With the crisp snap of the Raven's fingers, everything around instantly transformed.

The massive and splendid hall became transparent.

For some reason, Huai Shi felt his vision transcend his current position, freeing itself from his body's constraints. It resembled the spiritual perception described in fantasy novels, radiating in all directions.

Inexplicably, a light laugh, as if from a hallucination, echoed in his ears.

Thus, his eyes glimpsed the true, ferocious contours hidden in the darkness.

In the boundless gloom and pitch-black, it was difficult to distinguish up from down, left from right, or front from back. There was no sense of distance; only the fragmented Palace City floated in this endless darkness.

When Huai Shi looked up, he saw the source of the gloomy winds from outside the hall.

It was a gaping mouth, like the Abyss itself.

With pitch-black, broken teeth, it slowly opened. Each breath it took transformed into a wind that swept through the entire darkness.

A mountainous nose bridge arose above this Abyssal maw. This was followed by a slowly opening eye, hidden behind moonlight as thin as paper. It peered down with inherent malice and mockery, taking pleasure in every face intoxicated by the feast.

What was terrifying was that, despite its cruelty, the half-face emerging from the darkness was incredibly beautiful. It possessed an innate sanctity and purity that was unbearable to behold.

The other half of the face, however, was covered in cracks and malodorous sores. The flesh was blurred, gruesome, and ferocious, reminiscent of some ominous embryo.

Beneath Huai Shi's feet, the earth suddenly revealed its hideous form: layers of tragic flesh writhing, extending to the end of his line of sight.

It appeared like a palm.

They lifted the entire Palace City. Thousands of tendrils, like slim fingers, extended from them, entwining around each person, drawing their joy and injecting the toxic venom of the Abyss.

The broken Fan in Huai Shi's hand emitted a wisp of smoke that coiled around him, confusing the nearby blood-flesh tendrils and preventing them from finding any trace of him.

This was truly his lifesaver.

Huai Shi shivered.

SNAP!

Behind the moon cut from thin paper, the blood-red eyes seemed to sense something. Their indifferent gaze swept across the area where Huai Shi was. Suddenly, the Fan in his hand emitted a mournful cry, the cracks on its surface expanding by a fraction.

In the sudden shock, Huai Shi's consciousness jolted. He returned from his trance, only to find that everything he had just seen had disappeared. He was still sitting quietly in the corner of this frenzied and joyful banquet, his back soaked with sweat.

"What was that just now?" Huai Shi asked in a low voice. "A hallucination, or is this place really..."

"To say it was a hallucination wouldn't be quite right since, in fact, both sides are real."

The Raven said indifferently, "You don't need to be afraid. Just now, your Source Substance was simply responding, and the Stigma of the Mountain Ghost forcibly elevated your perspective. When you look down from a higher angle, your Soul translates everything that human eyes, ears, and knowledge cannot describe into something you can understand. In other words, what you just experienced may have been a figment of your imagination, but it is, ironically, the closest to the true nature of this Abyss."

"I—I saw... a woman."

Huai Shi swallowed dryly. He picked up his cup to lick the last bit of wine, gasping heavily. "This Imperial Palace... it seemed like it was in her hands, like a toy, and she was watching us... But half of her face was rotten, like a corpse."

"You saw her directly?" The Raven's tone took on a teasing note. "Your luck with women really is too much."

"...Who wants to have any kind of fate with that sort of thing?" Huai Shi glared at her. "What on earth was that?"

"A condensation of the Abyss's sediment, a miracle asleep here, the original Emperor of this city, and the foundation of its existence—Fifth Stage Stigmata·Sun Witch."

The Raven said calmly, "Or you could also call her 'Himiko'."

"The queen from the history of Yingzhou?" Huai Shi's eyes widened. "Wasn't she long dead?"

"That's correct, but there's no reason she couldn't leave something behind."

The Raven casually avoided the main point, continuing calmly, "If I'm not mistaken, the entire Xiematai is built upon this Stigma... which means this Hell is completely formed from this Stigma."

Once again, Huai Shi felt astonished by the power held by Fifth Stage Sublimators.

Though, as Sublimators who drew upon the miracles of the Abyss, it wasn't impossible for them to create such an extensive Hell. Yet, having witnessed it firsthand and experienced it personally, Huai Shi still shuddered.

Then, he noticed a contradiction.

"Then why does she look... so strange?"

Huai Shi frowned. "Even if a Fifth Stage Saint Mark was corrupted by the Abyss, it shouldn't look like this, right?"

If it were to take form, it would inevitably become the Owner of the Great Mob, the Superior who reigns over Xiematai.

But why would she hide in the background? And why is she twisted, as if dead yet not alive, as though mixed with something else?

Now, rather than looking like the Ruler of Xiematai, she seemed more like...

"An embryo, right?"

The Raven saw through his thoughts. "The embryo that brews ominous Disaster, an empty shell."

