Villain: After Slacking Off, The Protagonist Collapse

The Heavenly Demon's face turned pale, cold sweat streaming down his grotesque features. His heart was consumed by fear.

He, an eighth-stage Quasi-Emperor, could not believe that a Great Accomplishment Dao Body would descend with two Emperor Weapons to confront him!

The All Heaven Mirror hovered above, casting silvery ripples that spread like gentle waves, flowing steadily and locking down the surrounding void. Unless an Emperor himself appeared, there was no escape from the mirror's seal.

The Heavenly Demon's gaze shifted to Jiang Chen. The terrifying vitality of Jiang Chen's Great Accomplishment Dao Body surged like a galaxy, shaking the heavens and earth. The blood energy emanating from him alone was enough to strike fear into anyone.

However, what truly unnerved the Heavenly Demon was the pair of gauntlets on Jiang Chen's hands. The Heaven Execution Gauntlets radiated boundless killing intent that seemed to disrupt the natural order, leaving him utterly despairing.

He knew his strength was among the best in the Nine Heavens Realm. Even immortal-level factions had to tread carefully around him. Yet, here he was, facing an overwhelming force, with no path of retreat, only one outcome—death.

"Jiang Chen?" The Heavenly Demon's grotesque face lifted, his pale complexion and eyes full of despair gradually calming.

Anyone capable of reaching the eighth stage of the Quasi-Emperor realm had unshakable resolve. Only Jiang Chen's unparalleled presence could have disturbed his composure so greatly.

In that instant, as he gazed at the All Heaven Mirror and Jiang Chen's unique physique, the Heavenly Demon realized something rarely spoken of: only those with matching constitutions could fully bond with the mirror.

The man before him, with his Great Accomplishment Dao Body, must indeed be the Holy Son of the Primordial Holy Land—Jiang Chen.

"You're not running?"

Jiang Chen was unsurprised that the Heavenly Demon had recognized him. It was expected, which is why he had quickly eliminated Duguxiong. With Jiang Chen's current strength, killing a Great Saint was a trivial matter.

What piqued his curiosity was why the Heavenly Demon didn't attempt to flee. On the surface, the Heavenly Demon had no chance of victory. Even without the two Emperor Weapons, his defeat was inevitable.

Jiang Chen had employed both weapons not only to prevent any unforeseen incidents but also to seal off the area entirely, maintaining his identity as a trump card.

"Escape? How?" The Heavenly Demon was numb with despair. The two Emperor Weapons had sealed the void completely—how could he leave? He wasn't an Emperor, after all. If he were, he wouldn't have felt so helpless.

Precisely because escape was impossible, the Heavenly Demon remained composed.

"Why not try?"

Though there was no way out, most would panic and frantically search for an escape. Few would sit still as the Heavenly Demon did, seemingly resigned to his fate. Yet Jiang Chen understood—this demon had not accepted death.

—

In the next moment, Jiang Chen stepped through layers of space. The black fist imprint he unleashed tore through the heavens with unimaginable power, ripping apart the void like fragile paper.

The sheer ripples from his punch caused the void to collapse, while the earth below was devastated. Mountains and rivers disintegrated, leaving nothing but a boundless void akin to the chaos of creation.

"Buzz!"

The Heavenly Demon, however, was not idle. As the fist neared him, he opened his mouth, releasing a black divine light. It transformed into a peculiar weapon—a massive seal resembling both an ancient mountain and a divine tablet, as if it had crossed time itself from the primordial era.

"Whoosh!"

The ancient weapon emanated a mysterious, eternal aura as it shone brightly, condensing into a colossal figure. The figure, shrouded in black mist, was a terrifying ancient demon god. Countless tentacles extended from its body, filling the void, while a pair of blood-red eyes radiated a chilling dread.

"Boom!"

Jiang Chen's gaze remained steady, filled with unshakable resolve. His fist carried the power to shatter the heavens and extinguish all creation. It seemed as though nothing in existence could withstand this blow.

"Boom!"

