Temple of Sorcery

Feili and Niya supported Yaxiu and Weixi as they left the fire escape and reached the eighth floor of the building. The moment they stepped out, they saw the corridor packed with Star-Flicking Warriors, Bloodmad Hunters, and wolfbeasts. However, the soldiers of the Six Nations Legions merely glanced at them before returning their blank stares toward the sky, making no other move. Of course, had the women dared to launch a sneak attack, the legions would hardly have stood there like fools to take a beating. Even so, a mere window of respite to tend to their wounds was already invaluable. They slipped into the corner of an adjacent piano shop and lay down. While treating his own spine, Yaxiu examined Weixi's injuries. Weixi was completely paralyzed, held in Yaxiu's arms like a rag doll. Large swathes of muscle across her body were torn, her load-bearing joints fractured from the shock, and the bones in her arms shattered. Had it not been for 'Joy Sword' keeping her alive, her overworked heart would have failed long ago. She had likely set an unprecedented and unrepeatable record: parrying a legendary lethal strike with a mortal body. With her void wings utterly snapped and her sorcery power completely evaporated, she had relied purely on technique to block dozens of void-piercing handgun bullets capable of penetrating a Sanctuary. Even Tamashi could not have accomplished such a feat—though Tamashi represented the pinnacle of mortals, Weixi was an ancient demigod fallen into mortality. "Well done," Yaxiu said drily. "I hope you'll still be able to say that in a moment," Weixi replied languidly. Staring fixedly at the sky above, she paid no mind to her injuries. "It's about to begin." Niya gripped her sword with her back to them, guarding the only opening to the corner. "So beautiful," Feili murmured. As the sorcerer drew closer and closer to Hell, the four void wings behind his back flared with increasingly radiant brilliance—ethereal, flickering, yet holy and resplendent. Even though Yaxiu and the others were sheltered beneath a ceiling, they could still clearly see the sorcerer on the verge of stepping into the divine realm and the Hell about to crush him. Closing their eyes offered no relief, as if the demigod advancement ritual held top priority over all else, forcibly popping up a highlighted display in everyone's senses: Rajesh... Kut. Suddenly, a name surfaced in everyone's mind, as though the Void Realm were narrating this grand spectacle, introducing the protagonist's name to all spectators—after all, whether he succeeded or failed, this was his final performance. "What about the mysterious chains?" Yaxiu suddenly asked. "Why haven't the mysterious chains broken his void wings?" "Because the status of the Path of Origin far surpasses the Nation of Stars," Weixi explained. "Even though he appears to still be in the Nation of Stars, he is already treading the Path of Origin. If the Divine Lord of Stars dared to unleash the mysterious chains against him, it would be equivalent to smashing the Nation of Stars against Hell. The result wouldn't be any prettier than an egg striking a boulder." As Hell bore down, everyone could finally make out the details of its underside: four vertical and four horizontal chains crossed at the base, and the gaps between them were covered in eerie, pitch-black vines. When Rajesh drew near, these pitch-black vines suddenly surged forward, shooting out to attack Rajesh before Hell itself could crash down! "Another chain is missing..." "What?" "Nothing. Stop fondling me and pay attention. Even for me, every demigod advancement ritual is a rare and precious spectacle." "I'm treating your injuries!" Yaxiu retorted, exasperated. "Are those vines the trial?" "Ah, those aren't the trial. At most, they're..." Weixi thought for a moment. "...greetings from predecessors." As they spoke, Rajesh had already drawn two long-barreled revolver handguns. Although the Nation of Stars possessed fully automatic weaponry, he had chosen long-obsolete revolvers to enter the most crucial battlefield of his life. Bang! Bang! Facing the surging, charging vines, Rajesh fired only twice. The two bullets then detonated into hundreds of shrapnel fragments. Each fragment tore through a spatial node, each fragment collided with other fragments, and when joined together across the area, it was like ripping open a painting scroll—following the trajectory of the bullets, the entire space was forcefully peeled away! This was the true might of Rajesh, the demigod gunslinger—channeling spatial power through the art of the gun. Free of flashy embellishments, wherever his bullets reached became a forbidden zone for life! Miracle: Bullet Forbidden Zone! The pitch-black vines were completely obliterated without leaving a trace of debris, yet they generated strange streams of transparent ice that instantly froze space itself, threatening to trap Rajesh to death within! "Ah, what luck. The