# 1145
Chapter 1146: Shen Qingzhu's Choice
Elsewhere.
An Qingyu carried the black coffin on his back, his gaze sweeping across the two four-winged seraphs and three four-winged demons before him, his expression grim.
Dense waves of resentful soul demons swarmed around him in the air like a tide. Their sharp, eerie laughter echoed continuously. He was like prey trapped in a cage, and the cage also contained five fierce tigers.
A streak of white light shot from the distance, hurtling into one of the black-winged demons. It suddenly twisted its body, its dark wings turning into blades that sliced toward the seraph's neck.
The seraph's reaction was lightning-fast—it dodged the attack by sidestepping. But that brief moment of distraction created a tiny gap in the encirclement.
An Qingyu's eyes narrowed. He seized the opportunity and shot forward, but the other two demons flapped their four wings and blocked his path with near-instantaneous speed.
Jiang Er was about to use the same trick again when a dazzling column of pure white light descended from the sky, precisely illuminating her position!
Jiang Er, in her magnetic field form, slipped through the attacks of several demons as if they were nothing, yet this column of light trapped her in mid-air. She was like a fish confined in a fishbowl—no matter which direction she drifted, she couldn't escape the light's boundaries by even an inch!
"Jiang Er!"
An Qingyu's pupils contracted. He猛地 looked up at the sky.
One of the six-winged seraphs had extended a finger above Jiang Er's head, and that column of pure white light was emanating from its fingertip!
An Qingyu, still carrying the black coffin on his back, rushed toward the light column. But several four-winged demons instantly appeared before him, attacking simultaneously, leaving vicious wounds across An Qingyu's body.
An Qingyu spat a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward.
After heavily wounding An Qingyu, the four-winged demons hovered motionless in the air, making no further moves. Then, endless waves of resentful soul demons surged from all directions, piling atop An Qingyu like mountains of flesh, a literal cage of flesh that utterly subdued him.
"Jiang… Er…"
An Qingyu stared fixedly at Jiang Er trapped within the light column. His voice grew fainter and fainter.
…
BOOM—!
The explosion in the sky yanked Shen Qingzhu's consciousness back to reality. He tore his gaze away from the Hell's Origin, his back drenched in sweat.
He followed the source of the sound, looking up at the sky. He witnessed Jiang Er being trapped by the seraph in the light column, and An Qingyu being crushed beneath terrifying mountains of flesh.
Several massive six-winged seraphs and six-winged fallen angels gazed down upon this scene like gods. Their eyes were tightly shut, only the insectoid eyes on their foreheads twitching slightly. One of the fallen angels raised its palm, pressing gently toward Jiang Er trapped within the light column, as if intending to obliterate her entirely.
"This is bad…"
At the edge of the blood pool, Lin Qiye gripped a blade and a sword, retreating step by step under the assault of four-winged demons.
He too had witnessed this scene in the sky, but at this moment, he was already grievously wounded and on the verge of death. Moreover, he was completely blocked by the four-winged demons. Even if he wanted to rescue Jiang Er and An Qingyu, he was powerless to do so.
Shen Qingzhu's fists clenched involuntarily.
Fresh blood trickled from his body, the wound in his abdomen continuously draining his vitality. Even his consciousness began to blur.
He pressed one hand against the wound. In the haze of fading consciousness, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning!
It was as if he had figured something out. He looked once more at the black crystal floating in the blood pool beside him.
"…The divine system origin is the foundation that carries the divine kingdom, and also the core that controls it…"
Lin Qiye's words echoed再度 in Shen Qingzhu's heart. His eyes locked onto the Hell's Origin. The deepest desires in his heart were seduced like demons, ceaselessly driving him, step by step, toward the Hell's Origin.
This thing was the central hub of the Underworld. Destroy it, and the entire divine kingdom would be annihilated…
Then what if he tried to control it?
If he held the divine kingdom's core in his hand, would that mean he possessed the qualification to open the "door" to leave?
Shen Qingzhu resisted the temptation of the Hell's Origin while trying to think through the possibilities. In the end, he couldn't even tell whether this thought had originated from himself or if the origin itself was tempting him to think it.
He gazed at the Hell's Origin. Faintly, a voice seemed to echo in his ears:
"Don't you want them to survive?"
"Don't you crave power?"
"Aren't you tired of being dead weight?"
"…Touch me… merge with me… and I can give you everything you desire."
"Accept me, and I… can fulfill all your wishes."
Shen Qingzhu's eyes gradually emptied. He stepped across the frost, walking step by step toward the black crystal, moving like a wooden puppet being pulled by strings, his movements stiff and unnatural.
As Shen Qingzhu drew closer, the surface of the black crystal floating in the blood pool actually began to emanate brilliant black light. It trembled ceaselessly within the pool, shaking off the wriggling red larvae, as if desperately wanting to escape this place.
Shen Qingzhu stopped.
The black light on the crystal's surface grew increasingly dazzling, like a translucent black gemstone under sunlight. A mysterious force surged into Shen Qingzhu's mind.
He stood before the black crystal, eyes hollow, slowly raising his right hand, reaching for that black crystal…
At that moment, Lin Qiye, who was locked in fierce battle in the distance, seemed to sense something. He猛地 turned his head, bellowing:
"Brother Shen!!"
The instant he heard Lin Qiye's voice, Shen Qingzhu snapped back to awareness. The hand that had been about to touch the black crystal froze in mid-air.
Beads of cold sweat dripped from his forehead, falling onto the frozen surface of the blood pool.
"Brother Shen! Don't touch it!" Lin Qiye roared again.
"That's the origin bearing the entire Underworld's power of corruption! Even if it doesn't reject you! Your body won't be able to withstand it!"
"Moreover, the malevolent intent contained within it is far too strong! Even if you can endure its power! It will gradually devour your thoughts! Turning you into its puppet!"
"It will turn you into the second Lucifer!!"
Lin Qiye's continuous shouts reached Shen Qingzhu's ears. His eyes contracted sharply. Instinctively, he tried to pull his hand back.
But the next moment, his movement stopped.
Shen Qingzhu stood before the black crystal. He slightly turned his head, his gaze sweeping across his surroundings with complex emotions.
Lin Qiye was besieged by several four-winged demons, his body riddled with blood holes, swaying precariously. In the sky, Jiang Er trapped in the light column and An Qingyu buried beneath the mountain of flesh were desperately trying to reach each other. The six-winged fallen angel gazing down upon the mortal world was slowly lowering its palm…
He slowly closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
"Brother Shen!!" Lin Qiye's shout came again.
Shen Qingzhu opened his eyes. This time, there was not a trace of struggle in his gaze—only an unprecedented calm.
"Sorry, Captain." He spoke slowly. "Whether my body shatters from the power, whether I become a fallen angel… as long as it saves my brothers, none of it matters."
"Lin Qiye, listen carefully…"
"This Shen Qingzhu will not always be dead weight."
As his words fell, in the howling wind, Shen Qingzhu proactively reached out his hand…
And grasped the flickering black crystal!