At this moment, every Spirit Realm walker within the trial felt that majestic, scorching power. Aside from Niulanshan Little Fairy and the others down in the subway station who could not directly see the golden light linking heaven and earth, everyone at the other three great arrays noticed this abnormal phenomenon.
"What is going on? What happened now?"
"What terrifying power! Th-this aura is completely different from the one in the blood pool earlier. Could Yuanshi Tianzun and his group have brought this about?"
"Yuanshi Tianzun isn’t dead yet? I thought they were done for..."
Faced with this sudden descent of an aura, the official walkers felt far more pleasant surprise than terror. At this critical juncture, any anomaly could be a turning point, potentially altering the final outcome.
They exchanged words in bewilderment and urgency, yearning for answers.
"This aura seems just like the aura from Yuanshi Tianzun’s item—the one that purified us back in the Labyrinth Forest," someone said.
At those words, realization dawned on everyone, erupting into a clamor as a wave of delighted shouts coalesced:
"Yuanshi Tianzun did this?"
"As long as he’s alive! He really had a way..."
"There’s hope! There’s hope now!"
Seeing the golden pillar of light shoot into the sky, Zhao Chenghuang felt wild ecstasy flash in his eyes at this sudden lease on life. Even though the next moment his vision went blind from staring directly at the "blazing sun," forcing hot tears down his face and making him lower his head, the crown prince of the Taiyi Sect nonetheless showed wild joy—even intense excitement—on his usually haughty, aloof face.
He knew what this aura signified!
Such pure, concentrated, upright, and vast divine power of the sun was stronger even than the power his great-grandfather had once demonstrated to him.
One had to know that his great-grandfather was an expert ranked among the top five elders of the Taiyi Sect, a first-generation Spirit Realm walker and a figure from the Republic era.
Yet the power Yuanshi Tianzun had summoned was stronger than his great-grandfather’s.
In a Transcendent stage killing trial, wouldn't taking control of this power equate to taking control of victory?
Finding a path to life at the edge of doom, even the most aloof person would find it hard to rein in their emotions.
This divine power of the sun—it was Dominator-grade divine power of the sun! Both Guan Ya and Jiang Jingwei had distinguished family lineages and recognized the origin of this power with pleasant surprise.
This was different from the item Yuanshi had used before; this aura was definitely at the Dominator level.
Guan Ya was both surprised and thrilled. She thought to herself, *You rascal, you kept a card like this hidden without even telling me!*
Kou Beiyue was completely baffled, not knowing what had happened, let alone where this power originated. But deep down, he instinctively feared this golden light, just like a bedbug in a ditch instinctively feared exposure to a scorching sun.
A-Yi, Hongwei, and the other evil class members felt the same way as Kou Beiyue. While the aura radiating from the fiendgod made them tremble in dread, that was merely the pressure of a higher being. It wasn't like this golden light, which felt to them like the impending apocalypse, prompting an instinctive repulsion and rejection from their very bodies.
The faces of those in the Mountain Ghost faction turned extremely grim. Through the text on the worst-luck slip, they had known in advance that Yuanshi Tianzun's sacrifice would succeed; the future shown by the slip could not be changed or interfered with.
One could say that the backlash of the fifth slip had practically served as an insurance policy for Yuanshi Tianzun—he was guaranteed to succeed.
Such were rule-based items: when they displayed supreme good fortune, it was as if heaven aided you, and everything went smoothly; but once the slip showed supreme misfortune, you could only watch the worst possible outcome unfold.
Now, they could only pray that the fiendgod in the blood pool could turn the tide and suppress the power Yuanshi Tianzun had summoned.
Outside the killing trial, golden light soared into the clouds and struck the world barrier. The glittering brilliance permeated the invisible barrier, dyeing the crowd of big shots outside in gold as though brush-coated in golden lacquer.
A sudden turn of events!
Seeing this, the elders of the Five Elements Alliance turned from anger to joy. The female Grand Marshal shifted her gaze back. Her face was hazy and indistinct, concealing her expression, but she stared straight at the Mountain Goddess, an undercurrent of anticipation in her tone:
"Can you descend into the trial?"
This ancient Day Wanderer was different from Spirit Realm walkers. Her true body was trapped within the Spirit Realm, and she possessed special authorities, making her a unique entity capable of traversing freely among a small number of Spirit Realms.
Empress Sandao raised the corner of her delicate lips. "Not my true body, but I can send my intent."
With that, under the somewhat rigid stares of the evil organization bosses, she closed her eyes.
