Chapter 546: Legend

"A new Heavenly King is born… how fortunate I am to witness this moment."

"Quick, I want all the data on that driver!"

"Damn… only the footage from the seventh floor of the Heart Tower leaks out. I'd give anything to see the battle on the eighth floor… could a Sovereign Heart Beast appear?"

At this moment, on the marble square, countless drivers had bloodshot eyes, tinged with madness.

What does a Heavenly King represent?

In this world, it means the rise of a powerful vassal lord!

If you befriend him, you gain massive benefits for at least decades.

But if you make him an enemy, death and annihilation of your clan are possible!

These nobles and drivers, accustomed to their lofty status, could not help but abandon their dignity and act like madmen.

…

Fang Xing paid no attention to the chaos outside the Tower.

Letting Erha activate the Domain of Destruction and make a show of force, his three Heart Beasts easily defeated the opponent.

"If this fails, all the time I've spent nurturing them, all the heavenly treasures I've fed them… will be wasted…"

Some heavenly treasures, when swallowed directly, could boost cultivation.

Not to mention Fang Xing had localized the Immortal Realm's alchemy techniques, maximizing the effectiveness of heavenly treasures.

Added to that, Erha kept advancing, moving through dangerous places as if walking on flat ground, uncovering many treasures.

Had it not been for the limit of Sovereign quality, Fang Xing might have nurtured several Sovereign Heart Beasts.

Boom!

The combat platform rose again, reaching the eighth floor.

"The newly crowned Heavenly King… truly rare."

On the opposite platform stood an old man.

His eyes were soft, his hair white, and he wore no mask.

"The guardian of the eighth floor?"

Fang Xing frowned: "You're not even wearing a uniform?"

"Heh… as the Pope of the Heart Church, even a retired former Pope has certain privileges."

The old man spoke casually of his identity: "Congratulations, young man. As a newly crowned Heavenly King, you may claim a vast fief and choose one gift from the Heart Tower… and if you defeat me, you will gain benefits beyond imagination…"

"So it's the former Pope."

Fang Xing bowed slightly: "Begin!"

"Combat… begins!"

The old Pope spoke slowly.

Then…

Fang Xing felt himself plunge into darkness.

"Huh? Illusion?"

"Impossible! Not only does my Core Heart Beast protect me—my will alone should never be vulnerable!"

Fang Xing was startled.

His will was that of a Law Lord, forged through the Warrior path—how could he be caught by an illusion?

"My Core Heart Beast is 'Darkness'…"

The old Pope's voice drifted through the darkness: "Later, I subdued four Mind-type Heart Beasts—'Wrath,' 'Shock,' 'Fear,' 'Death'…"

"Five colors blind the eyes, five tones deafen the ears, racing through hunts drives the heart mad…"

"This is my Heart Beast fusion technique—The Cage of Five Intentions. It has defeated thirteen Heavenly Kings. If you escape, you win."

"If you cannot escape… you may die."

…

Listening to the old Pope's calm voice, Fang Xing felt a surge of rage rise within him.

"No—this isn't my anger. It's Wrath being triggered."

Fang Xing forcibly gathered his spirit.

"This old Pope's Core Heart Beast may be Sovereign quality. Those four 'Intent Beasts' are probably only Royal grade… their fusion technique is powerful, but shouldn't trap me. The only explanation is Heart Power…"

The soul has three layers: will is the middle layer; the most fundamental is the True Spirit.

Fang Xing had previously used his will to bypass defenses and eliminate many enemies.

Now, facing a higher-level 'True Spirit attack,' he had no defense at all—and was immediately at a disadvantage.

'But this isn't even a true True Spirit attack—just a layer of True Spirit-level illusionary influence… otherwise, if my true self with the attribute panel retaliated, this old Pope would turn to ash.'

'Even so, it's terrifying.'

…

Heart Tower, eighth floor.

On the combat platform, Fang Xing looked dazed.

Erha anxiously stood up, pacing around him in circles.

Outside, a layer of darkness descended like a celestial curtain.

First, it engulfed the Hell-Beating Willow—a nine-thousand-year-old plant with no resistance, instantly swallowed by darkness.

Then came the Titan Demon Ant and the Wind God Pterosaur.

Though the Wind God Pterosaur could fly, it was still caught and drowned by the darkness…

Then the darkness surged toward Fang Xing!

But in the next instant, the darkness halted abruptly.

The Wind God Pterosaur vanished silently within the darkness.

Then… a shadow emerged, merging directly into the darkness.

Sovereign quality—Shadow Phantom!

—Shadow Possession!

This wasn't intentional on Fang Xing's part—it was the Shadow Phantom's instinctive struggle against death as it was being corrupted.

Yet precisely because of this, it effortlessly seized control of the Dark Heart Beast.

"How is this possible?"

The former Pope's eyes filled with horror.

A Core Heart Beast had never been controlled—only destroyed.

But now… he felt his own Core Heart Beast had been stolen!

"Sovereign quality… Shadow Phantom?"

He exhaled a long breath—and died.

The Core Heart Beast is born from the Heart Manifestation; in this world, drivers cultivate only Heart Power. Though their lifespan and physical condition are slightly enhanced, not by much.

In other words, when a driver dies, their Core Heart Beast may not vanish.

