"Kill!"

In the vast, desolate desert before Emperor Pass, Shi Jian's roar echoed.

His aura, sharp and indomitable, exploded outwards, swallowing thousands of miles and shaking the very mountains and rivers.

He acted without hesitation.

He lightly swung the Daluo Sword Embryo in his hand.

[Inorin's Note: The 'Daluo Sword Embryo' (Dà Luō Jiàn Tāi) is a primordial, unformed Immortal King sword, known for its unparalleled sharpness.]

He swept it forward in a simple, horizontal arc.

In an instant, a torrent of chaotic sword qi surged to the heavens. It was extraordinarily brilliant, a silver line that illuminated the dark universe itself.

His brilliant sword qi did not just illuminate the galaxy.

It also illuminated the hearts of the countless defenders on the walls of Emperor Pass.

Within the pass, Shi Wang (the Stone King) had already conducted his purge. What remained now were almost all true, main combatants.

Seeing Shi Jian charge out alone, each of them felt their hearts surge and their long-dormant battle blood boil.

A strong expert from the Alien Realm charged forward to intercept him.

Boom!

Divine light obscured the sun, and the sky dissolved into chaos.

A black, ancient war chariot, pulled by four skeletal demonic beasts, exploded in mid-air. It was directly split open by Shi Jian's initial sword strike.

Black metal fragments, inscribed with the laws of the Alien Realm, shot high into the sky, shaking the vast desert.

From the wreckage, a terrifying figure emerged. He stood like a peerless demonic mountain, his aura oppressive, facing Shi Jian.

This was a true, strong expert from the Alien Realm. A Supreme from the Emperor Clan, whose strength was frighteningly powerful.

[Inorin's Note: A 'Supreme' (Zhìzūn) is the peak of the Human Dao, the absolute limit before achieving immortality. An 'Emperor Clan' (Dì Zú) Supreme is one of the most powerful beings below the Immortal King level.]

The battle erupted instantly.

Shi Jian's hand radiated crisscrossing sword qi. Thousands of divine lights tore through the sky and split the desert floor, leaving canyons in his wake. A terrifying sight.

A thousand illusions of sword qi stirred the winds and clouds. This was a grand decisive battle at the pinnacle of the Human Dao.

Although Shi Jian had not yet truly stepped into the Supreme Realm, with his current, indomitable battle intent, he could already be considered a true combatant at this pinnacle.

He had left Emperor Pass alone, with only his sword.

He was now directly pursuing and killing his way into the endless army of the Alien Realm, making powerful, sweeping moves.

Sword qi appeared, followed by continuous flashes of blood.

Heads rolled as large numbers of Alien Realm cultivators were decapitated by him, his killing intent soaring to the heavens.

No one was his match in a single exchange.

The Emperor Clan Supreme roared, trying to stop him, but even his black ancient war chariot had been split open by Shi Jian's first strike.

Such a sight stunned everyone.

Not only the people on the Emperor Pass city wall, but even the soldiers of the Alien Realm felt a chill run down their spines.

In the past, which time wasn't the Alien Realm in absolute dominance? They were overwhelmingly powerful, controlling the border battlefield, while Emperor Pass passively took hits.

Today, it was completely, utterly different. One man was scattering their army.

"Kill!"

Beneath the sky, a majestic, furious voice echoed in all directions, like thunder erupting in the void. Streaks of crimson lightning soared into the sky.

This was the Emperor Clan's Supreme making his true move.

He used a profound ancestral divine ability, unleashing an incredibly terrifying punch. The attack was incomparably brilliant, more terrifying than a sun splitting apart, blooming in the sky and crushing heaven and earth.

What was even more special was that this Emperor Clan expert's shoulder radiated a crimson glow, like magma.

These crimson glows constantly changed shape, surging with firelight, finally condensing into a large, ancient, rustic, crimson cauldron.

The cauldron's lid kept lifting, revealing a surging, terrifying firelight.

This cauldron swallowed the essence of heaven and earth, as if it could smelt the eight desolations.

This was the manifestation of the Red King Cauldron.

