Chapter 162: Ba
The three avatars of the Star Lord remained expressionless, like emotionless robots, not even glancing at Old Mai. Instead, they turned towards the edge of the arena, focusing on Ling Tuo.
Speaking in a tone of educating a child, he said, "Among the three great authorities of the sun, moon, and stars, the sun's origin is supreme. The stars can deduce all things, but are restrained by the taiyin. Of the three, the stars are the weakest..."
"That's not necessarily true. The sun, moon, and stars each have their own characteristics and functions. If the god who left behind these three origins were divided into three parts, the sun's origin would symbolize power and authority, the taiyin would represent darkness and evil, yin and yang, positive and negative. The stars, however, represent his heart and wisdom."
"Power needs wisdom and heart to control it. Without the harmony of the heart, housing the sun within the taiyin body will inevitably lead to death."
As he spoke, the two worlds, one positive and one negative, drew closer and closer. The chaotic authorities intensified to the extreme, even the sun god's power was being annihilated, assimilated by the chaos. The Taiyin Star Lord remained oblivious, continuing,
"Ling Tuo, your choice to walk the path of the Taiyin origin is destined to be tainted by the 'Invader', because the taiyin symbolizes feminine power, the 'evil' of that being. The sun will certainly lean towards order, as for the stars..."
He did not continue, but said instead:
"Ling Tuo, entering the Sun instance with a Taiyin body, you are destined to be unable to contain the sun. The only thing you can do is hinder me from subduing the sun, seizing it, and preserving it. One day, when I die, I will seize the star origin, and only then can I unite the sun, moon, and stars, becoming the greatest being in the entire universe."
Ling Tuo seemed to hear this information for the first time. He lowered his head in silence for a moment, then chuckled, "I can also kill you in the Gods instance, first devouring the stars, then refining the sun."
The mirror world pressed down overhead. The upper halves of the three avatars were assimilated into a gray, chaotic energy, while the lower halves barely retained the power of the sun, moon, and stars.
The Grand Yi Sect Master completely ignored his own precarious situation, maintaining his expressionless facade. His voice, like an electronic synthesizer, was layered and grand, yet devoid of emotion.
"Then watch closely, as I, your father, teach you how to fuse the Taiyin with your own strength. This is also the second spell I have comprehended after sixty years of bitter cultivation."
Finally, he looked at his true opponent, Old Mai, speaking with seeming mercy, "I believe that all professions in both the orderly and evil factions, upon reaching the demigod level, should abandon items and shift their focus to comprehending the spells of their respective professions, except for the Void."
As he spoke, the Sun avatar remained still, while the Star and Taiyin avatars, like magnets, attracted each other, colliding and merging.
The brilliant stars and the pitch-black Taiyin of the mirror world intertwined. The latter suddenly unfurled, like a pure black velvet, covering the four-kilometer-wide arena, and the brilliant starlight adhered to it.
Thereafter, a miniature galaxy descended onto the arena, slowly spreading out. An aura of vastness, loftiness, and boundlessness descended like a tidal wave, accompanied by an supreme will.
This power was not at the level of strength, but of position, a symbol that transcended living beings, transcended the individual.
How could a small Twisted Realm, a small mirror world, contain a galaxy?
The Twisted Realm was crushed at the level of position. A "crack" was heard in the void, and the space fractured like glass, the cracks spreading rapidly.
The chaotic aura filling the space was enveloped by the "galaxy," diluted and finally dissipated.
A brilliant starlight descended from the galaxy, enveloping the Wine God, Old Mai.
Standing within the starlight, Old Mai raised his staff made of grape vines, wheat ears, and nuts, stirring the gray, chaotic spiritual power, trying to twist the starlight's properties and escape this locked state.
However, the gray, chaotic spiritual power had barely escaped from the staff when it was sucked away by the starlight connected to the galaxy, diluted in the boundless void.
Above the vast and lofty galaxy, starlight condensed into a huge divine figure with a blurred face. He wore a star-condensed robe, and a pitch-black crown atop his head. His eye sockets were filled with pitch-black energy, condensing a deep darkness.
The black robe slowly lowered its eyes, looking at Old Mai enveloped in starlight. The pitch blackness in its eye sockets created deep whirlpools, emitting a terrifying and invisible suction. Restricted by the starlight, Old Mai's body stiffened. A tangible figure slowly extracted itself from his head. It was Old Mai's yuan shen.
This yuan shen was filled with panic and angry struggle, trying to sink back into the body, but uncontrollably, it gradually detached from the physical body.
Finally, he could not resist the power targeting the soul. He was extracted bit by bit. As his feet left his body, the yuan shen quickly ascended into the starlight, sucked into the mouth of the faceless divine figure.
The vast galaxy began to collapse, the starlight converging into an avatar. The deep and vast curtain reorganized into the Taiyin avatar.
The two stood side by side with the Sun avatar, who had been "watching the show" from beginning to end.
All the strange phenomena disappeared.
Only three avatars remained on the field, along with a meter-long staff and a gray crystal ball. Inside the ball were the sea, the blue sky, and the continent, chaotic but jumbled, disordered, extremely chaotic Shu Shan.
