531: The beginning of the end

"Hao Duo!" Cangling Heavenly Venerate's beard and hair bristled, his eyes blazing with endless rage and hatred.

If not for his schemes, how could they have been trapped in the Dark Realm for a million years, cut off from their saint position, with their power reduced to less than one percent!

"It is I, indeed." Hao Duo chuckled leisurely, "If my Disciple hadn't fought the Myriad Laws Great Sage, and the aftershocks hadn't shaken the boundary sea, releasing you old geezers, I wouldn't have been able to easily obtain a dozen saint positions, haha!"

"What do you want to do?" Empress Wa's beautiful face was frosty, and she asked in a deep voice.

"Do what?" Hao Duo seemed to have heard something amusing, and the smile on his face became even more sinister, "Naturally, I'm sending you Fellow Daoists... on your way! Your saint positions, though dimmed, are still essentially intact, and they are the best resources for me to condense the Great saint position of the boundary sea, haha!"

Before his words finished, he had already made his move!

There was no earth-shattering momentum, only an extreme 'darkness' spreading out; it was the Taboo Power of the Dark Realm, devouring all light, all energy, all Dao!

"Form the array!" Moral Heavenly Venerate shouted urgently.

Although the dozen or so ancient Saints of the Immortal-Demon Realm had greatly diminished power, their combat experience and tacit understanding remained. They instantly formed a profound Myriad Immortals Array, activating their remaining Saint power, transforming it into a dazzling Chaos light, attempting to resist.

However, facing Hao Duo, whose strength had surged after devouring Lu Tianyuan's saint position, their resistance seemed so pale and powerless.

"Sizzle—!"

The Taboo Darkness surged like a tide, and the Myriad Immortals Array only lasted for a few breaths before shattering like a bubble in the sunlight.

"No—!"

"Hao Duo! May you die a terrible death!"

Shrill screams and curses rang out, but were quickly swallowed by the darkness.

One after another, the ancient Saints of the Immortal-Demon Realm, under the erosion of the Taboo Power, had their Saint bodies disintegrate, their remaining Origin of the saint position forcibly extracted, turning into streaks of light that plunged into Hao Duo's open mouth.

With each Origin of the saint position he devoured, Hao Duo's aura surged a notch. Beside the black halo of the Taboo saint position of the Dark Realm, colors belonging to the myriad Dao of the boundary sea began to vaguely gather and intertwine!

Cangling Heavenly Venerate, Vast Sea Heavenly Venerate... First Beginning Saint Buddha, Myriad Sages Saint Buddha... No matter how peerlessly magnificent they once were, how they once awed the universe, at this moment, under the absolute disparity in power, they could only become stepping stones for Hao Duo to ascend to a higher peak.

When the last ancient Saint—Empress Wa—with endless unwillingness and regret, had her Saint body turn into a rain of light and be devoured by Hao Duo, Hao Duo suddenly let out a long roar to the sky!

"Rumble—!"

The boundary sea vibrated, and the myriad Dao manifested! Centered on him, a massive energy vortex formed, frantically devouring the dual powers from the Dark Realm and the boundary sea!

The Nine Dragon Crown on his head erupted with unprecedented light, and countless profound boundary sea Great Dao runes appeared on his black imperial robe.

He was actually going to forcibly merge the Taboo saint position of the Dark Realm with the Great saint position of the boundary sea that was currently condensing!

A terrifying aura, surpassing ordinary Saints and even beginning to approach the two existences at the center of that distant holy war, slowly awakened like an ancient Vicious Beast in slumber!

Deep within the boundary sea, Xiao Zhuo, who was sparring with the Myriad Laws Great Sage, felt something and suddenly looked towards the Immortal-Demon Realm, his brows tightly furrowed.

He sensed that rapidly expanding, ominous, and predatory terrifying aura.

"Hao Duo..." A shadow flashed in his heart.

"Fighting me and still daring to be distracted? Die!" The Myriad Laws Great Sage seized his momentary lapse, and the myriad laws grand furnace suddenly contracted, transforming into a divine light of annihilation that condensed the Origin of ten superior Great Dao. It instantly pierced through the Void Realm and blasted towards Xiao Zhuo's glabella!

This strike was extremely fast, extremely ruthless, almost sealing off all of Xiao Zhuo's dodging space!

At the critical moment, a fierce glint flashed in Xiao Zhuo's eyes. He didn't dodge or evade; the Zizai Realm within him hummed under the immense pressure, and the vast World Power, Great Dao of Time and Space, and The Way of Freedom completely ignited!

