Chapter 437: Who Is Naive?

Facing the Dark God's terrifying counterattack, amidst the light and flames, the Holy God—whose form was impossible to look at or see clearly—simply went on withdrawing their hand, ignoring everything else, and without the slightest obstruction, pulled it out in an instant.

At this moment, Du En activated their Fiery Eyes and Golden Gaze, barely managing to see that she seemed to be grasping something, but the moment their line of sight touched that object, it immediately vanished and was annihilated; it was simply impossible to capture!

"You?! Could it be that...?!"

The Dark God was even more astonished now, as if they had finally reacted to something, as if they had finally perceived the Holy God's intent.

And what shocked the onlookers even more was that the Holy God merely further urged the light and flames to erupt, and in that higher brightness, that higher brilliance, directly evaporated and burned away the two claws reaching toward them, as well as that terrifying divine artifact.

The field of vision was a sheet of incandescent white, plunging into temporary blindness.

The ears were filled with a buzzing, though one could still barely hear.

The Dark God roared in interrogation: "You actually want to do that! That kind of naive, wishful, childish approach is completely meaningless!"

"Only my path can bring a true tomorrow to the stars and living beings, and at the same time, I have already gathered all the necessary prerequisites!"

"You really are an incomprehensible madman! Don't always be so naive..."

The Dark God's roar rapidly dissipated and vanished, while the Holy God remained silent throughout.

Not until the dust settled did they seem to murmur a sigh.

"The naive one is you."

Falling Feather Immortal Gate, the sect's Fifth Peak.

That man-made small world was already bulging and swollen, unable to recover no matter how it was reinforced, reaching the limit of what it could sustain.

The battle occurring within was, in the literal sense, of an intensity that could destroy a star realm!

Meng Changqing's avatar watched silently, while also glancing at the divine sense of True Monarch Huiqing.

Originally, he was about to make a move, to activate the various arrangements on his own turf and add a few more layers to the small world, when suddenly, the swelling of the small world vanished abruptly, instantly shrinking back to its original state of a mustard-seed point.

True Monarch Huiqing, who had been observing the projection and seemed to have other designs, sensed something and was immediately somewhat surprised, forced to shift her gaze and focus it inside the small world.

Meng Changqing's avatar did not stop her, because his true body was also looking exceptionally stunned at this moment.

Until just now, the situation had been quite normal, with both sides trading blows and various Dao techniques being used with ease; however, even though he was only at the Half-Step Integration stage, he could still suppress True Monarch Buyi, who was at the early Integration stage, occupying a clear upper hand—otherwise, his avatar would not have had the spare energy to enable the arrangements set up beforehand.

But just a moment ago, something had suddenly descended upon True Monarch Buyi.

It was a causal connection, traced back to its source!

It was the reversal of principles, the dark annihilation and collapse! It was the "Dark Sun Extinction" that the Dark God had plotted for a long time and pushed to fruition! It erupted directly on the causal level, and coupled with the fact that True Monarch Buyi was being suppressed by Meng Changqing and had no possibility of defending, he took the full force of this strike in an instant.

The terrifying great magic power and Dao might instantly collapsed and caved in; neither his Dao body nor his primordial spirit escaped, suffering terrifying tearing and destructive damage.

Meng Changqing even gasped in cold air, his movements coming to a dead stop.

Could he potentially wipe out this hateful senior brother if he struck now? For a moment, this thought crossed his mind.

However, if he did that, it would dismantle the great foundation of the five of them uniting to resist the Supreme...

Very quickly, his hazy figure seemed to knit its brows.

He became suspicious and uncertain.

True Monarch Buyi had indeed suffered heavy injuries, but that shattered face and those eyes remained unmoved and unchanged, like an old stone that had not worn down in billions of years, cold enough to chill one's heart.

From his mouth came intermittent words, no different from the past or a moment ago: "I truly did not expect this beforehand, but it is indeed a fine strike."

He evaluated it with extreme calmness; though his words seemed intermittent, they were eerily connected into a whole.

Then, his aura suddenly surged and skyrocketed! His shattered body and primordial spirit merged further into one.

After the magic power and Dao might vanished, even stronger ones emerged from thin air!

Meng Changqing ground his back teeth, sighing to himself that it was indeed not that simple.

True Monarch Buyi cast his gaze toward him and spoke coldly: "Thirty percent. Through this battle, Junior Brother, your Dao body fusion will accelerate by at least thirty percent."

