Yao Jun’s steps were quiet as he strode through the submerged castle, the fishmen that served as its staff nowhere to be seen. He’d seen them before he entered the castle so they were probably just giving him wide berth, be it out of fear or consideration. He didn’t mind it too much, the entire reason he was walking to the castle gates rather than just teleporting out was because he wanted to take a bit of time to gather his thoughts. He hadn’t considered it. What would become of this universe once he started plucking out and breaking the pieces of its core? He’d never considered it, he’d always been too preoccupied with getting stronger so that he could protect those around him.

"Crumbling…"

His low voice bounced throughout the hallway, the echo carrying the simple mutter further down towards the distant future. If this universe crumbled under its own weight after he took away parts of its core, quite a few things would be lost. The number of lives lost alone would end up being a number greater than anything he could count in a single lifetime. Yao Jun wasn’t heartless, a vast majority of the people in this universe had nothing to do with him so even he would feel bad if they died because of him, his family would also be extremely saddened by such a loss of life, they were good people after all. And speaking of his family, they would lose things as well. Yao Jun personally didn’t care much for his home, he’d travelled a lot after all. But his parents that had lived here all their lives? Guo Luo? All his companions? They all had homes here, this was where they had come from, they would lose all of that if the universe crumbled. What remained of Yun Yantian and Yang Yuhuan’s homes would also end up vanishing for good, he had failed to protect his friend’s life so he had to at least protect his home.

"It’s troublesome."

It really was. The God Gates, if he got his hands on the last three then he was confident that he would be able to break open at the very least three more of the fragments lingering around within him, but if he did that then he would probably have to take Guo Luo and Lin Ren’s God Gates as well. And that wasn’t even mentioning the God Gate that still rested with Little Gray over in the Major Universe, he’d have to take everything and absorb the entire universe, assuming that it was actually possible at least. The other thing he had to keep in mind was that the same was likely true for the Supreme Law fragments that still remained in this universe, they were smaller pieces of the Origin Heart but still pieces nonetheless, he couldn’t exactly take too many more of them if he wanted this universe to remain intact.

"It’s troublesome."

He didn’t regret what he had done, Yao Jun wasn’t someone who had time for too many regrets. There were also other ways for him to break open the fragments inside him, he really just needed the right amount of energy. But the fragments were the pieces of a universe’s Origin Heart, the sheer amount of energy needed to break open something like that was mind-boggling, even the energy of two Godkings, an entire planet and all the lives on it hadn’t been enough to supply a mere 10% of the needed energy.

"It really is troublesome."

His pace slowly increased, his dark eyes as still as a lake as they peered forwards. Troublesome did not mean impossible. If one path was blocked then he just needed to pick another, if one option was too difficult then he would just need to choose one more suitable. This wasn’t the only universe, there were many more out there, each with their own cores and lives. Even if he looked at just the Major Universe he had visited, there were several beings there he could hunt down, nay, would hunt down in the future. The world was big so it would be fine even if he had to have a big appetite to fill his stomach, eventually it would be sated.

"For now, we’ll start with those who need to die."

His body vanished from the castle, only his voice lingering as it bounced between dark and empty hallways. He had gathered his thoughts and made up his mind. The path was the same as before, he just needed to take a few detours, curve the road a little and spend a bit more time. The outcome wouldn’t change, he could no longer be stopped, wouldn’t allow himself to be stopped. He owed his family that much, he owed the dead at least that much.

He appeared again in the sky above the ocean, the clouds quietly drifting about around him as they minded their own business. His gaze was pointed ever higher, past the blue dome and into the seemingly endless darkness of space that spread out above, the lights of countless flickering stars reflected in his eyes. One of those lights was his target, one of them would be snuffed out forever before long. Or, to be truly honest, multiple of them would, the hunt was barely just beginning.

Yao Jun brought out the interspatial ship he carried within him and set foot on the deck, swiftly delivering an order to it while inserting a few Spirit Stones into the array that powered it. The ship whirred to life and then took off, rushing away from the planet as it flew as fast as it could. He allowed the ship to move on its own and then sat down before he closed his eyes, quietly drawing in energy from the surroundings. He had promised Arthurius a week so he would give him just that. He allowed the ship to travel quietly for seven days, calmly cultivating away the hours. But once the seven days were up he made his move, sinking his consciousness into his universe, he needed to ask someone for a favour.

"There you are."

Zhuan Yi jumped slightly when Yao Jun’s voice suddenly came from behind her, but her raised shoulders lowered when she turned her head. She sat down again, a rather weary look on her face as she tended to the smaller cuts that remained on her body. The robe she wore was in tatters, barely covering her, so she fixed it as she sat down, it was easy enough since it was just another part of her body.

"They’re strong, aren’t they?"

Yao Jun sat down as he spoke, his gaze focused on the companions that were gathered together in the distance. Zhuan Yi had come here to fight Sirius and the others to assess their strength, as well as her own, and now it seemed like they had decided on a break to mull things over. All of his companions were Origin Beasts, but they were so young that it was impossible for them to have built up a lot of strength. Meanwhile, Zhuan Yi may not be an Origin Beast, but she was a Sovereign God, there was plenty the two sides could learn from each other through fighting.

