Chapter 680: Messenger

The World-Suppressing King fell silent.

He hadn't expected Yan Jing to deduce almost everything in less than half a day.

Now, he had even found the Firmament's weakness.

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

His breathing grew heavier in the silence.

He looked at Yan Jing as if he truly saw a glimmer of possibility.

"What is that used for?"

Oblivious to the World-Suppressing King's thoughts, Yan Jing focused almost entirely on the origin hovering in his palm.

The World-Suppressing King shook his head.

"I don't know. No one had ever intercepted it before you. Naturally, no one has tried to use it."

Yan Jing nodded.

He separated a wisp of Weird Energy from his palm, sinking it into the domain to wrap around the gray speck of light.

"Hiss—hiss—"

The moment the Weird Energy touched the gray light, it was like water colliding with fire. Plumes of gray smoke billowed from the speck.

Sensing the threat, the gray light surged, violently crashing into Yan Jing's strand of Weird Energy.

Its desperate struggle yielded results; Yan Jing's sliver of energy was instantly reduced by more than half.

But the advantage of Weird Energy lay in Yan Jing's endless supply.

The gray light, however, had long since been cut off from its source. A few seconds later, battered by Yan Jing's continuous output, it trembled violently and was completely swallowed.

"Buzz—"

A gray afterglow slowly rose into the air as the origin power transformed, converting into Yan Jing's own strength.

Yan Jing frowned.

A few seconds later, he reached out and abruptly snuffed the glow.

"What happened?"

Bewildered, the World-Suppressing King looked at him.

He could tell Yan Jing had been on the verge of successfully making the Firmament's origin power his own.

Yan Jing shook his head.

"I'm not assimilating it. It's assimilating me."

He explained that while he initially thought he was absorbing it, closer inspection revealed the origin was lying dormant, feigning assimilation while subtly rewriting the framework of his Weird Energy.

A chill ran down the World-Suppressing King's spine.

If Yan Jing hadn't been cautious and proceeded to kill the Firmament one by one, absorbing them to strengthen himself, what would be left once enough origin power accumulated inside him? Would that person still be Yan Jing?

Or...

Would he just be a second Firmament?

"But obliterating it is still possible,"

Yan Jing said.

"It will just take some effort."

The World-Suppressing King fell silent. If even someone like Yan Jing—who could instantly kill a Firmament Envoy—admitted it would take effort, obliterating the Firmament's origin was nearly impossible for anyone else.

To kill a Firmament, one not only had to defeat a Firmament Envoy but also intercept the origin, obliterate it, and finally kill the Firmament itself while it was weakened.

The process sounded far, far too difficult.

He looked at Yan Jing, suddenly realizing the man before him might be the only hope of ever killing the Firmament.

"Hoo..."

He let out a long breath and lowered his voice. "I didn't finish what I was saying earlier."

"Maybe you're right. The Firmament might not be as invincible as we thought. It can be killed."

"But we've spent years pondering this, and we haven't come up completely empty-handed."

"Think about it. Since the New Heaven arrived, it has never made a move against the River or the Fertile Earth. That proves they possess something the Firmament fears."

"If we take the initiative to contact the River and the Fertile Earth and secure their support, this might be much simpler."

Yan Jing keenly caught the crucial detail.

"When you say 'we,' who exactly are you referring to?"

The World-Suppressing King's expression shifted.

He glanced around, lowering his voice even further.

"That's hard to discuss."

"Come with me."

He tugged at Yan Jing's sleeve, only to find it wouldn't budge.

He looked up, realizing Yan Jing was staring at empty space.

"Senior, it's been a few days."

Yan Jing spoke to the air.

The Messenger's figure slowly materialized in midair.

"You kid really took that step."

"But shouldn't you have told me you were going to use my Divine Throne to forge your own?"

The Messenger sounded dissatisfied, but his tone remained mild.

Yan Jing smiled.

"I still must thank Senior for the guidance."

The Messenger shook his head.

"You saved me, and I gave you a Divine Throne; it was only fair. Even if you hadn't, with your strength and talent, I would have given it to you anyway had you asked."

"Speaking of which, I actually owe you another Divine Throne."

He chuckled.

"But I don't have any extra to give."

"I originally had three successors. One is already dead, and the other is far inferior to you. I wanted you to inherit my position, but it looks like that won't work out now."

"However, I'm curious. Since you stepped into this pit, why did you seek out the World-Suppressing King?"

