CHAPTER 436: CHAPTER 436: CRAWLING ON THE SPIDERWEB

In the wilderness, six or seven water crystal springs of varying sizes appeared, and then, one after another, a "Great Sage" emerged from the crystal clusters that kept gushing out, each one staring intently in Erin’s direction.

The little puppet’s hair stood on end on the spot.

Just when Hu Li was summoning a round of Fox Radish Missiles to attack the nearest enemy, a sound of something breaking through the sky suddenly came from high above. Immediately after, a flash cut through the sky, landing in a nearby crystal cluster fissure, accompanied by a familiar voice—

"Take my Infinite Treasure Seal!"

A dazzling fireball erupted from that fissure, and with the explosion came the ear-piercing sound of crystals being torn apart, mushrooming crystal dust rose into the air!

Yu Sheng looked up and saw Master Yuan Hao, who was dressed in fluttering white robes, standing in the air over a great array of timber materials, beside him was Xuan Che, who had just been rescued from the brink of death. As for why he was nearly dead earlier, better not to ask.

Master Yuan Hao clasped his hands towards Yu Sheng’s direction, but before he could greet him, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed in that rising mushroom cloud.

The next moment, a magnificent lightning bolt struck the sky, bringing with it thunder and wind, pulling hundreds of lightning bolts through the clouds in a storm-like manner, rushing directly towards Yuan Hao and Xuan Che. At the same time, a violent wind rose, blowing away the smoke and dust filling the sky, and when the mushroom cloud dispersed, the "Great Sage" that Master Yuan Hao had just hit with a brick was still standing within the fissure.

The crystal casing was scarred, but clearly still "alive." His body was shattered, yet with the continuous supply of crystallized material, his wounds were healing rapidly.

"This is really troublesome," Master Yuan Hao realized at that moment that the enemy below was different from those he had dealt with before. His expression became serious. The great array formed by a hundred magic treasures behind him rapidly shifted and reorganized with the changes of the Five Phases and Four Symbols, a layer of dense Spiritual Energy instantly condensed into a shield, "Che’er! Hide behind Master Uncle!"

Xuan Che dared not run recklessly upon seeing this formation—especially since he was nearly crushed to death by a brick earlier. He had no choice but to retreat quickly and hide behind Master Uncle’s array. And in the next instant, the lightning poured down like a storm with the force of divine retribution, striking down towards him and Yuan Hao!

Almost simultaneously, the other "Great Sages" started to move, unleashing their fury upon all hostile targets on the battlefield.

Thunder, crystal clusters, storms, boulder-like artillery, and monsters that seemed as if they were once human but now bore no resemblance to their former selves constantly surged from the earth’s fissures.

Yu Sheng immediately opened a door and tossed Zheng Zhi back to No. 66 Wutong Road.

After all, in such a chaotic battlefield, his young nephew’s frail body might be killed by the slightest touch of anything—Master Yuan Hao tends to send bricks flying in combat, hitting both friend and foe alike.

Two "Great Sages" eventually turned to ashes under the bombardment from Hu Li and Master Yuan Hao’s firepower, taking the crystal fissures beneath them with them, yet almost in an instant, new fissures appeared elsewhere, from which the figures of "Great Sages" emerged once again.

Moreover, it was unclear if it was an illusion, but with each regeneration, those "Great Sages" seemed to become increasingly chaotic and distorted, looking more like creatures formed from a pile of grotesque lumps. Their attacks, in turn, became more frenzied and hysterical.

"Hu Li!" Feeling a sense of foreboding, Yu Sheng shouted, "Can you use that move again? You know, that impact thing—"

He hadn’t finished speaking when Hu Li shook his head vigorously: "No way, that move requires a long rest afterwards!"

Yu Sheng frowned, and at the same time, the chaotic, low whispers in his mind intensified once again—

Since leaving Mo City, he had started hearing these chaotic low murmurs, and he knew very well what they were.

It was the voice from the "Inference Star Body" in the "cocoon" of Feather Transformation, a doomsday countdown-like murmur coming from deep within this planet.

The Inference Star Body had detected the changes occurring on the surface, sensing that something was destroying its "cradle"—this powerful yet chaotic Dark Angel was attempting to obliterate those disharmonious "voices" active above it because its Ascension... was imminent.

The Feather Transformation process must be interrupted before the Ascension Body matures.

Crystal clusters swept across like a storm, as if tearing the sky apart, lightning surged through the clouds and struck down to the earth.

Erin hid in Yu Sheng’s arms, her small body bumping along with Hu Li’s movements across the battlefield. She clutched Yu Sheng’s arm tightly, only poking her head out to open her eyes wide in a particular direction.