"They’re decent when alone, definitely befitting the title of Origin Beasts. But they’re a pain when they’re together, you can easily see how long they’ve been together, their teamwork is disgusting."

Zhuan Yi gave her honest thoughts. By themselves they weren’t much, definitely not a threat despite being Origin Beasts. But when they worked together they were dangerous, they used their teamwork to make up for any weaknesses and the multitude of elements they combined made it easy for them to pry open any openings. Her gaze slid to the side and landed on the youth sitting there with a gentle smile. Yeah, it was easy to see where they had learned to become a pain, if the father was dangerous then so too would the sons and daughters.

"So, what do you need my help with this time?"

Zhuan Yi was no fool, Yao Jun wasn’t the kind to do things for no reason, and he certainly didn’t seek out others just because he was bored either. If he arrived in front of you then it was because he needed you for something. And knowing Yao Jun, the thing he needed her for was death, perhaps it was time for another genocide, time for another apocalypse to grace an unfortunate planet.

"I need your help. And not just once or twice. There are many I will kill, several of them Sovereign Gods. I don’t know exactly what tricks they might try to pull or what things they have hidden so many of them are probably more dangerous than I expect them to be. There’s also another risk factor running around, you can probably consider her to be a being like me if you want to assess her danger level. I want you to help me hunt them all. It will be a deal. You will help me here and I will return it once we are done. Three requests, I will fulfil three of your requests, as long as they don’t go against my family."

Yao Jun could take on a Sovereign God, if he gave it his all then he might be able to deal with two early-stage Sovereign Gods at once. But there would be more than just two, and there would be more than just early-stage Godkings. He would need to be ready, especially since there was a high chance that they would also have some secrets that the reports didn’t include. Zhuan Yi was a Sovereign God, a very strong one with the ability to change into whatever she wanted, she would be an extremely strong ally.

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"Alright, I’ll lend you a hand. As for those three requests… I’ll leave them for the future."

Zhuan Yi agreed without much fuss, just a nod of her head before she cast a glance at him. Yao Jun was strong, disgustingly so. But paradoxically, he was also weak at the same time, he barely had enough energy in him to qualify for the Heavenly Deity realm. His realm was low and his energy was low, meaning that he had a lot of room to grow further. But the sheer strength and quality of the energy he had was horrifying, if he increased that further then he would become even more of a monster. And such a being offered her three requests just for a bit of help, anyone with half a brain would be able to tell that this was a completely lopsided deal.

"Good. We’ll arrive before long so you can just get ready."

Yao Jun accepted her agreement with a light nod and then stood up, since she decided to help him he could use the interspatial ship’s teleporting function to reach their target destination earlier. His gaze lingered on his distant companions for a few more moments before his figure started to grow faint. But a thought struck him as he pulled back his consciousness, his gaze drifting down to Zhuan Yi momentarily.

"Thank you."

With the proper gratitude left behind, he vanished from his universe and opened his eyes back on the ship. He got up from his seated position and moved over to the engine, bringing out more Spirit Stones to fuel it with. The lines that formed the array that served as the engine lit up as power surged through them, space around the ship warping violently.

"Okay. Let’s get started."

The ship lurched forward in tune with Yao Jun’s calm yet cold remark, space tearing like paper as the vessel cut through it and shot forward, tearing past hundreds if not thousands or millions of planets to reach its final destination. And as was the norm with spatial travel like this, the target was reached in less than a handful of seconds, the light of the lines dimming as the ship quieted down. Something that sounded like an alarm suddenly blared outside the ship, the deafening sound of bells drowning out everything else.

The ship disappeared, sinking back into Yao Jun’s universe and leaving him alone there, standing in the emptiness of space as he looked down at Third Starbreak Planet, his first target. Well, rather than calling it a planet it would probably be more apt to call it a fortress. Rounded edges had been cut away to produce a sturdier shape, mountains and lakes had been cut down and filled up, every inch of the planet was covered in sturdy metal. This was a fortress made up of nothing but squares, the grooves lining the walls making it highly likely that the various squares could be moved around at will. And indeed, as the alarm blared, the metal houses shifted about until the malformed planet became a single perfect square, a much smaller square serving as an entrance platform in front of what should be the entrance.

The metal square brimmed with energy, crimson lines alighting all across its surface. The ones controlling the fortress didn’t even hesitate, they activated their defences the moment an unknown ship arrived and then charged up their external cannons. The crimson lines gathered together at the front of the square, tongues of fire reaching towards the darkness of space as the clumped up energy started to spill out. It felt like a few seconds, but in actuality it only took the canon a mere two seconds to fully charge up and unleash its power, bright blue flames tinged with a hint of white rushing forth to wash over Yao Jun.

It was a powerful attack, Yao Jun’s brows furrowing. But he had the law of space, trying to stop him with something like this was pointless, it didn’t even disrupt space. So he took a step and vanished, appearing a few hundred metres to the left of the blazing pillar that continued into the darkness, lighting it up with its devastating glow. Someone appeared on the small square that seemed to serve as the entrance, a man with charcoal-like skin covered in lava like blue veins. His appearance marked him as someone from the Final Fire clan, the light in his crimson eyes dancing as he looked up at Yao Jun.

