Jinshan City, the Mirror World.
A crater spanning over a dozen kilometers resembled a festering ulcer on the earth's surface. Along its rim lay shattered streets and collapsed buildings, the ruin spreading all the way to the edge of the urban area.
One-third of this prefecture-level city had been reduced to rubble. This was only because among the several demigods, only the Fire Mage was renowned for sheer destructive power; the Illusionist, Night Walker, and Water Ghost possessed skills that leaned more toward being insidious and sinister.
To these supernatural beings, humanity's reinforced concrete cities were far too fragile.
Freed from the restrictions of Morality Points and fighting uninhibited, they could even tear a country apart. Wherever their battlefield lay, that place became ruins.
Dark clouds hung low over Jinshan City. Gale-force winds howled, and torrential rain poured down, scouring the city turned to wreckage.
Against the backdrop of raging wind and rain, mirages constantly morphed to the south of Jinshan City—at times manifesting lofty mountains and flowing streams, at times vast grasslands, at times snow-capped peaks and glaciers, at times an endless ocean.
Yet amidst the occasional dragon roars reverberating through the clouds, these illusions would instantly shatter, reverting to the city's original ruined state.
A Rain Mage's dragon roar shattered deceit and wickedness, specifically countering illusions.
To the east, scorching heat evaporated the rainwater and baked the earth, carving out an arid zone within this world of pouring deluge.
To the west, opposite the east, a full moon hung high as inky clouds churned, shrill wails of ghosts echoing from within the layer of gloom.
High in the northern sky, a stunning woman stood beneath the rolling dark clouds, exuding heroic vigor. She wore a white opera robe embroidered with golden cloud patterns, battle flags bristling behind her back, holding a spear in hand.
The gazes of the four demigods converged upon the depths of the crater.
A faint circle of golden light rose from the bottom of the pit as a hundred-meter-tall golden Buddha ascended slowly. Its form was majestic and awe-inspiring, yet riddled with cracks. The golden Buddha's eyes were wide, filled with chaos, brutality, bloodlust, rage... any negative emotion one could conceive of could be found within those eyes.
Master Wuhen had already fallen into depravity.
From the south came the voice of the Illusion God of the Southern Sect, impossible to distinguish whether old or young, male or female:
"The golden Buddha is the manifestation of his true inner emotions. Destroy the golden Buddha, and he can be slain. Black Emperor, do not dream of waking him with your dragon roars. This man has suppressed himself for twenty years; today, the flood has breached the dam, and not even immortals can save him."
The battle of demigods had raged for three days. Following the initial melee, it had evolved into four gods besieging Past Without Trace.
This was because Past Without Trace had completely lost control. At the critical moment of refining, his emotions had run wild, and the backlash from the Illusion God item had entirely consumed his sanity.
A demigod ruled by chaos and evil desires posed an even greater danger.
After three days of fierce combat, this newly ascended Illusion God's aura had finally plummeted to rock bottom, placing him on the brink of death.
"Cut the crap!"
Gang Leader Jiang to the east had a clear objective: "Past Without Trace is already on his last legs. Finish him off first, then we can fight among ourselves."
With that, purplish-red flames ignited over his body, flowing across his skin like water to form a suit of armor.
He raised his right arm high. With a hiss, the purplish-red flames bloomed and coalesced into a spear, intense heat condensing at the tip to shoot forth blinding brilliance.
Rainwater within a one-kilometer radius instantly evaporated into thin air, and a massive cloud of white mist surged into the sky.
Immediately afterward, he turned into a crimson streak of light, boldly hurtling toward the golden Buddha.
On the other side, treading on the void beneath the black clouds, the white-clad dan dancer moved gracefully. The spear in her hands stirred the skyful of wind and rain before suddenly thrusting forward.
In an instant, every drop of rain between heaven and earth filled with killing intent. The raindrops altered their falling trajectory, converging furiously toward the spear tip, while a pestilence potent enough to infect even demigods bred within the water.
The deluge condensed into a colossal dragon of rain that, accompanying the dan's thrust, slammed toward the golden Buddha rising from the pit.
To the west, the full moon rippled with radiance as Yin qi burgeoned. A gruesome ghost face reached out from the gloom, dragging smoky black clouds as it swept across the sky to sink its fangs into the golden Buddha.
