Douluo Unrivaled: The Beginning Materializes the Black Abyss and White Flowers

'Fortunately...fortunately, our Hongchen family chose to stand with Haiyuan City early on because of Xiaomeng. Otherwise, today, our Hongchen family would probably be buried along with this empire.'

His gaze fell on his granddaughter, Meng Hongchen, who was closely following Lu Jingming.

For a family tycoon like him, who the master of the empire is is not really important.

The key question is whether the family's legacy and glory can continue in the new era, or even reach new heights.

Meng Hongchen is now one of Lu Jingming's legitimate women, and one of the surest mistresses of the new empire that will unify the continent in the future.

As long as this relationship exists, the status of the Hongchen family will remain as stable as Mount Tai, and may even rise accordingly.

After Lu Jingming unifies the mainland, he will inevitably redistribute the benefits.

As one of the earliest and closest families to join the Red Dust Family, it's hard to imagine how much benefit they could gain.

"How to choose... I, this old man, still know in my heart. The era of the Xu royal family is over; what follows is the era of Lu Jingming."

Jing Hongchen completely let go of the last trace of attachment to the Sun Moon Empire in her heart.

And so, amidst the clamor of war, the group calmly and without any hindrance arrived at the magnificent, golden palace that symbolized the supreme power of the Sun and Moon Empire.

The heavy palace gates had already been violently broken open.

Lu Jingming walked straight in without pausing for a moment.

We walked through an empty courtyard, marked only by the traces of a fierce battle, and down a long, red-carpeted corridor.

Finally, they arrived at the most magnificent and solemn council hall.

The doors to the main hall were wide open.

Inside the hall, in stark contrast to the chaos outside, it was eerily quiet.

Lu Jingming's footsteps echoed crisply on the marble floor.

He entered the main hall and looked straight into the deepest part of it.

There, atop the high steps, on the enormous throne constructed of rare metals, a person still sat regally.

Xu Tianran.

He was dressed in the most magnificent black dragon robe, and his long hair was neatly combed.

His face no longer held its former gloom and madness, nor the despair and resentment of a defeated man.

He simply sat there quietly, his face bearing a strange, almost liberated peace.

His gaze was empty, staring ahead, as if looking at Lu Jingming, or as if penetrating him to see into a more distant, ethereal place.

Beside him stood a frail, aged figure.

Kong Deming.

The old man who created the glory of the Sun Moon Empire's soul-guided technology had no expression on his face at this moment.

Lu Jingming raised an eyebrow in surprise as he looked at Xu Tianran's appearance.

"It seems you've finally come to your senses."

His voice broke the silence in the hall, carrying a hint of inquiry.

Upon hearing this, Xu Tianran's empty eyes finally regained some focus.

He slowly raised his head, looked at Lu Jingming, and grinned, revealing a cold smile.

"Awakening?"

He repeated the word under his breath, his laughter growing louder and more manic.

"I have never trusted anyone, whether they are my subjects, brothers, or women... I only trust the power I hold in my own hands."

His voice abruptly stopped, and his smile vanished instantly, replaced by a look of resentment.

"But sometimes, the will of mortals is ultimately too fragile... I am no exception."

He didn't look at Lu Jingming, but instead turned his gaze to the empty space beside him, as if there stood a shadow that he could see but others couldn't.

"I suppose it was 'her' intention that I was able to react at the last moment."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jingming remained noncommittal.

Given Huanlong's approach, this is indeed a possibility.

For a creature like 'Suiyang' that feeds on the negative emotions of living beings, nothing is more delicious than the extreme despair, regret, resentment, and pain that an emperor unleashes at the final moment when he is betrayed by all and his empire is destroyed.

In the final moments, releasing control and influence over Xu Tianran's mind, allowing him to use his clearest mind to savor and confront the irreversible defeat he himself created... this is indeed what Huanlong would do.

For her, it was simply about letting the ingredients ferment to their perfect texture before enjoying the main course.

"Although her influence is key."

Lu Jingming's voice rang out again, interrupting Xu Tianran's soliloquy. His tone was calm, revealing the truth that Xu Tianran was most unwilling to admit.