A Primordial Spirit drifted out of her body and surged toward the world barrier. This time, her Primordial Spirit breached the trial's restrictions with ease and merged into the golden light guiding her.
***
"I wonder in what form the supreme being in the unseen will bestow power upon me."
Standing beside the golden pillar of light, Yuanshi Tianzun kept his head lowered, not daring to look straight into the golden brilliance, his heart filled with immense anticipation.
The power summoned by the sacrificial ritual far exceeded his expectations. He had anticipated it would be powerful, but he hadn't imagined it would be so absurdly formidable.
This terrifying divine power of the sun was countless times greater than the power contained within the Demon-Subduing Pestle.
Yet amid his delight, a doubt flickered through his mind: considering the difficulty tier of the Mute Village trial, wasn't this item a bit too exaggerated?
Mute Village had a high difficulty rating, but after all, it was still a Transcendent stage trial.
Of course, in order to gather all the materials for the sacrificial ritual, he had tearfully taken out a loan from the organization, burdening his young self with tens of millions in debt.
Just then, the golden light that had soared into the clouds and linked heaven and earth slowly contracted, then faded away.
*Hm? It stopped?* Zhang Yuanqing instinctively raised his head and looked at the sky.
Then, he witnessed a sight that terrified him to his core, making his legs tremble.
In the sky stood a divine maiden dressed in a long, traditional gown, her black hair drifting in the wind. She was tall and slender, her features picturesque, and her full, sensuous lips remained fresh in Zhang Yuanqing's memory. When he had first seen her, her lips had been pale, but now her delicate mouth was rosy and even more alluring.
Looking closer, one could see that her body was faintly translucent, lacking full reality.
It seemed what had descended into this world was not her true body.
*The old crone... Ah, no, Lady Empress?! Did I just personally summon my most feared archboss?!*
At this moment, Zhang Yuanqing experienced the fickleness of fate.
*No, it’s not fate being fickle. She set a trap! She can influence Night Walker Spirit Realms; distributing an ultra-high-tier sacrificial ritual across various Spirit Realms wouldn't be difficult for her...*
*And since I’m a Night Walker, I will inevitably enter solo trials. She didn't know which one I’d enter, but she could cast out a line and wait for me to take the bait...*
Quietly swallowing his saliva, Zhang Yuanqing immediately figured out the crucial point. He thought, *You cunning old crone! I let my guard down and fell right into your trap.*
At that moment, the old crone drifted slowly downward, her skirts fluttering.
Landing several meters away from Zhang Yuanqing, she said indifferently, "I trust you have been well since we last met."
Her expression was aloof and ethereal, like a celestial maiden untainted by mortal dust, yet deep within her brilliant, spiritual eyes lurked a trace of mockery.
After a second of silence, Zhang Yuanqing dropped straight to his knees in a deep kowtow and shouted:
"Greetings, Mountain Goddess Empress!
"Your Ladyship’s grace blesses the realm and enriches all people; your merits surpass the heavens, revered by all common folk!"
The Ghost Bride had said the old crone belonged to the orthodox path and disliked slaughtering the innocent indiscriminately. That gave him the courage to kowtow without hesitation.
Even so, Zhang Yuanqing knew the situation remained perilous. After all, he had stolen an important item of hers. Even orthodox figures had tempers, and they were hardly known to show mercy to thieves.
Yuanshi Tianzun's voice, which sounded practically like he was crying "long live," combined with his groveling posture, stunned the experts of both factions surrounding the area in the distance.
*Empress?*
*Yuanshi Tianzun actually knows this divine maiden who dropped from the sky?*
*How could he possibly know a boss of such standing?*
As for Yuanshi Tianzun tossing aside all dignity as a genius, they actually considered it quite normal.
Had it been them, they wouldn't have fared any better—in fact, they probably couldn't have kowtowed quite so smoothly.
Empress Sandao looked down at the young man beside her feet, her voice ethereal and melodic:
"Why do you not raise your head?"
Zhang Yuanqing said loudly:
"Your Ladyship possesses peerless immortal grace. A mere mortal like me would not dare gaze upon your celestial countenance."
Empress Sandao gave a cold huff. "You certainly know how to act. If that is so, why didn't you leave the Demon-Subduing Pestle in Jinshui Amusement Park and hand it over to Bai Lan?"
A chill crept up Zhang Yuanqing’s spine, alerting him that the old crone was glaring at him with malice. He hastily said:
"This humble one was foolish and did not realize the Demon-Subduing Pestle was such an important object to Your Ladyship. Later, I returned to Jinshui Amusement Park to ask Bai Lan for clarification. Once I learned it was of great significance to Your Ladyship, I intended to find an opportunity to return it, never expecting Your Ladyship would appear first."
