.
Saint domain experts from the Divine Flame Sect and the Beast-controlling Sect who were watching over the realm sea suddenly discovered that the portal in the depths of the sea exploded, filling the sea with brilliant sparks.
At the same time, some blade light suddenly appeared and condensed into rivers of brilliant light in the Dead Star Sea and the Doomed Star Sea, the areas where the Mortal World bordered the Spirit World and the Void World.
The rivers flowed with time and spatial power.
Like heavenly barriers, they completely separated the Mortal World from the Spirit World and the Void World.
Some experts with divine abilities were able to see that the blade light had come from the Bonedrudes’ territory in the Void World. It seemed to have traveled through boundless s.p.a.ce before arriving in those two areas.
In the Doomed Star Sea.
Qin Yao and Nie Jin were just about to enter the Void World on the Rainbow Boat.
Blade light that carried time and spatial power suddenly morphed into a glorious river of light before them, blocking their path to the Void World.
Staring at the brilliant river, the Snow Devil sensed the power in it, and exclaimed softly, “My lord, This... this appears to be power released by the young lord!”
“Little Tian is back!” Nie Jin cried tears of joy.
Sparks of starlight flew from the depths of Qin Yao’s widened eyes as he examined the river before him that even he didn’t dare to cross. He made a secret attempt to communicate with the origin of stars with his soul.
Soon, he received a response.
He gave a violent shudder before starlight started streaming down his body like sand.
He stood in silence for a while before nodding slightly and whispering, “I hear you.”
Then, he beckoned for his followers to turn the Rainbow Boat around, and ordered, “The Void World and the Spirit World will be sealed for the next hundred thousand years. We will not enter the two worlds during that time.”
The rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea burst into a huge clamor. Clearly, they found this hard to understand. “Why, my lord?”
“Even if we don’t wipe out the outsiders, we have to occupy the Void World and the Spirit World, right?!”
“What happened?”
However, Qin Yao didn’t give them an explanation.
...
In the depths of the Dead Star Sea, a number of surviving t.i.tans and Ancientbeasts were traveling from place to place on their stars.h.i.+ps to hide from the pursuing humans.
Time and s.p.a.ce seemed to change in an incomprehensible manner, and they suddenly found themselves in the area where the Spirit World met the Dead Star Sea.
Before them was a glorious river of light, which they were certain hadn’t been there before.
As a condensation of time and spatial power, this river seemed to be able to ward off any powerful beings that were under the paragon level.
Standing on a dilapidated stars.h.i.+p that was made of huge beast bones, Stella the ice phoenix suddenly heard a familiar voice, which seemed to be echoing in her soul.
After listening for a while, she turned to let out a screech in the direction of the Silent Star Sea.
The Silent Star Sea was where the Spirit World met the Void World. It hadn’t seemed to be sealed, as if an invisible hand was intentionally allowing communication between the two worlds.
“What’s wrong, Lord Ice Phoenix?”
“We don’t have to hide anymore. Tell our people that we’re going home!”
“How can we go home, my lord?”
“From now on, humans won’t be able to enter our worlds anymore. Those who did have been sent back to the Mortal World. Even the energies of heaven and earth the Spirit World has lost will be gradually restored.”
Glistening tears could be seen in Stella’s silver eyes as she said inwardly, “Thank you! Thank you, Nie Tian!”
...
In the Void World.
Fan Tianze and the other human experts watched Nie Tian pull out the s.p.a.cetime Blade, which he had used to slay the Blood Father of the Spirit World, and slash it twice.
The blade light traveled to the Doomed Star Sea and the Dead Star Sea respectively to form unbridgeable, world-separating barriers.
The power Nie Tian had displayed with the two slashes was far more wondrous and terrifying than what he had unleashed in the dark land to kill the Blood Father of the Spirit World.
Even that weaker slash had destroyed the paragon-level Blood Father in body and soul. How could anyone in the three worlds survive a slash that was even mightier?
Seeing this, those who had wanted Nie Tian to give them an explanation sealed their lips.
“Those of you who don’t have any business here can leave now,” Nie Tian said, waving his hand, as if to whisk off flies.
Then, the Saint domain experts, whether they were from the four great sects or not, flew into the spatial rifts one after another.
Those spatial rifts split open by Zhao Shanling originally connected to remote areas in the Void World.
However, as soon as the human experts entered them, they experienced wondrous changes, which allowed the human experts to return to the Mortal World without accessing the Doomed Star Sea or the Seven Stars Realm Sea.
It was as if Nie Tian could ignore the spatial boundaries between the three worlds with a simple flick of his finger.
Even Zhao Shanling, who had forged the Void Mirror with his transcendent knowledge of spatial power, didn’t have such a divine ability. Even the strongest high chieftain in the Voidspirits’ history wouldn’t have been able to work such wonders.
However, it couldn’t be easier for Nie Tian.
