The Heavenly Golden Imperial Palace.

In the palace hall, Sage Ruler Changqin opened his eyes abruptly as his face turned completely white. He stared out into the distance with panic in his eyes. He even felt a chill creeping within him.

“Chu Kuangren. Chu Kuangren!”

“Why are you always destined to be at odds with the Heavenly Golden Imperial Palace?! You have destroyed my spiritual thought clone and murdered my sky-pride! There shall be no end to this!”

Sage Ruler Changqin had decided that one of them had to die.

There was zero possibility of a truce now.

“We need to watch Chu Kuangren closely. He is heading to the Craggy Ocean Tower next, so I must send someone to monitor the situation…”

Sage Ruler Changqin murmured.

He needed to understand where Chu Kuangren's limit was at.

Craggy Ocean Tower was one of the former unknown lands, but now, it was one of the most stellar orthodoxies in Firmament Star as it held formidable power.

Not only was the orthodoxy home to several Great Sages, but there were also Sage Rulers within its hierarchy.

No one in all of Firmament Star dared underestimate its power.

Yet on this day, all of the orthodoxy's cultivators were on high alert. It was as if they were standing ready to battle against their most formidable enemy of all time!

Tens of thousands of ferocious-looking Craggy Ocean b.e.s.t.i.a.l Souls roamed the perimeters, their sheer number forming a densely packed colony. The b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls' cultivation levels ranged between Battle Monarchies and Sages, whose ferocious qi clouded the entire region.

This was the Craggy Ocean Tower's defensive mega formation, known simply as the Craggy Ocean Mega Formation!

The formation consisted of the countless species of Craggy Ocean b.e.s.t.i.a.l Souls that Craggy Ocean Tower had refined over many years.

In the grand hall of the Craggy Ocean Tower.

The Craggy Ocean Tower Lord had gathered all of the orthodoxy's elders. It was now two days after Chu Kuangren delivered his b.l.o.o.d.y declaration of war.

If things were according to plan, Chu Kuangren should be here anytime now.

The entire Craggy Ocean Tower was on red alert.

“He's here!”

Suddenly, the Craggy Ocean Tower Lord announced solemnly, and the elders immediately peered into the distance.

Through the clouds, they could see that a couple outside the Craggy Ocean Mega Formation beyond the grand mountain entrance.

They were Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu.

“He's finally here.”

“Hmph, we've waited long enough.”

“Let this be the last trip of their life!”

The elders muttered fiercely.

In antic.i.p.ation of Chu Kuangren's arrival, they had made plenty of preparations. The Craggy Ocean Tower was confident that not even a Sage Ruler could survive what was about to come!

They reasoned that Chu Kuangren, having lost his spiritual energy, could no longer wield his Emperor Weapons. Hence, no matter how strong his foundation was, he could never surpa.s.s the level of a Sage Ruler.

Outside the Craggy Ocean Tower.

Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu had arrived at the Craggy Ocean Mega Formation.

“Fortune knocks once at least at every man's gate.” Chu Kuangren laughed as he stared at the mega formation before him. “Last time, they came to destroy the Black Heaven Sect's mega formation, and now, it's my turn.”

“Unfortunately, this isn't the Astonis.h.i.+ng Cloud of Seas Formation, and they are nowhere as capable as I am! How pitiful for them.”

Chu Kuangren lifted his feet and stepped into the Craggy Ocean Mega Formation.

Immediately, dozens of Craggy Ocean b.e.s.t.i.a.l Souls leaped at them.

The b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls came in many forms, such as leopards, wolves, tigers, and jaguars. Each b.e.s.t.i.a.l soul emanated an overbearing ferocious aura as they snapped towards Chu Kuangren.

Clang.

Chu Kuangren's Self Descendant Sword let out a cry of sword chant before it flew out of its handle!

Sword qi was rampant in the air as it engulfed the entire scene.

One by one, the b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls were torn apart.

Even without Chu Kuangren's control, the Self Descendant Sword still possessed a frightening amount of damaging power. After all, it was a Boundary Emperor Weapon that was possessed by the Sword Soul.

