Stalling for Time

Within the Spirit Realm, an astral core woven from black light and starlight lay quietly dormant, surrounded by six smaller stars. Suddenly, black light and starlight flared to life, each claiming half of the core. The starlight turned clockwise while the black light rotated counterclockwise, transforming the astral core into a Taiji sphere. At the same time, six beams of light extended from the Taiji star, linking with the six surrounding stars. All seven stars shone with blinding brilliance. The formation activated! As Zhang Yuanqing's vision cleared from a blur, he found himself standing in a desolate desert. A layer of viscous, jet-black liquid energy resembling crude oil blanketed the sands, submerging his feet. Above him stretched a dazzling, ethereal canopy of starlight. The starlight overhead revolved clockwise, while the liquid energy washing over his feet spun counterclockwise like a slow vortex. "Whoosh..." As the two "millstones" ground together, air currents whipped into a frenzy. Trapped between them, Zhang Yuanqing felt as though he were caught in a maelstrom. Moving his limbs became exceptionally difficult, his breathing grew constricted, and a suffocating pressure bore down upon him as if heaven and earth had united to kill him. At the same time, his spiritual power was rapidly bleeding away, draining into the formation. Had this been a Dominator-level expert, three breaths would have drained them into a cripple. Zhang Yuanqing tilted his head, gazing toward the Lord of the Stars seated cross-legged at the core of the formation, and said calmly, "I never expected you could create a dungeon through the Spirit Realm. You've hidden yourself deep, you old turtle." Waging a decisive battle through a Spirit Realm dungeon was an entirely different matter from demigods gathering in an "idle" dungeon. In the former case, the dungeon was governed by the Spirit Realm itself, meaning even demigods within it were subject to its restrictions. The simplest example was that if the Void demigod left of his own accord, he would face penalties—he could neither bring anyone else into the dungeon nor take anyone out. The Lord of the Stars raised his eyes. His left eye glittered with starlight while his right was pitch-black and fathomless. In an equally calm tone, he replied, "Your understanding of the sun, moon, and stars is far too shallow. As primordial cosmic forces, the three pillars of the Spirit Realm, I can wield partial administrator privileges even if full administrator permissions have not yet unlocked." As he spoke, he cupped his hands in the air, as though kneading an invisible sphere. Following that motion, the rotation of the Taiyin below and the stars above accelerated violently, spinning faster and faster. Zhang Yuanqing felt like a soybean caught between two millstones, being ground down bit by bit. Massive amounts of spiritual power drained from his body. Zhang Yuanqing raised his right hand, condensing a longbow and shooting an arrow formed from a Golden Crow straight toward the sky. A golden streak of light surged upward, illuminating the entire dungeon. The searing heat it radiated raised the ambient temperature by more than ten degrees. Yet when the arrow collided with the grinding disc of starlight, the light—which should have been pierced clean through—surged wildly, instantly turning as thick as a mountain and as unyielding as iron. Unable to breach the barrier, the arrow had no choice but to revert into a Golden Crow and return dejectedly into the body of the Lord of the Sun. "Was this formation prepared specifically for me?" Zhang Yuanqing asked, his expression grave and devoid of emotion. "A formation created in haste. It is still far from refined," the Lord of the Stars replied. Zhang Yuanqing sneered. "A formation created in haste can have six subsidiary formations continuously feeding it spiritual power?" When facing Bacchus earlier, the Lord of the Stars had displayed a divine technique uniting his Taiyin and Astral avatars. He had clearly studied both powers for many years; this formation was almost certainly one of the fruits of that research. This old plotter had bided his time for sixty years, and his foundation was indeed profound. The Lord of the Stars' voice echoed in layered, resonant tones. "The brilliance of the Ziwei Six Fiends Formation lies in the rule that to break the main formation, one must first break the subsidiary formations. Your fate does not rest in your hands, but in the hands of your companions." Zhang Yuanqing's expression remained stern. "My life rests only in my own hands." The Lord of the Stars smiled faintly. "That is not what you should be worrying about. You should realize that my ability to deploy the Taiji Ziwei Six Fiends Formation means I have taken another step in refining the Taiyin Origin." Dazzling starlight shone on Zhang Yuanqing's suddenly grim face. Transparent ripples surfaced in his eyes, his pupils fading to the clarity of glass. He stared at the black moon above the Lord of the Stars' head. Peering through the energy's innate concealment, he glimpsed that the remnant spirit inside had grown extraordinarily weak. Ling Tuo could barely hold on! This meant the two Illusion Gods had previously assisted the Lord of the Stars in attempting to eradicate Ling Tuo's remnant spirit. Though they had failed to destroy it, they had considerably weakened his will. *The situation is only getting worse!