Panxi Edison raised a hand, palm held flat. Gusts of air swirled, sweeping up the pervasive toxic smoke and drawing it toward his palm until it condensed into a bead of deep, near-black purple. The vast poisonous clouds cleared completely.
Zhang Yuanqing and the others gasped greedily, taking in the fresh air, finally able to stop holding their breath.
Panxi Edison casually tossed the sphere of compressed toxic smoke aside.
Seeing the poisonous smoke neutralized, the Smoker immediately altered his attack. Across his pus-oozing flesh, pair after pair of callous eyes snapped open, each beaming out a pale ray of light.
He looked just like a nightclub disco ball.
Panxi Edison raised his palm and shoved forward, erecting a brass-colored barrier three meters high and three meters long before him.
Wall of Protection!
Pop, pop, pop... The pale beams slammed into it, coating the brass-colored barrier with a pale, stony hue and rapidly petrifying it.
A Great Demon at the Dominator stage could only petrify matter with its petrifying beams, yet the beams currently radiating from the Smoker could even turn energy to stone.
While sustaining the half-petrified Wall of Protection, Panxi Edison condensed a knightly greatsword, his voice ringing out with majestic authority:
"Petrification spells are forbidden here!"
The pairs of eyes on the Smoker snapped shut for an instant, only to reopen all at once a second later and resume firing their petrifying beams.
Grasping the knightly greatsword and receiving a boost of strength from the violated rule, Panxi Edison sprang into the air. With a single leap spanning a hundred meters, he descended over the Smoker like a brave champion slaying a dragon.
"Rulebreakers shall be sentenced to death!"
The greatsword erupted in dazzling brass radiance as he brought it hacking down with all his might.
The squirming mass of snakes atop the Smoker's head was severed in droves, snake heads raining down, while the lion head upon his chest let loose a resonant roar.
The Smoker's body was glazed in a brilliant golden glow.
The gleaming knightly greatsword struck the halo, producing the sharp clang of metal meeting stone. Failing to breach the defense, Panxi Edison was even hurled backward by the immense recoil.
From the Smoker's abdomen sprouted the head of the Chromie demon, spewing ghostly blue flames toward the sky to lick at Panxi Edison in midair.
Panxi Edison dispersed the greatsword and swept both hands upward, erecting a rapidly circulating wall of wind in front of himself.
Whoosh! The ghostly blue fire sprayed against it and surged back upon itself.
Having fully restored his stamina under the healing of the Azure Emperor Jade Belt's Longevity Technique, Fu Qingyang steered his sword-light and transformed into a white rainbow, whistling toward the Smoker.
He intended to replicate the scene where he had slain the Hell Wyrm, exhausting three of the Smoker's lives with his Art Nigh unto the Dao.
Panxi Edison's empowered state could not last; they had to heavily wound the Smoker before the enhancement wore off.
Across the Smoker's pus-dripping flesh, pairs of callous eyes snapped open, locking onto Fu Qingyang as he rode his sword-light toward him.
Demon Eye Heavenly King dashed forward, the vertical eye on his forehead firing beam after beam of crimson-gold light. One after another struck the Smoker, freezing his movements, throwing his inner spiritual energy into turmoil, dulling those cold eyes, and causing the various beast heads to verge on melting away.
The Eye of Bewitchment was a power capable of affecting even demigods.
Fu Qingyang seized the opening, halting abruptly in midair, his cloak billowing in the wind as he unleashed a ribbon-like sheet of sword-light down at the Smoker.
The razor-sharp sword-qi instantly split the Smoker's head in two.
The ten-meter-tall aberrated monster did not perish. Even without the golden lion augmenting his defense, the Smoker's innate physical resilience was not something Fu Qingyang could extinguish in a single slash.
The eyes blanketing the Smoker's body snapped back to lucidity, rolling in their sockets to glare simultaneously at Fu Qingyang.
The hard crowd control of the Eye of Bewitchment could only hold him for a fleeting instant.
At this critical juncture, a searing, blinding ray struck the Smoker dead-on, eliciting a roar of agony.
It was Zhang Yuanqing's long-range fire support.
Winnie and Panxi opened their arms simultaneously in welcoming postures.
The next second, two thick pillars of thunder crashed down from the heavens, striking the Smoker dead-center. The impact locked his body in rigidity and extinguished the eyes across his surface pair by pair.
