Within the pocket dimension, with the collapse of the Demon Seed, the space itself began to cave in. The dim sky shattered like a mirror, and the ground took on the muddy feel of primordial slurry reverting to chaos. That supreme being who had fallen to Earth as a meteorite a century ago had finally returned to His original world.
The white man in the suit and white shirt bowed devoutly.
"We respectfully see You off, great deity!"
Immediately afterward, he looked toward the demigods and said, "The spatial rift will only stay open for a short time. We should enter the Sun Dungeon now."
Taking the lead, he flew upward and merged into the lingering beam of purple light, teleported away in an instant.
Old Mai, the Gu Dragons, the Illusion Gods... followed closely behind, hurtling into the purple glow.
Watching their retreating silhouettes disappear, Asura turned his leftmost head toward Heavenly King Fear, his voice low and rumbling like a drum:
"Did you send Demon Eye into the Battle of Zhuolu dungeon?"
The eyes on this head were as large as bronze bells, their eyeballs a gory crimson; staring into them was like being peered at by the abyss itself. An instinctive chill crept into Heavenly King Fear's heart, but the corners of his mouth curled into a smirk.
"He was desperate to throw his life away, so I obliged him."
Asura's leftmost head replied coldly:
"His conviction and willpower are stronger than yours. If he wins the favor of the supreme being in that dungeon, you will be in grave danger."
Heavenly King Fear touched his silver earring and shrugged indifferently. "I look forward to it."
The two then threw themselves into the pillar of purple light.
...
The Spirit Realm world.
The purple pillar of light pierced the River of Stars, tearing open the Sun Dungeon with irresistible might.
Outside the dungeon, the demigods scattered in haste, dodging out of the way.
With a twitch of his bearded brow, the Sea Emperor said, "The deity of the Covenant of Freedom has intervened... He can actually force open the Sun Dungeon? Has His accumulated power reached this level already?"
Fu Qingxuan's delicate face was grave. "The evil faction wants to force the final battle ahead of schedule."
As the pinnacle of the Scout class, she easily saw through the evil faction's scheme. The Lord of Taiyin had not obtained the Merit Board, and the Sun's suppression of Taiyin was far stronger than of the Stars.
Meanwhile, the opposing side was the veteran Lord of the Stars, who had plotted for an entire sixty-year cycle.
Ling Tuo's chances of winning would not be high.
Since that was the case, they might as well trigger the final battle early, letting the top powers of both factions vie for the Sun and decide the fate of the world within the Sun Dungeon.
Before her thoughts could settle, familiar figures indeed appeared, entering the Sun Dungeon one after another along the purple pillar of light.
The evil demigods also noticed the orthodox demigods stationed outside the dungeon, either sneering or watching them with cold detachment.
The last two were Asura and Heavenly King Fear. The latter glanced at Fu Qingxuan, lifting the corners of his mouth in a smile that was half-mocking and half-provocative.
Once the evil faction's demigods entered the Sun Dungeon, the purple beam dissipated. A massive breach had been torn in the Sun Dungeon's barrier, and it was slowly knitting back together.
The Spirit Realm's self-repair mechanism was reconstructing the barrier.
Seeing this, Gang Leader Jiang roared, "Get in! Quick!"
He transformed into a streak of flowing fire and plunged through the breach.
"No wonder the Taiyi Sect Master told us to watch outside for unexpected developments; he had already calculated this..." The Lord of the Central Court came to a sudden realization. Fearing that the Red Fire Gang Leader would be focused down, he threw himself into the gap after him.
Next came Fu Qingxuan, the venerable ancestors of the Spirit Realm clans, the Sea Emperor... scrambling to enter the Sun Dungeon.
A few seconds after they entered, the silver-masked President appeared before the steadily closing breach, flanked by a cluster of holy light.
Within the holy light was the vague, alluring silhouette of a voluptuous woman whose face was indistinct, her platinum hair silky and smooth.
"Succubus, are we going in or not?" the President asked.
From the holy light came a soft, magnetic voice, chuckling:
"If we don't go in, how is the orthodox faction supposed to win? With the Wind and Thunder Twin Gods in deep slumber, can those misshapen cabbages defeat the Level 11 demigods of the Alchemical Society of Life and the Bacchus Club?
"Not to mention that monster Asura."
Hearing this, his uncle sighed:
"Sigh. I really didn't want to work for the Lord of the Stars. That fellow used an open conspiracy I couldn't possibly refuse."
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers with a sharp crack, teleporting himself and the Succubus into the Sun Dungeon.
The breach immediately sealed shut behind them.
The moment he and the Goddess of Beauty appeared in the scorched, desolate expanse of the Sun Dungeon, a Spirit Realm notification chimed by their ears:
[Ding! Difficulty change detected for Spirit Realm Map 'Lord of the Sun.' Generating map... Ding! Generation failed for Spirit Realm Map 'Lord of the Sun.' Regenerating... Ding! Generation failed for Spirit Realm Map 'Lord of the Sun.' Regenerating...]
Accompanying the repeating notifications of failed generation, the scenery before the President's eyes vanished, replaced by an expanse of chaos—like a computer's blue screen of death or the snow static of a television set.
The demigods of both factions swarming en masse into the Sun Dungeon seemed to have triggered a bug in the Spirit Realm.
After another dozen or so seconds, the President heard a change in the Spirit Realm notification:
[Difficulty change detected for Spirit Realm Map 'Lord of the Sun.' Generating map...]
[Map generation complete!]
