"Have we... failed again?"
Another soul, clad in tattered armor, sighed and lowered its head.
"Even if that kid, Xiao Jiang, went so far as to sever his own path and forcibly alter the future..."
"Not even that?"
"They couldn't even delay until the [Destruction Five Days] milestone; the High God just stepped in and flipped the table..."
"There's nothing I can do."
A spirit holding a feather fan shook its head helplessly.
"The other party is High God who transcends all laws."
"He didn't personally wipe out our world from the very beginning."
"We're already incredibly lucky."
The golden spirits of the fallen heroes discussed this upheaval in a calm tone, transcending life and death.
Finally, the old man stroking his beard spoke again, sealing the deal.
"Alright, that's fine then."
"Over the past thousand years, everyone has done their utmost."
"This was originally an unwinnable, hopeless battle. We've already done enough to hold out this long."
He turned his head to look at the deepest part of the imperial mausoleum.
"Now... go find the Ancestor Dragon Emperor."
"Let him..."
"Issue the final [Sky Curtain] order."
"Good."
The souls responded in unison.
Thus, the countless golden souls converged into a long river, heading towards the depths of the imperial tomb.
In the very center, there sat a pitch-black dragon coffin.
Behind the coffin stood a prominent monument.
The Tomb of the Ancestor Dragon Emperor.
"Jiuchuan, you go and call her."
The old man looked at the exceptionally solid golden spirit beside him, "After all, you are her father."
"Okay, leave it to me."
Ying Jiuchuan nodded.
This once mighty Emperor, who had dominated the world during his lifetime, floated to the front of the coffin.
"Koi! Wake up! Wake up! Koi!"
The words had barely left his mouth.
"Clang!"
The latches on the edge of the coffin were kicked open.
Immediately afterwards, a voice clearly grumpy from being woken up came from under the coffin lid.
"Shut up! It's not even six o'clock tomorrow morning yet, are you trying to summon a soul?!"
Ying Jiuchuan acted like an old father, urgently pounding on the coffin lid and shouting.
"Wake up, little miss! Something terrible has happened outside!"
"The Underworld Tree has arrived ahead of schedule! The world is about to be destroyed!"
"The late emperors are all waiting for you to issue your final Sky Curtain edict!"
"Yeah yeah!"
"My dear great-great-grandson, wake up! The High God has overturned the table!"
The golden spirits of the fallen heroes surrounding me looked just like the aunts and uncles urging me to get back to work during the Lunar New Year.
They surrounded the coffin, chattering and buzzing, urging it on.
I'm so annoyed by these people pressuring me.
"Enough!! Shut up, all of you!!!"
Bang!
The coffin lid was kicked away.
A figure rolled out of the coffin, sat up, and strode out.
Unlike the illusory spirits around her, she possessed a physical form!
Because... she's a living person!
She wore a black imperial robe with nine dragons, and her short black hair flowed freely.
What's most striking are those ruby-red vertical pupils.
She was tall and slender, with large, sweeping movements, like a rebellious tomboy.
If you don't look closely at her face, you really can't tell her gender at a glance.
This is the nominal supreme ruler of the Dragon Xia Imperial City, the famous...
Ancestor Dragon Emperor, Ying Liyi!
She impatiently picked at her ear and pointed at the group of anxious, pacing spirit elders in front of her.
"What's the big deal? Why are you all so flustered?!"
"So what if the world ends? It's not like we won't have breakfast tomorrow!"
"We've experienced World Annihilation before! If the sky falls, we can just start over!"
"Start over..."
The souls murmured bitterly upon hearing those two words.
"But... my dear great-grandson."
"Is that illegitimate son named Du Linyuan really capable of doing anything?"
The old man with the feather fan looked worried.
"Even though he possesses the Supernatural Ability of [Death Regression], and is equipped with the Demigod- level [Ghost Emperor Robe]."
"But that thing has a limited number of uses!"
"Our monitoring arrays outside the city had already detected that he had performed multiple spacetime jumps."
"The very essence of the Ghost Emperor Robe is almost completely destroyed."
"I feel..."
"This should be his last time rewinding."
"Yes."
Another spirit chimed in, "It's all Jiu Chuan's fault!"
