Chapter 222: Dark World

God said, let there be light.

Unfortunately, there was no light.

This place was completely a world of darkness.

Not knowing how long he had drifted in this darkness, Zhang Xingyu felt himself bump into a hard surface.

He let out a soft sigh.

Although he couldn't see his surroundings, at least he had landed.

Having landed meant he was still in this world, not adrift in the outer void.

He stepped with one foot deep, the other shallow.

Zhang Xingyu staggered forward, feeling his way cautiously.

After walking forward for about a quarter hour, he tripped over something underfoot.

He felt it and realized what tripped him was a bone.

That bone was icy cold, making him shiver uncontrollably.

It was a human femur.

He felt it and judged from its shape.

He didn't know whose bone it was, yet it emitted a chill.

Zhang Xingyu tossed the bone aside and continued feeling his way forward.

After a while, he bumped into another human bone.

It was a human scapula.

After walking about a li, he successively encountered hand bones, sternum, pelvic bones, and various other skeletal parts.

Zhang Xingyu judged that these belonged to a single person.

He didn't know which unfortunate soul had been dismembered into eight pieces.

After walking another few hundred meters, a faint glimmer suddenly appeared ahead.

Zhang Xingyu cautiously walked toward the glowing spot.

What met his eyes was a shattered black skull.

The skull resembled dark jade, with a pale yellow crystal set in the center of its deep brow ridge.

The glow came from this pale yellow crystal.

Zhang Xingyu furrowed his brows.

The shape of this pale yellow crystal was basically similar to the system's black brick, only the surface color differed greatly.

He gently took the crystal from the skull and held it before his eyes for close inspection.

The crystal had thirty-six facets; thirty-five were broken, leaving only the smallest facet intact.

Zhang Xingyu thought for a moment, then began calling the system in his mind.

"System, system, call the system!"

"Dingdong. Host, what are you yelling about all day?"

"System, help me check what this is."

"Dingdong, appraising item, consuming one hundred God Yuan Value......"

"System, have you finished the appraisal......"

"System, system, speak up!"

"System, system, are you mute?"

"Dingdong, host used insulting language, deducting one hundred God Yuan Value points."

"System, you......"

"Dingdong, after appraisal by this system, this is a damaged Demon God Divine Seal. The seal once suffered a devastating blow; thirty-five of its sigils were destroyed, only one sigil fortunately remains intact."

"Demon God Divine Seal? Is this thing still useful?"

"Dingdong, after appraisal by this system, each sigil of this Demon God Divine Seal is engraved with a high-level divine ability of the demon race. Since only one sigil remains, only one high-level divine ability is retained."

"High-level divine ability. Wahaha, did I strike it rich?"

"Dingdong, host, do you wish to learn this divine ability?"

"Dingdong, host spent ten thousand God Yuan Value points and acquired the demon race's high-level divine ability, Dark Annihilation."

"Pa!"

Just as the system's prompt tone ended, the Demon God Divine Seal in Zhang Xingyu's hand suddenly shattered.

"System, what's going on?"

The system gave no reply.

"System, system, please answer!"

The system entered silent mode.

"My Demon God Divine Seal! System, are you behind this?"

"Dingdong, host may not retain the Demon God Divine Seal, or else you may fall into the demonic path."

The Demon God Divine Seal shattered, and the dark world descended.

Zhang Xingyu once again felt his way forward in the darkness.

After a quarter hour, a faint glimmer appeared ahead once more.

Zhang Xingyu cautiously approached the glowing spot, then he froze.

What glowed was a shattered golden skeleton.

The skeleton's skull was shattered, with a white crystal set in its center.

Before Zhang Xingyu could speak to ask, the System suddenly spoke.

"Strange, another deity has fallen. Could this be a battlefield of deities?"

Zhang Xingyu reached out and took the crystal from atop the skull.

"Ding dong, host has obtained another Divine Seal. This Divine Seal has forty‑nine faces, of which forty‑eight are already damaged."

"Ding dong, ding dong, after this System's appraisal, this Divine Seal contains a High‑tier Divine Sword Technique."

"Ding dong, host, do you wish to learn that divine art?"

"Ding dong, host spends 10,000 points of God Yuan Value to acquire the High‑tier Divine Sword Technique of the Divine Clan."

Zhang Xingyu's heart raced.

He felt a mix of excitement and doubt.

Lately, his luck has been unnaturally good.

He jumped off a cliff and somehow obtained two high‑tier divine arts.

Calming his excitement, he pressed on to explore further.

After walking dozens of steps forward, two clusters of golden light appeared ahead again.

Zhang Xingyu slowly approached the light clusters and discovered that the glow came from two fist‑sized golden stones.

One stone was golden with white specks, the other golden with black flecks.

"System, system, call......"

"Stop the noise, this System is appraising! Ding dong, congratulations host, you have obtained two low‑grade Divine Source Stones." The System's voice was joyful.

"Divine Source Stone? Low purity?" Zhang Xingyu couldn't figure it out.

"Divine Source Stones are condensed from divine fluid. Depending on the purity of the contained divine fluid, they are usually classified into low, medium, high, and supreme grades," the System explained patiently.

"There are two Divine Source Stones here; does that mean two deities once fell at this place?" Zhang Xingyu asked further.

"Exactly, didn't you just see their remains earlier?" the System replied.

Bending down to pick up the two Divine Source Stones, Zhang Xingyu sighed, "Who would have thought that lofty, immortal deities could also fall?"

"What's so strange? Though deities break the shackles of life, they still cannot escape the fate of death!" the System seemed to answer and lament.

Mid‑sentence, the Divine Source Stones in his hand transformed into two meteors that plunged into Zhang Xingyu's forehead.

Within the Divine Court.

Two Divine Source Stones hovered above the Divine Sea.

The System Black Diamond circled the two Divine Source Stones once, then chattered, "Host, host, you are truly fortunate. With these two Divine Source Stones, your Divine Embryo will soon be successfully conceived."

"Divine Embryo?"

The System Black Diamond gave no explanation, merely whispered to Zhang Xingyu's spirit thread, "Host, quickly summon your Extermination Immortal Sword Technique and shatter these two Divine Source Stones."

"Why shatter them?"

"The divine source of these two Divine Source Stones is tightly sealed, preventing direct extraction of the God Yuan within."

"Oh! Who would have thought the System also has its down days!" Zhang Xingyu thought to himself.

"Stop daydreaming and get to work!" the System urged.

Zhang Xingyu halted his reverie and gently summoned the sword light in the void.

The sword light flashed.

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

The two Divine Source Stones shattered in response.

The System Great Deity poked its head out of the void, emitting beams of golden light.

The light fell upon the fragments of the Divine Source Stones, which began to melt slowly.

Moments later, fierce winds rose and torrential rain poured down.