"City Lord, save us..."
Hundreds of desperate pleas echoed in unison.
The experts of Zangshan were momentarily stunned.
Then, someone reacted.
"Quick, he can't save everyone, kill..."
"Kill."
A group of people flew from the peak.
"Boom."
The sky descended into chaos.
Unfortunately, Chen Fa, whom everyone was guarding against, didn't move.
Save them?
Heh, impossible.
...
"Ah..."
Piercing screams reverberated through the air.
"City Lord, why didn't you save us?" Finally, someone unwilling to accept their fate, asked the fatal question.
"Why?"
With regret, those who had escaped were all slain.
The Zangshan experts seemed to have realized that Chen Fan had no intention of saving them.
This made the Zangshan experts fight with even less reservation.
In an instant, everyone was slaughtered.
Meanwhile, in the rear, Chen Fan's subordinates were still fighting the Zangshan experts.
The battle was fierce.
The slaughter in the rear was fair, and Chen Fan naturally paid it no mind.
In the sky, Zangtian continued to suppress the coffin.
"Dong dong dong."
Fists inside struggled violently.
But the struggle's intensity weakened, and eventually, it would be suppressed once more.
"Boom."
Chen Fa shot into the sky, charging towards Zangtian.
"Zang Ren."
He absolutely could not let him get close to the coffin, nor to himself.
He could only call out to Zang Ren: "Aren't you going to act?"
"Buzz."
A nascent imperial palace materialized behind Zangtian.
He had appeared, and Zangtian breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Zang Ren might not be Chen Fan's match, as fellow Half-Emperors, he could hold him off for a while.
As long as he delayed him, the coffin could be suppressed again.
"Quick, stop him..." Zangtian commanded.
"Okay."
A response came from behind.
Zang Ren had appeared.
But immediately, Zangtian felt something was wrong.
"What's wrong?"
"Pfft."
A sharp pain pierced his back and entered his chest.
Zangtian was stunned and instinctively lowered his head.
A palm had pierced his heart.
"Zang Ren, you..."
Zangtian looked at the hand holding his heart with disbelief.
With a 'bang,' his heart exploded.
"Guess who I am?" a voice sounded behind Zangtian's head.
The voice...
Zangtian finally understood what was wrong.
That wasn't Zang Ren's voice at all.
"Swallow Heaven."
Old Demon Chu roared.
A divine beast's maw appeared, directly swallowing Zangtian.
A shattered heart was merely a severe injury for a Half-Emperor.
"Rumble."
The divine beast's maw devoured Zangtian's power.
"Open."
Suddenly, a loud roar emanated from within the divine beast's maw.
With a 'boom,' the divine beast's maw shattered.
Zangtian, in a sorry state, escaped.
"Whoosh."
Zangtian, having escaped, vanished in an instant.
Run.
Zangtian fled.
"Thud."
Suddenly, the sky darkened.
A colossal coffin lid, thousands of feet wide, flew up, and a gauntlet shot out, unleashing a destructive beam of light towards the direction Zangtian was fleeing.
"Rumble."
In the distance, a true roar immediately erupted.
Zangtian and the Mad Emperor's gauntlet were clashing.
The commotion was immense.
...
Zangshan.
"Hahaha."
Old Demon Chu's laughter echoed through the heavens and earth, full of demonic power.
"Congratulations."
Chen Fan stepped forward to offer his congratulations.
Who would have thought that Old Demon Chu would so easily achieve the Half-Emperor realm?
His success meant Zang Ren was dead.
"Likewise, likewise."
Old Demon Chu, radiating immense demonic energy, said, "Still not as good as you. You stepped into the Half-Emperor realm a step before me."
"Pure luck."
Chen Fan smiled. "This Zangshan is truly a blessed land for us. My ascension to Half-Emperor relied on the power of Zangdi, and yours came from devouring Zang Ren's power."
"Indeed."
Old Demon Chu smiled.
Zangshan was truly interesting.
Both of them, having successfully reached the Half-Emperor realm, owed their thanks to Zangshan.
...
The two, unseen by others for a long time, conversed as if no one else was around.
The battle below had subsided.
The people of Zangshan were fleeing in all directions.
They had lost.
Of Zangshan's three masters, Heaven, Earth, and Man, all except Zangtian had perished.
And Zangtian's situation wasn't good either.
Let's not forget, there were two Half-Emperors present.
The Mad Emperor's gauntlet was locked in a fierce battle with Zangtian, and the outcome was uncertain.
"Shall we go take a look?" Old Demon Chu seemed eager.
He hadn't fought in a while and felt a bit restless.
"If you want to go, then go. I'll wait for you here."
"Then I'm off."
"Boom."
Demonic flames like fiery clouds rapidly spread towards the distant battlefield.
This man was truly fond of fighting.
Meanwhile, Chen Fan summoned Xi Qiu and said, "Compress Zangshan, and we'll take it with us."
"Yes."
All the people of Zangshan were fleeing.
And Zangshan, this blessed land, contained a dense vitality.
Although the Crazy Realm was on the verge of destruction and had not nurtured life for a hundred thousand years, the residual vitality from before had been preserved. In these hundred thousand years, only a few places like the Central Region still possessed life.
Xi Qiu led his men to Zangshan.
"Boom."
Over two thousand people unleashed their full power, beginning to compress Zangshan.
Simultaneously, the compressed Tian Dangshan also appeared, beginning to merge with Zangshan.
As Zangshan and Tian Dangshan merged, their vitality began to be stimulated.
Bathing in the vitality, everyone felt energized to work.
"Buzz buzz buzz."
Just then, a dense wing-beating sound suddenly came from the horizon.
"En?"
Chen Fan turned sharply.
The sound of the World-Ending Locusts, a familiar wing-beating, made his pupils contract.
They were here again.
The sound of the locusts' wings alerted everyone.
"Run quickly, escape to the Central Region..."
"Only the Central Region offers a chance of survival."
"Quick, quick..."
The cultivators of Zangshan all fled towards the Central Region.
Meanwhile, the experts from the original Tian Dangshan accelerated the compression of Zangshan.
"Quick, speed up," Xi Qiu urged.
They had to succeed in compressing Zangshan before the swarm of World-Ending Locusts arrived, or it would be troublesome.
"Everyone, put more effort in..."
"Fast."
Faced with the World-Ending Locusts, no one could remain calm.
Fortunately, the City Lord stood not far away, giving them the courage to continue compressing Zangshan.
Otherwise, they would have fled long ago.
And in the distance, the battle raged on.
Old Demon Chu had joined the fray.
From afar, demonic flames blazed like fire clouds, scorching the heavens and earth.
The destructive gauntlet required no control; each strike carried world-ending power.
As for Zangtian... he seemed adept at the Way of Sealing, with lines of Rule Daos blocking all directions.
The battle between the two and the divine weapon was extremely fierce.
"Buzz buzz buzz."
The wing-beating sound of the World-Ending Locusts grew closer.
They were dense, darkening the sky, with no end in sight.
"Hoo."
At this moment, a torrent of demonic clouds spread from the horizon.
"City Lord, I'm back."
Old Demon Chu appeared, a gauntlet resting quietly on his shoulder.
"Injured?" Chen Fan asked with a smile.
"It's nothing."
How could one fight without getting hurt?
Old Demon Chu took it philosophically. "It's just a pity that fellow managed to escape. He's quite formidable."