Saying that, he quickly waved toward the distance.
Dressed in a bright red bridal gown, the Ghost Bride floated over obediently, dropping to her knees before the old crone and pleading sorrowfully:
"I beg Your Ladyship to show mercy and spare my husband. He did indeed tell me that we must find a way to return the magic artifact to Your Ladyship."
Zhang Yuanqing had never said that last part; the Ghost Bride had improvised it on the spot.
*Husband?* Watching from afar, Guan Ya's face darkened.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately felt the pressure lighten. The palpitating sense of dread dissipated, and he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the old crone would not make things difficult for him for the moment.
"Raise your head!" Empress Sandao commanded coolly.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately lifted his head and looked at the peerless divine maiden.
The old crone scrutinized him closely for a moment before dropping her gaze to the Demon-Subduing Pestle on the ground. She reached out a shapely jade hand and beckoned lightly. The Demon-Subduing Pestle flew up of its own accord and settled into her palm.
Exerting slight force with her slender jade fingers, the pestle slowly brightened, radiating light and heat.
Before long, Empress Sandao released her grip and said:
"My yang soul has revived and formed an innate resonance with me. The next time you enter an... um, a trial, retrieve the Demon-Subduing Pestle immediately, and my true body will be able to descend and take it back. Do you understand?"
*Understood—the next time I enter a solo trial, I won't take it out even if it kills me!* Zhang Yuanqing muttered inwardly, but prostrated himself again. "This junior understands!"
From the old crone’s words, it wasn't hard to discern that her true body could not descend into the killing trial, and she seemingly couldn't carry the item away either.
Zhang Yuanqing planned to seek Elder Dog's opinion after returning to reality.
Empress Sandao gave him a deep, meaningful look, then turned her head toward the fiendgod that had now completely emerged from the blood pool.
Over a hundred meters tall and covered in black runes, it radiated an aura that was violent, lofty, and majestic, surging like ocean tides, pouring like moonlight, irresistible and overwhelming.
The fiendgod’s objective was crystal clear. As if sensing a natural enemy, it strode directly toward Empress Sandao.
Its body was colossal. Every stride raised massive waves in the blood pool and unleashed a rumble like an earthquake.
Empress Sandao said softly:
"Rise!"
Zhang Yuanqing obediently stood up.
Immediately afterward, the divine maiden in fluttering multicolored robes entered his body.
The sacrificial ritual was designed to borrow power from a being in the unseen to bestow upon the sacrificer. This was the core of the spell. If Empress Sandao wanted to exert her strength, she had to borrow the physical body of the sacrificer.
Two beams of light, brilliant as substance, erupted from Zhang Yuanqing’s eyes. A flash of golden light swept across heaven and earth, followed by a scorching heat on his forehead as a blazing sun mark manifested.
Waves of searing solar flames spewed from the surface of his body, baking the ground beneath his feet until it cracked and reducing the nearby grass and trees to ash.
The temperature of the entire park climbed rapidly, as if thrust into the sweltering heat of a forty-one-degree summer day.
The Ghost Bride’s bridal gown caught phantom golden fire. In terror, she drifted into the distance, flurrying to extinguish the flames.
Zhang Yuanqing rose into the air against his will like a god of war of the blazing sun, hanging suspended midair to confront the towering, hulking fiendgod.
The fiendgod immediately halted. Its dark-gold, pupil-less eyes fixed upon the ant-like enemy in midair.
The runes etched across its body seemed to come alive, transforming into a vortex capable of corrupting souls and driving minds into madness.
Zhang Yuanqing’s head buzzed. His consciousness spiraled into chaos, and his soul felt torn into countless fragments. Yet as the solar imprint on his forehead burned hot, all abnormalities were purified and dispelled.
"Hmph!"
Empress Sandao’s chilly snort echoed in his ears.
Next, his hands and feet once again moved beyond his control, rapidly forming several hand seals.
Without a sound, a golden pillar of burning flame descended out of thin air from the unseen heights, crashing into the hundred-meter-tall fiendgod.
The dark-red fiendgod let out an earth-shattering roar as its massive frame melted within the golden pillar of light like a wax figure exposed to searing heat.
The black runes branded onto its skin were burned away.
Its eight arms instantly condensed into ethereal sabers, spears, swords, halberds, bows, and various other armaments, each carrying terrifying power and swirling with black demonic qi.
The dark-red fiendgod drew a great bow as churning demonic qi coalesced into a pitch-black arrow.
