Chapter 1158: This Situation, No Solution

The Fourth True Monarch cultivates the Constitution of Order. Over the years, guided by his peers, he has eliminated all fellow cultivators of order who possessed the power to compete with him, refining them into his own constitution. This ensured the uniqueness of his path of order. Unless he dies, no one in the world can obtain the Constitution of Order.

At this moment, the Thirteen Constitutions appeared, but only three sounds of law emanated from the sarcophagus, reverberating between heaven and earth. "There shall be no wind here!" As soon as this sound was uttered, all wind in the world instantly vanished, and countless grains of sand fell from the sky. "There shall be no sand here!" As the words echoed, the sand instantly turned to nothingness, ceasing to exist. Only the black-clad figure remained suspended in mid-air, his pupils contracting. "No one from outside this dimension shall exist here, save for me!" This was the third and final sound of law.

The moment it was uttered, a terrifying power descended from the sky, seemingly intending to purify and dispel everything. As it fell upon the black-clad figure, he trembled, his body shaking, and he felt his consciousness being stripped away. This sensation made his eyes instantly turn crimson, and he suddenly laughed. His laughter was savage and scornful. "You are neither the true Fourth True Monarch nor the master of this Immortal Palace. Just because you declare something forbidden, does it make it so?" As the black-clad figure spoke, his body exploded, disintegrating into fragments that surprisingly transformed into forbidden sand, forcibly appearing. The surrounding world immediately changed.

Simultaneously, inside Shaoji Palace, Xu Qing overturned the chessboard, scattering countless pieces across the floor. A clattering sound echoed within the hall, as if changing heaven and earth. The independent world where the teleportation array was located astonishingly transformed into a desert, with yellow sand undulating endlessly. Vaguely, an invisible hand seemed to be sketching on the desert. In an instant, a majestic eagle rose, spreading its wings, letting out a sharp cry, and soaring straight towards the Fourth True Monarch. In an instant, a rhinoceros emerged, roaring skyward, and charged forth. In an instant, countless figures, like celestial soldiers and generals, were outlined and formed, unleashing a terrifying surge of destructive power. This scene resembled sand art, one after another.

The next moment, a blazing sun, with the desert as its canvas, was drawn by that invisible hand. Within it lay a divine shadow, precisely the Sun God. Following this, a brilliant moon ascended, with the Moon God within, gazing upon heaven and earth. Then, words appeared on the sand, telling a story, and using the story as a thread, outlining a figure. Not only that, the sand art changed again. A sword-wielding figure materialized within, its overwhelming sword intent shaking all directions. Finally, another figure emerged. This person wore an imperial robe and a crown, representing the past source of the three souls: Sun, Moon, and Stars. He was the Human Emperor from a world beyond the Boundless Ancient Continent! All shone, all suppressed. Consequently, the desert roared, the Fourth True Monarch retreated, and the entire desert world collapsed and dissipated, returning to the original scene of the teleportation array.

However, Star Ring Child's expression was grim, because along with everything that had just dissipated, the aura of the Evil Spirit Child's broken sword also vanished. Time had passed.

In mid-air, the black-clad figure's aura was weak, his body retreating, and he was about to step into the void to escape. "Since you've come and insisted on disrupting my order, then..." Star Ring Child's eyes gleamed with intense cold light. He raised his right hand and grabbed towards the black-clad figure. Instantly, his voice transformed into a sound of order, becoming a vast magic array. Chains emerged with it, forming an even more magnificent order array. Both arrays shimmered with silver light and merged. As they rotated, the power of order surged skyward, transforming into a force of stripping and purification that enveloped the black-clad figure. In a flash, chains swiftly shot out from the array, coiling around the black-clad figure. Runes formed from the sound of order flowed across his entire body. Both sides of his body merged into his whole, and the intent to strip away fully erupted.

However, the black-clad figure was far from simple. Even in his weakened state, he had a trump card against such a situation. The next instant, a golden light suddenly shone from the black-clad figure. Subsequently, the world changed again, becoming a sky and a sea. Except the sky was below, the sea above, and fish swam within it. This was inversion. A giant mud statue, seated cross-legged in the sea, mirrored in the sky, now simultaneously opened its eyes. One true, one false. This was truth and falsehood. This was precisely the divine power of the Mud Fox: inversion and truth/falsehood! The next moment, everything vanished, and along with it, the black-clad figure's silhouette disappeared. Only the chains, having lost their target in mid-air, could only spin around, emitting a jingling sound.

The stripping succeeded, yet failed. It succeeded because the stripping method took effect. It failed because what was stripped away was a false illusion. Yet, in confronting Star Ring Child and fighting him in such a manner, it was impossible for the black-clad figure not to expose his identity. "Fox Beauty!" Star Ring Child turned his head, glanced in the direction of Shaoji Palace, his expression exceedingly grim. But he quickly retracted his gaze, for a more troublesome matter had naturally emerged due to the previous delay caused by Fox Beauty. And it was unsolvable.

