Chapter 965: I Am Not Human, The Death of Xiao Tianyi

Within a world suffused with red light, a guarded look flickered in An Fuqing’s eyes. The Xiao Tianyi standing before her felt utterly unfamiliar, so much so that she suspected he had become someone else entirely.

With long black hair cascading over his shoulders and a handsome, carefree appearance, Xiao Tianyi stood with his hands clasped behind his back and calmly said, "Step aside. Before me, your strength is no different from an ant’s."

Four sharp streams of sword will surged skyward from An Fuqing’s body, stirring the red clouds above. In her eyes, a Sword World manifested, resonating with the sword light that surrounded her. "You are not Xiao Tianyi. Who are you?"

"I am who I am." Faced with her question, Xiao Tianyi gave no direct answer. His gaze turned toward the demon god's egg behind her.

Boom!

The heavens and earth quaked. A blazing will fused with the laws and formed a golden sun a hundred kilometers wide behind Xiao Tianyi. Then came the second sun. Then the third. In the blink of an eye, ten suns hovered in the sky, unleashing boundless light and heat. The heavens burned, the seas boiled, and all things were reduced to ash.

The surrounding earth collapsed and melted under the searing power, forming a sinkhole over a thousand kilometers in diameter. The crimson light that had filled the sky was swept away, giving rise to rings of golden halos.

Beneath power that rivaled a demon god, An Fuqing sank heavily. The Sword World she had condensed by merging will and laws trembled violently, then collapsed, and she was driven a thousand meters into the ground along with ten kilometers of land.

This was the difference of absolute strength. Even though An Fuqing had already broken halfway through to the mythical level and possessed astonishing power, she couldn’t even make a move in the face of the force Xiao Tianyi released.

A single thread of invisible principle-infused will spread and suppressed her completely. Xiao Tianyi remained expressionless, slowly raising his right hand and pointing at her. At the tip of his finger, a pure golden light gathered, radiating an energy fluctuation that could instantly wipe out all life below the mythical level.

Xiao Tianyi intended to kill her.

Confronted with the overwhelming threat of death, An Fuqing showed not the slightest trace of fear. Her eyes remained sharp, glinting with a brilliance that could cleave through heaven and earth. She spoke, one word at a time. "You are not Xiao Tianyi. Who are you really?"

"You truly wish to know?" Xiao Tianyi’s gaze grew cold. His eyes no longer held any trace of humanity. He flatly said, "I already said, I am who I am. And in truth, there was never a person named Xiao Tianyi in this world. The so-called Xiao Tianyi was merely a consciousness that should not have existed, a persona born during the brief period when I slumbered after becoming a member of the human race."

The answer left An Fuqing stunned. She had considered many possibilities. Perhaps Xiao Tianyi had suffered a personality split due to a cultivation art, or maybe fracturing his spirit into three had left him unstable.

However, she had never imagined that Xiao Tianyi had never truly existed. The human genius who once dazzled an entire era had been nothing more than the reincarnated will of some unknown and powerful being.

An Fuqing’s long hair billowed wildly behind her. Her eyes surged with killing intent as her voice turned grim. "So my mother’s injury and my grandfather’s disappearance were all your doing?"

In that instant, many past doubts suddenly made sense. Why had Zuo Mo and Zuo Sheng stabilized their true forms so quickly after severing and splitting themselves, while Xiao Tianyi disappeared into seclusion for years, never once explaining himself to the Federation?

Because he had never entered seclusion in the first place.

Yet even now, other questions surfaced in An Fuqing’s mind. What about the "Xiao Tianyi" who had appeared on the southern battlefield? The demeanor and presence back then couldn’t have been faked.

However, Xiao Tianyi clearly had no intention of explaining. The golden light at his fingertip flared brightly. "All of it ends here."

Biu!

The golden light pierced through all things, crossing over a hundred kilometers in a flash to appear before An Fuqing. Where it passed, a thin black passage was carved through the air.

The beam’s speed had already transcended the limits of time, and it instantly pierced the Sword World around An Fuqing.

Boom!

At that moment, four sword wills erupted from An Fuqing’s body, piercing through the clouds and transforming into four divine sword lights—red, black, blue, and gray—then merged into one. Infused with the sharpest edge to slay gods and demons alike, the sword light cut through the laws of heaven and earth and struck directly at the golden beam.

Bang!

The sword light shattered beneath the beam. The gap between the two was simply too great. Even though that sword strike, formed from four law-infused sword wills, had reached the threshold of the late stage of the mythical level, it still crumbled under Xiao Tianyi’s casual blow.

