196: Breaking Through to the Great Emperor Level, Becoming the Netherworld Supreme (Two Chapters Combined)

["I believe I've rarely shown my strength and haven't made much of a splash. Why would you set up this trap specifically targeting me?"]

Seeing that the five Great Emperor level experts on the other side didn't immediately attack, you asked why they placed such importance on you.

["We only target variables that disrupt our plans. As for who this person is, it doesn't matter."]

The figure in the middle of the five slowly spoke, his voice echoing in the Void Realm like an ancient bell.

He wore a robe of stars, his face hidden in a hazy halo, only those eyes that seemed able to see through eternity were exceptionally clear.

["And how do you know we weren't paying attention to you? It was just inconvenient to act before,"] the figure on the far left added.

You didn't expect them to actually answer your question; they were surprisingly polite.

However, for five Great Emperor level experts to explain so patiently meant they definitely had other designs on you.

["Are you wondering why we brought you here and didn't act immediately?"] The Great Emperor in the middle took a step forward, ripples appearing in the Void Realm beneath his feet.

["We are simply showing respect to you, a child of the epoch. Most importantly, we aren't necessarily mortal enemies."]

["We very much welcome your joining, child of the epoch,"] the Great Emperor on the far right suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a soul-bewitching power.

You didn't understand what he meant by 'child of the epoch'. Did you have this status?

But 'child of the epoch' was easy to understand; it should be similar to 'Son of the World', referring to those with great Luck.

But you never felt you were special; your Luck was clearly earned through your own efforts.

["Join you? Then wouldn't I end up like those Pseudo-Emperors, sold out without even knowing it?"]

["Those people are just a bunch of mediocre talents."]

The tone of the figure in the middle was full of disdain. ["According to your Era, they will never become Great Emperors."]

["But you are different. As a child of the epoch, you possess the strongest talent of this Era. After joining us, your treatment will naturally be different from those mediocre talents."]

The word 'Era' was mentioned repeatedly, and the energy above the Boundless Realm also indicated it was a Fortune used to transcend the Era.

These things made you certain that 'Era' was by no means an ordinary concept.

["As long as you join us, when this Era ends, you can be allowed to take some people with you to transcend the Era."]

The central figure threw out another condition they deemed enticing.

["What exactly is an Era? From what you're saying, does it mean that when an Era ends, everyone who hasn't transcended will die?"]

At this point, you had already secretly circulated your power, ready to break out at any moment.

["These things, you will naturally be told once you join us."]

The second Great Emperor from the right suddenly interjected, his voice as harsh as metal scraping, ["Now, make your choice."]

["If I choose to join you, will I be controlled by you like those Pseudo-Emperors?"]

["And there must be conditions for joining you, right?"] You intentionally stalled for time while secretly gathering power.

The power of the Taichu Divine Body was surging within you, ready to explode into a world-shaking strike, and the Art of Controlling Weapons was also primed to Fusion with Emperor Weapons at any moment.

["If you choose to join us, you must slaughter more than half of the living beings in your world. This is a mandatory condition."]

The central figure's tone was flat, as if speaking of a trivial matter.

Slaughtering more than half the life in the Boundless Realm? It turned out this really was part of the plan, but it wasn't the Pseudo-Emperors acting as bait who were to execute it.

["You won't be controlled, but you will be subject to others. However, not to us, but to the Great Venerable You Tian behind us!"]

["According to the Realm divisions of your Era, Great Venerable You Tian is an Immortal Realm powerhouse who has transcended the Great Emperor level!"]

As the central Great Emperor spoke, he suddenly raised his hand and struck out a golden light.

The golden light transformed into a grand scroll in the air, displaying a powerful existence beyond imagination.

It was a figure seated on a majestic throne; even the projection alone gave you a pressure far exceeding a Great Emperor.

["Now tell us your decision."] The five Great Emperors took a step forward simultaneously, causing the entire dark space to tremble.

You remained silent, carefully searching for flaws in this dark space.

["As expected, Sons of the Era are all arrogant."] The central figure let out a long sigh, his voice tinged with regret yet hiding an undetectable trace of anticipation.

