The Golden King’s golden pupils contracted as he fixed his gaze on Gai Jiuyou. His heart was riddled with unease — he found the ailing elder before him impossible to see through, and wave after wave of startled dread washed over him.

“Brother Gai’s cultivation can rival the legendary supreme existences — truly admirable. One could truly say he shakes the ancient and illuminates the present. A pity only that he was born in the wrong era,” said the Great Sage Huntuo with a faint smile.

Both Ye Fan and the Elder Manor Master of the Extraordinary Scholar’s Manor felt a growing unease within their hearts. The primordial age was a grand and flourishing era when ten thousand races coexisted — and now, with so many emerging at once, there may truly have been “elder forefathers” transcending the Great Sage level left behind from those times.

These two Great Sages were most likely not speaking idly. Was this some form of invisible intimidation? If a being the Great Sages called an “elder forefather” were truly to emerge, the heavens would genuinely change!

Gai Jiuyou let out a sigh and said, “I have grown old and useless. I merely wish to witness a supreme existence of the ancient clans. I wonder if the two of you might introduce me to one?”

With these words spoken, both Ye Fan and the Elder Sage of the Extraordinary Scholar’s Manor felt a sudden chill, as though the ancient clans truly did harbor such a supreme existence, and Gai Jiuyou had sensed something.

The Great Sage Huntuo said nothing. The Golden King’s expression remained cold and indifferent. Neither spoke immediately, and the scene fell quiet — the atmosphere growing heavy.

“Gai Jiuyou, I acknowledge that you are extremely powerful — but in your current state, can you truly sustain this for long? I believe I am capable of fighting you,” said the Golden King after a long silence.

“Have you both come only as incarnations?” Gai Jiuyou said with an air of unconcern.

Behind them, the Blue Demon Clan master’s heart jolted. It was plain that even the two Great Sages of the ancient clans were deeply wary — their true bodies had not descended. They had come only as incarnations to probe and test.

Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye. He had not been able to detect any difference before, for these two incarnations were themselves extraordinarily powerful — not much weaker than their true forms.

In the ancient city below the Blue Demon Abyss, a magnificent and imposing great city spread across the underground world. At its very center, a heaven-reaching ancient tree was rooted, glimmering with blue crystalline light and enveloped in ribbons of drifting mist that spread outward in all directions.

The Great Sage Huntuo and the Golden King stood upon the city gates, blocking Gai Jiuyou’s path. The two sides faced each other in a standoff — and now with the Golden King’s words, the tension became unbearable.

“Is that so? Then let us exchange some pointers,” said Gai Jiuyou.

Many among the ancient clans had assumed Gai Jiuyou’s blood essence had run dry. The suppression of the Human Race had not infrequently served as a kind of probing test — yet now that Gai Jiuyou had struck, he overturned the understanding of a great many people in a single instant.

The Golden King was uncertain how to gauge him. His golden pupils shot forth two gleaming beams of divine radiance, attempting to pierce through and see everything within this ailing elder’s body.

“You have slaughtered the Ancient Sages of four great clans in a single day, Brother Gai — should you not withdraw now? Continuing any further benefits no one. Grievances should be dissolved rather than deepened,” said the Great Sage Huntuo.

“For so many years I have watched all of it with my own eyes. Time and again, without cease, the ancient clans have grown more and more outrageous — compounding their offenses with each passing day. Can you truly dissolve this?” Gai Jiuyou replied mildly.

“I believe that going forward, such things will be very difficult to repeat. The path to immortality is soon to open, and the Ancient Sages must all begin preparing. I trust a period of peace and quiet will follow,” Huntuo said.

“Once the path to immortality opens, the world will certainly fall into great upheaval — war and fire everywhere. Even now the ancient clans cannot restrain themselves and remain quiet. What will come to pass on that day is not difficult to imagine.” Gai Jiuyou shook his head.

“Brother Gai — do you truly intend to unleash a great slaughter this day and wipe out the Ancient Sages of the ten clans?” the Great Sage Huntuo asked in a solemn voice.

“Indeed. Not a single one can be spared. These ten clans have gone far too far. This is no longer the primordial age — yet they still seek to feed on the flesh and blood of the Human Race, to shout at us and abuse us, to treat us as slaves. What they have done is more than enough grounds for annihilating an entire clan,” said Gai Jiuyou.

