The entire world seemed to fall silent in that moment.
On millions of livestream screens, the last image they saw was their heroic headmaster being swallowed by a monstrous flower. Screams of horror and despair echoed from everywhere.
At Lac Hong Academy, To Quyen and Quynh Nhu collapsed to their knees, tears streaming uncontrollably.
In the command room, General Khang slammed his fist on the table, helplessness and anguish etched on his aged face.
In Dragon's Domain, Lac Long Quan, who had always remained calm, shot to his feet, a terrifying aura exploding from him. "Kid!!!"
And on the battlefield, the humanoid Demon Tree, the entity that had taken over Eleventh's body, roared with laughter. A laugh full of satisfaction and savagery.
"Finally! I have finally obtained this body! A body that carries the Dragon race bloodline! Haha! Thank you, you foolish human!"
He had won. He had not only killed his strongest enemy but was also about to obtain a perfect vessel.
He was reveling in the joy of victory.
When...
10...
9...
8...
A cold, emotionless, electronic voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Wh-what is that?" he was stunned, his laughter cut short.
At the same time, the vine wrapped tightly around Lam Minh's headless corpse suddenly trembled violently.
7...
6...
5...
From Lam Minh's severed neck, specks of golden light began to gather. A new head was slowly being regenerated from nothingness.
"No... impossible!" the Demon Tree shrieked in terror. It hastily controlled the man-eating flower, trying to chew Lam Minh's head to pieces.
But it was useless. The head in its mouth was also dissolving into light, only to reform back on the neck.
4...
3...
2...
The new head was fully formed. The wound on his neck vanished without a trace.
[Host has been resurrected.]
[Killed by an unknown parasitic entity. Received 120,000 Immortality Points.]
[STATE [IMMUNITY] ACTIVATED. TIME REMAINING: 29:59]
1...
0!
Lam Minh opened his eyes.
And this time, his eyes were no longer the golden color of a Dragon God.
They were a blazing, blood-red. A red of absolute rage and destruction.
"YOU... DEFILED MY DEATH."
His voice was no longer calm, but a heaven-shaking roar, carrying a pressure even more terrifying than a dragon's might.
He didn't even need to use his hands. He just tensed his body.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The giant, impossibly tough vine wrapped around him shattered into pieces like dry twigs.
The Demon Tree was hit by a massive backlash, thrown back several steps, staring at Lam Minh in horror.
"How... how is this possible? You... you were dead! I ate your head!"
"Ate it?" Lam Minh sneered, a smile that would make gods and demons tremble in fear. "Just a light snack. But your mouth... it stinks."
He wasted no more words. He charged.
His speed was now beyond description. He was like a red bolt of lightning, appearing right in front of the Demon Tree.
Panicked, the Demon Tree hastily controlled hundreds of vines to attack.
But Lam Minh didn't even bother to dodge. He charged straight through them.
The vines, upon touching his body, were incinerated by some invisible energy, turning to ash.
In the state of full [Immunity], all attacks were meaningless.
He was in front of the Demon Tree.
He raised a fist. A very normal-looking fist.
But it carried the power of paradox.
"Give me back my head."
He punched.
THUMP...!!!!
There was no loud explosion. Only a dull, deep sound, as if something had been completely crushed from the inside.
Lam Minh's fist pierced through the defenses, through the Demon Tree's vine-covered body, and punched straight into the place where Eleventh's heart used to be.
The entire upper torso of the Demon Tree, in an instant, exploded into a cloud of green mist.
Only the lower body remained, standing alone, before slowly toppling over.
The battle was over.
Quick. Decisive. And brutally violent.
The entire world fell silent once again.
The people watching the livestream, those who had just been weeping in despair, were now gaping, unable to speak.
They had just witnessed a god resurrect from the dead, and then, with a single punch, completely annihilate that terrifying monster.
This event had completely surpassed their scope of understanding.
Lam Minh stood there, amidst the desolate battlefield. The red killing intent in his eyes slowly subsided.
He looked down at his body, still in the [Immunity] state. He looked towards Hung Ba and the "Saint Children" lying unconscious in the distance.
He knew his play still had one final scene.
He slowly flew up, hovering in mid-air, allowing millions of people to see him clearly.
Then he spoke, and his voice, through the livestream devices, echoed throughout the entire ASEAN bloc.
"To those of you hiding in the shadows of the 'Saintly Way'!"
"I am Lam Minh."
"Today, I am here, to officially declare war on you."
"Go ahead and hide. Go ahead and plot. But remember this. From now on, wherever you appear, I will be there. Whatever crimes you commit, I will punish."
