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Boom! Before collapsing, Demon Eye Heavenly King strained to turn his gaze toward the massive severed head rolling down the mountainside. Reflected in his single eye was the Demon God's face. By chance, the Demon God's eyes were turned toward him as well, their gazes meeting in their dying moments. Suddenly, the Demon God's left eye dissolved into a stream of bloody water. Like a narrow rivulet, it surged toward Demon Eye Heavenly King's empty left socket and condensed into a blood-red eyeball. Demon Eye Heavenly King's fading consciousness stirred back to life. At the same time, the Spirit Realm notification chimed beside his ears: [Ding! Congratulations on completing the solo Spirit Realm quest—Battle of Zhuolu. Difficulty: S-rank. Calculating rewards...] [Rewards settling... Acquired items/objects: Blood-Drinking Saber, Will of the Demon God.] [Reward: 18% EXP.] [Settlement complete! Exiting the Spirit Realm immediately.] ... In the dusty, tiled-roof house at the Soldier God Cult's northwestern headquarters, Demon Eye Heavenly King's charred body materialized out of thin air. He crashed heavily onto the floor and remained motionless for a long time, looking no different from a lifeless corpse. Roughly half an hour passed before a blackened finger twitched. Demon Eye Heavenly King regained a sliver of consciousness. His right eyelid fluttered open, staring blankly at the crisscrossing rafters beneath the tiled roof. Pain. Excruciating, all-consuming pain. If he had to describe his current physical state with precision, it felt as though someone had taken a hammer and smashed his bones inch by inch, then strung him up for three days and three nights without sleep. Both his body and mind hovered in a state where death could claim him at any second. Residual lightning energy still raged through his body. Had the Spirit Realm character card not infused him with EXP—spiritual energy—upon his exit, he likely would have died from catastrophic cellular burnout. Of course, the healing item tucked under his tongue had also kept him clinging to life. Demon Eye Heavenly King stared at the roof, listening intently to the sounds outside. The entire world was dead quiet. No voices, no footsteps, no breathing. It was so still that the Soldier God Cult headquarters seemed like a ghost town. For a moment, he did not know whether to feel relieved or anxious. Relieved, because the Heavenly Kings and Divine Generals of the Soldier God Cult all wanted him dead; if they found the dignified Demon Eye Heavenly King reduced to such helpless vulnerability, they would most likely show him the "mercy" of sending him straight back to the Spirit Realm. Anxious, because in such terrible shape, he desperately needed someone to rescue him. Before long, his anxiety dissolved into sleep. When he woke again, darkness had fallen. The deep slumber had restored a fraction of his strength. Opening his inventory, he retrieved a teleportation jade talisman. His trembling fingers pinched it repeatedly before he finally managed to crush it. ... Fujia Bay. Zhang Yuanqing sat on the master bedroom's terrace, bathed in the chilly spring breeze. The Beginning of Spring had just passed, and Chinese New Year was only a week away. Three days had elapsed since he hunted down the Grand Protector. Over those three days, using deduction and the Eye of the Sky, he had successfully tracked down the hiding Surgeon and Shaman Wizard, sealing them inside the Jade Pure Bottle. To an eighth-level dual-class Item Tianzun, Level 7 Day Wanderers were nothing more than elite mobs. What was more, he had the assistance of another elite mob clad in demigod armor—Zhai Cai. The most agonizing price their side had paid was that Lady JoJo went blind, Xiao Yuan went blind, Yinyao went blind, Elder Dog went blind, and Chen Shu's bodyguard Sophia went blind. Even Zhai Cai's vampire servant went blind. "Three Sancai Pills still aren't enough to get me to Level 9. I'll wait another two days for Xiahou Aotian. If he hasn't exited his dungeon by then, I'll ask Lian Sanyue to refine the pills," Zhang Yuanqing said, looking at his girlfriend seated opposite him in a silk nightgown. "After that, I might have to enter an S-rank dungeon one more time." As he spoke, the phone on the round glass table chimed with a notification, alerting him to an incoming message. Zhang Yuanqing picked up the phone to check the message. His face instantly darkened, his brow furrowing. Noticing his grim expression, Guan Ya set down her piping-hot pour-over coffee and asked, "What's wrong?" Zhang Yuanqing exhaled a breath of stale air into the cold breeze. "Vice President Panxi says the Sun dungeon cannot be entered..." Hearing that, Guan Ya's expression darkened as well. With the President of the Void having entered a dungeon, Vice President Panxi was one of the two highest-ranking Void practitioners, standing at Peak Dominator tier. If even he could not enter the Sun dungeon, how was Yuanshi supposed to get in? If he could not enter the dungeon, then even if he advanced to Level 9 and acquired the status needed to become the Lord of the Sun, it would all be for nothing. After thinking for a moment, Guan Ya probed, "Did Vice President Panxi say anything else? Or did the President leave behind any contingency plan?" Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. Over the past three days, he had followed his uncle's instructions and acted according to plan. Naturally, that involved scheming for entry into the Sun dungeon. He had sent a tactful message to Vice President Panxi, hoping the Peak Dominator would act as a courier to send him inside when the time came. The reply he received was: *Dungeon tier too high. Cannot enter!