Chapter 66 December 13th (Part 1)

[Late at night, Changlin Park.]

[The blizzard filling the sky grew increasingly violent, dyeing the entire world a stark white.]

[You lurked within a distant tree canopy, letting the accumulating snow cover your windbreaker.]

[Your breathing was faint and intermittent, and your heart rate was controlled to an extremely low level.]

[Your entire being seemed to merge with this withered old tree.]

[At this moment, you were coldly watching that anxious figure in the lakeside pavilion.]

[Liu Xiyue was still searching, her hair disheveled, her expression revealing a sickly obsession.]

[Time passed minute by minute.]

[About fifteen minutes later.]

["Buzz!"]

[Deep within your Sea of Consciousness, that 'virtual personality' which had been in a silent state suddenly jolted.]

[An invisible, irresistible sense of guidance surged from the depths of your Soul.]

[The suggestion implanted by the Heart-Eroding Cult had taken effect.]

[In this instant, it transformed into the most primal instinct, driving your body.]

["Go... go to the lakeside... everything you want is there..."]

[If you were truly controlled, you should be fanatical and unconscious right now.]

[But as an observer, you simply went with the flow, your figure darting out like a civet cat.]

[Using the blizzard as cover, you arrived in the shadows of the woods by the frozen lake in a few leaps.]

[The moment you stood firm in your predetermined position.]

["Crack!"]

[It was as if some invisible contract had been fulfilled.]

[The golden mental imprint left in your mind by Grandmaster Zhao Zongtian.]

[And the black mental suggestion implanted by the Heart-Eroding Cult shattered simultaneously, dissipating into specks of light.]

[The Karma was settled; the bait had entered the trap.]

[At the same time, Liu Xiyue, standing in the middle of the frozen lake, also seemed to sense something.]

[She stopped abruptly, her eyes dull as she looked at the ice beneath her feet.]

[The next second.]

["Rumble—!"]

[Without any warning, the ground of the entire Changlin Park shook violently.]

[The thick ice on the lake surface, several feet deep, was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks, then exploded with a roar!]

[Two piercing pillars of light shot into the sky, tearing through the blizzard and piercing the clouds!]

[The one on the left was icy blue like jade, chilling to the bone, as if it would freeze even space itself.]

[The one on the right was deep blue like the sea, with surging tides, exuding a majestic vitality.]

[At this moment, space underwent a visible distortion.]

[Two exotic flowers emitting a sacred, ancient aura.]

[One by one, they squeezed from illusion into reality from within those two pillars of light.]

["mystic ice twin lotus"!]

["illusory water lily"!]

[Dual dimensional secret treasures descended simultaneously!]

["Heavens... it truly is a masterpiece of nature!"]

[Wu Changhe and Principal Liao Xianyu, hidden in the shadows as Protectors, watched this miraculous scene.]

[Even though they were in the know, they couldn't help but gasp in amazement at this moment.]

[Treasures of this level were breathtaking even to catch a glimpse of.]

[And Liu Xiyue, at the center of the storm, had eyes only for that ice lotus.]

["Mine... that's mine!"]

[She could no longer control the desire in her heart, even forgetting the potential dangers around her.]

[Her entire being turned into a streak of white light, charging recklessly toward the center of the lake.]

[She reached out, wanting to touch the flower that held a fatal temptation for her.]

[Meanwhile, you also 'cooperatively' rushed out, targeting the illusory water lily.]

[This was the moment the Heart-Eroding Cult had been waiting for.]

[However.]

[The very instant Liu Xiyue's fingertips were about to touch the petals.]

[The entire world suddenly stopped.]

[This wasn't a simple description, but a literal, physical standstill.]

[Falling snowflakes hung suspended in mid-air, every crystalline structure clearly visible.]

[The exploding ice shards froze on the water's surface, maintaining their splashing posture.]

[Liu Xiyue's charging form was frozen like a statue, the fanatical expression on her face solidified.]

[Even you were pinned in place by an indescribable, mighty power, unable to even move your eyes.]

[Even the two pillars of light shooting into the sky seemed to have had their pause button pressed; the light no longer flowed.]

[Between heaven and earth, all was silent.]

[The sound of wind, water, and heartbeats all vanished.]

[This was the method of a Shentong Realm expert!]

[In this static black-and-white tableau, only one person could move.]

[From the Void Realm, a figure slowly emerged.]

[He walked upon the wind, and the wind went still beneath his feet.]

[He stood upon the air, and space surrendered beneath his feet.]

[It was an old man with white hair and a white beard.]

[He wore an ordinary white training suit.]

[But now, that white garment was covered in large, shocking patches of fresh blood.]

[Thick blood dripped from his face, his beard, and even the gaps between his fingers.]

[As a Great Grandmaster, he should have been unstained by dust.]

[But he did not use his power to shake off these impurities; instead, he allowed them to dye his clothes red.]

[That was the proof of him using the blood of countless cultists to offer sacrifices to the dead on his way here.]

[Grandmaster Zhao Zongtian!]

[This normally kind and amiable old man had no expression on his face now.]

[Only endless coldness and killing intent.]

[That sense of oppression was ten thousand times more terrifying than any exotic beast you had ever seen.]

[In his left hand, he held a hideous head with four pupils—Adjudicator Myriad Eyes.]

[In his right hand, he held a head wearing a shattered ghost mask, its eyes wide in death—Adjudicator Blood Ghost.]

[He just hung there in mid-air, holding the heads of two Soaring Realm Experts, like a god of slaughter judging the world.]

[Time seemed to freeze at this moment.]

[Suddenly.]

["Boom!"]

[In the dense forest deep within Changlin Park, a terrifying yet evil-filled blood-red pillar of light erupted.]

[It barely managed to break through this layer of stagnant spatial lockdown.]

[A blood-red streak of light shot into the sky, fast as a thunderclap, trying to escape this death trap!]

[This was the Heart-Eroding Cult's new leader—Tianxin!]

[As a Mountain-Sea Realm expert, he had sensed that irresistible aura of death the moment Grandmaster Zhao Zongtian descended.]

[He didn't hesitate for a second, not even glancing at his subordinates, directly burning his essence blood to flee.]

["Trying to run?"]

[Grandmaster Zhao Zongtian didn't even look, simply extending a finger toward that direction from afar.]

["Bind!"]

[There were no complex incantations, just a single, simple word.]

[That lightning-fast blood light jerked to a stop in the air, as if it had slammed into an invisible wall of sighs.]

[No matter how the blood light lunged left and right, it couldn't move an inch.]

[Following that.]

[Grandmaster Zhao Zongtian pressed his finger down.]

[The Yuan Qi in the void instantly condensed, transforming into a ten-zhang-long spear of brilliant golden light.]

["Fall!"]

["Whoosh—"]

[The golden spear, carrying a piercing sonic boom, instantly impaled the abdomen of that blood shadow!]

["AAAHHH!!!"]

[An incredibly shrill scream echoed through the night sky, shattering the frozen snowflakes in the air.]

[That insufferably arrogant cult leader in the gold-patterned blood robe was like a fly pinned to a wall.]

[He fell heavily from the sky, smashing into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.]

[He struggled desperately, but that golden spear seemed to weigh a thousand tons, pinning him firmly to the earth, unable to move.]

[With one finger, he suppressed the Mountain Sea!]

[This is a Divine Ability!]