The Smoker, on the verge of launching a counterattack, was immediately interrupted.
Backed by the support of three teammates, Fu Qingyang channeled his spiritual energy without reservation into the Longquan Sword in his hand, causing the divine weapon to emit a clear, melodious dragon's roar as it surged with sword-qi that distorted the very air.
In the distance, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter raised her head, letting loose a shrill, soaring cry from her red lips. The sound was piercing enough to shatter metal and stone, inspiring mental fortitude and amplifying spiritual energy.
Among the many abilities of an Arbiter of Fate, Charm, Red String, and Gestation were bound to fail due to the vast disparity in tier. All she could do was heal her allies and use her "Inspire" sonic waves to augment their battle strength.
Standing aloft in midair, empowered by his cloak and amplified by the war cry, Fu Qingyang unleashed his second strike.
Squelch!
Foul blood sprayed outward as the humanoid head upon the Smoker's neck tumbled off.
Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing and the others felt their spirits lift, regaining some confidence. If Demon Eye Heavenly King's hard control combined with Fu Qingyang's sword-qi could deal lethal damage to an unguarded Smoker, they had a fighting chance.
Having landed the blow, Fu Qingyang immediately flew back on his sword. His reservoir of sword-qi had been entirely depleted by those two strikes, leaving him unable to mount another potent offensive. He prepared to return to his companions and leave the frontline stalling to Panxi Edison.
Just then, behind the Smoker's headless neck, a pair of black feathered wings suddenly unfurled. With a gentle flap—even though his body was clearly still standing right where it had been—every hair on Fu Qingyang's body stood on end as his swordsman's danger instincts screamed in frenzy.
Woooosh! In the very next breath, a tempest erupted straight from the ground beneath him, instantly engulfing him.
Within the tempest, dreamlike starlight flared, and Fu Qingyang vanished.
Starlight immediately surged up beside Zhang Yuanqing and the others.
Phew, he made it back... Zhang Yuanqing breathed an inward sigh of relief. But as he instinctively turned to look at Fu Qingyang, his pupils shrank violently.
Fu Qingyang had indeed returned, but what returned was a mutilated body. The boss's limbs and torso had been slashed into severed pieces, looking as if he had been brutally dismembered.
The tempest had torn his body apart and shredded his flesh, scarlet blood painting a horrifying tableau across the ground.
A single gale had instantly killed Fu Qingyang.
Winnie, Kris, and Demon Eye Heavenly King all wore grim expressions.
Moreover, though the Smoker's head had been lopped off, he had not died. In other words, Fu Qingyang's slash had inflicted damage, but it had not been enough to kill him.
Fu Qingyang's origin soul floated up from the butchered remains, looking coldly at his companions. "Are you done staring? Resurrect me!"
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter sighed. "Everyone only has one chance at resurrection. If you or Demon Eye die again, even I won't be able to help."
She gently rubbed the side of the small, patina-mottled pot, causing the bronze pot to emit rippling golden light.
As the halo swept over the corpse pieces on the ground, the blood, internal organs, and severed limbs rapidly reassembled. In the blink of an eye, Fu Qingyang was restored to life, still a strikingly handsome young nobleman, though pale as paper, looking like someone who had just barely recovered from a grave illness.
"Careful! Full defense!"
Panxi Edison's shout reached everyone's ears.
The boar head upon the Smoker's chest let out a shrill roar as his muscles suddenly bulged and hardened. Thump, thump, thump... The colossal Smoker charged straight toward the group.
"The Nemean Sow! Fall back!" Winnie's expression warped in horror.
"What kind of pig?" Demon Eye Heavenly King didn't catch it.
"The kind of pig that will ram you to death!" Ruth screamed from inside the small fishbowl Kris held.
Information regarding the "Nemean Sow" flashed through Zhang Yuanqing's mind. She was the symbol of strength among the Spawns of the God. In the records of the Biological Alchemy Society, this divine progeny had borne the gestating World Seed on her back at the god's command, preventing it from plunging into purgatory.
The seed had gestated upon her for a hundred thousand years before finally evolving into the present world.
The Nemean Sow's sole method of attack was a charge!
Just as Zhang Yuanqing went to retreat, a terrifying atmospheric pressure bore down upon him. The skin of his face split open, and every joint in his body cracked and popped, threatening to come apart at the seams.
