The Stargazing Battle

Osmond spun on his heel and whirled around, raising an arm to parry while thrusting his fist forward. Bang! The unyielding Mountain God Scepter slammed heavily against Osmond's forearm. His sleeve ripped open, revealing an arm covered in dark blue-green scales. Commandery Princess Yinyao bent her elbow and drove it forward, meeting his fist head-on. Crack! Osmond's knuckles snapped on the spot, and the scales on his forearm splintered. He stumbled backward, his eyes widening in sheer astonishment. A Siren's physique was not only endowed with boundless strength, but was also protected by exceedingly durable scales. At the peak of Level 6, he had actually come out worse against a yin corpse! Not only did this yin corpse possess seasoned combat techniques, but her physical strength was also on par with his. In truth, Commandery Princess Yinyao was far from Osmond's equal. Her combat strength was roughly equivalent to a Level 6 Star Official at 10% progress, and Night Wanderers were not a close-quarters combat class to begin with. The only reason she had managed to suppress Osmond was the Mountain God Scepter. The Mountain God Scepter possessed a "Refinement" ability—one that Zhang Yuanqing rarely used because it required time. Commandery Princess Yinyao's absence earlier had been spent quietly refining this territory. Previously, the members of the Qinghe Branch present were all Wood Monsters, unable to sense shifts in the earth's leylines. The sole Earth Monster, Wu Agui, had certainly felt it, but he had remained silent throughout. Whoosh! A shrill gust of wind whistled from above. Commandery Princess Yinyao glided backward gracefully as repeated bangs cratered the ground where she had just stood, carving out several deep slashes. Commandery Princess Yinyao raised her hand, snapped her fingers with a crisp pop, and vanished back to her master's side. Hoover lowered his altitude, hovering above Chazo and Osmond as they faced off against Zhang Yuanqing and his yin corpses. Hoover's gaze swept across the nine yin corpses, lingered in the empty air for a few seconds, and said, "Aside from those three yin corpses whose auras reach Level 6, the rest pose no threat. However, there are two very powerful mental presences—likely Level 6 spirit servants. To think Yuanshi Tianzun has refined so many high-grade dark entities." The haughty Osmond wore a grim expression. "Hmph, I have items specifically designed to counter dark entities." Hoover nodded. "Then let's form a battle plan—" His lips moved, but no sound escaped them. Osmond and Chazo leaned in to listen. Sound traveled through the air. As a Wind Mage, condensing the propagation of sound waves with air currents was child's play. While the three were conferring in secret, Zhang Yuanqing did something that left the onlookers thoroughly bewildered. He retreated more than ten meters, sat down cross-legged, and placed a pitch-black disc onto his lap. What was he doing? Hoover didn't understand at first either. But the moment starlight surfaced in Yuanshi Tianzun's eyes, his pupils constricted, and he immediately barked, "Scrap the plan! Fight at will!" As an elite of Heaven's Punishment, he understood the Night Wanderer's combat style all too well. At the Extraordinary stage, Night Wanderers were top-tier assassins; by the time they reached the Star Official stage, they turned into masterminds orchestrating battles from behind the scenes. Once a Star Official amassed substantial resources—possessing high-grade and abundant yin corpses and spirit servants—they would retreat to the background, using Stargazing to divine the future while directing their spirit servants and yin corpses in combat. Thus, Hoover decisively abandoned their battle plan, knowing Yuanshi Tianzun could very well uncover its contents through Stargazing and counter them in advance. Hoover's hands flicked in rapid succession, unleashing a torrent of wind blades that rained toward the seated Yuanshi Tianzun. Zhang Yuanqing paid them no heed. He tilted his head toward the heavens, his eyes flooded with starlight. As the wind blades bore down, he nonchalantly produced the Purple Thunder Shield and tossed it overhead, simultaneously splitting off half his spirit body to possess the Ghost Bride. The Ghost Bride smoothly caught the Purple Thunder