"Um?"
At this moment, it didn't matter whether Zun Zun still had the eight third-step powerhouses under his command, or Wang Nixian, whose life was gradually withering, or even the people of Fengtian Realm who were watching the battle from afar.
They all raised their heads and looked at the starry sky with suspicion.
A vision appeared in the vortex of the endless chaotic glow of the Xianhui River.
Seven figures walked out slowly.
The leader looked neither sad nor joyful. He wore a black Xuanbird Emperor robe, his jet-black hair falling freely behind him. His eyes were deep, and his features were sharply defined, like a sculpture chiseled by divine hands.
A pressure that defied description radiated from him.
On both sides of him, three figures followed half a step behind. They wore distinct outfits, each exuding a unique aura.
As the seven figures stepped from the black hole, the portal behind them gradually shrank and vanished.
These were the Emperor Lian Shen Lian and the six Quasi-Emperor realm powerhouses under his command.
"This world…"
Shen Lian closed his eyes and released his divine sense, flooding the universe with overwhelming spiritual power.
Countless streams of information poured into his mind.
"Interesting," Shen Lian opened his eyes. A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Haha, this time it's a world with cultivators."
"It seems the strength here isn't weak. They've already reached the level to dominate the starry sky."
Yuan Ye, Xuan Ba, and the others laughed.
For them, their last trip to Earth had been dull.
The so-called Golden Giant Clan and the Golden Giant King were as fragile as turkeys. They hadn't even stirred their fighting spirit.
But this world…
It didn't seem so simple.
"Who goes there?"
A halberd-wielding general next to Zhan Zun shouted.
This Divine General, named Wen Junhou, held a square-shaped halberd and was a third-step ethereal realm powerhouse with transcendent strength beyond the world.
Before Shen Lian could reply, Wen Junhou continued with a scowl.
"If you're immortals beyond this realm, join us. If you're humans of this world, then retreat at once or face death."
There was no need for Shen Lian to answer.
Xuan Ba stepped forward, expression scornful.
"Outside or inside the realm, who cares? Open your eyes. This is the Great Emperor of the Human Race—His Majesty Emperor Lian. Why haven't you knelt yet?"
"Human Great Emperor? Refining Emperor?"
Zhan Zun frowned at the declaration. This mysterious group was calling themselves the Great Emperor of the Human Race?
That title… Why had he never heard of it?
Not only Zhan Zun, but even Wang Nixian and the onlookers from Fengtian Realm were at a loss.
Human Great Emperor?
When did the Human Race ever have an emperor?
The emperor was a figure of mortal kingdoms. Cultivators pursued freedom beyond such hierarchies. Where would a Great Emperor even fit in?
"May I ask, fellow Daoist, are you of the Human Race?"
Wang Nixian struggled to rise from the ground. He cupped his hands in salute.
Shen Lian glanced at him, then replied simply.
"Yes."
He sensed something unusual in Wang Nixian's aura.
The taste of time.
It seemed Wang Nixian had been brought back from the future.
"A true human powerhouse!"
Wang Nixian's words sparked joy among many of the world's human cultivators.
If this man called himself the Great Emperor of the Human Race, he must be powerful.
But Zhan Zun and the others grew cold.
Human Race?
Then they were enemies.
"Kill."
Zhan Zun's voice was calm, yet cold.
The hunchbacked old woman at his side instantly understood.
She tapped her cane on the ground. A line of afterimages sliced through the starry sky, targeting Shen Lian's brow.
"Hmph. Great Emperor of the Human Race? Big words. Let's see what kind of joke this emperor really is."
The dragon-headed crutch in the old woman's hand flared with supreme force.
"Careful, fellow Daoist!"
Wang Nixian and many others in Fengtian Realm turned pale.
The old woman's strength was terrifying. She had once fought the Immortal Monarch of Blackwater in the Nirvana Realm. She was no one to take lightly.
They looked at Shen Lian, who didn't even blink, and unease filled their hearts.
He was new here and unfamiliar with the power of the outworld immortals. Was he paralyzed by fear?
Zhan Zun narrowed his eyes.
Shen Lian showed no aura. His cultivation base couldn't be read.
He wanted to use this old woman's strike to test the so-called Human Great Emperor.
"Oh?"
But Shen Lian didn't need to move. Xuan Ba, standing beside him, raised a brow and stepped forward.
"You old dog. You dare insult the Human Race Great Emperor?"
Xuan Ba punched.
Thousands of destructive laws gathered on his fist. The void turned to dust and chaos.
Boom!
The dragon-headed cane collided with Xuan Ba's fist—and shattered like glass.
"What?!"
The old woman instantly felt her cane, cultivated over millennia, lose all connection with her.
Blood sprayed from her mouth.
Before she could react, Xuan Ba's destructive punch tore toward her like a storm of knives.
In the blink of an eye, half her body was gone—turned into void.
"Impossible!"
The old woman's expression changed drastically. She pulled out a straw doll and crushed it.
Puff!
Her body shattered completely, leaving behind only a baby-sized soul—her Nascent Soul.
The Nascent Soul fled, terrified.
She looked at the ruined remnants of her body, then at Xuan Ba, her face twisted in horror.
What kind of power was that?
"Pathetic."
Xuan Ba withdrew his fist and sneered at the Nascent Soul.
"That's it? That's what you've got? That's all? You couldn't even draw out ten percent of this seat's power, and you think you're worthy to test the strength of His Majesty the Refining Emperor? What a joke."
Silence.
The entire battlefield fell deathly quiet.
Wang Nixian and the many human cultivators of Fengtian Realm stood frozen, their mouths agape.
A single punch?
The old woman who had once clashed with Blackwater Immortal Monarch had been destroyed by a single punch?
What kind of monstrous being was this!
Where had such a peerless beast come from!