All races revere me as the Heavenly Emperor, solely because of my nine disciples!

"Om..."

In the pitch-black abyss, in the endless darkness, a glimmer of white light seemed to appear, illuminating Zhou Hai's world of consciousness.

In an instant, Zhou Hai felt an overwhelming force surge towards him, causing a tremor deep within his primordial spirit.

"Gah..."

"What's this……"

The smuggler's voice came through, shrill and piercing, it was impossible to tell whether it was laughter or crying.

The next moment, Zhou Hai saw his primordial spirit split in two.

To be precise, the fortune thief separated from him, shaken out of his body by a mysterious force. Because it had merged with his primordial spirit, the fortune thief was imbued with the same fortune as his primordial spirit, just like another avatar of his primordial spirit.

"Buzz!"

Zhou Hai's primordial spirit trembled. In a daze, he felt as if something was making a sound inside his primordial spirit, but he couldn't hear it clearly when he listened carefully. He could only hear a "buzzing" sound.

At this moment, Zhou Hai's primordial spirit was more solid than ever before, almost comparable to his physical body, and flawless.

He even felt that he had truly achieved oneness with the universe, a feeling of perfect fulfillment.

It was as if his primordial spirit had always been missing something, and now it was finally complete.

"Perfect Goddess Embryo?"

"how is this possible?"

How can there truly be perfection in this world?

"What exactly is this thing? Could it be the legendary One?"

The smuggler stared at Zhou Hai in terror. As he spoke, it seemed that some forgotten memories had been triggered, and he clutched his head, his face contorted in pain.

Is it perfect?

"It doesn't seem perfect yet. I think it would be even more perfect if I completely merged with you!"

After a long while, Zhou Hai finally snapped out of his daze from the unknown voice. When he looked at the thieves again, a fiery glint appeared in his eyes.

In a daze, a feeling was driving him to take down the thieves no matter what.

It seems that thieves are an inherent part of him.

Even if you are perfect, you will still have flaws if you let go of the other person.

It's a strange feeling, but it makes you feel somewhat out of control, instinctively wanting the truth.

Go to hell!

"I'm not playing with you anymore!"

In an instant, the thief seemed to sense an overwhelming terror, let out a howl, turned and fled, rushing directly out of Zhou Hai's consciousness world.

"Want to run!"

Zhou Hai shouted, and his primordial spirit hurriedly gave chase. But he saw that the other party had already escaped from his body, so he immediately activated his body, opened his eyes, and was about to give chase again.

"Come here!"

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard, and a stone tablet fell from the sky, catching Zhou Hai completely off guard and instantly smashing him into a bloody pulp.

"boom!"

The stone tablet then pressed down, leaving Zhou Hai utterly powerless to resist. He felt as if all the heavens and the myriad worlds were suppressing him. The intense sense of powerlessness prevented him from even getting up, let alone rebuilding his physical body and reviving.

"what!"

Zhou Hai was dumbfounded. He had no idea where these thieves came from or how they could have so many treasures.

This was the first time in Zhou Hai's life that he had suffered a loss in a battle of magic, and there was absolutely no chance of him turning the tables.

Meanwhile, many others were even more bewildered than him.

The seven sages watching from the void were stunned, as were the sages from the Primordial Holy Land who had made their move.

The saint holding the stone tablet, in particular, looked utterly horrified.

The stone tablet was clearly in his hand just moments ago, but in the blink of an eye it slipped out of his control and flew away on its own.

This is absolutely unbelievable.

And it's not over yet.

Zhou Hai had clearly been suppressed on the spot, but in the blink of an eye, he saw Zhou Hai appear in front of him again.

"Zhou Hai..."

The five sages of the Primordial Holy Land exclaimed in surprise. Before they could react, Zhou Hai opened his mouth, revealing a mouthful of fangs, and pounced on them like a prehistoric beast.

"what……"

All that could be heard was the five sages screaming, as they were instantly enveloped by a huge black shadow below.

Their saintly power was like a joke at this moment, having no effect whatsoever, allowing the fierce Zhou Hai to pin them to the ground and devour them.

