No… I need a plan. Right now."
"If I simply hand over the artificial weapon, then everything I've fought for… all those memories, all those friendships… will have been for nothing."
Then his eyes widened.
"Wait…"
"There is still a path."
"Yes… there is still hope."
But his expression darkened.
"Even so, I can't fight an immortal. I wouldn't survive even their first attack."
"So what should I do to survive?"
The copy of Mingyun stared at him in surprise.
After hearing the thoughts racing through Mingyun's mind, the copy gave him a strange look before suddenly leaning close and whispering into his ear.
"Child… even when there is no way out, your perseverance eclipses that of immortals."
Mingyun simply ignored him and snorted coldly.
The Supreme Leader continued counting.
"…Thirty-nine…"
"…Forty."
He smiled cruelly.
"Your forty seconds are over, Mingyun."
"And yet you were still foolish enough to reject my offer."
The crowd erupted into frenzy.
"Is he a fool?"
"He is worse than a fool!"
"Not even a fool would act like this!"
"Let the leader kill him already!"
"Why should we fear a mere mortal?"
"Even with five hundred times more courage, I would never dare provoke the Supreme Leader!"
Then—
"Wait!"
The single word echoed across the battlefield.
Every immortal turned toward Mingyun, staring at him in confusion.
The Supreme Leader narrowed his eyes.
Being interrupted by a mortal was a humiliation.
"I am very tempted to kill you right now."
"Speak."
"But if you attempt to trick me, do not blame me when your body is reduced to nothing."
Mingyun smiled and clenched his fists.
So this was the only way.
But it would cost him his regression.
He looked up and gave the Supreme Leader a grin.
Then suddenly—
He summoned the Life and Death Artificial Weapon.
A round celestial bead floated before him.
Massive feathered wings wrapped around its surface like protective arms.
Within the translucent bead, seven heavenly worlds could be seen rotating endlessly.
Its surface was covered in beautiful glowing cracks and intricate silver patterns.
The moment it appeared, an overwhelming immortal aura descended.
The entire army of immortals froze.
For the first time in their lives, they gazed upon one of the greatest legendary artificial weapons ever created.
Their eyes filled with awe.
Disbelief.
Greed.
The Supreme Leader smiled.
"At last…"
"The door to true life and death is mine."
"Good boy."
"Hand it over, and I will reward you."
"I shall make you second-in-command of my sect."
"You will receive forty million soul coins and ownership of forty-nine percent of the sect's wealth."
"Hehehe…"
"Second only to me."
The immortals immediately began whispering.
"This brat is lucky."
"He'll have endless wealth."
"He could build his own bloodline."
"He made the smart choice."
Mingyun smirked.
"But under one condition."
The Supreme Leader's expression twitched.
He stretched out his hand.
"And what is this condition?"
The immortals looked on curiously.
Mingyun slowly raised the bead.
"If you want it…"
"Then you and all your men must strike it with your strongest attacks."
"With everything you have."
The entire battlefield fell silent.
Then chaos erupted.
"Is this idiot insane?!"
"What kind of condition is that?!"
"He wants to die!"
The Supreme Leader frowned.
Yet after a moment, he snorted.
"You are an idiot among idiots."
"But very well."
"Do not blame us when you die."
He raised his hand.
The signal was given.
At once, thousands of immortals summoned their artificial weapons.
A giant ghostly white hand descended from the heavens.
A massive crimson fist shattered the air.
Lightning.
Flames.
Shadow spears.
Water torrents.
Countless arrows of blue spiritual energy.
And finally—
The Supreme Leader hurled his giant sphere of fire.
All of it descended upon Mingyun.
The heavens trembled.
Then—
BOOM!
A blinding white explosion consumed everything.
The shockwave sent every immortal flying backward.
Even the Supreme Leader was thrown over fifty yards.
When the smoke cleared, the battlefield fell silent.
The Supreme Leader rose from the shattered earth and rushed forward.
The other immortals staggered to their feet, many of them injured despite being far from the explosion.
Then they froze.
Mingyun was still standing.
Not a single scratch marked his body.
The entire immortal army stared in disbelief.
"How…?"
"Impossible…"
"Not even a true immortal could survive that!"
The Supreme Leader's eyes widened.
"The Life and Death Artificial Weapon…"
"It absorbed the entire attack."
"But why would he test it like this?"
"He had no certainty he would survive."
The Supreme Leader suddenly laughed.
"What courage."
"You used us to test its power."
Mingyun smiled.
"Now you all understand."
The crowd shivered.
"This mortal is insane."
"He truly has greater guts than all of us combined."
The Supreme Leader sighed.
"Boy, my patience is running thin."
"Hand it over."
Mingyun's smile widened.
"I don't want to."
The Supreme Leader's face twisted with rage.
"You dare?!"
The immortals roared.
"We should tear him apart!"
"Hang him by his neck!"
"Rip out his organs!"
Mingyun ignored them.
Instead, he slowly raised the bead toward the heavens.
Suddenly—
The clouds twisted violently.
The sky tore apart.
A massive hole opened above.
Starlight poured down.
The celestial light enveloped Mingyun.
The bead floated upward, its great wings slowly spreading.
It flapped once.
The air itself screamed.
One immortal sneered.
"What is he doing?"
"He deserves death!"
The man lunged toward Mingyun.
The moment he entered the light—
SHHHH!
His body instantly turned to ash.
He did not even have time to scream.
The battlefield froze.
Only a pile of ashes remained.
Then one trembling immortal whispered:
"No…"
"Don't tell me…"
"He summoned…"
The World-Eating Star.
The entire immortal army turned pale.
A forgotten memory surfaced within their minds.
[First Day of Creation — Dao of Creation]
A child's voice echoed through the void.
"Father… why is the world covered in ash?"
"And why are we not affected?"