Chapter 405: Shadows of the Living, the Falling of the Void Salamander

Rip!

Beneath the lush, spirit-rhyming growth of the Wood Domain, a deep purple, ominous, diseased spirit plant was ruthlessly torn apart by a pair of hands that looked unremarkable, yet upon closer inspection seemed forged from diamond.

A fishy, purple-tinged liquid mixed with crystal clusters gushed out, only to be immediately evaporated by the soaring light, leaving behind only a faint scent that quickly dissipated, cleansed by the Green Wood Spirit Flowers.

A pair of calm eyes revealed themselves from behind the jagged tear of the spirit plant.

Du En waved a hand again, and with a flash of fire, the still-falling corpse of the diseased plant was instantly scorched and forged, its impurities removed and essence refined, before being branded with heavy restrictions and transformed into a standardized sword that whistled as it flew out, completing its mission the moment it was born.

Self-destruct!

Boom!

Amidst this ceaseless sound, the Holy Spirit came to her senses and shifted her gaze toward Du En, who wore a flat expression devoid of ripples, meticulously killing enemies and weeding with such practiced ease and fluid grace that she could not help but feel a sense of inexplicable, heavy responsibility.

And at this moment, it was indeed necessary to do so.

While repeating the task of exterminating individual diseased plants, Du En continued to channel the Wood Domain's Fiber Flowers, intending to completely overturn this Holy Spirit Garden.

Unexpectedly, yet perhaps not unexpectedly, there was almost no resistance encountered along the way.

The only obstacles were those diseased spirit plants, all sorts of strange flowers and weeds? He did not relax his vigilance in his heart.

Time passed rapidly; although the sky grew increasingly dim, the spirit light of the Wood Domain brought a warm glow, and the Holy Spirit's suspended lamp dispelled the filth, making the light in the inner garden even brighter.

As the last diseased spirit plant that had lunged over was finished off, everything suddenly turned silent, becoming completely still—so quiet that it felt hair-raising, and unease welled up in one's heart.

Du En stepped forward, and as his feet landed, the withered branches and fallen leaves crunched loudly.

Hm? Withered branches and fallen leaves?

Suddenly realizing something was wrong, accompanied by a gust of dry, warm wind that blew past, the Wood Domain forest, which had been lush and green as if in the height of summer, suddenly donned a mottled autumn attire, mixed with various withered yellow colors.

The withered branches and fallen leaves thus became particularly fitting supporting roles.

To be able to influence his Daoist Wood Domain to this extent—it was clear that a stronger Law Domain had covered it, much like back in the Queguang Star Realm, where the Wood Domain had once been instantly covered by the Great Sorrow Demon Domain, turning it into the base of its own Daoist arena.

Of course, Du En's cultivation had advanced a step further, and his Wood Domain Daoist arts had reached perfection; his strength was no longer what it once was, so even though a Law Domain of equal quality had covered it, it could only cover one-third.

If not for the Fiber Flower Daoist art, it would have been about half, and if this were before, it would already be a scene of late-autumn desolation!

Was that reflecting the opponent's cultivation method, or perhaps some kind of state of mind?

Spring and summer were already in the past; the falling autumn was the current reality... Regardless, the opponent had broken free from their previous stupor and begun to truly unleash great magical power!

Du En was naturally not caught off guard, merely looking calmly toward the front.

"How can this be?"

The Holy Spirit seemed to see something incredible; her suspended lamp flew up sharply, then suddenly stopped.

This was because, in the forest ahead, figures began to walk out.

Human figures!

Dressed simply, each with their own distinct features, both men and women, and in considerable numbers.

Du En utilized his Fiery Eyes of Truth and immediately saw through the reality.

They were human, yet not human; growing in the area of their hearts was a flower.

It looked ordinary and plain, just a small white flower that could be seen anywhere.

Looking closer, it was not physical, but more like a projected shadow, possessing a sense of unreality.

Shadows of the Gap Flowers!

Relying on those peculiar flowers growing in the gaps of human hearts, these former living beings were actually kept alive in the form of lingering shadows!

The Holy Spirit was shocked by this, for she had already thought of a very bad possibility! "Where is this?"

"... Your Excellency Holy Spirit?"

"What is happening to us?"

One by one, the lingering shadows of the living suddenly awoke, regaining their consciousness, and looking at the god and human opposite them, everyone was somewhat bewildered.

Then they reacted quickly.

"Wait!"

"Didn't I already die from the disease?"

"Disease? What disease? Come to think of it, what time is it now, and has the war with the Dark Kingdom started?"

They were in a chaotic mess, becoming uneasy.

