"Good to see you all again," Xuan Qingming said with a playful smirk, his gaze full of amusement as if to convey his absolute control.
Before Xin Ci and the others could respond, Xuan Qingming continued, "This doesn't seem like the right place for a conversation. Let's move."
With a flicker of their figures, the surrounding scenery twisted and distorted. In the next instant, they found themselves atop the high walls of the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance. It was then they realized the alliance was already surrounded by billions of Nether God Clan members. The refugees and cultivators within the alliance had all been captured and enslaved by the Nether God Clan.
This revelation ignited a burning rage within Mu Qingqing and the others. Wan Guimang pointed a trembling finger at Xuan Qingming, his voice laced with venom. "Xuan Qingming, you've become an Eternal Sovereign. No one in this plane is your match. What more do you want?"
"What do I want? What I truly desire has only just begun," Xuan Qingming chuckled.
His expression then turned chillingly severe. With a downward sweep of his hand towards the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance below, a colossal force erupted, akin to a natural disaster.
RUMBLE!
The deafening roar seemed to shake the very heavens and earth. The walls of the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance were torn asunder, and all structures vanished in an instant, leaving behind nothing but a bottomless, dark abyss.
Their faces paled as they watched the last bastion of human safety, the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance, be reduced to dust by Xuan Qingming's casual gesture. Wan Guimang and the others were consumed by fury. The Myriad Kingdoms Alliance held countless innocent refugees and cultivators, and Xuan Qingming had so ruthlessly extinguished them.
However, Xuan Qingming suddenly declared, "Don't worry, those people aren't dead. They are all above your heads."
Everyone looked up. What they saw made them freeze. Billions of refugees and cultivators from the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance were now suspended in mid-air like fragile insects. Their faces were etched with terror, some deathly pale and already unconscious. They struggled feebly in the sky, unable to escape Xuan Qingming's grasp.
The group's faces turned grim. Xin Ci couldn't help but shout at Xuan Qingming, "Stop this at once! Xuan Qingming, aren't you afraid the Eternal Emperor will return to this plane and hold you accountable for your atrocities?" Having visited the Eternal Divine Hall, Xin Ci knew the Eternal Emperor still existed, merely beyond the confines of this plane.
"You think someone who has broken through the planar barrier in pursuit of higher realms will return to save you?" Xuan Qingming sneered. "The only one in the Eternal Plane who can maintain contact with that fellow Yong Ye is the Dragon Ancestor. And since the Beast God Valley's enmity with your human race is irreconcilable, as long as I don't provoke the Beast God Valley, Yong Ye will never return to the Eternal Plane."
"Besides," he added with a cold laugh, "even if he did return, he might not be my match. I am now the Eternal True God of this world, no longer the pathetic ant I was sixty thousand years ago."
"So that's how it is," Mu Qingqing said coldly, her sharp gaze fixed on Xuan Qingming. "You massacred the Immortal Golden Dragons and deliberately escalated the conflict between the Beast God Valley and the human race for this very day, didn't you?"
"Precisely. But it's too late for you to know now," Xuan Qingming replied. "Furthermore, you probably don't know that the establishment of the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance was also part of my plan. Its purpose was to gather all of you in one place for my grand purification of the human race!"
"What!" Xin Ci and Wan Guimang's expressions contorted in shock. The very formation of the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance had been within Xuan Qingming's scheme. This meant that everything in the Eternal Plane for the past sixty thousand years had been under Xuan Qingming's control. They were all mere puppets, manipulated by him on the grand stage of the Eternal Continent.
Xuan Qi's betrayal of humanity, the massacre of the Immortal Golden Dragons, the tampering with the Twilight Land's seal, the disruption of the Eastern Continent Grand Competition, the guidance that led to the formation of the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance, the acceptance of refugees and cultivators, and even the staged attack on the Xuankong Mountain Sacred Land with a clone – all these were simply parts of Xuan Qingming's meticulously crafted script. He was a mad and terrifying enemy, systematically pushing humanity into a corner.
Gritting their teeth, they glared at Xuan Qingming and cursed, "Aren't you afraid of divine retribution for doing this?"
"Divine retribution? Sadly, this is purification. A great cleansing for the birth of a new world. Only through destruction can rebirth come," Xuan Qingming declared. "I endured countless hardships to achieve eternity, all to purge the evil and injustice from this plane and create a sacred utopia truly suitable for all races. Everything I have done is an act of justice!"
"Bah! Shameless! You claim it's justice, yet you've driven the entire human race to despair." Mu Qingqing scoffed contemptuously at Xuan Qingming's words. "No matter how eloquently you speak, it cannot change the crimes you've committed. You are merely a devil who, with absolute power, wishes to control the entire Eternal Plane through dictatorship!"
"Heh, laughable, hypocritical. I only know that beneath eternity, all are ants. As long as I achieve immortality and indestructibility, under my rule, no evil, bullying, or hypocrisy will exist. Only I can truly purify this plane. Only the unchanging me, who has achieved eternity, can transcend all and become the sole True God of this world, trampling all evil and hypocrisy underfoot, and leading the Eternal Continent to new heights."
"You're insane." Mu Qingqing could no longer bear to listen. To her, Xuan Qingming was an absurdly wicked demon, unworthy of being the True God of the Eternal Plane.
"Ridiculous. No matter what you say, you cannot stop my grand purification of the human race." Xuan Qingming said with a cold smile, reaching out towards the billions of refugees and cultivators suspended in the void. Instantly, about a third of their bodies exploded, blood splattering everywhere, raining down like crimson tears. Countless screams arose, and the falling blood stained the earth.
"Scoundrel!" The four Saint Lords and the leader of the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance roared at Xuan Qingming.
Xuan Qingming merely gave a sinister laugh. "This is the purification. Those I purge are sinners, unworthy of surviving in the new world I am about to create."
"Xuan! Qing! Ming!" Mu Qingqing could no longer suppress her rage. With her furious shout, an incredibly potent power surged from within her, shattering the restrictions Xuan Qingming had placed upon her. In a flash, Mu Qingqing moved, appearing before Xuan Qingming in an instant. The Golden Scale Art, the ninth level of the Asura Battle Method, and the Myriad Phenomena Star Wheel Scripture were all activated at full power. In that moment, Mu Qingqing's combat strength surged to the pseudo-eternal realm, and she unleashed her strongest punch at Xuan Qingming.
However, Xuan Qingming merely raised a hand slightly and blocked it.