Golden light shone into the grand hall, illuminating the scene inside with crisp clarity. Within the hall stood three majestic divine statues, each ten meters tall. The central figure wore armor crafted from laced metal plates and carried a bronze sword two cun long, resembling a military commander from the Warring States period.
The statue on the left wore Daoist robes, with a fluttering long beard and an iron sword strapped to his back, projecting the ethereal grace of a transcendent master from beyond the mortal realm.
The statue on the right was dressed in loose, untamed robes, his hair bound only by a wooden hairpin, while stray locks at his temples and forehead gave him a wild, unrestrained air.
These three statues were the most conspicuous, thus catching Zhang Yuanqing's eye first. However, he cared little about which deities were enshrined in Shushan's main hall or which historical figures they represented.
With only a cursory glance, his gaze shifted downward, settling on the coffin resting across the center of the hall.
The coffin was rugged and ancient, measuring about three meters long and a full meter wide. Cast from bronze and coated in verdigris, both its body and lid were densely engraved with talismanic runes.
Zhang Yuanqing recognized them at a glance as Spirit-Sealing Runes.
The coffin was a magical tool meant to seal the evil entity within, but there were over a dozen deep sword marks across the lid, destroying the talismanic array patterns.
The fiend inside the coffin had broken free, annihilating the entire Shushan immortal sect.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately looked toward the three figures flanking the bronze coffin. Dressed in the robes of Shushan elders and teachers—two men and one woman—they had disheveled, withered, curling hair and eerie, emerald-green eyes.
The aura radiating from these three yin corpses was identical to that of Commandery Princess Yinyao: they were high-level yin corpses transformed from the living into yin creatures.
Bathed in the sunlight, the three Shushan elders' bruised-black skin began to fester and dissolve, revealing equally dark flesh beneath, as if splashed with sulfuric acid.
Yet they seemed entirely oblivious. Prostrating themselves before the bronze coffin, they transmitted mental fluctuations:
"Ba, who roamed the world in antiquity, supreme and glorious Corpse Ancestor, please bestow your power upon us to repel the vermin encroaching upon our holy land."
Corpse Ancestor? Zhang Yuanqing was startled by the title. An ordinary expert could never bear the weight of such a name.
Connecting it with the moniker "Ba," a figure from myth and legend flashed across Zhang Yuanqing's mind: Hanba!
Was Hanba sealed within the coffin? Or could this being be the very prototype of Hanba?
As thoughts raced through his mind, seeing that the pervasive golden light could not immediately deliver the three high-level yin creatures, Zhang Yuanqing manifested a grand golden bow in his left hand. Golden radiance surged from the fingertips of his right hand to form an arrow, and he drew the bow taut as a full moon.
The three yin creatures could endure the scorching of the divine power of the sun for a sustained period—
*Whoosh!*
The golden light shot forth, screeching shrilly as it cleaved through the air.
Less than three meters from the coffin, space suddenly rippled. Then, the arrow formed of the divine power of the sun vanished without a trace, as though swallowed by space itself.
Concealed? Zhang Yuanqing's expression hardened. He could tell that the arrow had not disappeared out of nowhere; rather, it had been enveloped in concealment and then extinguished by yin qi beyond his sight.
The fiend inside the coffin possessed profound mastery over spells of the Taiyin domain.
At that moment, the coffin lid trembled slightly. Substantial black smoke seeped from the crevices, showing not the slightest sign of evaporating beneath the radiant golden light, and coiled into the nostrils of the three yin corpses.
In an instant, as if taking a potent tonic, the three yin corpses had their festering skin instantly restored, a thin layer of yin qi enveloping their bodies to fend off the burning sunlight.
The central yin corpse slowly twisted its neck, its stiff face gazing toward the hall entrance, its eyes gleaming with an oily, sinister green:
"Trespassing upon Shushan and slaughtering my disciples—die!"
He violently unsheathed the sword at his waist. A vast, white sword light surged forth, only to be mostly purified by the divine power of the sun, landing against Zhang Yuanqing as a spent force.
Zhang Yuanqing summoned the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon and activated its second form. The draconic phantom coiled around him, shielding him within.
*Clang!*
The sword light shattered to pieces against the dragon's body.
The divine power of the sun suppressed all spiritual energy and items, but the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon shared the same origin with the divine power of the sun; unaffected by the suppression, it functioned normally.
Unwilling to fight inside the hall out of fear that the fiend in the coffin might ambush him, Zhang Yuanqing tapped his toes and flew backward, landing in the plaza outside the hall.