"Back then, he insisted on having an illegitimate child outside the marriage, which resulted in that kid having impure blood!"
"If someone with pure blood were to wear the Ghost Emperor Robe, they could do it at least a hundred times over!"
"But Jiuchuan only has three children. Besides him, no one else can complete this task..."
Listen to these old guys starting to shirk responsibility and pass the buck again.
"Alright! All of you, shut up!"
Ying Liyi waved his sleeve irritably, interrupting the entire argument.
"Who told you that..."
"Is my hope that my foolish younger brother, who was tricked into marriage by that scheming woman from the Gao family?"
The souls were stunned.
"Death Regression is something I have in my arsenal..."
Ying Liyi stretched out a finger and pointed to the dome of the imperial mausoleum above her head.
"But he's never the only Defective Product!"
"When I said 'start over,' I meant... him!"
Everyone looked in the direction she was pointing, their faces full of confusion.
Could it be...
Besides Du Linyuan, is there anyone else in this world who possesses the power of [Time Regression]?!
At the same time.
Prayer Deep Pool, First Sea Region.
Sea-Cleaving Land.
Because of Duanlang's death, the two cliffs on either side of the sea began to slowly close together.
Seawater surged in, creating a deafening roar.
Jiangnan, wielding the Raging Wave Axe, merely glanced at it before unleashing another strike!
"Boom!"
The sea was cleaved open once again!
The cliff has split in two again!
Hey! Thunder Living Person!
Berris's voice came from within the Raging Wave Axe, tinged with urgency.
"What did that old man mean by what he just said? What did he do wrong? What exactly was he saying?"
Jiangnan is in free fall, shaking his head.
He didn't know either; it was all a mystery to him.
Where exactly did I go wrong?
Those who have no memory cannot understand or comprehend it.
He sheathed his Raging Wave Axe and switched to the Near Yet Far, his figure flashing as he arrived at the bottom of the sea.
Zhang Lingqi was kneeling on the ground, trembling all over and pale-faced from the backlash of his Command the Dead.
Du Linyuan stood beside him, laughing maniacally.
Zhang Lingqi walked over and looked at Du Linyuan: "Success! Duanlang has been killed."
What's wrong with you?
Du Linyuan's laughter stopped abruptly.
Then, he laughed even more wildly.
"Hahaha... Wrong! Everything's in chaos!"
He clutched his head, pacing back and forth like a trapped beast.
"After paying such a high price... in the end... we ended up fighting our own people!"
Zhang Lingqi simply couldn't take it anymore.
He got up and slapped Du Linyuan across the face.
"Smack!"
"Calm down! What do you mean by 'our own people'?!"
Du Linyuan knelt on the ground, then buried his head in his hands and gave a bitter laugh.
"Duanlang... is one of our own..."
Jiangnan frowned and strode forward.
But seeing the other person in this state, normal communication became impossible.
He raised his hand and placed his finger on Du Linyuan's forehead.
"By the words of God, my command is etched into your soul!"
Word Spirit / Divine Edict, activated.
Forced calm.
The effects were immediate.
Du Linyuan's breathing went from rapid to steady, and his manic eyes gradually regained their clarity.
"Thanks."
He said in a hoarse voice.
"Speak."
Jiangnan withdrew his hand. "What do you know?"
Du Linyuan took a deep breath and began to speak.
"In fact, Duanlang lived a thousand years ago, before the Dragon Xia Imperial City moved to the Barbaric Realm..."
"They've already been targeted by the Annihilation Evil God Gabetan."
"It was actually this that attempted to kill the Dragon God and seize his body."
"The old monsters in the imperial tomb discovered all of this long ago."
"But instead of making any rash moves, they laid a hidden plan."
"Let the true Duanlang lie dormant, and strike at the crucial moment."
Zhang Lingqi then asked, "Then why did he attack us? Did he betray us?"
Du Linyuan shook his head. "No, what we saw from the very beginning was not Duanlang at all."
"It's Gabetan."
"Annihilation Evil God, Gabetan."
He looked up. "It has always wanted to possess Duanlang, but it has never succeeded."
"On the contrary, I'm almost being assimilated by Duanlang, so our personalities are almost identical."
