In the high void, silent and deep, only gray winds scraped past, annihilating everything they touched.
Against these winds of annihilation, the Dimensional Palace continued its journey towards the place holding clues to mend the pale red.
Inside the palace, Fang You meticulously examined two divine artifacts before him.
One was a Divine Source.
The other was also a Divine Source.
These were treasures offered with friendship by the two high-ranking existences that Chi Tianzhu had obliterated – their drops.
After myths and demigods fall, remnants of shattered divinity will remain.
Similarly, Divine Sources are the remnants left behind after high-ranking beings perish.
Fang You was seeing them for the first time.
Both Divine Sources were the size of rice vats, appearing in irregular, broken shapes, yet still exuding an ineffable, magnificent beauty, and a deeply unsettling, pervasive filth.
Magnificence and filth were not contradictory.
Unfortunately, the beings of the evil god faction seemed not to use peculiar artifacts often. Without equipment or storage gear, after their demise, the only loot left besides Divine Sources was nothing else.
“Poor, so incredibly poor!”
To be precise, it wasn't that these beings were poor.
Evil god servants and attendants did not entirely tread the path of mystery. They were elevated by their own masters, able to borrow their masters’ power. For them, the enhancement brought by legendary peculiar artifacts was superfluous.
However, evil god servants were not entirely devoid of affection for treasures. They frequently sacrificed the equipment and treasures they collected to their masters.
It was akin to recycling scrap.
Master Fang commented thus.
“Theoretically, the value of a Divine Source is far greater than several legendary peculiar artifacts. This is a scarlet-grade treasure, but how to utilize it?”
He had Xiao Huan bring over the Purifying Cube and, with clicks and clacks, purified the two Divine Sources imbued with dense filth.
Instantly, as if dust had been wiped from the treasures, these two incomplete Divine Sources became more magnificently flawless. Profound and esoteric laws flowed upon them, compelling one to immerse oneself, to be lost, to feel dizzy, and to vomit blood on the spot.
Fang You shook his head.
The laws contained within were esoteric, yet still countless times inferior to the Law Stele. Furthermore, what was inscribed upon them was the path of the Lord of Exhaustion and the Black Dragon Lord, and further back, the path of the Twisted Black River. This was a path that no ordinary person could ever tread.
He looked at Qian Hong, who possessed the ability to devour divinity and grow stronger.
However, Qian Hong merely looked at him, tilting its head slowly, as if to say:
“Huh?”
It showed no appetite whatsoever.
What use did the Divine Source have then? It was certainly not completely useless. Master Fang already had over a dozen plans for the disposal and utilization of Divine Sources in his mind, but none of them could fully unlock the value of this scarlet-grade treasure.
Wait, Divine Source… Source… Energy!
Fang You thought of a use and immediately had the Dimensional Palace halt its journey, then summoned the transport mecha Xiao Huan.
He looked at Qian Hong, “You stay here and wait. I’ll be back soon.”
Relying on spatial traversal and a not-so-sturdy legendary palace-grade peculiar artifact, Master Fang quickly returned to the Academy’s Secret Realm, which was also on its journey. He entered the Hall of Time and approached the Time-Sand Secret Realm, shrouded in the effervescence of temporal flow.
“Ding!”
“Hint: Suitable energy for the Time-Sand Secret Realm detected. Proceed with replenishment?”
“Yes!”
In his hand, a Divine Source immediately melted, transforming into a surging river of divinity, which was absorbed into the Time-Sand Secret Realm.
“Hint: Secret Realm energy replenished. Usable instances increased.”
---
**Hall of Time (Iridescent)**
**Ability One: Time-Sand Secret Realm**
**Energy Reserve: 3% + 233%**
**Ability Two: Locked**
**Ability Three: Locked**
The 3% was the remaining energy of the Time Secret Realm, representing that the Secret Realm could be activated three more times. In other words, Lord Yujin’s generous contribution provided 233 instances of Secret Realm usage.
Thanks to the esteemed benefactor’s full support (bows).
“So, the Time-Sand Secret Realm requires Divine Sources as energy… No, Divine Sources might be just one of them. Perhaps other high-ranking energies can also meet the requirement.”
“Regardless, the gifts from the two esteemed benefactors have alleviated the Secret Realm’s urgent energy needs.”
The opportunity to enter the Secret Realm nine times in the second year was about to refresh. If he couldn't enter due to insufficient energy, and consequently lost nine precious years, that would be too heartbreaking.
However, the gift from one ninth-realm esteemed benefactor could only provide over two hundred years. This was truly not much.
Used sparingly, it would only last a few years of real time.