[Your Spirit Realm dungeon this time is 'Battle of the Gods,' Designation: 00]
[Difficulty Level: Unknown]
[Type: Multiplayer (Death)]
[Main Quest: Enthrone the Lord of the Sun.]
[Note: Non-Spirit Realm items may not be brought inside.]
[Introduction to Dungeon No. 00: The demigods of both factions gather to do battle for the candidates they support for the Lord of the Sun. The Sun is encircled by five formations, sealed within an abyss. Controlling the cores of all five formations simultaneously will allow you to summon the slumbering Sun from the abyss and become the Lord of the Sun.]
[Note 2: Once a formation core is claimed, that formation cannot be captured again for three days.]
...
Paphos Island.
[Rewards settlement in progress. Items obtained: Lyra Shepherd Lyre, Blessing of the God of Light x3 (Consumable), Bow of the Little God of Love, Arrow of Desire, Arrow of Aversion.]
[Reward EXP: 16%]
[Ding! Congratulations on advancing to Level 8.]
[Ding! Role card reward activated. Reward Item: Goddess of Beauty's Gauze Dress]
[Settlement complete! Exiting the Spirit Realm in 60 seconds.]
A sun insignia surfaced on Zhang Yuanqing's forehead. Scorching, domineering solar divine power surged through his role card and poured into his body like floodwaters bursting through an opened sluice gate.
His cells rapidly disintegrated and regrew anew. The newly formed cells adapted to the fierce, overbearing solar divine power, becoming far stronger and more resilient, able to accommodate and store vastly more solar divine power.
At the same time, a fissure split open in Zhang Yuanqing's sea of consciousness, and scorching golden flames surged in like a tempest.
His vision went black. He felt his soul being scorched by blazing fire, an agony that far surpassed the infusion of solar divine power into his flesh.
His soul dissolved within the golden flames, along with the mental contamination, negative emotions, and selfish thoughts that had built up deep within his heart for so long.
He gritted his teeth and endured, holding on as if weathering countless mental breakdowns in a single instant, yet he never truly fell into madness.
After an unknown length of time, he suddenly felt his soul grow accustomed to the burning solar divine power, and the pain receded.
He then discovered that his sea of consciousness was crystal clear, shimmering with limpid, pure sunlight.
Naturally and effortlessly, he mastered a new skill: Yang Soul!
Yang Soul was the new skill acquired upon advancing to Level 8. His soul was no longer afraid of lightning or solar divine power and no longer fell under the category of yin entities. It could endure indefinitely; as long as it could absorb and cycle solar divine power, the Yang Soul could live on forever, achieving longevity.
Furthermore, the Yang Soul functioned like an external USB flash drive, expanding his reservoir of solar divine power.
At Level 7, solar divine power could only be stored within the physical body. If the body died, the soul would cease to be a Day Wanderer because it could no longer channel solar divine power.
However, upon mastering the 'Yang Soul' skill, the soul became a second physical vessel capable of storing solar divine power as well.
His total pool of solar divine power instantly doubled.
The combined duration of Sun Rise and Blazing Sun War God also doubled, freeing him from worries about running dry on solar divine power.
In addition, the purity of his solar divine power increased, attaining a higher quality.
Sensing the vigorous circulation of solar divine power, Zhang Yuanqing was thoroughly satisfied. If he had to name any complaint, it was only that he had not gained an ability with overwhelming destructive force.
In essence, the Yang Soul was an external flash drive, or a portable power bank.
Yet having trained under Empress Sandao, he had anticipated this long ago. As the old dame had said, the hallmark of solar divine power was overbearing dominance, and truly domineering power had no need for flashy gimmicks.
When sunlight shines upon all things, all things dissolve.
"Once I return to reality, I can undo part of the seal on the Illusion God's Heart and gain the abilities of a Level 8 Nihilist." Zhang Yuanqing was full of anticipation, feeling that he was one step closer to the throne of the Lord of the Sun.
Next, he opened his inventory and took out the Blessing of the God of Light—three golden arrows.
The very golden arrows used by the High Priest.
These three golden arrows had been consecrated by the God of Light. They possessed tremendous lethality against anyone below the demigod level; even a peak Dominator would be grievously wounded if struck by a single arrow.
Below Level 9, unless a target possessed an array of defensive items like he did, death was virtually guaranteed.
The other item, the Goddess of Beauty's Gauze Dress, was powerful, but profoundly humiliating for a man.
Its effect was gender inversion. Putting on the gauze dress granted peerless charm, evoking protective pity and tender affection from enemies.
If one adopted a more aggressive approach, one could entice enemies into pleasure, thereby controlling them through demanding compensation—and this ability to demand payment would not disappear even after taking off the dress.
"How on earth did the Demon Lord have this thing? I feel like I've stumbled upon an unspeakable secret of his," Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but grumble inwardly. "There's no way in hell I'll ever use this item, but keeping it around is dangerous—when life and death are on the line, who knows how low my standards might drop? Better give it away. Yeah, I'll give it to Annie."
This wasn't even suitable to leave in the guild storehouse.
Just then, concentric ripples of golden light suddenly swept across the clear sky, undulating over the blue expanse like ocean waves.
Zhang Yuanqing's first reaction was: Is the old dame coming?!
Every time she descended into a dungeon, it was accompanied by this exact spectacle.
On second thought, that made no sense. He hadn't summoned her, and across the boundless sea of dungeon worlds, she couldn't possibly locate him after he had entered a First District dungeon.
In the midst of his bewilderment, ripples began to distort his vision. Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly turned his head, casting a slightly reluctant and helpless glance at Menia and Saiketia.
Then, he vanished from the dungeon.
Chapter 952