Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The Dao Monarch gradually took the advantage in its battle with the puppet. Even though the puppet had swallowed a dragon's soul, it just barely managed to remain undefeated. There would still come a time when the external power it borrowed was exhausted.

And now, the puppet had lost a great deal of the formidable strength surging in its body. It wasn't able to continuously erupt with powerful attacks against the Dao Monarch.

The puppet's blood red eyes flashed with unwilling regret. But this feeling soon vanished, replaced with icy coldness.

In the end, it couldn't win…

But until the last moment came, it wouldn't give up. And the puppet still had one more card in hand.

It would explode the puppet's body. After losing its host, it would immediately vanish from existence.

But if the puppet body was exploded, it would release a terrifying strength, enough that it might be able to kill the Dao Monarch. Even if this was only a chance, it still wanted to give it a try!

The puppet's blood red eyes flashed with light and the fluctuations of aura within it began to seethe and boil. The Dao Monarch's eyes brightened and he subconsciously took a step backward.

He had finally forced it to the end!

As long as he destroyed this puppet and ruined the dragon's soul, he would be able to impact the Ancient's plans.

His intuition regarding this became increasingly intense!

But at this time, the space behind the puppet suddenly shattered. Its body fell backwards and submerged within, and then the shattered space vanished from sight.

The Dao Monarch's forehead buzzed. Just what was going on here? You were clearly going to blow yourself up, so why did you run away?

And most important was that during his fight with the puppet, in order to prevent it from running away he had interfered with the surrounding world rules, turning this space into a prison.

How did the puppet break through?

The Dao Monarch drew in a deep breath and suppressed the desire to curse out loud. He raised a hand and ruthlessly grasped forward.

Bang -

Space shattered and a giant crack appeared. The Dao Monarch stepped inside.

No matter where the problem occurred, the key issue here was that he couldn't allow the puppet to escape!

…

I am the puppet. I have felt regret after suffering for countless years. The chance for vengeance finally came, but now someone has pulled me and keeps dragging…dragging…dragging…who the hell are you, hurry and stop what you are doing otherwise I am going to get mad! This father is really going to get mad!

Afterwards, I really did grow mad, and more than once. But, everything I did was useless, so what I felt was despair and pain.

Shua -

The power that surrounded it suddenly vanished and the sense of spatial shaking stopped. The puppet clenched its jaws and turned its head around. It decided that no matter what, it was going to teach the person behind it that dragging someone all over the place without their permission was extremely stupid!

Then, it saw the giant black hole floating in the skies like a great black sun. Inside the black hole, the Ancient stood in the void. Two giant dragons howled in pain in front of it, but they were imprisoned and unable to do anything.

The puppet's heart flipped over and it was left stunned where it stood. It was 10,000% sure that it didn't have the qualifications to teach the Ancient a lesson, and if it were really to rush over and try, it would be finished in mere seconds.

But even if it didn't rush over, would the Ancient let it go? Would this boss character drag it here for no reason at all? It was clear that he had ill intent in mind.

The puppet felt aggrieved. Did anyone think it was easy to survive for all these years? Just when the chance for revenge appeared, everything had been ruined.

Not just that, but it had to face this big fellow's disdainful glare. Perhaps after the next act it would completely disappear.

The Ancient glanced at the puppet and a surprised look flashed in his eyes. He immediately looked up and behind, and his eyes started to light up.

In the next moment, space was torn apart by a tyrannical strength. The Dao Monarch stepped out, his expression as cold as frost as slaughter intent rose up all around him.

The moment he left the spatial crack, he keenly sensed the aura of his old destined enemy. He raised his head and looked forward.

Two gazes met in midair. At this moment, even the air froze. An invisible force swept outwards, flooding this part of the world.

"What a surprise, what a pleasant surprise. I originally thought that a fault beyond my control appeared in my plans, but I never imagined you would come here so unexpectedly." The Ancient laughed out loud. There was no restlessness in his expression of the 'defeated bandits' facing the 'king'. "Dao Monarch, after hundreds of thousands of years, we finally meet again."

The Dao Monarch furrowed his eyebrows and his expression sank, "You aren't surprised at all?"

