784: Chapter 785 The Emperor's Heart Reflects His Image, A Single Thought Divides the Dao!

The Black Abyss Realm is attacking!

These five words, like thunder from the Nine Heavens, exploded within the depths of every Immortal Emperor's Divine Soul.

They had survived countless brushes with death, seized the creation of heaven and earth, and gathered the Luck of myriad worlds to finally ascend to the Emperor's throne, ruling over billions of territories, protecting the myriad races, receiving the worship of all living beings, and enjoying tens of millions of years of glory.

Beneath their feet were worshipping Cultivators, vast stretches of mountains and rivers, subjects offering incense and prayers, myriad races living in peace and prosperity, Holy Lands with flourishing incense, and generations of common people whose legacies never ceased...

All of this was what they, with their status as Immortal Emperors, personally protected.

This was their Dao, their fruit, and their responsibility.

And now, the Black Abyss had broken through the boundaries.

The Void Realm shattered, darkness overturned everything, and the shadow of world destruction swallowed every sky and every inch of land within their territories with unstoppable force.

Mountains and rivers wailed, rivers flowed backward, mortal kingdoms collapsed in the darkness, and cultivation Holy Lands crumbled amidst Devilish Qi.

Countless subjects cried out in despair, fleeing and kneeling, begging for help from their one and only Immortal Emperor.

That was the final hope of billions of living beings, the weight they had to carry after enjoying all the glory of being an Immortal Emperor.

Yet the power of the Immortal Emperor within them seemed so weak in the face of this terrifying pressure from beyond the realm.

The power was real, the Emperor's throne was real, the subjects were real, and the despair was also real.

The illusion was flawless; the will of the immortal domain placed an ultimate question before everyone in the most cruel, realistic, and unavoidable way.

You sit upon the Emperor's throne and enjoy the offerings of the myriad races. When a catastrophe descends and all living beings are about to perish, will you fight, flee, or surrender?

Mo Cha stood atop his imperial palace, looking at the subjects crying and fleeing beneath his feet as they were swallowed by darkness. Hearing the desperate wails from all directions, his face turned as pale as paper.

One moment, he was the supreme sovereign who decided life and death with a word and stabilized the world with a thought, worshipped by ten thousand demons and enjoying solitary dominance in the darkness.

The next moment, the Black Abyss surged like a tide, and demonic flames consumed the world. The territories he ruled were annihilated inch by inch, and countless beings turned to ashes amidst miserable screams.

But there was no thought of protection in his heart, only the most primal fear.

Subjects? Territories? Responsibility?

In the face of life and death, they were worthless.

He felt that terrifying pressure, which far exceeded his own cultivation, and his Divine Soul trembled.

He had achieved the status of Emperor with great difficulty and finally possessed supreme power. How could he die here?

How could he be buried alongside these creatures he didn't even know?

Without almost any hesitation, Mo Cha turned and fled.

He did not hesitate to tear apart his own Imperial Foundation and burn a portion of his Imperial Dao Luck just to gain a moment of extreme speed, desperately plunging into the deepest darkness of the Void Realm.

He abandoned the crying subjects, the collapsing mountains and rivers, and the crumbling Immortal Realm behind him.

He only sought his own survival; as for the common people, who could care for them?

Xuan Yi stood at the center of his Laws, gazing at the constantly collapsing world with a calm and indifferent expression.

He watched the living beings suffer, the myriad races face extinction, and the Imperial Dao order he had built with his own hands completely crumble, yet his heart remained untroubled.

To him, the subjects were not a responsibility, the territories were not his Foundation, and the Emperor's throne was merely a journey that could be discarded at any time.

The power of the Black Abyss was too strong—so strong that he could determine with a single glance that resistance meant certain death.

Since protecting meant death and surrendering meant life, then holding the Immortal Realm and protecting the masses became the most foolish choice.

Without struggle, guilt, or even a ripple of emotion, Xuan Yi slowly bowed his head toward the end of the darkness.

He abandoned his Emperor's throne, his Imperial Dao, his Immortal Realm, and his subjects, submitting to the Black Abyss in the most straightforward manner.

Only to survive.

Ming Yeyan stood upon his dark imperial throne, feeling the same destructive aura of the Black Abyss. A cold and indifferent smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

His gaze suddenly changed as he violently struck out, waving his hand to annihilate the billions of subjects behind him. He turned and knelt on one knee, bowing respectfully toward the crack of the Black Abyss, his face revealing a fanatical and ferocious expression.

"We have lurked in the Immortal Realm for ten thousand years. We welcome the army of the Black Abyss! The Immortal Realm is decadent and should have been destroyed long ago!"

...

Facing the army of the Black Abyss and the power of world destruction, some people's hands trembled uncontrollably as they held their Emperor's weapons, losing even the courage to strike a single blow.

