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The heart of the European continent, the Germania Plain.

Yi Huawei stood with his hands behind his back a thousand feet in the air, looking down at this vast land. The clouds surged beneath his feet, and the howling wind could not shake him in the slightest.

The Rhine and Danube rivers, like two winding silver snakes, flow from south to north, carving out boundless forests and plains. It was evening, and the setting sun dyed the western horizon blood red.

Yi Huawei's gaze was calm as still water, devoid of sorrow or joy, like a god looking down upon ants.

In this world of Europe, development progressed much more slowly than in the world without him. The Roman Empire had long since collapsed, yet no powerful force had truly filled the void it left behind. The Germanic tribes continued to hunt, herd, and plunder in the forests, occasionally venturing south to engage in small-scale conflicts with the remaining border troops of the Eastern Roman Empire. The Franks had just begun to learn to use the iron plow, the Anglo-Saxons were still entangled with the natives on the islands across the strait, and the Slavs were scattered throughout the vast forests further east, living a primitive life of semi-agriculture and semi-hunting.

There was no Charlemagne, no Holy Rome, no Crusades, no Age of Exploration, no colonization, and no Industrial Revolution. Everything here remained in a primitive, unenlightened state.

Yi Huawei landed slowly.

It was late autumn, and the withered yellow grass, nearly waist-high, swayed in the evening breeze like golden waves. In the distance, there was an oak forest, its canopies tinged with deep brown and dark red by the autumn wind. Further still, a few simple wooden roofs could be vaguely seen, with wisps of smoke rising from them, accompanied by the sounds of livestock and children playing.

Yi Huawei took a deep breath, feeling the "pulse" of this land.

In his perception, the world was filled with an invisible yet real energy, spiritual energy. It was not evenly distributed, but rather flowed like water, converging in spiritual veins, famous mountains, and great rivers, nourishing the growth of all things, nurturing the budding of civilization, and determining the potential and upper limit of life on this land.

In this world, the abundance of spiritual energy in each continent, region, and people directly determines the speed and upper limit of its civilization's development. A hundred years ago, when he first arrived in this world, he had already realized that although the spiritual energy reserves of the European continent were not as abundant as those of East Asia to give birth to a brilliant martial arts civilization, they were still enough for the beings on this land to one day give birth to powerful individuals and civilizations that could threaten China.

He wouldn't allow it.

Night falls.

A cold moon rose from the east, its clear light, like water, spilling across the plain. The evening breeze subsided, and an eerie silence descended upon the world; even the chirping of insects and the calls of birds ceased.

Yi Huawei slowly raised his hands.

The true energy within his body, like a vortex, began to slowly rotate. At first, it was extremely slow, almost imperceptible. But as the vast, ocean-like true energy began to circulate, an indescribable suction force began to spread in all directions.

The first to sense the anomaly were all the cultivators within a hundred miles—if those shamans, priests, and druids in those tribes who had just touched a sliver of the extraordinary could also be called "cultivators."

Almost simultaneously, all the monks awoke from their meditation or slumber, their faces ashen, their hearts pounding, gripped by a terror from the depths of their souls. They didn't know what had happened, only that something utterly horrific was unfolding.

Immediately afterward, the wolves, wild boars, and deer in the forest became agitated and began to scatter and howl in distress. Flocks of birds took flight in alarm, darkening the sky as they fled desperately away from the source of the terror. Even the underground animals—rabbits, snakes, and insects—frantically emerged from their burrows, forming eerie torrents of escape under the moonlight.

After an incense stick has burned.

Yi Huawei's body began to emit a faint light. At first, it was just a pale blue, like a firefly in the dead of night, but as the vortex accelerated, the blue light became brighter and brighter, gradually turning into a dazzling silver-white, and finally into a dazzling golden light, illuminating the night sky for dozens of miles around as if it were daytime!

Centered on Yi Huawei, a massive cyclone with a diameter of over a hundred miles began to form over the plains!

Countless invisible threads of spiritual energy, drawn from all directions, from the depths of the earth, from mountains and rivers, from forests and lakes, and from the bodies of every living being, were forcibly drawn away by that terrifying suction force, transforming into billions of rivers of light, some thick and some thin, converging towards the golden pillar of light in the center of the plain!

Their journey across the land was both magnificent and terrifying.

