785: Chapter 786 Supreme Creation

Above the firmament, the inverted dark abyss suddenly froze at the moment everyone made their choice.

The surging Devilish Qi, hideous dark shadows, the cracking Void Realm, and even the wails of billions of living beings and the roars of the emperors...

Every image and sound seemed to have a pause button pressed, frozen at the instant where destruction and rebirth intertwined.

Deep within the heavens, a faint, weary sigh quietly spread; it was the aura of the will of the immortal domain, ancient and majestic.

In the next second, the frozen scene shattered with a bang, and the sky full of dark, malevolent aura and Black Abyss figures rapidly dissipated like melting snow.

The collapsing imperial domains, the wailing beings, the brilliant imperial light—all the scenes within the illusion vanished into nothingness in an instant.

Only wisps of faint Imperial Dao resonance remained, lingering around every Prodigy.

"Pfft—"

Many Prodigies suddenly snapped back to their senses, their bodies jolting as they snapped their eyes open, chests heaving violently.

Some even couldn't help but exhale a mouthful of turbid Qi, their faces still etched with the determination, fear, and resentment from the illusion.

The scene before them was no longer the vast, peril-filled firmament of the immortal realm, but the familiar Secret Realm space.

However, the Immortal Emperor pressure on them, the imperial weapons in their hands, and the imperial thrones beneath them had all vanished without a trace.

They were still the Prodigies who had stepped into the Heavenly Tablet Space; their cultivation had not achieved a Breakthrough to Immortal Emperor and remained at the Immortal King or Immortal Sovereign realm.

What they held tightly in their hands were still their original weapons, not the imperial weapons that controlled the universe in the illusion.

Only at this moment did all the Prodigies fully realize that the unforgettable ten-thousand-year life as an imperial sovereign and the world-ending catastrophe were merely a supreme illusion set up by the will of the immortal domain—an ultimate tempering of the Dao Heart.

"Just now... was that an illusion?"

Someone murmured in a low voice, their tone filled with disbelief.

The burning sensation of the Emperor Blood still lingered on their fingertips, and the wails of billions of beings and the roars of the Black Abyss seemed to still echo in their ears.

That immersive despair and perseverance were too real—so real that they couldn't believe it was all just a simulation.

Before everyone could recover from the shock of the illusion, that ancient and vast Dao voice resounded through the world once more:

"This realm is a supreme imperial illusion carved by this Will, simulating all things, replicating the Heavenly Dao, mimicking Laws, where one breath spans ten thousand years."

"This trial does not seek combat power, nor does it compare talent; it judges only the Dao Heart."

Just as everyone's emotions were surging, the golden light above the firmament suddenly became sharp and bone-chilling.

"Those who actively betrayed the realm, slaughtered its people, or knelt to surrender to the enemy within the illusion: eight people."

As the voice fell, eight brilliant and sharp golden pillars of light suddenly descended from the sky.

Like eight swords of judgment, they precisely enveloped Xuan Yi, Ming Yeyan, and six others who had chosen to surrender to the enemy or betray the immortal realm in the illusion, or who were originally Black Abyss moles lurking among the Prodigies.

Before the eight figures could even show expressions of terror, a destructive Imperial Dao power suddenly erupted within the golden pillars of light.

It tore through the bodies and Divine Souls of these eight people like sharp blades, leaving behind not a single remnant soul or wisp of aura, completely annihilating them between heaven and earth.

The will of the immortal domain does not tolerate betrayal, much less Black Abyss moles defiling the selection of the immortal realm's Prodigies; for traitors, there is only the path of death—this was the most direct warning to all the Prodigies.

Clean, swift, and merciless.

The remaining Prodigies felt their scalps tingle and their bodies grow cold.

Everyone stared at that empty Void Realm. Had Xuan Yi also defected?

No one had expected that Xuan Yi, a peerless Prodigy with a deep mind and talent that surpassed all others, would actually choose to kneel and surrender to the enemy in the face of the catastrophe, becoming a minion of the Black Abyss.

And the renowned Demon Son Ming Yeyan, in the end, still couldn't see through his true heart and fell into the path of evil.