…
Using Qian Hong as an anchor, Fang You, aboard the Xiao Huan transport mecha, returned to the Dimensional Palace. After sailing for another half day, he finally reached his destination.
“This should be about it.”
The clue was not as precise as when searching for treasures. The golden exclamation mark on the map had transformed into a vast golden halo, encompassing the airspace before them.
This was still within the high void, not descended into any specific great domain or intermediate realm.
However, before them was no longer emptiness, but a grey-black land resembling continental plates. It appeared abruptly yet fit perfectly into this space, seeming utterly natural.
The Dimensional Palace slowly descended.
Fang You dispatched dozens of combat puppets to explore.
The ground here was extremely hard, far exceeding the surface of great domains. In the distance, continuous black, low mountains and drifting gray mist were visible. From time to time, gray wind blades would slash the earth, or red lightning would crash down.
In such a dangerous and terrifying environment, only a seventh-sense myth would have a slim chance of survival and exploration.
The dozens of combat puppets he sent out were quickly torn to shreds.
“There are also peculiar evils here!”
Upon reflection, it wasn't unexpected. Where in the peculiar realm were there no peculiar evils?
The number of peculiar evils here was not large, not forming a dense, black tide. However, their star ratings were relatively high, with the weakest being three or four stars. Peculiar evils like door knockers, used merely to fill numbers, were not found by Fang You’s divine sense after sweeping the area several times, indicating they couldn't survive here.
Fang You deployed two Brilliant Blade puppets with myth-level combat power.
--- This type of puppet organization had not yet been manufactured, but he had acquired quite a few from Trial Ground 404, carrying a full six of them at the moment.
Following the six Brilliant Blades were the war puppets, Qian Hong, of similar height but immeasurably greater oppressive force.
The region encompassed by the golden halo was vast; searching inch by inch would take a long time.
Fortunately, as soon as Qian Hong stepped out of the Dimensional Palace, it was like a child smelling an enticing fragrance. Its several-hundred-ton body moved with a light, joyful leap.
As they ventured deeper, they encountered more and more peculiar evils. The most dangerous encounter was with six seven-star peculiar evils simultaneously.
Soon, these six peculiar evils were dismembered and their materials extracted. Qian Hong continued to advance with booming sounds.
“The peculiar evils here are not weak, but fortunately, there are no traces of evil god servants.”
They proceeded to push through.
With Qian Hong leading the charge, Fang You barely had to act, occasionally launching a couple of lightning strikes.
Rumble—
Endless energy surged from Qian Hong's body. This energy quickly coalesced, forming one hexagonal crystalline wall after another, ultimately constructing a massive, towering mecha.
Qian Hong – Demigod Dharma Aspect State!
The mecha’s defense was not as strong as Qian Hong's body, but Qian Hong itself possessed infinite energy, and any slight damage to the mecha could be immediately repaired.
It faced two eight-star and over a dozen seven-star peculiar evils, exhibiting unparalleled and formidable combat power.
It directly overwhelmed the peculiar evils!
If the opponents were evil god servants, one would have to worry about them employing flanking, cutting, or rear-attack tactics. But if the opponents were mindless peculiar evils, then… just fight!
Qian Hong, holding small peculiar evils in each hand, crunched them down one by one.
Apart from occasionally shooting down two seven-star peculiar evils, Fang You did not do much. Watching Qian Hong smash one opponent after another, he merely stood nearby and recorded information.
“Hmm, stronger than the current Liu Feng, its overall combat power is about 2.2 Liu Fengs… If it hadn't mastered the Law of Severing yet, it would be at least equal to 2.5 Liu Fengs.”
As long as it didn’t encounter a ninth-realm peculiar evil, Qian Hong was effectively invincible.
The unexpected… did not happen.
Qian Hong, leading its puppet subordinates, pushed forward relentlessly. Fang, lying flat, soon arrived at the destination.
--- Qian Hong’s steps halted.
Its gaze shifted slightly downwards.
Fang You followed its gaze down.
The ground before them began to incline, like a gentle slope, extending directly into the silent darkness.
Fang You extended his vast divine sense, continuously stretching it, drilling into the darkness to gaze.
One kilometer;
Ten kilometers;
One hundred kilometers;
One thousand kilometers;
…
He suddenly discovered that what appeared to be a slope was, in fact, an extremely large abyss.
At the bottom of the abyss, half-buried was a damaged object, appearing like a heart, or perhaps some kind of crystal, emitting faint golden particles.
The damaged object was minuscule compared to the abyss, not conspicuous, but under his divine sense scan, this object was still hundreds of meters in size.
