Hokkaido, the main shrine.
Dark clouds loomed over the city, threatening to crush it.
Powerhouses from all over the world had gathered together with one common goal—to rescue people!
Especially the Beidou Organization, the Samurai Cult, the United States, the Western Divine Church, and the Northern Kingdom, because the eight people trapped inside happened to be from these factions.
Some of them had come before and had been utterly crushed, so this time they had assembled almost all of humanity’s top combat power, vowing to raze the shrine to the ground.
Truth be told, aside from those organizations that had people trapped inside, the other factions didn’t really want to come. But unfortunately, they couldn’t afford to offend these major powers, so they had no choice but to tag along reluctantly.
Fern’s deep, heavy voice echoed throughout the main shrine: “Senior Envoy, you can name any condition you want. These young people are the hope of all humanity. It’s foreseeable that Earth is about to face disaster, and losing them would be a catastrophe for us all.”
A long silence followed, with no response. Everyone’s mood grew increasingly heavy.
“Let’s just level the shrine and be done with it! I don’t believe he won’t come out!” roared the Beast God, his hot temper threatening to get out of control.
“But he’s S-rank. If we truly enrage him, all of us combined might not even be his match.” Yin Tianxi grabbed him and said in a low voice, “I do have an idea.”
He turned to Fern. “But from here on out, everyone has to follow my command.”
Fern agreed without hesitation: “No problem.”
It was noon, and although the temperature in Hokkaido wasn’t high, the sun blazed down scorchingly hot.
Yin Tianxi looked at the crowd of powerhouses following behind him and felt a sense of nostalgia. Back in the day, he was known as the world’s number one, commanding all the supernatural beings across the globe just as he was doing now.
“Listen up, everyone. An S-rank isn’t invincible. The key to our victory lies in waiting—waiting for him to come out and walk right into his death.”
His words caused an uproar. Even his old friend Fern looked confused: “If you don’t give us a reasonable explanation, I’ll have to assume you’ve lost your mind.”
Yin Tianxi stared into his eyes and said seriously, “I received guidance from a true master—someone who saved us a few months ago.”
At those words, everyone gasped in astonishment.
“Didn’t that senior already leave?” Fern felt his brain struggling to keep up.
“That’s exactly why he’s a true master. He anticipated all of this and left us a brilliant strategy.”
Apart from Nangong Xuan and Ye Qingyu, no one believed him.
However, some of those who had been forcibly brought here, even if they didn’t believe it, quickly expressed their willingness to trust him.
After all, who would want to go up there and throw their life away?
“Since there’s no better option for now, and he won’t come out while we can’t find him, waiting is our only choice,” said the elderly Western Divine Church leader.
Fern hesitated for a moment. “Alright, I’ll follow your lead. So how exactly should we wait?”
“Simple—set up an inescapable net and wait for him to walk right into the trap.”
Everyone exchanged incredulous looks. Make an S-rank walk into a trap?
Once the formation had spread out, Nangong Xuan quietly asked Yin Tianxi, “Master, did the strategy pouch really just say ‘wait’?”
Yin Tianxi replied with a straight face, “The pouch said to listen to Su Mo. And it was Su Mo who said to wait.”
Nangong Xuan: “Huh?”
Yin Tianxi patted his shoulder. “Since the master said so, we just follow along. Nothing will go wrong.”
Nangong Xuan: Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
“Senior, we’re not Chosen Ones, so we’re useless to you. Why did you capture us as well?” Satō Mima tried to reason with the Envoy, but the old bastard didn’t play by the rules. He simply drove his longsword straight into her abdomen.
“Since you’re useless, there’s no harm in stabbing you.”
Because everyone’s cultivation had been sealed, they were completely powerless to resist. Afraid that provoking him would lead to a miserable death, they all kept their mouths shut.
He then approached Sakurai Mei, pinched her chin, and grinned. “It seems my foolish disciple has a thing for you. I’ll let you live, then—help him win you over.”
He patted her cheek and complimented, “Nice feel.”
When he got to Su Mo and the other three Chosen Ones, the Envoy’s smile never faded. Standing before Su Mo, he mocked, “You think you’re so clever, but you didn’t know that beyond the sky there’s always another sky. Young people are still too green.”
“According to materialism, Senior, this would mean matter determines consciousness. So has your personality become more cheerful too? You never used to talk this much, let alone grin like that.”
The Envoy chuckled. “Maybe you’re right. This old fossil who’s lived for centuries is actually starting to feel a bit like a young man now.”
“Is that so…” Su Mo’s expression suddenly shifted. “Then Senior, do you know that youthful arrogance often comes with a price?”
The moment the words left his mouth, the Envoy sensed something was wrong. He tried to back away, but Su Mo’s fist slammed squarely into his abdomen.
“Everyone, attack!” Su Mo shouted. Aside from Satō Mima, who had already fallen dead, everyone swarmed forward, eager to tear the Envoy apart.
At this point, the Envoy was only at B-rank. Even with a powerful soul, he couldn’t bring out A-rank strength, let alone S-rank. Under the combined assault, he quickly found himself at a disadvantage.
“Impossible! How did you break free from my restraints?” The Envoy couldn’t fathom it.
To ensure his power wouldn’t be hampered after possession, he had specifically used a sealing artifact to lock their cultivation. Unless someone was S-rank, there was no way to break free.
He couldn’t figure out what tricks these youngsters had pulled to pull this off.
His gaze instinctively fell on Su Mo—because to him, Su Mo was the slyest of the bunch, and it was very likely his doing.
“Can you tell me how you did it?” he asked in a low voice.
“No!” Su Mo refused flatly. “Everyone, pile on him!”
The timing was perfect—night had just fallen, and this was Blake’s domain.
For once, he finally got to act “tough,” no longer getting floored in two or three moves.
“Night Sprites!”
Blake’s body glowed with a faint luminescence, his combat strength doubling compared to normal. With everyone else’s help, he kept the Envoy pinned down the entire time.
Outwardly, he looked cold and composed, but inside, he was ecstatic: I’m pounding an S-rank into the ground…
Of course, this was only because the Envoy hadn’t yet grown accustomed to his new body. He couldn’t use his own abilities, nor could he tap into Gen Tianxiu’s. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be in such a pathetic state.
At the same time, Su Mo was gambling—betting that he wouldn’t dare hand his body over to Gen Tianxiu’s soul and would keep him sealed within his spiritual sea. Because if he did, even an S-rank vessel rampaging wildly could easily crush them all.
And as it turned out, his gamble paid off.
But in Su Mo’s plan, the key to successfully turning the tables on the Envoy was Ye Qingyi. The walnut they’d obtained from Chu Yuan had fused with her and become her seventh snow mountain, unexpectedly granting her a technique—the Rule Prison.
This ability was still support-oriented. It could nullify the effects of rule-based artifacts within a certain range and wasn’t restricted by them when used. The only drawback was that it could only be used once a day.
Before, they’d been immobilized by the power of Yamata-no-Orochi and couldn’t do anything, but since this time it was an artifact, they could put it to use.
Su Mo had thought of this plan ever since the Envoy started learning the Heavenly Demon Eye, because from that point onward, the thing restraining them had become an artifact.
Blake and Weier held the Envoy down.
To make absolutely certain, Su Mo planned to ignite his original body with Netherfire. As they watched the corpse begin to burn and crumble under the flames, a voice suddenly emerged from within: “You’re all too naive…”
