Chapter 208.1: A Yang Spirit, Hasty Return

Blood-red light spilled across the snow-capped peaks, dazzling and beautiful. The North Sea stretched endlessly, its blue merging with the sky as emerald waves rippled without end. Within the boundless forest, lakes connected one after another, and dragons slumbered in their depths.

Qi Yuan followed No-Food Goddess on a one-day tour of the Mortal Heart World.

Standing beneath the sunlight, he gazed at the distant mountains, cloaked in evening snow. "Looks like I really came here just to travel. Though my cultivation didn't improve, my state of mind feels much broader."

He had never rested in-game for even a moment, always playing seriously and intensely. This was the first time he had truly relaxed.

"To be honest, this is probably the first real vacation of my life. Even though it's just a whirlwind tour, it's still quite meaningful," he said.

No-Food Goddess smiled softly, her beautiful eyes gentle. "To see this land one last time with you... That’s not too bad."

Qi Yuan asked involuntarily, "Haven’t you reached the very end of the Great Venerable realm? What realm lies beyond True God?"

He had always been curious about the Yang Spirits, but never had the fortune to meet one. As the greatest figure in the history of the Mortal Heart World, No-Food Goddess was the closest to that realm.

She fell silent for a moment. "Beyond True God... I don't know either."

Despite having reached the very end of the Yin Spirit realm, she still could not fully glimpse the Yang Spirit realm.

Hearing this, Qi Yuan felt a bit disappointed. "Looks like I'll have to see the big boss in person to know just how powerful a so-called Yang Spirit really is."

The moment his words fell, a world-shaking roar suddenly erupted. His world was swallowed by a curtain of blood in a flash. Endless crimson light flooded his vision. He snapped his head up and looked toward the heavens. From the blood-red star, a terrifyingly enormous hand stretched outward, its palm the size of a planet.

As it pressed down gently, the Heavenly Pillar, tens of thousands of miles high, collapsed like fragile building blocks.

Qi Yuan watched as if gazing at a setting sun. "The Heavenly Pillar has fallen!"

He hadn't expected to witness history at this very moment. The Mortal Heart World shook violently. Blood-red rain filled the sky as if the heavens were weeping.

No-Food Goddess cast a deep glance in Qi Yuan's direction. "Go!"

However, Qi Yuan hurried after her, knowing she was about to face that Yang Spirit. He wasn’t about to miss the most brutal battle of the Hongtang War. Today would be the end of all the Mythics. Blood rain drifted down as Qi Yuan followed No-Food Goddess toward the shattered pillar.

In the meantime, the six Mythics entered the pillar, sending voice transmissions.

"

No-Food Goddess! Twenty seconds!

"

"

You must hold on!

"

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

They were beginning to condense the World Seed and send it away.

At this moment, Qi Yuan looked up toward the sky. The place from which the giant hand had emerged was now filled with dense crimson. A sea of blood-red radiance churned. The blazing crimson light was so intense that a mortal would perish if they stared at it directly.

A cold, merciless voice echoed from the heavens. "Annihilation."

The terrifying, blood-colored figure’s face was unclear. Yet one thing was clear: in her eyes, No-Food Goddess either did not exist or was no more than an insignificant ant.

Qi Yuan also looked at that horrifying silhouette.

[Projection of the Blood Sun Great Sage’s Devouring Physique, Yang Spirit. This physique can devour all things. Stars are clasped within its jaws.]

Soon, the terrifying figure plummeted downward at incredible speed. She wouldn’t even need twenty seconds to crash into the pillar.

No-Food Goddess raised her head. "Who is she?!"

Her blood-red robe fluttered violently in the crimson glow, making her appear ever more bewitching and beautiful.

Qi Yuan fearlessly relayed the information. "Projection of the Blood Sun Great Sage’s Devouring Physique..."

"Devouring..." No-Food Goddess seemed to have grasped something crucial, and roared toward the heavens, "Endless Chaos! The sole existence of this world!"

Endless light burst forth from her snow-white palm. Like a soldier calmly marching toward death, she rushed toward the looming presence without hesitation.

At the same time, Qi Yuan's voice reached the heavens. "Her upper jaw has been injured!"

Divine spiritual energy enveloped the creature, concentrated most densely around her head. Qi Yuan trembled all over, his divine apertures quaking as though he had encountered a natural predator.