“Brother Gai, I acknowledge that your divine power is peerless under heaven — but do not think for a moment that there is truly no one who can restrain you, even if you were restored to your absolute peak!” said the Great Sage Huntuo.

Gai Jiuyou smiled. This time, he said nothing at all.

The Golden King said coldly, “Gai Jiuyou, you have gone too far. The means of the Ancient Emperor — what do you know of them? So long as you have not achieved the Dao, you will never be able to rival them. After such a long passage of time, you have already missed the age in which you could have achieved the Dao. Old and decrepit as you are, thinking to suppress ten thousand races by your own power alone is utterly unrealistic!”

“There is no meaning in saying any of this. Do the two of you wish to block me?” said Gai Jiuyou.

The Great Sage Huntuo said, “Brother Gai, I solemnly remind you — in a great age such as this, it would not be a miracle for one or two unrivaled elder forefathers to emerge.”

“Should one at the threshold of the Emperor level appear — hah — even if you were restored to your absolute peak, Gai Jiuyou, you would most likely be unable to handle it!” the Golden King said coldly.

Gai Jiuyou spoke no further. He took one step forward, and a heaven-flooding presence erupted. Within the city, the Blue Demon Clan master cried out, vomiting torrents of blood, consumed by overwhelming terror.

He was only a single step from becoming a Great Sage — yet now he was as feeble as an insect, liable to be shattered apart at any moment under such a presence. And yet the person opposite had not truly made a move at all — this was nothing more than a domineering presence that swept over heaven and earth!

“Gai Jiuyou, you have gone too far! Do you truly intend to slaughter the Ancient Sages of the Blue Demon Clan right before our eyes?!” the Golden King roared, his expression ashen, manifesting streaks of golden light to dispel the all-encompassing presence.

“Brother Gai, please stay your hand!” the Great Sage Huntuo also called out, stepping forward.

“I cannot show mercy. Every Ancient Sage of the ten clans must be destroyed — not a single one can be spared.” Gai Jiuyou said with unwavering resolve. He continued to stride forward, moving to pass between the two Great Sages.

Divine might surged in every direction. The entire enormous ancient city shook and trembled. In the distance, the blue ancient tree’s branches and leaves swayed, rustling loudly as blue light blazed toward the sky.

The tension had reached its absolute limit. Gai Jiuyou might be about to come to blows with the Great Sages. The mighty figures of the Blue Demon Clan had nearly stopped breathing, for this would determine their fate.

“I stand here — I will not permit you to kill this clan’s Ancient Sages. Especially him!” said the Golden King, pointing toward the Blue Demon Clan master.

The Blue Demon Clan master showed every sign of becoming a Great Sage — an extraordinary existence. Throughout the many years, every time the Golden King had visited, the Blue Demon Clan master had shown him the ritual deference of a disciple.

“Is that so? Then try to stop me. This day, it is precisely him I shall kill first.” Gai Jiuyou spoke with placid calm.

He continued to step forward. The Golden King’s expression turned frigid as he moved to block the way — yet Gai Jiuyou moved like an immortal in his steps, flowing past with ease, rendering the Golden King’s supreme golden Dao-markings utterly useless, unable to impede him in the slightest!

Swish!

Gai Jiuyou struck with remarkable composure. He extended a single finger — a brilliance of light rose and shot forward.

“Aah…!”

The Blue Demon Clan master screamed. Powerful as he was — capable of plucking stars from the sky — in this moment he could not move a single inch. He could not evade that radiant beam of finger-light. His brow bone was pierced through in an instant, and he let out a shrill, agonized howl.

Splat!

Blood splattered in all directions, forming a rain of crimson — most of it blue. A peerless genius of his generation met his end here, dying before his time.

It all looked so effortless. Gai Jiuyou seemed to have expended no great effort at all in ending the Blue Demon Clan master’s life.

“Gai Jiuyou!” the Golden King roared, his golden pupils blazing with brilliant radiance.

“Don’t act rashly — you are not his match,” said the Great Sage Huntuo with a furrowed brow.

“It matters not,” said the Golden King. “This is only an incarnation — what does it matter to abandon it? Let me test the true measure of his strength and see whether he is merely bluffing.”

Gai Jiuyou entered the city, heading directly for the Blue Demon Ancient Tree — making for this clan’s most sacred ground, to slay the Ancient Sages in secluded cultivation.

