Fire God Zhu Rong withdrew respectfully.
He had a descendant named Yan Ji, who had been cultivating in the deeper regions of this fire domain all along.
This clan member was someone he encountered before his revival. Because she was his descendant, the two shared a deep bloodline connection. Yan Ji had accidentally guided back a portion of his true spirit that had dissipated into nothingness.
That portion of his true spirit had once manifested and reflected in a place called the Shanhai True World. His true spirit was muddled and had not comprehended the karma of the past, even participating in the so-called Heaven-Slaying War in the Shanhai True World.
Later, after more of his true spirit returned and was reshaped, did he truly comprehend and awaken to his past life.
Under his guidance, Yan Ji's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, and she obtained a strand of Innate Fire Spirit Breath that he had left behind in the world. She successfully shed her Post-Innate body, reversed back to the Innate, and became an Innate Nature Spirit like a fire spirit.
Innate Nature Spirits are close to the Five Elements of heaven and earth. For example, he was innately attuned to the fire element among the Five Elements.
Now Yan Ji was the same. If given enough time to grow, she could potentially reach his level in the future.
Moreover, the Strength Master had also asserted that behind Yan Ji, there were extremely deep karmic ties involved, which even he could not easily deduce or observe. He told Fire God Zhu Rong to cultivate her properly, as he might be able to form a benevolent karmic connection because of her in the future.
"Karmic destiny?"
"What exactly is tied to her that could allow me to form a benevolent karmic connection?"
Zhu Rong did not think too much about it. Since long ago, from the very beginning of his birth, he had followed the Strength Master, and he never questioned the Strength Master's words.
To him, the Strength Master was not just a master, but also his guide on this path.
But of the Innate Five Spirits who had once been by the Strength Master's side, only he remained. The others could not even be traced, and resurrecting them was even more impossible.
After Zhu Rong left, the Black and White Envoys also took their leave. They had conveyed the intentions of the Yin-Yang Master behind them and presented the gift.
As for what the Strength Master planned to do next, that was no longer any of their concern.
In the depths of the vast and ancient crimson hall, flames surged. Every divine flame seemed to be Innate-born, reflecting magnificent and fantastical scenes of the myriad heavens within the firelight.
A woman in a fiery red dress sat quietly cross-legged on a high platform, her body emanating the aura of the Dao Realms. Her skin was snow-white, and a vermilion mark adorned her forehead, giving her an appearance both pure and bewitching.
"Ancestor…"
Suddenly, she sensed something and opened her eyes.
Fire God Zhu Rong appeared in the hall and nodded slightly, saying, "Not bad, you already possess the strength of the Void Dao Realm."
"Without the legacy and creation bestowed by the Ancestor, Yan Ji would not have been able to reach this step." Yan Ji shook her head, showing great respect for this ancestor.
Fire God Zhu Rong did not say much and stated, "I plan to take you to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance. This is the arrangement of Lord Strength Master."
Yan Ji was stunned.
She naturally knew of the Strength Master that her ancestor spoke of. When she had first arrived at this Endless Fire Domain, she had even been received by that mysterious Strength Master. Even the ancestor before her held the Strength Master in utmost respect.
"Heaven-Slaying Alliance?" Yan Ji murmured these three words. In truth, for these past years, she had been thinking of leaving this Endless Fire Domain and heading to where the Heaven-Slaying Alliance was located.
She did not know if the person who established the Heaven-Slaying Alliance was the one she had in mind.
But before she was taken away from the Shanhai True World by her ancestor, she had heard the two words 'Heaven-Slaying'. However, at that time, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance had not yet been established; it seemed that only the intention had been mentioned.
"What is it?" Fire God Zhu Rong asked, somewhat surprised.
Yan Ji shook her head and said, "Yan Ji will follow the Ancestor's arrangements."
Hearing this, Fire God Zhu Rong did not ask further.
In the depths of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, magnificent palaces stood, with vast, boundless rivers of stars cascading down, as if surging from the ends of heaven and earth.
Countless islands and divine mountains towered loftily, enduring eternally, emitting scorching radiance comparable to the sun and moon, far larger even than stars.
This was now the core region of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance. Only high-level members could come here; ordinary Dao Realm beings did not even have the qualifications to set foot.
On the other side where the Epoch Mother Tree was situated, the World Orb hung high.
Boundless power of fortune and power of faith surged and converged like rolling rivers, vast as oceans, crashing together within. Then, through the complex runes inscribed inside the World Orb—so intricate that even End of the Path existences could scarcely discern and comprehend—they were continuously refined and extracted, transforming into a thick, brilliant substance akin to rich, mellow grease, accumulating there.
