Chapter 1960 Heathen

Death Assassin's dagger sliced through Wu Hong's knife, heading directly for her body. With her experience, Wu Hong's body instinctively moved out of the way, but the dagger still left a nasty wound on her face. Using the momentum, the assassin wanted to try a second attack, but his complexion turned ugly as he realized his limbs were sealed.

His body turned into shadows before recondensing a few meters away. Wu Hong ignored her injury and used this opportunity to go on the offensive. However, just as she was about to punch the assassin, her danger sense activated, and she retreated. A wise move, as a terrifying power of darkness and death suddenly emanated from the Death Assassin's body.

"You can't escape." Death Assassin's mask dissipated, revealing what was underneath. And it was horrible. There was no face, only this endless black hole that seemed to suck the life out of everything. He moved forward, trying to suck Wu Hong into whatever void lay behind his face, but to his horror, she didn't evade or distance herself. Instead, she punched his face, putting her through the black hole.

Death Assassin was about to smirk when his expression turned paler than winter snow. This was a trap. As soon as that hand reached the Death Dimension, it turned into trillions of seals, each targeting different attributes, concepts, and laws, testing which one fit best. And once they did, the other seals turned into the ones with the most influence on the dimension.

Wu Hong cut off her hand before sending her opponent flying with one swift kick. And while it was regenerating, she summoned a book that floated in front of her: her new Proving Dao Artifact — the [Book of Infinite Knowledge]. Over the past few years, she had created a way to evolve the Proving Dao Artifact into a True Saint Artifact Embryo.

The key wasn't to build an independent Dao Qi as an energy source, like Genesis Artifacts. Wu Hong chose a different approach: she included the Proving Dao Artifact in the Tier 2 microsystem, allowing it to resonate with the hidden rules and borrow their power.

Wu Hong didn't use any fancy moves with her book. She directly raised it and slammed it on the assassin, using the full weight of the hidden rules as a weapon. Death Assassin — who had barely dealt with the chaos inside the Death Dimension— had no choice but to retreat; he suddenly turned into a cloud of mist, but this time, when he recondensed, there were a dozen of them. They surrounded Wu Hong to attack from all sides.

Unfortunately, as soon as these clones reached a twenty-meter radius, more than a quarter of them were instantly sealed, turning into runes that dissipated between Heaven and Earth. As for the rest? Their powers were drastically reduced, and before they could react, the book unleashed a powerful blast that killed them.

Death Assassin appeared in the distance. "Why can't I steal her power? Not even one skill or piece of knowledge," he thought. He condensed a domain around him before rushing toward Wu Hong, determined to steal something of value.

The two domains clashed, forming spatial storms that made the already dangerous void even more chaotic. A few seconds later, the chaos died down, and the result was decided: it was a stalemate. But for Death Assassin, a stalemate meant losing. He was already at a disadvantage in this fight, and he couldn't afford mistakes anymore or lose. So, he made a bold move: he sacrificed a small piece of his Death Dimension to boost his domain; the dimension was already unusable after the last attack, so he figured it was a worthy sacrifice.

"Got it," Death Assassin thought as he finally stole something crucial: a memory. With great elation, he began viewing that memory; his Stealing Dao was programmed to steal only valuable things, and anything a woman like Empress Wu found valuable was worth a look.

"Arrgh!" Death Assassin's grating voice reverberated across the void; he held his head while screaming in agony. The horror. He saw a creature that was unspeakable, incomprehensible, and indescribable. His mind could not process the image he had seen, leading to his soul rapidly collapsing.

Wu Hong sneered. Stealing Dao had the same weakness as Devouring Dao: not everything could be taken. Using her basic knowledge and understanding of the Old Gods, she created a memory of a being filled with too much information — many of which were contradictory or pure nonsense. Regardless, after Death Assassin was exposed to all this information, his mind was polluted and began to collapse.

Wu Hong would not give up this opportunity. The [Book of Infinite Knowledge] floated above Death Assassin before releasing chains that bound the messenger of death. While in the midst of erasing his memory, Death Assassin had no mental capability to resist, but his body still instinctively fought. But it was useless. The chains sealed him, and he disappeared. Or he should have.

Wu Hong immediately sensed something was wrong. She had absolute control over everything she had sealed, and as such, she immediately realized the thing in her possession was an empty vessel. And since it's a vessel, there must be a real body.

A third eye opened in Wu Hong's eyes as she scanned her surroundings. And there it was: an endless dimension filled with an eerie power of death. "I see. He's a member of the spirit race — an entire dimension gaining sentience and acquiring a physical form."

The Death Dimension rapidly morphed into Death Assassin, who also put his mask back on. Looking at his enemy, he couldn't help but worry. His true body had been exposed, meaning he was in true danger. "I need a new plan," he thought. When he took this mission, he expected to be dealing with a regular Paragon. Sir Death Reverence warned him not to give the target enough time to strategize or lay out any array. Still, he never expected a powerful being to block his entry into this timeline, delaying so long that Wu Hong was already established.

"Maybe I can cut off the source of her power? But so far, I haven't detected it; I only know it's somehow related to Grand Dao. Damn it, if only that bastard had given me time to gather information and reassess the target's threat level."

"What is the most precious thing to you?" Wu Hong asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You don't have to tell me: I can tell it's some kind of belief — a belief so strong that it sustains your very existence."

"You peek through my mind?"

"Did you think you could access my memories without doing the same to yours? Aren't you underestimating me too much?"

Death Assassin's expression was ugly, but he swiftly controlled his emotions, turning as cold and emotionless as death itself.

"Back to the point I was getting at," Wu Hong continued. "What would happen if you lost what was most precious to you? If you had it stolen."

Death Assassin took a few steps backward as his mind became chaotic; a potent sense of dread overwhelmed his soul, leaving one thought constantly screaming in his head: "run, run far away." However, it was too late. A magic circle appeared on his forehead, and before he could react, it turned into a black bubble that landed in Wu Hong's hand.

Death Assassin teleported away, but the process went awry. He appeared a few kilometers away from the Human Gate before crashing on the ground. He opened his mouth to release a bestial roar before smashing his head on the ground repeatedly. And he wasn't just throwing a tantrum; each headbutt was purposely accompanied by his Saint Will, which he did not use to strengthen himself, but to weaken himself so he could be injured and feel the pain.

The sound of the Red Cloud clashing against the battlefield's barrier reached his ears, but it only further irritated him. It also granted him a brief moment of clarity.

"You bitch!" Death Assassin screamed and pointed at Wu Hong, who was calmly floating a few meters from him. "How dare you take away my belief?" He looked at Wu Hong, and even without any eyes, his hatred for her was perfectly displayed. Then, without hesitation, Death Assassin plunged his hand into his heart, preparing to annihilate his [Existence] and even targeting his Time Nexus. However, he stopped at the last minute.

"You! You turned me into a heathen. I can't allow you to live. You must pay for your crimes. You must pay!"

Death Assassin roared once again as his body began to morph. His black hole face turned into flesh and bone, but everything was rotten: bones were showing, his skin was falling off, his breath smelled of death and decay, and his eyes were yellow and devoid of any emotion. His body bulged, growing to more than nine feet tall; nine spikes grew along the line of his spine, followed by his fingers turning into claws. Lastly, his aura suddenly skyrocketed, but it was also chaotic, fluctuating wildly.