Her tone shifted as she suddenly asked, "By the way, do you remember in the materials you read before, was Xiematai described as a Border?"

Huai Shi stood frozen, finally recalling those fragmented phrases he had once seen, disbelieving.

Why would a Border suddenly sink into the Abyss and turn into Hell?

It is known that although neither belongs to the Current Circumstances, the nature of a Border and Hell are drastically different. The former, though harsh, still belongs to the realm of reality and can be considered as various separate spaces. Hell, however, is wholly different from these two. If the Current Circumstances were like a basin, then the Borders would be the numerous icebergs surrounding it, layer upon layer blocking out the encroaching aura of the Abyss, preventing the world from being swallowed by Hell.

But now an iceberg has inexplicably collapsed into the sea. It certainly can't be blamed on Dongxia's air conditioning being turned up too high.

There must be more reasons...

"For instance, what if, in order to piece back together the shattered Stigma excavated from the Abyss, the entire Border was transformed into a vessel for resurrection?" Raven hinted. "Just like a Spirit Coffin specifically designed for a Stigma. Turning all of this into an embryo, allowing the shattered Abyssal miracles to re-form, forcibly creating a new Fifth Stage Saint Mark—if understood this way, does it seem a bit clearer now?"

Huai Shi was astonished. "To obtain a Fifth Stage Saint Mark, they would create a Hell?"

"Haven't humans already created enough Hells? Now that we can receive the gift of miracles, we should consider it a windfall."

Raven sneered. "Infusing the Abyssal miracle into the stillborn child of the Rotten Dream Queen, using a decaying shell as the foundation, drawing the power of this Hell, then catalyzing the miracle's integration to finally nurture the power of the 'Sun Witch'... The mind that conceived this method is an absolute treasure; Yingzhou Phylogeny really hit the jackpot. It seems that to oppose the Wu Family, the Duke has indeed tried everything. This Border's Boundary Stone being broken may not have been an accident; it might have been deliberate. However, no one expected things to spiral out of control so quickly, leading to the Dongxia Genealogy's involvement, right?"

Huai Shi's mind buzzed. After a long while, he finally exhaled, unwittingly drawn into the shadow of the strife among celestials, which made him somewhat restless.

"Wait a minute. I remember, wasn't the Rotten Dream Queen part of the Ranch Owner's faction?"

"Yes. After all, the two sides have formed an alliance. It's not wrong to consider them as one."

Raven nodded. "Before mingling with the Ranch Owner, that insect was full of ambition. It's a pity that every offspring it birthed met an early death, unable to bear the Abyss's power. Eventually, with the Ranch Owner's support, it managed to create a true 'Remaining Evil of the World'... Ha, some things are just like that—doomed to stay off the world's stage. They're forever hopping about, only ever appearing as supporting roles in the backdrop. Tsk tsk, truly the life of a spurned queen..."

Her words were full of mockery and malice, which somewhat surprised Huai Shi.

For the first time, he sensed such pure ridicule emanating from her.

But soon after, she fell silent again.

Huai Shi pondered her recent words, doubts once again rising in his heart.

"Then, that thing hidden within the Imperial Palace... after merging with the stillborn child, is it dead or alive?"

"Cordyceps, do you understand?"

Raven said, "It's nothing more than a monster reborn by extracting nutrients from the stillborn child, even though it resides in a Stigma. It has yet to truly form and is trapped here. Now, this Imperial Palace is its toy box, and all who enter here are its playthings."

No sooner had her words ended than another crack opened in the Fan before Huai Shi.

It was about to be torn apart.

In the corner, Huai Shi's hair stood on end.

Just in front of him, a drunken Evil Ghost suddenly opened its eyes, viciously surveying its surroundings. "I smell human! I really did!"

"Are you starved? Eat more. Don't always act like a country bumpkin."

The monster beside him mocked, throwing a piece of meat from its table. It looked down on the Evil Ghost, which infuriated the ghost, and the two began to fight.

But compared to the chaos of the entire hall, this was nothing.

Huai Shi knew he couldn't hold on much longer.

In that moment, he suddenly saw the bright moon outside the grand hall shatter. In the dark, empty, ashen sky, seven sharp lights slowly rose.

Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, Alkaid... An iron-like murderous intent descended from the heavens. Yet, what was even more terrifying was the presence of two flickering lights hidden beyond the seven stars.

Seven revealed, two concealed.

The Big Dipper!

The Big Dipper, descending from the heavens!

Ye Xueya suddenly appeared in the sky outside the Imperial Palace. Commanding the majestic Big Dipper stars, she raised a finger and slashed down towards the palace engulfed in darkness.

In an instant, violent turbulence spread.

Countless starlights coalesced into iron-like metal, each with searing trails, converging into a devastating storm that rained down upon the earth, the roar incessant.

"She's finally here..."

As the attack captured the attention of all the guests, Raven's voice sounded in Huai Shi's ear, "Now is the time, Huai Shi! It's your move!"

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