*Twang!*
An arrow swift as the speed of light streaked across the sky.
Controlled by the old crone, Zhang Yuanqing raised both hands and cupped them before his chest.
The Demon-Subduing Pestle flew over on its own, hovering between his palms and spinning rapidly, giving off unimaginable heat and golden radiance.
Once the gathered force reached its peak, Zhang Yuanqing pushed forward with all his might, launching the pestle outward.
*Boom!*
The black arrow and the golden light collided midair. The raging shockwave hit like a nuclear explosion, devastating the park's vegetation and flattening nearby structures, blasting all the water from the blood pool straight into the sky.
Zhao Chenghuang and the others buried their heads and bolted toward the park entrance, doing everything they could to get clear of the battlefield.
They did not consider it a blessing to witness a battle of this caliber; on the contrary, it was a terrifying catastrophe.
The Demon-Subduing Pestle shattered the arrow, drilled a through-and-through wound several meters wide into the fiendgod’s chest, and soared off toward the horizon.
*Empress, form the incantation seals a bit slower, I didn't see clearly...* Zhang Yuanqing stared unblinkingly at his hands, lamenting his failure to secretly learn the technique.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
The dark-red fiendgod, looking like a half-melted wax figure, sprinted forward in giant strides, swinging weapons wrapped in billowing demonic qi.
In an instant, Zhang Yuanqing felt attacks closing in from every direction. The mere aura surrounding those weapons made his entire body go limp, draining him of any will to resist.
Yet under the old crone’s control, he raised his arms high and erected a circular barrier woven of pure, clear golden light.
*Boom!*
The sabers, spears, swords, and halberds struck the barrier in unison, sending golden light flaring wildly until the barrier shattered under the impact.
Yet by leveraging the brief defense of the barrier, Zhang Yuanqing had already slipped agilely through the weapon blockade, breaking out to the perimeter.
He formed complex hand seals once more. A roar echoed from the distance as the Demon-Subduing Pestle that had soared into the sky returned with a booming sonic wave. This time, it pierced straight through the fiendgod's head.
The fiendgod's aura plummeted instantly.
Blinding golden light erupted from Zhang Yuanqing’s body as he soared into the sky like a blazing sun slowly ascending.
The golden brilliance illuminated the entire trial.
This great sun hung suspended hundreds of meters high, radiating light and heat. The Demon-Subduing Pestle whistled through the air and came to a halt right in front of him.
Zhang Yuanqing’s hands formed seals in rapid succession, channeling wisps of the divine power of the sun into the Demon-Subduing Pestle. The item blazed with dazzling brilliance like a miniature sun, masking its original form.
"Go!"
The old crone’s cold, melodious voice sounded in his mind.
At the same time, his hands ceased forming seals, joining two fingers like a sword to point down at the fiendgod below.
*Rumble!*
Like a miniature sun, the Demon-Subduing Pestle shot forth with rapid, muffled sonic booms.
A violent, terrifying atmospheric pressure slammed down from above, forcing the entire blood pool to sink by over ten centimeters before rebounding, sending scarlet blood surging into waves more than ten meters high.
Across heaven and earth, a streak of golden light flashed and vanished.
The fiendgod standing in the blood pool was swallowed by golden light. Amid enraged roars, its body collapsed and melted, shattering into countless chunks of gore.
Once the golden light subsided, Zhang Yuanqing descended, hovering above the violently churning blood pool.
As the blood pool surged, the fiendgod’s mutilated remains bobbed up and down with the waves.
Under the old crone’s control, Zhang Yuanqing pressed his palm against a remnant piece of the fiendgod's corpse.
*What does she want to do?* Doubt flashed across Zhang Yuanqing's mind. Immediately after, he saw a golden thread light up from within the corpse fragment, connecting into the Void.
The old crone seemed to be using the fiendgod's leftover body to establish a connection with something in the unseen.
He jerked his head up, his eyes shining with golden light as he looked up toward the sky.
His vision climbed rapidly, breaking beyond the sky to see a galactic river as brilliant as a starry expanse, and more than a dozen figures surrounding two exceptionally bright stars. His vision continued to rise...
Finally, high above within the endless darkness, Zhang Yuanqing saw a pair of eyes that filled the entire world.
The aura of these eyes was mystical, lofty, and majestic, yet held nothing that could be called emotion—not even indifference.
The whites of the eyes were a profound, abyssal darkness, and within the pupils lay two twisted, bizarre runes.
The moment he laid eyes upon them, Zhang Yuanqing’s thoughts exploded.
Chapter 281