Tearing the Divine Thunder, at the moment Zhou Bai shouted explosively, countless twisted shadows surrounded his body, accompanied by the distortion of light, ground, and air, emitting a breathtaking aura.

Shadows in the air arched around him, called to him, encircled him.

Invisible hands extended from void fissures, gently touching and caressing Zhou Bai's flesh.

"Zhou Bai…"

"Zhou… Bai…"

"zzzzz...iiiiii...ooooo..."

The whispering, like a sob or complaint, distorted through the air, turned into indistinguishable noise.

Zhou Bai's pupils seemed to turn entirely black, within which countless pairs of Zhou Bai's eyes opened, and within those eyes were more eyes, as if countless silhouettes gazed at him.

The ground began to undulate, and countless black impurities seeped out, revealing faces covered in filth.

It seemed as if everything around Zhou Bai was being twisted, being infiltrated.

At this moment, he appeared as if he had opened a passage between the void and the Material World, summoning countless twisted, bizarre existences that spread around him like seawater, creating another realm.

Seeing Zhou Bai before him with his aura surging, his whole being becoming a twisted phenomenon, Xiang Tiandi's expression turned grim, and the murderous intent in his eyes grew stronger.

Having witnessed Zhou Bai ripping apart the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, everyone present revealed expressions of extreme shock.

No one could imagine that Zhou Bai could tear apart Xiang Tiandi's Nine Heavens Divine Thunder with his bare hands, directly overwhelming the Marshal of the Thunder Department in momentum.

Confronted with this illogical event, the celestial court cultivators present grew doubtful and hesitant, then started trying to use what they knew to explain the situation before them.

"How could it be? Did Zhou Bai defeat the Marshal's Dao art?"

"Isn't it said that Zhou Bai possesses an Immortal Artifact?"

"What kind of Immortal Artifact is it that it's so powerful, even overpowering the Marshal's Dao art?"

"Those strange things around him, are they caused by the Immortal Artifact?"

Evidently, even at this moment, people still refused to believe that Zhou Bai could, with mere mortal power, defeat someone like Xiang Tiandi, a deity. They preferred to find explanations that seemed more reasonable.

After all, a mortal overpowering a deity with their own strength was too much against the common knowledge of the world and was something they couldn't believe or understand.

Because in this world, mortals have to cultivate step by step, crossing numerous thresholds, ascending, and leaving their name in the Immortal Ascension Book to become a true deity, and only then through long cultivation can they gain the powerful strength of a deity.

Zhou Bai's actions defied this common sense, so there had to be some explanation.

The Immortal Artifact Xiang Tiandi mentioned was the most plausible explanation the people present could think of.

Not only the cultivators present thought this way, but most of humanity witnessing this moment from afar held similar thoughts. To them, it was the only reasonable explanation.

Only the power of deities could resist the power of deities.

And only with the aid of the Immortal Artifact's strength could they believe Zhou Bai withstood Xiang Tiandi's attack.

Xiang Haocu thought so as well, shaking his head in disbelief: "Did Zhou Bai really steal the Immortal Artifact? What kind of Immortal Artifact, that it was restored? And even stopped Father's attack?"

Beside him, Zhao Yue couldn't help but say, "Could it be Zhou Bai himself…"

Xiang Haocu chuckled bitterly: "Using mortal Dao art to fight against a deity? Do you think that's possible? Mortals' understanding of Heavenly Dao and application of spirit fall far behind deities; mortals can never contend with deities."

Zhao Yue didn't retort because she knew Xiang Haocu was right; mortals cannot contend with deities, this is the iron rule of their world.

Below, Zhang Tianxin was initially shocked, but in the next moment, she realized and clenched her fists in anger: "Zhou Bai indeed stole the celestial court's Immortal Artifact, that's how he blocked the Marshal's Dao art."

Beside her, Lin Xiang nodded in deep agreement, showing an indignant expression: "Only the power of deities can contend against deities. This guy actually stole an Immortal Artifact to deal with the celestial court, a power that should have been used against the Heavenly Demons, yet this scoundrel uses it for internal strife, for fratricide."

Similar thoughts circulated among the crowd. Except for a few, even when Zhou Bai broke the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder in the projection, few believed he did so relying on his own power.

This is the 'common knowledge' formed over thousands of years through repeated realities.

Yet in the Heavenly Arena, Xiang Tiandi knew the opponent hadn't stolen any Immortal Artifact.

Therefore, his expression remained as still as water, while he watched Zhou Bai and thought internally: 'With such a surge of aura, could Zhou Bai have broken through to the seventh stage? Did Si Yi fail on their end? Was this kid stalling all along, seeking an opportunity for breakthrough?'

With Xiang Tiandi's mindset, cultivation, stage, and battle experience, he quickly grasped the situation and reviewed the entire fight with a third-party perspective, calmly realizing something.

'Hah, to actually leverage my caution to buy time… Zhou Bai, oh Zhou Bai, you truly are remarkable.'

At this moment, Xiang Tiandi had to acknowledge that Zhou Bai before him had earned the qualification to challenge him, be it in strength, intellect, courage, or vision.

But as he looked at Zhou Bai, he coldly transmitted his voice saying: "Zhou Bai, even if you withstand my Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, no one will believe you did it yourself. Just as I said earlier, all mortals will only think you've stolen the power of an Immortal Artifact."

"Your fellow countrymen, those mortals, at the very core of their being, their blood, the deepest part of their consciousness, they worship us, they believe in us, and are willing to accept our rule and protection."

"This is also currently the best way for humanity to survive, allowing you to continue better.

"What you and the Sky Flipping Sect think is justice might be seen as evil by other mortals under the heavens and will only result in pointless sacrifice."

"Have you ever considered whether other mortals want to 'rebel' with you when you're thinking of so-called 'resistance'? To them, it's you who is implicating them."

"You're turning 'people' who could have lived peacefully into 'monsters' oppressed by the celestial court and killed by their kin. As a pure-blooded human, do you really want to see all the world turned into demons?"

Zhou Bai burst into laughter, not bothering to transmit his voice, but instead expressed himself aloud, using his Primordial Spirit power, making his voice thunder across the arena.

"Xiang Tiandi! Don't give me that crap, how many monsters are there in the celestial court? How many demons wear human skin and become the Chief Gods of the Four Departments? Among all these gods and Buddhas, how many are truly gods? How many are demons? Do you dare to answer that?"