Chapter 81

Chapter 81

The Great Dao confers a title, the myriad realms bear witness—bestowed with the title of Supreme Marquis—what incomparable glory, what boundless honor!

Through the countless years and endless eras past, not a single heaven-defying genius has ever triggered such terrifying omens at the moment of being conferred as a marquis…

It is unimaginable—what kind of heaven-defying figure could stir such a phenomenon!

But what left countless powerful beings even more shocked was this:

Faced with the most exalted title—Supreme.

That heaven’s favored one, origin unknown, actually spoke in a low voice: “I refuse this title.”

Whoosh—

In an instant.

The myriad realms fell silent.

No matter who they were, at that moment, all were dumbfounded.

Even ancient prodigies awakened from divine sources wore expressions of disbelief.

The conferment of a title by the Great Dao… had been rejected!!!

“That’s a prodigy from that family! Doesn’t he know that the conferment concerns the laws? Concerns the Dao itself?!”

“Could he be from a forbidden ancient lineage?”

“Heavenly wrath! That’s Supreme, a title unseen by even the most dazzling geniuses throughout the ages!”

At this moment, countless powerful beings were utterly stunned.

To reject a heavenly bestowal, to disrespect the Dao’s grace?

What a blasphemous rebellion—what an act of boundless arrogance!!

“I’ve heard that in ancient times, there was a supreme existence who refused heaven’s conferment and declared himself Emperor Sovereign!”

“He once tore apart fate with his bare hands, defied death across three lifetimes. Though he never proved the Dao as Emperor, he did battle heaven itself and stained his hands with imperial blood!”

“Could this one be his descendant?”

These mighty beings communicated across the myriad worlds—some speculated Su Zhou was the offspring of that legendary Emperor Sovereign, others believed him a natural-born madman.

Some even praised him, saying only such supreme arrogance could match the title Supreme.

But no matter what they guessed, Su Zhou paid them no mind.

He stood atop Lingxiao Peak, gazing at the profound yellow aura that symbolized fate and fortune.

His eyes were icy cold.

Chirp!!!

A sparrow cry pierced the air.

At Su Zhou’s side appeared a pitch-black mysterious bird, radiating a terrifying aura.

It was none other than the Su Family’s guardian divine beast—the Mystic Bird.

Behind him, the dragon of destiny roared skyward, as if it sought to challenge the heavens themselves!

Only these two beings, intertwined with destiny, could sense the malice hidden within the boundless auspicious signs in the sky.

Bestowed title? Conferred name??

Even the very Dao of this world is flawed. Terrifying beings dwell atop the Dao, twisting all beneath them, viewing living beings as delicacies.

Beneath this so-called divine conferment and auspicious omen lies nothing but layer upon layer of binding shackles.

Now that Su Zhou had seen the truth, how could he possibly let them have their way?

“I refuse the conferment!”

“Withdraw!”

He looked coldly toward the heavens, his voice calm and steady—

Even facing the cosmos, it stirred him not in the least.

As his voice fell, everything in the heavens that had once symbolized good fortune suddenly froze.

Then—the divine music shrieked, celestial maidens wept blood, black clouds crushed the heavens!!!

It was as if even the Great Dao itself had been enraged.

A bestowal by the Dao—and he dared disobey?!

Boom!

Rumble!!

The heavens turned blood-red. One after another, crimson tribulation bolts surged across the skies.

Each one radiated a terrifying aura of the Great Dao.

These bolts, forged from the brilliance of the Dao itself, even the weakest among them could shatter the Tiandu Domain!

The conferral’s unseen power still loomed in the sky.

Rather than a blessing—it felt more like a threat!

The twisted, monstrous lightning churned in the sky like worms.

They craved to devour all, to destroy all…

Yet even in the face of such horror.

The corner of Su Zhou’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“Heaven and earth were never whole to begin with…” he murmured, as if comprehending some hidden truth.

As those words fell—

Boom!!

Heaven and earth seemed to gain emotion. Countless tribulation bolts howled as though sentient, evolving in their wrath!

Something unimaginable was being born!

Su Zhou raised a mighty hand, and under the roaring Dao aura and the art of Great Annihilation, that conferral power dissipated entirely!

At that moment, the twisted tribulation lightning shed its bonds.

Crimson, eerie, ominous, disastrous—a flood of dreadful auras surged from within the thunder.

A tide of destruction, spreading out.

“This is… the Dao warning us…”

“To defy the heavens may still hold a path to survival. But to defy the Dao? That is a death with no reprieve!”

“Indeed! Across endless ages, only the Emperor Sovereign could defy the Dao and battle an Emperor!”

“Alas! Such a peerless genius—if only he were born of our family, he would’ve led us to unimaginable heights!”

“Hmph! To defy the Dao, to reject its title—he deserves death!!”

Among those privileged to witness this across the myriad worlds—

They saw a vague silhouette step into the heavens, triggering divine thunder of supreme wrath.

The thunder was sacred and boundless, the Dao aura towering and immense—

Where was there any trace of ominousness? Where was the slightest hint of evil?

Perhaps in all the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, only Su Zhou alone could see the despair that spanned across all time!

Not a single powerful being believed this madman could survive.

A fallen genius—is no genius at all.

Many powerhouses withdrew their gaze. Even one granted the title Supreme was nothing more than another arrogant skeleton upon the imperial path!

Those still observing, whether regretful or mocking, all waited to see how one who defied the Dao would fall.

BOOM!!

CRACKLE!!

Blood-thunder fell like rain—as if the Dao itself wept, as if the laws themselves cried!

Everything pointed to annihilation!

Even the great domain itself seemed on the verge of being torn apart by this tribulation thunder!

“One who defies the Dao… must die!” a king declared.

The rest remained silent, but all agreed with that verdict.

Yet in the next instant!!

What appeared before them caused even those ancient monsters who had lived for endless years to gasp in disbelief!

“This!!! Impossible!!”

“Heavens!! I’ve lived ten thousand years, never seen such an existence!”

“In all Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, there still exists such a terrifying being?!”

The peerless experts were stunned.

They saw—within the void—a shadowy figure, blurred beyond recognition, standing before the sea of blood-thunder with neither sorrow nor joy.

He whispered softly: “It ends. I’m tired of this.”

The next moment.

Zheng!!

The sky darkened.

Then, a hunched figure respectfully appeared in the firmament.

“Yes, My Lord.”

That figure looked toward the heavens, then drew a broken sword from his back…

No dazzling phenomena.

No imagined mighty force shaking the heavens.

That incomplete ancient sword swung down like a child playing.

Then…

Silence.

Heaven and earth turned empty.

Everything that once loomed over the sky vanished.

The sky remained clear, a gentle breeze blew—as if that blood-thunder born of Dao rage had never existed.

A casual sword swing—enough to break divine wrath!

What kind of terrifying existence was this?

But what terrified countless great beings even more was—

That hunched old man, gently caressing his sword, suddenly unleashed a terrifying murderous aura so vast—it pierced time and space itself, descending upon their very bodies.