Overseas.

After long periods of treading on thin ice in battle, Xu Qi’an gradually grasped the balance—the balance needed to survive this tightrope-like battle.

The two Supreme realm beings each had their advantages and disadvantages. The Insect God’s methods were changeable and mysterious.

While Huang took an extreme approach with the sword—terrifying and lethal, yet with major shortcomings, such as speed. It couldn’t control shadow jumps like the Insect God, appearing and vanishing without a trace.

Xu Qi’an used the Great Eye’s mobility to engage the Insect God, while Huang could mostly only watch.

To enhance his thinking ability and deal with dangerous situations, Xu Qi’an activated the Great Wisdom manifestation within the Pagoda of Ultimate Bliss. The light wheel turned forward, increasing his wisdom.

He did feel much smarter, but thinking also consumed more physical energy…

The prolonged battle was meaningless, merely wasting time. Moreover, the Shaman God had broken free of its seal, and Great Feng was in imminent danger. He had to find a way to cut off Huang’s horn and rescue the Imperial Director so he could advance to half-step Martial God…

But getting close to Huang meant certain death. What to do…

Xu Qi’an’s brain operated at nearly its limit, tormented by the triple pressures of urgency, crisis, and anxiety.

The current situation was that a black hole floated back and forth, pursuing him.

A mountain of flesh appeared and disappeared mysteriously, its control methods strange and difficult to defend against, entangling him.

Fighting until now, he could barely ward off the two Supreme realm beings and still had to rely on the Great Eye’s assistance. Without this powerful tool, he would have long since been taught a lesson by the Insect God and Huang taking turns.

“The Insect God’s ‘Obscurement’ only affects me for one second and can only be used every ten breaths. It hasn’t used other insect techniques yet, but none are as troublesome as the Dark Insect…

“Huang’s speed can’t keep up with me—seemingly safe, but one mistake and I’m finished…

“But to rescue the Imperial Director, I must face Huang’s innate divine ability. Troublesome…

“I definitely can’t defeat two Supreme realm beings in combat. Since strength isn’t enough, think of other methods. The Art of War says attacking the mind is superior to attacking the city. The Insect God possesses the Heaven Insect and surpassing wisdom—it would only be smarter than me.

“Hmm, though Huang’s intelligence is adequate, its personality is greedy and irritable, with obvious flaws to exploit…”

Xu Qi’an glanced at the black hole rapidly pouncing toward him, snapped his fingers to instantly teleport away, and called out loudly:

“Just now, the fortune within me gave warning. This can only prove that either the Buddha has begun devouring the Central Plains, or the Shaman God has broken free of its seal.

“How much longer will you fight me here?”

The Insect God remained unmoved, but Huang was clearly affected—the black hole paused slightly in mid-air.

The Insect God’s gaze was calm and wise as it issued its dignified, deep voice:

“Don’t be deceived by him. A Supreme being’s consumption of the Central Plains takes time, but if we kill him, we can directly seize the fortune within him.”

The black hole hesitated no longer and continued its attack.

At the same time, the Insect God cast Obscurement on him and the Pagoda again, but this time, Xu Qi’an seemed to anticipate it, his figure flashing and vanishing to appear hundreds of zhang away.

Then his original position was replaced by the black hole.

The Great Wisdom manifestation of the Pagoda didn’t just increase wisdom—it was also a signal detector. Once the Insect God cast Obscurement on him and the Pagoda, the wisdom bonus would disappear.

Xu Qi’an could receive this signal and teleport in advance.

And because Obscurement only lasted one second, this nullified its effect.

“ROAR!”

An angry growl came from within the black hole—it had missed again.

In ancient times, Huang could act with impunity. Even same-level powerhouses like the Insect God were unwilling to provoke it because Huang was both powerful and crude. Powerful because its innate divine ability troubled even same-level powerhouses.

Crude because its shortcomings were too obvious—same-level powerhouses had ways to counter and avoid it.

Just like a martial artist!

“I may not be able to rescue the Imperial Director, but you can’t kill me either. How will you plunder my fortune?”

Xu Qi’an shouted: “The Shaman God and Buddha are consuming Great Feng, while you two are still overseas. It will take time to return—you’ve already lost the chance to compete for Heaven’s Way.”

