An evil spirit? When did it get behind us? I didn't sense it at all! No, not just me—even Uncle didn't sense it?! A chill ran through Zhang Yuanqing's heart. Before he could turn his head, a blinding brass-colored light flared behind him. At that moment, Zhang Yuanqing trembled with uncontrollable terror, like an ant facing the wrath of a tyrannosaur.
Then he saw a fierce, overbearing wave of brass-colored energy tear through chests and walls, laying bare the pitch-black void.
Huh? Why am I fine? Zhang Yuanqing quickly mastered his fear and examined himself.
Not only was he unharmed, but Zhai Cai beside him and the vampire Augusto not far away had also survived the incomparably potent brass blast.
However, their bodies took on the translucent texture of virtual projections, as though they belonged to another world.
Zhang Yuanqing looked down again and saw that his own body was in the same ethereal state.
Uncle pulled us into an untargetable "Void" state? Understanding dawned on Zhang Yuanqing. This had the exact same effect as the Sliding Shoes—one of the Void profession's strongest life-saving skills.
Dressed in a wine-red suit and a silver mask, Uncle clicked his tongue. "The objective of our trip has appeared."
Zhang Yuanqing whipped his head around. Standing about five meters behind them was a figure in golden armor. Crafted in the same style as the Holy See's knights, the armor covered the figure from head to toe, lacking only a faceplate, making it look heavy and clumsy.
Beneath the open-faced helmet was a pale, rotting face with deep-set eyes, a high nose, a full beard, and grayish-white, lifeless eyes.
Furthermore, the golden-armored figure held a golden Knight straight sword. That space-rending brass energy from earlier had been unleashed by this very blade.
Staring at the pale, rotting face, Zhai Cai spoke in a tone tinged with both joy and sorrow: "He is the Holy Knight, Simon Rodney—a demigod who fell in the battle that destroyed the Holy See. I saw him in a dungeon once. He was an upright and valiant knight."
Zhang Yuanqing sighed emotionally. "He died a hundred years ago, yet his remnant spirit hasn't dissipated, still guarding the Holy See's treasury."
As he spoke, darkness welled in his eye sockets. Vast yin energy surged over his body, spontaneously forming Spirit-Sealing Talismans that linked together into an arrow before suddenly shooting forward.
The Holy Knight's corpse stood motionless as a mountain, letting the arrow of talismans strike the armor, where it merely dispersed into wisps of swirling yin energy.
"The armor and sword on him are demigod items of the Knight profession," Uncle said. "They protected the remnant spirit inside the armor. Back when the Pope dumped the Holy Knight's corpse straight into the treasury, he definitely intended to use his remnant spirit to guard this place. Tsk, a bit troublesome. The remnant spirit acts purely on instinct to control the armor, but its combat prowess is still quite formidable."
Zhang Yuanqing and Zhai Cai looked at the President simultaneously and spoke in unison: "We'll leave it to you."
The moment their words fell, a mental ripple resonated from within the golden armor:
"The rules of this battle are: Fleeing the battlefield is forbidden. Hiding in the void is forbidden."
The Holy Knight planted the golden straight sword into the ground, sending ripples of brass light radiating from its blade.
The spatial rules of the treasury were altered. The four were cast out of their void state, their bodies turning solid once more.
The President used his Void skill again. His figure flickered between tangible and intangible, finally slipping successfully into the void. Zhang Yuanqing, Zhai Cai, and Augusto, however, flickered briefly before being forced back into solid reality.
Their attempt to enter the void had failed.
The President snapped his fingers. "Banish!"
No one disappeared.
The President clicked his tongue. "A casual decree on par with a rule-based item. His rank is half a grade below mine, so he can't truly imprison me, but your status is too low, so the rules suppress you. You can't hide in the void, and you can't teleport away."
"Then what do we do?" Zhai Cai asked anxiously.
Just then, the Holy Knight pulled his sword back, lowered his stance, and charged straight at Zhang Yuanqing.
He moved at terrifying speed. The onlookers saw only a streak of yellow light flash across their vision, and in the next instant, Yuanshi Tianzun was shattered.
Yuanshi Tianzun dissolved into a burst of pure electric current that arced into the distance.
Where the lightning struck down, Zhang Yuanqing's body reformed, a wave of lingering dread washing over him.
When the Holy Knight launched that charge, he definitely hadn't reacted in time, experiencing the helpless terror of an ordinary mortal facing a bullet. If he hadn't obtained the Lightning Boots and, prudent as ever, equipped them in advance, that single blow would have sent him straight back to the Spirit Realm.
Witnessing this, Zhai Cai grew even more panicked. In Zhang Yuanqing's place, he wouldn't have been able to dodge at all and would have had to endure it head-on. Given the power of that strike, he would have ended up either dead or severely crippled.
