In the ruins of the imperial tomb, the blood battle continues.

Twilight has descended, the sun has set behind the western hills, but this place, full of blood and shredded flesh, remains as bright as daylight.

All because the crimson firelight illuminates the night sky.

The figure wielding the halberd, engulfed in flames, still hovers in the air, overlooking the multitude below, while on the ground, the once-arrogant Golden-Winged Roc has its wing severed, and as for the giant, there is hardly any good flesh left, almost flayed alive.

But before that halberd fell, the Golden-Winged Roc had already passed a hand over the wound on its arm.

Flesh sprouts twisted and multiplied from the stump of the arm, forming a new limb in an instant.

And the colossal giant also tenses its body, causing its damaged, bloody flesh to become increasingly resilient.

Battle is undoubtedly the best teacher, and they are top-tier warriors. Until now, they have learned the flesh manipulation techniques demonstrated by the human-shaped flaming phoenix—originally stemming from the whimsical twisting of flesh by those evil qi creatures. Now, both of them quickly mastered it.

It is precisely because of this ability to heal wounds at any time that they have endured thus far.

"But it’s too weak."

The sharp halberd merely swept across, and the two peerless warriors were once again covered in blood.

Yet the human-shaped flaming phoenix, in contrast, grows stronger the more it fights.

The feathers of what was once mere firelight have become increasingly solid, and the originally only light-delineated human-shaped fire phoenix is now truly transforming into an undying phoenix—like a chick breaking out of its shell, its wings becoming full and gradually forming the appearance of a creature that can genuinely soar the skies.

This battle is also a forge for the newborn human-shaped fire phoenix.

As the solid fire feathers compress further, the human-shaped fire phoenix draws closer to becoming a real earthly true immortal.

"So what if you’ve learned it?"

The fire phoenix, gradually returning to a human shape, scoffed at the two defeated warriors on the ground.

"I can kill you once, I can kill you twice, I can kill you thrice, five times, I can kill you ten times, a hundred times... you’d better get stronger, become even stronger; the stronger you are, the more entertained I will be." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"..."

On the ground, the Golden-Winged Roc and the colossal giant could not even muster the strength to make a sound.

Using evil qi to twist flesh requires the ability to mobilize evil qi first, but now they cannot even muster the energy to do that. After battling creatures of this caliber for a whole day, they are genuinely depleted.

Especially the colossal giant, whose body, once mighty as a war god’s, has now been pared down to resemble a skeletal frame.

"Why bother?"

Looking at the immortal body of yesteryear now fallen to such a dire state, the human-shaped fire phoenix in the sky could not help but shake its head repeatedly.

"You were the best child I raised. You originally had the right to inherit the dominion of the Chu people... but now? I’ve used less than ten percent of my power."

"Domination..."

The colossal giant on the ground wanted to spit at it, but he did not even have the strength to muster phlegm.

Looking up at the human-shaped fire phoenix, the colossal giant suddenly felt a kind of enlightenment. At least at the end of his life, he died in battle as a human being—though he knew, this thought was somewhat flawed, but he also knew this was perhaps the only thing he couldn’t accomplish.

He possessed immense power, a formidable physique, as the founder of the Da Chen Empire, he was wealthy beyond measure, owning everything under the heavens.

But only the life of an average person, that plain harmony with family, was beyond his reach his entire life.

Perhaps this is fate; the more one lacks something, the more one desires to possess it. Having everything, the only thing he couldn’t do was be human, which is why he wanted to die in battle like a human, even if only like a human.

"Ah..."

At this moment, the nameless colossal giant suddenly experienced a kind of realization in his heart.

The Golden-Winged Roc flew into the sky once more; the grassland khan displayed unyielding ferocity again, but this ferocity seemed so pitiful in the colossal giant’s eyes.

The craving for war is indeed madness, but it rather signifies this grassland khan desires victory.

Craving victory means having lost before, utterly defeated, hence the mad obsession with victory—supported by this obsession, the grassland khan gained such immense power, enough to wield this monstrous body.

However, this is as far as it goes.

