188: Chapter 188 Luring the Enemy into the Trap: The Moon Goddess Trapped

The Moon Goddess's eyes, obscured by white light, suddenly narrowed.

Something was wrong!

This thought was like a sharp icicle, stabbing deep into her Divine Soul.

As an Immortal Lord who had commanded the Moon Goddess Palace for ten thousand years, she had seen countless Secret Realms, ancient lands, and forbidden zones.

She possessed a near-instinctive insight into the flow and composition of Laws.

This so-called "Underground Palace" had given her a strong sense of dissonance from the very first moment she stepped inside.

The aura, layout, and residual traces of energy were identical to the intelligence she had gathered from various sources.

They were even identical to the sensations she had received when she had secretly peeked at the Star-Moon Holy Land before.

Yet, it was precisely this perfect similarity that felt the most uncanny.

It was like a painting; no matter how skilled the artist or how lifelike the work, a painting was still just a painting.

It lacked the "soul" of the real world—the sediment left by wind, rain, and the passage of time.

And the Underground Palace before her lacked that very "soul."

The Laws here were too new, as if they had just been created.

Although grand and exquisite, with an absurdly high rank, they lacked the sense of weight known as "time."

What made her internal alarm bells ring even louder was that the rank of the Laws here... was actually more stable and profound than those in her Heaven Burial Palace's temple!

How was this possible?!

Unless...

A conjecture that sent a chill through her Divine Soul surged wildly into her mind.

This wasn't some Underground Palace!

This was a trap! A Painting Prison tailor-made specifically for her!

"Damn it!"

The Moon Goddess cursed inwardly, her greed to seize the Falling Star Disk vanishing instantly.

She never expected that after a lifetime of scheming against others...

She would be outmaneuvered today by a native of the Lower Realm using such a crude yet audacious method.

This trap had been set from the moment Ye Qingyu sent the distress signal.

That native had not only seen through her intentions but had even used her greed and arrogance against her.

What a supreme humiliation!

The Moon Goddess's fury almost ignited this false space, but the rationality she had cultivated over ten thousand years suppressed all her emotions in an instant.

Now was not the time for anger; she had to leave immediately!

As long as this wisp of her divided soul could retreat back through the passage, she would have plenty of time to settle this score later!

With this thought, the Moon Goddess did not hesitate.

Her newly formed graceful figure instantly became illusory.

The Moon Goddess decisively abandoned control over this temporary Physical Body.

She prepared to directly extract the core wisp of her divided soul and retreat into the deep blue passage that had not yet fully closed.

The decisiveness of an Immortal Lord was fully displayed at this moment.

As long as she could retreat, losing a bit of her Origin or sacrificing a pawn was inconsequential.

However, she wanted to leave, but how could Su Yun possibly let her?

Just as the Moon Goddess's divided soul turned into a streak of light, about to retreat into the passage entrance...

Another change occurred!

Ye Qingyu, who had been lying on the ground shaking like a sieve and appearing completely terrified, suddenly looked up.

On her face, covered in blood and tear stains, where was there any sign of fear or despair?

It was replaced by a smile that was eerie to the extreme, filled with morbidity and fanaticism.

"Master... where are you going?"

She murmured softly in a voice that was almost like sleep-talking.

Then, before the Moon Goddess's suddenly shrinking pupils, Ye Qingyu's battered body...

Rose up like a ghost in a manner that completely defied physical common sense!

She tightly hugged the Moon Goddess's illusory figure that was about to flee!

"You!"

The Moon Goddess was both shocked and enraged.

She couldn't understand how this servant, who had a Divine Soul Restriction planted by her...

And who viewed her as a deity, would dare—or even be able—to strike against her?

The Restriction she left in Ye Qingyu's body was enough to make her Divine Soul incinerate if she even harbored a single disrespectful thought!

But now, not only had Ye Qingyu acted, but looking at her frenzied expression, she wasn't afraid of death at all!

"What lowly scoundrel dares to plot against me!"

The Moon Goddess barked, her Immortal Lord-level Divine Soul power erupting to shake this meddling ant, Ye Qingyu, into fly ash.

But at that moment, another even more cold and malicious power surged from Ye Qingyu's shadow!

