Chapter 310

Accompanied by the grinding sound of the guillotine sliding down its track, thirty thousand gleaming blades descended in sequence from valley to peak, each aimed at the Goddess of Wealth's neck.

The blade at the very bottom of the valley had merely severed her hair, leaving only a faint indentation on her skin, causing little to no injury.

The blades slightly higher managed to pierce her skin before halting abruptly; but those mounted on the mountain's mid-slope had truly cut into flesh, drawn blood, and shattered bone.

Valley, foothill, mid-slope, ridge… the higher the guillotine's position, the deeper it sank into flesh and bone upon falling.

When the final guillotine at the peak descended and cleanly split the "convict" with wide, staring eyes in two, the remaining twenty-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine blades, as if spurred by some unseen force, all plunged downward in unison.

"Crack!"

…

"Rumble-rumble-rumble!"

Watching over twenty thousand severed heads—still wide-eyed—roll down the slope like red footballs, Li Ang, half-crouched near the peak, sucked in a sharp breath, feeling a chill along his exposed nape—as if the guillotine's edge had brushed his own neck… or perhaps it had.

He turned his neck stiffly, seeing the massive guillotine above him teetering but ultimately not falling; despite his injuries leaving him barely able to speak, Li Ang somehow mustered a sliver of strength, trembling as he climbed up from the half-formed guillotine platform beneath him.

Fortunately… fortunately, Emma's Bloodthirsty Execution Platform could capture only thirty thousand targets at most.

After using the Conjoint Punishment Law's effect to execute the Goddess of Wealth exactly thirty thousand times, the Bloodthirsty Execution Platform could no longer capture additional targets—otherwise, he too might have been dragged up and sliced in half.

"Don't… just stand there…"

As Li Ang descended the platform, trembling as he touched his own neck, the lazy youth on the ground groaned weakly:

"I'm… I'm about to bleed out… you… you've got to help me…"

"Coming."

With one last glance at the valley littered with rolling heads, Li Ang grabbed the Contagious Blood Band nearby, treated his lung and throat injuries, then stood, gritting his teeth against the lingering agony, and walked toward the lazy youth dangling upside-down from the jade tree.

"How despicable!"

After Li Ang plucked him from the jade tree, the lazy youth—whose bones had been nearly all broken—snarled in pain:

"A true god, and you dare sneak-attack me without shame!"

"Damn it! If I hadn't known a true god would come, prepared in advance, and if you hadn't bought my injuries and forcibly pulled me back, we'd have been done before we even moved!"

"…"

Though we were standing aside, logically speaking, when she attacked you, you were already planning to ambush her—morally speaking, you're both equally rotten.

"It was dangerous just now, but thankfully, the outcome was decent."

After offering a half-hearted agreement, Li Ang bandaged the lazy youth while murmuring with faint relief:

"The Goddess of Wealth has been killed by Elder Emma. Once she finishes processing her, I'll find a way to resolve the issues on her body—we'll have…"

"It's not that easy."

Interrupting Li Ang, the slumped youth sighed heavily:

"She's a true god. My ritual was rushed, Emma has been imprisoned too long and isn't at her peak—we may have destroyed her body, but we're far from eliminating her completely!"

As if to prove the lazy youth's judgment, the moment he finished speaking, a piercing scream erupted from the jade valley, where countless heads rolled:

"You… you're going to die for this!"

As the blood net entangling her was severed by the guillotines, the Goddess of Wealth regained her mobility; the falling heads shrieked hysterically, and the thirty thousand corpses lying beside the execution stands slowly and shakily rose to their feet!

Destruction restored the Wealth Goddess's mobility; the heads rolling down began screaming hysterically, and the thirty thousand divine corpses lying beside the execution stand slowly rose to their feet again!

As if anticipating this, Elder Emma—whose entire body was covered in emerald wounds, half her left arm turned to jade—immediately drew a slender silver stiletto and plunged it into the heart of the corpse beneath her feet, pinning her firmly to the ground.

Then, the oddly shaped stiletto split apart; thin iron chains clattered down from the hilt, and the two half-moon guards at the tail automatically detached and fell, becoming two small trays bound by chains, clinking against the blade—transforming into a strange set of scales.

Instantly, the corpse's chest caved inward; a golden heart, dripping blood and thrashing wildly, appeared on the left tray, forcing the right tray to lift high. A massive crocodile phantom slowly rose from the valley's base, greedily fixated on the golden heart above the scales.

"The Crocodile God lurks beneath the Scale of Judgment; your heart rests on the left."