Shield and held it aloft. Clang! Clang! Clang! A storm of wind blades battered the face of the shield, kicking up showers of sparks. The Ghost Bride shifted the shield up and down, intercepting every wind blade aimed at his physical body. The surplus blades whistled past Zhang Yuanqing, shearing down swath after swath of pine trees behind him. The shield quickly accumulated a third of its energy charge. Still gazing at the stars, Zhang Yuanqing muttered softly under his breath, "Hurricane!" At the exact same instant, Hoover spread his arms in the distance: "Hurricane!" A three-meter-tall tornado surged before him, wobbling as it hurtled toward Zhang Yuanqing. As it traveled, its height and diameter expanded rapidly. Withered branches and pine needles were sucked into the vortex, instantly shredded into dust, and scattered wildly into the air. This was hardly a mere tornado—it was an unstoppable, churning meat grinder. Maintaining his stargazing posture, Zhang Yuanqing reached into the void with his other hand, drawing out the Yin-Yang Robe, the Houtu Boots, and the Azure Emperor Jade Belt. He tossed them one by one to Greed Divine General and ordered him to equip them, activating the set effect. Flames swirled into a robe; dark water formed inner garments; the jade belt gleamed brilliantly; and the boots radiated a dense yellow light. The exaggerated visual effects caused the onlookers, who had been watching the Dominator battle above, to feel an involuntary shudder in their chests. One after another, they were crushed under a suffocating pressure, as if staring down their natural predator. "I can't breathe..." "Wh-what's going on? My heart is beating so fast, it hurts..." The Wood Monsters, Earth Monsters, Fire Masters, and Water Ghosts present began suffering from shortness of breath, racing pulses, and surging adrenaline. Even the two Dominators, Wu Agui and Wu Youhua, felt a faint trace of oppression. "The Heaven-Worship Set... So that's the Heaven-Worship Set Elder Cai mentioned at the tribunal..." Through their headsets, the Nanming Branch action team heard Poison Chaser Deacon's low mutter. Adorned in an array of dramatic visual effects, Greed Divine General crouched down and pressed both palms against the earth. Rumble! The ground shook as earthen wall after earthen wall erupted from the soil, blocking the hurricane's path. The Houtu Boots alone lacked earth-controlling capabilities, but the set effect of the Heaven-Worship Set granted them. It bestowed the wearer with all Extraordinary-stage skills across the four corresponding classes. Rumbles echoed continuously as the earthen walls collapsed. The hurricane smashed through them with destructive momentum, but even more walls rose to bar its advance. It was not until the sixth wall crumbled that the hurricane finally ran out of steam and collapsed, leaving behind a fierce gust sweeping through the pine forest. On the other side, Osmond activated the Heart of the Ocean hanging from his chest. The azure gemstone flared with a soft blue luminescence, and the faint roar of ocean waves echoed from the void. The waves came. Surging water welled beneath Osmond's feet, hoisting him high into the air like a massive wall. Next, he retrieved a blue, lightning-shaped mark from his inventory and pressed it against his forehead. Bzzzt! The lightning sigil on his forehead ignited. His eyes turned into blazing white pupils, and electric snakes crackled across his entire body. Powerful bolts of lightning infused the waves beneath his feet, forging a wall of water that radiated a brilliant blue-and-white glow in the dark. The lightning sigil was a Lightning Mage item whose function was to release vast amounts of electricity. Lightning was lethal against dark entities, and paired with highly conductive water, the destructive power yielded far more than the sum of its parts. Osmond owned many items of both Extraordinary and Saint rank, but his three strongest were his pride. To deal with Yuanshi Tianzun, he was going all out. As a Siren, Osmond had no fear of group battles. "Want to see your yin corpses roasted into charcoal?" With that, a five-meter-tall wave surged violently toward Yuanshi Tianzun and his yin corpses. Pine trees snapped like twigs in its wake, collapsing in broad swathes. The spectacle left the onlookers