* The championship match had already started while he was still leveling up, and now he was being told he did not even qualify to enter the arena. "What do we do now?" Guan Ya knitted her brows. "Take it one step at a time," Zhang Yuanqing said helplessly. Guan Ya pursed her red lips and fell silent. Deep down, she actually felt a wave of relief. Contending for the Lord of the Sun meant clashing with demigods. No matter how much confidence she had in her boyfriend, she never believed he could defeat Ling Tuo or the Taiyi Sect Master. Not to mention all the other demigods. The current situation was actually the best outcome. When the sky fell, the tallest would hold it up. If they failed, dying together would bring no regrets. Her greatest fear had been that the sky would be held up, but her boyfriend would end up like Empress Wa, sacrificing himself in the process. Right then, a knock sounded on the bedroom door, and Queen's voice came from outside. "Are you two making love? If not, open up. Something's come up." Zhang Yuanqing exhaled a breath of Yin energy toward the door. Little Doubi scrambled nimbly over, jumped up, and turned the handle. Queen pushed the door open. First, she glanced at the tidy bed, then looked toward the two on the terrace. "The bunny girl next door says a charred figure suddenly appeared in the courtyard. Looking like he's about to deliver his dying words, he asked to see you." *See me? A charred figure?* Suppressing his gloom, Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "Got it." Lounging on the single armchair, his body dissolved into a dreamy scatter of starlight. ... In the front courtyard of Fu Qingyang's large villa. Starlight surged, and Zhang Yuanqing stepped out from the dazzling glow. Sweeping his gaze around, he looked at the blackened human shape lying beside the fountain. Zhang Yuanqing stared for several seconds before tentatively asking, "Daode Tianzun?" "I'm fucking Demon Eye..." the charred figure wheezed in feeble protest. "Cut... cut the crap... Save... save me first..." Fifteen minutes later, with the aid of two vials of Life Source Fluid and the Jade Belt of the Azure Thearch, Demon Eye Heavenly King shed his carbonized outer shell, finally dragging his remaining foot back from the gates of death. Yet his body remained frail. While the Life Source Fluid and the Green Emperor Longevity Art had healed his wounds and restored his vitality and stamina, the lingering lightning energy inside him still slowly eroded his life force. It would take several days to dissipate completely. Seated on the sofa in Money Prince's study, Demon Eye Heavenly King gulped expensive liquor and wolfed down rich slices of cured ham, recounting his experiences inside the dungeon to Yuanshi Tianzun opposite him. Zhang Yuanqing listened attentively, turning the information over in his mind to form theories and connections. *The ancient struggle between sovereigns actually stemmed from competing for the authority of the Five Elements? Tsk, both absurd and reasonable... The evil faction led by Chiyou took advantage of the clash between Yan and Huang when both sides were grievously wounded to launch an all-out assault against the orthodox faction...* *The mutated beasts Demon Eye saw must have been the power of the Lethal Alchemist profession. That Western dragon capable of manipulating lightning and wind blades is very likely the God King of Greek mythology.* *This aligns with the information I obtained on Paphos Island. The God of Light stopped biding his time and killed the God of Beauty precisely because the God King had departed for the distant East.* *Could the mythical beasts recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas simply be mutated creatures? Both chronologically and logically, it makes complete sense.* *In ancient times, practitioners across the three major regions interacted and even united against the evil faction. If that's the case, why did the Third Region fall? Did the demigods of the First and Second Regions fail to send aid for some reason?* Having finished recounting the dungeon's events, Demon Eye Heavenly King raised his hand, touching the left eye concealed beneath his athletic headband, and curled his lips into a smirk. "I received a blessing from a supreme entity. Want to see it?" Zhang Yuanqing's curiosity was instantly piqued. Leaning in close, he slipped a finger under the headband and touched Demon Eye's left socket. Moments later, the item information surfaced: [Name: Will of the Demon God] [Type: Organ] [Function: Receive Bestowal] [Description: Only the purest Demon of Enchantment can earn the admiration of a supreme entity and receive a bestowal while fighting by his side.] [Remark 1: Can only be used within Spirit Realm dungeons.] [Remark 2: Once the Demon God's will descends, it is eternal.] *That second remark doesn't give me a very good feeling...* Zhang Yuanqing frowned. "You'd better use it with caution—or not at all." Demon Eye Heavenly King brushed the warning aside, brimming with fierce conviction. "With this, I can support you in becoming the Lord of the Sun. We're not without a fighting chance. By the way, the opportunity for you to refine the Sancai Pills should be here, right?" "I've already captured three Protectors of the Dark Night Rose alive. Once Xiahou Aotian returns, we can begin refining the pills. It's just..." Zhang Yuanqing offered a wry smile. "What we're facing might not be a question of whether we have a fighting chance, but whether we even qualify to compete for the Lord of the Sun." Sighing, he told Demon Eye about the situation in reality, frankly explaining the helpless truth that the Sun dungeon had opened and yet he could not enter. Touching his left eye, the fiery fighting spirit on Demon Eye Heavenly King's face slowly drained away. After a long silence, he gave a bitter smile. "Then what was the point of me risking my life to level up?" He fell quiet, not speaking another word for a long time. ... Jiangnan Leather City. Inside a spacious, lavishly decorated bedroom, an exceptionally handsome young man abruptly appeared. Glancing around and confirming he was back in his familiar home, the youth, wearing a black iron thumb ring, collapsed heavily onto the soft bed. "Finally back... I made it back alive! I'm never going into an S-rank dungeon again..."