Chapter 153: The Masses as Fuel, Summon the Gods to Burn the Heavens

At this very moment.

Jin City's tens of thousands of citizens…

All bow down!

This bow is to revere the Han spirit that shields this city.

This knock thanks the figure who bears calamity with his body, burning his own lifespan to light countless households!

Incense prayers, the power of wishes, the torrent of faith…

Intangible and formless, yet heavier than mountains and seas, it soars into the heavens!

……

Outside the Wuhou Shrine, at the entrance to the Ancient Street.

Dead silence.

Unlike the blood‑born zeal and devotion of the city's masses.

The atmosphere here is so oppressive it takes the breath away.

The closer one gets, the stronger the power, the more one perceives the terrifying, world‑shattering horror within the Light Curtain!

Moreover…

Many among them know that inside is not some spontaneously manifested Han Spirit.

That figure is Jing!

It is the Jing that, in the perception of the overwhelming majority, is a fleeting bloom that fades into darkness!

Qiang Wei Squad.

The women's expressions are grim.

Ling Xi's delicate body was drenched in cold sweat, her complexion as white as paper.

She saw, beyond the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea she had foreseen, the skeletal remains of deities…

A clearer, even more terrifying vision!

All things wither!

That is an end even the gods cannot escape!

And the unfulfilled will of heroic souls, the final sorrow that burns within the withering!

"This is… my king!"

Mengdie stands alone at the front of everyone.

She gazes foolishly at the figure within the Light Curtain that unites three souls into one, fighting to madness.

Once upon a time.

She was still uneasy because the soul chain with Su Ming had been temporarily severed.

But now she understands how laughable her own scope is.

When the master's radiance can illuminate an entire city, when his divine might can make all the people bow…

What does that fragile soul chain amount to?

It is no longer needed.

From this moment on, the whole city are his followers!

The entire sky is his divine miracle!

She, Mengdie, how fortunate she is.

She managed to become the first apostle to offer all her faith and kneel before this young deity who walks among mortals!

Everyone's spirit is locked onto the fierce battle on the sky curtain.

No one notices.

Behind the crowd, Jingzhe's body trembles slightly.

It is not fear.

It is excitement!

It is a shiver!

It is a pilgrimage born from the deepest part of a warrior's soul!

She has never read the Spring and Autumn Annals, nor understands what righteousness is.

But just now!

When Su Ming, on the sky curtain, held a knife in his left hand and brazenly unleashed the Spring Autumn·Severing the Mountain technique!

In her view, she saw a red‑faced, long‑bearded general, under a solitary lamp, holding bamboo slips, studying military texts at night.

That composure, unburdened by worldly concerns, with only the character Yi—a thousand‑kilogram righteousness—transformed into the sharpest, most concentrated cold glint on the blade!

When Su Ming swept his long spear with his right hand, executing the Sun‑Facing·Sky‑Rending technique, the heavens shuddered!

In her ears rang the tiger's roar and dragon's chant that could split rivers!

The fierce warrior with a leopard‑head helm and encircling eyes, amid a million troops, thrust his spear upright on horseback.

Behind him lies home and nation; there is no retreat!

That fury and valor that incinerates the eight directions becomes an unmatched blade on the spear that tears everything apart!

Around Jingzhe, a faint dark aura silently surfaced, lingering without dispersing.

Her body, inexplicably, began to move on its own.

Her right foot stepped back half a pace, her waist lowered slightly.

An exceedingly archaic opening move, yet containing infinite variation and power, formed naturally.

She seems… to understand.

The ultimate of martial arts is not a faster sword, nor a stronger force.

It is Will!

It is to merge that will capable of shaking heaven and earth into every drop of one's blood, into every breath!

This, then, is the path to the Divine Warrior…

The only path!

Within Hell.

That Withering Divine Sword that spans heaven and earth, wrapped in the deathly silence of countless cosmic ends, brazenly slashes down.

The Rotting Son's voice echoes in every inch of space.

This is…

The final judgment of a deity!

"Forcing me to use the Taboo…"

"You ant, you die where you belong!"

Su Ming's temples were speckled with white hair, his skin was withered, and his expression was as grave as possible.

He could feel the three surging heroic soul forces within his body, wildly draining under the Withering Rule of this sword.

