Zhou Xuan said nothing.
He stood above, watching A Gu climb toward him step by step.
A Gu walked slowly. With every step, another gash opened in his flesh, and blood welled out. The power of Judgment was drawing the immaculate Dao body out of him.
A Gu stopped three paces from Zhou Xuan.
He raised his head and tugged at the corners of his mouth, making an ugly attempt at a smile.
"Master," A Gu said softly, "what do you need me to do?"
He was ready to die.
Zhou Xuan looked at the thin, small boy, his eyes betraying little emotion. He treated all things under heaven as nourishment and had killed people and refined their souls countless times. Sacrificing a pawn to reconstruct Supreme One was a perfectly worthwhile bargain.
Those were the Divine Court's rules.
Zhou Xuan slowly raised his hand, gripped the hilt, and pulled Judgment an inch out of the white jade slab.
A heavy aura of slaughter locked onto A Gu.
The aura spread outward, rippling in circles across the white jade ruins at the bottom of the Abyss.
Zhou Xuan drew the ancient black-gold blade out another inch.
Several gashes split A Gu's flesh, deep enough to expose bone. His blood did not drip downward; it turned into a bloody mist and drifted toward the blade atop the high terrace. A Gu did not retreat. Gritting his teeth, he dragged himself forward.
"Master, you must not!"
Ji Chen strode forward and stood beside A Gu, shielding him.
"Judgment was Supreme One's weapon of conquest at his peak," Ji Chen said rapidly. "Using the immaculate Dao body as a catalyst means draining its origin source completely. He has only a mortal body of flesh and bone. In half a breath, he'll be sucked