Chapter 1482: Patient Hunter

Zhou Yuan stepped into the spatial vortex, and after a long time, his steps halted. Before him lay a darkness so profound it instilled fear.

Deep within the darkness, an abyss-like and prison-like will resided. It emanated a pressure that made even Saints tremble, a divine might akin to that of the Third God.

This was precisely a manifestation of the Sacred God's will.

This will had corrupted Cangxuan Heaven, serving as the main culprit behind its decline over tens of thousands of years.

Zhou Yuan had come here before, but facing the Sacred God's distorted will, he dared not step inside. He understood that even a mere fragment of the Sacred God's will was beyond the power of any ordinary Saint to contend with; if he had entered, he would inevitably have been corrupted.

Even the four Ancient Sovereigns might not have dared to venture deep into such a place.

But his former fear had been rooted in his attachments; now, Zhou Yuan was utterly fearless.

"The Sacred God's will, then..."

Zhou Yuan murmured to himself, staring into the profound and distorted darkness. Within it, a malicious fluctuation seemed to be gradually rising.

This was the Sacred God's will sensing Zhou Yuan's battle intent and resolve.

A chilling intent gathered in Zhou Yuan's eyes. Immediately, he raised his palm, and a black orb containing the God-Slaying Curse Poison rose from its center.

In ancient times, the Sacred God had sought to extinguish all life in the world, which ultimately led to the awakening of the Ancestral Dragon's remnant will. The Ancestral Dragon then wounded the Sacred God, causing it to fall into an eternal slumber within endless darkness.

During those tens of thousands of years of dark slumber, the Sacred God endured immense destruction and torment from the Ancestral Dragon's will, giving birth to endless agony.

Finally, the Sacred God endured. It stripped away the power of the Ancestral Dragon's will, then fully merged the distortion, pain, and malevolence it had endured for tens of thousands of years with that stripped power, thus forming the God-Slaying Curse Poison.

Therefore, this God-Slaying Curse Poison contained not only the power of the Ancestral Dragon's will but also many of the Sacred God's evil thoughts. Their fusion created what could be considered the world's first, unprecedented poison.

This poison could slay even gods.

"This was concocted by your main body," Zhou Yuan said with a faint smile, "so let this fragment of your will have a taste too." His gaze immediately became resolute.

With a flick of his finger, the black orb flew out, plunging directly into the distorted darkness.

Simultaneously, he used the power of a Heavenly Lord to completely seal the area, transforming it into a dark prison from which there was no escape.

As the black orb, imbued with the God-Slaying Curse Poison, entered the distorted darkness, the entire space seemed to suddenly freeze.

A few breaths later, Zhou Yuan felt an indescribably twisted and malevolent power erupt like a volcano. Even without stepping inside, he felt his own spirit trembling—an uncontrollable, instinctive fear.

This place, already plunged into extreme darkness due to the corruption of the Sacred God's will, grew even more intensely dark with the eruption of the God-Slaying Curse Poison, becoming like impenetrable ink.

When the God-Slaying Curse Poison erupted, the Sacred God's will residing there was the first to bear the brunt.

As the two made contact, the deep, abyss-like Sacred God's will immediately erupted in a tremendous tremor. A wave of furious fluctuation spread through the darkness.

"Ant, how dare you!"

From the darkness, a malevolent gaze seemed to fall upon Zhou Yuan, who stood at its very edge.

However, Zhou Yuan had not stepped into the darkness, and the Sacred God's will was constrained, unable to strike him. More importantly, the erupting God-Slaying Curse Poison presented an extremely severe threat to this fragment of the Sacred God's will.

"What is this? Why does it possess a familiar power?"

In the endless darkness, a gigantic face condensed and appeared. It stared at the erupting God-Slaying Curse Poison, uttering a bewildered whisper.

However, this fragment of the Sacred God's will had been separated long ago, and with the Sacred God in slumber, no new information had reached it. Thus, it was unable to comprehend that the God-Slaying Curse Poison before it actually originated from its own main body.

But this did not prevent this fragment of the Sacred God's will from sensing a fatal threat. Thus, it dared not show the slightest negligence. The gigantic face opened its enormous mouth, and the next moment, a viscous torrent filled with boundless malevolence poured out, colliding with the God-Slaying Curse Poison.