Another new "Great Sage" was crawling out of a fissure, its massive, swollen, and deformed crystallized body swaying in the wind and rain, looking extraordinarily hideous and ugly.

Rage, extreme rage, and... what else?

Resentment, malice, regret... and fear.

The puppet slowly tilted its head, feeling as though the flow of time around her had unexpectedly slowed down, even the silly fox’s bouncing seemed to mellow out considerably. She fixed her stare on the frenzied crystal figure within this slow-moving time. A peculiar gleam of excitement gradually appeared in her crimson eyes.

She saw, inside that crystal-formed shell, a trapped and tormented soul struggling violently, black threads slowly seeping from that soul, growing within its crystal prison, spreading, and gradually oozing out of the crystal, drifting invisibly in the air.

When did those threads wrap around that soul?

When he was killed the last time?

The time around her had slowed to near stillness, Erin’s little mind couldn’t quite grasp what was happening, yet she instinctively reached out towards the tormented soul trapped in that crystal prison.

Then, the black threads encircling the soul seemed to sense the "offspring" call of a "progenitor," instantly becoming active. They wove into an invisible web, slowly connecting with the Spider Silk at Erin’s fingertips.

Erin knew why those "Great Sages," resurrected from the crystal, were staring at her so intently.

"It’s fear..."

She laughed joyfully, crawled out from Yu Sheng’s embrace, and on this battlefield where everything seemed nearly static, she began to crawl along the spider silk toward the "Great Sage" of the Hidden Monastery swallowed by the Inference Star Body.

"It’s fear!"

The puppet’s face showed a hint of excitement, and her crimson eyes slowly glowed. She passed over those flying crystal clusters, passed over those soaring huge rocks, and passed over those crystal monsters emerging from the ground...

She passed by Luna, who was leaping into the air, intercepting the thunder with her Fingertip Blade.

The stationary C-shaped clasp looked so ridiculous.

Erin crawled on the spider silk, a muddled thought popping into her head.

Then, she saw the body of the "Artificial Saintess" suddenly tremble. On the battlefield where everything was nearly static, Luna seemed to sense something, slowly turning her head as if searching for something in the air.

Erin instantly gasped softly, swiftly continuing to crawl forward.

"Crawl, crawl, crawl, I’m the fastest... C-shaped clasp scares people to death..."

She looked back again, only to see Luna still motionless in mid-air, the scene of her slow head turn seeming like it was just a figment of her imagination.

The little puppet was puzzled for a moment, but her small head quickly stopped pondering over these matters.

Because... sweet fear was waiting for her not far ahead.

She looked up, seeing the crystal cage silently dissipate, a soul pierced by countless black threads cowering in the darkness.

The soul initially appeared tall, but the next moment shrank to resemble a tiny bug.

Erin tilted her head, looking at the small figure crouching at her feet.

She felt it had been many, many years since she had viewed others from this overlooking perspective.

But a long, long time ago... she seemed to always talk to these small figures from such a viewpoint.

...What were those small figures again?

The puppet didn’t remember.

She extended her finger, poked the soul.

"Hey."

The "Great Sage" felt his body continuously plummeting, as if endlessly sinking in a nightmare from which he could never awaken. The immense pain and anger engulfed all his memories and perceptions, suffering spreading like poison within the soul.

Pain without end and anger without release is a torment greater than death.

When did all this begin? From the first loss of control in a hallucination? From opening his eyes and seeing all the believers bowing in allegiance around the crystal in the cave? Or from even earlier... from the moment when that shameful betrayal was silently brewing?

He should have known; this betrayal was bound to happen eventually—no one can remain on the "human" side after prolonged contact with the Dark Angel. The creature who called itself "Yun Qingzi"... was never trustworthy from the start.

Yet, that bit of luck and urgency in his heart led him to a grave mistake.

Now, the eternal cage filled with pain is the result of all this.

"Hey."

A voice suddenly exploded deep within the soul, puncturing endless chaos, abruptly awakening the "Great Sage."

He bewilderedly "opened" his eyes.

Then, within a second, he unhesitatingly gouged out his own eyeballs—at the soul level.

Huge pain arose within his soul, and he clutched his eyes in the darkness, letting out hysterical screams. But even so, he still inevitably, irretrievably saw all that shouldn’t be seen, and simultaneously understood all the "knowledge" related to that scene—

A great spider web named "End" covered the world, each thread on the web woven as a destiny, and the nodes of the web were gatherings of all the "omens" in the world. And on the web, the master of suffering and fear quietly overlooked him.