Rule-based items were already troublesome enough, yet any casual decree from this Holy Knight functioned as a rule itself.
It was simply monstrous!
"President, what should we do?" Zhai Cai called out.
"Don't panic. You young lads have no composure at all," the President said coolly.
Despite his words, his gaze behind the mask was grave, devoid of any ease.
Having missed his strike, the Holy Knight spun on his heel and swung his longsword, slashing a brilliant arc of sword light toward the group.
The President raised his hand lightly and pushed his palm forward.
The space in front instantly froze into a crystalline, three-dimensional block of ice, blocking the terrifying, overwhelming sword light.
Seeing this, the Holy Knight leaped into the air and chopped downward with his blade.
The frozen space shattered with a sharp crack before snapping back to normal.
The President collided with the Holy Knight in a burst of close-quarters combat. Zhang Yuanqing and Zhai Cai couldn't track their moves at all, hearing only roaring concussions and sensing intense spatial ripples.
Items hanging from the walls crashed down one after another, chests overturned, and materials scattered across the floor.
Bang!
Uncle parried the Holy Knight's sword with an elbow, then unleashed a flurry of rapid Wing Chun strikes against his chest, making the armor clang and rattle loudly.
With a final palm strike, he sent the knight flying.
"Awesome!" the Sole-Heir Knight cheered loudly.
Zhang Yuanqing was also taken aback. He hadn't expected this black sheep of his family, who only knew how to run away, to possess such impressive close-combat skills. One had to remember that the Knight profession ranked in the top five among all professions for melee prowess.
The President gave a soft chuckle, brimming with smug pride. "Did you really think I only know how to run? The Void profession gets combat talent bonuses too. Without some fighting skills, I would've been beaten to death back when I was stealing treasures in the early and mid stages. How could I have ever survived to the late game?"
With that, he charged aggressively at the Holy Knight.
Bang!
Having just rejoined the fray, the President came rolling back before them in disheveled retreat.
The joy in Zhang Yuanqing's and Zhai Cai's eyes froze on their faces.
Without a word, Augusto the vampire swiftly shrank back into his silver coffin and pulled the lid shut, having decided to peacefully live out his final moments inside.
"Cough, cough..." The President said solemnly, "Seems like I provoked the guy and woke up his fighting instincts."
Not far away, the Holy Knight stood tall and proud, his armor radiating intense golden light like an invincible king.
Zhai Cai's face tightened. "Wh-what do we do now?"
No sooner had he asked than the Holy Knight leaped high into the air, raising his straight sword to execute a leaping slash down at them.
The President pulled two items from the void and tossed them over, shouting urgently: "Put these on!"
They were the Explorer's Hat and Explorer's Coat he had lent them earlier.
Zhang Yuanqing and Zhai Cai hurriedly donned the hat and coat while the President raised a spatial barrier to buy them time.
Crack!
The solidified space shattered like glass.
Smashing through the barrier, the Holy Knight landed heavily. Yet he didn't press the attack; instead, he stood rigidly, having lost all trace of his targets, looking around in bewilderment with his sword drawn.
The President said, "No matter how powerful he is, he's still a remnant spirit with limited intelligence, easily misled. Right now, he can't see us.
"However, this state will last ten seconds at most before he catches on and establishes a rule prohibiting low-profile behavior."
Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief and urged his uncle, "Then what are you waiting for? You're a complete demigod—can't you even deal with an evil spirit like this?"
"Nonsense! I'm a top-tier demigod who can take on three at once!" Uncle reprimanded his nephew's disrespect, then sighed. "It's just not cost-effective to spend money on such a low-IQ enemy."
The Merchant was the only profession capable of pay-to-win power.
Zhang Yuanqing pointed at the items and materials around the treasury. "These are all windfall profits—spend whatever you want! Just suppress this thing already!"
Uncle snapped crossly, "Stupid spendthrift! If we burn through all this, wouldn't our trip be for nothing?!"
Listening to this, Zhai Cai felt his blood pressure skyrocket and snapped in anger, "Ten seconds are almost up! Stop wasting time on pointless bickering!"
If not out of deference to the President's status as a Void demigod, he would have unleashed a torrent of colorful curses already.
He had never seen a demigod like this—devoid of even a shred of an exalted elder's dignity.
"I told you not to rush. Downy-lipped youngsters are never steady." The President flicked his finger, and the silver coffin in the distance flipped sideways, tumbling Augusto out just as he prepared to meet his end peacefully within.
Unaware he had been sold out, Augusto barely scrambled free when he saw the gleaming golden Holy Knight turn his stiff neck toward him.
His face drained of color. Without a second thought, his flesh disintegrated into a swarm of bats that fled toward the other end of the treasury, leaving behind a single inconspicuous bat near the coffin.
