230: Power of Merit

Her gaze fixed sharply on the cracks in the altar, and she shouted, "Olexia!"

"Do the Western divine powers of the Goddess of Nature and the God of Light possess the ability to restrain and weaken all evil, twisted, and filthy things…?"

Seeing Shang Wan Ning suddenly pull such a move, Olexia instantly understood her intention and added, "That is indeed the case, but neither of us currently possesses these two types of divine power."

"The Eastern power of thunder and merit actually share similarities and can both produce significant effects."

She paused for a moment before continuing to explain.

"However, if you use divine powers with other attributes, it will likely not only fail to achieve the expected results but might even have the opposite effect, or worse, provide nourishment for the thing below."

Upon hearing this, Shang Wan Ning's lips curled upward, revealing a confident expression.

She formed a "Thunder Seal" with her hand, closed her eyes to look inward, and gently stroked the son of heaven sword.

Instantly, the sword light shot out in all directions like falling stars, dazzling and eye-catching.

Those army ants that were originally frantically gnawing on the Statue of the Deity seemed to smell the scent of their natural enemy.

They suddenly stopped their "mouthparts," ceased destroying the Statue of the Deity, and began to flee in a panic into the cracks of the Statue of the Deity.

Seeing that this move was effective, Shang Wan Ning did not hesitate to aim the son of heaven sword at the cracks in the Statue of the Deity.

She began to chant…

A stream of Lesser Five Thunders gushed out from the tip of the sword.

"The power of the Five Thunders Orthodox Method is slightly insufficient, and as for the Shangqing Thunder Method, I have not mastered it deeply enough."

"In comparison, merit is more reliable, and I possess a vast amount of merit, so I can absolutely afford to squander some here."

Shang Wan Ning muttered to herself.

After speaking, she turned her head to look at Olexia in the distance.

She saw that Olexia had long since pulled Chen Yu back hundreds of meters and had also conveniently erected a transparent protective barrier, enclosing herself and Chen Yu within it.

She pursed her lips, pouting slightly.

The grip on the sword hilt unconsciously tightened a few notches.

"I must also thank Her Excellency the Goddess of Desire. If you hadn't guided me to discover the flaw in this thing, I'm afraid I really wouldn't have been able to handle it."

There was a hint of gratitude in Shang Wan Ning's voice, but more than that, it was the relief of a burden being lifted.

"You're welcome, I'm doing this for the sake of our good friendship."

"Your Majesty, there is no time to lose, you had better act quickly."

Olexia tactfully waved her hand, the meaning could not be more obvious—she did not want to be dragged into this at such a critical moment.

It would be best to watch Shang Wan Ning continue her "performance" from afar like an outsider.

Just as the son of heaven sword was about to strike down, the thing inside the altar showed no reaction at all.

Except for those army ants still frantically scurrying about, it was as if they were completely unaware of the impending danger.

Shang Wan Ning steeled her heart and decided not to wait any longer.

She mobilized half of the merit within her body, pouring it continuously into the son of heaven sword.

"Ha!"

With her angry shout, the son of heaven sword slashed down violently, carrying endless 'might' as it struck the altar fiercely.

A thunderous explosion was heard.

The entire altar shook violently.

Immediately after, a crack hundreds of meters long appeared on the altar, having been forcibly split open by the Empress's sword strike.

In an instant, a burst of black resentment surged out like a volcanic eruption, shooting straight up above the strait.

The resentment was so thick it was almost suffocating, mixed with a foul stench, sounding like the roars and curses of countless wronged souls.

Shang Wan Ning stared intently, and from within the crack, a colossal monster slowly crawled out.

The monster's body was incredibly massive, resembling a mountain, and its entire body emitted a suffocating stench.

Its body seemed to be pieced together from countless twisted limbs, with every joint constantly writhing.

And the resentful spirits of those army ants darted back and forth through these joints, as if they were the monster's blood.

The "monster" let out a hiss, shaking the surrounding resentment...

Shang Wan Ning did not retreat. Holding the son of heaven sword, the golden wheel of merit on her body shone brightly as she went to meet it.

"Clang!"

The son of heaven sword struck the monster's spine, leaving only a mark, sparks flying from the collision.

Even with Shang Wan Ning adding half of her merit, she could not break through its defense at all.

"A turtle shell, huh? This shell is truly hard!!!"

Olexia, watching the show from the side, leisurely took out two cups of afternoon tea from her storage space.

She even handed a cup to Chen Yu with great interest.

"Your Majesty, don't be so stingy. Add more merit, two and a half percent would be best."

No sooner had she finished speaking than the "boomerang" of her own past stinginess pierced Shang Wan Ning's heart.

"That stings, old pal."

"You still have the mood to drink afternoon tea!!!"

Before Olexia could offer any excuses for herself, the monster did not give Shang Wan Ning a chance to be distracted.

It swung its leg joint and stomped in the direction where Shang Wan Ning was.

Shang Wan Ning tapped her toes and swiftly retreated, barely dodging the fatal kick.

"Crash!"

As that foot stepped down, the ground instantly caved in, forming a crater a thousand meters deep.

Shang Wan Ning gritted her teeth and ruthlessly injected one and a half percent of her merit into the sword tip, but she did not release the sword energy recklessly.

She had to hold back her strength.

The aftershocks of a seventh-order battle would definitely affect Country F. If she accidentally sank Country F, that would be a huge problem!!!

【Sister Meng would be so anxious she'd rush out of her seclusion chamber, and how much more reincarnation business would that add to the Bridge of Helplessness all at once.】

At the same time, she had to ensure the sword energy used against the monster was strong enough so the monster would not have any opportunity to exploit.

After careful consideration, Shang Wan Ning decided to adopt a safe strategy—defense as offense.

Wait until the monster's strength was worn out by her, then deliver a fatal blow.

After all, through several exchanges, she had realized that although the monster had strength, it lacked intelligence.

The divine power of the Goddess of Nature had trapped the monster for thousands of years, and Sabrina Child's avatar was long past its former grandeur.

She, a small seventh-order deity, was not afraid of failing to kill "It."

Shang Wan Ning circled with the monster, the sword energy constantly leaving marks on its body, but she was unable to deliver a fatal blow...

After over a thousand exchanges, the monster seemed to be enraged, its attacks becoming increasingly fierce, each one whipping up a hurricane.

Suddenly, the monster opened its huge mouth.

A beam of slime shot out. Shang Wan Ning dodged to the side, but was still grazed on the corner of her clothes.

For a moment, the golden wheel of merit dimmed slightly.

"Such powerful corrosiveness."

No wonder the Goddess of Nature almost fell back then.

At this moment, Olexia put away her leisurely demeanor and shouted, "Shang Wan Ning, It is going to make a desperate struggle. Attack Its glabella point now."

Shang Wan Ning shuddered and seized the opportunity.

She poured all the remaining merit into the son of heaven sword, transforming it into a golden light that rushed towards the monster.

The monster's glabella point was Its weakness—Shang Wan Ning used all her strength to stab the son of heaven sword into it.