A snow-white frost hound, its body bristling with icicles, hung its head low, showing no intention of resistance. Its crystal-clear frosty form was undeniably beautiful and dazzling, yet at this moment, it could not hide the helplessness in its eyes.

 

Near The Tyrant Wolf Savage, stood some Demon Barbarians.

 

The most eye-catching among them was a giant eagle, its body enveloped in flames. Within the fire, its black feathers gleamed as if forged from metal. Compared to its appearance in the first corridor, the flames on Eagle Flame had diminished, but they had become more condensed.

 

Behind The Tyrant stood a little giant, twice the height of a man, with a dragon's head and a human body, surrounded by a halo of vital energy—it was Long Ridge.

 

Besides him, there were four other Demon Barbarians, either saints' sons or from saintly tribes.

 

The three tribes of the Demon Clan's Presented Scholars and elite demon generals all gathered in the Comet Corridor, but in the end, less than ten had made it here.

 

Behind the frost hound, the wind and snow were overwhelming. The speed of the swirling poisonous blade snow there was ten times that of other places, and a mere glance was enough to send shivers down one's spine.

 

Behind the dense curtain of poisonous blade snow, there was a massive throne made of ice. Within the ice throne, there were many phantom stars, meteors, comets, moons, suns, and even galactic spirals.

 

This throne seemed to stand atop the endless starry sky, looking down upon all the universe.

 

Aside from the frost hound, all the Demon Barbarians were fixated on the Star Throne, each one yearning to sit upon it immediately and then control the stars.

 

Fang Yun continued to approach.

 

Long Ridge suddenly turned to look at Eagle Flame and said, "Eagle Flame, we were once evenly matched, but now with the frost hound on my side, your defeat is certain. You're different from Wolf Savage; killing a saint's son like him would at most earn the enmity of some Wolf Savage tribes, and I don't want to kill you."

 

Fang Yun also looked at Eagle Flame, curious to see what the fiery demon eagle saint's son would do.

 

"The Demon Ancestor created this Comet Corridor to test the strength of us Demon Barbarians and to select disciples. The capable step forward, the incapable step back, fair and just. You, as a member of the Demon Clan, even a Dragon Savage saint's son, dare to use the Demon Ancestor's jade token to usurp the Star Throne. I wonder what the Demon Ancestor would think if he knew of this."

 

Long Ridge smiled and said, "Don't scold me. If I were desperately vying for the Star Throne, your criticism would be fair, but I don't want to compete for the Star Throne."

 

"Oh?" Eagle Flame was puzzled.

 

Fang Yun then looked at The Tyrant, who was grinning.

 

The Wolf Savage saint's son whispered from within a bone fragment, "Hmph, it seems The Tyrant has promised Long Ridge some great benefit, a benefit even greater than the Star Throne."

 

Eagle Flame said, "You didn't come here for the Star Throne. Are you here for a leisurely visit?"

 

"Before I came here, my tribe told me that if I became the Star King, I must immediately distance myself from the Demon Emperor and his people. Because someone said that the Demon Emperor would kill every Star King, whether Demon Barbarian or human."

 

"What about that Dragon Clan princess?" asked Eagle Flame.

 

"If she can't be killed, that's another matter. Do you think I can compare with the Dragon Clan princess? I… would rather not have this Star Throne." Long Ridge said, suddenly looking at The Tyrant with a smile in his eyes.

 

"So it's for this Wolf Savage. Frost hound, as a subordinate of the Demon Ancestor, you have guarded the Star Throne for thousands of years. Are you just going to watch this happen?" Eagle Flame challenged.

 

The frost hound sighed helplessly, the wind and snow raging around it, and said, "I am here to guard for the Demon Ancestor, so naturally, I must obey the Demon Ancestor's jade token."

 

Eagle Flame looked at The Tyrant and said, "If I were to fight for this Star Throne, how would you deal with me?"