Along the way, countless vengeful spirits shrieked and plunged into the ghost face, swelling it like a rolling snowball until it transformed into a gigantic visage blotting out half the sky.
Facing the pincer attack of three demigods, the golden Buddha, with madness in its eyes, threw back its head and unleashed a soul-shaking roar.
This was not a mere Mental Strike, but an upgraded version that only a peak Dominator could master—a "Shadow Roar," a roar capable of annihilating souls outright.
Even demigods would suffer heavy injuries from it.
Yet this tremendous roar inflicted no harm upon the three demigods. The Illusion God of the Southern Sect calmed their spirits, dispelling the power that sought to annihilate their souls.
—An Illusionist could both ignite emotions and soothe the mind.
Seeing the mental attack prove futile, the golden Buddha ceased its roar. Transparent ripples rippled out from its cracked form, transforming the surrounding scenery into a gigantic Buddhist hall as the waves swept past.
Simultaneously, a golden sun rose above the golden Buddha's head!
For an illusion to possess an effect comparable to reality, an illusory realm had to be woven first; only then could the divine power of the sun within the illusion wield the power of the sun's divine power in reality.
The Buddhist hall enveloped Gang Leader Jiang and the Palace Mistress. Under the illumination of the divine power of the sun, their spirits of water and fire rapidly disintegrated.
The armor on Gang Leader Jiang grew thinner and thinner, the dragon thrust out by the Palace Mistress quickly dissipated, and the sky-blotting ghost face visibly shrank by two whole sizes.
Just then, the Illusion God of the Southern Sect struck again, tearing the Buddhist hall illusion apart.
Those who best understood Illusionists were always Illusionists.
Of course, even without the Southern Sect Illusion God's intervention, the Palace Mistress of the Water God Palace's dragon roar could likewise dispel the illusion.
Once the illusion vanished, the spears of water and fire regained their might, and the ghost face fattened up once more.
Deep black light rippled out around the golden Buddha. The three forces illuminated by the black light began to annihilate once more, returning to nothingness.
Voidwalker!
However, the combined might of the three demigods exceeded the limit of "void." After being weakened to a certain degree, Gang Leader Jiang drove his spear into the golden Buddha's chest, flames incinerating its form.
The water dragon pierced straight through the golden Buddha's abdomen, pestilence swiftly festering.
The gruesome ghost face clamped onto the golden Buddha's head, eroding its soul.
Snapping cracks sounded incessantly across the golden Buddha's body as fissures spread like a porcelain doll pieced together from shards.
Master Wuhen's visage surfaced on the golden Buddha's face, at times demonic and crazed, at times solemn with lowered brows. In this near-death state, he unexpectedly recovered a fleeting moment of himself.
The Palace Mistress of the Water God Palace's lovely eyes flashed, her lips parting as she let out a clear, sonorous dragon roar: "Roar—"
The dragon's cry cleansed the soul.
She called out in a loud voice, "Past Without Trace, I know your heart has always been set on virtue. Right now you have lost control. If you do not die, hundreds of thousands of innocent lives in Jinshan City will perish! Can you truly bear that?"
The Southern Sect Illusion God gave a low chuckle, cooperating by soothing the master's spirit.
The golden Buddha hung motionless in the air. The madness gradually ebbed from Master Wuhen's face, replaced by his habitual heavy, solemn composure.
At that moment, his ears twitched slightly, as if listening to a voice coming from the void.
After a few seconds of silence, the golden palm suddenly crushed the spear in its chest. Tracing along the crack opened by the spearhead, it tore open its own chest and dragged out a pitch-black heart.
Seeing that heart, Gang Leader Jiang, the Palace Mistress of the Water God Palace, and the Southern Sect Illusion God moved at the same time to vie for this demigod-level item.
The Southern Sect Illusion God's ageless voice echoed, "Ling Tuo, conceal it!"
Conceal that item.
The Taiyin concealment had three major stages: the most rudimentary was a Night Walker's stealth, the intermediate stage was concealing items, and the highest stage was concealing fate.
He needed Ling Tuo's help to conceal the item so that the two leaders of the Five Elements Alliance would lose their target.
From the distant dark clouds came Ling Tuo's soft chuckle: "Wuhen, the past is wiped clean!"
The ghost face detached from the Buddha statue, carrying something away with it. The full moon faded, and the dark clouds were concealed.
