Before He Yiming. The colossal sphere of light did not erupt. Although the light did indeed envelop him the moment it made contact with He Yiming’s body, this was only momentary.
Then, within this expanse of light, He Yiming extended his hand, and the infinite radiance surrounding him immediately began to coalesce, gathering into his palm.
In his hand rested a flickering ball of luminescence. This was the power of light, the purest essence of light itself!
Franklin’s expression finally shifted. The lofty Heart of the Deity suffered an unprecedented, violent impact. He roared in fury, a maniacal gleam flashing across his face: “Heretic, you heathen, perish…”
As his fierce shout rang out, the surrounding light condensed with incomparable speed.
Even at this moment, he still could not believe it.
Within the fierce, endless radiance, Franklin’s consciousness grew hazy, and the scene before his eyes twisted into something bizarre.
He seemed to witness the commotion caused hundreds of years ago when an apprentice, newly joined to the Temple, first came into contact with the power of light.
The Body of Light had not appeared in the Temple for nearly a thousand years. His emergence had already predetermined his future achievements and incomparably lofty status.
After two centuries of arduous cultivation, the young man had grown into the sovereign master of the entire Temple, reaching the pinnacle of the Human Dao in the world of Light. Conversely, during these two centuries, he had also encountered the greatest adversary of his life: Garfield, who possessed the Body of Darkness.
In the West, the two great forces representing Light and Darkness stood in direct opposition, yet they mutually restrained each other, never erupting into the world-shaking super-war that engulfed the entire Western world.
Perhaps this was the greatest reason why the Temple and the Council of the Dark Alliance could unify the entire Western world over several millennia.
Upon ascending to the Ninth Heaven, Franklin and Garfield, without prior consultation, began to temper themselves, commencing their research into the Divine Dao within their respective domains.
However, the final result they achieved was singular: the Thousand-Year Ice Island. Only by unlocking the secrets of the legendary Ice Island could the supreme Divine Dao manifest before them.
This was also the only conceivable path for the Western powers of Light and Darkness to join forces.
Yet, the journey to the Southern Border shattered all their fondest hopes; all their plans were utterly ruined at the hands of one person.
That young man, who had grown at an incredible speed, possessed a power equivalent to the pinnacle of the Human Dao, and when they finally met, he had acquired a Super-Tier Puppet imbued with the power of the Divine Dao.
Franklin’s expression flickered, his thoughts snapping out of their trance.
A bead of cold sweat traced a path down his spine, and his heart filled with chilling dread.
Vaguely, he seemed to grasp that because He Yiming commanded a greater degree of Light power than his own limits allowed, his rock-solid spirit had suffered an unprecedented shock, showing the first faint cracks.
Hundreds of years of spiritual cultivation seemed to have vanished in this single moment.
He inhaled deeply, feeling the intensifying Light power around him. At this instant, he was acutely aware that the stronger his own power became, the more hopelessly lost his spirit would become within it. Yet, as this power grew stronger, his physical being increasingly reveled in it. Every inch of his skin, every drop of his blood craved the illumination of the Light power. He was like an addict who knew that the more he consumed, the closer he drew to death, but now, there was no cure.
After waking from his daze, Franklin’s gaze had returned to being cold and devoid of emotion.
This was the gaze of a Divine Realm expert, one that perceived everything beneath his own rank as mere dust.
In that look, all life was worthless of notice; he could purify everything at will.
Finally, that icy gaze settled upon He Yiming.
He still firmly believed that if the power of Light was sufficient, he could surely purge He Yiming, who wielded an impure form of Light.
This was his confidence, born from the profound self-assurance and experience of cultivating the power of Light for centuries, for no one understood the characteristics of Light better than he.
Franklin extended his hand and lightly pointed downward, aiming the massive concentration of Light power he had gathered precisely at the protruding spire atop the tallest structure.
In the very center of the city stood a magnificent edifice, every inch of its foundation built from the most precious, rigid materials—a structure impervious to the shockwaves of heaven and earth or even the impact of the power of Light.
This was the Temple, the supreme sanctuary in the hearts of countless Western believers.
At this moment, from the very apex of the Temple, the towering spire shot forth an unparalleled, gigantic pillar of light.
Under the impetus of Franklin’s immense power, the millennia of accumulated Light energy within the Temple finally burst forth completely.
