Inch by inch, the unyielding young man dissipated before everyone's eyes, fading away in the tilted lens of the camera. Up to his final moment of demise, his back remained straight and his gaze remained defiant; with his life, he had carried out his conviction and unbending will.
At the cost of his own life, he had taught those in power a single truth: when a commoner is enraged, blood spatters five paces, and the whole world dons mourning white!
The courtroom was dead silent. The demigod-level might had already dispersed, yet the Dominators remained kneeling face-down on the ground. The Nine Elders seemed frozen by an immobilization spell, not stirring for a long time—no one knew whether they were shaken to the core or simply terrified.
In the tilted video feed of the live stream, the chaotic courtroom was captured in full, recording the reactions of everyone present, preserving a scene destined to be etched into the official history books and shake the Spirit Realm world at home and abroad.
The stream, watched by thousands of people, was utterly soundless.
Suddenly, weeping shattered the deathly stillness. Guan Ya rushed forward with disheveled hair, her right arm hanging limp—her shoulder bone had been broken in the hurricane earlier.
She ran to Yuanshi Tianzun's side and stretched out her left hand, trying to catch the drifting ashes, desperately trying to salvage something, but grasping only empty air again and again...
She slumped dispiritedly to the ground, hanging her head as her shoulders trembled violently.
Sun Miaomiao also rushed over. Her face was pale, and thick, pitch-black energy welled from her eyes. She searched anxiously, looking all around before suddenly bursting into loud wails.
"There's no astral body left... There's no astral body left... Wuwuwu..."
Without an astral body, he could not be converted into a spirit servant.
This was true, total annihilation of both form and spirit.
October 3, 2022: Yuanshi Tianzun returned to the Spirit Realm!
Hearing the weeping from the scene, someone in the dead-silent stream's comment section finally posted a tentative message:
[Was Yuanshi Tianzun... actually framed?]
[Colluding with evil classes and murdering an elder—the evidence was ironclad. There were so many elders present, plus the Ten Elders. Are you saying they're all blind?]
[The evidence was ironclad, yes, but if what Yuanshi Tianzun just said was true, think about it: wasn't he framed?] someone else countered.
[What proof do you have?] some remained skeptical.
[No proof, but everyone saw what just happened. If Yuanshi Tianzun were truly irredeemably wicked, why did he only kill Elder Cai and the elders who participated in the hunt that night? He clearly had the power to kill every single person present.]
[Heavens... If Yuanshi Tianzun was driven to his death, this will be an indelible shame for the Five Elements Alliance, an astronomical scandal.]
The stream fell into deathly silence once more.
A genius with the potential of an alliance leader, a powerhouse who made evil classes tremble in fear, an exceptional talent who had performed monumental service for the official faction—he had not died in the faction war, but had fallen to an internal struggle within the alliance.
Today's events would reduce the Five Elements Alliance to a laughingstock and deal a devastating blow to the official faction's reputation.
A single trial had obliterated all credibility of the Ten Elders—no, the Nine Elders.
"Sigh..." Amid a low sigh, a curly-haired toy poodle walked into the camera's view. It stood where Yuanshi Tianzun had vanished, its expression carrying both sorrow and disheartened disillusionment.
He looked toward the Nine Elders and spoke:
"Yuanshi Tianzun was wild and arrogant; you didn't like him, and I understand that. He was indeed close to the members of the Wuhen Hotel. But a man who hated evil as much as he did—if those evil-class members were truly irredeemable monsters, Yuanshi Tianzun would have executed justice on heaven's behalf long before the Investigation Department ever lifted a finger."
Elder Dog glanced at the scorched earth where Elder Cai had perished, his voice suddenly rising:
"He did kill Relentless Raging Waves, but what actually happened that night? You nine old fogies know better than anyone! Cai Qinhe was mimicking the Dark Night Rose and the Southern Sect, laying a trap to lure and slaughter Yuanshi Tianzun! You knew everything, but you didn't care. Yuanshi Tianzun was right: arrogance is your original sin.
"I joined the Baihui half a century ago, before the Five Elements Alliance even existed, back when the world was in utter chaos. Back then, no one cared where you came from. Whoever killed the most evil classes was the big brother, whoever earned the most respect—everyone was pure.
"Why were you ten old fogies able to enter headquarters? Wasn't it because of the support of us old brothers? But what we supported was the big brother who bathed in blood fighting evil classes back then, not the Ten Elders who spend their days scheming and groveling for petty gain.
"After the Five Elements Alliance was founded, you all changed. You gradually put benefits first, busying yourselves all day with internal strife and power grabs, caring only for your own tiny plots of land."
Elder Dog gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"You wanted to kill Yuanshi Tianzun and seize his items, and I couldn't stop you. From start to finish, all I dared to do was yap and bark like a dog. I've been a dog for too many years; I almost forgot I was still human. I resign from the Five Elements Alliance. I won't be a dog anymore."
He turned his head in silence and walked away, utterly disillusioned.
"I resign from the Five Elements Alliance," Elder Huangsha Baizhan said, departing quietly.
"I'm quitting too! Dogshit!" Elder Skyfire cursed, following behind him.
At this moment, another elder stepped forward. It was Elder Gaofeng of the Hang City branch. He walked straight toward the exit without looking back.
"Yuanshi Tianzun saved my life. I'm leaving too. It's meaningless—completely meaningless."
This was the top leader of the Hang City branch.
The faces of the Nine Elders darkened instantly.
"I resign from the Five Elements Alliance!"
Over in the audience section, an unexpected figure rose to leave.
