In the safe house, Bai Qi sipped his red wine while toying with the watch face in his hand, his gaze fixed on the screen of the magic mirror.
The magic mirror displayed scenes around Stark Tower, and Bai Qi zoomed in, observing the battle like a movie.
Though Bai Qi had left, he remained highly invested in this fight. After all, if his father couldn't send Zhong Su back to hell, Bai Qi might very well intervene again.
Fortunately, the protagonists didn't disappoint him. With the assistance of Batman, their destiny was at its peak. Unless the dark energy could gain an overwhelming advantage against the righteous energy, Zhong Su might still have a chance to win, but as things stood, he was better off sleeping.
As expected, while Batman and the Dragon zodiac sign held Zhong Su at bay, Father completed the magic and began reciting the incantation. A green light erupted and struck the castanets.
"Dragon, quickly use the Sacred Artifact!"
"No!"
Zhong Su might have become a bit dull from his time in hell, but he wasn't completely foolish. He unleashed several bolts of lightning, forcing the Dragon zodiac sign, who was reaching for the castanets, to retreat.
"You will not succeed."
With that, Zhong Su intended to destroy the castanets with lightning.
At that moment, a small missile struck Zhong Su, forcefully interrupting his spell.
The one who launched the missile was none other than the War Machine, Rhodey, who had been out of commission.
However, given War Machine's damaged state and Rhodey's own condition, firing this single missile was his absolute limit.
Rhodey waking up and firing such a crucial missile at this precise moment strongly suggested the intervention of righteous energy.
After all, the magic created by Father had already instilled fear in Zhong Su. If the castanets were destroyed, Zhong Su would surely escape.
One Holy Lord had already given righteous energy a considerable headache. It didn't want another problem arising before this one was resolved, hence the forceful intervention, causing Rhodey to act at the critical juncture.
And so, after firing the missile, Rhodey's eyes rolled back, and he fainted once more.
But all that was no longer important. The crucial point was that Rhodey's missile had successfully bought time. Batman, with his sharp eyes and quick hands, seized the castanets and began playing them in a rhythmic fashion.
Though Batman playing the castanets looked rather out of place, the effect was phenomenal.
The castanets shot out two beams of light, one striking Zhong Su and the other hitting the thirty-first floor where the portal to hell was located.
"No!"
Sensing imminent danger, Zhong Su turned to flee, but it was too late.
The portal to hell reopened, and a powerful suction force acted upon Zhong Su.
Before the portal to hell, Zhong Su was like an infant, utterly powerless to resist. Despite his best efforts to stay on the ground, after a struggle, Zhong Su was once again pulled back through the portal to hell.
"Well done, well done, a truly spectacular performance."
Watching Zhong Su being sent back to hell, Bai Qi on the sofa couldn't have been happier.
If there was one person who was the biggest winner tonight, it was undoubtedly Bai Qi.
Not only did he reclaim his fiery energy, but he also acquired a portion of Zhong Su's lightning power. And then...
He picked up two items from the coffee table: one was a box filled with the dark energy that had spewed from the portal to hell when it opened, and the other was a watch face imprinted with Zhong Su's likeness.
Without hesitation, Bai Qi opened the box and inhaled all the dark energy into his body like a dragon drawing water.
"Ah, so comfortable."
With the dark energy entering his body, Bai Qi felt as if he had just had a full-body massage, incredibly pleasant.
More importantly, this dark energy, mixed with demonic aura, was inherently violent. After being absorbed into Bai Qi's body, it would take considerable effort to fully digest. However, Bai Qi had no intention of taming this violent and difficult-to-digest energy. Instead, he deliberately guided it to impact the Twelve Talismans within his body.
It's worth noting that originally, there were no Twelve Talismans. Whether it was the Rat Talisman, the Pig Talisman, the Dog Talisman, or any other, they were all parts of the Holy Lord's power. It was only later, after the Holy Lord was sealed by Lo Pei and turned into a stone statue, that his power was divided into twelve parts and scattered across the world, giving rise to the concept of the Twelve Talismans.
Although the Holy Lord had been revived, Lo Pei's seal was too strong, meaning Bai Qi could only use his powers by activating the Twelve Talismans within his body. This was also why, in the original story, the Dragon zodiac sign and Xiaoyu could retrieve the talismans from the Holy Lord using magic concocted by Father.
Therefore, the Twelve Talismans essentially served as a seal preventing the Holy Lord from fully reclaiming his power.
What Bai Qi was doing now was to disrupt this seal as much as possible.
Once the talismans were broken, their corresponding powers would return and merge completely with the Holy Lord.
Even though Lo Pei had made the seal exceptionally sturdy to prevent Bai Qi from reclaiming his power, Bai Qi had made some progress over this period.
With Bai Qi's persistent efforts, cracks had already appeared on the Rat Talisman, and it was just a step away from shattering.
Some might find it strange.
Among the Twelve Talismans, there were those with immense destructive power like the Dragon Talisman and the Pig Talisman, or the healing Horse Talisman and the immortal Dog Talisman. Why was Bai Qi prioritizing the destruction of the Rat Talisman?
The ability of the Rat Talisman was to transform stillness into motion.
This ability might seem trivial, but it was far from it, at least for Bai Qi.
Remember in the original story, after the Holy Lord was resurrected and returned to his palace, Father's attempt to stop the Holy Lord's concocted potion? That potion, which could be applied to the hands and directly extract talismans from the Holy Lord's body. This potion reappeared later when the Holy Lord altered the Book of Ages and played a pivotal role in defeating the Eight Demons.
Don't be fooled by Bai Qi's current endeavors: establishing the Umbrella Corporation, joining the Illuminati, becoming a king, and building his own sanctuary.
Bai Qi was still afraid.
He feared that righteous energy might suddenly have a change of heart and pull off a surprise "base raid."
Don't dismiss this as impossible. If righteous energy is pushed too far, anything can happen.
It wouldn't matter if the Dog Talisman, the Horse Talisman, or even the destructive Dragon Talisman and Pig Talisman were stolen. At least Bai Qi would still have a chance to turn the tables.
But if the Rat Talisman were stolen, the situation would be entirely different.
Without the Rat Talisman, Bai Qi would immediately revert to his stone statue state, leading to an immediate end.
Don't expect Bai Qi's subordinates to help him make a comeback.
Bai Qi knew these people well. Their willingness to be his subordinates was merely a binding of interests, a matter of mutual benefit. Once Bai Qi lost power, they would be the first to flee.
Therefore, Bai Qi was so eager to reclaim the power of the Rat Talisman completely. Only then would Bai Qi be truly safe.
Boom!
Under Bai Qi's guidance, the absorbed dark energy fiercely struck the Rat Talisman.
The Rat Talisman, battered by the impact, trembled violently, on the verge of shattering.
Seeing this, Bai Qi didn't hesitate. Realizing the absorbed dark energy wasn't potent enough, he immediately mobilized all the dark energy within his body and slammed it onto the Rat Talisman.