Around Jian Huaishuang, paper snow swirled, and countless paper people were born from the flakes, pouncing on the surrounding malevolent ghosts with strange shrieks.
Jian Huaishuang pulled his giant sword with one hand, pointing it diagonally at the ground.
He stood at the only entrance leading to the Star-Picking Platform. His sword-light was as dark as ink, and his death qi surged like a tide.
"Rest easy, My Lord."
"As long as the sword remains, so does the position."
"Unless I die, not a single ghost shall cross this line."
Chen Zhou looked at his back and nodded slightly.
Then he raised his head and looked at the sky.
The golden light had completely disappeared, the rift on the horizon had grown larger, and a burst of brilliant mist began to surge around it.
The mist shimmered with seven colors, ethereal and dreamlike, carrying a serene aura much like dreamlight.
The Golden Buddha was about to descend.
Chen Zhou was waiting.
The Judge was also waiting.
Both sides temporarily stopped their struggle, turning their attention toward the sky.
But a long time passed.
The mist continued to permeate the air, yet the golden light showed no sign of appearing.
The Golden Buddha... did not descend.
Chen Zhou's brow furrowed.
What was the meaning of this?
He was the final winner, free of sinful karma and overflowing with merit. Was the Golden Buddha trying to cheat him by refusing to come down?
Or did the person behind these rules never intend to give him the Golden Buddha from the start?
On the other side, the Judge also appeared somewhat bewildered.
He did not need the Golden Buddha's purification ability.
That thing was useless to him, perhaps even harmful.
But the massive amount of flesh-and-blood energy contained within the Golden Buddha would be a great help in restoring his strength.
If he could seize the Golden Buddha ahead of time, his chances of winning would be much greater.
But now, the prize he had thought was already in his grasp was proving elusive.
The Judge gradually lost his patience.
With Yin Wudao's return, the sinful karma within him had increased slightly, and his strength had recovered a fraction.
The Golden Buddha was not his primary objective.
He was not prepared to wait any longer.
His goal was an object far away in the Western Region, and he needed enough power to even touch it.
"Roar!"
The Judge let out a roar as black light flared around him. He began to pull the Dragon-Suppressing Stakes from beneath the ground.
Boom—!
The earth shook violently, as if an Earth Dragon were rolling over.
Two incredibly thick black pillars burst out of the ground simultaneously from the depths of the earth.
Dragon-Suppressing Stakes!
And it was two at once!
Chen Zhou's face darkened.
He could still handle one Dragon-Suppressing Stake with ease, but with two appearing at once, the pressure doubled instantly.
Yin Wudao's resentment transformed into physical shackles, attempting to bind Chen Zhou's soul.
The Judge seemed unable to wait; did he not want to waste any more time?
"What, can't you afford to wait?"
"I haven't even used my full power yet."
Chen Zhou sneered, a cold light flashing in his eyes as he advanced rather than retreated.
The grayish-white ghost domain expanded again, enveloping both Dragon-Suppressing Stakes.
Countless bone hands reached out from the defiled earth, firmly grabbing the Dragon-Suppressing Stakes and trying to drag them into the abyss.
The Dragon-Suppressing Stakes struggled violently, the sinful karma faces upon them letting out shrill screams as the Judge's black spots frantically corroded the bone hands.
Chen Zhou had to divide his attention, controlling both Hatred Fire and lethal poison to burn and corrode the two stakes respectively.
Hatred Fire blazed on the left stake, while the lethal poison spread wildly on the right.
But the efficiency had clearly dropped significantly.
At the thought that there were still twelve more such Dragon-Suppressing Stakes, Chen Zhou felt a headache coming on.
This was truly troublesome.
A look of ruthlessness flashed in Chen Zhou's eyes.
Allowing the Judge to keep pulling them up wasn't a solution; he had to find a way to sever the connection between the Judge and the Dragon-Suppressing Stakes.
"Venom Burst!"
With a thought, Chen Zhou instantly detonated the many layers of accumulated divinity of lethal poison.
A poisonous fog soared into the sky, enveloping both the Judge and the Dragon-Suppressing Stakes.
...
On the other side, Cangming had already left the borders of the provincial capital.
He sped along, his heart racing like an arrow flying home.
Every passing second was an agony to him.
His father's final words echoed continuously in his mind.
'Your old servant, Cang Yu, has been incompetent for ten thousand years.'
"Damn it, I have to go faster!"
Cangming's eyes were bloodshot. Ignoring the depletion of spiritual energy in his body, he frantically squeezed his potential.
He dared not imagine what the Eastern Region looked like right now.
The sea eye lost, the black spots out of control, the front line collapsed...
Finally, a familiar salty and fishy smell hit him.
The Eastern Region was here.
But the Shanhe Pass before him had been turned into ruins.
Black seawater had flooded the city walls, and countless black spots, like mold, crawled over every inch of the land.
This was the closest place to the provincial capital and the only pass into and out of the Eastern Region.
Once, banners here had obscured the sun, and it had been guarded by heavy troops.
But now, the main force had withdrawn, leaving only a deathly silence.
"Where is everyone?"
Cangming rushed into the pass, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Is anyone alive?! Where is the Black Shark Army?!"
No one answered, but a sudden sound of shouting and fighting came from the ruins not far away.
With a flash of his body, he arrived instantly.
He saw several sea generals around the sixth-stage, their bodies covered in wounds. They stood back-to-back, waving broken weapons as they fought a desperate battle against a group of black-spot monsters.
They were all severely infected by the black spots. Most of their scales had fallen off, revealing grayish-black rotten flesh; some had even begun to grow deformed bone spurs.
Yet, their eyes remained fierce.
"To hell with them, kill all these bastards!"
The leading sea general, who had lost an arm, still swung a long halberd with one hand, splitting a pouncing monster in two.
Chiwei?!
Cangming recognized that figure at a glance.
"Chiwei!"
Cangming roared. Water vapor surged around him, and his halberd swept out, instantly grinding the dozen or so monsters surrounding them into powder.
"Your... Your Highness?"
Hearing the familiar voice, the sea generals, who had been on the verge of frenzy, trembled.
Chiwei whipped his head around. His bloodshot eyes, with pupils that had already begun to dilate, regained a flicker of clarity.
"Your Highness?!"
"Why... why are you back?"
"This place is dangerous! Leave quickly!"
Chiwei grew anxious, trying to push Cangming away, but because he used too much force, he stumbled and fell to the ground.
"What happened? Where are the others? Where is the main force?" Cangming asked urgently while slaughtering the surrounding black-spot monsters.
Chiwei panted heavily and gave a tragic laugh. "Your Highness, don't worry about them, and don't worry about us."
"The sea trench defense line has fallen."
"Now, the main sea race army has retreated to the Hanhai Dragon Palace, relying on the palace's array to make a final stand."
Cangming's heart tightened. Had the black spots already expanded to such an extent?
Suppressing his unease, he grabbed Chiwei to pull him up.
"Come, I'll take you back to the Dragon Palace!"
"With me here, as long as we reach the Dragon Palace, I can save you!"
However, Chiwei did not budge.
He forcefully wrenched his hand from Cangming's, picked up his weapon from the ground, and shook his head.
"It's no use, Your Highness."
"We... we can't leave."
He pointed to himself and then to his brothers, who were in similarly wretched states.
"We are too heavily contaminated by the black spots."
"We were originally left here... to wait for death."
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