Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor

"Such a talented lad," the Highest Sovereign said, looking directly at the Erudite Duchess. "And loyal too. Any chance you're interested in joining our court? I'll give you the position of Truth Keeper, taking charge of all our knowledge and information."

The duchess was tempted for a second, but she immediately remembered the downside. The court cannot achieve true transcendence, which is why they went to such trouble to invade the Primordial Timeline. The Grand Dao Saint Path was wide open to her — well, at least, she was now more confident — so the duchess needed to focus on what came next: transcendence. However, how can she tactfully reject such an offer? The Highest Sovereign shouldn't be offended by a rejection, right?

"It seems you're not interested," the Highest Sovereign smiled. "It's a shame, but the offer will stand. If you ever change your mind, you can come find me."

"Thank you, your majesty," the duchess quickly replied. "Your magnanimity humbles me."

The Highest Sovereign waved his hand; he had heard too many of such compliments — he was now immune to them. He snapped his finger, and two people appeared before him: Star Manifestation and Suiji.

"Your majesty," Star Manifestation said with teary eyes. "I —"

"You don't need to blame yourself," Jiang Qing raised his hand to stop him. "They saved you because they care about you, because they believe in you — in your future. So, what you need to do is not drown in guilt, but use the pain as motivation. Live for them, live for yourself, and live to their expectation."

"I will," Star Manifestation said, tears falling uncontrollably from his eyes, his hand clenched tightly.

"I believe you," Jiang Qing nodded while patting his shoulder.

His eyes then turned to the illusory in front of him, "Teacher."

Suiji sighed. "I'm glad to see you."

"Who would have thought a world, I believe, would be your opportunity for Dao ascension, would turn out like this. I'm truly sorry."

"Don't blame yourself. Some things are simply not destined to be," Suiji calmly replied.

"I don't believe that," Jiang Qing shook his head. "It doesn't matter whether fate or anyone else tried to dictate otherwise; you will reach higher heights, you have my word."

Suiji did not say anything else; she knew her students, and words were not enough to persuade him when it came to certain decisions. Instead, she changed the subject: "What are you going to do with the Primordial Timeline's survivors?"

Jiang Qing looked at this dead timeline, and he shook his head: too much blood had already been spilled, and spilling more would be pointless.

"I can forgive everybody, except for him." Wang Wei suddenly appeared in front of the group, and he couldn't help but smile wryly. "His strategy has caused most of the damage to us, and more importantly, he's a danger to the court's future."

"Your majesty, your magnanimity is known through the Infinite Trichiliocosm. Could it be that you can't even tolerate a little Paragon such as myself?" Wang Wei asked.

"My magnanimity has a limit, and it's usually for those who have caused innumerable harm to my people or are an uncontrollable threat," Jiang Qing calmly replied.

Wang Wei sighed, "I can understand that. But, what about your words — are you still a man who keeps his promise?"

"What are you getting at?"

Wang Wei revealed Hongjun's token that he had retrieved from Kong's hands.

"Lord Hongjun's token?" Suiji suddenly asked. "Why do you have this?"

"You know him?"

"I met him once and predicted I would be facing a catastrophe, which saved my life," Suiji explained. "I gave him that token to repay the favor. Why do you have it? What's your relationship with him?"

"He's my benefactor," Wang Wei succinctly replied.

"He must value you if he gave you the token," Suiji nodded. She then turned to look at Jiang Qing, but she didn't say anything else. The Highest Sovereign did not immediately answer. Instead, he found Ying Zheng and, through his butterfly pendant, had a brief conversation with Hongjun.

"...Fine," Jiang Qing sighed; the token flew into his hand. "You can live another day, but our karma is not over."

"I understand."

Jiang Qing stared at him for a few seconds before snorting coldly. He raised his hand to forcibly detach the small branch of Grand Dao that still existed in the Highest Firmament, along with the remaining [Authority] left in this timeline. He also sealed all the remaining Grand Constructs to take with him. Finally, he took away the few remaining mortal survivors that Star Manifestation had managed to save.

"Let's go."

"Wait, let me say goodbye to a few friends," Suiji replied, then communicated with Siwangji and Shanghuovi through divine senses. "Alright, we can leave."

A white light enveloped the group, and they disappeared. Wang Wei and even the Erudite Duchess finally exhaled in relief. Just being in the presence of a Grand Dao Saint was stressful, and it did not help that this one was antagonistic.

"Wang Wei," Maitreya suddenly said.

"What?" Wang Wei asked, immediately worried because of her tone. He checked his Time Nexus, and it was gone, a fact which immediately relaxed him.

"Emperor Kong is gone."

"What! What do you mean he's gone?"

"The Highest Sovereign seemed to have taken him away."

Wang Wei was silent for a moment, "He's blessed by destiny, so he should be fine."

"I'm pretty sure that's why he was taken."

"I know, but what can I do?" Wang Wei sighed. He barely escaped by the margin of his skin. So, how could he help others? Although he felt bad for Xu Shi — especially after she just helped him — there was nothing he could do. And as he said, Kong might not necessarily be in peril. On the contrary, this may even lead to some other benefits.

"True," Maitreya sighed.

"Alright, let's get out of this hellhole," Wang Wei stated. He was tired of this place and wanted nothing but to return home. "Oh, by the way, duchess —"

"After everything we've experienced, you can call me by name — Fu Liangyu."

"In that case, I'll call you Duchess Fu," Wang Wei said. He did not mind getting closer to her, but he still needed to retain the basic respect for a Saint.

"That's fine."

