Zhang Yuanqing now understands the origin of the cyclical force preserving the spring beneath the afterlife! Without a doubt, it comes from the mysterious artifact in his hands. As for the identity of the entity that gave rise to this artifact—its name and profession—he has formed certain speculations. The electronic watch's attributes remain question marks, embodying the "unknown" characteristic. Combined with the information revealed by the Cat King speaker—namely, "assistance from an unsurpassable being"—and the details he gathered from his conversation with the Emperor of Heaven, Zhang Yuanqing suspects that the unsurpassable being who aided the magical king is none other than the Emperor of Heaven. A cyclical force capable of influencing semi-gods must be of divine strength. Among the orderly, unsurpassable beings, only the Emperor of Heaven remains. Moreover, the cycle resonates with the Emperor of Heaven's "time"-based rules and aligns with the "unknown" description—just as the electronic watch, a timer, symbolizes time. "When I regained this electronic watch from the rewards on the character card, the cyclical buff should have activated—whenever anyone connected to the clues involving the Magus King came into contact with me, they would fall into this cycle. 'This is a safety measure bestowed upon me by the Emperor of the Heavenly Realm,' I said. 'Should I lose the protection of the Taiyin Primordial Fragments, both Lingtuo and the Master of the Taiyin Sect will surely be able to uncover my true form. In that case, the existence of this watch will preserve the secret that I am the Magus King.' Only then could I make an unexpected appearance in the Sun Primordial Battle Arena, awaken the residual spirit within the Sun Primordial Core, and become the Sovereign of the Sun. Otherwise, I would have been eliminated long before the Sun Arena opened by the Sovereign of the Stars and the Sovereign of the Taiyin. 'The reason this cycle has now dissolved is that I have become the Sovereign of the Sun, possessing the power to purify all things. The cyclical rules upon my body have thus been purified. As a result, the Elder of the Xie family, Xie Su, and I have all regained our As for why the "Magical Sovereign" has forgotten the High Heaven Emperor, and even the memories of having interacted with the High Heaven Emperor during his time as the Sovereign of the Sun, yet the Yuan Shi Tian Zun still remembers their conversations—Zhang Yuanqing believes this is a deliberate act by the High Heaven Emperor, intentionally preserving the memories of their exchanges in the chaotic world. The High Heaven Emperor knows that the essence of the Sun is inherently incomplete and that the demonic deities will relentlessly invade the spiritual realm; thus, He must devote himself fully, leaving no room to respond to calls. Therefore, He has entrusted the Yuan Shi Tian Zun with those memories from the chaotic world. If even that memory were lost, Zhang Yuanqing would never have made the connection to the electronic watch. "I can cleanse the buffs of the electronic watch, yet I cannot recall the information from when the Magician Sovereign first encountered the High Heaven Emperor—this indicates that the electronic watch holds a status at the semi-divine level, insufficient to suppress the incomplete Sovereign of the Sun." "Merely divine-level artifacts—despite being of causal nature—might not necessarily turn the tide of the situation, let alone the fact that I still don't know how to use them..." With this thought, Zhang Yuanqing had a plan: he would open the Treasure Vault of the Yuhua Immortal Gate. He knew there must be relevant clues within—it was simply because he had forgotten what was stored there. Forgetting was the very manifestation of the Heavenly Emperor's rule. The first step to opening the vault was to meet with his former lover again. "I suppose I can't escape this after all," Zhang Yuanqing murmured to himself. Gazing at Yin Yao, the noble lady whose life had risen and fallen dramatically, Zhang Yuanqing smiled and said, "Don't be so downhearted. All the things I've done for you in the past were orchestrated by the Magistrate King—what does that have to do with me, the Prime Celestial Sovereign? Don't let the Magistrate King affect our friendship." Yin Yao looked at him, angrily raising her small horn: "I will never rise again." Meanwhile, the Cat King speaker played the background music: "You harmed me, yet smiled it off~" ... The Imperial Capital. In Sun Elder's quadrangle courtyard, a golden light descended from the sky, transforming into the tall and elegant Sun Sovereign. Sun Elder, lying in his armchair, instantly opened his eyes. What he first saw wasn't Zhang Yuanqing—his skin a deep golden hue, with a blazing golden sun marking his brow—but a resplendent, majestic, and overwhelmingly powerful sun. This immediately stirred within him a natural sense of awe, reverence, and deep, heartfelt submission. Then, the golden sun faded, revealing the now physically transformed Prime Celestial Sovereign. Sun Elder sat up abruptly from his armchair, unconsciously bending his back, unable to straighten it, his expression filled with astonishment and uncertainty: "The Prime Celestial Sovereign? You…?" This was a pressure far beyond what even the Grand Elder, the Sun's Judge, had ever exerted. Zhang Yuanqing paid no attention to the motionless Sun Elder, and instead turned his gaze toward the sky gradually turning azure, his voice resonant and layered: "All the Day-Wandering Deities, come to pay homage to the Sovereign of the Sun." The voice seemed to possess a certain magic, spreading swiftly with the golden sunlight and reaching the ears of specific individuals. The very next moment, golden beams surged from afar and descended upon the courtyard. Among them were the highest-ranking and