The Elysium Across Deep Space

The divine fire within the God of Light gradually extinguished, marking his true demise. "A youth from the mortal world... has succeeded in slaying a god!" someone trembled with emotion, the reality of the God of Light's fall seeming surreal.

A brief silence fell over the six great palaces.

In outer space, observers felt as if they were in a dream, witnessing the most inconceivable event of the age: the slaying of a god. To the eyes of deities, those who had not entered the grand barrier of transcendence were still mortals, hardly a threat. Yet now, a mortal had slain a god!

Amid the ruins of the Ascension Palace, the God of Light met his end, but his body did not stiffen. Instead, it twitched more violently, as the battle within him intensified.

With a burst, the God of Light's right arm exploded, bones shattered under the relentless assault of the maniacs fighting within.

"These maniacs have taken their fight inside the body of the God of Light!" someone with divine sight observed the murky scene, their expression turning unnatural.

It was a wild clash, with the spiritual forms inside the God of Light's body engaging in close combat and casting secret techniques - a band of fiends, their eyes bloodshot with fury. With another burst, half of the God of Light's head shattered.

"Playing possum? No, it's an explosion!" Everyone was speechless. Were these maniacs fighting amongst themselves?

"The great deity, the embodiment of light, a twelve-winged deity who walked among mortals, now desecrated even in death, his body turned into a battlefield - how tragic!"

The God of Light's followers wept, especially those who had fled the Ascension Palace in fear, outrage, and relief. Had they not left earlier, they too might have perished.

Amidst the ruins of the Ascension Palace, the once magnificent God of Light's chest dramatically caved in, his divine heart shattering into numerous fragments. One such fragment, still pulsating with a silver-white luminescence indicative of its sacred origin, skittered across the ground, a testament to the fierce battle that had taken place.

The God of Light, previously standing tall at five meters, was now a figure of devastation. His form, meant to be inviolable, was on the verge of being reduced to nothing more than a gory mix of flesh and bone shards.

"Enough of this endless battle," Wang Xuan suddenly declared, realizing the chaos only spiraled further out of control. "Let's divide ourselves into factions," he suggested, keenly aware that the group had repeatedly targeted him, intending to eliminate what they saw as the main threat first.

He laid out his plan, "Fang Yuzhu, Zhang Daoling, Yan Yan, Ming Xue, we're obviously on one team. After all, we’re all old friends. And then there's Yao Zu, Qi Teng, Demon Emperor, and those behind Zheng Yuan Tian on the other. Our first order of business should be to take down one of these opposing groups."

Old Zhang was the first to voice his agreement, though with a twist, "I think it's high time we cleaned up, starting with you!"

"Right, pretending to be the leader when you're just a side character? You're going down first!" Yao Zu chimed in with approval.

"Heh, as it should be," Demon Ancestor added with a charming smile, turning heads with her grace.

Even Fang Yuzhu, usually above such fray in her pristine white attire, seriously nodded, "That makes sense." Her agreement was a clear indication of her stance.

"Seconded!" The collective voice of agreement marked their decision to first deal with Wang Xuan before turning on each other to "divide the loot."

Caught in this predicament, Wang Xuan braced for an all-out battle, his strategy backfiring spectacularly. He had intended to confine the group to prevent them from causing more chaos or escaping.

Yet now, he was the one in the crosshairs, with each member of the group eagerly awaiting their turn, eyes gleaming with anticipation, showing no hint of mercy.

Understanding their shared knowledge of each other's mentalities, it seemed logical to them to eliminate him first.

"If you're not going to play fair, then neither will I," Wang Xuan retorted coldly, "I'll finish you all off, no more holding back."

As he spoke, he waved the God-Slaying Banner in his left hand, unfurling a golden grid that spread outwards. From the banner, a lid descended into his right hand, ready for what was to come.

"You crazy bastard, you're really pushing it, aren't you? That’s Cheating!" came the accusations.

