She vowed to fight the Demon God to the death, using the waters of the River of Forgetfulness to cleanse half her flesh as an offering to the Underworld River, and in exchange, she would use half her soul to bear the power of the Underworld.
Though she was the King of the Underworld, in the spiritual realm, she was naturally bound by the laws of Heaven, unable to fully unleash the power of the Underworld.
Just like the Demon God, even in its immense power, before it could challenge the myriad gods of the Primordial Chaos, it had to hide within the infant demon's body to utilize the Nine Nether Demonic energy.
Her actions were similar to the Demon God's previous act of soul possession, using more powerful means to vanquish her enemies.
Even the methods were the same: an extreme approach of "killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own."
Rising from the River of Forgetfulness, her entire form became indistinct, appearing and disappearing. Beneath the black armor, her delicate flesh and bones resembled a black river shrouded in mist, where a faint green lamp bloomed, bright enough to illuminate the entire Underworld.
Below, hearts tightened as if in a knot, inexplicably tense and struggling to breathe, hearts pounding uncontrollably.
To win...
If their side truly lost, everyone would be unable to bear the consequences.
"We all have the resolve to fight to the death, but it's useless..."
"We are useless."
"But if there were even a sliver of hope..."
*Boom—*
Above, due to the incredibly fierce combat, it was as if two divine mountains were pressing down, creating an intense oppressive force on the people across the realms.
Two figures shrouded in dense black mist collided. Lightning flashed, and with their naked eyes, they could not discern the specific situation. The endlessly spreading deathly aura and demonic energy intertwined, pulling out an immensely powerful force that permeated every corner.
This was also a difficult test for everyone. The strong protected the weak, and all had to go all out to resist this catastrophic crisis.
It was then that they understood profoundly, let alone confronting the Demon God, they, who were once powerful figures dominating their respective realms, were no better than ants before the Demon God. If Gu Junshi had not initially stood as a solid and powerful barrier in front of them, they would likely have been crushed into dust and perished by now.
"This is the power to split heaven and earth, this is the power to destroy worlds."
The King of the Underworld and the Demon God above remained silent. Amidst the endless tearing of chaos, order collapsed, and space-time became chaotic. The sky was no longer the familiar blue, but twisted into black holes. Unspeakable, terrifying destructive power began to spread in all directions.
The slender figure unleashed starlight, and stars fell from the chaos. As they rapidly descended, they transformed into countless cages, slashing through the surging demonic light. Under the impact of their light screens, neither side yielded.
Gu Junshi's body began to show signs of cracking, her flesh splitting, her soul vibrating. Meanwhile, the Demon God's robes were torn, the tips of its flowing hair snapped, but its true form remained unharmed.
In such a comparison, Gu Junshi could still hold on, but the gap between them was clear.
"Gu Junshi, have you exerted your full strength? Yet, you are still too weak. You ascended to immortality not long ago. Even with the help of benefactors and blessings along your path, you are destined to stop here."
As it spoke, it moved rapidly, using the sky as a blanket, violently compressing space, and pressing down heavily on Gu Junshi. Her form faded during this process, and she utilized the River of Forgetfulness to flow through, finally forming the vastness of the sea, enveloping the Demon God from behind.
However, the Demon God had eyes behind it. A single blood-red eye suddenly opened, suspended behind the Demon God, monitoring all movements.
As Gu Junshi transformed into a sharp water column and attacked, a demonic pattern was instantly drawn. With a deafening "rumble," a surge of demonic energy like a thousand clawed hands shot out.
They were invincible and unstoppable. The thick water curtain was penetrated layer by layer, finally striking Gu Junshi heavily.
Her body was thrown uncontrollably, her divine soul vibrating even more severely, as if it would scatter into fragments at any moment.
"Cough, cough..."
She clutched her chest. There was no blood, but rather fragments of her red internal organs were coughed out.
Her chest was almost entirely stripped of flesh and blood, with skeletal white bones faintly visible. Even with her strong physical recovery, under the tearing and coiling of the demonic energy, the flesh buds that should have regenerated were repairing at a much slower pace.
"King of the Underworld..."
The underworld ghosts and spirits guarding the City of Fengdu looked on with deep worry.
The Moth-Embracing Spring Ghost asked, "King Ksitigarbha said that a person's belief can have the power to change adversity. But when will the turning point appear?"
"It will definitely appear!"
As they were distracted by their anxious worry, blood rain began to fall from above. This blood rain was the materialization of demonic energy, which could greatly enhance the Demon God's corrosive power, turning this land into decay, devoid of all life.
Gu Junshi floated up, her fingers swiftly drawing in the void, generating beams of golden light that protected her on all sides. This was a secret Buddhist technique, a gift from Cheng Hong.
The blood rain could not penetrate her body for the time being, but she could not sustain herself with Buddhist spells for too long. It was obvious that she would lose in a war of attrition.
Knowing she would lose, she still continued to fight, not out of foolishness, but because she was gambling on a possibility.
"Demon God," her expression remained unchanged, even with her severe injuries and amidst the bloody storm, her voice was still steady and firm. "Guess when I knew that the infant demon was the puppet body you intended to possess?"
Before it could comprehend the meaning of Gu Junshi's words, she suddenly smiled, her eyes filled with an eerie, icy coldness.
The black crystal on her forehead suddenly emitted immortal light, but it was not a single type of immortal light. It was a convergence of gold, white, and black, which rotated and intertwined into a single stream, impacting towards the Demon God.
At this moment, a world-swallowing, domineering, and chilling power surged from the "Yellow Springs Gate," which had been fully opened, merging with it. The vast world space was impacted, and cracks appeared in the path. Gu Junshi's figure disappeared for an instant, only to reappear higher up.
In her left hand, she held the soul bone scythe, possessing half the magical power of the Underworld. In her right hand, she transformed the formless into bone armor and a helmet, protecting her entire face and chest cavity. She transformed her refined, half-soul, half-immortal flesh into an uncatchable, immortal stream of light. At this point, the three forces finally coalesced into a single, heaven-dominating, overbearing power.
It was no longer a simple combination of immortal, underworld, and elemental forces, but a higher-level, near-divine aura. Even the laws of Heaven began to subtly destabilize, and the chaotic space started to twist and distort, unable to recover.
The Demon God saw that Gu Junshi had, this time, exhausted all her trump cards and all her usable strength. This formidable, all-out attack made it widen its eyes.
It was not foolish; it knew that cornering a dog would surely provoke its desperate ferocity. It had no intention of expending too much energy to block this sharp, all-out strike. But as it prepared to evade, it discovered that more than ten thick soul-locking chains had appeared in the void.
As the crisp clanging sound of metal echoed, it immediately tried to shatter them with its Nine Nether Demonic energy, but in the next second, the Demon God was shocked to find its body seemingly frozen, unable to move.