The Empress Emerges from Seclusion

"Chen Yi!!!" — gasp!

Wuxiang is here.

It seemed to sense danger and came sprinting at full speed from Xiliang. It flew so fast that space cracks formed behind it wherever it passed.

As far as your eyes could see, you could already spot the nearest beam of light.

"Damn it!"

You were in the middle of forming an array, and could not be disturbed.

If disrupted, you would have to start all over.

The problem was, the power of the seven War Gods could not be gathered again!

"Da Chun! Jiuya! Hu! Old Wan! Hold them off!"

You could only hurl all the treasures you had on you in a desperate attempt to stop Wuxiang.

But the moment you remembered that Wuxiang could mimic and rebound all forms of attack, your head began to ache.

You couldn’t block it, and you couldn’t not block it!

In the critical moment!

A golden light illuminated the sky, and a rolling rainbow radiance bathed heaven and earth.

A colossal golden Dharma form of a female emperor rose from the ground. Its height was immeasurable—clouds wrapped around its waist.

The female emperor let out a low cry, like a great bell, resonating with heaven and earth, with Buddhist hymns echoing.

She gently reached out a hand that covered the sun and clouds, pressing down toward the oncoming Wuxiang!

"Lingyue!"

The aura Li Lingyue was emitting right now was unmistakably that of a War God!

She had emerged from seclusion!

She had succeeded!

She came to help you at the first possible moment!

But!

She might not know Wuxiang’s nature. Attacking it like this—if that hit lands, the consequences would be disastrous!

You could no longer stop it.

The golden giant hand covered Wuxiang.

Wuxiang simply spread its arms wide to meet it.

"I am immortal! The stronger your attack, the stronger I become! Hahaha!!!"

Wuxiang was engulfed by an endless tide of golden power.

Then, Wuxiang burst out from that golden torrent.

"Chen Yi! I’ll kill you with your wife’s own move! Hahaha!!!"

Another giant golden Dharma form emerged, though this time in the image of Wuxiang’s current iron-scaled dragon-man form.

The giant form reached out an enormous hand toward you, descending to crush you.

You wanted to dodge, but then you heard Li Lingyue’s voice.

"No need to dodge."

No need to dodge?

Alright, I trust her!

"Boom!!"

You were also engulfed by golden power.

But you felt no discomfort whatsoever.

On the contrary, the injuries from the earlier battle, the lost energy and stamina—all recovered within a few breaths!

Li Lingyue landed from the sky, dressed in a grand red imperial robe, exuding absolute authority.

Wuxiang looked at its own palm, then at you, completely unharmed.

Then it understood and roared at Li Lingyue.

"You tricked me!"

Li Lingyue let out a scornful laugh, then turned to say to you.

"I’ll buy you time."

"The same trick likely won’t work twice. This thing simply cannot be attacked."

"I won’t attack it. Instead, I’ll treat it like a subject and a believer, loving it."

You twitched at the corner of your mouth.

Was the Path of Faith so unreasonable?

Defeating the villain with love?

Keep in mind, Wuxiang wasn’t the type to refrain from counterattacking just because you didn’t attack it.

As long as you harbored hostility—even if your actions seemed kind—it would turn that hostility back at you.

Li Lingyue’s move just now clearly proved that she harbored genuine good will from the heart.

Was this something like "God loves the world"?

From then on, you continued to fully receive the power fed back by the array.

Li Lingyue, meanwhile, tangled with Wuxiang.

But the way they fought was frankly too bizarre.

"My most sincere believer, what unfulfilled wish do you have? Tell your emperor!"

Wuxiang actually didn’t want to bother with Li Lingyue. It only wanted to stop you.

But its underlying code conflicted.

Wuxiang was bound to unconditionally mirror any stimulus it received.

When Li Lingyue confronted it with the mindset of a true master of the Faith Path, to its own surprise, Wuxiang instantly became sanctimonious.

"A hen crowing at dawn! A mere woman dares call herself emperor? I am the true ruler of the world! I am the one true god! You false god, vanish at once!"

Li Lingyue struck again.

"I decree that the world be united, the people live in peace, suffering and strife cease to exist, humanity prosper, and martial arts flourish!"

The strange power of faith from the Faith Path was transmitted through Li Lingyue’s hands.

Stimulated, Wuxiang began to make wishes too.

"I want to become immortal! A true immortal! Unbound by heaven and earth! Free to do whatever I want and kill whomever I want! Hahaha!"

You watched this bloodless war and felt nothing but admiration for Li Lingyue.

This unconditional mirroring of stimuli would only work once.

The same trick wouldn’t hold it in check again.

Just as Li Lingyue was running out of options, the seven forces from around the world finally converged.

"Rumble!!"

A beam of seven-colored radiance shot straight upward from your body, expanding outward in all directions, growing ever stronger.

Seeing this, Wuxiang burst into laughter.

"Good! I’m taking this move from you now!!"

It charged forward to deliberately take the hit, trying to seize control of the Seven Luminaries Immortal Array!

Li Lingyue summoned her golden Dharma form again. This time, she didn’t use strange tricks to delay it. Instead, she gathered all her strength, pooling the faith power of the five domains into a single fierce strike.

Such an attack on Wuxiang would be useless—it would be mimicked and countered.

But it bought the most precious time for you to strike back.

"Get lost! I don’t want such weak power!"

Li Lingyue could not overcome Wuxiang. It knocked her out of the sky and sent her crashing deep into the earth’s crust.

Yet that brief delay was enough for you to complete the gathering of power.

The seven-colored radiance, which had been expanding outward, rapidly converged and condensed, all flowing into your body.

"Give me that power!"

Wuxiang lunged at you, merely inches away.

"Whoosh!"

You vanished!

Wuxiang pounced on nothing.

"Where are you?! Come out! Come out now!!"

Before your eyes, you could clearly see the enraged Wuxiang.

But at the same time, you could also see Xiliang and the Central Plains battered by floods, the ruins of the three sacred lands, the sunken islands of the Chaotic Crystal Sea, and the stardom still under reconstruction…

You realized you were both in the mortal world and somehow apart from it.

You could perceive everything in the mortal world at will.

You could reach any location in the mortal world at will.

You could control all matter and energy in the mortal world at will.

But at the same time, your lifespan was draining away at a terrifying rate. In just a few breaths, your hair began to turn white.

This was power that had to be borne with one’s life.

No matter. You could borrow.

"Life Loan" activated!

"Time to end this…"