Chapter 430: Gathering the Twelve Swords of Royal Power

"Since you like the Illusion Technique, I'll give you a special gift." Su Mu smiled warmly, like an elegant gentleman presenting a carefully prepared gift to a beautiful lady.

A twisted smile hung on the Scorched Visage Saintess's face. The singular Gold eye on her forehead abruptly erupted with a burst of flame condensed from Pain Divine Power. That flame seemed to contain all the suffering in the world, carrying the faint, roaring screams of hundreds of millions of wronged souls.

The terrifying flames fell upon Su Mu, yet he continued to smile warmly. That gentle, refined smile gradually blurred within the fire, ultimately turning to ash.

"He died just like that?" The Scorched Visage Saintess swept a cold gaze over her surroundings. She felt that Su Mu wouldn't die so easily, but after a long search, she still found no trace of him.

Where Su Mu had vanished, she found only a spatial ring filled with the treasures he had stolen from the vault.

"Search for him!" the Scorched Visage Saintess ordered. Her cultists moved out, scouring the entire Pain Divine Cult Stronghold, yet they failed to locate Su Mu. It was as if he were truly dead.

In the end, the Scorched Visage Saintess could only drop the matter. Su Mu was but a brief interlude in her life, failing to stir up much of a ripple.

Following her original plan, she continuously expanded the Pain Divine Cult, encroaching upon the Primal Divine Cult's territory.

With the Primal Divine Cult left leaderless, it took her a mere two and a half years to successfully conquer Holy Brilliance City. Boasting ten million believers, she made the Pain Divine Cult the largest religion in the Nightmare World.

Her life afterward was smooth sailing. The God of Pain was satisfied with her capabilities and constantly bestowed miracles. She grew stronger and stronger, ultimately sweeping across all other cults until only one faith remained in the Nightmare World: the God of Pain!

Everything went entirely too smoothly—so smoothly that she found it somewhat unbelievable. This feeling of effortlessly achieving her goals brought her a sliver of long-lost happiness.

The emergence of this happiness left her feeling alienated and panicked, like a rat that had lived in the sewers for so long suddenly seeing warm sunlight.

Amidst her confusion and panic, the God of Pain descended.

The imposing, indescribable God of Pain descended upon the world, and hundreds of millions of believers knelt in fanatical worship.

"Child, you have done very well."

Faced with the God of Pain's praise, the Scorched Visage Saintess felt even more bewildered. Deep down, she vaguely felt that things shouldn't be like this; for so many years, all she had received from the God of Pain was suffering, yet now she received praise.

"Do you remember why you joined the Pain Divine Cult? Go back and take a look. Your Miracle of Pain has descended."

The God of Pain's gentle voice dispelled the gloom shrouding the Scorched Visage Saintess's heart.

Harboring complex emotions, she returned to her hometown. The village that had once been reduced to ruins was now restored, identical to her childhood memories. The potholed dirt paths, the dilapidated, messy houses, and... the people, laughing and talking cheerfully.

"Xiao Qian is back." An old farmer tending the fields waved his hoe and greeted her with a smile.

The Scorched Visage Saintess froze in place. That familiar yet alien name left her at a loss.

"Sister Xiao Qian!" A little girl in pigtails hugged the Scorched Visage Saintess's legs. She strained to tilt her little face upward, beaming with a pure, unadulterated smile.

The Scorched Visage Saintess subconsciously patted the little girl's head, her vision blurring.

She opened her mouth, just about to speak, but abruptly stopped. Her expression shifted, and she hastily turned her head away to hide her face.

"Sister Xiao Qian, what's wrong?"

"No... nothing. I'm just afraid of scaring you."

The little girl let out a silvery laugh. "Sister Xiao Qian, what are you talking about? How could someone as beautiful as you scare me?"

"Beautiful..."

She hadn't heard that word since the moment she joined the Pain Divine Cult.

She suddenly realized something was wrong. The hand covering her face wasn't touching hideous scars, but smooth, flawless skin.

She hurriedly brought both hands up to feel her face. She touched it for a long time before her hands finally dropped limply to her sides.

"Sister Xiao Qian, why are you crying? Did Nini make you mad?"

"No... no, I'm just happy."

She took the little girl's hand and walked over to a small puddle beside the fields. The muddy water reflected a peerlessly beautiful face. No matter how turbid the puddle was, it couldn't hide those breathtaking features.

Tears fell. The smiling face in the water rippled with the waves, breaking apart and coming back together.

"Sister Xiao Qian, Mom and Dad are still waiting for you to come home and eat. Let's go home."

"Mhm, I'll take you home."

Amidst the tranquil fields, on a winding dirt path, two girls—one older, one younger—held hands and walked briskly toward home.

She remembered her purpose for joining the Pain Divine Cult in the past. She hadn't hesitated to destroy her own appearance, all to bring about the Miracle of Pain and return everything to how it used to be.

The painful torture she had endured over the years had long twisted her heart, causing her to nearly forget what her hometown looked like. But now, she remembered it all.

And her very own Miracle of Pain had finally descended.

Outside.

The Scorched Visage Saintess lay quietly on the icy ground, a blissful smile resting on her disfigured face.

She was dead. Free from suffering, she naturally couldn't control the Pain Divine Power, but she would live on forever in the false illusion woven by Su Mu.

The illusion was fake, but wasn't the Miracle of Pain she had bitterly sought just as false?

"Saintess!"

"Damned heretic! He killed the Saintess!"

"Kill him!"

The Pain Divine Cult believers surged toward Su Mu in a furious frenzy. These zealots seemed to have lost all sense of fear long ago. Even knowing they were no match for him, they charged forward, unafraid of death.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Countless terrifying attacks engulfed Su Mu.

"Is he dead?"

"He's over here!" Someone in the crowd spotted Su Mu's figure, and the mob surged again. Yet when they struck him down, they discovered that the victim had turned into one of their own companions.

More and more Su Mus appeared in the crowd. The scene gradually devolved into chaos until it completely spiraled out of control.

While the cultists slaughtered each other, the real Su Mu had long since left the main hall. He arrived at the massive altar from earlier and, looking up at the God of Pain idol that pierced the clouds, swept his hand out.

Countless translucent tentacles shot out from his body, peeling the Pain Divinity from the idol before retracting into himself.

The moment the Pain Divinity entered his body, it felt as if all the suffering in the world had descended upon him in an instant. Su Mu had no masochistic tendencies. He directly sealed his senses, then used the Divinity of the Five Gods to suppress and refine it.

With that, an additional Divinity resided within his body—the Pain Divinity.

The ability granted by the Pain Divinity was very simple: the more pain he endured, the stronger his personal power would become, and he wouldn't have to worry about dying from an excess of suffering.

This ability was somewhat useless to Su Mu, because right now, no one in the world could inflict pain upon him—with the exception of a God.

However, he still chose to devour the Pain Divinity. After all, he was already here.

Following that, Su Mu left the Nightmare World. There was no longer any need to care about the Pain Divine Cult. Without their Saintess, it was only a matter of time before they were wiped out by other cults.

He had no interest in tying up loose ends because he had something more important to do: open the Land of Origin!

Three days later, in Star City District 13, inside the Seven Deadly Sins Base.

Su Mu arranged the Twelve Swords of Royal Power in front of himself one by one.

Void Devourer, Mirage, Whisper, Ash, Radiant Night, Startled Swan, Reflecting Shadow, Wandering Dragon, Twins, Thousand Mechanisms, No Distance, Winter Cicada.

The twelve variously shaped precious swords sparkled brightly under the dim light.