Facing Fang Yuan's mocking gaze, the Pope subconsciously took a few steps back, her holy face now clouded with gloom.
"Summer Empire's Emperor, why do you have to be so aggressive?"
She forced her trembling voice and spoke, "All you want is a Yang attribute Taoist body technique..."
"I'll give you the Yang attribute Taoist body technique. You can achieve your martial saint title, and I'll continue as the Pope. At most, in the future, my Federation will surrender to your Great Xia. Isn't that fine...?"
"What do you think?" Fang Yuan chuckled coldly, his voice ice-cold, "Facing death, you still put on such a noble and holy act..."
"You even say 'surrender' with such unwillingness. This really displeases me!"
Before the words could even finish, a sword light as cold as frost and snow sliced downward toward the Pope's head!
The Pope's pupils contracted sharply, feeling a violent gale rush toward her face. The sword light poured down like a galaxy, mercilessly cleaving through her body.
"You can't kill me, if you kill me, you will regret it..." the Pope suddenly screamed.
"Hah... Well, I'll just have to try then." Fang Yuan tightened his wrist, intensifying the sword's power by three-fold!
Where the sword passed, muscles and bones were shattered, and internal organs were crushed!
The Pope trembled violently, the pain searing through her bones, twisting her face in agony, but she still shouted, "Open!"
A gilded card flew from her bosom, floating in mid-air, revealing the "Heavenly Enlightenment Sacred Decree" she had obtained from the gods!
"Open what, open what?!" Fang Yuan had already completed the strike. He didn't care what the Pope intended to do. He made sure to finish her off first!
Crack—!
With a crisp sound of bones snapping, the Pope's body was torn into several pieces in mid-air, blood pouring like rain!!!
Looking at the Pope's dismembered body, Fang Yuan did not show any sign of joy. He stood with his sword lowered, frowning.
Because the "Book of Virtuous People" did not give him the prompt of earning virtue points, even though he had just killed the Pope.
With his "Eye of Disaster," Fang Yuan was certain that the body before him was definitely the Pope's!
The silence in the air felt thick and tangible... Suddenly, a faint laugh echoed from all directions. The sound carried a playful tone, like a cat toying with a mouse.
"Looking at your expression, you seem puzzled..." The Pope's voice sounded as if it came from a faraway place, yet it was almost like a whisper by his ear. "My dear little dog, your instincts are truly sharp..."
From the broken body of the Pope, a strange glow suddenly erupted. Flesh and blood began to wriggle like living things.
Fang Yuan's pupils contracted slightly, his grip on his sword tightening instinctively.
"Now, my dear pet..." The broken limbs began to twist and transform, bones creaking in an unsettling manner. "Witness my glorious evolution!"
With the Pope's frenzied declaration, a completely new being was breaking free from her shattered corpse.
It was like a serpent shedding its skin or a caterpillar breaking free from a cocoon, but the "evolution" was not bringing forth something beautiful.
The once holy white robe was now torn into ragged pieces, replaced by layers of twisted, pale wings. They twisted at unnatural angles, each feather adorned with countless tiny eyes.
The Pope's once noble and graceful face was now obscured by the wriggling eyes...
Fang Yuan realized that the Pope had successfully 'opened' at the last moment, seemingly merging with the card!
But this appearance... it was simply beyond ugly!
No, it wasn't even ugly—it was bizarre and terrifying!
"Heavenly Enlightenment Sacred Decree": This card symbolizes the will of Yufir, and the holder may act in the name of the angels, commanding all beings.
In other words, using this card allowed the Pope to briefly become an incarnation of an angel!
But the premise was that she had to sacrifice... sacrifice her humanity, sacrifice herself.
The Pope had once resisted this card. She would rather use "All Things Structure" to completely eliminate Fang Yuan than carry out Yufir's will and self-sacrifice.
But now, driven to the edge, she had no other choice.
However, as the transformation succeeded, the Pope's thoughts began to change.
"Ah, so this is what it feels like to be a god?"
Her voice suddenly became ethereal and twisted, filled with a kind of ecstatic shiver.
She felt every cell in her body cheering, every inch of flesh and blood transforming, her perception extending infinitely, as though she could grasp the truth of everything in the world!
That existence, which seemed to transcend the world, was manifesting within her body—the difference in the essence of life!
"How laughable..." she tilted her head, her countless wings unfurling, the light of both sanctity and desecration intertwined, "The true angel I am now, only now am I worthy of this form!"
In the control room, the Iron Spine Warriors who were in charge of operating the Star Fortress trembled violently upon simply gazing at the Pope.
Their minds seemed to shatter like glass, their bodies melting like wax.
The essence of life's difference did not need any pressure or words. Simply by the Pope's existence, mortal beings were driven to collapse!
"Summer Empire Emperor—"
The Pope's voice turned into tangible golden ripples, bursting through the heavens, her wings' countless scarlet eyes all staring fixedly at Fang Yuan: "Now, kneel before me!"
In an instant, the heavens and earth changed color!
A vast, abyssal pressure suddenly descended, freezing the entire space.
The once clear sky seemed to be torn apart by an invisible hand, dark clouds swirling and the sun and moon vanishing from sight!
"Boom——!"
In the deafening crash, the Iron Spine's thousand-year creation—the towering Star Fortress—collapsed like a plastic toy. Countless debris and shattered stones turned to dust in the wild winds!
The sea violently shook, and a sinister crack appeared in the center, spreading thousands of miles in an instant, tearing the entire sea apart, revealing the ocean floor below!
The entire world seemed to be torn asunder under the Pope's pressure, not destruction, but something higher—the complete negation of existence!
"How is it? In the face of such world-destroying divine power, you, a mere mortal emperor, dare not kneel?"
"This is a being that transcends this world. The world cannot resist it, and neither can you, a being of this world!!!"
The Pope's laughter echoed freely, her posture proud as she surveyed her work. However, her smile did not last long before it abruptly stiffened on her face.