The entire Outer Third Ring was in chaos.
The false god had chosen the final victor, the mischievous child with a lollipop standing triumphantly alongside Lu Sangdou and the priest from the Hall of Thought.
The remaining three priests had descended personally to aid their struggling false god counterparts, each embroiled in fierce battles.
Their goal was singular.
To harvest this Outer Third Ring abandoned by the Great City!
It was known that within their own domains, they were forbidden from reaping the lives of countless civilians, for those souls belonged to their followers.
This was the best opportunity!
By harvesting enough lives, they could ascend!
The priest from the Church of the Traveler, who had come to the Ninth Ring, allied with the Shadow Priest, and Meng Tu was in a constant retreat;
The priest from the Church of the Sleeper arrived at the Eighth Ring, where the Sea of Ghosts was being devoured by him. The Life Priest launched a counterattack, destroying the massive airship from which the mirror fell from the sky;
The Lost Priest from the Church of the Lost, who worshiped the Forgotten One, tore open a void of oblivion, trapping the spacefaring vessel within.
The battered and near-broken old woman found respite and seized this moment to strike back!
The spacefaring vessel was beyond their capabilities to challenge, but the one piloting it was merely a high-ranking ghost!
The great ghost was pierced by the deep crimson force and shattered in agony. As the Nine Provinces ship lost its pilot, it emitted a heavy steam-like rumble and lost all ability to maneuver.
"There's a problem!"
The old woman, nearly collapsing, coughed blood heavily:
"An unknown, mysterious false god, a mirror that seems to be a forbidden object, and this sudden reappearance of the spacefaring vessel!"
She gasped, pondering deeply:
"All these are here for the Order Church; this church is far from what it seems! There must be a powerful figure backing it!"
The priest from the Endless Church, who was hunting Meng Tu, responded loudly:
"No matter who stands behind the Order Church, it's none of our concern; the divine descent is nearing completion, and we will harvest here and then leave!"
As he spoke, starlight gathered in his hand, transforming into a pure spear of spirituality. He threw it fiercely, piercing the false god cloaked in mist!
The mist dispersed.
"Meng Tu?!" In the sky, the priest from the Hall of Thought, who had been watching coldly, expressed astonishment; this serene woman from the Hall of Thought and the White Star Nation naturally recognized this duke from the White Star Nation.
Meng Tu's expression darkened; he had followed his mentor's decree, but now he was failing!
Six priests, six false gods working together exceeded what he could handle!
It all seemed to be coming to an end.
The six priests stood in the sky, coldly gazing down at the entire Outer Third Ring, uniting their powers, shrouding the area in darkness, each beginning their harvest.
One person after another fell lifeless.
"Bless us, Emper Xiang!" someone cried out, but in the next moment, they were swallowed by shadows, leaving no trace!
"This is the darkest hour." The history professor sighed softly, clutching the book he had written, chronicling everything about the divine descent,
He glanced at the figure swaying precariously on the inverted cross:
"Dawn will come."
The history professor collapsed to the ground, his soul pulled away by starlight.
"Xiaotong, run!" The elderly woman shrieked, unleashing her last reserves to activate the prepared teleportation array, but it was too late; both she and Li Xiaotong were pierced through by the deep crimson spear, pinned in place!
"I only see darkness. Where is the dawn?" Li Rong'en raised his long spear: "Charge!"
Thirty-six pure white knights, led by Li Rong'en, launched their charge. They each bore the 'Power of a Thousand Pigs,' yet before the false gods, they were like ants shaking a tree.
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The priest from the Eternal Hell merely pressed down lightly with a hand, and all thirty-six knights fell to the ground, their souls stripped away, plummeting toward his divine realm to become fodder for the infernal realm.
People prayed, struggled, resisted, and died.
In the Inner Third Ring, Lu Saleng lowered his brows, while Lu Fenghua averted her gaze in sorrow.
He spoke softly:
"Great-grandfather, the divine descent is about to be completed; everything will end. There will be no more Outer Third Ring."
Lu Saleng replied in a deep tone:
"Perhaps."
As he spoke, the Ethereal Eye elder glanced at the time.
July 2nd, 5:23 AM.
Dawn was approaching.
………………
"Finally... I've come in."
The vast will of the true god squeezed through the narrow crevice, completely descending into the humble and tiny spiritual world of the vessel.
He smiled.
"What a vast spiritual world."
The crocodile-headed true god raised his enormous soul, looking around and slightly praising:
"Truly the most perfect vessel!"
He walked toward the center of this spiritual world, gazing at a powerfully vibrant soul.
"Hmm, such a rich source of soul; interesting. Mortal, I descend upon you; glory has arrived. I allow you to look up and see me."
The soul slowly lifted its head, its source of soul, thousands of times smaller than normal, appearing so humble and minuscule before the god.
"I have seen you before."
The soul said.
"What?"
The crocodile-headed true god appeared confused, then smiled:
"I'm quite curious about how you struck the bell of cosmic silence. However, I won't inquire; that is something only the great beings should know."
