Chapter 479: The Final Winner

"Ah!" A wretched scream tore through the Black Fog.

The Lord of Dawn flew backward, his body pierced by a pitch-black spear, and was pinned to the ground like a flag.

Crystal-blue light surged across the two-armed Yuanhuang's body, and a dark tailcoat slowly materialized. The exaggerated smile on his cold Silver-White Mask grew increasingly mocking.

"I'll be taking Fallen Sin Maitreya, then," Su Mu said with a faint smile. The Mechanical Heart in his hand dissipated like a phantom bubble.

With this, both Divine Puzzles had fallen into his hands.

Furthermore, they had already been suppressed by the Lord of Dawn and the Lord of Primal Desolation. He didn't have to expend any effort himself; it was incredibly considerate of them.

There truly were many good people in Heaven!

"Illusion Ash! You despicable coward!" With the sea of flowers no longer under the Lord of Dawn's control, it naturally couldn't trap Yuanhuang. His eyes splitting with rage, the gears on his eight arms spun and spewed bursts of steam, making him look like a mechanical monster.

"Give Fallen Sin Maitreya back!!" he roared. His eight arms swung wide, and a torrential surge of scalding white steam erupted, almost completely obscuring his figure.

One could imagine just how much power the Lord of Primal Desolation was unleashing at this moment.

Boom!

A tearing sound ripped through the air.

The white steam was instantly ripped apart, and the Lord of Primal Desolation reappeared over a hundred li away.

Like a meteor streaking across the sky, he vanished in the blink of an eye.

He fled!?

"Yuanhuang, you coward!" pinned to the ground, the Lord of Dawn cursed furiously. He never expected the thick-browed, wide-eyed Yuanhuang to actually desert in the face of battle.

He shouted the fiercest words, yet slipped away faster than anyone else.

Su Mu didn't chase after Yuanhuang. Instead, he walked slowly toward the Lord of Dawn.

The Lord of Dawn struggled relentlessly, but he lacked the strength to break free from the spear piercing his heart. A flash of panic crossed his handsome face. "Illusion Ash, you..."

Squelch!

Gripping the pitch-black spear, Su Mu lightly pulled his arm back, instantly ripping the weapon free.

"Ah!" the Lord of Dawn shrieked. His broken body collapsed into a pool of blood. Fear and despair crawled into his wide eyes, unclosed even in death.

A moment later—bang!

His corpse abruptly burst apart. Countless clusters of vibrant flowers sprouted from his remains, their brilliant, magnificent colors truly breathtaking.

The corners of Su Mu's mouth curled up. With a light flick of his spear, he swept the flower clusters aside, revealing a bowl-sized hole in the ground. Fine, thread-like plant roots clung to the edges of the pit.

"An avatar made of flowers? Truly worthy of a Saint Lord. Seeing the battle was lost, he didn't hold the slightest attachment to the Divine Puzzle. One ran away even faster than the other."

It seemed Yuanhuang was the cunning one, feigning a furious attack only to turn tail and flee.

But the Lord of Dawn had run even faster. His true body had transformed into plant roots and escaped underground, leaving behind an avatar to stall for time.

...

...

On the wasteland outside the Divine Ruins.

A bronze figure with eight arms sprinted through the air like a bolt of lightning.

'With that trash Dawn buying time, there's no way Illusion Ash can catch up to this Saint Lord,'

Yuanhuang thought. But a second later, his expression froze. His tiger-like eyes bulged, staring fixedly at the ground a thousand li ahead.

A massive hole suddenly burst open on the barren earth, sending crushed stone flying. Amidst the scattering rubble, a ragged figure crawled out from the pit.

It was none other than the Lord of Dawn!

'What!? He actually ran faster than this Saint Lord?'

Sensing something, the Lord of Dawn looked back. One in the sky, one on the ground—their gazes met in the air.

Neither of them spoke, focusing solely on fleeing for their lives.