"... You really are daring, actually leaving behind a thread of causality for others to utilize."

True Monarch Buyi did not care, remaining emotionless and expressionless, his gaze seemingly looking elsewhere.

Looking at his own path.

At this very moment, he seemed to be placing a dim stone perfectly on the road ahead, fitting it tightly and solidly, before stepping down with his own foot onto it.

The surging aura instantly became peaceful, fully adapting to and accepting this breakthrough; in the flickering, the previous disarray had already vanished like a phantom bubble, and what remained in place was only him, unchanged.

Strong Heaven's Pride, mid-Integration stage!

"If one does not experience it personally, how can one know the difference between the strong and the ordinary?"

"If one does not hope to take risks, how can one sharpen one's blade through tempering?"

True Monarch Buyi said these words without the slightest wavering.

He was not just imposing extreme trials on others; in truth, he did the same to himself!

That was why there were those seemingly rough schemes; he only hoped that those who could stand out from them would become his whetstones and his stepping stones.

And now, the long-term plan he had been executing since the perfection of Void Refinement had finally succeeded in one stroke, helping him step into the realm of a Strong Heaven's Pride!

The next step was the pinnacle of the mortal world...

True Monarch Buyi looked at Meng Changqing opposite him, shaking his head slightly as if with some disdain.

"... Fine, fine, fine. It seems my Dao body fusion can be even faster!"

Meng Changqing surged up again; his observation just now had actually been a feint.

His avatar gained more spare energy and immediately activated the arrangements on the peak, dragging True Monarch Huiqing's divine sense in as well.

Although she realized it at the last moment, it was too late, and she could only go with the flow and change her target.

To observe the specific strength of True Monarch Buyi after his breakthrough!

This was an unexpected development, worth her careful observation! After all, they were now at the same mid-stage realm, and in terms of talent, she had already been surpassed! In short, the battle at the Falling Feather sect had not yet reached the moment to stop.

The dark night had returned before anyone noticed.

Anjing was shrouded by it at this moment, simply because the sun that had illuminated this place had vanished.

The Sea of Sickness outside the city was swirling; the Great Serpent nearby did not know the specific situation, only that after its eyes were filled with incandescent white, everything seemed to return to the beginning, with countless puppets lying silent all around, itself trapped and curled up on the ground by restrictions, while above its head, the Sea of Sickness remained stopped where it was.

But it was different from before; the Sea of Sickness began to stir again, and the defensive array of dim light seemed to be collapsing. What was happening?! Had His Excellency the God of Dimness already been defeated? The Great Serpent did not know, its heart filled with unease, yet it was powerless to do anything, left only to wait anxiously for the end to come.

Its master, Ming, was also frowning deeply at this moment, stepping forward to catch up with Jiang Ying, who had stopped in astonishment.

Their battle seemed to have lost its meaning by now; Ming had no desire to strike again, and all hostility had been completely withdrawn.

Jiang Ying was startled, pulling away quite nervously to jump onto another fragment of the palace, only to quickly shift her gaze back to where she had been staring just moments before.

In the sky in the distance.

Du En was also watching silently.

The towering light reaching into the clouds was extremely brilliant, like flames, yet also like drifting clouds, maintaining a columnar shape that erupted from bottom to top, constantly flowing and burning.

What was very strange was that although this light was incomparably brilliant, not a single ray of it spilled outward; only the few people nearby could see and capture it.

At the same time, the Holy God simply stood silently within it; her massive and majestic form replaced the now-vanished Sun of Dimness, being extremely eye-catching yet strangely lacking in presence, making it impossible to see her specific form or face.

The God of Dimness was already dead.

The traces of his existence had been erased by the light-flame, dead cleanly and thoroughly.

After their vision recovered, everyone understood this point.

And the reason why both women in the distance felt strange, and why Ming immediately lost her hostility, lay in another point.

The Holy God stood silently, quiet and aloof, while Du En also stood wordless, still maintaining a posture of hostile combat.

Having pulled the deity back from the brink of muddled, heavy trauma, they had been partners until just a moment ago, coordinating with extreme familiarity to successfully help the Holy God defeat and kill the God of Dimness with minimal cost.

Yet, the current Du En seemed to have set his sights on the Holy God instead.

The shift was exceptionally abrupt and appeared unusual, but upon closer thought, it seemed quite normal.

