154: Lure the enemy into a desperate situation

Underground, Li Dong slowly opened his eyes.

The tragic state of the Imperial Palace and the wails within the city, through the extension of his [Spiritual Domain], scene by scene, sound by sound, clearly entered his perception.

If we keep defending like this, it's just death.

Even if he could eat all the fanatics in the city as "supplements," what would it matter?

The capital has been smashed, the Dragon vein has been sacrificed, and once that so-called "Divine Lord" descends, everyone will still be finished.

Treating the symptoms but not the root cause.

The problem must be solved at its root.

Isn't that "Divine Lord" just trying to come down through that big crack?

Then I'll just go turn off the main water valve.

A crazy idea grew wildly in his mind.

"Lord Wei, Seventh Princess."

Li Dong's voice suddenly rang out in the minds of Wei Zheng and Li Qingxuan, who were struggling to hold on inside the Imperial Palace.

"Li Dong?!" Wei Zheng's spirits lifted, and he responded urgently, "How is the situation on your end? We can't hold on much longer here!"

Li Qingxuan also projected her focused intent; although her will was refined, the consumption was equally immense.

"We can't defend it; let's change the game," Li Dong's voice was terrifyingly calm. "Continue to shrink the defensive line, hold the Imperial Palace, and just stall for time. Leave the rest to me."

"What are you going to do?!" Wei Zheng sensed something was wrong.

"I'm going to the West Mountain, to the core of that 'Vortex Trap Zone'."

Wei Zheng's consciousness paused for a moment: "You're crazy! That's the place with the densest Divine Evil Energy, the enemy's nest! You're going alone..."

"Yes, exactly because it's the nest, those leading Elders will definitely go back to guard it," Li Dong interrupted him. "I want to lure them away from the capital. Your pressure will be much lighter."

He was going to use himself as bait to attract the main force of the Shadow Council!

"No! It's too dangerous!" There was a hint of imperceptible trembling in Li Qingxuan's voice.

"Your Highness, this is no time for soft-heartedness," Li Dong's voice was devoid of emotion. "The capital is the sacrifice, and I am the blade to break the situation. If the sacrifice rots, it's gone; if the blade breaks, it can be reforged. Take a gamble, and there's still a chance to live."

The other side of the communication fell silent.

A long while later, Li Qingxuan's voice sounded again, carrying a resolute determination.

"...I trust you. All troops, listen: defend the Imperial Palace to the death, and wait for Li Gongfeng's news!"

Li Dong said no more, his figure turning into a bolt of purple lightning, instantly vanishing from underground.

The next moment, he appeared in the western suburbs of the capital, at the edge of the huge abyss formed by the collapse of the earth.

This was the "Vortex Trap Zone".

Ink-like, viscous black mist churned out from the abyss, and the air was filled with a stench and a sickly sweet smell that could make the Soul ache.

He didn't hesitate in the slightest and dove straight in.

Boom!

It was as if a drop of water had fallen into boiling sulfuric acid.

A terrifying erosive force instantly enveloped him.

The Divine Evil Energy here was more than ten times denser than that under the capital!

His [Spiritual Domain] emitted a groan of being overwhelmed; every inch of his flesh felt like it was being frantically ground by countless invisible grinding wheels, and from the depths of his Soul came the excruciating pain of being pierced by countless poison needles.

"Hmph!"

Li Dong let out a muffled grunt, his [Spiritual Domain] suddenly expanding, and the purple light of purification forcibly pushed open a space of his own amidst the darkness.

"Roar—!"

In the surrounding black mist, countless twisted shadows were disturbed.

Spiders with human faces, giant pythons dripping with pus, and all sorts of indescribable monsters pieced together from countless severed limbs—they had no reason in their eyes, only the most primitive hatred for living beings, as they frantically lunged toward this only "light" that was Li Dong.

These were projections of the Divine Lord's will, pure tools of slaughter.

"Come on!"

Li Dong did not retreat but advanced instead, summoning the [Spirit Transformation Demon Suppression Thunder Seal] with ease, as bolts of purple thunder smashed into the swarm of monsters.

The thunder seal, which could easily kill a Golden Core Cultivator in the outside world, could only cause a monster to pause slightly here.

But Li Dong did not want to kill.

The purifying power contained within the thunder seal was like boiling oil poured on snow, instantly stripping and purifying the Divine Evil Energy from the monsters.

And those purified Divine fragments turned into the purest nutrients, which he absorbed like a whale swallowing water.

Enduring countless attacks, he forcefully carved a path through the monster frenzy, advancing toward the deepest part of the abyss.

Just as he was purifying an exceptionally large stitched monster, something unexpected happened.

When that monster was shrouded by his [Spiritual Domain] and its Divine power was being rapidly stripped away, a flicker of... clarity actually flashed in those compound eyes that should have only held chaos and madness?

Immediately after, a weak but clear intent was transmitted into Li Dong's perception.

"Kill... me..."

"Beg... you..."

That was not resistance, but a longing for release.

Li Dong's movements paused.

He "looked" at the monsters around him that were rushing forward one after another. Under the purifying light of his [Spiritual Domain], more and more monsters, in the intervals of their attacks, revealed similar pain and pleading.

So that's how it is.

Li Dong understood.

The so-called Divine modification was not a gift at all, but a form of extreme enslavement and torture. It crushed the Souls and wills of living beings, then forcibly glued them together with the Divine Lord's power to become a Puppet that only knew how to kill.

But that remaining, most fundamental sliver of true Soul was forever imprisoned in this ugly shell, enduring endless pain, to the point where even death had become a luxury.

"Heh, Divine Lord?" Li Dong sneered. "Is this your method? Turning people into consumables that can't even beg for death?"

His eyes became even colder.

Before, he had just treated these things as "experience packs" for leveling up.

Now, he felt that purifying them and letting them be released might also count as an act of Karma.

The shift in his belief made his [Spiritual Domain] operate even more smoothly and freely. The speed of his advance did not decrease but increased instead.

Passing through layers of obstacles, the scene before him suddenly opened up.

He finally reached the deepest part of the Vortex Trap Zone.

This was an incomparably huge underground hollow, and in the center of the hollow stood a giant altar constructed from writhing flesh and flickering black runes.

Countless thick, blood-colored pipes extended from the altar and were deeply rooted in the surrounding rock walls, like a beating heart, gathering the power of the entire trap zone here.

And directly above the altar, a blurry, twisted "space crack" was slowly rotating.

That was the passage to the place where the Divine Lord resided!

Li Dong could feel that an unimaginable, vast, and boundless terrifying will was trying to squeeze over from the other side of the crack.

However...

Li Dong's eyes narrowed.

He discovered an extremely strange detail.

The Divine Lord's true body seemed to be encountering great resistance while passing through the crack.

Its form was very unstable, like an image with a terrible signal, constantly flickering, twisting, disintegrating, and then stubbornly reassembling.

It seemed that something on the other side of the passage, or rather, at the level of the rules, was restricting its descent.

This thing... seems... unable to come through?