Across the lands of Qin, Chu, Qi, Yan, Zhao, Wei, and Han, the countless awakened Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens could not resist the sword light descending from the gaps of history, from the deepest reaches of Human Order. Nor could they resist the pulling force carried within those words, one after another.
They were the "chaotic aspects" stripped away after the power of the Great Old Ones contaminated the ancestor gods of Huaxia—existences with the Old Ones as their main body, compounded with the nature of Huaxia's ancestor gods.
Yet no matter how many there were, no matter how many times they were repeated, once scattered apart, each was still only "one."
And Rovi had once faced the gaze of the Old Ones directly.
He had once faced the gazes cast through Abigail's existence by many Great Old Ones from the gap of the outer universe.
That was the convergence of countless existences' gazes.
He was the "whole."
The "whole" against the "one"—after Rovi had mastered the "chaos" within him, this had never been something that could be called a battle.
In Wei, the yellow fog gradually dispersed. The enormous King in Yellow shed its chaos and manifested as a man wearing a yellow imperial robe and crown. In Yan, the faceless god vanished, replaced by a sacred female figure with a human head and serpent body. In Qi, light and shadow gathered and shrouded the land, becoming a sacred male figure who held the primordial Eight Trigrams. In Han, the sacred figure was a mountain-tall human form holding a bamboo staff, covered all over in medicinal herbs.
In Qin, Yu Mei-ren, who had been devouring the chaotic power of the Old Ghost of the Six Heavens "White Emperor" and struggling bitterly against the power of the Old Ones, also shed that chaos at this moment, manifesting the sacred form of the "White Tiger."
Clearly the "god of the White Tiger," yet still wearing a black robe, Immortal Yu stood atop an exceedingly high mountain in Qin. She raised her eyes and looked "upward," toward the deepest reaches of Human Order, toward the gaps between the pages of the Divine Land's history that Rovi had cut open with the planet's primordial rotational force.
"Home... What a nostalgic aura." The "King in Yellow"—or rather, the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan—laughed softly. "It seems another extraordinary figure has appeared in our homeland."
The figure formed from the gathering of countless orbs of light, Human Sovereign Fuxi, also burst into laughter. "The vast land of the Divine Land has successors after all!"
The sacred female figure with a human head and serpent body was Nüwa, the ancient Sage who created humanity. The figure holding a bamboo staff and draped in medicinal herbs was one of the Five Emperors, the Flame Emperor—Shennong Lieshan.
And behind them were many, many ancestor gods of Huaxia ranked after the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the immortals, gods, and sacred beings of the Divine Land.
The mist of chaos transformed into pure and sacred immortal qi. Flowing light rose and spread through the atmosphere, and even the planet itself seemed to stop turning at this moment...
They had already left, gone to the outer universe to fight against the Old Gods.
Even the traces they had left in the Divine Land had been occupied by the Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens.
But now, Rovi had severed the Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens with his sword and restored them to their source, allowing the ancestor gods and immortal sages to descend as divided bodies and return to their homeland.
With the ancestor gods' return, all living beings across the Nine Provinces felt something stir in their hearts at the same time.
They woke from the mist, and in that instant, they seemed to see the scenes of the past through the torn-open pages of history.
They saw Nüwa creating humanity, Fuxi deriving the Eight Trigrams, Shennong tasting the hundred herbs. They saw the Yellow Emperor establishing order, Yao and Shun governing the age, Great Yu controlling the floods and passing his home three times without entering. They saw immortals and gods shedding blood to mend the sky. They saw that group of people who revered Heaven and feared fate, yet did not fear death...
And they saw the "Azure Heaven" of this moment.
"Huhahaha! The heaven established by my Great Qin naturally ought to be the heaven of all under heaven!" King Zheng of Qin, who had personally led the royal expedition to the front line, sat before the royal banner. Ahead, the Zhao pass had already fallen, and its defending general Li Mu had died in battle, sacrificing himself for his state.