wide-eyed. Conjuring massive tidal waves on dry land was something a Saint-stage Plague God could never achieve. Greed Divine General strode forward, advancing directly toward the tidal wave, and thrust his right palm out. The roaring surge suddenly froze, as if slamming into an invisible barrier, unable to advance another inch. With a slight flex of Greed Divine General's palm, the wave collapsed with a roar, dissolving into white foam that washed over the mountain soil. In terms of water control, a Water Ghost was in no way inferior to a Siren. Combining the powers of four classes, Greed Divine General was virtually all-powerful. Chazo realized this as well. He promptly drew a half-length straight sword with a cruciform hilt. Plunging the straight sword into the ground before him, he pressed both palms over the pommel and declared in a solemn voice: "The rule for this battle is: No using yin corpses or spirit servants." A sacred white light erupted from the knight's broadsword. A law was decreed, and a rule descended. The portion of Zhang Yuanqing's spirit body occupying Greed Divine General was violently ejected, returning to his sea of consciousness through the spiritual brand. The imprints for all his yin corpses and spirit servants turned a dull gray. What Chazo had used was one of the Judge's core skills: Decree! A Judge could establish laws via Decree. Against targets lower in level than himself, the law became an absolute rule that could not be defied. Against those of equal or higher level, the law could not enforce absolute suppression. However, so long as the law was broken, the Judge could unleash his second primary skill: Judgment. Still stargazing without shifting his posture, Zhang Yuanqing said flatly, "Yinyao!" Commandery Princess Yinyao understood instantly. She retrieved the neatly folded Perfect Human Skin from her pocket and flung it onto a nearby Level 4 yin corpse. The corpse transformed into Zhang Yuanqing's likeness. Next, Commandery Princess Yinyao swung her scepter. The surrounding pine trees mutated, their canopies thrashing as they fired steel-like pine needles straight at Chazo. When a law could not enforce absolute suppression, breaking it was remarkably simple. All it took was having a yin corpse launch an attack. The needles naturally could not harm Chazo, but the law he had decreed shattered as a result. "Lawbreakers shall be executed!" Chazo had no choice but to activate his other core skill, Judgment. With a solemn expression, he raised his longsword and slashed down with all his might. The brow of the Level 4 yin corpse split open, the crack cleaving straight down to slice the body clean in two. "My turn!" Still stargazing, Zhang Yuanqing retrieved the Rogue Turntable and the Lucky Necklace, tossing them to another Level 4 yin corpse. The corpse caught the turntable in one hand, slipped the necklace on with the other, and spun the needle. Across the black-and-white face, the needle spun rapidly. Zhang Yuanqing then pulled out the sneakers without a logo, tossed them to the Level 6 yin corpse Bairenzhan, and took the Purple Thunder Shield from the Ghost Bride before hurling it forward as well. In the process, he recalled his spirit body from the Ghost Bride and transferred it into Bairenzhan through the brand. Bairenzhan scooped up the Purple Thunder Shield, slipped into the sliding sneakers, and charged straight toward Osmond atop the surging water. Clad in the Heaven-Worship Set, Greed Divine General shot forward like an arrow from a bow, his target set on Chazo. The remaining yin corpses circled like a pack of wolves, waiting for an opening. Commandery Princess Yinyao held her ground, guarding her master. Whoosh! Amid shrill shrieks of wind, a barrage of wind blades descended like a bullet hell upon Bairenzhan. Wind blades from a peak Saint could easily bisect someone not built for defense. Bairenzhan raised the shield high, nimbly dodging the wind blades. Whenever dodging was impossible, he relied on the sliding sneakers to forcefully slide clear. Chazo leaped high into the air, his straight sword erupting with blinding white light as he executed a leaping strike toward Greed Divine General. Holy Slash! An Extraordinary-stage Knight skill, it was empowered by sacred might, carrying both physical and mental devastation. Even an