Across the sky, a figure radiating immense fury, accompanied by endless thunder, was roaring towards this place. The figure within the thunder was none other than the master of the deceased middle-aged penal officer—the elder deacon from the Penal Thunder Palace! At this moment, his face was extremely grim, his anger intense, yet a cold sneer played in his heart. He was the true Evil Spirit Child! After arriving in the fourth-layer world, he focused more on concealment because he arrived late. So, he secretly used a secret technique to slowly alter his disciple's perception, making the disciple believe he was the Evil Spirit Child himself. He then quietly merged the Constitutional Treasure Iron Sword into the disciple's body, thus creating an almost seamless substitute and bait. Subsequently, he hid himself in the dark, avoiding any additional karma with his disciple. His disciple, believing himself to be the Evil Spirit Child, would instinctively do what the Evil Spirit Child should do—for example, betraying the palace.

Originally, he had planned for a two-pronged approach: the substitute would fish tonight to tie down the Fourth True Monarch, while he himself would seize the opportunity to betray the palace. He had made ample preparations for this. But the subsequent developments made him change his mind. He had found an even better method! So, amidst the roaring thunder, he moved with great speed, not hiding along the way but intentionally creating a commotion to draw countless gazes. He then appeared directly at the teleportation array, bursting into it. At that instant, his voice, like a great bell, echoed throughout the entire Immortal Palace. "Lord True Monarch, why did you kill my disciple?!"

With a single word, the Immortal Palace vibrated, and thousands were astonished. Countless divine senses instantly surged forth. The array here shattered in an instant, revealing the Fourth True Monarch within, as well as the furiously enraged elder deacon of the Penal Thunder Palace in mid-air. And on the ground... lay the corpse of the middle-aged penal officer.

"My disciple merely went to retrieve thunder essence, yet he was brutally killed here. The marks of order on his body clearly show it was your power, True Monarch! I ask you, True Monarch, to tell me what crime my disciple committed, why he was killed. Did he do something that harmed our Immortal Palace?! If he truly committed an act of betrayal against the Immortal Palace, I, this old man, would have no complaints! But if you, True Monarch, cannot explain, then killing someone without cause—even if you are a True Monarch—requires an explanation. The penalty could range from confinement to imprisonment or even death." In the sky, the Evil Spirit Child's voice, filled with boundless rage, articulated every word.

Star Ring Child remained silent. He understood that this move was utterly ruthless. Even if he had disposed of the body beforehand, it would have been useless; rewinding time at this location would reveal everything. He had indeed killed the person. And during time reversal, he could not allow people to see what had transpired. Fundamentally, the way to handle this matter, as it stood before him, depended on whether the deceased disciple was at fault or not. If he was at fault, killing him would be acceptable. But he would have to state his fault, and no matter what fault it was, it could be labeled as betraying the palace, especially if he himself declared it. In that case, the other party's betrayal of the palace would truly succeed, and the dimension would undoubtedly experience considerable turmoil. Maintaining order, at this stage, would be considered a failure.

But if the person was not at fault, and he couldn't explain why he killed him, whether it was a personal grudge or some other enmity. This Evil Spirit Child, arriving even at the cost of revealing his identity, had shown his determination. If Star Ring Child admitted to oversight or personal animosity, he would certainly face confinement and punishment in public. If that happened, he would lose his freedom for the next half a month, unable to stop other outsiders from stirring up trouble in the dimension. It would be equivalent to losing everything. Therefore, presented with two evils, and choosing the lesser, only one path remained for him: to say the person had done something harmful to the Immortal Palace.

"Too ruthless," Star Ring Child sighed inwardly. All of this was due to the Fox Beauty's obstruction; otherwise, he would have had enough time to deal with the Evil Spirit Child, thus avoiding the current predicament. Furthermore, he could have claimed the person was possessed, but the Evil Spirit Child had already made his stance clear. If unsatisfied, he would undoubtedly escalate the matter, demanding evidence. And even if it was possession, it would be difficult to explain why he killed him, as this would carry the suspicion of silencing. Interrogation was the optimal choice. If there had been no recent rumors, it might have been fine. But now the ripples of rumors still lingered, and he was deeply entangled. If he claimed possession, the harm would be even greater; it was imaginable that he would be forced into self-proving.

Finally, Star Ring Child raised his head, first looking at the Evil Spirit Child in mid-air, then shifting his gaze towards Shaoji Palace. After a long silence, he remained expressionless, took a step forward, stepped into the void, and as he disappeared, his cold voice echoed. "This person betrayed the palace, and there is a secret jade slip on his person that can serve as proof. Therefore, this Monarch killed him!"

The moment these words were spoken, the Evil Spirit Child trembled, his breathing visibly quickened. He felt his broken sword cheering wildly, and his connection with it became closer than ever before at that instant. At this moment, time and space also formed a temporal storm, transforming into a vortex of time, rotating with a roaring sound in a way imperceptible to others. An unprecedented turmoil!

Meanwhile, inside Shaoji Palace, Xu Qing, who was picking up the scattered chess pieces from the floor one by one, raised his head. He smiled faintly. In his right hand, a handful of sand suddenly appeared out of thin air. It was Temporal Sand, and each grain contained a rich law of time. If integrated into the body, it could greatly enhance the Temporal Constitution! This was the gain he acquired from within after the Evil Spirit Child successfully stirred up temporal turmoil.