Chapter 258: The Long Life Heaven Threat Theory

The Lord God’s Domain housed countless powerful beings. Among them, the top-tier Reincarnators—who had fused numerous cultivation systems—had pushed individual combat strength to its very peak.

Not a single faction present dared claim they could defeat the Lord God’s Domain in a fair fight, especially not within its core territory’s protection.

And yet, in less than an hour, the Lord God’s Domain had been utterly annihilated. All its elites—erased.

Aside from a forbidden existence projecting its will, no one could think of any other possibility.

Taking in the expressions across the hall, Lu Yan revealed a faint, satisfied smile.

He had merely stated the truth—no verbal traps, not even a direct mention of Long Life Heaven.

Before arriving at the summit, Lu Yan had already made thorough preparations.

With so many powerhouses from major Factions gathered, someone might very well have the power to detect lies. To fabricate in such a place would be utter foolishness.

And even if Lu Yan had outright blamed Long Life Heaven, none of these forces would’ve readily believed him.

Instead, by telling only part of the truth—that some existence had annihilated the Reincarnators—such overwhelming force would naturally be linked to a forbidden entity, leading all minds to settle on Long Life Heaven.

None of them could have imagined that the true culprit behind the massacre of Reincarnators… was the Lord God they all revered.

After a moment of stunned silence, Saint Xien voiced the inevitable question.

“Why?”

Although numerous core domains had been attacked over the past seven days, Long Life Heaven had never touched a Ninefold Heaven-tier Faction directly.

And yet now, not only had it wiped out the Lord God’s Domain, but it had done so with such speed that no one had time to react. This was enough to instill fear, even in one called a Saint of the Mortal World.

Lu Yan ignored Xien’s inquiry and said indifferently:

“Long Life Heaven is growing stronger.”

“Each time Long Life Heaven devours a core domain, the will it can project becomes stronger.”

“The weaker factions were never its true target. Even the Ninefold Heaven—are but its nourishment.”

Gasps echoed through the room.

“Can the envoy truly confirm this?”

“Is there evidence that Long Life Heaven is evolving?”

“If even Ninefold Heaven factions are food to it, what is its real goal? The entire Great Collapse Domain?”

“Even our gods don’t interfere here—what kind of being could descend in this realm?”

The room buzzed with speculation. All eyes fell back on Lu Yan.

Lounging atop his seat, fingers steepled, Lu Yan gave them all a quiet, knowing smile.

“Did you all perhaps forget something important?”

The space around him rippled. A faint trace of the Annihilation Rule curled around him, a force that heralded the end of all things. It made everyone’s soul tremble.

Above the central palace, a tear opened in the trembling void, revealing the vast, boundless underworld—Lu Yan’s personal Heaven. Its suppressive force surged forth like a tidal wave.

Everyone instinctively held their breath and lowered their heads. Even Nascent Soul peak cultivators dared not look directly into Lu Yan’s eyes—those eyes that seemed to pierce the fabric of existence.

His voice rang out like divine decree:

“I am not your savior. I have no obligation to provide you with answers.”

“If not for a transaction between the Underworld and the Immortals, I wouldn’t even be here.”

These words sent a chill through every gathered expert.

Within the Ninefold Heavens, the Celestial Alliance’s top combat power was clearly inferior to other top-tier Factions. Yet despite that, they remained among the top three forces of the Great Collapse Domain. At their peak, they had stood alone against half the domain.

Why?

Because behind them stood countless Immortals.

Each Immortal wielded power beyond that of normal forbidden existences.

And the ruler of the Underworld—Lu Yan himself—was said to be one such forbidden figure.

A transaction between two forbidden entities, entangled with the turmoil sweeping the Great Collapse Domain… the connection was inescapable.

Despite Lu Yan’s rebuke, a glimmer of hope stirred in everyone’s heart.

No mortal could resist a forbidden will.

But if multiple forbidden powers were involved… perhaps there was still a path forward.

Just as anticipation mounted, a voice suddenly cut through the air.

“There’s no need to take him at his word.”

Everyone turned toward the speaker—sitting atop the Ninefold Heaven’s dais, bathed in divine light and surrounded by the echoes of faith.

It was Glorus, peak demigod of the Nation of Gods.

His gaze met Lu Yan’s, his tone calm yet laced with undertone.

“Envoy Lu claims he came to the Great Collapse Domain under Immortal guidance, that he knows Long Life Heaven is evolving, and speaks as though intimately familiar with it.”

“But there is still something I do not understand, and I would like him to clarify.”

At that, Slaughtering Lord’s brows furrowed in displeasure. As a descendant of the Heaven Demon Path, her pride and bearing were formidable.

With a flick of her slender fingers, killing intent surged from her eyes.

“Glorus, how dare you!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a mysterious power burst from her body.

It was the aura of a broken Nascent Soul Spirit Treasure. The skies darkened, boundless demon qi surged, crashing toward Glorus in inky waves and leaving ripples in the void.

This treasure had been passed down through generations of the Heaven Demon Path and resonated perfectly with its cultivation.

In the moment she activated it, the Slaughtering Lord’s might rivaled, even surpassed, that of Glorus.

Under this pressure, the divine light around Glorus dimmed—as if stars were veiled by black clouds. Yet his expression remained calm and unchanging.

