The head that rolled to the ground moved its lips: "Indeed, a rule-based artifact..." Female Bā's palm-blade pressed on with unyielding force, easily cleaving open the torso of the lifeless body. The dark golden skin, as resilient as iron, yielded like tofu under her grasp. Golden blood poured onto the pale palm, creating a sharp, sizzling sound as if cold water had been poured into a hot oil pot. Female Bā clenched her fingers, crushing the heart. With her other hand, she formed a blade, poised to pierce the young sun-god's chest, to tear the body apart with both hands—when suddenly, from beneath the distant steps, a shadowy corpse rose, raised a double-barreled hunting rifle, and fired at Female Bā. "Bang!" A brilliant flash erupted from the muzzle. As the bullet left the barrel, it struck Female Bā's chest, exploding into two splashes of blood, engulfing her in a blaze of flame. The explosive force sent Female Bā staggering back several steps. Zhang Yuanqing seized the opportunity, clutching his head and fleeing. From a distance, he secured his head against his neck, one hand steadying him, the other drawing a The cervical bones self-reconnected, and the blood vessels linking the heart extended, first forming granulation tissue that rapidly grew into a fresh, tender, pulsating heart. Zhang Yuanqing had long known he would face a fatal end. Before opening the bronze coffin, he used the tortoise-back map to observe the crises unfolding over the next fifteen minutes, only to be stunned to discover that his head would be severed four times within that span—three times he fought desperately to survive, barely making it, while the fourth time he was completely killed. From the map's predictions, he gleaned the following insights: First, the White Emperor's crown is a rule-type artifact capable of severing the heads of all living beings within a 500-meter radius; this attack is both unpreventable and unevadable. Second, the head-severing attack triggers every three minutes, targeting one entity at a time, with the artifact's owner deciding the target; the attack carries a shock that can destroy the soul. Third, the Yang Shen can significantly resist the shock damage. Four, the Day-Wandering Deity could suppress Female Bāo's "Night-Wandering" and "Spirit Scroll" abilities. Her only recourse was to rely on her strong healing and physical resilience, opting for close-range combat. Once she fully understood the enemy's situation, Zhang Yuancheng's strategy became straightforward—his "flying-and-drawing" approach! Using the Star-Dodging Technique and various intangible skills, he achieved the effect of instant teleportation and sudden dashes, evading Female Bāo's close-range attacks and the head-cutting strikes from the White Emperor's Crown. Then, leveraging his nine-tiered equipment and consumables, he would eliminate Female Bāo. To this end, he had pre-arranged for the Ninth Elder to remain hidden at a distance, ready to immediately activate the Yin Corpse units and fire off counterattacks as soon as Zhang Yuancheng was struck down completely. Watching Female Bāo's blazing flames gradually being smothered by thick, clinging yin qi, Zhang Yuancheng deactivated the Day-Rising and the Flame God of War, and summoned the Thunder God Set. He swiftly donned each component—shimmering with bright blue electric arcs—fastening them to his chest The air around the main peak of Shu Mountain is filled with violent electrical spiritual energy, with electric arcs constantly leaping from the void, glowing brightly before fading away. Zhang Yuanqing extends his palm toward Nü Ba, directly deploying the most widely spreading technique—"Thunderstorm." Boom! Boom! A downpour of thunder strikes relentlessly, with towering lightning bolts—some as thick as water barrels—interlacing the tree-like flashes, casting the mountain's daytime light in a brilliant white hue. The entire main peak is engulfed in a terrifying natural disaster. At this moment, the violent electrical spiritual energy surpasses even the power of the Sun God, striking Nü Ba without cease, scorching her in successive waves of blackened streaks. Strong streams of yin energy surge within Nü Ba, attempting to form a protective shield on her surface, only to be repeatedly extinguished and shattered. The Ninth Elder maneuvers a fresh yin corpse, fleeing toward the distance, unable to enter the thunder's domain. As she rushes, she reloads her double-barreled weapon, raises it, aims at Nü Ba, and fires. As long as six shots hit the enemy, the seventh will trigger the fire spirit within the enemy's body, causing severe injuries even to a mid-level nine-rank warrior. Since a double-barreled hunting rifle fires two shots at once, it only takes three successful hits to seriously wound Nü Ba. At the very moment the gunshots rang out, Zhang Yuanqing indeed activated "Void," erasing the rules governing the trajectory and enabling the bullets to strike Nü Ba instantly. Yet this time, the shots missed, passing through the threshold and triggering a massive explosion inside the main hall, with flames roaring and setting the hall ablaze. Nü Ba, now blackened and her animal-skin skirt nearly consumed, appeared ten meters away. She had anticipated the trajectory and, at the very moment before the ninth elder pulled the trigger, had side-stepped several meters. While Zhang Yuanqing could erase the trajectory, he could not alter the target—after all, this was not a rule-based item with an inherent guarantee of命中. The figure of Nü Ba again vanished, swiftly materializing near the ninth elder, enduring the relentless falling thunder as the dark energy within her eyes surged. At that moment, the ninth elder was wrapping herself in a double-barreled hunting rifle, preparing to conceal another shadow corpse ahead. A sudden wave of profound fear surged within her, as though under the pressure of a natural adversary, drawing her irresistibly toward Nü Ba. "Master, save me!" she clutched tightly to the rifle in her hands. She had been mindful—though her master might not care about her life, he surely valued this unrivaled weapon. Countless electric arcs surged like a flowing river, spreading out and taking the shape of Zhang Yuanqing, as her right hand launched a lightning spear, piercing directly at Nü Ba's chest. Suddenly, Nü Ba twisted her slender waist, turning to deliver a solid punch. Plink! Thud! The spear struck Nü Ba's chest, and the powerful lightning-based spiritual energy rapidly consumed her internal organs, swiftly eradicating the Yin essence within her body. And with the female Bā, her fists, having pierced the electromagnetic defense, shattered half of Zhang Yuanqing's head. As the female Bā stood rigid under the paralyzing power of lightning, she watched helplessly as her chance to deliver the finishing blow slipped away. Zhang Yuanqing’s broken body did not collapse. Instead, he drew out his purple-gold shield, holding it in his left hand and his spear in his right, engaging the female Bā in close combat. It had not yet been three minutes. Though only in the early stage, Zhang Yuanqing, with his activated Lightning Set, held a ninth-tier status. The lightning attribute naturally countered the yin energy, allowing him to withstand and clash directly with the female Bā in a short span of time. The female Bā had no intention of pursuing the ninth elder relentlessly—forcing the young sun deity into close quarters was also one of her objectives. Thud! Thud! Thud! Her powerful blows repeatedly struck Zhang Yuanqing, shattering the purple-gold shield, the golden dragon shield, and the electromagnetic barrier, leaving his body battered and torn. His lightning spear, in turn, pierced the female Bā again and again, channel At that moment, the Ninth Elder found a complete yin corpse, attached to it, raised the gun, and aimed directly at Nü Ba. Zhang Yuanqing stepped forward, allowing Nü Ba's fist to pierce through his chest, firmly clamping her arm to keep her in place. Nü Ba's dark pupils trembled slightly, then without hesitation lifted her left hand, palm like a blade, severing her right arm. A life-saving sacrifice! She had already experienced the power of that strange weapon and did not wish to endure a second shot. Yet, amid the thunderous clash, an incongruous voice rang out, "Please turn around, dear!" On the second tier of the square, the duplicate Zhang Yuanqing, having completed the ritual dance, bowed deeply before the yellow-skinned gourd before him. Instantly, a surge of brilliant white light erupted from the gourd's mouth, spiraling gracefully through the air, and striking directly at Nü Ba's brow. This beam of light was vivid and purposeful, its divine radiance fully embodied, "thud" settling firmly upon Nü Ba's brow, then spinning like a top. Although the Divine Blade of the Immortal cannot kill a ninth-tier powerhouse, it can cause them to lose focus for a brief moment—a fact tested by Zhang Yuanqing on the Grand High Priest of Light. A flash of flame, and the sound of gunfire. The female Ba, whose arm had been severed, burst with two blood holes across her chest. The flames roared, complementing the lightning-based spiritual energy, causing the yin qi to hiss and char the flesh and muscle. Two shots! Zhang Yuanqing smiled, picked up the lightning spear, and hurled it with strength. The spear struck the female Ba’s forehead but failed to penetrate, leaving a carbonized, blackened patch. Zhang Yuanqing hesitated, swallowed the ninth elder, retracted his dual hunting rifles, and activated the Star-Flight Technique to create distance. The cooldown period for the White Emperor’s head-cutting skill had now arrived. The female Ba, standing motionless in the