["It seems you can only make a true decision after feeling your own powerlessness."]

Before the voice faded, the five had already acted.

The battle array they formed instantly covered the entire dark space, with the five Origin Laws of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth interweaving into an inescapable net.

Everyone sacrificed their Lifebound Weapon, and five world-shaking attacks erupted simultaneously.

It was only because an unknown power maintained the stability of this dark space; in the space of the Boundless Realm, it would have been torn to shreds under these five Great Emperor level powers.

These five did not underestimate you just because you were only in the Supreme Realm.

In the long passage of time, they had witnessed the rise and fall of too many Sons of the Era.

They knew well that these existences favored by heaven and earth could often create miracles beyond common logic.

Facing this world-destroying offensive, a blazing Battle Intent ignited in your eyes instead.

With a clear Dragon roar, the battle god armor instantly covered your body, every scale shimmering with mysterious Dao patterns.

The Primordial Divine Sword hummed in your hand, its blade flowing with a Chaos Aura as if it were opening the heavens.

Behind you, more than twenty Emperor Weapons of various forms appeared simultaneously, each emitting a unique Emperor's might.

Not only that, under the effect of the Art of Controlling Weapons, seven Emperor Weapons instantly merged into your body. Your Realm began to soar continuously, exploding from the Supreme Peak directly to the Great Emperor level!

["Break!"] You swung the Primordial Divine Sword, unleashing a strike that fused the power of seven Emperor Weapons.

Wherever the sword light passed, the blockade of the Five Elements Battle Array was forcibly torn apart, and the five Emperor-level attacks were all dismantled by this single strike.

The space shook violently, but unfortunately, it still couldn't be broken.

["As expected of the child of the epoch from this brilliant Era, truly extraordinary!"] A figure holding an ancient bronze bell praised, a flash of astonishment in his eyes.

But then he shook his head. ["Unfortunately, you haven't truly grown up yet. How much strength can you really have?"]

Although your performance shocked the five Emperor-level experts, they remained confident of victory. After all, your Realm was still one major level lower than theirs.

The great battle erupted completely. In this dark space isolated from heaven and earth, six figures collided repeatedly at speeds exceeding light.

Every clash triggered a terrifying energy storm. If this were in the outside world, who knows how many living beings would be killed by the aftershocks.

This might be the most intense battle in the history of this Era.

One must know that during the Three Thousand Great Worlds period, it was extremely rare for multiple Great Emperors to appear at the same time, let alone a life-and-death struggle of this level.

The destructive power generated by your battle was enough to destroy any Great World before the world Fusion.

For you, this was also the toughest battle since your Transmigration.

Although you temporarily rose to the Great Emperor level with the help of Emperor Weapons and had many others to assist you, each of the opponents was no ordinary Great Emperor level expert.

And the Five Elements Heaven-Sealing Battle Array they formed was even more mysterious; the power of the five could flow and complement each other at any time, with almost no flaws.

If an ordinary Great Emperor were caught in this array, they would likely be suppressed within a hundred moves.

The reason you could hold out until now was entirely due to your exquisite use of Emperor Weapons.

Over twenty Emperor Weapons were as easy to use as your own limbs, with no lag during the transition between offense and defense.

Killing Emperor Weapons like the Primordial Divine Sword focused on offense, while defensive Emperor Weapons like the battle god armor and profound heaven pagoda focused on defense.

The Grand Void Mirror interfered with the enemy's movements, the heavenly secret plate calculated their next moves... every Emperor Weapon was utilized to its limit by you.

Only then did you barely withstand their offensive, but as time passed, you began to grow more and more passive.

Because this dark space isolated all energy, you couldn't receive any replenishment.

And your base Realm was ultimately just the Supreme Realm. Even if your consumption using Emperor Weapons was low, you would eventually be worn down to death by them.

["I must Breakthrough!"] You realized in your heart that only by attaining the Dao and becoming an Emperor in battle could you turn the tide.

At that time, not only would your strength take a qualitative leap, but your control over Emperor Weapons would also reach a higher level, and the situation would likely reverse.

Perhaps you really were the so-called child of the epoch, or perhaps the great Luck on you was exerting its power.

