Chapter 1 The Beginning

The leader of Chunyang Sect maintained the development of the dreamscape. In his ears, Aunt Zhou's words were nothing to be concerned about, just one more missing person.

It wasn't until Aunt Zhou, with the help of a young but weathered-looking man, filled out the missing person report for Lei Yibing, complete with a photo, that the leader of Chunyang Sect suddenly felt that the name Zhang Yuanqing was familiar, yet he couldn't recall where he'd heard it before.

Yuan Jun's face was filled with pain, as if something was trying to force its way out of his mind. His head throbbed as if it would split open. That something was fragmented scenes, incomplete memories, Aunt Zhou's distressed and helpless appearance – a sealed-off past.

Four years of history.

These images flashed by quickly, shattered, and finally turned into a familiar yet foreign whisper echoing in his ears, sadness woven into gentleness.

*Yuanzi* will be back soon. Forget what happened today and delete the files...

Chen Yuanjun crouched by the window, drenched in sweat from the pain, his eyes bloodshot, and muttered, "Little, Little Aunt."

In the battle of the gods, the appearance of someone was noticed. Except for the Star Lord, who was focused on refining the sun, the demigods present all turned to look.

"Yuan Shi Tian Zun!"

Seeing the face of the newcomer clearly, they were both shocked and bewildered.

*How did this kid get in here?*

It was like a battlefield of fighting dragons where an ant appeared to join the fray. Your first reaction wasn't to laugh at its overestimation, but to wonder how it crossed the mountains of fire and sea to reach the battlefield.

The Sun dungeon was a place where even demigods couldn't enter, unless they possessed fragments of the Light Compass or had the power of a god to help open it.

The Xie family ancestor's surprise and bewilderment were no less than those of the evil demigods. His dark, clear eyes widened.

*How did this kid get in?* The demigods noticed Yuan Shi Tian Zun's appearance - short, gold-infused hair, light golden skin, a perpetually burning sun wheel between his brows, and golden pupils. He looked as if he had been coated with gold paint or as if he were a humanoid figure crafted from gold.

Manifested anomalies, an inhuman appearance. This was a characteristic that only a Level 9 Ruler who had touched the power of the rules would exhibit.

Yuan Shi Tian Zun had advanced to Level 9!

Even the demigods felt an indescribable sensation in their hearts. Some people took a century to go from an ordinary person to a Level 9 Ruler, some took sixty years, and some took more than a decade.

The Demon Lord, currently recognized as the fastest to level up, also took more than three years.

And Yuan Shi Tian Zun... took only ten months.

Such a terrifying leveling speed made even the demigods jealous, even though a Level 9 Day Traveler was like a chicken or dog in their eyes. So, the Void Demigod and the Beauty God supported Yuan Shi Tian Zun, which wasn't an unrealistic ambition.

Yuan Shi Tian Zun could truly become a Level 9 Ruler in the short term and have the qualifications to compete for the Lord of the Sun.

A Level 9 Ruler could become a new demigod as long as they obtained and refined a demigod item or administrator authority.

As for whether it was early Level 9 or peak Level 9, it didn't matter, because the position of early Level 9 and peak Level 9 was the same, just one was in the early stage and one was in the later stage, with only a difference in power.

While everyone was sizing him up, Zhang Yuanqing also quickly scanned his surroundings, taking the nearby evil demigods and the Star Lord floating in the air into his sights.

He took in his uncle, the Beauty God, the Xie family ancestor, and the sleeping demigods at the end of his vision.

Night Emperor had entered the dungeon. He didn't see Old Mai from the Wine God Club or the president of the Biological Alchemy Society...

*Hiss,* the evil faction had suffered heavy losses. The Lawful faction hadn't lost any members, but most of them had fallen asleep.

Zhang Yuanqing's first reaction was that the Lawful faction had gained an overwhelming advantage in the battle for the Sun's origin.

Then, the evil faction erupted in the Dao realm, sacrificing Night Emperor, dragging the Lawful faction's demigods into slumber. However, in the end, the Star Lord still successfully seized the Sun's origin and became the ultimate winner.

Ling Tu wasn't here... He had died. Zhang Yuanqing looked around and, not finding him, felt a sense of relief mixed with regret.

This little aunt and his father's murderer, the mastermind behind the deaths of the No Trace Hotel members. The real culprit behind his return to Lingjing Xingzhe had actually fallen long ago.

As for the current situation of the Star Lord obtaining the Sun's origin, although he was unwilling, he could only accept it.

At least it was better than Ling Tu obtaining the Sun's origin.

