Chapter 922: The Oppression of Divine Artifacts

In the Bewildering Dustlands, a dark gray spear wreathed in ruinous intent flew out from Pang Lin's sleeve, thrusting straight toward Ling Yun.

Ling Yun, hovering within the crumbling remains of the Spirit-Nurturing Hollow, felt a boundless light of destruction tearing his divine domain to pieces.

"The Spear of Ruin, a supreme Divine Artifact!" he exclaimed.

According to legend, the Spear of Ruin hailed from an ancient age and had been forged by a fallen Sovereign.

That Sovereign's name had long been lost to the tides of time. Few knew of them at all, for their existence had been fleeting. They had left barely a trace in history. It was as if their past had been deliberately erased.

Their life was not one marked by glory, and their use of the Dao of Ruin to become a Sovereign appeared to be no more than a half-hearted attempt.

Despite their lack of notable impact, the Spear of Ruin that they had forged continued to be passed down through the ages. Those fortunate—or unfortunate—enough to wield it were often twisted in mind, yet unmatched in might. Every person wielding the Spear of Ruin eventually met the same fate of complete mental collapse, soon followed by death.

The Spear of Ruin had not resurfaced when Ling Yun emerged from the bizarre mist and roamed across the starry skies. Nobody had been seen wielding it, and its whereabouts were unknown.

Unexpectedly, this divine artifact had actually been with the Black Empyrean Phoenix all along!

Recalling Pang Lin's earlier words, Ling Yun immediately realized that the mysterious Sovereign who once ascended through the Dao of Ruin was her!

"She's the original master of the Spear of Ruin, its creator!"

An otherworldly jade-green eye flared into existence. Principles of destruction wove together in its depths, locking firmly onto Ling Yun from afar.

An overwhelming pressure surged forth, carrying the pure essence of annihilation. It seeped into his limbs and soul, corrupting and dismantling his vitality.

"The Eye of Destruction!"

Cracks spread across Ling Yun's body like shattering porcelain. A sea of blood roiled in his sea of consciousness, exuding the scent of decay.

The Eye of Destruction was yet another supreme divine artifact from a past Sovereign and was even more twisted and fearsome than the Spear of Ruin.

Its infamy echoed across the starry skies. It was said that anybody capable of refining the Eye of Destruction was destined to become a Sovereign.

Only Heretical Gods ever wielded it. Not once had it fallen into the hands of an Orthodox God.

Those mastering the Eye of Destruction gained power by slaughtering their way through the starry skies. Their strength grew boundlessly with every massacre.

The emergence of the Eye of Destruction required the utmost attention from the entire Hall of Gods. Even the Sovereigns would personally descend to suppress it. To this day, few knew where it came from or who had forged it.

Now, Pang Lin had casually summoned this jade-green Eye of Destruction, its baleful aura even more dreadful than that of the Spear of Ruin.

Ling Yun could not even twitch under its oppressive force.

"She was once the leader of the Heretical Gods?"

"She wasn't just the Black Empyrean Phoenix! She can choose her race upon rebirth. Her innate power of nirvanic rebirth allows her to alter her bloodline each time she's reborn!"

"What kind of existence is this?"

Ling Yun and the Outer Gods despaired.

The appearance of the Spear of Ruin and the Eye of Destruction confirmed the truth of Pang Lin's earlier claims. Her traces truly spanned the river of time, with her standing close to the peak in every era.

They could not fathom the number of different Heavenly Daos she had to have comprehended over the course of her many lives.

Before her demise as the Black Empyrean Phoenix, she was one of the leaders governing the Hall of Gods, the mightiest among the five Sovereigns.

She had also once been the creator of the Eye of Destruction, the revered leader of the Heretical Gods, and the brief yet devastating being once known as the God of Ruin.

Her existence was shrouded in layer after layer of mystery. No one could tell who she truly was.

Meanwhile, the Fey Gods continued their relentless slaughter of the fleeing Outer Gods without hesitation, unconcerned with inciting the wrath of the Sovereigns or the possibility of collective retaliation. After all, their Divine Saint had returned from death and now stood in the Bewildering Dustlands.

"I always knew our Divine Saint was the mightiest in the starry skies! No one aside from a God King can rival her!" a loyal golden elephant trumpeted, stamping its foot on a rippling divine domain and killing the God within. "I've long known that our Divine Saint is far more ancient than we ever imagined!

"I once entered the palace she left behind. After her fall, not even the four Sovereigns dared step onto the Dark Star, let alone plunder her palace. That alone speaks of her unimaginable power!"

The younger generation of Fey Gods had now witnessed their Divine Saint seal off this starry region with the Illusory Void Realm, even unleashing the terrifying might of the Spear of Ruin and the Eye of Destruction.

Thus, the Fey Gods, young and old, all yielded with wholehearted reverence.

"Girl, this is my gift to you," Pang Lin said, tossing down another Life Crystal.

Unlike before, the crystal did not descend slowly. It instead shot down like a streak of lightning, vanishing into the canopy of the World Tree and fusing into Pang Ling's petite body in the blink of an eye.

The Life Crystal became one with her, transforming into a new set of radiant bones in her physical body.

So this is a real Life Crystal!

Ling Yun and Pang Ling realized at the same time.

The Spear of Ruin and the Eye of Destruction had already obliterated Ling Yun's body and divine domain, scattering his essence and life energy in drifting streams across the Bewildering Dustlands.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Pang Ling, on the other hand, was undergoing a sublime ascension.

Ling Yun's shattered divine domain dissolved into a rain of radiant light that cascaded down on the massive branches and leaves of the World Tree.

It also drifted onto a single, brilliantly glowing mark.

The thumb-sized mark devoured the life energy, drawing together fragments of a soul. Before long, a gaunt figure took form before their eyes, refined from the scattered brilliance.

"Dong Tianze!" Li Zhaotian, Wu Yuan, Li Yuqing, and the others cried out in disbelief.

Pang Lin had brought the Blood God of the Abyss back to life using the remains of Ling Yun's divine domain!

His lost body, soul, and even cultivation realm had all been forged anew.

"Big Brother Dong." Pang Lin beamed down at him. "You guarded me back in the Abyss as my Celestial Phoenix Divine Guard. As long as I live, you will never truly die, for I can always bring you back."