Chapter 178: Race Against Death

In midair, Edward himself was taken aback. The corner of his lips gradually curved upward, and unable to contain his elation, he threw his head back and laughed out loud.

He had put just a bit of effort into that attack. It was nowhere near his limit. If I go all out, who in this world can stop me?

A red gleam flashed across his eyes. His blood-red cloak instantly wrapped around him, and the Devil Cross carried him thousands of kilometers away in the blink of an eye.

At the edge of a ruin, numerous superheroes stared ahead in horror. The once-prosperous metropolis and its towering walls had been razed to the ground. Tens of millions of lives had vanished before their very eyes, without even a corpse left behind.

Mantis Man stared at the smoldering metropolis and muttered to himself, "Edward... Could he have already broken through to God rank?"

Green Titan clenched his fists. "Right now, Edward is far too powerful. We need to avoid him. Once Supreme Hero breaks through to God rank, we can settle the score with him."

"God rank? Settle the score with me?" Edward's voice suddenly rang out.

Before anyone could react, a streak of crimson light flashed past and appeared behind the group. Green Titan's eyes widened as he slowly lowered his gaze toward his chest. The crimson light had pierced straight through his chest. The regenerative ability he had taken pride in failed to take effect. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. In the end, he dropped weakly to his knees.

Everyone else spun around and stared at Edward hovering in the air, tense and ready for battle.

Edward looked down upon the assembled superheroes and said indifferently, "Kneel and submit to me, or... die!"

Although he could wipe out every living being on Blue Planet, doing so would bring him no benefit. He wanted to rule over the planet and turn fifty percent of its human population into vampires, thus creating an inexhaustible source of power. As long as he maintained the right balance, he would possess an endless supply of power.

Additionally, he could not rule a planet entirely on his own. He needed a few lapdogs. These superheroes were perfectly suited for the role. Moreover, he had absolute confidence in his ability to "train" dogs. After all, he had spent over five hundred years training the entire Blood Race like dogs, manipulating them in the palm of his hand right up until their very deaths.

Despite trembling from fear, Mantis Man glared at Edward. "You devil! You deserve to burn in hell! I will never submit to you!"

The next second, the Devil Cross behind Edward fired a crimson beam at Mantis Man, leaving behind only half of his body.

Edward swept his gaze at the superheroes before him before setting his eyes on Supreme Hero. "What about you, Supreme Hero? Why don't you set an example for the others?"

Supreme Hero stood among the crowd. Although his arms had stopped bleeding, it would still take at least two hours for his hands to regenerate. As he stared at Edward, indecisiveness gripped him. He knew very well that the moment he said no, he would be the next to die.

"It seems..." Disappointment crossed Edward's face, and the crimson glow in his eyes grew increasingly intense.

Supreme Hero's heart tightened. Under the threat of death, he immediately dropped to his knee. "I... am willing to submit!"

Every other superhero fell into despair. Then, in order to survive, one superhero after another knelt. When Edward saw this, he again burst into laughter. The superheroes on their knees, however, all turned ashen.

Yu Xian knew the outcome had been decided. He closed most of his eyeball bubbles, each smaller than a speck of dust. The Glorious Dragon Empire had fallen to Edward's grasp. Before long, the entire Blue Planet would become Edward's plaything.

Back at his Island Pocket Dimension, Yu Xian, who had been sitting on a lounge chair, slowly opened his eyes, his expression solemn. If he had lacked a clear grasp of just how terrifying a Star-rank powerhouse was before, he certainly had one now.

At that moment, Zhang Shou rushed over with his phone and shouted, "Something terrible has happened. Edward has appeared in the capital of the Glorious Dragon Empire!"

Gong Qian and the others immediately took out their phones and checked the news. Although Yu Xian had witnessed everything through his eyeball bubbles, he also pulled out his phone, wanting to see how much information had spread online. He opened the news app he usually used. Sure enough, Edward's appearance was the number one trending story.

Yu Xian clicked open a video. Judging by the angle, the person filming it had probably been hiding within a nearby building, roughly two hundred meters away from Edward. Although that person was already dead, they had uploaded the video to the internet before meeting their end.

Yu Xian felt that the video failed to capture the true scale of Edward's terrifying power. The instant Edward's rage flared, the surrounding walls and windows cracked under the pressure, and even the phone recording him malfunctioned.

Closing his eyes, Yu Xian edited the scenes he had witnessed in his mind. Once he had finished assembling the video, he pitifully looked at Eternal Purity. "Auntie, please!"

Eternal Purity did not mind Yu Xian treating her like a tool. As long as it did not violate her principles, she was very willing to assist him; helping others brought her joy and also power.

She smiled and tapped a finger against Yu Xian's forehead, then tapped his phone.

Yu Xian opened his phone's storage and, sure enough, found a new video inside. "Thank you, Auntie!"

He transferred the video to the phone issued by Qilin and uploaded the video to the Qilin app. Then he shouted, "Zhang Shou, hurry and watch the video I posted on the Qilin app."

Zhang Shou immediately opened the Qilin app. After watching the video, he stopped making a fuss. Gong Qian and Bluebird also fell silent. Xiong Da had watched the video while leaning against Zhang Shou. Since fighting and killing were common for him in the wilderness, he remained relatively calm.

He turned toward Yu Xian. "Boss, was this Edward planning to come for us first?"

Yu Xian's video had started with a burst of crimson light from Lunar Orb. It then showed the crimson light traveling through space and entering the Blue Planet's atmosphere, where it initially headed straight for Huaxia. Only after discovering that Huaxia had vanished did it pause and change course toward the Glorious Dragon Empire.

The entire sequence was presented with perfect clarity. Everyone who watched the video understood exactly what it meant.

Gong Qian angrily declared, "Edward... one day, I'm going to beat him to death!"

Yu Xian solemnly looked at the others. "Edward's hostility toward Huaxia cannot be more obvious. Therefore, we must grow stronger as quickly as possible. Before Edward finds a way into Huaxia Pocket Dimension, we must become stronger than him."

Huaxia Pocket Dimension was not completely safe. Yu Xian did not know whether there was a way to break into the Huaxia Pocket Dimension on the Blue Planet, but he was certain that such a method existed in the Abyss. After all, the Art of the World Within a Pot itself originated from the Abyss.

Given Edward's immense strength, if he actively searched the Abyss for one, there was a very real chance that he would find a way to breach the Art of the World Within a Pot. When that happened, Huaxia would be doomed beyond salvation. It would not merely be a bloodbath, but the destruction of their nation and people.

Edward clearly harbored tremendous malice toward Huaxia. When he returned to the Blue Planet from Lunar Orb, he had not even bothered to conceal his hostility. Precisely because of this, Yu Xian knew Huaxia was far from safe. In fact, it had reached its most perilous moment.

It was now a race to see whether Edward would first find a way into the Huaxia Pocket Dimension or someone from Huaxia would advance to Star-rank first and gain the strength to contend with him.