I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 50 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Free Members will get 10 Chapters Ahead of the schedule on Patreon!!!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—
...In the mental Domain of the Eternal Heaven, which was pure white, void, and where time and space seemed to lose all meaning.
For the millions of beings swept into it, it might have been an ordeal long enough to shatter their Souls, or perhaps merely an instant of cognitive stagnation.
In that World dominated by Xuan Ming's absolute will, the measure of time lost its significance.
They only heard the cold choice:
"Submission... or Destruction?"
Immediately afterward, before they could react—or rather, regardless of the choice they made in their hearts during that "instant"—all their consciousnesses were forcibly ejected from that pure white Domain by an irresistible force!
Ooom—
Like the ebbing of a tide, Souls returned to their bodies.
On the battlefield, the deafening cries of slaughter, the explosions of Spirit Abilities, and the roars of Soul-Guided Cannons once again filled their eardrums.
The smell of blood and gunpowder assaulted them.
It was as if the strange, pure white World they had just experienced was only a collective hallucination.
"Wha... what just happened?"
"I think I heard a voice..."
"Was it a hallucination? Or some kind of mental attack?"
"Where are the enemies? Why aren't they moving?"
Following the brief silence was greater chaos and alarm.
Both the Heaven Dou Star Luo coalition army and the Spirit Empire defenders looked at each other, completely bewildered.
The strange scene just now was beyond everyone's comprehension.
However, this confusion and sense of reprieve lasted for less than a single breath.
The next moment, the World changed color!
The sky, which had been clear or hazy, was instantly covered simultaneously above the Ten Great Battlefields by boundless, leaden-heavy dark clouds!
The dark clouds hung low, seemingly within reach. Inside them, instead of rolling blue electrical snakes, there was... scarlet, blood-red lightning!
RUMBLE—!!!
It wasn't just one or two bolts, but a torrential downpour!
Countless thick bolts of blood-red lightning, carrying the purest aura of slaughter and destruction, poured down madly from the heavy dark clouds, like a punishment delivered by an enraged Heavenly God!
Divine Ability: Heavenly Execution!
This was no longer a Domain acting on the mind; it was a real, devastating natural disaster!
The target of the blood-red lightning was not specific military Formations, but... it accurately locked onto every single individual!
"No—!"
"Run!"
"Defend! Form the Formation!"
Screams of terror, shouts of despair, and hurried flashes of Spirit Abilities erupted across the battlefields instantly.
But, it was useless!
The blood-red lightning seemed to possess Life and will, accurately bypassing the Souls who had chosen "submission" immediately in their hearts while inside the "Eternal Heaven."
Instead, it ruthlessly directed the spearhead of destruction toward those individuals whose hearts had held a trace of hesitation, resistance, or even firm opposition.
Regardless of whether they were charging knights of the Heaven Dou Empire, elite Spirit Masters of the Star Luo Empire, or... the "insiders" within the Spirit Empire who were outwardly compliant but secretly rebellious and slacking off!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Lightning rained down, and death wove its tapestry!
Figure after figure instantly vaporized in the blood-red lightning, unable even to let out a scream.
Sturdy armor, hastily erected spirit power shields, and jointly established defensive Formations were as fragile as paper before the blood-red lightning containing the will of the Divine Punishment!
In just a few breaths!
The Ten Great Battlefields, previously roaring with noise and teeming with people, were instantly cleared!
More than two-thirds of the people vanished.
Only charred marks, melted metal fragments, and the nauseating smell of burning and ozone permeated the air where they stood.
The survivors, regardless of which side they belonged to, stood frozen in place, their faces deathly pale, trembling all over as if they had been petrified.
They watched in terror as vast areas instantly emptied around them, seeing comrades they had just fought alongside or against turn to ash, their minds completely blank.
Fear—the most primal and profound fear—instantly bound the heart of every survivor like a cold viper.
