Viny Bourne's mind was filled with the word "impossible." The awakening of the Wind and Thunder deities meant that the Night Emperor had also awakened—but that was impossible. Once the Night Emperor entered the Half-Deity realm, he could no longer resist the nature of his slumber, falling into a state of eternal sleep that would never end. For half a century, he had never awakened, no matter how hard the Church of Eternal Night had tried to rouse him. Could the Wind and Thunder deities have broken free from the spell of slumber on their own? Impossible. If the Wind and Thunder deities could have escaped the spell, they would not have fallen into slumber in the first place. The very nature of the Night Realm's profession was that the longer one slept, the more their soul and body tended toward extinction. The longer the duration, the less likely they were to awaken. As Viny Bourne was about to say, "Have we confirmed this clearly?" a voice from the spiritual realm chimed in: 【Ping! The moral value of the Thunder God, Borias, has been reset. To defeat two opponents, you will receive substantial rewards.】 … 【Ping! The moral value of the Thunder At this very moment, all the Spirit Realm travelers present in the real world receive the Spirit Realm notification. Last December, the Wind and Thunder Deities—responsible for the celestial disaster that paralyzed an entire city and claimed over one hundred thousand lives—have returned once again! All high-ranking figures from both factions are now plunged into panic. "Master Xiao sighed, "The real world now has no half-gods. Facing a powerhouse of such high rank, all we can do is watch and pray. If we insist on making a bold move—like a mantis trying to block a chariot—it would only be a death sentence, one that holds no meaning." After the fusion of the Wind and Thunder deities, their rank reached level 12. Even if all the world's peak-level Nine-Rank deities gathered and fought, the Wind and Thunder deities could move from south to north and then back from north to south, never growing weary. The Grand Elder of the Water Deity Palace surveyed the room and said, "Then shall we simply watch?" "Otherwise?" Master Xiao replied calmly. "The Wind and Thunder deities are simply too high-ranked. With no half-gods to stand in our way, how can we possibly obstruct them? From a practical standpoint, this surpasses our capacity. As for our private interests—since this matter won't reach us, the Free Federation should handle its own affairs. There's no reason for us to risk our lives to clean up the mess of the Heavenly Punishment. We should simply focus on managing our own patch of land." "Moreover, although the Wind and Thunder deities have gone mad, their instinct to hunt down evil professions remains intact. They might still eliminate many elite figures from the evil faction. Even though they no longer care for ordinary lives, this is something we cannot control." As he spoke, the spiritual realm's notification tone echoed continuously, indicating that the Wind and Thunder deities were relentlessly slaughtering opponents, accumulating points lost and repeatedly being summoned for pursuit. The eight peak sovereigns exchanged glances, neither challenging Master Miao nor fully agreeing with his viewpoint. Yet in this moment, silence itself became tacit approval. At that point, the Sword Pavilion elder tapped the table and said solemnly, "You've misunderstood the key point. Instead of asking why the Wind and Thunder deities awakened, shouldn't we be asking—what about the Night Emperor? When he awakened, where did the Night Emperor go?" The elders felt a sudden jolt, an unexpected sense of unease rising within them. ... Free Federation, a certain office building in Xin Yue County. An Yan Ye Qi rushed into the boss's office, staring at Zhai Cai, who was dressed in a sleek black fur coat, carefully packing expensive wines and cigars into his backpack, and said, "Boss, the Wind and Thunder Deities have appeared again... What are you doing, Boss?" "What else can a boss do? I'm preparing to flee," Zhai Cai snapped, issuing orders with impatience. "Yan Ye Qi, fetch me that watch from my box—worth five million federal credits." An Yan Ye Qi paused, "Shouldn't we have responded to the Heavenly Judgment's call, convened a strategy meeting, and jointly resisted the Wind and Thunder Deities? To abandon our post just after joining the Heavenly Judgment seems rather unbecoming." "Stupid!" Zhai Cai scoffed. "The half-gods have already entered the quest realm, and my armor has been borrowed by the Void Grand Master. How can we possibly stand a chance against the Wind and Thunder Deities with just us, these mere insects?" "Self-sacrifice is the knight's destiny—you yourself said that." "Sacrifice isn't the same as dying." After a busy period, Zhai Cai tossed out a transmission jade token and said, "The Wind and Thunder Deities will follow the spiritual power of slain cultivators from the Spiritual Realm, with higher-ranking figures being more likely to be targeted. Let's go to Huaguo to seek out the Prime Immortal. If Huaguo is also affected, we'll