"What's the point of this contest? We should be having a true test of strength, finding out who among us is the strongest. That's taking responsibility for our own selves!" Wang Xuan faced them with a dark expression.

"You're all ganging up on me and you want to talk about fairness?"

"Do you really want to split into two camps and have a fair fight?" they finally asked seriously. Their mindsets were largely similar, being fragments of the same person, with only slight individual variations.

"Absolutely!" Wang Xuan nodded earnestly. Using the God-slaying Banner and the Cauldron Lid to annihilate these spiritual incarnations wasn't his goal. What would he merge with then, to strengthen his own soul?

Losing any of these spirits would weaken his own soul, causing potential permanent damage, possibly preventing him from ever reaching the twelfth realm.

"Alright, we'll divide into two camps then, and eliminate one group first!"

The battle within the God of Light's body turned fiercer, their once towering bodies now battered and bruised. The final signs of life in this vessel were extinguished as organs burst and bones shattered. The magnificent silver wings broke apart, but suddenly, the god's body expanded violently. He manifested his true form, a colossal silver predator stretching over a thousand meters, drenched in blood, riddled with gaping wounds, even its head horribly maimed.

This was the Light Roc's true body, evidently subdued by the limits of the mortal world, a shadow of its former grandeur. From afar, only the strongest beings could glimpse the savage and merciless battle of spirits within the flesh, chilling to the bone.

Killing one's own spiritual divisions and immediately seizing and refining their power was far from a peaceful or serene process. Wang Xuan threw himself into the fray, locking onto the enigmatic figure reborn from Zheng Yuan's ashes for a fight to the death, a bloody and brutal struggle. He recognized the threat this person posed, capable of implanting marks into an opponent's flesh and soul. Leaving him for last could spell disaster. Indeed, everyone was wary of this formidable being.

So, Wang Xuan went all out in his attack, undisturbed by the others, encountering less resistance than anticipated.

"I'm just going to die like this? Ha, you are me, and I am you. This kind of skirmish is fine. If you ever meet this person in the mortal world, you must be exceedingly careful!" The silver figure dissolved into light, absorbed by Wang Xuan, who assimilated part of its spiritual power, instantly enhancing himself. However, he had no time to integrate the studied scriptures and recent memories thoroughly, as that would consume too much energy.

By now, the divine corpse, the massive Light Peng, was a grotesque sight, its kilometer-long body a blur of flesh and blood, staining the ruins of the great palace red.

Fang Yuzhu, Zhang Daoling, and the others survived, setting their sights on Wang Xuan. They too had eliminated their foes, growing stronger, but now abandoned any pretense of fairness, aiming to hunt him down.

"Do you intend to break our agreement? Not fight fairly?" Wang Xuan challenged.

Zhang Daoling retorted, "Cut it out. You are me, and I am you. Who doesn't know that? Who are you trying to fool? I'll ask you, do you dare use that Cauldron Lid against us? If you do, you can kiss the twelfth realm goodbye!"

"Old Zhang, you're being unreasonable!" Wang Xuan shot back.

"You're insulting yourself. Aren't we the same person? Besides, wielding that God-slaying Banner and Lid like a thug, who are you trying to intimidate? We're going to hunt you down, like it or not. Use your flag against us, if you dare!"

Confronted by this stubborn side of himself, Wang Xuan found himself at a loss. He really wanted to cut Old Zhang down a notch.

"Come here, boy, let me show you how to merge with all these spirits," the enchanting Demon Ancestor Yān Yān approached.

"Stop, remember, you are me. Don't act so seductive!" Wang Xuan couldn't stand "her," knowing it wasn't the real Demon Ancestor making an appearance.

"You still recognize I am you? Then why did you have me serving tea and waiting on you in the Void like some maid?" Demon Ancestor said as her umbrella crashed down, unleashing thunderous force, exploding the silver predator outside!

