Shen Hao was so terrified by the sight that his face turned green on the spot.
The position of Hall Master, the treasures—he cast them all into the back of his mind.
Desperate to seize even the slightest chance of survival, he burned his divine soul and bloodline power without restraint, forcing himself into a state of ultimate sublimation.
The spiritual energy around him exploded. His entire body transformed into a black shadow as he attempted to tear through the void and flee a thousand miles away!
The thought in his mind was brutally simple: Run! Run now!
Yin Tianjue had not merely been pretending to be weak while secretly biding his time—his strength had far surpassed even its peak. He was unfathomably powerful. Staying behind would mean certain death!
However, just as Shen Hao had fled a thousand miles away, Yin Tianjue merely cast a casual glance in that direction.
“You think you can run in front of me? Do you really believe you can get away?”
It was a simple sentence, yet it carried the authority of a heavenly decree.
Shen Hao’s body instantly froze in midair, unable to move even a fraction.
When he came to his senses again, he had already returned to the main hall.
Clearly, Yin Tianjue had completely sealed the space in this realm. No matter how frantically Shen Hao circulated the spiritual energy within his body, he could not break through it in the slightest.
Even worse, his cultivation began to plummet at an astonishing speed.
Just like Liu Qing, it crashed from the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm—late stage, middle stage, early stage…
In the blink of an eye, it had fallen all the way to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
The spiritual energy within his body became a chaotic mess, and even the Dao heart he had forged through several thousand years of cultivation began to crack apart.
“Spare me! Hall Master, please spare me!”
Shen Hao was utterly panicked. He discarded all traces of his former sinister ruthlessness and the dignity of a protector.
With a thud, he fell to his knees and kowtowed frantically toward Yin Tianjue on the throne.
“This subordinate knows he was wrong! I was blinded by greed and lost my senses. That’s why I dared to show disrespect to the Hall Master! Please, Hall Master, be magnanimous and spare my life! I am willing to serve you for all eternity, to work like an ox or a horse, and I will never harbor a second thought!”
Seeing this, Liu Qing, who had originally intended to hold out to the bitter end, finally came to his senses as well.
He paid no attention to the excruciating pain throughout his body and hurriedly forced himself to his knees. He began begging for mercy again and again.
“Hall Master, please spare us! We were blinded by greed and should never have betrayed you! Please give us one more chance!”
Tsk, tsk. Just moments ago, the two protectors had been as vicious as fiends, single-mindedly intent on seizing the throne and murdering their own master.
Now, they had completely degenerated into two beaten dogs, left with nothing but fear and abject humility.
Their thoughts were simple enough: As long as the green hills remain, there will never be a shortage of firewood.
After all, the two of them had served as protectors of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall for several thousand years. Even if they had no great achievements, they had at least rendered some service.
Perhaps Yin Tianjue might take their past ties into consideration and spare their miserable lives?
But when Yin Tianjue saw the ugly sight of the two men kneeling and begging for mercy, the smile at the corners of his lips turned even colder, and the killing intent in his eyes grew more intense.
In a demonic cultivation sect like the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, strength had always been the only thing that mattered.
As long as one was strong enough, no one would object to betraying the sect or trying to murder its leader. After all, such things were simply part of everyday life among demonic cultivators.
Unfortunately, today they had run straight into Yin Tianjue’s path.
If he did not shed some blood, his Dao heart would never be at peace.
Thinking back over the past several thousand years, the original owner had treated these two men exceptionally well. He had appointed them as protectors and granted them supreme authority.
Yet these two ingrates had taken advantage of the original owner’s severe injuries and weakened state, stabbing him in the back and forcing him to surrender his position.
People who were so utterly ungrateful would become a disaster sooner or later if left alive.
Yin Tianjue intended to make them watch their Dao hearts shatter and collapse completely amid the most extreme terror and despair.
He slowly raised a hand and lightly pinched his fingers together.
The last traces of spiritual energy within Liu Qing and Shen Hao instantly collapsed. The meridians throughout their bodies snapped one by one, and their terrifying cultivation was completely crippled.
The two men had once been mighty figures at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, towering above all others. Now, they had become cripples whose strength was inferior even to that of ordinary cultivators.
Their faces instantly turned as pale as paper. Their eyes went blank as they sensed the emptiness within their bodies. They fell into complete despair.
They had spent several thousand years cultivating, endured countless hardships, and finally reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. They had dreamed of one day stepping into the Deity Transformation Realm, dominating the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, and traversing the Eastern Wasteland without fear.
