Chapter 487: God

"Steal."

Yan Jing reached out, a faint, dark gleam blooming in his palm.

Cen Ji's expression shifted slightly as a sense of extreme unease welled up inside her.

The next instant, it was as if countless eyes had opened in all directions to cast cold stares at her.

Then, hands reached out from the pupils of those eyes, grasping for her chest.

She tried to resist but couldn't. The translucent hands plunged into her body, snatching away her belongings one by one.

Her clothing, accessories, and shoes. Then her kidneys, heart, spleen, and stomach. After that, her speed, strength, and abilities... until one hand grabbed the saber from her grasp.

Cen Ji shuddered as if jolted awake, sweating profusely.

She stared at her hands in disbelief, horrified to discover that the Horse-Chopping Saber was truly gone.

"This is a fine saber indeed," Yan Jing said with a smile, casually swinging the crimson-bodied Horse-Chopping Saber.

"But it's mine now."

Two trails of bloody tears slowly trickled from the corners of his eyes.

This was the price of stealing.

At least three of his internal organs had ruptured, and pale gray threads were frantically stitching them back together.

Yet holding this saber, he knew he had absolutely come out ahead.

Even though the blade vibrated in frenzied resistance, he could still feel the vast, ocean-like energy contained within. The Divinity in every speck of its externalized crimson light surpassed the items they had collected in the God Storage Land hundreds of times over.

"Give it back!!!"

Cen Ji lost it on the spot. Her cold facade shattered completely as she roared at Yan Jing.

"Did you think we were playing house, miss?"

Yan Jing smiled. With a casual swing, he left a deep red rift in the air.

"This isn't some simple Summit-tier item. Could it be a Ninth Tier artifact?"

Faced with Yan Jing's mockery, Cen Ji couldn't hold back any longer. With a furious roar, she lunged at him.

Yan Jing stowed the Horse-Chopping Saber away and threw a punch straight at the incoming Cen Ji.

Feeling the crushing force of the punch sweeping toward her, Cen Ji finally snapped out of her rage a fraction. She hurriedly manifested another blade in her hands, holding it horizontally to block the strike.

But in the next instant, accompanied by a crisp crack, the blade in Cen Ji's hands shattered into flying fragments.

With a heavy thud, Yan Jing's fist smashed squarely into her face.

Blood burst forth like a massive ruptured water balloon.

Cen Ji felt her head violently jolt, almost losing consciousness on the spot.

The savage blow was no different than an ordinary person getting smashed in the face with a sledgehammer. Had Yan Jing not pulled his punch slightly, her skull would have shattered.

Before she could mount another defense, Yan Jing grabbed her by the neck. His right hand bloomed with faint light as he instantly delivered two more punches.

Under those two strikes, Cen Ji's body immediately went limp.

Only then did Yan Jing stop. He dragged the barely conscious Cen Ji over to the black sphere floating in midair.

"Let me ask you, how many fingers is this?"

Yan Jing held up a single finger and waved it in front of her eyes.

By now, her eyes were swollen shut, leaving only slivers of white showing through the slits. She gave no reaction to his question. Yan Jing blinked, thinking she shouldn't be this fragile given her level of strength.

He placed Cen Ji on the ground and let go.

He wanted to see if she was faking it.

But she didn't move.

So he took a few steps back.

Still no movement.

He took another dozen steps back...

The next second, Cen Ji leapt up like a phantom and bolted into the distance.

But she hadn't made it far before Yan Jing used Blink to catch up. He grabbed her again and delivered another heavy punch.

"I win."

Yan Jing smiled faintly.

He wasn't talking about the fight, but their little game of playing dead.

Despair filled Cen Ji's heart.

She couldn't beat him, she couldn't outrun him, and worst of all, her saber was gone.

She had never suffered such humiliation in her entire life.

"Let me ask you, what is a candidate?"

Yan Jing asked.

Cen Ji kept her head down, refusing to speak.

Yan Jing brought out the Fear Thorn.

A few seconds later.

Her body twitching uncontrollably, Cen Ji stuttered, "A candidate... a candidate is... out of all the Domains, the few most likely... most likely to participate in Advent Day... they are chosen by someone and given a mark..."

"Only those... who become candidates... have a chance to reach the end..."

"Are candidates strong?" Yan Jing blinked.

Cen Ji didn't know how to answer that.

She was a candidate, yet here she was, dangling from Yan Jing's grip like a dead dog.

Yan Jing nodded.

"Understood. They're strong, but their strength is limited."

Cen Ji wanted to cough up blood.

"How many candidates in the Great Prison?"

Yan Jing asked.

"...Three," Cen Ji answered.

Yan Jing nodded.

"Then what was that you just said about finding one's own path?"

Cen Ji fell silent for a few seconds before answering, "Ordinary people... can only form the Heart of reaching the summit... after reaching the Seventh Rank... and then they can reach the Summit... But that is only an externalized path... Only those who find their own path... have truly reached the Summit... Those at the Summit... must pave the way for future generations... If you don't have your own path... you're nothing but a false Summit cultivator."

"It's the same. Only someone whose own path is perfectly whole... can be considered a true Divine Envoy..."

"If you become a Divine Envoy but your path isn't complete, you're only a false Divine Envoy."

Yan Jing looked thoughtful.

"Going by that... I still have a long way to go..."

Cen Ji wanted to curse at him internally, but her entire body was in such agonizing pain that she had no spare energy to think.

"What is Divinity, what is a divine soul, and what is this black sphere?"

Having finally caught someone in a sharing mood, Yan Jing asked all the questions he didn't know the answers to.

"...Divinity is required to break into the Ninth Tier and Tenth Tier. Only Divine Envoys possess a divine soul. As for this black sphere, it must have used some method to convert a divine soul into personal energy. But the method was crude, leaving behind a lot of unpurged consciousness and impurities."

Whenever Cen Ji was too slow to answer, Yan Jing would poke her with the Fear Thorn until she was answering almost purely on instinct, unable to bear the torture. "What exactly is the secret of this God Storage Land? Why is that guy so obsessed with this place?"

These were the most crucial questions Yan Jing had to ask.

Cen Ji hesitated for a rare second. While the previous questions were common knowledge in any larger Domain, this one touched upon the deepest secrets of this realm. It was also the mission for which they had entered the Great Prison this time.

But quickly, seeing Yan Jing raise his fist, her heart trembled. Fighting back her fear, she spoke.

"This is a Deity's trial ground."

"More accurately, it's a trial ground for ascending to godhood."

"A Deity who governed power is buried here."

"If someone clears all the trials in this space, they will earn the Deity's recognition and inherit their legacy."

"And right now, that ancient entity is trying to bypass the trials. Using the final failsafe left behind by the Deity, he intends to directly steal the buried Deity's power."

Hearing this, Yan Jing finally understood.

Normally, someone would pass the exams to inherit the teacher's legacy, but this guy had skipped the tests entirely and opted to kidnap the teacher instead.

"That won't do. Isn't he stealing my stuff?"

Yan Jing muttered.

Since when was it your stuff?

Cen Ji couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"The trials aren't that easy to pass... otherwise, someone would have succeeded by now... Even for you..." Cen Ji suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Because given the sheer strength Yan Jing had just displayed, it actually might be possible.

"Let me count, how many do I have left..."

Yan Jing's eyes flickered.

Just then, three figures finally broke away from the chaotic fray. Carrying the deceased Fang Xun, they frantically searched for Cen Ji's whereabouts.

Soon, all three looked in their direction.

"Let go of Captain Cen!!"

A woman screamed at Yan Jing, Weird Energy surging around her.

Yan Jing smiled faintly.

"Do you guys want to try too?"

In his grasp, Cen Ji began to tremble violently.

Unable to hold back any longer, she threw her mouth open and screamed, "Hurry! Open the portals!!"

Hearing her words, the three teammates paled in alarm.

It was obvious the man before them was extremely dangerous; otherwise, Cen Ji would never have ordered a retreat.

Exchanging a glance, all three pulled blue Crystal Stones from their pockets and instantly channeled their Weird Energy into them.

Three shimmering doorways gradually materialized in the air.

Yet Yan Jing only gripped Cen Ji's throat tighter and laughed.

"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

"Cough... cough, cough..."

Cen Ji felt like she was suffocating, but she genuinely showed no fear. This intrigued Yan Jing, making him wonder exactly where her confidence came from.

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and a plan formed in his mind.

The next instant, he tightened his grip!

"Get ready to leave."

Wen Xu stretched.

Beside him, Huo Tong blinked.

"Where to?"

"Didn't I tell you? The Inner World."

Yan Jing tossed a cloak over Huo Tong's head.

"Cover your face."

"Mmph... mmph..."

As the hands around her neck slowly tightened, Cen Ji's struggles grew weaker.

An intense wave of reluctance and resentment washed over her heart.

She was a candidate, one of the few elite existences in the entire Inner World, but now she was being forced to abandon her physical body.

Indeed, her final trump card was an item given to her by the warden of the Great Prison. It would allow her to complete a soul-transformation and return directly to the Great Prison. Although doing so was tantamount to destroying her foundation, at least her life would be spared. It was just that all her years of hard work... would be ruined in an instant... Just as her consciousness was fading, a voice suddenly rang out in the distance:

"Let her go!!!"

It was a man with monolids and rather small eyes. His face looked faintly familiar. That was all Cen Ji could see right now. Then, she saw the man clash violently with Yan Jing.

Right after, figures wearing prison uniforms swarmed in from all directions, throwing themselves at Yan Jing.

Caught in the terrifying shockwaves of their clash, she completely blacked out. Her final sliver of awareness lingered on the utter chaos. An unknown amount of time passed.

She slowly opened her eyes. White surrounded her—the familiar room layout of the Great Prison, filled with the same stagnant, faintly damp air.

"You're awake." The Doctor in a white coat approached and pulled back her eyelids.

"How are you feeling, Lady Cen? Your vision and hearing should be fine, right?"

"...No problems."

She spoke, her voice so weak it sounded like a sigh.

"After soul-transformation, is there anything I need to watch out for in my daily life?"

"Soul-transformation?" The Doctor paused in surprise before giving a soft smile.

"You didn't undergo soul-transformation. Rest assured, apart from severe physical trauma and a rather heavy shock to your consciousness, everything else is fine. Just rest for a few days, and you'll recover."

No soul-transformation?

Cen Ji froze. Disbelieving, she reached out and touched her leg.

Upon feeling the solid touch of her skin, a wave of joy rushed into her heart, immediately followed by profound exhaustion.

The tens of minutes of torture she had endured at Yan Jing's hands had felt like an entire year. She was so sleepy she almost passed out again. "Who saved me?"

Before drifting off into a deep slumber, she asked with the last of her strength.

"It was a First Level staff member surnamed Ning, leading a group of Wizards."

The Doctor answered.

A First Level staff member... Wizards... How could they possibly save her from that monster? Surnamed Ning... I need to find him when I wake up...

Harboring these thoughts, Cen Ji fell into a deep sleep.

The entire world plunged into absolute silence.

Yan Jing looked around the empty God Burial Ground and stretched.

Now, he was the only one left in the God Storage Land.

After a moment of thought, he lightly channeled his Weird Energy. Countless specks of light drifted from his chest, materializing into the beautiful silhouette of a girl with her hair tied in two small buns. "You must be tired, aren't you?"

As soon as Fei Yu appeared, she naturally wrapped her arms around Yan Jing's arm.

"Just a bit. I'm fine."

Yan Jing smiled.

"You might be stubborn, but you don't have to put on a brave face for me." Fei Yu shot him a look, then shifted her body, suddenly wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head in his chest.

"You've been exhausted for far too long."

"Sometimes, it's really okay to just take a rest."

Yan Jing blinked and chuckled.

"Oh? Why has our Xiao Yu changed her style today?"

"Did you miss your Young Master?"

Fei Yu didn't say a word. She simply kept her head buried, soaking in the warmth radiating from him.

It was just that as her cultivation base slowly recovered, she had gradually started remembering certain things.

She figured she loved the man standing before her—from a long, long time ago, all the way to a long, long time in the future.

After the two rested for a good while, Yan Jing smiled and said, "Let's go. Let's see if your Young Master can clear all these trials."

Holding onto Yan Jing's arm, Fei Yu walked alongside him as they headed into the distance.

The Surface World.

Two days had passed.

The internet had undergone several rounds of explosive discourse, and the general consensus was constantly shifting.

It went from the initial "Yan Jing is invincible," to "Where is Yan Jing?", to "It looks like Yan Jing hasn't come out yet," and finally, "Seriously, where the hell is he?"

The ranking board hadn't updated since Yan Jing took the championship, and it was shut down shortly after.

No one knew where Yan Jing had gone.

Some claimed he must have died in the God Storage Land—that even though he won the championship, he was ambushed by some mysterious entity before he could exit the Dungeon. Others speculated that he had already come out, but went into hiding to avoid being besieged by the domain lords.

Rumor had it that countless mighty figures had gathered in the First Ring Domain, all waiting for Yan Jing's return.

Aside from the two domain lords of Tianzi and Beast Lord, several vice domain lords had also arrived in person.

With a lineup like this, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the three Domains were preparing for all-out war.

And indeed, the atmosphere in the First Ring Domain was just as unbearably tense as the rumors suggested.

The three domain lords hadn't slept for days. Their interactions over this period seemed placid on the surface—they even played a few rounds of Fight the Landlord from time to time—but anyone who understood their conversations could hear the extreme tension beneath, as if they were ready to clash at any moment.

Right now, the three of them had gathered at the Café once again.

"I think that kid might just be dead."

The Tiger-Skin Skirt Woman, Wang Yu, took a sip of her iced Americano.

"You should stop waiting too, Little Dragon Man. Just go back."

Long Quezhou's expression didn't change.

"He did that to our people in Tianzi. There's no way I won't settle the score with him."

"Whether you want to settle the score or just take him away, you know the truth yourself."

Wang Yu sneered.

Long Quezhou fell silent.

After tearing into Long Quezhou, Wang Yu turned her head toward Liu Xiaoyue.

"Rabbit, if you ask me, you can't handle this guy at all. Give him to me, what do you say?"

"You should know it yourself. This guy isn't your type at all."

"Be careful he doesn't piss you off so much you lose a few years of your life."

Faced with Wang Yu's teasing, Liu Xiaoyue's face was as cold as frost.

"Mind your own business."

Sheng Xia was crippled.

Wan Yicheng was dead.

Yan Jing absolutely had to become hers. Wang Yu and Long Quezhou had no say in the matter.

Nor did Yan Jing.