The black hole’s absorption force suddenly increased.

At this moment, Xu Qi’an actively charged toward the Insect God. In the process, distorted complex patterns appeared on his body’s surface, his muscles suddenly swelling, filled with mountain-moving sea-filling terrible power.

The surrounding void distorted, as if unable to bear his power. Below, the God-Demon Island experienced violent earthquakes, splitting open with cracks.

He charged head-on toward the Insect God.

Seeing this, the Insect God immediately made its muscles swell like steel, while the air holes on its back sprayed blood mist—Blood Sacrifice Technique!

The air around it is also distorted, unable to bear the flesh mountain’s power.

But compared to the barbaric charge of this crude martial artist Xu Qi’an, the Insect God wasn’t eager for a needle-to-grain collision. It opened its mouth and spat out several beautiful women.

About a dozen or so, these beauties had city-toppling kingdom-felling faces, completely unclothed, with heavy breasts, long legs, tight flat bellies, perfectly round buttocks…

They fearlessly flirted and posed provocatively toward the charging half-step Martial God.

In an instant, demon sounds filled Xu Qi’an’s ears, his blood surged, and his mind contained only: The word is very big, endure it…

The Insect God had aroused his lust.

This move seemed born to counter Xu Qi’an, successfully disrupting his composure, breaking his attack rhythm, and wearing down his will.

The shadows at the base of the Insect God’s body began to tremble, “Obscurement” ready to strike. At that moment, a brass sword light rose from Xu Qi’an’s back, slaying the dozen or so bewitching hussies.

The Nation-Stabilizing Sword, hidden for so long, had struck, resolving the temptation of beauty through ruthless means.

They transformed into writhing blocks of deep red flesh, which suddenly expanded into a sky-covering purple mist.

“Hiss hiss…”

Purple smoke rapidly rose from Xu Qi’an’s skin as it was severely corroded. His eyeballs stung, and his vision became blurry.

The Insect God’s poison insects were extraordinary, easily wounding even a half-step Martial God.

Xu Qi’an immediately descended with the wind, running through the void to charge out of the poison mist’s range, gripping the Nation-Stabilizing Sword.

Then he settled all his qi, suppressed all emotions, and collapsed the “black hole” in his dantian, gathering his mighty power.

But just as he was about to swing the sword, his arm suddenly lost control, his body becoming rigid.

Those toxins that had invaded his body had somehow been given life, transforming into tiny black insects. They had taken root in his flesh, controlling the parts where they had rooted, competing with Xu Qi’an for control of his body.

Corpse insects… The thought flashed through Xu Qi’an’s mind, and in the next moment, his vision went black—Obscurement again.

These were the Insect God’s methods, endless and mysteriously unpredictable.

Seizing the opportunity, the black hole rapidly floated over to completely devour Xu Qi’an.

BOOM!

Suddenly, Xu Qi’an, his five senses and six consciousnesses obscured, relied on his sense of direction to actively crash into the Insect God, roaring deeply:

“Huang, even in death, I won’t die to waste like you.”

The Insect God’s huge deep red body pounced with all its might, immediately smashing Xu Qi’an from the air to the ground. God-Demon Island shook with a “rumble,” cracking into spider web-like fissures.

Even with a half-step of Martial God’s physique, such a blow inevitably broke his chest and rib bones, piercing his organs.

The Insect God, possessing the Power Insect ability, had strength even surpassing a martial artist’s.

Not only that, ant-like child insects crawled out from the Insect God’s surface and burrowed into Xu Qi’an’s body, secreting streams of venom that permeated his skin.

In just a moment, countless raised bumps appeared beneath Xu Qi’an’s skin, quickly crawling about as his skin turned deep purple and his flesh rotted.

All the insect techniques struck at once, successfully controlling this half-step Martial God.

Seeing this, Huang grew anxious and charged head-on toward the Insect God and Xu Qi’an.

The Xu fellow’s body contained vast fortune—devouring him meant winning half the battle for Heaven’s Way. How could it watch the Insect God pluck this fruit? Moreover, Xu Qi’an’s earlier words weren’t without reason.

The Shaman God and Buddha were already devouring the Central Plains, occupying territory, while it was still overseas, impossibly far from the Nine Provinces continent.

