Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor

Wu Hong sent Liang Zhelang flying with one punch, breaking her arms in the process.

"Damn. What are you? A gorilla," Liang Zhelang uttered as her body instantly regenerated after using a bit of power from her Dao Sea. She knew this unknown Emperor had cultivated a powerful fleshly body, but she didn't expect it was that exaggerated.

Liang Zhelang flickered her wrist, and the invisible threads connected to her finger fused with the void. With one yank, the entire dimension of the room began to shrink, trying to squeeze Wu Hong into a paste. However, Empress Wu casually waved her hand and the space returned to normal. Then, she took one step and immediately appeared in front of Liang Zhelang.

Wu Hong reached out, intent on instantly sealing her opponent. However, at the last moment, Liang Zhelang disappeared, replaced by Nie Rouxin. A smirk appeared on the corner of the Saintess as she waited with anticipation for her opponent's next course of action. Will she stop at the last moment? Will she be terrified about injuring someone she values? No matter the choice, the result will be satisfying.

Unfortunately for her, this little ploy was useless. Wu Hong did not stop, instantly sealing Nie Rouxin and putting her away. She was a liability, and with this move, her safety could be guaranteed.

"How cruel," Liang Zhelang smiled. "How can you —"

"Don't waste your time. Your ability to manipulate emotions is child's play compared to what I just experienced," Wu Hong said. With one thought, more than a hundred magic circles suddenly appeared around Liang Zhelang.

"Since when?" the Saintess said, her complexion ugly. She did not notice in the slightest when these seals were set up. Upon closer observation, Liang Zhelang realized what had happened. When Wu Hong previously fixed her space manipulation, that wasn't the full extent of her action. In truth, she had hidden countless seals in hidden pocket dimensions of this area.

Liang Zhelang gritted her teeth; she realized that she needed to take this seriously, or this battle would end quickly. So, without wasting a moment, she summoned a projection of the Source Qi Space; her Dao Sea resonated with it, allowing her to draw even a high quality and quantity of powerful Qi.

[Heaven and Earth Domination]

Liang Zhelang used billions of Qi from the source and condensed them into a purple sphere. And interestingly enough, the sphere was not a chaotic mess of countless powers forced to fuse. No, it had an order or logic that resembled a universe—an independent Heaven and Earth. And in that universe, Liang Zhelang had absolute dominance.

The sphere released an intense light, trying to remove the blockade of magic circles surrounding its creator. Sadly, before it could even achieve anything, magic circle after magic circle started to seal the light it was emitting. The purple sphere fought back, using the array of Qi available to it, but no matter which one it used, one of the many seals surrounding it could counter the effect. In the end, the sphere lost all its light before dissipating between Heaven and Earth.

All the magic circles started to resonate with each other before releasing a terrifying golden light, leaving nothing behind. Liang Zhelang had disappeared. Was Wu Hong the victor? Not quite. Despite how it looked, the golden light was a seal, not an attack. As such, Wu Hong should have captured Liang Zhelang, but she knew that wasn't the case.

Swish!

Wu Hong acted on instinct as she reached out to catch a well-hidden string. She yanked it, revealing a pale-faced Liang Zhelang. Empress Wu squinted while thinking, "Causality Manipulation?" The way Liang Zhelang survived the attack was interesting. Everything has cause and effect; Wu Hong used a seal spell, and the effect was her opponent losing. But by using her Manipulation Dao, Liang Zhelang changed the cause to barely escaping.

Liang Zhelang used a lot of power to resist flying toward Wu Hong. But she soon realized it was pointless trying to compete in pure strength with this woman, and tried to tear apart the string. She failed. A potent seal had been placed on the string, preventing her from cutting or discarding it in any shape or form.

"Since I can't move, I'll deal with the one responsible," Liang Zhelang thought. The floor underneath Wu Hong suddenly turned into a swamp, trying to swallow her. However, after a quick tap of her feet, the earth manipulation was instantly canceled.

Wu Hong yanked the string even harder, forcing Liang Zhelang to fly toward her. The Emperor Dao Saintess summoned powerful Destruction Thunder, which she launched at Wu Hong, but they all turned into small magic circles before they could even reach her.