"Time and Space... Reverse Flow! Freedom... I Am the Only One!"

The black long saber in his hand let out a clang that pierced through the past and future. On the blade, the illusory figures of billions of living beings from the Zizai Realm appeared, carrying their prayers and the light of civilization, slashing upwards against that divine light of annihilation!

It wasn't a head-on clash, but rather, at the instant the saber light and divine light met, it triggered the deepest layer of the Law of Time and Space—a localized time reversal!

That divine light of annihilation, which had already touched Xiao Zhuo's glabella, strangely receded by one-thousandth of an instant!

It was this one-thousandth of an instant that allowed Xiao Zhuo's saber light to arrive first, carrying the supreme profound meaning of freedom, unfetteredness, and transcendence over myriad Laws. It cleaved open the divine light of annihilation and, following its connection to the Myriad Laws Great Sage, transcended time and space to directly strike the core of the Myriad Laws Great Sage's Saint body, which was condensed from tribulation power!

"Crack—!"

A sound like shattering glass rang out.

The Myriad Laws Great Sage's body trembled violently, his face filled with an expression of disbelief.

He looked down and saw a crack rapidly spreading across his chest. The Great Dao of Time and Space and Dao Principle of Freedom contained within were frantically eroding the Foundation of his existence.

"Time and Space... Reverse Flow... You..." He stared intently at Xiao Zhuo, his eyes showing fear for the first time.

The opportunity for revival granted to him by the will of the boundary sea, its Foundation was being severed by this one strike!

"The boundary sea summoned you back, and I shall send you eternally back to the river of time!" Xiao Zhuo pressed his advantage, ignoring his own severe consumption, and swung his saber again.

This time, the saber light transformed into invisible sands of time and blades of space, enveloping the Myriad Laws Great Sage from all directions.

The Myriad Laws Great Sage frantically mobilized his power to resist, but he found that his power, under the influence of that strange 'Dao Principle of Freedom' aura, began to become chaotic and difficult to condense.

Even more terrifying, his connection with the will of the boundary sea was being forcibly stripped away by the power of time and space!

"No—!! I am unwilling!!!"

In a roar filled with despair and malice, the Myriad Laws Great Sage's Saint body completely disintegrated, transforming into the purest tribulation power and Great Dao fragments, which were then completely swallowed by the time and space vortex activated by Xiao Zhuo, sending him back to the depths of the river of time.

The Myriad Laws Great Sage, condensed by the will of the boundary sea, had fallen!

The moment the Myriad Laws Great Sage was completely annihilated, visible golden Luck in the boundary sea flowed down like a waterfall, merging into Xiao Zhuo's body.

At the same time, countless strange energies emerged from the Void Realm, and a mighty roar echoed within Xiao Zhuo's body. The Zizai Realm, which had been at the critical point of advancement, finally completed its ultimate sublimation!

Vast and boundless World Origin fed back, thoroughly merging with his own Great Dao.

Within the boundary sea, myriad rays of light and thousands of auspicious colors appeared, and endless auspicious phenomena emerged, as if celebrating the imminent birth of a Great Saint who controlled the saint position of Time and Space!

However, before Xiao Zhuo could fully unleash his Great Dao to prove the Dao with power and condense the Great saint position, a terrifying aura filled with greed, brutality, and destruction had already locked onto him like a maggot on a bone.

In the distance, Hao Duo, who had devoured the Origin of a dozen ancient Saints from the Immortal-Demon Realm, was surrounded by a terrifying halo of dark and colorful light. He took one step and crossed endless Star Domains, arriving not far from Xiao Zhuo.

Feeling the incredibly fresh aura of the Great Thousand Realm Domain and the massive amount of Luck on Xiao Zhuo's body, his eyes revealed an even more fervent and crazed greed than before.

"Excellent! Very good! As expected of a peerless Prodigy who might not appear even once in a hundred million years, you actually succeeded in slaying a Great Saint as a quasi-Saint. If I let you condense a saint position, I fear no one in this boundary sea would be your match. However, everything about you will be mine. As long as I devour you, I will surely surpass all of antiquity and become the strongest Saint in the history of the boundary sea! Perhaps even stepping into the Eternal Divine Realm one day and burying the gods is not out of the question!"

Xiao Zhuo stood with his saber, and although his aura had not yet fully stabilized, his eyes were extremely calm.