"Hehehe... Moon Goddess Palace Master, since you're here, don't be in such a hurry to leave."

A shadow as thick as blood rose from the ground, transforming into Zi Yun's seductive and enchanting figure.

Her hands had, at some point, formed an extremely complex and eerie blood-colored hand seal.

As she thrust the seal forward...

"Blood Prison Imprisoning the Heavens!"

Buzz!

Tens of millions of blood-colored threads, invisible to the naked eye, shot out from the seal.

These threads didn't attack the Moon Goddess; instead, like living venomous snakes, they instantly coiled around the shrinking deep blue passage.

"Break for me!"

Zi Yun gave a sharp cry and slammed her hands together!

Crack—

A crisp, tooth-aching sound of snapping echoed through the space.

That cross-realm passage, which the Moon Goddess had forcibly opened by consuming her Origin...

Was actually snapped in half by Zi Yun using a nearly barbaric display of brute force!

At the other end of the passage, the Moon Goddess's main body, which was about to return, let out a muffled groan of shock and anger as the connection was severed.

And this section of the passage, having lost its source of Origin, quickly became unstable.

Finally, with a "bang," it exploded into a brilliant rain of deep blue light, dissipating into the air.

Her path of retreat was completely cut off!

"You're looking for death!"

The Moon Goddess was completely enraged.

She could no longer maintain her lofty and cold demeanor.

Being plotted against, being betrayed, and now even having her path of retreat cut off in such a crude manner...

This series of events had thoroughly ignited the fury of this Immortal Lord.

"A mere World within a Painting thinks it can trap me? Break!"

A terrifying Divine Soul storm erupted from her, sweeping outward.

The power of Laws belonging to an Immortal Lord erupted without reservation, intending to tear this false "Underground Palace" and the entire World within a Painting into pieces!

She wanted these audacious ants to know just how terrifying the wrath of an Immortal Lord truly was!

However, the scene of heaven and earth collapsing that she expected did not occur.

The mottled rock walls and cracked ground fissures...

As well as the heavy ceiling, were merely torn away like a curtain blown by the wind under the impact of her Divine Soul storm.

What was revealed behind the curtain was not the fragmented starry sky of the Lower Realm she had imagined.

Instead, it was a world that was even broader, more real, and possessed even more vast Laws!

There were towering divine mountains reaching into the clouds and celestial rivers surging for ten thousand miles.

The sun and moon shone together, and stars revolved.

This was a complete world with its own independent Heavenly Dao!

And high above in the Nine Heavens, in the center of the sun and moon, a young man in black robes sat upon a divine throne condensed from endless golden light, resting his chin on one hand.

He looked down at her from above, as if watching an ant that had accidentally wandered into his territory.

That gaze was filled with mockery and a sense of... playfulness that made her feel incredibly humiliated.

"Moon Goddess Palace Master, your arrival is a great honor. Please excuse my lack of preparation."

Su Yun's voice wasn't loud, yet it echoed clearly in every corner of this world, carrying an unquestionable sense of control.

"Does this humble Small World of mine still meet your Dharma Eye?"

The Moon Goddess's illusory figure froze in place.

She looked at the youth above the Nine Heavens who resembled a deity, feeling the pressure of this world's Heavenly Dao, which was as vast as an abyss.

It even made her feel a hint of palpitations; her mind went blank with a buzz.

She finally understood exactly what kind of trap she had fallen into.

This wasn't a World within a Painting!

This was a true Small World! An Inner Heaven and Earth that had been completely refined and controlled by the youth before her!

A wisp of her divided soul had been lured into the kingdom of a True God!

Just as her mind was shaking, unable to accept this fact, her gaze finally focused on the face on the divine throne, which wore a faint smile.

It was a face she could never forget!

Although she had only seen a phantom of this person through the furious Divine Thought of the Blood Fiend God Lord and some fragmented intelligence...

This face had recently become a minor but extremely annoying joke among the high-ranking members of the Heaven Burial Palace.

The Moon Goddess's pupils contracted violently into dangerous pinpoints.

Her cold voice, for the first time, carried an unmaskable shock and horror as she blurted out.

"It's you?!"

"That useless Blood Fiend actually failed to kill a mere ant from the Lower Realm?!"