"I will hunt you down. To the very ends of the earth."
"Until not a single one of you remains."
....
Lam Minh's declaration of war, through millions of screens, not only echoed throughout the ASEAN bloc but also reached the darkest, most unexpected places.
In the Holy Sanctuary, inside the obsidian tower.
In the vast circular chamber, the ten remaining Holy Messengers and the Holy Master himself sat on their thrones, silently watching the entire event unfold through a giant water mirror in the center of the room.
They had seen everything.
They saw Eleventh gain the upper hand.
They saw Lam Minh gravely injured, on the brink of death.
They saw the "Seed" awaken, take over Eleventh's body, transforming him into a more powerful Demon Tree.
And they saw... an unbelievable resurrection, and a single, devastating punch that ended it all.
Silence enveloped the room. But this time, it was not the silence of confidence, but the silence of utter horror and shock.
Even the most arrogant ones like Fifth Eye, or the most malevolent like Ninth Tail, were speechless. The smile on Ninth Tail's lips had vanished, replaced by a grim, serious expression.
They were beings who stood at the pinnacle of this world. They had seen many extraordinary things. But a person who could die and be resurrected instantly, and even become stronger, this was a first.
This had completely shattered all their laws, all their perceptions of power and life.
And then, Lam Minh's declaration of war rang out, crystal clear in the great hall.
"I will hunt you down. To the very ends of the earth. Until not a single one of you remains."
Before, they would have just laughed, dismissing it as the arrogant words of an ant.
But now, no one was laughing.
CRACK!
The white bone throne of Second, the giant in bone armor, developed a crack. He had clenched his fist so tightly that he couldn't control his own strength.
"That bastard!" he roared, his voice like rolling thunder. "He's insulting us! He's challenging the entire Saintly Way!"
"Calm down, Second," First, the one on the highest throne, spoke. His voice was still calm, but if one listened closely, they could feel an icy coldness hidden within. "Anger won't solve the problem."
"Then what should we do, Big Brother?" Ninth Tail asked, her expression no longer playful. "That kid... is too strange. That regenerative ability, what in the world is it?"
"I don't know," First admitted. "It's a power that lies beyond our understanding. Perhaps... it is even more ancient than the Dragon race bloodline."
He turned to look towards the highest throne, where the Holy Master still sat silently in the shadows.
"Holy Master," First asked respectfully, "Please give us your instructions."
The entire hall fell silent, awaiting the verdict of their supreme leader.
A long moment later, the Holy Master's androgynous voice slowly rang out.
"Interesting."
Just one word.
But it sent a shiver down the spines of all the Holy Messengers. They knew that when the Holy Master said "interesting," it meant he was truly enraged.
"A little mouse, daring to openly declare war on a dragon. Very courageous."
The Holy Master slowly stood up. For the first time, the darkness surrounding him seemed to recede slightly, revealing a vague, slender figure.
"I underestimated him," the Holy Master continued. "I thought he was just a pawn with a bit of luck. But no. He is a variable. A variable that could affect my entire plan."
"But this is also good. A game of chess, if it's too predictable, becomes very boring."
The Holy Master looked down at his subordinates.
"His declaration of war, we accept."
"From now on, raise the threat level of target 'Lam Minh' to the highest level. On par with Lac Long Quan."
This command astonished all the Holy Messengers. Placing a Golden Core kid on the same level as a Late-Stage Nascent Soul expert? This was an unprecedented assessment.
"First, Second," the Holy Master called their names.
"Your subordinate is here!" they said in unison.
"You two, put everything else aside for now. Your sole mission now is to learn about him. Use every method, every resource, investigate his past, his family, the people around him. I want to know everything he has experienced from birth until now. I want to know the secret behind his ability to resurrect."
"Understood!"
"As for the rest of you," the Holy Master glanced over the remaining eight Holy Messengers. "Continue with the plan. But be more careful. Avoid direct confrontation with him. Use the Madakaros puppets, use the traitors in their military. Create chaos, create disasters, to distract him, to test him. I want to see how many people he can save on his own."
"Turn him into a busy 'hero.' A hero who has to run everywhere to put out fires, only to eventually die of exhaustion in the flames we ourselves have created."
A new plan, a new strategy, had been drawn.
The Holy Way of Salvation no longer saw Lam Minh as a toy.
They now truly considered him a mortal enemy.
A full-scale war, in both the light and the shadows, was about to erupt. And Lam Minh, after his arrogant declaration, had placed himself right in the eye of the storm.