Chapter 1004: A Free-for-All

The Dragon King of the Northern Sea transformed into a massive golden dragon radiating an aura of violence. It roared and unleashed a blazing flame toward the sandworm king.

"How foolish. Sandstorm!" the sandworm king invoked.

With a loud boom,untless grains of sand materialized out of nowhere and exploded, dispersing the blazing flame. The sandworm king moved like lightning, appearing before the golden dragon in an instant. The tentacles on its octopus-like head extended violently, as sharp as divine weapons, and struck at the dragon.

The golden dragon retaliated with a surge of lightning that zapped the approaching tentacles. Its claws, crackling with electric light, tore through the void with the strength to kill the sandworm king in one blow.

Just as everyone looked on with anticipation, a deafening crash erupted. The golden dragon was sent flying backward by a tremendous force. He slammed heavily into the ground after crashing through and shattering a mountain range.

"Impossible!" The Dragon King reverted to his human form, his face livid with anger and disbelief.

"Lightning? Hah, it barely tickles. And those dragon claws are far too weak," the sandworm king mocked. It then cast a rnful glance at the gathered experts from across the realm and said, "I thought someone as strong as Yu Fuli would have worthy successors. I overestimated you."

Around them, the other sandworm kings began to stir, all ready to join the fray.

"Again!" the Dragon King roared.

As he spoke, an azure glow suddenly burst forth from behind him. With a deafening roar, a massive tree of brilliant blue light, thousands of meters tall, appeared in the air. The heavens quaked as an immense force of azure energy surged from all directions, flooding into the Dragon King's body. His aura swelled exponentially.

"A world tree!" some cultivators exclaimed in shock.

The Dragon King once again turned into a streak of light, charging at the sandworm king with lightning speed.

The sandworm king's expression darkened. With a wave of its hand, endless sand appeared and surged forward like a roaring river. But with a thunderous impact, the Dragon King smashed through the sand and arrived before the sandworm king. A single punch sent the sandworm king hurtling backward and crashing into several mountains.

Cheers erupted from the crowd of cultivators.

The Dragon King wasted no time and darted toward the cloud of dust and debris, throwing another punch at the sandworm king.

A terrifying shockwave erupted from the center of the dust cloud. The earth shook violently as dirt and debris shot into the sky, blotting out the sun. The void quaked as fiery shockwaves emanated in all directions.

"Was the Dragon King stopped again?" The spectators' faces darkened.

At the heart of the explosion, the sandworm king's fist had blocked the Dragon King's punch, locking them in a stalemate.

"Impossible! How are you able to block me when I'm empowered with the world tree's might? How did your strength surge so suddenly?" the Dragon King cried out in shock.

Behind the Sandworm King, a massive gray tree slowly emerged, towering into the sky. Its overwhelming presence rivaled that of the Dragon King's azure tree.

"You have a world tree too?!" the Dragon King shouted.

The sandworm king sneered. "Ignorant fool. Every planet births a world tree when its laws are fully formed."

"What?" the Dragon King exclaimed.

"Your ignorance is truly astounding. Don't you even know such basic information? Your world tree is yet implete."

"Enough talk! Let's see whose tree is stronger—yours or mine! Rise!"

With a hum, the azure tree behind him burst with blinding light. The heavens trembled as boundless energy surged toward him, flooding his body. His punch became even more powerful.

"An implete world tree can only draw limited energy from a planet. Today, I'll show you the power of amplete world tree," the sandworm king repliedldly.

With a hum, the gray world tree behind the sandworm king swelled and began drawing energy directly from thesmos, causing the Sandworm King's power to increase rapidly.

With a deafening roar, their punches clashed again, tearing the void apart and creating a massive black hole.

The Dragon King's face twisted in ferocity as he pushed the power of his world tree to the limit. Similarly, the sandworm king's expression turned savage as it channeled the full force of its world tree. Their energies clashed, shattering the surrounding mountains with the shockwaves from their attacks. Neither yielded an inch.

The other experts and cultivators watched intently, refraining from intervening.

Meanwhile, aboard a starship orbiting the battlefield, the horned representative of the heavens and the saints' avatars observed the fight via a projection.

