This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 192 Conjecture
The outline of Xunshan gradually became clear on the horizon, and as the group approached quickly, its strange shape became more and more obvious.

The enormous structure resembled a precisely drawn bullseye.

Its outer perimeter is a nearly perfect ring of walls made of some dark material, as if it were sculpted by hand, completely enveloping the interior area.

At the very center of this enormous circle, a steep mountain rises abruptly from the ground, its interior and exterior faintly revealing pale, twisted, and unnaturally formed bone structures—that is the [Bone Sacrifice Court].

The closer they got, the heavier an invisible pressure weighed on everyone's hearts.

It wasn't physical gravity, but a kind of mental oppression, mixed with madness, pain, and an indescribable filth, that permeated from the center of Xunshan, making people feel physically uncomfortable.

The previous Bone Sacrifice Court in Zhongzhou was destroyed by Administrator Number Two... Admittedly, this time, Nie Weiyang could still repeat his previous actions, first linking to the nearby shelter, then transforming into Administrator Number Two and bombarding the mountain with a single beam of light, but he couldn't do it every time.

Humans cannot rely on this power. It is far too far removed from ordinary people.

Nie Weiyang raised his hand, and the team stopped instantly, silently hiding behind the rocks and dead trees on the ridge.

His sharp gaze was directed toward the Bone Temple. Even from a great distance, his extraordinary perception allowed him to vaguely perceive the distorted and painful fragments of thought emanating from its center.

The Japanese Lord...

...You finally feel the pain of those innocent victims, don't you?

……

Deep within the Bone Sacrifice Court, a massive and twisted figure in red robes was writhing and convulsing in agony.

It has long lost its fixed form; apart from still wearing that golden mask on its face, its body is more like a constantly changing mixture of energy.

A complex of souls formed by the fusion of countless pained faces, struggling arms, and howling mouths—this is the 'Sun Lord' of today.

"...Medicine...give me...I need...medicine!!!"

A piercing thought wave, overlapping with hundreds of sounds, swept across the entire Bone Ritual Court like a tangible thorn, its yearning and pain capable of tearing apart the minds of ordinary people.

"...Pain...too many sounds...Quiet! Let me be quiet!"

Another, completely different, violent thought arose, only to be drowned out by more chaotic wails and delirium.

Beyond Xunshan, among the towering boulders, thousands of black-robed believers knelt in prayer, their chanting echoing through the sky.

In these days, almost every believer who enters the interior of Xunshan is devoured by the Sun God. Its soul struggles among hundreds and thousands of fragments of believers who have merged into it, each fragment bringing a memory, an emotion, a pain. These irreconcilable things drag it into an eternal purgatory of madness.

Nerve relaxants, those drugs that they themselves abused in the end times, the tools that the former 'Sun Lord' used to manipulate others, became the only remedy in its memory that could temporarily relieve this boundless pain.

Just then, a cold, inhuman consciousness intervened in the chaos.

It has no specific form; it is more like a blurry, indeterminate humanoid outline formed by distorted light—a phantom of some Void-Crossing Demon.

"You can no longer use nerve relaxants."

The messenger's consciousness penetrated directly into the Sun's chaotic thoughts, its voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation, like the scraping of cold metal. It seemed to have lost its patience.

"Pure plant extracts are no longer useful to you, but the chemical creations of Homo sapiens were not designed for your bloated and complex soul structure. They will only accelerate your disintegration."

"Give it to me!!" The dominant consciousness of the Sun roared madly, countless hand-like energy tentacles futilely clawing towards the phantom. "No medicine...it can't be quelled! It's unbearable!"

The phantom remained unmoved: "This is your trial, and also where your value lies." The intense pain and the anger of rejection caused the Sun Lord's massive body to twist violently once more, unleashing a venomous shriek powerful enough to drive an ordinary person to the brink of madness.

Deep within its soul, the most primal hatred—covered up by countless clamorous voices—for the culprits who caused all this—for Du Kongmo, for Nie Weiyang, for the Second Administrator, for the world, for humanity, for the universe, and even for the fate that had somehow forced it to this place, surged like molten lava, almost bursting forth.

However, this hatred was barely beginning to surface before it was forcibly suppressed by a deeper, more ingrained fear etched into the very soul.

It remembered the terror of the Void-Crossing Demon, and the source and constraints of its current power.

The attacker?
No, it can't be...

"...Ah...Ahhhhhh—!!!" In the end, all the hatred and anger turned into an even more desperate and painful howl. It once again fell into its own chaotic abyss, frantically crashing against the hard, pale inner wall of the Bone Sacrifice Court, making a dull rumble.

The phantom messenger of the Void Demon hovered silently, coldly observing everything, as if recording data from a failed experiment.

"Preserve his spiritual seed, open the door through the planned collision, and add brilliance to our access to the power of the sea of ​​hearts through him. This is your final mission," it said. "Give up, it's for your own good."

On the distant mountain ridge, Nie Weiyang withdrew his gaze from the distance, his brows furrowed.

Although he didn't know what was happening in the Bone Sacrifice Court, the violently fluctuating madness and pain emanating from the direction of the Sun Lord, along with the fleeting, extremely subtle yet exceptionally intense hatred, and the immense fear that followed, all confirmed one thing for him: the Sun Lord's state was extremely unstable, and its relationship with the Void-Crossing Demon was by no means monolithic.

But this did not make things any better.

A completely insane monster, driven to the brink of despair, is often more unpredictable and dangerous than a calm enemy.

The situation is worse than we thought. It has completely gone mad and is getting stronger.

Moreover, he had to consider a possibility:
Du Kongmo is also an expert in manipulating the mind. Did the bomb he planted in the soul of the Sun really go undetected?

No… it should be said that when he had such a question, he had to assume that it had already been discovered. He had to assume that it was all a trap, a huge trap.

So, what is the purpose?
Nie Weiyang quickly went through the information in his mind several times and swiftly locked onto the only possibility.

—Given that the individual 'Nie Weiyang' is excessively powerful and has a certain connection with Administrator Number Two, Du Kongmo likely believes that Administrator Number Two has granted Nie Weiyang a certain degree of access to his mental sea.

No one knew that the Second Administrator had never truly controlled the Sea of ​​the Heart, but the Sea of ​​the Heart was located in the Netherworld, and the power of the Netherworld could flow out from the void simply by causing a powerful soul collision to trigger an explosion in the Netherworld...

Du Kongmo likely believed that as long as the powerful spiritual energy of his own clan clashed with Nie Weiyang's spiritual energy, they might be able to glimpse a glimmer of light in his mind.

However, the trace of spirit left behind by Nie Weiyang was too faint to be directly triggered.

It has already detonated once; now it can only await its return, await its recharging, await the moment when Nie Weiyang deems it 'now is the time to detonate the Sun Lord.' When that moment arrives, that will be the time for the Void-Crossing Demon to strike!
"So it is." In a distant realm, a beautiful demon leaned against a massive bone throne, softly recounting a plan. Her long green hair cascaded down the ground, flowing down the steps like seaweed, like a forest.

"Dothea's observation concluded that as long as the paladin was alive, his sense of responsibility would compel him to return to Mount Xun."

"After all, he is one of the 'newcomers,' and even if he received the grace of power and knowledge from the second administrator, he could not possibly know too many details about the application of spiritual power."

Her report went unanswered.

She smiled knowingly, leaning her head against the empty bone seat.

“We will surely…enter the sea of ​​hearts,” she murmured. “We will surely find rest at the warm end of chaos.”

(End of this chapter)