The sky was dyed a dark red, with sparks and ashes scattered across the scorched earth, the ultimate Power of Annihilation destroyed everything within its range, air, Origin Qi, and even Dao Charm, exploding a zone of absolute vacuum in this world.

Except for the silhouette slowly rising from the abyssal pit.

He looked up at those lofty crowds in this moment, the Power of Annihilation from the Fallen Sun made his body incomplete, face completely destroyed, yet the pupils embedded in his sockets remained unchanged.

Xu Yuan’s gaze swept past those familiar faces, each passing face made his heart sting a bit more, a pain that penetrated deeper than facing the full might of the Fallen Sun.

Marquis Wucheng Mu Zhenbei.

Black Scale Commander Zong Qingsheng.

Head of the Imperial Guards Wang Shili.

Chief of the Internal Minister’s Office Tian Yuxue.

Great Yan Second Minister, disciples left by Mr. Hua, new nobles crossing classes due to the school regime.....

Just dozens of people,

but almost encompassing all those standing atop Dayan’s power peak.

There are the old ones left by his father, the new ones he nurtured, they all stand opposite him now, all past loyalty turning into mockery at this moment.

The lonely figure took a step forward, cracked skin with sparks fell off into ashes with the wind, immense pain almost made him want to kneel on the ground, yet at this moment, he couldn’t kneel, in all senses... couldn’t kneel.

The people high in the sky quietly watched everything below, they indifferently observed this ’betrayer’, this former leader, this man who led them to victory after victory teetering before death, in complete disarray.

His Origin Qi was already dispersing,

that was the physical manifestation of a body nearing collapse.

The era of Xu Family father and son finally met its end.

Emotions of relief and fear spread among the crowd.

Even such world-ending weapons couldn’t obliterate his existence, they couldn’t imagine the price to pay to kill this man had the ’Fallen Sun’ not appeared.

In the silence, someone spoke up.

It was a very brief three words, but clearly asked the doubts in everyone’s hearts present.

"Why?"

Why did you betray us.

Clearly, you already had ultimate authority,

clearly, you already had infinite lifespan,

why did you still create destruction that spared no one’s foundation?

The self-repair of Life Dao Essence restored the man to human form, he closed his eyes, didn’t answer, but posed such a question:

"Before I answer, is there anyone who wants to leave?"

"...."

The words carried a heavy fatigue.

After a while, only one voice responded to him, it was a youth male voice from Vice President of Heavenly Craft Institute Ying Siqi:

"Han King, I really appreciate the effort you put into this world, thank you for providing us a step upward, but the world as it is now no longer needs you. According to your legacy, the Heavenly Craft Institute will turn the past 20 years of cutting-edge technology into civil use to serve the world’s peace, Xinyao, will continue to live under my protection.

"So,

"please go in peace."

Besides that, there was silence.

This was a statement of allegiance.

A statement to step into the ’New World’ for everyone.

Only by jointly killing this man who stirred the heavens and earth, killing this man standing atop power, could they ensure none had a way back.

"I see..... I understand."

Xu Yuan took a deep breath, opened his eyes again, his black pupils were stained with blood color, and he slowly levitated upward, pain weakening him almost entirely.

Enduring the Power of Annihilation from the Fallen Sun almost exhausted him completely, but was slightly better than he expected.

The ’Dead Body’ state of Death Dao Essence avoided most harm for him.

He ascended to the same height with them, responding to their question, but not by answering, rather questioning back:

"In your eyes,

"what is power? What are the people? What is the future?"

"...."

Silence,

no one answered this seemingly mad reverie.

The cold wind swept through ashes, sparks ignited again, Xu Yuan’s voice drifted with the wind, dispersing into the nine heavens:

"In your eyes, there’s only the authority of the present, hence you cannot answer.

"Let me tell you,

"Power is named responsibility, the people are the base of the world’s ideal, and the future is the collection of all beauty!"

Upon saying this,

Xu Yuan slowly raised his hand, blood-colored Origin Qi began to gather in his palm:

"Everything I did was for the future of this world...."

Before the words fell, Xu Yuan’s body suddenly flickered for a moment, when he appeared again, his single arm shattered without any warning, the majestic Origin Qi condensing around him also stalled suddenly.

Witnessing this,

Xu Yuan slightly tilted his gaze, looking towards the direction of Sword Gate Pass.

That was the Sect Alliance’s cutting-edge Array Pattern Weapons.

Like ’Fallen Sun’, Array Pattern Weapons born to slay high-rank cultivators.

After a brief silence,

Marquis Wucheng’s calm and low voice rang in everyone’s ear:

"Did you see, your current predicament is entirely self-inflicted, whether the ’Fallen Sun’ of the Imperial Court or the single-point assault ’Heavenly Meteor’ of the Sect Alliance, aided by Array Technology, even an ant can inflict mortal wounds on you.

"If the world follows your conviction, in more distant future even commoners might slay us!

"And this is the future you want, Xu Changtian!"

Unexpectedly,

listening to the raspy and restless rant of Marquis Wucheng, Xu Yuan looked at his shattered arm, his words bore a hint of laughter: