Chapter 55: The Hall of Sparks

At the top of the bell tower.

Watching the torch cut through the pitch-black night sky until it vanished completely, Xia Mingyu's expression turned solemn.

He straightened his back and waited quietly.

One minute, two minutes... ten minutes passed, yet the open space behind him remained entirely unchanged.

Xia Mingyu: "???"

"Could it be that not a single soul in this entire world shares my will?" Xia Mingyu's lips twitched.

He had expected that upon activating his ability, a horde of eight-foot-tall muscular giants, comparable to Lü Fengxian reborn, would immediately appear before him to aid him in his great endeavor.

He had even deliberately struck a dignified pose in order to leave a good impression on the mighty men.

"Relying solely on myself to purge the entire world is a bit too far-fetched..." Xia Mingyu's expression began to crack.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

At that moment, a chill midnight wind blew past, causing him to shiver slightly.

Simultaneously, having experienced so much throughout the day, a deep sense of exhaustion washed over him as a heavy wave of sleepiness struck.

"I'll go back to sleep first and see what happens tomorrow."

Xia Mingyu yawned and chose to head downstairs and leave.

...

The guest bedroom.

Xia Mingyu lay on a soft, oversized bed made of layers of silk quilts, closing his eyes and falling fast asleep shortly after.

The room was so quiet that only his steady breathing could be heard.

However, while his physical body had fallen into a deep slumber, the rhythm of his dreams was only just beginning.

...

"What is this place?"

Xia Mingyu looked around in a daze at the incomparably magnificent hall before him.

The towering crystal dome was covered with countless exquisite frescoes, depicting epic battles from Blue Star filled with blood and fire, tears and mournful songs.

So lifelike were they that they seemed to have been carved over a lifetime by the world's finest master craftsmen.

The floor was paved with blue-green bronze and iron, and twelve massive obsidian prismatic pillars soared toward the heavens. A clear radiance emanated from the surface of each pillar, embedded with a torch atop which pure, bright flames burned.

"Is this a dream..."

Xia Mingyu spread his palms, only to discover that what constituted his body at this moment was not flesh and blood, but raging, roaring flames.

He had turned into a "fire" man, literally speaking.

Not only that, within this magnificent hall, he even had the illusion of being in absolute control of everything.

It felt as though the material composition, shape, temperature—and even the underlying physical rules of this place—could be molded at will by him, just like plasticine.

"Should I give it a try?"

Xia Mingyu snapped his fingers.

The next instant, the countless frescoes on the crystal dome began to move like projections in a movie theater.

Boom, boom, boom!

The sounds of artillery fire shook the heavens, accompanied by the deafening roar of aircraft sweeping across the sky.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

Those twelve seemingly rock-solid obsidian pillars automatically grew taller or shorter in accordance with his will.

"It's simply like being a god!"

Xia Mingyu exclaimed in wonder.

Crackling!

Right at that moment, two more blazing torches flared up within the hall.

Instead of forming "fire" men like him, however, they quickly dissipated to reveal two figures enshrouded within them.

"What is this place?" one of the figures asked in confusion.

It was a young man in his early twenties with a sword hanging at his waist.

He had a tall and upright figure, golden hair that shone like the sunlight, beautiful azure eyes resembling the ocean, and delicate, gentle facial features. Rather than a living mortal, he looked more like a statue meticulously sculpted by a deity.

The pristine knight's uniform he wore lent him a uniquely noble aura.

This was the first time Xia Mingyu had ever seen someone whose appearance rivaled his own.

As for the other figure brought forth by the torch... it was quite extraordinary.

That was a giant standing a full two meters six or seven tall, with slightly bronze-toned skin, wearing only a pair of linen shorts, with his upper body bare and his feet unclad.

His physique was immensely robust; even the strongest, fully-maxed-out bodybuilders from the pre-transmigration Blue Star would look like mere chicks standing before him.

His chest was broad and solid, with distinct, well-defined muscle blocks, every single one as hard as bronze. His legs resembled twin pillars, steadily supporting his massive frame, and his shoulders were broad enough to seemingly carry the entire sky.

Most striking of all was that his entire body, including his face, was covered in crisscrossing scars—some as slender and subtle as snakes, others as wide and deep as ravines.

Some of these scars had turned pale, blending seamlessly with the surrounding skin, clearly injuries from many years ago, while others still retained a faint pink hue, evidently wounds that had healed only recently.

It was hard to imagine just how many brutal battles or merciless beatings a person had to endure to be completely covered in scars.

"Hah... hah..."

The giant did not speak aloud; he merely scanned his surroundings with vigilant eyes, letting out beast-like pants from his throat.

Soon, after recovering from the shock of the war projections on the dome overhead, the two men unanimously locked their gazes onto the raging "fire" man standing before them—namely, Xia Mingyu.

Clearly, both of them realized that the other party must be the mastermind who had dragged them into this place.

"What a terrifying oppressive aura..."

The blond youth stared fixedly at the "fire" man with a tense expression.

In his perception, the being before him seemed connected to the entire world, and every move carried the immense power to shake the entire realm.

Not only that, upon entering this hall, the minor divine blessings upon his body seemed to be completely suppressed and extremely difficult to activate, furthermore...

The blond youth glanced at the giant in linen shorts not far away beside him.

He could be certain that the giant carried no items capable of hiding identity-shielding divine protections, yet no divine protection whatsoever hovered above the giant's head.

This could only mean one thing... This magnificent hall even shielded the protection that the world granted to all sentient beings.

That being the case, the identity of that "fire" man was self-evident—an eternal true god!

At this thought, the blond youth's pupils shrank violently.

"Magnificent deity, may I ask why you have dragged us into your divine realm?"

The blond youth slowly walked up to the "fire" man and bowed respectfully.

Upon hearing this, the giant's pupils also constricted sharply. He too planted his iron-tower-like feet and walked before the "fire" man, silently bending his upper body in a show of respect.

"This is getting a bit absurd... They've actually mistaken me for a god."

Xia Mingyu looked at the two figures bowing before him, feeling somewhat helpless.

For a moment, he didn't quite know how to explain. Should he simply play along and claim to be a deity in order to command these two seemingly formidable powerhouses?

No, what he needed was not worshippers, but companions ready to share life and death together.

"Immortal god, I revere your greatness and supremacy, but if you demand that I become your follower, I beg you to grant my humble self the right to choose refusal."

Seeing that the "deity" had yet to respond, the blond youth bowed once more and spoke respectfully.

"For I am already a follower of the God of the Sun and Justice, and I have resolved to dedicate the remainder of my life to the grandest and most magnificent cause in this world—the pursuit of justice."

He explained sincerely.