Earth Monster of the same rank would suffer injury if struck by it. With the Wood Monster's coordination, Greed Divine General stopped on a dime. Bright flames flared along the surface of his saber as he swung upward in a reverse slash. Clang! Saber and sword collided, fire and holy light tearing violently into each other. Chazo felt his arms go numb, the web of his thumbs splitting open. Greed Divine General pressed forward with his saber, using both hands and feet in a torrential onslaught of blade strikes. In a flurry of ferocious attacks, Heaven's Punishment's Knight—renowned for his melee prowess—was sent flying like a battered sack. He crashed heavily to the ground, riddled with multiple saber wounds that bled profusely and refused to heal. He had not even found the time to decree another law. Witnessing this, Osmond's and Hoover's pupils contracted violently. Chazo was the strongest in close combat among the three of them, yet before Yuanshi Tianzun's yin corpse, he hadn't even lasted ten seconds. Greed Divine General was originally a peak Level 6 Bewitching Demon skilled in close-quarters fighting. Empowered by the Heaven-Worship Set, he combined the combat skills of a Bewitching Demon, the monstrous strength and balance of a Wood Monster, the speed and agility of a Fire Master, and the endurance and defense of an Earth Monster. Within the Saint realm, virtually no one could match him in hand-to-hand combat. Osmond with his home-field advantage and Hoover with air superiority were both difficult to tackle; surprisingly, the seemingly ordinary Chazo had become the team's weak link. Greed Divine General dragged his saber and sprinted toward Chazo. At the critical moment, a lifelike steed surged out from the waves beneath Osmond's feet. Arriving just ahead of Greed Divine General, it caught Chazo by his clothes, hoisted him onto its back, and galloped on swift hooves back into its master's domain. Among the Extraordinary-stage Siren skills was one called Horse Tamer. The steed was the first sea beast a Siren could command, endowed with both charging and escape capabilities. "Ignore that yin corpse! It can't manipulate water—if it comes near me, it's dead!" Osmond barked. "Take this one down first!" With the Heart of the Ocean, he was invincible within the waters he commanded. The only threat to him was the yin corpse that could also manipulate water. Yuanshi Tianzun's tactic of concentrating his crucial items on his strongest yin corpse had been a wise move. Hoover called back loudly, "Understood!" He abandoned his interception of Bairenzhan and fished a goose-egg-sized eyeball from his inventory. It was crimson all over, with a pitch-black slit pupil. It was no human eye, but that of some colossal beast. The slit pupil shot out a pitch-black beam of light, striking Greed Divine General dead-on. No one could outrun light, not even a peak Level 6 yin corpse. Crack! Crack! Greed Divine General's body was rapidly coated in a layer of grayish-white, taking on the texture of stone. The grayish-white spread relentlessly, turning Greed Divine General into a stone sculpture in the blink of an eye. Hoover and Osmond struck simultaneously. The former unleashed wind blades, while the latter compressed seawater into a high-pressure jet imbued with terrifying kinetic force and coursing with powerful electric currents. Under the dual onslaught, Greed Divine General shattered into fragments. Yet the fragments instantly vanished. Hoover's expression changed abruptly. "It's an illusion—Osmond, look out!" Above Osmond's head, a dark silhouette materialized out of nowhere, bringing a saber hacking straight down. At the same time, Yi Chuanmei tilted her head up and unleashed a high-pitched shriek inaudible to normal ears. A heavy buzz exploded in Osmond's and Hoover's minds, and warm blood gushed from their nostrils. At this hairsbreadth juncture, a semi-conscious Chazo forced his eyes open. A soul-tearing mental strike that devastated his two companions was not unbearable to a Knight who had tempered body and spirit like an ascetic monk during his Extraordinary days. In fact, it jolted him awake ahead of time. Seeing the yin corpse plummeting from above, the pale-faced Chazo calmly retrieved an inverted doll and pointed it at Greed Divine General overhead. The doll was an Alcoholic item