[Inorin's Note: The Red King (Chì Wáng) was an Immortal King of the Alien Realm. This 'Red King Cauldron' is a supreme divine ability passed down his bloodline, infamous for once being used to smelt an Immortal King of the Nine Heavens.]

Its power was extremely formidable.

When descendants of this lineage cast this divine ability, a vision of the Red King Cauldron slaying an Immortal King would appear.

When this Emperor Clan Supreme used it, its power was absolutely formidable.

Rolling heat waves emanated from the cauldron, accompanied by crimson glows, boiling like the essence of fire. This was truly the divine might of a Supreme.

Shi Jian naturally knew this divine ability. Seeing it, he became even more excited.

"Red King Cauldron? Let's see how it compares to my Heaven and Earth Hell Furnace!"

With a shout, his own divine ability manifested. The Heaven and Earth Hell Furnace instantly appeared behind him.

A gigantic, dark furnace swept across heaven and earth, with a surging, primordial essence boiling and burning within it.

"An Emperor Clan Supreme... you're barely enough weight," Shi Jian declared, his voice cold. "I'll use your blood to declare the true beginning of this unprecedented great calamity!"

Shi Jian's terrifying aura erupted, with divine guardians—manifestations of his laws—surrounding him, making him appear incredibly majestic and holy.

After breaking through two realms in his seclusion, he now didn't even know how powerful he truly was.

This was just right. He would use this so-called Emperor Clan Supreme to celebrate his promotion.

Shi Jian's right arm began to glow, like a condensed divine rainbow, almost transparent. Terrifying Chaos Qi erupted from it.

He fiercely threw a single, simple punch!

Buzz!

The so-called Red King Cauldron, a supreme divine ability, trembled violently and let out a continuous roar.

In an instant, the entire cauldron was forcefully shattered by that punch.

Shi Jian's figure appeared from the explosion of crimson light, his aura undiminished. His fist continued its trajectory, blasting towards the stunned Emperor Clan Supreme.

This aura was too terrifying. It made one's Primordial Spirit unstable and Divine Soul tremble, creating an involuntary urge to prostrate in worship.

The Emperor Clan's Supreme finally couldn't maintain his composure. His expression changed to one of pure terror.

"How can a Void Dao Realm cultivator possess such terrifying power?!"

[Inorin's Note: The 'Void Dao Realm' (Xūdào Jìng) is a cultivation level. 'Supreme' (Zhìzūn) is three major realms above it (Self-Cut, Escape One, Supreme). This power gap is considered fundamentally impossible to cross.]

Facing Shi Jian directly, his pressure was the greatest, and he was the most horrified.

Shi Jian's realm clearly showed him to be only in the Void Dao Realm, yet his aura surged like a boundless galaxy. He deeply felt that terrifying pressure.

Even the Red King Cauldron was shattered by his one punch. What kind of terrifying divine might was this?

The Emperor Clan's Supreme tried his best to block Shi Jian's punch, and endless divine light and laws erupted from his body.

But... it was useless.

In front of Shi Jian's simple, direct punch, no method had any effect.

Because this punch was too terrifying. It was the concept of "one force breaks all methods."

The Emperor Clan's Supreme could only watch in horror as Shi Jian's fist shattered his precious divine ability, and then broke through his physical body.

Pop. His body exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

As a Supreme, even if his physical body was shattered, he could be reborn from a single drop of blood. As long as a trace of his Divine Thought remained, he could still be reborn.

But... the moment he was shattered...

An even more terrifying, absolute aura emanated from Shi Jian's body.

Dominator Domain!

Once the Domain opened, it enveloped the blood mist. The Emperor Clan's Supreme was instantly refined, his divine thought erased from existence.

From Shi Jian's emergence to slaying the enemy, it was only a few instants.

And within these few instants... an Emperor Clan Supreme had fallen.

What is called invincible? This is truly invincible.

The people on Emperor Pass were stunned. They were also familiar with Shi Jian. After all, all the changes that had occurred on Emperor Pass during this period originated from him.

Everyone knew Shi Jian was a peerless genius.

But no one expected him to be so heaven-defying.

