Gu Hai was the first to agree, setting a positive precedent for Essence Genesis.
Jiangchen nodded next, saying, “If you can kill Heaven, I have no problem. Deity Seizing Hall controls two thousand cities, and most of the citizens listen to me. I can cooperate with you!”
Jiangchen’s agreement made Ba slightly uncomfortable.
Agreeing to Essence Genesis meant falling out with the Six Paths Immortal. Gu Hai had a vendetta against the Six Paths Immortal. Jiangchen did not care about offending the Six Paths Immortal, but what about her?
Essence Genesis remained patient, not rushing them.
Ba looked at Gu Hai and then at Jingwei. She owed Gu Hai a big favor. If the Six Paths Immortal pursued Gu Hai, would she turn a blind eye?
After a moment of silence, Ba temporized, “I can promise you this: when you need the energy of the Yan Nation’s people, I will lend my support. However, if the Six Paths Immortal finds out before that…”
“If he moves ahead of schedule, I will shield you from everything!” Essence Genesis declared coldly.
“Alright, the Yan Heavenly Dynasty is willing to cooperate with you!” Ba nodded.
The experts from the land of the living all nodded in agreement. Only two individuals from the nether realm remained—Bai Zizai and Ming!
Bai Zizai furrowed his brows, loathe to agree. However, Essence Genesis’s gaze was fixed on him, and Bai Zizai believed that if he declined, Essence Genesis would deal with him first.
After pondering in silence, Bai Zizai finally nodded and said, “The Heavenly Demon Holy Land is willing to cooperate with you!”
While Bai Zizai agreed verbally, whether he would actually follow through remained to be seen. Bai Zizai had managed to survive for millions of years by being cautious and avoiding danger.
Essence Genesis turned to Ming.
“The Nine Yin Sect is just a middle-tier sect. I can promise to cooperate with you, but how much can a small middle-tier sect like mine help?” Ming smiled.
“Now that you’ve all agreed, that’s good. Next, I will help you resolve your issues,” Essence Genesis said solemnly.
“Oh?” The crowd was puzzled.
Essence Genesis then turned to the various faction leaders.
The sovereigns and sect masters present avoided Essence Genesis’s gaze.
You people are insane, daring to accompany Essence Genesis in killing Heaven. Don’t drag us into this! If the Immortal’s heavenly eye opens, we will all kneel, yet he wants us to pledge our allegiance to him, too?
I should have known better than to get involved in this dangerous matter. Now what? Do we have to declare our stance? Rebel with Essence Genesis?
The various faction leaders felt apprehensive. Most were strongly against it, with only a few daring to raise their heads.
However, Essence Genesis did not seek their opinions.
His left hand trembled slightly, and the small golden dragon coiled around his left arm suddenly exuded a large amount of cloud.
“Oh. One hundred twenty-six imperial dynasties and middle-tier sects came the land of the living? Forty-two did not show up?” Essence Genesis squinted.
There are forty-two sovereigns and sect masters who did not come?
The various faction leaders looked envious. They are lucky they don’t have to participate in this rebellion. Unlike us, who are now in a difficult situation, how unlucky!
Just as they envied those forty-two sovereigns and sect masters, Essence Genesis’s eyes suddenly turned cold, and he flicked his right sleeve towards the sky.
The Essence Genesis Pennant immediately enlarged thousands of times and flew into the sky.
Buzz!
Suddenly, countless primal chaos sword qi rushed out of the Essence Genesis Pennant flapping wildly in the wind. When the primal chaos sword qi appeared, they flew around in a circular pattern, gradually decreasing in number until they had merged into forty-two large primal chaos sword qi.
Everyone looked up at the sky, not understanding what Essence Genesis was doing.
Essence Genesis glared and shouted, “Go!”
Boom!
The forty-two primal chaos sword qi shot out in forty-two directions, instantly piercing through space. They tore through the clouds and fog and vanished.
At the same time, the blessings cloud seas of the forty-two imperial dynasties and middle-tier sects in the land of the living suddenly trembled.
In the blessings cloud seas, the golden blessings dragons’ scales suddenly bristled as if the golden blessings dragons had sensed something terrifying.
All forty-two sovereigns and sect masters were taken aback, their expressions changing dramatically.
——
The sovereign of the imperial dynasty nearest to the Myriad Age Daoist Sect reacted in the same way.
He had thought Essence Genesis’s United Rule Meet would not be anything good, so he did not attend.
On this day, the golden blessings dragon suddenly roared during the imperial assembly. The imperial emperor sensed danger, and his hair stood on end as he leaped to his feet.
Boom!
A primal chaos sword qi instantly shattered the ritual array of that nation’s capital and then demolished the assembly hall before rushing straight at the imperial emperor.
“What?” That sovereign’s expression changed, and he threw a punch.
“Your Reverence!”
“Protect His Reverence!”
“Assassin!”
…
The court hall instantly descended into chaos.
Boom!
A deafening sound rang out, and countless fragments scattered where the throne had been. Space tore, revealing a huge black hole.
Chaos reigned inside the assembly hall. When space returned to normal, the imperial emperor had been blasted into pieces, leaving only his crown intact on the floor.
“Roar!”
The golden blessings dragon of that imperial dynasty let out a mournful cry, and then the blessings cloud sea of that imperial dynasty collapsed.
“The emperor is dead! The blessings are gone!”
“His Reverence has fallen!”
“Your Reverence!”
The officials erupted in cries of despair, and the citizens of that imperial dynasty joined in the lament.
It was not just the citizens of that nation but in all forty-two factions. The same thing happened simultaneously. Cries of despair filled the air.
