Chapter 617:  The Annihilation of the Ministry, An Eternal Situation

　　The eight arms resounded loudly with a hum as if eight sky-crushing pillars were really coming down from the sky. An endless coercion created a barrier around the space, making it impossible for anyone to escape. A sense of despair descended upon everyone as they realized their imminent death.

　　The Minister had already advanced to the late stage of the Wisdom Elite Being and with this attack—that far surpassed the power of the Heavenly Realm—it already displayed the immense power of Wisdom.

　　The Soul Master waved her hand and the Chaos Flag spread out in the wind, setting off the boundless Law and fluttering toward the sky! The Chaos Flag kept getting bigger until it covered the whole sky. It formed a barrier against those eight arms.

　　Crash!

　　When the eight palms came in contact with the flag, it suddenly became deformed. The palms formed prints on the flag while they kept pressing down on it. The horrifying air blast from the collision raged in this space. The force alone overpowered the crowd. Even Blackie felt oppressed.

　　Juling Shen and the others were even more shocked as they were sent flying. Eventually, they landed on the ground, gushing out blood.

　　“It’s over. We’re dead for sure,” said Ye Liuyun as he looked at the invincible eight arms in the sky.

　　“I’m not afraid to die for I have lived a full life!” Xiao Chengfeng wiped the corners of his mouth and lifted the long sword in his hand. “If I didn’t meet the expert, I’m afraid I’d still be proud of being in the ranks of an Immortal Realm. Just like an ant in the cup who thought the cup was his whole world. Now, I can even go head to head with a high-level member of the Heavenly Realm! Hahaha, so I welcome death with both my arms wide open!”

　　“Well said!” said Yang Jing in admiration. He thought about it for a moment and realized that he had nothing to add to that and so he said, “Well said, indeed. I feel the same way!”

　　“Oh, please! Cut it out with your positive thinking crap. The only thing we should do now to not have any regrets is to finish all the good food on us while there’s still time,” said Juling Shen. He proceeded to take out a chocolate bar and ate it.

　　“True that. We still haven’t eaten the chocolate given by the expert.”

　　“Give me some, too!”

　　Immediately, all of them started eating the chocolate.

　　“Wow, the texture’s so smooth!”

　　“It’s so sweet but so good!”

　　“I can die happy after eating this.”

　　“Hold up! I sense some kind of power..”

　　“I feel like myself again but without the fatigue!”

　　Everyone felt that their injuries were starting to recover quickly and their mana was as powerful as a river. This feeling was akin to an old man in his 70’s or 80’s suddenly becoming 20 years old again—full of energy!

　　The chocolate given by the expert was some good stuff! Unimaginably good stuff!

　　“It’s an elixir, a true elixir!” said Taishang Elder. “Quickly give some to Lord Dog, Old Dragon, and Soul Master!”

　　Everyone started to throw their chocolate at Blackie and the other two. With a jump, Blackie caught the chocolate in his mouth and suddenly his eyes became shiny again.

　　“I can feel the power!”

　　“This is bad!” said the Left Messenger who had been observing the group. Her heart began to sink with the familiar sense of foreboding and her scalp began to tingle when she noticed them sharing the chocolate between them.

　　‘It’s happening again! I can’t shake this sense of foreboding. Something unexpected would always happen just when we think we’re winning. I need to be careful!’ she thought as she silently retreated behind her group.

　　In contrast, Guyu was more relaxed and he looked like he was holding the winning ticket. He had stopped fighting with Old Dragon as he wanted to avoid his shovel. He was contented to just watch everything unfold from the sidelines.

　　Suddenly, he noticed the Left Messenger’s retreat and the panic on her face. He walked over to her with a frown on his face and asked, “What’s wrong? What are you panicking about? We’re winning!”

　　‘As if!’ thought the Left Messenger, though she did not dare to say it out loud. She did, however, say, “The situation doesn’t look good. I’m afraid there’s going to be an unexpected turn of events soon.”

　　Guyu shook his head. “Don’t be a coward. You’re making a fuss out of nothing.”

　　Meanwhile, Yang Jing presented a piece of chocolate to the Soul Master respectfully. “Lord Soul Master, this might help you.”

　　The Soul Master took the chocolate and ate it without hesitation. Immediately, a powerful surge of aura coursed through her body, forming an overpowering and unassailable vibe. Her phantom figure started to flesh out at a speed visible to the naked eye. Her eyes, too, became more alive, making her Remnant Soul seem more spirited with a breath of life.

　　“What’s going on?”

　　“What did she eat exactly?”