The King of Qin issued another order, commanding the army to continue its conquest. Along the way, they were to hang the banner of "Azure Heaven." Wherever they went, not only would Great Qin's banners be planted in every place, but the names of "Azure Heaven," "Taiyi," and "Donghua" would also become the orthodoxy of the Divine Land.
Within Yan, Yan Dan lowered his brows, while Jing Ke drank in silence.
Beside the stone bridge, after Master Huangshi paid his respects to the ancestors, he bowed again toward the high sky.
He laughed aloud, utterly delighted.
Because the ancestor gods of Huaxia had returned because of Taiyi, their Mystery naturally flowed into the "Foundation" created by Taiyi.
Their existence would make the "Foundation" even more stable.
This, too, was something Rovi had done intentionally.
The nine-tailed fox wanted destruction, while he wanted the Divine Land to revive.
The existence of the Foundation was the best cornerstone for bearing the thoughts of the ancestor gods.
"Azure Heaven, Azure Heaven... So he is Donghuang's successor." With just one glance, the Yellow Emperor saw through Rovi's essence. "And on the road of chaos, he has actually walked even more decisively than we did."
"Formless and formed, his name cannot be spoken."
"For the next five hundred years, you shall be the Heavenly Emperor of the Divine Land—"
"We pay respects to the Heavenly Emperor!"
"We pay respects to the Heavenly Emperor!"
"To the Heavenly Emperor!"
The countless living beings and the countless gods all bowed at the same time.
This was the "orthodoxy" acknowledged by heaven, earth, and humanity.
But they only called him "Heavenly Emperor."
They did not call his name.
Because the "Heavenly Emperor" of this moment was a Heavenly Emperor manifested from the formless.
The one who became Heavenly Emperor was not Rovi the Sage of Uruk, the primordial human. It was not Rovi the Machine God, nor even Rovi of the Wild Hunt.
It was Rovi as the "Core of Chaos," as "Taiyi."
DONG, DONG, DONG...
The sound of drums echoed in the deepest reaches of Human Order. Tamamo-no-Mae, who had been blocked for an instant by the foreign "Immortal-Binding Rope," the Chains of Heaven, widened her eyes and looked at the "person" before her with a face full of terror.
Rovi flicked his sleeve. His loose robes still hung down, and he still wore a tall crown. He was still tall and handsome, with a smile on his face.
The scale he manifested was still "primordial." The range his power could influence was still the planet itself.
But at this moment, when Tamamo-no-Mae looked at him, she no longer had the earlier calmness, much less the desire to conquer him.
In those golden fox eyes, there was only "fear."
Fear of the figure before her, and even more fear of the essence of the "Core of Chaos" emerging behind Rovi.
It was still a mass of chaotic mist, still countless twisting tentacles extending from within the mist. But within it, countless eyes had appeared as well.
It existed in the void behind Rovi, yet seemed to exist in the deepest reaches of the vast, black universe. Countless chaotic Old Ones circled around it—that was the "shadow" formed from the Old Ones hidden within the Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens that Rovi had gathered. They were not existences truly manifested, and they possessed only an infinitesimal fraction of their true bodies' scale, yet they carried the same traits and concepts.
Just like Rovi at this moment.
He had already become the "Core of Chaos." The so-called Core of Chaos was the "primordial" of the Old Ones, the primordial of the universe's chaotic and dark side. It was an existence absolutely beyond Tamamo-no-Mae's reach.
The previous step, transforming into "Taiyi," had been Rovi taking the power dropped by the Old Gods as a seed, cultivating it within himself, and merging it with himself. This step was the "expansion" and "manifestation" after that fusion.
With the power left behind by countless Old Gods as "nutrients," this inverted and mad power finally broke free of all restraint. From this point onward, the disorder within it would continue swelling.
From this moment, Rovi had finally completed the greatest purpose for which he had set foot in the Divine Land.