A few months ago, it was already exaggerated enough for him to fight cultivators in the Void Dao Realm.

Only a few months had passed... and he could directly instantly kill a Supreme?

And an Emperor Clan Supreme at that? This was simply too terrifying.

One must know that there are also differences between Supremes. Some are just normal Supremes.

Other Supremes are called invincible, the pinnacle of the Human Dao.

This Alien Realm Supreme, as a member of the Emperor Clan, had unfathomable strength.

The Great Elder, Meng Tianzheng, personally attacking, still couldn't easily defeat him.

Yet now he was instantly killed by Shi Jian.

Doesn't this mean that Shi Jian's strength has completely surpassed Great Elder Meng Tianzheng?

Even more terrifying was that... he was currently only in the Void Dao Realm!

Between him and the Supreme Realm, there were still the Self-Cut and Escape One realms. A massive gap!

"Terrifying..." On the city wall, Meng Tianzheng was also greatly shocked.

In his hand, a tattered, dark red, blood-stained, wind-fluttering banner had appeared at some unknown point.

The former Iron-Blooded Battle Banner. Also known as... the Burial Shroud.

[Inorin's Note: This banner is one of the most significant items in Perfect World. It's the banner of the Immortal Ancient Era's defenders and is stained with the blood of multiple Immortal Kings.]

It once carried the corpses of two Immortal Kings back, their essence blood flowing onto it, causing the old battle banner to transform.

This was the Iron-Blooded Battle Banner. And also... the Immortal King Burial Shroud.

This was the foundation of Emperor Pass.

This battle banner held too much significance, bearing the weight of ancient times. In a sense, it represented the Immortal Ancient Era and the tragic nature of that past battle.

The moment Shi Jian emerged from seclusion and charged out, Meng Tianzheng had taken it out.

Although there had been some unpleasantness between Emperor Pass and Original Emperor City, both sides were, after all, on the same front.

Meng Tianzheng had witnessed Shi Jian's talent. In his view, Shi Jian was definitely the hope of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

Therefore, he naturally had to guard against anything happening to Shi Jian. He immediately took out the Immortal King Burial Shroud, ready to support Shi Jian at any time.

Only he never expected...

Shi Jian's current battle intent was so terrifying.

Instantly killing an Emperor Clan Supreme in the blink of an eye. Although Shi Jian's realm was still not as high as his own, his battle intent had clearly surpassed his own!

Meng Tianzheng had observed countless geniuses throughout history. None of the geniuses he had seen could compare to himself in his youth.

But now... he had seen a genius he absolutely, in no way, could compare to.

Deep in the desert, the countless Alien Realm beings were stunned, watching their Supreme being killed.

The Emperor Clan was the strongest race among the Alien Realm. Even low-strength Emperor Clan members held unparalleled status.

A Supreme... that was even more so, the strongest in the Alien Realm! Their status was second only to the undying.

With the Immortal Kings sleeping and the undying beings in seclusion... the Emperor Clan's Supreme was undoubtedly a high-ranking Alien Realm figure, an existence like an emperor.

He combined both strength and status.

Yet now, such a lofty existence... was actually killed by a single punch from someone from Emperor Pass.

Is this right?

Countless Alien Realm beings felt their beliefs collapse at this moment. They were at a loss, bewildered.

Shi Jian would never let them go.

The Heaven and Earth Hell Furnace was instantly unleashed, expanding to the size of a star.

The vast Hell Furnace, like a great, dark sun, instantly enveloped the entire desert.

Large numbers of Alien Realm beings were sucked in, slaughtered into blood mist and refined into pure energy.

He was sweeping through thousands of troops alone.

On the city wall of Emperor Pass, a large group of commander-level figures watched this scene, their bloodline surging and their battle intent high.

Within Original Emperor City, the descendants of the Seven Clans also had their battle intent burning fiercely.

A group of old soldiers stepped onto the wall. They were the veterans who had once been stationed in Original Emperor City.

At that time, their qi and blood were depleted, and they were close to death.

However, after Shi Wang cultivated the Great Bloodline Divine Ability and Original Emperor City received support, they all recovered and regained their vitality.