"Can you check if we can find the treasury of those Saints that Trinity Venerable killed. The resources from the Chaos Origin Realm should still be present. Well, assuming Trinity Venerable didn't take them."

"Oh, thanks for the reminder," Duchess Fu stated. The Heaven-Splitting Holy's treasury was divided among them. The Dream Lord's share was forever lost in that purification, but the rest might still be salvageable.

Boom!

Everybody turned to the source of his noise, and their expression turned grave. Trinity Venerable's soul imprint was trying to sneak out of this timeline, but the death seal — which should have dissipated after Future Reverence's death — had returned.

"Wang Wei, Wang Wei, oh, Wang Wei. You are truly an annoyance, always clutching victory when the odds are stacked against you. However, not this time. This time, your only fate is death."

Wang Wei's expression turned ugly. He checked his Time Nexus once again, and it was no more. "Why is this bastard still alive then?"

"Curse of the Dead — activate," Future Reverence — or his obsession — ordered. The worst-case scenario he had envisioned had come to pass: Jiang Ye activated his status as a vessel, allowing the Highest Sovereign to intervene. The worst part is that Future Reverence underestimated how powerful the latter was. According to his calculation, his obsession should survive an attack, hide itself, and be left with enough power to deal with the aftermath. Unfortunately, the Highest Sovereign's power decimated most of his strength. More importantly, he was sure the latter was aware of his presence and allowed him to continue to exist.

Regardless, the backup he had left was still useful. Although it was only a tiny fraction of the coffin's strength, it was still enough to deal with these weakened, tired survivors.

After activating his curse, the entire timeline — what's left of it after so much shrinking and destruction — became active. All the power and hidden rules of death turned into this horde of zombies that rushed mindlessly at them.

"Damn it," Wang Wei cursed as he annihilated a group of Paragon-Tier zombies with a single slap. However, there was no joy on his face because the creature immediately revived a few seconds afterward, perfectly intact. The problem was immediately identified: these creatures shared the immortal characteristic of an obsession spirit.

Wang Wei immediately tried to use the [Haitian Source of Death], but the effect was drastically weakened in the absence of his Saint Cultivation. So, he tried teaching it to Maitreya and the Duchess. But, they couldn't learn. No matter how much they pronounced these words, used the [Emperor Word is Law Technique], or even borrowed his destiny, they couldn't summon that power.

With little choice, the group tried another approach, including Maitreya's purification. However, the effect was minimal; there were too many zombies, and even if they could permanently eradicate a small percentage of them, Future Reverence only made more.

Wang Wei tried to contact other survivors to see if they had a better way. Siwangji and Shenghuovi were useless in their current state. Ying Zheng was still in hiding. Saint Ink Flame and the other Saint had no idea. And the few survivors from the Longevity Realm were relying on powerful artifacts or protection methods from third-step powerhouses to barely protect themselves.

In the end, the group flew toward the death seal. They planned to buy time while the duchess tore it apart. The plan had potential. In his current state, Future Reverence couldn't perfectly maintain the seal's power; this was evident by the fact that the duchess could damage it. Unfortunately, she was too injured, and according to her calculation, she might need at least 70 yuan epoch before she could succeed. But could everybody last that long?

"Damn you, Highest Sovereign — how can you be so petty?" Wang Wei cursed. He did not believe for a second that the latter didn't detect what Future Reverence was doing.

"What do we do?" Maitreya asked.

"What else can we do?" Wang Wei sighed.

Maitreya, Saint Ink Flame, and another Saint, the Incorruptible Scholar, formed a wall around Wang Wei. They fought and blocked the horde while Wang Wei used his [Five Rings True Artifact] to assist, primarily by healing. Meanwhile, the duchess focused all her attention on the seal.

Twenty-three yuan epochs passed, and the group had reached its limit. The nonstop fighting, the adrenaline from being on the verge of death, the breath of death from the zombies, and the pressure of time dwindling — all these factors pushed them to the limit. And although all of them had theoretical infinite stamina, their minds were still fallible. After fighting for so long without a moment of waste, even the Saints were beginning to feel wary, let alone Wang Wei.

It did not help that Maitreya was technically the only person to start this battle under peak conditions. Whether it was Wang Wei or the other Saints, they had all experienced major battles and injuries before facing this horde of undead.

"Hahaha, Wang Wei, what did I say? Today, you cannot escape the fate I've woven for you."

Wang Wei gritted his teeth, desperately trying to find this bastard's obsession spirit. He cannot accept dying like this, dying after conquering Death Reverence, after planning Future Reverence's downfall, and escaping the Highest Sovereign's wrath. He cannot accept dying at the hands of a horde of mindless beasts rather than facing a mighty foe.

But what could he do? There was no Grand Construct, no environment or available resources to take advantage of; he was injured, and all the allies he had tried to make refused to work with him. Even the best chef cannot cook without rice, and Wang Wei was no exception.

"Is this really how it's going to end?" Wang Wei thought. He could feel his soul was on the verge of collapse due to overusing the True Saint Artifact. He glanced around, thinking of any desperate attempt. He couldn't give up yet. He still had a beautiful wife waiting for him, a family that he hadn't seen in too long — Wang Wei had too many regrets to die here. A ruthless light filled with madness flashed in his eyes. However, just as he was about to do something reckless, a terrifying booming sound echoed between Heaven and Earth.

Everyone looked at the source and saw a spear flying from the sky, landing in the middle of this black horde. The spear released a white light, instantly annihilating everything in its path.

"This spear," Wang Wei muttered.

[The volume ends in the next chapter.]