* Zhang Yuanqing sighed inwardly, while also marveling at how absurdly powerful Ling Tuo's primordial spirit was. He truly lived up to the title of Taiyin. Seated cross-legged, the Lord of the Stars spoke slowly: "Within a day, I will fully refine the Taiyin. When that happens, you, having not yet completed the Solar Origin, will stand no chance whatsoever." Zhang Yuanqing fell silent for a moment before saying, "The two Illusion Gods lacked the ability to extinguish Ling Tuo's remnant spirit, managing only to suppress and weaken him. Are you trying to trick me into attacking so I can obliterate Ling Tuo for you?" Attacking the Lord of the Stars meant attacking Ling Tuo. While the former could survive being struck by solar divine power, the remnant spirit of the Lord of Taiyin would undoubtedly perish. The Lord of the Stars countered calmly, "How do you know I am not at the critical juncture of refining the Taiyin, intentionally saying this so caution ties your hands, making you hesitate to strike and thereby stalling for time?" Zhang Yuanqing paused briefly, then let out a dry chuckle. "It truly is a dilemma. If I stand at an impasse with you, this great formation will eventually drain all my spiritual power, and I run the risk of you refining the Taiyin at any moment. But if I risk everything on an all-out attack, I might end up doing you a favor. Still, with your intellect, you should have calculated that solar divine power isn't my only method." With those words, he opened his palm. Golden light surged, revealing a metallic scroll. The moment the Merit Roster appeared, among the dense sea of Spirit Realm IDs, one suddenly lit up: Awakened One! This was the Lord of the Stars' Spirit Realm ID. He had been born into a family of officials during the late Qing dynasty, dedicating the first half of his life entirely to the imperial examinations. After the corrupt Qing dynasty collapsed, he endured the bitterness of his family's decline and witnessed the tragic ruin of the nation. He watched warlords tremble before the iron hooves of foreign powers, and watched his compatriots struggle to survive between warlords and foreign invaders—enslaved, exploited, numb, and suffering... Having studied the books of sages from youth, his only desire had been to serve as a morning bell and evening drum to awaken his numb countrymen. Through a chance encounter, he obtained a character card and became a Spirit Realm walker, taking the name Awakened One! *May four hundred million people awaken!* The next instant, the three characters of "Awakened One" were erased by golden light. From the sky, a blazing pillar of fire descended, engulfing the seated Lord of Taiyin. The latter seemed to have anticipated the heavenly fire. The black full moon above his head melted, pouring viscous energy over him and coating him like a figure of mud. The heavenly fire consumed the Lord of the Stars with unstoppable momentum, yet failed to burn through the Taiyin's protection. Zhang Yuanqing appeared before the Lord of the Stars like a ghost. Snapping his fingers, he peeled away a layer of the viscous "mud." Nullification! Then, taking a deep breath, he unleashed Shadow Roar at the Lord of the Stars—the core skill of a Level 9 Dominator. Shadow Roar could annihilate souls. It was the rule-based manifestation of a Mental Strike. At the demigod level, apart from the Lord of Taiyin and the Grand Marshal, virtually no demigod could take such a blow without their spirit suffering damage. Not even the Lord of the Stars was an exception. After unleashing Shadow Roar, Zhang Yuanqing hastily put away the Merit Roster, then channeled his dream abilities to drag the Lord of the Stars into a dreamscape. He put away the Merit Roster to prevent the next retribution from triggering lightning or solar divine power, which would obliterate Ling Tuo's remnant spirit. As for Shadow Roar, Zhang Yuanqing believed it would not destroy Ling Tuo's remnant spirit; if that were possible, the two Illusion Gods of the Nihility Sect would have done it long ago. Zhang Yuanqing leapt into the Lord of the Stars' dream. Just as he was about to weave a dreamscape to deal with him, two colossal cloaked figures suddenly materialized within the murky dream space. The next moment, Zhang Yuanqing was forcibly expelled from the dream. The Lord of the Stars opened his eyes, speaking in an unhurried tone as if everything remained firmly within his grasp: "The Ziwei Six Fiends Formation is a single whole. The subsidiary formations do