They were already old soldiers, having resisted the Alien Realm for tens of millions of years. Their strength was unfathomably terrifying.

Now, they had been reborn. They could almost be called "invincible ones" in their realm.

Seeing the Alien Realm invade again, their hearts were also filled with boiling battle intent.

"Open the city gates! Support the Stone Emperor (Shi Jian)!" an old soldier roared, then leaped down from the city wall.

The high atmosphere instantly reached its peak, like an explosion.

"Go out of the city! Kill our way out! Support the Stone Emperor!"

A group of people instantly made their decision.

Shi Hao was also boiling with excitement at this moment. His current battle intent was terrifyingly strong.

Although he couldn't instantly kill an Emperor Clan Supreme like Shi Jian... he was almost invincible in the Void Dao Realm!

He was the first to charge out, directly entering the battlefield.

The people behind him were all excited, their blood boiling, and shouts of "Kill!" shook the heavens as they rushed out.

Original Emperor City... attacked!

Seeing the people of Original Emperor City move, the people of Emperor Pass could no longer hold back.

They also had a stifled breath in their hearts.

Some time ago, Shi Wang launched a great purge, directly overpowering Emperor Pass, and many people had complaints about it.

It's true that you Seven Kings fought on the front lines, but are we just sitting around doing nothing?

You shed blood and tears? Did we not shed blood and tears?

The Seven Clans have merits, but does Emperor Pass not have merits?

Why negate the efforts of the entire Emperor Pass because of a few traitors?

Countless people held this stifled breath.

Now, seeing the people of Original Emperor City move, how could the people of Emperor Pass hold back?

If they didn't move, wouldn't they truly become useless?

If Original Emperor City faced the enemy and Emperor Pass remained inactive, wouldn't it be the same whether Emperor Pass existed or not?

One figure after another descended from the city wall, appeared within the city gate, and then ascended the ancient altar.

"Please open the city! Let us out!"

"Emperor Pass is no worse than Original Emperor City!"

Some commanders ascended the altar, requesting the city gates to be opened. The atmosphere here was instantly ignited, shaking the heroes.

The other factions and cowardly beings had all been purged.

What remained now were mostly the main combatants, the hard bones of the Pass.

Now, they just wanted to go out and fight.

To prove to Original Emperor City—and to themselves—that the people of Emperor Pass were not bad!

...

After Shi Jian had attacked, Shi Wang also took action.

He appeared in the Heavenly Abyss, guarding it to prevent the Immortal Kings from impacting the pass.

[Inorin's Note: The 'Heavenly Abyss' (Tiānyuān) is a massive, impassable chasm that separates the Nine Heavens from the Alien Realm, suppressed by the laws of the world.]

Before, he was not in good condition and was severely injured. He could only rely on Original Emperor City to barely exert the power of an Immortal King in the Heavenly Abyss and block the Alien Realm.

But now, he had recovered.

He no longer needed Original Emperor City and could also use the power of the Heavenly Abyss.

His own Immortal King power, combined with the power of the Heavenly Abyss, could already prevent most Immortal Kings from crossing.

This didn't mean he could block all Immortal Kings of the Alien Realm by himself.

The key depended on whether the Immortal Kings of the Alien Realm were willing to pay a huge, life-threatening price.

If they fought to the death, he, a single Immortal King, even with the help of the Heavenly Abyss, certainly couldn't stop them all.

However, the Immortal Kings of the Alien Realm were also unwilling to fight to the death.

They also had factions within their ranks. There was conflict.

In such circumstances, no one was willing to be the first to fight to the death to cross the Heavenly Abyss.

This was also why Original Emperor City was able to block the Alien Realm for so long before.

Original Emperor City, before, was like a bomb.

Whoever attacked first would get bombed, and even if they weren't killed by the bomb, they would have to pay a terrible price.

All the Immortal Kings were happy to see this situation.

But now, things had changed.

Shi Wang had recovered, and the situation had subtly shifted.

Therefore, this premature invasion by the Alien Realm was a change.

This was a test.

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