Chapter 636: Aio Acts

In the dim, lightless universe, a head the size of a planet continuously devoured planets; each consumed planet swelled its head further, gradually expanding it.

Beside him, the golden-hued Aio took the first action as the Cosmic Emperor devoured planets, extracting the souls of life on those worlds to fuel himself.

The two were like wolves and hyenas—unscrupulous partners.

“Someone’s coming,” Aio suddenly looked up while still extracting souls; his hand never paused—he swept it once, and countless souls were torn from the lives, absorbed and digested by him.

A black hole opened in the void, and from it emerged Harris, the collective of the insect race; his countless heads turned toward the Cosmic Emperor and Aio, eyes brimming with battle lust.

“Dominating pure brutality and killing instinct—he’s completely fallen,” Aio instantly recognized what Harris had become.

Harris was no longer worthy of the title “Dominion,” for his essence had transformed from human into a collective insect consciousness—not one he controlled.

“Such beings are always the most troublesome—can’t be killed, and fighting them wastes time,” the Cosmic Emperor bluntly assessed, then turned his gaze to Aio. “You caused this. You deal with it.”

“He wasn’t my doing. In fact, I don’t even know how he learned the method of my Aio true form. But since he walks the path of my Aio true form, I’ll gift him to you—as payment for helping me regain my power,” Aio smiled faintly.

Before the true Aio, Harris’s Aio true form was but a child’s toy; moreover, Harris’s version was merely a simplified one—killing him would be effortless.

If another Chosen One had appeared, he might have hesitated and dared not boast—but Harris? He could only say: You’re bringing yourself to slaughter.

A golden giant hand extended while Aio was still thinking, seizing Harris the insect collective; the consciousness formed of brutal impulses offered not a single shred of resistance before being captured by Aio, the master of souls.

“But this alone isn’t enough—we must erase the insect race along these traces.”

Aio sneered. The body of the captured Harris was forcibly drawn closer; golden divine power surged wildly, following the residual imprints to forcibly extract vast quantities of consciousness for consumption. In an instant, hundreds of billions of insect consciousnesses were ripped away—countless insects instantly lost all life.

“Such weak consciousness,” Aio grew listless.

The insect consciousnesses were far too weak—even consuming hundreds of billions provided less divine power than a single planet’s replenishment. Moreover, forcibly extracting insect consciousness through the void consumed terrifying amounts of divine power—the absorbed consciousness replenished far less than expended. It was a losing deal.

“For years, they won’t recover. To regain power and revive will take considerable time.” Aio withdrew his divine power, unwilling to waste more on insignificant beings. “The rest is simple: exterminate the insect race entirely. Only then can we truly eliminate him. But he poses no threat to you anymore—you needn’t worry.”

The Chosen Ones were the Cosmic Emperor’s threat—but the Cosmic Emperor’s threat was no less the Chosen Ones. Though the Cosmic Emperor hadn’t destroyed Harris, Harris now lacked the strength to resist—he could only cling to life in some dark corner of the galaxy, quietly awaiting his end.

“I know…”

“Someone else is coming.”

Aio interrupted the Cosmic Emperor, his gaze fixed on a point in the void—then Ye Nan stepped out slowly.

The Cosmic Emperor’s expression darkened instantly. “Another one revived.”

“In a galaxy dominated by technology, there are so many revival methods…,” Aio didn’t finish, but the Cosmic Emperor’s face had already turned grim.

One Chosen One after another revived, constantly harassing him—it felt like swallowing a fly.

“Cosmic Emperor!” Ye Nan’s gaze locked onto the Cosmic Emperor the moment he appeared; a cold smirk curled his lips. “Looks like my Magic Orb did serious damage—you’re reduced to nothing but a head.”

“It’s you,” the Cosmic Emperor’s face darkened further. He finally understood who had used the Leader Template to blacken him—and he erupted in fury.

“Foolish Chosen One, you’re provoking me. Soon, you’ll learn I am not someone you can provoke.”

"Whether or not I can provoke you, I already have, haven't I?" Ye Nan said indifferently. "Between you and me, our fates are destined to end in mutual destruction—provocation means nothing."

Ye Nan’s indifference made the Cosmic Emperor feel belittled, his dignity challenged. He roared in rage and charged forward.

As the Cosmic Emperor neared, Ye Nan swiftly dodged, escaping through the Subspace Network.

Ridiculous—the Cosmic Emperor’s body was too hard, his strength too immense. Ye Nan knew this well. Against such a terrifying being, evasion was the only option—not direct confrontation.

As for attacking—he had plenty of methods.

The Cosmic Emperor’s strike missed, and his rage intensified. “Don’t run!”

“Not run? Are you joking?” Ye Nan chuckled, watching the Cosmic Emperor’s fury as if it were entertainment.

The Cosmic Emperor, insulted beyond endurance, charged again, raising his hand to crush Ye Nan into pulp.

Ye Nan sneered, turned, and vanished—reappearing instantly on the opposite side of the Cosmic Emperor. “Stop wasting your effort. Your body may be vast, your power terrifying—but if you can’t hit me, what good is it?”

The Subspace Network’s flexibility lay in its ability to teleport directly to any point without coordinates—though this required the network’s coverage. Without it, free teleportation was far from easy.

“Useless, Cosmic Emperor. He moves through space—you can’t stop him. To find him, you must destroy his spatial pathways.” (To be continued.)