Chapter 519: Godhood

Dan Yang rushed over. Seeing that Ji Li’s injuries weren’t life-threatening, he breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but chide, “You were careless and underestimated your enemy. See what happened?”

“Stop playing around. Hurry up and kill her. That guy over there is about to complete his tribulation.”

By now, the eighth bolt of Xie Ningyuan’s Heavenly Tribulation had passed, and the ninth was about to strike.

Ji Li was seething with hatred. He couldn’t believe that even at this point, he had nearly been outplayed by Lu Sangjiu.

Humiliated and enraged, he glared at the grievously wounded Lu Sangjiu. “Just die!”

This time, Ji Li was truly enraged and used his full power.

Lu Sangjiu had just struggled to her feet when she was met head-on by Ji Li’s strike.

Even now, she refused to give up. Gritting her teeth, she summoned the Heavenly Origin Infinite Shield before her.

The shield’s power blocked Ji Li’s Magic, but it clearly couldn’t hold. Soon, the shield began to teeter, riddled with cracks.

‘Is this the end?’

A flicker of reluctance crossed Lu Sangjiu’s eyes—a reluctance to leave this world, her family, her friends, her lover.

Reluctant, yes, but more than that, defiant.

Even at the very last moment, she would not admit defeat!

As the Heavenly Origin Infinite Shield was about to shatter, Lu Sangjiu suddenly ignored it. She raised the Domination Map and, with the last of her strength, slashed out at Ji Li!

It was a slash born of defiance, a slash of absolute killing intent.

As she unleashed the strike, Lu Sangjiu’s mind was clear of all distractions. Her killing intent was utterly pure.

‘Even if I die, I’m taking Ji Li with me!’

In that instant, her state of mind seemed to resonate with the heavens and the earth, creating an indescribably profound sensation.

But before Lu Sangjiu could comprehend it further, Ji Li’s Magic slammed into her. She was sent flying like a kite with a severed string.

Ji Li hadn’t expected Lu Sangjiu to be able to unleash one last slash before death. Caught by surprise, he hastily defended himself.

The slash was sudden, but for Ji Li and Dan Yang, it wasn’t so fast that they couldn’t defend against it.

It was just that neither of them thought Lu Sangjiu’s strike could have much power, so they weren’t on high alert.

The slash was aimed at Ji Li, and Dan Yang, assuming Ji Li could block it himself, didn’t bother to intervene.

Ji Li thought the same. But he never imagined that the seemingly ordinary strike would instantly shatter his defenses upon contact, as if they had no resistance whatsoever!

By the time Ji Li realized something was wrong, it was too late. His pupils contracted. “…No!”

His terrified roar was cut short!

Dan Yang’s eyes widened as he watched, helpless, while his apprentice was cleaved in two by the slash!

His Divine Soul didn’t even have time to escape. He was utterly annihilated, body and soul!

“Ji Li!”

Dan Yang was both horrified and enraged, but it was too late to do anything. He could only stare blankly at Ji Li’s body on the ground.

His eyes were still wide, his face twisted in terror, and the sight sent a pang of pain through Dan Yang’s heart.

Ji Li was his most prized apprentice, yet he had fallen to such a nobody!

Consumed by fury, he couldn’t think of anything else. He didn’t care if Lu Sangjiu was already dead; he just lashed out again, striking at her motionless form on the ground to vent his rage.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

However, the blow never landed. At the critical moment, Xie Ningyuan, having completed his ninth Heavenly Tribulation, appeared in a flash to shield Lu Sangjiu!

He didn’t know Lu Sangjiu’s condition, and though anxiety gnawed at him, he had no time to check. He simply shielded her with his body, faced the enraged Dan Yang, and declared, “Your opponent is me.”

Lu Sangjiu’s consciousness drifted in darkness. ‘I must be dead,’ she thought.

‘There’s no way I could have survived another blow from Ji Li on top of those injuries.’

‘But why is the path to the Underworld so dark?’ She fumbled through the blackness, unable to find her way.

Then, she saw a sliver of Light in the distance, guiding her forward.

She didn’t know where it was, but she dazedly pursued the Light. After walking for what felt like an eternity, she finally arrived in a world of brightness.

It was bright, yet filled with swirling clouds and mist, and nothing else.

She looked around but could find no exit. When she looked back, the path she had taken was gone.

So, even though she knew it was silly to talk to herself, Lu Sangjiu had no choice but to call out cautiously, “Where… is this? Is anyone here?”

No one answered.

But she soon discovered that the aura here felt very compatible with her own—it was similar to the aura inside her after she had absorbed the two Divine Artifacts.

Back then, however, her aura had changed, only to stop abruptly upon reaching some kind of limit before returning to normal.

The aura here made her feel that if her transformation hadn’t stopped, this is what she would have become.

An incredibly bold guess flashed through her mind.

“This… couldn’t be the Divine Realm, could it?”

The legendary Divine Realm was said to be above the Immortal Spirit Realm, but the place was mysterious, its location unknown.

But after the Ancient Gods fell and the Divine Realm collapsed, everything related to the Gods became legend. No one knew what the Divine Realm truly looked like.

As Lu Sangjiu pondered this, a golden light suddenly descended from above the clouds.

She instinctively tilted her head up to look, and the golden light landed right between her eyebrows.

She didn’t notice that the instant the golden light touched her brow, a golden sigil appeared there.

The next moment, a solemn and majestic voice echoed, “A body of a demigod, a will of defiance… Now that your godhead is formed, you are the world’s one and only God.”

“Divine Power is immense, placing you above all living beings. Cherish this status, and do not engage in wanton slaughter that defies the heavens.”

The voice was cold and emotionless, not like that of a person, but more like… the Heavenly Dao.

In that moment, something seemed to unlock within Lu Sangjiu’s mind, and a flood of understanding washed over her.

It was the inherited memory of the Ancient Divine Clan.

Only now could Lu Sangjiu finally confirm that she had, by pure chance, stumbled upon the path to becoming one of the Ancient Gods.

The Ancient Gods were not born as members of the Divine Clan. They first cultivated Chaos Qi to attain the body of a demigod. Then, through some catalyst, they formed a godhead and became a True God.

In later eras, the Chaos Qi that existed at the dawn of creation was gradually split in two, becoming Immortal Qi and Demonic Qi.

Thus, Cultivators could only cultivate Immortal Qi or pursue Cultivating Demon. After reaching the peak, they could also become a God, but that was a different method.

Now, Lu Sangjiu had accidentally forged a new path. The Immortal Qi and Demonic Qi within her body had reacted, creating Chaos Qi on their own.

Afterward, by absorbing the Divine Power from the Divine Artifacts, she achieved the body of a demigod without needing to cultivate for long.

A demigod’s combat power is greater than that of an ordinary Cultivator, but they are ultimately not a God. That was why Lu Sangjiu couldn’t defeat Ji Li.

It was not until that final battle, when her defiant will resonated with the heavens and the earth, that she finally formed her godhead.

In this moment, the Immortal Spirit Realm’s one and only True God since the fall of the Ancient Gods was born.