With each kingly holy artifact that shattered, Little Black’s body trembled, wishing it could peck Mo Yunduan to death with its beak.
But it was helpless; the power of a pseudo-god was too overwhelming, and the might of the *God-Locking Diagram* was unmatched. One-Yuan and Two-Yuan kingly holy artifacts simply couldn’t withstand it.
Just as it prepared to grab the three supreme holy artifacts and flee, a strange fluctuation rippled through the void space.
The source of the fluctuation was Bai Qing’er.
Under Bai Qing’er’s blood-soaked robes, her skin radiated a blindingly pure white origin light, sacred to the extreme, like the first ray of light at the dawn of creation, birthing all things and beings.
At that moment, she seemed to embody the pinnacle of worldly beauty and wonder, leaving all the cultivators present stunned for an instant.
“Such pure origin light. Has her Path of Origin… reached divinity?” Granny Haitang said.
Blood Spirit Immortal shook his head. “It’s origin at a divine level, but she hasn’t cultivated to that stage. She forcibly elevated herself to that level through a forbidden technique, likely at a great cost.”
Origin’s light could create or destroy all things.
Under its illumination, the void space seemed to become tangible, filled with matter. More and more matter gathered: yellow earth and green stone converged, mountains and deep valleys formed.
“Is she trying to create a realm from the void, becoming a creator god?” Zhang Ruochen realized he was standing on solid ground.
The void’s forces were dispelled by the origin.
Mo Yunduan sensed something amiss with Bai Qing’er and hastened his attack on the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions Array.
“With my body… I martyr the Dao…” Bai Qing’er uttered four words from her crimson lips.
The origin light grew even more blinding. Zhang Ruochen couldn’t keep his eyes open and was pulled back by Granny Haitang and Blood Spirit Immortal.
The last thing he saw was the matter created by the origin light collapsing, as if it were the end of the world. Bai Qing’er transformed into a beam of white light, charging toward Mo Yunduan.
“Rumble!”
…
When Zhang Ruochen regained his vision, he was back in the real world.
The heavens and earth suddenly grew calm, devoid of the terrifying origin light and divine power fluctuations. Only the bowl-sized white Ice King Star hung over ten billion li away.
After a moment, Zhang Ruochen came to his senses, looked around, and asked, “Where’s Little Black?”
“Scared this emperor to death! Luckily, I escaped fast. Saved them, saved the three supreme holy artifacts!” Little Black’s feathers had turned to ash, its body charred black.
The three supreme holy artifacts orbited around it, spinning ceaselessly, radiating light.
Zhang Ruochen glared at it. “Are you out of your mind?”
“These are supreme holy artifacts, three of them! If not for this emperor’s quick reflexes, they’d have been lost in the void space under that impact,” Little Black argued.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Isn’t staying alive better?”
“Relax, this emperor is an immortal phoenix,” Little Black said nonchalantly, flapping its charred wings.
Blood Spirit Immortal asked Granny Haitang, “Do you know about the forbidden technique of martyring the Dao with one’s body?”
Granny Haitang, older than Blood Spirit Immortal, had only her seven-colored skeleton and white hair left. Her voice raspy, she said, “It’s a forbidden technique only origin controllers can use. Legend says that cultivators below the divine realm who use it lose ten thousand years of lifespan. Gods lose a hundred thousand years.”
“That demoness is ruthless, willing to pay such a price to protect her identity and avoid implicating Goddess Twelve Towers,” Little Black grinned.
Zhang Ruochen pondered. “She didn’t use this move just to slay a god.”
“For what else, then?” Little Black asked curiously.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Since it’s a forbidden technique, it pushes the Path of Origin to its extreme, reaching divinity. With her talent, this experience might give her the insight to achieve divine origin.”
“So what if she achieves divine origin?” Little Black pressed.
Zhang Ruochen was growing tired of its questions. “What about Wu Ma Jiuxing’s divine blade path?”
Little Black gasped, its expression turning grave. “The Path of Origin is one of the nine eternal paths. If she achieves divinity…”
Blood Spirit Immortal sliced open space with a sword, re-entering the void space.
Zhang Ruochen and Granny Haitang followed.
“What’s the rush to go back? What if Mo Yunduan isn’t dead? Why not discuss how to deal with that demoness first?” Little Black called out, ignored. Suddenly, it realized something and muttered, “Oh no, they’re definitely going for the *God-Locking Diagram*, the bronze bell, the divine source… How am I only realizing this now?”
Little Black rushed into the void space, where faint traces of origin power and divine fluctuations lingered.
The void’s power was too strong; in that brief time, everything seemed to be eroding and assimilating, unable to persist.
Zhang Ruochen picked up a palm-sized piece of Mo Yunduan’s corpse, but its divine blood had lost divinity, and its soul, mental power, and divine thoughts had been obliterated by origin.
