[You see Black Wind's body burning entirely in black flames in the sky, pouncing on the Heaven Venerable.]

[It wasn't that the Heaven Venerable couldn't dodge—this was Black Wind's absolute speed, combined with precise racial suppression!]

[The Heaven Venerable's voice came from within the black flames.]

["You stubborn Dragon-Scale Horse! You truly don't know what's good for you!

You've painstakingly evolved from the lowest level to this stage, and now you want to go this far for a human?

You're going to release all your Bloodline power?

Doing so will reduce you to ashes, never to be reincarnated!"]

[Black Wind had no second words—only silently kept burning.]

[Your black flames bloomed in the sky like black lotuses, blanketing the heavens, blotting out the sun and clouds.]

[As for the Dragon-Men flying in the sky, even just a glance at these black flames or getting slightly close caused them unbearable agony.]

["What is this?! Why do I feel so much pain?!"]

["My soul is trembling!! It's trying to escape my body! Come back!!"]

["I can't take it anymore! It feels like my soul is melting!!"]

[The Dragon-Men fell from the sky like dumplings dropped into a pot.]

[They weren't dead; as long as they stayed far from the black flames Black Wind released, they felt much better.]

[But that Heaven Venerable was completely engulfed by the energy Black Wind unleashed through its self-sacrifice, with no way to escape.]

[The five Earth Venerables present were extremely worried. They wanted nothing more than to charge into the black flames to rescue their Heaven Venerable, but it was all wishful thinking—their actions mostly relied on their mouths.]

["Heaven Venerable! Are you alright?! Are you dead yet?!"]

["Heaven Venerable! Try opening your mouth and taking a deep breath! It might work wonders!"]

["Heaven Venerable! If something happens to you, I don't want to live either! But the position of Chief Heaven Venerable of the Sixth Expeditionary Army can't be left vacant. This venerable should rightfully shoulder the burden!"]

[Hua Wuyan seized the opportunity, striking her chest with a palm and spitting out a mouthful of black blood.]

[She paid some kind of price, rapidly completing a connection and borrowing power from the Earth Spirit.]

["Let's go!"]

[Hua Wuyan took you with her, directly spatial-jumping to the central Great Wastes, near the Hundred Death Mountains.]

[This was the first large-scale clash between the human world and the Dragon-Man Expeditionary Army.]

[Although the Dragon-Man Expeditionary Army only had two hundred thousand troops, their combat-capable units far exceeded that number, and they displayed professionalism and efficiency in killing.]

[The enemy had emerged from the seabed near the Chaotic Crystal Sea, sweeping through and crushing the Overseas martial forces led by the Wang family, followed by the Free and Unfettered Holy Land near the East Sea coast, and then the Firmament and Mountain and Sea Holy Lands along the East Sea shore.]

[The Wang family was almost entirely annihilated, the Free and Unfettered God died in battle, Black Wind sacrificed itself, and less than one in a hundred thousand of the three Holy Lands' martial artists survived.]

[As for the far more numerous mortals in those regions...]

[Some were already dead; others were fleeing for their lives with uncertain fates. If victory wasn't ultimately achieved, none of them would escape calamity.]

[The thirty-plus thousand cultivators you had stuffed into the Cauldron Realm were the last remaining strength of the three Holy Lands.]

[You released them all.]

[Dongfang Shuo, Chief Commissioner of Free and Unfettered Holy Land; Shangguan Yingtai, Saint Master of Mountain and Sea Holy Land; and Xiao Yunlei, Saint Master of Firmament Holy Land—these three now held the highest status among the survivors.]

[They quickly used their influence to calm the panic among the surviving martial artists.]

[Everyone rested and treated their wounds on the spot, waiting for further instructions.]

[You addressed the higher-ups of the three Holy Lands.]

["I've already contacted the Demon Tribe to come to the Hundred Death Mountains area. Our two sides will join forces."]

[Shangguan Yingtai was somewhat uneasy.]

