CHAPTER 493: 052 10 O’CLOCK ESSENCE

Carl had always suspected there was a problem among the Divine Envoys; otherwise, why would they always be ambushed by Fallen Angels during every expedition?

But it was just a suspicion, without certainty. The possibility of the Human Clan colluding with evil beings was indeed too low, almost negligible. The primary reason for his advance preparations was habit, ensuring he always had an escape route. Guarding against a possible traitor was secondary.

As for Ham... Carl had verified beforehand that there was no problem with him; otherwise, he would not have handed over control of the formation to him. The simplified version of the Twelve Star Gates was also a formation, requiring one person to act as the main controller. Carl had to battle the Fallen Angel and needed to lure the evil beings over, so he naturally couldn’t be the one controlling the formation.

"To think that besides Sam, it was you!"

Looking at Yun San, he shook his head gently. "Stop now, and I can hand you over to Cloud Tower Void City for disposal."

This wasn’t out of kindness on Carl’s part. Rather, having one less person controlling the formation would create vulnerabilities. This would very likely allow the Fallen Angel to escape. It was better to let him remain.

"Heh..."

Facing the angry eyes of Carl and the other Divine Envoys, Yun San just smiled faintly and chanted softly, "The gods have fallen to earth, Divine Fire descends upon the world..."

Huh?

Carl’s expression darkened. He suddenly rotated the cylinder in his hand, sending Yun San directly to face the Fallen Angel.

A believer of the Evil God! There’s no reasoning with people like this.

"Attack!"

BUZZ...

The halo descending from the Twelve Star Palaces brightened suddenly, causing the struggling Fallen Angel to stiffen. Even its attempt to hide in the void was forcibly pulled back.

As my strength and tier increase, even ethereal space gains substance. With the Twelve Star Palaces formation active, space itself is flattened, as if multiple dimensions now exist on the same plane.

Hiding in other spatial dimensions to avoid attacks naturally becomes impossible.

Carl’s eyes flickered. Within his sea of consciousness, a Spell circuit blazed to life, and he unleashed the Six-Star Soul Killing Technique.

SCREECH!

Six death specters screamed in unison, the converging sound waves tearing open the Fallen Angel’s flesh. With the increase in their numbers, the power of the death specters also surged. Especially after the technique reached Perfection, it was possible to concentrate the power of all six death specters.

The attack power suddenly exceeded the Fallen Angel’s defense limits. However, the death specters were ultimately only nightmare-level evil beings and could not truly deliver a fatal blow to the Fallen Angel.

Therefore... Ten Thousand Buddha Hands!

Carl let out a low roar as the Battle Aura inside him surged forth. This time, he held nothing back; the Water of Life from his Second Circle Magic transformed into a continuous stream of life force flowing into his body. His Battle Aura surged accordingly. A giant Buddha phantom appeared behind him. The Buddha’s hand formed seals, one profound Seal Technique after another manifesting, and with them, a terrifying pressure emerged.

Thousand Hand Realm!

Thanks to the improvements in his spiritual power and Martial Arts Will, Carl had already touched the threshold of the Thousand Hand Realm. However, at this moment, he could only exhibit the Ten Thousand Buddha Hands technique while in the Thousand Hand Realm by accumulating power and remaining still. He was still far from being able to casually unleash an attack with the power of the Thousand Hand Realm.

But now, it was possible!

The Ten Thousand Buddha Hands, when performed in the Thousand Hand Realm, could elevate his burst power to sixteen times that of a regular full-strength attack.

In terms of destructive power... Second Ring Late Stage!

While his own physical strength was limited to just entering the Second Order, this strike shockingly possessed the power of the Second-tier Late Stage.

However, ever since Thousand Buddha Hands had been upgraded to Ten Thousand Buddha Hands, the Thousand Hand Realm was no longer the limit of this Holy Skill. The Ten Thousand Hands Realm, with its thirty-two-fold burst, was the true pinnacle.

"Die!"

Terrifying bolts of lightning descended from the sky, instantly blinding everyone present and causing their bodies to tremble uncontrollably.

How powerful!

The Divine Envoys’ faces lit up with fanaticism. Such might, they had never seen nor even heard of in other Divine Envoys.

BOOM!

Endless lightning descended from the sky, rapidly wearing down the Fallen Angel’s body.

This might work!

Carl’s eyes brightened. Since it was possible to kill it, there was no rush to expel it; after all, killing a Fallen Angel should also yield Source Material.

