Chapter 1691: Reverse Attack on the Heavenly Realm

In a terrifying roar, Hunyuan Province, like a stone falling from the sky, plummeted rapidly.

Ten breaths later, with a crack, it completely detached from the Central Lands and plunged into the boundless darkness of the void.

Waves of terrifying spatial power, like a tsunami, swept across the entire great province.

The vast province instantly disintegrated, torn into countless fragments of land.

The mountains, rivers, and vegetation on it were instantly pulverized, and spirit beasts that couldn't escape were ripped to shreds in an instant.

The fleeing tides of Ancient Giants were swept by the power of the void and rushed into the boundless nothingness.

This was true for ordinary Ancient Giants, and also for those at the Giant King realm.

Roars of sorrow, wails, and shouts echoed through the earth and sky.

Inside the Domain Mirror, Princess Zijian knelt on the ground, pounding the mirror with all her might. Her palms were raw and bleeding.

"No!!!"

She screamed in despair, golden tears streaming from her eyes.

Why had it come to this?

It was supposed to be a hunt by the Ancient Giants, yet in the end, their entire army was annihilated!

Everyone who had descended to the Central Lands, except for the Giant Emperors, had perished.

In ten thousand years, no battle had ever been so devastating!

Just then, she saw Jiang Fan, watching him stand with his hands behind his back, calmly observing the tides of Ancient Giants being torn and swallowed by the void. Her fury erupted as she roared:

"Jiang Fan!!! Are you happy now?"

"Your Central Lands won!"

Jiang Fan looked up at the sky, shaking his head slightly:

"How could I be happy? My former master, Deacon Yunyang, is dead. A strict elder, Deacon Ningkun, is also dead. Tian Ting Bodhisattva, who was both an enemy and a friend, is dead. Wangqing Yelao, who was kind to me, is also dead. Now, even my most respected Great Venerable Xingyuan is about to die. Tell me, how could I be happy?"

Jiang Fan lowered his head, slowly looking at her. His reddened eyes were filled with undiminished killing intent:

"Do you remember what I said before the great battle?"

Princess Zijian stared at Jiang Fan with hatred. Her mind involuntarily replayed the memory, and then her body trembled, her pupils constricting sharply.

Jiang Fan held the Domain Mirror close to his face, allowing Princess Zijian to clearly see the icy coldness in the depths of his eyes:

"It seems you remember! I once said that one day we would counterattack the Heavenly Realm and make you Ancient Giants experience what it's like to be hunted! Those who kill will be killed! When you treat us people of the Central Lands as livestock, you must also be prepared to become livestock yourselves!"

Princess Zijian's body trembled violently.

When Jiang Fan had said those words back then, she had scoffed.

Because the Central Lands had little hope of even surviving this catastrophe.

However, the Central Lands had won, and the Heavenly Realm had suffered a crushing defeat.

Now, she could no longer laugh!

Every word this man had spoken was coming true, step by step.

The counterattack on the Heavenly Realm and the hunt for the Ancient Giants would also eventually come to pass!

Princess Zijian shook her head: "No! You won't succeed! Our Giant Emperors are all here. Whoever comes to the Heavenly Realm will die!"

Jiang Fan's eyes were deep as he pointed to the pillar of light above:

"Do you know what it can bring?"

Princess Zijian replied: "A Truce Monument, but it can only save you from the next thousand years of war. It cannot help you fight against the Giant Emperors!"

Jiang Fan smiled: "Does my Central Lands still need a Truce Monument? Should we wait another two thousand years for you to invade again? The Central Lands' misfortune should end with our generation. I will sell the Truce Monument to worlds that need it, on the condition that all their Sages serve my Central Lands! Until the Heavenly Realm is annihilated, I will not rest!!!"

Princess Zijian's pupils contracted to pinpricks.

Intelligent as she was, she had already grasped the feasibility of this plan.

