Since the two most powerful, and most selfish, beings had already given up their Rules, the rest naturally followed. Some were more willing than others, but when all was said and done, Zhou Fan had control over around twenty mastered Rules. He didn't bother collecting any that weren't mastered.
Just as he collected the last rule, something burst out from each of the clouds of time.
Space was rendered to the point that it was unrecognizable.
Zhou Fan turned to the Path Creators.
"Do everything you can to stop the Universe from collapsing while I try to kill these beings." Zhou Fan said.
Although he spoke casually, this was perhaps the most dangerous situation he had ever been in. He wasn't even confident in fighting a single Celestial Emperor, much less multiple. All he could do was fight to the death.
The Path Creators quickly formed a plan, shooting out to the edges of the Universe. The Universe was still partially expanded due to the interference of the being known as the Great Demon.
But only half of that expansion remained due to the efforts of Zhou Fan and the Path Creators of the Universe. Space quickly healed itself, and Zhou Fan was able to see all the enemies that had appeared.
There were 15 Celestial Emperors.
Zhou Fan sighed and readied himself. He truly didn't know if he would survive today.
He didn't even bring out Leaf. The odds of him accidentally dying were far too high for Zhou Fan to take that risk. Monty also stayed back.
For the first time in a while, Zhou Fan was fighting alone, though he had borrowed some power from some of the Path Creators.
The Celestial Emperors locked eyes with each other. 8 were from the Human realm, and 7 were from the Non Human realm.
They seemed to communicate with their eyes before nodding. Then, their gazes turned to Zhou Fan.
"It is a pity it had to turn out this way." One of them sighed and shook his head.
"It is of their own doing. If they had let the forces remain here, perhaps this could have been avoided." Another human said.
"It is foolishness, and that very foolishness is why the Origin Era must be destroyed today." A Non Human said.
Zhou Fan spoke. "This is the Origin Era, and those from different time periods are not permitted to be here. That goes for all of you as well. Prepare to face the consequences of your actions, for at least some of you will die here today."
He did not speak any further. The Universe was already struggling to stop itself from completely collapsing. The only reason it had yet to do so was because of the efforts of the Path Creators.
With a leap, Zhou Fan ascended to the top of the Universe.
He balled his hand up into a fist and punched. Coating his hands were twenty-two mastered Rules.
The Celestial Emperors failed to recognize this, and as two units, one of 8 and one of 7, they met Zhou Fan's attack head on.
Zhou Fan was glad they were so arrogant, but who wouldn't be in this situation? It was 15 Celestial Emperors up against a single Heaven Immortal, someone four realms below them. Throughout history, not a single person had managed to defeat a Celestial Emperor while being a Heaven Immortal. Hell, nobody had done so when at the realm above the Heaven Immortal realm.
There was a reason why beings in the —---- realm were called Celestial Emperor's. There was a qualitative change. Around half of these Celestial Emperors had a mastered Rule, while the other half were just on the verge of that.
Yet, when their attacks met, Zhou Fan's punch hit like a collapsing star, sending all 15 Celestial Emperor's flying back helplessly. He did not slow down at all. This was the only time they would make such a stupid mistake. He appeared in front of one of the most disoriented Celestial Emperor's and punched out with all twenty-two mastered Rules.
What level of power did this represent? The Celestial Emperor wouldn't live to think about it that long.
The moment Zhou Fan's fist connected with his skull, his entire body exploded into nothingness.
Zhou Fan moved using the Rule of Space, and directly appeared in front of another Celestial Emperor. But by now, most of them had regained their wits and understood the situation.
Three launched full force attacks at Zhou Fan, but the Rule of Karma sent their attacks flying just to the side of him, as his fist almost perfectly connected with the Celestial Emperor.
Although the Celestial Emperor had moved to the side, causing Zhou Fan's fist to hit only his arm, he still exploded like a popped balloon.
The rest of the Celestial Emperors finally understood the situation.
Although Zhou Fan was weaker than them in almost every aspect, the pure force of his punch was enough to completely erase them from existence.
However, this did not come without a price.
Zhou Fan felt like his hand was burning and constantly flashing in and out of existence. The pure power he was holding on his hand was threatening his life. Even if he wanted to, he could no longer use the Rules to attack in any way besides a punch.
He couldn't even open his clenched fist.
However, he could still use the Rule to manipulate everything around him.
The Rules of Time and Space intertwined, and Zhou Fan moved at a speed none could react to. He attacked another Celestial Emperor, but they were no longer sitting ducks.
A string appeared, yanking the Celestial Emperor back.
Like a puppet master, a Celestial Emperor had attached strings to every other Celestial Emperor. Another Celestial Emperor held his shoulders, his eyes bloodshot. They combined their abilities and Rules to make it so that they could react and prevent a Celestial Emperor from getting hit.
This was a bit troublesome.