None of the old men was taking Zhi lightly any more. The Sovereign old man had been scared witless already by the threat of Hedi, the rest weren’t in a better condition either. They were people who had grown up in the Clan after all, they had been to the Ancient Battlefield before but they couldn’t survive over a week before they had to teleport out.

Currently facing them was a person who had survived there for ten years and when he went there, he had only been a mortal child with no cultivation what so ever. If they weren’t scared to face an abnormal monster like that would be weird. Zhi looked at the old men coldly as he asked, “Is the Young Master that bastard child of the Grand Elder?” Zhi’s words were venomous and from the chill they got, they understood very well, how scary Zhi was currently.

Not to mention the five of them, even if there were a hundred of them, they felt as thought they would have no chance of winning. One of the old men gulped as he said, “Yes, he is. After the Ancestor left, Grand Elder became the Patriarch and acknowledge Young Master Zhang as his son.”

Hearing this, Zhi just smiled coldly as he asked, “Is that bitch still living a happy life?” The sinister smile on Zhi’s face made all of their stomachs go cold. What had happened to Zhi had spread all over the Realm already, they knew the kind of enmity Zhi had with the woman.

The old men did not dare to say anything any more. No matter what they said, they knew that they would not escape Zhi’s grasp today. One of the old men grit his teeth and said, “If you leave now, we will forget this. The man who stand behind our Patriarch is someone you can’t possibly deal with.” Zhi just chuckled as he said, “I know exactly well who the puppet master is.”

As his voice fell, he disappeared from his spot and when he reappeared, the heads of the five men fell. It was obvious that they did not even understand what happened as there was still confusion evident on their faces. Zhi’s face was pale after reappearing, this move was something that required a lot of Qi to use. The only reason he had stopped and started talking to the old men was because he needed to store up the Qi to use the 9th Step of the Sky Emperor Art.

The Art was divided into nine different techniques that were named as the “9 Steps”. The difficulty had nothing to do with the order. Each of the nine steps was a technique on its own with it’s advantages and disadvantages. This 9th Step allowed the user to move as fast as the speed of light but in return you needed to use large amounts of Qi. This Step also had high requirements for the body as the body had to be strong enough to withstand the abrupt movement at high speed.

If used recklessly, the pressure might even rupture the users organs, so although it was a very strong technique, it was also very dangerous. Zhi knew that he would not be able to take on all of these old men in a head to head fight, so he needed to finish it fast. Seeing all six of his comrades dead, the Sovereign expert truly felt his blood freeze over.

On one side was an abnormal freak, who logic and common sense did not apply to and on the other side he had a person who could kill him in both body and soul before he even knew what had happened.

When the Patriarch had first issued him this mission of killing that youth, he felt as though it would be an overkill to take 6 Empyrean Emperors with him but now he understood that even if he had taken the whole Clan with him, they would have ended up exterminated. This wasn’t because he thought that Zhi and Hedi could take on the entire Clan but rather because Dragon Cross was a power that they could not offend.

Although they had the protection of the Sheng Clan Elder, what use would it be to a person that did not give a damn about it. On their side was already two Primadorial Gods, Long Ancestor and Fanghong. There were also over a hundred Paragons and over three hundred Sovereigns. He did not even dare to fathom how many Empyrean Level Experts they had. Even amongst the Deity Plane Powers, there were very few who could say that they can hold their own against Dragon Cross if war came.

The reason none of them dared to move was because of the Island. No matter what they did, they could not pry into it and they were not certain that they would be able to break the Defensive Formations on the Island. It was a well known fact that Dragon Cross had resources far, far more deep that a lot of Clans combined.

In the Deity Plane, there was no one who could say they can compete with Dragon Cross in terms of resources. Also, a lot of powerful wandering cultivators had joined Dragon Cross, amongst them were also people like Hedi.

They had a name and the record of someone that made even a Primadorial God shudder. To hit this hornets nest with a bat was something none of them wanted to do. Since they had this line up and none of the powers could be certain of breaking down the Formations, they did not dare to take the risk.

