Arc 29Chapters 701–716

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Chapters 701–716 Vol. 8 Read

Ch. 701Infusion Furnace

Yu Sheng's group fought through the Brass Knights and followed Luna deeper into the facility, where she recognized it as an Infusion Furnace that had housed Artificial Saintesses. As a faint consciousness began to awaken, the guarded gate at the end of the hall opened and released holy light and psychic echoes.

  • Yu Sheng's group fought off waves of Brass Knights, then blasted through a wall and escaped into the facility's collapsed passages.
  • The group encountered more Knights and cultist corpses as they followed Luna through the darkened hallways.
  • Luna triggered a viewing wall that revealed a Production Workshop full of armor waiting on an assembly line.
  • Luna led the group past the saint coffins and remembered that the facility was an Infusion Furnace where sisters rested and were sent away.
  • Yu Sheng sensed a faint consciousness awakening as the guarded gate at the end of the hall opened, spilling holy light and psychic echoes.

Ch. 702Scorching Light

Yu Sheng discovered that the Living Saint was made from the souls of Artificial Saintesses and learned how the Hermetic Society had created it to control power drawn from Shadowless Bones. The awakened Saint seemed to respond to his request to help free the captives and destroy the Society by suddenly attacking a spot in the hall.

  • Yu Sheng, Huli, Eileen, and Luna entered a light-filled chamber and found the Living Saint suspended among restraints and transmission systems.
  • Yu Sheng connected to the chamber’s crystal system and learned that the Hermetic Society had forged the Living Saint from harvested Artificial Saintess souls.
  • Yu Sheng explained that the Society had used soul-machine fusions and fragments from Shadowless Bones to create minds capable of controlling angelic power.
  • Yu Sheng recognized the Living Saint as the nameless saintess he had encountered before, whose marked soul had escaped being reforged and awakened during the Star Gate battle.
  • The Living Saint offered Yu Sheng candy and game tokens, then conjured a holy-light greatsword and fired a Light Cannon at a spot in the hall after he asked it to help free the captives and destroy the Hermetic Society.

Ch. 703Yu Sheng's Traditional Specialty

Yu Sheng's group discovered a deeper control facility linked to the Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights, while Luna sensed the trapped souls and proposed communicating with them. As Yu Sheng began to act on an idea, he was struck by a blade, and the Holy Seat vanished after detecting node contamination and a deviation beyond the threshold.

  • The Living Saint opened a passage through the crystal barrier, and Yu Sheng's group followed it underground as Luna sensed the souls imprisoned within the crystals.
  • The group reached a mysterious hall centered on a massive white crystal, and Luna identified it as a control center for the Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights.
  • The Living Saint entered Yu Sheng's Soul Wilderness, where Luna said she might be able to communicate with the connected souls.
  • Yu Sheng began proposing that the Saintess Legion and Brass Knight Legion join forces, but a blade flashed and blood sprayed from him.
  • At the bunker beneath the Temple Mountains, the Holy Seat detected node contamination and a result deviation before vanishing in turbulent holy light.

Ch. 704Release

As the Unified Fleet’s invasion continued across the Holy Land, Luna gathered the awakened souls beneath the Crystal Tree and prepared to tell them what had happened. In a polar bunker, an Artificial Saintess killed the High-ranking Priest, while a Brass Knight cut down a cultist trying to raise the alarm.

  • The Unified Fleet’s forces advanced across the Holy Land, and the Artificial Saintess stopped her attack just before killing a Marine squad commander.
  • Luna accepted a phantom candy from a Living Saint and began addressing the gathered souls at the Grand Cathedral.
  • A Great Sage in the polar bunker learned that communications with the Central Sacred Hall District remained cut off and feared it had fallen.
  • The Artificial Saintess suddenly killed the High-ranking Priest, and a Brass Knight killed a fleeing cultist before he could sound the alarm.

Ch. 705Ground Tremor

Yu Sheng’s allies dismantled the Hermetic Society’s control over the Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights, while their assault spread across the Sacred Realm planet. When Yu Sheng removed the central crystal from the underground control center, the cavern catastrophically collapsed, revealing a vast hollow beneath the planet and a mysterious figure gathering radiance.