Boom!

With one punch, Liang Zhelang's body exploded into a pool of blood that scattered in all directions. The mansion's wall was bathed in red, and the only clean spot in the room was Wu Hong. The Divine Seal Empress calmly cleaned her fist before turning to look a few meters from her.

"How are you so powerful?" Liang Zhelang asked with gritted teeth. If she didn't use one of her substitute puppets — who are other Emperors she manipulated to sacrifice their life for her willingly — she wouldn't have survived that punch.

"Are you really an Emperor?" Wu Hong asked.

"Is this your attempt at insulting me? I expect better from you," Liang Zhelang sneered.

"But I'm asking a genuine question. An Emperor is someone who controls and rules over the Dao. But what about you? Your Grand Dao Source is only secondary; you only use it to manipulate the Source Qi Space or the Qi inside.

"Your techniques also prioritize the energy inside your Dao Sea over direct utilization of the Grand Dao Source. So, let me ask again: are you an Emperor? Or are you an imitator of Qi Paragons?"

"You!"

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg," Wu Hong continued. "Where is your arrogance as an Emperor? Where is the arrogance that you are the best of your entire generation? The arrogance of knowing your throne was acquired by conquering countless enemies? The arrogance of knowing you stand at the top of the pyramid, and your strength is proof of that?"

"A-A-Are you an Ancient Emperor?" Liang Zhelang asked. She remembered reading how, in the past, Emperors were not just granted a Heaven Will once they reached the cultivation requirement. In the old era, every Emperor was born from bloodshed; they dominated an entire generation or even an era. Their existence was proof that countless other talented individuals had failed.

"How can you have survived from such an ancient era?" Liang Zhelang asked.

Wu Hong glanced at her, but did not answer; she was a bit disappointed. The Emperor Path in this timeline had lost its essence. It's understandable. After being surpassed and suppressed by the Qi Paragon Path, it made sense that they would change and adapt; the Qi Paragon Path had proven its superiority, so the Emperor Path chose to copy it, losing themselves in the process.

"How dare you look at me with such pity?" Liang Zhelang suddenly snarled. "So what if you're an Ancient Emperor? I will still kill you and prove that I am the future of the Emperor Path." She raised her hand and all the invisible strings attached to her fingers materialized; they combined into a black chain with a red spearhead at the tip.

Wu Hong squinted. "So, what's a Genesis Artifact?" Her senses detected an entire Genesis Qi Realm inside the artifact, powering it up. "This may be a good opportunity to gather more information," Wu Hong thought.

Liang Zhelang manipulated the chain to rush toward her target. Wu Hong summoned a dozen shields, all with magic circles engraved on them. The spearhead attached to the chain pierced the shields, and according to Wu Hong's plan, the seals on the shield should have weakened its power. However, the thing showed no signs of weakening its momentum until it reached her, forcing Wu Hong to evade.

Liang Zhelang would not give up this opportunity, so the chains followed Wu Hong everywhere, destroying all her attempts at stopping it. "Hahaha, so what if you're an Ancient Emperor? The world has changed, evolved, and your ways have become irrelevant. Today, I will slay you and take your knowledge to lead the Emperor Path to a golden age."

"Interesting. The secret behind the Genesis Artifact seems to be the Grandmist World," Wu Hong calmly analyzed. "The people of this world used the methods of condensing a Genesis Qi Space and modified them to fit the Grandmist World. Then, they fused it with their Proving Dao Artifact. It's quite an ingenious invention."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Using the Grandmist World might be the key to building the Tier 2 Micro System and entering the Quasi-Saint Realm," Wu Hong pondered. "However, there is something odd: why didn't the people of this world fuse the artificial Genesis Qi Space with their Dao Sea? I don't believe no one had ever thought of that."

As much as the Proving Dao Artifact is a part of an Emperor's essence, it paled in comparison to their Dao Sea. In fact, many Emperors still view their Proving Dao Artifact as a foreign aid. So, unless the people in this world started to believe there was no difference between using the Dao Sea and the artifact, someone should have tried.

"The answer to my question might be the final obstacle to reaching the Quasi-Saint realm," Wu Hong thought.