 

The Tyrant smiled and said, "The frost hound is immortal; you might be able to kill it once, but not twice or thrice. We don't need to deal with you; the frost hound alone is enough."

 

Eagle Flame's flames surged, all the fire flowing behind him, leaving not a single flame on his body, while a scorching sun appeared behind him, its solar fire melting all the surrounding poisonous blade snow. The nearby Demon Barbarians had to retreat.

 

Fang Yun, still far away, felt a wave of heat rushing towards him.

 

"Eagle Flame, are you going to fight me?" Long Ridge's vital energy suddenly turned into a fierce wind, and then a huge white dragon skull appeared behind him, thirty meters in size, its presence far surpassing the sun behind Eagle Flame.

 

Eagle Flame said, "I came here for the Star Throne. If I don't fight the frost hound, how will I know if I can succeed or fail? As for you, you may get the Star Throne, but it will never belong to you!"

 

Eagle Flame leaned forward slightly, his wings spread, the Ancestral Spirit Sun merging into his body, transforming him into a fiery red shadow, like a bolt of lightning striking the frost hound.

 

The fierce collision between Eagle Flame and the frost hound was a contest between fire and ice, a decisive battle between red and white.

 

"Boom…"

 

The collision of the two demons erupted in blinding light, creating violent shockwaves that scattered in all directions, forcing the nearby Demon Barbarians to retreat. White frost and red flames shot up into the sky, followed by hail on one side and a rain of fire on the other.

 

As the light faded, the figures of the frost hound and Eagle Flame were revealed.

 

Fang Yun was astonished because the frost hound was now pitch black, completely devoid of its previous crystal-clear, frosty white appearance—it was just a big black dog that had been scorched.

 

Eagle Flame's feathers were all frozen and shattered, looking like a plucked chicken ready for the pot.

 

The dog and the eagle looked at each other and slowly backed away.

 

Eagle Flame said, "The final test for the Star King is to kill you once. I believe I can kill you, even if I die in the process. Knowing this is enough. The Star Throne may belong to you, but victory belongs to me, and I will still soar in the clear sky!"

 

Eagle Flame made no attempt to hide his contempt, casting a disdainful glance at Long Ridge.

 

Long Ridge smiled and said, "The sky tribe indeed has pride, but you've forgotten about Dou Ji. If he were here, you wouldn't dare say such things."

 

"Too bad he's not here," said Eagle Flame.

 

"Huh?" The frost hound suddenly looked into the snowstorm.

 

Everyone else quickly turned to look.

 

They saw a young man in a deep blue bamboo leaf Talented Scholar's robe steadily approaching through the wind and snow, the knife-like wind and arrow-like snow all being pushed aside by him. The terrifying seventh corridor seemed to have no effect on him at all.

 

This young man had a calm expression and clear eyes, as if he could see through heaven and earth.

 

The Tyrant suddenly chuckled softly, "The wind and snow usher the gentleman's arrival, what a good omen!"

 

Upon hearing The Tyrant's words, the Demon Barbarians felt a chill on their scalps. They had stumbled all the way here, but this human had come all the way as if escorted by the wind and snow, completely disregarding the seventh corridor.

 

"Long Ridge, since we agreed to meet in the sixth corridor but did not, let's settle it here!"

 

A hint of wariness flashed in Long Ridge's eyes as he glanced at The Tyrant.

 

The Tyrant immediately said, "Don't entangle with him! When the Demon Saint arrives, he will naturally kill him. There's no need for us to take risks! Long Ridge, you must understand what it means for a Presented Scholar to enter the seventh corridor alone. That sound of the Path of the Saints in the sixth corridor must have been made by this person."

 

"He publicly insulted me as a beast; I must kill him!" Long Ridge said.

 

"Think about our cooperation, think about whether killing him is more important, or finding that… something useful to you is more important," The Tyrant said leisurely.

