215: The Emperor's heart first solidified, and chaos began to open.

"You... you're actually breaking through to the Emperor Realm at this moment?! Impossible!"

Pavilion Master Tianji's exclamation was filled with incredulous fury!

He had schemed for tens of thousands of years, expended countless efforts, and only just barely touched the threshold of the Emperor Realm, yet this young man before him was about to complete this ultimate leap at a life-or-death juncture, right in front of him?

"Nothing is impossible!"

Xiao Chen's voice was calm yet carried an undeniable majesty.

He straightened his back, and the aura around him, which had been extremely weak, began to surge wildly at an unnatural speed, like a star igniting!

Deep within his sea of Qi, the exploded origin qi seed did not dissipate but transformed into a swirling vortex of chaotic light.

At the center of the vortex, a new, more solidified, more complex imprint, as if containing the prototype of a miniature universe, was rapidly condensing!

That was not a simple energy core, but... the chaos emperor heart, unique to Emperor Realm powerhouses!

The chaos emperor heart!

At the same time, Xiao Chen's soul seemed to break free from some invisible shackles, achieving an unprecedented resonance with the entire world.

The previously obscure and difficult-to-understand laws of heaven and earth now became crystal clear, like observing patterns in his palm!

He "saw" the most basic rules that constituted this world, saw the flow of energy, saw the Veins of space and time, and even... saw the intricate threads of karma entwined around himself and Pavilion Master Tianji!

"So, this is the Emperor Realm..." Xiao Chen understood in his heart.

The Saint Realm was about controlling power and utilizing laws.

But the Emperor Realm was... integrating with laws, and even... creating laws!

His Dao of Chaos, which inherently embraced all things and evolved the universe, was naturally achieving a breakthrough at this moment!

"Buzz—!"

A truly vast Emperor's might, transcending all living beings, erupted from Xiao Chen's body like an awakened primordial beast!

This Emperor's might was different from Pavilion Master Tianji's somewhat superficial quasi-Emperor's might, which relied on external objects; it was purer, heavier, and carried a supreme artistic conception of opening up the heavens and wielding the origin!

"Rumble!"

The entire sky of the Northern Region was instantly enveloped by endless chaotic currents!

Earth, water, fire, and wind frantically evolved, with the clear and turbid separating, as if re-enacting the scene of the universe's initial creation!

Thousands of miles of void trembled, seemingly welcoming the birth of a new Emperor!

"No! I absolutely forbid it!" Pavilion Master Tianji let out a hysterical roar, his eyes filled with jealousy and madness!

He had painstakingly plotted for ten thousand years; how could he let someone else reap the benefits?

"Destiny Emperor's Punishment, Ten Thousand Daos Annihilated!"

He frantically formed hand seals, burning his vital essence without hesitation, pushing his recently stabilized quasi-Emperor cultivation to its extreme!

The power of the gray-black Emperor's Punishment light pillar increased further, with countless twisted vengeful spirits and shattered world projections appearing within it, carrying a terrifying will to judge all things and return everything to annihilation, pressing down fiercely towards Xiao Chen!

He wanted to thoroughly strangle Xiao Chen before his chaos emperor heart could stabilize!

"Annihilation? My Dao is creation, it is new life!"

Xiao Chen slowly raised his head, chaotic light swirling in his eyes, as if countless worlds were being born and destroyed.

Facing that world-destroying attack, he simply raised his right hand.

There were no dazzling light effects, no complex hand seals.

He merely pointed his fingers like a blade and lightly swiped at the descending Emperor's Punishment light pillar.

"Chaos... Heaven Opening."

A subtle gray thread shot out from Xiao Chen's fingertip.

This thread seemed weak, yet it contained a supreme Dao rhyme of severing shackles, splitting chaos, and establishing the universe!

Wherever the thread passed, the Emperor's Punishment light pillar, which was enough to annihilate all things, actually... silently broke apart from the middle, as if it had encountered its nemesis!

The laws of annihilation and destiny curses contained within the light pillar instantly melted like ice and snow, disintegrating and collapsing upon contact with the gray thread!

"What?!" Pavilion Master Tianji's pupils contracted, his face paling in horror!

His full-force Emperor's Punishment was actually broken so effortlessly by the other party?