"But ultimately, it is you who makes all these choices."

"Even without Huanlong, there would be other people and other things that would cause that unwarranted ambition in your heart to swell to the point of devouring everything."

Lu Jingming's words struck Xu Tianran's heart like a heavy hammer.

Xu Tianran's body jolted violently, and he was momentarily dazed.

Yes... it's myself.

It all began when he was still the crown prince, and in that brutal battle for the throne, he personally killed all his brothers and climbed to the top by stepping over their corpses.

It all began when he actively cooperated with the Holy Spirit Cult in order to gain power, tacitly allowing those evil spirit masters to spread fear within the empire.

It all began when, in order to consolidate his power, he unhesitatingly turned the sword against those meritorious elder families…

That ambition, that suspicion, that ruthless thirst for power—it was already deeply ingrained in his very being.

The appearance of Huanlong was merely like throwing a spark into a pile of already prepared tinder, causing it to ignite in a more frenzied and uncontrollable way.

Having figured this out, the resentment in Xu Tianran's eyes gradually dissipated, transforming into a sense of resigned acceptance.

He looked at Lu Jingming again, and a smile actually appeared on his face.

"Hehe...hehehe...I didn't expect that you would know me so well on our first official meeting."

His laughter carried a hint of emotion.

"If we weren't enemies, perhaps... we could really become friends."

"Who knows?"

Lu Jingming gently shook his head, his face revealing neither joy nor anger.

“I don’t dislike ambitious people. Ultimately, the driving force behind the development of human civilization is ‘desire.’ We desire to be well-fed and clothed, to explore the unknown, to become stronger, and to control everything… As a human being, I am no exception.”

He and Xu Tianran are essentially the same kind of people.

They all possess ambitions unimaginable to ordinary people, and they all yearn to bring the entire continent into their own hands.

He's just stronger.

The saying goes that like repels like; two ambitious people cannot live in peace, and one person's ambition will always be devoured by the other.

Therefore, they were destined to be enemies.

Thinking this through, Lu Jingming completely lost interest in this philosophical conversation. He looked at Xu Tianran, his eyes turning cold and indifferent once more.

"Xingxiao and Huanlong have given up on you. They didn't show up, leaving you to face this ending alone. Now, what cards do you have left? Show them all."

He had no interest in continuing to talk to a dying man. Xu Tianran had no chance of surviving. This war, which had swept across the entire continent, needed a scapegoat to quell everyone's anger.

Xu Tianran is the most suitable candidate.

He will die bearing the eternal infamy of starting wars and harming millions of lives.

Then, his name will be engraved on the pillar of historical shame, achieving immortality in another way.

"Haha...hahahaha!"

Upon hearing Lu Jingming's question, Xu Tianran's laughter echoed in the empty hall, filled with madness.

As he laughed, he slowly, bit by bit, rose from that cold throne.

A disabled person whose legs were already missing stood up straight without any external assistance.

"boom--!!!"

An indescribable, terrifying pressure, filled with an aura of destruction and devastation, suddenly erupted from his seemingly frail body.

Purple, lightning-like sparks exploded wildly around him.

Each bolt of lightning contained a terrifying power capable of tearing space apart.

The hard marble floor was easily decomposed and ionized like tofu under the ravages of the lightning, turning into charred powder.

Level 99.

Extreme Douluo.

The moment Jing Hongchen and the others following behind Lu Jingming felt this oppressive aura, their expressions changed drastically, their eyes filled with horror and disbelief.

"This...how is this possible?!"

Jing Hongchen gasped in shock.

He had worked with Xu Tianran for many years and believed he knew the emperor very well.

He knew that Xu Tianran was exceptionally talented, but he never imagined that this emperor, who had always kept a low profile, had unknowingly reached the pinnacle that ordinary people could achieve.

This is a true Limit Douluo hidden in the shadow of imperial power.

However, Lu Jingming's expression remained unchanged in the face of this terrifying pressure that could change the very fabric of the world.

