Chapter 12 (War = 1)
War Zone
Each clan's warriors and cultivators gathered at the battlefield, facing one another.
Sheng drew his sword at Yin, snarling, "Get ready to die." His cosmic energy burst outward, raising the temperature of the entire war zone.
Kuto stared at him, sighed heavily, and fanned himself with his hand.
"Damn… It's getting hot."
Miss Lan smacked the back of his head and crossed her arms.
"Are you out of your mind? We're about to fight millions of powerful cultivators and you're worried about the temperature?"
Rien stepped forward beside Miss Yin, protectively.
"Are you ready, my Queen?" he asked without looking at her.
Miss Yin hesitated.
"I… yes. I'm ready."
Rien raised his hand. The soldiers instantly moved aside with Lan, Kuto, and the elders. Sheng noticed and split his army, sending a division to face Lan's group.
Rien smiled, glancing back at the cultivators.
"What are you waiting for? Don't worry. Everyone will walk out alive… after we win."
The cultivators roared and charged toward Sheng's forces. Sheng's army rushed forward as well, unleashing everything they had.
As the war erupted, cultivators clashed with full power.
One elder frowned, watching their men fall.
"Rien… are we just going to let our cultivators die out there?"
Rien smiled calmly.
"No need to rush. We stick to the plan."
Suddenly, a Sheng elder teleported behind Miss Yin, spear raised—
Rien's eyes shifted. The elder vanished instantly, erased mid-air.
Everyone gasped in horror.
Miss Yin stared at Rien.
"H-How did you do that?"
Rien ignored the question.
"How many elders left on Sheng's side?"
The second elder stroked his chin.
"Six prime elders and four lower ones… now three lower elders left."
Rien clapped once.
"Good. Let's finish this fast."
Miss Yin signaled her elders, and they teleported forward, engaging Sheng's elders.
She turned to Rien.
"And me? What do I do?"
Rien gave a small smile.
"Go fight. I'll protect you… like I promised."
He vanished, reappearing high in the sky, watching the entire war from above.
On the other side, Kuto released massive waves of cosmic energy, slowing Sheng's cultivators.
He smashed one man's face with a cosmic punch, laughing wildly.
"You can't stand in front of me!"
Elders stared at Kuto's brutality, disturbed, before returning to their fights.
Another Sheng cultivator appeared behind Kuto —
Kuto teleported behind him and kicked his head clean off.
Miss Lan rushed to him, horrified.
"Kuto! What are you doing!?"
Kuto laughed, grabbed another cultivator's face, and crushed it.
"Don't disturb me right now."
He dashed forward, attacking again with unrestrained cosmic rage.
Elsewhere, Miss Yin summoned her Divine Dragon Soul.
Every touch burned enemies to ash.
Rien watched from above.
"Wow… she's surprisingly cruel," he muttered.
The elders formed a circle, gathering power.
"Zu–Xia!" they shouted.
The sky tore open as a colossal dragon descended — its size larger than a city.
Sheng looked up.
"Impressive."
Rien raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? They have pets too."
He casually took out a packet of chocolate cookies and started eating.
The dragon flew over Sheng's forces, unleashing flames that incinerated everything below.
Sheng's expression hardened.
"Call the Yu–Liu."
His elders activated a formation.
A massive ape appeared behind them, grabbing the dragon by its tail.
"A snake…" the ape rumbled in a deep, terrifying voice.
The dragon blasted fire at the ape, freeing itself.
A violent beast battle erupted, cosmic energy wiping out cultivators on both sides.
The dragon's tail slammed the ape, knocking it off balance — its foot about to crush Miss Yin—
Rien appeared instantly and erased the ape from existence.
Sheng gritted his teeth.
"This boy… he'll destroy us."
He looked up at the sky.
"Then we call them."
He raised his voice:
"Guardian… Domain Emperor… I need your help."
The weather darkened.
Four men appeared in the sky, their cosmic pressure so overwhelming it killed cultivators instantly and shattered the dragon formation.
Rien looked up and smiled.
"Finally… looks like the real party's about to start."Miss Yin stared at the Guardians and the Domain Emperor, her eyes trembling.
"Their cosmic presence… it's insanely high. I've never felt anything like this."
Rien teleported in front of the three Guardians and the Domain Emperor, casually holding a packet of chocolate cookies.
"This fight isn't for divine beings. According to the laws of existence, immortals are not allowed to interfere with mortals," he said calmly.
The Domain Emperor laughed arrogantly.
"I am the Domain Emperor. Rules don't apply to me."
One of the Guardians eyed the cookie packet.
"Looks like a baby came to join the war," he mocked.
The second Guardian teleported behind Rien and attempted a kick—
But Rien vanished before the strike landed.
All the Guardians froze for a moment in shock, then regained their composure.
"Was that your doing?" the third Guardian growled, releasing a massive surge of cosmic energy that shook the air—yet it didn't affect anyone in the war zone thanks to Rien's silent cosmic barrier.
Rien smiled, appearing suddenly in front of the first Guardian.
He grabbed the Guardian's arm and tore it off effortlessly.
"Don't panic. You can regenerate, right?" he said, tossing the severed arm into the air.
The second Guardian lunged forward, but the moment he did, the concept of his cosmic energy vanished from his body entirely.
"What… what did you do to me?" the Guardian whispered, stepping back as fear took over.
Rien didn't even glance at him.
The Guardian's existence simply disappeared.
The first Guardian, furious and shaking, charged at Rien with full power. His punch froze halfway through the air.
"You're the one who's going to die!" he shouted, trying to overwhelm Rien by releasing all of his cosmic force.
Rien only smiled.
He turned his gaze toward the Domain Emperor—
and the first Guardian vanished.
The Domain Emperor watched him, a slow dangerous smile forming.
"You're powerful… almost boundless."
Sheng looked up at Rien and the Domain Emperor.
"I'm sure the Domain Emperor can handle that boy easily," he said arrogantly.
One of his elders spoke up, "But we can't take that risk, Master. Did you forget what Seraphina told us?"
Sheng's expression shifted as he thought for a moment.
"You're right… but there's no way that boy can defeat the Domain Emperor."