Chapter 242: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

The Snow Realm Ancestor, Divine King Tianhou, and Lord Qifeng were not particularly powerful, yet their sins ranked among the top ten on the Origin Continent. The reason they had been able to live freely for so many long years was simple—their survival abilities were extraordinary!

After all, even among the ancient existences, there were those who hated evil and sought justice, and some who had old grudges against them. Yet, no one had ever managed to kill them.

The Snow Realm Ancestor walked the Origin Path of Life, Lord Qifeng walked the Origin Path of Space, while Divine King Tianhou followed the Path of Infinity. Each possessed extremely troublesome life-saving methods. That all three had died at the same time truly shook the entire continent.

“Serves them right!”

“They should have died long ago.”

“These great sinners have roamed freely across the Origin Continent for far too long. It’s about time a mighty being wiped them out!”

Those who despised evil cheered with excitement.

However, some of the other god kings with equally heavy sins began to panic.

“They killed Divine King Tianhou and the others at the same time—will they come after us next?”

“Why meddle in other people’s business?”

“What do we do? Should we reincarnate?”

“There are so many great sinners on the Origin Continent—that powerhouse probably only targets the top ten. He shouldn’t be able to find me.”

The great sinners fell into chaos.

Of course, most god kings were more concerned about the mysterious powerhouse’s identity.

“Who exactly killed Divine King Tianhou and the others? Was it that Black-Robed, Golden-Masked Powerhouse?” They all cared deeply about how this mysterious figure might affect the balance of the Origin Continent.

“The Flame Pavilion and Thunder Chamber of Commerce will probably find clues about the murderer soon,” said many as they waited.

“No traces found.”

“Even on the timeline, we couldn’t find a single trace of the killer.”

The two ancient kingdoms had each used their own means, but still found nothing.

When Luo Feng had killed the Three Rulers of Shiguo, there had been clear traces—even vivid imagery of the act.

But this time—nothing.

Not a trace of space, causality, or any other kind of energy fluctuation could be found.

“Could it be that the murderer this time wasn’t the Black Robe with the Golden Mask?” The two ancient kingdoms were puzzled. After all, the most recent similar deaths had been the Three Rulers of Shiguo and the Heavenly Kun Ruler—all great sinners. The prime suspect was naturally the Black Robe. 𐍂₳NɵʙΕ𝘚

But now, there were no traces.

“The killer’s methods this time are even more sophisticated than that of the Black Robe.”

“He must be an Ultimate Realm existence—or perhaps, something even beyond the Divine King level.”

The two ancient kingdoms grew uneasy.

Huyang City, City Lord’s Mansion.

Luo Feng sat leisurely, drinking wine as he gazed up at the star-filled night sky.

“Killing three Divine Kings, and yet the stars still shine as brightly as ever,” Luo Feng murmured.

Morosa glanced at the night sky and couldn’t help but say, “Those three were weak—unremarkable among the stars. The ones that truly stand out are the Ultimate Realm existences, the Emperors.”

Luo Feng smiled.

“Master, there’s something I don’t understand,” Morosa said.

“Go on,” Luo Feng replied, pouring himself more wine.

“Master, since you plan to kill the top ten sinners, why not act all at once? Send out ten avatars and destroy them instantly!” Morosa asked. “Now that you’ve killed the three weaker ones first, the remaining seven will surely be on guard—some might even reincarnate out of fear. By then, it’ll be impossible to find them.”

Luo Feng looked at Morosa.

“Of the top ten sinners on the Origin Continent, the three I killed were the weakest—their crimes ranked at the bottom.”

“The remaining seven are far from ordinary.”

“Three are royal Divine Kings—each residing within the sacred lands of the Ancient Thunder Kingdom’s ‘Thunder Mountain’ and the Ancient Flame Kingdom’s ‘Flame Capital’. The moment we enter, we’ll be discovered,” Luo Feng explained. “The other four are wandering cultivators with terrifying strength and boundless sin.”

Morosa nodded. “Three royal Divine Kings and four rogue cultivators—their sins are far greater than those of the Snow Realm Ancestor and the others.”

Luo Feng said, “By sin ranking, the first is Demon Lord Tie Xiao, who once plundered nearly all life across twelve kingdoms. His accumulated sins are beyond measure. Second is Old Ancestor Black Vulture, who devastated dozens of kingdoms, even countless lives from the Thunder Kingdom. Why can he still roam free to this day? Third is Divine King Shihu, fourth is Divine King Guiying, followed by the three royal Divine Kings.”

“Morosa, don’t you find it strange? The four rogue cultivators have committed greater sins than the royal ones, yet still live freely?” Luo Feng said.

“Isn’t it because everyone suspects that those four have Emperors or Monarchs backing them?” Morosa said naturally. “They’re said to be the claws and fangs of those high existences.”

Luo Feng nodded. “I think so too.”

“It’s almost time.” Luo Feng looked up at the night sky. “Next target—Divine King Shihu.”

Divine King Shihu resided on the border of the Extremely Cold Ice Field, ruling over a vast territory. Not only did he devour countless living beings within his domain, but he also frequently invaded neighboring kingdoms.

“Will the one who killed Divine King Tianhou and the others come after me next?”

A massive blood-red fox lay sprawled out, its golden eyes flickering with unease.