After running for a long time, their injuries forced them to slow down.

"Haa... Illusion Ash shouldn't have caught up," the Lord of Dawn gasped heavily.

"Illusion Ash is best at hiding in the shadows. He might be lurking right around us." The Lord of Primal Desolation didn't dare lower his guard, evidently left traumatized by Su Mu.

Dawn shook his head. "No. I had already secretly taken control of many plants in the Divine Ruins. I saw Illusion Ash leave in another direction. He must have given up."

Yuanhuang paused. "Why would he give up such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?"

"He obtained two Divine Puzzles. Even though we had already suppressed them with our power, it's only temporary. To prevent any abnormal shifts in the Divine Corpses, he definitely had to divert a portion of his strength to suppress them, so he naturally gave up the chase."

"Isn't he afraid we'll recover and seek revenge? If it were this Saint Lord, I'd rip the weeds out by the roots even if it meant risking grave injuries!"

Dawn let out a mocking laugh. "That is exactly why you are inferior to Illusion Ash. With two Divine Puzzles in hand, his victory is already assured. Why take any more risks? We are all Saint Lords; who among us doesn't have a final trump card hidden away? He was also afraid we'd fight to the bitter end.

"If I were Illusion Ash, I would definitely return to process the Divine Puzzles and bestow them upon my subordinates to help them advance to the Saint Grade. When that time comes, Illusion Ash will arrive with two Saint Lord subordinates in tow. Three against two—how could he lose?"

"Bestow them upon his subordinates? Who would willingly submit to another once they become a Saint Lord?"

"Fool! With Illusion Ash's abilities, why would he ever worry about his subordinates betraying him? Any subordinate he's willing to give a Divine Puzzle to is undoubtedly under his absolute control!"

This time, the Lord of Primal Desolation didn't snap back at being insulted. Only deep apprehension remained on his rugged face. Once Illusion Ash gained two Saint Lord subordinates, he and Dawn would undoubtedly die without a burial place.

"Then what do we do now?"

"What do we do? There are only two paths left for us. Either we abandon the domains we've managed for years and flee like stray dogs, or..."

A vicious glint flashed in the Lord of Dawn's eyes. "We join forces and kill him before he cultivates any new Saint Lords! We snatch back the Divine Corpses! We seize the Illusion Ash Realm!"

The Lord of Primal Desolation fell silent. He clenched his jaw tight, his expression twisting ferociously. Though he didn't answer aloud, his heart had already made its choice.

Fleeing and abandoning his domain would be like an emperor abandoning his kingdom to escape alone. He would rather die than do such a thing.

One day later.

Within the dream, Su Mu looked at the Flesh Lotus and the Mechanical Heart before him with a trace of vexation.

Although he had achieved his goal of making Dawn and Yuanhuang foster an enmity to the death toward Illusion Ash, these two Divine Puzzles were hot potatoes.

They were constantly restless and had to be suppressed at all times. Otherwise, their power would erupt and form new Divine Ruins.

With Su Mu's current strength, he could certainly suppress the two Divine Corpses, but doing so would drastically reduce his power and hinder his subsequent plans.

"How should I handle these Divine Corpses? If I could fuse with them, things would be much easier."

He pondered it over and over and felt this method was relatively feasible.

This was because his body and soul were two completely independent entities. His soul had long since become a nightmare and could exist independently in the world. They were walking two different paths.

His physical body walked the path of Law, while his soul inherited Xuan Tian's divine power.

His current state was highly unique: one body, two souls. One was a nightmare, and the other was a Giant Demon. It was just that the Giant Demon soul had been split off from the nightmare; fundamentally, they were both still him.

From an outsider's perspective, the current Su Mu was a nightmare parasitizing a Saint Grade powerhouse of the Giant Demon pathway—except he was parasitizing himself.

It was precisely this unique state that gave him the possibility of fusing with the essence of another God.