Chapter 669: I Refuse (Two in One)

"Bang—"

"Bang—"

Two heavy thuds struck the ground in rapid succession, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

Countless specks of divinity drifted around the two figures, scattering into motes of light.

One of the figures radiated a blood-red halo.

Explosively corded muscles were distributed evenly across his body. Each one gleamed with a faint, bloody light, looking incomparably smooth.

A necklace of Beast Teeth hung around his neck.

The other figure looked much thinner by comparison.

Pitifully little muscle clung to his bones. Coupled with his tall, gaunt frame, slightly hunched back, and the glasses on his face, he looked exactly like the classic skinny-monkey mold of an internet-addicted youth.

Standing next to the other figure, he was clearly an entire size smaller.

If the two stood side by side and a stranger were asked to guess, absolutely no one would imagine that this skinny monkey was the Heaven-Breaking King, the man who had ruled the Inner World through sheer strength for a century.

"His scent is right here."

Fan Li spoke coldly.

By now, he had stepped into the Demigod Realm by relying on the Divine Throne of a Deity known as the Pure Blood Orb.

He could clearly detect the scent of any existence's blood, let alone that of the man he hated to the marrow of his bones.

"The Domain Revelation opens tomorrow."

The Heaven-Breaking King, Qiu Que, said slowly, "I've already had my people look into it. He came here to secure a Divine Throne. Word is, his Pathway is Victory."

"And... a pinnacle one at that."

Fan Li's eyes narrowed as the Heaven-Breaking King finished speaking. He immediately moved to charge across the boundless black earth ahead.

But the Heaven-Breaking King's next words held him back.

"He must die."

"And we must be one hundred percent sure of it."

Fan Li looked at the Heaven-Breaking King coldly.

"You think the two of us aren't enough?"

The Heaven-Breaking King shook his head, then nodded.

"It is not foolproof enough."

"He is merely Tenth Tier," Fan Li said coldly.

Yet Qiu Que appeared exceedingly calm.

"With his strength, do you really think he does not already hold a Divine Throne in his hands?"

"He walks the miscellaneous path."

Fan Li spoke again.

But... Qiu Que simply repeated his previous words in a cold voice.

"With his strength, do you really think he does not already hold a Divine Throne in his hands?"

Fan Li finally calmed down at this. He looked at Qiu Que and asked slowly, "You want to... completely snuff him out?"

Qiu Que looked toward the figure known as Fist, who was standing in a pillar of light nearby, and said, "Counting her, we have three Demigods in total. Beyond that, I also passed this news to someone on the Victory Pathway."

"Who?"

Fan Li looked at him.

"The current thirty-seventh on the leaderboard."

Qiu Que replied coldly.

"That person has already stepped onto the path for the pinnacle Divine Throne of Victory. He won't allow anyone else to tread this road and compete for the chance to reach the end."

"He'll still be a little while. Let's go stall our target first."

After Qiu Que spoke, the two charged toward the pitch-black earth ahead.

...

At this moment, Yan Jing was standing in the exact center of the black Domain. Countless streams of weird energy radiated from his body, extending toward the surrounding stone towers.

The tendrils of weird energy landed on the tops of the stone towers, measuring their heights one by one.

A short while later, feedback returned from the tendrils.

Yan Jing then compared them one by one.

It wasn't a particularly difficult task, just a tedious one.

According to the clues, he had to compare the original heights of the stone towers. Caked mud and settled dust on top didn't count.

The dispersed weird energy acted like tentacles, precisely surveying the stone towers.

Finally, Yan Jing felt out his target stone tower.

He immediately took a step, blinking right in front of it.

To the naked eye, this stone tower appeared roughly the same height as the others. In fact, due to the inaccuracies of human vision, it might even look a bit shorter.

But that was only because its base sat slightly lower than the rest.

Indeed, the ground across this black earth wasn't perfectly flat.

Yan Jing stepped up to the stone tower and pressed his wrist against it. The weird energy flashed.

A drop of dark golden blood dripped onto the topmost stone block of the tower.

"Hum—"

As if a sudden wind had swept in from all directions, the stone tower before him shifted. A massive Tower materialized on the black earth.

This newly formed Tower wasn't exceptionally thick—appearing just wide enough for a few people to encircle with their arms—but it was unimaginably tall. The moment it appeared, it pierced straight into the clouds. Its peak vaguely vanished into the Firmament, as though it had punctured through space itself.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Something seemed to be locked away in the upper levels of The Tower, forcefully slamming against the interior.

"Roar— Roar— Roar—"

Bizarre, low roars echoed out.

Yan Jing's expression didn't change. He looked up at The Tower, where a pair of crimson eyes seemed to be staring coldly down at him.