The Prodigies sighed incessantly, realizing more and more that no matter how high one's talent or how strong one's combat power, without a stable Dao Heart, one could never walk the supreme emperors path.

They felt both lingering fear and relief—relief that they had held onto their true hearts in the illusion and had not become traitors; otherwise, the one turned to ash right now would have been themselves.

Immediately after, the Dao voice rang out again.

"Those who abandoned the people and fled when the catastrophe struck, who feared death and had a base Dao Heart: thirty-one people in total."

Thirty-one soft yet irresistible golden bands of light descended, one of which precisely enveloped Mo Cha.

Mo Cha's whole body stiffened, and his face instantly turned pale. He clearly remembered that in the illusion, in order to survive, he had torn his imperial foundation and burned his Luck.

He had abandoned all his people and territory to flee in disgrace; that cowardice and fear of death still left him feeling unsettled when he thought about it now.

Before they could struggle, an invisible force surged into their bodies. Everyone clearly saw streaks of golden light being stripped from them.

Those were the dao seeds they had fought for and desperately plundered over the past seven days.

All the dao seeds were forcibly reclaimed by the will of the immortal domain, not a single one left.

At the same time, a streak of pure white Dao light swept across their foreheads, and all memories, imperial insights, and world-ending despair from the illusion were forcibly erased from their Divine Souls.

"The Dao Heart is unworthy; you have no fate with the imperial path. Stripping the Opportunity, erasing the illusory memories, and expelling you from the Secret Realm."

Having lost his dao seeds, Mo Cha's aura instantly withered, and his eyes became hollow and vacant, as if he had lost his Soul.

Whoosh!

Thirty-one figures simultaneously turned into streams of light, forcibly expelled from the Heavenly Tablet Space and thrown out of the Ancient God Burial Plain.

In a single breath.

Of the original eighty-nine advancing Prodigies, after removing the thirty-nine moles, cowards, and traitors, only fifty remained in the end.

These fifty were all those who, in the face of catastrophe, would rather die than retreat, protected the people with their lives, and held fast to their true hearts.

Above the firmament, the golden clouds grew softer, and the Great Dao divine patterns slowly flowed. A warm and majestic Dao Rhyme gently enveloped the fifty surviving Prodigies.

"Those who remain have all passed the tribulation of the true heart."

"This illusion was both a test and a stroke of good fortune."

"Within the illusion, one breath lasted ten thousand years. All imperial path realizations, touches of Law, and perceptions of the imperial throne have been fully imprinted into your Divine Souls, granting you complete Immortal Emperor insights."

No one knew that in order to maintain this extremely realistic imperial domain illusion, simulate the Imperial Dao life of every Prodigy, and replicate the terrifying scenes of the Black Abyss destroying the world...

...the will of the immortal domain's control over the Immortal Realm Origin had actually been depleted by a full twenty percent.

What an extreme evolution this was—at the cost of twenty percent of the Origin, every Prodigy was allowed to personally experience the complete journey from being an immortal realm Prodigy to an Immortal Emperor wielding authority.

And then to the full process of facing the world-ending catastrophe, every perception, every struggle, and every wisp of emotion was indisputably real.

As the words fell, heaven and earth became silent.

Xiao Ruobai's body trembled slightly. In his mind, the images of becoming an emperor with a spear and fighting bloodily against the Black Abyss lingered. The Immortal Emperor-level power circulation methods, Imperial Dao Laws, and Divine Soul rhythms were clearly imprinted in his Origin.

Fang Hanyu closed his eyes and concentrated. The coldness of the imperial sword seemed to still linger on his fingertips. His sword-path imperial principles became transparent and clear; the Bottleneck that was once blurry now suddenly became clear.

A phantom of dragon scales faintly appeared on Ao Zhan's body, and within his dragon might, there seemed to be an additional trace of vast Emperor Might that commanded the four seas.

Ling Guzhou's white clothes moved without wind, and a faint imperial light flashed through his eyes. His solitary sword-path gained a layer of Imperial Dao foundation—transparent, pure, and peerless.

Li Xuanfeng's noble spirit endured, and the bright Great Dao in his heart became increasingly stable; his noble Imperial Dao was now deeply rooted.

...