Crimson Sun Executioner gazed up at the massive phantom in the sky, slowly drawing an imaginary bow as a brilliant golden bow and arrow coalesced in his hands.
The First Elder of the Taiyi Sect spoke:
"I did not join the Taiyi Sect to pledge loyalty to the Lord of the Stars. I pledge loyalty only to my own conscience, and to order.
"Before today, the Taiyi Sect convened an internal meeting. After thorough deliberation, we officially expelled the Lord of the Stars from the Taiyi Sect, an action unanimously approved by every elder."
Decisively, resolutely, and without a shred of hesitation, he released the bowstring.
The arrow, imbued with the blood of the Lord of the Sun, soared into the sky and pierced through the towering figure that spanned half the heavens.
Golden light erupted abruptly, illuminating the gloomy sky as the phantom dissolved into the radiant brilliance.
The Southern Demigod's silhouette vanished from the overcast sky, but his voice echoed from all directions, reverberating in layered waves:
"Hmph! Cheap tricks!"
Amidst the cascading echoes, a deluge of meteors descended from the heavens, trailing crimson plumes of fire and letting out terrifying shrieks as they rained down like a storm.
Confronted by the dense cluster of flaming meteorites, intense dread surged within Xiahou Aotian, Jiang Yu'er, and Zhai Cai—an overwhelming sense of despair akin to facing an apocalyptic disaster.
Had the two radiant golden suns not continuously purified and soothed their emotions, their minds would have collapsed on the spot. Paralyzed by blind terror, unable to resist or even conceive of fighting back, they would have been left entirely at the enemy's mercy.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The instant the meteors touched the golden light, they detonated one after another, bursting into dazzling fire.
With each exploding meteorite, the two golden suns dimmed slightly. Before long, they deteriorated from "midday blazing suns" into "crimson twilight suns."
The meteor shower was no mere illusion; it was an illusion fused with the "Nihility" skill.
The Southern Illusion God was repeatedly nullifying the golden suns into nothingness.
Crimson Sun Executioner said in a low, heavy voice, "Sunrise cannot suppress an Illusion God's abilities. He is even stronger than we imagined. I can hold on for another fifteen minutes at most."
Even the solar divine power that purified all things could only be whittled away step by step when confronted with an existence of a higher tier.
The Southern Illusion God's might exceeded their expectations.
Empress Sandao remained relatively calm, shaking her head. "It is the dark star above us—or rather, the formation enveloping this instance—that is amplifying that immortal."
With her vast knowledge and experience, she grasped the crux of the matter in an instant.
Hearing this, Jiang Yu'er and Zhai Cai hurriedly retrieved two porcelain vials from their inventories and tossed them to Empress Sandao and Crimson Sun Executioner.
The two elders each drew out a drop of golden blood and absorbed it into their bodies.
Instantly, the "crimson twilight suns" surged back into "midday blazing suns." Yet the meteor shower in the sky remained endless, showing no sign of ceasing.
Maintaining the Sunrise skill, Crimson Sun Executioner strove with all his might against the apocalyptic bombardment of meteorites as he spoke:
"Listen. Illusionists are an extreme profession—bizarre and troublesome. But their weaknesses are just as glaring as their strengths. A frail physical body and weak close-combat capability are their fatal flaws.
"While the Lord of the Sun's blood has not run out, Empress Sandao and I can still use Sunrise to suppress his powers. You must find his true body as quickly as possible. Once you do, Empress Sandao and I will join forces to slay him."
Zhai Cai glanced left and right, calling out, "Can we really kill him? Can he really be killed as long as we force his true body out?!"
This was a demigod, after all.
Crimson Sun Executioner frowned. "Only by forcing out his true body do we have a chance to kill him."
However, he could not guarantee absolute success. A demigod possessed countless methods and immense resources; who could guarantee slaying one with certainty?
Crimson Sun Executioner could not understand why this high-level Dominator from the First District was asking such a naive question.
Zhai Cai took a deep breath and opened his inventory. First, he brought out a crown woven from willow branches and solemnly placed it upon his head. Next, he drew forth a suit of golden armor.
The armor automatically came apart and fitted itself around his body.
In that moment, the cynical, irreverent Zhai Cai transformed into a solemn, majestic Knight.
Concealed entirely within the heavy armor, he propped his straight cross-sword before him, stood tall, and spoke in a grand, authoritative voice:
"Rule of this battle: No concealing!"
The Holy Knight armor erupted with brilliant brass radiance, establishing an invisible, binding rule through the unseen ether!
Up in the sky, within the dim celestial body, a black-robed silhouette suddenly became visible.
The Southern Illusion God had been hiding inside the Dikong Star all along.
*Pfft...*
Zhai Cai tilted his head back, spewing a mouthful of blood, and collapsed stiffly to the ground. Cracks webbed across his flesh, and his soul and life force drained away at terrifying speed.
Backlash!
This was the inevitable price a Dominator paid when placing restrictions on a demigod.
Zhai Cai nearly perished on the spot. Even Jiang Yu'er had no way to revive a companion who dropped dead in an instant, for the Demon Refining Pot, which possessed the power to recreate life, was no longer with her.
However, from the armor over Zhai Cai's chest, an ethereal, tender green sapling sprouted, shooting up into a towering tree at breathtaking speed.
Then, the leaves of this great tree turned yellow, its bark withered, and it rapidly decayed.
Meanwhile, the cracks spreading across Zhai Cai's body halted and began to mend slowly.
