Hundred Beauties

This Living Soul was Qiu Yan's soul. He had used the Wolf Demon to throw the Pan Household into chaos, forcing the three Living Souls condensed with Human Souls to battle the Wolf Demon and leaving them unable to attend to anything else. He then drifted away and arrived at this room in the Pan Household's rear courtyard.

He had once entered Pan Rongniang's dream. Though it had been pitch-black, he had found a trace of connection, allowing him to follow it here.

Yet the moment he entered the room, he was discovered. Fine threads shot from the Void and wound around him, leaving him unable to move.

"You know this young master's name, yet you still dare come calling again. It seems you have something to rely on." The handsome young man smiled faintly, carrying himself with refined elegance as he admitted his identity. "Speak. What exactly is your purpose in coming here?"

But no answer came.

"Unwilling to speak? Planning to hold out to the bitter end?" The handsome youth, Tang Yi, laughed heartily, his voice bright and pleasant enough to inspire goodwill at first hearing. "Very well. I had intended to learn your purpose first, then shatter it and drive you mad with despair, so your soul power would boil over and yield better results when absorbed. But since you refuse to appreciate kindness, there is no helping it. I can only make do."

As his words fell, Tang Yi reached into his robes and pulled out a scroll!

An eerie, sinister aura seeped from the scroll. The instant it appeared, the temperature throughout the room plummeted, as though they had entered the bitter cold of the harshest winter days. Yet the painting itself was bright and vivid, depicting young ladies in their bloom, stretching their arms and lifting their legs, moving as naturally as if they were real people.

"The Living Soul of an Aperture Opening cultivator will be of considerable help to me. It cannot be wasted. I shall let you have a little advantage—before your soul is extinguished, behold my Hundred Beauties Portrait."

The moment he finished speaking, a powerful suction force erupted from within the painting, sweeping through the entire room and forming a violent vortex invisible to ordinary eyes. Qiu Yan's Living Soul, bound by invisible threads, was forcibly dragged toward it and was about to be swallowed by the scroll!

Yet there was not a shred of panic in Qiu Yan's heart. His perception spread outward, enveloping Tang Yi and the entire painting in his hand.

It's this painting! Pan Rongniang's soul is inside it!

At the same time, Qiu Yan was surprised.

Tang Yi is radiating intense soul-power fluctuations, yet his heavenly spirit is blocked. That is clearly the sign of someone who has not opened his apertures. What is going on?

At the same time, within the City God Temple, in the mural space, Qiu Yan's true body, which had remained silent for several days, opened its eyes.

Before him, emerald light flickered and gathered, gradually forming a slender figure clad head to toe in armor—the Yuanning Metropolitan City God.

"Greetings, Metropolitan City God." The deity's true body was not surprised by this, and raised a hand in salute.

Hearing this, the City God merely said, "I wonder whether you have grown accustomed to staying here."

"Everything is well. In the past, I lived alone in the mountains and knew little of the Divine Path. These past days, after returning to my post as a Literary Judge and taking charge of Stove Fire, I have gained many insights. Moreover, thanks to the City God's blessing, I have advanced to Sixth Grade and come to understand the changes in Divine Power's nature. My gains have been abundant."

"Oh? You are contemplating the changes in Divine Power's nature?" The City God nodded. "That is for the best. You are a Heaven-Born Deity. So long as the path is pointed out to you and you contemplate it carefully, it will not be difficult for you to truly grasp the power contained within your Divine Office."

"Hmm? Truly grasp the power contained within a Divine Office?" Hearing this, the deity's true body narrowed his eyes slightly and unconsciously flicked his fingers. "Could it be that these changes in Divine Power are tied only to one's Divine Office?"

The City God replied calmly, "The path of divinity lies in gathering incense offerings, nourishing one's Divine Office, and raising one's Divine Grade. Most deities know that it is so, yet do not care to know why. Simply devote yourself to understanding the changes in Divine Power. When the time comes, I will explain it plainly to you."

With that, she turned, and her figure began to blur.

"There are still matters in the city. Stay here in peace. In a few years, when the shrine is established, the broad road of divinity will not be far away."

Once she had spoken, the City God vanished as well.

The deity's true body fell into thought, then shook his head.

