Shafeng was, at first, horrified. He thought a Divine Sovereign had somehow arrived on the field.

Especially when Xiao Wenli held his form in place through her binding-talent-plus-war-beast-will. He was terrified out of his wits. Fortunately, Chiqiu did not seize the moment to unleash Taiyan Divine Power against him, or the consequences would have been unthinkable. Having narrowly survived once, when Yue Yang walked over, all Shafeng could think of was to break the binding and flee back to his Grimoire World.

But at the very instant that thought rose in him —

He was stunned to find that the “Divine Sovereign” who had said he’d try to kill him was, in fact, a young man.

Age was not, ordinarily, an issue for a superior powerhouse.

But this young man —

Was too young. Shafeng, in all his life, had never seen a young human male at divine-envoy tier or above… As astonishment and shock churned in the pit of him, a nameless fire, shameful, began to burn in the depths of his soul… A mere divine envoy, an ant of a young human — daring to make sport of him? Most unforgivable of all — this brat still had the face to say something so shameless. One-on-one? Adding another combatant would make him “cry his eyes out”?

Was this brat even awake?

Sheer ravings!

On the strength of his puny divine-envoy-tier power, he dared challenge a Divine Sovereign like himself?

“Die!”

Aside from one-shotting him, Shafeng felt any method he used would waste even one more second and be unforgivable.

Having confirmed the youth’s strength and, from Chiqiu’s expression, that this was no trap, Shafeng ignored who the young man was or with whom he was aligned. He struck, meaning by divine power carrying terrifying killing intent to finish this in an instant. Whoever this brat’s people were, whatever his background — he was as good as dead.

Because he had challenged one such as him — a Divine Sovereign!

Gods brook no mortal’s provocation!

His palm, a hundred times faster than lightning, tore through the short distance and clamped for Yue Yang’s throat.

Meaning to seize this brat within a thousandth of a second, like grabbing a chick — and to slam him against the ground like breaking an egg. To pulp that arrogant, ignorant fellow’s head, or the whole of him, into pieces, into mush!

BAAAAM.

He was indeed picked up like a chick. Indeed slammed against the ground like a broken egg.

Only the one accomplishing this was not the enraged Shafeng.

It was the frail-looking, smiling-so-harmlessly transmigrator!

Watching from the side, Chiqiu’s jaw fell to the ground. His eyeballs nearly popped from their sockets… This was more unbelievable than watching an ant flip a mammoth! A Divine Sovereign, ten thousand years of life behind him, Chiqiu had thought he’d seen most of what the world had to offer, that there was nothing new. And yet, now, he suddenly felt he had been a frog at the bottom of a well. From this mysterious, unknowable young man before him, the sigh escaped him unwillingly… Compared to Taiyan and Bingli of that ancient age, the miracle this young man was pulling was more shocking, more inconceivable still!

“Impossible — no, this is impossible!” Shafeng, though held in agony by the neck and hurled hard against the ground, still refused to accept the fact.

“So sorry — a moment ago I used a bit too much force!” the transmigrator apologized. “I’ll pay attention next time. Please don’t cry!”

“Pfft!” Never mind Shafeng — even Chiqiu had the urge to spit blood.

“You are only a divine envoy — a mere divine envoy. How can you move me at all!” Shafeng still felt he must be dreaming.

“Well, given your wits, it would be hard to explain.” Yue Yang, for his part, expressed his regret, then offered Shafeng a very considerate suggestion. “If you feel that having me grab your neck and slam you into the dirt is too damaging to your self-respect, why don’t I only slap your face? I promise — the slap will be loud and crisp, but absolutely nothing broken. Even if your face swells a little, there will be no internal injuries and no lingering damage. Trust me. My control is quite good — and I have rich face-slapping experience!”

Yue Yang’s proposal turned Shafeng’s nose sideways in fury.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

He’d wanted to curse — but was too angry to get a word out. He could only stab a trembling finger at Yue Yang, for a long time unable to find any words at all…

Sovereign Intent!

Watching from the sidelines, Chiqiu did catch a hint of the truth.

Outside the situation, one is not fooled by it. Chiqiu had been puzzled — but in a flash, the memory of Taiyan and Bingli’s showings ten thousand years ago rose up from the depths of his mind, and he understood.

Taiyan and Bingli — those two ancient great gods — were fundamentally different from ordinary pseudo-gods. Never mind pseudo-gods at Shafeng’s tier — even Hei Zhou, on seeing Taiyan and Bingli, feared them as a rat fears a cat. Where was any air of majesty about him then? When the ancient god’s ancient relic surfaced in that age, and the mighty of Heaven Beyond the Heaven learned of it and came a hundred god-tier strong to seize it, Taiyan and Bingli, working as a pair, slew every single one of them in the God-Slaying Mystic Realm.

The Heaven-Outer Secret Passages that had once linked Tower Beyond the Tower, Mountain Beyond the Mountain, and Heaven Beyond the Heaven —

Were sealed by the two great gods.

And for ten thousand years, tidings between them were cut off.