Around the damaged object, giant shadows roamed, absorbing the golden light particles that emanated from it, emitting sounds of apparent excitement, and also smashing and striking the damaged object.
Although they could not damage the damaged object, their strikes caused more golden particles to emanate.
The peculiar evils conveyed emotions of excitement and craving.
“Beasts!”
“Stop!”
Fang You’s eyes turned red.
What was that? That was the key to Qian Hong’s repair! And these peculiar evils were constantly gnawing at it!
He leaped forward, driving the golden sword light, transforming into a beam of light himself.
But Qian Hong was faster.
Boom—
Mountains rose from the earth, and giant shadows were crushed into mud.
Qian Hong transformed into an evil-slaying machine, stirring up waves of bloody winds and rain.
An hour later, the storm subsided.
Fang You walked closer, gazing at the damaged object, suddenly unsure of the next step.
Was this a component, or some kind of material?
He was not sure, but Qian Hong was.
It quickly walked forward, and a peculiar resonance occurred between it and the damaged object.
Hum—
Hum—
“Hint: God-Slaying Weapon · Qian Hong is about to absorb ‘Damaged Component ??’. Please invest sufficient energy.”
“Hint: …”
“Hint: …”
Highlighted golden hint messages appeared successively, emphasizing important matters to be screened.
But Qian Hong, possessing the Infinite Casket, would not be lacking in conventional energy.
What it lacked was likely…
Divine Crystals!
Fortunately, Fang You was accustomed to carrying all sorts of potions, items, equipment, and materials with him. He wouldn't feel comfortable without carrying a pile of everything he could think of.
He began to scatter money… a large handful of divine crystals.
The moment they were scattered, these divine crystals melted like ice and snow.
He hit the right spot!
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If divine crystals were still insufficient, he would have to reluctantly take out the last remaining Divine Source.
Instantly, the resonance between Qian Hong and the damaged object intensified, with golden divine light radiating, as if nurturing profound laws.
Qian Hong was merging…
No, the hundreds-of-meters-tall damaged object was slowly integrating into Qian Hong, the big child.
The component was returning to its place.
“Hint: God-Slaying Weapon · Qian Hong has obtained a crucial component and is undergoing self-repair.”
“Hint: God-Slaying Weapon · Qian Hong’s current repair progress: 80.01%… 80.19%… 80.29%… 80.41%…”
The repair speed was not fast, but it had crossed the most critical chasm.
The process of Qian Hong integrating the component also exuded some 'tempting' pheromones, drawing the peculiar evils to charge forward with cries. However, perhaps the peculiar evils gathered around the damaged object were already the elder figures among them, and they had all been annihilated by Qian Hong. The peculiar evils that gathered now were not very strong, only one eight-star and a few seven-stars.
However,
“After all, it is an eight-star peculiar evil. Without Qian Hong being able to act, it remains a terrifying entity, a source of disaster!”
Master Fang was extremely solemn.
Master Fang equipped ‘Myriad Transformation Sword Art’, ‘Nirvana Holy Fire’, and ‘Gate of Infinity’.
Master Fang initiated his move.
Under the amplification of the Gate of Infinity, one sword transformed into ten thousand swords, and ten thousand swords turned into a billion swords.
An endless river of swords poured down, obliterating all filth that stood in its path.
The eight-star peculiar evil fell.
The remaining seven-star peculiar evils fell even earlier.
Master Fang wiped his sweat, “It actually consumed sixty percent of my energy. Indeed, killing an eight-star peculiar evil is still somewhat strenuous.”
“Ding!”
“Hint: Due to severe damage to the component, God-Slaying Weapon · Qian Hong cannot self-repair to the critical point. Please invest suitable treasures for repair.”
At this moment, Qian Hong’s repair progress stopped at 83.3%. Its appearance had not changed much, only a few faint patterns had appeared on its mecha-like body.
Within the patterns, a terrifying aura of destruction seemed to be brewing.
No, it was the Law of Destruction.
Qian Hong had undoubtedly broken through. It now undoubtedly possessed combat power equivalent to confronting a ninth-realm entity, but whether it was stronger or weaker than Lord Yujin, or equal to how many units of Lord Yujin, remained unknown.
Furthermore, Qian Hong still had room for improvement.
After some thought, Fang You reluctantly took out the Divine Source gifted by the Black Dragon Lord—previously, Qian Hong's lack of appetite for Divine Sources was likely due to its 'realm' not being high enough.
As expected, Qian Hong became energetic again, and its appetite returned.
It rubbed against Fang You’s front, looking at him pleadingly.
What could Fang You do? Of course, he had to feed it.
