...
"Mother... Qiye..."
In an endless dreamscape, the world was a expanse of lifeless grayish color, filled with ruins suspended in mid-air, the skyscrapers are now reduced to nothing but rubble. Lin Xi Chen was the only soul present; her hands were so cold that frost had begun to form.
A blackening discoloration crept upward, spreading from her fingertips to her wrists and forearms, "No, no, no... Yang Jin... Auntie...."
Her gut-wrenching screams tore through the quiet space until her voice grew hoarse. Each of her steps was heavy as she dragged her battered body across the place, trying to search for the ones she loved. "Xiao Hei....! Qingzhu....!"
"Please.... Don't leave me!"
As she ventured further, the corruption rapidly spread throughout Lin Xi Chen's body, rendering her unable to walk any longer. She collapsed to the ground before the doorway of a house on a familiar street corner—a spot where nothing remained but a simple, weathered wooden frame.
"Where are you?" She struggled to push herself up, summoning every ounce of her soul to fight off the corruption hovering at the edge of her mind, poised to seize her body at any moment.
She tried to recall her happiest memories to help her endure the pain, yet Lin Xi Chen could barely picture the faces involved. Her memories felt fragmented and unreal—like a chaotic jumble that had been kneaded together and crammed into her brain.
"Please... I'm scared..."
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she dug her fingers into the ground—tearing her nails and drawing blood in a desperate bid to stay conscious—but the darkness, like a cold hand, dragged her down into a bottomless, lightless abyss.
Her vision blurred as she could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion; it was the final straw, and the persona of the Divine Ruin began to crawl over her soul to seize control.
"My child.... Hemera...."
"Mother..."
Lin Xi Chen could feel a warm hand stroking her hair, accompanied by a gentle lullaby that seemed to soothe the fierce internal turmoil raging within her.
She felt a surge of power rise up to lift away—and consume—the flames that threatened to incinerate her soul. In their wake, her inner self became a tranquil expanse of water beneath a starry black sky, reflecting the brilliant moonlight and illuminating the path back to solid ground.
"Shh... Hemera, get some rest; your brother will take care of the rest."
"I will teach you how to control [Night] soon enough; for now, just focus on resting, my dear child Hemera."
...
BANG——!!
"Tch!" The magic circle Yiyu had summoned suddenly shattered into nothingness, forcing him to recoil instantly as he sensed a divine aura radiating from Lin Xi Chen.
This aura was so surging and potent that it utterly overwhelmed the malevolent aura from Lucifer's Divine Ruin, while simultaneously shattering the binding oath he had placed upon her to turn her into his pawn. "Nyx's presence..."
Nyx, the Greek Goddess of Night—one of the supreme primordial deities of Greek mythology.
She truly lives up to her name; a mere trace of her aura is enough to completely overwhelm him, forcing him to his knees involuntarily.
Yet strangely, his body went almost rigid before this brat from the "Pool" realm—an agent of the first Twin God. This was certainly not Divine Ruin, but rather something more akin to... a God Soul!
Yiyu reacted instantly and summoned his sword, aiming to kill Lin Xi Chen on the spot before she could complete the process of absorbing Nyx's soul.
CLANG!!
A piercing clash of blades rang out across Yiyu's [Nightmare] domain with sparks and twinkling stars sent flying as his sword struck Lin Xi Chen's—which had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Even though her eyes remained closed, her ability to purely detect his presence and launch a counterattack sent a chill down Yiyu's spine.
WHOOOSH!
A single surge of power and an explosive burst of mental energy were enough to send Yiyu flying back so far eventhough he is at the peak of "Sea" realm. He had to drive his sword into the ground just to steady himself and avoid being flung out of his own domain.
Lin Xi Chen gripped the longsword in her hand and slowly approached Yiyu; with every step, she was like moonlight casting itself upon the water, beginning to transform his domain into her own.
Her hair was jet-black ink, shimmering like a starry sky and cascaded past her heels, fluttering in the wind behind her; her cloak seemed woven from the infinite, star-filled night sky, while distinctive golden lines became increasingly visible around her eyes.
Atop her head remained a single, deep-black horn adorned with exquisite jewelry—marking the fact that she had fully absorbed Nyx's God Soul and fused it with Lucifer's Divine Ruin.
Her long eyelashes fluttered gently, and she slowly opened her eyes. A pair of pupils shone as bright and brilliant as stars, deep as the universe and mysterious like a cresent moon appearing in the sky.
"It's a pity—you are merely a clone..." Nyx's voice overlaid Lin Xi Chen's clear tones, lending her words like an even greater majesty as the pressure of the gods truly descended upon the mortal realm.
In the blink of an eye, she disappeared amidst the curtain of stars and reappeared in the sky; her sword flashed like moonlight as she raised it, resolved to finish off this clone with a single strike.
...
Deep inside the underground cave.
Unlike the winding passage where Lin Qiye and the others were, this was a vast underground cavern, almost the size of three stadiums. Scorching lava filled half of the space, and fiery red light illuminated the entire dark cavern.
If those intricate and winding caves are likened to blood vessels, then this place is the underground heart of the entire Jinan Mountain area.
Jinnan Mountain is not a volcano. In human exploration, it is impossible for magma to exist there. But the fact is that there is a magma reserve in its underground that is comparable to that of a real volcano.
What is unscientific and unconventional is called "mysterious".
In the scorching magma world, a huge gray earth dragon slowly raised its body. It was about seventeen or eighteen stories tall, and the fiery red patterns all over its body looked like flowing magma. Although the distribution was irregular, it had a strange beauty.
Sizzle—!