"Hey."

"Wh-what?!"

As the abnormality of the atmosphere grew, Ming suddenly spoke to Jiang Ying.

She was very surprised, not because the former enemy was acting as if nothing had happened, but because of the method the other party used: divine sense transmission!

Immediately after, she discovered that, unknowingly, the divine sense blockade on the side of the Life Source Star Realm had begun to dissipate.

The setup by True Monarch Buyi was disappearing; she did not know what had caused it, but seeing Ming so matter-of-fact and expectant, perhaps it was an operation from the God of Dimness's side?

Jiang Ying could not help but think so.

Ming continued the transmission on her own: "What exactly are your intentions? You don't look like the black hand that shrouds the star dome, just extraterrestrial demon stars, or rather, visitors from beyond the heavens; in any case, you must have some intentions, right!"

"Uh, solving the situation?"

Jiang Ying looked at Ming, whose gaze still carried caution and hostility; after all, it seemed she knew the goal had been achieved, and the residual power of the Holy God's apostles was rapidly dissipating, leaving her back at the point where she could be easily killed with a single punch.

However, she was not as miserably panicked as before; unknowingly, she had grown somewhat.

"Solving what situation?"

"This, depends on the circumstances?"

Jiang Ying transmitted back, having realized what Ming really wanted to ask, "In short, we are actually not your enemies. Since the enemy of an enemy is a friend, and we are both opponents of that dog Buyi, then we should actually count as friends."

Ming twitched the corner of her mouth slightly, as if smiling mockingly, or perhaps rebuking the naivety on this side.

"Tch!"

Jiang Ying was immediately annoyed, "Don't always wear such a sour face. Since you followed that God of Dimness, it seems you are the 'mature' type who calculates gains and losses, then you should indeed maintain a normal, friendly relationship with us, especially now that things are gradually being laid out!"

"..."

Ming remained silent, her gaze still fixed on the silent confrontation between the god and the human, though in her flickering eyes, there was indeed such a mature, deliberative shift.

The previous hostility could be attributed to mutual distrust.

And the fact that her own leader had not yet reached an agreement with the other side; now that the leader had died heroically, Ming had to step up as the person in charge and set aside unnecessary emotions to carefully consider subsequent actions.

Hatred?

That sort of thing was merely a bargaining chip within the framework of interest exchange! In fact, with the God of Dimness dead, Ming actually felt no sorrow; after all, her relationship with that deity was essentially just one of shared interests, which was why she was temporarily employed by him as his subordinate, not some like-minded comrade.

So, changing sides now to help Du En and the others was not out of the question! Jiang Ying watched this person's performance, unable to help but sneer and curl her lip, then frowned deeply and asked: "In the end, why must you insist on opposing the Holy God?"

"..."

Ming could not help but pause, appearing speechless, even subconsciously pondering in confusion.

Indeed, the Holy God could be an ally now, or rather, she was an ally to begin with, so why was there a subconscious sense of hostility? Was it brought on by the change in Du En's attitude?

No, that wasn't quite right! There must be another reason! Something was quietly pushing, making Ming follow her previous stance, along with the dissatisfaction and doubt brought by the Holy God having hidden many things from her in the past, causing her to subconsciously maintain a hostile attitude.

Clearly, the truly rational choice now was to ask clearly about the Holy God's thoughts and Du En's thoughts, to see if she could mediate and get everyone to unite against the true enemy.

Glancing at Jiang Ying again, the one who had asked the question was clearly also affected; she actually had no self-awareness, looking nervous and treating the Holy God entirely as a potential enemy.

"What, exactly, is the reason..."

Responding to Ming's wariness, suspicion, and displeasure, the Holy God, amidst the light-flame, seemed to be watching and evaluating silently whether there was an external force pushing the sudden shift in Du En's stance.

"Why would you think that?"

Du En spoke at this moment, still calm.

"Is it because of this?"

He scattered a bit of light debris in his hand, looking as if he already knew the answer.

In other words, his hostility and opposition were entirely out of his own consideration, his own will!

Thus, the Holy God could not help but sigh: "Finally willing to speak?"

"That is not an important matter."

"... So, you will still choose to stop me, my 'last' child."

"At this point, there is no need to maintain this false relationship anymore, is there? I was not resurrected from the Holy Mausoleum, nor was I created by your power; by your definition, I should be an Extraterrestrial Demon."

(End of chapter)