He then flew up and held the Divine Source before Qian Hong’s mouth. To his surprise, Qian Hong did not directly swallow the Divine Source whole. It only inhaled forcefully, draining the laws flowing from the Divine Source.
The Divine Source dimmed slightly, but it was still a treasure.
It could probably still be used to recharge the Time-Sand Secret Realm, with the only difference being that the time provided would be slightly less.
One Divine Source used for two purposes could be considered full utilization.
Qian Hong’s repair progress increased by 0.99%.
He speculated that Qian Hong’s next bottleneck would be at 89.99%, meaning he would need to “persecute” six more high-ranking existences to fill Qian Hong’s experience bar.
High-ranking existences were not difficult to find; defeating them was the problem.
…
The action of improving Qian Hong was more successful than anticipated. As for what clues Qian Hong would need to break through its next bottleneck, that… would have to wait until the critical point was reached.
The Lord’s Hand was similar.
This thirteen-sequence God-Slaying Weapon was also in a damaged state, its abilities significantly diminished. However, it did not have the obvious and intuitive repair progress like Qian Hong.
Fang You normally nurtured it with world power, which allowed the Lord’s Hand to slowly recover.
However, this recovery speed was a bit too slow, and it was unclear when it would reach its critical point.
He had not discovered any other repair methods yet.
The objective of this trip had been achieved. With the organization now possessing a常态 high-ranking combat power, Master Fang could finally breathe a slight sigh of relief.
Logically, he could already return, but since he was here, and this region looked special, he had to explore it thoroughly.
He then took his great bodyguard, Qian Hong, and wandered around this unknown and dangerous gray land.
Peculiar evils were killed along the way, and gods would be killed if they appeared.
Qian Hong unleashed energy cannon fire imbued with terrifying destructive laws, each shot capable of annihilating a significant portion of an eight-star peculiar evil’s body, inflicting heavy damage or even instant kills on these less-than-agile peculiar evils.
Unfortunately, along the way, they did not encounter any nine-star peculiar evils that would require Qian Hong to unleash its full combat power.
Fortunately, he found a ruin that was incredibly ancient and carried the heavy aura of historical depth.
From some ruined structures, Fang You judged them to be from the late Kandera Empire.
The buildings were quite damaged, seemingly having undergone extremely fierce battles. Later, some broken structures drifted along spatial turbulence, falling and becoming buried here.
These broken remnants, having lost the protection of their ritual arrays and enduring tens of thousands of years of temporal erosion, were themselves extremely superior materials.
Fang You walked along, picking things up, and found many epic and legendary materials.
The Kandera Empire liked to use legendary materials to build houses; this rumor was indeed true. Of course, sometimes it was a necessity, and the buildings constructed had great utility.
And deep within these ruined structures, Fang You unearthed truly high-value treasures.
--- **Steel Pillar’s Universal Puppet (Scarlet)!**
Steel Pillar, the fourth Pillar of the Kandera Empire, titled "Mountain God Suppressing Evil." He left behind many renowned legends during the Kandera period. His creations and technology, even more so, have been passed down to this day.
The famous energy cannon 'Doro Tian Destruction Sky Cannon' and the scarlet-grade puppet 'Guardian Dragon' were both products of Steel Pillar's team.
Perhaps, Qian Hong's birth was also the work of this Steel Pillar.
And this Universal Puppet…
“Steel Pillar believed flesh and blood were weak, and many master craftsmen couldn't keep pace with him. Thus, he spent considerable effort and precious materials to create a batch of top-tier puppets capable of assisting his work… The sophistication of these puppets is no less than that of the Guardian Dragon.”
Fang You turned over the land multiple times, finding a total of two Universal Puppets. One had minor damage, and the other had moderate damage.
There might have been more than two; the fragments in his hand were remnants of some puppet. However, those were mostly turned to dust.
Fang You carefully stored these two deactivated puppets, not daring to repair them carelessly.
This was a pleasant surprise.
He placed even greater importance on this region.
He summoned a group of the organization’s Fire Bearers, and after several days of clearing the area, he finally found another precious item.
--- **Secret Pillar’s Companion Doll (Scarlet)**
**Description One:** Secret Pillar drew upon the power of peculiar evils to craft a special doll for herself. Initially, she merely intended to create a servant doll to add a touch of life, but as more materials were incorporated, the power of Secret Pillar’s doll continuously grew, now possessing the ability to destroy worlds.
**Description Two:** To unleash the full power of Secret Pillar’s doll, one requires Secret Pillar’s exclusive secret technique, or the ability to manipulate peculiar evils.