Chapter 604: You Decorated Someone Else's Dream

It seemed as though a great deal had happened, yet it was merely a flash of lightning—from the piercing of the eardrum to entering the brain, time had only stopped for a minute. For a powerful individual, a minute can indeed easily change the course of a battle; even a single second of stillness is enough to decide victory, defeat, life, or death.

But...

"The gap is too vast," Cloud Emperor murmured, his gaze lowered, yet the fighting spirit in his eyes remained undiminished, burning fiercely.

As he had said before, he was another Zhang Xiao. Just as Zhang Xiao, the human sovereign of Xiaoguo, had declared war on the Celestial Path, roaring defiance despite knowing the odds were slim, Cloud Emperor had chosen to declare war too. Was he foolish to willingly become a tyrant who destroyed Xiaoguo, reviled by future generations? Was he overestimating himself?

No. He understood that someone had to initiate, someone had to explore the path. He knew the Nether Mountain Lord was using him for a test, but he still chose to be utilized. Because this stage had already been set for him...

"This is the end," Xu Zhi slowly stated.

Cloud Emperor looked up, gazing at the pair of eyes that rotated to peer into his brain.

"People must always take the first step, and utter a roar."

"Everything happening today is paving the way for those who come after us."

He raised his spear high, his gaze sweeping past the eyes in the sky. Amidst the layers of viscous, mysterious ocean, he pointed to a distant, shimmering five-colored crystal. "You are not without a mind; your soul is merely placed elsewhere. Is it that crystal?"

"What will you do?" Xu Zhi chuckled. "You are like a turtle in a jar. Now your eardrums have healed, and you are trapped in a cage, unable to escape."

Cloud Emperor suddenly smiled. "It's a cage, but also the last chance in desperation. To be placed in a death trap and find a way out. This is the inside of your body. How will you attack me?"

He took a step forward.

"Your awe-inspiring body cannot manifest here!"

"Your formidable fists and feet are useless! On the contrary, my body has shrunk, and its strength is now not much weaker than yours!"

"And now, to attack me, you can only use Daoist magic and divine abilities... but that is not your forte!" Cloud Emperor tilted his head back, staring into those eyes, as if looking at the eternal, undying sky, at an ancient, indifferent Celestial Venerable. A chilling divine light gleamed in Cloud Emperor's eyes as he continued, "Furthermore, I am not only immune to physical attacks but also to various spells and energy. With these stacked talents, no attack can possibly kill me."

His entire being radiated a glass-like light, his form a hazy silver, like mist or a shadow, as if a projection from a higher dimension. He disregarded all attacks; the qualitative change formed by the superposition of his various talents was terrifying.

Xu Zhi's eyes widened slightly, then he let out a dumbfounded laugh. "Who said... I am known for my physique?"

Cloud Emperor's expression faltered.

Xu Zhi calmly stated, "How could the Lord of Reincarnation not cultivate Daoist magic? To only fight with brute force? My physical body is merely one form of combat divine ability developed over long ages... Entering my brain is akin to walking into a trap, destined to be thoroughly scoured by various Daoist arts."

"Kill!" Cloud Emperor roared coldly.

In this situation, he had nothing left to fear. His spear pointed towards the distant five-colored crystal magic core, and silver electrical light crisscrossed.

*Whoosh!*

Instantly, a Daoist Golden Body appeared in Xu Zhi's mind, coalesced from endless Daoist arts, radiance, radiation sources, and true qi. The Golden Body's face was impassive as it walked through the ocean of the brain. Terrifying 'qi' spread, devastating everything, and various intangible, deified Daoist arts circulated.

"Die." The Daoist Golden Body slowly spoke, and a ray of light shot out.

*Crack!*

The next second, Cloud Emperor's body was violently enveloped. Terrifying electrical light covered every inch of his form, breaking him down into primal energy particles, as if dense rain was splitting apart.

*Whoosh!*

The next second, Cloud Emperor slowly reassembled.

The Heavenly Emperors within him turned pale with shock.

"It's too terrifying. The energy absorption has already absorbed 99% of the impact, yet the remaining portion, falling upon the immaculate energy body, still began to slowly disintegrate..."

They were all utterly appalled. Only at this moment did they realize that the terrifying physical constitution they had most feared was merely one aspect. The Emperor's Daoist magic was also terrifying to the extreme; he had simply not used it before because they hadn't been worth using it on.

"So, from beginning to end, we were merely like ants."

It was as if all their pride and hope were utterly crushed at this moment. At this instant, they, like Emperor Xing, finally understood completely. They looked up, facing the Lord of Reincarnation, the Emperor. To look directly at Him meant to look directly at...

Irresistible fate.

To look directly at death itself.

"No, we still have a chance!"

At the last moment, Cloud Emperor slowly raised his head. When the terrifying battle strength of the true body was fully displayed before him, Cloud Emperor's expression became completely serene. He slowly clenched his fists. "We are still immune to Daoist magic; we can fight..."

"We still have many trump cards."

He calmly gazed at the eyes in the sky. The time-stop ability was merely one of them. He raised his spear high.

"World-Ending Starburst."

The world abruptly plunged into darkness. Particles of energy condensed, displaying colors not of this world. Blazing hot stars plummeted like meteors across the sky, shattering into countless small fragments. This Heavenly Emperor, blessed with the star talent, sacrificed all his life and flesh, burning everything to become a brilliant fireworks display. A path was suddenly cleaved open in the sky, leading directly to the magic core.

