Mother of Wan She had always been extraordinarily protective of her blood descendants within the Shadow World.
This time, she had even specifically asked Leilin to suppress any possible unrest among the other three supernatural organizations and guide them to the Imperial Capital, which made Leilin sense something unusual.
"All the sources of supernatural power within the Shadow World come from me and the others, which is why these blood descendants are very useful..."
Wan She began to explain, but before she could finish, Leilin's expression suddenly changed.
The entire Shadow World roared to life, and even in the void, an enormous purple-gold network became visible to the naked eye, filled with an almost hypnotic beauty.
"The entire world's primordial force has boiled over... What is the Night Lady planning?"
Mother of Wan She murmured.
"I'm afraid... she intends to deal with our allies and lure us out into a trap! Do you remember the prophecy I just made?"
Leilin's face looked grim.
"The Eye of Judgment and the others—have they been discovered?"
Mother of Wan She furrowed her beautiful brows, then relaxed them again. "It doesn't matter. Even though the Night Lady is only one step away from the eighth-level limit, Martha and the others are also rule-level existences. If the Night Lady dares to truly leave the Shadow World, that would actually be our opportunity!"
"Sorry... but I still hold my position! If they've chosen to make a move, they must have considerable confidence. We should stay hidden."
Leilin shook his head.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a certain admiration for the Night Lady in his heart.
To dare to proactively leave the Shadow World—which was protected by the World Primordial Force—even if only through an avatar carrying the majority of her power, was no small feat of courage.
After all, if such an avatar were destroyed,
At that moment, outside the Shadow World.
Under the radiance of the boiling sea of Primordial Force, Shar's figure—clad in a black dress—materialized directly.
She took a single step forward, and the starry sky formed a brilliant passage beneath her feet, instantly transporting her to the Star Realm.
The power of an eighth-level
Ssss!
Under Shar's power, a hard mountain the size of a minor plane shattered instantly, its black stone powder constantly devoured by shadows. From the outside, it appeared as though a black hole had suddenly formed in Shar's hand, violently sucking in everything, not sparing even a speck of dust.
"Found you!" Suddenly, a blossoming smile appeared on Shar's face, and her jade-like finger pointed at a single grain of sand that had not been devoured by the shadows.
Ding! As the void rippled violently, a hidden plane slowly opened, and massive amounts of golden light leaked out.
"Judgment!" "Justice!" "Arbiter!" The multitude of golden lights vaguely formed a hymn, coalescing into a vast vertical-eye rune.
A bizarre vertical eye emerged from the demiplane. With a flash of its pupil, waves of light and lightning power constantly rippled outward.
"The Eye of Judgment? The ultimate arbiter? Why have you chosen to stand against me?"
Facing the colossal vertical eye stretching across the starry sky, Shar's figure seemed to grow infinitely taller, faintly towering over her opponent, carrying the oppressive might of an entire world.
"I guard the covenant! Execute the rules!"
The Eye of Judgment answered with its actions. Endless golden light formed into a holy spear, upon which the power of judgment and justice rippled.
"What a pity... a collaborator like you is someone I would very much want!"
A look of regret appeared on Shar's face. A massive blue-green web materialized in her hands, meeting the holy spear head-on.
This was merely a magic web constructed from her own energy, far inferior in power to the magic web that covered the entire Shadow World, but it was still enough to directly suppress the Eye of Judgment.
Threads of shadow wound themselves around the surrounding golden vertical-eye runes, slowly dissolving them.
It was clear that in a pure contest of strength, Shar still held the upper hand over the Eye of Judgment.
Both were eighth-level existences, but the Eye of Judgment was merely ordinary eighth-level, while Shar was approaching the eighth-level limit.
Crack! Crack!
The golden holy spear dissolved within the shadow magic web. Facing the oncoming web, the Eye of Judgment's colossal pupil showed not a trace of emotion.
"Light of Judgment!" A thin white line shot out from the center of its pupil in an instant. Along its path, the void of the Star Realm was torn asunder, even vaguely affecting the birth and death of surrounding demiplanes and minor worlds.
Judgment! This was the Eye of Judgment's core rule. Facing such an attack, even Shar had to take it seriously. A terrifying energy storm formed around her, sweeping through the surrounding Star Realm.
A massive vortex appeared, absorbing the Light of Judgment.
From a distance, a streak of golden light like a great dragon galloped and roared within a terrifying ocean composed of shadow power.
"Hehe... a foolish woman, to actually walk right out of the Shadow World..."