If they could only sit outside the Formations while Zhi locked the Island down, they would only be waiting for their own doom. The Island had resources that made even the most Ancient Clans and Sects drool but if they waged war with Dragon Cross and did not manage to break down the Walls, what stopped Zhi and the rest from cultivating like normal and when their numbers and strength grew a few levels, they would come out and just destroy them all. Even though Zhi was only an Empyrean Immortal, to the old man he seemed like an enormous mountain.

What was even worse, was that he had no way of talking his way out of it. He had come here to kill an Empyrean Immortal junior, no matter who heard of this matter, all of them would look down on him and mock him. Zhi started slowly walking towards the old man, when he saw it, he fell on his butt.

He looked at Zhi in horror as he spouted out, “I didn’t mean to do it, she forced me to help her by putting up a barrier. I only maintained the barrier, so that no one would be able to tell that she was planning on killing Mistress Xiaomei and throwing you into the Ancient Battlefield.” Hearing this, Zhi’s steps paused as he asked coldly, “You were one of the people involved?”

His anger had passed the threshold of fury and he had entered a strange calm state. However, to Zhi, this was the most dangerous state there was.

***

In the distance, a young man white robes was looking at Zhi seriously. He had seen Zhi in this state a few time but no matter when, it never ended as calmly as he looked. He was like a glass filled to the brim with wine, one more drop and it would overflow. However, for what ever reason it was, every time Zhi entered that berserk state, his strength would explode to the Heavens.

Currently, even though he had already passed the Origin Realm, he had no guarantee that he would be able to stop Zhi without harming him. What made the young man’s head ache was that Zhi would not stop even if you cut off all his arms and legs. He would no stop until the cause of the anger was dealt with.

The young man shifted forward, so that the moment Zhi crossed the threshold, he would immediately subdue him. If he is even a moment too late, there is no guarantee, that he would be able to stop him. Just as the young man got into position, his face froze. He felt his bloodline tremble as an extremely loud roar filled his mind. His Soul shook and he coughed a mouthful of blood as he looked towards Zhi in disbelief and with a hint of fear in his eyes.

***

Zhi’s eyes turned bloodshot as he crossed the final threshold. The old man in the Sovereign Realm was the focus of all this hate, so he bore the main brunt of this roar. His front was already covered in blood and he had even soiled himself. He didn’t look at Zhi in fear any more, now he felt true, heartfelt terror towards Zhi. Zhi’s cultivation exploded, it passed through the ranks and soon, he reached the Empyrean Emperor Level.

Then black clouds that covered over a thousand square kilometers started gathering in the sky. The aura that Zhi was giving off did not belong to a normal being. The old man felt as though he was staring at an Ancient Dragon, one that’s had existed from before the beginning of time. Even though he was only looking at it, he felt as though he was an insect in his presence.

Zhi’s voice turned more archaic and ancient as he said in an incomprehensible language, “Sa väike segavereline madu julged minu ees veel olla?” As he said so, Zhi raised his hand and when he swept it out, the old man felt his Soul fracture and then shatter. After that, the old man’s body trembled for a second before he suddenly disappeared.

Only red flakes were gently falling from the sky, Zhi extend his hand and as he looked at the red flake, he said, “Tuhast tulnud, tuhaks sa ka saad.” After saying so, he swept out his arm again and all of the red flakes disappeared. Everyone still alive, looked at Zhi in horror. Even Hedi had a look of horror on her face as she looked at Zhi. Zhi didn’t turn any attention to them and just raised his head and looked at the Tribulation cloud in mockery. He opened his mouth and said again, “Mõttetu väike tribulatsioon, tule nüüd.”

As he said so, he opened his arms wide and as if being provoked, the Tribulation Lightning immediately rained down. Zhi just laughed as he kept saying incomprehensible things to the Heavens. After the first three Lightning Bolts, it seemed as though the Heavens had truly been angered as an archaic, blurry face appeared on the clouds. The face made of Clouds was the same as the old man Zhi had seen. The face made of clouds move as an ancient voice sounded out, “You do not belong in this Plane of Existence. How dare you provoke the Heavens of another Plane Outsider!”

As the rumbling echoed out, every Clan and Sect in the Realm was alarmed. Not only the Realm was affected, even the other nearby Heavenly Emperor’s felt their Heavens turn enraged. Nothing like this had happened before, so no one could do anything about this. The person, who possessed Zhi, just smiled as he said in a comprehensible language for the first time, “My Heavens were a lot crueler, fiercer and colder. Show me what you got little air cloud.”

