The architectural grandeur of the main peak of Shu Mountain surpasses that of Nan Yuan. First of all, the grand halls, each three stories high, are adorned with scroll匾. In ancient times, the opulence of a building was judged primarily by the number of dougong brackets used. The dougong brackets beneath the eaves of the Shu Mountain halls are layered and cascading, with the eave corners soaring upward, creating a majestic appearance. Such halls are situated at intervals along the main peak, totaling nine, each occupying a plaza and forming a staircase-like progression all the way to the summit. However, under the gradual erosion of negative qi, the paint on these nine halls has flaked off, turning deeply black—resembling the halls of the underworld. Beyond these nine halls, a continuous series of pavilions and residential buildings stretch across the landscape, though most have collapsed into ruins. Amidst these structures, on the plazas where decayed grass grows through the stone and brick joints, strong spirits of resentment drift. These spirits are of both genders and of all ages—some have their faces decayed, eyes detached and hanging from their cheeks; others have half their heads shattered, their faces stained with dark blood; still others In addition to the wailing spirits, numerous figures lingered in the plaza and dwellings—powerful yin corpses, all sharing a uniform feature: a bluish-black complexion and hair tangled like withered grass. Some had skin ruptured and oozing pus; others displayed prominent, sharp teeth; some held rusted iron swords as if swordsmen. These spectral servants and yin corpses had once been disciples or senior teachers of the Shu Mountain Sect. After death, they were eroded by the lingering yin qi, their spirits preserved while their bodies transformed into powerful yin entities. Yet, at the very moment the blazing, golden sun rose with its intense, scorching radiance, they melted visibly—like snowmen plunged into hot water. The wailing spirits, lacking physical form, offered little resistance and were swiftly liberated, barely managing to emit piercing cries of anguish. The yin corpses, meanwhile, emitted hoarse, guttural roars, lunging with arms outstretched and limbs flailing toward the source of the golden light. As the sunlight illuminated them, their bodies grew increasingly translucent, and before they even reached Zhang Yuanqing, they turned to ash while still running. A blazing sun rose behind him, and as the seal appeared at his brow, Zhang Yuanqing strolled through the halls of the Shu Mountain immortal sect, from the first grand hall to the second, then the third... wherever he went, he purified all lingering spirits and shadow corpses. He moved slowly, as though leisurely wandering through his own backyard. This, indeed, was the true way to embody the Day-Wanderer Deity... Zhang Yuanqing felt content. Since entering the Sovereign Realm, he had never felt this free and exhilarated. A sense of supreme dominion surged within him—a bold and majestic authority that declared: those who defy him shall surely perish. When he was at Level 7, the presence of more powerful artifacts overshadowed the unique qualities of the Day-Wanderer, concealing the radiant, commanding strength of the sun deity. Now, having advanced to Level 8, aside from a few reserve artifacts, all other Sovereign-tier items could not match his combined power of Day-Rise and the Flame Sovereign. At this stage, the true strength of the Day-Wanderer fully emerged. Shadow corpses and spirit wraiths below Level 8 offered no resistance, dissolving into ash under the overwhelming golden radiance. After reaching the fourth grand hall, Zhang Yuanqing dispelled the sun god and the fiery god of battle, donned his companion, the spirit moon, and entered the night wanderer state, settling into a meditative posture within the hall to restore and rejuvenate. Although his soul had undergone a qualitative transformation into a yang spirit, making his solar divine power several times stronger, he still could not exert it without restraint—forty minutes was his limit. The boss had not yet appeared, so he made every effort to conserve his spiritual energy. … The War of the Gods. Upon arriving at the arena, the lawful-aligned half-gods synchronously ascended, hovering at a height of one hundred meters and surveying the smaller continent floating thirty meters above the ground. On the opposite side of the arena, the chaotic-aligned half-gods stood in formation. At a distance of four to five kilometers, their vision made it equivalent to mere meters—clearly visible every facial expression and gaze of one another. The head of the Taiyuan Sect, clad in a robe of starlight, his eyes—no, the starlight within his eye sockets—shifting gently between the enemy and the arena, slowly remarked: "Ladies and gentlemen, "To the Lawful Half-Deities, he said: 'Among evil vocations, evil outperforms Law, and this holds true even at the Half-Deity level. During the chaotic engagements, with our numbers superior and our abilities well-coordinated, we can hold our own against the Evil forces. However, once the individual duels begin, our chances grow slim.' Upon hearing this, the Lawful Half-Deities turned their gaze toward the Evil Half-Deities. Among the Evil ranks stood the mightiest: the Warlord of 12th rank, the