He climbed higher and higher, eventually leaving the sea of sand behind.
Beneath his feet lay an endless flight of stairs leading toward the dull gray sky.
He walked on and on until there were no reference points left around him.
Loneliness.
A bone-chilling loneliness.
Anyone else might have felt lost, empty, or even terrified at this moment.
But Yin Yang’s expression didn't even flicker; he simply continued his steady climb.
It was as if he would keep walking forever, even if the road had no end.
After an unknown amount of time, the path finally changed, becoming flat and broad.
Then, in the blink of an eye, everything vanished.
The path, the stairs, the sky, and the earth!
Before him was only a hazy gray, neither black nor white.
Gurgle—
Following a sound like a stomach growling, a black line appeared in the gray distance.
The center of that black line began to swell, transforming into a massive vertical pupil!
Beneath the cornea, white spots bulged outward. Upon closer inspection, Yin Yang realized those white spots were actually maggot-like insects!
They writhed incessantly, as if trying to burrow out of the cornea.
The giant eye slowly blinked, staring fixedly at Yin Yang.
Yin Yang remained unmoved and continued forward, acting as if he hadn't seen the vertical pupil at all.
As the distance between them closed, the vertical pupil appeared larger and larger until it eventually loomed like a mountain.
Even the maggots beneath its cornea were significantly larger than Yin Yang.
“Mortal, believe in me, offer to me, and you shall receive my grace.”
A grand Words of Command exploded in Yin Yang’s mind, the voice so loud it seemed ready to shatter his consciousness.
A mocking smile tugged at the corner of Yin Yang’s mouth as he continued forward.
The vertical pupil seemed to grow indignant. The maggots within the cornea writhed faster, eventually pushing through the surface and stretching out toward him as if to bite.
Yin Yang still ignored them and continued forward.
Just as he was about to collide with the maggots, the vertical pupil burst apart, turning into countless maggots that rained down from the sky.
The smallest of these maggots were three meters long, creating a visceral and intense visual shock.
Yet, the moment they were about to strike Yin Yang, they dissolved into trails of gray mist, as if they had never existed.
Yin Yang continued on. After walking for another unknown duration, the sounds of singing and music echoed from within the gray mist.
Blurred figures sang and danced, worshiping the shadow of a colossal mountain.
As Yin Yang approached, the figures became clearer, as did the mountain.
“Join us! Worship the god, believe in the god!”
“The deity will bless us with favorable weather; it has been so since ancient times!”
A figure skipped in front of Yin Yang, its voice filled with joy.
“Come, worship the True God with us.”
Following those words, a surge of overwhelming will flooded Yin Yang’s mind.
“Believe in me, offer to me, and you shall receive my blessing.”
Yin Yang ignored the voice and kept walking. The singing and dancing figures all turned their heads to stare at him.
The warm, radiant smiles on their faces twisted into anger, suspicion, and even malice.
As Yin Yang continued forward, the figures swarmed around him.
“The sacred mountain is not to be approached! Get out!”
“Blasphemers shall die under heavenly punishment!”
“Begone!”
They cursed him incessantly, their voices a chaotic jumble.
Yin Yang remained indifferent and continued forward. Seeing this, the figures’ words became even more venomous, and some even picked up objects from the ground to hurl at him.
Unfortunately for them, those objects dissolved into gray mist before they could even get close.
As Yin Yang drew closer to the mountain range, the figures began to kneel, pleading with him not to approach.
But if Yin Yang hadn't even cared about their curses, why would he care about their pleas?
Yin Yang continued forward. The moment he was about to touch the mountain range, it began to crumble, and along with the surrounding figures, it all turned into gray mist.
The River God!
The Wind God!
The Star God!
One deity after another appeared before Yin Yang, hoping he would believe in them.
But Yin Yang did not stop for any of them.
Finally, another set of stairs appeared in the gray mist, continuing upward!
After walking endlessly for a long, long time, he arrived at another platform.
There was no gray mist here, only rows of statues so tall their tops were invisible!
They stood silently upon the platform, so many that they were impossible to count at a glance.
As Yin Yang stepped onto the platform, a powerful surge of divinity flooded into his body, subsequently branching out and merging to help his spirituality grow rapidly!
Yin Yang had experienced this feeling several times before; it was something that only happened after a breakthrough!
His spirituality surged at an incredible speed, then began to condense and undergo a qualitative change!
Simultaneously, a phantom appeared behind him.
It was the god he had always consecrated—himself, the Lord of Rebirth and Communion in the mouths of his believers!
The divinity within this phantom was extremely chaotic, as it had originally been obtained by Yin Yang through the sacrifice of other Demigods' divinity.
But with the qualitative change in Yin Yang’s spirituality, the divinity also began to become pure.
Previously, Yin Yang had only used divinity for ‘sacrifice and exchange’—for instance, to recover from injuries or cure diseases.
Even then, it required the Sacrifice skill as a medium. Now, however, he could completely control that divinity!
Bit by bit, his spirituality began to be replaced by divinity.
Yin Yang felt as though he could tear the sky or divert the seas with a simple wave of his hand.
Such overwhelming power was indeed easy to get lost in.
Yet Yin Yang continued to walk forward step by step. Even though he felt he could fly with just a bit of effort, he remained on foot.
But as he passed the first statue, his divinity was weakened.
A thread of divinity detached from his body and merged into the adjacent statue.
Soon, he passed the second statue, and the divinity within him decreased by another sliver.
Then the third, the fourth... the tenth!
With every statue he passed, the divinity in his body diminished. He felt his body becoming heavier and heavier, as if he were transforming from a god back into a human.
Such a stark contrast was enough to drive anyone mad.
But he continued forward, neither sorrowful nor joyful.
He walked for a long time, until there wasn't a single trace of divinity left in his body, and even his spirituality had completely dried up.
Without the nourishment of spirituality, Yin Yang began to feel fatigue.
His muscles and bones complained, voicing their exhaustion and their need for rest.
But at that moment, another force within his body took control!
It was humanity!
It could not restore his body like spirituality could.
Nor could it make him powerful like divinity could.
But it could strengthen his will!
If you wanted to give up, it would persuade you to give up.
If you wanted to persevere, it would help you persevere.
And Yin Yang’s will had never wavered from the very beginning!
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