Although possessing a physical form now, why did He not summon the Ghost Infant immediately instead of delaying?
It was because He was indeed hesitating.
This newly crafted body, made specifically for Him, was not comparable to His own demonic form, tempered through countless years of refinement.
To put it arrogantly, even without using demonic power, His body, honed over tens of thousands of years, could withstand the collapse of heaven and earth.
However, His old body was imprisoned within the heavy shackles set by the Heavenly Dao and the Primordial High God, making escape no simple matter. All His original plans were also reduced to ashes due to the unexpected appearance of Gu Junshi.
If it weren't for this, He might not have been willing to abandon His old self in confinement, as the new body was far inferior to the resilience and dominance of His former one.
Without a physical body, merely traversing the lower realms with His demonic consciousness, He could not achieve His objectives.
Gods could smite immortals, but Gu Junshi, this pseudo-immortal, as if divinely aided, possessed the mark of the Underworld King, making her no longer an ordinary immortal.
For Him to kill her, He had to become a Demon God once more, not merely the descent of a Demon God's consciousness.
Without the accumulation of life from this vast sea of blood, His old body could not recover to its full strength to break free from confinement, thus He ultimately chose the lesser of two evils.
At this moment, enraged by Gu Junshi's schemes, deceptions, and arrogance, the Demon God could no longer wait.
He intended to first eliminate Gu Junshi, this stumbling block, and then reclaim His true demonic form.
"Gu Junshi, I have seen from the Ghost Infant's memories. Even though you tried with all your might to help him escape his predetermined fate, he ultimately chose Me. All your efforts are in vain!" the Demon God, wearing the Ghost Infant's face, taunted her to the extreme.
After gaining a mortal body, His expressions and tone were no longer as unpredictable as before, but had more concrete emotions. After all, the Ghost Infant's consciousness was still present, influencing each other during their shared use.
Gu Junshi's pupils were deep as an abyss, and she said faintly, "It is not in vain. We met, and he served me as his master. I gave him a second chance at a future life. Where he chooses to step, where he chooses to go, what kind of person he becomes, I cannot control. I act according to my own will, freely and unrestrained, just like a Demon God. You should understand that, shouldn't you?"
After speaking, she also gave Him a meaningful smile.
That smile provoked the Demon God.
She said the Ghost Infant served her as his master, and now that the "Ghost Infant's" body belonged to Him, wasn't that a public mockery implying He too had to acknowledge her as his master?
The Demon God bared his teeth, bone-white and chilling, and grinned, "You are not worthy to have my Demon God bloodline serve you as a slave, Gu Junshi."
"After gaining a body, your tone of speech seems to have changed, Demon God," Gu Junshi exclaimed in surprise.
The Demon God, using the Ghost Infant's pair of scarlet red pupils, let out a cold snort.
It seemed He had not expressed emotions for a long time.
And the Ghost Infant was not one to smile often either.
Thus, when these facial muscles were mobilized, it was a smile that was not a smile, and His entire demeanor changed, becoming sinister, wicked, embodying all the great evils of the world. Compared to Gu Junshi, the Underworld King, He radiated an even more spectral aura, with demonic beards and whiskers swirling around Him.
"A newborn calf fears no tiger; this is a saying often heard in the mortal realm. Next, I shall let you see the true gap between a God and an Immortal… just how vast is it?"
That grating sound, like a beast tearing at flesh, accompanied a sharp increase in pressure. Gu Junshi felt a powerful tremor, like an electric current flowing through her spine.
"...So vast it exceeds your imagination."
He twisted His stiff neck, His peripheral vision sweeping towards Gu Junshi's back: "Look, under your protection, how peaceful and carefree those ants are. They believe that with you protecting them, you can continue to be safe and sound..."
The Demon God raised an eyelid, His pupils dilating. Instantly, cracks appeared in the darkness, followed by streaks of black lightning, possessing the power to shatter space and spiritual energy, explosively striking above Fengdu City.
Sizzle, sizzle—the current like snakes, deafening.
Those sheltered under the crown looked up, instantly stiffening with shock. Instinctively, they covered their heads and waved their magical artifacts upwards in defense.
Gu Junshi also turned back at the same moment, only to hear the Demon God's voice, as if close by, mockingly say to her, "Watch how everything you protect, everything you care about, is destroyed by Me one by one!"
Boom!
Crackle—
Within the leaden clouds, a cold white light flickered. Thick lightning, like a chain of snakes, rolled and suddenly struck down, flashing and crackling like thousands of sharp thorns.
Crack!
A sound of something shattering echoed in everyone's ears.
Like fragile glass.
They stared in stunned silence.
Their senses, a beat slow, finally reacted.
Oh, it was the "sky" above all their heads that had shattered and fallen.
Gu Junshi's brow twitched, her pupils widening slightly. She moved quickly, but was firmly pinned in place by a mere glance from the Demon God.
Unbeknownst to them, black shadows that had emerged from the ground had sewn her in place like a patch, her entire body stuck fast, unable to move.
"Want to save them?"
He raised His hand. These hands were well-defined, possessing a freshness as if newborn. With a twist of His action—
The mortal realm, as far as the eye could see, was engulfed by demonic energy. The violent and painful blood-red seemed to fill all space. Looking into the distance, the boundaries between heaven and earth had vanished, merging into one, making it impossible to distinguish where the sky was and where the ground lay. The twenty-eight heavens wailed in agony, and living beings were devastated.
"Do you see, Gu Junshi?"
Gu Junshi knitted her brows tightly, watching her Eternal Night barrier on the verge of collapse, the demonic energy rampant and beyond salvation.
"Wuxiang—"
The Wuxiang coiled around her wrist transformed into flowing light, circling her body like thousands of silver needles piercing through everything that adhered.
The next second, Gu Junshi's fingers trembled. She could finally move.
Her gaze lowered, and she stomped her foot.
"Tuntian, go—"
That creature resembling a Kun Peng, a majestic whale, flew out. It passed through a rippling circle of water light and instantly arrived above Fengdu City, where lightning was bombarding. It opened its fish-like mouth, which tore open from the corners, like a dark, gaping bowl, swallowing the constantly bombarding black lightning into its belly.
Although Tuntian came to their rescue, Fengdu City was not in any better state. It was already a scene of utter devastation. All houses, buildings, the black river and mountains, thorny forests, and sacrificial altars had been razed to the ground, becoming a barren battlefield that could not even be called ruins.
Not to mention those with weaker cultivation, who, at the very moment Gu Junshi's protection shattered, had vanished into thin air.
The scorched smoke was blown away by the hurricane, revealing dozens of powerful cultivators desperately holding up barriers. To protect this group of disciples, their centuries of cultivation were destroyed, their faces as pale as paper.
At most, they could withstand this one blow. If another came, it was feared that everyone present would be reduced to ashes.
So terrifying!
Their eyes, blankly gazing at the sky, were filled with horror at all of this.