The Self Descendant Sword swirled around Chu Kuangren, unleas.h.i.+ng surges of sword qi that was like a typhoon of blades. All the b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls that came close to Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu were torn apart.

Like an evening stroll in the park, Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu casually walked toward the grand hall of the Craggy Ocean Tower.

The deeper they ventured, the stronger the b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls they encountered.

Even Sage-level b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls began to appear towards the end.

Chu Kuangren shook his head and sighed. “Too bad Lil Red isn't here. All she would need to do is howl once, and these b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls wouldn't dare move a single inch.”

Lil Red was a G.o.dly Phoenix and a divine beast, so the sheer presence of her bloodline and soul's aura was enough to dominate over these b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls.

“Well, it's okay.”

Chu Kuangren chuckled. The surrounding spiritual energies converged within his grasp and formed a golden greatsword. As Chu Kuangren swung it forward, he unleashed a devastating amount of runic sword qi that ruptured all of the b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls before him.

All it took was one swing to clear Chu Kuangren's entire path from the b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls.

A clear pathway now appeared before them.

“Let's go.”

From there on out, it was a smooth journey for Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu.

The Craggy Ocean Tower's elders were dumbfounded.

The Craggy Ocean Mega Formation that they had harbored so much pride for was defenseless against Chu Kuangren. It seemed to play no part in obstructing their journey!

“He's much stronger than we thought!”

“So this is what Chu Kuangren's capable of.”

The Craggy Ocean Tower was even more concerned now.

At that moment, Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu had arrived at the grand mountain entrance of the Craggy Ocean Tower. However, there was no one defending the front gate.

Chu Kuangren activated his spiritual thought and soon spotted the entire army of Craggy Ocean Tower's cultivators gathered before the grand hall at the mountain peak.

“Are they trying to concentrate all their forces for an ultimate battle? Hmm, their courage is admirable, yet… futile!”

Chu Kuangren resumed his journey to the peak of the mountain.

A basalt stairway connected the path to the top, and there were several thousands of steps to it. Like any ordinary person, Chu Kuangren began ascending the stairway one step at a time.

Lan Yu followed closely behind.

At the mountain peak, the ten thousand Craggy Ocean Tower disciples could only watch as Chu Kuangren approached them, step by step.

They stared deadly at Chu Kuangren, afraid to let their guards down even for the slightest moment. Meanwhile, Chu Kuangren casually strolled along the stairway as if he was a tourist hiking along a mountain trail.

As time pa.s.sed, Chu Kuangren got closer to the peak.

The disciples were on edge now. The entire grand hall fell into pin-drop silence as they nervously prepared for war.

A formless murderous aura encroached upon them.

The b.e.s.t.i.a.l souls began to whimper nervously, seemingly able to sense an abrupt change in the event.

When Chu Kuangren at the midpoint, formless fluctuations in energy began to form around him, and lines of runic symbols eventually gathered to form a runic sword.

It was a golden runic sword that radiated with a deadly sharp aura.

Chu Kuangren took another step, but this time, creating an aqublue runic sword that surged with boundless torrential force.

The pattern continued. With each step Chu Kuangren took, a new runic sword appeared.

More runic swords appeared around Chu Kuangren, each radiating its distinct form of Daoist Rhymes that resembled the forces of nature.

By the time Chu Kuangren was near the peak, he was surrounded by countless runic swords that were so densely stacked atop one another!

There were flaming runic swords, blizzard runic swords, mountain river runic swords, lightning runic swords, solar and lunar runic swords, and so on…

When Chu Kuangren finally arrived at the peak, the runic swords had filled the entire peak with their boundless runic auras!

The disciples froze as they stared at the countless runic swords. They could feel the weight of ten thousand mountains crus.h.i.+ng on them.

Although it was only the doing of a single person, the disciples felt as if they were going on war against the entire world!

They were fighting against all of the forces of nature!

While the disciples were overwhelmed by the shock they felt, Chu Kuangren's blaring voice interrupted the silence. “My name's Chu Kuangren. I've come with a sky full of runic swords to kill all of you!”