A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)

Time continued to slip away.

Less than two years remained until the end of the final decade.

On Mount Kransbay, that Universe Tree had already reached a height of ten thousand meters.

The massive trunk pierced the heavens.

The fallen leaves and branches nearly blotted out the sky.

As Ye Fan had said years ago, it seemed that the nutrients of Mount Kransbay were gradually becoming insufficient to support the growth of the Universe Tree.

Within a hundred-mile radius, all forms of life and vegetation had already withered away.

Even the soil of the earth had begun to show signs of desertification.

This was the result of a large amount of nutrients being absorbed.

All of these signs seemed to indicate that the prophecy made by Ye Fan years ago was about to come true.

When the nutrients of Mount Kransbay could no longer sustain the growth of the Universe Tree, the demonic claws of the Universe Tree would then reach out toward other life forms on Earth. Of course, the humans on Earth had not been idle.

Zhang Nanhai's research on the Titan Formation had made significant theoretical advancements.

According to Zhang Nanhai's theory, the mindless accumulation of people would not infinitely enhance the power of the titan.

The fusion of the Titan Formation required an optimal balance in the number of people.

Based on this balance, the International Martial Arts Union ultimately decided to establish ten titans, each made up of twenty supreme grandmasters.

After calculations, a total of two hundred supreme grandmasters were needed.

Back in the day, during the battle of the Chu Sect, the global martial arts community suffered devastating losses, with several supreme grandmasters falling in the fray.

In the aftermath of the Symborsus crisis, the once formidable power of the supreme grandmasters was nearly exhausted.

However, after a decade of development, the sense of crisis akin to the end of the world, coupled with the abundant heaven and earth energy under the Universe Tree, helped Earth to nurture a large number of supreme grandmasters, so much so that the current number of supreme grandmasters had reached over two hundred, making history.

The number of supreme grandmasters was already so numerous, let alone those at the Grandmaster level and those below the Grandmaster level.

In summary, according to the plan, there were ten titans of the Supreme rank, one hundred titans of the Grandmaster rank, and nearly nine hundred titans of ranks below Grandmaster.

Altogether, a total of one thousand titans had been assembled.

When the end of days arrived, these thousand titans would be humanity's greatest trump card.

They would fight for the survival of mankind.

After the plan was formulated, the next step was to choose the titan leaders.

Given its significance to the survival of mankind, the loyalty of the titan leader was of utmost importance.

After all, if at a crucial moment, the titan leaders were to flee from the battlefield, too afraid to fight, the impact on the overall situation would be immense.

The selection of the titan leaders, in particular, was of paramount importance.

Ultimately, after a meeting, it was unanimously decided that the Supreme titan leaders would be elected by the collective vote of the people.

After that, they would be personally branded with the Divine Imprint by Zhang Nanhai, the creator of the Titan Formation.

It was to ensure that nothing could go wrong.

As for the titan leaders of the Grandmaster level, a portion of them were marked with the Divine Imprint by Rory, while the remaining were subjected to ideological education.

The Spiritual Imprint Formation required a tremendous amount of spiritual energy. With limited time left, Zhang Nanhai and Rory simply couldn't perform the Spiritual Imprint Formation on too many people. In this manner, the final preparations began in earnest.

Every nation also began nominating suitable titan leaders to the Doomsday Preparation Team.

However, when everyone was choosing the titan leaders, without exception, they all excluded the strong ones from the Chu Sect and the Dragon God Hall.

These were all Ye Fan's people.

And Ye Fan, already deemed a coward by the world, had already hidden himself away in fear.

Therefore, even those who had once been under Ye Fan's command were no longer trusted.

At the foot of Mount Kransbay, numerous martial artists were training here, and even the current head of the Jones family, Michael, had come to join in the excitement. Beside him, his wife and child were also accompanying him.

After all these years, it was the first time that Michael had stood up close beneath the Universe Tree.

He tilted his head back, gazing up at the towering Universe Tree before him, his emotions a complex whirl.

"Honey, what's wrong?" a blonde-haired, green-eyed beauty asked Michael with concern.