The nearest Germanic village was the first to notice the anomaly. Although the ordinary villagers could not sense any spiritual energy, they could "see" those colorful threads of light being forcibly drawn from their bodies, from their livestock, from the foundations of their houses, and from every tree.

The pitiful spiritual power that those shamans had accumulated throughout their lives was utterly powerless against the vortex, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

The cyclone spun faster and faster, growing larger and larger. The diameter of the golden pillar of light expanded from a few feet to tens of feet, hundreds of feet, and finally reached several miles in size!
The sky was filled with changing colors!

The once bright and starry night sky was now completely obscured by that terrifying golden vortex. Yi Huawei's figure had completely merged into the blinding beam of light, and only a more profound outline could be vaguely seen, like a legendary god standing in the center of the world-destroying torrent.

Outward from the vortex were layers upon layers of spiritual energy halos. The innermost layer was pure gold, followed by silver-white, pale blue, emerald green, crimson, and dark purple... These were the primary colors revealed when spiritual energy of different attributes and origins was forcibly absorbed. They intertwined and swirled, forming a magnificent yet terrifying spectacle that would be unforgettable for any witness.

Beyond the vortex lies a world utterly disrupted.

The sky was torn in two. One half was the golden pillar of destruction, the other half was the trembling crescent moon.

The earth began to tremble, growing more and more violent, like a stampede of ten thousand horses or a dragon turning over. Cracks spread outwards in all directions from Yi Huawei as the center. What began as hair-thin fissures quickly turned into abysses several meters wide, from which pungent sulfurous odors and dark red subterranean fire surged forth.

In the distance, the primeval forest that had grown for hundreds of years began to wither at a visible rate. Leaves turned yellow and fell instantly, branches cracked and broke, and finally collapsed with a crash, turning into a lifeless pile of dead wood.

Further afield, the water levels of all rivers and lakes within a radius of hundreds of miles began to drop rapidly. Some rivers even dried up completely within a short hour, revealing cracked riverbeds and countless dying fish and shrimp.

The cyclone's influence has extended over a thousand miles.

Within a thousand miles, all living beings—humans, livestock, birds, beasts, insects, fish, and plants—are experiencing a silent catastrophe. The higher the cultivation level of a being, the faster it dies. Ordinary creatures, on the other hand, survive because they have very little spiritual energy within them, but they survive only in extreme weakness. They will forever lose the possibility of evolution and the foundation for the birth of extraordinary beings.

This is Yi Huawei's purpose.

He wanted to ensure that this continent would never give birth to a true strongman again. He wanted to keep all civilizations on this land forever at a primitive and ignorant level. He wanted to ensure that the Germanic peoples, Franks, and Slavs could only ever be lumberjacks, hunters, farmers, and warriors, and would never be able to develop a civilization capable of crossing oceans.

The moon rose high in the sky and then gradually sank in the west.

Yi Huawei's body was completely enveloped by endless spiritual energy. His meridians, dantian, and every acupoint were operating at a speed beyond mortal comprehension. The Northern Darkness Divine Art, known as "the sea that embraces all rivers," has no fixed limit. And his cultivation level had already surpassed the peak of this realm.

The spiritual energy of Europe, like rivers flowing into the sea, surged wildly into his body, where he refined, compressed, stored, and made it his own.

He felt no burden at all; on the contrary, he felt extremely comfortable.

Like a gluttonous beast that has been starving for millions of years, finally finding a feast. Like a desert that has been parched for billions of years, finally welcoming a torrential rain.

When Yi Huawei's vast, star-like true essence came into contact with the unfamiliar spiritual energy of this alien continent, it trembled slightly, revealing an indescribable excitement.

While this spiritual energy wasn't as pure as that of the Central Plains, its sheer quantity made it immense. It represented all the essence accumulated over billions of years since the continent's birth. Now, it all belonged to him.

As the first rays of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon, the golden vortex that had enveloped thousands of miles finally began to recede. The light receded like a tide, and the countless rivers of spiritual energy gradually dried up, with the last wisp of light being absorbed into Yi Huawei's body.

Heaven and earth returned to silence.

