At the same time, ten thousand miles away in the Old Days Mountains.

This place was once the most lush primeval forest in the western part of the Free Federation, but now, everything in sight was scorched earth.

Hundreds of continuous extinct volcanoes had all been detonated under the pull of invisible Laws. Billowing thick smoke blotted out the sun, turning the area within a radius of hundreds of kilometers into an ocean of magma. Dark red magma surged across the land, swallowing all combustible matter, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of sulfur and high temperatures.

And above this sea of magma, which was hot enough to melt steel...

Mr. Duan was still dressed in a spotless gray trench coat, wearing a vintage top hat, with his hands in his pockets. He stood in the Void Realm, and no matter how the rolling waves of fire below raged, they could not come within half a foot of him.

"Chaidamen, my old friend."

Mr. Duan looked down at the largest crater below, his voice penetrating the roar of the volcano.

"The time has come. You have slept in this cramped furnace long enough. Isn't it time to come out and witness our new world?"

As his voice fell, the magma sea lapsed into a brief moment of calm.

Then, a loud bang!

The largest crater erupted with a thousand-meter pillar of fire that shot straight into the sky! In the center of the flames, a phantom of a rugged man condensed from lava and dark purple divine fire emerged. His body was hundreds of feet tall, and with every breath, he caused the magma sea below to rise and fall.

However, facing Mr. Duan's proposal, this descendant of the Fire God from the ancient era burst into laughter.

"Duan, stop your fucking hypocrisy! Do you really take me for one of those fools whose brains have been worn away by time?" Chaidamen's two sun-like eyes stared at the gray figure in mid-air, his tone blunt. "Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to run out and become a stepping stone for you to deal with the Heavenly Dao and achieve transcendence?"

The smile on Mr. Duan's face froze, then he sighed, his expression remaining gentle.

"Chaidamen, your misunderstanding of me is too deep. Who was it that, under the pressure of the Heavenly Dao's Great Cleansing, sealed a wisp of your remnant soul within the earth veins of these Old Days Mountains? Now that I have revived you according to my promise, I thought we could renew our old friendship, but I didn't expect... you to be such a treacherous villain."

"I'm treacherous? Hahaha! What a joke!"

The rugged man laughed loudly, his magma phantom trembling with his laughter. "Duan, what kind of person are you? Which of the old fogies from the old era doesn't know? What right do you have to talk to me about credibility?!"

Saying this, Chaidamen's two flaming eyes shot out two beams of divine light, heading straight for Mr. Duan.

"Let me ask you! Why do you have the Aura of that old bat, the Blood Ancestor, on you?!"

"Don't try to lie to me! I cultivate the ultimate World-Purifying Divine Fire, and my perception of the life Origin is sharper than anyone's! I can clearly smell the bloody scent on you that hasn't been fully digested even from a hundred miles away!"

Chaidamen snorted coldly, the flames around him rising higher. "That old bat had just woken up not long ago before his Aura was cut off. Besides you, who else could obliterate him in such a short time? Only a fool like him, whose brain was frozen from sleep, would believe your lies and fall for your tricks!"

His lies exposed, Mr. Duan did not become flustered.

He looked at the violent Chaidamen below. After a while, he took his hands out of his pockets and removed the vintage top hat from his head.

"Sigh..."

Mr. Duan sighed, his eyes turning cold, and a high-dimensional pressure that transcended the rules of the world erupted from within his body.

"I originally wanted to let you go with some dignity, without having to suffer too much through the torment of fear. Since that's the case, I might as well lay my cards on the table."

Mr. Duan looked down at the hundred-foot-tall flame phantom and sneered, "That's right, the Blood Ancestor was indeed absorbed by me. His decayed Origin didn't taste very good."

"He was the first, and you... will be the second!"

"Bang—!"

As Mr. Duan's words fell, the space around him began to collapse. The Law of Annihilation crushed down toward Chaidamen below.

Facing this pressure, the rugged man did not back down, but instead let out a wild laugh.

"Hahahaha! Arrogant! You can try!"

Chaidamen spread his arms, and the magma sea within hundreds of kilometers below was summoned, turning into countless hideous fire Dragons that soared into the sky, weaving together into a Divine Fire Barrier in front of him.

"Don't think that just because you luckily broke the shackles and became a so-called Transcendent, you really have a chance to kill me here! This is my home ground. As long as these earth vein fires are not extinguished, I am immortal!"

Chaidamen's voice rolled out, "What's more... do you think I'd dare to challenge you here without being prepared? I have helpers!"

"Helpers?"

Mr. Duan stopped his movements and laughed as if he had heard some absurd joke.

"Stop joking, Chaidamen. Can't you see the current situation? The seal of the will of the heavenly way is still there. Those old, weak, sick, and disabled in other ruins can't even take a step out. Who would dare risk their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering under the Heavenly Punishment to save you?"

Mr. Duan put his top hat back on, his eyes full of a sense of control. "Where would you get helpers from? Are you relying on those ants of the present world who couldn't even take one of your fingers?"

However, just as Mr. Duan's voice fell...

"Buzz—!"

In the Void Realm not far away, a circle of dazzling golden ripples spread out without warning.

A domineering fluctuation of the Holy Law spread out! This power forcibly tore a crack in Mr. Duan's sealed spatial Domain!

Then, a golden light flowed out from the crack, condensing into a phantom of a young man in mid-air.

The young man's figure was somewhat blurred, not his actual body, but the Aura he exuded dispersed the volcanic smoke filling the sky, standing as an ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) equal against Mr. Duan's high-dimensional pressure!

Another top-tier SSS-Rank Expert! And one with the heavy presence unique to someone who had received a million life sacrifices!

The young man in the golden light stood with his hands behind his back, a gentle smile on his handsome face. He looked down at the violent Chaidamen, then turned his gaze to the man in the gray trench coat nearby.

"I'm truly sorry."

The young man spoke with a smile, his voice clear and echoing in the Void Realm. "Seeing the two of you chatting so intently... I didn't interrupt you, did I?"

The expression of certain victory on Mr. Duan's face froze the moment he clearly saw the face of this golden phantom.

In his usually calm eyes, a rare look of surprise finally emerged uncontrollably.

"Francis?!"