Wine God of 11th, the Lord of a Hundred Demons of 11th, two Dragon Lords of 10th rank, two Phantom Deities of 10th rank, and—indeed—the powerful Lady of the Moon. In contrast, among the Lawful side, only the Lord of the Stars held a 11th rank; all others were of 10th rank. Moreover, the reserve strength—Five Elements Unified—was rendered ineffective on the battlefield. The only true reserve among the Lawful Deities was the Void Half-Deity." The Master of Taiyuan continued: "The purpose of the arena mechanism is twofold: first, to shorten the duration of the core formations of both parties, and second, to reduce the number of half-gods—only when half-gods are depleted will the next round of core formation contests no longer remain stagnant." The orderly half-gods all looked serious. The arena mechanism is specifically targeting the orderly faction's half-gods. With the blend of sound and 3D surround effects, the Master of Taiyuan conveyed a sense of gravity: "Compared to the dungeon mechanics, I'm more concerned about the invisible enemies..." "Invisible enemies?" Master Jiang furrowed his brows, puzzled by his meaning. The Master of Taiyuan explained: "The arena competition clearly targets our orderly faction. The very existence of this 'unfair' mechanism is itself a sign of hostility—not from the spiritual realm, but from those entities that are present." At this, he lifted his head and looked toward the gray, overcast sky: "Please look!" The half-gods all turned their gaze upward. The Master of Taiyuan waved his hand, and brilliant starlight spread out across the sky. To the half-gods, the heavens rapidly faded, revealing a celestial realm like a river of stars, which then itself began to fade as their perspective rose, rising ever higher, until it reached infinite heights. Suddenly, two immense eyes opened in the stillness, filling the entire world—eyes brimming with determination, bloodlust, cruelty, and a mesmerizing power that drove the minds of onlookers mad. The view ascended further, revealing a dark, murky ocean, where vast waves churned and a colossal shadow, stretching for tens of thousands of miles like a city wall, rose and fell intermittently. This immense form evoked the world-encircling serpent of Norse mythology—the Midgard Serpent. The figure suddenly lifted its head, turning toward the lawful half-gods, and the vertical eyes on its forehead burst forth with beams of deep blue light. The starlight dissolved, and the lawful half-gods were struck like by lightning—some patterns of enchantment shimmered on their skin, others had turbid fluids seeping from their pores, their spiritual essences dimmed and stained with filth. The Master of Taiyuan felt a golden sun rise in his mind, and with a series of soft hisses, the anomaly of the Lawful Half-Deity gradually dissipated, returning to its normal state. "See this, the beings existing above the Spiritual Realm," the Master said in a low tone. "They were the supreme entities who invaded the Spiritual Realm thousands of years ago." He sighed. "I've noticed for many years that the Spiritual Realm's replica occasionally develops bugs—some of which resolve on their own, while others persist, such as the 'Shelun Tunnel' trial realm of the Night-Wanderer Deity. In the past year, the frequency of these bugs has increased significantly, especially after the disruptions caused by the Lingtuo's interference, which obscured the Merit Scroll. Now, even the realm-level bugs have spread to the level of Sovereigns. The root cause lies in the deepening invasion of these supreme entities. Indeed, even the current tournament mechanism is largely shaped by their will." The expressions of the Lawful Half-Deities subtly shifted, as their own status and awareness of matters concerning the Spiritual Realm were already well-established. Mr. Chairman drew a deep breath, "Those people have turned their attention toward us? Could this strengthen the power of the evil half-gods?" "Indeed!" the head of Taiyuan affirmed. "They too will abide by the副本's mechanisms, but they will seek loopholes to bolster and facilitate the evil half-gods within the副本. The administrators of the Spiritual Realm have already perished. We can only rely on ourselves. 'In this battle,' I say, 'if I fail to become the Sovereign of the Sun, even if we manage to survive in our current state, the Spiritual Realm will inevitably fall entirely under the control of the evil faction—our fate will still be one of extinction.' Having clearly outlined the stakes, he continued: 'Now, to the point: each victory in the arena reduces the duration of the opposing faction's array by one day. The evil faction currently controls two arrays, totaling six days, yet we only need to win three consecutive matches. The evil faction must win seven matches in a row to secure victory, as we possess two exemptions.' "With three consecutive victories of the lawful faction, they can directly restart one of the opposing faction's array formations. Given that the chaotic half-gods have lost three members, they will be unable to maintain that formation. Thus, the lawful faction will now possess four array formations. Once the final formation's duration expires, by uniting their strength, they can secure five formations and gain the sun's essence. For the chaotic faction to win, five consecutive victories