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Neither the Burning Heaven Demon Sovereign nor Ancient Void Sage Monarch could hide the drastic change in their expressions as they watched Xu Zimo step across the sky toward them. Each of them immediately pulled back, desperate to flee, but Paimon and the others had already cut off every route of escape.

Only the Hell Sovereign and the Alchemy Sovereign remained motionless. They sat blankly on the ground, like empty husks without souls.

The Golden Crow Saint Sovereign was dead.

Now that the myriad flames had returned to one, the two of them were little more than useless shells. The Huo Heavenly Clan had been completely annihilated, and even the Lotus Pathway was gone.

A mighty superpower that had stood for a million years had vanished overnight.

Someone looked up at the pale light of dawn breaking through the sky and muttered, “The heavens have changed.”

The fall of the Huo Heavenly Clan meant the Godfiend Abyss Heaven would soon descend into chaos. With the demonic hierarchy in ruins, every faction would seize the chance to fight for land and resources.

At that moment, Paimon and his companions surrounded Ancient Void and the Burning Heaven Demon Sovereign.

“What do you intend to do?” Ancient Void asked through clenched teeth.

“What do you think?” Xu Zimo replied with a faint smile. “I’m curious, though, at a time like this, why hasn’t your Heavenly Court made a move yet?”

“If you release me now, there’s still a path to survival,” Ancient Void said firmly. “Otherwise, you’re dead for sure.”

“I can release you,” Xu Zimo said with a grin. “All you have to do is kneel down and beg for forgiveness. Then I might consider it.”

“Dream on,” Ancient Void sneered, his face dark.

But before he could say more, the Burning Heaven Demon Sovereign suddenly dropped to his knees.

“Infernal Lord, it’s all my fault. I was blinded and deceived by these petty men. Please spare my life, I’ll do anything you ask.”

At that point, the Demon Sovereign no longer cared about pride or dignity. Men like him feared only one thing, death. Everything else could be cast aside. Face, honor, name. But not life.

After all, he was a Saint Sovereign. He had spent a lifetime clawing his way to that level; how could he accept dying like this?

“I told him to kneel,” Xu Zimo said coldly, glancing at the Demon Sovereign. “Who do you think you are? You call yourself a Demon Sovereign? Pathetic.”

He had demanded Ancient Void kneel because he represented the Heavenly Court, a symbol of their divine authority. The Burning Heaven Demon Sovereign, on the other hand, was just an old patriarch who had founded his own sect, one that had been crushed by the Radiant Court and sent fleeing like a beaten dog.

“I’m not worthy of the title Demon Sovereign! I’ll change my name right now, whatever you say, I’ll do it! I’ll become Dog Sovereign!” the Demon Sovereign kept pleading.

Xu Zimo ignored him. Ancient Void, by contrast, was a man of iron will. Even facing death, he would not bow.

Xu Zimo looked up at the skies and murmured, “You’re really good at holding your patience, aren’t you?”

Then his eyes hardened. “At noon today, execute the two of them here in the Lotus Pathway.”

“Yes, my lord,” Paimon and the others answered, immediately sealing their meridians before the prisoners could resist. They bound both men and dragged them to the central plaza of the shattered Lotus Pathway.

The surviving residents, realizing they were no longer in danger after the Five-Elements God-Lotus’s destruction, had not fled. Hearing that four Saint Sovereigns were to be executed, they all gathered around to watch.

“I want to see how long you can keep hiding,” Xu Zimo said coldly to the sky.

The blazing sun poured over the ruins of the Lotus Pathway. All around, the residents whispered among themselves.

Ancient Void, the Burning Heaven Demon Sovereign, the Hell Sovereign, and the Alchemy Sovereign were all bound in the center. Four Infernal Archons stood over them, long blades in hand, demonic aura surging.

Xu Zimo stood at the front. Beside him were the Violet Mist Saint Sovereign and Moonlight Fairy, who had already returned after killing the Vermilion Bird Saint Sovereign and the two Huo Elders.

Those battles had been even-matched at first, but once the Huo Heavenly Clan had been destroyed, the enemy had lost their will to fight. Against cultivators of that caliber, a single distraction was fatal.

Xu Zimo looked up at the blazing sun and commanded, “Execute them.”

Of the four captives, only the Burning Heaven Demon Sovereign continued to beg for mercy; the other three stayed silent.

At Xu Zimo’s order, Paimon and the others swung their blades down.

Even if their heads were severed, men like Ancient Void would not truly die, not unless their true fate cores were shattered. A Saint Sovereign could not be killed so easily; even if their destiny was broken, they could still reincarnate through the Life-Death Soul.

Xu Zimo knew this. He didn’t intend to destroy their fate cores, killing them outright would be less useful than imprisoning them. Severing their heads was merely a message, a slap to the face of the Heavenly Court, meant to drag them out into the open.

As the four demonic blades fell in unison, the once-calm air suddenly trembled.

“Stop.”

A vast, commanding voice resounded from every direction, like divine thunder shaking the heavens.

The sound carried such authority that many of the onlookers felt their scalps prickle. Without realizing it, they dropped to their knees, overcome by awe.

Xu Zimo raised his gaze.

The sky above had split open to reveal a grand celestial temple, ancient yet magnificent, shrouded in ethereal light.

Around it towered ancient trees reaching to the heavens. Multicolored radiance burst upward like pillars, flowing across the sky like a galaxy.

God beasts roamed through the light, true phoenixes soared through the air, while seven-colored mountain-and-river birds illuminated half the world, their wings painting a cycle of sun, moon, and stars that stretched into eternity.

“What is that place? It’s so beautiful!”

“Could that be the Heavenly Court, the realm where the immortals dwell?”

The kneeling residents stared, entranced, unable to look away, as if lost within the temple’s splendor.

The voice that had spoken belonged to an elderly man standing before the great hall.

He looked every bit the immortal: robed in white, hair silvered at the temples, his bearing serene and dignified. His voice was deep and resonant, carrying a power that shook the heart. In his hand was a golden decree.

“By command of the Immortal Lord,” the elder proclaimed, “the remnants of the Ancient Demon Race shall release the members of the Heavenly Court at once. Submit and repent, and in light of heaven’s virtue of mercy, your punishment may yet be lessened. Persist in rebellion, and heaven itself will condemn you!”

His words rang out like iron and thunder, proud, absolute, and utterly detached, as if the Heavenly Court alone ruled all things beneath the heavens.

“You think your Heavenly Court’s words mean anything to me?” Xu Zimo said with a laugh.

“Infernal Lord,” the elder replied coldly, “do you really think we delayed our hand for no reason?”

He waved his arm, and in that instant an ancient formation ignited across the sky.

The entire world seemed to tremble under its weight.

“The Sky-Shroud Grand Formation,” the elder said calmly. “Infernal Lord, under this formation, you will never escape.”

No one knew the true level of that formation, but unless an Infinite Dao powerhouse intervened, there would be no breaking it.