Yi Huawei slowly opened his eyes. Golden light seemed to flow deep within them, as if two blazing suns were sealed within. His aura surged like the sea, the spiritual energy accumulated over billions of years across the entire continent of Europe now flowing into his dantian, meridians, and every inch of his flesh. He felt an unprecedented fullness and power, as if he could pluck stars from the sky and move mountains and fill seas with a mere flick of his wrist.

It's been 180 years.

From his initial disheveled arrival in this world to his current pinnacle, having absorbed the spiritual energy of an entire continent, he has finally reached the summit of this world. No, perhaps even higher than the summit—he has touched that door.

That door to a higher dimension.

Yi Huawei's lips curled up slightly as he looked up towards the east.

That's the direction of Luoyang, the direction of his empire and his people. The seed sown 150 years ago has now grown into a towering tree, the new emperor is capable of handling things independently, and the imperial machinery is functioning normally.

Everything is on track.

it's time.

however--

Just as he was about to leave, the world changed color.

The sky, which had been calm as still water, was suddenly filled with swirling dark clouds! Above the heavens, endless dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, as thick as ink and as heavy as lead, covering the entire sky in an instant!

Yi Huawei's smile froze on his face.

He sensed a vast and unparalleled will, far beyond his imagination, awakening!

That is the power from the deepest, most fundamental part of this world. It is not a living being, not a god, not any indescribable existence. It is the Way of Heaven, the rules, the will that has existed since the very beginning of the world's creation.

One hundred and sixty years ago, when he first traveled to this world, it was this very will that dealt him a heavy blow!
That day, he had just gotten used to this unfamiliar body and hadn't even had time to see the scenery around him when a bolt of purple lightning struck down from the sky without warning!

He tried to withstand the attack with his perfected protective true qi from the "Primordial Qi Gong," but it was torn apart like paper! He attempted to devour the lightning energy with the "Northern Darkness Divine Art," but found that the power did not belong to the category of "spiritual energy" at all, and could not be devoured, dissolved, or resisted.

That blow nearly shattered his soul.

On the verge of death from his severe injuries, he finally understood: this world has its own rules. An "intruder" from the outside world, possessing the power to overturn the balance of the world, will be regarded by the world's consciousness as an "outsider" that must be eliminated.

He used his last ounce of strength, suppressing himself to the extreme. He found the "Longevity Manual," a technique that didn't pursue explosive power, but rather harmonious resonance with heaven and earth. He completely merged his aura into this world, becoming indistinguishable from an ordinary mortal.

The world consciousness has lost its purpose.

He survived.

For the next 180 years, he cultivated with extreme caution, each step as if treading on thin ice. He studied the "Compassionate Sword Manual," comprehended the "Heavenly Demon Strategy," and derived the "Undying Seal Technique" from the "Flower Wandering" and "Punishment Escape Technique." He pushed his martial arts to one peak after another, yet he always suppressed his realm, daring not to touch that gate.

Because he knew that once he attempted to "shatter the void," once his power exceeded the limits allowed by this world, that purple lightning would return.

And now, he has just devoured the spiritual energy of an entire continent!

His power has swelled to an uncontrollable level!
He's been exposed!
Dark clouds churned, obscuring the dawn-breaking east. The sky was no longer the sky, but a gigantic, furious face. Deep within the clouds, purple light flashed—not just one, but countless bolts of lightning brewing!
Yi Huawei stood with his hands behind his back in the middle of the plain, looking up at the sea of ​​lightning that was about to tear the sky apart. His robes fluttered in the wind, and his long hair danced wildly in the wind, but his eyes remained calm as still water, without sorrow or joy.

It's been 180 years.

He hid for 180 years, endured for 180 years, and plotted for 180 years. He built an empire, cultivated talent, expanded territory, and sowed the seeds of civilization. He did everything he could and orchestrated every possible scheme.

Now, what must be faced will eventually have to be faced.

"bring it on."

"Let me see where I've come from in these 180 years."

Before the words were finished—

boom!!!
A bolt of lightning, hundreds of feet thick and purplish-black in color, suddenly descended with terrifying power capable of destroying all living beings!
The Northern Darkness Divine Art is operating at full power!
The purple lightning, powerful enough to destroy cities and evaporate rivers, suddenly stopped three zhang away from his body! Countless lightning snakes twisted wildly, trying to break through the invisible barrier, but were pulled, torn, and disintegrated by an even more powerful suction force!
The lightning dissipated.

