Chapter 1 Mirror World

Jinshan City, Mirror World.

Several-kilometer-deep pits were like festering sores on the surface. At the edges were shattered streets and collapsed buildings. This sense of destruction spread all the way to the city's outskirts.

A third of this prefecture-level city had been reduced to ruins. And this was only because, among the demigods, only the Fire Master was known for destructive power. The Illusionist, Night Wanderer, and Water Ghost had skills that leaned toward the bizarre and dangerous.

For these supernatural beings, humanity's reinforced concrete cities were far too fragile.

Without the limitations of morality, fighting with abandon, they could even destroy a country. Wherever the battlefield was, that place would become a ruin.

Black clouds blanketed Jinshan City, a gale howled, and torrential rain poured down, washing over the ruined city.

Against this backdrop of wind and rain, illusions were reborn in the south of Jinshan City. Sometimes, high mountains and flowing rivers materialized; sometimes, vast grasslands; sometimes, snowy mountains and icy rivers; sometimes, boundless oceans.

But with the occasional dragon's roar echoing through the clouds, these illusions shattered in an instant, reverting to the city's original appearance. The Water Master's dragon's roar dispelled evil and was especially effective against illusions.

In the east, scorching heat evaporated the rain, searing the earth, carving out an arid zone in a world of torrential downpour.

Opposite the east, in the west, a full moon hung high, thick ink-like clouds churning. From the clouds came the sound of mournful wails.

In the high sky to the north, a stunning woman wearing a white opera costume embroidered with golden clouds, her back covered in flags, stood beneath the churning black clouds, a long spear in her hand, radiating heroic spirit.

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The four demigods turned their gazes toward the deep pit.

A weak golden light rose from the bottom of the pit. A hundred-meter-tall golden Buddha slowly ascended. Its body was majestic and imposing, but covered with cracks. The golden Buddha's eyes were wide open, filled with chaos, violence, bloodlust, and rage. Any negative emotion one could think of could be seen in those eyes.

Master Wuhen had already become a demon.

From the south came the voice of the Southern School Illusion God, its age and gender indistinguishable: "The golden Buddha is a manifestation of his inner emotions. Destroy the golden Buddha to kill him. Don't try to awaken him with your dragon's roar. This man has been suppressing himself for many years. Today, the floodgates have burst; even the gods can't save him."

The demigod battle had lasted for three days. After the initial melee, the situation had evolved into a four-god encirclement of "Wuhen of the Past."

Because "Wuhen of the Past" had completely lost control. At the critical moment of refining, his emotions spiraled out of control, and the Illusion God item's backlash had completely swallowed his reason.

A demigod dominated by chaos and evil thoughts was even more dangerous.

After three days of fierce battle, the aura of this newly advanced Illusion God finally plummeted to the bottom, not far from death.

"Enough nonsense!"

Gang Leader Jiang from the east had a clear goal: "Wuhen of the Past is almost done for. Let's deal with him first, then we can fight each other in pairs."

As he spoke, his body ignited with a purplish-red flame. The flame covered his body like flowing water, forming a suit of armor.

He raised his right arm high, and the purplish-red flame bloomed and condensed into a long spear, the high temperature compressed at the tip.

With a "chi," it shot out with dazzling brilliance.

The rainwater within a kilometer radius instantly evaporated, and a large amount of white mist surged into the sky.

Then, he transformed into a streak of crimson light, rushing toward the golden Buddha with indomitable force.

On the other side, the white-clad dan actress, stepping on the void and standing beneath the black clouds, danced gracefully, the long spear in her hand stirring up wind and rain in the sky, suddenly thrusting out.

In an instant, every drop of rain in the world was filled with killing intent. The raindrops changed their trajectory, surging toward the spear tip. At the same time, the rainwater bred plagues capable of infecting even demigods.

The rain condensed into a long dragon, and, with the dan actress's thrust, crashed into the golden Buddha rising from the bottom of the pit.

In the west, the full moon radiated light, yin energy breeding. From the yin clouds emerged a hideous ghost face, wrapped in smoke-like black clouds, streaking across the sky, pouncing on the golden Buddha.

In the process, countless vengeful spirits screeched and plunged into the ghost face, snowballing in size, finally transforming into a ghost face that blotted out half the sky.

Facing the three demigods' pincer attack, the golden Buddha roared, its eyes crazed, unleashing a soul-shaking roar that directly annihilated. This was not a mental attack, but an upgraded version of the Great Dao, the ‘Shadow Roar’ that only peak Sovereigns could control, a roar that directly annihilated the soul. Even demigods would suffer heavy damage.

But this powerful roar did not cause any harm to the three demigods. The Southern School Illusion God soothed their spirits, dispelling the soul-annihilating power.

Illusionists could both ignite emotions and soothe the mind.

Seeing that the mental attack was ineffective, the golden Buddha retracted his roar, and transparent ripples spread from his cracked body, scanning the surrounding objects, the Buddhist temple.

At the same time, a golden sun rose above the golden Buddha's head!

To make an illusion have an effect comparable to reality, one must first weave the illusion. Only then would the power of the sun god in the illusion have the same effect as the power of the sun god in reality.

The Buddhist temple enveloped Gang Leader Jiang, enveloped the Palace Master, and their water and fire energies rapidly annihilated under the illumination of the sun god's power.

The armor on Gang Leader Jiang's body became thinner and thinner, the long dragon thrust out by the Palace Master rapidly dissipated, and the sky-covering ghost face visibly shrank.

At this moment, the Southern School Illusion God made another move, tearing apart the illusion of the Buddhist temple.

The one who understands illusionists best is always another illusionist.

Of course, even without the Southern School Illusion God's intervention, the Water God Palace Master's dragon's roar could still break the illusion.

After the illusion disappeared, the water and fire spears regained their power, and the ghost face plumped up again.

A deep, dark light radiated from the golden Buddha's body. The three forces illuminated by the black light once again experienced annihilation, returning to nothingness.

The Nullifier!

However, the combined power of the three demigods exceeded the limit of nothingness. After being weakened to a certain extent, Gang Leader Jiang thrust his spear into the golden Buddha's chest, the flames burning its body.

The water dragon pierced the golden Buddha's abdomen, and the plague rapidly proliferated.

The hideous ghost face bit the golden Buddha's head, eroding its soul.

Cracking sounds came continuously from the golden Buddha's body, cracks spreading like a porcelain doll pieced together from fragments. Master Wuhen's face appeared on the golden Buddha's face, sometimes crazed, sometimes dignified and pensive. On the verge of death, he had instead found a moment of his former self.

The Water God Palace Master's beautiful eyes flickered slightly, and she opened her mouth to utter a clear and melodious dragon's roar: "Roar~"

The dragon's roar washed the soul.

She shouted loudly, "Wuhen of the Past, I know you are wholeheartedly good. Right now, you have lost control. If you don't die, tens of thousands of innocent lives in Jinshan City will die. Can you really bear it?"

The Southern School Illusion God "heyed" and cooperated to soothe the other's spirit.

The golden Buddha froze in the air, and the madness gradually dissipated from Master Wuhen's face, restoring his bitter and solemn expression.

At this moment, his ears twitched slightly, as if listening to a voice coming from the void.

After a moment of silence, the golden palm suddenly crushed the long spear in his chest, and following the shadow crack created by the spear's thrust, tore open his chest, grabbing a pitch-black heart.

Seeing that heart, Gang Leader Jiang, the Water God Palace Master, and the Southern School Illusion God simultaneously made their move, vying for this demigod-level item.

The Southern School Illusion God's voice, neither old nor young, male nor female, echoed: "Ling Tuo, concealment!"

Conceal that item.

The concealment of Taiyin is divided into three stages. The most basic is the invisibility of the Night Wanderer, the intermediate is the concealment of objects, and the highest level is the concealment of fate.

He needed Ling Tuo's help to conceal the item, so that the two Alliance Leaders of the Five Elements Alliance would lose their target.

Ling Tuo's light laughter came from the distant yin clouds: "Wuhen, let bygones be bygones!"

The ghost face detached from the Buddha statue, taking something away. The full moon dissipated, and the black clouds concealed themselves.

Ling Tuo left.

At this moment, a deep black hole tore through space, appearing in front of the golden Buddha without warning.

Master Wuhen seemed to have anticipated this. Before the three demigods could react, he sent the pitch-black heart into the black hole.

The black hole instantly contracted, disappearing into the Mirror World.

"The Void? The Void!" The Southern School Illusion God roared in great anger, raising his head and howling!

Gang Leader Jiang and the Water God Palace Master disappointedly withdrew their hands, but without much emotional fluctuation.

For them, it would be best to obtain the Illusion God item. If they couldn't get it, as long as it didn't fall into the hands of the Southern School Leader, it was still a good result.

And Wuhen of the Past was already exhausted, and the disaster had been quelled.

The ending was still satisfactory.

At the end of his life, Master Wuhen put his hands together and chanted a Buddha's name in a low voice:

"Life and death, endless reincarnation, light and darkness, intertwined confusion. All things embrace yin and yang, only then is it the right path. Having seen darkness, one should aspire to light."

He looked towards the void, not knowing who he was speaking to: "Remember, remember! Amitabha."

In the aftersound, the golden Buddha dissolved inch by inch, returning to the heavens and earth.

Inside the rental house.

A deep black hole spat out a pitch-black heart, landing on the table.

Xiao Yuan looked down, her scalp tingling. She felt her mind explode, chaotic emotions overwhelming reason, on the verge of madness.

The black hole rapidly collapsed, transforming into pure spiritual power, branding the surface of the heart, weaving into a complex pattern.

The dark light of the heart receded, turning into a dull, dark-black heart, and Xiao Yuan's chaotic emotions calmed down.

"This is..." She stared blankly at the heart, a bad feeling rising in her heart.

"Ding-dong!"

The phone rang, indicating an incoming message.

Xiao Yuan quickly grabbed her phone and checked the message. It was sent by that mysterious person.

"This is Wuhen of the Past's relic. Take the heart and hide it. I will come to you in a few days."

Master Wuhen's relic. Xiao Yuan looked at the dark heart again, her vision gradually blurring.

At this moment, the phone vibrated again—a new message had arrived: "Yuan Shi Tian Zun traded his life at the Council of Judgment, killing Cai Qinhe, and has returned to the Lingjing Xingzhe."

Xiao Yuan's ears rang with a "boom," as if pierced by ten thousand arrows. She staggered, holding onto the table, and slowly collapsed to the ground.

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In a dim study, the Dark Night Rose Guardian seemed to sense something, and looked to his left.

There, a transparent pearl the size of a chicken egg had appeared without him noticing.

He heard the leader's whisper in his ear: "Give this to the Pure Yang Sect Leader. Taiyin has returned to the Lingjing Xingzhe. I will leave reality for a while."

Taiyin has finally returned to the Lingjing Xingzhe? The Guardian's spirits lifted, and he stood up abruptly, excitedly saying: "Congratulations, Leader! Congratulations, Leader!"

The leader's sneering voice came from his ear: "The real killing game has just begun. That old fox is waiting for me in the Lingjing Xingzhe."

Northwest Gobi Desert.

The setting sun shone on the Silver Moon General's shiny bald head. His features were rugged and resolute, with silver rings hanging from his earlobes, nostrils, and lips.

Following the direction pointed out by his subordinates, he finally found the Demon Eye and Fear, who had lost contact while fighting.

A huge sonic boom came from afar. The surface of the Gobi was riddled with holes, with deep pits and collapsed mounds everywhere. Evil and degenerate power had polluted this area. The snakes, scorpions, and insects that had survived by chance were polluted into mutated beasts, wandering blindly.

The Silver Moon General crushed a face-sized scorpion under his foot and looked into the distance. Two three-headed, eight-armed ancient war gods were fighting fiercely, locked in a stalemate.

One of them was clearly throwing the fight.

The Silver Moon General took a deep breath and shouted: "You two bastards, stop fighting! Something big has happened to the Five Elements Alliance!"