Zhang Yuanqing summoned a Yin corpse, manipulated it to step into the main hall, stopping in front of the bronze coffin. Yin Yaojun quietly hid behind her direct disciple brother, raising her small horn, whispering.
"Quickly take me back into Little Red Riding Hood. A level 9 Yin item can swallow me in one bite. Not only can I not help, but I might also become the enemy's nourishment, a shameful contribution to the enemy."
Zhang Yuanqing turned his head and reprimanded, "What use are you!"
Yin Yaojun encouraged, "I think you can summon Master over to help you fight the boss."
Zhang Yuanqing scoffed, "That old hag has such an overbearing and fierce personality. If she said she wouldn't help me clear the instance, she definitely won't. Otherwise, what she said before would be bullshit."
"She hasn't said bullshit for over a thousand years," Yin Yaojun said, watching the Yin corpse in the main hall trying to push the coffin lid, quickly urging, "Quickly take me in."
Zhang Yuanqing took out Little Red Riding Hood and shook his hand to take in Yin Yaojun.
She was right. At this level of the instance, the level 7 Yin corpse was already useless. His upgrade speed was too fast, and the Yin corpse and spirit servant could not keep up with his progress.
Give him another year or two, and perhaps he can refine Yin corpses and spirit servants of the same level, so he doesn't have to fight alone.
As his thoughts raced, a loud "bang" came from the main hall. The heavy bronze coffin lid crashed to the ground. A thick black smoke spewed out from the coffin, like a volcano that had been accumulating for hundreds or thousands of years.
The smoke quickly devoured the Yin corpse, enveloped the main hall, and spread out from the doors and windows, forming a thick "cloud layer" on the main peak of Shu Shan, obscuring everything, concealing everything.
At night, the main peak of Shu Shan regained its clarity. He could not fight a level 9 Yin item in a Yin-filled domain, that would be certain death.
The duration of Sunrise and Lieyang War God was half an hour. Within half an hour, he had to end the battle.
As the dense Yin energy was purified, the scene of the main hall reappeared before his eyes. Zhang Yuanqing saw a pale, slender hand pressed on the edge of the coffin.
Then, a pale woman sat up.
She had a delicate and beautiful appearance. Except for her complexion which was unnaturally pale, she looked no different from a normal person. No rotten flesh, pus, black blood vessels, protruding eyeballs, withered hair, or other Yin characteristics could be found on her.
Her eye sockets were filled with pitch-black, viscous energy, covering the whites of her eyes and her pupils, making it difficult to look at.
Her upper body was bare, without any clothing to cover it. Her body curves were exquisite, even with a kind of strange charm. On her head, she wore a golden, gorgeous crown, with beaded curtains hanging down.
She stood up from the coffin, wearing a knee-length animal skin skirt on her lower body.
She looked around the main hall, remaining still for a long time, as if adapting to the unfamiliar environment.
The domineering and clear golden sunlight shone on her body, causing no harm, as if she were simply bathed in ordinary sunlight.
She stepped out of the bronze coffin, crossed the threshold, and stood at the door of the hall, her pitch-black eye sockets gazing at Zhang Yuanqing from afar.
"I have slept for endless years. You are the first person to set foot in this place. You are a believer of the Golden Crow. In this era, you people are called 'Golden Crows'."
She conveyed mental fluctuations.
"Night Wanderer." The woman chewed on the term.
"Have you seen the Golden Crow?" The other party did not immediately attack, but chose to communicate. Zhang Yuanqing naturally didn't mind chatting more.
"Never seen it!" The bare-chested, beautiful woman said.
"The Golden Crows rioted in ancient times, scorching the earth, and were subdued and sealed by the Wa Emperor. The creatures on the islands of the East Sea worship the Golden Crows in the sealed land, absorbing the spiritual power that they release. These people are the believers of the Golden Crow."
"Why did the Golden Crows riot?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
The woman responded, "To destroy all living beings, to save all living beings."
"Destroy all living beings, save all living beings?" Zhang Yuanqing was puzzled by this, and asked, "What does that mean?"
The woman did not answer, shaking her head slightly.
"Who are you? Ba?" Zhang Yuanqing asked again.
As expected, it was the legendary drought demon. Hmm, according to myths and legends, the drought demon should be of the fire attribute. This woman was a fire master in her lifetime, Zhang Yuanqing guessed.
He deliberated for a moment, and asked, "Senior, this place is the Spirit Realm. The era I live in is thousands of years away from the Tang Dynasty."
He simply told the other party about the existence of the Spirit Realm, and then said his own thoughts, "Now that you have regained your freedom, the Spirit Realm is vast, you can roam freely. I have no feud with you. I am a descendant of the Yan Huang, a descendant of your tribe that has thrived for thousands of years. Can you do me a favor and leave this place?"
His main mission was to eliminate the Yin energy covering Shu Shan. As long as the drought demon, no, Nu Ba, let him leave Shu Shan, the mission would be completed.
If Nu Ba was willing, he would also offer a bow of respect. Nu Ba stared at him expressionlessly, "I cannot leave. The battle between you and me is unavoidable."