156: All parties wait and see

BOOM!!!

A pillar of light, indescribable in words, suddenly erupted from the Vortex Trap Zone deep beneath the capital. Like a divine punishment splitting the heavens and earth, it forcibly tore through the thick, dark curtain composed of evil energy and resentment that had shrouded the capital's sky.

The pillar of light shot into the heavens, piercing through the sky and earth.

Contained within it was the incredibly massive Divine Might that Li Dong had detonated using the power of purification.

For a moment, everyone in the entire capital, and even within a radius of a thousand miles, stopped what they were doing and looked up in shock.

...

On the last line of defense temporarily constructed on the outskirts of the capital.

"Cough... Cough, cough!"

Wei Zheng leaned on his long spear, kneeling on one knee, coughing violently with a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He had just risked injury to kill a berserk Golden Core Stage commander.

Beside him, Li Qingxuan's face was as pale as paper, her Phoenix robe stained with blood and dust, but her eyes remained fixed on the tide-like army of fanatics rushing toward them.

Just then, that pillar of light, intertwined with gold and purple, shot into the sky.

The terrifying energy aftermath swept across, and even from a great distance, it caused the entire defensive line to tremble. Those fearless fanatics with blood-red eyes actually showed a moment of chaos and stagnation under this pressure.

"That is... the direction of Li Dong!" Wei Zheng looked up abruptly, his eyes full of shock.

"Did he succeed? Or..." Li Qingxuan's voice carried a hint of trembling; she dared not think further. That power was too terrifying, so terrifying that it made her doubt whether Li Dong, who was at the center, could still survive.

"I don't know." Wei Zheng stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, "But at the very least, it bought us a breathing space. Your Highness, give the order! Have the entire army shrink the Formation and use the Formation to stabilize the defensive line! No matter what, we must hold on until he returns!"

"Pass the order! All troops, listen up!" Li Qingxuan's voice became cold and firm again, "With Prime Minister Wei as the vanguard, form the Black Tortoise Heaven-Guarding Formation! Hold at all costs!"

The noise of the battlefield seemed to be briefly suppressed by that heaven-piercing pillar of light.

...

Meanwhile, on top of a dilapidated building somewhere in the capital.

Qiankun Zi, Ying Mei, and Nether Scorpion, the three Elders, stood side by side. Bathed in the spreading energy aftermath, they felt no fear; instead, their faces displayed an almost manic fanaticism.

"It is the Divine Master! It is the Divine Might of the Divine Master!" Ying Mei's voice was sharp and excited, her body trembling slightly with excitement, "Grand Elder, that trap... that ant, he actually really triggered the deeper power of the Divine Master!"

"I can feel it, the Divine Master is about to tear through the final barrier and descend in true form!" On Nether Scorpion's withered face, his eyes were burning with fanaticism.

Qiankun Zi opened his arms as if embracing this world-destroying power, and he let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh.

"Hahahaha! Good! Very good! Li Dong, you truly are the best sacrifice! Not only did you fail to stop the Divine Master, but you actually accelerated His descent! You will witness with your own eyes the destruction of an old era and the birth of a Theocratic Empire!"

"Pass down my divine oracle!" Qiankun Zi turned abruptly, his voice rolling through the long street like thunder, "Divine Servant Legion, advance with full force! All fanatics, launch the final charge toward the Imperial Palace! Crush all resistance, and use blood and wails to pave the red carpet to welcome the descent of the Divine Master!"

In their view, this earth-shaking phenomenon was not Li Dong's counterattack, but the final prelude to the imminent success of their great plan.

...

Inside the capital, countless surviving commoners poked their heads out from the corners where they were hiding, staring blankly at the pillar of light connecting heaven and earth.

"That... what is that..." A child hiding in a pile of rubble asked his mother beside him in a low voice.

"It's... it's an Immortal, right? Is an Immortal saving us?" The mother hugged the child tightly, tears sliding down silently, her voice filled with uncertain hope.

At the street corner, Lame Liu and his brothers were also looking up, all of them covered in dirt and dust.

"Brother Liu, this commotion... is it our people who caused it?" A brother poked him with his elbow.

Lame Liu spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "Nonsense! Who else but Master Li Dong would have this ability? Just watch, those sons of bitches are finished!"

Hope and fear, two completely different emotions, were intertwined and fermenting in everyone's hearts under the same sky.

...

Great Xia Dynasty, border.

The Sect Masters and Grand Elders of several top Sects opened their eyes in their secluded cultivation spots almost at the same time, their gazes turning in unison toward the direction of the capital.

"What terrifying energy fluctuation... What on earth happened in the capital?"

"This power, it has a sense of divinity, yet it is full of destruction and chaos... It doesn't look like any Cultivation Technique we know."