"Ellie, do you remember me telling

you about my formidable

brother-in-law? Back in the day, he was the number one man in Kransbay, a force to be reckoned with. He defeated Symborsus. In the blink of an eye, nearly a decade has already passed. I wonder how he's doing now and how my sister is."

Looking back on the past, Michael was filled with a profound sense of melancholy.

He didn't know if he would ever see them again in his lifetime.

As Michael was lost in melancholy, suddenly, someone slapped him on the back from behind.

The slap was so hard that even Michael, a supreme grandmaster, couldn't help but wince in pain.

"Mr. Jones, what a surprise to see you here."

The sound echoed from behind.

Michael's face instantly lit up with joy when he turned his head. "Gaius! Owen? What are you guys doing here? Didn't you guys participate in the selection of the titan leaders?" Indeed, the person before him was no stranger.

He was a powerful Dragon Slayer from the Dragon God Hall of yesteryears.

However, the Dragon God Hall had already disbanded, with its members scattered all over the place. It had been many years since everyone had seen each other.

Michael didn't expect to meet them here.

"Titan leader? Don't even think about it! Those people won't even let us participate in the Titan Formation. They look at us as if we're the plague. Right now, we're nothing more than a public enemy. Nobody wants anything to do with us," Gaius said.

Michael nodded.

He was one of the seven members of the Doomsday Preparation Team.

He knew well that the leaders of the world now had an issue with Ye Fan.

Although they did not dare to openly oppose Ye Fan, the martial arts communities across various countries adopted an attitude of neglect and suppression toward those who were once his subordinates.

"I attempted to explain a few things

on Mr. Chu's behalf. But I was alone. I was unable to decide anything. Anyway, you all should be careful in the future. I'm worried that once the e crisis of the Universe Tree has passed, I suspect you all will be the ones to pay the price when the time comes for settling accounts,"

Michael reminded.

He was in the midst of it all, fully aware of how the martial arts world had a strong opinion of Ye Fan.

It was a unique moment. Humanity had no inclination for internal strife yet.

However, once the external crisis was resolved and it was time to settle the scores, the representatives of those who had fled were likely to face retribution, including Ye Fan.

"Why would I be afraid of them? It's just a few titans, isn't it? Just because they're big, they think they're invincible? If they truly provoked us, then at that time, the Dragon Master would lead us to take over the world again!" Gaius was all talk.

Michael and the others all shook their heads and chuckled.

Everyone knew that Gaius was just joking.

The glorious days of the Dragon God Hall had long since passed.

In the previous battle at Mount Yan, Ye Fan had already lost under the Titan Formation.

One could only say that the era belonging to Chu Tianfan, the era of the Dragon God Hall, had already passed.

Now, Zhang Nanhai and the Titan Formation were the protagonists of this era.

"By the way, Mr. Jones, what brings you here? You're one of the members of the Doomsday Preparation Team. Aren't you as busy as a bee? Do you really have time to come here for leisure?" Gaius then asked.

Michael gave his wife a hug. "I brought my wife over for a visit, and this little one too has been eager to come. I've been busy, but these past few days I have a bit of free time. I can't believe the Universe Tree has already grown this tall."

Michael was lost in thought.

At that moment, Michael's son ran over excitedly. "Daddy, Daddy, can I touch it?"

"Don't touch it. Keep your distance. Honey, quickly bring him over here."

There had been no incidents of the

Universe Tree causing harm to people out of malice, and for all these years, the Universe Tree had always been growing here without any unusual activity. However, this Universe Tree was destined to pose a threat to humans sooner or later.

Michael didn't want his wife and child to get too close to it.

However, just as Michael's wife stepped forward to embrace her son, the Universe Tree, which had been silent for many years, suddenly began to tremble.

A branch, like a whip being swung down, pierced directly through the bodies of Michael's wife and son.

Deep crimson blood instantly stained the vast lands of Kransbay.

In an instant, Michael's eyes turned red, and he let out a piercing scream. "Son!"

All of this happened too quickly.

No one had expected that the Universe Tree, silent for so many years, would reveal its predatory nature at this moment.

Everyone recoiled in terror.

The Universe Tree has started to riot ahead of time?