Yi Huawei remained unmoved.

The first step: break through.

The thunderclouds in the sky churned violently, as if they had been provoked.

Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three bolts of purple lightning descended simultaneously! Thicker and more violent than the first, each containing enough power to destroy a medium-sized city! They no longer simply emerged from space, but intertwined and coiled in some mysterious trajectory, forming an impenetrable net of lightning that enveloped Yi Huawei!

Yi Huawei took a deep breath, and his true essence surged forth like a volcanic eruption! "Birth and Death Depend on the Mind!"
Using the cultivation technique he had comprehended as its core, he fused together the devouring power of the Northern Darkness Divine Art, the endless life force of the Longevity Technique, the sword intent of the Compassionate Sword Canon, and the ultimate yin and softness of the Heavenly Demon Strategy! His body transformed into a miniature universe, where life and death, yin and yang, devouring and releasing operated perfectly under his will!

The lightning bolt struck his body and then dissipated.

The destructive power, upon contact with him, was forcibly reversed in nature, transforming from "annihilation" into "life," from "thunder" into "qi," and then absorbed entirely into his body!

Three bolts of lightning, three streams of energy, and three streams of nourishment!
Yi Huawei's aura has grown even stronger!
The second, third, fourth... Break!

Lei Yun was completely enraged.

Rumble rumble rumble—

Instead of descending one drop at a time, it poured down!

Forty-nine bolts of purple lightning struck simultaneously like a torrential downpour! Each bolt was a hundred feet thick, and each was enough to level a mountain. The forty-nine bolts intertwined to form a destructive sea of ​​lightning, engulfing an area of ​​a hundred miles in radius!

The earth trembled, space distorted, and even time seemed to slow down in this terrifying thunderstorm!
A brilliant golden light shone in Yi Huawei's eyes!
With a sway of its body, it took the initiative to soar into the sky, facing the boundless sea of ​​lightning and going against the current!

He used his body as a sword and his will as the blade, transforming himself into a dazzling sword light that slashed straight into the destructive sea of ​​lightning! Wherever the sword light passed, the purple lightning was cleaved in two and then dissipated! His speed was so fast that even the lightning could not keep up with his trajectory!

One, two, three...

Yi Huawei weaved through the sea of ​​lightning like a butterfly dancing in a downpour. With each flash, a bolt of purple lightning was extinguished by him! His sword intent grew sharper and sharper, his aura more and more powerful, and his presence—closer and closer to that door!
All forty-nine bolts of purple lightning were annihilated!
Yi Huawei stood in mid-air, surrounded by lingering lightning, as if draped in a battle robe woven from thunder. His aura was surging to its peak, and the door was right before him.

However—the thunderclouds in the sky did not dissipate. Instead, they became even denser and deeper.

Deep within the clouds, the purple light ceased to flicker and instead coalesced.

An unprecedented thunderbolt is taking shape.

That wasn't ordinary purple lightning; it was a dark, almost solidified purple lightning. Its aura was ten, even a hundred times more terrifying than all the previous lightning combined!
Yi Huawei stood quietly in mid-air, looking up at the ultimate lightning bolt that was brewing. His eyes remained calm, but a complex light flashed deep within them.

He recalled the day he first arrived in this world.

That bolt of purple lightning nearly killed him. It was the first warning from the world's consciousness, and also the beginning of his 180 years of cautiousness.

He recalled the past 180 years. From a fleeing "invader" to a strategist emperor; from suppressing his own power to calmly shaping the world. He built an unprecedented empire, shaped a new order, and propelled Chinese civilization to unprecedented heights.

He thought of those people: Shan Wanjing, Zhu Yuyan, Shi Feixuan, Shan Meixian, Bai Qing'er, Yi Junze…

He thought of the legacy he left to the world.

enough.

boom----!!!
The eighty-first bolt of purple lightning descended!

A beam of light, pure to the extreme, destructive to the extreme, and terrifying to the extreme, cleaved down from the heavens, piercing through space, through time, and through everything that existed and did not exist.

Yi Huawei smiled.

His body suddenly burst forth with dazzling light! That light was more brilliant than the golden radiance he emitted when absorbing spiritual energy, and sharper than the sword light he used to annihilate the sea of ​​lightning! It was all the power he had accumulated over the past one hundred and eighty years.