In the darkness, the two terrifying entities collided. Yet, there was no earth-shattering roar; only a subtle sound of mutual erosion spread through the darkness.

It was precisely this silent erosion and wearing down that made the scene particularly terrifying.

Zhou Yuan sensed the two forces in the depths of the darkness mutually eroding each other. However, he was not in a hurry to intervene in the battle between these two terrifying entities; instead, he sat cross-legged at the edge of the darkness.

Both forces were currently at their peak. If he were to rush in with his current strength, he would be instantly annihilated. Therefore, his task was to wait patiently.

He needed to wait for the two forces to exhaust each other and weaken; only then might he find that precious glimmer of hope.

As Zhou Yuan sat cross-legged like a hunter at the edge of the darkness, patiently awaiting the opportune moment, the Allied Army of All-Heavens, led by the Third God, arrived outside the boundary walls of the Saint Race's Four Great Heavens after a period of void travel.

As expected, the boundary walls of the Four Great Heavens were all sealed. Four massive black banners were faintly visible, obscuring the sky and sun, appearing like four vast black screens that covered the boundary walls of the Four Great Heavens.

Upon closer inspection, one could discern a figure on each of the four banners whose appearance was indistinct but which instilled a sense of boundless terror.

That figure sat upon a black-gold throne, its face blurred, but its disdainful and indifferent eyes, imbued with overwhelming divine might, surged across the heavens and earth.

Ancient Sovereign Jinluo and the many other Saints gazed at the four black banners, their eyes filled with terror. Judging by the divine might emanating from them, it was clear these were creations of the Sacred God.

Evidently, though the Sacred God had not yet fully awakened, it had still left behind some contingencies.

Ancient Sovereign Jinluo stepped forward, looking at the graceful figure before him who constantly exuded vast divine might, and respectfully said, "Lord Third God, it seems the Saint Race was well-prepared."

The Third God's eyes, as indifferent as the starry sky, gazed at the four ancient banners. "Four divine banners stained with the Sacred God's blood," she stated. "The Sacred God was quite willing to sacrifice, likely intending to buy as much time as possible."

She shook her head and said nothing more, merely extending a slender, jade-like finger. Divine light seemed to bloom from its tip, and in the next instant, four flames dropped from her fingertip.

The four flames, red, black, white, and gold, were all of different colors. They surged against the wind, transforming into four fire dragons that descended from the sky, flying directly towards the four divine banners.

These were the Four-Colored Divine Flames.

As the four divine fire dragons descended, everything between heaven and earth was being incinerated. The four divine banners also vibrated, spewing forth rolling black light that obscured the sky and sun, entangling with the divine fire dragons.

The resulting Genesis Qi shockwaves directly impacted all-heavens.

However, it was clear to everyone that the divine fire dragons were continuously supported by the Third God's vast divine power, whereas the divine banners were a finite source. Thus, as time passed, the blurred divine image emanating divine might from the banners began to show signs of fading.

Evidently, their complete incineration was only a matter of time.

While the Third God was gradually destroying the four divine banners, atop Saint Mountain in Saint Ancestor Heaven, the four remaining Ancient Saints of the Saint Race all looked up with grim expressions at the void outside, able to see the four divine banners continuously losing ground.

"The divine banners probably won't last much longer," Ancient Saint Tianzhan said, his voice low and rumbling like thunder.

Ancient Saint Nanming and Ancient Saint Tianshou turned their gazes to Ancient Saint Taimi, who was in front of them. "Taimi, it's time to make a decision," they said.

Ancient Saint Taimi's eyes were slightly closed. He remained silent for more than ten breaths before opening his eyes and asking, "Are you all ready?"

The other three Ancient Saints all nodded.

Ancient Saint Taimi exhaled a long breath, a resolute look flashing in his eyes. A chilling voice echoed, carrying an aura of blood so thick it was almost viscous.

"Then let's proceed," he declared. "Sacrifice all clansmen within Saint Ming Heaven and Saint Spirit Heaven. Let their blood essence return to the Ancestor, summon our God, and awaken him completely!"

"I believe that for the future of our race, they will surely be willing to sacrifice!"