"I was right. You ended up dodging it."

His voice was heavy but smooth, his gaze calm but his eyes narrowed. He looked relaxed but didn’t show a single opening, he hadn’t let down his guard in the slightest. Yao Jun dredged the man’s name up from his memories, Godking Searing Heart, ranked third out of the Final Fire clan’s five Godkings. He was one of the four Godkings currently on this fortress and the one who served as their leader, he was also a Fragment Lord as he held a piece of the Supreme Law of Elements, an earth-based fragment. The two locked eyes, Searing Heart’s gaze piercing into Yao Jun.

"I checked the place Ah Tao died. She died to fire, something that shouldn’t be possible. For a while, we thought that you had such deep understanding of fire that you could burn even Godkings, but I refused to believe it. You must have done something else, you must have fused something into your fire or used something unimaginable to fuel it. I’m right, aren’t I? If you understood fire deeply enough to burn Godkings then you could have taken over that pillar of fire and turned it on us rather than dodging it. But you didn’t, you dodged. And now that I finally get to face you like this, I can tell. There’s no scent of smoke on you, no flickering fire in you, there’s nothing. You, Yao Jun, don’t understand fire."

Ah Tao, it was a name Yao Jun only understood thanks to the records Arthurius gave him. It was the actual name of Firesage Wyrmheart, the first Godking he had killed. As for why Searing Heart would use that name to refer to her it was actually quite simple, she was his grand-daughter, one of only three close family members he had left after his long life. And that dear child had died to the one in front of him, her head delivered as a warning. At first, his fear had kept his anger down, but now that he realized that their original estimates were wrong his anger was starting to flare up again. But he forced himself to maintain his cool, Yao Jun was still a dangerous enemy so he did not allow himself to feel any emotions that may disrupt him.

"Understand fire…"

Yao Jun looked down at Searing Heart, the light of the slowly fading fire pillar illuminating half his face. He felt the energy of the people within the fortress, ready to burst out at any moment if they suspected that they had an opening. Searing Heart would probably take the lead in hopes of creating as many openings as possible while tying down Yao Jun. They had seen him teleport so Searing Heart would probably use a lot of wide-range attacks, burying the area in fire to steal as much ground as possible. But Yao Jun wasn’t worried.

"I don’t understand fire."

He acknowledge the truth quite simply, his head tilting slightly to look at what remained of the pillar. The bright flames that still lingered started to twist as he looked at them, breaking away from the fading pillar as they rose into the sky, covering the dark expanse of face in a sea of roaring flames that kept on growing. Crimson scales occasionally became visible in the burning sky, the sound of leathery wings flapping breaking through the fire’s roar as vicious yellow eyes peered down.

"I don’t understand water."

Yao Jun’s voice was calm and quiet but still audible over the fire, a seemingly endless stream of water pouring out from beneath his feet. The darkness above was occupied by the fire and the darkness below became covered by the water, an ocean crowned by a burning sky appearing with Yao Jun as the centre. The water was so calm that it was eerie, a dark shadow lingering beneath the surface, only occasionally revealing a glimpse of mesmerising blue scales.

"I don’t understand wind."

A wind that shouldn’t exist in the expanse of space picked up along with Yao Jun’s voice, quietly flitting about between the ocean and the sky. The raging flames grew larger as the wind fed them and the calm ocean picked up into large waves when the wind whipped it up, it was quiet yet it picked them both up so that they could grow stronger.

"I don’t understand darkness."

The shadows that were now cast by both Yao Jun and the gargantuan square moved quietly as he spoke, elongating as if they wanted to reach for the throat of Searing Heart. The seemingly formless shadows rose like mist, drifting along with the wind until they were dragged to places that didn’t even have a shadow to cast, a hungry light flitting in and out of the various clots of darkness.

"I don’t understand lifeforce."

The waves on the ocean quieted down slightly at a few spots as Yao Jun spoke, crimson petals breaking through the surface and forming roses. One became ten and ten became hundreds, beautiful roses as crimson as blood blooming across the ocean. They almost seemed like vortexes as they bloomed, their centre tugging at the lives of all who dared to look at them.

"I don’t understand any of the elements that make up this world."

A bit of the water rose as Yao Jun spoke, a small piece of the burning sky lowering to meet the water. The wind, the darkness, the fire, the water, the four elements that were already present branched out a few small pieces and allowed them to meet, the elements dancing around each other like friends. A bit of lightning crackled within the dancing elements, swaying like two furry tails that gathered the other elements. An earthen platform formed within the mixture of elements, pushing itself beneath Yao Jun to give him solid ground to stand on. The darkness of space around the fortified square had been completely pushed aside, dominated now solely by the various elements.

"But it doesn’t matter if I don’t understand something, I have others that will fill that gap for me."

Yao Jun stood calmly, surrounded by the elements that just waited for his order. For too long he had fought alone, for too long had he hidden away his companions out of fear that they would get hurt. It was time to let them spread their wings, it was time to let them be free to fight as they pleased.