From now on, Rovi would either "die," or... accept this chaos from the universe, completely digest it, and, like the many ancestor gods of Huaxia—even more thoroughly than they had—break free from the limits of a planetary life-form's "primordial" and reach a stronger boundary, without leaving behind "future troubles" like the Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens.
Yes. After coming this far, Rovi had finally decided, at this moment, to abandon his search for death.
Using death as his backing, he would seek change, seek strength.
He would seek the path to becoming stronger that offered the greatest return and the greatest danger.
He would seek the road of nine deaths and one life that ordinary people did not dare walk!
Whatever could not kill him would only make him stronger.
And if it did kill him, he would become invincible right in front of it!
Of course, even though he had not completely accepted and digested it at this moment, the scale of Rovi's own existence still remained at the primordial level of influencing the planet. But in truth, he was stronger than before.
Because the essence of chaos had given him a nature that overlapped with countless things.
He could display power that countered everything, and display power that was countered by nothing.
Whatever the other party feared, he could become.
So...
"Fox, come here. Let's settle the final account!" Rovi looked at Tamamo-no-Mae and smiled.
The ears atop Tamamo-no-Mae's head shook violently, and she let out an instinctive cry. "Mi... miguu!?"
The fox's nine tails instantly went taut. When Rovi advanced, she retreated.
Step by step, he pressed closer.
Step by step, she backed away.
"I'll get angry. I really will get angry, miguu!"
Tamamo-no-Mae tried hard to put on a fierce, clawing appearance. Unfortunately, to the current Rovi, she was no longer that vicious demonic beast, that demon-god, but merely a "kitten."
In the end, that was because even as one of the primordial sun gods, even as one aspect of the Evil of Humanity, fear still existed in Tamamo-no-Mae's heart.
It was not Rovi, who had mocked her with those whispers.
It was the Vanguard of the Umbral Star that had descended to Earth in the far more distant past.
Since fear existed in her heart, it could be countered.
Rovi flicked his sleeve and swung his sword. Behind him, countless strands of chaos spread out at the same time. Tamamo-no-Mae let out a shriek. She was indeed afraid, but in the face of true crisis, it was not as though she lacked the courage to stake her life on one last struggle.
And so the nine-tailed fox bared her teeth and claws, throwing herself at Rovi. She hugged his head tightly with both hands, pressing him close to her chest, clamping her legs around his waist and squeezing his body tightly with them. Then she quickly climbed downward, spreading her nine tails at the same time to wrap around his entire body.
Softness pressed against him, rippling sensation rushing over him head-on. Rovi froze, then suddenly found it both funny and exasperating.
With no road of retreat, and knowing equally well that she had no chance of victory, Tamamo-no-Mae's so-called "attack" was not an attack in the conventional sense at all.
She was only trying to stir once more the desires of Rovi's human side.
Trying to engage with him on a deeper level.
Although she had already failed twice before, right now, Tamamo-no-Mae knew very clearly that only by doing this could she possibly obtain a chance at life.
A direct fight?
No possibility whatsoever.
The hope of escape was even slimmer.
Only in the next second, the nine tails that had just closed around him were slowly, forcibly pried open. Tamamo-no-Mae let out whimpering miguu sounds and struggled with all her might, but it was useless from beginning to end.
Because what pulled her tails apart were the "tentacles" extending from the Core of Chaos.
The concept manifested from the chaos was the trait of the Vanguard of the Umbral Star: the ability to absorb the power of gods.
It had been formed by reflecting the fear in Tamamo-no-Mae's heart.
For some reason, however, a faint strangeness appeared on Rovi's face, because what those tentacles pulled open was not only the fox's tails, but also her legs... and her hands.
Her body, spread wide open, was only an inch from Rovi. The full curve of her chest was impossible to ignore, their bodies tangled face-to-face...
