Chapter 628: Divine Format
Only where Xu Yunfan stood, within a ten-foot radius around him, was the ground as clean as new, unstained by dust.
"It seems you’re not much of a Divine Spirit, after all."
Hearing Xu Yunfan’s cold words, Delis prepared to retort.
Her lips parted, but the words had yet to form in her throat.
Xu Yunfan moved.
He neither teleported nor tore through space.
That single step followed the twisted, tangled Cause and Effect Threads that had suddenly become clear before his eyes.
It was the very manifestation of pure causality—a Law invisible, inaudible, and intangible to mortals.
Reflected in Delis’s rapidly contracting pupils was the sight of Xu Yunfan’s form ignoring the barrier of her Divine Country. Like a pebble tossed into a pond, he created a nearly imperceptible ripple in the Rules, and then his figure vanished from her sight.
The next instant.
Xu Yunfan set foot on the soil of Delis’s Divine Country.
This so-called Divine Country was not made of physical land. It was a foundation of faith, solidified and woven from the devout will and faint Divine Power of countless believers.
His arrival was like a Stubborn Stone dropped into the heart of a tranquil lake.
The Divine Country Space groaned, unable to bear his presence. Centered on his landing spot, visible cracks instantly spiderwebbed outwards, like a shattered Glazed Cup.
"Fanatic from the Outer Realm!"
Delis was horrified beyond belief.
She was a Deity of this realm, and this was her absolute domain. Yet now, someone had brutally forced their way in.
In her shock and rage, she had no time to ponder how he had entered. All that remained was the furious terror of having her sacred core invaded.
An immense power of faith, accumulated over a millennium, instantly converged in her hand. It formed a dazzlingly brilliant Spear of Judgment, its tip wreathed in sacred flames hot enough to melt gold, smelt iron, and purify all creation.
The Rules of the Divine Country empowered it. Countless arcane Runes etched themselves upon the spear’s shaft, channeling the full might of the Divine Country. With irresistible power, it tore through space, aimed directly between Xu Yunfan’s eyes.
It moved faster than lightning.
Its power was so immense it could make the heavens and earth themselves pale in comparison.
Xu Yunfan didn’t even fully turn.
Facing a blow that could pierce mountains, he simply raised his right hand.
His movement wasn’t fast. It was clearly visible, possessing an almost lazy casualness.
He opened his hand, palm facing forward.
There was no earth-shattering collision, no blinding storm of energy.
The Spear of Judgment—condensed from all of Delis’s Divine Power and bearing the will of her Divine Country—stopped dead as if it had struck an invisible wall, just an inch from Xu Yunfan’s palm.
HUM!
The moment the sacred flames at the spear’s tip touched the formless barrier, they flickered out like a candle doused with ice water, instantly dimming and dissipating.
The Runes flowing across the spear’s shaft flickered frantically, attempting to draw in more Divine Power, but in the next instant, they went completely dark.
It ultimately dissipated before Xu Yunfan’s eyes without stirring so much as a breeze.
Xu Yunfan’s palm remained outstretched. There wasn’t a single crease on his sleeve.
The furious, twisted expression on Delis’s face froze, replaced by a bone-deep terror.
Xu Yunfan’s gaze landed on her. He no longer looked at her as an enemy, but as an object to be appraised.
’This goddess is rather weak. A perfect starting point. It wasn’t a waste of time finding this place.’
He did not retract his outstretched hand. He simply clenched his fingers into a fist in the air.
The Divine Country Space let out an agonized cry, as if it were about to collapse.
Delis felt an indescribable, terrifying power instantly descend upon her.
She was pinned in place by invisible shackles, unable to move even her eyes. She was like a painted statue instantly encased in amber, terror frozen deep within her gaze.
This was his Talent Divine Technique, the Arctic Purple Star Suppressing Evil Qi.
It could be used for the Suppression of Fiends, but it could also be used to suppress people. Naturally, it could easily control her.
Xu Yunfan strode before her, so close he could see the most intricate patterns on her Divine Robe.
His gaze didn’t linger on her beautiful, terrified face. It passed straight through her divine form, locking onto the core deep within her.
It locked onto the Divine Format that held the authority, power, and very root of her existence.
’A materialized Divine Format?’
Xu Yunfan raised an eyebrow. ’Now this is interesting.’
He touched his right index finger to the spot between Delis’s eyebrows.
The instant his fingertip touched her skin, Delis clearly felt his finger pass through flesh and bone as if they were nothing. With the ease of reaching into a pocket, it plunged directly into the core of her spiritual Origin.
Like the sharpest of scalpels, it precisely pierced toward the Divine Format suspended at her core, which emanated a soft, divine light.
The Divine Format was seized and enveloped by an invisible force, then forcibly stripped from Delis’s Divine Soul.
As her soul writhed in agony, on the verge of shattering, Delis could feel her Divine Format being violently ripped away.
More than just horror, she felt utter disbelief.
This had never happened before. Even during a Divine War, if a Divine Spirit wanted to obtain another’s Divine Format, they first had to kill their opponent. Only after the Divine Format was destroyed could its essence be claimed.
Three inches from Xu Yunfan’s fingertip hovered the extracted Divine Format—a diamond-shaped crystal no larger than a fingernail.
Now separated from Delis’s divine form, its light seemed dim and unstable. It trembled slightly, emitting a faint hum.
Xu Yunfan’s gaze fell upon the Divine Format, his focus absolute.
His Divine Thought slowly probed it. At the same time, he casually laid down an inspection Array. As the Array activated, countless tiny Runes seemed to flicker in and out of existence.
Time seemed to stand still within the Divine Country.
For Delis, every second of his analysis was an eternity in Purgatory.
She could clearly feel his Divine Thought wantonly dismantling and analyzing her most fundamental secrets. She was like a fish on the chopping block, unable even to self-destruct her own Divine Format.
As he focused on his deductions, Xu Yunfan’s brow furrowed slightly.
At first, he was probing the fundamental nature of a deity, but that curiosity soon gave way to understanding.
The analysis was complete.
"So that’s all it is."
Xu Yunfan shook his head slightly. This so-called Divine Format was merely a projection of this world. It couldn’t be taken away, making it practically useless to him.
He looked at the motionless Delis and shook his head again.
"Early-Stage Foundation Establishment, the Realm of Dao Foundation Initial Condensation... Pathetically weak. And you dare to call yourself a god."
With a slight movement of his finger, he casually flicked the extracted Divine Format.
The Divine Format turned into a streak of light, sinking back into the spot between Delis’s eyebrows and returning to the depths of her Divine Soul.
The pain of its extraction vanished instantly, but the humiliation and terror of being so thoroughly seen through—dissected and studied like a laboratory specimen—still lingered in her heart.
Xu Yunfan withdrew his hand, his gaze sweeping over Delis’s pale, rigid face as if he were confirming the tag on a piece of merchandise.
"This Dao Foundation... you didn’t achieve it through your own cultivation."
"It’s merely a gift from the Celestial Dao Laws of the Aitira Realm. If you were to die, this Dao Foundation would simply return to the world."
In other words, the Celestial Dao could revoke the authority of this Divine Format at any time. For a Cultivator, this was a completely unacceptable system of cultivation.