"Kill!"

Cloud Emperor's chilling roar of battle resonated as he strode forward. This spirit infected all the Heavenly Emperors, who surged forth, combining similar talents at the cost of their lives.

"Hyperspace Fall!"

He stretched out his hand. Emperor Feng's talent fully detonated, combining with other talents to unleash an all-out, invincible strike. Like a supernova, space began to collapse, and an unknown black hole swept through, absorbing surrounding matter—light, shadow, electricity—as if everything in the world was drawn into it, leading to an unknown other side.

*Crack!*

The Heavenly Emperor controlling Emperor Feng shattered, and three other Heavenly Emperors also met their deaths.

"Thunder Shadow!"

Endless lightning tore open. Golden beams of light ripped through the entire ocean of the brain, crackling and popping, as if a god from ancient creation myths was unleashing mighty thunderbolts, shaking heaven and earth. A gaping opening was torn completely in the sky.

Cloud Emperor, spear in hand, charged forward with an unstoppable momentum, breaking through the opponent's layered Daoist arts, ignoring physical defenses, and enduring all attacks. Each heaven-defying divine ability was no less potent than the previous time-stop. One after another, Heavenly Emperors sacrificed their lives...

"Are these attacks still not enough?"

Cloud Emperor's face was grim, his body emanating a terrifying aura that shook heaven and earth. He rapidly broke through, intending to shatter the central magic core not far away.

"Then, let's try this move."

He pulled out a rope and bowed deeply towards the air. "May we not be born on the same day, but may we die on the same day!"

*Crack!*

The rope vanished into the void, subtly forming a connection. He then took his spear, aimed it at his own chest, and thrust it in forcefully, creating a large hole in his body. Simultaneously, a huge hole also appeared in the Emperor's spiritual Daoist body.

"Ugh... Ahh!!!!"

He roared, throwing his head back.

"Lord! Of! Rein! Car! Nation!"

Cloud Emperor's enraged roar echoed, punctuated by continuous *thump-thump-thump* sounds. He wildly brandished his spear, piercing his own body repeatedly. His body continually exploded, turning inch by inch into surging silver electromagnetic waves, only to explode and reform again. Boiling blood rushed into the brain.

"All eras! All talents! All faiths! All lives!! Gather here!" Cloud Emperor's voice was deafening. "This is my final and strongest trump card!!!"

"Dimensional Paper-Cutting!"

*Crack!*

In the void, a black-and-white divine artifact, a pair of scissors, condensed powerfully. It ruthlessly slashed towards the opponent's mighty Daoist Emperor, carrying a terrifying chaotic impact. Where it cut, material particles were strangely reshaped and flattened, turning into vast two-dimensional scrolls laid out on the ground.

The Emperor's Dharma Aspect body was struck. The matter of his entire body was violently flattened, transforming into a massive two-dimensional drawing, softly floating in the void, like a thin sheet of Xuan paper.

*Crack!*

But in the next second, flesh wriggled and swelled, and the Xuan paper gradually resumed its human form.

"Even this move can be recovered from?"

Yet, he had already seized the opportunity, rushing straight towards the central magic core. "But I have won."

*Crack!*

He pushed away all obstacles, then suddenly grabbed the magic core and squeezed it hard. Cracks spread across it, dense and numerous. Endless, dazzling radiance, imbued with five colors, erupted from the fissures, beautiful beyond words.

"It's crushed! We won!" Cloud Emperor roared, his eyes grotesquely blood-red. "By sacrificing the self-detonating talents of sixty-two Heavenly Emperors, we finally cleared all paths. We won..."

"The dream... it really came true."

The remaining individuals of Emperor Xing's group wept and cheered, brimming with excitement for Cloud Emperor. They cried tears of joy. History would remember this scene, etched into eternal time. For tens of thousands of years, history would record: On this day, the Lord of Reincarnation, the ancient Emperor who obstructed the entire Immortal Path, bowed his head.

*Thud, thud, thud.*

A desolate breeze swept through the surroundings. On the dark earth, ruins lay everywhere; immense power had shattered the entire Cloud Heaven Realm. Xu Zhi walked across this broken land, finding it almost completely pulverized and uninhabitable, transformed into a heavily irradiated zone—a truly naturally formed forbidden area.

"Life is but a dream."

"Who knows if they are not just creatures in another's dream?"

He suddenly dug into his ear with his pinky finger, pulled out a soybean, and casually tossed it onto the ground.

"I wonder when they will realize that from the moment I opened my eyes, from the instant they saw my gaze, they were having a beautiful dream within my brain."

The Grim Reaper lives forever. Opening eyes within the brain creates a world; closing eyes destroys a world. Between opening and closing his eyes, he commands creation and destruction. You watch the scenery from the bridge; the scenery-watcher watches you from the tower. The bright moon adorns your window; you adorn the dreams of others...

"Entering my brain was simply seeking death." He smiled, feeling a sense of helplessness. Their bodies had merged, but there were too many gaps in their souls, easily pulling them into a dream. No matter how large the group, it ultimately cannot compare to an individual of superior quality.

"The civilization of this world, after all, primarily focuses on cultivating heroes of the Zerg race." His gaze drifted into the distance. "I'll return to the Underworld and close my eyes again, destroying that dream world and casting all their souls out."