The three yin corpses soared out of the hall side by side, each wielding a gleaming iron sword. A chilling glint condensed at their sword tips, striking like lightning and silk banners as they thrust once more into the coiled phantom of the golden dragon.
Though heavily weakened layer by layer by the divine power of the sun, the combined force of the three swords still nearly shattered the golden dragon shield.
"Two at mid-Level 8, one at late-Level 8—their status is slightly higher than mine. If not for the protective yin qi granted by the bronze coffin, given our opposing attributes, I could suppress all three of them..."
"They retain most of their skills from when they were alive and are swordsmen specialized in close combat. While the divine power of the sun weakens their sword qi, it also prevents me from using other abilities and items, tying my hands..."
From the very first clash, Zhang Yuanqing knew he had no chance in close-quarters melee combat.
If the divine power of the sun could not deliver them, he had to change his tactics.
Even as he pondered, he sneered, "The one who killed your disciples wasn't me, but you! Tsk, tsk. A thousand years of Shushan's heritage and over a thousand disciples, all ruined by your selfish desires. Sect Master, how can you face Shushan's ancestral masters?"
The Shushan Sect Master, appearing as an elderly man in Daoist robes, transmitted mental fluctuations:
"They are not dead. They have merely transformed into another form of being to continue existing. Nor am I in the wrong, for I have attained immortality."
"Stubborn and obstinate!" Zhang Yuanqing snorted coldly. "I won't waste words with you. I am a Buliangren of the Great Tang, ordered by the Buliang Commander to borrow the White Emperor Crown. That you of Shushan chose to degenerate has nothing to do with me; I only want the White Emperor Crown."
The Shushan Sect Master chuckled sinisterly:
"The Buliang Commander is truly hypocritical. Claiming he would borrow and return it, yet sending his subordinate to loot a burning house. The White Emperor Crown has already been offered by me to the Corpse Ancestor. If he wants it, let him come fetch it himself."
Zhang Yuanqing was overjoyed. The White Emperor Crown was indeed inside the Shushan dungeon.
...
[Two rules have been updated. 1: Each participant may only take part in the arena matches once. 2: During the arena matches, the array core countdown will be paused. 3: When an array's duration reaches zero, the arena matches will be temporarily suspended.]
The sudden update of two rules caught both sides somewhat off guard.
The President remarked in disappointment:
"Tsk, tsk. Here I thought I could sustain the war through war. Turns out it's not the evil faction denying me the chance to exploit a loophole, but the Spirit Realm itself. Is the Spirit Realm siding with the evil faction now?"
Shrouded in holy light, her occasional glimpses of thigh and hip outlines stirring irrepressible desire and burning lust, the Goddess of Beauty smiled faintly:
"Just now, I was thinking that if you exchanged for a demigod authority and still died at Asura's hands, he might truly be able to take on the entire orthodox faction by himself.
"Rules like this are in our favor. Updating the rules at a time like this... I think it's the result of the confrontation between the Spirit Realm and the supreme entities. It is helping us."
The Sea Emperor, a bushy beard covering half his face, said, "With the array countdown paused during the arena matches, we must secure six victories. The evil faction needs nine victories."
The situation had become even more severe and complicated.
The more victories required, the easier it was for the battle to drag into a war of attrition. And in every prolonged battle, demigods would perish. Achieving zero casualties was practically impossible.
Of the three updated rules, the first favored the orthodox faction, the second favored the evil faction, and the third was neutral.
Such "balanced" rules were most likely the outcome of the struggle between the Spirit Realm and the supreme entities.
Amid their discussion, the evil faction's combatant entered the field—it was the boss of the Dionysus Club, known as Old Mai!
The old man was tall and burly, with a bulbous red nose, white hair, and murky, glazed eyes, looking just like a drunkard.
Anyone looking directly at him could not help feeling dizzy and dazed, showing signs of vertigo as their nervous system fell into disarray.
Old Mai was a Level 11 Dionysus.
"This is a bit troublesome," the Goddess of Beauty murmured.
"In terms of status, he isn't the highest, but a Level 11 status generally surpasses ours. In terms of abilities, his attacks aren't very strong, but he's the most difficult to deal with.
"The only profession that counters Alcoholics is the Knight, but the Knight profession has no demigods. Among the demigods of your Second District, aside from the Lord of Stars, no one can beat him—at best, it would be a draw."
The Void demigod leaned close to her ear and asked in a low voice:
"Did you sleep with him?"
Chapter 962