You simply can't tell the difference.
Berris pressed on from the Raging Wave Axe, "What did he mean by his last words?"
Why do I say that Berris and you are all wrong?
Upon hearing this, Du Linyuan smiled again.
But this time, the smile was bitter.
"It seems... it still retains some consciousness."
"Or rather, Gabetan himself knew it."
"Didn't you notice that Gabetan was actively avoiding battle before transforming into Duanlang?"
Everyone was stunned.
Jiangnan's pupils suddenly contracted.
Yes.
Gabetan was a deserter from beginning to end.
He didn't fight back when hit by a meteorite, he didn't turn back when being chased, he ran away when attacked, and he hid when he ran away.
It's Quasi-God, why is it running away?
Du Linyuan answered the question.
"Because it's afraid."
It was afraid of dying.
He looked around and lowered his voice:
Beyond the Barbaric Realm, on the other side of the starry sea.
"In a place we cannot reach, a being that transcends even those Evil God possesses an unparalleled treasure."
"The Underworld Tree."
"A treasure capable of endlessly resurrecting the twelve Evil God."
He looked at Jiangnan and said earnestly, "This is also the reason why the Dragon God was worn down to death and had to be reincarnated."
Jiangnan frowned.
While in Soul Return Town, he had gathered information about himself and pieced together fragments of his past life.
I never expected it to turn out like this.
If that final enemy truly possesses the means to resurrect infinitely.
Then he really might not be able to do it.
"But if that's the case," Jiangnan began, "Why is Gabetan afraid of death?"
This time, he didn't use sticky notes.
Du Linyuan began to show signs of collapse again, but the residual effects of the Divine Edict forcibly Suppression his madness.
He uttered his final answer, his voice trembling.
"Because... He doesn't want to kill his own offspring with his own hands."
"Gabetan is His offspring, and the Underworld Tree possesses another power."
"Once activated, the twelve Evil God will bloom across the entire world."
"A [Grotesque Tree] capable of destroying planets was born."
"They will drain all living things and the earth of their nutrients to supply the Underworld Tree so that it can bear fruit."
"The reason He hasn't done so..."
Du Linyuan's voice sounded like it was being squeezed out of his throat.
"Simply because Gabetan is still alive."
"His biological instincts wouldn't allow Him to kill His own child."
"That's why we've been able to live so long..."
"It's entirely because Gabetan is still alive."
"Don't you think... it's ridiculous? Isn't it hopeless?"
Du Linyuan burst into laughter again.
But this time, no one could laugh.
Jiangnan finally understood.
He had always instinctively assumed that any monster he saw was an enemy.
But this Gabetan is completely different.
You can treat it as an enemy, but it's also a powder keg World Annihilation.
Destroy it, and the world will be destroyed.
Even if we don't destroy it, the world might one day be blown up.
"No wonder he said I was wrong..."
Jiangnan murmured.
The next moment.
"Sizzle!"
Everyone turned their heads at the same time.
Duanlang's corpse split open.
New shoots sprouted from the cracks!
Entangled, expanded, and exploded!
"Boom!!!"
The Grotesque Tree!
It pounced on everyone!
Jiangnan had already taken precautions.
He grabbed Du Linyuan with one hand and Zhang Lingqi with the other.
"Near Yet Far, yet worlds apart!"
The three of them vanished from the spot in an instant.
The branch missed its target and crashed onto the seabed, creating a huge whirlpool of silt.
Outside the RV, Flat-Topped Mountain.
Three figures appeared out of thin air.
Du Linyuan turned around, looking at the branches of trees still growing wildly beneath the surface of the sea in the distance, his voice bitter.
"We're doomed."
He could sense that this was the last time he would rewind.
They've used up all their cards.
Even so...
Du Linyuan, however, could not find a way to win.
Even if they bypass Gabetan, bypass Duanlang, bypass the Grotesque Tree, and go directly to Dragon Xia Imperial City...
The future remains bleak.
Without finding the mastermind behind it all, and without eradicating that Underworld Tree...
They will never achieve true victory.
Zhang Lingqi didn't know what to say.
He looked at Du Linyuan.
Looking at this man who was usually crazy and eccentric, but was now unusually calm.