Scorching air spewed from its arms. At this moment, the earth dragon raised its neck high, its scarlet eyes staring angrily at the figure in front of it. The magma around its body seemed to be boiling, surging and turbulent!
Before it, a man with half his body burned stood awkwardly in the air, his eyes fixed on the earth dragon, fear mixed with a hint of excitement.
"The Fiery Vein Earth Dragon... So this is the Fiery Vein Earth Dragon! It's only at the 'Sea' Realm like me, yet it's so strong..."
His name is Ma Tianyi, the fourteenth seat of [Believers], and also the person in charge of this operation to hunt down Lin Qiye. He is the "Sea" Realm expert who was observed by Lin Qiye to be motionless.
"Earth dragons are the kings of the underground world. They can move across the earth as if it were flat ground, easily triggering geological disasters. They possess their own [Absolute Earth Domain], capable of moving all enemies on the surface into the underground world..."
Ma Yitian stared at the Flame Vein Earth Dragon in front of him and said excitedly, "The Flame Vein Earth Dragon is the king of earth dragons. As long as Lord [Yiyu] can subdue it, in time, our Ancient God Church will be able to gain another 'Calamity' level general!"
"This achievement is no less significant than killing that dual-god agent!To be able to secure two top-tier credits at once, this time I've really hit the jackpot!"
ROAR!!
...
The Fiery Earth Dragon glared at the man before it and roared fiercely. The raging flames contracted into a thick pillar of fire, which it spewed towards Ma Yitian, who was suspended in mid-air.
Ma Yitian moved swiftly, but was still burned by the edge of the pillar of fire, and his entire right arm was instantly engulfed!
He screamed and nearly fell into the lava. His face was pale, but the excitement in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest.
Generally speaking, when faced with such a powerful and abnormally powerful mysterious entity, apart from a very few exceptional geniuses, humans of the same realm are simply no match for it; only a stronger being of a higher realm can contend with it.
"I should inform [the] master that he's here... otherwise, I think I would really die here." Ma Yitian took out a small round bead from his pocket, crushed it violently, and opened and closed his lips as if he were saying something.
...
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion rang out, and golden ripples spread across the mountainside, instantly leveling several surrounding peaks.
Amidst the flying pebbles and dust, Yuan Gang, covered in wounds, slowly straightened up. Two golden ripples emanated from his fists, radiating a terrifying pressure.
He stared intently at the mountain peak not far away, his gaze sharp as a knife.
There, unharmed, Yiyu leaned against a tree, his long, black hair perfectly styled, like an elegant gentleman, his eyes filled with mockery as he looked at Yuan Gang.
"As expected of the vice-captain of the Beijing City squad, he managed to endure my 'nightmare' for so long..."
Whoosh—!
Yuan Gang narrowed his eyes, a golden light flashed, and his figure appeared in front of Yiyu in an instant. His right fist was tightly clenched with terrifying golden ripples, and he slammed it down!
Thump—!
With just one punch, the mountain in front of him was blasted into countless fragments. His left fist followed immediately, creating a deafening sonic boom that struck another mountain peak from a distance, leaving a huge crater!
"Everyone thought you had only just entered the 'Sea' realm, but little did they know you had already touched the ceiling of your cultivation, just half a step away from breaking through to the 'Boundless' realm..."
A murmured voice drifted from the sky. He stood there, his feet firmly planted in the void, and shook his head with a hint of regret.
"Unfortunately, you're too old. Even if you could break through to the 'Boundless' realm, you'd be destined to be stuck at that level for the rest of your life. Your potential is insufficient... Otherwise, I would like to take you under my wing and make you my [follower]."
As soon as he finished speaking, he pointed lightly at the ground, and the dark clouds that had been gathering in the sky seemed to come alive, forming a huge, ferocious ghost face with dense lightning flashing within it, roaring as it bit down at the earth!
The lightning-fast ghost face crashed onto the ruined earth, completely obscuring Yuan Gang's figure!
"My Divine Ruins can turn all 'nightmares' into reality. Within this layer of my 'nightmare,' I am the master of the world, and you cannot defeat me," the dreamer said with a smile."
As the lightning and dark clouds dissipated, Yuan Gang stood in the deep pit, covered in wounds. Despite his serious injuries, his back remained straight!
He looked up angrily at the whispers in the sky, his eyes filled with soaring fighting spirit, golden ripples spreading across them, he looked like a god of war!
Just then, a voice whispered in Yiyu's ear. He raised an eyebrow in surprise and his gaze fell on Yuan Gang again.
Yiyu suddenly coughed up blood an instant later as he clutched his chest. The pain seemed endless; the mocking smile he had worn for Yuan Gang was gone from his face.
"Cough... Cough.... Unfortunately, there's been an unexpected bonus... Oh well, let's call it a day."
With a casual wave of his hand, the world around him crumbled into pieces, and his figure gradually faded away. Yuan Gang felt as if he had suddenly lost his weight, and his mind plummeted downwards.
Thump—!
His figure fell heavily outside the tent.
Rain poured down on his blood-stained face. He suddenly stood up and looked around.
Jinan Mountain is still there, the tents of the temporary command post are still there, the thunderclouds in the sky are still there, and the great battle with Yiyu is like a nightmare...
He looked down at his body and found that the wound was still there.
In other words, if he died in that nightmare... then he really died.
"Commander!"
"It's the commander! The commander is back!"
Hearing the commotion outside, the two temporary instructors came out of their tent and exclaimed in surprise when they saw Yuan Gang covered in wounds.
"Commander, where have you been? Why are you covered in injuries?"
They rushed forward to help Yuan Gang, but he simply waved his hand, his gaze fixed on the mountainside, and said in a deep voice:
"Don't worry about that now, report back to me immediately about the situation in the mountains!"