After scanning the scene, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly noticed something was wrong. He keenly felt jealousy, hostility, and joyful elation from the emotions of the evil demigods.

The joyful elation wasn't directed at him. With Ling Tu's death and the Lawful faction seizing the Sun's origin, what did they have to be happy about?

At this moment, his uncle in the mid-air looked at his heir and said in a deep voice, "The Star Lord has betrayed the Lawful faction!"

"What!"

The short sentence struck Zhang Yuanqing like a bolt of lightning, his pupils contracting instantly.

Without any hesitation, his body turned into brilliant starlight, flashing several times in succession, fleeing to the side of the Beauty God and the Xie family ancestor, distancing himself from the evil demigods.

Seeing Yuan Shi Tian Zun fleeing in panic, the evil demigods only sneered, not bothering to chase him.

"What's going on?" Zhang Yuanqing asked, his face grave, as he looked at the Beauty God and the Xie family ancestor. The Xie family ancestor, in the form of a child, sighed and said, "We won against the evil faction. The Star Lord summoned Night Emperor and attacked the Lawful faction's demigods. The Asura's assault... The Asura truly supported the Star Lord. Now, the Star Lord has obtained both the Taiyin and the Sun..."

From the beginning, the Lawful faction was destined to fail, because both the Star Lord and the Taiyin Lord were from the evil faction.

Zhang Yuanqing was dumbfounded, unable to accept this outcome. "If the Star Lord is a Fallen, then how could you Lawful demigods not see it? Are you all trash!"

The Beauty God shook her head slightly. "The Star Lord isn't a Fallen, but he supports the evil faction. The reason for this will be explained later."

Zhang Yuanqing looked at her. In the hazy holy light, he saw the Beauty God seemingly smiling at him.

At this time, the Star Lord's absorption had reached a critical moment. The starlight and golden light gradually merged into one, no longer violent, as if the final step would be completed in a second, completely absorbed.

The evil demigods watched intently, guarding against accidents. At this moment, the Void Demigod, standing in the high void, suddenly let out a deafening roar: "Wake up!"

The sound waves rolled, spreading throughout the vast dungeon space.

Except for the Star Lord, who was focused on absorbing the sun, everyone was attracted by his roar, not knowing what he was doing.

The Void Demigod stared at the Star Lord and roared again, "Wake up! Wake up!"

In the repeated cries of "Wake up," in the repeated roars, a change occurred.

The Sun's origin, which was about to be neutralized by the starlight and refined by the Star Lord, suddenly became restless. The dim light turned strong, and it violently "shook off" the starlight attached to it.

In that instant, everyone sensed that a mental wave was slowly awakening in the Sun's origin.

The next second, a Golden Crow burrowed out of the Star Lord's chest, followed by the second, the third, the fourth... the ninth.

In the process, the starlight transformed into arms, desperately trying to grab the Golden Crows and pull them back into the body, but it was melted and purified by the domineering golden light.

...The nine Golden Crows flapped their wings and flew back to the Star Lord's chest, collectively picking out a golden fragment the size of a washbasin from his chest.

In the center of that golden fragment, a sun was carved, surrounded by radial, thread-like reliefs.

Seeing this golden fragment, the demigods present were stunned. They were extremely familiar with this golden fragment. It was... the core fragment of the Light Compass!

So, the golden light at the center of the Sun's origin wasn't the largest Golden Crow, but the core fragment of the Light Compass.

It turned out that the core fragment of the Light Compass, which had been missing for twenty years, had long been integrated into the Sun's origin.

The only one present who wasn't paying attention to the Star Lord and the Sun's origin was Zhang Yuanqing.

*Dong, dong! Dong, dong!* His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, a physical pounding, as if it had received some kind of call and wanted to burst out of his chest.

And the most exaggerated was his brain, or rather, his soul. His soul seemed to be cracking, and the long-lost headache struck again. The intense pain made him unable to help but clutch his head, his face contorted as a result.

Something in the Sun's origin was calling to him. He instinctively wanted to respond, but a sense of resistance and fear arose from the depths of his heart, refusing to respond to the call of the Sun's origin.

The nine Golden Crows circled around the core fragment of the Light Compass again, forming a dazzling golden sun.

The golden light filled every space of the dungeon. In the distant darkness created by Night Emperor, it quickly dissolved, and the Lawful demigods showed signs of awakening.

Instantly, the Sun's origin was like a light bulb wrapped in cloth, becoming dim. The slumbering domain recovered, and the Lawful demigods failed to awaken. Wrapped in starlight, the Sun's origin swayed in the air.

