The blood-red divine dragon slammed into the portal with a boom, turning into a vast cloud of blood mist that dispersed and returned to the blood sea.
The portal remained unshaken, without the slightest change—not even a tremor.
The sturdiness of this gate far exceeded imagination.
But this was only the beginning.
North-Pole Supreme continually drew out blood-qi from the gourd.
The blood sea it formed grew ever more immense, countless remnant souls howling within it like a mortal purgatory.
Even Wine Venerable, who was long accustomed to life and death, furrowed his brows tightly at the sight.
He took a deep swig of wine.
"This method violates Heaven's harmony."
Lin Moyu shook his head.
"What is 'Heaven's harmony'?"
Wine Venerable paused, momentarily unable to answer.
"'Violates Heaven's harmony' is just a saying. If you really asked him to explain it, he couldn't."
Lin Moyu smiled lightly.
"Under Heaven-and-Earth rules, all living beings have their allotted fate.
When it's time for them to die, no one can save them.
Like those who wanted to kill me, only to end up gifting me their heads—those people were already dead to begin with.
North-Pole Supreme is merely making waste into use.
He didn't personally strike them down, so it can't really be called violating Heaven's harmony."
Wine Venerable said,
"But these dead ought to have scattered back into Heaven-and-Earth.
Their power came from Heaven-and-Earth; in death, it should also return to Heaven-and-Earth."
"They'll return sooner or later," Lin Moyu said.
"At most, it's just a matter of sooner or later.
Heaven-and-Earth has a certain tolerance range.
As long as you don't exceed that range, at worst it'll give you a light warning and won't really act.
Unless, like me, you completely trample Heaven-and-Earth's bottom line and keep provoking it."
Lin Moyu spoke of the process of becoming the Heaven-and-Earth Public Enemy as if it were nothing.
In truth, that really was the case—being the Heaven-and-Earth Public Enemy was not something you could become just because you wanted to.
Wine Venerable watched the ever-thickening blood sea and drank more and more fiercely, wine fumes rising from him.
"Can he succeed?" he asked.
Lin Moyu shook his head.
"Eight or nine out of ten, no.
This gate is not something he can open.
It leads into the Heaven-and-Earth Wall.
The Heaven-and-Earth Wall was once the exclusive domain of Supreme Beings.
Even Supreme Beings could only move about its outer layer and never enter its interior.
Not even Po-Cang Emperor ever succeeded.
In the eyes of Supreme Beings, entering the inner layer of the Heaven-and-Earth Wall and entering a Life-Forbidden Zone and coming out alive are about equally difficult.
The chasm between Supreme Beings and Supremes is unimaginable.
Aside from Supreme Beings, this gate can only be opened with a specific key.
North-Pole Supreme is neither a Supreme Being nor in possession of the key.
For him to open this gate is almost impossible."
In the blood sea, a blood-red divine dragon condensed once more—this time not just one, but hundreds and thousands.
North-Pole Supreme pointed toward the gate.
The blood-red divine dragons charged forward with ear-piercing roars, slamming into the gate one after another, their impacts thunderous.
But the gate still did not budge in the slightest.
North-Pole Supreme continued pouring power into the blood sea; the blood-red divine dragons grew ever stronger.
The blood-qi and souls inside the gourd were almost entirely drawn out.
Cold intent spread across North-Pole Supreme's body as he draped the blood-red divine dragons in a layer of icy armor.
Even so, they still could not shake the portal.
Wine Venerable said in a low voice,
"How many beings' blood and souls have they collected for this?"
It was a question perhaps even North-Pole Supreme himself could not answer.
The blood and souls they had gathered from all the battlefields had long since reached an uncountable number.
Yet no matter how much there was, its essence had not changed—without breaking through to a higher level of power, they naturally could not shatter the gate.
Wine Venerable watched for a while and already understood that North-Pole Supreme could not succeed.
He no longer wished to wait and was preparing to move to settle his old account with North-Pole Supreme.
Lin Moyu suddenly said,
"Senior, wait. Someone's coming."
Wine Venerable blinked in surprise.
He had not sensed anyone approaching.
At that moment, treasure-light flashed between Lin Moyu's brows—he was using the Primordial-Heaven Art to observe the gate.
The gate showed no sign of opening; North-Pole Supreme's efforts were a complete failure.
While observing him, Lin Moyu suddenly noticed something interesting.
Then he called out loudly toward the distant left,
"Senior Gold, since you've come, please show yourself."
A few breaths later, laughter came from the distant void.
"So Friend Lin can actually notice this old man—that truly surprises me."
His voice immediately drew everyone's attention.
"There really is someone," Wine Venerable said in astonishment.
Only now did he realize he had completely lost the ability to see through Lin Moyu.
Lin Moyu only smiled without speaking, quietly watching.
The void twisted, and a bug tens of thousands of meters long slowly emerged.
Gold Supreme stood on the bug's back, an old face with a faint smile, sharp gaze sweeping slowly across the area.