The sheer momentum and pressure generated by the Smoker's charge were already this horrifying.
Fu Qingyang, Winnie, and the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter sank slightly at the knees, as if bearing a mountain upon their shoulders, straining with all their might against the oppressive pressure.
Only Demon Eye Heavenly King and Kris managed to sprint into the distance with relative ease, seeking to evade the incoming impact.
At a moment like this, they had no leeway to care for their companions.
Panxi Edison flashed before the group, condensed a knightly greatsword, and erected a brass-colored barrier before him, backed by a rapidly swirling wind wall just beyond it.
At the same time, the Thunder God mark on his brow blazed, calling down a thunderbolt as thick as a water vat. The entire colosseum was bathed in bright azure radiance.
In his charging state, the Smoker's muscles hardened like stone, rendering him completely immune to the lightning.
The wind wall gave way first. The ten-meter-tall titan crashed headfirst into the brass barrier, and the supposedly indestructible bulwark crackled as web-like fractures raced across its surface.
"Shield... shield, to me..." Zhang Yuanqing squeezed the words from his throat with great difficulty.
The petrified Purplish-Gold Shield whistled through the air, shedding its stone coating on its own and returning to its master's grasp.
"Boss!" He aimed the shield face at Fu Qingyang.
Having seen the Purplish-Gold set before, Fu Qingyang understood instantly. He brought his fingers together like a sword and stabbed fiercely into the shield's surface.
As the Purplish-Gold Shield took the blow, arcs of electricity lashed out, freezing Fu Qingyang in place.
"Not enough!" Zhang Yuanqing grew frantic.
Fu Qingyang's current condition was not enough to fully charge the Purplish-Gold Shield.
At that moment, Demon Eye Heavenly King, who had already fled far off, glanced back and fired an arrow into the shield face—then another, and another—just barely topping off the Purplish-Gold Shield's energy.
Boom!
The brass barrier shattered under the collision.
Panxi Edison was instantly engulfed by the Smoker's body. The peak Dominator of the Merchant class turned his body insubstantial, as if slipping into a rift between spaces, like a projection from another world.
The two crossed paths without making contact.
Zhang Yuanqing strode forward and thrust the Purplish-Gold Shield ahead, activating its Absolute Defense.
A purplish-gold barrier as thick as a city wall rose up, slamming straight into the Smoker. But in the next second, the shield wall fractured inch by inch and blew apart into countless purple wisps of light.
Zhang Yuanqing's body was torn to shreds—truly obliterated, reduced to minced meat.
His origin soul slipped from his flesh and saw that, thanks to his and Edison's obstruction, the others had broken free from the terrible pressure and were scattering in flight, some sprinting, some using Star Escape, some riding the wind.
Even as Zhang Yuanqing felt a wave of relief, shock and terror filled his heart. The Purplish-Gold Shield's Absolute Defense was rule-based.
This was the first time he had ever seen a rule-based ability fail.
Before power at the demigod level, even rule-based items were useless! Even though the foe had merely touched the threshold of a demigod and was not a true demigod powerhouse.
The Smoker continued his charge, barreling forward until he slammed into the barrier formed by the crystal ball.
He turned back around, locking onto the orthodox Dominators once more.
The vertical eye on Demon Eye Heavenly King's brow lit up. Just as he was about to unleash a beam, he heard the Smoker call out his name:
"Demon Eye Heavenly King—"
The loud, perfectly enunciated call instantly threw Demon Eye's body into aberration.
The duration of the trade had expired.
With Panxi Edison's tier, he could not restrict his opponent for too long.
With a look of profound heartbreak, the vice president produced more materials to initiate another trade, but black wings snapped open behind the Smoker, flapping gently.
Tempests laced with wind blades erupted from the earth, descending with pinpoint accuracy upon the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, Winnie, Kris, Fu Qingyang, and Demon Eye Heavenly King.
Unable to spare thought for the trade, Panxi Edison rushed to manipulate the air currents and counteract the tempests.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter seized the moment to rub the bronze pot, reviving Zhang Yuanqing from paste.
Returned to life, Zhang Yuanqing immediately summoned the Golden Crow Seal. Clear, bright golden light shone upon Demon Eye Heavenly King, purifying his flesh and quelling the aberration.
