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It’s getting dark, so close your eyes.

When that voice appeared from the sky, everyone beneath the cover of darkness felt as if it were echoing directly in their ears.

When darkness shrouded the skies, Xuan Ji and the others discussing how best to handle the restriction immediately went on high alert.

Even so, they couldn’t block or resist the incantation. Even more terrifyingly, although they were top imperial-level experts, even they felt exhaustion wash over them, as if they’d never rested once in their entire lives. They wanted nothing more than to close their eyes and have a good rest.

The darkness went on swallowing up the light without pause.

Outside the restriction, Xuan Ji’s head shook despite herself. She didn’t want to just fall asleep, not when she didn’t know why. If she lost consciousness, it would mean her life was out of her hands. The caster might even threaten her life.

Whump! Whump! Whump!

One after another, Xuan Ji’s Divine Generals thudded onto the ground. The heads of the Vermillion Bird and Dragon clans had higher cultivations and could hold out a little longer, but not even they could fight off their impending sleepiness.

Suddenly, the area around Xuan Ji lit up with dazzling golden light. A massive compass appeared beneath her feet, radiating dazzling, piercing golden light. Xuan Ji gnashed her teeth and retained the last of her light and consciousness with everything she had.

“A god-given artifact.” The voice in her ears whispered disdainfully. Xuan Ji saw nothing but a pitch-black hand stretching out from the darkness. It grabbed the Destiny Compass beneath her feet and shattered it directly.

That was a god-given artifact! A treasure uniquely hers, a gift given only to those who condensed a godhead.

Such treasures were far, far stronger than man-made divine artifacts, yet even so, the figure in the darkness had shattered hers just like that, as if it took him no effort at all.

What kind of cultivation did that take?

Xuan Ji’s heart shook, but she had no time to consider the matter.

The voice in her ears resounded once more….

“Sleep!” The soft voice echoed in her ears once more, and determined as she was, she lost the ability to resist any longer. She could only watch as the darkness overcame her and she sunk into complete unconsciousness.

It was much the same back up on the back mountain.

Regardless of cultivation, everyone present was swallowed up in darkness, and all of them collapsed, unconscious, to the ground.

Ye Zichen could only watch helplessly as everyone around him fell: the Great Sage, Pu Jingwan, the viciously arguing We Chen and Tu Kuan, and even the physicians of the Hermits Palace currently treating Su Yan and the other captives.

Throughout the entire area, only three people avoided the incantation: the new Emperor Hades, Yang Jian, and Ye Zichen.

The world had gone terrifyingly quiet. Ye Zichen looked up at the pitch-black skies and felt an indescribable pressure bear down on him, leaving him struggling to breathe.

When that incantation, “It’s gotten dark, so close your eyes” reverberated through Su Yiyun’s ears, his entire world went dark.

He hadn’t been swallowed up, and he hadn’t fallen unconscious because his legacy as Emperor Hades was born of the darkness of night. He was as at home in darkness as a fish was in water.

Yang Jian was much the same. As the bearer of the Star of Slaughter, he didn’t fear the darkness.

“Yang Jian, Yiyun….” Ye Zichen saw them hovering there and couldn’t help but call out.

“Ye-zi, are you okay?” They both rushed over to him. “What’s going on? Why did everything go completely dark all of a sudden?”

“Completely dark?” Ye Zichen frowned.

“That’s right, it’s completely dark. I’m relying purely on sensing your presence to determine your location,” said Yang Jian.

“Me too,” said Emperor Hades Su Yiyun.

They’d been completely enshrouded in darkness!

But Ye Zichen hadn’t been enveloped in darkness.

He could see everything, it was just that the sky had gone completely dark. He didn’t hear that demonic whisper telling him to close his eyes.

“Ye-zi, you’re saying that you’re not like us?” Yang Jian.

“It seems that way.” Ye Zichen furrowed his brows. “From my perspective, it’s just gotten dark, but I can see everything else. It seems the others have all collapsed and fallen asleep. Only the three of us are still conscious.”

“What’s going on?” Yang Jian arched his brows.

“Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” Su Yiyun relentlessly tried to sense their surroundings. “Light was suddenly swallowed up in darkness, and everyone fell unconscious and collapsed. Only the three of us are still awake. The Emperors Hades have always been partial to the dark, and the Star of Slaughter is the same way, which is likely why we’re still awake. Otherwise, we would have fallen asleep just like the rest of them.”

“Then Ye-zi…”

“Yes, he’s most likely the key here,” said Su Yiyun. “He can still see everything clearly, which must mean that the caster deliberately excluded him. The caster made so many people fall asleep at once, including imperial-level experts; they couldn’t even begin to resist. All I can say is this: the first Emperor Hades was just an inch away from transcendence, but he could never have done this. In that case, the caster’s cultivation….”

Su Yiyun started to speak, but stopped.

As the inheritor of Emperor Hades’ title, he’d inherited far too much, including his predecessors’ skills and knowledge.

At his peak, not even the three Realm Emperors combined were a match for the first generation Emperor Hades, yet not even he could have made so maybe people, including rulers, fall asleep without so much as the chance to resist.

It’s worth noting that, at his peak, the first Emperor Hades was just half a step from transcendence.

For this new arrival to cast a spell beyond the ken of even the first Emperor Hades…. Did that mean…?

This new arrival was a transcendent!?

“A transcendent?” That was the only possibility Ye Zichen could think of.

But wait: the First Era’s Master of the Stars had already fallen; that era’s Auxiliary Stars had told him so. The Second Era’s Master of the Stars had already overturned the heavens and become a star, while this was the Third Era.

Every era could only have one transcendent. The Auxiliary Stars of the First Era had told him so!

Ye Zichen suddenly thought about the Dragon God.

A half-step transcendent.

Could this person be one too?

But if so, what was their goal? Why go to such great lengths, casting a sleep spell on everyone present, only to exclude Ye Zichen?

“So, there are still two left.” A soft voice brushed past their ears. Yang Jian and Su Yiyun instantly unleashed their auras, but they couldn’t determine just where the voice had come from.

But Ye Zichen could see him: he was standing right in front of him.

Also….

“What the…” Ye Zichen stared, wide-eyed at the new arrival, too stunned to talk. However, his heart clenched violently, and his breathing grew ragged.

“You’re scared?” The new arrival chuckled, bypassing Ye Zichen completely and stopping before his friends. “Let’s see what’s so special about the two of you? Oh? You inherited Emperor Hades’ title, and you’re the Star of Slaughter. No wonder you could resist my sleeping spell.”

The arrival nodded, then gently tapped each of them on the head. “Go to sleep. You ought to be tired, too.”

And suddenly, they were!

As soon as the words hit their ears, Yang Jian and Su Yiyun felt an uncontrollable, powerful wave of exhaustion course through them. Despite their attempt to struggle, they couldn’t shake it off. Soon, they too collapsed.

Only then did this new arrival approach Ye Zichen.

But it was then that Ye Zichen spoke…

“Gu Li.”