The Ancient held his hands behind his back. "Perhaps you've already guessed that I intentionally lost to you in the past so that I could fake my death and avoid the great calamity of the heavens and earth, preserving a lifeline for myself. But, you've never seen the entirety of my plan."

The Dao Monarch was without expression, "I would like to hear more." Although he had a foreboding premonition in his heart, for someone of his cultivation, victory and defeat didn't depend on planning.

Ultimately, the most important factor in determining who would be smiling in the end was strength. After patiently waiting for hundreds of thousands of years, the Dao Monarch that arrived here today would have a strength that was no weaker than his peak state for a brief period of time.

But as for the Ancient…

Even if he had arranged all of this, it was a fact that his mortal body had been destroyed. How much of his original strength remained? As long as the Dao Monarch could prevent the Ancient from swallowing the super dragon, then the result of this fight would be unknown!

The Ancient pointed a finger. "For instance, that puppet. Dao Monarch, do you think that without my permission it could remain hidden in this world?"

The Dao Monarch's pupils shrank. "This was all your plot?"

The puppet was stunned as it heard this. Its destiny was already pitiful enough. It couldn't accept that its lifetime of suffering was merely a link in another person's plan.

"No! I am a God! After my mortal body was destroyed, my true spirit didn't disperse. Using this puppet I preserved my consciousness. All of this was my will; it has nothing to do with you!"

The Ancient glanced at it, his expression faint. "You should have remembered that before finding the puppet, your consciousness faded away for a period of time. Then, do you know how long this period of time was?"

The puppet's eyelids flew open and its blood red eyes flashed with confusion and chaos. It didn't want to believe this, but the reason a God was a God was that they had merged with the heavens and earth and were able to sense everything around them.

When the Ancient revealed this truth, it was like a fog had been dispersed from its mind. The puppet immediately sensed something. It was blurry at first, but soon became clear.

It was true…it was all true…

The consciousness of a God that had been hiding in this puppet for all of these years, enduring pain and suffering the entire time, suddenly discovered that everything that happened around it was part of a grand chess game, and it was nothing but a chess piece that had been moved about.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" The puppet shrilly screamed, sorrow and sadness in its voice. At this moment, the hatred it felt towards the Ancient was no less than what it felt for the Dao Monarch.

But the reason the Ancient explained all of this was to attack the Dao Monarch's will. He didn't care about the puppet at all.

Its anger, hatred, struggles, pained roars…all of it was meaningless.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

The Dao Monarch clapped his hands, acclaim in his eyes. "Ancient, you truly are unfathomable. I am thoroughly convinced that I fell into your trap in the past."

He looked up, his robes beginning to rise all around him. "But even so, that doesn't mean you can necessarily be the last one standing!"

The Ancient looked up. "No, it's you who still doesn't understand. The moment you arrived here, the final gap in my plan was filled in. As for the result…it was already decided countless years ago."

The Dao Monarch laughed. "Wonderful! Then, let me experience just where your confidence comes from!"

Bang -

Endless holy light erupted. A vast holy mountain appeared with countless gods and holy spirits crawling and bowing around it. The Dao Monarch moved forward and stepped onto the peak of the holy mountain. He turned around and a vast curtain of holy light emerged from thin air, covering him.

Solemn and dignified, with overpowering momentum!

"Great Dao Prospers Forever!"

The Dao Monarch's voice rumbled like thunder. It touched the world's rules and swept through the skies with great power.

A massive divine throne appeared behind the Dao Monarch. He took a step back and sat down.

In the next moment, dreadful flames erupted all over. With the divine throne as the center, the flames instantly covered the entire holy mountain!

Burning their Great Dao was an ultimate explosive method that mighty beings of his level could utilize. By damaging his Great Dao as the price, he would receive an incomparably formidable strength in exchange.

The Ancient's expression was calm. He raised a hand and pointed a finger, "Sacrifice!"

At this moment, Qin Yu, who had retreated far away and was watching the tigers battle atop the mountain, suddenly felt his heart contract. He had no idea what the Ancient had done, but his intuition told him that something horrible was about to happen.