After ordinary individuals undergo distortion, their consciousness changes—losing rationality, becoming violent and bloodthirsty, and only fearing stronger distorted beings. When Journeyers of the Spiritual Realm distort, the stronger their spiritual awareness, the more rationality they retain. Even in the best case, they become communicative madmen; violence and bloodthirstiness become ingrained instincts, making them extremely dangerous. Additionally, the higher their status, the more skills they retain after distortion. Typically, one must assess the status of both the practitioner and the distorted individual. If a high-status practitioner distorts a lower-status one, creating a dominant situation, even within the realm of semi-gods, the practitioner may retain no more than two skills. The会长, now distorted, exclaimed, "Wow!" and fled swiftly toward the Great Treasury Tree with his limbs in motion. He needed the protection of this essential artifact. However, during his distorted state, he lost connection with the Great Treasury Tree and could no longer access his inventory—thus, he had to personally journey there to establish physical contact. Only then could the Great Treasury Tree "recognize" him as its owner. Ganser Rayne, now transformed into the nymph Sylira, completely ignored the fleeing aetherial half-deity, turning her head to survey the scene. Her golden eyes swept across the compact landmass-like arena. She no longer saw the aetherial half-deity. The half-deities engaged in combat on the arena—except for the Warlord and the Star Sovereign—were actively searching for the aetherial half-deity. In their perception, once Sylira called out the aetherial half-deity’s spiritual realm ID, he had mysteriously vanished. A hidden presence! Aetherial ambulation, a foundational skill of the transcendent realm—this is one of only two skills currently wieldable by the Chairman. Sylira, the nymph, recognized the aetherial half-deity’s tactics, and immediately underwent a transformation. Brown feathers rapidly sprouted across her body, her legs contracted into claws, her arms unfolded into wings, and a dense cluster of feathers emerged from her hips, spreading out like a fan-shaped tail. In an instant, she became a massive eagle, wingspan reaching five meters, rising into the air like a helicopter. The giant eagle, with its amber eyes turning slowly, spotted the distorted monster rushing toward the Wondrous Tree. "Hoo!" It cried, diving downward, its metallic-clad talons extending toward the fleeing creature. Suddenly, the distorted monster opened its jaws, severed its left front limb, and flung it skyward, then spoke in human voice: "Let's do a business deal..." The eagle's talons, originally aimed at the creature, shifted their focus and grasped the now-bloodied limb, lifting it into the air. As it rose, the talons tightened, tearing the limb to shreds. The distorted monster seized the opportunity, exerting all its strength, and finally wobbled to safety beneath the tree, lifting its claws and pressing them firmly against the trunk. The deformed monster lifted his head, gazing at the great eagle soaring above, teeth clenched in resolve: "It's time for you to taste the power of the premium players..." His voice was steady, solemn, delivered in a tone that blended chant and lament: "Hail the Universal Marketplace! I shall trade every item beyond the source of the Hurricane, to you, in exchange for the mightiest strike of my profession!" The Wàn Bǎo Shù—the key that connects to the Universal Marketplace—is the very essence of the link. When its master engages in transactions with the Marketplace, no exchange tickets are required. Of course, the principle of equivalent exchange remains unchanged—only that the master's "equivalence" can accumulate, while the equivalent of those who use tickets must be of equal rank. This accumulation is a unique privilege of the Wàn Bǎo Shù's master, a right befitting a Void Half-Deity. The Wàn Bǎo Shù trembled, its branches swaying violently, and a pure beam of blue light descended from the void, piercing through the arena's barrier and illuminating the crown of the tree. Then, one by one, from low to high, the props and materials hanging on the Wanan Tree gradually vanished. The President's eyes were glistening with tears. As the props disappeared, a brilliant blue light radiated from the infinite height and was absorbed by the Wanan Tree, flowing through its thick trunk into the body of the distorted monster. Along with the blue light came two stamps—one beautifully illustrated in deep blue ink, the other painted in gold. Notably, the essence of the Universal Mall exchange ticket is essentially a purchase voucher from the Universal Mall. The Universal Mall recognizes your financial capacity and wishes for you to continue making purchases. The bones of the distorted monster creaked and groaned, straightening its spine and regaining its upright ape posture, the scales retreating into its body, its sharp tusks retracting into the jaw, and its fierce head gradually transforming into a more human form. Slowly and deliberately, it opened