With continuous fighting, your use of the Art of Controlling Weapons became more and more proficient, and your mastery of various Emperor Weapons became more and more perfect.

You finally understood what a Great Emperor was from the Dao of the ancient Great Emperors contained within the many Emperor Weapons!

["So that's how it is!"] Then, you directly performed a mid-battle Breakthrough.

In an instant, the Supreme Law within your body began to undergo a fundamental transformation.

Every inch of flesh was reorganizing, and every strand of Divine Soul was elevating.

This was a leap in the level of life, a true ultimate sublimation.

Perhaps because this dark space was different from the Boundless Realm, the expected Great Emperor Heavenly Tribulation did not descend.

But this didn't affect your completion of the final Breakthrough.

Even without the tempering of the Heavenly Tribulation, your strength still underwent a world-shaking change.

The expressions of the five figures finally changed; they felt the scales of the battle tilting subtly.

After completing the Breakthrough, your Aura actually directly overwhelmed theirs.

They never expected that you would Breakthrough just like that; it was too sudden.

One moment you were being suppressed and driven back by their joint efforts, and in the blink of an eye, you had completed a qualitative leap.

After breaking through to the Great Emperor level, fusing seven Emperor Weapons was no longer the limit; now you could fuse ten.

Previously, seven Emperor Weapons could lift your Realm from the Supreme Peak to the Great Emperor level. Now, ten Emperor Weapons could briefly lift your newly attained Great Emperor Realm to the Peak of the Great Emperor level!

Seeing your Aura rise again and again, those five enemies completely lost their previous confidence.

Their previously certain expressions had long since vanished, replaced by an irrepressible fear.

Thinking of the punishment they would receive for failing Great Venerable You Tian's orders, these five also turned ruthless and began burning their Origins to forcibly increase their combat power.

Eerie black patterns appeared on the surface of their bodies, and their Auras also surged.

But even so, they only managed to fight to a draw with you after your Breakthrough.

The battle fell into a stalemate, with every clash triggering even more world-shaking energy fluctuations than before.

The dark space trembled continuously under the violent energy impact, as if it could collapse at any moment.

You keenly sensed that this space imprisoning you was becoming unstable.

Finally, you detected an energy node in this dark space.

This discovery lifted your spirits, as it meant you had a chance to break out of this cage.

While maneuvering against the enemies, you secretly accumulated power, waiting for the best opportunity.

Finally, you spotted an opening and gathered all your power into an Emperor Weapon specifically used for breaking barriers, striking it toward the energy node.

This Emperor Weapon, named the "World-Piercing Spear", erupted with dazzling light, hitting the weakest point of the space like a meteor.

You could feel the entire dark space groaning under the weight of this strike.

With a loud bang, cracks finally appeared in the dark space, and you were about to break through.

Just as you were about to escape, a sudden change occurred.

A giant hand emitting black Qi suddenly appeared in the dark space and struck toward you.

This hand appeared without warning, yet it carried an overwhelming pressure, as if the entire world were in its grasp.

Seeing the giant hand appear, the five enemy Emperor-level experts stopped burning their Origins; they knew they wouldn't escape punishment this time.

This was precisely the hand of Great Venerable You Tian!

When it fully manifested, the entire dark space froze.

It seemed to press down slowly, yet it gave you the illusion that it was unavoidable, as if all of time and space were locked.

You felt a power far exceeding the Great Emperor level from this hand!

This kind of power exceeded your understanding of cultivation, carrying a certain transcendent quality.

Facing the powerful pressure emitted by the giant hand, even you now felt it difficult to breathe.

["Is this what they call an Immortal?"]

It was no wonder those five were so afraid of Great Venerable You Tian; the power of an Immortal exceeded that of a Great Emperor by countless levels.

What puzzled you was, didn't they want you to join them before?

But from this strike of Great Venerable You Tian, you felt a intense killing intent—a killing intent that was pure and direct, with no room for maneuver.

That's right, Great Venerable You Tian wanted to kill you because the talent you displayed was too strong.

Previously, he wanted to recruit you because you would have been a good subordinate, but now, he feared you would threaten his position.