No more time could be wasted.

The Insect God’s vast voice carried gravity:

“Don’t fall for his provocation. I can share half the fortune with you.”

The black hole’s momentum didn’t decrease. From within came Huang’s voice:

“Fine, give him to me first.”

The Insect God of course knew Huang’s nature—giving Xu Qi’an to it would truly be drawing water with a bamboo basket.

The Insect God didn’t explain further, as there was no need to justify. The two were competitors—when joining forces against Xu Qi’an earlier, it had already prepared for a struggle with Huang over the spoils after capturing the youth.

Now that it had captured Xu Qi’an and Huang wouldn’t compromise, there was nothing more to discuss.

While maintaining the Blood Sacrifice Technique to keep Xu Qi’an suppressed, it cast Empathy and Obscurement spells toward the charging black hole, spewing highly concentrated purple poison mist.

Igniting Huang’s mating desire.

This successfully made the charging black hole pause. Seizing the opportunity, the Insect God performed a shadow jump with Xu Qi’an.

But at that moment, its huge body suddenly froze, then lost control of itself, its mountain-like flesh showing signs of corrosion.

Jade Shattering!

Xu Qi’an had returned the damage to the Insect God in full.

Now it was Huang who seized the opportunity, charging recklessly toward the Insect God. It was too late for another shadow jump.

The Insect God made a split-second decision, its muscles rapidly contracting and tensing, the huge flesh mountain arching up and suddenly launching forward.

It actively charged toward the black hole, carrying Xu Qi’an with it—a flesh monster the size of a mountain, actively plunging into the hundred-zhang-diameter black hole.

The Insect God’s physical form was absolutely the strongest among all Supreme realm beings. Even Xu Qi’an with his symbolic power essence couldn’t possibly overcome the Insect God in pure strength.

This charge carried unimaginable power.

“Whoosh…”

Under the impact of this tremendous force, Huang’s black hole suddenly distorted, its vortex becoming chaotic winds, nearly collapsing outright.

Huang immediately settled its emotions, entering a “false sleep” state, pushing its innate divine ability to the peak.

The black hole stabilized and successfully caught both the Insect God and the half-step Martial God.

Instantly, the Insect God and Xu Qi’an’s qi and blood poured like a broken dam toward the black hole. Besides blood qi, the former also had the power of six insect techniques—its essence abilities.

If this continued, within half a quarter hour, Xu Qi’an and the Insect God would turn to ash, their essence completely stolen by Huang.

In the half-step of Martial God’s cells, the “patterns” symbolizing immortality began to curl up. After some patterns curled to their limit, they dispersed into blood qi, becoming Huang’s “food.”

This meant Xu Qi’an’s foundation as a half-step Martial God was draining away. Perhaps before half a quarter-hour, he would first fall from half-step Martial God realm, then Rank One, Rank Two, until annihilation.

Huang truly could kill a half-step Martial God, while the Buddha previously couldn’t kill Supreme realm beings. This ancient divine demon was terrifyingly extreme, with obvious strengths and weaknesses… Xu Qi’an showed no panic, instead grinning:

“Insect God, you have no choice.”

This move was called “placing oneself in mortal danger to find life”—a strategy conceived under the enhancement of the Great Wisdom light wheel.

First, exploit Huang’s greedy and irritable nature, using words to increase its anxiety.

Then engage the Insect God in a death struggle. He certainly couldn’t match the Insect God, so naturally became its “prey.”

At this point, Huang and the Insect God would inevitably turn on each other.

Because it concerned the battle for Heaven’s Way, neither would trust the other. Even knowing Xu Qi’an might have a scheme, they had to press on.

No matter how calm the Insect God was, it had to act because Huang’s nature was greedy—Huang couldn’t resist meat in its mouth, nor could it tolerate having a cooked duck snatched away.

The two Supreme realm beings inevitably became opponents.

Of course, at this step, the plan was only half successful. What came next was crucial.

“Join forces with me!”

After speaking, Xu Qi’an let the essence symbolizing the authority of “force” appear on his body surface. His severely corroded flesh regenerated, muscles full and brimming with extraordinary strength.

