Chapter 137: Defying Heaven and Changing Fate

"But what exactly is the Fierce Emperor plotting?"

The Fierce Emperor’s provocation had ignited Nan Luo’s combative spirit, making him all the more determined to uncover the truth.

"A Divine Grasp of Slaughter? What could the Fierce Emperor possibly want with that?" Nan Luo pondered, his golden eyes deepening with mystery. He could not help but tap his fingers rhythmically against the Throne of Creation as he muttered to himself.

Based on the clues provided by the Fierce Emperor, the Divine Grasp of the Law of Slaughter was of paramount importance to him. But what did he intend to do with it? Or rather, what was he capable of doing with it?

"The Divine Grasp of the Law of Slaughter can only be utilized by beings who cultivate the Divine Path."

"The Fierce Emperor is a mere ferocious beast; he cannot cultivate any laws at all. What use could he have for the Divine Grasp of Slaughter?"

"Ha! Could it be that he intends to convert to the Divine Path?!" Nan Luo suddenly entertained this most improbable possibility, only to shake his head and sneer dismissively.

Yet, once the thought had taken root, it refused to fade from his mind, constantly reminding him: the Fierce Emperor desires to switch to the Divine Path.

The more Nan Luo contemplated this, the more convinced he became. Finally, he slapped his palm against the throne and exclaimed, "Heavenly Mandate and Defiant Fate are natural enemies. Perhaps this is the universe’s warning to me."

Once he had settled on the idea that the Fierce Emperor sought to convert to the Divine Path, a frown creased his brow. "Even if he wants to convert, it is too late."

"One hundred thousand years ago, the Fierce Emperor was already a Semi-Saint Sovereign. After a hundred thousand years, given his talent and intellect, he must have reached the peak of the Semi-Saint realm."

"Why would he cast aside his cultivation to restart on the Divine Path?"

"Unless..." A spark of realization suddenly flashed through Nan Luo’s mind. His expression grew solemn, his golden eyes radiating intense light as he murmured, "The Fierce Emperor intends to use this Divine Grasp of Slaughter to ascend to the rank of Saint!"

"That is the only logical explanation."

"Since his cultivation has reached the peak of the Semi-Saint realm, he must be desperate to find a way to breach the threshold of Sainthood."

"Just like me!"

Nan Luo analyzed the Fierce Emperor’s scheme step by step, his own thoughts becoming increasingly clear, until he finally voiced his own strategy.

Knowing the Fierce Emperor’s intent to use the Divine Grasp of Slaughter to attain Sainthood, Nan Luo knew exactly how to verify his hypothesis.

He focused his golden eyes upon the Relief of All Things and, with a surge of divine will, commanded, "Relief of All Things, reveal yourself at once!"

Boom!

The relief, which recorded every living being in the Western Wasteland, erupted with brilliant divine light, forming a projection in the air before Nan Luo, much like the pages of a book.

Nan Luo scanned the records of the Western Wasteland carefully and rapidly, filtering specifically for beings who possessed a Divine Grasp of Slaughter. Had he already achieved Sainthood, he could have commanded the Pantheon with a single thought to reveal the result instantly; but as he was not yet a Saint, he had to search manually.

Before long, he found what he was looking for.

Yuan Lu, Primordial Divine Lord, practitioner of the Law of Slaughter, currently located at the Great Snowy Mountain of the Western Wasteland.

Beside these lines was a blood-colored sculpture of a divine demon, its face twisted in a look of extreme, agonizing suffering.

"The Fierce Emperor truly did strike at Yuan Lu!" Nan Luo’s anger flared as he realized the Divine Grasp of Slaughter had been stolen from Divine Lord Yuan Lu. He could not help but curse, "Despicable! Damnable! That cunning creature, Xiong Shitian, was indeed plotting to attain Sainthood in this manner."

It took a while for Nan Luo to calm his mind, using the light of his spirit to sever the surge of fury and other distracting emotions.

Sitting upon the Throne of Creation, he gazed at the sculpture of Divine Lord Yuan Lu, and memories began to surface.

"The League of Gods (the predecessor to the God Race) originally consisted of thirteen deities, and the God Race should have had thirteen Heavenly Sovereigns."

"However, when I was trapped at Mount Buzhou, only twelve of the League’s deities came to my rescue. That is why there have only been twelve Heavenly Sovereigns since."

"Yuan Lu was one of the original thirteen. When he did not arrive to protect me, I had already suspected he had met with foul play."

Primordial Divine Demons were walking treasures, and it was common for them to be ambushed and hunted by other beings. Even though the God Race held dominion over the Northern Wasteland, they could only protect those who joined their ranks; for those Primordial Divine Demons who remained unconstrained, the God Race was powerless.

Thus, after Yuan Lu went missing, neither Nan Luo nor the twelve Heavenly Sovereigns had searched extensively, assuming he was dead. At the time, even though Nan Luo possessed the Pantheon, his cultivation was only at the peak of the Divine Lord realm; he had only been able to determine that Yuan Lu was on the brink of death and lost without a trace.

"To think that Yuan Lu was captured by the Fierce Emperor and had his Divine Grasp of Slaughter forcibly extracted."

Nan Luo felt a sense of speechless frustration. He had not imagined the Fierce Emperor had begun laying this trap over a hundred thousand years ago. Even if Nan Luo had known of the scheme back then, he would have lacked the power to oppose a Semi-Saint.

With his emotions purged by the light of his spirit, absolute rationality regained control. Facing a scheme laid a hundred thousand years prior, Nan Luo found that he had no immediate way to dismantle it.

His golden eyes were filled with gravity as he reasoned, "The Fierce Emperor captured Divine Lord Yuan Lu and extracted his Divine Grasp of Slaughter specifically to defy the Heavens and change his fate."

"Especially since Yuan Lu, as a Primordial Divine Demon, carried the Law of Slaughter—one of the three thousand laws of the Great Primordial World—which is perfectly suited to the Fierce Emperor's path of violence. It is no wonder he targeted him."

The fact that ferocious beasts could not cultivate laws was a decree of the natural order of the Primordial World—the most primitive of Heavenly Laws. Unless a beast possessed the strength to shatter the world itself, they could never cultivate the laws. Even as a Semi-Saint, Xiong Shitian could not break this rule.

However, all those who attain Sainthood use the power of the laws to break the shackles of the Great Dao. The so-called "power" in "attaining the Dao through power" refers to the power of the laws, not physical strength. Even the invincible Pan Gu used the Law of Strength to break the shackles of the Dao and achieve the Sainthood of Strength.

Pure physical power might rival the power of a Saint, but it could never achieve the Dao itself. Unless one could use physical force to crush the very foundations of the Primordial World—like a common mortal defeating the entire world with bare fists.

This was the tragedy of the beast race: they were born unable to cultivate laws, and thus, were destined never to achieve Sainthood.

The Fierce Emperor had reached the peak of the Semi-Saint realm through pure physical cultivation—an unprecedented feat among beasts, likely never to be repeated. But so what? The path ahead was blocked. Without attaining the Dao of Sainthood, one remains but an ant. Even with physical strength rivaling a Saint, he could not alter the fate of his race; he could only prolong his existence.

Only by achieving Sainthood could everything be changed. Only by defying the Heavens and changing one's fate could one attain the Dao of Sainthood.