"Release her, and I can help you." Cang Yaochen's voice was barely a whisper, yet it carried a soul-piercing tremor. His monk robes were tattered, exposing the dark gold patterns etched along his spine—patterns that pulsed frantically with every breath he took.
Jiang Li, possessed by the Malice, slowly raised her head. From the corners of her eyes, two streaks of murky, black liquid trickled down.
"Buddha... You speak of help? You know the truth better than anyone, don't you?"
It was Jiang Li's throat, but the voice that emerged was a cacophony of ten thousand overlapping ghosts. "Ten thousand years ago, you personally severed the evil seeds of this world. Did you ever wonder if the mortals you protect had already rotted beneath your golden statue? You returned to redeem these low-born dregs who feed on your very flesh and blood, didn't you? But look! Is this world still worth your salvation? Come! Join me and let us ruin it all! She is the perfect vessel, a divine sacrifice capable of bearing all the venom and resentment of this world... she is the Sacrifice of God!"
"Noisy."
In the depths of Cang Yaochen's eyes, the dark purple radiance exploded, igniting into two burning Double Pupils. He shifted his weight abruptly, his left foot slamming into the pile of bone ash.
BOOM!
The sheer force of that single step blasted a crater a hundred meters wide into the bone plains surrounding the altar. Cang Yaochen became a blur of blood and gold, slicing through the viscous flow of time. His right arm pulled back, veins bulging like snakes, as liquid-state golden divine power compressed between his fingers.
"Arrogant!"
He threw a punch. The gray miasma within a thousand meters was instantly purged, and the very space in front of him visibly buckled and collapsed.
The Malice sneered, crossing its arms as the blood-stained main body of the Deep Abyssal Mirror suddenly materialized to block the path.
Cang Yaochen felt a bone-chilling cold transmit through his fist. The mirror held ten thousand years of resentment specifically cultivated to slaughter gods.
"Get out!"
Cang Yaochen roared. Within his sea of consciousness, the True Buddha manifestation slammed its palms together. A burst of golden light erupted from his crown, incinerating the black energy invading his body. He leveraged the momentum, shifting his fist into a claw that gripped the edge of the Deep Abyssal Mirror. In his right palm, a sword-shadow forged from pure killing intent manifested inch by inch.
"Do you really think this broken mirror can protect you?"
Cang Yaochen's face appeared extraordinarily ferocious amidst the clashing divine radiance and evil miasma.
"You lunatic! Do you want to kill her? Her soul is already fused with mine!" the Malice shrieked, desperate to shake Cang Yaochen's resolve.
As Cang Yaochen hesitated for a heartbeat, the system's mechanical voice rang out:
[System Notification]Pure demonic energy detected. Mocha Godhood awakening: 30%.
[System Notification]Buddhist Divine Origin severely damaged. Reminder: Adapt to the current world's laws immediately. Otherwise, the Buddha Godhood will fall into permanent dormancy or dissipate.
Cang Yaochen clutched his head, his voice turning hoarse and guttural. "Since you cannot be separated, I will crush you both together. This monk will not allow you to destroy the human realm that the gods died to protect!"
He released the ancient mirror, his right hand violently piercing through the layers of resentment, his five fingers stabbing directly into Jiang Li's abdomen. The collision of fist and shield erupted in an ear-splitting thud.
The wall of resentment shattered instantly. The punch landed heavily on "Jiang Li's" shoulder.
"Hypocrite! Hypocrite! Hypocrite!" The Malice scrambled up from the ruins, its face a distorted mask of rage.
Cang Yaochen shook the black blood from his right hand. "I told you, I can help you."
He reached into the void, and the golden light longsword reappeared. The blade hummed with a blood-colored violence—the awakening power of the Mocha Godhood.
"Kill!"
The sword traced a crimson half-moon in the air.
Driven to a corner, the Malice grew feral. Its hands slammed into the withered bones of the ground. In an instant, the entire Fallen God Valley trembled. Countless chains of white bone erupted from the earth like frenzied serpents, lashing out to bind Cang Yaochen's limbs.
"Burial of Ten Thousand Souls!"
The Malice roared as a dark, unholy fire ignited upon the bone chains. Each link bore the curse of a fallen god.
Cang Yaochen let out a cold snort. His golden sword swept in a wide arc. Blinding sparks and the screech of metal-on-metal filled the air as the blade met the bone. He wove through the gaps of the chains; with every strike, a massive swathe of bone was reduced to ash.
But the chains were endless.
Just as he was about to be completely entombed, the Malice saw its opening. The Deep Abyssal Mirror behind its back fired a beam of jet-black death light, aimed straight for Cang Yaochen's heart.
"Cang Yaochen, move!"
In that split second, Jiang Li's weak but resolute original consciousness flared up within her mind.
Cang Yaochen did not dodge. Instead, he opened his arms wide.
CLANG!
The death light slammed into his chest. There, the Red Sand Mark suddenly erupted with a sky-shrouding divine brilliance. That radiance carried an aura that reigned supreme over all life, swallowing the beam of eternal silence whole.
Cang Yaochen lunged forward, closing the distance. He gripped "Jiang Li's" throat, lifting her high into the air.
He stared into those pitch-black eyes. "Get out of her body!"
The Malice thrashed. "Never... You'll never take her!"
Cang Yaochen formed his fingers into a blade and stabbed violently into the left side of his own heart. Golden divine blood sprayed from the wound.
"With my divine blood, I forge an eternal prison."
He pressed his blood-soaked fingertip firmly onto the red mark on Jiang Li's forehead.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
Jiang Li's shrill scream echoed through the valley, a sound of pure, unadulterated agony.
Above the valley, the sky suddenly fractured.
The Heavenly Dao had sensed the total collapse of laws within the Fallen God Valley. Three wills, carrying the crushing majesty of thunder, were crossing ten thousand miles to lock onto this "Outsider" who dared to run rampant in the Tomb of Gods.
Cang Yaochen looked up slightly at the flickering thunder on the horizon. The smile at the corner of his lips grew increasingly crazed and distorted.
"Come then... let them all come!"