"The world tree's power is terrifying! Just how did the Dragon King of the Northern Sea manage to attune to it in just a few months after obtaining the charm of heavenly law?" one saint muttered, his face dark.

"And yet none of you managed it in ten thousand years," the horned man said icily. "You useless lot."

"We are lacking in talent," one saint's avatar admitted. "However, I've recently learned that the Dragon King of the Northern Sea is a cursed king reborn. He was once the hegemon of his era. His intuition is surely stronger than ours."

The horned man glanced at the Dragon King with narrowed eyes. "A hegemon? Ha! I was the one who killed this golden dragon back in its heyday."

The saints were taken aback.

"You are truly unmatched, Lord!"

"Your power is far beyond ours!"

The saints showered him with flattery.

The horned man frowned as hentinued watching the fight. "That idiot, #3, is wasting its advantage bympeting in a battle of world trees. Even with only one-ninth of themplete tree, the Dragon King holds the upper hand—they're fighting on his planet, after all. The sandworm king's tree draws from thesmos and can hardly match it in strength. What a fool."

Back on the battlefield, the clash between the two powers intensified.

The void crumbled further as the energy released by the two trees grew ever fiercer.

"Why can't I suppress you? Die!" the sandworm king roared.

"Die!" the Dragon King echoed.

The stalematentinued until another sandworm king finally growled, "We've wasted enough time. Attack!"

"Die!" all the sandworm kings roared as one.

Over a thousand sandworms, led by the remaining seventeen sandworm kings, charged in battle.

"Die!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted in response.

The supreme cultivators of the world echoed his shout.

A chaotic battle erupted as explosions rang out across the battlefield.

Li Miaoyin engaged a sandworm king. Behind her, a verdant world tree emerged. With a single punch, she sent the sandworm king flying, but it retaliated with its own gray World Tree. The two clashed fiercely.

A crimson world tree emerged from the Divine Emperor's back, and a cerulean one from Madam Rouge's.

Several other cultivators, each with a world tree, joined the fray.

Including the Dragon King of the Northern Sea's, there were thirteen world trees in all, shining brightly and illuminating the world.

The saints' avatars were stunned.

"Impossible! Aren't there only nine charms of heavenly law? How can there be thirteen world trees?" a saint cried out.

"Your Eminence, some of the trees are identical," Tang murmured.

"Identical?" The saints frowned.

Indeed, some of the world trees that the supreme cultivators wielded seemed to be duplicates.

"Can two peoplemprehend the same charm and each manifest a world tree?" a saint asked in disbelief.

The horned man rolled his eyes, glancing at the saints with a trace of disdain. To him, their failure to attune to the world trees even after ten thousand years marked them as the pinnacle of impetence. Explaining things to them felt like a waste of time.

"Who's that?" the horned man suddenly asked, pointing at someone in the projection.

In onerner of the chaotic battlefield, Xiao Nanfeng radiated with golden light. While he lacked a world tree of his own, ten golden crows hovered above his head. The crows cawed, absorbing sunlight and channeling it into Xiao Nanfeng's body.

Xiao Nanfeng fought a sandworm king alone.

His Hegemon's Fists rained down like blazing meteors, forcing the sandworm king's tentacles to retreat.

Furious, the sandworm king boosted its strength with its world tree, landing a punch that sent Xiao Nanfeng flying. But Xiao Nanfeng, unscathed and glowing with golden light, charged back into the fight.

As the battle intensified, the saints' avatars grew increasingly alarmed.

"How did Xiao Nanfeng grow so strong? He's holding his own against a sandworm king! This doesn't make sense!"

"It's only been a few months. Howuld he have advanced this far?"

"Impossible!"

The saints were shaken to theirre.

"His name is Xiao Nanfeng?" the horned man asked.

"Yes, Lord! He can't be allowed to live. His growth is astonishing—it's like Yu Fuli's!"

"That's right. He's only been cultivating for a little over a decade, and he's already able to fight a sandworm king. Even Yu Fuli wasn't this monstrous."

"He will surely bme the next Yu Fuli—no, if left unchecked, he might surpass Yu Fuli in time!"

The saints anxiously detailed Xiao Nanfeng's achievements, their words filled with dread andncern.

"Only a decade of cultivation?" The horned man narrowed his eyes, his expression turning serious.