are the most reliable path—over five days of duration, combined with time spent on the arena matches, will allow the lawful faction to restart two of their formations. However, with three half-gods lost, the lawful faction will no longer have the strength to withstand the chaotic faction's pressure." "Five consecutive victories? Impossible!" Fu Qingxuan shook her head. "As soon as the Vajra intervenes, the chaotic faction will surely secure a decisive victory." The Master of the Taiyuan Sect spoke with a resonant, majestic tone: "Therefore, we must win five out of the six matches." "The President raised his hand and smiled, saying, 'I can win one match as long as I don't face Shura. After defeating the evil half-deity, I can claim the authority, keep investing, and keep winning. But I believe the evil faction won't let us exploit this gap—I won't step in, and Shura won't either.' 'Then you stay on the field to balance Shura,' Jiang, the Head of the Alliance, volunteered, 'I'll take the first match.' The white-haired, white-bearded half-deity of the Liu family shook his head, stating, 'The match must uphold two key principles. First, none of the five Grand Masters may appear on the stage. If any of you is defeated on the battlefield, and the authority is taken away, we lose our foundational strength of the Five Elements. Second, the Star Sovereign must not step onto the field.' Should the Star Sovereign be injured, the Sun Battle will be concluded prematurely. 'We don't need such rigidity!' said the Master of the Central Court. 'We can adjust our participation based on the opponents' lineup. Both I and the Blossom President can take the field.' As for Master Jiang, even if you step forward, the best outcome would be mutual demise." Master Jiang was not satisfied and was about to object when the Water Deity Palace's master spoke softly, "We have two opportunities to avoid casualties. If we make good use of both, we should be able to achieve zero losses. The question is whether these exemptions apply only to avoiding life-or-death battles, or whether they also preserve the timeline without any delay." This detail was not explicitly stated in the quest. "Additionally, we have an advantage: the evil faction announces their participants first, allowing us to select who to send based on the situation," Fu Qingxuan said. This point was particularly significant, as there existed a natural synergy among spiritual realm professions—where certain attributes dominated others, enabling even a lower-ranked individual to defeat a stronger opponent. Half an hour passed swiftly, and the spiritual realm's notification sound came again: 【Please select your combatants from both sides. … Half an hour later, Zhang Yuanqing, having restored his spiritual energy, left the hall, activated the Day-Rising and Liyang War Gods, and once again cast golden light over the Shu Mountain immortal sect, dispelling the yin corpses and resentful spirits within the yin energy. He pressed forward steadily, encountering several yin corpses at the master realm stage; after fierce battles, he defeated and eliminated them all. Not long after, he reached the main hall at the summit—the hall stood six stories high, with eaves layered one upon another and colossals of roof brackets stacked in succession, so grand and magnificent that it surpassed any other golden-roofed hall. Before the hall, incense burners had toppled and stone plazas cracked, with the cracks now filled not by wild grass, but by clusters of dark, unusual herbs. Though not a scholar by profession, Zhang Yuanqing could immediately recognize these as a rare yin-natured immortal herb. "The ambient energy radiating out has transformed the surroundings, fostering these immortal plants—this boss is at least a Level 9 initial, perhaps even mid-level," he thought to himself. During the Sovereign Phase, it is the norm for a nine-tier boss to appear in an eight-tier S-tier dungeon. He has heard from his uncle that in mid-nine-tier dungeons, the boss strength reaches the peak of the nine-tier level. As for the nine-tier peak cultivators—those at the highest echelon—they rarely worry about dungeon challenges. With their stature, as long as they obtain semi-divine artifacts, they can directly absorb and refine them, entering the semi-divine realm. The only real threat to them comes from the trials designed specifically for ascension to semi-divinity. Such trials were frequent in the early stages of the cultivation realm, but as one after another semi-divine beings emerged, these trials gradually disappeared. The most recent such trial dungeon appeared within the faction dungeon of the White Tiger Army. Fu Qingxuan successfully passed it and was appointed as the new Marshal. At this moment, the lingering spiritual servants and shadow corpses outside had all been transcended by Zhang Yuanqing. The vast Wushan was now utterly silent, and the sound of his footsteps ascending the stone steps was distinctly clear. Zhang Yuanqing ascended the steps, paused before the hall, with a scroll hanging diagonally above his head, about to fall but not yet fallen, inscribed: Hall of Enduring Sword Qi! He gently waved his right hand, and the surge of energy struck the tightly closed, decaying hall doors. "Crack!" The doors shattered into four fragments, revealing the scenes within the hall.