Too terrifying.
It was simply too terrifying.
The Eternal Night elites had hidden within the Star Gate precisely to avoid the attention of the God-Demon Battlefield. Now, with the gate on the verge of being shattered, they were staring death in the face. If it broke, the spatial tunnel inside would also collapse, disintegrating into nothingness. Any cultivators still within would undoubtedly be severely injured—if not outright annihilated.
Exiting the Star Gate was not an option. Stepping onto the God-Demon Battlefield was tantamount to suicide. But remaining inside the gate was just as deadly. The only hope was to race back to Eternal Night through the spatial tunnel, gambling everything on the chance they could make it out before the gate's complete destruction. A single moment's delay could doom them to being lost in chaotic space forever—or worse, torn apart on the spot. The uncertainty was suffocating.
With no alternatives, Xu Wupan turned without hesitation, attempting to flee.
But the gate's collapse was far too fast.
In just a few breaths, the entire Star Gate was riddled with countless cracks.
BOOM!!!
With a deafening roar, the entire structure collapsed.
"No!!" Xu Wupan let out a shriek of horror as he turned and fled into the spatial tunnel at an inhuman speed. The tunnel wouldn't collapse all at once—it would break apart in sections. If he was fast and lucky enough, there was still a chance to return to Eternal Night.
"Break for me!!" Yi Tianxing shouted coldly.
Once, he had needed the Primordial Heavenly Emperor Tower to destroy a Star Gate. But now that the internal world of the tower had evolved, the force it could unleash was greater than ever. When the Void Gate collided with the Star Gate, destruction was inevitable.
With a sharp crack, the Star Gate shattered into countless pieces. Glimmering with starlight, they shot outward—only to be instantly swallowed by the void energy emanating from the Void Gate. Each fragment was devoured and drawn into the Heavenly Emperor Tower, vanishing into its chaotic internal world.
"Star Core!!"
As the gate shattered, a massive Star Core appeared—roughly the size of a human head, radiating thick star energy intertwined with mysterious Dao patterns.
The instant it emerged, it tried to escape.
"You think you can run? Impossible."
The Void Gate instantly appeared where the Star Core tried to flee, transforming into a silver vortex that swallowed it whole.
Inside the chaotic space of the tower—now spanning over twenty thousand li in radius—the remnant of a previously devoured Star Core was still being refined, releasing pure, celestial essence. Transforming into chaos energy, it nourished and expanded the tower's world with minimal loss—almost perfect conversion.
That a single Star Core could expand the internal world to twenty thousand li spoke volumes about its terrifying power. Without it, opening the spatial tunnels between realms wouldn't have even been possible.
Now, another Star Core had fallen into his hands. Though it wouldn't produce the same explosive growth as the first, it was still an incredible feast for the tower's evolution.
"Damn it! Run! If I had known he could destroy the Star Gate, I would never have revealed ours in front of him!"
The other Eternal Night elites were shaken to the core. Witnessing the complete destruction of Xu Wupan's gate—and perhaps Xu Wupan himself—sent chills down their spines. They had believed themselves untouchable, but now realized just how vulnerable they were.
They didn't hesitate. Fleeing at once, their figures vanished from their respective Star Gates, only afterimages lingering in view.
"Run if you want—but leave your Star Gates behind!" Yi Tianxing bellowed.
He wouldn't be satisfied with just one Star Gate. Each one was a treasure trove of God-Demon merit points, and the most perfect nutrient for his Heavenly Emperor Tower. Such bounty couldn't be allowed to escape.
Without a second thought, the Void Gate shot toward the eastern Star Gate.
At the same time, the Heavenly Emperor Tower smashed toward the northern one.
Both weapons hit nearly simultaneously.
BOOM!!
The Void Gate and the Heavenly Emperor Tower, both imbued with terrifying spatial might, forced the previously-hidden Star Gates back into visibility. The Star Gate struck by the Void Gate trembled violently and began to crack. The one hit by the tower—already enhanced by devouring a Star Core—was instantly covered in dense fractures and shattered completely.
The cultivators within didn't even dare to look back, fleeing desperately to avoid being sucked into the storm of destruction.
Meanwhile, the eastern gate collapsed under repeated collisions from the Void Gate, exposing its own Star Core.
It too was devoured by the Heavenly Emperor Tower before it could escape.
Unfortunately, the remaining gates had by then fully vanished, leaving no trace behind. They were now impossible to locate.
Of the five gates, three had been destroyed. A feast harvested. An incredible haul.
And all of it happened in the blink of an eye.
"What just happened!? Did I really see that? Five Star Gates—five Eternal Night elites—struck together, and yet the King of Great Yi not only survived, he destroyed three of their gates!"
"I tried attacking those Star Gates before. Nothing worked. But now he just—broke them. What kind of power is that!?"
"That silver gate—that's the Void Gate we used to travel here. I didn't know it could do that! And what about that tower? Twenty-four levels? It feels like an entire world. Just a wisp of its energy makes me feel like I'm being crushed…"
The human geniuses watching the scene were overwhelmed with shock.
What they thought was a desperate last stand had become a stunning counterattack. Yi Tianxing's depths were unfathomable, his trump cards seemingly endless. What they had once assumed was his full strength—they now realized had only been the tip of the iceberg.
Even close allies like Guan Yu began to feel as though they barely understood him.
And Zhuge Liang, his eyes deep and thoughtful, quietly observed:
"An emperor is the one with the most trump cards. The one who hides them the best. You never know what they'll pull out next—and that's exactly how it should be. An emperor who's been seen through is already halfway dead."
"Three Star Gates... That's 3 billion God-Demon merit points! What can't he trade for with that? This is beyond imagination!"
The human warriors' eyes glowed with greed and envy.
After all, each destroyed Star Gate was worth a billion points—representing the collapse of a major Eternal Night invasion pathway. The value was immeasurable. And the treasures that could be exchanged for such points… unimaginable.
Just thinking about it made their hearts burn.
"Native—You deserve to die!!"
Suddenly, the void trembled as another Star Gate appeared, without warning.
A cold, authoritative voice echoed out from within, carrying a soul-crushing pressure that blanketed the entire sky.