Chunyang Zhangjiao maintained the development of the dreamscape. Aunt Zhou's words, to him, didn't seem to have anything worth pondering or finding strange. At most, the number of missing persons had increased by one.
It wasn't until Aunt Zhou, with the help of a young but weathered man, filled out the missing person report with Lei Yibing's photo, that Chunyang Zhangjiao suddenly felt the name Zhang Yuanqing sounded familiar, yet he couldn't recall where he'd heard it before.
Yuanjun's face was full of pain, as if something was trying to burst out of his brain. His head ached as if it would split open. That something was fragmented images, incomplete memories, Aunt Zhou's desolate and helpless appearance, and a forgotten past.
Four years ago.
These images flashed by quickly, shattering, and finally turned into a familiar yet strange whisper echoing in his ears, filled with sadness in its gentleness.
Yuanzi will be back soon. Forget today's events and delete the file...
Chen Yuanjun squatted by the window, drenched in sweat from the pain, his eyes bloodshot, and muttered: Little... Aunt.
In the battle of the gods, someone was detected. Apart from the Star Lord, who was focused on refining the sun, the demigods present turned to look.
Yuanshi Tianzun!
Upon clearly seeing the face of the newcomer, they were shocked and bewildered.
How did this kid get in here?
It was like a battlefield where dragons were fighting, and an ant appeared to join the battle. Your first reaction isn't to laugh at its overestimation of itself, but to be surprised at how it crossed mountains of fire and seas of flames to reach the battlefield.
The Sun dungeon is a place even demigods can't enter unless they possess fragments of the Luminous Compass or have divine-level power helping them open it.
Xie Family Old Ancestor's surprise and bewilderment were no less than that of the evil demigods, her dark, clear eyes widened.
How did this kid get in here? The demigods noticed Yuanshi Tianzun's appearance - short, golden-tinged hair, light golden skin, an eternally burning sun wheel between his brows, and golden pupils. He looked as if he'd been painted with gold, or like a human figure crafted from gold.
Manifestation of anomalies, inhuman appearance. This was a characteristic that only a Level 9 Dominator touching the power of rules would exhibit.
Yuanshi Tianzun has advanced to Level 9!
Even demigods felt an indescribable emotion stirring within them at this moment. Some people took a century to go from ordinary person to Level 9 Dominator, some took sixty years, and some took more than ten years.
The Demon Lord, currently recognized as having the fastest level-up speed, also took more than three years.
And Yuanshi Tianzun... only took ten months.
Such a terrifying leveling speed made even demigods feel jealous, even though Level 9 Night Wanderers were like clay chickens and earthenware dogs in their eyes. So, the Void Demigod and the Beauty God supporting Yuanshi Tianzun wasn't an unrealistic ambition.
Yuanshi Tianzun could truly become a Level 9 Dominator in the short term, possessing the qualifications to compete for the Sun Lord.
A Level 9 Dominator, as long as they obtained a demigod item or administrator authority, could contain and refine it, becoming a newly advanced demigod.
Whether it was early Level 9 or peak Level 9 didn't matter, because the status of early Level 9 and peak Level 9 were the same, only one was in the early stage and the other was in the later stage, with a difference in power only.
While everyone was sizing him up, Zhang Yuanqing quickly scanned his surroundings, taking the evil demigods not far away and the Star Lord floating in the air into his view.
He took in his uncle, the Beauty God, Xie Family Old Ancestor, and the demigods sleeping on the ground at the end of his vision.
Night Emperor is also in the dungeon. I didn't see old Mai from the Wine God Club or the president of the Biological Alchemy Society...
Hiss, the evil faction has suffered heavy losses. The lawful demigods haven't been reduced, but most of them have fallen into slumber.
Zhang Yuanqing's first reaction was that the lawful faction had gained an overwhelming advantage in the battle for the Sun Source.
Then, the evil faction erupted in the Dao Realm, sacrificing Night Emperor, pulling the lawful faction's demigods into slumber. However, in the end, the Star Lord still managed to seize the Sun Source and become the final winner.
Ling Tuo is gone... He perished. Zhang Yuanqing looked around, not finding him, feeling a bit of relief and regret in his heart.
This little aunt and his father's murderer, the mastermind behind the deaths of the No Trace Hotel members. He returned to The Way of the Extraordinary, and the true culprit behind the scenes had actually fallen long ago.
As for the current situation of the Star Lord obtaining the Sun Source, although he was unwilling, he could only accept it.
