The Divine Lords had never taken Yaxiu and his companions seriously.
No matter how much potential Yaxiu possessed, as long as he had not stepped into Heaven, he could never pose a threat to a Divine Lord. A demigod's advantage over a mortal was a crushing difference in life forms, while Heaven looked down upon Hell from an ideological plane; when wielding the exact same wonder, the might unleashed by a demigod and a Divine Lord was worlds apart.
The first phase of the "Yaxiu Annihilation Battle" was to take down Yaxiu, while the second phase was the scramble for the spoils of war where the Divine Lords would have to go all out. For this very reason, the four Divine Lords had not hesitated to entrust their natal secret realms to their angels descending to the mortal world.
A so-called natal secret realm was a world secret realm that a Divine Lord had used to ascend into Heaven when raising their heavenly kingdom. In reality, a natal secret realm was no different from any other secret realm, but it was invariably the one a Divine Lord had held the longest. And when a Divine Lord controlled a secret realm long enough, it became possible to nurture a wisp of divided divine consciousness within it.
The utility of a divided divine consciousness could be considered great or negligible: it could manage the secret realm on the Divine Lord's behalf, administer resources, or assist in combat. However, gods could also perform these functions, and perhaps even better. Thus, most of the time, the divided divine consciousness remained dormant within the natal secret realm.
Only under one circumstance was it mandatory to deploy a divided divine consciousness: descending to the mortal world! Throughout history, Divine Lords possessed no means of descending to the mortal realm—neither directly nor indirectly. Even when taking part in the Angel Hunt, the Divine Lords merely severed a portion of their consciousness to create demons, casting them down into the mortal world in a state akin to rebirth. Even so, the demons and the Divine Lords remained perpetually disconnected from one another—with Fanxing being perhaps the sole exception. After all, the Stars Heaven Kingdom was her domain, and she might well have allowed her self-awareness to participate throughout the entire Angel Hunt.
A divided divine consciousness was the only viable method for a Divine Lord's descent: have an angel descend carrying the natal secret realm, and then activate the divided divine consciousness within through battle intent or similar triggers to establish a connection with the true body. In this manner, a Divine Lord could reside high in Heaven while intervening in the mortal world!
However, a divided divine consciousness in this state was a source without roots, diminishing rapidly with every passing second. That was why the Divine Lords were initially unwilling to appear, reluctant to take over the fight even after appearing, and resorted to the simplest tactics possible when they did. Every shred of focus and energy they squandered in the first phase meant one less resource available for the second!
If you went all out and smashed Yaxiu's side, only to run out of energy first during the spoils contest—exhausting your divided divine consciousness and having to gracefully exit, leaving only a feeble combat angel to face the other two Divine Lords... you would undeniably be crowned the "Most Popular Divine Lord of the Year."
Naturally, the main issue was that they all believed energy-saving mode would suffice to settle the first phase. Yet these demigods around Yaxiu had created miracle after miracle. Seeing that they couldn't even get past the first phase, the Divine Lords had no choice but to... show them a glimpse of what a Divine Lord truly was!
In the eyes of Divine Lords who held creation and destruction in their grasp, so-called miracles were nothing more than dream bubbles!
The Weaver's sonic waves coalesced into a colossal curtain wall stretching before Sonia's eyes, blurring and twisting the figures of everyone else and thoroughly shutting down the condition to trigger "Duel"—a Duel could only be initiated by locking onto a target!
Thus, the only opponent Sonia could currently approach was the Weaver!
The teleporting assault of Vermilion Water Moon was diluted and neutralized by the endless sonic waves. If before the Weaver had been playing different instruments, now she was practically conducting a full symphony orchestra: sound evolved into thousands of miracles, submerging Sonia completely. Every counterattack Sonia attempted was nullified, every action hindered; even the thoughts just surfacing in her mind dissolved and crumbled under the combined influence of blurring colors and melodious chimes.
Every reaction was countered; every thought was terminated. The Weaver did not even need to speak, and the world had already submitted to her majesty.
This was no quagmire; this was a cage. Sonia was like a helpless toddler who, no matter how much she cried and threw a tantrum, could not break free of the Weaver's control!
