Chapter 488: The Eccentric Temple of God Slaying

A petite girl in a black dress strode into the Holy Lord's Mansion of the Illusion Ash Realm. Her skin was as pale as a corpse's, and she wore a frayed, pointed black hat.

She seemed entirely invisible, strolling openly into the heart of the mansion without drawing the slightest attention from the vigilant white-robed guards.

She surveyed her surroundings with large, hollow eyes. A hint of confusion rippled across her expressionless face.

"The aura of death. Is Illusion Ash... dead?"

Though her expression was puzzled, her tone was entirely certain.

"How did he die? Whatever, I'll just call him out and ask," the girl muttered blankly. Crouching down, she reached out with pale little hands and began to... play in the mud.

What kind of stunt was this?

Watching from within the dream, Su Mu felt rather bewildered. Was this really a demigod of the Temple of God Slaying?

Under his gaze, the girl scooped wet mud from the pond's edge and began kneading it. Before long, a small mud figurine that looked absolutely nothing like Illusion Ash took shape.

She stared blankly at her masterpiece for a moment. Blinking, she picked up a dry twig and scratched Illusion Ash's name into the figurine.

"Done."

Splat!

She hurled the mud figurine bearing Illusion Ash's name to the ground.

A miraculous scene unfolded. Endless spectral light billowed from the smashed mud. Within that glow, the mud rapidly expanded, ultimately transforming into the deceased Lord of Illusory Ashes!

He had cascading white hair and wore a spotless white robe, but his skin was covered in deep fissures like parched earth.

Illusion Ash rose stiffly from the ground and stared at the girl with hollow eyes.

"How did you die?" the girl asked.

Illusion Ash spoke in a stiff, sluggish voice: "Ambushed... by... the masked man."

"Why did he ambush you?"

"For... for my Divine Puzzle."

In the dream, Su Mu watched their exchange with deep interest. The girl's ability fascinated him. Even though Illusion Ash's physical body and soul had been utterly destroyed, she could still extract information from him this way.

Such a mystical technique certainly fit the style of the Temple of God Slaying.

An organization composed of demigods was bound to have its extraordinary quirks.

It took an entire hour for the girl in the black dress to finally piece together the sequence of events. It wasn't because the story was complex, but because speaking was too laborious for Illusion Ash. He stalled and stuttered halfway through every sentence.

"So, a man wearing a Silver-White Mask deliberately provoked a conflict between you and the other two Saint Lords. Then, while you were all fighting, he ambushed you and stole your Divine Puzzle?" the girl summarized Illusion Ash's hour-long explanation in a single breath.

Illusion Ash gave a stiff nod. "...Yes."

"The masked man has the same Divine Puzzle as you? You don't need to speak, just nod."

Illusion Ash nodded silently.

"Alright, you can go."

Splat...

Illusion Ash reverted into a puddle of mushy mud and collapsed to the ground.

The girl in the black dress turned and walked away, soon stopping in front of one of the white-robed guards.

"Go tell your new master that the Temple of God Slaying won't cause him any trouble. We merely need someone proficient in Illusion Techniques to do something for us. As for who that person actually is, we don't care.

"Once the task is done, the Temple of God Slaying will grant him one request. Whether it's advancing to become a demigod, joining the Temple of God Slaying, or anything else—as long as it lies within our power, it shall be done."

The girl paused. She leaned down, scooped up another handful of mud, and sculpted a figurine that looked absolutely nothing like herself. After scratching her name onto it, she handed it to the guard.

"This is a mud figurine of me. Once he's thought it through, have him use it to contact me."

A large hand suddenly reached over the girl's head and picked up the figurine. Crystal-blue eyes examined it closely, a hint of bewilderment rising within them.

"Are you sure this is you?"

The girl turned around, looked blankly at the gentle, handsome man before her, and gave a solemn nod. "I'm sure."

"This looks absolutely nothing like you." Su Mu glanced at the figurine again. Aside from barely making out the characters for 'Huangquan' scratched into it, its facial features were completely indistinguishable.

"Are you the one who killed Illusion Ash?"

"That's right."

"Come with me. The Temple of God Slaying needs your help with something." The girl named Huangquan took the mud figurine back from Su Mu. For some inexplicable reason, she hurled it to the ground, smashing it to pieces.

"Not right now. I'm currently fusing with Illusion Ash's Divine Puzzle, so I can't step away at the moment."

"How long do you need?"

"One month."

"I smashed it too soon," Huangquan sighed expressionlessly.

A hint of confusion flashed through Su Mu's eyes. "What?"

He watched as Huangquan slowly leaned down, gathered the smashed dirt back into her palms bit by bit, and started kneading it again with her small hands.

A moment later, an even more eccentric and deformed mud figurine took shape. She wrote her name on it again: Huangquan.

"Use this to contact me when you're done."

"..." Su Mu was speechless.

Was everyone in the Temple of God Slaying this eccentric?

The moment Su Mu accepted the figurine, Huangquan turned and walked away without looking back.

Watching Huangquan's slender figure recede into the distance, Su Mu couldn't help but laugh. Although she was bizarre, he actually preferred this kind of development.

It was far more interesting than the Temple of God Slaying mindlessly seeking revenge for an unofficial member like Illusion Ash.

He had vaguely guessed this earlier. Why would the Temple of God Slaying, an organization comprised entirely of demigods, invite a mere Saint Lord like Illusion Ash? The only thing separating Illusion Ash from the other Saint Lords was his mastery over Illusion Techniques.

It was highly likely that the Temple of God Slaying had encountered a problem and needed an illusion expert, which was why they had come knocking.

Now it seemed the Temple of God Slaying truly didn't meddle in mundane affairs. In fact, their attitude toward the mortal world was one of complete indifference. Illusion Ash's death was of no consequence to them; as long as they had an illusion expert, they didn't care if it was Illusion Ash or someone else.

Afterward, Su Mu returned to the dream to continue fusing with the Xuantian Origin.

With the help of time acceleration, it only took him half a month to successfully fuse the Xuantian Origin.

Feeling the seemingly endless spiritual energy welling within his body, he muttered to himself, "Physical body aside, this should qualify me as a demigod now, right?"

Since he had never fought a true, complete demigod before, he could only make a rough estimate, but he figured the gap wouldn't be large.

At the very least, if he were to face Saint Lord-level figures again, he could utterly crush them using only his Illusion Techniques.

"There's still plenty of time. It's enough to fuse the Fallen Sin Maitreya."

Su Mu didn't think a problem that left even the demigods of the Temple of God Slaying helpless would be a simple matter. Since he had decided to go, he naturally needed to make ample preparations.

The Fallen Sin Maitreya Puzzle provided by the deceased Yuanhuang couldn't go to waste, either.