Angel, these were Divine’s Favored. And from the number of wings, a War Angel with three pairs of wings should belong to the Upper-level Vassals.

With the bombardment of lightning and the support of the six death specters, the Fallen Angel’s flesh and bones gradually dissolved.

CRACKLING...

Even its skull, like foam before a sandblaster, rapidly disintegrated.

Sam and Yun San, only slightly affected by the periphery, screamed in pain, their bodies riddled with holes in the blink of an eye.

"Die!"

"Just die!"

Sam roared towards the sky, his battered body erupting with a layer of blood-red light. Then, a snake’s head burst out from his chest.

Hmm?

Carl’s expression twitched, a sense of alarm rising in his heart. He hadn’t regarded Sam’s strength highly; even with a mutation, Sam was easily defeated.

But this serpent’s head... It instinctively filled him with dread. Even the Divine Domain Fragment deep within his Spiritual Inner Sea reacted, sending him a warning.

What was this thing?

CRACK!

The serpent’s head opened its massive jaws and lunged at the nearby Yun San, who vanished on the spot. With another lunge, the lower half of the Fallen Angel also disappeared without a trace.

What was this thing?

It seemed Sam had employed some kind of blood sacrifice to summon something unbound by the laws of this realm.

But... he was just an ordinary Divine Envoy. How could he have managed that?

Carl was startled and instinctively took a step back. At that moment, the serpent’s head lunged toward the other Divine Envoys. The Twelve Star Palaces formation was similarly ineffective against it. One of the Divine Envoys was devoured whole, powerless to resist.

"What is that?" Ham roared. "The City of Wooden Nine Fantasms!"

Hmm?

Carl’s eyes narrowed. Through the gaping maw of the serpent’s head, he could vaguely see a scene resembling a ruined phantom city. He had never been to the City of Wooden Nine Fantasms, but Ham had.

So... was an entity from the City of Wooden Nine Fantasms controlling this giant serpent? However, wasn’t the city, home to a hundred thousand people, supposed to be bustling with activity? How had it turned into a desolate ruin?

BANG!

With a crisp sound, Carl felt a jolt in his spirit.

Source Material +10!

But there was no time to celebrate. He quickly withdrew the Twelve Star Palaces formation and transformed into a streak of lightning, sprinting towards the rear.

"Flee!"

The others scattered, followed by a succession of screams.

Carl glanced back, his eyes narrowing.

The void... it had collapsed!

The serpent’s lower body seemed to connect to an unknown location, its gaping mouth devouring everything around it. The open maw resembled a Black Hole. The more it devoured, the larger the Black Hole became, causing even space itself to collapse towards it.

Through the serpent’s head, one could see the City of Wooden Nine Fantasms and other places harboring similar entities. The entire City of Wooden Nine Fantasms had collapsed, plunging into an endless void, and the area of collapse was growing wider.

Carl’s figure froze.

He looked at the growing serpent head, then lifted his gaze to the blood moon suspended in the sky, and shook his head helplessly.

This world... was finished!

The serpent clearly possessed traits surpassing the Fourth-tier, possibly even on par with the Moon Goddess. A Sixth-rank Upper God? Or a Seventh Order Main God?

Regardless, there was a problem with the Barrier left by the Moon Goddess.

"Forget it!"

Carl stepped forward, his figure instantly disappearing from the spot, reappearing next in the Magic Forest.

* * *

"Looks like we can’t go to the Crash Divine Domain anymore."

"No!" Carl gently shook his head, his face reflecting regret. "It seems the entire Otherworld is now out of reach."

His biggest reliance had been the ability to travel to Otherworlds to seize resources and rapidly advance his Cultivation. Now, this trump card might be unusable.

"Nevermind."

"I’m already a Second-Order Holy Knight, with a lifespan of five hundred years. Soon I’ll break through the One-Circle Witchcraft realm, and it’s very possible I’ll become a Three-Circle Wizard. Then my lifespan will be a thousand years. What else could I ask for?"

Shaking his head, Carl looked at his data panel. With a thought, Source Material instantly transformed into spiritual power.

Spiritual Power: 18.3

Spiritual Power: 18.4

Spiritual Power: 18.5

...

Spiritual Power: 20!

BOOM!

Carl let out a muffled groan, his head thrown back as the violent spiritual power formed a spike and pierced into his skull. The Source Sea Meditation Method circulated at an unprecedented pace.

Until...

Second Circle!

Second Circle Wizard!