This was the true strength of the Weaver—she was the vicar of the prophecy laws!
On the other side, although the Lord of Joy was still trapping the Witch trio with Wind Flower Snow Moon, his attention was already fixed upon the sea of blood. He raised a hand, and countless snowflakes flew toward the sea of blood, aligning in midair into a white river.
Yet this picturesque sight struck immense terror into the hearts of the Witch trio!
"Yaxiu, look out!"
Looking out was impossible.
Cloaked in his blood garment, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon abandoned his indiscriminate bombardment in favor of throwing his whole being into close-quarters melee against Yaxiu, using forbidden secret blood arts that could even outright shatter Yaxiu's Vermilion Water Moon. "Corpse Sea Maggot Flies" was no longer an evasive maneuver in his hands, but a bizarre and unpredictable offensive art: his hands and feet would suddenly disperse, only to strike from inconceivable angles with fierce attacks in the very next instant!
In a single second, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon could switch between seven stances; should Yaxiu guess wrong or fail to keep up even once, the outcome would be despair! In such hair-trigger, high-intensity clashes, Yaxiu had absolutely no leeway to dodge the Lord of Joy's interference!
"Hey now, I was hoping to savor this slowly. Don't you know it's terribly impolite to interrupt someone while they're eating, Joy?" the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon chided lazily, yet he proactively shoved Yaxiu into the surrounding snowflakes. When their interests were at stake, every Divine Lord was entirely rational; there was simply no flaw to exploit.
The snowflakes soon resonated with the Language of Flowers and whipped up the Wound of Wind. Dividing his focus, the Lord of Joy dragged Yaxiu into a second Wind Flower Snow Moon.
Throughout the ten thousand years of history, Yaxiu was likely the only demigod to ever be besieged simultaneously by two Divine Lords. Yet no one thought him undeserving. He had earned the Divine Lords' recognition, and so they paid him their highest respect: going all out!
Even while resisting Wind Flower Snow Moon and battling the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon, Yaxiu still strained to find an opening, hoping the other battlefields could break the stalemate and perhaps give them a fighting chance—
At that moment, Yaxiu accurately anticipated that the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon's next strike would be a fingertip thrust. He struck first with Vermilion Water Moon. Yet without dodging or evading, the Supreme Lord took the blow head-on, letting his body be blown apart while flicking a sharp blood streak toward Yaxiu's head from his fingertip.
Yaxiu moved to tilt his head and evade the fingertip strike, but just then windblown flowers assaulted him from the right. He reflexively triggered Divine Might to block, and in that split second, the corner of his eye caught the subtle curl at the corner of the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon's mouth—a teasing smirk.
A distinct pang of pain flared across his face. Cut by the blood streak, several drops of his blood spattered outward and plunged straight into the sea of blood.
Eternal Wonder: Blood Origin Curse Poison!
Eternal Wonder: Moon Crystal!
The source energy in Yaxiu's body instantly halted its circulation. But this was not fatal; only a few drops of his blood had fallen into the blood sea, and Blood Origin Curse Poison could not hold him for even a second—
At that exact moment, Yaxiu's consciousness ceased functioning. He did not even retain the concept of his consciousness stopping. Pure moonlight blanketed his eyes as wind, flowers, and snow formed a massive pyramid, trapping him inside. Even when Blood Origin Curse Poison ran its course, his consciousness would not return.
This was the fourth eternal wonder of Wind Flower Snow Moon: Moon Crystal. Unlike other blunt and brutish eternal wonders, the activation criteria for Moon Crystal were extraordinarily harsh: not only did it require the target to be amidst wind, flowers, and snow, but the target also had to lose the ability to resist before it could be triggered.
Yet once successfully activated, the effect of Moon Crystal was terrifyingly absolute: it formed an exceptionally durable pyramidal cage where the target's consciousness remained suspended indefinitely, rendering self-rescue completely impossible. If anyone from the outside attempted to breach the pyramid, the cage would siphon the target's source energy to offset the damage, draining them until they died.
Consequently, any attempt at rescue was tantamount to murdering the hostage trapped within the Moon Crystal—a truly unsolvable form of crowd control!
