Chapter 1659: Divine Judgment

However, the idea of coming and going as they pleased might have worked against others, but this time, they faced Xu Yang and his beast army—a supreme force that dared to defy the entire ruling class of the Kunlun Divine Dao. How could such a force casually let these arrogant individuals go?

Just as these two thousand elite Sages tried to scatter and flee, an incredibly brilliant golden light, a solid angel totem, slowly emerged at the very zenith of the sky. No one saw Xu Yang's true form, but everyone knew that this immensely powerful angel totem naturally represented Xu Yang's power.

The golden light quickly spread, enveloping every corner of the area, and naturally locked the power of these light elements onto the bodies of the more than two thousand Sages.

"You have deviated from the faith and original intention befitting a human cultivator, completely becoming puppets of the Supreme God's will, enticed by superior cultivation conditions. Naturally, you are also the eternal enemies of our beast army in our assault on the Summit of Kunlun. Now, in the name of the angel, I give you a chance to reform.

If you are willing to abandon your lifetime of cultivation, return to your ordinary world, and become a common cultivator, to embark anew on the path of cultivation, severing all ties with the Supreme God from this moment forward, and never again step foot on the Summit of Kunlun, then I can spare your lives. Otherwise, I, as the leader of the beast army and the harbinger of the Angel's Light, will impose the due punishment upon you two thousand Sages."

Xu Yang's lofty and supremely divine appearance completely captivated everyone present and instilled an even stronger sense of reverence for their powerful leader among the warriors of the beast army he led.

However, for these two thousand elite Sages, whose aura had already been locked down and movements restricted, the appearance of Xu Yang's aura was like an inescapable nightmare, or a ticking time bomb buried deep within their souls. If Xu Yang harbored even a single thought of burying them completely, then no one there would have the right to resist. Indeed, after Xu Yang's words were delivered, every cultivator bound by the golden light fell into a state of utter confusion.

They wanted to use their strength to defend the glory of the Supreme God's will, but they found themselves utterly powerless before Xu Yang. Yet, to simply abandon their faith, forsake the cultivation environment of the Summit of Kunlun, and start everything from scratch, it seemed few could make such a resolute decision.

Time flowed by peacefully, second by second. Every Sage felt the golden light power locking onto them grow stronger with each passing moment. It was clear that attempting to delay and evade this judgment was impossible. Because soon enough, when the golden light completely enveloped their bodies, the intense purifying force would exceed the limits of their life force to resist. All their souls and flesh would turn to dust before the angel.

"I surrender, I surrender! Please don't kill me, noble Lord Angel! Your power is too immense; please grant me a chance to redeem myself!"

Finally, someone chose to submit before the angelic power. As the first to yield, that Sage bowed reverently to Xu Yang in the void and simultaneously formed hand seals, completely shattering all the cultivation essence accumulated within his meridians. He completely crippled himself.

As a reward for this individual's act of abandoning darkness for light, the Angel's Light that had enveloped him transformed into the purest life force essence and swiftly mended his broken meridians. Although it could not help him recover his former cultivation level, after being empowered by the angelic force, the young man's physical talent was completely reborn, far exceeding his previous capabilities. With his current physical talent, even if he returned to the human world, it would only take a few years for him to recover his current cultivation strength. It could be considered a blessing in disguise.

Witnessing this young man's reborn transformation, the other Sages, still hesitating, began to waver in their firm resolve, all hoping to achieve the same outcome as him. Consequently, below, Long Kun and the beast army watched as in the void above, one golden silhouette after another knelt and worshipped the angel totem.

"Hahaha, so these are the so-called elite Sages! They're just a bunch of spineless opportunists. They claimed our beast army warriors were lowly ants, but now, I think they don't even have human dignity left."

Long Kun's words ignited a furious wave of mockery from the beast race warriors behind him, directed at these individuals who had passively knelt. Facing the ridicule and insults of hundreds of thousands of beast creatures, these cultivators, draped in golden light, still did not cease their worship of Xu Yang. Because compared to survival, this so-called dignity and all glory became utterly worthless.

Xu Yang seemed to lose interest in these Sages, even finding their slaughter meaningless. These people, he mused, would likely never become the backbone of the Kunlun Divine Dao civilization.

"Since you lack firm conviction, then let all of you become ordinary mortals without cultivation ability and live out your lives in mediocrity."

Xu Yang's voice descended once more, leaving the thousands of elite Sages completely dumbfounded. They had never dreamed that the glorious transformation that should have been theirs would abruptly halt at this moment. It just goes to show: the first to seize an opportunity is often fortunate, but if many others follow suit, their actions lose all meaning.

As expected, the golden light began to intensely evolve, quickly depleting the cultivation foundations within these elite Sages, reducing their cultivation levels one by one until exhausted. They all ultimately became ordinary people. Xu Yang, as if dumping trash, poured them all into the seal connecting the Summit of Kunlun to the Fifth Forbidden Zone. One by one, like dumplings falling into a pot, they completely lost their ability to resist and tumbled awkwardly into the black vortex, soon vanishing completely from Kunlun.

On the battlefield of the Ten Thousand Mile Ice Lake, above the void, the Fifth Forbidden Zone had now completely shattered, but the seal connecting it to Kunlun had not disappeared.