Chapter 485: Parasitizing the Lord of Dawn

Staring at the Flesh Lotus in his hands, Su Mu could not help but marvel. Who said Divine Corpses were hard to come by? He had just secured one without lifting a finger.

The Yuanhuang standing here was, of course, a fake. The real Lord of Primal Desolation was still holding down the fort at the front lines of the realm.

Though the Lord of Dawn had grown cautious this time, even launching a probing attack to test the waters, it was useless. Su Mu had already refined Fallen Sin Maitreya. He was more Yuanhuang than the real Yuanhuang, completely devoid of flaws.

However, he had not come today just to swindle away the Flesh Lotus. He was here to...

Su Mu abruptly halted and turned back around.

The Lord of Dawn paused, momentarily taken aback. "What is it?"

"Take the Flesh Lotus back." Su Mu stepped forward slowly and offered it to him.

Staring at the Flesh Lotus mere inches away, the Lord of Dawn failed to process the gesture for a moment. He met Su Mu's gaze in bewilderment. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I was only testing you earlier. Since you surrendered the Flesh Lotus so readily, it proves you truly have no intention of fleeing.

"That is enough for me. You should hold onto this item. Suppressing it requires a constant drain of power, and this Saint Lord has no desire to fight Illusion Ash at less than full strength."

The Lord of Dawn sneered inwardly. Yuanhuang was playing a shrewd game—afraid the Divine Corpse would drag him down, he wanted to preserve his own strength.

He did not voice these thoughts, however, since this arrangement worked in his favor. While he too had to constantly suppress the Flesh Lotus, they shared the same root and origin, meaning the strain on him would be significantly lighter.

Reaching out, he took the Flesh Lotus. But the moment his fingers brushed it, everything changed!

A brilliant crystalline blue light erupted from Yuanhuang's eyes. A phantom soul of the same hue shot forward like lightning, plunging directly into the Lord of Dawn's body.

Alarm bells shrieked in the Lord of Dawn's mind. His expression warped the instant he saw the blue light, and he instinctively moved to resist. But Su Mu's timing was flawless, striking the exact moment the Lord of Dawn lowered his guard, his entire focus anchored on the Flesh Lotus.

His reaction was slower than usual by only a fraction of a second. But when experts clashed, a single instant was all it took!

Su Mu succeeded!

His Soul of Nightmare successfully invaded the Lord of Dawn's body.

"You—!" The Lord of Dawn tried to shout, but the eight-armed Yuanhuang clamped an iron grip around his throat. At the same time, a violent wave of dizziness crashed through his mind as the control over his own body was slowly peeled away.

With the Soul of Nightmare attacking his interior and a physical body fused with Fallen Sin Maitreya assaulting his exterior, how could the injured Lord of Dawn, fresh from a recent battle, possibly resist this pincer attack?

Though Su Mu's Soul of Nightmare had entered the Lord of Dawn's body, his own shell still housed a Giant Demon Split Soul perfectly capable of piloting his physical movements.

In the blink of an eye, the Lord of Dawn's consciousness began to blur. Like a drowning man, he sank deep into his own mental space.

Within that mental space, Su Mu unleashed his six gods. The nightmare power he had been cultivating and resting for days erupted without reservation.

The Lord of Dawn thrashed in continuous struggle, his mind reeling with shock. Staring at Su Mu, who now appeared in the guise of a nightmare, he finally realized Illusion Ash had told the truth. There really was a mastermind behind the scenes!

"Who exactly are you!?" the Lord of Dawn cried out in horror, his blurred consciousness rendering him akin to a drunkard.

"Shh." Su Mu pressed a finger to his lips. "Don't speak. The dizziness is normal. It will be over soon."

The Divinity of the Six Gods, Fallen Sin Maitreya, and nightmare—several distinct threads of divine power erupted at once. Clashing against the Lord of Dawn's Merciful Holy Mother of Myriad Blossoms, they ended the battle in an absolute, crushing sweep.