its inventory panel, and while still not fully human, reached into the inventory and donned a silver mask. The Vacant Lord, now restored to humanoid form, watched as the great eagle descended, transforming once more into a golden lion, its mane radiating a luminous glow and its body resembling molten gold poured into shape. This is the strongest defender among the Ten Divine Beings of the Magic God. The Lord chuckled, took a steady step forward, and raised his right hand into a blade-like stance, shouting, "Receive my Space-Splitting Slash!" Upon hearing the words "Space-Splitting Slash," the seasoned half-gods exchanged subtle expressions of concern. During the ancient contest for the Disc of Light, the Vacant half-gods had relied on this very technique to defeat any opponent—be it gods or bodhisattvas—single-handedly overpowering three half-gods at once. A deep fissure, stretching several kilometers across the arena, appeared in the space itself, with space fragments crystallizing mid-air like shards of glass. Though the Space-Splitting Slash could not pierce through the space sealed by the quest realm, the golden lion upon the fissure began to splinter under the surge of blood, its organs and flesh scattering across the ground. The lion struggled desperately to recover, but ultimately failed. As The spatial fissure has always remained, signifying that the space itself has torn open, and thus, the one residing within it cannot possibly "heal." Soon, the golden lion's life force fades and he dies completely. In the very next moment, the lifeless body regains vitality and begins to struggle to mend itself, yet it remains fragmented, unable to coalesce into a whole. The Chairman stands at a distance, his acquired strength now dispersed, having exhausted his entire fortune to secure only a single, transcendent-level attack. He observes this scene with cold detachment, watching this very adversary who has reduced him to poverty, and chuckles, "Only this much, then? The three-headed hell hounds can revive you three times— you've already used one." The golden lion's head lifts, gazing upward toward the infinite heights, as though awaiting something. When he revives a second time, with only his final life force remaining, a response finally arrives from the unseen realm—a shimmering, turbid flow descends from the heavens, coating the replica surface like viscous mucus, then rapidly seeping downward, droplets falling steadily upon the golden lion's body. This phantom mire, soon gathered into a patch of "mud" around the golden lion, began to digest and dissolve its remains and organs, assimilating them. Bubbling... bubbles rose invisibly from the mud, growing denser and more vigorous. Suddenly, a grotesque, ethereal mass emerged, continuously expanding—growing to ten meters, then twenty, then fifty—before finally halting. Then, it took on a coarse humanoid form, gaining limbs, a human-like head, and from the crown of that head, serpents of immense size emerged, forming hair. These serpents exhaled deep purple venom. The bulky body developed pairs of cold, eerie eyes, fissures opening like pores, radiating pale beams of light from within the eyes, while viscous, mud-like pus flowed out from the pores. Its chest and waist bore the heads of wild boars, lions, dogs, colossal serpents, and sheep—crowded and dense, so that mere sight sent one's liver and spleen quivering. The One Who Smokes! "Finally, revealing their true strength…" The Chairman immediately entered a state of spatial concealment, evading the ceaseless beams of petrifying light that radiated from all directions. Once the form of the One Who Smokes took shape, it slowly raised a hand and reached into its inventory, grasping a massive block of deep purple flesh—still pulsing, as if alive. It swallowed the flesh whole. At once, the ethereal form solidified into tangible substance, the great serpent atop it expelling thick waves of purple vapor, forming rolling clouds, while the animal heads along its body roared in unison, their voices thunderous. A presence surpassing that of a half-god poured over the scene. The half-gods observing—whether aligned with Law or with Chaos—experienced varying degrees of physical transformation: scales emerged, limbs shortened, eyes turned into animal pupils, and so on. Even with the arena's protective barriers in place, the aura of the The chaotic half-deities paid no mind to the distortions upon their bodies, even showing signs of delight. In contrast, the lawful half-deities, once composed, now exchanged glances of concern, seeing the weight of gravity in each other's eyes. Lingtuo slightly raised his head, gazing across the void at the Lord of the Stars, and said calmly: "The reserve power of the void has been used once—by the second time, it no longer holds strength. By sacrificing half-deity items to gain multiple administrator privileges, one can indeed sweep through peers of equal rank. But as long as a being of higher status intervenes and bestows power, such tactics merely become mere theater. Father, I never imagined I would have to fight you alone for the essence of