“Ah… If only we could find the rock that Wukong left behind…” Li Huaibei drank another mouthful. The pungent smell of his wine made Bai Ze frown.

“Even if we find it, it’s probably going to be useful. If the seal is broken, then I don’t see how finding the rock will fix everything.”

“Why do you think Mr. Kong’s after Li Yiming?” Li Huaibei stared at the ongoing battle.

“He wants to take the staff back. He’s pretty persistent… ”

It was clear to them that their biggest problem was not the apparition of the golden deities, but rather Mr. Kong, who orchestrated everything from beyond the clouds. As long as he remained undealt with, the looming threat of apocalypse would not be gone for good.

“Do you think it’s possible to seal him up just like he did a year ago?” Li Huaibei asked.

“You mean… Wait… with Shao Xian…” Bai Ze mumbled.

“Yes! Shao Xian! She won’t be able to seal him completely, but it should be enough to cause him trouble.” Bai Ze’s eyes lit up.

“Alright, you go look for her. She should be with Sai Gao. I’ll go take a look at other places.” Li Huaibei stood up and patted his clothes. The deities had not pursued their attacks elsewhere in the country, but Li Huaibei’s mind was nevertheless preoccupied with fear.

After Li Huaibei’s departure, Bai Ze stretched herself lazily before making her way toward the military camp. Level-headed as they were, they remained calm amidst the chaos.

As Li Huaibei and Bai Ze left the spectator’s seats, Li Yiming began to grow increasingly irritated as he fought his way through the golden deity apparitions with thunder and steel. Just as Eyeglasses had assumed, most of the projections were simply broken husks. The one foe whose strength was worth worrying about was the Bodhisattva that carried Ying Mei, who possessing powers exceeding Yun Yiyuan’s. However, whenever Li Yiming defeated a deity, their bodies would fade away, turning into a golden thread which was absorbed back into the clouds. Through the powers of the Heavens, they would be reincarnated, making it impossible to truly kill them.

Li Yiming realized that he had to change his target to Ying Mei if he wanted to have any chance of putting an end to the fight. However, Ying Mei proved to be a much tougher opponent than Yun Yiyuan, especially when she fought along with the Bodhisattva.

Although there was little Li Yiming could do to Ying Mei, the same was true the other way around. Despite Ying Mei throwing wave after wave of shadowy claws and sending her golden army after Li Yiming, the latter managed to escape her encirclement time and time again. Rage slowly took over her mind as she was unable to achieve her revenge that she longed for over a year now. Ying Mei suddenly plunged both of her hands into her chest, ripping her own flesh apart, and pulled out a shadow from her body.“Do you know how long I have waited for this day?” Ying Mei laughed sinisterly. The shadows slowly condensed together, reforming her naked body.

“You’ve taken away my lover and my father! You’ve made me another man’s toy! Come! Show me what’s hidden behind that hypocritical facade of yours!” Ying Mei claimed.

After emitting a soft moan, Ying Mei produced a hundred clones, all of which were flirtatious and deathly charming.

“Temptation?” Li Yiming’s eyes felt a strange attraction to the naked bodies laid before his eyes. The technique itself was not so uncommon, but its effects were extraordinary when used by someone as strong as Ying Mei.

“Do you like it? Then come over!” Ying Mei suddenly split her legs in front of Li Yiming. The latter took a deep breath and focusing on not losing his cool.

“How indecent!” A cold snort was heard as a white flame appeared in front of Li Yiming — it was Liu Meng, who could no longer stay put.

Liu Meng emerged from the white flame and flew toward Ying Mei. The latter’s body suddenly liquefied and spread itself over Liu Meng.

“Do you really think that I wanted to kill him? I was waiting for you to come out! Li Yiming, watch as your loved one becomes a subject of eternal torture!” The putrid liquid continued to flow toward Liu Meng, and with it the black smoke that it produced confluenced around her.

Liu Meng frowned, and her body was covered by a dome of fire.

“Do you like to burn? Then keep burning!”

“I give you my flesh and my soul! Burn! Burn for as long as the shadows exist! Burn her to ashes!”

“Curse of the soul!?” Li Yiming was astonished at seeing Ying Mei launching such a suicidal attack.

“Don’t come!” Liu Meng could feel another kind of fire being ignited on her body. Unlike her cleansing flame, this was one which spread corruption and consumed the soul. She raised her hand and stopped Li Yiming from coming close, worried that Ying Mei’s fire would spread to him.“Ahahaha! Not bad! She’s just like the girl you’re hiding so carefully from me! Do you really think that you could have fooled me? I will make sure that every woman that you’ve been involved with will be tortured for eternity!” Ying Mei’ laughed maniacally.

“What?” Liu Meng turned toward Li Yiming, her own fire suddenly bursting up.

“Who’s that?” Li Yiming asked.

During the ongoing battle, Bai Ze arrived at the military camp. Wu Jia was on a bed with Chen Jiawang by her side when she was suddenly attacked by her own shadow.

“Careful!” Bai Ze was surprised that someone like Wu Jia, who was a complete bystander, would be specifically targeted by Ying Mei.

Chen Jiawang instinctively reached out for the claw.

“Dodge!” Bai Ze yelled as she dashed toward Chen Jiawang, not wanting the innocent young man to perish, especially after having lived with him for so long and developed a deep friendship.

“What?” After catching the shadowy claw, fire quickly spread onto Chen Jiawang's arm.

Chen Jiawang gasped as he activated his talent on a whim, despite never having used it in combat before. A golden flash of light brightened the room momentarily, and the shadow claw turned still, becoming a lump of solid gold.

“What?” Bai Ze landed right next to Chen Jiawang. Not only was the claw turned into gold, but even Wu Jia’s shadow was turned into gold.

“Seriously?” Bai Ze approached the golden claw and tapped it lightly.

“I think it’s all gold…” Chen Jiawang pulled his hand back, still under the shock.

“You managed to defeat her curse?” Bai Ze was astounded, but the small golden statue standing in front of her was proof of what Chen Jiawang had just achieved.

Perhaps it was a lucky thing that Wu Jia remained unconscious throughout the whole ordeal, or unfortunate that she was targeted at all, but she managed to dodge yet another bullet.

“What happened?” Chen Jiawang asked.

“This has to be a joke…” Bai Ze was incredulous.