Stepping on the writhing corpse, pale-faced Elder Emma pulled out a white goose feather with fine down and tossed it onto the right tray, then chanted in a deep, obscure tone:

"The Swan's Feather falls upon the right of Judgment, to weigh the weight of sin!"

"If your good deeds outweigh the feather, your heart will be lighter than down—you shall ascend to Heaven and enjoy bliss."

"If you've committed unforgivable sins, and your heart outweighs the feather, the Crocodile God's maw shall be your end!"

As Elder Emma finished speaking, the goose feather drifting toward the right tray suddenly felt the pull of gravity—CLANG—it dropped into the right tray, causing the left tray to jerk upward sharply.

Yet as the feather "landed," the bloody heart on the left was activated: its crimson blood vanished, replaced by alternating streams of gold and black fluid, dripping steadily onto the tray.

Each time the clear, light gold fluid spilled, the tray lifted slightly; each time the thick, heavy black fluid gushed forth, the tray holding the heart plunged downward.

After roughly a minute and a half, the Goddess of Wealth's heart had fully collapsed; the tray was filled with murky black fluid streaked with faint gold, forcing the right tray holding the feather high into the air.

After about a minute and a half, the Wealth Goddess's heart collapsed completely; a murky black liquid tinged with faint gold had filled the tray, lifting the right tray holding the feathers high into the air.

Before Elder Emma could pronounce judgment, the crocodile phantom at the valley's base lifted its head in delight, emitting a low, guttural roar; the ground beneath the thirty thousand corpses turned into murky mud, and one after another, crocodile phantoms emerged…

Before Emma could speak her judgment, the crocodile phantom at the bottom of the Emerald Valley lifted its head in delight, letting out a low, hoarse roar; the ground beneath the thirty thousand divine corpses instantly turned into murky mire, one crocodile phantom after another rising to the surface…

"GET OUT!!!"

As countless crocodile phantoms surfaced on the "water," preparing to feast on the "sinner's" body, the piled heads in the jade valley all shook violently, shedding their thorned crowns, glaring at the gaping crocodile mouths and bellowing:

"What are you? How dare you covet my flesh? Get out! Go back to the Realm of the Dead! This is not your place!"

Having momentarily silenced the restless Crocodile God, the corpse pinned by Elder Emma writhed again, gripping the stiletto embedded in her chest, ignoring her bleeding palms, and using brute strength to pull upward.

Meanwhile, the countless heads in the valley turned their eyes en masse toward pale-faced Elder Emma, veins bulging, eyes filled with malice, roaring:

"I am a true god! True god! And you are merely a mortal!"

"Listen well! No matter what I've done, you have no right to judge me!"

"Your only duty is to kneel before me, offer all your value—even your soul! Surrender everything to me!"

As the Goddess of Wealth struggled, the long stiletto piercing her chest was slowly, steadily pulled out; the crocodile phantoms hovering around the jade valley hesitated, closed their mouths, and retreated slightly—though not fully, they seemed ready to flee at any moment.

"Damn it, we won't even kill her body now."

Seeing this, the lazy youth on the peak sighed, staring at Emma's jade-tinged hand:

"Emma's condition is worse than I thought. I thought she'd just fail to activate the Pivot of the Dead and couldn't destroy the Goddess's soul—but I didn't expect she couldn't even hold the Scale of Judgment."

"Elder Tang Mu!"

Watching the situation in the jade valley collapse, Li Ang cried urgently:

"Don't just stand there talking—think of a solution! Maybe another ritual, or…"

"How? With what?"

Weakly raising his right hand, the lazy youth showed Li Ang his shriveled veins, then snapped irritably:

"I bled dry just to trap her. Your pathetic bandages barely keep me from organ failure—there's not a drop of blood restored.

And mystical rituals are just loopholes for borrowing power—whether from the world, other true gods, or past and future—you need something to borrow from.

But this place isn't our world; it's a fragment of the God of Agriculture and Pastoralism's Paradise. I can't borrow any power from the original world.

Worse, the owner of this place is the Goddess of Wealth. Other true gods' power can't enter without her permission—I can't even set up a ritual to borrow anything! Frankly, we should just flee while Emma still holds out—"

Moreover, occult rituals are, at their core, tricks of borrowing power—whether from the world, other true gods, or past and future—they all require something tangible for me to borrow from.

Watching Li Ang pull bottle after bottle from the Mirror World and chug them down furiously, the lazy youth froze, then stared in utter bewilderment:

"Hey, what the hell are you doing? Why are you drinking now instead of running?"

"After I drink… glug-glug… maybe… glug-glug… I can help!"

Seeing the stiletto nearly fully pulled from Elder Emma's grasp, Li Ang ripped the bandages off Tang Mu, fully healed his throat, then, gulping down liquor in huge swallows, staggered toward the valley's base.

