Under the cover of night, the head of the Fengyun Chamber of Commerce's local branch departed via the teleportation array.
There was indeed a teleportation array within the fortress, but the resources required to activate it were exorbitant.
With the calamity of dream beasts descending, only a privileged few would likely be able to teleport away.
As for the vast masses of commoners at the bottom, and even a number of nobles, leaving was simply out of the question.
Around daybreak, the deputy head of the Fengyun Chamber of Commerce stopped before a magnificent, palatial hall.
This palace was a great cathedral of the Church of the True Creator. The Grand Priest who had contacted Liu Tu resided inside.
The Church of the True Creator was a colossal entity spanning numerous worlds.
Even at the church's headquarters, this Grand Priest was considered an influential figure, being a member of the Council of Elders.
The Council of Elders was the true core of the Church of the True Creator.
Every single elder on the council possessed the strength of the seventh realm.
The seventh realm was none other than the Yang God realm.
"Enter."
A commanding voice rang out. Liu Tu immediately walked in with utmost humility, an expression of reverence and awe plastered across his face.
Qi Yuan of that Advertisement Society might be strong, but to Liu Tu, that did not amount to much.
Liu Tu had once witnessed this Grand Priest of the Church of the True Creator shatter the entire world where heretics resided with a single palm strike.
Such terrifying, divine might made Liu Tu revere him as a god.
How could a mere Advertisement Society ever stand against a powerhouse as mighty as the Church of the True Creator?
"Greetings, Grand Priest. The divine mirror has been delivered." Liu Tu's attitude was reverent to the absolute extreme, entirely different from the polite deference he had shown Qi Yuan.
Clad in a greyish-white robe, the Grand Priest cast an indifferent glance at the divine mirror and asked, "Tell me what transpired in the Feiniao Realm."
Liu Tu hurriedly recounted everything that had happened in the fortress in meticulous detail.
"Capable of destroying a divine artifact? He does possess some ability," the Grand Priest commented casually.
"Compared to you, Grand Priest, that Qi Yuan of the Advertisement Society is nothing more than a clown dancing on a beam. If you took action in person, you could slay him with a snap of your fingers," Liu Tu flattered, though he was secretly curious.
Why did the Grand Priest not act in person? Wouldn't that demonstrate the might of the Church of the True Creator even better?
The Grand Priest narrowed his eyes without answering.
He had fortuitously stepped into the seventh realm and was a Yang God expert.
His opponent was also a Yang God expert. Without trading blows, the outcome remained uncertain.
The Grand Priest could not guarantee his own victory.
Therefore, the safest and most reliable method was to use the blood of the True Creator as a medium to enact a curse.
With a wave of the Grand Priest's hand, the divine mirror flew into his grasp.
At that moment, a drop of golden blood materialized, and an expression of awe surfaced on the Grand Priest's face.
"This drop of blood originates from the True Creator. Its divine power is extraordinary. Once cursed by it, not even existences at the church-master level can withstand it."
The church-master level—the leaders of the major churches—belonged to the second tier of the Yang God realm.
It could be said that aside from lofty, majestic deities like the True Creator, church masters were the strongest beings in the world.
As the Grand Priest spoke, divine radiance flashed in his eyes.
He reached his hand into the divine mirror, and the drop of the True Creator's blood also fell into it.
"Blood-Resentment Divine Lead, True Descent... Perish!"
The Grand Priest incanted beneath his breath, unleashing the curse in that very instant.
A terrifying streak of bloody light seemed to descend between heaven and earth.
The Grand Priest raised his head, reverence filling his face.
"The phantom of the True Creator has descended. His phantom will imprint upon the aura within the divine mirror to enact the curse. No matter where he hides, he must die," the Grand Priest declared with absolute certainty.
Yet right at that moment, a calm voice abruptly sounded.
"'No matter where he hides, he must die'? Doesn't that mean if I don't hide, I don't have to die?"