Qingyun Sword Sect, inside the Sect Master's main hall.

An Elder rushed in and bowed to the Sect Master at the head: "Sect Master, news has come from the direction of the capital that the Great Xia Royal Family is in imminent danger, and demons have descended into the world. Should we immediately send troops to rescue them?"

The Sect Master was a middle-aged man with a refined appearance. He rubbed a jade pendant in his hand and remained silent.

After a long while, he slowly spoke: "Rescue? Our Qingyun Sword Sect has always had an alliance with the Great Xia Royal Family, so naturally, we cannot stand by and watch."

The Elder's face lit up with joy: "Sect Master is wise!"

"However," the Sect Master changed the subject, "We cannot all go. Send the Third Elder to lead a team of elite Disciples to the outskirts of the capital and act according to the situation. Remember, act according to the situation."

The Elder was stunned.

The Sect Master continued: "Everyone else, follow me to seal the Sect gates and wait and see how things develop."

The same scene was constantly being played out in various major Sects and noble families.

However, more forces didn't even bother to feign "acting according to the situation."

In a dark underground palace, the Sect Master of the Blood Demon Sect looked at the swirling image in the blood pool before him, a greedy smile appearing on his face.

"Divine power... what a wonderful term. The Dragon veins of Great Xia are finished, which is perfect. Pass my order: all Blood Shadow Guards, infiltrate the capital! I don't care about any Divine Master, and I don't care about Great Xia. What I want are the fragments of that power! Whoever can bring me a piece of the divine crystal, I will make them the Vice Sect Master!"

"Sect Master, this is no different from negotiating with a tiger for its skin; what if..."

"There are no 'what ifs'!" The Blood Demon Sect Master interrupted him, "Chaotic times are the golden age for people like us! Either starve to death or gorge yourself to death, choose for yourself! Go!"

For a time, the entire cultivation world was undercurrents surging. So-called righteous Sects and so-called demonic paths, in the face of absolute interest, all revealed their wolfish nature. Like a group of sharks that had smelled blood, they quietly surrounded the capital, this huge vortex, from all directions.

...

Vortex Trap Zone, the center of the storm.

Li Dong floated above the altar. His [Spiritual Domain] was like a miniature sun, isolating all external energy storms.

He had just created that earth-shattering explosion, and at this moment, the entire underground cavern was within his perception.

He could "see" Wei Zheng and Li Qingxuan fighting bloody battles.

He could "hear" Qiankun Zi's fanatical and stupid orders.

He could "feel" the faint yet tenacious fire of hope among the commoners in the city.

But soon, his brows furrowed.

"Hmm? There are guests?"

Under the ultra-wide range perception of his [Spiritual Domain], countless obscure, greedy, and prying Divine Senses, like poisonous snakes lurking in the darkness, probed in from very far away.

"Qingyun Sword Sect... Blood Demon Sect... Ten Thousand Laws Sect... Heh, they've all come."

Li Dong almost laughed out loud.

These people wanted to pick up scraps? Wanted to take advantage of the crisis?

Ridiculous.

But the next moment, the smile on his face disappeared, replaced by an epiphany that had grasped the truth.

Because he discovered that these "greed," "desire," and "ambition" coming from all directions, belonging to different Sects and different Cultivators, were actually producing a very weak... resonance with the evil thoughts left behind by the Divine Master in this space!

They were like fuel; although insignificant, they were actively providing the most basic energy for the descent of the Divine Master.

"So that's how it is..."

Li Dong muttered to himself.

"The so-called Theocratic Empire doesn't need everyone to become a fanatic. It only needs the majority of people in this world to be filled with desire."

"Greed is desire, fear is desire, the craving for power, the yearning for immortality... all of these are desires."

"He is not creating a kingdom; He is lighting a bonfire of desire in the world, and then, using the entire world along with everyone's Soul as firewood to burn it all to nothing."

This discovery gave Li Dong a subversive understanding of the essence of his enemy.

And at the very moment he figured all this out, the ancient stone slab that had been silent deep within his Sea of Consciousness flickered without warning.

A light, so faint it was almost non-existent, emitted from the stone slab, penetrated his Sea of Consciousness, penetrated the [Spiritual Domain], penetrated the thick rock layers, and without alerting anyone—not even Li Dong himself noticed where it went—it shot silently toward the unknown distance.

"You... what are you doing again?"

Li Dong asked subconsciously in his heart.

The stone slab had no reaction and returned to dead silence, as if everything just now was just his illusion.

Li Dong shook his head and stopped paying attention to this unreliable thing. His gaze fell back on the spatial rift in front of him, and the three black crystal fragments that were nailing the rift tightly.

No matter how many wolves and tigers were outside, no matter what conspiracy the Divine Master had.

Right now, dismantling this door was the real priority.