Standing amidst the demon qi, he spoke without backing down:

“I merely wish to investigate the truth for the sake of everyone present. Slaughtering Lord’s eagerness to silence me… could it be she has something to hide?”

“You—”

The Slaughtering Lord moved to retort, but Lu Yan calmly raised a hand to stop her.

“Let him speak.”

His words were soft—but held the weight of law.

At his command, the Slaughtering Lord immediately withdrew her aura, bowed respectfully, and stepped behind him.

Glorus sneered.

“Months ago, a cultivator appeared at the ruins of the Hollow Profundity Paradise, clashing with both our Nation of Gods demigods and the satellite war fortresses of the Mech City.”

“After destroying the fortresses, he vanished. A month later, he reappeared in Mech City territory, razing multiple resource zones.”

“Shortly after that… Mech City’s core domain disappeared. The Omniscient Mech vanished alongside several satellite fortresses.”

“Our Nation’s divination suggests that this cultivator was directly responsible for Mech City’s fall.”

“Until today, we didn’t know who he was.”

“But now, it seems the culprit behind Mech City’s destruction—was none other than the Underworld’s envoy, Lu Yan?”

An uproar swept the hall.

The fall of Mech City had been momentous. If not for Long Life Heaven’s larger chaos, it would still be dominating headlines.

Now, hearing Glorus’ accusations, suspicion stirred in many eyes.

“Yes. I did it.”

Amid the murmurs, Lu Yan answered without hesitation.

Glorus smirked and turned toward the crowd.

“You heard him. This is the man you’re relying on to protect you. And yet he is the very one who destroyed Mech City.”

“To entrust your fate to such a butcher—what a ridiculous joke!”

But his words failed to sway the room.

Though many harbored doubts, they could not ignore Lu Yan’s transcendent aura, his unfathomable strength.

One of the Tenfold Martial Path’s peak Grandmasters frowned, hands behind his back, then asked solemnly:

“May I ask, Lord Lu… why destroy Mech City?”

Lu Yan laughed heartily, unfazed by the tension.

“The answer is simple. To save all of you. To save the entire Great Collapse Domain.”

“Absurd!”

Glorus snapped. Others murmured in disbelief.

“Mech City was wiped out, and that somehow saved us?”

“Back in our day, at least villains gave proper excuses. This guy can’t even be bothered to pretend.”

“I thought we had a sliver of hope. But now…?”

But to their surprise, the peak experts of the Ninefold Heaven—except Glorus—fell into silence.

Frowns etched their brows. A glint of realization flickered in their eyes.

Lu Yan, bathed in moonlight, surveyed them all and said slowly:

“The one behind Long Life Heaven has fully descended. If you speak their true name, you will draw their gaze.”

“In the Great Collapse Domain, where neither Celestials nor the Underworld’s Emperor can descend, no one can stop Long Life Heaven’s growth.”

A wicked smile played on his lips as he continued:

“To stop this… the only way is to destroy the core domains before Long Life Heaven devours them.”

“Only by preventing it from evolving past a threshold can we, with the aid of this world’s Heavenly Dao, drive that forbidden existence away.”

Shock froze the lesser Factions. Even the Ninefold Heaven’s strongest turned ashen.

They had guessed parts of the truth—but to hear it spoken plainly still made it hard to accept.

Every core domain represented millennia of accumulation. To destroy them would be to erase all that heritage.

Now Lu Yan proposed they destroy it all—for survival.

The first to object was the Grand Marshal of the Great Dawn Dynasty, the Marquis of Valor.

“Our core domain is imperial territory. I am charged with guarding it, not destroying it.”

Others joined in quickly.

“Core domains aren’t to be destroyed lightly.”

“Even if we did… could we really stop a forbidden being?”

“There’s still time. Perhaps Long Life Heaven won’t target us.”

Lu Yan merely smiled coldly.

“I know you’re clinging to hope—thinking Long Life Heaven might skip over you. Or that even if you’re attacked, you might survive.”

“But let me make this clear: in the next three months, Long Life Heaven will devour every last version shard. It will not alter course just because you’re lucky.”

“And if you think you’ll survive the encounter? Don’t forget—the Reincarnators of the Lord God’s Domain were just wiped out.”

“Most of you aren’t even stronger than them. What makes you think you’ll live?”

The reminder hit hard.

Even if they didn’t know how the Reincarnators died, their end was chilling enough.

Sensing the rising dread, Lu Yan felt his heart settle.

By sheer strength alone, he could never confront all these Factions.

But by shaping the threat of Long Life Heaven—and letting them voluntarily abandon their domains—he avoided direct confrontation entirely.

And of course, this only worked because of two factors:

First, he had exaggerated the threat of Long Life Heaven.

Second, he treated all Factions equally.

In group dynamics, the danger is not in scarcity—but in inequality.

If only one or two factions lost their core domains, they would be left crippled and vulnerable. No one would willingly accept that.

Not even under threat of death.

But if everyone lost their core domains, the playing field was level.

The Ninefold Heaven elites wouldn’t be weakened. And for the lesser factions?

If the top dogs gave up millennia of wealth, what right did the small fish have to cling to theirs?

At this point, the plan was already halfway complete.

With that thought, Lu Yan’s gaze fell upon Glorus of the Nation of Gods.

(End of Chapter)