——
Essence Genesis Hall’s plaza:
The one hundred twenty-six faction leaders standing saw the blessings cloud sea of the nearest imperial dynasty crumbling in the distance.
The various faction leaders trembled, a chill striking deep in their hearts, unable to accept this was real. An imperial dynasty is gone, just like that?
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
A shiver ran through everyone’s bodies. The various faction leaders took out zither puppets, one after another.
“Reporting to Your Reverence, just moments ago, our arch-nemesis, the Liang Imperial Dynasty, was wiped out by an unknown sword qi. It’s a relief for all. Your Reverence, should I muster the troops and march south?”
“Reporting to Sect Master, our sect’s arch-nemesis, the Three Oceans Sect, was just annihilated by an unknown sword qi. The Three Oceans Sect’s main altar was razed to the ground in an instant!”
“Reporting to the Sect Master, our neighbor the Heavenly Water Imperial Dynasty was flattened by a sword qi strike from the sky. Its blessings collapsed, and the emperor died. The Heavenly Water Imperial Dynasty has been destroyed!”
…
Messages from all over the world arrived through these zither puppets.
In brief, all forty-two imperial dynasties and middle-tier sects that did not attend the United Rule Meet had been instantly exterminated.
The culprit behind the annihilation of these forty-two major factions was standing right in front of everyone—Essence Genesis, who was slowly withdrawing the Essence Genesis Pennant.
Everyone’s heart skipped a beat, left with a chill.
They had heard that Essence Genesis was ruthless, but today, they truly grasped the extent of his ruthlessness.
Forty-two major factions, all uprooted just because they had not attended his gathering?
Even before Essence Genesis asked if they were willing to accompany him in killing Heaven, no one had any intention of refusing.
Refuse? That would be inviting death!
Essence Genesis again turned to the crowd, and the various faction leaders no longer avoided his gaze. Instead, they stepped forward, ready to express their willingness eloquently.
If Essence Genesis inquired about their intentions, they would certainly pledge their loyalty immediately.
However, Essence Genesis did not treat them the way he treated Gu Hai, Jiangchen, and the others seated. His tone was firm as he said, “The land of the living has three major factions, Jiangchen, Gu Hai, and Ba. Choose for yourself and submit to them; pledge your loyalty.”
“Huh?” Everyone’s expression changed.
“I don’t have the energy to manage everyone, or even all the factions, in the world. That’s why I chose to cooperate with Gu Hai, Ba, Jiangchen, and the others, leaving them to manage the entire population. With them in charge, it’s already enough. Managing too many people will lead to chaos, and I won’t have the energy to investigate one by one if someone betrays us, so I’ll just focus on these five!” Essence Genesis stated calmly.
“No, Essence Genesis, we’re willing to listen to you. When the time comes and you give the command, we’ll immediately mobilize our entire nation’s might for you without delay!” one sovereign declared.
The others nodded, feeling anxious. Does this mean we have to surrender our authority to Gu Hai, Jiangchen, or Ba? Who would be willing?
“I’m not seeking your opinions!” Essence Genesis’s eyes turned cold.
“Huh?” The faces of the various faction leaders changed.
There was a hint of murderous intent in Essence Genesis’s icy gaze.
Murderous intent? Essence Genesis is already showing murderous intent? Am I going to continue to refuse him?
Everyone felt like crying. This is getting out of hand. We worked so hard to build our dominions, and now we have to surrender them?
However, Essence Genesis remained resolute. He did not have time to manage everyone in the world. He had selected Gu Hai and the others to help him manage the entire population, and he just had to keep an eye on these five. There were too many people; where would he find time? Furthermore, his time was limited, and he did not want to be bothered. Hence, it was better to take care of it once and for all. If anyone resisted, they would die.
Under Essence Genesis’s domineering gaze, the various faction leaders’ hearts sank. Despite their reluctance, they had to bow their heads. Everything they had seen today exceeded their limits, and if they continued to resist, they would only die.
“Yes!” they all reluctantly agreed.
“I’ll give you ten days. If your blessings cloud seas are still intact after ten days, the earlier forty-two factions’ fate will be yours!” Essence Genesis said coldly.
“Yes!” they replied helplessly.
Turning away, Essence Genesis ignored them, leaving the faction leaders standing there, licking their wounds.
Gu Hai’s and Ba’s expressions changed slightly, but they did not stop Essence Genesis. This was the best opportunity for the Han Heavenly Dynasty and the Yan Heavenly Dynasty to expand their territories. Jiangchen smiled faintly, utterly unconcerned.
Unifying the world? Jiangchen had experienced it over his many years. Just like during the war between the shamans and the animal spirits, when the world was divided into two camps, and only those two camps existed.
“As for the nether realm, so few of you came. Humph! Since you can’t come, let’s do the same as the land of the living!” Essence Genesis took out the Essence Genesis Pennant again, apparently intending to exterminate all middle-tier sects and imperial dynasties of the nether realm.
“Wait!” Gu Hai suddenly called out.
“Hmm?” Essence Genesis looked at Gu Hai in confusion.
“Essence Genesis, your time is limited, and our capabilities are limited as well. It may be easy to exterminate the leaders of the nether realm factions, but what happens next? The nether realm will become fragmented. We may not have time to gain control over it in two years!” Gu Hai exclaimed.
Essence Genesis frowned.
“Nether realm factions cannot easily cross the boundary between the living and the dead. So, why don’t you use blessings to communicate with them and describe the situation to them today? I can send people to persuade them in the nether realm. If they don’t listen, you can deal with them later,” Gu Hai suggested.
After a moment of contemplation, Essence Genesis finally nodded. “Alright!”