Instantly, heaven and earth’s wind and clouds changed color. Clouds churned, raining fire. Metal essence completely separated from the earth, condensing into mottled ores. Water essence condensed into ice, falling with the fire rain.

Formless spiritual power became chaotic.

The martial artist’s special domain expanded.

The Insect God’s huge body twisted, its spine spraying crimson blood mist. After having vast amounts of blood qi devoured, its size increased rather than decreased, its aura rose rather than fell.

The half-step Martial God and Insect God struck simultaneously with full force toward the black hole.

These terrible attacks were also devoured by the black hole. The next second, the black hole collapsed from the inside out, becoming terrible hurricanes sweeping in all directions.

The ancient monster with a sheep’s body and human face appeared, its body covered in cracks, thick blood flowing endlessly.

Its eyes held anger, unwillingness, anxiety, and greed.

The full-force strike of the half-step Martial God and Insect God was too terrible, exceeding the limits of its innate divine ability, directly breaking the “black hole.”

Xu Qi’an dared this risky move because he was certain that his power combined with the Insect God’s could break Huang’s divine ability.

No spell or essence in the world could simultaneously kill a Supreme realm being and a half-step Martial God, because these two were the ceiling of the supernatural world—such power couldn’t exist in the Nine Provinces.

The force of the collapsing black hole threw the three peak powerhouses apart.

The distant Pagoda of Ultimate Bliss seized the opportunity, its Great Eye lighting up to cut the space where Xu Qi’an was, moving him above Huang’s head.

Flying backward, Xu Qi’an instantly stabilized body and mind, using martial arts neutralization technique to discharge momentum in a flash, then reached to his chest and drew out the Great Peace Blade.

He channeled his lifetime’s qi into the Great Peace Blade.

And struck with all his might!

Now the Nation-Stabilizing Sword, as a weapon, could barely withstand a half-step Martial God’s qi, greatly consuming the blade. Only the Great Peace Blade could easily bear his qi infusion.

Huang and the Insect God were still flying backward. The former’s amber fierce eyes suddenly contracted—it understood Xu Qi’an’s intention: cut the horn to save the Imperial Director!

But at this moment, the differences between systems became apparent. Though Huang had a powerful physique, it lacked martial artists’ neutralization techniques and couldn’t discharge force in an instant.

The horn on its head suddenly expanded, trying to use its innate divine ability again.

On the other side, shadows rolled beneath the Insect God as it performed a shadow jump.

CLANG!

Sparks flew as the longhorn sealing the Imperial Director was forcibly cut off.

The giant horn, dozens of zhang long and comparable to a city gate, crashed down heavily. The seven insect powers sealed within slowly dispersed.

From within the horn floated the white-haired, white-bearded Imperial Director, hands behind his back, calmly gazing into the distance.

Success… Wild joy filled Xu Qi’an’s heart. Breaking the Imperial Director’s seal and gaining his approval fulfilled one prerequisite and two conditions—he would become an unprecedented Martial God.

But at that moment, his pores suddenly exploded open, filled with uncontrollable fear and a sense of crisis. Every cell and nerve in his body seemed to transmit danger signals.

This wasn’t a martial artist’s crisis premonition—this was fortune’s warning!

There was only one explanation for this:

Great Feng was about to fall!

“Sigh…”

A great sigh echoed through heaven and earth. A breeze passed, and the Imperial Director’s figure scattered like ash.

Only then did Xu Qi’an realize what he’d seen was merely a lingering shadow—the Imperial Director had already returned to Heaven’s Way.

Great Feng’s destiny was exhausted, and its national fortune was completely gone. The foundation supporting the Imperial Director’s “undying immortality” no longer existed.

Xu Qi’an was stunned.

The Insect God’s voice was magnificent and dignified:

“Before going to sea, I controlled insect beasts to visit Jing Mountain City, asking the Shaman God to divine. The divination showed great fortune, but I didn’t believe it.

“I went to Jing Mountain City just to see how far it had progressed in breaking the seal. I determined then that it would take advantage while I was at sea, break the seal, and profit—diviners always grasp opportunities.

“What choice would a desperate Great Feng make when facing the Shaman God?”

The Insect God didn’t continue, its wise bright eyes flashing with mockery:

“You were fooled. I was just playing along, waiting for the Imperial Director’s final moment.”