In Du En's field of vision, those Shadows of the Gap Flowers were also flickering.

And now, it was up to the Holy Spirit to make a choice.

To save the living of the past, one needed to leave the Gap Flowers to them; to save the patients of the present, one needed to dig the Gap Flowers out!

That strange object was non-corporeal; all the shadows gathered together were its entirety, its true form—the target that the god and the human had come to find this time!

And because of this, it was taken out to be used as a test!

"Lie! Is this your inner voice!"

The Holy Spirit's words, filled with anger, no longer held their usual gentleness, and she directly rebuked them sternly.

Because of the god's fury, those lingering shadows of the past fell silent one after another.

They were not fools either, and they quickly sensed that the situation was very abnormal, especially their own current state! However, the Holy Spirit's stern rebuke did not elicit any clear response, only a few small frictions of branches in the forest, as if an affirmative answer had already been given.

She was even more anxious, followed by a deep breath, and finally, she fell into a dilemma.

This time, she was being held by her weak point; no matter which side she chose, it would not align with her true heart, because one side would certainly suffer misfortune and pain.

She did not even dare to explain the current situation in detail to the lingering shadows of the living before her, because if she did, these former people would, nine times out of ten, choose to liberate themselves.

From those clear, firm gazes looking over, one could taste such a future.

That was why she felt even more conflicted and powerless.

They were all her people, all...

The Holy Spirit was caught in a trolley dilemma, but Du En noticed a certain situation.

The Apostle Lie over there—let us assume for now that the enemy is Apostle Lie.

How did this enemy know that the goal of this god and this person was that exotic item, the Rift Flower? Was it the meddling of True Monarch Buyi?

It does not seem like it.

Interference from the Dark God's side? That is somewhat possible.

Other reasons...

Du En pondered, feeling that not being able to use his divine sense was truly quite troublesome.

Otherwise, a direct large-scale scan would be enough to capture the specifics...

At this moment, he looked up at the sky.

Amidst the dark night, several puppets were still circling and wandering at high altitudes. With huge heads and abdomens, resembling bighead carp, they were high-altitude bombardment-type puppets he had named "Sky Salamanders"! Because they had not entered the garden earlier and were flying at high altitudes, they had become the ones that slipped through the net.

At this very moment, they were exactly what he needed! Du En snapped his fingers.

Snap! A group of Remnant Spirits of the Living looked over, without any malice; rather, there was a lot of curiosity.

The final apostle...

Toward such an existence, they seemed to have a different kind of understanding.

The Sacred God Hanging Lamp trembled, also casting her gaze over.

Have you found a solution? She asked this invisibly, then suddenly felt a jolt, fearing that Du En might just make another calm move, without a ripple or any wavering.

Although she felt he should not be so contrary to the righteous path, her heart was in such a mess right now that she could not help but have such chaotic thoughts arise.

It was obvious that this time, they had been targeted quite ruthlessly!

In the Sacred God's unease, she did not notice that the friction of the tree branches and leaves had also fallen into a state of stagnation at this moment.

Along with those Remnant Spirits of the Living who had realized something, they could no longer make a sound or express their stance.

It was the hidden enemy making a move! Using a dilemma to restrain the Sacred God, and then... facing Du En, it was like seeing a steel cube; if flesh and blood bit into it, the only result would be broken teeth!

Therefore, it was closely watching this side, watching this side intently at this moment!

Du En, however, did not care in the slightest, remaining calm and unruffled as he lowered his hand.

He had done nothing! Yet he had already finished doing it!

No!

The point was not in him himself...

Before the enemy could react, the Puppet General that had previously crashed outside the garden rose into the sky with a whistle, its body already tattered and its spiritual light flickering unsteadily.

But there was still the backup plan Du En had set, which naturally could complete the following tasks.

The enemy wanted to intercept, but Du En was like a nailed nail, using himself and the Wood Domain to firmly pin the opponent—who was casting a Dharma Domain to infiltrate and cover the area—in place, making it impossible for them to do such a thing.

Therefore, they could only watch helplessly as the Puppet General ascended.

Then, it turned into a brilliant firework.

It self-destructed! This seemed to give those Remnant Spirits of the Living a kind of inspiration, a hint, letting them also burn themselves away for the Sacred Kingdom and the Sacred God at this moment!

"No!"

The Sacred God instinctively objected.

However, as mentioned before, within the framework of the Sacred Kingdom, the apostles were the direct leaders! The Sacred God, this high and mighty "mascot," sometimes found her words quite useless. For instance, right now, driven by the realization in their hearts, the group of past living beings was about to follow Du En's order and carry out their own self-destructive sacrifice...

