Chapter 726 - 733: We Are All Innocent

But even as the Divine Thunder completely extinguished his last shred of hope, he never saw the slightest crack appear in the Array.

Filled with endless resentment and regret, he was utterly consumed by the Divine Thunder.

In a single second, his Divine Soul was blasted to pieces.

Not even a trace remained.

Tian Li’s body was also obliterated by the Divine Thunder.

It was as if the thunder was venting its rage, wiping him away without a trace.

At that moment, Song Wanning could almost feel the Heavenly Dao’s sense of catharsis.

She couldn’t help but smile as well.

The Heavenly Dao was bound by its own Heavenly Dao Rules; even to deal with someone like Tian Li, it had to act through her.

It was just like the Divine Thunder—under normal circumstances, the Heavenly Dao could not have deployed it.

But when she was the one to act, things were different.

Now, only by progressively refining the Heavenly Dao Rules could the Heavenly Dao recover more fully, giving it a better chance of victory against the Wood Sculpture World Heavenly Dao’s final, desperate assault.

After all, the Wood Sculpture World Heavenly Dao could afford to be reckless and go for broke, but this world’s Heavenly Dao could not.

It had to consider the lives of its countless subjects.

It also had to consider the world’s development for millions, even hundreds of millions of years to come...

’And I,’ she thought, ’am now more like a blade in the hands of the Heavenly Dao.’

Song Wanning lowered her gaze. The surrounding storm had ceased, but the Array remained.

The countless bolts of Divine Thunder had only restrained the malevolent entities; the Array itself was still unbreakable.

Now Tian Li was dead, but she still had no idea how to break the Array.

Song Wanning’s brow furrowed in frustration.

’My proficiency with Arrays is average at best. Otherwise, I might have actually been able to figure out a solution...’

"Sigh."

She let out a sigh and sat down, feeling dejected.

’I won’t figure it out anytime soon anyway. Might as well rest for a bit.’

’Although my immortal power regenerates endlessly, my Divine Soul Power doesn’t. I’m truly exhausted.’

"Sister, what kind of stupid Array is this? Even the Divine Thunder can’t break it!"

The Dragon Spirit complained, annoyed, "And what in the world is that Wood Sculpture Realm anyway?"

"Why is it so insane?"

The Golden Small Sword was also very curious. This Wood Sculpture World Heavenly Dao had been pestering their sister ever since the Lower World.

Now it had escalated things, directly awakening the invaders’ consciousness just to come after her.

It just went to show how despicable that rotten Heavenly Dao was.

How could Song Wanning not be curious as well?

But she had only heard bits and pieces from Tian Li. In truth, she didn’t know much about the Wood Sculpture World Heavenly Dao either.

Just as she was about to speak, the moon was suddenly obscured by clouds.

Song Wanning’s heart sank. Before she could even get to her feet, the scene before her eyes changed dramatically.

The Array was gone.

In its place were towering skyscrapers. Their exteriors were cold, their designs simple and stark. From a distance, they seemed to pierce the clouds.

The streets below were filled with rubble.

Wreckage of things she had never seen before lay piled on the streets.

Song Wanning hovered in mid-air and began to explore, her curiosity piqued.

’If I’m not mistaken, this must be the Wood Sculpture Realm...’

’But why bring me into this illusion?’

As she pondered this, a terrified scream suddenly echoed from the distance.

Immediately after, two figures came running from afar, stumbling and screaming nonstop.

Song Wanning looked over and saw an elderly man pulling a small child as they fled in her direction.

Behind them, a monster was in hot pursuit.

The old man ran, his legs trembling with fear, but he held on tightly, determined to protect the child.

The two seemed to be speaking, but Song Wanning couldn’t understand a word.

But she could tell from the old man’s frantic expression that he was trying to convince the child to escape alone while he bought some time.

But the child was stubborn, shaking his head relentlessly, refusing to leave the old man’s side.

Tears streamed down both their faces, their eyes filled with utter despair.

In no time, the monster was upon them.

With a heavy heart, the old man shoved the child away, grabbed something from the ground, and charged at the monster himself.

The child screamed in despair, tears flooding from his eyes.

But it changed nothing. The old man was mauled to death by the monster and collapsed in a pool of his own blood.

Even as he died, the old man’s gaze was fixed on the child, full of concern.

The child’s cries were heart-wrenching. He wanted to run, but his strength had failed him.

He watched in despair as the monster charged forward and devoured him in a single gulp.

In a matter of seconds, all that remained was a pile of bones...

Sated, the monster licked its lips and loped off into the distance.

Song Wanning witnessed the entire event, her cold, silent eyes now glinting with killing intent.

’These people are mortals, completely defenseless.’

’They’re no match for those monsters.’

These monsters were very similar to the ones that had invaded her world, only they seemed more developed, already capable of walking upright.

A flicker of a complex emotion crossed Song Wanning’s eyes as she continued to follow the monster.

Over the following days, she witnessed countless cruel scenes.

Monsters slaughtered one ordinary person after another.

Their victims wailed in agony, begging for mercy.

Some fought desperately for their families until they broke down, while others betrayed their companions to save their own skin.

But they all died horribly.

It was as if Song Wanning’s ears were filled with nothing but screams.

The looks of despair replayed in her mind over and over.

Even with her heart of stone, she could not remain indifferent to it all.

She watched scenes like this for what felt like several years.

City after city, once meant to be bustling and prosperous, was slowly emptied of life.

They became desolate, devoid of any sign of life.

The cities turned into cities of the dead.

Standing alone within one, she could no longer sense the presence of any living person.

Then one day, she finally saw someone: a white-haired old woman, hunched over and crying on a doorstep.

All her loved ones were gone, and she no longer wanted to live.

The moment Song Wanning appeared, the old woman unexpectedly looked up and stared right at her.

This was the first time anyone had noticed her.

She stared back at the old woman, intrigued.

"Can you save us, please?"

The old woman’s first words were choked with sobs. Endless despair enveloped her, and every one of her deep-set wrinkles seemed to be etched with sorrow and pain.

"We’re all innocent people. We didn’t do anything, so why... why did they all have to die?"

"We never did anything wrong. We donated to poor children and gave water and tea to sanitation workers every year."

"My son and daughter-in-law were good people. Even my grandson knew to help the elderly cross the street."

"Our family never did a single bad thing. Why did this have to happen to us?"

The old woman’s sobs were filled with accusation as tears of blood streamed down her face.

She was in so much pain that her whole body trembled.

She truly couldn’t understand. Her family had done nothing wrong, so why did they have to meet such a terrible end?

The old woman raised her head and stared hauntingly at Song Wanning.

Her eyes were filled with an endless plea.

"Can you save us, please?"

"We’re all innocent..."