Ling Tuo had departed.
At that moment, a deep black hole tore open space, appearing without warning before the golden Buddha.
Master Wuhen seemed to have anticipated this long before; beating the three demigods to the punch, he thrust the pitch-black heart into the black hole.
The black hole contracted in an instant, vanishing from the Mirror World.
"Void? Void!" The Southern Sect Illusion God flew into a rage, throwing his head back and roaring furiously!
Gang Leader Jiang and the Palace Mistress of the Water God Palace pulled back their hands in disappointment, though without much emotional turbulence.
To them, obtaining the Illusion God item would have been ideal, but if not, keeping it from the Southern Sect Leader's hands was also a fine outcome.
Moreover, Past Without Trace had exhausted his life, and the catastrophe was averted.
The outcome could still be considered satisfactory.
At the end of his life, Master Wuhen pressed his palms together and softly chanted a Buddhist invocation:
"Life and death cycle without end; light and dark intertwine in turmoil. Only when all things shoulder the yin and embrace the yang do they walk the true way. Having witnessed the dark, one ought all the more to turn toward the light."
He looked toward the empty air, unknown to whom he was speaking: "Remember this well. Amitabha..."
Amidst the lingering echoes, the golden Buddha melted away inch by inch, returning to heaven and earth.
Inside the rented apartment.
A deep black hole spat out a pitch-black heart, which landed on the tabletop.
Xiao Yuan looked down. Her scalp tingled with shock; thoughts exploded in her mind, and chaotic emotions overwhelmed her reason, pushing her to the brink of madness.
The black hole rapidly collapsed and disintegrated, turning into strands of pure spiritual power that branded themselves onto the heart's surface, weaving into intricate, complex patterns.
The dark light of the heart drew back, leaving a dull, ebony heart. Xiao Yuan's chaotic emotions quieted down accordingly.
She stared blankly at the heart, a bad premonition rising in her chest.
Ding-dong!
Her phone chimed, signaling an incoming message.
Xiao Yuan hurriedly grabbed her phone to check. It was from that mysterious person:
"These are the remains of Past Without Trace. Take the heart and go into hiding. I will come find you in a few days."
Master Wuhen's relic... Xiao Yuan looked back at the pitch-black heart, her vision blurring.
Just then, the phone vibrated again as another message arrived:
"Do not go to Songhai; it is not safe there. Yuanshi Tianzun traded his life at the tribunal to kill Cai Qinhe. He has already returned to the Spirit Realm."
A deafening roar erupted in Xiao Yuan's ears as if ten thousand arrows had pierced her heart. She staggered, bracing herself against the ritual altar, and slowly slumped limp onto the floor.
In a dim study, the Grand Protector of Dark Night Rose seemed to sense something and turned to look at his left side.
At some point, a transparent bead the size of an egg had appeared there.
His leader's whisper sounded in his ear: "Give this to Sect Leader Chunyang. Taiyin has returned to the Spirit Realm; I will be leaving reality for a period of time."
Taiyin had finally returned to the Spirit Realm? The Grand Protector's spirits lifted. He rose abruptly, saying excitedly, "Congratulations, Leader!"
A cold sneer came by his ear: "The true deadly game has only just begun. That old fox is waiting for me in the Spirit Realm."
In the northwestern Gobi Desert.
The setting sun fell upon Divine General Silver Moon's gleaming bald head. His facial features were rough and resolute, with silver rings piercing his earlobes, nostrils, and lips.
Following the direction indicated by his subordinates, he finally located Demonic Eye and Fear, who had fought each other to the point of losing all communication.
A massive sonic boom rolled in from afar. The surface of the Gobi Desert was riddled with scars, dotted everywhere with deep craters and collapsed mounds of dirt. Sinister, depraved power had polluted this entire region; the snakes, scorpions, and insects fortunate enough to survive had mutated into corrupted beasts, wandering about aimlessly.
Divine General Silver Moon crushed a washbasin-sized scorpion underfoot and looked into the distance. Two three-headed, eight-armed Ancient Gods of War were locked in an inseparable battle.
One of them was clearly pulling his punches.
Divine General Silver Moon drew a deep breath and roared, "You two bastards, stop fighting! Something huge happened in the Five Elements Alliance!"
Chapter 639