Gu Changge's figure appeared within the World Orb. He closed his eyes and reached out a hand; the substance slid through his fingers like oily gauze.
"The Immortal Substance and Creation Substance refined during this period are still far from sufficient."
He shook his head lightly and took a casual breath, like a whale swallowing or an elephant drinking. In an instant, the originally brimming World Orb became empty, all its light dimmed. All the substance gathered and refined during this period was completely devoured by him.
Despite the enormous and terrifying scale of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, developing non-stop day and night, with countless universes and innumerable beings continuously providing faith and fortune, it still could not withstand his single breath of absorption.
Gu Changge now had no expectations that these Immortal Substance and Creation Substance could bring any significant changes to himself.
His figure appeared in the central hall of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance. The boundless hall seemed to be situated within an endless, limitless starfield.
Many figures were already waiting there respectfully.
Currently, besides Gu Changge, the strongest in the Heaven-Slaying Alliance were naturally the Luo Zhu and the Eternal Primordial God. Originally, an End of the Path existence was enough to suppress the foundation of a Supreme True World for billions of years, overlooking the vicissitudes of time.
But now, End of the Path existences were returning one after another.
In the Vast Expanse, many figures hailed as lords and masters had emerged: the Tathagata Buddha Lord, the Three Pure Ones Dao Lord, the Great Luo Dao Lord, the Yuan Zhu, the Shaman Lord, the Law Lord, the Barbarian Lord, the Divine Lord…
Each of these masters of the Super Multiverses possessed cultivation and strength that could be called earth-shattering, intimidating across ancient and modern times. They were the true Protagonists of Heaven and Earth of every epoch.
In comparison, the two individuals, Luo Zhu and the Eternal Primordial God, seemed somewhat lacking.
Moreover, Luo Zhu was not currently in the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, having gone to who knows where.
The many high-level members of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, such as Zhuo Fengxie, Hun Yuanjun, as well as some ancient figures who had submitted earliest, and even the Deputy Alliance Leader Ling Yuling, simply had no qualifications to compare themselves before these End of the Path-level figures.
Each of these End of the Path figures was a supreme existence who had pioneered a path and walked it to the extreme. Their cultivation and Dao arts had reached the utmost limit of the current Vast Expanse.
Even the Dao arts they had pioneered still influenced many True World civilizations to this day, and even some high-level members of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance were affected by them.
Facing these End of the Path existences, they had no confidence at all and could only bow their heads as juniors.
No matter how powerful the Heaven-Slaying Alliance was, it was relying solely on Gu Changge to sustain it. Now that these Super Multiverses were appearing one after another, any disciple or descendant of an End of the Path existence who stepped out could stir up storms in the Vast Expanse.
The high-level members of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance could do nothing about it, and they lacked the means and foundation to do so.
Seeing Gu Changge appear, one of the high-level members immediately spoke up with great concern,
"Alliance Leader, the half-month deadline has arrived, but there is still no word from the Ancient Treasure Civilization. It seems the Ancient Treasure Imperial Ruler has other ideas."
"Moreover, during this period, we have heard many unfavorable voices about the Heaven-Slaying Alliance. In those Super Multiverses, disciples of the End of the Path existences have come to the Vast Expanse and acted recklessly. Some have even caused trouble on our Heaven-Slaying Alliance's territory. Hindered by those End of the Path existences, we cannot easily handle these matters and can only let them do as they please…"
"Indeed, Alliance Leader. Those Super Multiverses seem to not put our Heaven-Slaying Alliance in their eyes at all. Although End of the Path existences reigned as lords in past eras, establishing dojo universes with inconceivable powers, times have changed. They still do not understand how powerful you are, Alliance Leader…"
Another high-level member also spoke, wanting Gu Changge to personally take action and intimidate everyone.
They all understood the fate of the Master of Fate—an End of the Path existence had been directly refined into a pill.
Such a pill could allow one to ascend to the heavens in a single step. How could they not covet and yearn for it?
Now that so many End of the Path existences were emerging, if Gu Changge took action and refined them all into pills, then bestowed them upon them, who knew how much stronger the Heaven-Slaying Alliance would become?
In that case, who in the Vast Expanse would dare to raise objections?
Although the Heaven-Slaying Alliance had produced many People of Great Fortune recently, they had not truly grown up yet and could hardly support the facade.
Speaking purely in terms of foundation, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance was certainly stronger than any single Super Multiverse, even comparable to the Ancient Treasure Civilization, the Land of the Nine Heavens, and the Nightmare Demon Domain.
But this was all on the premise of Gu Changge's existence.
Without Gu Changge, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance would instantly collapse and disintegrate.