A long while later, the Lord of Dawn slowly opened his eyes. The crystalline blue light within them faded away.

He frowned slightly, looking down to inspect his body. "I've temporarily suppressed the Lord of Dawn's soul, but if I go to fight Illusion Ash in this state, I can probably only draw out half of this body's power. Illusion Ash would easily spot the flaw. It seems I'll have to take a different approach."

Ultimately, Su Mu chose to wipe a portion of the Lord of Dawn's memories—specifically, everything that occurred after Yuanhuang arrived to claim the Divine Corpse. He himself then parasitized the Lord of Dawn's body in the form of a dream.

In other words, he would restore the Lord of Dawn's self-awareness while making him forget the fact that he was being parasitized.

Once Su Mu tucked his physical body away into the dream, a spark of life slowly returned to the Lord of Dawn's hollow eyes.

He stared blankly at the Flesh Lotus in his hands, muttering to himself, "I feel like I've forgotten something..."

A moment later, under Su Mu's covert manipulation, he even forgot about his own forgetfulness.

The next day.

The Lord of Dawn and Yuanhuang regrouped and launched another assault on the Illusion Ash Realm.

A terrifyingly massive army of Transcendents bombarded the realm's array from all directions. Given their sheer numbers, they seemingly possessed every Law in the world. A staggering variety of transcendent abilities—many of which even Su Mu had never seen before—rained down indiscriminately.

Ripples cascaded across the realm array as a chaotic spectrum of transcendent powers exploded across its surface like multicolored fireworks.

Unlike their previous encounter, the Lord of Illusory Ashes seemed determined not to emerge. He huddled within his realm, leading his subordinates in defense and continuously channeling power into the realm array.

Both sides became locked in a grueling, drawn-out tug-of-war.

"He wants to stall for time! We absolutely cannot give him the chance!" the Lord of Dawn roared.

The Lord of Primal Desolation nodded coldly. He knew very well they had to end this quickly, or else his Fallen Sin Maitreya would be refined by someone else.

The two Saint Lords instantly launched into the sky, each unleashing their ultimate trump cards.

"Flower Burial!"

"Karmic Wheel Execution!"

Magnificent flowers bloomed in the void. These beautiful yet fatal blossoms formed a vast floral sea, hurtling relentlessly toward the Illusion Ash Realm.

A rain of petals seemed to fall from the sky. Every petal that struck the realm array swiftly dissipated, leaving behind tiny ripples in its wake.

A single ripple was faint—like a raindrop falling upon a lake, causing no real impact. But when endless petals gathered together, they became a catastrophic storm, instantly battering the lake's surface into a cratered mess.

Compared to the Lord of Dawn's flashy display, Yuanhuang was far more direct.

The perfect fusion of flesh and machinery exuded an aesthetic of cyberpunk and primal violence. With every swing of those eight mechanical arms, violent muscular contractions paired with the precision of grinding gears to shatter the surrounding void. Even the glowing curtain of the realm array trembled under the impact of this mixed strength, threatening to be thoroughly shredded like thin paper at any moment.

"Illusion Ash! If you won't come out, this Saint Lord will smash your tortoise shell! Hahaha..." Yuanhuang threw his head back and laughed wildly, fully broadcasting the might of a Saint Lord to the world.

However, Illusion Ash offered no response. He seemed truly determined to act like a cowering tortoise, apparently terrified by Su Mu's sudden ambush earlier.

Half a day later, the Illusion Ash Realm's array finally reached its limit. Countless luminous cracks spread across its surface like spiderwebs. As the traces multiplied and linked together, it shattered with a deafening boom.

An endless rain of light splashed outward, illuminating countless expressionless faces below.

Despite the destruction of their realm array, everyone within the Illusion Ash Realm remained completely expressionless. They showed not a sliver of fear, looking like puppets stripped of their souls.

"Illusion Ash! Get the hell out here!" Yuanhuang charged in first, his iron-tower-like silhouette towering above the realm.