The Overlord Halberd did not even come down because the evil qi unleashed by the trident Sürüt was not enough to even break the object’s skin. The increasingly human-like creature merely glanced at the drained Golden-Winged Roc, causing it to crash onto the ground once more—but this time, without wings, the roc chose to flee across the ground towards the north.

At that instant, the survival instinct completely dominated the roc’s body, even though its will wished to continue fighting, its body chose to flee first.

The flaming human shape wielding the halberd just pointed casually, tearing the roc’s half-wing to shreds, yet even with only one wing left, the roc managed a staggering escape.

The desire for victory only leads to tasting the bitterness of defeat once more, a pain more cruel than any blade.

"My dominion shall spread across the world. Where can you escape to?"

The human-shaped fire phoenix in the sky shook its head, watching the Golden-Winged Roc escape into the distance.

Then he lowered his head, looking at the colossal giant on the ground.

"So, traitor, where can you escape to now?"

"Heh..."

Looking at the towering figure over ten feet tall, akin to the War God in the world, the giant lying on the ground just smiled.

Once, he might have revered that domineering force, after all, it was so powerful, so brave... But now, at this moment near death, he has already seen the truth hidden behind that force.

Dominance signifies trampling and crushing everything, signifies might that moves freely across all directions.

But what kind of person would pursue such a concept and hold onto it without letting go?

"It is the weak ones..."

The gigantic giant looked into the eyes of the human-shaped fiery phoenix, as if he had seen through all the truth.

Lions, tigers, and such fierce beasts do not need to chase power; the mere existence of these large beasts is dominance itself. To have such an obsession with dominance and power only reflects the hardships that those people have experienced in the past.

Once deprived of everything by the presence of dominance, that is why there is such a persistent pursuit of the myth of dominance; once felt the weakness of having no power, that is why power is seen as the ultimate in everything.

"Weak? You think I’m weak?"

The newborn phoenix scoffed.

"Then try this, see if it’s weak?"

As he said this, the sharp Overlord Halberd had already fallen onto the giant, tearing open the bloodied and mangled chest.

Intense pain descended upon the giant, it was the twisted Evil Qi ripping at his internal organs, yet in the midst of this pain, he became surprisingly calm.

Weak, indeed weak.

If not for weakness, why would one fight so hard to prove their strength?

If this immortal phoenix were truly strong enough, neither he nor the Golden Winged Roc would have had a chance to survive; with just one blow, they would have perished on the spot - but they continued fighting, making the world dark, the sun and moon lose light, even fighting until now.

Rather than being a battle, it was more like proving something.

This immortal phoenix was using these two enemies to verify his power, to showcase his prowess.

To make up for the lack within himself, the void in his heart.

This might be an inevitable path, no, this is the inevitable path, only by filling in the void in the heart can one bury that weak self, only by completing the incomplete destiny can one usher in a true rebirth.

"So this is what I truly want."

The giant suddenly realized.

Throughout the hundreds of years of journey, what he really wanted was to say goodbye to the self once imprisoned, to the self stitched full of deformed flesh.

"Then, what do you want?"

Thinking this, the giant exerted his last ounce of strength, looking at the immortal phoenix, the True Immortal.

Perhaps after traversing this inevitable path, this once weak man will also become a true powerhouse.

At this moment, he could feel that something was being nurtured within this man who was already invincible in the world.

That is...

"...Hmm?"

The giant’s gaze stiffened.

Within the man who was previously invincible, indeed something was being nurtured, for the sharp sword tip had already emerged from the phoenix’s chest and abdomen.

"Wha..."

The immortal phoenix who resembled a War God instinctively lowered his head.

Behind the sharp sword tip was immediately followed by the sharp blade, the thing being nurtured within the man swung its blazing blade, easily cutting through the resilient defense previously impenetrable even by the Trident Surudita from within.

"How can it be... how can it be! I am the True Immortal of the world! I am immortal!"

The immortal phoenix lowered his palm and pressed down, but that sword and blade still resolutely split open his body, cutting a massive gash across the torso.

Immediately after, the figure wielding the sword and blade emerged from the shredded body like a sheath.

"Yo, is it already over?"

The battered body collapsed to the ground, Du Chengfeng, who crawled out of the sheath, stood midair and looked around.