In the span of two breaths, the five saints were completely devoured, leaving not even bone fragments. Their soul flames were extinguished, let alone their primordial spirits. They were utterly absorbed by the ferocious Zhou Hai.

"what……"

"Do not……"

The next moment, countless shrill screams echoed from within the Primordial Holy Land.

A figure darted back and forth within the Primordial Holy Land, leaving a trail of screams in its wake as people vanished one after another, completely devoured.

The scene was so horrifying that even the seven sages, far away in the void, felt their legs go weak and their bodies go numb. Their hearts sank to the depths.

What did they see?

There were two Zhou Hais, one was beaten into a pulp and pressed to the ground, and the other was frantically devouring the others.

This scene was more terrifying than hell; even a saint would find it unbearable.

Yaochi, Jinlian, and the others vomited almost immediately.

As cultivators, they were long accustomed to killing. But this was the first time they had ever seen someone devour another. Not to mention the female saints, even the male saints like Dao Xu were finding it difficult to withstand.

It's so scary.

"Drink, drink, drink..."

In less than a quarter of an hour, a great holy land was turned into a dead zone, leaving no one behind. The world was silent, but then Zhou Hai turned around from the forest, gazing into the distance, looking in this direction in the void.

Even a saint couldn't see that far, spanning millions of miles. The seven saints were observing entirely with their divine powers of law, and they could clearly see the coldness and malevolence flashing in Zhou Hai's eyes, as well as the ferocious and terrifying look on his face.

This scene nearly terrified the seven sages on the spot.

"Well……"

Suddenly, Jinlian's body stiffened, and she couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

However, the broken sword fragments controlled by the Seven Saints were so frightened that they burrowed into her clothes to hide, trembling incessantly.

Clearly, even the sword-like cloud within the shards of the short sword was terrified by this scene.

The once unparalleled swordsman now only wants to hide and can't care about anything else.

"You come out!"

Jinlian opened her mouth, wanting to shout it out, but dared not utter a sound.

Being stared at by those eyes, she felt as if she couldn't even make a sound.

Nothing in history has ever caused such a scene to horrify a sage.

But at this moment, this scene actually occurred.

Even the Seven Sages themselves felt that they were like cabbages, always in danger of being devoured.

Moreover, Zhou Hai moved, turning around to quickly chase after them.

Until he realized something, he suddenly stopped and then made a hand seal.

In an instant, the stone tablet shattered, transforming into countless runes that enveloped the entire Primordial Mountain Range.

Amidst the gray runes, the terrifying Zhou Hai also vanished.

Only a clump of bloody mud on the ground wriggled and transformed back into human form, revealing itself to be another Zhou Hai.

"Buzz!"

At this moment, the void shattered, and the nine imperial artifacts appeared one after another, seemingly wanting to hunt down something, but were all repelled by countless runes.

Even an imperial artifact cannot break through these runes immediately.

"Damn it, don't run!"

Zhou Hai was furious. Although he was trapped, he could clearly feel that the thief was using his face to devour cultivators everywhere.

This is a terrifying thing.

Now that the other party dares to do this right in front of me, what if they do it again after they leave? I'm afraid I'll be in deep trouble, no matter what, I won't be able to clear my name even if I jump into the Yellow River.

At this moment, he clearly saw that the other party had entered the depths of the Primordial Beginning and was rushing towards the Eight Desolations Passage.

However, just as he was about to give chase, he was sent flying backward by the shockwave from the gray runes.

These runes have no offensive power, not even the slightest bit of power, but they act like a protective layer that he can't break through.

"What are you still doing?"

"Fight your way in!"

Seeing the nine imperial artifacts hovering in the air, looking like they were watching a show, Zhou Hai couldn't help but curse.

"This barrier cannot be broken!"

"This is the tombstone erected by the Demon Emperor. Now the tombstone is shattered, runes have emerged, and it has transformed into a barrier. Once the barrier breaks, the primordial barrier will completely dissipate, and a great crisis will ensue!"

The voice of the spirit within the Soul-Suppressing Bell came solemnly.

"What do you mean? Are you just going to stand by and watch him get away?"

"The barriers of the eight directions have dissipated, so what major crisis could there be?"

Zhou Hai was dissatisfied. How could he just stand by and watch that disgusting thing with his face escape?