Her long orange-red hair spilled down. The fox ears atop her head kept swaying. Tamamo-no-Mae's gorgeous face was flushed all over.
It was frustration, and also shame and anger.
But what she did not know was that Rovi, who had been able to suppress himself through all her earlier attempts, now found a human "impulse" surfacing because of her current posture.
Too close. And this posture... was far too suggestive.
Moreover, one had to know that the Core of Chaos was also Rovi. Those tentacles were, from the beginning, part of his body.
"Miguu—!?" Tamamo-no-Mae was even still trying to approach, unwilling to give up, and that faint contact made Rovi feel somewhat unable to hold on.
So in the next second, light manifested. Rovi decisively withdrew the form of the primordial human.
His Machine God form unfolded. Steel cast a solid body and cooled the impulse of desire all the more. Burning eyes stared fixedly at the fox before him.
[DON'T WORRY. I WON'T KILL YOU.]
Rovi's voice came from behind the Machine God's cold iron mask. He said:
[YOU HAVE ALREADY BECOME ONE ASPECT OF THE EVIL OF HUMANITY, AND THE EVIL OF HUMANITY COEXISTS WITH HUMANITY. SO IF I KILL YOU, IT WILL ONLY MAKE YOU REVIVE IN SOME OTHER PLACE YEARS FROM NOW.]
Unless all humanity was destroyed, the Evil of Humanity would not end, and the Evil of Humanity would never disappear.
Tamamo-no-Mae froze. Just as Rovi thought she would become angry because her essence had been exposed, the nine-tailed fox suddenly cried out, "Miguu, I nearly forgot about that!"
"Then what am I fighting so hard for!?"
"..."
So you forgot?
After a moment of silence, even Tamamo-no-Mae herself seemed to feel embarrassed. "Miguu, could you let me down? I won't run away."
Since she would not die anyway, to Tamamo-no-Mae, the worst possible ending could now be discarded.
She could finally breathe a sigh of relief...
[SPEAKING OF WHICH, IT'S NOT TRUE THAT THE EVIL OF HUMANITY CAN NEVER BE SEVERED.]
[I COULD SEAL YOU FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS FIRST. ONCE HUMAN CIVILIZATION CROSSES INTO AN ERA OF COMPLETE GOODNESS AND PERFECTION, THE EVIL OF HUMANITY WOULD NATURALLY BE ELIMINATED.]
"Miguu!? T-tens of thousands of years!?" Tamamo-no-Mae's tails, bound by the tentacles of chaos, all went taut at once.
She was afraid.
But Rovi was only joking.
[THE EVIL OF HUMANITY CANNOT BE SEVERED, BECAUSE DESIRE IS ALSO EVIL. IF EVIL WERE LOST, HUMANITY WOULD ONLY FALL INTO STAGNATION.]
[TO ELIMINATE YOU, THERE'S NO NEED TO GO THAT FAR.]
[WHAT I WANT TO DO NOW IS ONLY CUT OFF YOUR ABILITY TO DO EVIL.]
Rovi took a step back and returned to human form.
He raised the sword in his hand.
He flicked his sleeve and said, [FROM THIS MOMENT ON, THERE SHALL BE NO NINE-TAILED FOX UPON THE DIVINE LAND.]
He did not act, nor did Rovi need to act.
Because at this moment, he was still deep within the gaps of Human Order.
He simply engraved those words into Human Order.
And so the nine tails upon Tamamo-no-Mae collapsed on their own, forcibly split apart by the power of Human Order.
The whole process appeared effortless.
No matter how Tamamo-no-Mae resisted, she could not sustain them.
Because the Evil of Humanity was only a part of Human Order, and naturally could not defy it.
And even more because Rovi, at this moment, was the "Heavenly Emperor" of the Divine Land, the "Heaven" worshiped by all the people of the Divine Land.
His words were an edict of the Heavenly Emperor.
With one word, he could decree the law of all under heaven.
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