The four strongest of the great Divine Sovereigns in Heaven Beyond the Heaven, seeking victory at any cost, had gone so far as to try to release Weiguang — sealed in Tower Beyond the Tower since ancient times, and called the King of Gods — but had failed. Not only did those four great Heaven Beyond the Heaven Divine Sovereigns die, their command-bound divine artifacts fell into the hands of God-Slayer, Hei Zhou, Tianchou, and Zhaoxi…

If Taiyan and Bingli had not been driven to their end by the burden of re-sealing Weiguang while also enduring the backlash of ancient Laws, the two would not have fallen so early.

If either Taiyan or Bingli had lived, how could Mountain Beyond the Mountain have become what it now was?

Where would Hei Zhou have had any voice at all?

Compared to Taiyan and Bingli, the young man before him surely had far less raw power — and yet, the state he stood in was startlingly similar. What was more, when confronting a “god-tier powerhouse,” this young man’s manner was more relaxed, more at ease. It felt less like fighting than teasing — a look-down-from-far-above that shone unmistakably from him. That single quality — even the two great gods Taiyan and Bingli had not carried it quite so strongly!

Chiqiu turned memories of the past over in his mind, comparing them against what stood before his eyes.

He reached a startling conclusion.

This young man could stand alongside Taiyan and Bingli of that age… At the very least, he was no weaker than either of the two great gods!

Slap!

Shafeng, charging in for a life-and-death with Yue Yang, was slapped by Yue Yang and sent a dozen meters flying. Teeth and blood sprayed. Half his face was nearly beaten to a pig’s-head shape. Even some of his solid teeth were loosened.

Shafeng cradled his swollen face. Even now he refused to accept the reality.

He, a Divine Sovereign, high above all —

Had been beaten to his knees looking for his teeth by a mere divine envoy?

That — that was impossible!

It had to be an illusion!

Some kind of treasure or some special-type talent-ability deceiving him — it absolutely could not be real…

“Sorry — I used too much force again… I meant to hold back, but I couldn’t. If you had a mirror to see yourself in, you’d understand where I’m coming from. You must know — your face is really, really slap-worthy,” Yue Yang, for his part, spoke in tones full of apology, offering Shafeng warm and sincere concern. “One look at that face, and anyone gets the urge to slap-slap-slap-slap-slap. It was hard enough for me to hold back to just the one slap!”

By Yue Yang, for his part’s account, restricting himself to only one slap on Shafeng was already exceptionally generous.

Shafeng, in his heart, ought to feel satisfied.

And moreover full of gratitude.

Perhaps he ought to open his mouth and offer thanks.

Because getting Yue Yang, for his part, to hold back was no easy thing.

“I’m going to eat you alive!” Shafeng was in a towering rage. If he could get his hands on the transmigrator now, he might really eat him raw. Being face-slapped was one thing — being asked to feel gratitude on top of it was too much. Even a virtuous old monk might not endure such humiliation without losing his temper!

“Remember, don’t reason with savages. Playing music to an ox is a game we don’t play!” Yue Yang, for his part, saw Shafeng erupt with divine power, coming on like a mountain-toppling sea-lifting wave — and still had the leisure to teach the snake-demon little loli beside him.

“Mm-hm!” the obedient little snake-demon nodded, well-behaved.

Shafeng’s divine power —

Erupting in fury, could level a great mountain in a single second.

In this moment, striking without a shred held back, Shafeng meant to finish Yue Yang in one blow. He would not tolerate this brat being alive a moment longer. Striking through his hate, Shafeng’s might shook heaven and earth. Even Chiqiu, watching from the side, hurried back three great strides, not daring to face that edge. He was down to less than thirty percent of his divine power — one careless move and Shafeng’s heavy strike could kill him.

Cradling his still-unconscious beloved, Chiqiu retreated ten miles out.

He was surprised to find —

His retreat had been unnecessary.

Shafeng’s divine power was terrifying, but had not inflicted the faintest scratch.

Inside the storm of divine power, the young man was still chatting with his life-guardian war beast, oblivious. All the divine power seemed to have no effect on him at all; it just slid off around him.

While Shafeng still fought on and had not died, with a single point of the finger, the mysterious young man once again — inconceivably — gathered up all the divine power Shafeng had put forth. It was compressed into a strength-density sphere hovering just above his fingertip, spinning without pause. Chiqiu was ready to say that even the original owner of that divine power — Shafeng himself — could not have done such a thing.

To compress divine power to such an extreme, at such pressure — probably not even Hei Zhou or God-Slayer could achieve it.

Only Taiyan and Bingli of that ancient age had ever managed effects like this.

This young man, as if merely stretching out a hand, was playing Shafeng around in the palm of his fingers. Who on earth was he? Where had he come from? What was his background? The questions filled Chiqiu’s head…

Defeating Shafeng was already a miracle. But playing a Divine Sovereign like Shafeng around in the palm of his hand — that could no longer be called a miracle at all!

How, how did he do it?

Chiqiu could not fathom it.

Just as he could not fathom how Taiyan and Bingli, ten thousand years ago, had reversed the tide of a hundred-god Heaven-Beyond-the-Heaven invasion and slain every one of the attackers!

The “Sovereign Intent” Taiyan and Bingli had spoken of — was it really so important?

Ten thousand years had passed.

And to this very day, Chiqiu still had no answer!

(End of Chapter 1170)