"Master, there are some things you may not understand!"

"This star system is called the Ancient Desolate Star System, and before the Ancient Desolate Star System, there was another great world called the Wilderness!"

"Therefore, the star sea where this star field is located is also called the Wilderness Star Sea. But the wilderness has long been buried, so this star sea also has another name, the Wilderness Great Tomb, also known as the Star Sea Graveyard!"

"Just now, we were led into the Star Tomb by that blood-red array diagram and were trapped for a long time before we were able to escape."

"We have discovered that the thieves have been laying a vast trap in this galaxy for millennia. Once they break free from the primordial suppression, the consequences will be uncontrollable!"

"Now that the tombstone is destroyed, the Primordial Restriction will break sooner or later, perhaps in a few days, perhaps in a few months, or perhaps in a few years!"

"But no matter how long it takes, there will eventually be some buffer time. The important thing is to use this time to understand the smugglers as much as possible. We must not help them when we are completely unprepared!"

The spirit of the Soul-Suppressing Bell hurriedly tried to persuade Zhou Hai.

Zhou Hai understood; this meant he absolutely could not pursue them now, at least not to damage the barrier in front of him.

At the same time, he also heard some key points.

No wonder the nine imperial artifacts have been missing for so long; they were controlled by the Starry Sky Tomb.

This news is truly shocking.

What exactly is this Starry Sky Tomb? It's bad enough that it has caused all the saints of the Northern Wilderness to fall into demonic possession, but now even the nine great imperial artifacts are trapped within, unable to escape for the time being. It must contain immense energy.

"Go on, how much do you really know about these thieves and this Great Tomb of the Stars?"

Zhou Hai's expression turned serious. Although he wished he could catch and kill the thief immediately, it was clear that the small thief was not the whole story.

The real big prize is yet to come, and that's what truly deserves our deepest consideration.

"I don't know much about it, but that's about it!"

"It is precisely for this reason that this sea of ​​stars has been the number one forbidden area in the universe since ancient times!"

"Regarding this first forbidden area, apart from those from the second forbidden area, I'm afraid no one can truly delve into it!"

"Among the nine of us, apart from myself, this is the first time the rest of us have ever heard of the term 'stealers'!"

The Soul-Suppressing Bell uttered another set of words that deeply shocked Zhou Hai.

The First Realm of the Universe?

The fact that the starry sea they inhabit could earn such a title speaks volumes about its level of danger.

It's important to know that other forbidden areas are all guarded by Celestial Venerables. But here, there isn't a single Celestial Venerable, yet it's capable of surpassing all the other forbidden areas and is hailed as the number one.

Needless to say, the level of danger involved is immense.

Unfortunately, the information obtained from the Soul-Suppressing Bell and from the Vast Ocean was mostly fragmentary and could not be fully understood.

This gave Zhou Hai an unprecedented sense of crisis.

When the tombstone barrier in front of us is completely shattered, the primordial chaos collapses, and the barriers of the eight directions are gone, what will happen to the great star beneath our feet?

What kind of situation will emerge in this sea of ​​stars?

The more Zhou Hai thought about it, the more his scalp tingled, and he even lost his burning desire to chase after the thief.

"System, are you still there?!"

"How much do you really know about these smugglers? Can you give me a straight answer?"

Zhou Hai thought of the system again and couldn't help but summon it.

This time, the system finally responded.

"Ding: The system is not yet fully awakened and does not know much about the smugglers."

"With this upgrade, the system has gained access to a large amount of cosmic information, which has been delegated to the Heavenly Library, allowing the host to browse at any time!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Hai opened his mouth, wanting the system to directly inform him of the message.

But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to say those words.

In a daze, he thought of many things. He thought of how he had been like a lazy bum, relying on the system all day long. He also thought of the epiphany in his dream, his self-exploration, and now his retraining.

Gradually, he seemed to understand many things.

"Hehehe...System, are you really just a machine, or are you sure you're not a person?"

"You said I was a teacher, but I feel like you're the one who's more like one."

Suddenly, Zhou Hai uttered these inexplicable words.

However, there was no response from the system, and it fell into complete silence once again.