This was not merely a gap in power levels, but... an overwhelming suppression in the Dao Realm!

Xiao Chen's Chaos Emperor Dao, in essence, far surpassed his incomplete Emperor Realm, which was obtained through plunder and grafting!

"Your Emperor's path... has gone astray." Xiao Chen took a step, his figure seemingly merging with the surrounding chaotic currents, instantly appearing before Pavilion Master Tianji.

He looked at the other party with calm eyes, "Relying on external objects, grafting karma, even if you possess the power of the Emperor Realm, it is merely a rootless duckweed, a mirage."

"What do you know! The victor is king! As long as one can achieve the Emperor's position, do the means matter?!" Pavilion Master Tianji was like a madman, destiny threads wildly dancing around him, transforming into countless cursed swords, stabbing towards Xiao Chen.

"Stubborn and unrepentant." Xiao Chen shook his head slightly, his mind moving.

"Chaos Sacred Realm... Chaos Emperor Domain, open!"

Boom!

Centered on him, a true and substantial Emperor's domain suddenly unfolded!

Within the domain, it was no longer an illusory projection of a sacred realm, but a true... nascent small world!

Although it was only a thousand-mile radius, within the world there were nascent forms of mountains and rivers, illusory sun, moon, and stars, and earth, water, fire, and wind operated on their own, emitting a majestic world power!

This was the... Chaos Emperor Domain, unique to Emperor Realm powerhouses!

Pavilion Master Tianji's cursed swords, upon entering the Chaos Emperor Domain, were instantly crushed and assimilated by the omnipresent power of world laws!

"Now, it's time to end this." Xiao Chen pointed his finger, and the power of the Chaos Emperor Domain converged, forming a gigantic chaotic axe phantom that seemed capable of opening up the heavens and earth, "This move, which I comprehended upon first entering the Emperor Realm, shall be named... 'Heaven Opening' ."

The giant axe slowly chopped down, seemingly slow, yet it sealed all of Pavilion Master Tianji's escape routes, containing a supreme will of judgment and termination!

"No! I cannot die! Master, save me!" Pavilion Master Tianji let out a desperate shriek, frantically urging the wisp of origin within his body, connected to the core of the burial emperor coffin, attempting to flee.

"No one can save you." Xiao Chen's eyes turned cold, and the giant axe accelerated its descent!

"Crack!"

The protective starlight and destiny barrier outside Pavilion Master Tianji's body shattered like paper!

The giant axe phantom firmly struck his origin!

"Ah—!" An extremely shrill scream echoed through the void!

Pavilion Master Tianji's body was covered in cracks like a shattered porcelain, and his aura rapidly withered like a deflating balloon!

The strange wisp of Emperor Realm origin within him, under the Heaven Opening Axe Intent, let out a wail of unbearable burden, and finally... collapsed with a bang!

"I... I'm not reconciled..." Pavilion Master Tianji stared fixedly at Xiao Chen, his eyes filled with endless venom, and finally, his body and soul were completely annihilated in the chaotic axe light!

Pavilion Master Tianji, who had dominated the continent from behind the scenes for ten thousand years and caused countless bloody storms... had fallen!

With his death, a subtle cracking sound seemed to come from the core of the "burial emperor coffin" in a distant, unknown place, and its connection with its master was completely severed.

Xiao Chen stood alone in the Chaos Emperor Domain, feeling the surging, endless Emperor's power within him, as if he could control the universe, yet there was not much joy in his eyes; instead, he became more solemn.

He looked up into the depths of the endless void, where an even colder, vaster will seemed to be slowly... awakening a trace, due to Pavilion Master Tianji's demise and the damage to the burial emperor coffin.

"The 'master' behind Pavilion Master Tianji..." Xiao Chen murmured to himself, "It seems the real battle has just begun."

He restrained his Emperor's might, and the Chaos Emperor Domain slowly dissipated.

The sky of the Northern Region returned to calm, but the continental landscape was completely changed by the birth of a new Emperor!

The Anti-Alliance finally had a true Emperor Realm leader!

However, future challenges might be even more severe than in the past.

Xiao Chen's gaze seemed to penetrate layers of space, looking towards the final ninth ancient pagoda, and... beyond the ancient pagoda, that unfathomable darkness.