  • Xu Jiali’s forces fought alongside the newly liberated Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights, and an Artificial Saintess gave him coordinates to the Underground Cathedral.
  • Hong reported that Yu Sheng had freed the troops from their cognitive filters and Mental Shackles, enabling rebellions against cult command centers across the planet.
  • Yu Sheng explained to Eileen that Luna had rallied the liberated troops and contacted those stationed on other colonies to disrupt the Hermetic Society’s communications.
  • Interference shook the crystal hall, so Yu Sheng swept the central crystal into Fairy Tale Valley, triggering a massive collapse of the underground facilities.
  • Huli and Luna shielded Yu Sheng from falling debris, while the Radiant Figure took a crystal to the head and hid in Huli’s tails.
  • Yu Sheng and the others emerged to find a vast underground cavern torn open by fissures, and Yu Sheng pointed to a patch of gathering radiance as the apparent cause.

Ch. 706Underground Clash

Yu Sheng and his allies fought the Holy Seat in the Underground Cavern, but the cult leader summoned a host of Living Saints through a Light Screen. The Living Saints remained still instead of attacking, and one suddenly flew toward a Great Rift, leaving the battle's next turn uncertain.

  • Yu Sheng's crew ambushed the Holy Seat with Fox Carrot Missiles, puppet fire, a Light Cannon, and Luna's attack, while Luna also assaulted it in the Soul Wilderness.
  • The Holy Seat resisted the combined attacks and fought back with lightning as Luna and the knights in the Soul Wilderness continued to weaken it.
  • The Holy Seat opened a Light Screen and brought a mass of Living Saints into the cavern, warning Yu Sheng that the cult's cause would rise again.
  • Yu Sheng considered escape and other desperate strategies, but Eileen noticed the Living Saints were not moving.
  • The nearest Living Saint spread her wings and flew toward a Great Rift instead of attacking Yu Sheng's group.

Ch. 707Great Collapse

The Underground Cavern collapsed as the Living Saints charged toward the abyssal rifts, and the Holy Seat’s unstable body fell into the Deep Valley. Yu Sheng fell through a rift into the planet’s inner shell, where he saw a gigantic radiant skeleton hovering above a dark tear in spacetime.

  • The Living Saints rushed into the underground rifts, while the Artificial Angel briefly followed before returning to Yu Sheng.
  • Luna and the knights attacked the Holy Seat in the Soul Wilderness, causing figures and memories to emerge from his body as his form grew unstable.
  • The Underground Cavern began collapsing, and the Holy Seat severed a falling crystal pillar before shrinking and falling into the Deep Valley.
  • Yu Sheng fell into a great rift after throwing Eileen to safety, while Huli and Luna led the others toward the surface.
  • The Artificial Angel followed Yu Sheng down the rift, then flew back toward Huli and the others when he told her to go.
  • Yu Sheng passed through an opening into the planet’s inner shell and saw a gigantic skeleton of sacred radiance hovering above a dark structure in spacetime.

Ch. 708Face-Smacking

Yu Sheng learned the origin of the Holy Seat and was absorbed into its chaotic spiritual existence, but his soul reached the World Bridge and connected with the Crystal Sacred Tree. He emerged through the Eden Gate to confront the Holy Seat, who was trapped by the Crystal Branches.

  • Yu Sheng fell to the planet's core, where the Holy Seat explained that its followers' prayers had created a god that survived for only 2.2 seconds.
  • The Holy Seat burned Yu Sheng's body and dragged his soul into its memories, but Yu Sheng's mind disrupted the Dark Angel's spiritual aggregate.
  • Luna saw Yu Sheng fall toward the Crystal Sacred Tree and told the maiden Knights that their master had died his way back.
  • Crystal Branches grew through cracks in the sky and burst from the Eden Gate, wrapping around the confused Holy Seat.
  • Yu Sheng appeared on the Eden Gate and told the Holy Seat that his World Bridge had finally matured because it now had a second end.