At times, it was pulled back by the Star Lord, and at other times, it struggled to move away from him. The two sides seemed to be engaged in a tug-of-war.

The Star Lord's face was contorted with veins popping, and he shouted, "Kill Yuan Shi Tian Zun!"

He didn't explain why, nor did he have time to explain.

Hearing this, the evil demigods all looked towards Yuan Shi Tian Zun, who was clutching his head, his face full of pain and twisted in expression.

Although there were still many incomprehensible things and confusions, the demigods knew that vying for the Sun's origin was the primary task. Without hesitation, they simultaneously used their methods to besiege Yuan Shi Tian Zun.

The Illusion God of the Southern faction, who had voided the physical rules, arrived beside Zhang Yuanqing with just a step and pulled him into a dreamscape.

A finger-snapping sound came from the air: "Banishment!"

Yuan Shi Tian Zun suddenly disappeared, broke free from the dreamscape domain, and appeared a hundred kilometers away.

The Beauty God then switched to a muddling-the-waters state, standing alone in front of the demigods. She shook her arms, and a giant clam with a gleaming golden shell appeared behind her.

The giant clam slowly opened, spewing out a sweet fragrance.

The Beauty God smiled lightly and said, "Am I beautiful?"

The evil demigods' carnal desires erupted instantly. The desire to mate overwhelmed emotions such as anger, killing intent, and jealousy. Even the Sun's origin became unimportant. In their eyes, only the beauty that symbolized beauty and desire, and could bring them the ultimate pleasure, remained.

Seeing this, the Illusion Gods of the Northern and Southern factions, while suppressing their own carnal desires, joined forces to stimulate the demigods' killing desires, using this to overcome their carnal desires. The Xie family ancestor, holding the Demon Refining Pot, quickly pinched out red threads with one hand, connecting the demigods' red threads to the Beauty God.

The Musician's red threads and the Beauty God's carnal desires combined to produce an effect greater than one plus one.

The evil demigods, who had just shown signs of breaking free from desire, once again fell into the Beauty God's charm, putting aside their factional conflict and the Sun's origin.

Of course, he could also take the opportunity to attack the evil demigods, but this would cause the enemies to instantly break free from the influence of the charm.

Any control originating from mental threads or emotions is vulnerable to attacks in reality, which would quickly render it ineffective.

However, the Xie family ancestor and the Beauty God were only responsible for stalling for time and hadn't thought about killing the evil demigods. In the short term, influencing and controlling the demigods was much simpler than killing them.

As a bloodthirsty and war-loving demon of wrath, the Asura wasn't affected by carnal desires. After the two Illusion Gods stimulated his killing desires and he became immune to carnal desires, the Asura ignored the Beauty God and the Xie family ancestor, who were clearly trying to stall for time. With a "thump" under his feet, he dashed a hundred kilometers in an instant and arrived in front of Zhang Yuanqing.

The bronze scimitar suddenly slashed out, the terrifying force contained in the blade causing the surrounding space to collapse, interfering with the Void Demigod's space spells.

A wall of wind rose up, blocking the bronze scimitar.

Although it dissipated into a strong wind in less than a second, it was enough.

The Void Demigod, who had exchanged for a dark golden female mask, swooped down at supersonic speed, slamming a thunder spear at the Asura from high altitude.

The Asura's blade slashed upwards, a flash of blood, and the Void Demigod's spear-wielding arm lost its strength.

The Void Demigod landed between the two, his palm pressing on the Asura's chest: "Retreat!"

*Boom!*

The space of the entire dungeon was resisting the Asura, and all the air was repelling the Asura. The two forces erupted simultaneously, pushing the strongest Level 12 at the time hundreds of zhang away.

The power didn't disappear and continued to act on the Asura.

The Asura's feet plowed hundreds of zhang on the desolate ground as he tightened his waist and back muscles, resisting the force of space and airflow.

He shook his body and, with brute force, suppressed the resistance of space and airflow.

His uncle, however, ignored him, turned his head to look at his pale-faced nephew, and said in a low voice, "Yuan Shi, all your questions are there! Don't resist it, don't fear it. This is a fate you cannot escape or change."

Zhang Yuanqing finally raised his head, his eyes filled with blood, and looked at the Sun's origin wrapped in starlight in the air, letting out a roar from his soul, responding to the call: "Come!"

The Sun's origin broke through the shackles of starlight, carrying the power to burn everything bright and purify everything, and crashed into Yuan Shi Tian Zun.