But if the Core Heart Beast is stolen, the driver must die.

In the next instant, the darkness dissipated. Fang Xing snapped back to awareness, staring at the darkness before him in silence: "Fang Leng… he really must be the true protagonist."

The fusion technique of the eighth floor of the Heart Tower was troublesome even for him—he'd already prepared to use his trump card, ordering Erha to break his seal.

Yet he never expected that when the Dark Heart Beast encountered the Shadow Phantom, though of equal quality, it was somehow suppressed—and directly possessed.

Imagine if Fang Leng had reached this eighth floor: when his Core Heart Beast was attacked, the Shadow Phantom would surely instinctively retaliate, seize the Dark Heart Beast, and win effortlessly!

"So… my younger brother really is the world's protagonist?"

"Then what about the Gray Wolf that killed him? The Antihero King?"

After muttering this, Fang Xing glanced at the battlefield and saw that though the battle had been swift, the casualties were brutal.

The Hell-Beating Willow, Titan Demon Ant, and Wind God Pterosaur had all been corrupted and killed by the darkness…

And after the Shadow Phantom seized the Dark Heart Beast, it also slew the old Pope's four Royal-grade Mind Beasts.

"Who knew the former Pope would strike to kill from the start…"

As he looked over each one…

"Isn't it normal for a driver to die during combat?"

Fang Xing sighed.

At that moment, the combat platform slowly rose, as if crossing an invisible space, about to reach the ninth floor of the Heart Tower.

…

On the square.

"Look!"

Many drivers and representatives of various factions waited by the Tower's entrance, anticipating the new Heavenly King's emergence.

No one believed Fang Xing could pass the eighth floor—after all, every previous Heavenly King had failed.

Formerly arrogant Heavenly Kings returned humbler; even the strongest Heart Beasts had perished, many Core Heart Beasts regressed to Heart Manifestations, and some Heavenly Kings had died outright.

But now, one driver suddenly looked up at the Heart Tower.

The Heart Tower was now shimmering with shifting hues—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet—like a rainbow.

"This… this is an omen."

"Could it be… he passed the eighth floor?"

Nan Gong Qiushui watched this scene, her heart filled with both awe and despair.

The awe came from the fact that the ninth level of the Heart Tower, never before challenged, had finally met a challenger.

The despair was that she felt she would never, in this lifetime, catch up to Fang Xing's footsteps.

"So… he hadn't even reached his limit on the seventh level?"

"And the ninth level—never before challenged—could it truly be broken through?"

…

Headquarters of the Heart Sanctuary.

The massive statue of the Radiant Response Dragon roared.

The Cardinal hurried over to the current Pope.

He saw a "Heavenly Mechanism Crow" perched on the Pope's shoulder, its feathers falling in abundance, revealing red, goosebump-like skin—looking absurdly comical.

"This is…"

Several arriving Cardinals were deeply shocked.

"Just now, using the Heavenly Mechanism Crow, I glimpsed a fragment of fate… this newly crowned Heavenly King has already passed the eighth level of the Heart Tower…"

The Pope spoke in a calm voice.

"He passed the eighth level?"

Other Cardinals were stunned: "Could another 'Emperor' be born?"

Even the oldest charioteer lineages or noble bloodlines pale in antiquity compared to the Heart Sanctuary.

Thus, their belief that no charioteer had ever passed the eighth level of the Heart Tower was incorrect.

Long, long ago, there had indeed been a record of someone clearing the eighth level of the Heart Tower.

But that time was so distant that everyone had forgotten it.

Of course, this was also due to the Heart Church deliberately concealing those records.

Because although that charioteer Emperor failed to pass the ninth level, he briefly unified the entire world with his powerful Heart Beast, establishing a glorious empire!

Alas… after he died of old age, the empire immediately collapsed.

"But… no one has ever passed the ninth level. This has never happened since the Heart Tower was built."

One Cardinal looked toward the Sacred Light Plaza.

"Yes… the legendary Heart Beast has always existed only in legend."

"No one has truly seen it, and no charioteer has ever tamed it…"

Other Cardinals chimed in.

"Fate is fate precisely because it is unpredictable."

Seeing this, the old Pope sighed deeply, a premonition rising in his heart.

…

Ninth Level of the Heart Tower.

Around him was nothing but sky; only the stone platform where Fang Xing stood floated in emptiness.

"At this point, I've lost three Heart Beasts—still left are Erha, Ghost Shadow, and Darkness…"

"Who will be my opponent?"

Fang Xing was shrouded in darkness; at his feet lay Erha, his eyes filled with anticipation.

In this short time, he had already familiarized himself with the Darkness Heart Beast and confirmed it as Imperial quality, with fifty thousand years of cultivation.

Ghost Shadow was now useless—his three possession opportunities had been exhausted; his only remaining function was controlling the Darkness Heart Beast.

"So… two against the ninth level?"

Fang Xing gazed forward but saw no combat platform or charioteer.

Roar!

Suddenly, accompanied by a dragon's cry, a beam of light descended, forming a Heart Beast!

It possessed the body of an Eastern divine dragon and the flesh-wings of a Western dragon, its form majestic, radiating a divine aura!

"Legendary Heart Beast—Radiant Response Dragon, over one hundred thousand years of cultivation!"

(End of Chapter)