At least it was better than Ling Tuo obtaining the Sun Source.
After scanning the situation, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly noticed something was wrong. He keenly sensed envy, hostility, and a sense of pleasure and joy from the evil demigods' emotions.
The joy and pleasure weren't directed at him. Ling Tuo had fallen, and the lawful faction had seized the Sun Source. What were they happy about?
At this moment, his uncle in mid-air looked at his successor and said in a deep voice: Star Lord has betrayed the lawful faction!
What!
The short sentence struck Zhang Yuanqing like a thunderbolt, and his pupils instantly contracted.
Without any hesitation, his body transformed into dazzling starlight, flickering several times in succession, escaping to the side of the Beauty God and Xie Family Old Ancestor, distancing himself from the evil demigods.
Seeing Yuanshi Tianzun fleeing in panic, the evil demigods only scoffed, not bothering to pursue him.
What's going on? Zhang Yuanqing asked with a sullen face, looking towards the Beauty God and Xie Family Old Ancestor. Xie Family Old Ancestor, in the form of a childlike figure, sighed and said: We won against the evil faction. The Star Lord summoned Night Emperor and attacked the lawful demigods. Shura assassinated... Shura's true support was the Star Lord. Now, the Star Lord has obtained both Taiyin and Sun...
From the very beginning, the lawful faction was destined to lose, because both the Star Lord and Taiyin Lord were from the evil faction.
Zhang Yuanqing was stunned and couldn't accept this outcome. If the Star Lord is a Fallen, how could you lawful demigods not see it? Are you all trash!?
The Beauty God shook her head slightly: The Star Lord isn't a Fallen, but he supports the evil faction. The reasons will be explained later.
Zhang Yuanqing looked at her. In the hazy holy light, he saw the Beauty God seemed to be smiling at him.
At this time, the Star Lord's integration had reached a critical moment. The starlight and golden light gradually merged into one, no longer violent, as if the final completion would be achieved in a second, completely integrated.
The evil demigods watched intently, guarding against accidents. At this moment, the Void Demigod, standing high in the air, suddenly let out a deafening roar: Wake up!
The sound waves rolled, spreading throughout the vast dungeon space.
Apart from the Star Lord, who was focused on integrating the sun, everyone else was attracted by his roar, wondering what he was doing.
The Void Demigod stared at the Star Lord and roared again.
Wake up! Wake up!
In the repeated cries of "Wake up", in the repeated roars, a change occurred.
The Sun Source, which was about to be neutralized by the starlight and refined by the Star Lord, suddenly became agitated. The dim light turned into intense light, violently "shaking off" the starlight attached to it.
In that instant, everyone sensed a spiritual fluctuation slowly awakening within the Sun Source.
The next second, a Golden Crow drilled out from the Star Lord's chest, followed by a second, a third, a fourth... up to the ninth.
During this process, the starlight transformed into arms, desperately trying to grab the Golden Crows and pull them back into his body, but was melted and purified by the overbearing golden light.
...The nine Golden Crows flapped their wings and flew back to the Star Lord's chest, jointly extracting a golden fragment the size of a washbasin from his chest.
In the center of that golden fragment was engraved a sun, surrounded by radial thread-like reliefs.
Seeing this golden fragment, the demigods present were stunned. They were extremely familiar with this golden fragment. It was... the core fragment of the Luminous Compass!
It turned out that the golden light in the center of the Sun Source wasn't the largest Golden Crow, but the core fragment of the Luminous Compass.
It turned out that the core fragment of the Luminous Compass, which had disappeared for twenty years, had already been integrated into the Sun Source.
The only one who wasn't paying attention to the Star Lord and the Sun Source was Zhang Yuanqing.
Thump! Thump! His heart was beating wildly in his chest, literally beating wildly, as if summoned by something, wanting to burst out of his chest.
And the most exaggerated thing was his brain, or rather, his soul. His soul seemed to be splitting open. The long-lost headache attacked again, and the intense pain made him unable to help but cover his head, his face contorting.
Something in the Sun Source was calling to him. He instinctively wanted to respond, but a sense of resistance and fear arose deep in his heart, refusing to respond to the Sun Source's call.
The nine Golden Crows circled around the core fragment of the Luminous Compass, once again coiling into a circle, forming a dazzling golden sun.
Golden light filled every space in the dungeon. The dark domain formed by Night Emperor in the distant quickly dissolved, and the lawful demigods showed signs of awakening.