Zhuo Fengxie, Hun Yuanjun, and others had followed Gu Changge the longest, so they knew some of his temperament. At this moment, none of them spoke, letting the other high-level members chime in and express their dissatisfaction with the various Super Multiverses during this period.
Gu Changge clasped his hands behind his back and said, seemingly casually, "Then according to you, if we casually make a move against these End of the Path figures, what will happen to the loyalty and support that our Heaven-Slaying Alliance has accumulated?"
"Whoever has the greatest strength, the biggest fist, the world will listen to them. I feel that the Alliance Leader need not care about the opinions of the beings in the Vast Expanse at present. Since the day our Heaven-Slaying Alliance was established, it was destined to be rejected by the current era. Even if we can consolidate hearts and the general trend, in the end, we will still have to face the Heavenly Will."
"That being the case, why not thoroughly defy the heavens and overturn everything?"
An ancient existence spoke up at this moment, Demonic energy surging around him, his eyes gleaming with a shrewd light.
This was an ultimate living fossil figure from a Demonic Dao civilization, called Demon Immortal Venerable, with Ancestral Dao Realm strength. He had lived for a very long time and had already submitted to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance earlier.
He had quite a few supporters around him, hailing from various civilizations, all at the Ancestral Dao Realm level, who all echoed their agreement.
The current high-level members of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance were overwhelmingly at this level of strength. Apart from those who had initially followed Gu Changge and were weaker, even the weakest among the later joiners were at the Ancestral Dao Realm.
However, in the current Vast Expanse, the Ancestral Dao Realm was already no longer sufficient.
As the Heaven-Slaying Alliance grew and expanded, its internal structure had long since become different from before, with different factions emerging.
These ancient existences from Demonic Dao civilizations were rather radical, advocating for slaughter and conquest. Many among them had great ambitions, even harboring designs on the masters of the Super Multiverses—that is, those End of the Path existences.
Of course, they certainly lacked the ability; they merely hoped that Gu Changge would take action.
"Man's determination can overcome Heaven. If people's hearts suddenly disperse at this time, the general trend will also collapse. I wonder what your intentions are, urging the Alliance Leader to act and disrupt the current peace in the Vast Expanse. After the Alliance Leader announced the intention to slay Heaven, these End of the Path existences have appeared one after another. This is actually a good sign. If we can gather the entire strength of the Vast Expanse, with all hearts united, even Heaven can be slain."
"The best approach is still to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. The half-month deadline has arrived, yet the Ancient Treasure Civilization still shows no movement. This is what we should be dealing with."
At this moment, another voice sounded within the hall. A gaunt old man with sunken fists spoke; he had several horns growing on his head. Although not human, his aura was very sincere and upright.
Several other ancient figures also spoke up, feeling that in the current Vast Expanse, waging further conquest was no longer appropriate.
Since these End of the Path existences had intentionally appeared, they must have some thoughts on the current situation.
The two factions soon argued fiercely within the hall, each holding their own views, with radical and moderate voices alike. However, the vast majority remained soberly neutral, not taking a stance, because they were well aware that in the current Heaven-Slaying Alliance, Gu Changge's word was final. Once he decided something, no one else could sway him.
So there was no use saying more.
At this time, Gu Changge remained silent, his gaze sweeping over the other high-level members in the hall. Basically, each civilization True World had one or two representatives.
Over these many years, as the Heaven-Slaying Alliance gradually annexed and expanded, the various True World civilizations, from initial resistance to now bowing their heads in submission, all stemmed from his strength.
Without his existence, relying solely on the other members of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, even End of the Path existences like the Eternal Primordial God, could never have easily achieved such a unified situation.
Much karma, End of the Path existences could perceive, and they dared not easily get involved.
Only he, unrestrained and doing whatever he pleased, could bring about such a situation in the shortest time.
"I did not come here to listen to your arguments. I have my own plans for the matters concerning the End of the Path figures. Whether it's you or the End of the Path existences, in my eyes, there is no difference. If you covet the End of the Path origin, you can try to scheme for it yourselves."
"In the face of my Great Plan to Slay Heaven, if anyone dares to have disloyal intentions, do not blame me for being impolite."
Gu Changge waved his hand, his expression indifferent.
The hall, which had been arguing, instantly fell silent and deathly still. The backs of Demon Immortal Venerable and the others who had just spoken were instantly drenched in cold sweat, their faces very pale.
"Alliance Leader, forgive us." They hurriedly knelt down, admitting their mistake at once, not daring to quibble or explain.
Zhuo Fengxie, Hun Yuanjun, and a few others showed mocking expressions.
They had long known Gu Changge's temperament; whatever thoughts these existences of Demonic Dao Civilizations harbored, how could Gu Changge not be aware?