"Do you recognize it? It's a specter I killed in Ninefold Hell! They called him the crown prince! In other words, he was slated to be a future overlord of your race! Are you shocked? Pissed? Shitting yourselves? Come kill me then!" Tianming’s words completely stunned the whole battlefield.

Ouyang Jianwang's sudden arrival had helped him a lot, allowing him to put the final nail into the specter race’s coffin. No matter how cunning Di Zang was, even he couldn't help but howl in anger when he saw the crown prince's severed head. The same was the case with Po Suo. And now that they had given up the game after seeing the dead crown prince, nobody would believe them any longer—not even Changsun Shenqiong, who hurriedly took a few steps back.

Lips shuddering, he mumbled, "I... I almost helped the specters return to the human realm to enslave us. If my ancestors found out about this, I'd be cursed to death! Thankfully, the truth is out now!" He was tearing up so hard his entire face was covered in salt.

Humans had desires and fears. They wanted land, resources, huge achievements.... However, their primal fear was being enslaved by the specters again. But fear and desire had a really odd relationship. After the horrifying truth came out, the desperate fear they’d had of a fate worse than death had turned into a desire for victory.

After their natural predators had come, not even sheep would continue fighting each other for grass. Even if they outcompeted the others, they would only end up killed by the beasts anyway.

Changsun Shenqiong harshly gave himself a slap on the face.

Many elders knelt to him and pleaded, "Sect Master, please don't mess around! Those specters are no joke! It's been recorded in history that they treated humans like livestock!" If he chose to continue helping Di Zang, no one would help him any longer.

"Who’d want to be treated like livestock when we can be masters of our own lives?!" Changsun Shenqiong proclaimed, still shaking. Now, Heptastar's stance on this matter was clear. This wasn't something the sect master alone could decide. No matter how foolish he was, he knew that if he chose to continue attacking the Archaion Sect, everyone in his sect would turn and run.

It wasn't just Heptastar; even those from the Nonahall Ghost Sect were completely horrified by the turn of events. Even with how cruel and savage those tribulation elders were, they were still humans and shared a primal fear toward their natural predators. Learning that the Nonahall Specter their realm had worshipped for a hundred thousand years wasn't even a human to begin with immediately caused their faith to collapse, and they writhed in pain. Even those that weren't able to let go of their faith couldn't help but gasp when they saw Po Suo's current appearance.

Now that they already had a taste of the fear, it gripped them so tightly that they could no longer control themselves, much like someone who jumped at the sight of ropes after being bitten by a snake. There were some wounds that even two hundred millennia couldn't heal. The rift between the races was unbelievably huge, and those who could look past it were definitely in the minority.

"Kill the remnants of the specters!" Tianming roared from within the Nine Dragon Formation.

Right after his roar, the tribulation elders within the formation also cried out. "Kill them!"

It was echoed by many among Heptastar, Quadform, and Hexapath outside the formation too. Now the elites from Nonahall were caught in an awkward position. They found it too hard to accept that their sect had actually been formed by the remnants of specters that had escaped being sealed away. Even so, many among them roared with rage.

They were those who had joined the sect during later stages, and weren't too loyal to it. Now that they had taken the first step, the others could no longer stay back and watch the unbelievable nightmare the specters would bring unfold once more. It was a complete turning of the tides.

The million or so samsarans were directing their anger toward Di Zang and Po Suo, calling for their deaths. The two ghoul kings could no longer turn black into white. But even so, their strength was not to be underestimated. They still seemed calm, despite what had just happened.

"Take the keys!" They decided to go all out. The two of them were quite close to the formation and immediately zeroed in on Ouyang Jianwang and Xuanyuan Dao. Now, the two twelfth-level death phase samsarans, the top two strongest on the Flameyellow Continent, charged directly into the formation.

Even without their grand army, the two of them working together still made for a really terrifying threat. Those that came to intercept them within the formation were immediately sent flying. Even Lin Yuntian, the coral fairy, and many others were swatted away by Po Suo, and nobody knew whether they still lived.

Taiji Peak Lake had few people to begin with, and dealing with two peak elites of that caliber would be no easy task for them. Di Zang's lifebound beast charged toward Xuanyuan Lake and immediately started spewing black smoke toward the army of a hundred thousand. Meanwhile, Jiang Wuxin kept applying huge pressure on the Nine Dragon Formation. Even more pressing was how the two ghoul kings completely ignored the other normal fighters and were fully intent on taking down their targets.

Without their lackeys, it was rather difficult for them to make their way straight to Xuanyuan Dao and Ouyang Jianwang, but they were specters, and thus posed a huge threat even to people of those two's caliber. Ouyang Jianwang, in particular, was basically unable to continue fighting.