capable of disrupting a target's sensory perception, causing them to lose control over their limbs. Greed Divine General lost all feeling in his hands, unable to bring the saber down. Seizing the opening, Hoover swept a wave of wind blades into Greed Divine General, but protected by the Earth Monster's defense, the corpse was merely knocked back. Meanwhile, Bairenzhan halted ten meters from the two. The Purple Thunder Shield in his hands melted, reforming into a thirty-centimeter hand cannon. Aiming the dark muzzle at the pair, he pulled the trigger. Electric arcs danced around the muzzle, and a blinding ball of lightning roared outward. Osmond regained his senses just in time. A giant sea monster surfaced from the waves beneath his feet, snapping its gaping maw shut around the ball of lightning. Boom! The sea monster's body detonated, dissolving into a torrential downpour. The aftermath of the explosion was dangerously close to Osmond and Chazo, the violent shockwave churning their blood and leaving them breathless. Having missed his strike, Bairenzhan immediately shifted the Thunderstorm Cannon back into the Purple Thunder Shield and thrust it skyward, perfectly deflecting a lightning bolt striking down from the void—the price for firing the Thunderstorm Cannon. Breaking into a cold sweat, Osmond commanded the seawater to condense into another sea beast, ramming it toward Bairenzhan. Boom! The beast slammed into the shield's face. The terrifying impact hurled Bairenzhan through the air, cracking the shield's surface, but the shield's energy was finally fully charged. Hoover unleashed another hurricane. Bairenzhan performed a sliding dodge to evade it, gave up the offensive, and retreated to Zhang Yuanqing's side. Hoover did not pursue. Using air currents, he covertly transmitted his voice into his two companions' ears: "Yuanshi Tianzun anticipated every single move we made. We can't let him continue stargazing, or we don't stand a chance. This guy has too many items... far too many..." Toward the end, his tone dripped with gritted teeth. They were already the elite of the elite, yet genuine top-tier items in their possession could be counted on one hand. They had never encountered anyone like Yuanshi Tianzun. Not only did he command high-grade yin corpses and spirit servants, but his arsenal of top-tier items was staggering as well. Hearing this, Osmond's mouth twitched violently, his arrogance utterly stripped away. As reluctant as he was to admit that Yuanshi Tianzun was formidable, the facts before his eyes left no room for denial. Yuanshi Tianzun hadn't even deployed his spirit servants, and fielding just a fraction of his forces had already pushed them into such a wretched state. Chazo injected half a vial of life fluid into himself. Heaven's Punishment's reserves of life fluid were nowhere near as vast as the Five Elements Alliance's, but as an elite, Chazo still possessed a modest amount. The non-healing saber wounds immediately ceased bleeding, though they could not mend completely in the short term. Feeling his condition stabilize, he said, "What you say makes sense, but he's guarded by high-grade yin corpses and spirit servants. Your tactics won't succeed so easily. Besides, what if this, too, is within his calculations?" Hoover's expression froze. Thud! Suddenly, a black-and-white disc came flying over, landing steadily in the seawater Osmond had summoned not far from them. The three felt their hearts clench and looked toward the sound. The disc was submerged in seawater, its physical body hidden, but a dialogue prompt clearly reflected into the three Spirit Realm walkers' vision. [Question: One day, a penniless yet exceptionally talented scholar visited a pleasure house. The establishment was running an event where the manager presented the first line of a couplet, declaring that anyone who could provide the matching second line would receive one complimentary encounter with any lady in the house. The first line is: "A beauty lies on her side, two little mouths horizontal and vertical."] [Note: Please provide the matching second line within thirty seconds. Countdown: 00:00:03:45] Only three seconds remained. By the time the Yin-Yang Turntable landed, only three seconds were left on the clock. Zhang Yuanqing had been waiting for the turntable's timer to