"The Creator God who forged the universe as it is today?"
Hearing Zhang Xiaoling's words, Ye Ling glanced at the central goddess statue again, feeling a peculiar magic emanating from it, as if it were trying to pull him into a vortex.
"This statue seems to possess a strange magic!"
Realizing he was on the verge of falling into an illusion, Ye Ling immediately stabilized his mind, keeping his consciousness clear, and said, "Why did you bring me here..."
Before Ye Ling could finish his sentence, he froze.
Zhang Xiaoling had vanished. He was now alone in the valley.
"Zhang Xiaoling?"
Ye Ling called out, but only his own voice echoed in the valley. Ye Ling could no longer sense Zhang Xiaoling's presence.
"What is this guy up to?"
A hint of confusion flashed in Ye Ling's eyes. He tried to extend his soul outwards from the valley, only to discover a special energy within the valley that prevented him from using his divine soul.
Unable to find Zhang Xiaoling or understand his intentions, Ye Ling shifted his attention to the three statues before him.
He had to admit, these three statues were the most lifelike he had ever seen. Just looking at them, Ye Ling could imagine their past glory.
As Ye Ling was lost in admiration, he suddenly felt the statue on the central throne summoning him, causing his heartbeat to quicken.
"What is this power..."
Sensing the goddess statue's call, Ye Ling instinctively walked towards it.
At that moment, a sacred ball of light flew from the goddess statue's palm, approaching Ye Ling. From within the ball of light, Ye Ling felt an incomparably gentle power. Though gentle, the power was still immense, far exceeding Ye Ling's own strength.
"Is this the power of the Creator God?"
Ye Ling carefully sensed the ball of light hovering before him, his heart filled with boundless shock. The power contained within this ball of light was far greater than any heavenly law or principle.
For some reason, Ye Ling felt an urge to touch the ball of light and reached out. As Ye Ling's fingertip touched the ball of light, it erupted in a blinding radiance, engulfing him. Ye Ling felt an extremely potent force surge into his body, but after merging with his flesh and blood, the power vanished, leaving Ye Ling unable to sense it no matter how hard he tried.
The infusion of power lasted for a considerable time. Ye Ling didn't know how long he had been bathed in that dazzling light before the ball of light before him slowly dimmed, leaving behind only a sword planted in the ground. The sword's blade was as magnificent as a ruby, surrounded by golden sword qi, and the surging power within it left Ye Ling mesmerized.
"Such a divine weapon..."
Ye Ling suppressed his shock and reached out to grasp the divine sword. The name of this divine weapon immediately surfaced in his mind.
"Soul Suppressor."
Boom!
The moment Ye Ling spoke the name of the divine weapon, Soul Suppressor erupted with boundless sword qi. Golden light shot towards the sky, piercing the heavens of this era. Ye Ling was swept into the golden sword qi and found himself back inside the Tongtian Tower. The surroundings were no longer as empty as before.
It was then that Ye Ling truly entered the Tongtian Tower. If not for the divine weapon still in his hand, he would have believed his previous experience was merely an illusion. However, Soul Suppressor was no longer as powerful as before. Its blade was rusted, appearing dilapidated, as if it could break at any moment. The current Soul Suppressor bore no resemblance to a divine weapon; instead, it looked like a common, broken sword. Ye Ling could not sense any energy from it.
"Strange..."
Ye Ling couldn't understand why the divine weapon had become like this. However, the surging aura within the Tongtian Tower prevented him from calmly contemplating the matter. Ye Ling temporarily pushed aside what had just happened, stored Soul Suppressor in his spatial ring, and began to hurry towards the depths of the Tongtian Tower. He could sense Xiao You's presence within the Tongtian Tower!
The passages within the Tongtian Tower were intricate and complex. Coupled with the interference of the inner demon's power, Ye Ling could not fully extend his divine soul. He could only rely on the faint traces of Xiao You's presence to roughly discern the direction within the Tongtian Tower. If one were to slice through the vast Tongtian Tower, a black streak could be seen rapidly traversing within it.
Five minutes later, after encountering countless dead ends, Ye Ling finally reached the depths of the Tongtian Tower and saw the altar at its core. Ye You was bound to a cross on the altar, unconscious. Fortunately, Ye You was not yet injured, indicating that the ritual had not yet begun.
"Xiao You!"
Seeing Ye You bound to the cross, Ye Ling's pupils constricted sharply. He disregarded everything else and immediately flew towards Ye You. However, before he could get close, his path was blocked by a powerful force.
"Main body, the ritual has not yet begun. I cannot let you approach Xiao You."
The inner demon stood before Ye You, blocking Ye Ling's way.
"Inner demon..."
Ye Ling's face was filled with frost as he stared coldly at the inner demon, his aura continuously rising. "It seems you want to settle our score now."
Sensing Ye Ling's escalating power, the inner demon shook its head and smiled, saying, "I don't want to fight you right now, but the sacrificial ritual still requires a bit more preparation. I must stop you before the sacrifice begins."
Ye Ling said coldly, "May I ask how much preparation time this so-called sacrificial ritual requires?"
The inner demon chuckled, "Not long, just ten minutes. Why don't you stall here with me for ten minutes? That way, I won't have to worry."
"After ten minutes, the ritual will begin. At that point, everything will be irreversible and uncontrollable, and you won't be able to do anything."
"Ten minutes..."
Ye Ling murmured the words, then began to burn his life essence. His entire aura began to explode geometrically!
"Burning life essence?" The inner demon's pupils constricted sharply upon seeing Ye Ling's rapidly increasing aura. "Are you crazy?"
Burning life essence meant trading one's life for power. Once life essence began to burn, it would continuously wither as long as the battle didn't end. If life essence was completely depleted, it would result in death! However, the power gained from sacrificing life often unleashed several times the user's normal combat strength. If combined with secret techniques that accelerated the burning of life essence, it could even unleash more than ten times the user's strength! This move was typically used in desperate situations, a battle of last resort!
The inner demon stared intently at the current Ye Ling, its expression extremely grim. Ye Ling burning his life essence now clearly indicated that he was going all out!