As the words fell, an incomparably handsome young man appeared.
Catching sight of the newcomer, Liu Tu was shocked to his core. "How did you get here?!"
The teleportation array could only be used twice a day! How could Qi Yuan have arrived?
The Grand Priest's heart also shuddered violently. He stared at Qi Yuan with deep wariness. "To think you could bypass my perception and arrive here. Your strength is commendable. Furthermore, you noticed Liu Tu's abnormality—some wit, indeed. But choosing to follow him here proves you don't have much of it."
Now, the phantom of the True Creator had already descended.
The curse was locked in.
No matter how strong Qi Yuan was, even if he were a church-master-level existence, he would unquestionably perish.
"I hate it most when people call me stupid." Qi Yuan was slightly triggered.
Fortunately, this guy wasn't a fellow native of Blue Star; otherwise, if he tossed out a jab about throwing a stone to make a dog yelp, Qi Yuan would have gotten even more flustered.
The Grand Priest narrowed his eyes. "Savor your death."
God created the world, and God created all living beings.
God's finger represented vitality and death.
God extended His hand and created the world.
Now, God extended His hand once more, bringing destruction.
The power of such a terrifying curse was appalling.
Watching the phantom of the True Creator extend its finger, Qi Yuan wore an inquisitive look in his eyes.
"Your god... has an injured finger?"
Hearing this, the Grand Priest's expression shifted slightly. "You know too much."
The reason the True Creator had fallen into a slumber was precisely because of an injury.
The wound was on His finger.
Rumor had it that before the True Creator descended into this universe, He had awakened once and extended His friendly hand to mortal beings.
However... He was ambushed by the Terrifying Sovereign of Destruction, the Dark Evil God. As a result, the True Creator had fallen into slumber and ultimately drifted into this universe.
"A pity that knowing this won't change your fate," the Grand Priest said.
"You have way too many lines," Qi Yuan said, speechless. "All right, that's a wrap for you."
As his words fell, the thoroughly bewildered Grand Priest abruptly burst apart, disintegrating into ashes.
Right up until his death, the expression on his face remained unchanged. Or rather, he hadn't realized in the slightest that he was about to die.
To the side, Liu Tu witnessed the scene, bean-sized beads of sweat rolling down his forehead uncontrollably.
Qi Yuan then shifted his calm gaze toward the True Creator.
"Your curse is no good. You'll need your true body to come in person."
As the words landed, the phantom of the True Creator shattered.
Immediately following that, Liu Tu also dropped dead on the spot.
Meanwhile, in a distant place...
Countless strands of divine power surged, and threads of faith intertwined.
Between the real and the illusory, there seemed to be a colossal cocoon. Within it slumbered a deity.
This deity was none other than the True Creator!
Ever since descending into this universe, the True Creator had remained in a deep slumber.
Relying on instinct, He consumed faith, slowly recovering.
At this pace, He would awaken in several billion years.
When that time came, it would usher in the golden age of the Church of the True Creator.
Yet at this moment, within this secluded realm, a young man clad in plain garments appeared.
He looked upon the True Creator before him, a smile playing in his eyes.
"Beep beep! The alarm clock is ringing!"
"Time to get out of bed!"
At this moment, Qi Yuan turned himself into an alarm clock, emitting all sorts of shrill noises as though trying to wake the True Creator.
The deity within the silken cocoon seemed to shudder violently, the contours of His flesh knotting into a deep scowl.
Evidently, Qi Yuan's racket was inflicting maximum psychological damage on Him.
He seemed to recall the sensation of being jarred awake by an alarm clock back when He was still a mortal.
"Up and at 'em! The sun's about to scorch your butt!"
Having said that, Qi Yuan directly summoned a colossal Stellar Golden Core.
This Stellar Golden Core was boundless and majestic, blazing with ferocious heat.
A terrifying flame and an aura that could incinerate all things unfurled.