"Are you... the one who awakened me?"

A voice echoed in his mind.

Yan Jing nodded.

"This junior has come, hoping you might offer some guidance."

"I had only two Divine Thrones in total, and now only this last one remains."

The existence atop The Tower spoke coldly.

"Your talent is exceptionally poor, and the path you walk is impure, but I can give you a chance."

"If you want the Divine Throne, you only need to kill at least one Demigod with your own strength."

Kill a Demigod...

The corners of Yan Jing's mouth curled up slightly.

This was by no means a normal condition for advancement.

On the surface, it was incredibly difficult.

So difficult that almost no Tenth Tier existence could accomplish it.

But looking at it from another angle, it was also very simple.

So simple that if one had a Demigod among their protectors, that Demigod would just need to willingly sacrifice their own life.

Yan Jing gazed up at The Tower, but the eyes looking back at him were freezing cold.

"The opponent cannot actively seek death, nor can they be a Demigod who is already on the verge of dying."

Yan Jing chuckled.

"Did the person before me also advance under this condition?"

"He did not."

The existence atop The Tower said coldly, "He obtained his Divine Throne by killing ten existences of the same tier."

"Then why are my conditions so much harsher?"

Yan Jing asked softly.

"Because your talent is lacking."

The existence atop The Tower was completely ruthless.

Yan Jing nodded.

"Alright, understood."

He smiled and looked off into the distance.

There, two existences were hurtling this way at a terrifying speed.

"Bang! Bang!"

Fan Li and Qiu Que crashed down right in front of Yan Jing.

Fan Li stared coldly at The Tower behind Yan Jing, a sneer curling his lips.

"Who would have thought we'd meet again?"

Yan Jing nodded.

"Who would have thought, indeed. To think that His Excellency the Blood Sun King still refuses to let me off."

"It's nothing. I just didn't want you to smoothly obtain an upper-tier Divine Throne. You're welcome to step into the Demigod Realm using whatever Divine Throne you currently have on hand; I have no objections to that," Fan Li smiled.

He was incredibly shrewd; every sentence was designed to bait out information from Yan Jing.

He was hoping to probe whether Yan Jing actually had a Divine Throne in his possession.

Yan Jing didn't give him a direct answer. Instead, he looked at the Heaven-Breaking King beside him.

"Are you also here to seek death?"

The Heaven-Breaking King raised his eyes, his gaze flashing behind his glasses.

"I'm here to kill you."

"Your existence is ultimately a hidden danger to the Inner World."

Yan Jing burst into laughter.

"To receive such recognition from you all is my honor."

"And to be able to send the two of you to hell is my great fortune."

As his words fell, a towering tree instantly materialized. Yan Jing's figure shot above the clouds in a flash, and a throne overgrown with Thorns manifested beneath him.

Fear Stance Second State.

This was Yan Jing's first time using a form other than the Fear Stance First State since advancing to the Demigod Realm and ascending.

Clearly, he was serious now.

Compared to before, the current Fear Stance Second State had undergone a massive transformation. Its sheer volume was significantly larger—and not just by a little bit. Every single leaf was now like a small Domain, and every root resembled a mighty river, roaring and churning as it spread far into the distance.

The pitch-black Thorns swayed gently in the air, effortlessly slicing through space and leaving behind swathes of fractured cracks.

The colossal tree canopy acted like the Firmament itself, blotting out the entire sky and blocking the sunlight as a bone-chilling aura poured down.

"Rustle—"

Fan Li's and Qiu Que's eyes narrowed simultaneously. They exchanged a glance, both recalling a certain legend of the Inner World.

In an era long past, rumor had it there was a World Tree. Every leaf on it bore a world, every vein was a dimension, and every life nurtured a brand-new Pathway.

That was a vanished Deity.

[Creation]

This Pathway had long since disappeared from the world, leaving behind only the legends of his existence.

And now, the form Yan Jing displayed shocked them both. It was as if they were witnessing the embryonic form of that legendary entity from a distant era.

Almost in perfect unison, the two surged forward. They threw everything into thoroughly obliterating Yan Jing.

To the two of them, this was no longer about simple revenge. The power Yan Jing had just unveiled filled them with dread—the kind of dread that told them if Yan Jing didn't die today, their own paths forward would be permanently severed.

"Boom!!!!"

A massive phantom materialized behind Fan Li. A blood-red brilliance bloomed from between his brows. From his hair down to the Beast Teeth on his chest, all the way to his pounding heart, rich streaks of crimson surfaced, making him look exactly like a true Deity descending upon the mortal realm.

"Die!!!"

