The storm gradually subsided, revealing an immense, bottomless crater in the earth.

At its center lay the Dao Source itself.

Xu Zimo’s cold gaze fell upon it, yet he sensed no trace of the Hidden Ox Emperor within.

He suddenly turned, only to find the Hidden Ox Emperor standing right behind him.

With both hands raised, the Grand Emperor radiated an immense power.

From within the great pit, an endless torrent of Dao Source energy erupted, surging skyward.

It became a river filled with Dao Resonance.

That celestial river burst forth with unprecedented force, pouring ceaselessly into the Hidden Ox Emperor’s body.

With a wave of his hand, the Dao Source flowed into him completely.

“Seriously? Again?” Xu Zimo asked flatly.

The Hidden Ox Emperor’s eyes deepened.

“Godly Power of Grand Derivation,” he intoned, and the Dao Source in his hands began to change.

All of Thousand-Ox Dao Court trembled, and within the territory covered by Dao Source, heaven and earth were overturned.

Saplings of immortal trees instantly grew into towering giants.

God beasts broke through one after another, their roars reverberating through the land.

All things between heaven and earth transformed in myriad ways.

And at the end of all this derivation stood the Hidden Ox Emperor himself.

With the Dao Source and the Godly Power of Grand Derivation empowering him, the aura around him grew thousands of times stronger.

The void had already collapsed into black holes.

The surrounding millions of miles land lay in utter ruin.

Xu Zimo strode across the sky to meet him.

The Hidden Ox Emperor shouted lightly, his voice like the very sound of heaven and earth, spreading wave after wave, shattering the void wherever it passed.

“All of you, fall back a hundred miles!” Dongfang Li shouted.

Half of the Thousand-Ox Dao Court was destroyed. Yet with the Dao Source present, no matter the devastation, it seemed always able to restore itself.

A punch came flying forward, like a cannon shell, too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Xu Zimo met it head-on, their figures twisting the void itself.

Nomological Truths of Space and Time erupted without pause.

The heavens churned, nothing remained intact, save for the sun still hanging in the sky.

“You’re still not strong enough!” Xu Zimo roared. Infernal energy surged from his body, empowered further by billions of Power Vortexes within him spinning violently. Heaven-Shattering Power burst forth little by little.

“Is that so?” the Hidden Ox Emperor chuckled. And then, the same terrifying infernal energy erupted from his body.

It rolled across the infinite void, annihilating everything.

Soaring upward, it merged seamlessly with Xu Zimo’s own infernal energy, as if both came from the same source.

“What is this?” Xu Zimo frowned slightly. “You too… are of the Ancient Demon Race?”

But no, that couldn’t be. He felt no true infernal essence from the Hidden Ox Emperor.

“Though all men claim to hate the Ancient Demons, sometimes this power is truly enviable,” the Hidden Ox Emperor laughed.

He struck down with a punch, an explosion of carnage spreading between them.

Their figures split apart.

At that moment, Xu Zimo once again sensed what had vanished before, the Infernal Heart.

His gaze locked on the Hidden Ox Emperor.

The sound of thump, thump, thump, so close it seemed right at hand.

“You fused with the Infernal Heart?” Xu Zimo said in astonishment.

“So, you’ve discovered it,” the Hidden Ox Emperor replied.

“I thought the Heavenly Court held no regard for us,” Xu Zimo said coldly.

“I am not of the Heavenly Court. I merely repaid their kindness,” the Hidden Ox Emperor answered again.

“It doesn’t matter. You should never have fused with the Infernal Heart,” Xu Zimo said.

“I knew it was wrong,” the Hidden Ox Emperor admitted. “But the power was before me. I guarded it for countless years… in the end, I just couldn’t resist.”

Under the influence of the Infernal Heart, the Hidden Ox Emperor’s body began to change.

The heart pulsed as the core of his being, his blood turned black, and faint infernal energy seeped from his eyes.

“Well?” the Hidden Ox Emperor asked. The green ox beside him had transformed into a black ox, like a world-devouring infernal bull, bellowing madly.

Xu Zimo only smiled.

He lifted Shadow Tyrant and sliced across his palm.

Blood streamed forth, forming a crimson line.

The blood flowed faster and faster, until it became a roaring river.

With a wave of Xu Zimo’s hand, the blood river swept across the sky, surging toward the Hidden Ox Emperor.

“What is this?!” the Hidden Ox Emperor roared.

“Ancient Demon blood,” Xu Zimo smiled. “You already have an Infernal Heart, let me gift you something extra.”

The Hidden Ox Emperor tried to escape, but suddenly found he could not move.

The Infernal Heart within his body seemed summoned, it ceased to beat.

His organs, meridians, everything infected by the heart’s power, fell into deathly stillness.

The Hidden Ox Emperor could no longer move.

Struggling, he realized only his head still obeyed him; the rest of his body was lost.

“What did you do to me?!” he demanded.

Even his Dao Source seemed tainted by infernal energy.

Thousand-Ox Dao Court, sustained by the Dao Source, now suffered corruption.

Immortal trees and beasts mutated, cloaked in infernal energy.

“Even an Infernal Archon of the Ancient Demon Race can barely withstand the Infernal Heart, what chance has a human?” Xu Zimo said.

He stepped forward, reached into the Hidden Ox Emperor’s chest, and pulled free the heart.

The Infernal Heart throbbed in his palm.

Black and red, it pulsed with evil and corruption.

“I wondered why I couldn’t sense it and why you survived devouring it. Turns out it was sealed.” Xu Zimo smiled.

The Infernal Lord of the previous age was a supreme existence.

How could a mere Grand Emperor devour his heart and live?

Of course, the Heavenly Court would never leave the Infernal Heart guarded so simply.

“Cultivation is not easy. To ascend to the throne of a Grand Emperor is hardship enough,” Xu Zimo said quietly.

“What do you want?” the Hidden Ox Emperor asked.

“I have two friends. Let them stay in Thousand-Ox Dao Court to cultivate in peace,” Xu Zimo replied.

“That’s all...?” the Hidden Ox Emperor asked in surprise.

“You were never my enemy. You don’t deserve to be,” Xu Zimo shook his head.

He studied the heart in his hand.

Sealing power swirled across its surface, forming a barrier against his infernal energy.

He clenched his fist and smashed down hard.

Boom!

The seal remained unbroken, yet it activated.

A beam of light shot upward from the seal.

Xu Zimo looked up sharply.

The beam pierced the heavens, scattering the infernal energy, tearing the clouds apart.

Above, a celestial image appeared.

Millions clad in golden robes stood in the firmament.