He remained standing there calmly, without even budging a muscle.

It was as if the destructive lightning that swept through the entire hall was nothing more than a gentle breeze.

Lu Jingming was not surprised at all.

Xu Tianran was one of the top geniuses in Douluo Continent, and his martial soul 'Purple Emperor Annihilation Dragon' was a top-level dragon-attribute martial soul containing the attribute of destruction.

After being deeply affected by the Destruction Order, Huanlong is essentially receiving the purest destructive power at all times.

Under these circumstances, his rapid improvement in strength was an inevitable result.

Moreover, with the end of the Holy Grail War, the entire Douluo Continent's dimensional levels are rising, and the upper limit of energy is also increasing accordingly.

The difficulty of reaching the Limit Douluo level, which was once difficult to achieve, has been reduced considerably.

Xu Tianran's ability to reach this level was entirely within his expectations.

If Xu Tianran hadn't lacked a true divine inheritance and hadn't had enough time to cultivate faith and create his own divine position, with his talent and opportunities, he might have truly had a sliver of a chance to break through and become a god.

But it's only a possibility. In theory, any strong person who breaks through to the Limit Douluo level on their own has a chance to break through to the God level.

Under Lu Jingming's gaze, Xu Tianran's aura had reached its peak.

He spread his arms, looked up at the sky and roared, his voice filled with madness.

"I am the supreme ruler, the sovereign of the Sun and Moon Empire. Lu Jingming, if you want to take this world, then use your strength to kill me with your own hands."

"But before that, I also want to give you a... big gift."

"Roar--!!!"

A dragon's roar, filled with destructive intent, suddenly exploded.

Behind Xu Tianran, an enormous phantom of a dragon, composed entirely of pure purple lightning, roared and appeared.

That was his martial spirit, Purple Radiance Annihilation Dragon.

The moment the phantom of the giant dragon appeared, the entire space of the palace hall began to distort and groan violently, as if it could not withstand the pure destructive power.

The next second, Xu Tianran suddenly roared.

The enormous purple-red, heaven-destroying dragon phantom, carrying an aura of world-destroying destruction, suddenly contracted, transforming into a purple stream of light that fiercely rushed into his body.

Possessed by a martial spirit.

"Boom——!!!"

A purple pillar of destructive lightning, more than ten times thicker than before, shot skyward and erupted fiercely from Xu Tianran's center.

The incredibly sturdy ceiling of the imperial palace, engraved with countless defensive soul-guiding arrays, couldn't even withstand this pillar of lightning for a moment. It was completely and silently decomposed and ionized, turning into the most basic particles and dissipating into the air.

A huge hole appeared in the hall, revealing the sky outside, which was stained crimson by the flames of war.

Xu Tianran hovered in mid-air, his entire body enveloped in raging purple lightning. His long hair stood on end without wind, each strand crackling with purple electricity.

His eyes had turned completely pure purple, devoid of any human emotion, leaving only the purest madness, a desire to utterly destroy everything in front of him.

When that pure and extreme destructive pressure erupted from Xu Tianran's body like a tsunami, Kong Deming, who was closest to him, was the first to feel that terror.

At this moment, the old man, who had dedicated his life to soul guidance technology, experienced an unprecedented mental breakdown.

In his cloudy old eyes, the image of that crazed figure enveloped in purple lightning was reflected.

A bone-chilling cold instantly spread throughout his body.

"This... what kind of power is this?"

Kong Deming's body began to tremble slightly uncontrollably.

That wasn't just soul power, nor was it the kind of energy he was familiar with.

It was something more primal, more... chaotic.

It is pure because it exists only for destruction.

It is chaotic because it disregards all rules and order.

He sensed a deadly threat emanating from Xu Tianran.

The Xu Tianran before him was a terrifying sight that he could not comprehend at all.

"He... he's no longer human..."

Kong Deming reached this conclusion with great difficulty, his heart turning cold.

He had long known that this emperor was no ordinary person, and that he was extremely secretive, but he never imagined that beneath those layers of disguise lay such a... monster. (End of Chapter)