He charged right up to the giant tree behind Yan Jing. Drawing his arm back like a bow, his figure resembled a towering, ferocious beast as he threw a devastating punch.

In contrast, Qiu Que went straight for Yan Jing on the throne.

His frail-looking body erupted with tremendous power. Stepping on thin air, he sprinted wildly upward toward Yan Jing.

Every footfall directly shattered a patch of the void. Using those shattered cavities as stepping stones, his figure crisscrossed upward, covering thousands of miles in a single bound.

Those seemingly frail muscles harbored unimaginable power, propelling him to Yan Jing at a terrifying speed.

His chest heaved violently like a pumping bellows. Upon inhaling, his entire body swelled to twice its normal size, yet when he exhaled, he became as thin as a sheet of paper.

Amidst this drastic bodily transformation, the blood-red light around him erupted entirely. It was a demonstration of absolute mastery over strength, mobilizing every single fiber of muscle in his body to deliver a fatal strike.

Facing their combined assault, Yan Jing's gaze darkened, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

Streak after streak of pitch-black Fear Thorns instantly manifested beneath the canopy above.

Dense and all-encompassing, they fell in an instant like torrential rain pouring from the heavens.

Every single Fear Thorn was now as thick as the trunk of a century-old tree.

And their numbers reached into the tens of thousands.

"Hah!!!"

Higher up, Qiu Que was the first to clash with those Fear Thorns. He let out a loud roar and threw his fists wildly, intending to break through using his usual fighting style—

Overcoming all techniques with absolute strength.

"Crack, crack, crack—"

The sound of shattering glass rang out.

The divinity surrounding him wrapped around his fists, serving as the final barrier isolating him from the Fear Thorns' influence, allowing him to smash countless Fear Thorns away.

But... even more Fear Thorns kept coming.

Even though Qiu Que's figure danced through that pitch-black curtain of rain like a swift braving the wind and waves, he simply couldn't withstand the sheer volume of the downpour.

Toward the end, it was hardly even rain anymore.

It was a torrential flood crashing down from above.

A few seconds later, Qiu Que was completely swallowed by the deluge and blasted violently toward the ground.

At the final moment, Fan Li heard his scream. His scalp went numb as he watched the curtain of rain about to crash onto his own head. He instantly let out a thunderous roar, blending the weird energy and divinity around him as he smashed his fists desperately against the tree trunk in front of him.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

It sounded like a giant god swinging drumsticks onto a drumhead thousands of miles wide. With every punch Fan Li landed, bloody light flashed, and the giant tree behind Yan Jing flickered in tandem.

A hint of unnatural flush visibly surfaced on Yan Jing's face.

His vital energy and blood were surging backward, and blood threatened to spill from his throat.

It was, after all, a Demigod's desperate final strike; it was perfectly normal for him to suffer some backlash.

But...

That was as far as it went.

He extended a hand and gently tapped the empty air.

"Crackle, crackle... Crackle, crackle..."

Fan Li, who was throwing punches with all his might, stared blankly at a flower petal that had suddenly landed on the tip of his nose. He had no idea where this petal had come from.

But in the very next second, his pupils suddenly dilated.

His consciousness was dragged into a memory he never wanted to revisit—the deepest fear hidden in his heart.

It stemmed from his childhood.

Back then, he was nothing more than the orphaned child of a wealthy family's steward.

To survive, he worked cautiously and conscientiously every day, terrified of making the slightest mistake.

Even so, he was still bullied.

The master's children disliked him and went out of their way to amuse themselves at his expense every single day.

Their favorite pastime was taking the blood from the freshly slaughtered chickens every day and pouring it down his throat.

"Gulp— Gulp—"

Once that foul, reeking stench stuck to him, he could never shake it off. Mixed with chicken feathers, the blood clogged his windpipe, impossible to hack out no matter how hard he tried.

Fan Li was completely submerged in the blood of his memories.

And in reality, he was swallowed by the torrent of Fear Thorns.

The Fear Thorns pinned their bodies to the ground. They took root and sprouted, transforming into a dense jungle that completely encircled The Tower.

...

...

Silence. A long, drawn-out silence.

The existence atop The Tower had fallen utterly silent.

It said nothing, yet it felt as if it had said everything.

Finally, it slowly spoke.

"You have passed the trial."

"I can grant you the Divine Throne."

But Yan Jing, sitting on his throne, burst out laughing at those words.

"No thanks, I refuse."

"...What did you say?"

For the first time, a hint of human emotion bled into that voice, brimming with pure disbelief.

"I said, I refuse."

Yan Jing's expression, however, remained utterly calm. He didn't seem to be acting out of spite or seeking petty revenge. He was merely stating a fact:

"Keep it for yourself. I don't need yours."