Purification

"Yuanshi Tianzun!" Looking at the young man before him, Sect Master Chunyang's eyes flashed with terror, panic, and bone-deep hatred. Without a moment's hesitation, Sect Master Chunyang transformed into a beam of starlight to flee, and in an instant, the starlight rose by the window. In the palm of Zhang Yuanqing's avatar rested a delicate glass dome. This was a prop belonging to the Void class, designed to seal space and specifically counter escape techniques. "You can't escape," Zhang Yuanqing said with a faint smile. "I didn't expect you to hate me so deeply, Grandmaster, tirelessly investigating my identity. You managed to accomplish what neither Ling Tuo nor the Taiyi Sect Master could. Unfortunately, that isn't a good thing. "If you had just lain low in reality, I might have forgotten a small fry like you. But you insisted on stirring up trouble—courting your own death!" Back when his strength had been insufficient, Zhang Yuanqing had merely found Sect Master Chunyang an annoyance. Night Wanderers and Illusionists were the two classes best at playing it safe and lying low, and Sect Master Chunyang was a dual-class ancient cultivator. Playing it safe squared. Once Zhang Yuanqing became a Dominator, the man lost all value to him, unqualified even to be refined into medicine. After his ascension to the Lord of the Sun, Chunyang became an utter nobody, someone he wouldn't ordinarily give a second thought. Had he not discovered that Sect Master Chunyang had stumbled upon his core secret, Zhang Yuanqing might not have spared the time to remember him or settle the score anytime soon. Zhang Yuanqing fished a porcelain vial from his pocket, pulled the stopper, and sucked the few drops of golden blood inside into his mouth. —This was blood left to him by his true body. Instantly, the solar mark appeared on his forehead, a layer of golden lacquer manifested over his skin, his hair stood on end wrapped in radiant light, and his pupils turned a brilliant molten gold. Relying on the blood of his true body, he temporarily elevated his status to become a Level-9 Dominator. In truth, the avatar's combat power was more than enough to kill Sect Master Chunyang, but not knowing when Fear Heavenly King might arrive, and fearing that delays would breed disaster, he chose to end it swiftly. A golden sun materialized behind Zhang Yuanqing's head. With no path of retreat left, Sect Master Chunyang saw his field of vision flooded with golden light. He felt as if his entire body were melting, soul included. He let out a furious roar, steeped in bone-deep hatred: "Yuanshi Tianzun!!" He did not truly understand why he loathed this young man so intensely. Beyond the grudges between them, it was mostly because he saw him as the proxy for that unfilial disciple. That unfilial disciple whom he had personally nurtured into greatness, only to be buried by her hands in the end. Awakening again a thousand years later, the sole purpose of Sect Master Chunyang's existence was vengeance! Yet that wretched disciple hid within the Spirit Realm world, cut off from reality. Unless he ascended to Human Immortal, revenge was doomed to remain an empty dream. Thus, upon learning that the wretched disciple had taken Yuanshi Tianzun as her closed-door disciple, he had transferred the hatred in his heart onto this singularly gifted youth. Suddenly, the golden light flooding his vision vanished. Sect Master Chunyang saw a meditation chamber at once familiar and foreign. He saw a young girl of thirteen or fourteen, dressed in an embroidered silk skirt, standing respectfully in the room. Her bright eyes filled with reverence, she asked: "Master, when may your disciple cultivate the Pure Yang Technique?" Looking at the imperial princess in the prime of youth, a smile appeared on his dignified, commanding face: "Qing'er, to cultivate the Pure Yang Technique, one must first temper the heart. The Golden Crow is the messenger of the Sun. The Sun nurtures all living things; within its fiercest heat lies compassion, and within overbearing power shines majesty. "Therefore, one must first possess a resolute and steadfast heart to be in harmony with the Pure Yang Divine Technique." The girl tilted her head, furrowed her brow in thought, and said: "Yet the rain-praying priest says all things under heaven are like water, without constant form, ever-shifting. Nothing remains unchanged at all times. How can one ensure one's heart remains resolute and steadfast forever? And if it is no longer resolute and steadfast, what then?" Sect Master Chunyang fell silent for a few seconds before saying slowly: "Then one has lost the Dao, clouded by delusion. Qing'er, remember this: if one day you fall into the demonic path, your master will surely purge the sect." The girl asked: "And if it is you, Master, who falls into the demonic path?" "Then you shall lead the disciples of the sect and purge it!" he said. This conversation across a thousand years suddenly surfaced in his mind. He remembered. He remembered the words he had spoken back then, and he remembered the sorrow and resolve in that "wretched disciple's" eyes before she sealed him. "Only today do I know who I am..." Inside the bedroom, Sect Master Chunyang's body crumbled to ashes amidst the golden flames. ... In the city of rubble and broken walls, Zhang Yuanqing put away the sun and looked toward Asura, whose body burned with golden flames that charred his bones red. He said faintly: "Actually, if you had killed Fear Heavenly King and taken his share of authority, you would have become the strongest demigod in the world. Neither I nor the Lord of the Stars would have been a match for you. "Perhaps I would have died at your hands tonight, and there would be no decisive battle. But it's curious: Orderly demigods have only three stages, capping at Level 12, yet you already possess the status of a Level 12, while among the Bewitching Demons, there is still Fear, another demigod." Engulfed in