Ch. 709The End of the Long Road

Yu Sheng confronted the Holy Seat as Eden Gate consumed the Dark Angel and the collapsing planet, while Eileen received orders to evacuate all ground forces into space. The Holy Seat accepted his defeat and vanished into Eden Gate, ending the Path of Holy Reverence.

  • Huli, Eileen, and Luna emerged from the collapsing underground facility and saw signs that the planet was disintegrating.
  • Yu Sheng told Eileen to have Baili Qing evacuate all ground forces into space because the planet's crust was failing.
  • Yu Sheng explained that the Holy Seat and the Dark Angel had excavated the planet's interior and left its crust supported by the angel's power.
  • The Holy Seat recounted how the Hermetic Society had built order across twelve habitable planets before its efforts and technologies grew more costly.
  • Yu Sheng demanded that the Holy Seat fight with all his strength as Eden Gate drew him and the collapsing planet toward its core.
  • The Holy Seat confirmed that he had given everything, then sank into Eden Gate and became its nourishment.

Ch. 710Starfall

Xu Jiali and the evacuation forces raced to leave the collapsing Sacred Realm while Crystalline Branches supported temporary launch sites. The final transports escaped as the planet broke apart around the Eden Gate, and Lingdang told Xu Jiali her livestream followers were rapidly increasing.

  • Xu Jiali oversaw evacuating troops from the temple ruins as Lingdang livestreamed the planet's collapse and revealed she had learned streaming from Mermaid.
  • Xu Jiali discovered rescued temple servants had been forced to wear Mental Shackles, and he agreed to evacuate them with the Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights.
  • A massive rift opened as the Sacred Realm's collapse accelerated, forcing everyone at Assembly Point 22 to hurry aboard the final transport ship and its escort shuttles.
  • Xu Jiali watched the ships escape while Crystalline Branches supported isolated patches of crust above the Eden Gate, then dissipated after their areas were evacuated.
  • Lingdang told Xu Jiali her followers were increasing quickly, and he rapped her on the head.

Ch. 711Cave Entrance

As the Sacred Realm collapsed, Yu Sheng and his companions discovered that Eden Gate had fused with a boundary bridge to form a Dark Celestial Body. They brought the discovery to Baili Qing’s flagship, where the fleet began cautiously studying the mysterious sphere.

  • Baili Qing and Hong watched the Sacred Realm fall and discussed how the Hermetic Society’s remnants might survive despite the collapse of its capital.
  • Yu Sheng reunited with Huli, Eileen, and Luna after escaping the Sacred Realm, then noticed Eden Gate had transformed into a silent, pitch-black celestial body.
  • Yu Sheng explained that Eden Gate and two connected boundary bridges had fused into something new, though he did not fully understand it.
  • Huli carried the group toward the Mass Effect, while the Artificial Angel used Light Cannons to catch up.
  • Baili Qing’s crew scanned the Dark Celestial Body and ordered nearby ships to withdraw, while Yu Sheng arrived and insisted its transformation had not been part of his plan.

Ch. 712Black Star Phenomenon?

Yu Sheng and the others discussed the Black Star that appeared beside the Eden Gate and theorized that it was a phenomenon triggered by a World Bridge rather than a permanent celestial body. Yu Sheng contacted True Spirit Yuan Hao to ask him to examine it, interrupting his flight from A Ning.

  • Yu Sheng recounted how the Eden Gate and Angel Genuine connected in the planet's core, allowing him to devour the Holy Seat and the Shadowless Bones.
  • Hong shook hands with the Living Saint, burning her undead hand, while Baili Qing offered to cut it off and Eileen comforted the disappointed angel.
  • Baili Qing explained that the Black Star had appeared at the Eden Gate, and Yu Sheng recalled seeing it briefly when the World Bridge collapsed at the Ominous Omen Temple.
  • Huli proposed that the Black Star was a temporary phenomenon that appeared when a World Bridge met specific conditions, and Yu Sheng agreed the theory could explain its strange appearances.
  • Eileen suggested contacting True Spirit Yuan Hao and a scientist to investigate the Black Star.
  • Yu Sheng called True Spirit Yuan Hao, who said A Ning had been chasing him for a second day, then agreed to return and meet Yu Sheng at the Cloud Gazing Platform.

