Chapter 379 - 374: Peeling Back the Layers, the Nether Mirror Appears
Giant Stone City Ruins.
A courtyard.
The Withered Wood Elder lay on a rattan chair.
His body flickered and wavered like a holographic projection with a bad signal, giving off a sense of instability.
A deep, gray-green Spiritual Qi could be clearly seen flowing from his body like a cloud of mist, dissipating and drifting in all directions.
This was his very essence.
As the land spirit of the divine kingdom, his very existence was shaken by the kingdom’s collapse.
But the Withered Wood Elder was not worried. A comfortable smile bloomed on his old, wrinkled face.
"Finally..."
"Freedom at last!"
The Withered Wood Elder said excitedly. As the gray-green Spiritual Qi flowed out, a great deal of filthy, black-and-red sin was also being drawn from his body, like silk being pulled from a cocoon.
This was the sin he had accumulated over thousands of years as the ’God of Mist Forest,’ defying the will of the world!
The Withered Wood Elder calculated, ’After abandoning my divinity and divine office and offering myself as a sacrifice, more than half of the accumulated sin on my body has already dissipated...’
’And after the Orbit began, using the descendant with old Divine Blood to orchestrate a great flood and destroy the Mist Forest Divine Kingdom really did replicate the ancient myth of the old gods ending an era and cleansing the earth!’
Offering his body as a sacrifice, returning the Dao to the heavens!
The old gods destroying the world, ending an era!
With the changing of an era, everything was reshuffled, and the sin would naturally vanish!
He composed himself and continued to ponder.
’According to the current situation...’
’When the divine kingdom’s destruction reaches about eighty percent, all the sin on my body will be cleared to zero!’
’At that time...’
’I’ll be free from the shackles of sin, transcendent and unbound in a single stroke!’
The Withered Wood Elder muttered to himself, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes as he spoke with excitement.
"Next is to seize the divinity of the other gods... and use their blood as a sacrifice to attain my new life!"
The Withered Wood Elder had invested a terrifying amount into this Orbit. How could he be satisfied with merely cleansing his sins?!
After all, his state was intrinsically linked to the divine kingdom. Once the kingdom was destroyed, the best-case scenario for him was being unable to sustain his existence and undergoing reincarnation!
This kind of reincarnation was different from rebirth.
He couldn’t retain his Personhood.
He couldn’t retain his power.
Even his memories...
...it was hard to say how much would remain. It would all depend on luck!
He also wouldn’t be able to choose his background. It was entirely possible he’d be reborn into a slave’s family or have no talent for cultivation!
A true reroll!
The only upside was the guarantee of being reborn as a human.
A consolation prize, perhaps?
And this was the treatment he would get only after his sins were cleansed!
Otherwise, with the sins of a Southern Deity, the only outcome after death would be a backlash of sin that would obliterate his soul, annihilating even his True Spirit!
But even this relatively ’preferential’ reroll was not something the Withered Wood Elder was willing to accept.
What if he rerolled into the slave class or had no cultivation talent? Wouldn’t that be ’hell mode’? Game over right from the start?
Even if he got lucky with his rebirth and had cultivation talent, to return to the realm of a god... the odds were simply...
Infinitesimal!
The Withered Wood Elder was no gambling degenerate; he truly didn’t dare to take that bet!
Besides, even if he were blessed with great luck and everything went smoothly...
...and after reincarnating, he successfully returned to the realm of a god... would that newborn deity still be him?
"So..."
"Compared to the ethereal uncertainty of reincarnation, I’d much rather hold everything in my own hands!"
The Withered Wood Elder clenched his fist, his eyes flickering.
His choice was to cultivate the Golden Fruit and use it as a medium to refine a physical body for himself!
In the history of the Far South Continent, the Golden Fruit could transform into a sun, sustaining the world’s operation and nourishing all living things!
Even if it wasn’t fully mature, its power was more than enough to refine a near-divine physical body!
At that point, the Withered Wood Elder’s body and soul would merge, and he would instantly step into the near-divine realm (Tier Four Peak)!
Using such a cultivation level as a starting point, achieving godhood would be a trivial matter.
And even...
’The path of a god is restricted by the world, making it difficult to be free.’
’Yaoguang’s Spiritual Mechanism Immortal Dao seems quite good, though?’
’Withered Wood True Monarch?’
’Withered Wood Daoist Monarch?’
The Withered Wood Elder chuckled.
Then, he regained his composure and muttered, "Once the flood grows a bit larger, it will be time to hand over the entire Annihilation Secret Scripture to him!"
"A maddened descendant of the old gods versus an avatar of Nether Mirror. Perfect..." The Withered Wood Elder cackled grimly.
However, at that very moment.
His expression changed abruptly as he looked toward the edge of the city!
His gaze pierced through the ruined walls, and the Withered Wood Elder saw a young man from the Far South Continent, dressed in a gold and white robe with a long braid, step into the city!
"Hiss..."
The Withered Wood Elder’s pupils constricted!
One of the Four Pillar Gods!
Nether Mirror!
"How did he get here so fast?!" The Withered Wood Elder was caught completely off guard.
Ever since Nether Mirror entered the divine kingdom, he had been constantly spending Divine Power to misdirect him, buying time to avoid a direct confrontation!
This strategy, coupled with the random directional teleportation upon entering the divine kingdom, had separated Nether Mirror from his two subordinate gods, allowing them to be defeated one by one.
But now, that strategy had failed!
He had not yet driven Su Ye mad, but Nether Mirror had already come knocking!
’Too fast! This is trouble!’
The Withered Wood Elder frowned.
Once again, the situation had spun out of his control!
Then, he gritted his teeth, a fierce look on his face. "Then I have no choice but to..."
BZZM.
A ripple of Divine Power spread out.
It radiated into the distance, as if summoning something!
Faced with the encroaching crisis, the Withered Wood Elder had no choice but to play his trump card.
—The Tier Five Mutated Creatures!
...
Meanwhile, his gold and white robes sweeping the ground, Nether Mirror strolled leisurely down the city streets.
Before him, a dense, terrifying horde of Fungal Living Dead had all but taken over the entire street. They trampled over one another, roaring as they lunged at him!
It was a terrifying scene, like something out of a zombie apocalypse.
"Boring."
Nether Mirror’s expression was composed as he spoke lightly.
SNAP.
He snapped his fingers.
Time seemed to freeze.
Throughout the entirety of the Giant Stone City Ruins, the hundreds of thousands of Fungal Living Dead came to a standstill!
BZZM!
Beneath the Fungal Living Dead, their shadows suddenly came to life!
SWOOSH!
The shadows surged upward, their dark tentacles dancing wildly as they tightly bound the Fungal Living Dead!
Then, like a giant squid capturing its prey, each shadow dragged its corresponding living corpse into itself!
They vanished without a trace!
Living shadows that drag their owners into the darkness?!
Such a method was already beyond all reason!
After dealing with the city full of living dead, Nether Mirror’s expression remained unchanged, placid and ancient.
Perhaps to him, this was just a trivial matter?
Immediately after, he took a step, employing a technique that seemed to shrink the land with every inch.
He advanced rapidly toward the courtyard where the Withered Wood Elder was located!
Crisis!
But... at that very moment.
BOOM!
A thunderous roar echoed through the air!
The ground trembled violently, as if some colossal beast was stampeding toward them!
"Oh?"
Nether Mirror turned his head.
...