Too many worlds needed a Truce Monument, willing to sacrifice even several Sages for it.

Inviting their Sages to assist in destroying the Southern Heavenly Realm—no world would refuse!

"No! Don't!" Princess Zijian pleaded, trembling all over: "Only the old, the weak, and the women and children are left in our Heavenly Realm. Please spare them. I beg you!"

Jiang Fan said expressionlessly: "The old, the weak, and women and children? When you were strong, you treated the beings of my Central Lands as livestock. Now that you are weak, you beg for sympathy with the old, the weak, and women and children? In my eyes, there are only two kinds of giants: the living, and the dead!"

Princess Zijian urgently said: "Jiang Fan, I apologize to your Central Lands on behalf of the giants. Please be merciful and let them go!"

Jiang Fan sneered: "Don't say such naive words born of desperation. They don't befit your intelligence!"

Having spoken, he muted the sound of the Domain Mirror, remaining indifferent no matter how Princess Zijian cried out.

He simply allowed her to silently witness her own people all plummeting into the boundless void.

In the sky, the Central Tribal Emperor was filled with grief and indignation.

"Jiang Fan!!!"

His eyes were splitting with rage; he wished he could tear Jiang Fan to shreds!!!

If Jiang Fan hadn't interfered, the Heavenly Relic City Lord would have succeeded!

Watching the last of the Heavenly Realm's Nascent Soul elites fall into the void, his heart ached as if pierced by a knife. He flashed, wanting to pursue them into the void and save as many as possible.

But the Grand Wine Sacrifice stopped him, saying:

"I told you to retreat earlier, but you chose to gamble everything. Now it's too late for regrets! Stop them until the Ancient Giants are completely annihilated!"

The extremely weak Sages, gathering their last strength, desperately blocked the enraged Giant Emperors and the Ten Sins of the Central Lands.

Soon after, with a tremendous roar, Hunyuan Province, having plunged into the void, finally shattered into countless pieces.

Except for Wenhai Academy, which remained intact due to the protection of its formation, the rest of the land had been reduced to ruins, making life impossible.

Great Venerable Xingyuan, who had been orchestrating the wish, had also lost all his vast spiritual energy and nearly all his life force.

He could no longer maintain himself, and was blown away by the void like a torn sack.

But several presences swept past in quick succession. It was several Great Venerables who intervened, carrying him back.

Jiang Fan put away the Void Fishing Rod he had been preparing to use, watching Great Venerable Xingyuan slowly descend.

No one could bear to let a person who had sacrificed everything for the Central Lands simply be taken by the void.

Jiang Fan gently nudged Venerable Zhenyan.

Great Venerable Xingyuan still had a trace of breath left; this was Venerable Zhenyan's last chance.

Venerable Zhenyan hesitated for a moment.

As she saw Great Venerable Xingyuan, his body exhausted by the wish, his hair completely white, and his face aged, the coldness in her heart melted.

She flew forward, caught Great Venerable Xingyuan, and with tears in her eyes, after many years, finally uttered that word:

"Father."

Great Venerable Xingyuan's already closed eyes opened at this cry.

In his dim eyes, a glimmer of light flickered.

He weakly took out a jade box.

Inside were two golden, spherical beads, one large and one small.

The larger one was the merit Jiang Fan had given him, while the smaller one was the merit he had accumulated over many years.

"Buyu... Father won't see you get married..."

"These two portions of merit... consider them your dowry..."

Venerable Zhenyan's tears fell like rain: "Father!"

Great Venerable Xingyuan placed the jade box into her embrace, and his hand fell limply. His eyes slowly closed.

A contented smile graced his face.

"The mission of the Confucian cultivators... is finally complete..."

"May the Central Lands... enjoy... peace... for ten thousand generations..."

As his last whisper faded, Great Venerable Xingyuan closed his eyes forever.

The contemporary leader of Confucianism, Great Venerable Xingyuan, had fallen.