the Sun. I disrupted the Spiritual Realm and absorbed the Merit Scroll precisely to intensify the Realm's malfunctions, so that those beings could further erode the Realm and impact the mission—only for this very moment. Father, you've planned meticulously, but did you foresee that those beings could already interfere with the mission and summon their power?" "Disrupting the spiritual realm, the magical seed sacrifices itself to open the pathway to the Sun's realm, initiating a half-divine battle. The Supreme Presence watches from the outer ring of the realm, ready to descend at any moment to lend strength—these are all premeditated. The Sun suppresses the Moon; thus, he must prepare for two scenarios. His public strategy is to quietly assist the Primordial Sovereign in his ascension, hold off the Void and the Goddess of Beauty, and accelerate the cleansing effect of the Sun's divine power sweeping over the Merit Scroll. Presenting himself as one who intends to master the Merit Scroll and thereby establish communication with the Sun. If he can achieve mastery of the Merit Scroll, that would be ideal—his chances of success would greatly increase. Should that fail, his secondary contingency will activate: the magical seed will open the Sun's realm, launching a half-divine grand battle. Nine levels now... Zhang Yuanqing's brow slightly furrowed. After the pain of taking the Sancai Pill subsided, his mind gradually calmed, and only now did he realize something was amiss. He couldn't possibly be at nine levels! The Sancai Pill was meant to fix a bug—enhancing spiritual power. For instance, he might have only 1% experience points, yet possess 90% combat strength. This enhancement only boosted his capabilities, not his level. Level advancement was tied to skill infusion, which was granted by the character card. In the character card's database, his current experience should be at level eight, 23%. "Could it be that Xiahou Aotian's earlier analysis was incorrect? Does the character card automatically upgrade when real combat strength surpasses the current level?" Zhang Yuanqing murmured to himself. He found it unlikely, yet couldn't quite formulate a convincing explanation. At that moment, footsteps came from outside the door. Guan Ya, drawn by the smoke, hurried over from the adjacent room to investigate. As she pushed the door open, she met the gaze of the Yuanshishen, who had turned to look back. Guan Ya first looked stunned, as if amazed by the appearance of Yuan Shi Tian Zun, then suddenly bent her head low, behaving like a common housewife who had accidentally caught a glimpse of the emperor—reserved and filled with apprehension. She realized her reaction was out of place, that this was her boyfriend, the closest person in her life. Yet she still dared not lift her eyes. "I've advanced to the ninth rank, but I still can't control my energy. You go first," Zhang Yuanqing spoke calmly, as if issuing a royal decree. Guan Ya nodded instinctively and hurried out of the room. Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the flames that had surged upward, and then, in the next instant, the flames went out, thick smoke rising in waves. With a gentle wave of his hand, a strong wind surged, sweeping the smoke out through the windows. He entered the bathroom and stood before the mirror, examining himself. A golden sun-like pattern had formed on his forehead, as if solidified and no longer fading, and his skin, a soft golden hue, shimmered under the bathroom's lighting. The hair remains black, but upon closer inspection, a faint golden glow can be seen shimmering in and out. The pupils are no longer a light brown, but bright gold. "Not quite like a human anymore," Zhang Yuanqing murmured. He knew this was the transformation brought about by the Sun-focused Day Traveler deity, now at the ninth rank and mastering the rules—much like the Grand Elder of Taimei, Chiji Xingguan. As he reached the peak of mastery, the very environment around him would gradually shift. Thus, every peak master and half-deity would be a solitary figure. They dared not spend long periods with their families, for the power that could alter the environment would inevitably affect the people themselves. Most high-ranking individuals would seek out secluded places to meditate, only occasionally visiting their families, or arranging for their families to live nearby—like in the same mountain range. Now, Zhang Yuanqing finally understood why his uncle had been away so often. He would wander throughout the day, and at night, even while his mother slept, he would still go out to explore. This was to prevent family members from undergoing sudden changes—or dying from them. Now it made sense why the elders of the spiritual realm families all chose to retire alone in their ancestral homes. Zhang Yuanqing opened his faction panel, initiated the "Mo Sect's Mechanized City" quest, and vanished into the bathroom. At the foot of the mountain, near the dense forest entrance, Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory and gently lifted out a golden, elegant crown adorned with cascading pearl drapery.