　　“How is it possible they were able to replenish an Elite Being’s Origins?”

　　“There’s no way such a thing could exist in this world. It’s all fake, a hallucination!”

　　The Minister was trembling. His eyes widened in horror and the blue veins on his forehead bulged up. The visions around him transformed into thousands of worlds with enough power to suppress the heavens as the eight arms stirred the wind and clouds.

　　The strength of the eight giant hands above the sky caused the Chaos to vibrate, forming a storm that howled in all directions. However, he was unable to break through the defense of the Chaos Flag. Instead, he was slowly being pushed back by it!

　　“This isn’t good! Run!” said the Left Messenger when she saw how the situation was turning against them. She started to run without hesitation, not once looking back.

　　Guyu was taken aback and started chasing after her, wanting to drag her back.

　　“There’s no time to explain! We have to quickly leave this place!” said the Left Messenger in a rushed tone. She wanted to leave as soon as possible.

　　At the same time, the Soul Master’s eyes burst with brilliance. Holding the Chaos Flag with a slight wave, the eight giant hands above the sky instantly collapsed and turned into nothingness.

　　Then, with a jump, she rushed toward the Minister. Her face was expressionless while her body was bathed in a strong light. She had returned to her former glory as the Laws resounded with the Wisdom around her.

　　The Minister grabbed his hair in frustration and there was despair in his eyes. He knew he would not come out of this alive. “I’ll fight you to the death!” he screamed hysterically.

　　He balled up his eight hands into a fist and started punching indiscriminately until it felt like the Heavenly Realm was about to split open.

　　“Divine Destruction Punch!” shouted the Minister.

　　“Destroy Everything Into Silence!” shouted the Soul Master with a majestic wave of her hand.

　　“Ah—!” The eight arms of the Minister were once again shattered, along with the body that was being rapidly annihilated. This time, the destruction did not stop at his shoulders for it did not stop until it turned everything to ash—until his Origins of Life were wiped out for good!

　　“Has the Soul Master been completely revived?!” screamed Guming as his face contorted in horror. He was about to run away when Blackie jumped up. The pants on his body burst with black light, flew off of him, and wrapped itself around Guming’s head.

　　It had the immediate effect of making him blind, dizzy, and unable to know which direction he was running in.

　　“Leather Pants on Head!” shouted Blackie as he took up a wooden club and started to hit Guming on the head with it.

　　Bang! Bang! Bang!

　　Each bang was accompanied by Guming’s screams as he shook with pain. It was like music to Blackie’s ears.

　　“Let me go! If not, the Eldritchs will take revenge on you!” roared Guming, making his last escape attempt.

　　“Silly bumpkin. The Eldritchs will still take their revenge even if I let you go,” said Blackie with a cold laugh. The wooden club he was holding became larger. “Take this!”

　　Meanwhile, the other high-level member of the Heavenly Realm was scared sh*tless. He wanted nothing more in the world than to escape this place. However, that option was not available to him for he was surrounded by his enemies and with a strike from Old Dragon’s shovel, he was defeated. His Origins of Life was completely spent.

　　Yang Jing and the rest of the group were suddenly overcome with joy at the unexpected turnaround. Happiness and excitement surged through their hearts while they did a victory dance.

　　“You’ve gotta hand it to the expert for saving us with the chocolate.”

　　“This chocolate’s so powerful that even the Soul Master was able to be revived by it.”

　　“It seems like the expert has everything under his control. I bet he predicted things would turn out this way. That’s why he gave us the chocolate.”

　　“Everything’s connected. His wisdom’s truly boundless!”

　　Meanwhile, Guyu was still trying to drag the Left Messenger back when he heard the commotion behind him. He became rooted to his spot in horror when he saw how easily the Minister was annihilated. His horror was further exacerbated when he felt Guming’s weakening aura. In that very instant, he decided to escape with the Left Messenger.

　　“You’re right to escape. It’s too dangerous here.” Guyu looked at the Left Messenger with burning gratitude in his eyes. “You’ve saved my life this time. I’ll repay you one day.”

　　The Left Messenger did not want to waste her energy on useless chit-chat. All she wanted to do was get out of the place as fast as possible and hide away in a place with no one around. “You’re being too kind, Lord Guyu. There’s no need to repay me.”

　　With the Minister dead, there was no one in the Ministry with high combat power. The days of the Ministry were truly gone. She felt tired, unbelievably tired. Her losing streak had mellowed her down. She was sure she would not have been able to survive if not for her strong survival instinct, but it did not do her well to dwell in the past now. The world had become too dangerous for her. She needed to find a place to lay low and live out the rest of her life.