Fang Yuzhu, without a word, enveloped Wang Xuan with the slashing sword technique.

"Hey, isn't this right? As the faux master, you've had your fun; time to step aside. Technically, you should be supporting my ascent. After you're gone, I'll be the only man left. Look, Ming Xue is breathing his last; back me up!" Zhang Daoling smirked.

Ming Xue, clutching his neck and struck by the slashing sword and thunder, now twisted by Old Zhang, displayed a look of defiance as he slowly collapsed.

"Killing your own... You're breaking the rules," Ming Xue gasped in anger, his life fading away.

Boom!

The battle erupted anew, with Wang Xuan facing off against three formidable opponents in a dire struggle. Yet, he truly hesitated to deploy the God-slaying Banner, fearing they'd corner him into a mutually assured destruction.

At a critical moment, the fading Ming Xue dealt Wang Xuan an almost fatal blow, piercing through him and causing spiritual blood to splash.

Wang Xuan swiftly retreated, then turned sharply, his expression grim, "Is this necessary? We're all one and the same, no distinction between you and me, yet you play at killing one of your own?"

"Ah, but there are degrees of closeness even among ourselves," Demon Ancestor replied, adjusting her hair, abandoning her umbrella as if preparing for a final showdown. "We've been locked away in the ethereal lands, knowing each other well. Yet, who knows what safeguards you've prepared outside, occupying the physical body. It's safest to utterly eliminate you, to put minds at ease."

Zhang Daoling chuckled, inching closer, while Fang Yuzhu, like a nimble immortal, took action, and Ming Xue, ever the schemer, raised his hand in preparation.

"Old Zhang, Old Ming, Immortal Fang, Yan Yan, if you had just one second left in life, what meaningful thing would you do?" Wang Xuan asked.

"To kill you!" came the crisp reply from across, unswayed by his diversion and uninterested in his ramblings.

Cornered and on the brink, Wang Xuan's perception sharpened, sensing every malevolence and threat, striving to invoke divine intuition.

In a flash, he vanished, faster than all, steering the God-slaying Banner for a tenfold speed increase, retreating into his own body and opening the inner landscape.

The four pursuers, smirking coldly, aimed to follow, knowing they too could enter, sharing the same flesh.

"You're breaking the rules first, returning to the body?"

Wang Xuan spared no reply; they'd already conspired against him, violating their own set rules. Well, he'd bear it; after all, these "selves" had first transgressed.

The next moment, Wang Xuan emerged from the inner landscape, his spiritual sense vastly elevated, achieving a near omnipotent state, significantly more formidable than usual.

In less than a second... That was all the time he had left, his final moment to act. Thankfully, in his spiritual form, he broke through his own limit.

Maintaining this state in the mortal world, he acquired divine intuition, rendering him nearly invincible at his level.

Boom! Ming Xue's head burst as Wang Xuan enveloped him, instantly devouring his essence.

With surpassing brilliance, Wang Xuan's fist outpaced Demon Ancestor's lightning, absorbing her spiritual essence as he passed.

Then, with inconceivable speed, he closed in on Old Zhang, eliminating him swiftly.

Finally, with every ounce of strength, Wang Xuan caught up to Fang Yuzhu, slicing through her pristine neck and piercing her brow with a fingertip.

The battle was over.

"Twelfth level, here I come!" Wang Xuan set to merge all his spiritual selves, breaking through to that realm speculated to be uncharted by any.

Perhaps some "Transcendent Beings" had undergone the grand Nirvana of the soul, reaching the twelfth level of the Heavenly Realm multiple times. Yet, in the mortal realm's hierarchy, such a level was likely unprecedented.

"I wonder if this will trigger another massive earthquake..." Wang Xuan mused, observing the outer world where the grand barrier still glowed. With a new treasure on the verge of birth and the old treasures thundering in turmoil, coupled with his advancement in the void, he couldn't predict the chaos that might ensue.