Seeing this scene, the others’ eyes trembled with fear.
“Everyone, attack together! There’s no way back now!” someone shouted through gritted teeth.
At this point, surrender was impossible.
In an instant, countless divine techniques erupted with overwhelming force. All their attacks poured down on Xu Zimo at once.
“Supreme Yin-Yang Sword, Vermilion Bird Nine Transformations, Demonizing Finger, Creation of Yellow Springs, Imperial Dragon Burial…”
A torrent of techniques filled the sky.
Xu Zimo lifted his head, watching the storm of attacks raining down on him. The corner of his lips curled into a faint smile.
Even as he was swallowed whole by their combined strikes, no one relaxed. They stared fixedly at that spot.
Explosions roared across the mountainside, bursting like fireworks along with the island’s rapid spin.
When the dust finally settled, Xu Zimo’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did he go?” someone shouted in alarm, eyes darting around.
“Above!” a trembling voice cried out.
Everyone instantly felt something wrong.
A terrifying power was condensing above their heads.
Looking up, they saw Xu Zimo hanging in midair, one hand gripping a massive boulder.
In his other hand, a formidable all-devouring power gathered in his palm.
“One of the Ten Primordial God-Scriptures, Creation-Devouring God-Scripture,” Xu Zimo said with a grin.
Golden radiance like molten glaze flowed over his five fingers.
Each fingertip pulsed with devouring force.
In front of every finger spun a black vortex of annihilation, like miniature black holes, enlarging until they hung above the void.
Power of Creation overflowed from his hand, while the devouring whirlpools surfaced on his skin.
Each finger became a vortex of creation, swallowing heaven itself.
As his right hand descended, torrents of violent energy surged forth like cyclones, sweeping across the heavens.
The world before their eyes vanished, replaced by five colossal black holes descending from above.
“Dodge!” someone screamed.
“How?!” another cried helplessly.
Above were black holes. Below was the Dead Sea.
“Fight him! We’re all chosen ones too, we’re not necessarily weaker than him!” someone roared in desperation.
The black holes fell. Though massive, their speed was lightning-fast.
Like streaks of darkness flashing by, in just an instant, dozens of cultivators around Xu Zimo were wiped out, more than half erased.
Xu Zimo’s body flickered through the void like lightning. Even the remnants of space could barely track him.
Among the survivors, he appeared behind one youth, gripping his shoulders.
With sheer brute force, Xu Zimo tore him apart, like ripping bread.
As the body split, a streak of soul-light fled into the distance.
“Trying to escape with your soul?” Xu Zimo chuckled, slamming his palm forward. The soul shattered instantly into nothingness.
The remaining cultivators turned pale.
“Holy Son Xu, we can form an alliance! We weren’t truly trying to oppose you!”
Five or six of them, all trembling, begged for mercy.
The struggle for Heaven's Will hadn’t even begun yet. To fall here would be the greatest loss imaginable.
“What’s the point of allying with useless trash like you?” Xu Zimo sneered. “You want to live?”
They all nodded frantically.
“Then climb,” Xu Zimo said with a laugh. “Climb to the summit of this island, and I’ll spare your lives. Run for your lives.”
They hesitated only a moment before dashing upward with all their strength.
But just as they turned their backs, several spirit blades crashed down, instantly grinding their bodies into powder, flesh and bone annihilated together.
“You believed that?” Xu Zimo shook his head with a mocking laugh. “It seems this world of schemes and betrayal has taught you nothing.”
“All dead. Not a single survivor. So that really is the Holy Son of the True Martial Sacred Ground. No wonder people have been saying he’s the one destined for Heaven's Will.”
“So many couldn’t stand against him. The hunters became the hunted. But that’s what makes this struggle worth watching.”
All around, spectators whispered. The sects who lost their holy sons burned with fury, at Xu Zimo, but also at their own fallen heirs.
The true struggle for Heaven's Will hadn’t even begun, and most were trying to preserve themselves, to survive until the end.
Yet their sons had gone and challenged the strongest man there.
Xu Zimo stood midway up the spinning island. His earlier battle had cost him precious time, leaving him far behind the main group.
He needed to catch up quickly.
Though flight was forbidden, his speed remained formidable. Using jutting rocks as footholds, each step carried him a hundred meters upward.
But as he neared the island’s upper reaches, Xu Zimo and the others ran into unexpected trouble.
Above the Sky-Trap Island, aside from the radiant threads of Heaven's Will hanging down, a gaping rift in space had opened.
From it crawled swarms of Void Parasites, descending to attack those climbing near the peak.
Dense beyond counting, their numbers filled the air.
Their power was terrifying. If they drew even a drop of blood, they could instantly burrow into the victim’s body, devouring every organ from within.
“Does anyone here actually know something about the Sky-Trap Island?” someone shouted, forced to halt in the face of the swarm.
“I know a little,” replied a monk in gray robes, Suchen of Holy Cloud Temple.
All eyes turned to him.
Everyone knew something of the Sky-Trap Island, but few understood it deeply.
After all, who would willingly come study one of the Ten Forbidden Grounds?
“There are some old rumors you must have heard,” Suchen said. “They say a great battle once broke out on this island.”
“I’ve heard that. Supposedly, the Sky-Trap Island was once one of the Pillars of Heaven, holding up the very foundation of the Primordial Heartlands,” another interjected. “Then some unknown beings came, seeking to destroy it. Grand Emperor Fei Yu led the defense, fought them back, and returned victorious.”
“That’s just the broad version,” Suchen corrected.
“The truth is, the ones who sought to destroy the Primordial Heartlands weren’t from this land at all. They came from other worlds. And Grand Emperor Fei Yu didn’t slay them. He merely repelled them.”
“Other worlds?” The crowd froze in shock, though they quickly accepted it.
With their knowledge, the existence of other worlds wasn’t hard to believe.
“Then why would outsiders come to our the Primordial Heartlands?” someone asked.
“How should I know?” Suchen chuckled. “Go ask them yourself.”
“Wait!” someone suddenly screamed in alarm.