Sensing the movement, the Holy Knight raised his sword and gave chase.
Paying no attention to the vampire, the President spoke rapidly: "I've got a plan. The remnant spirit is protected by the armor, so to exorcise it, we must first seal the armor. The Eternal Night we obtained earlier can dampen the armor's activity. After that, I'll set up a sealing array to subdue it.
"But you two have to buy me two minutes."
Two minutes? I can't even last twenty seconds! Zhai Cai grumbled inwardly, but maintained a calm demeanor. "President, please don't waste any more time."
At that moment, the bats formed from Augusto's flesh were annihilated beneath the Holy Knight's sword light.
Having lost its target once more, the Holy Knight stood dazed and vacant.
The President had already slipped into a corner, half-kneeling as he retrieved a half-man-tall black stone pedestal. Using his finger like a chisel, he began carving complex, profound runes across the stone surface.
Zhang Yuanqing pulled out the Heaven-Swallowing Beast, tossed it to Zhai Cai, and said, "Stall for me a moment while I check the set effects."
He had wanted to check them earlier, but the Holy Knight's sudden ambush had interrupted him.
Catching the black jade Pixiu, Zhai Cai checked its attributes, and confidence surged within him. He stored the beast in his inventory, retrieved it, and placed it atop his head.
Next, he took three vials of Life Source Fluid handed over by Yuanshi Tianzun, stabbed them into his jugular vein, and injected them all into his bloodstream at once.
Zhang Yuanqing brought out the Thunder God Set: four lightning orbs and a thunder spear.
The lightning orbs attached themselves automatically to his right arm, chest, feet, and the glabella of his forehead.
Sizzle...
The moment the set was fully equipped, blinding bright-blue radiance swallowed him. Thick serpents of electricity danced and bounded through the air, baring their fangs and claws.
The dim treasury was instantly illuminated, every corner flooded with a devastating aura.
The "low-profile" state was broken. The Holy Knight jerked his stiff head and looked over.
The next instant, he transformed into a streak of brass light and surged toward Zhang Yuanqing.
Long prepared, Zhai Cai strode forward, planting his knight's sword into the ground. A brass glow flared, raising a thick, solid wall in front of him.
The Holy Knight's sword smashed through Zhai Cai's wall of protection like a hot knife through butter.
Zhai Cai hurriedly raised his blade to parry!
With a loud clang, the knight's sword in his hands shattered. But because the Heaven-Swallowing Beast absorbed most of the force, the golden straight sword merely cleaved into his shoulder, biting into bone without severing his arm entirely.
On the other side, having activated the set effects, Zhang Yuanqing grasped its full capabilities.
The skill granted by the Thunder God Set was called Thunder God's Wrath.
It bestowed the wielder with early Level 9 divine power and mastery over skills such as Railgun, Lightning Flash, Magnetization, Lightning Strike, Electromagnetic Guard, and Thunderstorm.
A Thunder Bishop below Level 9 could wield it for three minutes.
A Level 9 Thunder Bishop could wear it stably for extended periods.
For non-Thunder Mage professions, the duration depended on level. A Level 9 user could wear it for about three minutes, with self-healing or restorative abilities extending that limit.
Below Level 9, non-Thunder Mages could use it for only one minute, slightly extended by healing abilities.
Given Zhang Yuanqing's current level combined with a Day Wanderer's self-healing, his limit was roughly one minute and thirty seconds.
Exceeding that limit would result in complete bodily carbonization.
Furthermore, he had to constantly endure a paralyzed state, making him unsuited for melee combat while equipped—he could only bombard from afar.
Zhai Cai kicked the Holy Knight's chest, but the enemy didn't budge an inch. Using the recoil, Zhai Cai threw himself backward.
As the Life Source Fluid rapidly knit the wound on his shoulder, he turned his head and roared, "Get over here and help!
"Damn, that set of yours looks ridiculously cool!"
In his vision, Yuanshi Tianzun was wrapped in arcs of electricity, his hair standing on end and crackling with sparks. Armor formed from fluorescent blue electromagnetism covered his entire body, and his eye sockets shone pure blue-white.
The lightning mark on his forehead blazed with piercing brilliance.
The black patterns running across his face from carbonized blood vessels lent him the dark, corrupt aesthetic of a fallen deity.
He looked just like a fallen Thunder God.
Zhang Yuanqing gazed coldly at the Holy Knight. With no pupils visible within those blue-white sockets, he appeared chillingly detached.
He vanished abruptly, leaving behind a streak of flickering lightning in the air, reappearing directly before the Holy Knight.
Summoning a thunder orb in his palm, he slammed it straight into the Holy Knight's chest.
Boom!
Plasma erupted everywhere.
The Holy Knight went hurtling backward.
Chapter 915