CHAPTER 619: ON THE OTHER SIDE

Crash! Crash! Clank! Clank!

The slash energy instantly split the massive eye in two, and it did not stop as it flew through the void behind it. The sound of space tearing and shattering glass echoed as the eye split and began to crumble slowly. However, the fragments did not fall into the continent; instead, they were sucked into the portal.

The eye continued to crumble, and the destruction spread toward the edge of the portal under the watch of everyone who could see it.

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In an unknown place, the silhouette of a burly figure could be seen sitting in meditation within a world of darkness. From the shape of his head’s silhouette, the large horns on his head marked that he was not purely human. The negative energy surrounding him was thick, on a scale far beyond that of the devil territory in Aldrian’s world.

This place was a special realm this figure had created solely for himself.

He sat with his eyes closed in meditation, before suddenly grabbing one of his eyes and roaring in pain.

"Argh!"

He tilted his head upward, covering his right eye. Golden-blackish blood flowed from between his fingers, showing that he had been suddenly injured. He gritted his teeth, not because of the physical pain, but from a humiliation he had never experienced in his entire life.

He growled in fury, his killing intent surging like a tidal wave as the entire realm, which was far greater in size than Aldrian’s world, trembled under his pressure. Although his eye could be instantly healed and the damage did not truly endanger him, he still felt nothing but humiliation and rage.

He, the great Tarius, one of the divine beings, had been wounded by a mortal!

It was absurd! Those other gods would never believe it if they had not seen it with their own eyes.

But he knew they would know.

He lowered his hand, and the eye that had been injured was already healed. His expression still burned with fury, but his mind was already turning to what he had just experienced.

"Who the hell is that man? How can he be so strong that he breaks the heavenly laws as a mere mortal?!" Throughout his life, he had never seen anything as absurd as this moment.

How could a mortal wield the power of divine beings? Even if he were some lucky soul who stumbled upon a treasure of the divine beings, no mortal should ever be able to wield divine power.

But that man?

He possessed energy like that of dragons and phoenixes—no, even purer and more powerful. It was as if what the dragon and the phoenix carried was only a fragment of that man’s energy.

Then, a thought crossed his mind: perhaps the man was a reincarnation of a divine being who had comprehended the laws of Samsara and had ties to those rebels.

But even that guess failed to explain how a mortal could wield divine power. If the man was a reincarnated being, he was still a mortal in his current life. His body should not be capable of using divine power, no matter what he was in the past. The laws of mortality would apply to him now, and that was something known since primordial times.

Even so, Tarius still believed that Aldrian was a reincarnated being. All his strength and the complexity of each of his techniques were far beyond what any ordinary mortal could possess. He was certain Aldrian had once been a divine being. But the biggest question remained—

How had he done it?!

How could a mortal body endure divine power and not be bound by the heavenly laws?

Then, a conclusion formed in his mind, and his eyes twisted with an ugly expression.

"Don’t tell me... even the heavens are supporting his existence?"

Although it sounded absurd, since the heavens that uphold the laws are said to be impartial, as the saying goes, "The heavens have no feelings, only rules"—it was still possible to influence the heavenly laws under certain conditions.

For example, the heavens could be influenced by other beings, just as they had influenced the heavens in this universe. It was a united effort to weaken the heavenly laws and allow their forces to invade this universe more freely. Such a feat could only be achieved through the combined efforts of many gods.

To weaken the heavenly laws of the lowest heaven...

Did those rebels do something to that heaven?

He then remembered one of his colleagues mentioning that he had lost control of a small section of the heaven in that lowest realm.

Could it be connected to that man?

To those rebels?

But he was confused. There was no way those rebels could have done something like that while all of them were being hunted or blockaded. They could not have made such a move without his side noticing immediately, especially when his side already controlled most of the universe.

"Shit! I really don’t know what’s happening. I’m sure the other gods are already aware of what just occurred. This is something we need to discuss, because at this rate, we might lose the entire lowest heaven to that man!" he thought, gritting his teeth.

With that man’s strength, it was only a matter of time before all of their proxies in the lowest heaven were purged. And when that time came, they would lose all influence in that heaven.

His body suddenly vanished, leaving the dark world in silence.

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In another unknown place, somewhere deep within a forest, a massive altar stood. Dozens of people sat in a circle around it. The altar shared the same design as the one found in the devil territory on the Barisan Continent, though it was much smaller in size.

At the altar’s circular floor, a vast black portal filled the entire space. It was a dark void connecting to the First Heaven, and the people gathered there appeared to be stabilizing the altar to keep the portal open from both sides.

Around the altar, camps had been set up, used by the devils as their base. All of them seemed to be waiting for someone to emerge from the portal.

"This should be an easy subjugation. Those rebels are already weakened in the Lowest Heaven. They have no chance against our lord," said one of the devils as he looked toward the portal.

"Yes. There’s no way those bastards or the mortal ants from the lower heaven could withstand our lord," answered another as he stared at the altar.

Although they had also seen the strange aurora phenomenon in the sky, it did not shake their confidence or alter their plans. Their lord would bring the rebels, dead or alive, and they would spread their influence even further into the Lowest Heaven. In the end, this universe would fall under their side’s control.

While they were waiting, a bizarre phenomenon suddenly erupted from the portal. A massive surge of energy burst out, shooting into the sky like a storm breaking through from the other side.

"Argh!"

"Uwagh!"

The devils surrounding the altar, who had been working to stabilize the portal, were swept away by the explosion of energy that reached into the sky. All of them were thrown from their positions, causing the portal to destabilize.

The other devils watching the altar were stunned by the sudden chaos.

"What the—"

But before any of them could comprehend what had just happened, they sensed a terrifying sword will. A second later, heavenly lightning emerged from the destabilized portal. And then—

Rumble! Rumble!

Swoosh!

Suddenly, the entire altar collapsed as the portal was split apart by the sudden appearance of a massive slash energy shooting out from within. The slash energy was so immense and powerful that it not only tore through the portal but also cut through and destroyed the surrounding ground.

The golden slash energy engulfed several devils, killing them instantly. It continued to surge upward into the sky, creating a violent spatial storm in its wake.

With the unstable connection between the heavens and the chaotic forces along the path, a massive spatial storm erupted, sucking in the nearby devils.

"Arrghhh!"

"Nooo!"

"Fuck! What the fuck is going on?!"

Many tried to fly farther away, but the spatial storm’s suction was too powerful. Many devils failed to escape its pull and were instantly dragged into the void.

Several devils were forced to use their escape talismans, as the scale of the storm was truly terrifying. The space around the altar collapsed, and the ground was swallowed by a dark void.

The spatial storm wreaked havoc for several minutes before the rift finally began to heal itself. Only after more than ten minutes did the enormous spatial tear close completely, leaving behind devastation stretching for a thousand kilometers.

The land was now nothing but flat, barren earth, stripped of all structures and plant life.

It looked as if the entire area had been flattened in a single sweep.

The devils who had managed to escape the area looked at the destruction with tense expressions, sweat dripping from their foreheads. They then turned their eyes toward the trail of sword energy, though it had already vanished beyond their sight, having soared high into the sky and reached the outer space of their world.

Their hearts trembled. None of them knew what to think of this chaos.

What the fuck is going on in the Lowest Heaven?