Chapter 448: Heh Heh Heh...

Fang Xiu and Gu Qingfeng's abilities were a natural hard counter to the God of Pain. Naturally, the deity would not choose either of them as a vessel; He would definitely choose Su Mu.

Endless agony battered Su Mu's soul. He felt himself losing control of his body, as if he were about to become a puppet at someone else's mercy.

Black light completely covered his face, sealing his vision. For a moment, he felt as if he had plunged into eternal night.

The black light radiating from his body grew even more intense, blazing like black flames.

Just then, two hands—one on the left, one on the right—suddenly pierced the barrier of black flames and rested lightly on Su Mu's shoulders.

Immediately after, a terrifying suppressive force flowed from those hands. Su Mu gradually regained a sliver of control over his body, and a rift tore open through the endless eternal night before his eyes.

"Five Senses Deprivation."

Su Mu directly stripped away his own five senses, ensuring he could no longer feel any physical pain.

The only thing he could still perceive was the agony in his mind.

Human pain could be divided into two categories. One was physiological—like injuries and illnesses...

The other was psychological—like frustration, failure, or heartbreak...

In other words, aside from sickness and physical injury, all the pain a person experienced was brought about by their own values and cognition; it did not truly exist in the physical world.

Yet, it was often this intangible pain that hurt the most.

Su Mu's pain was very simple. It was the agony born of emptiness and boredom.

Right now, the God of Pain was taking root within that very pain, hiding deep inside his mind.

Su Mu's consciousness began to sink infinitely. In his daze, he seemed to arrive at a vast azure ocean. The surface of the sea was perfectly calm, as smooth as a mirror.

Above his head was an equally azure sky. For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether he was standing on the sea or hanging from the heavens.

This was his mindscape.

He lifted his gaze and saw a blurry black silhouette standing proudly on the clear, mirror-like sea. It resembled a continuously melting black candle, dripping specks of ink into the water.

The azure sea was gradually being corrupted. It was like a drop of ink falling onto a pristine sheet of white paper, steadily bleeding outward.

The God of Pain was polluting Su Mu's mindscape, attempting to infinitely magnify the suffering born of boredom and emptiness to completely turn Su Mu into His vessel.

Seeing this scene, Su Mu smiled faintly and walked slowly toward the dark figure.

His elegant black leather shoes stepped onto the sea, rippling out perfectly circular waves.

His thin, soft lips parted. "Did you know? I really did use to suffer from boredom. That pain tormented me constantly. It wasn't intense, but it was endless, like a cluster of fine needles lightly pricking my nerves over and over again.

Under that kind of pain, time was no longer a steadily flowing river, but a sluggish swamp. Every second was stretched into infinity, as if there were no end.

"In those days, the sunlight always fell without any novelty, and the cheerful laughter around me felt like a silent, black-and-white film, echoing with nothing but a monotonous hum."

Su Mu slowly came to a halt. His eyes, seemingly reflecting the sky, calmly watched the dark silhouette.

"But the moment I opened the door to the transcendent world, my periods of boredom grew shorter and shorter. There are so many unknown mystery boxes inside, waiting for me to open them one by one. Until they're opened, you never know what kind of surprise is hiding inside. I love the thrill of the unknown."

Suddenly, the corners of Su Mu's mouth curled up. The arc grew wider, transforming from a faint smile into an expression of manic ecstasy.

His eyes became like man-eating black holes, looking as if they wanted to devour the dark silhouette. "And you, God of Pain, are my greatest surprise!

"You are the greatest gift the heavens have bestowed upon me! The thought that I am about to commit God-Slaying makes me so thrilled I could go mad! What room is there for pain?!

"Heh heh heh..."

His exaggerated, twisted, and manic laughter filled the entire mindscape.

A massive hand lunged forward and grabbed the God of Pain by the throat. The azure sea, which had been mostly dyed black, was instantly purified!

Crack—!

The sound of shattering mirrors rang out continuously as the sky and the sea abruptly fractured.

In the outside world, Su Mu slowly opened his eyes. The black light had faded from his face, revealing his crystalline blue pupils.

"It seems you have successfully sealed the God of Pain within your body," Fang Xiu said calmly.

"In that case, this emperor will take his leave. As for the secret you mentioned, that boy has already told me." Gu Qingfeng waved his hand, his dark gold imperial robes slowly fading into nothingness.

"I must return to my world as well. Although it is only an endless cycle of reincarnation with no ending... sometimes, having no ending is an ending in itself."

Fang Xiu's calm voice gradually dissipated into the air.

Watching the two vanish, Su Mu offered a smiling nod.

Shortly after.

"Xiao Yuan, use the power of the world to suppress the God of Pain within my body."

"Okay," Xiao Yuan's sweet voice rang out.

With Fang Xiu and Gu Qingfeng gone, the power of the world swelled once more.

Boundless world power surged into Su Mu's body, continuously suppressing and refining the God of Pain.

This was destined to be a long and difficult process, so Su Mu prepared to enter the Dream Time Chamber.

He had to speed up. The God of Pain he was currently suppressing wasn't complete; it was merely a fragment.

In the Abyss, the God of Pain's true body was still continuing its invasion and definitely wouldn't let things rest.

Just then, Yang Dongqing came rushing over from a distance.

Covered in a fair amount of blood, he panted, "Is it over?"

Su Mu shook his head. "Not yet. We're still missing the final step. I've sealed the God of Pain, and now I need to finish Him off completely. I'll leave the cleanup to you."

Yang Dongqing froze. "Leave it to me!?"

He looked at the devastated Blood Moon Empire and immediately felt a massive headache coming on.

"No, how am I supposed to handle the cleanup? The Blood Moon Empire exists in name only now, this..."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Mu suddenly tossed a silver object his way.

Catching it, he looked down and saw it was the Wrath Mask—a Silver-White Mask carved with an angry smiling face.

"Put on this mask, and you will be Wrath of the Seven Deadly Sins. Just push all the blame onto the Seven Deadly Sins."

Having said that, Su Mu's figure disappeared without a trace.

Yang Dongqing was left standing there alone, staring dumbly at the mask in his hands. "Wait... I never agreed to this!"

Just as he was hesitating, his expression suddenly shifted. He looked into the distance and saw that many people were slowly waking up from the Illusion Technique.

Scared out of his wits, he hurriedly slapped on the Wrath Mask. The Blood Moon Empire had been destroyed, and he couldn't afford to take the blame for such a massive disaster. It was better to let the Seven Deadly Sins take the fall.

If it had been the old him, he certainly wouldn't have feared anything. But now that Jasmine had been resurrected, he once again had a vulnerability, and naturally, he didn't want to expose himself.

The moment he put on the Wrath Mask, a miraculous scene occurred.

Countless newly awakened people saw him, and their expressions instantly filled with absolute terror. They backed away as if running from the plague.