Though Demon Eye's crisis was temporarily averted, despair inevitably welled within Zhang Yuanqing.
The only reason they had survived this long was Vice President Panxi's pay-to-win spending power, effectively marshaling the strength of four peak Dominators against the Smoker.
Even then, they remained on the receiving end of a one-sided beating.
The ten-minute mark was drawing near. Once the spending reached its end, only death awaited them.
As his thoughts churned, the Smoker's muscles swelled and hardened again. Accompanied by the howling of the boar head on his chest, he launched another charge.
Panxi Edison once more erected a wind wall and Wall of Protection while trading away the Smoker's "Calling" ability.
After two consecutive rounds of combined assaults featuring charges, petrifying beams, and raging tempests, Panxi Edison's spending duration finally reached its limit.
Winnie and Kris had both died once. Only the Palace Master, sheltered by the Demon Refining Pot, had avoided major harm from start to finish.
Yet an Arbiter of Fate, much like Desire, was unsuited for combat, capable only of providing support and powerless to shift the tide of battle.
More fatally still, the trading duration had also expired.
Outside the barrier, the spectating evil Dominators curled their lips in excited anticipation, eager to relish the spectacle of the young orthodox geniuses being torn to pieces.
"What a pity. So much talent. If only they could hear the god's revelation and be recruited into our camp, how wonderful that would be," a Dominator of Chaos lamented.
"You'll have to make that suggestion to the Enlightened One yourself," the Level 8 Dominator of the Biological Alchemy Society sneered.
The Smoker had completely lost his sanity by now, driven purely by bloodthirsty instincts and savage cruelty, incapable of distinguishing friend from foe. Why else would they have been told to step back? Otherwise, wouldn't it have been better for all of them to join the fray and help the Smoker quickly wipe out the enemies?
Except for the Palace Master, every single one of us has died once. And the Smoker can kill us in an instant. From here on out, every attack will claim a life—a true, final death... Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts raced, cycling through every conceivable tactic, but none could resolve the crisis before them.
This was the greatest crisis he had ever faced in his life.
The enemy's tier exceeded his own by far too much; all methods and strategies felt completely futile.
Amid his racing thoughts, he suddenly remembered Cai Qinhe's rule-based item—the River Earl's Seal.
An item of peak Dominator quality, it had been Elder Cai's reliance in holding a seat among the Ten Elders.
He was about to urge the boss to take out the River Earl's Seal and give it to Kris, but on second thought, the item's tier was too high; only a peak Dominator of the corresponding class could bring out its full power.
Moreover, it was not a defensive item. The user could achieve infinite rebirth through it, but the rest of them would still undoubtedly perish.
Furthermore, the River Earl's Seal's greatest function was creating a domain favorable for Water Ghosts, yet two of the Smoker's divine spawns happened to be water-aligned.
In that sort of environment, Kris might not even be able to suppress the Smoker in the water.
It would only end up gifting the enemy another rule-based item.
No wonder the boss never took it out... Zhang Yuanqing watched in despair as pairs of callous eyes opened across the Smoker's pus-dripping flesh and black feathered wings spread behind him.
Right at this moment, a glint of golden light ignited across the heavens.
Endless golden radiance slammed against the outer layer of the Spirit Realm dungeon. Ripples of gold spread across the pitch-black night sky, washing the entire world of the dungeon in a brilliant golden glow.
Immediately following, a hole tore open in the sky, and the golden radiance condensed into a pillar, descending into Dungeon 068.
Within the golden pillar of light, a cool, ethereal immortal maiden clad in feathered robes with fluttering wide sleeves and hair bound by a golden hairpin slowly descended.
The old crone?!
Zhang Yuanqing stared dumbfounded as she descended from the sky, like the lamp-wick maiden gazing upon her peerless hero treading seven-colored clouds to claim his bride.
Yet beyond pleasant surprise, his heart was filled with even more bewilderment.
How could she be here?
How could she appear in a dungeon of the First District?
As the pervasive golden light dispersed, Empress Sandao stood high aloft, looking down upon the entire arena. Behind her head rested a ring of golden light, like the phantom silhouette of the sun.
Her Ladyship's cultivation improved again? Zhang Yuanqing keenly sensed the change in the old crone.
Chapter 765