“We are undone — even the two Great Sages could not stop him. What are we to do now? Had we known it would come to this, we should have fled for our lives!”

Two Patriarch Kings occupied the ancient tree, their divine power extraordinary — yet at this moment their faces had drained to white. Faced with Gai Jiuyou, they could summon not a single shred of resistance.

“Gai Jiuyou, you have overstepped yourself! If you lay hands on these two, do not come to regret it!” the Golden King shouted.

“Are you threatening me?” Gai Jiuyou turned and looked back, his gaze cold and indifferent — then his enormous hand swept forward and reached for the ancient tree.

“Almighty Great Sage, save us!” The two Ancient Sages of the Blue Demon Clan cried out in desperation, unable to escape — this entire area had been sealed and locked down. The rest of the clan members trembled, unable to stop themselves from collapsing to the ground, their eyes filled with abject terror.

How far back in time they were taken now — recalling that era of primordial ages, when they had feasted on Human flesh and blood, enslaved them in every conceivable way. They had never once imagined that this race would produce a supreme existence, someone who could now cut down their Patriarch Kings as easily as slaughtering dogs.

Without the slightest suspense, the two Ancient Sages in the Blue Demon Tree became mists of blood, their divine souls shattered inch by inch, their names erased from the world.

“Gai Jiuyou!”

The Golden King erupted in fury and unleashed heaven-shaking means, lunging forward to kill. He opened the supreme golden treasury of divine arts inherited from the Ancient Emperor — the Golden Divine Vault — and from it, golden great bells, archaic divine towers, razor-sharp golden divine swords, great cauldrons and more, all radiating boundless golden light, poured forth from a golden realm of weapons and streaked toward Gai Jiuyou.

A Great Sage had struck — enough force to level this entire underground world!

Yet faced with such a ferocious and domineering assault, Gai Jiuyou did little. With a single flash of his body, he evaded the attacks of tens of thousands of golden weapons and appeared directly before the Golden King.

“What?!” Even the Great Sage Huntuo was startled. Too fast — and in that very instant he again sensed those wisps of supreme aura that the Battle Saint Emperor had once carried with him.

Boom!

Gai Jiuyou swept his palm forward. The Golden Divine Vault world collapsed into a storm of energy — enough to destroy half of the Northern Domain — yet the ailing elder’s hand drew through the air in a single motion, gathering all that radiance to his palm, dissolving the Great Sage power capable of shattering ancient stars, annihilating it between his fingers.

Then his right arm trembled, and he cleaved downward from above — striking the Golden King, who cried out at once, his entire golden radiance dimming in an instant.

“Brother Gai, show mercy!” the Great Sage Huntuo called out.

Gai Jiuyou paid him no heed. His palm descended and trembled again — and the Golden King’s entire luminosity was extinguished completely. He let out an agonized long howl, his golden hair flying wildly, unable to resist that one rough, coarse hand.

Crack!

Gai Jiuyou’s expression remained cold. He stepped forward, and that rough hand cleaved down without mercy — the sound of the Golden Dao-markings being shattered was deafening.

Splat!

The Golden Great Sage let out a wretched cry, blood covering his body. Then his form burst apart — torn into four or five pieces, slaughtered right where he stood.

Gai Jiuyou seemed to have consumed remarkably little divine power. In what appeared a deceptively calm sequence of events — three tremors — the Golden Great Sage was broken into dozens upon hundreds of fragments, dissolving into a rain of light that vanished from the world.

“Gai Jiuyou — this is not over between us!”

In a pristine land of the Northern Domain, golden light blazed magnificently. A furious roar resounded through the mountains and rivers — this was the ancient stronghold of the renowned primordial imperial clan: the Golden Cavern.

Within the ancient cave, the true body of the Golden Great Sage opened his eyes. His golden pupils blazed, burning with twin torch-like beams of light. He shot to his feet and seized his clan’s supreme treasure — the extreme-Dao Ancient Emperor’s weapon, the Golden Mace.

In the next instant, he burst out of the Golden Cavern and tore through the void, roaring as he went: “I refuse to believe you can defy heaven itself — let me see how you withstand an Ancient Emperor’s weapon!”

His voice rolled like thunder, shaking the mountains and wilderness until they resounded and trembled. Many mountain ranges collapsed. The great and powerful figures of the Northern Domain were stunned — the Golden Great Sage had gone mad!