Ye Fan continued coldly, "Kuang Ling, do you think this is over? No, it’s far from enough!"

Kuang Ling retorted with a cold sneer, "Humph, such insignificant tricks. We of the Spirit Clan would never fear a swarm of ants like you! Hahaha!" He laughed wildly at Ye Fan, dismissing him completely.

"This is just the beginning!" Ye Fan said. At that, he raised the Yuanhong Sword once more and pierced Kuang Ling’s heart.

"ARGH!"

Kuang Ling’s scream was even more wretched. For a Spirit Cultivator like him, a pierced heart wasn’t fatal, but it was, without a doubt, excruciatingly painful. Still, he endured it. His body trembled and his life force waned, yet he refused to submit to Ye Fan.

Ye Fan didn’t stop. Instead, he pulled the Yuanhong Sword from Kuang Ling’s heart.

Then, Kuang Ling laughed wildly at him, taunting, "Ants will always be ants! You’re not ruthless enough!" He was goading Ye Fan; anyone watching might have thought he was a masochist.

Ye Fan sneered, "When did I ever claim to be ruthless? In fact, I’m a gentle person!" If anyone else had heard this, they would have surely beaten him up. If he could be considered gentle, then there were no cruel people left in this world.

Then, he declared, "Now, I’ll show you what true ruthlessness is!"

He drew a massive amount of killing intent from the Yuanhong Sword. This killing intent terrified Kuang Ling; his own deathly aura was nothing in comparison. When the killing intent flooded his body, he finally understood true cruelty. The endless killing intent was tearing apart every cell within him.

Sweating profusely, he could no longer bear the pain and began pleading with Ye Fan to kill him. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Now you understand ruthlessness? Too bad, it’s too late!" Ye Fan said. "Take him away and let him die in agony!"

Immediately, a few people stepped forward and carried the wailing Kuang Ling away. No one sympathized with him, for he had wrought far too much slaughter upon this world. To many, even this torture was an act of mercy. After all, he was already crippled, so Ye Fan had no worries about him causing any more trouble.

As he turned, he saw the ghosts and Resentful Spirits Kuang Ling had left in his wake watching him.

"I know you all died wrongful deaths," Ye Fan said. "Your souls have now been liberated. Return to dust, return to earth. Find the world where you belong."

The crowd of Resentful Spirits stood their ground, unmoving.

At first, Ye Fan didn’t understand, but then it hit him: they needed salvation through the Holy Light of the Church.

He took out the phalanx bone that was emitting a white light, crushed it, and scattered the dust over the spirits. At once, the ghastly Resentful Spirits faded away, and the oppressive atmosphere vanished along with them.

Perhaps this was the best possible ending. In truth, Ye Fan was consumed by guilt, and not just because Di Que had lost his life. He felt even guiltier for the slaughter Kuang Ling had caused in this world, all of which stemmed from his own actions. Faced with this responsibility and remorse, Ye Fan chose not to flee but to bear the burden. He knew the fault was his; there was no sense in shirking it.

Meanwhile, the Martial Artists of Heavenly King Hall were cleaning up the battlefield. They found Di Que’s personal belonging: a token clearly engraved with his name. A wave of deep sorrow washed over Ye Fan.

Di Que had been his good brother. After the Divine Dragon incident, Ye Fan had thought he would never lose another dear comrade. He valued brotherly bonds immensely, and those he truly considered brothers were completely loyal to him. Di Que’s death left an indelible wound on Ye Fan’s heart. The image of the boisterous, somewhat lewd fellow seemed to flash before his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. He knew that the brash, stout man would never return. Life was filled with too much helplessness and too much sorrow.

He had once believed that man could triumph over destiny, but was that really true? No, he was wrong. When destiny truly decided to crush you, all the tricks in the world were futile.

He gripped Di Que’s token tightly and commanded, "Take this token to the Merit Hall. Long Yi fought to the death for Heavenly King Hall; he has earned his place at the top!"

"Yes, sir!"

The warriors of Heavenly King Hall wept too. Some were Di Que’s brothers-in-arms, while many more were his subordinates. Commander Di Que had shown them immeasurable kindness, yet now, they couldn’t even find his body. It was an unbearable sorrow, a great grief that enveloped the entire Heavenly King Hall.

This was the greatest sacrifice the Heavenly King Hall had made since its founding. Perhaps Ye Fan was right: without sacrifice, there is no success. Now, that had been proven true.

In the days that followed, Ye Fan pondered a problem. The fact that a being like Kuang Ling could infiltrate this world had caught him completely by surprise. It seemed his actions in the Spirit Suppressing Domain had made him a priority target for the Spirit World. The question was, if the Spirit King himself were to take action, Ye Fan’s current strength would be insufficient to contend with him. If he showed his face in the Spirit Suppressing Domain, he feared the denizens of the Spirit World would spare no expense to kill him.

He wasn’t afraid of death. What he feared was dying with regret. To be killed now, before he had the chance to truly grow, would be like an infant dying in the womb—an unacceptable end. This was not the outcome he wanted.

Therefore, Ye Fan ultimately decided he would only enter the Spirit Suppressing Domain after his next breakthrough. That way, he wouldn’t fear even the Spirit King.

He was also already preparing his "eviction plan." This was something he had considered before. There were many Martial Artists in the Divine Land’s Secular World who met the standards for being Spirit Suppressing People, yet they clung to this world, refusing to fulfill their responsibilities. These people needed to be expelled to the Spirit Suppressing Domain.

However, the eviction plan, though seemingly simple, was in fact incredibly complex. Otherwise, Zhuang Zhou and the others would have already implemented it. The fact that they hadn’t spoke volumes about the plan’s difficulty.

Ye Fan began earnestly searching for any information that could help. The plan was overdue, but Heavenly King Hall had suffered heavy losses. He knew he had to wait for the Heavenly King Hall to recover before he could begin the eviction plan.

During this rare downtime, Ye Fan was profoundly bored. He had once yearned for such quiet days, but now he realized that only a busy life could truly motivate him.

That was, until one day, Heather arrived.

Her arrival added a splash of much-needed color to Ye Fan’s monotonous days. Her presence, however, was destined to make her the enemy of certain other women. Take Scarlett, for instance. With one being from the Vampire Clan and the other from the Holy Court, they were as incompatible as fire and water. The two were ready to fight the moment they met, but fortunately, Ye Fan was there to break them up.

Just then, Scarlett said angrily to Ye Fan, "King of Heaven, I’m here to say goodbye!"

Ye Fan was puzzled. Scarlett had been living comfortably in the Divine Land, so where could she be going?

"That’s right," Scarlett explained. "The Holy Court is in shambles. As a member of the Holy Court, it’s my duty to lead them!"

Ye Fan immediately understood. It would be best if Scarlett led the Holy Court. The survival of every group has its own unique meaning. Although the European Church Court had failed, that didn’t mean they had lost their right to survive.

"Alright," Ye Fan said. "I support you. If you run into any trouble, come to me. I’ll help you resolve it completely."

Scarlett immediately stated a condition that caught Ye Fan completely off guard.

"I have only one difficulty," she said to him. "If you dare have a child with this vampire woman first, I will never forgive you!"