As the man who possessed Zhi mocked the Heavens, the Heavens were truly incited and instead of Lighting Bolts, spears made of compressed lighting started appearing. These spears were strong enough to destroy any minor world with one hit. However, a barrier of light appeared with Zhi as the centre. It was a protection of the Heavens so that it did not destroy the whole World.

Also, it was set in order not to let Zhi escape and dodge the Lighting Spears. Zhi just smiled widely as he said, “Bring it on, I wanna see whether you can kill me first or he can inherit my Legacy first.” The man laughed maniacally, as he took the form of a giant Crystal Dragon.

The length of the Dragon was over a hundred kilometers long and the aura of ancientness it excluded made it seem as though it was something that had existed far before the Heavens did.As the Dragon roared, the Heavens shook. In terms of presence, it seemed as though the Heavens had already lost.

***

As the Dragon took his real form, in a place far far away from Zhi, in a dark room sat 13 hooded figures. None of their features were clear and all of the wore different coloured and styled robes. One of the hooded figures, who was dressed in golden robes, opened his mouth and said, “Twelve thousand Cycles have passed but he still appeared outside.”

As the hooded figure said so, a giant white crystal globe appeared in the middle of the table that showed Zhi taking on the Tribulation. Another figure in red answered, “The Primadorial Dragon of Chaos. He was born before any of the Planes had come into existence and by the time the first Plane formed, he was already stronger that Heavens of the Plane.” After saying, this silence took over the chamber.

It was as though all of these hooded figures had met their greatest foe alive. Finally, the golden robes figure sighed as he said, “He must not be allowed to pass on his Legacy. I do not know what method he used to escape the Seven Layered Hell Prison but the matter of fact that we do not know about it, means someone either helped him or he discovered something.”

The other hooded figures nodded to the statement. They were all very curious on how he had escaped but none of them had the luxury of thinking about it. They knew very well, that the Dragon escaping would spell doom for them. As all of the hooded figures were wracking their brains over the best solution, a man in white robes said, “Don’t fear. He has not escaped. Through some methods, he only let a sliver of his Soul escape and latch it onto someone else. The chains hold him as tight as before.”

Hearing this, everyone in the room calmed down, it was obvious that the man in white had a fairly high status. A man in black robes just snorted, “How long do you think you guys can keep a Dragon that has existed before the First Plane locked up? The longer you do, the more disastrous will the consequences be when he eventually gets out.”

After this sentence echoed out, everything went silent again. After a few moments of silence, a man in green robes just snorted, “Hmph, if he could get out, he would have done so already. Who told him to be born as a huge treasure trove? We are already doing him a favour by keeping him alive, rather than killing him. We also limit the portions we harvest each time. So-” The man in green's sentence was cut short by the table suddenly exploding.

When the dust settled, the man in black was standing in front of the man in green and said coldly, “This is why Humans are the most hated and most despised Race in existence. You imprisoned a Dragon that did you no harm or had no enmity with you just so you could harvest him of his skin, flesh and bones.” The room fell into silence as no one dared to move.

The man in black continued, “Not only that but you speak as though you are the most magnanimous person in existence. You honestly disgust me.” The man in black just kicked the man in green in the face and as the man in green flew back, no one moved.

Seeing this, the man in black moved to the door but before exiting he said, “You assholes are the best example of Humanity. When the odds are in your favour, you trip over yourselves to be first but when a calamity strikes, you will be the last help. From this point onwards, my 13th Plane leaves this pathetic Human Alliance.” As he said so, he took out a golden medallion and crushed it to dust.

***

When Zhi came back to his senses, he was inside a dark space again. He looked around suspiciously as he tried to remember what had happened up until now. He just shook his head as he couldn’t remember anything after being consumed by rage. As he looked around, he suddenly felt a domineering and a majestic existence behind him.

acWhen he turned around, he saw huge a pair of eye balls. The irises were crimson like Zhi’s and the pupils were like a snakes. Zhi looked at the giant pair of eyes in shock but before he could ask anything, an archaic voice sounded out in his head, “I am Regios, the First Dragon that was birthed by the Primadorial Mist way before the First Plane of Existence was.”