Ch. 713Black Star Research Begins

Yu Sheng brought Luo and True Spirit Yuan Hao to study the Black Star that remained after the Sacred Realm planet collapsed, and they established plans for a long-term research station. With the Hermetic Society’s homeworld destroyed, the survivors turned to locating and liberating its remaining colonies, beginning with Ranch Star.

  • Yu Sheng brought Luo and True Spirit Yuan Hao to the Mass Effect, where they watched footage of the Sacred Realm planet collapsing into the Black Star.
  • Huli and True Spirit Yuan Hao discussed the Black Star’s strange readings and the possibility that it was a phenomenon rather than a celestial body.
  • Luo requested Eden Gate data and proposed a long-term observation station; Hong offered a mobile star fortress in exchange for shared research results.
  • True Spirit Yuan Hao planned to return with disciples and exploration artifacts, while the Black Star remained stable in its orbit.
  • Baili Qing told Yu Sheng that engineers were recovering the star chart from the stargate, and Yu Sheng ordered her to prioritize finding Ranch Star and liberating it.

Ch. 714Dreaming Beneath the Stars

Yu Sheng dreamed that he met a bandaged woman through the black star, and she said she was aboard The Lost Ship and seemed to know him. He woke with Huli and decided to seek answers from Baili Qing and True Spirit Yuan Hao.

  • Huli curled up on Yu Sheng's lap after eating her fill, and the two rested together on the Viewing Platform.
  • Yu Sheng fell asleep and saw the black star shrink into a miniature shadow before a lantern-bearing, bandaged woman appeared.
  • The woman asked whether Yu Sheng was in the Inner Universe and how he had awakened, but their connection broke apart before he could learn more than that she was from The Lost Ship.
  • Yu Sheng woke beneath the sleeping Huli and told her about the strange encounter.
  • Huli offered to go with Yu Sheng to find Baili Qing and True Spirit Yuan Hao, and Yu Sheng agreed.

Ch. 715Old Holy Spirits, The Lost Ship, and the Black Star

Yu Sheng learned that the blurred woman from his dream was Agatha, one of the twin Ancient Holy Spirits, and the group discussed investigating the Black Star and The Lost Ship. Luna returned with news that they may have found Ranch Star, where her sister’s body was located while her soul had entered the Grand Cathedral.

  • Yu Sheng described his dream, and Hong identified the bandaged woman as Agatha, the Protector in the Mirror.
  • Eileen recalled that Agatha was two people, twin sisters who treasured their lanterns and sometimes served as each other’s shadows.
  • Yu Sheng questioned whether The Lost Ship’s mission at the edge of the void was more than a patrol, while the group linked the mystery to the Black Star.
  • Old Handsome proposed sending the next Black Star probe with Yu Sheng’s blood on it, and Huli and Eileen volunteered to accompany him to The Lost Ship.
  • Luna reported that the group may have found Ranch Star, where her sister’s body was while her soul had entered the Grand Cathedral.

Ch. 716Complex Situation

Yu Sheng and Baili Qing visited the Grand Cathedral, where Luna explained that Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights were still awakening across the Hermetic Society’s former worlds. They met a newly transformed girl from Ranch Star, who reported that her group had taken control of the Ascension Sanctuary and its production facilities.

  • Yu Sheng and Baili Qing arrived at the Grand Cathedral and learned that its Crystal Tree had grown after absorbing what Yu Sheng plundered from Eden Gate.
  • Luna showed them the many Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights gathering in the Soul Wilderness, including new arrivals whose bodies were still on distant planets or had never been assembled.
  • Luna explained that the Dark Angel’s lingering power connected its creations across the universe, causing more souls to awaken and converge at the cathedral.
  • Yu Sheng and Baili Qing discussed how to help those without bodies and considered finding other production facilities for Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights.
  • Luna brought Yu Sheng and Baili Qing to meet a gray-haired girl from Ranch Star, where the Artificial Angel had been trying to comfort her and her companions.
  • The girl told Yu Sheng and Baili Qing that her group had seized the Ascension Sanctuary and its production facilities after most of the priests left with their iron ships, but they did not know how to operate the machines.
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