"This gate is indeed difficult to open."
Lin Moyu smiled.
"Congratulations to Senior Gold for regaining your freedom.
Has Senior come here also intending to open this gate?"
Gold Supreme smiled.
"There are not many things left in this world that can interest this old man—this place happens to be one of them."
Then he looked at North-Pole Supreme.
"Old North, if you can't do it, just let it go and let this old man have a try."
North-Pole Supreme was still straining himself.
Hearing Gold Supreme's words, he snorted lightly.
"Wait until I'm done trying."
He was still somewhat courteous toward Gold Supreme.
Both were Supremes and would not lightly fall out with each other.
"Fine," Gold Supreme said with admirable patience.
He turned his gaze toward Lin Moyu.
"Friend Lin, how did you manage to turn yourself into the Heaven-and-Earth Public Enemy?
In this Great Calamity, you're going to become the target of all."
Lin Moyu smiled.
"Then does Senior intend to kill me?"
Gold Supreme burst into loud laughter.
"This old man doesn't repay kindness with enmity."
Lin Moyu had helped free him from the Insect Stele; he owed Lin Moyu a debt.
Gold Supreme made it clear he would not act against him.
"In that case, thank you, Senior," Lin Moyu said.
"Now that Senior has regained your freedom, aren't you afraid that wandering about like this will attract his attention?"
Gold Supreme was formerly Goldfire Venerable; to Dao, he was a mortal enemy.
If Dao learned Gold Supreme's identity, he would surely descend to act.
Gold Supreme, however, was utterly unconcerned.
"He doesn't dare touch me."
"Oh?"
Lin Moyu was intrigued.
No matter how strong Gold Supreme was, he was still only a Supreme—far beneath someone like Dao.
If Dao wanted to kill him, at worst it would just take a bit more effort.
Even in a three-way standoff, killing one Gold Supreme wouldn't affect him much.
Yet Gold Supreme was so confident—clearly he had his own backing.
Lin Moyu did not ask further; probing would only touch on Gold Supreme's secrets, and he likely would not get an answer anyway.
North-Pole Supreme kept trying; the blood sea grew weaker and weaker.
The blood-qi and souls gathered over so many years had already been consumed by seven or eight tenths, yet the gate still did not move in the slightest, showing no reaction at all.
North-Pole Supreme sighed helplessly and swept away the entire blood sea with a wave of his hand.
"I can't open it. You go."
Gold Supreme laughed.
"Legend has it this gate can't be opened by anyone. This old man refuses to believe such nonsense. Today I'll pry it open."
He tapped his finger lightly, and a massive stone stele appeared in the void—the Insect Stele.
He had already refined the Insect Stele; wherever he went, he took it along.
The Insect Stele carried his trump card.
The stele shone brightly, mysterious runes lighting up one after another.
Several giant insects flew out from the stele and charged toward the portal.
Six giant insects, all identical in appearance and aura, each had reached the Half-Supreme level.
North-Pole Supreme narrowed his eyes slightly, a dangerous light flashing within them.
Just six Half-Supreme-level bugs already put considerable pressure on them.
He could see that each of the six was weaker one-on-one than a true Half-Supreme, but if they joined forces, an ordinary Half-Supreme would not be their match—and even he himself would likely find them difficult to handle.
And this was only the tip of Gold Supreme's strength.
He clearly had more terrifying cards to play.
North-Pole Supreme quickly judged that Gold Supreme's strength was greater than his own.
If possible, it would be best not to make him an enemy.
Lin Moyu also saw this tip of Gold Supreme's strength and was not surprised anymore at how he had once dared call Calamity Supreme "that little Calamity brat."
It wasn't reckless ignorance—it was genuine confidence.
Back then, he had still been trapped inside the Insect Stele, unable to move freely; now his strength would only be greater.
And given his claim that Dao did not dare kill him, he clearly wasn't boasting.
The six Half-Supreme-level giant insects reached the portal together, turning their countless legs into blades that rained down on the gate like a storm, ringing out like hammer on iron.
The gate still did not move, not even a scratch.
"At this rate, even hacking away for tens of thousands of years wouldn't open it," Gold Supreme thought.
He understood this well.
He tapped his finger again.
The Insect Stele hummed softly, light spilling out onto the six giant insects.
Their bodies shattered at the same time and then recombined with each other.
In the blink of an eye, a single insect over a hundred thousand meters long appeared in the void.
The fused insect's aura was even more terrifying, faintly reaching the limit of Supremes.
The fused giant insect attacked the gate again, stirring even more violent booms.
The gate still did not budge.
"Interesting. Truly interesting."
Light of excitement flashed in Gold Supreme's eyes.
Back when he was still Goldfire Venerable, he had already heard of this gate but had never had the chance to see it.
Now, seeing it with his own eyes, he was very interested in entering to explore.
He once more activated the Insect Stele.
With a hum, the stele shot toward the portal; the giant insect flowed back into it like water.
Then, countless insect screams rang out from within the stele, shrill and grating.