After those cultivators were sent back to the Mortal World, all that were left were peak human experts like the Thunder Devil and You Qimiao, the decision-makers of the four great sects, Zhao Shanling, and the last remaining grand monarchs of the three major races in the Void World.
No one made a sound.
They were utterly astounded by the power Nie Tian had displayed, which was much more dominant and awe-inspiring than the power the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life had displayed before.
Looking at him from afar, all of them felt an urge to kneel and kowtow to him.
Even the late G.o.d domain cultivators and grand monarchs had to fight the urge by relying on their exceptional willpower.
What was happening?
Who in the history of this universe could reach such heights?
They all yearned for an answer. However, none of them dared to say a word.
“Watch carefully.” With these words, Nie Tian suddenly lifted the s.p.a.cetime Blade and slashed it a third time. Blade light instantly morphed into a wondrous river that seemed to connect to the future.
The most mysterious time power flowed in the river, though it also contained the auras of the other origins.
Soon, images started manifesting in the river.
They seemed to be presenting a future, one that Nie Tian had deduced.
In that future, the outsiders that had lost their bloodlines became slaves after all of their powerful experts were slain. They were no longer a threat to humanity’s status as the overlord of the three worlds anymore.
All those who aspired to find new cultivation methods to make their race strong again were slaughtered.
Eventually, all of the outsiders with remarkable intelligence were exterminated, leaving only senseless beasts that were used for labor.
The humans, however, flourished in the Void World and the Spirit World. After losing their natural enemies, their reproductive capacity erupted.
The humans’ population grew larger and larger. Soon, they could be found in every corner of the vast starry river.
Like locusts, they filled up every realm that wasn’t a dead realm in the starry river.
They channeled energies of heaven and earth into themselves and dug up every precious material they could find in the three worlds. As a result, the spiritual veins that had taken countless years to form were exhausted, and vibrant realms were reduced to dead realms.
Losing their natural enemies, humans reproduced in a frenzied manner, and spread through the three worlds like a deadly virus.
Eventually, all realms in the three worlds became lifeless dead realms.
However, the internal fights had never ceased among the humans. As a matter of fact, they were even fiercer and bloodier than this cleansing operation against the outsiders.
After destroying the myriad realms in the three worlds, they themselves were destroyed as well.
In the end, the images showed heaven and earths that were gray and dead silent.
After a long while, while everyone was still silent and overwhelmed, Nie Tian asked, “Do you see it now?”
Yin Xingtian pulled his lapels slightly closer together and whispered, “That starry river where all the stars went dark and silent... that lifeless cold future... is horrible.”
Mo Heng nodded slightly. “I see.”
Even Fan Tianze’s expression grew grave as he said, “Is that what would have happened?”
“Yes, that’s what the future would have been like if I didn’t interfere,” Nie Tian said with a serious face. “If humanity took over all three worlds, the result would be thousands of times more devastating than what the outsiders in the Void World were capable of. Without any natural enemies, they will destroy everything in this universe.”
Everyone fell silent again.
“You may go now,” Nie Tian said softly.
Hearing this, though somewhat reluctant, Fan Tianze, You Qimiao, and many other peak human experts flew into the gaping spatial rifts and disappeared one after another.
Nie Tian turned to Zhao Shanling and asked, “Are you a human or a Devil? The choice is yours. However, once you make your decision, you can’t turn back.”
“I’ll stay in the Void World,” Zhao Shanling answered, knowing that this was a decision of great importance.
Nie Tian nodded. “Good.”
“What are you now?” Mo Heng asked, looking at Nie Tian.
Yin Xingtian and Zhao Shanling also fixed their eyes on him.
Nie Tian was taken aback. “What am I? I don’t know either, perhaps the ultimate rule-maker, the embodiment of all origins... I’m looking for the answer to that myself.”
“Time to leave.”
After he said these words, Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and all of the remaining human experts returned to the Mortal World.
The five evil G.o.ds stayed in the Void World.
Grand Monarch h.e.l.l Demon and Agaz the flame dragon left for the Spirit World.
The Rampage Behemoth and the black tortoise went to the Doomed Star Sea and the Dead Star Sea respectively.
Nie Tian, however, went to the Spirit World.
As soon as he arrived in the Floragrims’ main realm, all of the withered spirit flowers, gra.s.s, and trees miraculously started sprouting new leaves and buds.
Life was restored to the realm because of his arrival.
At the same time, a wide array of energies started forming in the boundless starry river, as if the flow of time were reversed.
Thanks to the return of the energies of heaven and earth, the realms started to revive, their vitality rekindled.
In a voice that all of the surviving outsider experts and human G.o.d domain experts could hear, no matter where they were, Nie Tian said softly, “I hope you’ll start anew, and possess the power to stand up to the humans in a hundred thousand years, because that’s when I’ll end my world-sealing spell.”