Chapter 182: Overlord? Emperor? Sorry, I

Offstage.

The group of Western Shu Ravagers fell silent.

Compared with the man on stage…

These wind‑stirring revelers are as pure as little white rabbits!

After a while, the faceless man finally ceased trembling.

"Please!"

He bowed deeply toward Su Ming's silhouette.

It wasn't perfunctory, it wasn't mere courtesy.

It was sincere admiration!

Su Ming seemed to sense something, smiled, and grew too lazy for further chatter.

Reach out!

This time, there is no longer any obstruction.

The jet‑black jade belt embroidered with mountains, rivers, dragons and serpents glowed with a soft black light, utterly docile.

It also approved!

However.

The moment Su Ming touched it again.

Boom—!

A supreme pressure, far more massive and vast than before, thundered down!

"Huh?!"

Su Ming's complexion changed abruptly, his body quivered slightly.

What the heck?

Did this thing learn to flip its stance?!

But…

Something's off!

This power bears no murderous intent, nor much hostility.

It feels more like…

Scrutiny!

【You, on what basis do you control me?】

The indistinguishable thoughts of joy or anger rang out across this world.

【You, look back!】

【Destruction is abundant, creation insufficient.】

【Reverse attack has merit, guarding is incompetent.】

【Is this then your mountains and rivers?】

Offstage.

The faceless man's figure remained motionless, appearing utterly calm.

But in reality…

He was a bit stunned!

What the heck?!

In the previous script…

It didn't seem to have been rehearsed like this, right?!

"Huh?!"

But in the next instant, he sensed something.

The faceless visage lifted again, gazing toward the Theater Dome.

Indeed…

It was the hand of the Judge!

He thought the earlier performance of 'Reverse Attack on Mountains and Rivers' went well, so he improvised…

He personally stepped onto the stage, adding a grand spectacle of verification!

"This 【Pure】, indeed…"

"Never disappoint the master…"

Mountain Peak.

In front of Su Ming, light and shadow warped.

Two towering phantasms slowly materialized from the void.

On the left, one wore Black Gold Heavy Armor and bore the Overlord's Long Halberd on its shoulder.

Its eyes blazed with unrivaled ferocity, gazing down upon the world!

Just by standing there, an unmatched aura of power that could lift mountains and dominate the world seemed ready to tear the heavens—

【Overlord】!

On the right, one wore the Twelve Tassel Crown and a Dark Dragon Robe.

Its gaze was as deep as an abyss, its authority spanning the seas!

He pressed the Tianzi Sword at his waist with one hand, raised the other empty, and the territories of myriad nations lay within his grasp—

【Emperor】!

【Mountain River Suppressing Jade Belt】's will again rang through heaven and earth.

【Choose one and act, bear my power!】

【Or be Overlord, using force to shatter all laws, slay through the heavens!】

【Or be Emperor, using technique to command all spirits, reign over the universe!】

【You, choose who?】

A dead silence.

Su Ming came back to his senses from the current situation, scanning left and right.

The solemnity on his face slowly melted.

His smile was dazzlingly bright!

"Children are the only ones who make choices."

He reached out again, reaching toward that jade belt.

"Overlord's power, I want!"

"Emperor's technique, I also want!"

【Greed! Your heart cannot bear!】

The jade belt's intention seemed to acquire a hint of anger.

Those two towering phantom silhouettes instantly retreated a hundred meters, unleashing a terrifying might!

Greed is not enough, a snake swallowing an elephant!

Want?

Not a single one will be given to you!

"Cannot bear?"

Su Ming looked straight at them, chewing on the words he heard, his deep eyes full of laughter.

"You are wrong."

Su Ming extended a finger, gently shaking it in front of him.

"Me... I've never thought about bearing any damn mountains and rivers!"

"My father taught me..."

"A man in the world must keep his backbone straight!"

He paused, the smile at the corner of his mouth grew more wildly arrogant and more insane!

"Mountains and rivers are meant to be stepped under!"

"Not to be placed on the head, bending my backbone!"

"Whether Overlord or Emperor, ultimately they are merely prisoners of these mountains and rivers!"

"And I..."

Su Ming lunged forward a step, spreading his five fingers.

Enduring the intense pain in his hand, he seized that wildly trembling 【Mountain River Suppressing Jade Belt】!