Huang Taiji!
The grandson of Grand Elder Dihong.
The Mountain God's expression was grave, his eyes filled with profound grief. Having made his declaration, he turned swiftly and strode out of the courtroom.
Tianxia Guihuo drew a deep breath. "I resign from the Five Elements Alliance."
Coming from grassroots origins and driven by an intense desire to get ahead, the Disgrace of Fire Mages felt an unspeakable desolation and utter disillusionment with the Five Elements Alliance after witnessing Yuanshi Tianzun's demise.
"I resign from the Five Elements Alliance." Natsuki's Love, senior deacon of the Hang City branch, followed her former leader out with reddened eyes, without the slightest hesitation.
Lingjun walked outward with a numb expression, not sparing his maternal grandfather a single glance. "I resign from the Five Elements Alliance."
"I resign from the Five Elements Alliance."
"I resign from the Five Elements Alliance."
Subsequently, more than a dozen deacons departed in silence. Among them were those close to Yuanshi Tianzun, as well as those acting out of pure righteous indignation. As senior deacons, with matters having reached this point, they had already pieced together the truth.
Even so, among the nearly one thousand people in the audience, they were still a minority.
Yet in the live stream...
[Wang Xiao'er: I resign from the Five Elements Alliance.]
[Liangshan Naval Fleet: I resign from the Five Elements Alliance.]
[Boundless Sea of Learning: I resign from the Five Elements Alliance.]
The official realm-walkers of the Nanming Branch who had been suspended at home announced their resignations one after another.
[Baihu Wansui: I resign from the Five Elements Alliance. Screw this, I'm done.]
[Peony Fairy: I resign from the Five Elements Alliance!]
[Niulanshan Little Fairy: I quit!]
[Pawn Across the River: I quit.]
[Cephalosporin with Liquor: Sigh, I'm quitting too. Lord Tianzun has returned to the Spirit Realm; it's all meaningless now.]
[Wangfei: I quit. Writing my resignation letter right now.]
[Green Vine: I also resign from the Five Elements Alliance.]
[Li Dongze: Better to return home.]
The Saints who had advanced in the killing trial, the captains of Songhai, the grassroots realm-walkers who admired Yuanshi Tianzun but had been silenced amid the overwhelming public narrative—all those suppressed voices finally erupted at this moment.
More and more people raised the cry: "I resign from the Five Elements Alliance!"
Those who had been swayed by Secretary Zhou's manipulation of public opinion began to push back in a violent backlash.
Never since the founding of the Five Elements Alliance had there been such a massive wave of resignations, nor such a severe crisis of trust.
***
Taiyi Sect.
Inside a courtyard house, Grand Elder Scarlet Sun Executioner sat behind a desk, quietly watching the stream, shaking his head slightly.
As the grand elder of the Taiyi Sect, he understood the thoughts of the Five Elements Alliance's Ten Elders all too well.
Upon learning that Yuanshi Tianzun had killed an elder, those ten old fellows of the Five Elements Alliance knew they would never be able to tame him, and had even grown wary of his temperament.
So they simply pushed the boat along the current, abandoning him and opting to confiscate his items instead—such as the Heaven-Worship Set that the Five Elements Alliance headquarters had coveted for so long.
Yet matters had spiraled out of control. No one expected Yuanshi Tianzun would be able to exchange for demigod-level power, and from more than one profession at that.
Watching Cai Qinhe return to the Spirit Realm before their eyes, those nine old fellows were undoubtedly panicked. Though Yuanshi Tianzun had not slaughtered them all, his actions had stripped the Nine Elders of all face and prestige.
They had gone for wool and come home shorn, losing a peerless paragon in the process.
What a shame for such a genius. Had he joined the Taiyi Sect back then, the entire sect would have treasured him in the palm of their hands.
Just as Scarlet Sun Executioner was sighing with emotion, an ethereal, booming voice rang in his ear:
"Taiyin has returned to the Spirit Realm! Ling Tuo succeeded."
Taiyin has returned to the Spirit Realm? Scarlet Sun Executioner was stunned, and then his expression changed drastically. His gaze snapped toward the screen, staring at the spot where Yuanshi Tianzun had turned to drifting ash.
So what Yuanshi Tianzun exchanged was the Taiyin Origin...
He is the Demon Lord's successor!!
***
Crab City, a rental apartment in the outer city district.
Xiao Yuan's phone chimed with a message from that mysterious powerhouse:
"Set up the altar. Pray to Past Without Traces."
Xiao Yuan rose abruptly, walked out of her room, and entered the living room.
In the living room stood a long table draped with bright yellow silk. Upon the table were incense candles, talisman paper, copper coins, a porcelain bowl, and a straw figurine...
Xiao Yuan lit two bright red candles and ignited the purple incense.
Then she slit her wrist, letting blood rich with a Spirit Medium's spiritual power drip into the porcelain bowl, blending with the black liquid inside.
Next, she dipped her brush and wrote "Past Without Traces" along with his birth date and time on a blank yellow talisman paper, then retrieved an intricately carved jade pendant and set it beneath the straw figurine.
Having completed all this, Xiao Yuan formed hand seals with both hands, closed her eyes, and began to chant under her breath.
Accompanied by the Spirit Medium's curse, the talisman paper inscribed with "Past Without Traces" and his birth chart burned into ashes.
The jade pendant seized the spiritual energy of the straw figurine, cracked with a snap, and projected a circular spatial tunnel before Xiao Yuan.
The tunnel was pitch black and deep, connecting to the unknown.
Chapter 638