join his faction and take refuge in the faction's quest area." As she spoke, she snapped the jade token in her hand with a crisp sound. Xiaohou Aotian: "Didn't you all know that even the half-gods are now entering the instance to vie for the Sun's primal essence? There are no half-gods in the real world anymore." The entire chat group fell utterly silent, with no one speaking for a long while. ... Retreat? Even Xiaohou's most trusted subordinates, including the one known as the King of Fear, immediately reacted with the thought that the Shura delegation intended to abandon this contest and retreat, preserving their strength. But the very next moment, they saw the Taiyuan Master—who had quietly moved to the rear of the Lawful half-gods—pulling out a triped bronze cauldron from his inventory. He tilted the cauldron's mouth and poured out an elderly man dressed in black robes, pale-faced, completely bald, with no beard, no eyebrows, and no eyes—his gaze a vivid green. The Night Emperor?! How could the Night Emperor be here? How could he be inside the Taiyuan Master's inventory?! The appearance of this man sent waves of shock through the evil half-gods, their eyes narrowing dramatically. The bald, beardless, eyebrowless man "The moment those two words were heard, the evil half-deity reacted like a rabbit startled—vanishing instantly, swift as though he had mastered teleportation. 'Unfold...' A profound darkness surged from within the Night Emperor, expanding rapidly and spreading out over hundreds of kilometers, extinguishing all spiritual energy and putting every living thing into deep sleep. The lawful half-deities turned in astonishment, only to be swiftly engulfed by the deep darkness. The Star Sovereign? Their minds flashed with anger, confusion, and bewilderment. Their steps wavered, and despite their efforts, their bodies, spiritual energy, and minds could not resist—inevitably succumbing to sleep. 'Thump, thump, thump...' One by one, the lawful half-deities of level 10 collapsed onto the barren land, entering eternal slumber. Like the Goddess of Beauty, who excelled in only one area—the ability to induce sleep—the Night Emperor, who possessed only this singular power, could even draw the Wind and Thunder deities into sleep. How much more so, then, could he affect these others?" Only the most mobile Void Half-Deity, the 11th-level Goddess of Beauty, and the elder of the Xie family wielding the Spirit-Subduing Pot remained awake and escaped the encroaching darkness, avoiding the enveloping sleep domain at the very moment it spread. Of course, there was also the Lord of the Stars, who had already star-dash-escaped to a distant location. I still don't understand the significance of the Star Sovereign's actions. Only Lingtuo furrowed his brows, as though he had finally grasped something, his expression turning serious. "Pfft!" At that moment, the bronze blade pierced through his chest. The blade, covered in copper rust, had a blood-red edge—clearly a curved bronze sword, its guard shaped like the head of a yaksha with eyes like copper bells and a broad, high nose. If the King of the Magic Eyes were present, he would recognize this very sword as the one used by Chiyou during the Battle of Zhuolu. He would then realize that the legendary sword of the Asura, long believed to be a mythical artifact, was actually Chiyou's sword. The young spirit of persuasion had heard of the Asura's prowess—how he single-handedly defeated all opponents, whether from the lawful or chaotic orders, never once facing a divine being who could match him in combat. Yet, no one knew exactly what the Asura's sword looked like. This sword had accompanied the Asura in his centuries-long slumber within the Sacred Mountain, never having been drawn to the light. Whether during his two previous visits to the capital or during this current divine-level Now, after being sealed for several decades, the Chìjiū Sword has emerged, and the first person it pierces is Líng Tuò. Líng Tuò roars in agony, his face both fierce and twisted, as though the sword has absorbed some potent toxin that even this half-divine being finds unbearable. At the very moment the blade passes through his heart, his body becomes completely immobile, his five organs and six viscera seemingly drawn into the magic of the sword, his essence and spiritual energy flooding out like a river bursting its banks. This is one of the Chìjiū Sword’s functions. “You asked me why I had never used this sword,” the Shōrō, with a dark complexion like a towering iron tower, holds the sword and stands behind Líng Tuò, speaking calmly. “Now I answer you: this sword was meant to kill you. I deliberately kept it thirsty for twenty years—the more it thirsted, the more it grew restless. Only in this way could it strike you down with a single, fatal blow.” "Lin Tu struggled to turn his neck, gazing back. Blood seeped from every orifice of his body, pouring out in a piercing, horrifying tone, as he spoke word by word: 'For... why...' The Shura remained expressionless, calmly stating: 'The true Sun Sovereign I have always supported is your father.'