The dull ache instantly flooded the handsome youth's spine. The pain of a broken spine was unimaginable, yet he acted as if nothing were wrong, turning with a terrifying calmness to strike the burly man’s chest with one palm, leaving behind a branding mark like a scorching fire.

The burly man staggered back several paces, looking up expressionlessly at the handsome youth before pouncing like a hungry tiger.

The handsome youth’s body twisted in the air like a limp viper, executing a bizarre flip to evade the burly man’s fist. Then, an extremely deep black light flashed from his glabella and shot out, enveloping the burly man as if he were caught in an electric net.

The burly man snatched at the energy net with both hands, tearing it apart instantly. By the time he pursued, the handsome youth had already retreated over a thousand li in that brief opening. The broken bones of his back emitted a mechanical kaka sound as he straightened his body, the shattered vertebrae knitting back together. There was no hint of pain on his face; instead, a look of ecstasy was present. “I never expected that the combined power of a swarm of ants could erupt with such formidable strength. It's a pity it’s of little use against me.”

He raised his hand, and a slender, sharp black sword materialized in his palm, shimmering with palpable killing intent, shooting toward the dense crowd behind the Empress like a streak of ink light.

Zhuge Fan’s expression flickered slightly. He hadn't expected this man to instantly discern that the burly man was not a true biological entity but a specially refined combat machine, imbued with the power of countless peak experts from the empires behind him, allowing it to manifest strength comparable to a high-level Void Sky Realm expert!

If the grand formation composed of peak experts behind him were broken, the burly man would naturally lose his power. This was the formation’s greatest, irreparable flaw, which is why it had been rarely used throughout history, even when facing other major factions.

Nine of the Ten Great Empires each possessed such a formation, handed down from the Primordial Era.

The Empress stared coldly at the handsome youth, gripping the exquisite divine sword in her hand. Its hilt was inlaid with dazzling gems and etched with numerous secret runes; it was a weapon of peerless power, a Void Sky Artifact from the Rock God Empire—the Sky Rock Sword!

According to the ancestral instructions passed down through the emperors, this sword was rumored to have been forged from the Earth's core essence, refined over ninety thousand years. It was the most enduring weapon among the nine primal Void Sky Artifacts of the Ancient Continent. Other Void Sky Artifacts required a period of recuperation to replenish the energy expended after use, but the Sky Rock Sword could recover on its own; as long as the user stood upon the earth, its power was inexhaustible!

Zhuge Fan noticed the Empress’s gaze and was inwardly startled, but he said nothing, merely becoming more vigilant, guarding her side steadfastly.

The black thin sword surging toward his rear was intercepted by over a thousand figures suddenly rising toward the sky. These thousand figures rushed out and jointly manifested a colossal divine sword, gathering the strength of a thousand men. The divine sword pulsed with a magnificent and overwhelming aura, its fierce sword energy perceptible even from a great distance.

The best defense is offense.

The black thin sword was blocked by the divine sword manifested by the thousand individuals, rendering it unable to strike elsewhere in the clash.

Seeing this, the handsome youth frowned. Before he could analyze it further, his body flashed and vanished. Where he had stood moments before, a figure descended with a vicious downward stomp, the powerful thigh pressing into the void, visibly creating a concave arc of air.

The burly man, missing his strike, followed like a shadow, relentlessly pursuing the dodging handsome youth.

While the two were locked in a desperate struggle, the two children, who had been watching everything with perpetual smiles, had the boy take a tentative step forward. He turned to the girl beside him and said, “I’ll go meet them first; you enjoy the show.”

“If you can’t handle it, I’ll have to step in, you know,” the girl replied with a giggle.

The boy gave an unrestrained smile, tilted his head back, and looked toward the thousand experts behind the Empress and her entourage. His body suddenly flashed, darting straight toward them.

Zhuge Fan frowned. However, one of the handpicked guards beside him had already rushed forward. Although their duty was to protect the Empress, in this moment, he knew there was no other choice.

The Empress said calmly, “Do not feel constrained by staying close to me; act immediately when the opportunity arises.”

The remaining four exchanged glances, and two of them broke away to intercept the approaching boy, assisting the first guard. The three immediately formed a barrier in front of the boy, weapons held ready, radiating surging energy fluctuations like a turbulent ocean, staring coldly at the child.

The boy halted, smiling innocently at the three. “Are you here to play with me?”

“Hmph!” the leading blond man scoffed coldly. “Don’t pretend to be naive and ignorant. A seemingly pure heart is often the most wicked. You must be one of the Corpse Herders created by the Mind Realm Emissary. Don’t think about stepping past this boundary!”