The Heavenly Demon's body was instantly pierced. The Heaven Execution Gauntlets erupted with boundless battle intent, unleashing unparalleled killing energy.

This murderous aura was like the nemesis of all things strange and evil, annihilating everything in its path. The ancient demon god let out a sorrowful wail as its enormous form shattered.

"Even this doesn't work?" The Heavenly Demon was paralyzed with shock.

That weapon was his ultimate trump card, imbued with the will of a former Demon Emperor. Though not as powerful as fully awakened Emperor Weapons, it carried a fragment of imperial might.

Only a true Emperor or an Emperor Weapon at full power could suppress it. Yet it had failed utterly against Jiang Chen.

Unfortunately for the Heavenly Demon, he had encountered Jiang Chen. With two Emperor Weapons sealing the void and the immense strength of the Great Accomplishment Dao Body, his so-called trump card was rendered useless.

"Boom!"

Jiang Chen's fist pierced through the Heavenly Demon's body, shaking the surrounding space with its force. With a deafening explosion, the Heavenly Demon's body was obliterated, blood spilling across the sky.

The murderous aura of the Heaven Execution Gauntlets eradicated his soul entirely. Even the demon's regenerative soul, a hallmark of Heavenly Demons, stood no chance against the relentless onslaught of this killing energy.

"What a pity that in this lifetime, someone like you, a monstrosity, had to appear! Otherwise, we would have surely succeeded!"

The Heavenly Demon let out a sigh. Perhaps from the moment Jiang Chen appeared, he already knew his death was inevitable, and there was no hope left. As a result, he felt neither grief nor anger.

Not long after, the Heavenly Demon's soul was completely extinguished marked the ultimate failure of the Ancient Desolate Demon Domain's plans.

Buzz.

After killing the Heavenly Demon, Jiang Chen's figure merged into the void. Amid the boundless darkness, the faint light of the All-Heaven Mirror flickered, like the last lamp in a long, encroaching night.

Upon learning that the Ancient Desolate Demon Domain intended to activate the Heavenly Fiend Formation, it was already certain that their plan would end in failure.

The five core nodes of the formation were swiftly destroyed, and the powerful demons of the Heavenly Demon Clan were also slain.

In less than half an hour, the location where the Heavenly Fiend Formation was being arranged by the Ancient Desolate Demon Domain was completely cleared. None of the dispatched experts survived; every last one of them fell.

When the final Quasi-Emperor was obliterated, the resulting turbulence spread far and wide. Only then did the factions across the land realize, belatedly, the full extent of the Ancient Desolate Demon Domain's scheme.

The various powers were stunned.

"No wonder the Heavenly Fox Clan and the Ancient Imperial Clans were growing increasingly tense—it turns out the Ancient Desolate Demon Domain was fanning the flames!"

"They wanted to provoke a war between the two sides to activate this so-called formation?"

"But what was the Ancient Desolate Demon Domain really after? It's said they were setting up an incredibly terrifying formation to sacrifice nearly all life in the Northern Region!"

"Most likely, they sought a way to unlock the Eternal Emperor's formation!"

"Fortunately, the Primordial Holy Land intervened. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!"

"The Ancient Desolate Demon Domain operated too covertly—silent and unnoticed by anyone!"

"Isn't it because everyone's attention was focused on the Southern Frontier?"

"The Yin-Yang Holy Land became complacent. Rumor has it that the Heavenly Demons even set up the formation right at their doorstep, and they still didn't notice!"

"Probably an inside job!"

Although the powers were late to realize the truth, once they grasped the scale of the Ancient Desolate Demon Domain's plans, they were utterly shocked, drawing in cold breaths.

If what the rumors said was true, and the Ancient Desolate Demon Domain had succeeded, not just the Northern Region, but the entire Nine Heavens Realm would have been doomed. Once the formation was activated, the entire realm would fall.

The incident at the Yin-Yang Holy Land further heightened the vigilance of the other factions.

They began scouring not just for miles around but for hundreds of thousands of miles, unwilling to suffer the same fate as the Yin-Yang Holy Land, which remained oblivious until the enemy was at their gates.