A searing, golden glow illuminated the surroundings.
Within the Church of the True Creator, several dozen members of the Council of Elders were startled awake.
Shock written across their faces, they stared hesitantly at the newly appeared sun, their expressions lost and bewildered.
"What is that?"
"Such blinding light!"
"My eyes!"
"Just what kind of power is this?!"
"This is blaspheming God! How dare they!" an elder roared in fury, his faith crumbling.
These Yang God experts, and even church-master-level Yang God powerhouses, all wore expressions of dread.
A gargantuan sun had suddenly dropped right into the core territory of their church—how could they not be horrified?
"Church Master, what is that?" someone asked.
The Church Master of the Church of the True Creator wore a grave expression. "I see a great sun."
"See that? The sun's about to burn your rear," Qi Yuan continued. "If you still don't wake up, how about two suns? Or three?"
As Qi Yuan's strength grew, his Stellar Golden Core had become increasingly formidable; it was no longer just a simple tool for smashing people.
Of course, when used to smash people, its might remained terrifying.
Just then, a profound, esoteric aura diffused through the air.
Having slumbered for who knew how many years, the True Creator finally awoke at this moment.
His very first thoughts were: *Who am I? Where am I? What happened? Wasn't I severely injured and sleeping? Why did I wake up all of a sudden?*
*Wait... it's so hot.*
The True Creator woke up with a frail, hollow aura, looking like an otaku who had pulled all-nighters for far too long.
His gaze fell toward His backside, instantly catching sight of two terrifying monstrosities nearby.
His eyes widened in utter disbelief.
He clearly remembered fleeing to an ordinary universe.
In that universe, He ought to have been the pinnacle existence.
So why...
The moment He saw Qi Yuan, He instinctively shrank His neck back, as if spotting a natural predator.
In an instant, He seemed to piece together the cause.
It turned out that the majestic existence before Him had established an Advertisement Society, which seemingly competed for faith with the Church of the True Creator.
An elder from the Council of Elders had casually issued an order to suppress the Advertisement Society.
If that were all, it might have been fine, but one of the elders—a mere first-tier Yang God—had actually used His blood to curse this majestic existence!
At this moment, He felt like weeping without tears.
He had been sleeping peacefully at home, only for a cosmic catastrophe to fall straight from the heavens onto His head.
"Exalted God, the fault in this matter lies with me. The destinies of all who harbor hostility toward the Advertisement Society have gathered here; Exalted God may snap them at any time. This was all a misunderstanding." The True Creator executed a lightning-fast kowtow, handing a thread of destiny to Qi Yuan.
This thread of destiny held sway over the deaths of tens of thousands of living beings.
"I didn't come here to hold you accountable. I just wanted to ask... who caused the injury on your hand?" Qi Yuan asked. "According to your doctrine, it was the Terrifying Sovereign of Destruction, the Dark Evil God. Who is that?"
The True Creator wore a solemn and conflicted expression. "Once, I was gravely wounded and trapped in deep slumber. Through countless years of effort, my believers finally awakened a wisp of my consciousness, and the Hand of Ascension into the World reached out...
"Yet who could have known that right then, a... cat's paw swatted the Hand of Ascension into the World, instantly inflicting heavy injuries upon me once more."
Speaking up to this point, a lingering fear gripped the True Creator.
Even though He had been heavily injured back then, He had still stepped into the third tier of the Yang God realm and could be considered the lord of a realm.
Yet, He had been swatted right back into slumber by a cat.
"Was this cat... a black-and-white cat?" Qi Yuan asked thoughtfully.
"Exalted God knows it?" The True Creator was somewhat astonished.
That cat back then had been far too terrifying, or rather, bizarre. It was clearly a very ordinary cat, yet it had been so confident and so powerful.
And the existence behind that cat was even more terrifying.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's probably my pet cat."
"Xie Xinsu."
Qi Yuan said placidly.
Chapter 587