Though Huang Huai had absolute faith in Lord Guan Er, he still tensed at the sight before him. As he tried to guess how Lord Guan Er would respond to He Yuan and the Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God attacking together...
Lord Guan Er's Divine Eyes, which had been lowered and appeared almost closed, suddenly snapped open. A divine light burst from those phoenix eyes. In the next instant, Lord Guan Er looked toward He Yuan without a trace of emotion. The divine radiance that had surrounded him flared brilliantly, like a vast sun that instantly engulfed He Yuan.
The boundless killing intent in those Divine Eyes sent a chill rising from the depths of He Yuan's soul. His ferocious expression froze, and the Divine Body of the Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God covering him abruptly collapsed the moment the divine radiance touched him.
Eyes wide with disbelief, He Yuan stared fixedly at the image of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan, who had not moved at all, yet had effortlessly snuffed out his life with nothing but his mighty divine presence. Then he looked at Huang Huai, protected behind the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's Divine Body, and murmured, "What kind of divine being are you?"
Cracks spread across He Yuan's body. His soul, will, and the powerful vitality of his physical body had all been shattered by the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's divine might. Only the faintest trace of an obsession remained.
Huang Huai had never expected Lord Guan Er merely to open his eyes and crush the demon who had been so arrogant just moments ago with nothing but his divine presence.
Having witnessed He Yuan's life force vanish the instant Lord Guan Er opened his eyes, Huang Huai couldn't help recalling the saying:
"When Lord Guan doesn't open his eyes, all is well. Once he does, blood will be spilled!"
Huang Huai glanced at He Yuan, whose eyes were full of unwillingness, and said with a hint of disdain, "Remember this: the one who slays you is the Great Emperor of the Three Realms Subduing Demons, the Heavenly Venerable of Far-Reaching Divine Might, the Holy Lord Emperor Guan!"
As Huang Huai's voice fell, He Yuan's body collapsed in an instant, dissolving into a cloud of blood mist.
At the same time, after opening his eyes and unleashing his divine might, the Holy Lord Emperor Guan lowered them again, nearly closing them. His imposing Divine Body vanished, and the divine light receded. When Huang Huai looked again, the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue was still enshrined on the altar, its divine presence awe-inspiring. The incense sticks, only recently lit, still breathed out wisps of fragrant smoke.
The instant the Holy Lord Emperor Guan manifested, a beam of divine light shot into the sky. A spiritual apparition of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan appeared, nearly enveloping all of Shun'an Ward.
Practically every cultivator was startled into looking up. They saw the immeasurably mighty Emperor, eyes lowered and nearly closed, suddenly open those phoenix eyes. Everyone who witnessed that moment felt a bone-deep chill and boundless killing intent, and the thought that their lives were forfeit sprang into their hearts.
At the Great River Sect's residence, Sect Leader Yang Li, dressed only in his inner robe, and Second Elder Zhang Yan, along with several other senior members of the Great River Sect, all turned their gazes toward Shun'an Ward.
"What dreadful killing intent, what terrifying divine might. No wonder he is an Emperor-rank being. I wonder what fool provoked such a mighty figure into acting without restraint."
Hearing his Sect Leader Eldest Senior Brother's exclamation, Zhang Yan gave a self-mocking smile. "What are we to him but ants? Would a being like that really have to consider an ant's feelings before acting?"
His words left everyone from the Great River Sect looking grave. They let out a breath, and Han Song put on a carefree smile. "If nothing unexpected has happened, that mighty one is probably living in seclusion somewhere around Shun'an Ward. If we can find him and serve him carefully, it may well be a blessing for the Great River Sect."
Yang Li sighed and glanced at them. "This is the Great River Sect's top priority. Everyone must take it seriously."
Meanwhile, in the house one door down from Huang Huai's, Tang Yuan abruptly sat up in bed. Through the window, he had a clear view of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's spiritual apparition above Shun'an Ward, opening his eyes and unleashing his killing intent. He was deeply shaken.
The spiritual apparition vanished in the blink of an eye, but Tang Yuan remained unable to calm the waves in his heart. He threw on his outer robe, got out of bed, and went to the desk, where the Nine Heavens Divine Deities painting he had drawn during the day lay.
Looking at the Emperor in the painting, eyes lowered and nearly closed, Tang Yuan recalled the boundless might and terrifying killing intent he had just witnessed when the deity opened his eyes. He murmured, "That girl Lin was right. When this Emperor opens his eyes, everything changes, because it means boundless slaughter!"
Huang Huai had no idea that the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's manifestation to save him had caused such a stir. At that moment, he was respectfully bowing before the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue.
Kneeling before the statue, Huang Huai bowed in sincere reverence. As he looked at it, he could sense that the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue seemed a little dimmer than before.
The statue was so familiar to Huang Huai that he could notice this barely perceptible change. An ordinary person would never have spotted it.
Remembering how the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue had manifested and obliterated the demon with nothing but its divine might, Huang Huai looked again at the slightly dimmer statue and began to suspect something.
Even though the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue had changed after arriving in this world, no matter how much it had changed, the power it spent manifesting to slay demons had to come from somewhere.
Thinking of the Three-Eyed White Lotus Goddess enshrined by the Great River Sect's Seventh Elder, who had manifested to absorb incense offerings, and of how ordinary people commonly worshiped Guardian Deities and Guardian Spirits for safety, Huang Huai felt he was beginning to understand the connection between divine manifestations and incense offerings.
Now that the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue had dimmed after manifesting, it was probably because the manifestation had consumed the incense power it contained.
With this in mind, Huang Huai bowed in gratitude with even greater devotion. He had roughly guessed that the statue had dimmed because it had consumed the incense power it had accumulated. If so, he had a way to replenish what the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue had lost.
After paying his respects to the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue, Huang Huai could barely contain his joy. He didn't know why the statue had suddenly manifested when he was in danger, but there was no doubt that Lord Guan Er had done so to save him. That was all he needed to know.
With the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue there, he had something to rely on and a little more confidence, didn't he?
He got up and set aside the two conspicuous Molotov cocktails. It was a good thing the Holy Lord Emperor Guan had manifested; otherwise, throwing those two bottles would have burned down the house he had just bought.
His gaze swept around. Huang Huai stopped, surprise showing in his eyes.
He Yuan and the Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God he had enshrined had been reduced to ashes by Lord Guan Er's divine might. Apart from a lingering trace of blood in the air, there was not even any mess to clean up. Yet, where He Yuan's body had collapsed, a palm-sized Jade Ruyi and a pale green bead shimmering with strange light had been left behind.
Seeing them, Huang Huai couldn't help feeling surprised. He had never seen either the Jade Ruyi or the pale green bead before. There was no doubt that they were items left behind after He Yuan's death.
Honestly, when Huang Huai saw He Yuan and the statue he had enshrined reduced to ashes under Lord Guan Er's divine might without a trace, he hadn't thought of searching the body for treasure. He couldn't have even if he had wanted to; He Yuan had been blasted to dust.
Yet He Yuan had still left these two things behind. Even Huang Huai could tell that they were probably no ordinary objects.
After all, if they were ordinary items, they could never have survived the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's manifestation unscathed.
A flicker of anticipation crossed Huang Huai's eyes. He was about to step forward, but then he remembered something and stopped. First, he bowed toward the Holy Lord Emperor Guan's statue and said, "The Emperor is above. Please bless me!"
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