Blood Spirit Immortal and Granny Haitang found other corpse fragments.
Blood Spirit Immortal tossed his fragment away, sighing, “She succeeded. A god has fallen. Another extraordinary woman.”
“What about the divine source? It can’t have shattered, right?” Little Black asked eagerly, then added, “And the *God-Locking Diagram*?”
Granny Haitang said, “In that situation, Mo Yunduan didn’t have time to detonate his divine source or the resolve to do so. The woman from Goddess Twelve Towers is likely still alive and took the divine source and *God-Locking Diagram*.”
“What? Should we chase her now? She just used a forbidden technique; she must be weak,” Little Black suggested, unwilling to let it go.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “She left the void space without leaving a trace. How do we chase her?”
“That demoness is too cunning. She used us to wound Mo Yunduan, waited until we were heavily injured, then used her forbidden technique to take all the spoils and escape. Zhang Ruochen, if you face her in the future, you must go all out. Don’t be swayed by her beauty or pity,” Little Black said earnestly.
Little Black wanted to collect the divine corpse fragments, but Zhang Ruochen stopped it.
A god’s fall and the loss of the *God-Locking Diagram* would surely enrage the Death God Temple, prompting a thorough investigation.
Carrying divine corpse fragments could lead to their discovery.
Back in the real world, Zhang Ruochen took out the quasi-emperor-grade holy pill *Life-Death Rebirth Pill*, a reward from the Undying God Temple, and offered it to Granny Haitang.
Granny Haitang glanced at it, returned it, and said firmly, “Kunlun Realm cultivators do not take healing pills from the Infernal Realm.”
She wasn’t targeting Zhang Ruochen; her deep hatred for the Infernal Realm stemmed from surviving the dark times of the late Middle Ages.
Zhang Ruochen couldn’t understand her mindset but respected her wishes.
Blood threads grew on Granny Haitang’s seven-colored skeleton, forming muscles and skin, soon restoring her body. Her injuries remained, but she appeared fine outwardly.
“Give it to me,” Blood Spirit Immortal said, extending his hand without hesitation.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to say their relationship wasn’t that close, but with such a formidable figure asking so boldly, refusing would be awkward. Smiling, he handed over his only quasi-emperor-grade *Life-Death Rebirth Pill*, one he was reluctant to use himself.
Blood Spirit Immortal took it and swallowed it immediately.
The effect was instant: his wounds healed rapidly, his vitality surged, and his mental state improved.
As Zhang Ruochen prepared to hand the Heavenly Pivot Needle to Granny Haitang, his expression shifted. He saw a figure approaching silently, dozens of zhang away.
The figure walked through the air like a mortal.
This made it eerie.
How could a mortal walk in the air?
Even stranger, Zhang Ruochen couldn’t see the figure’s face, as if it existed in another spacetime. He could only make out two dragon horns on its head.
Blood Spirit Immortal and Granny Haitang bowed simultaneously, saying in unison, “Lord Dragon!”
Zhang Ruochen’s mind roared, his body trembling.
Lord Dragon…
A legendary figure from Kunlun Realm’s Middle Ages, comparable to Saint Monk Xumi, whose reputation endured after a hundred thousand years, enough to make gods wary.
Was this truly that Lord Dragon?
A mythical figure stood before him.
Little Black’s legs shook, wanting to flee, but its feet seemed rooted, unable to move.
There was no overwhelming divine aura, no earth-shaking steps, just a figure impossible to discern, grand yet ordinary, mysterious yet simple.
Zhang Ruochen pieced many things together, his heart still pounding, but his expression calm. After bowing, he asked, “Since Lord Dragon was nearby, why not strike down that pseudo-god?”
His tone carried a hint of challenge.
“Well said,” Lord Dragon replied, looking at Zhang Ruochen with appreciation. “Xiuchen came by.”
Zhang Ruochen was startled. “Heavenly God Xiuchen?”
“I used a strand of divine intent to scare him off. He likely thought it was Ice Emperor’s warning and fled quickly. Unfortunately, I couldn’t act before rescuing the Island Lord, or he’d be dead,” Lord Dragon said.
He added, “His target was you, or rather, Burial Gold White Tiger. He doesn’t need to act personally to kill you.”
All gods in the Infernal Realm knew that to kill Zhang Ruochen, they must first eliminate Burial Gold White Tiger. The best way was to force it to unleash power beyond the heavens’ rules, letting divine punishment destroy it without leaving a trace.
Zhang Ruochen knew the depth of his enmity with Heavenly God Xiuchen. The influence of Blood Absolute War God, God of Fortune, and Emperor Luo Yan could make other gods set aside their grudges, but not Xiuchen or the Ghost Lord.
The hatred ran too deep.