Divine King Shihu was a peak Second Stage Divine King, even stronger than Emperor Guixu or Divine King Wuxin.

He cultivated along the Origin Path of the Void, possessing nine powerful avatars. Through his unpredictable spatial methods, he plundered countless lives across nations, utterly unstoppable.

In addition to his nine powerful avatars, he had many weaker ones.

“Emperor, I have a bad feeling about this,” Shihu transmitted mentally.

“Relax. One of your avatars is within my palace—no one can threaten you,” came a casual reply.

Shihu forced down his unease.

Suddenly—

He saw a massive star rolling toward him. Terror filled his heart. At that moment, no matter how many avatars he had, there was no escaping this crushing mental assault.

“Emperor, save me!”

The enormous star crashed down. Divine King Shihu possessed neither an Ultimate Realm life form nor the protection of a Perfect Origin Path, nor even a supreme treasure. Only the avatar within the Emperor’s palace benefited from its slight suppression of willpower attacks.

Pfft.

Even so, the Emperor’s palace only reduced the attack’s power by a fraction. The overwhelming mental force obliterated Divine King Shihu’s consciousness entirely.

“Dead? Even under the protection of my palace?” The Emperor’s expression twisted in fury as he looked at the fallen avatar of Divine King Shihu.

“It took some effort to kill him,” Luo Feng muttered, frowning. He could feel that crushing Shihu’s consciousness had required significant exertion.

Yet this also proved something: his mental will, when combined with the Lieu Yuan Technique, could crush the will of any Divine King.

Even with an Emperor’s palace as protection, he could still kill.

But if the defense had been stronger, he might have failed.

“My willpower still isn’t strong enough,” Luo Feng thought.

He and Morosa collected two of Shihu’s avatars and the treasures within his lair, then departed.

When Divine King Tianhou and the others had died earlier, the Origin Continent had been stirred, but calm soon returned.

However, the death of Divine King Shihu threw everyone into panic!

He was a peak Second Stage Divine King on the Origin Path of the Void—even an Emperor would have struggled to kill him. And yet, he too had fallen?

On a boundless plain, Luo Feng and Morosa walked side by side.

“Master, Divine King Guiying’s karmic threads have completely vanished,” Morosa said, glancing at Luo Feng. “He must have reincarnated out of fear.”

“Decisive,” Luo Feng nodded slightly.

“The top sinner, Demon Lord Tie Xiao, and the second, Old Ancestor Black Vulture, are still around,” Morosa said. “Whom do we go after next?”

“Demon Lord Tie Xiao,” Luo Feng said, looking into the distance.

Demon Lord Tie Xiao—without question, the most terrifying sinner on the Origin Continent. He was renowned alongside Puxin, the Ark Master of the Time-Space Ark, and Divine King Luo He.

With a single campaign, he had slaughtered the populations of twelve kingdoms. Over countless ages, the number of lives he had stolen was unimaginable. Yet in recent years, he had grown quiet.

Inside a hidden palace, Demon Lord Tie Xiao sat in full armor, only his cold eyes visible.

“Master, will the killer come for me?” he transmitted.

“He always succeeds when he strikes. He’s at his most confident now—he’ll come,” came the reply. “And when he does, he won’t escape.”

Demon Lord Tie Xiao waited patiently.

Suddenly—

He saw the rolling star descending toward him.

“What a powerful mental assault,” he thought. Though fearless, his consciousness was still crushed under the oncoming celestial force.

His head dropped. Silence.

“No… something’s wrong.”

Outside the palace, Luo Feng’s face darkened. “This Demon Lord Tie Xiao is strange.” As he killed him, Luo Feng had sensed something off about his body.

Boom——

Within a radius of billions of kilometers, black flames erupted, burning everything. All living beings in the area were instantly annihilated.

In the midst of the terrifying fire, Demon Lord Tie Xiao raised his head and bowed respectfully.

“Master.”

Beside him stood an aged figure in a red cloak, laughing loudly. “It wasn’t easy for me to cultivate a puppet with such a powerful will—and you ruined it!”

The crimson flames blotted out the sky, their might so terrible that even a peak Second Stage Divine King could not survive for a few breaths.

Luo Feng gazed at the old man.

“Emperor Yuan!” Luo Feng recognized him instantly.

So Demon Lord Tie Xiao was merely a puppet life form created by Emperor Yuan—one of the three personal guard generals beside his master, Emperor Chu.

“Even though I lost a strong puppet, it’s worth it.” With his cloak billowing and his aura merging with the blood-red flames, Emperor Yuan glared coldly at Luo Feng. “Because now, I’ve caught you!”

But Luo Feng only smiled.

His true prey had never been the pawns like Demon Lord Tie Xiao or Divine King Shihu. Killing a pawn was meaningless—so long as the master behind them lived, new pawns would appear.

“Emperor Yuan!” Luo Feng said. “Do you know why I didn’t kill all the sinners at once?”

Emperor Yuan frowned slightly.

“Because you are my prey,” Luo Feng said.

As his words fell—

The heavens and earth changed color!

An endless crimson river surged into existence, obliterating Emperor Yuan’s fiery domain in an instant.

“This is—” Emperor Yuan stared at the boundless river above, yet he remained calm.

For he was one of the thirteen Emperors of the Ancient Flame Kingdom.

Even as he fought, he had already called for the others.