"Protect them!" Many of the elites from outside the formation clamored—aside from those of Nonahall, who were still awkwardly deliberating their next action. The other three sects, including the Draconis House of Jian's members, came to their aid. It was a shame they were unable to catch up to the two ghoul kings at all.

Still, their violent charge resulted in rivers of blood. Given the density of people around them, many of them didn't dare haphazardly unleash the abilities of their lifebound beasts in fear of inadvertently harming others.

"Go!" Tianming flapped his wings and quickly retreated with Ouyang Jianwang. Po Suo immediately changed directions and homed in on them. Meanwhile, Di Zang and his lifebound beast charged through a thousand enemies toward Xuanyuan Dao.

Xuanyuan Dao was still trying to hold back Jiang Wuxin with Li Caiwei. the moment Di Zang reached where they were, Jiang Wuxin would be released and things would get troublesome. The two ghoul kings were no longer concerned about their own survival now. All things considered, the attention soon fell on Feng Qingyu and Dugu Jin, among the two most powerful people there.

"Hexapath Swordfiend! Go help them! You can stop them!"

"Why’re you just standing there?! Move!"

"Are you not going to act? What kind of elite are you? Didn't you call yourself the strongest on the continent? Where's your pride?"

"That's right! Don't forget, Jiang Wuxin was his disciple!"

"What kind of disciple did you raise? Now he's serving the specters! You took part in creating him! You’d better atone for your mistakes!"

"If you end up dooming the world because of this, your name will be besmirched for aeons to come!"

The criticisms came heavier and heavier. It felt like one blade after another was piercing into his heart.

"Feng Qingyu, you brought up Jiang Wuxin to be a devil! It's your own doing! It's unforgivable!"

Soon, Feng Qingyu began to sway. He glared at the divine sword in Jiang Wuxin’s hand, the Firmament Godsword. "Where in the world is he...."

Throughout the chaos, Feng Qingyu hadn't spotted a hint of Jian Wuyi. They had agreed they would meet once more after the battle, but where was he?

At that moment, a bloodied eagle flew to Feng Qingyu. "Where's Wuyi?!" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"He... was killed by your disciple! My other brothers were consumed by him, too," the eagle moaned.

Jiang Wuxin had consumed three swordbeasts and ran. With all hope of reunion with Jian Wuyi now gone, Feng Qingyu finally snapped out of it.

"Feng Qingyu, he's your disciple! Deal with it! You were the one who doomed Wuyi! If you hadn't raised Jiang Wuxin and traded him for a starmap, he wouldn't have become a demon!"

Those enraged words struck Feng Qingyu like bolts of lightning. "I was the one who doomed him!"

He took three steps back, face pale as the gigantic eagle spat out Jian Wuyi's corpse, whose head was snapped to the back.

"Urghh...." Feng Qingyu stumbled towards the blue-robed corpse and held it tight in his arms. "Aaaaah! Aaaaaagh! Aaaaaaagggghh!"

His deafening cries tore at the heart. "I was the one who killed him! Me!"

His tearful sobs soon turned into painful laughter, then heavy shaking. The worst part was how all of this had resulted thanks to him handing Jiang Wuxin over to Nonahall. He looked once more at the bloodied corpse in his arms. His future plans, everything, gone just like that. "Wuyi... Wuyi... tell me... what meaning is there left in my life? Am I really a powerful elite?"

Many people were shocked to hear that. They weren't even relatives! Why was Feng Qingyu acting like he had lost the person most dear to him? Nobody would understand how the sword maniacs had seen one another. Back in the old days, there was nothing between them and their swords. They smiled wholeheartedly under the setting sun, but those days would never return.

Feng Qingyu closed his eyes as waves of power were unleashed from his body. "Today, I wish for death. I wish for atonement. Wuyi, wait for my moment of reckoning."

He no longer held back from the death phase. Three decades ago, he had already met the requirements to break through, but he’d wanted to finish achieving his ambitions before embarking on the path to godhood. And now, he effortlessly undid the chains that bound him, stepping into the final phase of Samsara as everyone watched.

The Hexafirmament Eradicator appeared, sending booming wails across the battlefield. The crack on one of the swords didn't affect its power at all. His three remaining swordbeasts fused into the swords and caused the power within them to surge.

Feng Qingyu placed Jian Wuyi's corpse on the ground before heading toward the Nine Dragon Formation, glaring at the bestial Jiang Wuxin.

"Everyone... this is the fruit of my own doing. I accept all the consequences on my own. I will make sure to not owe a single one of you any debts as a result of the consequences of my actions!"