The moment Yaxiu's blood dripped into the sea of blood while he was trapped in Wind Flower Snow Moon, his fate had been sealed. Blood Origin Curse Poison and Moon Crystal, two eternal wonders belonging to different secret realms—the former easy to activate with a mild effect, the latter exceedingly hard to trigger but overwhelmingly potent—perfectly covered each other's flaws to achieve flawless suppression!
The first phase had ended, which meant the second phase—the scramble for the prize—commenced immediately. In theory, the Lord of Joy should have held the absolute advantage, seeing as Yaxiu was inside the Moon Crystal. But the problem was...
The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon was also inside the Moon Crystal!
He was rapidly regenerating his body, preparing to bag Yaxiu! Just as the Weaver and the Lord of Joy were considering their next moves and momentarily distracted, a piercing, quartet-layered cry pierced across the battlefield:
"Sword Princess!!"
Suppressed all this while by the Weaver, Sonia snapped her eyes open, her ruby pupils burning as though boiling! The phantom of the Obliterating Resentful Blazing Dragon manifested behind her once more. Screaming alongside the ferocious cat, her Divine Might Iai unleashed an explosion of infinite battle intent, and a single sword stroke cleaved open the sky with Blood Moon Shattered Lake!
The bloody tide of sword light surged through the wall of sonic waves, precisely submerging the person who had called her name—the Witch!
Wind Flower Snow Moon was both a quagmire bogging down the Witch trio and a cage enclosing them! The bloody tide of sword light instantly ripped a rift through Wind Flower Snow Moon, carving out a sliver of opportunity for the three near-drowning women!
"Weixi!" Weise shouted.
Without hesitation, Weixi unleashed "Exile" upon herself. Her soul body completely transformed into a pure soul state, a form in which all her soul miracles received a massive amplification.
Four void wings emerged along her back. Taking a deep breath, Weixi's soul abruptly grew much fainter, while all four of her void wings transformed into soul void wings—clear, ethereal, and a translucent azure.
This was the mid-tier wonder Weixi had constructed herself: "Soul Wings"! It converted the soul into void wings, granting a temporary, tremendous boost to sorcery power at the cost of leaving the soul in an extremely weakened state afterward—practically at anyone's mercy. In the past, Weixi had never dared use this wonder unless she was certain she could slaughter everyone present; never leaving her life in the hands of others was her cardinal rule.
Yet how many times had she broken her rules since meeting Yaxiu?
The Spectre Prophet unleashed a piercing howl. The sonic shockwave of her soul screech expanded the fissure in Wind Flower Snow Moon into an opening. In that split second, Weise turned into a streak of silver light and darted through, breaking free from Wind Flower Snow Moon's restraint and leaving behind a single whisper by the Witch's ear: "Get Gospel ready!"
Weise looked toward the moonlight pyramid imprisoning Yaxiu, knowing full well she could never breach the seal of the Moon Crystal. But...
This was Senluo.
This was her kingdom.
This was the world of the Silver Lantern!
The ink crystal on Weise's body spread across half of her face, deepening her assimilation into Senluo with every passing second. As the ink crystal drowned the sclera of her right eye, she finally usurped spatial authority over the world of Senluo, vanishing instantly from midair and reappearing inside the moonlight pyramid the very next second.
The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon, who had been leisurely restoring his body, reacted with lightning speed, lunging forward at once to erase this sudden variable. But the silver light had already fallen upon Yaxiu's face, briefly restoring his cognitive faculties and jolting him awake from the frozen stasis of Moon Crystal.
Before Yaxiu could process what was happening, he saw Weise draw open a dimensional doorway right before him. Weise looked at him in profile, only showing Yaxiu her normal left cheek, yet the ink crystal on her right face had already crept past the bridge of her nose.
The dimensional doorway completely shielded Weise's figure. Yaxiu's gaze fell upon the portal; through its shimmering ripples, he saw a pristine, bustling metropolis on the other side. The familiar imperial palace at its center allowed Yaxiu to recognize the place immediately.
Nabistine, the capital of the Gospel Kingdom.
This was a dimensional doorway leading to the Gospel Kingdom!