"The City God came this time clearly because of the Pan Household matter. She came to test the waters here and prevent me from interfering. Seeing that I remained safely here, she departed. Still, the information she revealed carries no small implication and cannot be neglected. I cannot relax for even a moment in my investigation of Divine Power's nature. But the matter at the Pan Household cannot be delayed either. I must fight a quick battle and make a quick decision. If the Divine Path intervenes, all will be lost."

Elsewhere.

After leaving the mural space, the Yuanning City God descended directly to the City God's Underworld Office, where an order was issued—

"Order the Night Patrol Gods of the east and south to proceed to the site of the unrest in the city, investigate the situation, and pacify it on the spot. If they prove unequal to the task, the Greater Earth God governing that area shall take responsibility."

Just as the City God's order was issued, within the Pan Household, the avatar Living Soul that was about to be captured by the scroll in Tang Yi's hand suddenly flashed with azure light. A sharp beam shot forth, shattering the painting's binding force in a single stroke and stabbing straight at Tang Yi!

Ripples!

When the azure light struck Tang Yi's face, faint ripples spread across the surface of his skin, as though invisible water patterns covered his body.

Faced with this sudden change, Tang Yi showed no surprise. He merely frowned. "Divine Power again? Do you think this young master made no preparations after what happened last time? You still want to catch me off guard? What a joke! What does this little trick of yours amount to?"

Yet as his words fell, a thought immediately spread from Qiu Yan's Living Soul—

"Oh? Who said I was trying to stab you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Tang Yi was startled, but before he could recover, azure light exploded throughout his vision, and a surging force detonated against his body!

Ripples spread across his entire body.

Whoosh!

The explosive force hurled Tang Yi away, sending him flying through the air!

Yet even as he was thrown airborne, Tang Yi's hand remained tightly clenched around the painting, without loosening in the slightest.

Boom!

The shockwave from the eruption of Divine Power directly blasted the house apart. The building collapsed, dust billowed into the air, and amid a flash of azure light, a startled cry rang out as Tang Yi flew from the smoke and debris!

Strike! Strike! Strike!

Behind Tang Yi, the Living Soul followed like a shadow, continuously firing concentrated beams of azure Divine Power. As the azure light contracted and expanded, it repeatedly struck Tang Yi, causing ripples to surge all over his body. Though he bore no wounds, the explosive force sent him tumbling through the air!

From afar, Tang Yi looked like a ball, slapped onward through the air again and again by the azure light.

"Bold! How dare you! How dare you humiliate the young master!"

Not far away, a Condensed Human Soul flying rapidly toward them sent out an angry thought. But a flash suddenly appeared before it, and a sharp beam of Divine Power stabbed toward it!

"Excellent!"

The Condensed Human Soul sneered and shook out three fragments in succession. The fragments transformed into three intricate characters, and even the surrounding scene was drawn by those characters into distortion.

Fix! Sever! Seal!

He intended to fix Qiu Yan's Living Soul in place, seal it, and sever its connection with its surroundings!

Just then, the rapidly attacking Divine Power light shifted and transformed into a cloud of mist, seeping through the gaps between the three characters.

"Mist? A change in Divine Power? A Sixth-Rank Deity?" The Condensed Human Soul froze, then his expression changed drastically. "Not good! He has found the flaw in the talismanic incantation!"

Two more fragments then fell from the Living Soul, but before they could transform into talismanic script, the spreading mist contracted and condensed. A wisp of flame rose within it, then rapidly expanded, instantly engulfing the Condensed Human Soul and burning it!

"Ahhh!!!"

Amid the screams, the human figure within the soul twisted and stretched.

"His Divine Power has changed into flames again! What kind of deity stands behind this person, for the nature of its Divine Power to be so changeable?"

Amid the Living Soul's screams, Tang Yi had already flown past it. But after flying barely a dozen zhang, a giant wolf appeared ahead of him in midair. Its Wolf Claw swung down and struck him.

Boom!

Tang Yi was instantly smashed downward like a cannonball, crashing into the ground and pulverizing the earth within three zhang around him, leaving behind a huge crater!

"Young Master!"

"You beast, how dare you!"

At once, two furious thoughts erupted. The remaining two Condensed Human Souls could no longer maintain calmness of mind, and anger rose within their souls.