"Drink it… glug glug… maybe… glug glug… it'll help!"

Startled by Li Ang's reckless act, the slumped youth watched his retreating back and wanted to leap up and pound his own chest in fury—for having agreed to help rescue him in the first place!

What the hell are you going down there for? Even if you become a true god someday, you're only level three now—what the hell can you possibly do?

Startled by Li Ang's reckless act, the lazy youth sprawled on the ground, unable to move, watched his retreating back as he charged down the valley—how he wished he could leap up and pound his chest in despair, giving his past self a damn good punch for agreeing to help!

What the hell are you going down there for? Even if you become a true god someday, right now you're only level three—what the hell good are you going to do down there?!

Seeing Li Ang climbing down the execution platform toward the valley floor, Emma gasped in shock—she wanted to shout for him to retreat while she still held out, to take Tang Mu and flee, save whoever could.

But the Goddess of Wealth, with thirty thousand eyes, noticed him even sooner.

Seeing the culprit who had opened the Emerald Dream and, with Emma's help, severed her head, the Goddess of Wealth's fury surged; she split part of her consciousness to control a head lodged in the execution frame, sneering:

"Since you came down, you won't leave! You—"

Seeing the culprit who had somehow activated the Dream of Verdant Green and, with Emma's aid, severed its own head, the Wealth Goddess's heart burned with rage; she split off a portion of her consciousness and took control of a head pinned to the execution rack before Li Ang, sneering coldly:

Hearing the Goddess's words, Li Ang—having just finished a bottle of rum—took an extra half-step sideways, swung the half-inch-thick bottle, and smashed it directly onto the Goddess's forehead, silencing her mid-sentence.

"You?!"

Unprepared for such treatment, the Goddess of Wealth—covered in glass shards—flew into a rage; her body, locked in struggle with Emma over the stiletto, shuddered, allowing Emma to shove the blade deeper.

Simultaneously, the remaining twenty-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine headless corpses rose, leaning on the guillotine platforms that had severed their heads, then surged forward in waves toward the descending Li Ang.

Unprepared for such treatment, the Wealth Goddess, her head covered in shards of glass, flew into a furious rage; her body, still struggling with Emma for the stiletto, trembled violently—allowing Emma to shove the blade in another inch.

Seeing Li Ang in danger, Emma clenched her teeth, pouring all her strength into the hilt, trying to force the Goddess to retract her borrowed power.

But the Goddess of Wealth, enraged by the bottle to the head, refused to withdraw her power—even at the cost of letting the Scale of Judgment's stiletto sink back in—instead directing her twenty thousand headless selves to swarm Li Ang.

Seeing Li Ang in danger, Emma clenched her teeth, pouring all her strength into the hilt of the sword, trying to force the Wealth Goddess to retract the power she had stolen.

Facing the flood of headless corpses, Li Ang—having drunk only seventeen or eighteen bottles, far from activating the Immortal in the Bottle—felt his scalp tighten; he spun around, desperate to retreat the way he came, wait until he was properly drunk, then come back down.

But he was already halfway down the mountain; the only path back was completely blocked by a dense wall of headless corpses—no escape!

Facing the frenzied tide of headless divine corpses, Li Ang, who had only just drunk seventeen or eighteen bottles of liquor and was far from activating the Wine Immortal, felt his scalp go numb; he spun around instantly, desperate to retreat the way he came, waiting until he'd drunk enough before coming back down.

But he was already halfway down the mountain—the only path back, his sole escape route, was now completely blocked by a dense throng of headless divine corpses, leaving him with no way out!

A complete true god is beyond him—but this one, split into thirty thousand parts, her soul pinned at the valley's bottom, her head severed—surely he could still struggle a little?

Pulling out the spiked club from Elder Emma's office, Li Ang did not activate the Executioner's Gear's abnormal abilities—he swung it like a simple weapon and charged headlong into the crowd of gods.

A complete true god might be unbeatable, but a headless true god whose power has been split into thirty thousand parts, whose soul has been nailed to the bottom of the valley by Elder Emma, and whose head has even been chopped off—surely he could still struggle a little?

After retrieving the spiked club from Elder Emma's office, Li Ang did not activate the Executioner Set's abnormal ability; instead, he swung the spiked club like an ordinary weapon and charged straight into the crowd of gods.

Immediately afterward, a faint, flickering demon ram phantom appeared silently behind Li Ang, once again spreading thick, rolling smoke around him, glowing with tiny red sparks and burning hot enough to sear the lungs.

"I declare this a war!"