This was one of the Willow Branch Crown's abilities: Transfer!
The Willow Branch Crown had been reforged from Elder Miao's rule-based item, the Three Treasures Cleanse Branch. Using the Hundred Refining Furnace, Zhai Cai had repurposed the beast-taming function of the original "Three Treasures" into a life-preserving ability.
Three life-saving skills in total!
One of them was Transfer, which shifted fatal injuries inflicted on the bearer onto plant life, substituting the plant's withering for the master's death.
It could only be used once every twenty-four hours.
Seeing the Southern Illusion God revealed, Crimson Sun Executioner and Empress Sandao shot upward simultaneously, flanking the enemy from left and right.
At the same time, the shrill, resonant wail of an infant rang out beside the Southern Illusion God's ear.
The baby's cries drifted into his ears and seemed to fuse into his body, triggering a dreadful transformation. His abdomen swelled slightly as a tiny life struggled to take form.
Even though Jiang Yu'er had assimilated the mortal remains of Empress Wa, the gap in their tiers was simply too vast to ignore. The effect of the Conception skill was substantially diminished, preventing the infant from developing quickly.
Even so, Jiang Yu'er's goal was merely to weaken the opponent and create an opening for the Day Wanderers on their side.
Suddenly, right between the pincer attack of Crimson Sun Executioner and Empress Sandao, the Southern Illusion God vanished.
He vanished into thin air.
Crimson Sun Executioner snapped his head around, looking toward the unconscious Zhai Cai, who now served as the base of the decaying tree, and warned, "He's in the dreamscape!"
"I wish for the Coward's Quilt!" Xiahou Aotian, holding a three-inch black iron furnace in his palm, rattled off his wish at lightning speed.
The lid of the black iron furnace sprang open instantly, ejecting a tattered quilt covered in patches.
It was none other than Elder Gaofeng's Coward's Quilt!
A consumable version, of course!
Unlike Zhai Cai's approach to reforging, Xiahou Aotian's imagination ran wild. His requirement for crafting had been: *I want a furnace that can forge items on its own.*
And so, he had tossed a peak Dominator's rule-based item, Yuanshi Tianzun's matchbox, and half of all the high-grade items and advanced materials in his possession straight into the Hundred Refining Furnace.
After pouring in so much wealth that his expression grew twisted, and resolving to retreat to the Spirit Realm should the gamble fail, he had finally produced an item that could be considered a "simplified version" of the Hundred Refining Furnace.
It was called the "Wishing Furnace."
Its function was to replicate any item of a lower tier than itself, excluding consumables. The duplicated items were consumables that lasted only five minutes, and he could make four wishes a day.
Its drawback was that every wish came with a stroke of misfortune.
Xiahou Aotian seized the Coward's Quilt and hurled it violently toward Zhai Cai.
Beneath the Coward's Quilt, all attacks were completely nullified, granting near-absolute defense. At the same time, until the defense expired, anyone sheltered beneath the covers could not come out.
Xiahou Aotian had chosen this item not to protect Zhai Cai, but to seal the Illusion God beneath the quilt.
...
In the main formation of the Ziwei Six Fiends Formation!
Zhang Yuanqing rested his hands on his knees, gasping violently for air like a middle schooler who had just finished a thousand-meter run. His lips were pale, and bead-sized drops of sweat poured from his brow.
His spiritual energy severely depleted, he could only watch helplessly as the second Golden Crow was dragged away by the millstone-like formation formed by Taiyin and the Stars.
Having successfully repelled the Lord of the Sun's counterattack, the Lord of the Stars stood expressionlessly in the distance. He neither took the opportunity to strike nor concealed himself, seeming almost like an idle onlooker.
Panting, Zhang Yuanqing glared at the Lord of the Stars with eyes full of indignation.
"Stars, I've already lost two Golden Crows, and my tier has dropped again. With your combat strength, you could easily take me on and end this battle early. Why are you still hesitating?"
In the distance, the Lord of the Stars replied calmly, "My assessment of you is that you can be killed only when your source Golden Crows are reduced to four!"
Zhang Yuanqing raised an eyebrow, shedding his exhausted facade in an instant. He sighed, sat down cross-legged, and said, "As expected, these little tricks don't work on you."
...
New York County, Heaven's Punishment branch.
Inside Winnie's office, a burst of starlight flared up, and Zhang Yuanqing's avatar stepped out from the dreamy glow, looking toward the wide desk.
Winnie, who was on the phone with her assistant, froze for several seconds before saying in an even tone, "Let's leave it at that for now."
She hung up the phone and looked at Zhang Yuanqing with a conflicted expression. A flicker of hope, bewilderment, and affection shone in her lovely eyes, though she deliberately spoke with a cold, distant tone:
"What are you doing here?!"
She paused, unable to stop herself from pressing further, "Haven't you already entered the Spirit Realm instance?!"
Heaven's Punishment headquarters had already issued an alert to all branches: the Twin Gods of Wind and Thunder had entered the Spirit Realm, the decisive battle between the orthodox and evil factions had begun, and everyone had to remain vigilant against desperate retaliation from the evil faction at all times.
Yet so far, calm prevailed across every region, and the evil faction remained surprisingly quiet.
Zhang Yuanqing got straight to the point:
"I am an avatar, left in the real world to handle business! I need the Elvis Presley speaker back."
Winnie asked coldly, "Give me a reason!"
Zhang Yuanqing looked at her, his voice low and solemn:
"To seek a faint glimmer of hope!"
Chapter 1004