A flurry of hurried, disordered footsteps echoed through the jade-paved corridor, and in a mere dozen seconds, the five individuals arrived at the entrance of the temple, having traversed the long passage.

A tremendous din, violent gusts of wind, and seething spiritual energy emanated from within the temple.

"Stay put, I'll scout ahead." The sheer intensity of the aura made Zhang Wuqing hesitant to act rashly, so he stopped his companions.

Xiao Yuan and the others nodded silently, their expressions grave.

Zhang Yuanqing used Night Watch, concealing himself as he approached the temple entrance. The temple was vast and open, devoid of walls or pillars, offering no obstruction. The boundless starry sky hovered at the entrance.

Zhang Yuanqing saw the two sides engaged in battle. Behind Xiahou Aotian floated a towering divine phantom, an elderly man with white hair and a venerable air.

This elder was draped in a Tai Chi Bagua robe, his right hand supporting a bronze alchemy furnace, turtle-shell pills orbiting the furnace.

His left hand held a ball of fire, the base flame white, the middle black, and the outer yellow.

A dozen props and materials revolved around the tri-colored flame. Behind the deity were Jiang Ju, her arm severed, the captivating Yin Ji, unconscious, and Xia Zuo, his arms severed at the shoulders, his face ashen.

All three were grievously wounded, especially Xia Zuo. Apart from his head, both arms were gone. A horrifying wound pierced his torso, revealing glimpses of raw, damaged flesh within. He was nearly bled dry.

The Knight class lacked powerful vitality and regenerative abilities. Such injuries were effectively a death sentence. The fact that he was still alive was likely due to the endurance and will forged during his "Ascetic" stage, refusing to yield to death.

On the side of the evil faction were three peak Saints: Sleepy Dragon, Bloodbath Elixir, and Hybrid Beast.

Sleepy Dragon was a pale, thin, middle-aged white man with a weary expression and half-closed eyes, resembling someone who had just woken up from a hangover.

A deep darkness emanated from behind him. The towering figure was often hidden in the mud-like darkness, sometimes appearing, sometimes disappearing. Its features were unclear, but whenever its outline was glimpsed, the sealing power within the temple surged like a tide.

The flames in the Scholar deity's hand would weaken. Bloodbath Elixir and Hybrid Beast were an elderly man with white hair and a fiery, seductive woman.

The former was suspended behind a deity with long hair and a long beard, dressed in simple ancient Greek clothing, unkempt, reeking of alcohol, and holding a staff woven from grapevine, with grapes and nuts hanging from the top.

The latter was the demon "Kromi" from the Ten Divine Sons, with goat hooves, goat horns, and a crimson body. Membrane wings burned with blue flames, and vertical pupils were scarlet.

Xiahou Aotian, facing three enemies alone, had golden eyes. A golden halo composed of Sanskrit-like characters spun behind his head, pedaling a cannon trigger like a sewing machine.

Each press of the trigger caused a thick cannon muzzle to spew a ball of golden light, bombarding the opposing enemies.

Each press also caused Xiahou Aotian's eye sockets to become warmer. A dense rain of golden bullets slammed into the deep, viscous darkness. They didn't explode, but were quickly extinguished, or their trajectories were distorted, shooting to the left and right, or into the sky, easily neutralized.

Xiahou Aotian didn't care, continuously unleashing firepower. The flames constantly melted materials, and props were refined into energy packs, which the Saint Ryley Eugene from the Merchant Guild loaded nearby.

The alchemy furnace in his right hand was constantly opening and closing, refining "Petrification Beam," "Distortion," and "Sleeping Curse" skills into nothingness.

For high-level Scholars, anything in the world could be refined and rearranged, including skills. And the basis of skills in The Way of the Extraordinary was spiritual power.

"What are you crying about?" Xiahou Aotian roared, his face contorted. "Choosing the Scholar and Merchant professions means accepting the realization of being penniless. Wealth is something you can't take with you in life or death."

Ryley Eugene glanced at the tear stains on the other's face and felt that he should learn from Xiahou's stubbornness.

"But we're not without a chance." Xiahou Aotian, bleeding faintly from all seven orifices, suddenly said.

"What chance?" Ryley Eugene hoped this wasn't just stubbornness.

After Xiahou Aotian's desperate support exhausted all his wealth, he began to drive the deity's Dharma body to the extreme, placing a great burden on his body. Xiahou's strength was already running low. If things continued like this, he would inevitably face exhaustion.

Xiahou Aotian didn't answer, but glanced at the western side of the temple, at the edge of a circular formation carved with exquisite pig-like reliefs, where a statue of the Witch Gu Master's profession stood.

The chance he spoke of wasn't referring to Yuan Shi Tian Zun. The Night Watcher statue had already been destroyed. In the battle between "deities" and Saints, Yuan Shi Tian Zun was no different from an ant.

The chance Xiahou Aotian was referring to was Yuan Shi Tian Zun's lover, Xiao Yuan. So far, she was the only remaining Witch Gu Master in the Kill Instance.

When the battle began, Xiahou Aotian retaliated in kind, shattering the evil profession's deity statues as well, deliberately ignoring the Witch Gu Master statue.

Sleepy Dragon naturally wouldn't deliberately destroy the Witch Gu Master's statue. They were natural allies of the evil faction, and they were guaranteed one of the six names in the Kill Instance. Their taking that spot wouldn't conflict with a later Witch Gu Master.

"I admit I was too confident earlier." Zhang Yuanqing, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, took a breath of cold air. The aura emanating from the two deities was definitely at the Overlord level, and not the kind that even a low-level Overlord could compare to.