A beam far thicker than a human body shot skyward, instantly reaching He Yiming. This light was like a massive tidal wave in the ocean, submerging everything in its path into a sea of radiance.
The smile on He Yiming’s face grew broader; with the appearance of this beam, he finally confirmed it. This place concealed a Sea of Light.
The Sea of Light in the Realm of Life and Death was displayed openly, but this one was hidden somewhere beneath the Temple.
The inherent nature of Light power is to purify everything that is not the power of Light.
However, this colossal surge of energy posed no threat to He Yiming.
He had already proven this in the Sea of Light within the Realm of Life and Death; this was merely a confirmation here.
Vast amounts of light flashed around him, the intensity of the Light power reaching an indescribable magnitude. Yet, when this light reached He Yiming’s vicinity, infiltrating his meridians and entering his Dantian, its fierce roar suddenly subsided, transforming into the gentle whisper of a demure maiden.
He Yiming raised his hand, and the power within his Chaos Dantian was fully unleashed.
Chaos, like the world before creation, contained all forms of power within it.
Though the power of Light was formidable, it was merely one component within Chaos; thus, when the intense Light power washed over He Yiming, it caused him no harm whatsoever.
Slowly, the blinding light softened, allowing everyone to clearly perceive the scene within the pillar.
He Yiming hovered suspended within the beam, calm and still. He possessed no Crown of Light, nor a Staff of Light; his person was nearly unadorned.
But standing within the beam, enveloped by the potent radiance, he seemed to merge with the surrounding light, becoming indistinguishable from it.
At opposite ends of the city, two supreme experts standing equally within the world of Light gazed across the distance, the entire city bathed in brilliance.
The remaining believers on the ground stared wide-eyed, their expressions a mixture of intense fear and confusion. Why had the Deity of Light suddenly doubled? Could the demon who came to challenge the Pope of the Temple also be an envoy of the God of Light?
When He Yiming stood steady within the pillar of light, cloaked in beautiful, dazzling wings of radiance, the animosity of the entire city’s populace toward him rapidly dissolved, and the massive wave of collective will that had been on the verge of manifesting in the sky vanished.
Witnessing the duel between the two envoys of Light, the believers fell into bewilderment.
Franklin’s face was drained of all color; he finally understood that his study of the power of Light was incomplete. Apparently, the power of Light could accommodate the presence of other powers. Yet, he could not comprehend how He Yiming achieved this.
A profoundly bizarre thought surfaced in his mind: had he somehow expelled the Earth Divine Power from his body?
The answer was too outlandish, so it was instantly dismissed the moment it flashed through his consciousness.
He Yiming, standing in the pillar of light, allowed the formidable Light power to wash over his body. Protected by the Chaos Dantian, he let the Light Divine Power within his core greedily absorb the surrounding energy, while he himself slowly raised his foot and began to walk forward step by step in the air.
His destination was Franklin, who was also enveloped by the power of Light.
At this moment, he did not employ superhuman speed or strength, but merely walked, clad in that brilliant radiance, toward the other Son of Light.
A vast, almost oppressive aura gradually closed the distance. A rare hint of panic stirred in Franklin’s heart; he harbored an ominous premonition that he might not secure the final victory in this day’s battle.
Closer. The distance between them shrank inexorably.
He Yiming’s gaze locked onto Franklin’s sinister eyes.
In that instant, it seemed they exchanged volumes without words, or perhaps, they merely exchanged a common glance.
From them radiated infinite might—the direct confrontation between the old and new masters, and the collision of two fundamentally different applications of the power of Light.
He Yiming strode forward, arriving before Franklin. The Pope made no move to evade; he thrust his Staff of Light forward, meeting He Yiming’s outstretched finger.
But at that very moment, He Yiming’s other hand shot out like lightning.
Franklin felt his wrist sharply grasped, caught firmly by He Yiming.
Then, he heard a voice, intensely familiar yet seemingly echoing from an impossible distance: “The power here is not yours…”
A tremendous force surged up from his wrist. Although Franklin was suffused with an equally vast amount of Light power, he suddenly realized that all the light energy he controlled could no longer pose the slightest threat to his opponent.
“Franklin, descend… to hell!”
A sound like muffled thunder resonated across heaven and earth at that instant!