The central point of the century-long plan by the Lord of Wanchuan, and also its endpoint - the Heavenly Ghost Transformation Sacrifice Ceremony’s platform, was now right before Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo had also already met the three conditions needed to ascend this platform.
However, the Wangchuan tributary surrounding the platform formed the final obstacle.
"Just one more step, breaking through this final barrier, and I will succeed greatly!" Ning Zhuo thought to himself.
Seeing a Wangchuan tributary here, Ning Zhuo was startled initially, but quickly accepted it.
After all, it wasn’t surprising for the Wangchuan Underworld, taking its name from the River of Oblivion, to have various means utilizing the river.
One should know, the Immortal City of Wangchuan Underworld’s capital is situated right on the River of Oblivion.
"But how do I cross this river?"
"Mother and the leader are taking another route, directly aiming for the Wangchuan Immortal City. They have to face the real River of Oblivion, not this tributary in front of me."
"Mother should have a way to cross the river, but why didn’t she tell me?"
"Moreover, where is the true form of the Lord of Wanchuan?"
Ning Zhuo stepped into this core battlefield for the first time, knowing nothing about the previous engagements between the Lord of Wanchuan and several formidable figures.
"This Earth Element Divine Separation, I guess it belongs to the Lord of Wanchuan."
"His true form has not appeared so far; maybe it’s seriously injured or constrained at a key spot within the platform."
Meanwhile, the blood glow on the platform was slowly diminishing.
Ning Zhuo secretly guessed: Does the complete fading of the blood glow signify the completion of this sacrificial ceremony?
"Still, the crucial question remains—how to break through this Wangchuan tributary?"
Ning Zhuo immediately recalled the Omen Poem.
"The ghost tide surges, threatening the White Paper. The lone swan carries a candle, breaking through the curtains of heaven. The guest star shines in the north of the literary hub, and as the myriad lanterns light up, the tribulation will self-destruct."
"This poem lacks clues to help me overcome the flow of Wangchuan."
"What should I do?"
Ning Zhuo fell into confusion, letting his thoughts scatter.
"I am the chosen one of the Mortal World’s lifespan, the savior of White Paper Immortal City, the human tribulation for the Lord of Wanchuan! There must be an answer to cross, it can’t be a dead end!"
"Perhaps to cross the river, the answer lies in my hands?"
Just now, having taken out the Returning Silence Path Candle from the storage waist belt to solve the turbid barrier problem, Ning Zhuo again began to use his Divine Sense, constantly scanning through his belongings.
Soon, his Divine Sense fixed on the Fetal Breathing Spirit Boat.
"Can this boat carry me across the river?" Ning Zhuo instinctively caressed the mechanical ring, only to find it as dormant as death.
Ning Zhuo’s thoughts shifted: "What if I cross the Time Branch without using any artifact, just swimming?"
As he entertained this notion, the mechanical ring remained silent.
A hint of worry flashed through Ning Zhuo’s eyes, and he stopped his caressing motion.
His gaze and thoughts both scattered, with various ideas arising in his Divine Sea.
His eyes swept over the floating Ice Coffin, and a thought emerged: "This Ice Coffin resembles the Returning Silence Path Candle."
"It seals a pair of scissor magic treasures. Before I arrived, the Earth Element Divine Separation was still attacking the Ice Coffin."
"Clearly, the Ice Coffin, left by some powerful figure, sealed one of the Lord of Wanchuan’s trump cards during battle!"
"These scissor magic treasures must be important to the Lord of Wanchuan; otherwise, his opponent wouldn’t handle them so meticulously. And the Earth Element Divine Separation attempts to retrieve the treasures by eroding the Ice Coffin."
Ning Zhuo didn’t know that the Ice Coffin was actually transformed from the Cold Abyss Ice Coffin Candle by the Ghost Fire Lord.
The young man’s gaze fixed on the Ice Coffin, causing his body to tremble subtly.
"The body of the Returning Silence Path Candle is an Ice Coffin, and this one is, too."
"Similar appearances, could it be a divine arrangement, providing me with a hint on purpose?"
Ning Zhuo squinted, probing with his Divine Sense as he carefully scrutinized it, naturally thinking about the next layer: "This Ice Coffin is radiating cold air, being Yin Attribute and also Ice Attribute. Could it freeze the Wangchuan tributary?"
"Actually, testing this is simple."
Ning Zhuo reached into his storage waist belt.
In the next moment, he raised his hand and threw out a large number of Mechanical Golden Swallows.
The swallows flocked together, swiftly flying toward the Ice Coffin high in the sky.
As Ning Zhuo pondered on how to maneuver the Ice Coffin to approach the Wangchuan tributary, the Earth Evil God immediately took action.
Boom!
The turbid air lashed out like a snake-like whip, almost wiping out the flock of golden swallows, leaving only two or three flying towards the Ice Coffin.
Seeing this, Ning Zhuo was ecstatically surprised.
The action of the Earth Evil God somewhat confirmed his recent speculation.
Of course, it might also be the Earth Evil God’s deliberate ploy or an overattachment to the scissor magic treasure.
No matter what, Ning Zhuo at least discovered a potential breakthrough point.
He immediately took out more Mechanical Artifacts, manipulating them to disperse into scattered star clusters, once again charging towards the Ice Coffin in the sky.
The Earth Evil God’s attention was diverted once more.
In just a short span, the Bronze War Chariot was already battered and bruised.
Despite Luo Si’s painstaking care, the pressure from the Earth Evil God was overwhelming, leaving him with no time to tend to the chariot at many moments.
The vast chasms were shocking to behold.
"Old friend, hold on a bit longer!" Luo Si harbored deep affection for the chariot, knowing it would be destroyed in this battle, feeling grief yet determined in unyielding battle spirit.
Once the chariot was destroyed, he alone would find it even harder to withstand the Earth Evil God.
The only hope rested on Ning Zhuo finding a breakthrough.
"Hmm?" Standing on the Bronze War Chariot, Luo Si saw the Earth Evil God take action again, but it wasn’t against him, it was to exterminate the Mechanical Golden Swallows.