"Who are you?!"
"Sigh, Evan Chu... hmm, or should I call you Lord Frostbane? We’re old friends, aren’t we? Oh, and you’re also the reincarnation of the Nine-Clawed Primordial Dragon. Honestly, I’m not sure what to call you anymore."
Evan Chu stared at the gradually solidifying apparition before him. He had no idea what kind of technique was being used to manifest this figure!
The man’s face was not unfamiliar to Evan—he was Galen Sharpe, Sect Master of Heavenblade Sect, whom Evan had once seen at an auction.
"Are you the Spirit Lord?"
"No... not at all. How could I possibly compare myself to the Spirit Lord? I’m just his representative. I know you came here with a lot of questions—the Spirit Lord instructed me to answer them all for you."
Galen Sharpe carried not a trace of dark element—his aura was pure divine power. This both puzzled and secretly shocked Evan. Even without dark element, Galen had reached peak late-stage God-Emperor Realm! Now fully manifested, he exerted a real pressure on Evan.
"Don’t glare at me like that. You can’t kill me here, no matter what you do."
"Looking down on me? Then go to hell!"
Evan Chu swung his right arm, unleashing his Chaos Arm in a smash. He clearly struck Galen Sharpe’s face, yet felt no impact at all—his blow passed right through, hitting nothing!
"Save your strength—what stands before you is just a projection. Or more precisely, the space you're in is an illusion, too. Here, you can't kill me, you can't escape, and even the Ethereal Divine Shuttle can't save you.
The only thing you can do is wait for death. Of course, before that, I'm tasked with answering your questions on behalf of the Spirit Lord. Go ahead, ask what you want to know."
Evan Chu's eyes grew colder, killing intent surging all around him. He didn't believe a single word coming out of this man's mouth.
An illusionary space? Impossible! If it was, how could I have fallen for it so easily? At my cultivation, ordinary illusion arrays are useless—and this one even restricts the Ethereal Divine Shuttle!
Still, Evan couldn't help but suspect—if he'd really been trapped, then it must've started the moment he entered Azurecloud City. Maybe Azurecloud City itself was just a massive illusion array, its only purpose to lure him in!
Only that explanation fits everything. But if it's true, then the Spirit Lord's methods are terrifying—he hasn't even faced me directly, and I've already lost!
The more Evan thought about it, the more dread crept in. His expression darkened as the fear took hold.
"Looks like you're not planning to ask anything. Well, to fulfill the Spirit Lord's orders, I'll just have to tell you everything I know."
Galen Sharpe flashed a mysterious smile, then pointed into the void. A new scene materialized before Evan's eyes.
The scene was all too familiar—Evan had just come from there: Azurecloud City! But what he saw now was completely different. There were no elderly, no women or children, no empty streets. Instead, the city was packed with powerful martial experts, each radiating intense dark-element energy.
"Understand now? This is the real Azurecloud City. Where you just were—that was only the entrance to the illusion-array space. And this isn't some ordinary array. The Spirit Lord spent a hundred thousand years creating it, all for the sake of waiting for you—or for Supreme Titus.
Though the Spirit Lord wiped you all out easily back then, he knew that ten thousand years later, Frostbane God-Venerable, the Nine-Clawed Primordial Dragon, or Supreme Titus would eventually reappear to block his grand plan.
So it's no wonder this illusion-array space exists. Of course, it can't last forever. Every moment it runs, it consumes the life force of a hundred people; one day of operation costs ten thousand lives.
So, while we're here, entire cities outside are being slaughtered to fuel this array with energy."
Evan's heart trembled. He knew Galen Sharpe had no reason to lie about something so pointless—this was really happening!
"Sick bastard!"
"Come on, who hasn't killed before? Haven't you? Seems you've killed plenty, too. Don't act so righteous. Since that puzzle's solved, what else do you want? Let me think.
Hmm... oh, right—this." Galen Sharpe flicked his finger again, and a hellish dark space appeared before Evan. It was an unfamiliar world, like a descent into the abyss of the Demonic Realm.
"Stop guessing. This isn't the Demonic Realm—it's a prison beneath Heavenblade Sect's geocore. Over there, see that figure suppressed by dark-element energy and the Dark Origin Spirit?
Evan looked—and sure enough, there was a figure. When he saw the blood-soaked, barely human shape being tortured, his shock deepened, and a force inside him began to surge.
"Looks familiar, doesn't it? Or maybe the power inside you feels familiar? That's right—this is the founder of Ninefold Stellar Transformation, the Ninefold Divine Sovereign. Tsk, too bad he's so weak now. After a hundred thousand years of imprisonment, he's on the verge of death. If the Spirit Lord hadn't been searching for rare medicines to keep him alive, you'd be looking at a corpse right now."
Galen ignored the look on Evan's face—he was nearly about to explode—and flicked his finger again.
"Curious where you found your self-destructed third senior brother's corpse? That's right, it was here. Take a look—the Gods' Necropolis!"
Galen's words shocked Evan again. He followed Galen's pointing finger, and saw a massive pit filled with corpses radiating terrifying power.
Besides the corpses, there were piles of god-jade bones everywhere!
"Among these, not only are there powerhouses who fell in the War of the Gods, but also ancient experts from previous eras. Look closely—see those corpses? Those are former Frostbane God-Venerables from Frostbane Divine Palace!"
Galen's last sentence utterly enraged Evan.
"Bastard! Damn you all, you deserve to die!" BOOM! Wind and thunder laws exploded, Sevenfold Absolute Cleave and Heaven-Phantom Thunder Cleave unleashed in full—Evan poured all his power out in an instant.
The power was earth-shattering—instantly, the whole space plunged into pitch-black darkness, not a trace of light. The space trembled and buzzed, and for a moment it seemed a crack had appeared. But before Evan could see it clearly, the crack sealed up again.
"Sigh! Still won't listen, huh? What's the point of getting worked up—just because you saw a few Golden Dragon corpses? I told you, this space is fully sealed. Your power is useless here. The Spirit Lord spent a hundred thousand years preparing this just for you. Did you really think it would be so easy to break?
Look at that—one outburst and the energy gets burned up fast. Another hundred thirty thousand lives, gone in a flash. Hehehe..."
Galen's laughter echoed through the space, lingering in Evan's ears, goading him, fueling his rage. Yet as Evan looked around at the unchanged illusion-array, an overwhelming sense of powerlessness welled up inside.