not merely provide spiritual power and maintain stability; as the master of the main formation, I can also borrow power from them. "Though that borrowed power does not reach the demigod level, serving as support to help me break free of a dream is more than enough." Expending so many high-tier materials had naturally yielded results. With his spiritual power continuously draining away, Zhang Yuanqing wasted no words. He produced the Merit Roster once more, and the ID "Awakened One" surfaced again. Immediately after, "Awakened One" was wiped away by golden light. As long as Zhang Yuanqing remained within the formation and subjected to having his spiritual power drained, the Merit Roster would relentlessly strike the formation's master. This time, a pristine, clear pillar of light descended from the heavens, triggering the retribution of Purification. *Snap!* Zhang Yuanqing snapped his fingers, canceling the retribution. The ID "Awakened One" reappeared and was erased again. Silver-white bolts of lightning streaked through the sky, twisting menacingly like bared fangs and brandished claws as terrifying thunder gathered. This retribution was a strike of heavenly thunder! Zhang Yuanqing had no choice but to snap his fingers again, canceling it. He simply put the Merit Roster away, looked across at the Lord of the Stars, and said with a smile, "Actually, even now, there are two questions I haven't resolved. Since you want to stall for time, I wonder if you might enlighten me?" The Lord of the Stars inclined his head slightly. Zhang Yuanqing asked in a deep voice, "Why did you kill Lingjun's biological mother? And when did you learn the truth about the war among the gods?" ... The Yinghuo Formation! The Twin Gods of Wind and Thunder surveyed their surroundings. An ominous dark red celestial body hung in the sky, casting an eerie glow over heaven and earth. Bathed in that crimson light, the Twin Gods of Wind and Thunder felt an uncontrollable surge of violent, bloodthirsty impulses rise from within, tempting her to cast all restraint aside and slaughter freely. Even the sun sigil Yuanshi Tianzun had branded upon her brow began to loosen. A black speck emerged from the dark red star, drawing closer and closer to the ground. It was Asura, standing three meters tall like a tower of black iron. Unlike his usual self, Asura's eyes burned with crimson light, and fine blood-red lines were etched across his pitch-black skin like intricate patterns. ... The Dijie Formation. Shrouded in holy light, the Goddess of Beauty stood quietly amidst a vibrant, multi-hued sea, resembling a pure angel guarding a garden for God. Yet in the next second, the sea turned to molten lava. Before her loomed a churning, active volcano, billowing black smoke as lava erupted from the crater, washing over her feet. A sizzling sound rose from her feet, the tender, delicate flesh splitting open in an instant. She gasped in pain, tears glistening on her exquisite face. "It hurts..." The illusion shook violently. The Illusion God behind the curtain seemed to have suffered an impact, leaving him unable to sustain it. Amidst the tremors, the volcanic illusion shattered to pieces, and the world plunged into pure nothingness. A moment later, a new illusion descended. ... The Lingxing Formation. The Void demigod stood in the desert, looking up at Bacchus Old Mac, who was doing a handstand in the sky. From a normal perspective, he was actually the one upside down. Everything in this dungeon was inverted: moving left meant going right, moving up meant going down. At the same time, the rules were thrown into chaos; many rule-based powers of the Void profession were distorted beyond recognition under this disorder. Simultaneously, the air was saturated with intoxicating, fragrant alcohol fumes, numbing both body and soul. In this state, the Void demigod couldn't summon the slightest interest in fighting—he even felt like breaking into a rap and partying to his heart's content. Yet his sharp tongue never backed down. He clicked his tongue and said, "Look at you, back from the dead, Old Mac. Last time, the Lord of the Stars played us all, but this time I won't hold back. You died early, so you never saw me unleash my ultimate move—even god-level enemies can be crushed with a flip of my hand." Old Mac drew out his Bacchus Scepter, smiling without the slightest panic. "Then try it. See if the Spirit Realm will allow you to exchange for divine power. And think about it: if god-level power truly descended, would it benefit you, or would it benefit us? "Void, at most you can summon three portions of demigod authority. With the home-field advantage on my side, even if I can't beat you, I can easily handle you." ... Faced with Zhang Yuanqing's questions, the Lord of the Stars did not answer immediately. His voice reverberated in grand, layered waves: "You, too, want to stall for time, waiting for the Twin Gods of Wind and Thunder or the Void to break the subsidiary formations!"