A voice suddenly rang out from the depths of Shar's heart, and before her eyes appeared the image of an old man in magnificent imperial robes.
"A mental attack? No—a direct strike against the true spirit!"
Shar bit her lip, and a layer of shadow wrapped around her.
"It's useless... I am a psychic master! No existing energy can block the gaze of my ultimate psychic power!"
"So that's it! The psychic power of a mind flayer and a brain devourer?"
Shar bit her lip again, then suddenly a confident smile appeared on her face. "Another one lured out!"
"Stop pretending! I have fully seen your heart—the fear and cowardice hidden beneath the shadows!"
Yuri continued to attack without holding back. Especially as the psychic power carrying the force of rules spread, Shar felt her control over her own body gradually declining—as though another split personality of herself was competing for dominance over this body.
"Ignorant! Do you think what you see is my true heart?"
"Come out!"
Shar shouted harshly, and terrifying soul power spread outward, as though an invisible giant net was being unfurled.
Crack! A black bolt of lightning flashed across the void, striking out an old man in imperial robes.
"Show me your true form!"
The supremely powerful shadow force transformed in Shar's hands—carrying the flavor of a deity's word becoming law, and incorporating the essence of wizardry templates. The powerful fluctuations of at least a seventh-level spell spread outward.
The endless shadow power condensed into a black sickle that slashed across the back of Yuri's neck.
Whoosh! The blade's cut was silent, yet the black line it trailed could instantly pierce through an entire world.
Yuri's body melted away in an instant, the magnificent imperial robes falling off and turning into a pile of ash.
The body, like molten wax, reconstituted itself into Yuri's new form—a terrifying mind flayer with tens of thousands of brains, with numerous tentacles dangling from the brain matter, like a willow tree larger than a plane.
However, at that moment, eight or nine hundred of its brains burst simultaneously, leaking foul yellow pus—Shar's previous strike had clearly dealt significant damage to its true body.
"Judgment upon you!"
While Shar and Yuri were battling, the Light of Judgment within the great vortex finally broke free from its confinement and arrived before Shar.
The light capable of melting worlds entangled with her black veil, reducing the glove on Shar's right hand to fragments. A hint of pain appeared on her face, stirring hidden pangs of sympathy.
Having left the Shadow World and lost the endless support of the World Primordial Force, Shar could gain the upper hand against any single eighth-level existence, but two made things extremely difficult.
As for three? Unless one was at the eighth-level limit, or had a special advantage that perfectly countered them, it was utterly impossible!
"Hehehe... the shadow power on you—I like it very much!"
A mass of darkness slowly slithered beneath Shar, then suddenly opened its massive jaws, from within which came Martha's voice.
But this voice carried greed and brutality, completely different from the shy Miss Martha of before.
The contrast was as terrifying as suddenly transforming from Snow White into an old witch.
After seeing Shar wounded, Martha—who had been hiding to the side—also struck out fiercely.
She herself hailed from the Dark World and had always coveted the shadow rules. And due to her understanding of the rules of darkness, she held an innate counter against Shar.
At this moment, three eighth-level existences formed a triangle around Shar, seemingly cornering her in an absolute dead end!
"No matter what! This is not the Shadow World. Alone, you cannot possibly stand against the three of us..."
Yuri's nine-thousand-plus heads emitted powerful soul fluctuations. "Let's attack together... I only want the brain matter of this woman's true body!!!"
"Notify Wan She—having her and Lord Leilin come as well would be the safest approach!"
The Eye of Judgment trembled and separated a small golden eye, which plunged into the Shadow World.
Inside the red villa, Wan She and Leilin—standing on the balcony—stirred as they watched a golden meteor descend.
"The Mark of the Flask? So it can be used like this!"
Leilin nodded, feeling that his horizons had been expanded.
The golden stream of light instantly split into two, sinking into the eyes of Leilin and Wan She, making everything happening in the Star Realm feel as though they were experiencing it firsthand.
"It looks like their odds are quite good, now that Shar has voluntarily given up the Shadow World's external support... What do you think?"
Leilin gave Wan She a half-smile.
"Now I actually share your view. Shar is definitely not such a simple woman—there must be a conspiracy behind this! I'm going to send a message telling them to retreat immediately!"
Wan She's beautiful eyes flickered, but what she said left Leilin somewhat stunned.
"It's no use. Martha needs the shadow rules to supplement her 'darkness,' and Yuri has gone mad with greed. With the situation looking so overwhelmingly favorable, even your suggestion would probably be..."
Leilin shook his head.