Yan Jing smiled.

"I only found out it was a pit after I found Senior World-Suppressing King."

The Messenger offered a helpless smile.

"Did you shake off that Firmament Envoy chasing you?"

"We lost it."

It wasn't Yan Jing who answered, but the World-Suppressing King.

He spoke up, offering the Messenger a smile.

"You should have seen his speed. He left the Firmament Envoy thousands of miles in the dust."

"Ah..."

The Messenger nodded as if he believed him, then returned the smile.

"It's been years, World-Suppressing King, but it seems you haven't changed a bit."

"You haven't changed either."

The World-Suppressing King smiled.

"As one of the forty-nine upper Deities, seeing you again after all these years is still astonishing."

"Mm, you still remember I'm one of the forty-nine upper Deities." The Messenger nodded.

"Good memory."

"But it would be even better if you remembered my actual job."

The World-Suppressing King's expression shifted. Before he could explain, the Messenger continued, "That organization of yours secretly planning to assassinate the Firmament—did you really think you kept it so confidential?"

The World-Suppressing King trembled. It was as if a freezing draft had blown from his toes to his scalp, draining the color from his face. The Messenger didn't look at him again, turning to Yan Jing instead.

"He doesn't trust me, which is why he tried to send me away. Not all Deities hate the Firmament. Some are too used to sitting high above and refuse to step down, not to mention there are entities like the Source of Mutation to worry about."

"He probably thinks I'm siding with them. After all, everyone knows the Firmament and I have a good relationship."

Yan Jing remained entirely calm. In the face of the Messenger's insinuations, he merely smiled.

"So which side are you on?"

"I'm not on any side."

The Messenger smiled.

"Why pick a side? When you make a choice, there is always a risk of losing. Make no choice at all, and the risk of losing is zero."

"Of the forty-nine upper Deities, half have already been replaced. The remaining ones are either incredibly formidable, like Destruction and Death, or useful to the Firmament. Do you know why the Firmament hasn't made a move against me?"

"Because I know the vast majority of the secrets in this world."

The Messenger laughed.

"Of course, that includes yours, and the Firmament's."

"As long as you earn my friendship, you gain intelligence on the Firmament. Isn't that a pretty good deal?"

"How about it? Care to think it over? As long as you let me remain the ambassador of intelligence after you win, I'll be satisfied. My demands are simple." The Messenger wore a faint smile, his expression brimming with confidence.

It was true that he was terrified of the Firmament Envoys, as those guys were uncommunicative lunatics.

For him, as long as the other party could be reasoned with, things wouldn't get complicated.

He had thrived under the previous Firmament; he would definitely be fine now.

But to his surprise...

The next second, the whistle of a cold weapon sliced through the air. A pitch-black Thorn Spear materialized in Yan Jing's grip, leveled right between the Messenger's eyebrows.

"Is there really zero risk of losing?"

Yan Jing smiled.

"Then it seems I'll have to add some for you."

Feeling the spear tip barely an inch from his brow, the Messenger's smile vanished.

"Hey, kid. You don't think that just because you saved my life, you can mess around like this, do you?"

"There's no bad blood between us, right?"

Yan Jing smiled.

"This has nothing to do with grudges. I want to win."

"I need to guarantee my victory."

"In this war, no one gets to sit on the fence and protect themselves. Those who try will be killed by me."

"If you didn't catch that, I can repeat it."

The pair of small wings on the Messenger's face trembled. The next second, both of their figures vanished simultaneously.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The two tore through countless dimensions. Doors continuously unfolded along their path, immediately smashed open by their passage.

This was a duel of doors. If either took a wrong step through a single portal, the distance between them would instantly stretch to thousands of miles.

"Whoosh..."

The Messenger's robes whipped wildly in the air. His pale, clean face bore a grave expression.

He hadn't expected Yan Jing to be so proficient with traversal abilities.

"Come!"

He turned and reached out his hand. Countless letters fluttered from his fingertips like butterflies. The envelopes tore open, unleashing the abilities of their senders: purgatory, ice, metal, cybernetics, Chaos...

All sorts of abilities erupted from the fluttering stationery, surging toward Yan Jing.

"Here I come!" Yan Jing smiled.

His figure appeared directly behind the Messenger.

The muscles in his right arm coiled tight, driving the Fear Thorn down viciously.

A single strike shattered countless doors.