 

Long Ridge's eyes were filled with murderous intent, but upon hearing The Tyrant's words, his fighting spirit vanished.

 

"Fine! Let the frost hound kill him! Once his energy is exhausted, I'll make my move!" Long Ridge was no longer as impulsive as before.

 

The Tyrant looked at Fang Yun and smiled.

 

"Fang Zhenguo, we meet again," The Tyrant said.

 

"It must be hard for you, not being a proper person, but playing both leopard and wolf," Fang Yun said.

 

The Tyrant's smile remained, saying, "It doesn't matter, as long as I achieve my Path of the Saints, even if I become a dog, it's irrelevant."

 

"Oh, so even becoming the first reverse-breed Semi-Saint is irrelevant as long as you can become a saint?"

 

"I have my own path to sainthood, no need for reverse breeding. Besides, even if my path to sainthood is cut off, becoming a reverse-breed saint is not a big deal. As for you, say what you want to say. I admire your talent, but if you don't die, I can't rest easy!"

 

The Tyrant's smile faded, and his gaze grew colder.

 

"Then I'll try my best to keep you restless and then send you to eternal sleep. That's what I wanted to say, too bad your true body can't hear it," Fang Yun said.

 

"No, the true body will certainly hear it, and I will take everything you've gained in The Holy Land back with me! No one can stop me! This Star Throne will surely be mine!" The Tyrant raised his head high.

 

"I'm very curious about what you encountered in The Holy Land eight years ago. That Demon Clan jade token isn't something you can get easily," Fang Yun asked.

 

The Tyrant laughed and said, "Are you recovering your energy? Gathering the power of The Courage to Write? It doesn't matter because you are destined to die. At this point, those secrets can be revealed. It's simple, before my ancestor Meng went missing, he accidentally entered the Chaotic Star Chessboard from an ancient place and ended up at the Demon Ancestor's doorstep, then from there, he entered The Holy Land in reverse! Unfortunately, he was too severely injured at the time and couldn't return to the Holy Origin Mainland, so he hid part of his gains in a certain place in Dragon Cliff, then sent a dream to that generation's family head. The rest, you already know."

 

Fang Yun said, "So that's how it is. The Barbarian Saint knew the future was bleak and worried about the descendants of the Meng family, so he left a method for revival. But the Barbarian Saint had too many enemies, and he feared that sending it to the Meng family would bring disaster to his descendants, and he also worried that unworthy descendants would squander it, so he placed it in Dragon Cliff. Only those of the Meng family who could enter The Holy Land's Dragon Cliff could bear the responsibility of reviving the Meng family; otherwise, it would be better for that thing to remain in Dragon Cliff forever. And this method of splitting the spirit, as well as re-entering The Holy Land with the military book 'Secret Passage to Chen Cang,' were all conceived by the Barbarian Saint back then. Am I right?"

 

"Indeed, you are the number one Talented Scholar of the ten nations. I originally wanted to do everything as the Barbarian Saint instructed. Unfortunately, although my talent surpasses the Barbarian Saint's, the Meng family… is no longer the Meng family of the past. The Barbarian Saint's original plan was not to borrow 'Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals,' but to directly borrow Sage Confucius's personally written 'Commentary on the I Ching' from the Kong Family. Unfortunately, he overlooked one thing; without him, our Meng family had no right to borrow the works of Sage Confucius. For the revival of the Meng family, for the ability to seize the Star Throne within ten years, I had to transform from Meng Lin Hall into The Tyrant!"

 

The Tyrant smiled, showing no regret.

 

"Ah, I understand now. It's not that you're stupid or foolish, but that you haven't stepped out of the shadow of the Barbarian Saint. You, your Meng family, were never supposed to seize this Star Throne by following his methods!" Fang Yun's gaze towards The Tyrant suddenly held a trace of pity.

 

"Are you trying to disturb my mind? Unfortunately, it's useless because I'm not the one who will take action," The Tyrant said. (To be continued.)