If even a mere projection was this overwhelming, what of the true body? Qi Yuan couldn't imagine it. He stared intently at every strand of blood-red light, trying to capture each fragment of its form.

From the vast ocean of useless information, he extracted a few useful pieces, and conveyed it to No-Food Goddess. This was a battle destined to be lost.

High in the sky, two torrents of blood collided. No-Food Goddess spent every last trace of divine spiritual energy, yet the projection’s descent faltered for only an instant.

Just then, the projection’s surprised voice rang out. "How do you know who I am? How do you know that my upper jaw bears an unhealable wound?!"

Her gaze swept across the land as if looking for someone. Wherever it passed, mountains and earth alike were erased into nothingness. Only the Heavenly Pillar remained within the radius of ten thousand miles.

Nevertheless, given that Qi Yuan was not part of this world, such terrifying attacks could not harm him.

No-Food Goddess's voice rang out again from the heavens. "Check the attribute of her divine spiritual energy!"

The projection was startled once more. "Who are you talking to?!"

Qi Yuan hurriedly looked over. He was so weak, he could not even stand against a Yang Spirit’s mere projected avatar. Not knowing how to respond, he could only follow her instructions.

[Devouring, destruction, assimilation, puppetry...]

He immediately relayed what he saw to No-Food Goddess.

Boom!

Another violent collision erupted in the sky.

Qi Yuan saw blood continuously flowing from No-Food Goddess. Even with considerable knowledge of her enemy, she was still completely on the defensive. Blood fell from the heavens, seeming capable of corroding the very earth.

The projection's gaze swept the world impatiently once again, trying to find Qi Yuan. Unfortunately, all her efforts were doomed to fail.

Blood-red radiance surged like a raging dragon, tearing No-Food Goddess's divine domain apart. No-Food Goddess’ beautiful face was covered in bloodstains.

Injured once more, No-Food Goddess roared, "Tell me. Her eyes..."

Qi Yuan immediately looked at the projection's eyes and conveyed what he saw. "Endless Chaos! The sole existence of this world!"

No-Food Goddess launched yet another attack. Although her assaults ultimately dealt no damage, they did slow its descent.

The projection roared in irritation, "Lowly insect!"

Strangely enough, No-Food Goddess angered her less than Qi Yuan, who was nowhere to be found. What she hated most was the unknown. After all, uncertainty bred weakness.

With nowhere else to vent her fury, she unleashed it on No-Food Goddess. "Who is it?!"

One devastating attack after another ravaged No-Food Goddess and her divine domain. She was completely at the enemy’s mercy. Injured all over, her divine apertures were shattered, and blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

Twenty seconds, which felt like eternity, finally passed.

Battered as she was, No-Food Goddess still smiled. She seemed to be looking at Qi Yuan’s direction, her voice bleak yet relieved. "I fulfilled my promise to protect the Heavenly Pillar. The destination I always wanted to know... I now know. This life... I have no regrets."

She cast one last look toward Qi Yuan, her gaze filled with complexity.

Even though he had seen countless people wear countless expressions, he could not decipher what that look meant, or what emotions it contained.

"The rest of the road... you have to walk it by yourself."

With those words, No-Food Goddess finally collapsed, shattering completely. Endless divine spiritual energy scattered like starlight, drifting in all directions.

Qi Yuan reached out, trying to grasp one speck, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the projection roared furiously, "Who is it?!"

She was destined never to find Qi Yuan. In the next moment, she crashed down into the Heavenly Pillar with a thunderous boom. The entire Mortal Heart World shook violently.

The six Mythics reappeared, only to be extinguished within three seconds, as though they had never existed. Even in movies, beings as powerful as Mythics would get the same amount of screen time, without so much as a close-up. The land only returned to complete silence after a full hundred seconds.

Qi Yuan gazed at the devastated world and murmured, "If I'd known it would end in tragedy, I wouldn't have come to watch."

To be honest, he couldn’t say that he regretted it. He cast one final glance at the projection within the pillar before shifting his gaze to the dying glow of the Lost Glow Stick.

"Time's almost up. It's time to go back."

No-Food Goddess had long since fallen. He had come all the way back to the Hongtang War, only to witness her death.