["The enemy is truly powerful. Even the Free and Unfethered God was lost. I feel we're no match for them. If we gather together, won't we just be destroyed faster?"]

[You shook your head.]

["No. I've prepared the perfect battlefield. Once we get there, the Dragon-Men's advantage won't be so great. Scattering and fleeing only delays our annihilation—only by fighting can we survive!"]

["Where is this perfect battlefield you speak of?"]

["Cangqiong Ridge!"]

[Regarding the Free and Unfettered God's death, you had too many questions.]

[You found old acquaintances like Wu Yue and Long Yang to learn about what happened back then.]

["The Free and Unfettered God was at the Martial God realm. Even if he couldn't defeat his opponent, couldn't he have escaped with his life?"]

[Wu Yue told you:]

[Of course, the Free and Unfettered God had a chance to leave.]

[But at that time, the Holy Land was in the midst of organizing a sea crossing, retreating toward the mainland.]

[The Free and Unfettered God didn't want to go first. He was helping the martial artists and mortals within the Holy Land escape across the sea.]

[Unexpectedly, the enemy arrived so quickly.]

[To buy everyone time to flee, the Free and Unfettered God single-handedly faced the Dragon-Man army, strictly ordering that no one was allowed to stay.]

[But in that moment, many disobeyed his orders and chose to fight alongside the Free and Unfettered God.]

[Wu Yue and Long Yang were among them.]

[They were both at peak Martial King realm now, and with powerful treasures in hand and special physiques bolstering them, they could hold their own against ordinary Dragon Saints.]

[Of those who had once ventured back from another world with you, only these two remained.]

[Baili Su and the others had all fallen in this war.]

[When that Heaven Venerable made his move, the Free and Unfettered God had no choice but to burn all his power, tearing open a massive spatial rift with his bare hands, making it impassable for the Dragon-Man army.]

[That was how Wu Yue, Long Yang, Dongfang Shuo, Xie Guihong, and the other martial artists of Free and Unfettered Holy Land had the chance to escape with their lives.]

[Whenever the Free and Unfettered God was mentioned, everyone from the three Holy Lands was deeply grieved.]

[You let out a long sigh.]

["The Free and Unfettered God was a hero."]

[Worry was hard to conceal between your brows.]

[The Seven Luminaries Immortal Array couldn't be assembled anymore.]

[Not unless a new Martial God emerged afterward.]

[You glanced at the distant Forbidden Land of the Great Wastes.]

[You hesitated whether to awaken the Great Demon and let him make a move.]

["Chen Yi, wait a little longer," Hua Wuyan spoke up.]

["We haven't reached the end of the line yet. Don't waste his only chance to act."]

[The Great Demon was now merely a remnant soul, a persistent obsession. The logic of "when the nest overturns, no egg remains intact" didn't apply to him—he couldn't really be considered a living being.]

[So he didn't care about the survival of the human world.]

[He had said he would only make one move, and that meant only one.]

[You heeded Hua Wuyan's advice.]

[Not long after, the Four Ancestors arrived at the Hundred Death Mountains area and joined up with you.]

[Each of the Four Ancestors was enormous in build.]

[They were proficient in a kind of demonic art that allowed them to carry their kin along.]

[The method was simple: swallow their kin into their stomachs.]

[Of course, they wouldn't digest them; they'd spit them out when they reached their destination.]

[Moreover, the volume they could contain was far larger than what they appeared on the surface.]

[It was like four giant storage bags.]

[However, the number of Demon Tribe the Four Ancestors could carry together was at most one hundred thousand.]

[But you knew that the Great Wastes Demon Tribe, discounting the shrimp soldiers and crab generals, could muster an elite force of over a million.]

[The remaining Demon Tribe had to travel on foot, which was extremely poor in mobility, and they were still on the road now.]

[You couldn't afford to wait—you had to reach Cangqiong Ridge ahead of the Dragon-Man army before they caught up.]