"I damn it, I want to be the master!"

"I want this mountain to crumble beneath my feet!"

"I want this river to flow backward for my will!"

"I, am the Rule!"

"I, am the Mountains and Rivers!"

A roar fell!

Boom—!

This magnificent world built by the jade belt's will shook violently!

From beneath Su Ming's feet, scorched earth began to appear.

The Bone Mountain Range, piled from divine and demon corpses, rose from the ground.

Crimson blood water flowed out from beneath the corpse mountain, turning into the ever‑rushing Blood River, beginning to erode the original magnificent mountains and rivers of this world!

This is...

The barbaric invasion of will!

The green hills, washed by the blood water, withered rapidly, instantly turning into a pitch‑black dead land.

The clear rivers were devoured by the Blood River, becoming filthy and viscous, countless shattered souls wailing as they floated in the blood waves!

Flowers bloomed, then in the next second turned to ash!

Green mountains emerged, then in the blink of an eye were dyed red by blood!

The whole world, between creation and destruction, changed wildly.

"Roar—!"

【Overlord】's phantom emitted a thunderous roar, sweeping a long spear in hand, the spear light like the moon, cleaving a Bone Mountain Range.

Yet endless divine and demon debris surged from the fissure, instantly engulfing him!

"Hm!"

【Emperor】's phantom placed a hand on the Tianzi Sword, ten‑thousand‑foot imperial Dao dragon energy turned into a Golden Barrier.

He intends to protect the last Pure Land beneath his feet!

But...

But that towering Blood River...

It is continuously corroding the Golden Barrier, squeak—!

Clack—!

An unknown amount of time passed.

The Overlord's long spear was brutally snapped by a divine‑demonic claw that emerged from a corpse!

The Emperor's Dark Dragon Robe was stained jet‑black by filthy blood, and its majesty and destiny are rapidly fading!

Their bodies began to decay inch by inch.

Flesh melted away, revealing the dense white bones beneath.

Finally.

They were completely corroded into withered bones no different from ten thousand corpses!

Pure Land?

Not even an inch remains!

Apocalypse Ruins!

The remnants of gods and demons are the mountains and rivers of this new world!

And Su Ming's figure…

has vanished without a trace at some point.

Because he…

is the will of this Corpse Mountain Blood Sea!

is the very blood‑colored mountains and rivers themselves!

…

A place beyond words.

On the soft couch, that lazy silhouette, at some unknown moment, sat up straight.

In those eyes that forever held a teasing glint, now a dazzling brilliance shone, astonishingly bright.

"I am the mountains and rivers..."

Judge murmured to himself, savoring the sentence over and over.

"With my own body, build a high platform?!"

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

He clapped his hands.

"Good! What a perfect 'I am the mountains and rivers'!"

"This play... is even more spectacular than Orphan's Hate!"

"Deserve a reward!"

Beside them, the figure of an old man holding a dim yellow lantern materialized.

His hoarse voice was full of confusion and worry.

"Judge..."

"His path is destruction, it is plunder."

"It runs contrary to the original purpose of creating and guarding the mountains and rivers."

"Letting him wield this would make the variables of our plan too great!"

"Running contrary?"

Judge reined in his smile and leaned back again.

His slender fingertips rhythmically tapped the armrest, his words lingering.

"Old thing, are you starting to forget?"

"If you ask me, when you're old just rest, don't meddle blindly!"

He paused, his gaze complex.

"Overlord possesses the power to smash cauldrons and sink ships, to sweep the six directions, yet he falters in strategy, defeated by a woman's benevolence."

"Emperor wields the art of spanning heaven and earth, commanding myriad spirits, yet he is bound by constraints, limited by rules."

"We are not unaware of their affairs!"

"And this child... with the body of an Overlord, performs the deeds of an Emperor!"

"He possesses both the absolute power to overturn the board and the ambition and skill to rewrite the rules!"

"This is what makes this play the most spectacular, and a part no one can ever imitate..."

The old man fell silent, his eyes still flickered with struggle.

But suddenly, Judge's fingers tapping the armrest paused.

The playful tone in his voice quietly faded.

"Burning Lamp, don't you think..."

"His words and deeds are somewhat like those of a departed friend, aren't they?"