Immediately, the Sun Source was like a light bulb wrapped in cloth, becoming dim. The slumber domain recovered, and the lawful demigods failed to awaken. The starlight-wrapped Sun Source swayed in the air.
Sometimes it was pulled back by the Star Lord, and sometimes it struggled to move away from him. The two sides were like, in a tug-of-war, struggling hard.
The Star Lord's face was bulging with veins as he shouted: Kill Yuanshi Tianzun!
He didn't explain why, nor did he have time to explain.
Hearing this, the evil demigods all turned to look at Yuanshi Tianzun, who was covering his head, his face full of pain and twisted expressions.
Although there were still many doubts and confusion, the demigods knew that fighting for the Sun Source was the top priority. Without hesitation, they simultaneously used their means to besiege Yuanshi Tianzun.
The Illusion God of the Southern Sect, nullified the physical rules, and arrived at Zhang Yuanqing's side in just a step, pulling him into a dreamscape.
A snapping sound came from the air: Banish!
Yuanshi Tianzun suddenly disappeared, leaving the dreamscape, and appeared hundreds of kilometers away.
The Beauty God then changed to a muddling-through state, standing alone in front of the demigods, with a flick of her arms, a giant clam with a shining golden shell appeared behind her.
The giant clam slowly opened, emitting a sweet fragrance.
The Beauty God chuckled and said: Am I beautiful?
The evil demigods' lust instantly erupted. The desire to mate overwhelmed anger, killing intent, jealousy, and other emotions. Even the Sun Source became unimportant. In their eyes, only the beauty who symbolized beauty and desire, and could bring them extreme pleasure, remained.
Seeing this, the Illusion Gods of the North and South sects, while suppressing their own desires, jointly stimulated the demigods' killing desires, using this to overcome lust. The Xie Family Old Ancestor, holding the Demon Refining Pot, quickly plucked red threads with one hand, tying the demigods' red threads to the Beauty God.
The combination of the Musician's red threads and the Beauty God's lust produced an effect greater than one plus one.
The evil demigods, who had just shown signs of breaking free from desire, once again fell into the Beauty God's charm, putting the factional confrontation and the Sun Source behind them.
Of course, she could also take the opportunity to attack the evil demigods, but this would allow the enemies to instantly break free from the influence of her charm.
Any control originating from spiritual threads and emotions has the weakness that if a blow is dealt in reality, it will quickly become ineffective.
However, Xie Family Old Ancestor and the Beauty God were only responsible for delaying time. They hadn't thought about killing the evil demigods. Influencing and controlling demigods in a short period of time was much easier than killing them.
As a bloodthirsty and war-loving Fury Demon, Shura wasn't affected by the lust thread. After the two Illusion Gods stimulated the killing desires, he was immune to lust. Shura ignored the Beauty God and Xie Family Old Ancestor, who were clearly trying to delay time. With a "boom" sound under his feet, he instantly sprinted hundreds of kilometers, arriving in front of Zhang Yuanqing.
The bronze curved blade was suddenly slashed out, the terrible power contained in the blade tip causing the surrounding space to collapse, interfering with the Void Demigod's spatial magic.
A wall of wind rose, blocking the bronze curved blade.
Although it dissipated into a strong wind in less than a second, it was enough.
The Void Demigod, who had exchanged for a dark gold female mask, dived at supersonic speed, smashing towards Shura from high altitude with a thunder spear.
Shura's blade tip slashed out against the sky, a flash of blood, and the Void Demigod's arm holding the spear lost strength.
The Void Demigod landed between the two, pressing his palm against Shura's chest: Retreat!
Boom!
The entire dungeon space was resisting Shura, and all the air was repelling Shura. The two forces erupted simultaneously, forcibly pushing this level 12 powerhouse, the strongest at the time, hundreds of feet away.
The power didn't disappear and continued to act on Shura.
Shura's feet plowed hundreds of feet into the barren ground, his back and leg muscles tensing, resisting the force of space and airflow...
With a tremor of his body, he suppressed the resistance of space and airflow with his brute strength.
His uncle, however, ignored it, turning his head to look at his pale-faced nephew and said in a low voice: Yuanshi, all your questions are there! Don't resist it, and don't fear it. This is a destiny you cannot escape or change.
Zhang Yuanqing finally raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. He looked at the starlight-wrapped Sun Source in the air and let out a roar from his soul, responding to the call: Come!
The Sun Source broke through the shackles of the starlight, crashing towards Yuanshi Tianzun with the power to burn everything and purify everything.