　　“Huh? Why would you say something like that? I’ve always repaid my debts!” Guyu put his hand together and in a grave tone said, “Don’t worry. You haven’t even seen what the Eldritchs can do. The people in the Chaos would be blown into smithereens once I’ve recruited enough people. Till then, wait for me to send you a message to join us!” He knew that the Left Messenger’s sense of danger would come in handy in the future.

　　‘Recruit? Join them?’ thought the Left Messenger as her heart turned into ice. However, her reply was different as she gave a perfunctory answer out loud, “I’ll be more than happy to join you then!”

　　“Hahaha, that’s the spirit! Come immediately when you get my message,” said Guyu with a roar of laughter.

　　‘Only a fool would be stupid enough to join you!’ thought the Left Messenger. She had decided she would not be joining any future battles and wanted nothing more than to live out the rest of her life in a peaceful little place.

　　Meanwhile, the battle of the century had ended. Blackie and the rest of the group were floating in the Chaos. They were full of energy after having eaten the chocolate. No trace of the battle could be found on them.

　　“Thank you,” said the Soul Master who was surrounded by a divine light.

　　“You’re welcome. We would’ve been dead if it wasn’t for you.”

　　“Yes, we should be the one thanking you.”

　　“Besides, we weren’t the ones who made the chocolate. The expert was the one who had everything under control.”

　　A friendly smile broke out on everyone’s face as they said their piece.

　　The Soul Master had an inherent vibe to her that made it natural for others to treat her respectfully. “May I know who this expert is?” she asked.

　　“He’s my Master. He claims to be a mere mortal but his every word comes from Wisdom, and though everything around him possesses extraordinary power, he treats them as normal everyday things,” replied Blackie.

　　“The expert possesses the power to stir up the wind and the clouds, to change the force of nature, and even to destroy the Area of the Gods with only a word or a wave of his hand,” added Cultivator Junjun.

　　“I come from a normal background and was weak, but I became strong through the favors bestowed to me by the expert,” said Goddess Nuwa with a nod of her head.

　　They all stared at Soul Master, wanting to get some answers from her. They had always wondered how the expert came to possess such power. They were hoping the Soul Master would have an explanation for them since she had been alive since the beginning of time. They wanted to understand the expert more so they could serve him better.

　　The Soul Master was silent for a while. She suddenly shook her head, then nodded her head again.

　　“I’m not sure. But going by what you all said, it sounds like the expert has already surpassed the realm I was in before.”

　　Cultivator Junjun and the rest of the group were not surprised. They had expected this after all.

　　“Can you make a guess as to the expert’s intention?” asked Yang Jing curiously.

　　“I can try if you can give me more information,” replied the Soul Master.

　　Immediately, everyone started to tell her what they had experienced so far. Although all the stories were already in the past, they still felt shocked and admiration at what had transpired in their lives with the expert.

　　Once everyone had their say, they all turned to gaze at the Soul Master with much anticipation in their eyes.

　　Only after a long while did the Soul Master open her mouth to speak. “This all feels very familiar.”

　　The group could not see her features as she was still bathed in strong light but they could sense that she was actually frowning. “His intention is probably to [email protected]#%^&”

　　Everyone’s face broke out in confusion for they were sure the Soul Master had said something. However, it was censored by a strange force.

　　“This is too huge of a revelation. Forgive me for being unable to tell you all. Anything I say now would be censored by Wisdom,” explained the Soul Master. “Anyway, whatever he’s doing is going against fate, and can turn the Chaos upside down. It’s an eternal situation!”

　　‘Turn the Chaos upside down? An eternal situation? Even Wisdom had to censor it?’ wondered the group. Their heart rates sped up with the shock. They found themselves unable to speak or even to remember to breathe!

　　‘We should’ve noticed earlier how every step of our journey has been set up by the expert, as if we’re nothing but pawns in his game of chess!’ Even with this thought in their mind, they did not feel scared. On the contrary, they felt even more pumped up, wishing they could do everything in their power to help the expert.

　　“Lord Soul Master, what can we do to help the expert?” asked Goddess Nuwa respectfully.

　　The Soul Master scanned the group, looking at them with deep knowledge.

　　“You’ve all been chosen by the expert, so remember to train hard in your spiritual cultivation. And though my memories are still incomplete, I can still sense that the expert has entered a very crucial period in his life. Please, do not wake him up nor let anything bother him. Guard him and keep him in this state.”