If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

The sound did not escape from the underground palace.

It was like an invisible giant hammer, slamming hard into everyone's chest.

The sound didn't go upwards, but downwards.

The entire observatory, along with its foundation, trembled violently. Countless fine dust particles rained down from the dome overhead. The still-burning, eerie blue lights were extinguished by the shockwave, plunging the underground palace into utter darkness.

In the darkness, only the Dharma King's eyes shone with an eerie light.

That wasn't anger.

Anger is too superficial.

It is the emptiness of faith after a sacred creation has been desecrated. It is the bewilderment and malice that overflows from the depths of a believer's soul when they see the idol crumble.

He lost.

He was defeated by an ant he had never taken seriously.

The Pill Mother is a life crystallization he painstakingly cultivated over ten years, fusing hundreds of rare poisons. It will be the core of the Corpse Emperor Pill, the sole key to the supreme realm.

Now, it's gone.

Not only was it gone, but it was also destroyed at the last moment by thieves in the dirtiest and most barbaric way.

"Aaaaaaahh ...

The suppressed roar finally broke free of its restraints.

It was no longer a muffled thud, but a true roar.

His black robe sleeves billowed without wind. The thick, inky pool water surrounding him instantly boiled. Crimson blood vessels writhed wildly within, like venomous snakes awakening.

Blackwater Dharma King suddenly raised his hands, not to attack any enemy, but to slam them hard into the already cracked alchemy furnace.

He wants to destroy everything.

He wanted to make the thief and the world pay the price for his hard work.

"Buzz—"

The alchemy furnace let out its final, mournful cry.

A blinding crimson light burst forth from the crack in the alchemy furnace. This light was no longer gentle, but filled with destructive violence. It spread instantly, engulfing everything in the underground palace.

The walls and stone pillars of the underground palace turned to dust silently the moment they came into contact with the red light.

On the observatory.

Lu Chenzhou had just killed a leader of the Heavenly Principle Sect and was leading his men to charge towards the bronze gate.

He suddenly felt a heart-pounding tremor coming from the ground beneath his feet.

That wasn't an earthquake.

An earthquake is a swaying motion.

It's a kind of... tearing throbbing from the depths of the earth.

He subconsciously looked up at the sacred object of the Heavenly Principle Sect, the enormous star chart.

The next moment, he witnessed a scene he would never forget.

In the very center of the astrolabe, a huge bulge suddenly rose from the ground. Immediately afterward, a beam of light, a mixture of blood and eerie blue, shot into the sky.

The beam of light tore through the night.

No sound.

The whole world seemed to have been muted.

Within the pillar of light, countless distorted faces could be seen, and countless silent screams could be heard. Those were the tens of thousands of lives sacrificed in the blood pool, their final resentment erupting completely at this moment.

boom!!!

The sound came a moment later.

That was no longer a sound, but a pure shockwave.

Centered on the observatory, a visible ring of air suddenly spread outwards. Large sections of the bluestone slabs on the ground were ripped up. Those cult members and Imperial Guards who were still fighting were easily swept away like leaves in a storm, crashing into distant buildings and turning into pools of indistinct flesh and blood.

Lu Chenzhou reacted very quickly.

The moment he saw the beam of light, he plunged his long sword into the ground and gripped the hilt tightly.

"Hold on! Lie down!" he roared with all his might.

The shockwave still slammed into his back.

It felt like being hit hard by a charging giant elephant.

Lu Chenzhou felt as if his internal organs had been displaced. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He gritted his teeth, his fingernails carving deep grooves into the hilt of the knife, just to avoid being thrown off his feet.

The sound of the explosion lasted for more than ten seconds before gradually subsiding.

He slowly raised his head.

The sight before him caused his pupils to shrink sharply.

The observatory is gone.

That towering, pristine building, shrouded in the night, was now reduced to half. The other half, along with the mountain below, had been blasted into a massive crater. Crimson smoke still billowed from the crater, the stench of burning and blood mingling together, making one's nose sting with pain.

Countless severed limbs hung from the crumbling walls of the surviving buildings. The flying fish robes of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the black robes of the Heavenly Principle Sect were mixed together, indistinguishable from each other.

They won.

But the price of this victory was the lives of nearly half of his brothers.

"Where is the Dharma King?" Lu Chenzhou struggled to his feet and looked around.

He saw Qin Shuang.

The woman was also in a sorry state, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, leaning against the wall, coughing violently. In her arms lay the unconscious Zhou Yang, covered in blood, seemingly no longer breathing.

Lu Chenzhou's heart sank.