The silver light guided Yaxiu's soul body, pulling him into the dimensional doorway. This was Weise's plan: her silver light could only awaken Yaxiu temporarily. In a moment, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon would impale her divine body, and Yaxiu would once again be trapped within the moonlight pyramid. Only by sending Yaxiu away from here could all problems be solved... or at least, Yaxiu's problem could be solved.
She and the Witch had long calibrated the coordinates for the dimensional doorway; they had already planned to go to the Gospel Kingdom anyway, were it not for wanting to meet his real body...
Still, it was fortunate they didn't have time to meet; I really wouldn't want you to see me like this.
"Hoping to pull the same trick again?" The Lord of Joy frowned slightly and gently clenched his fist.
A wisp of breeze stirred inside the moonlight pyramid, stirring faint spatial ripples that instantly shattered the fragile, makeshift dimensional doorway.
Gazing past the scattering fragments of the doorway, Yaxiu saw the Sword Princess plummeting to the earth, saw the Witch holding Weixi, and saw the relieved composure on Weise's face plunge instantly into abyss-like despair... Yaxiu suddenly felt an ironic sense of amusement; even back when she destroyed Senluo, she had never shown an expression like this.
We all fought to the very last moment—that was our duty. And not letting you lose is mine.
"Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook" — "Operator Search" — "Search".
As a silver-gray radiance illuminated the interface, Yaxiu seemed to see tens of thousands of lanterns extinguish, followed by silver lamps lighting up one by one in the dark until all gloom was wiped away, leaving only an irresistible silver.
Suddenly, all the lights went out, leaving behind only a single dazzling silver lantern carried in the hand of a silver-haired young woman. She wore a high-slit tube dress paired with a fluffy white fox shawl, sensual and dignified yet adorable. However, the shadow cast by the silver light upon her dominated the vast darkness within.
"Mirror Lantern Demon King"
"Alter: Spend 25% Mind to perform Alter Attunement?"
Meeting Yaxiu's gaze through the interface, the Mirror Demon reached out on her own, her finger touching Yaxiu's interface to press the confirm button for "Alter Attunement" on his behalf.
At that exact moment, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon had largely regenerated his body. His fingers, entwined with rivers of blood, were about to pierce Weise's form. Once struck, not even a god could be immune to the deadly strike of Dark Extinction!
Boom!
The Weaver and the Lord of Joy turned to look.
Sonia gritting her teeth and persevering, Diya wailing as she resisted Wind Flower Snow Moon, and the utterly feeble Weixi cradled in her arms—all had their attention drawn.
The moonlight pyramid sealing inside and outside burst apart with a deafening roar; the Moon Crystal, deemed insurmountable once triggered, was completely shattered. The Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon was slammed down into the blood sea, kicking up waves tens of thousands of feet high. He looked up blankly at the human standing in the sky, only to discover that Yaxiu's void wings had decreased.
Sonia's and Weixi's void wings were no longer stacked onto Yaxiu. His void wings had reverted to their original form; he possessed neither the war-colored void wings nor the soul god, and even his eyes had lost their blazing scarlet. Naturally, the chain-heart temporarily constructed by the Soul Lock God had collapsed as well.
Yet what he now held in his arms was a god far more useful than the Soul Lock God.
He grasped Weise's hand and plunged it into the cavity where his heart had been, letting the silver light coalesce into a new heart within. When Weise drew her hand back, a ball of silver light pulsed continuously inside the void of his chest, pumping blood like a lantern kindling life.
His left arm circled Weise's waist while his other hand gently caressed the right side of her face covered in ink crystal. Turning his head, he looked down at the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon below. For some reason, even though Yaxiu should have been weaker now than before, the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon was provoked into baring his fangs and brandishing his claws—his elegance vanished, replaced by sheer, feral savagery!
Since ascending to become a Divine Lord, this was only the second time—aside from Fanxing—that anyone had ever triggered his intuition of death.
To the Supreme Lord of the Blood Moon's eyes, Yaxiu seemed to have transformed into an entirely different person. A supreme figure of absolute pride and malice overlapped with him, igniting a flicker of silver within pupils as deep as night.
Yaxiu simply crooked a finger at the Lord of Joy and the Weaver, his voice calm, flat, and ethereal:
"Tag out."
Chapter 1176