Chapter 388 - 383: What Is Dead May Never Die, but Rises Again
"This..."
"This is the light of the sun! How is this possible?!"
The Withered Wood Elder roared in shock.
He couldn’t help but be astonished!
At this moment, the aura of power emanating from Nether Mirror was completely different from the netherworldly energy he had displayed before!
Pure, sacred, and immense!
This was the radiant power of the sun!
This was simply... inconceivable!
The Withered Wood Elder knew that Nether Mirror was a primordial god!
Unlike a mortal who ascended to godhood, a primordial god was deeply bound to their own foundational attribute. One could even say they were the worldly manifestation of their domain itself!
This bond granted primordial gods tyrannical power from the moment of their birth!
Even existences like sacred beasts and unique species could hardly compare!
But at the same time, this also limited their potential.
It made it incredibly difficult for primordial gods like him to expand their divine duties, even into adjacent, similar domains.
As for Nether Mirror expanding his own netherworldly domain into the completely opposite, entirely different Solar Domain?
Absurd!
It was as absurd as America, the big brother of the free world, suddenly announcing it was going to follow the path of Kangmi starting today!
What’s more...
The Solar Domain wasn’t like the War Domain, whose god had fallen, leaving the position vacant to this day!
On the contrary, it was the exclusive domain of the king of all gods throughout the ages, the Sun God King!
"To steal the sun’s brilliance... you..."
The Withered Wood Elder was at a loss for words. For a brief moment, a thought even crossed his mind: ’Losing to a monster like this wouldn’t be so bad.’
After all, the two prerequisites for obtaining the sun’s power were reversing his netherworldly origin and stealing the sun’s brilliance!
In the Withered Wood Elder’s view, both of these tasks were of an absolutely hellish difficulty!
The difficulty of either one was no less than that of his divine kingdom ritual—perhaps even greater!
So then...
With such terrifying difficulty...
and such harsh conditions...
...just how terrifying was the power gained upon achieving them?
The combination of [War] and [Wisdom] chosen by the Wisdom Goddess Metis was considered dual-main-god level.
But Nether Mirror’s power over light and darkness could be called something else entirely.
—Dual Divine King-level!
BUZZ!
"I am the rising sun at dawn! I am the master of the long night!"
Nether Mirror chanted.
The moment these words were spoken, a brilliant golden-white light erupted within the divine kingdom!
Another sun rose in the sky!
"Sinner, repent in the sun’s brilliance!"
Nether Mirror’s golden eyes flashed. His voice was majestic, like the king of ten thousand gods passing judgment.
BUZZ!
The cold, golden-white sun shed its vast holy light upon the Rotting Tree Dragon. Its huge, bloated, and deformed body instantly burst into flames as if it had been doused in gasoline!
"AGH!"
"You thief who stole the sun’s brilliance! You have no right to judge me!"
The Rotting Tree Dragon thrashed wildly, its voice shrill and ear-piercing. In a frenzy, it charged toward Nether Mirror!
"Steal?"
"Light and shadow share the same origin!"
Nether Mirror’s tone was grim. A sun-sword, radiating a majestic and holy aura, materialized in his hand!
This was not a Divine Artifact. Nether Mirror did not possess a Sun Divine Artifact; such a unique item belonged exclusively to the Sun God. But he could use his Divine Domain to manifest a weapon!
SCHLICK!
The sun-sword, wreathed in holy flames, pierced the Rotting Tree Dragon, blasting open a bloody hole!
A torrent of dark-red, foul blood gushed out. Within it, tiny black runes squirmed and swam like living things, brimming with the power of curses!
The foul blood shot toward Nether Mirror like arrows.
HISS.
Holy flames ignited on his body, forming a shield that dissolved the cursed blood arrows!
But just then, Nether Mirror’s expression changed. His Holy Flame Shield suddenly developed numerous dark patches, like sunspots on the surface of the sun!
PSSSH!
At these dark spots, the Holy Flame Shield’s Defense Power was greatly reduced, and the blood arrows pierced through!
In an instant!
Several arrows of foul, cursed blood struck Nether Mirror’s body!
Nether Mirror’s body trembled. Large patches of corruption appeared on his skin as snake-like, blood-red tendrils spread outwards!
This change quite surprised even the Withered Wood Elder.
According to his estimates, it should have been impossible for those cursed blood arrows to penetrate the Holy Flame Shield!
Besides, even if they had hit, with Nether Mirror’s power, shouldn’t suppressing these malevolent blood arrows have been easy?
But then, a realization flashed through the Withered Wood Elder’s mind!
He laughed with wild joy. "As expected, you sinner who stole the sun’s brilliance! How could the power of radiance be so easily controlled?!"
Nether Mirror’s Solar Domain was clearly still in its infancy, full of flaws!
That was why the Holy Flame Shield he had just summoned was flawed, allowing the cursed blood arrows to pierce it!
And as one of the Southern Deities, the malevolent power within Nether Mirror’s body was also terrifyingly immense; he had merely suppressed it with his heaven-defying cultivation!
But manipulating the sun’s power placed an enormous strain on Nether Mirror.
Add to that the series of fierce battles from before...
...and, as the straw that broke the camel’s back, the cursed blood arrows containing malevolent power!
Finally, the accumulated malevolent power in Nether Mirror’s body was triggered, causing a backlash!
"Cough, cough..."
Nether Mirror coughed up blood repeatedly.
The Withered Wood Elder was overjoyed and attacked relentlessly!
"Nether Mirror, die for me!"
"Fog Forest..." Nether Mirror grit his teeth.
He knew very well that both he and the Withered Wood Elder were running on fumes, holding on by a thread.
At a time like this, the contest was no longer about Divine Techniques or Magical Power!
It was about which of them had more grit to win!
’I... will absolutely be the one to win!’
A golden-white light flashed in Nether Mirror’s eyes!
He forcibly suppressed the backlash of malevolent power in his body, raised his sun-sword, and slashed at the Withered Wood Elder!
...
BUZZ.
「A quarter of an hour later.」
The battle’s victor was decided!
SHLICK!
The head of the Rotting Tree Dragon was severed by the sun-sword and fell to the ground.
"Impossible..."
"I can’t accept this..." the Withered Wood Elder wailed.
His hoarse voice was filled with despair and indignation!
’After all my scheming, all my plans... did I still fail in the end?’
"I hate..."
The Withered Wood Elder’s voice grew faint, then scattered in the wind.
"Huu..." After killing the Withered Wood Elder, the faintly glowing sun-sword in Nether Mirror’s hand instantly dissipated.
THUD.
He collapsed to his knees, his image completely shattered.
One could see that his entire body was covered in black-and-red marks of spreading corruption!
’So weak... How long has it been since I was this weak...?’
’But thank goodness, I finally won!’
As Nether Mirror thought this, he prepared to reach out and grab the golden fruit.
But at that moment...
SHINK!
A sharp, golden-red arrow, overflowing with the aura of death, struck him in the chest!
"What...?"
A look of disbelief appeared on Nether Mirror’s face.
His body stiffened. He slowly turned his head to look behind him.
There stood Su Ye, dressed in a deep black robe gilded with gold, a smile on his face. Behind him, the golden-red, bow-wielding figure of [End of Tracing Origin] slowly faded away!
"You..."
Nether Mirror’s heart was filled with shock.
"Farewell."
Su Ye didn’t waste words.
He raised his Moonfall Halberd and, with a swift strike, lopped off Nether Mirror’s head!