“What if I insist on crossing?” The smile vanished from the boy’s face, his gaze as somber as a night owl’s, fixing on the three faces. “Do you think you can stop my advance?” Before the words fully left his mouth, his body flashed, appearing right before the blond man. Their noses were almost touching, and they could feel each other’s warm, shallow breath. The blond man’s pupils contracted sharply, and then he felt all surrounding time rapidly rewind, his blood growing intensely cold as it rushed toward his chest, where a cold, smooth hand seemed to pierce through his sternum, caressing his ribs and soft heart…

A sound like an explosion echoed in his chest. The blond man’s eyes quickly dimmed, losing their luster, becoming vacant. The last thing he saw before death was a sinister, curved smile on the corner of the boy’s mouth.

The two guards beside him were startled but reacted quickly, their swords and blades sweeping toward the boy like a pair of wings, one from the left and one from the right.

The boy, however, slipped away quickly like a fish, reappearing a dozen zhang away, hands clasped behind his back, looking at the two with a sly and innocent smile, like a child who had just stolen something.

Shock permeated the hearts of these two. Looking at the small, infant-like boy before them, they found it unimaginable that the blond man had been instantly killed without any chance to fight back. They knew deeply how much power was required to become the Empress’s personal guard; the six guards present were scarcely less powerful than the Hall Masters of the Ten Great Temples.

This was the true power of an empire that had stood for countless ages!

“Are you ready? I’m coming again,” the boy chirped, then suddenly vanished. The instant he disappeared, his expression rapidly darkened, flashing with icy murderous intent.

The two guards swiftly released their respective domains, sensing everything around them. As initial Era Realm experts, their domains had evolved from Cosmic Domains to Temporal Domains, within which time could be reversed, the dead resurrected, rivers flow backward, and the sun and moon overturned!

Time and space within this domain could be manipulated at will, speeding up anything inside by a hundredfold or slowing it down by a hundredfold.

It could also slow an enemy down by a hundredfold, or even ten thousand times.

The two exchanged a look of understanding, pushing their domains to the absolute limit. With the two domains overlapping, the time inside was stretched by countless thin threads like meshing gears, unable to advance, instantly slowing the outside world by one fold, and rapidly climbing until it reached twelve folds!

At that point, they seemed stuck, unable to reverse time even a fraction more.

Their hearts sank.

Normally, relying solely on the strength of their own domains during practice in empty space, they could slow down time within the field by tens of thousands of times!

Yet now, they were halted at a mere twelvefold.

Swish—

A black shadow flickered subtly, appearing behind a man with hair the color of coffin black. By the time his silhouette materialized, he was already close to the brown-haired man.

The two sensed the danger urgently but could not evade.

Puff!

A strange, blood-red blade light flashed, severing the coffin-black-haired man’s head, which flew off. Thick, viscous blood poured from his neck like molten lava. His body remained motionless, still frozen in the posture of holding a blade.

The other guard was instantly aware that the spatial layer overlaying his domain had vanished. He looked toward the boy floating behind the brown-haired man with horror. The boy was looking back at him with a wide smile, a pitch-black dagger held in his pale, tender little hand, blood dripping from the edge.

“Oh dear, I killed him accidentally. This [Soul Devouring Dagger] seems capable of consuming souls; perhaps his head cannot regenerate now.” The boy looked mournfully at the dagger in his hand, feigning regret for having killed the brown-haired man so quickly.

In an instant, only one of the three remained. His handsome gaze was filled with terror. Finally, he gritted his teeth and fiercely swung his blade toward the boy.

The boy’s figure flashed, easily evading the attack, and smiled at him, “Your speed is too slow. Without the other person’s domain stacking, you can only slow time by four to five times. The boost from the domain stacking effect…” His words abruptly cut off.

His eyes widened, filled with disbelief and terror. He slowly lowered his head to look at the sharp long sword piercing through his azure tunic, unable to help but look up.

A figure of unparalleled grace stood behind him, looking down coldly—it was the Empress, whom Zhuge Fan and the guards had been protecting. Her sword had pierced straight through the boy’s body. “The one who created you seems to have forgotten to tell you not to expose your back easily to the enemy. What a pity; some mistakes only one person can make once.” She raised her other hand to strike toward the boy’s head.

The boy clenched his teeth, and from an unknown source, he summoned a burst of strength, wrenching free from the Empress’s grasp. He stumbled to the red-clad girl nearby, weakly leaning on her shoulder, gasping, “That sword is strange. It severed my Corpse Talisman core meridian; I need time to recover. You are no match for them. Take me and retreat first. Let’s wait until ‘they’ arrive before we fight.”

“Okay, sure,” the red-clad girl replied, smiling, but her hand suddenly plunged like a knife into the boy’s wound, grasping something soft.