The Insect Stele slammed into the portal heavily, only to be hurled back.
A corner of the stele had clearly chipped away—this impact had damaged it.
The gate, however, shook for the first time, before quickly returning to its original stillness.
Gold Supreme tapped several more times in quick succession.
The fragments broken off the stele's corner flew back and reattached, and in an instant the stele looked as good as new.
To the eye, the Insect Stele seemed fully restored, but Lin Moyu could see that this collision had caused internal damage—easy to fix the outer shell, much harder to mend what was within.
The insects nurtured inside the stele had likely died in shocking numbers.
Even so, Gold Supreme had risked damaging the Insect Stele and still failed to open the portal.
He put the stele away and stopped trying.
"It seems this gate really can't be forced open."
Then he turned to Lin Moyu.
"Friend Lin, if you would—please open the gate."
At those words, the gaze of North-Pole Supreme and the others immediately landed on Lin Moyu.
"You've actually opened this gate before?"
North-Pole Supreme was truly shocked.
He remembered that Lin Moyu seemed to have come here once, but had never imagined he could open the gate.
At that moment, another person flew over—the Half-Supreme who had previously been trapped by Lin Moyu's formation.
Now that he had returned, he looked at Lin Moyu with anger in his eyes, but did not make a move; he merely joined North-Pole Supreme's side.
Another three-way standoff formed here, and the atmosphere turned strange.
Lin Moyu chuckled.
"Truly, nothing can be hidden from Senior."
Gold Supreme laughed.
"That time, this old man watched you go in with his own eyes.
It's just that you moved too fast and I couldn't follow."
Lin Moyu said,
"Senior's insects indeed have extraordinary abilities.
As for me, yes, I can open this gate—but what's inside will likely disappoint you all."
Gold Supreme said,
"Even if we're disappointed after going in, it's still better than not getting in at all."
Lin Moyu nodded slightly.
"Before that, though, Senior Wine still has some old debts to settle with North-Pole Supreme.
Why don't we let them finish first and then open the gate?"
Gold Supreme smiled.
"This old man has no objections."
Lin Moyu turned his gaze to the two Half-Supremes, Ice-Seal and Coldheart.
"These are matters between Senior Wine and North-Pole Supreme.
You two, please don't interfere."
Coldheart Venerable's expression changed and he roared,
"Who do you think you—"
He hadn't finished when Ice-Seal Venerable immediately grabbed him.
"Don't talk. Let the Supreme decide."
He had tasted Lin Moyu's fist and knew how terrifying he was.
Lin Moyu's meaning was already clear—if they intervened, he would act as well.
Ice-Seal Venerable had no confidence in confronting Lin Moyu head-on.
North-Pole Supreme said in a low voice,
"This is indeed a private matter between me and Wine Dao-friend.
You are not to interfere."
Once he had spoken, Ice-Seal and Coldheart naturally held their tongues.
Wine Venerable took a drink, nodded to Lin Moyu in thanks, then said to North-Pole Supreme,
"Let's go over there."
North-Pole Supreme nodded.
"Please, Dao-friend Wine."
The two of them flew billions of li away.
No one knew what they said to each other, but soon after, a great battle erupted with a roar.
They fought fiercely, the void filled with ice mingled with intoxicating wine-fumes.
Wine Venerable's arts were free and unrestrained, forming a stark contrast with North-Pole Supreme's cold ice.
They were not fighting to the death—both left room in their blows.
After half an hour of fierce combat, they finally stopped and returned together.
Wine Venerable had changed clothes—his previous garments had been destroyed in the fight, a treasure garment of no small value, yet still unable to withstand the clash at that level.
North-Pole Supreme was much the same; he too had changed clothes, and there were still several fist marks on his face, Wine Venerable's power lingering and hard to dispel.
Wine Venerable was also injured, but not seriously.
Lin Moyu could tell that although it looked like a draw, in truth North-Pole Supreme had gone easy; in terms of strength, Wine Venerable was inferior to him.
Wine Venerable said,
"Our account is settled. From now on, whether we're enemies or friends will not depend on the past."
North-Pole Supreme said nothing, which counted as tacit agreement.
Anyone could see that there was definitely a story between those two.
Gold Supreme said,
"Good. Now Friend Lin can open the gate, yes?"
Lin Moyu drifted lazily over to the portal and, under everyone's gaze, placed his hand on it.
He had the imprint of the Heaven-and-Earth Wall and the right to enter.
With a slight exertion of strength, the gate trembled faintly and opened.
"Opened… that easily?"
Everyone was stunned.
They had thought Lin Moyu would use some profound secret art to open it, only to see him simply give it a gentle push.
Even with their eyesight, they couldn't see anything mysterious about it—but they knew there had to be some trick.
If this gate were truly so easy to open, it would have been pushed open countless times throughout the ages.
Lin Moyu pushed the gate open with one hand.
"Everyone, please."
There was a smile in his eyes; he was very much looking forward to seeing their expressions once they entered and learned what was inside.