midst of flames, suddenly raised her left hand toward the luminous light at her brow. The light dispersed, scattering into luminous particles that returned to the yellow-husked gourd. The yellow-husked gourd had reached its usage limit and When Nü Ba broke off her arm and regenerated, she stared expressionlessly at Zhang Yuancheng, 500 meters away, then surged forward with a sudden burst, closing the distance in an instant—covering 300 meters—to draw him into the realm of the White Emperor's Crown. Anticipating this move, Zhang Yuancheng evaded with the Star-Dart Technique, appearing to the southwest, while raising his hunting rifle and aiming squarely at Nü Ba, pulling the trigger. Bang! The bullet missed. Nü Ba sidestepped the rifle's trajectory, materializing directly before Zhang Yuancheng. Zhang Yuancheng's form dissolved like a shadow, reappearing 500 meters to her left, where he reloaded and fired again. The two chased each other up the main peak, their forms flickering in and out—each appearance and disappearance accompanied by the sound of gunfire—neither able to gain the upper hand. After about a minute, Zhang Yuancheng suddenly realized something was amiss and immediately drew out the Turtle Back Map, activating its predictive function. A vision of the future unfolded instantly in his mind—once again, he saw his own death. Through future feedback, Zhang Yuanqing realized what was amiss—Nü Ba was delaying! As a high-ranking yin entity, she possessed astonishing self-healing abilities. Whether subjected to lightning-based electric shocks or fire-based burns, she could recover fully. In contrast, his consumables—his bullets—depleted with each use. Once his supplies were exhausted, he inevitably faced death. He could no longer simply evade the White Emperor's Crown, yet if he failed to do so, he would still perish. Zhang Yuanqing's figure flickered in and out, rapidly formulating and adjusting his battle strategy. Within a few seconds, he had a new plan. He opened his inventory and passed the Cupid's Bow to his duplicate. Throughout the entire engagement, the duplicate had been entirely ignored by Nü Ba; her decapitating strikes were held back, used instead to intimidate and delay the main body. Zhang Yuanqing paused, arms outstretched as if embracing something, or as if preparing to meet his fate. The duplicate drew back the bow and launched an arrow of desire toward the main body. The golden arrow pierced through Zhang Yuanqing's chest, leaving no wound. "Puff!" Zhang Yuanqing's head rolled to the ground. The golden arrow curved, aiming directly at Nu Ba—she who refused to retreat, determined to crush the fallen opponent and eliminate the source completely. As the arrow pierced through her chest, she suddenly halted, gazing in stunned silence at the young sun deity whose body had separated. Though her heart would never beat again, she now felt a long-overdue pulse of warmth—a sentiment she had long since lost. She had never loved before, yet now, unfamiliar tenderness surged within her. This was her beloved, her lover. Zhang Yuanqing threw the double-barreled hunting rifle, along with the two bullets, and then reached into his inventory, grasping a golden arrow, charging toward Nü Ba, closing the distance, and embedding the arrow tip into her body, which was riddled with wounds. Nü Ba instantly stiffened, lifting her head, golden flames bursting from her eye sockets, nasal passages, mouth, and ear canals. Stars rose where the rifle had landed; the astral duplicate that had arrived via star-dash caught the rifle and bullets, quickly reloading, and without hesitation raised the gun to fire. Bang! The seventh and eighth bullets struck Nü Ba, igniting the residual fire-based spiritual energy within her. The flames engulfed her completely, reducing her organs and tissues to ashes at that very moment. Even her soul cried out in piercing agony under the searing heat. Nü Ba trembled, lowering her head, as the flames burned inward and outward, dissolving her flesh and blood, leaving her bones faintly visible. She was completely unaware, gazing at the head lying on the ground, "Is it possible that my death could bring about the result you've been seeking..." The head wept profusely, "Yes..." The sorcerer could suppress his emotions and command his mind, including his love. He wasn't unloving toward Nüwa; he simply chose the quest over love. To complete the first stage, he had to sever his connection with his beloved! Nüwa looked at him one last time, transforming into a crimson skeleton amid the roaring flames and golden fire. [叮! Congratulations! You have successfully completed the solo spiritual realm quest—Shu Mountain, ID: 21, Difficulty: S. Rewards are being settled...] [Rewards being processed... Obtained item: The White Emperor's Crown.] [Experience points earned: 12%] [All rewards settled!]