Just then, a dark shadow shot into the sky from the huge pit.

That wasn't an escape.

That was a highly targeted pursuit.

Blackwater Dharma King.

His black robe was tattered, revealing charred skin beneath, but he seemed unharmed. His face was as pale as paper, but his eyes burned with a flame powerful enough to set the entire night sky ablaze.

He didn't look at the corpses scattered on the ground, nor at the Pyrrhic victory of the Imperial Guards.

His gaze was fixed on Qin Shuang and Zhou Yang in her arms.

thief.

it's him.

The Dharma King opened his mouth, but no roar came out. Only a black aura escaped from his mouth, condensing into a blurry mantra in the air.

The next moment, his body began to twist and elongate, transforming into a pure black light that ignored distance and physics, shooting straight towards Zhou Yang's location.

That speed was extremely fast.

Lu Chenzhou only felt a blur before his eyes, and the black light was already right in front of him.

He didn't even have time to draw his sword; he could only watch helplessly as the shadow of death lunged at his own men.

"Not good!" Qin Shuang also sensed the deadly threat. She wanted to dodge, but holding Zhou Yang, her movements were extremely slow.

All she could do was instinctively shield Zhou Yang more tightly, using her own back to receive the fatal blow.

At this critical moment.

"clang!"

A crisp metallic clang rang out.

A figure suddenly appeared from nowhere, his short sword precisely blocking the tip of the black light.

Sparks flew everywhere.

The figure was thrown backward by the immense force, tumbling several times in the air before finally landing steadily in front of Qin Shuang.

It is Commander Chen.

He had arrived at the battlefield at some point, his Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) officer's uniform was tattered, but his expression was unusually solemn.

"Blackwater! I am your opponent!" Commander Chen shouted in a deep voice.

The Blackwater Dharma King materialized in mid-air, his eyes blazing with killing intent. He glanced at Commander Chen, who was blocking his way, and then at Zhou Yang in Qin Shuang's arms.

He sensed the aura of the Pill Mother from Zhou Yang.

Though faint, that was the mother of all things!

The thief is still alive!

"Get out of here!"

The Dharma King's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together. He had no intention of wasting words with Commander Chen, and raised his hand to strike. The pitch-black palm wind transformed into a skeletal claw, grabbing towards Commander Chen's face.

Chen Qianhu dared not meet the attack head-on. He stomped his feet repeatedly and retreated erratically, while thrusting out his short sword repeatedly, leaving a net of swords in the air, temporarily blocking the Dharma King's pursuit.

But this can only temporarily stop it.

The Dharma King's power was greater than he had imagined.

Lu Chenzhou finally reacted. He drew his sword and roared, "Commander Chen, hold on! Everyone, take turns providing cover and retreat! Quickly!"

He knew that if the fighting continued, everyone would die here.

The Blackwater Dharma King had lost his mind and was only thinking about reclaiming the Pill Mother and killing Zhou Yang. A top expert in this state is several times more terrifying than usual.

The remaining forces of the Embroidered Uniform Guard quickly organized themselves. They carried the wounded and fought their way down the mountain.

Blackwater Dharma King was relentlessly entangled by Chen Qian, unable to break free for the time being, but the killing intent in his eyes grew stronger and stronger. Every move he made carried earth-shattering power. Chen Qian was struggling to defend himself, and soon several more deep, bone-revealing wounds appeared on his body.

Qin Shuang carried Zhou Yang and ran down the mountain with the crowd. Her heart had sunk to the bottom.

This operation was both a success and a complete failure.

They destroyed the foundation of the Heavenly Principle Sect, but also brought out a madman who was completely unstoppable.

Zhou Yang, are you still alive?

She glanced down at the man in her arms. His face was deathly pale, and his breathing was so weak it was almost imperceptible. But the broken knife was now perfectly intact in his hand, with traces of the blue glow left from the repair process still lingering on its blade.

survived.

At least, we've survived for now.

Qin Shuang gritted her teeth and hugged him even tighter. No matter what the future held, she would make sure he lived.

The escape has only just begun.

At the foot of the mountain, Lu Chenzhou gathered all those still capable of fighting and counted their numbers. Of the original two hundred elite soldiers, less than seventy remained standing. Each one was wounded and looked dejected.

He looked towards the mountaintop.

There, flames soared into the sky.

The sounds of battle roars and clashing metal could still be faintly heard.

Commander Chen probably won't last much longer.

"Walk."

Lu Chenzhou squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth. He turned around, led his remaining soldiers, and disappeared into the thick of the night.

Behind them was the burning observatory.

And a utterly enraged evil god.