strongest, the Grand Elder Chiji Xingguan; the contemporary Elder Zhao; the mid-career Elder Hongying; as well as the newly ascended Lord Fengdu and Lady Yin... A total of thirteen! As soon as the elders landed, a magnificent, majestic golden sun appeared vividly in their eyes. In an instant, they felt their bodies and souls purified from within outwards. Instantly, they ceased to be astonished or doubtful, and with genuine reverence and submission, confirmed that the person before them was indeed the Sovereign of the Sun—the very apex of the power of the Sun God. Was he... the Yuanshǐ Tianzun? At that moment, the elders of Taiguan felt the same shock, bewilderment, and confusion as Master Sun. They realized that the contest for the Sun Origin had taken an unexpected turn. Zhang Yuanqing gazed at Yin Ji for a few seconds, then spoke calmly: "I inform you that the contest for the Sun Origin has concluded. Lingtuo has perished, and the Master of the Stars has joined the evil faction, now holding the Origins of the Stars and the Taiyin. I, the Master of the Sun, will face the Master of the Stars in battle within a few days. The fate of the world shall depend solely on the outcome of this confrontation." The elders of Taiguan stood motionless, expressionless. It took them a full half-minute to absorb the information revealed by Yuanshǐ Tianzun, and even then, they could not accept the reality that their master had betrayed the order and aligned himself with the evil faction. They felt a profound sense of disorientation and sorrow, as though their entire worldview had been upended. The young and passionate Fengdu King of the Ghost Realm stepped forward, fixing his gaze on him firmly: "What evidence do you have? Say what you have, and we shall believe As he spoke, he struggled to suppress his fear and sense of submission, holding himself up solely by sheer determination. The Master of Taiyuan was not just a figure of faith and leadership in the eyes of his disciples—he could not be convinced to acknowledge the Master's betrayal of the lawful order through mere words. Zhang Yuanqing slowly said, "The Wind and Thunder Deities have awakened. Where did the Night Emperor go that night?" Feng Du, the Ghost King, was momentarily puzzled, unsure of the deeper meaning behind the question. Zhang Yuanqing sighed, "The Night Emperor secretly entered the Sun's realm. At the crucial moment, the Star Sovereign summoned the Night Emperor, placing half-divine figures of the lawful order into a state of eternal slumber. Today, only the Void, the Elder of the Xie family, the Beauty Deity, and I remain free to move and act." The assembled were all sharp-minded and instantly grasped the implication of Yuan Shi Tian Zun's words. The awakening of the Wind and Thunder Deities meant that the Night Emperor had also awakened, and given the Star Sovereign's reputation for knowing all that unfolds in the world, he must surely be aware of this. The Night Emperor could only induce the Lawful Half-Deity into slumber, which means either the Lord of the Stars failed to issue a warning, or the Lord of the Stars himself orchestrated the entire event. But does Yuan-Shi Tianzun's statement—that the Lawful Half-Deities have fallen into slumber—necessarily hold true? Indeed, so far, no Lawful Half-Deities have appeared. "Retreat!" Zhang Yuanqing issued his command with the dignity of a sovereign, "Yin Ji remains." The red-sun officials and others shimmered into golden light and vanished. Feng Du, the Ghost King, glanced at the woman he had long admired and ultimately obeyed the sun sovereign's decree. Only Yin Ji and the old Sun, Master Sun, remained. Zhang Yuanqing gave a dismissive glance to the ungracious old Sun, "Are you staying to be purified?" The bewildered old Sun retreated humbly. Yin Ji, her face veiled in a delicate black silk, her eyes clear and luminous, gazed softly at Yuan Shi Tian Zun, murmuring, "I never expected you to become the sovereign of the sun." She thought of her beloved, the one she had long cherished, who had proven so unfaithful. Ling Tu, the Star Sovereign, and the Mage King had all aspired to become the sovereign of the sun—none of them had imagined that the one who ultimately claimed the title would be Yuan Shi Tian Zun, the unexpected champion who emerged last year. The course of events is ever unpredictable, stirring deep admiration and wonder. Zhang Yuanqing's gaze pierced through the light gauze, settling on the gentle, breathtaking face. Each feature stood out in individual splendor, yet together they formed a warm, homey tenderness—like that of a sister who would soothe you, embrace you, and patiently accept your mistakes, even when you were upset. Now, viewing this face, his heart felt entirely different. To Yuan Shi Tian Zun, this face evoked a strong sense of connection—a stirring emotion reminiscent of "unresolved love between a human and a spirit." But now, after all these years, it stirred a deeper feeling: the quiet, profound emotion of having journeyed through countless experiences and, upon looking back, finding his beloved still there, glowing softly amidst the fading light. Zhang Yuanqing spoke softly, "Give me the fragments of the magical king's treasure map." Yin Ji did not hesitate or resist. She opened her inventory and presented a jade slab, pale as sheep's fat. The slab was fan-shaped, with small dimples scattered across its surface, like stars scattered across the night sky. As she handed over the fragment of the key, Yin Ji unconsciously turned away from Yuan Shi Tian Zun's gaze Indeed, when Yuan Shi Tian Zun took the fragment of the key, he grasped her hand. Yin Ji instinctively pulled it back, but failed; her anxiety deepened, and a plea flashed in her beautiful eyes. Zhang Yuanqing sighed, speaking in the distinctive, raspy tone of a magi-king: "Sister Yin, it's me!"