The sense of powerlessness stemming from the source of life engulfed him like icy seawater.

This is the true power of a Myth-level existence.

Speak, and the law follows!

It says you should be old, then you cannot be young.

It says the soul should return to silence, then the soul cannot be retained.

Even if the Eight Formation Diagram has suppressed ninety percent of Divinity…

The remaining power is still a Heaven Rift that mortals cannot cross.

Power cannot keep up with the will!

"Is it… ending…?"

Su Ming clenched his teeth, his tri‑colored interwoven pupils fixed on the slowly descending blade.

But at that moment.

His body suddenly jolted.

"Hm?"

The life force being wildly ripped away, its rate of loss…

Slowed down?!

No!

It's not slowed!

It is a brand‑new, completely different power…

Continuously surging from the outside into his body!

Gentle, pure, yet as vast as the sea!

Like a spring breeze turning to rain, it nourishes his soon‑to‑dry source of life.

His withered skin regains its luster!

The speckled temples also begin to turn black inch by inch!

This is not the physical restoration brought by Source Blood.

But the most direct confrontation and reversal of the Withering Rule!

"This is…"

In Su Ming's eyes, a miniature golden star disc spun wildly.

Insight!

He saw it!

Countless threads emitting a warm glow came from the void!

Passing through layer upon layer, he saw even more…

The whole Jin City, ten thousand households' lights, the threads flowing!

From the windows jutting out of tall buildings.

From the bustling street stalls.

From the kneeling, countless figures on the ground…

Each thread represents the most devout prayer, the purest trust.

Ten thousand threads converge into a river, crossing the boundary between reality and illusion, pouring entirely into his body!

"So that's it!"

Su Ming's expression was complex.

He, a fellow whose both hands were drenched in blood, even willing to become a Heavenly Demon…

At this moment, he was saved by the simplest yet most sincere wish power in the world.

How heavy!

"No… impossible!"

The Rotting Son also sensed the anomaly.

The Withering Divine Sword was unexpectedly held firmly by an invisible force, unable to advance any further!

Its Decay Rule, which could cause a world to end prematurely…

It is being wildly neutralized and offset by that vast wish‑power from the outside!

"What kind of power is this?! Faith?!"

Its voice changed tone again.

But soon, it still grasped the cause and effect!

It is that Light Curtain that envelops the entire city, revealing the battle.

It…

It has been set up again!

Back then, when Jiang Wei's lingering soul cooperated with it, he proposed…

to amplify the uproar, creating heavenly and earthly phenomena.

This would better spread the scent of Decay and fear into the present world!

Planting seeds of despair in those mortals' Human Heart, making them comprehend the terror of the Han, and facilitating its later harvest!

It thought the proposal was good back then.

But now, looking at it…

It was a ruse from beginning to end!

The true purpose was to make the whole city witness this battle!

To see someone give up life for the protection of this city!

Thus harvesting the wish‑power of ten thousand households sufficient to overturn divine punishment!

"But… how could that be?!"

"A bunch of life‑loving, death‑fearing, ignorant mortals…"

"How could they develop such devout faith toward a being they meet for the first time?!"

It cannot comprehend.

It completely exceeds its understanding of living beings' Emotion!

Moreover…

Treating the thoughts of ten thousand people as pieces to influence the operation of its own Rule…

Who could calculate Human Heart and the situation to this degree?!

Too terrifying!

Which link exactly went wrong?!

In the dim void, its Divinity consciousness pierced countless obstacles, locking onto a corner of the Eight Formation Diagram.

Locking onto that calm phantom wielding a Feather Fan, overlooking the whole scene!

Is it Jiang Wei?!

It seemed to sense that overwhelming resentment and bewilderment.

The phantom with Feather Fan and silk kerchief slowly opened its eyes.

Those eyes that have watched stars revolve and calculated the rise and fall of dynasties bore a trace of compassion and a trace of insight.

"What Liang calculates is neither Heaven, nor Earth, nor deity nor demon."

"But… Human Heart."

"Water can carry a boat, and also capsize it."

"Where Human Heart points, that is the Mandate of Heaven."

"You defy the heavens, taking Decay as the path, treating all living beings as food."

"How could you know that the lights of ten thousand households can also…"

"Burn the heavens!"