One hundred and eighty years of cultivation, plus the spiritual energy of an entire continent that he had just absorbed, all erupted at this moment!

Yi Huawei transformed into a beam of light, defying the world-destroying thunder, and soared into the sky!

Two beams of light collided violently in mid-air!

No sound.

Because the sound was extinguished before it was even born.

There was no light.

Because the light was swallowed up before it could bloom.

There was only absolute nothingness.

In this void, two forces are tearing, devouring, and fighting each other frantically! One is the will of the world, the embodiment of the rules, an existence that has been unshakable for billions of years! The other is a person, a soul from another world, a being who has spent 180 years cultivating himself to the point where he can challenge the Heavenly Dao!

Take a breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Yi Huawei sensed it.

He sensed the door. The door to a higher dimension was right behind him, in the void where he was battling the lightning. If he wished, he could step back at any time, enter that door, transcend this realm, and journey to an unknown future.

But he did not back down.

He is still fighting.

Because he wanted to know exactly where he had come from. He wanted to know whether his 180 years of arduous cultivation would allow him to overcome the will of Heaven.

Five breaths.

Six breaths.

Seven breaths.

His power was burning, his true essence was depleting, and his body was cracking. Yet the lightning remained vast and boundless, unshakeable. He sensed the will of the world's consciousness—an absolute rejection, absolute destruction, absolute—invincible.

He can't win.

At least for now, we can't compete.

Yi Huawei sighed softly.

There was no regret, no resentment, only a faint, complex sense of relief.

That's it.

Yi Huawei's figure suddenly drifted backward, faster than the speed of the lightning's pursuit. Just as the world-destroying lightning was about to completely engulf him, a crack quietly opened behind him.

Yi Huawei's last glance was towards the world he had lived in for 180 years.

He saw the devastated Germanic plains: cracked earth, dried-up riverbeds, withered forests, and vanished villages.

He saw the East. There lay his empire, his people, and his order.

He saw the future.

One hundred years later, two hundred years later, five hundred years later. His empire will be even stronger, and his descendants will continue to push Chinese civilization to even greater heights. Meanwhile, this Europe, drained of its vitality, will forever remain at the mortal level, forever unable to threaten the East.

enough.

That's more than enough.

Yi Huawei's lips curved into a final, faint smile, yet it carried boundless pride and relief.

The next moment—

The crack closed.

His figure vanished without a trace.

All that remained was a devastated plain and thunderclouds still lingering in the sky.

…………

Dawn finally broke.

Golden sunlight pierced through the remaining dark clouds, shining upon this land that had been completely transformed.

The cracked earth still trembled slightly, as if still savoring the earth-shattering battle of the previous night. In the dried-up riverbed, the last trickle of water had long since evaporated, leaving only whitish silt and dead fish and shrimp. The withered oak forest, like countless twisted skeletons, cast menacing shadows in the morning light. That small Germanic village had vanished into nothingness, as if it had never existed.

Within a radius of a thousand miles, the surviving creatures remained huddled in their hiding places, trembling with fear. They didn't know what they had experienced, nor what it meant. They only knew that last night, a god descended. A god was angry. A god... departed.

And they will forever lose the possibility of evolution. Their descendants will never be able to understand why, in the far east, so many people can fly and move mountains and fill seas, while they can only forever crawl in the soil, using the most primitive swords and bows and arrows to engage in endless, low-level fighting.

They won't know.

But history will remember this day.

In the autumn of the 156th year of the Hua Dynasty, the Holy Ancestor Emperor descended upon the Germania Plain of the European continent. He used the Northern Darkness Divine Art to absorb all the spiritual energy of this land, which caused a backlash from the world's consciousness, resulting in the descent of eighty-one purple lightning heavenly punishments.

The Emperor withstood the divine lightning but ultimately succumbed, shattering the void as he departed.

From then on, the Western Lands were devoid of spiritual energy and became forever a mortal realm.

China reigns supreme, an unshakeable legacy for all ages.

Meanwhile, that figure that shattered the void was currently traversing the endless void turbulence, heading towards the next unknown world.

His eyes remained calm and still, devoid of sorrow or joy.

The world is vast.

For him, it was just the beginning.

—The End (End of this chapter)