It plunged straight into the Messenger's robes.

"Still a bit lacking, kid!"

The Messenger burst out laughing.

His body instantly disintegrated into blank paper as the real Messenger reappeared behind Yan Jing.

"This time, take this."

Countless doors materialized from all directions, individually binding Yan Jing's limbs and torso before twisting viciously.

The spatial power carried a strangling shear, attempting to slice through Yan Jing's skin and dismember him.

"Is that so?"

Watching the doors descend, Yan Jing opened his hand. Under the Messenger's shocked gaze, streams of spatial power flowed from Yan Jing's grasp. The conjured doors had somehow reappeared directly behind the Messenger.

"Fall!"

Yan Jing pivoted, engaged his core, gathered his strength, and threw a punch—all in one seamless, unbroken motion.

The punch was so fast the Messenger couldn't even register it before he was smashed straight into his own summoned doors.

"Squelch! Squelch!!!"

With every door he crashed through, countless bursts of blood exploded from the Messenger's body.

A hundred doors in a single second.

Crashing through a hundred overlapping dimensions.

After bursting through the final door, the Messenger was covered in mangled wounds.

But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst was his chest, right where Yan Jing's fist had struck.

Now, a terrifyingly large, bloody hole gaped there. Countless severed blood vessels hung loose, still violently throbbing.

But they couldn't heal.

Even though letter paper continuously materialized in an attempt to pack the wounds, it was to no avail.

It was as if something was suffocating the wounds, outright denying the very concept of healing.

"Pfft—"

The Messenger coughed up another mouthful of blood, but Yan Jing had already arrived.

"Wait! Stop!"

The Messenger's face paled in sheer terror, and he hastily reached out a hand, trying to stall for time.

But...

Yan Jing smiled.

The corners of his mouth curled up like a hunter locking onto prey.

The next second, he threw a ferocious punch.

Ultimate power manifested.

There were no special effects or cosmic phenomena—just terrifying brute force smashing down.

There were no words left to describe the punch.

If one had to describe it objectively...

Yan Jing felt this single blow carried enough force to obliterate the entire Surface World.

Yes, it was truly that exaggerated.

He didn't hold back, knowing his opponent was a Deity and a sly veteran.

At worst, he would kill him and then resurrect him; he absolutely refused to leave any room for unexpected variables.

"Boom!!!"

When the punch smashed into the Messenger, the entire world seemed to fall silent for a moment.

The next second, countless cracks surfaced all over the Messenger's body. Across his limbs and the wings by his eyes, fractures crisscrossed like overgrown vines.

Finally, with a deafening bang, the Messenger's body violently exploded.

Yan Jing sighed. The power of life emanated from his hands, gathering up the dregs of pulverized flesh and blood. Soon, a tiny figure was molded together in his palm.

As life force flooded into it, the miniature figure gasped for air with a wet sputter, like a drowning man spitting out the last mouthful of water. "You kid really tried to kill me!"

The miniature figure glared resentfully at Yan Jing, snapping in a high-pitched, babyish voice.

"You looked like someone with plenty of backup plans."

Yan Jing smiled.

"It's fine. Aren't you alive again?"

"How is that the same?!"

The Messenger trembled all over.

Not just from anger, but from sheer terror.

When that punch hit him, he felt as if he had died a hundred times over.

Not just his physical body; even his soul had been smashed apart.

"I want intelligence on the Firmament, as well as the River and the Fertile Earth."

Yan Jing smiled.

"You're on my side. I know it."

"You..."

The Messenger laughed out of sheer outrage.

This was the first time he had ever seen someone beat a person to death, revive them, and then forcibly claim they were allies.

"Aren't you afraid I'll lie to you?"

The Messenger looked at Yan Jing.

"You won't." Yan Jing's expression remained perfectly calm.

"What I said earlier was true. Even if I hadn't attacked you, I would have known you were on my side."

"What you seek is freedom."

"If I win, I grant you freedom."

The Messenger opened his mouth, eventually muttering in sheer exasperation:

"Who do you think you are, granting me freedom? Win first, then we'll talk."

"I will win." Yan Jing's expression was composed, as casual as stepping out for a smoke break after work and idly bragging.

But...

The Messenger suddenly understood exactly what Yan Jing meant.

Who else in this world could so nonchalantly declare they would defeat the Firmament?

Just being able to say it out loud was already impressive enough.

Indeed, it was very impressive.