But now, their cultivation was gone. They had become complete cripples, and everything they had ever strived for had turned into a phantom.
“No… My cultivation… It’s gone… It’s all gone…”
Liu Qing’s eyes were dull as he muttered to himself, his entire body trembling like a sieve. The last trace of hope in his heart had been utterly extinguished.
He had been fiercely ambitious all his life, relying on his cultivation to run rampant and bully others. Becoming a cripple now was even more painful to him than death.
Shen Hao’s face was ashen, and his Dao heart had completely collapsed.
He stared at his trembling hands and thought of the several thousand years he had spent cultivating, of his ambitions and aspirations. In the end, it had all led to this.
An overwhelming terror and despair surged through his heart, utterly destroying his mind.
“It’s over… Everything is over…”
Yin Tianjue watched the two men sitting there in a daze, on the verge of collapse, but he had no intention of stopping.
With a thought, countless ghostly apparitions instantly materialized throughout the main hall. They were all the resentful souls and lingering grudges of the cultivators whom the two men had harmed over the years.
The souls let out shrill, mournful wails as they swarmed toward Liu Qing and Shen Hao, tearing at their divine souls.
Without their cultivation to protect them, the pain of having their souls ripped apart was thousands of times worse than being cut by blades through the flesh.
The two men screamed with all their might and rolled desperately across the floor, trying to break free. But they were already at the end of their strength.
As they looked at the countless vengeful souls before them, they could not help recalling the mountains of blood they had created over the years. The fear in their hearts was magnified without limit, and their minds completely collapsed.
“Stay away! Get out of here! All of you, get away from me!”
“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to be tortured!”
Their shrill wails gradually weakened…
Liu Qing’s eyes rolled back, and his divine soul trembled violently amid the terror and agony. The blood within his body began to flow backward.
Finally, in the depths of utter despair, he was scared to death. Not even the slightest trace of life remained.
Watching Liu Qing die so miserably, the final defense in Shen Hao’s heart collapsed completely.
Fear surged over him like a tide and drowned him. His eyes widened in terror, his face twisted with horror, and a wheezing sound escaped his throat. Then he toppled forward, his divine soul splitting apart.
In less than a moment, the two peak Nascent Soul protectors who had been so ferocious and eager to seize the throne had both perished, their deaths horribly gruesome.
Only then did Yin Tianjue slowly rise to his feet.
Standing atop the ninth step, he looked down at their corpses. His deep eyes remained indifferent and utterly emotionless.
He raised a hand slightly. A stream of black demonic energy, as dark as ink and containing boundless destructive power, burst from his fingertips and instantly enveloped the two corpses.
“They died that quickly? They really were weak. I haven’t even exerted myself yet. Invincibility truly is lonely.”
As his voice fell, the demonic energy erupted with a thunderous roar. Liu Qing and Shen Hao’s corpses instantly turned to ash.
Even the remnants of their divine souls were completely annihilated, vanishing from the world without being granted the slightest chance at reincarnation.
And so, the usurpation plot and palace coup that had been brewing for a full three hundred years came to a complete end—with Yin Tianjue’s overwhelming victory and the two protectors dying a miserable death, their souls utterly destroyed.
Inside the main hall, the candle flames continued to flicker and crackle.
Crimson phosphorescence blanketed the entire grand hall, and the runes carved into the nine coiling-dragon stone pillars once again came alive with light.
The killing intent that had filled the hall dissipated completely, replaced by the awe-inspiring presence of Yin Tianjue—an aura of invincibility that dominated all beneath the heavens.
He returned to the skeletal throne and sat down, feeling the ten-thousand-year essence of cultivation still pouring ceaselessly into his body. His gaze grew deep and profound.
Looking toward the sky above the Burial Heaven Abyss outside the hall, the corners of his lips curled into a faint smile.
That first, barely perceptible use of his cultivation had felt pretty good.
With this Myriad Realms Invincible System in hand, he gained ten thousand years of cultivation every second—an endless, inexhaustible supply.
As long as he lived long enough, who in all the world would dare touch him? And who could possibly touch him?
In the days to come, throughout the Eastern Wasteland, the entire Cangyuan Realm, and even the boundless myriad heavens, no one would be able to withstand a single strike from him.
If there was someone who could, then it would take two strikes!
In the end, this vast world would be ruled by Yin Tianjue!