The explosion is a flower, the fall is a sky full of stars!

The glowing raindrops of blood and Dharma power came crashing down, covering the entire Wood Domain of mixed green and yellow.

This blood and Dharma power had been stored by Du En inside the Puppet General beforehand and had been specially processed; it could be said to be a type of semi-artifact fluid.

After falling at this moment, it first permeated the Wood Domain, bringing up the Rift Flower seeds, and then began to infiltrate and spread, replacing the function of divine sense to conduct an investigation from the inside out.

What making people self-destruct? Du En had never thought of that at all; he was just playing his game while they played theirs, directly ignoring those Remnant Spirits of the Living and focusing on his own actions.

Faced with such an unexpected turn, the opponent was caught off guard and instinctively wanted to interfere...

Found it.

Du En thought to himself.

Through the multiple feedbacks of Dharma power, artifact restrictions, and the Dharma Domain, two key points suddenly became obvious. One was large, and one was small. Inside the large one, the ripples of influence had already been captured by him; it was exactly where the enemy was specifically located.

And the small one was the other key point! The Rift Flower seeds that had just been carried along were now absorbing Dharma power and blooming.

A cluster of flowers, very beautiful yet harboring danger, sprouted upon the Wood Domain and took root beneath it, instantly turning that small area into a place under Du En's control, blocking the enemy's Dharma Domain interference outside and preventing it from infiltrating further.

Temporarily.

But it was enough.

Woo— Accompanied by a sound like the long cry of a whale, a Sky Salamander puppet plummeted from the sky, casting a large shadow onto the ground with extreme momentum, like a meteorite.

It opened its fat head and mouth, like a great demon opening its maw, and came down to swallow the target area.

The autumn wind was bleak, and fallen leaves were swept up.

If he could not exert influence on the target area for the time being, then he would interrupt the means in the middle of the action! But how could Du En not have escort preparations? Along with the falling Sky Salamander came the bombardment and projection of other Sky Salamander puppets.

Starlight flickered, and the chill was biting.

The fire-attribute spiritual mineral essence had been used up, but there was still ice crystal essence loaded; at this moment, with Du En having little energy to spare, it was all scattered and dropped down.

Squeak, squeak, squeak— The air itself was wailing, freezing all the way down, and as it smashed onto the autumn wind and fallen leaves, it instantly turned them into frozen blocks of ice.

Although it was quickly broken, the Sky Salamander puppet had already landed successfully! Just like a great demon hunting, it took a bite and swallowed the target area directly.

Then, like a plane crash, amidst the booming sound of its tail self-destructing, it received thrust, slid all the way, smashed through a pile of trees, and finally stopped in front of Du En, covered in scars.

The Sacred God was stunned, and those Remnant Spirits of the Living were also bewildered.

The series of events just now happened in a flash; they hadn't even seen it clearly, and then a giant object had slid and crashed through the forest of trees, arriving right before their eyes, only a hair's breadth away from hitting Du En?

He himself remained as calm as an ancient well, raising his hand to strike out a strand of Dharma power, which twisted like a key inserted into a lock, immediately dismantling the Sky Salamander puppet that had come to a stop.

Along the way, he still had to unleash invisible bursts to restrain and pin down the enemy! Ever since the opponent's Dharma Domain had covered the area, this invisible confrontation had always existed, which was also the reason why Du En did not have much energy left now and why his Dharma power was in short supply.

That is why the help of the puppets is needed.

Or rather, this situation was already anticipated, and they have come in handy at the critical moment.

Clatter, clatter, clatter...

The self-dismantling puppets quickly and orderly fell apart, then began to reassemble on the side, discarding the damaged puppet components, precisely applying the modular construction method obtained from Queguang Moju.

A Void Salamander puppet, several sizes smaller, erupted with streams of magical power after its core and spine were reassembled, beginning to soar back into the air and return to the high sky.

It is also because Du En's magical power is endless and inexhaustible, with only output port restrictions and no output volume limits; otherwise, one would not dare to do this to the puppets. Normally, one should fill them with spirit stones, or even transfer spirit veins into them, to serve as their energy source.

The Void Salamander puppets are not the focus, so they were not targeted.

The focus is something else, or rather, someone else.

A person dressed so tightly that they might as well have wrapped themselves up like a corpse.

"Yun, is it you?"

That person, curled up, reacted violently upon hearing the pleasant surprise in the voice of the Holy God.

"Your Excellency, and all of you, do not be impulsive, do not be anxious, you must not fall into their trap, you must not let down Lord Lie!"

She cried out in alarm, letting the gods and men trapped in a deadly dilemma on the field know.

(End of this chapter)