“You!” Panic overtook the young man in golden armor when Qing Han summarily aimed a weapon of war at him. 

He fancied himself an important figure, one much more superior than the rest of the cultivators in today’s world by a large margin. However, he couldn’t do anything when Qing Han acted with no concern for face.

“So this is the true character of the Youth Dao Sovereign! You don’t even have the courage to face me in a fair fight.” With a huff, the young man slowly sank to the ground.

He really was worried that Qing Han would dust him with a shot like what had just happened moments ago. That would be the most worthless way to go.

It’d greatly frustrated him to have been taken out by Qing Yu in only a few moves back in the Sovereign Arena, but that was nothing compared to what he was now experiencing in Dusk Province.

At the time, Qing Yu had activated the treasure of immortal dao under the arena with the combat arts of the founders of immortal dao. That was how she’d been able to kill all thirty-six champions in one go.

They didn’t think Qing Yu was actually better than them, and were thoroughly confident that any one of them would be able to defeat her under different circumstances.

Facing Qing Han, the young man in golden armor was even less impressed. Despite his reputation, Qing Han didn’t have any notable feats under his belt. He was only known for restoring the void realm and becoming a dao sovereign appointed by the Dao Flower.

To many, Qing Han was nothing but an attention-seeker, fishing for praise he didn’t deserve.

“The courage to face you in a fair fight, you say?” Qing Han beamed brightly, her foul mood seemingly fading away because of something delightful occurring.

“Alright, I’ll give you the chance for a face-to-face exchange.” She stowed the weapons of war with a wave of her hand, then descended from the city wall to face the champion in golden armor.

“Identify yourself.” Qing Han released the full power of an unravelled void realm cultivator as she spoke.

Her cultivation had progressed greatly after the Sovereign Meet and she’d broken through to a new realm. She’d also found an inheritance—the dao book she was reading in the tomb—in the Sovereign World. More importantly, the power of the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals increased as her cultivation level improved. That, along with the starstones, were the greatest aces up her sleeves.

“A fame-seeker bold enough to fight me?” the youth in golden armor scoffed after a surprised pause. He’d ascended to returned void realm, so he didn’t consider an unravelled void realm cultivator a threat at all.

“My surname is Fangyang,” he smiled proudly. “As for my name… I’ll tell you if you can survive three hits from me.”

“Fangyang?” That gave everyone pause. Fangyang was a surname so rare it was nearly unheard of. The young man introducing himself as Fangyang was a stranger to them as well. His debut in the world of immortals had been during the Sovereign Meet in Destiny City.

He was powerful enough to be one of the thirty-six champions of the Sovereign Meet, and he’d ascended to peak returned void realm. No run-of-the-mill small faction could’ve raised someone like him.

“Fangyang?” an immortal muttered. “I once saw this name in an ancient tomb… They seem to have been a noble clan in the Primordial Era.”

The ancient lords were those who’d exceeded dao immortal and reached the ingress realm. Clans who had such heavyweights among them were considered nobles, and grasped the power to rule over parts of the world of immortals.

However, when the ancient great war befell the immortals, all of the ancient clans were destroyed. The lofty immortals lost their immortality and their memories, and the Fangyang Clan was no exception. Even survivors of the clan didn’t know they were once nobility.

“But the Fangyang Clan was destroyed,” continued the immortal. “Did you stumble upon their heritage somewhere?”

“Fool!” scoffed the young man. “The Fangyang Nobles weren’t destroyed and our heritage remains unbroken!”

Rumble!

Radiance as blinding as the sun burst forth from the Fangyang scion’s body.

“The restriction against immortals is so powerful as to sever the immortal dao and knock all lives back into the dust of the mundane, erasing memories as immortals fell… However, those who were powerful enough could endure the restriction and maintain their memory!” Deep pride flashed across the Fangyang scion’s face. “My ancestors were such individuals. Although they fell from immortality, they retained their memories of the immortal dao!”

Deafening silence descended. Memories of the immortal dao? The implications of this were tremendous.

With the immortal dao severed, the ancient combat arts had been lost. What was unearthed from the ancient tombs were mostly incomplete fragments. Only a few perfect ancient methods existed, such as the flawless, complete heritage hidden in the inheritance tower at the center of Dusk City.

It appeared that the Fangyang Clan had access to such perfect ancient methods as well!

“The Fangyang Clan now returns to the world to take our place as its ruler!” the youth declared with great solemnity.

“What a joke,” snorted a voice from midair. “The Fangyang Clan? Your cowardly excuses for ancestors only retained their memories by a stroke of luck because they fled and hid outside the realm. They were later exiled by the divine race and nine celestial emperors. Now you have the audacity to claim to be the rulers of the world?

“Your clan wouldn’t dare emerge in the world, had the nine celestial emperors not passed down their thrones and removed themselves from the conflicts of the lands!”

“Who is it?!” an immortal lurking on the other side demanded before the Fangyang scion could say anything.

The voice didn’t speak again, and the young man’s expression was as black as foreboding night, thoroughly humiliated. However, neither he nor the other Fangyang members could offer any counterarguments. What the voice said was the truth. There was no arguing that the Fangyang Clan had only shown themselves because of the nine celestial emperors’ abdication.

“Show yourself, lurking vermin!” The young man in golden armor made a sudden move, striking at a portion of the sky with his palm.

A gray figure tumbled from midair, shrouded by a gray presence and wreathed in a pungent, rotten smell… a zombie!

“Corpse Refiner scum,” snarledt he Fangyang scion, taking a step forward and smacking the zombie with a palm strike. It fell apart and died then and there.

The Corpse Refiners hadn’t participated in the last Sovereign Meet. They were still the public enemy of the world, despite having established themselves in Truespirit Major. Any of their members would be torn apart if they dared show up.

With countless geniuses flocking to Dusk Province to hold another Sovereign Meet, though, the Corpse Refiners couldn’t stay on the sidelines. They were a mysterious faction that’d been around since at least the Primordial Era. Their heritage had never been lost, and they knew about the Fangyang Clan.

“Hehehe, bold of you to kill a battle zombie of mine, Fangyang. Tsk, tsk, that’s all you’ve got though, isn’t it?”

……

Qing Han rubbed her forehead in exasperation at seeing the Fangyang Clan fighting with the Corpse Refiners instead.

“I’ll deal with you cockroaches after I take care of this so-called dao sovereign.” Failing to locate the zombie’s owner, the Fangyang scion shifted his attention back to Qing Han. “We fight!”