Chapter 1711: Please Sage Step Down

He did not wait long.

Moments later, the very air between heaven and earth seemed to boil like water. The ground also began to tremble violently, as if some great terror had torn open hell and returned from below the ground.

*Crack!*

A tremendous sound of a spatial barrier tearing rent the air. Beside the former site of Heaven’s Remnants City, a long, void rift appeared. An elderly man, appearing to be over eighty, with slightly dark skin, sunken cheeks, and a hooked nose, surged back from the void. A massive tentacle brushed past him, nearly ensnaring him. Fortunately, the rift closed in time, trapping the tentacle within the void.

The elder before them was Sage Cixin. Sensing a change in Heaven’s Remnants City’s formation, he had unhesitatingly abandoned the battlefield in Tianzhou, leaving several Sages in danger, and directly tore through the spatial barrier to return. He hadn't expected to encounter the Do’e Black Lotus while crossing the void, nearly being devoured by it.

Without time to ponder what it was, he anxiously looked towards Heaven’s Remnants City, which he regarded as his lifeblood. However, what he saw was an enormous lava sinkhole. Some un-melted structures of Heaven’s Remnants City floated up and down in the magma, silently narrating the city’s fate. He stood stunned for a moment, unable to believe the scene before him. "How could this be?" he murmured. "My followers? Are they all safe?"

Just then, he sensed something. Turning his head, a black-clad youth standing with his hands behind his back came into view. Rage immediately ignited in Sage Cixin's deep-set eyes. "Jiang Fan? It’s you!" he roared. "What have you done to my followers?"

Jiang Fan casually brushed off a speck of half-giant blood from his robes. "Which part are you referring to?" he asked. "Those beastly followers who allowed the main force of the Giant King to go to Hunyuan State and also attacked the Western Continent, I’ve killed them all."

"What?!" Sage Cixin’s entire body trembled violently as the vast, unique heavenly might of a Sage erupted, shaking the entire world to its core. All things submitted and trembled under this aura, as if life itself stood on the brink of annihilation. When a Sage rages, all things perish. The effortless way the Great Libationers of various states wiped out countless ancient giants was the best description of a Sage's power. All beneath a Sage are but ants. There was no difference between those undergoing the Five Decreases of Heaven and Man and ordinary mortals to a Sage.

The ground beneath Jiang Fan’s feet could not withstand the Sage’s power and cracked with a sharp sound. Yet, he remained utterly still. Waves of five-colored radiant light surged from within him, easily blocking Sage Cixin’s oppressive might.

Sage Cixin’s eyes were bloodshot. Those were his Golden Body realm followers, painstakingly cultivated! There were as many as two thousand of them, his greatest source of merit! Jiang Fan had actually killed them all!

"You little beast!!!" Sage Cixin roared, like a long-suppressed volcano erupting with a sky-shaking fury. But he did not act immediately; he needed to first inquire about the residents of Heaven’s Remnants City. These hundred thousand residents were his true foundation. As long as they were alive, he could continuously cultivate Golden Body and Dharma Manifestation realm half-giants in the future.

Suppressing his surging killing intent, he demanded, "The residents of Heaven’s Remnants City, where have you taken them?" He grit his teeth. "Hand them over!!!"

Jiang Fan's expression was indifferent. "Them?" he said. "I also sent them to hell, not a single one left. If you go fish around in the magma now, you might even pull out a few remains."

Sage Cixin gasped, a cold shiver running down his spine! That was a hundred thousand half-giants, not a few, or hundreds, or thousands—a full hundred thousand! Jiang Fan hadn't spared a single one, killing them all?

"I don't believe it. You couldn't do something so malicious."

Sage Cixin lowered his head, looking at the giant lava lake beneath his feet. With a press of his palm, the magma immediately surged. Everything at the bottom churned up to the surface. Thousands, no, tens of thousands of large skeletons, unique to half-giants, rose and fell in the molten rock.

Sage Cixin’s eyes instantly lost focus, and his vision went black. They truly were all in there! He hadn't even been left with a single seed to rebuild!

He was the most envied among all Sages. This was because his followers were the most loyal! Though there were only a hundred thousand half-giants, they did not believe in other Sages, only Sage Cixin. The merit they accumulated was far greater than that of other Sages' followers. If nothing went wrong, he would have been the first among all Sages to advance to the Two Calamities Sage realm. As the half-giant population grew larger, he would also have been the first to advance to the Three Calamities Sage realm. If the half-giants had occupied half of Central Earth, it might even have been possible for him to reach the Saint realm.

But now, everything was over! Jiang Fan had killed them all! His Sage position originated from the half-giants, and now that they were gone, he could not, like other Sages, simply replace his followers. His path to immortality was thus sealed. He was furious, hysterically furious, uncontrollably furious! If another Sage had severed his path to immortality, he would have admitted his inferiority. But he had been cut off by a mere Spirit Transformation realm cultivator, by an ant! This filled him with unparalleled rage.

"JIANG!!! FAN!!!" Sage Cixin’s eyes were bloodshot, like a sky-devouring beast utterly enraged, glaring furiously at him. His roar ripped through the earth, exposing the magma layer beneath. In an instant, the land for tens of thousands of miles around transformed into an endless sea of magma. The crimson magma reflected on the sky, dyeing the world a dark red, like a human purgatory. And this was merely the result of one angry roar from him.

Jiang Fan remained utterly still, a jade shield now appearing before him, blocking the oppressive might contained within the roar. Simultaneously, a tattered golden feather on his chest continuously emitted light. He also gazed at Sage Cixin, feeling his heaven-like power, his eyes growing sharper.

"Such immense power," Jiang Fan said, "yet you don't use it to eradicate the source of all evil beyond the heavens, nor to help turn the tide in Central Earth. You save it all to protect the beasts that harm Central Earth!" His voice hardened. "You are unworthy of this power and unworthy of the Sage position!"

Jiang Fan's aura surged throughout his body, and his robes billowed. He clasped his hands together and shouted from afar: "Jiang Fan of Taicang Great State requests Sage Cixin to step down and yield his position!"

The clear shout echoed across the ancient land. A mere Spirit Transformation realm cultivator, he had uttered words that shook the ages, unprecedented in history! Requesting a Sage to step down!

This cry spread in all directions. The disciples of Mount Qunxing, who were cleaning the battlefield, all looked up at the sky, their vision blurred. Finally, someone had voiced the thousand-year bitter history of the human race in Guixu State. Their homeland, half of which was forcibly taken. Their prosperity, wantonly plundered by half-giants. Their women, seized and humiliated by half-giants. Their resistance fighters, slaughtered by half-giants. They could not seek revenge, but had to swallow their pride and live peacefully with the half-giants. Why? Because the half-giants had a Sage protecting them. He had repeatedly pressured humanity to tolerate, to accommodate, to overlook. Yet he never restrained the half-giants' atrocities! Is such a person even worthy of being called a Sage?

Now, finally, someone voiced their deepest feelings. Cixin is not worthy of being a Sage!!!