Xuan Ming knew very well that the spiritual crushing power of the "Eternal Heaven" was sufficient to erase these millions of people at the Soul level.
But for Mortals, that was too abstract, too "quiet."
They needed a more intuitive, bloodier, and more impactful way to understand the price of "defiance."
They needed to witness firsthand how the resistors were annihilated under the majestic Heavenly Might, to smell the scent of scorched flesh, and to use the cruelest visual shock to deeply brand the word "Fear" onto the depths of their Souls!
Only in this way could the so-called "Authority" be truly established.
The blood-red lightning gradually ceased, the low-hanging dark clouds slowly dispersed, and the sunlight once again fell upon the earth, illuminating the messy, corpse-strewn battlefield.
Although those killed by the Heavenly Execution left no bodies, many had already died in the preceding period of the war.
The surviving soldiers stood blankly in place, like birds startled by a bowstring, having lost all Battle Intent and capacity for thought.
They would remember everything that happened today for the rest of their Lives... The battle report from the front line, like a miracle and a nightmare combined, spread rapidly across the entire continent through various channels, faster than any army could march, like a plague.
Heaven Dou City, Star Luo City, Spirit City... The first reaction of all forces, Families, and even ordinary people who received the news was disbelief, followed by boundless shock and deathly fear.
"Ten major battlefields... simultaneously struck by lightning from the heavens?"
"Blood-red lightning... accurately killed over three million people?!"
"Whether it was the Heaven Dou and Star Luo armies, or those within our own Empire who... harbored disloyalty, none were spared?!"
"This... how is this possible?!"
Initially there was suspicion, but when details from different channels, including the trembling descriptions of surviving soldiers who had witnessed it firsthand, perfectly matched, all doubt turned into cold reality and bone-deep terror.
That wasn't war; that was Divine Punishment!
Panic, like an invisible wave, instantly swept across every corner of the Two Great Empires and the Spirit Empire.
In the streets and alleys, no one dared to speak loudly; people exchanged terrified glances, instinctively softening even their breaths.
The fervent Battle Intent that had previously permeated the Two Great Empires, and the resentment and dissatisfaction surging beneath the surface within the Spirit Empire, were extinguished in that moment like charcoal doused in ice water, leaving only cold ashes and biting chill.
They didn't even dare to recall their previous resistance to the Spirit Empire's new policies, nor did they dare to calculate the privileges they had lost.
Because fear—the most primitive and direct kind of fear—had already gripped their Souls.
They were afraid that if even a trace of "disrespect" toward the new order arose in their hearts, the destructive blood-red lightning would descend out of thin air again and turn them into ash!
Accurately killing millions of people! Traversing space! Judgment based on a single thought! This was beyond human capability! This was a miracle! Or rather... Divine Wrath!
No one dared to question the Spirit Empire's new policies anymore, and no one dared to secretly complain about the loss of Spirit Master privileges.
Because a stronger fear had overwhelmed all dissatisfaction and resentment.
People didn't even dare to harbor thoughts of resistance deep in their hearts, fearing that the unseen "Heavenly Punishment" would sense their disrespect and unleash the destructive blood lightning.
Under this extreme fear, another emotion quietly began to breed—worship!
Worship of absolute power, and reverence for the authority that controls Life and death!
Countless people began to pray spontaneously, offering the most devout faith toward Spirit City, toward the unknown existence that brought the "Divine Punishment."
They begged for forgiveness, pleaded for protection, and prayed not to provoke that supreme Authority.
Vast Power Of Faith, mixed with fear, reverence, and supplication, began to surge continuously from every corner of the continent towards Spirit City, towards the direction where Xuan Ming resided, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea.
The entire continental structure was completely rewritten because of this "Heavenly Execution," which far exceeded everyone's imagination.
The old order, along with its supporters, was completely crushed by blood and thunder.
And the new order, an order built upon absolute fear and reverence, was descending upon the Mortal World in an incomparably cruel manner.