"Now, mortal, bow to me and surrender everything you have."
"This will be your greatest and final glory in this life."
The tiny soul sat calmly, a look of sorrow appearing on its face as it listened to the cries and final prayers of the followers.
The prayers ceased, and the wails stopped.
He spoke:
"Are you not curious where I saw you?"
The crocodile-headed true god frowned, too lazy to waste time with this insignificant mortal, extending his vast and immeasurable willful hand, about to toss this tiny soul out and personally occupy this perfect shell.
The tiny soul continued to speak to himself:
"Probably about a month ago, when I regained some of the authority of ethereality, you and I locked eyes for a moment. Do you remember?"
The smile on the crocodile-headed true god's face froze.
The tiny soul stood up, expressing his feelings:
"So, we really are quite fateful. When I looked at you from the perspective of my true self, you were a small, adorable lizard. I didn't expect the real you to be so big."
The crocodile-headed true god instinctively took three steps back.
The tiny soul slowly stood up, stretching:
"If I— and I mean if— I were the reality, the essence, the origin, the creator of the world, then in a sense, you should also be considered my child, right?"
The crocodile-headed true god was overwhelmed by a wave of coldness, his own spirit exploding in alarm!
He trembled slightly:
"Who... exactly are you?!"
"You have seen me once with your own eyes; why would you still have this question?"
The tiny soul replied:
"You are indeed my child, and since you have questions, I will answer you."
"I allow you to see my true form."
He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep within his spiritual world. Only in this way could he ascend.
In the next moment, the vast spiritual world began to expand and swell, stretching to infinity before the terrified gaze of the crocodile-headed true god!
In this instant, the immense will of the crocodile-headed true god was 'spit out.'
He turned his confused gaze and saw seven colossal, magnificent, yet somewhat familiar figures.
So familiar.
It seemed he had seen them in a cataclysmic battle of gods many endless eons ago.
He trembled as he lifted his head and saw a gigantic head blocking all his vision, a severed sword thrust into it.
"Just as I thought," the greatest one said with a smile. "From this perspective, you appear cuter, petite and delicate."
The will of the crocodile-headed true god began to collapse; he could not bear the gaze of this being, his voice trembling as he pleaded, "Please... please!"
The greatest one spoke gently, his voice resonating and monumental, like the colossal rumble that shook the cosmos at the very moment of its creation, echoing in the ears of the crocodile-headed true god!!
"Don't worry, little one, I won't kill you."
"After all, you can be considered my child."
"However, I will borrow your soul for a while; you'll be obedient, right?"
At this moment, the crocodile-headed true god had already descended into madness, his mind shattered; the last fragment of his sanity forced him to crawl down.
"Father, I was wrong, and I wish to confess to you."
"How dare you call your mother 'Father'?!"
In the final moment, the crocodile-headed true spirit saw a terrifying figure with the Horn of Primordial Origin hanging from its neck approach, and a hand came crashing down toward him.
"Why did you kill such a cute lizard?"
"It overstepped! Only we can call you Father and Mother!"
"Alright, alright, just put down the horn and don't blow it; I won't blame you!"
………………
Chen Xiang woke from the dream.
He returned to his spiritual world, gazing at the true god's will that had collapsed into ashes before him and sighed softly.
"What a fool, really."
"How could I not have noticed how irritable he was on ordinary days? I still wanted to ask him some things."
Chen Xiang's soul glanced at the ashes, walking toward the pile of collapsed remnants.
The ashes of the true god's will began to float, swirling, dancing, and leaping around him.
These ashes gradually attached and coated Chen Xiang's soul shell, making it resemble a large lizard with wings.
"Now for the final step."
Chen Xiang lifted his head, looking through the rift at the top of his spiritual world, which led to the void, and saw the silent, colossal corpse of the crocodile-headed true god.
From the corpse, the divine essence fell and fused with the soul.
He was undergoing a transformation.
And so was He.
………………
The Outer Third Ring had become a wasteland, and very few lived.
The red-haired host was fortunate; his soul had not been taken. At this moment, he lay weakly on the long street, gazing at countless corpses and feeling somewhat suffocated.
He sighed softly, lying on the ground, watching the colossal, terrifying figures as countless souls were being absorbed into the domains of one god after another.
He looked up at the dispersing moonlight and the thick dark clouds above.
Suddenly, the dark clouds parted slightly, and a beam of light—a ray of sunlight—shone down, faint and hazy.
"It's morning, huh?"
The red-haired host lay among the corpses, coughing and struggling to speak:
"Good morning, welcome to... is it morning?"
He suddenly sat up; that dawn, the first ray of light at the breaking of dawn illuminated his face.
He scrambled to his feet, filled with yearning and excitement, looking toward the distant inverted cross!
He saw the young man hanging upside down on the inverted cross seemed to tremble, then...
Grew two large wings?
Along with the pure white light and mist of the great wings.
The pure white angel on the inverted cross opened His eyes, looking compassionately at the shattered world of mankind.