Some people's eyes lost focus as they watched the approaching darkness. Their Dao Heart cracked directly, and their former pride vanished without a trace.

Others' eyes flickered as they began to frantically calculate the odds of victory and defeat, weighing the pros and cons, and silently making the most self-serving choice in their hearts.

In an instant, the deserters, the survivors, and the traitors were all revealed.

Yet amidst the panic and betrayal, more figures stood even taller the moment the darkness descended.

Darkness surged like a tide, swallowing the heavens.

Xiao Ruobai stood alone with his spear, blocking the front of the crumbling Immortal Realm. Behind him were the desperate wails of billions of living beings, and before him was the abyss that annihilated everything.

One step back would mean the common people behind him.

He pointed his spear at the black tide. What burned on the tip of the spear was no longer immortal essence, but his lifelong Battle Intent, Dao principles, and even his Origin of life.

"You want to pass?" he hissed through the air, his solitary, wild laughter carrying an unshakeable determination. "Then step over my corpse!"

Pointing his spear at the Black Abyss, his Battle Intent burned through the clouds.

No dodging, no avoiding, no dying, no stopping.

Fang Hanyu stood upon the collapsing Imperial Domain. He lowered his eyes and glanced at the humming longsword in his hand, as if bidding farewell to an old friend of ten thousand years.

Then, he raised his head and looked toward the world-destroying black tide that veiled the sea of stars.

Without words or shouts, he simply took a step forward calmly.

He drew his sword and burned his Emperor Blood, using his entire Imperial Dao to forcefully strike the world-destroying Black Abyss.

The sword is drawn, no regrets! Die in battle, never surrender!

Ling Guzhou stood alone at the peak of the heavens, his white clothes as pure as snow.

Gazing at the surging army of the Black Abyss and then at the billions of living beings crying out in despair behind him, his eyes gradually turned cold and clear.

"I achieved the Dao with a solitary sword and settled the world with a single strike. Today, I shall use this sword to protect my Immortal Realm."

With a light tap of his foot, his white-clothed figure streaked through the air like a meteor. Alone, he and his sword blocked the billions of the Black Abyss.

There were no reinforcements, no way back—only a single sword, protecting the common people alone.

The Daoist Son of Myriad Phenomena stood in a corner of the Imperial Domain space. He closed his eyes and contemplated for a moment, his expression complex, a trace of struggle and determination flashing in his eyes.

He looked at the surging soldiers of the Black Abyss and then at the subjects fighting to the death, his expression sorrowful:

"The catastrophe is irreversible, and the common people are hard to save. But the Legacy cannot be broken, and the Daoist tradition cannot be destroyed."

He did not charge. Instead, he used his own Imperial Dao as kindling and his lifelong cultivation as oil to manifest a Small World, hiding the sparks of the Immortal Realm within the Chaos.

Waiting for the day he could make a comeback, seek revenge, and reclaim the Immortal Realm!

In the Demon Domain, the World-Destroying Demon Ape, Cang, had demon blood boiling throughout his body, and his violent Battle Intent shot straight into the clouds.

Even facing the world-destroying power of the Black Abyss, he did not retreat in the slightest, roaring toward the sky: "Born to fight, why fear the Black Abyss! If you want to fight, then let's fight!"

Gu Shitian's entire body was covered in glazed divine light that pierced the darkness. His expression was solemn, and his voice was as resonant as clashing divine iron: "The Ancient God Clan has no one who kneels. Even if the Imperial Domain collapses, we will fight to the death and never retreat!"

The Black Abyss covered the world, and the divine light was about to fade. His gaze was cold, and his pride was as unyielding as steel.

Li Xuanfeng's green robes fluttered as he stood upon the shattered heavens. He pointed his longsword toward the black tide, his voice like a great bell echoing through the universe:

"My Dao is righteous and can outshine the sun and moon! Even if the heavens collapse and the earth is overturned, this heart is bright and shall illuminate the darkness!"

Ling Xi, her white clothes covered in frost, used her Dao Essence to form a shield to protect a group of living beings. Wang Xiaopang resolutely stepped forward, manifesting thousands of Talismans to block the front of billions of common people.

The phantom of the Mo Yu Qilin burned the heavens, Wang Zhan's battle blood burned through his heart and soul, and Huang Juutian and Ao Zhan each displayed their Emperor Might...

Every pair of eyes burned with the fire of fighting to the death without retreat. Everyone was protecting the Immortal Realm and the common people in their own way.

The various states of the human heart were exposed to the fullest within this supreme illusion.

The will of the immortal domain was cold and silent, serving only as a witness and not intervening.

This illusion, which even a true Emperor would find hard to distinguish, was best at reflecting the true colors of a person's Dao Heart.

Whether it was persistence, cowardice, arrogance, meanness, sacrifice, or betrayal...

In a single thought, life and death were decided, and Dao paths diverged.