previous challenger happened to be an ice sorcerer." Weixi paused for a moment, then turned her head toward Yaxiu. "Aren't you going to ask?" "Aren't you going to explain?" Yaxiu countered while treating her arm. "Those vines are the grime on Hell's chains; the filthiest things always accumulate and fester where no one can see," Weixi said. "However, being the grime of Hell, the vines possess a deathrattle property: they store whatever miracle destroyed them and unleash it upon their next death. "This frost miracle is a trace left behind by the last legendary sorcerer who challenged the Path of Origin. That's why I called it a greeting from predecessors, as well as the most trivial threshold—if he can't even handle a predecessor's miracle, he doesn't even have the right to step into the divine realm." Boom! Even as she spoke, the purely transparent frozen domain shattered into the tiniest ice crystals. Completely unscathed, Rajesh spread his four void wings, dual-wielding the long-barreled revolvers like a descending angel! At this moment, nothing stood between him and Hell! Rajesh took a deep breath, holstered his long-barreled revolvers, and charged toward the plummeting Hell of his own accord, extending both hands to counter this unimaginable, sublime might— Boom! Almost the instant contact was made, Rajesh was smashed into the finest powder by Hell's immense impact, dying without a sound! "Don't be rash," Weixi remarked flatly, feeling Yaxiu's hands suddenly tighten. Even though Rajesh's soul was extinguished and his body destroyed, his four void wings did not vanish. Instead, they adhered tightly to the contour of Hell, as if the gossamer void wings were attempting to shoulder the colossal weight of Hell. As the four void wings grew progressively longer and vaster, a new silhouette of a soul was born within the four wings. "What is that?" Yaxiu murmured. "This is what it means to step into the divine realm," Weixi said. "Utterly destroying the mortal soul, then drawing upon the source origin of the Void Realm through the void wings, and—according to one's own worldview, philosophy of life, and perception of sorcery—re-sculpting a perfect soul body that is fully tailored to oneself and possesses infinite possibilities. "You must have sensed long ago that our souls aren't truly suited to be dwellings for sorcery spirits, haven't you?" Yaxiu nodded. He had always felt that the way sorcerers stored sorcery spirits was exceedingly awkward. In short, it was shoving sorcery spirits into one's soul. But the soul was neither solid nor liquid; sorcery spirits were crammed inside like clutter. Just thinking about it helped Yaxiu understand why sorcery spirits were always in a foul mood. It worked, but it was uncomfortable—much like a three-in-one shampoo, body wash, and facial cleanser. You couldn't say it didn't get the job done, but you always felt there ought to be a better experience. "That's because sorcerers are beings that shouldn't exist in this world in the first place." Weixi casually delivered a radical assertion: "The relationship between intelligent creatures and sorcery spirits was meant to be one of equals. In the distant pastoral era, intelligent creatures and sorcery spirits were companions who worked and lived together. Sorcery spirits did not come into existence to dwell inside mortal souls, nor did mortals ever evolve physiological structures capable of dominating sorcery spirits. It was simply that sorcerers insisted on dominating them, and were forced by circumstance to use their souls as makeshift resting places. "However, upon stepping into the divine realm, this drawback is resolved entirely. Because the material for the soul body is drawn from the Void Realm, every soul body is equivalent to a lifeform born of the Void Realm." Weixi smiled. "Do you understand what that means?" Only two kinds of lifeforms exist in the Void Realm: one is Void Realm creatures, and the other is— "Sorcery spirits!" Yaxiu said in astonishment. "Stepping into the divine realm means the sorcerer turns themselves into a sorcery spirit?!" "You could say that, but it's more than that," Weixi said. "Don't forget what I just said: sculpting a soul body is based on the sorcerer's worldview, philosophy of life, and perception of sorcery. And although sorcerers lead very different lives, they share one common trait." "What trait?" "They're all sorcerers, you idiot!" "Watch your mouth." "Got it, silly master," Weixi continued. "So while different soul bodies have different paths of development, the most fundamental need is inevitably the same: to dominate sorcery spirits! "Inside every soul body, there is a dedicated sanctuary to house sorcery spirits and gods! Some call that place a humble cottage, some call it a retreat, some call it a celestial seat, but among demigods, its most common name is—" "A temple?" "Stepping into the divine realm and erecting a temple of sorcery—that is the path to ascending to demigodhood!"