Just as An Fuqing was about to be obliterated, Xiao Tianyi suddenly roared in fury. “Begone!”

His aura surged chaotically, shaking the very heavens. The golden beam that had nearly pierced through An Fuqing’s skull dispersed the instant it touched her forehead, leaving behind only a searing red burn mark.

All of it had happened in a flash. The sudden turn of events gave An Fuqing, who had thought there was no way to escape, a brief pause.

At the same time, far off in the distance, a trace of astonishment appeared on Xiao Tianyi’s face. "Even after I devoured your consciousness, you still retain the instinct to protect your daughter?"

As he spoke, a subtle struggle flickered in his left eye, while his right eye remained chillingly cold. "It is useless. My will is eternal and indestructible. How could a mere lifeform that hasn’t even reached the twelfth tier, whose consciousness has never been tempered by principles, possibly resist me?"

"It was you... who killed her."

Boom!

A violent and frenzied roar echoed across heaven and earth. Suddenly, the demon god's egg in the distance exploded. An indescribably terrifying aura burst forth, and the sheer force shattered everything nearby.

In the shroud of darkness that covered the skies, a towering ten-thousand-meter figure emerged. It had three heads and eleven arms, its body covered in golden-black scales. A Purgatory demon god had appeared, its wings unfurled and demonic force surging to the heavens.

Seeing Zuo Mo break free from its cocoon, with a far stronger yet strangely hollow aura surrounding him, Xiao Tianyi was taken aback. "You didn’t break through? No, you forcibly halted your principles’ evolution and gave up your breakthrough? Are you insane?"

Zuo Mo had descended deep into the Dark-Red World, choosing this so-called safe place to undergo its demon god breakthrough. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to deceive Xiao Tianyi.

However, no one could have anticipated that it would abandon its breakthrough, forcibly halting the fusion of its divine soul will with the law-bound world, and letting go of the principles that were already beginning to form. It was an irreversible process. What awaited Zuo Mo now was the collapse of the law-bound world, a severely injured divine soul, and a loss in cultivation.

Zuo Mo’s three ferocious heads roared like thunder. "If I can avenge her, I don’t care if I never become a demon god!"

Boom!

The ten-thousand-meter-long black Overlord Halberd shattered space and time, tearing open a pitch-black abyss within the Dark-Red World. At the same time, eight of Zuo Mo’s arms lifted black banners that surged with light, transforming into towering banner shadows that descended across the land.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The instant the banners landed, each one seemed to connect to a vast abyss. Endless streams of black demonic qi poured out, forming chains of sequences that locked the surroundings. In just an instant, the scene before them changed and the two found themselves transported to another world.

"A sealing-type pseudo-world-level weapon!" Xiao Tianyi let out a long howl. Behind him, ten suns shone with dazzling light and crashed toward Zuo Mo.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Overlord Halberd, infused with immense power, swept through everything. One sun after another exploded under its might. Mountains and rivers shattered, and all things were reduced to chaos.

"Yin and yang rotate. All returns to the void!" Clad in a jade-colored battle robe, Xiao Tianyi let out a thunderous cry.

Boom!

A far vaster will erupted from Xiao Tianyi’s body, twisting the very world. In this dark realm filled with demonic qi, the sky above shifted between sun and moon, forming the image of yin and yang. As yin and yang rotated, a cataclysmic force descended, capable of obliterating all of existence. The entire world creaked as if on the brink of collapse.

Xiao Tianyi was like the supreme sovereign who wielded sun, moon, yin, and yang. His might was more than ten times greater than during the battle against the Heavenly Feathered Race.

The ten-thousand-meter-tall demon god was forced down by that will’s crushing pressure. Roaring in fury, it lifted the halberd with both arms. A column of halberd light soared to the heavens.

Boom!

The yin-yang wheel that blanketed the world quaked violently. Above it, ten suns and ten full moons emerged, radiating dazzling light and warping space itself. The wheel's power surged once again. This, perhaps, was his true power—the strength of the will that claimed to be eternal and indestructible.

Boom!

Under the weight of this force, Zuo Mo’s figure was once again forced downward.

"Begone!" The ten-thousand-meter demon god roared, and a black spinal segment emerged from its body. Countless tendrils of dark-purple material erupted, dyeing Zuo Mo's form in a deep violet-black hue.

Crack! Crack!

Zuo Mo's form grew once more. Its muscles swelled, and sharp bone spikes sprouted from its head, back, and shoulders. A wild, ancient aura surged from its body.

Boom!

The force shattered the yin-yang wheel. Suns fell, and moons exploded. The world shook violently from the impact. At the edges of the world, the eight black banners reappeared, now bearing visible rifts.