raging flames, Asura stood proud amidst the ruins. His flesh burned away completely, a mental wave transmitted from him: "The three stages of Orderly demigods, depending on the amount of authority, are divided into Level 10, Level 11, and Level 12. Reaching Level 12 is equivalent to piecing together all the authority. At that point, the authority undergoes a metamorphosis into a complete godhead, advancing to a deity! "Freedom classes have no demigod stage. Possessing the status of Level 12 does not mean I hold two-thirds of the authority; it is simply that my combat strength surpasses Level-11 demigods. You think I have a Level-12 status, but in fact I don't. A Level-12 Orderly demigod is a deity. A deity could kill me in an instant. "Obtaining Fear's authority would dramatically boost my power, but it could never grant me a godhead to advance to a deity. And without becoming a true god, it is impossible to kill you." The deities of the evil classes still existed, so evil demigods could at most gain a portion of rule power, but could never become deities. That was why evil classes had no demigod stage. So Asura's true status was Level 11, but his combat strength was comparable to a Level-12 Orderly demigod. This was similar to the situation of the Wind and Thunder Twin Gods: each of them was Level 11 individually, and after fusing, possessed combat strength comparable to Level 12, yet had not assembled a complete godhead and did not count as deities... Sensing that Sect Master Chunyang was dead, Zhang Yuanqing said calmly: "You can return to the Spirit Realm and tell the Lord of the Stars: within three days, I will enter the instance and kill him." ... A certain city in the northwest, a suburban villa. Forest King saw one of his sleeping female subordinates wake up first. She rubbed her big, doll-like eyes and looked around in bewilderment. Seeing her superior staring coldly at her, she scrambled to her feet in panic: "Pro-Protector, I... for some reason, I suddenly fell asleep just now." The handsome Forest King glanced at the eight other female subordinates who were still sound asleep and frowned: "Why did you wake up?" Why shouldn't I wake up? Sluggish from sleep, the female subordinate looked thoroughly confused, not understanding what the Protector meant. "I... I don't know..." she stammered. Forest King pondered for a few seconds and asked: "What did you dream about?" These women had been pulled into a dream by Sect Master Chunyang. That mad ancient cultivator was a Nihilist, skilled in spells of the dream domain. Clutching her head with a pained expression, the female subordinate tried hard to recall: "I... I dreamed I became an investigator and visited the home of a teacher from Songhai Middle School, getting information from him... Yuanshi Tianzun is named Zhang Yuanqing. In the summer vacation of his first year of high school, he fell gravely ill, and his intellect was impaired after that, turning him into a simpleton. "I also dreamed of a middle-aged woman crying to me, saying that Zhang Yuanqing and Lei Yibing had gone missing four years ago..." The more she spoke, the clearer her thoughts became. The dream felt as if it had truly happened, and many details came back to her. Forest King, however, grew increasingly unnerved, his expression turning ever graver. This was information Sect Master Chunyang had deliberately left behind. This was the vital intelligence Chunyang had spoken of. He had uncovered Yuanshi Tianzun's identity in reality. ... Asura made no reply to Yuanshi Tianzun, watching him turn into golden light, speed toward the horizon, and vanish into the night. The three-meter-tall skeleton stood alone, enduring the burning flames. Several minutes later, the flames died out, and the glowing red skeleton began growing flesh, internal organs, eyeballs... In a dozen breaths, Asura had restored himself completely, his aura merely having dipped slightly. As a melee class teeming with vitality, Yuanshi Tianzun's current status was not yet enough to incinerate him in a short time. Of course, he who was once the strongest in the world was invincible no longer. At that moment, Fear Heavenly King walked over carrying a charred skeleton, saying in a heavy voice: "Sect Master Chunyang was killed." Asura did not reply; this had been expected. Fear Heavenly King said helplessly, "That kid really shows no regard for old sentiments at all. I was nearly burned to death by him." Asura said in a muffled rumble, "If he hadn't held back, there would be no 'nearly.'" "So what do we do now? Looks like we have no choice but to give up on the lead for the Sun origin fragment," Fear Heavenly King said. His expression was calm, with no sign of frustration or fury. For Bewitching Demons, battle was a desire etched into their very bones, but the outcome of war was not truly important. They only waged war; they did not care how it ended. Without a word, Asura took out an ancient leather scroll, waited for a quarter of an hour, and entered the dream once more. A moment later, he opened his eyes and said: "The Lord of the Stars' revelation is to make contact with the followers of the Soldier Master sect." ... Huacheng. The western suburbs, boasting memorials, a forest park, golf courses, luxury villa estates, and other high-end establishments—the headquarters of Heaven's Punishment. Zhang Yuanqing landed with clear purpose in a vast manor featuring an artificial lake. This was Chris Gustav's regular residence. It was also the gathering place of the Gustav family, having once belonged to that Heaven's Punishment chairman. After Chris advanced to Level-8 Dominator, Chairman Gustav had transferred ownership of the manor to her, whereupon Chris drove out the other family members to enjoy the luxurious estate all to herself. The reason she had driven them out was, speaking of which, related to him. Chris had wanted a world of two with the Demon Lord! All that remained was the final fragment in Chris's hands.