"Bang."
The final collision, and both sides withdrew their hands simultaneously.
In the distance...
Chen Fan and 'Xi's' halt was the signal.
The fighting on the other side also ceased.
The heavily wounded Giant Demigod retreated rapidly, sitting cross-legged in the void to heal.
His injuries were too severe.
The aura of destruction had eroded too much of his life force, leaving his soul incomplete.
...
The world fell silent.
"Release the people."
Xi didn't need to speak; someone brought out the captives.
Familiar figures appeared in sight.
Twelve people, all injured, their auras faint.
Even their Dao foundations were severely damaged, but fortunately, they were all alive.
"City Lord."
The twelve walked over, excited.
"Mm."
Chen Fan nodded.
Unfortunately, they were the ones Da Kui had taken with him. Huo Xing and Da Kui were not present.
He wondered where those two were.
Also, should this fire... continue to burn?
The giant 'Xi' watched coldly.
"Forget it."
Finally, Chen Fan smiled and shook his head.
No rush to burn the fire.
...
Teleportation activated.
The twelve former recluses instantly vanished from their spots.
Old Demon Chu grinned at the two Giant Demigods, "Not enough this time, let's fight again next time..."
As he spoke, his figure rapidly retreated.
The gauntlets had already disappeared.
"Buzz."
Returning to Anping Manor, all the cultivators within the manor breathed a sigh of relief.
"Welcome back, City Lord." They bowed.
"Disperse, it's nothing."
"Yes."
The crowd quickly dispersed.
Late at night, some cultivated, others rested.
Without waiting for Old Demon Chu to return, Chen Fan brought the twelve recluses aside.
When these twelve had left Sword City, they were still strong individuals.
Now, these twelve were practically like dried corpses, with only a flicker of spirit left in their eyes.
It was precisely this last flicker that allowed them to call out 'City Lord' before.
The Central Domain's vitality was abundant, constantly mending their bodies.
Life force, revitalized from destruction.
The spirit in their eyes gradually returned.
But it wasn't enough.
The vitality here seemed to be limited for each person, or perhaps... whatever they absorbed was controlled by those above.
"City Lord."
Although the vitality was scarce, it allowed the twelve to regain some strength.
Seeing their City Lord, they were immensely excited.
It meant they could survive.
"We'll talk later, no need to rush," Chen Fan shook his head, stopping them from speaking further, "Recover first."
The twelve were in very poor condition; even their Dao foundations were injured.
*Screech.*
He directly opened the river of rules.
The water surged, and dense vitality emerged with the flow of the river.
With the existence of the Great Dao of Life, there was no lack of vitality.
"Now, I'll give you two choices."
After all, they had ended up in this state because of his affairs.
Chen Fan decided to give them an opportunity: "First, absorb the vitality from the river of rules to mend yourselves. However, your Dao foundations are damaged. Even if vitality heals your bodies, the wounds to your Dao foundations cannot be erased. But I can promise you that on the day I become an Emperor, if I have the ability, I will help you mend the damage to your Dao foundations."
"Second, take advantage of the damage to your Dao foundations, sever your Dao... and merge into my world. The damage to your Dao foundations can be immediately restored, but there is a drawback. From now on, there will be no existence of you in the heavens of the Immortal Domain. And your lives will be linked to mine; if I die, you will surely perish."
Chen Fan was not yet a Heavenly Emperor, lacking the power of the Mad Emperor to leave behind an Imperial Palace that would remain for a hundred thousand years without collapsing.
If he died now, the river of rules would instantly collapse, taking everyone with it.
Two choices.
The strongest of these twelve was merely an Eight Dao expert.
The weaker ones were merely Supremes.
The choice depended on each individual.
"We are willing to merge with the City Lord's Dao."
Unexpectedly, all of them were willing to sever their Dao and merge into the river of rules.
Chen Fan was slightly surprised, but then he smiled, "Good, I won't say any more, come..."
"Crack crack crack."
One could see the threads of rules extending from the boundary of the Mad Realm and connecting to the Immortal Domain, directly breaking.
Chen Fan had already experienced the severing of Dao by over two thousand people from Heavenly Dragon Mountain.
Twelve people were a small matter.
"Buzz."
As the Great Dao broke, shattered rules dispersed.
The anomaly of the rules was about to appear when Chen Fan suppressed it.
The Mad Realm currently could not afford to cause too much disturbance.
The moment the Great Dao broke, the aura of the twelve immediately weakened.
But then...
"Seek Dao."
Chen Fan suddenly shouted.
The fading remnants of the broken rules of the twelve people were slowly dissipating.
And at this moment, their rule remnants directly burrowed into the river of rules.
"Rumble."
The river water surged, but it did not attack these newly integrated rule vestiges.
The river of rules seemed to understand, and faintly, waves of excited cheers entered Chen Fan's perception.
It was as if they were welcoming the integration of the twelve.
"Enter the river, find the Dao that suits you," Chen Fan commanded again.
"Swish."
One of them immediately connected with the Great Dao of Flame.
These already organized rule Daos were easy to find; just connect directly.
The river of rules would not reject them, only refine them.
"Splash splash splash."
The ten-thousand-zhang-long Great Dao of Flame was a true river of flame.
But this river was currently occupied by less than a third of its length.
There were still too few people.
Let alone compared to the Immortal Domain, it couldn't even compare to the Mad Realm.
Demigods were ultimately far behind.
Eleven of the twelve people directly found Daos that suited them.
But the twelfth person was still in confusion.
"Can't find it?"
Chen Fan appeared. The person shook his head, "I don't cultivate divine abilities, only the physical body... but here..."
In the rolling river water, the demon race had a physical body Dao, but that belonged to the demon race.
Among the human race, there was no physical body Dao.
Even Chen Fan's physical body had grown along with the demon race's physical body Dao.
Hearing this, Chen Fan's eyes lit up, "That's right, how did I forget, the human race... also has a physical body Dao."
The human body is a treasure trove, with many areas to explore.
Physical body, the human physical body.
"Go and search there."
Chen Fan pointed to the chaotic zone in the center.
There, countless rules were intertwined, occupying a small area, but within it lay rules numbering not just thousands, but possibly tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions.
Yes, this was the Great Dao.
Infinite possibilities.
Opening the human physical body Dao was something Chen Fan had not attempted before, so the person had to find it themselves.
"Your subordinate understands."
Lu Feng, without any hesitation, leaped into the chaotic land of rules.
"Ah..."
Instantly, a shrill scream echoed.
A newly opened Dao always had to go through such a process.