Standing amid the roiling demonic qi, Zuo Mo’s colossal and fearsome form loomed like an ancient demon god summoned to this realm. Its eyes burned with fury as it roared, "What are you still waiting for? We were wrong. Our path... was wrong. Kill it. Avenge her!"

A roar imbued with ancient power echoed across heaven and earth, shaking the soul itself. On Xiao Tianyi’s face, which had remained expressionless until now, a look of inner struggle suddenly emerged. His aura turned chaotic once more.

"That’s it. Fight it for control... and kill!" Zuo Mo roared, lunging at Xiao Tianyi like a world-destroying demon god.

In an instant, a brutal battle erupted.

Within the crimson-illuminated world, An Fuqing stood with a grave expression, staring at the eight towering black demonic banners that stretched from the earth to the sky and covered a thousand-kilometer radius.

The violently twisting and expanding banners looked as if they would rupture at any moment. If the Supreme Divine Demonic Banners lost their concealment, the powerful shockwaves of the battle would immediately attract nearby colossal beasts from the Dark-Red World.

However, these banners were Zuo Mo’s trump card. It was an ultimate weapon it hadn’t used even during the extinction war against the Heavenly Feathered Race. These sealing-type banners were unquestionably powerful; even with two beings stronger than typical demon gods clashing within, the banners barely managed to hold without breaking.

Still, watching the increasingly distorted and bulging demonic banners, An Fuqing, who had always remained calm regardless of danger, now showed rare worry on her face. She murmured softly, "You must win..."

During the time spent fighting alongside Zuo Mo, venturing deeper into the Dark-Red World under his protection, An Fuqing had gradually come to acknowledge this "Xiao Tianyi." Especially after confirming that her mother’s death had nothing to do with Zuo Mo, any residual resentment she held had already faded to nearly nothing.

What followed was a long wait. Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps Zuo Mo had already scouted the area before choosing this location. Either way, even after half a day had passed, no powerful colossal beasts of the Dark-Red World had appeared.

Then, the eight demonic banners trembled violently. One of the banners, painted with the image of a complete world, suddenly exploded with a loud bang, shattering into countless black fragments.

Boom!

Endless black demonic qi surged in all directions like a roaring tide, crashing against the crimson light that filled the world and unleashing deafening thunderclaps.

Amid the churning demonic qi, a terrifying figure slowly emerged. Zuo Mo appeared, covered in wounds. Two of its three heads had been violently torn off, leaving massive, bloody wounds on its shoulders where pitch-black bone was clearly visible.

The eight demonic arms that had wielded the banners were completely blown apart, leaving behind only shards of bone dangling beneath its main arms. From the mangled wounds, droplets of golden-black blood dripped. Half of its true form had been ripped open, exposing writhing organs. Its eyes were shattered, and one half of its skull had been cleaved away. The scene was horrifying.

As half a demon god, Zuo Mo should have been able to regenerate even severe injuries by simply consuming life force and using a thought to recover or regrow limbs. Now, however, it was so weakened it could barely stand. Its body was hollow, devoid of any life aura. Even the bloodline and law origin within it were slowly dissipating. The backlash from terminating its breakthrough was erupting in full force.

Clearly, though Zuo Mo had succeeded in killing Xiao Tianyi, the cost had been enormous.

Boom!

Emerging from the shattered world, Zuo Mo collapsed with a crash. The earth split open beneath its as dust and debris billowed.

An Fuqing turned into a streak of sword light and landed in front of Zuo Mo, whose body had reverted to a five-meter-tall Purgatory True Demon form. "...Can you still hold on?"

"Let’s go. We can’t stay here." Zuo Mo weakly struggled to its feet. "The qi eruption just now will attract colossal beasts... or perhaps even a nearby demon king. Take this. It’ll conceal our aura..."

Whoosh!

A black light flashed, and both An Fuqing and Zuo Mo vanished into the depths of the Dark-Red World.

The moment they disappeared, a roar echoed in the distance. At the edge of the sky, the enormous shadow of a colossal beast emerged amid crimson light.

Far away, hundreds of thousands of kilometers from the battlefield, a pinnacle great demon king stood with its aura completely hidden, gazing toward where the demonic banners had shattered. "What a pure and powerful dark force. Even the ripples of the principles reached here. Could something have happened to one of the demon gods?"

A solemn look appeared in its eyes. After a brief moment of hesitation, it gave up on the idea of rushing in to scavenge anything. With a flicker of its figure, it departed in the direction of a mysterious summoning force.

The call from the darkness was growing fainter. If the great demon king delayed any longer, it would be forever lost in the Dark-Red World.