run down. This was one of his decisive moves. A couplet?! The three foreign walkers stared in utter bewilderment. With the Spirit Realm's translation, the text on the turntable appeared in their native language, making reading it effortless, but they had absolutely no concept of what a Chinese antithetical couplet was. Amid their confusion, the three seconds expired. From the black section of the Yin-Yang Turntable, three beams of black light shot forth, striking Osmond, Chazo, and Hoover. The breath hitched in their chests. Life force drained rapidly from their bodies; their strength withered, their eyes dimmed, and their skin lost its luster, aging them several years in an instant. Hoover turned pale with fright and shot into the sky. But the moment he reached forty meters up, he slammed headfirst into an invisible barrier. It was the domain of the Yin-Yang Turntable. "Cough... cough, cough..." Just as Hoover tried to break through the restriction, an itch tickled his throat. His lungs burned like fire, and his forehead grew scorching hot. Thump! He tumbled from midair, coughing uncontrollably and even beginning to dry-heave. "Cough, cough!!" Osmond and Chazo began coughing as well, similarly infected, which accelerated the depletion of their life force. The disease spread by the Ghost Bride had silently invaded their bodies, finally erupting at this moment. Osmond could no longer sustain the Heart of the Ocean. The towering wave collapsed, dissolving into white foam that washed over the muddy ground. He and Chazo crashed down together into the mud. Whoosh! At that moment, violent winds roared high in the sky as a ten-meter-long colossal wind blade descended, hacking toward the barrier of the Rogue Turntable. Demon Hunter had been monitoring the battle below the entire time. Zhang Yuanqing finally moved. Snatching the Purple Thunder Shield from Bairenzhan's grasp, he dissolved into starlight. The starlight reappeared atop the barrier. Standing on the boundary as though walking on air, Zhang Yuanqing activated the round shield's rule-based power! A massive energy shield projected from the face of the shield. Bang! The colossal wind blade struck the energy shield, failing to stir even a ripple. This bought time for Greed Divine General, the only one remaining inside the barrier. Carrying his saber, he walked up to Hoover, kicked away the vial of life fluid the man had just retrieved, and raised his blade. Hoover hurriedly pulled out a bottle of perfume and sprayed it at Greed Divine General. "Let me go—" The perfume possessed a charm capable of bewitching the soul; it was an item of the Desire class. Anyone who smelled its fragrance would be charmed, unable to harm the bearer. Yet the arc of the blade fell without the slightest hesitation. A cold sneer played on Zhang Yuanqing's lips. Having already foreseen this step through Stargazing, he had recalled his spirit body in advance. A yin corpse could never be charmed—it was nothing more than a puppet. The Wind Mage's arms and legs were severed from his torso, and he let out an agonizing wail. Seeing this, despair flooded Osmond's and Chazo's eyes. Utterly weakened, Osmond gritted his teeth and shakily produced a vial of life fluid, intending to force an injection. He refused to accept defeat like this. Greed Divine General conjured a fireball and hurled it over, detonating it beside him. With a booming blast, Chazo and Osmond were both sent flying. Controlling Greed Divine General, Zhang Yuanqing strode forward and planted a foot firmly on Osmond's face, his voice rasping out: "You aren't even worth me using my trump cards." A flush of fury rushed across Osmond's handsome face, his lips trembling violently. He was too weak to even speak. Never in his rise to prominence had he suffered such humiliation. With swift strokes of his saber, Zhang Yuanqing severed both of their arms and legs. Osmond's vision went dark, and he lost consciousness. While the Dominators continued their skirmish in the sky, the battle on the ground was already over. Outside the barrier, Commandery Princess Yinyao raised her megaphone and proclaimed, "The Item Tianzun truly lives up to his name!" In the distance, the onlookers remained dead silent. There were no cheers, no applause—only heavy breathing and the faint sound of people swallowing hard.