Suddenly, I realized that he had endured more than anyone else.
Berris fell silent, a rare occurrence for her.
She huddled inside the Raging Wave Axe, hugging her knees and burying her face in them.
The light has only just begun to shine...
What awaited them was endless darkness.
Jiangnan has not stopped.
He targeted the RV and sped off in that direction.
"Keep up."
He led the group back inside the RV.
The door was pushed open with a bang.
Chen Tong!
Chen Tong was holding the Fool when she saw Jiangnan rush in with two strangers and a talking axe, and she was still stunned.
"What's wrong?"
Jiangnan didn't explain.
He shouted directly from the Main Control Panel: "Everyone! Come to me! Now!"
Du Linyuan had no idea what Jiangnan was doing.
But the next moment, he understood.
The moment Jiangnan pulled him to Chen Tong's side, to the Fool's side.
The Ghost Emperor Robe on Du Linyuan's body has lost its effectiveness.
"This?!"
His eyes widened.
The money from the dead on his body no longer circulated, and the groom's clothes lost their luster.
He clearly felt that the protection of the Ghost Emperor Robe was gone.
"Sequence 0 Fool!"
He looked at the baby who was sucking its fingers, and his pupils dilated in shock.
"Boom!"
The RV was pierced from the outside by a tree branch!
Steel plates tore apart! Glass shattered!
Countless tree branches surged in from all directions, surrounding the entire Flat-Topped Mountain!
"Aaaaaah!"
The screams of soldiers could be heard in the distance.
The temporary campsite on Flat-Topped Mountain was swallowed up by tree branches in the blink of an eye!
The soldiers were engulfed by the Tree Roots and turned into nutrients, leaving not even bones behind.
"Guo Shuai! Circle!"
Wang Meng, who had rushed over, shouted outside.
But the branches had blocked the exit.
Guo Shuai didn't have time to run.
A tree branch pierced through the camp, heading straight for his chest!
"Daddy!"
Circle pounced from the side!
"Pfft!"
The branch pierced through her small body.
Circle Quan looked down at the hole in his chest, then looked up at Guo Shuai and grinned.
"Daddy..."
"Circle can't walk with you anymore..."
Its body began to crack and peel off piece by piece.
"Circle!"
Guo Shuai roared out in a heart-wrenching voice.
He reached out to hug it, but only caught a handful of ashes.
Circle is dead.
Guo Shuai's eyes bulged, and tears of blood welled up.
He pulled out Butcher Knife.
"Fuck your mother!"
He rushed forward!
One stroke and the tree branch is severed!
Two cuts! Three cuts!
But his power was far too insignificant in the face of the Grotesque Tree.
A tree branch swept across...
"Bang!"
Guo Shuai was sent flying, crashing into a rock and shattering it.
The Butcher Knife flew out of his hand.
He lay on the ground, covered in blood.
"Move... move for me..."
He couldn't get up.
The branches struck again.
However, the next second...
"Pfft!"
Endless tender shoots burst forth from Guo Shuai's body!
Tree branches grew out of his body!
They crashed head-on into the oncoming Grotesque Tree!
The forces of the two trees tore and clashed in mid-air!
In a daze!
The new tree inside Guo Shuai's body actually Suppression the Grotesque Tree!
Du Linyuan stood up!
"World Tree!"
He recognized him.
That's the World Tree in Twilight Forest!
"That little guy who just died... was Divine Fetus!"
"That one-eyed man actually gained that ability?!"
His voice trembled with excitement. "And the World Tree... can actually fight against the Grotesque Tree!"
Jiangnan also noticed this.
He did not hesitate.
He took the Fool from Chen Tong's arms and held him on his left arm.
The realm of Fool unfolds.
All supernatural powers within ten meters of him were reduced to zero.
But Jiangnan didn't care.
All he needs is the Fool's ability to eliminate.
He rushed into the Grotesque Tree!
"Boom!"
Wherever he went, the branches were weakened by the Fool's domain.
"With this ashes, I send you back to the abyss; Hellfire the heavens, and all laws become emptiness!"
Jiangnan, wielding the Karmic Fire Blade, charged in and out seven times!
White and dark green intertwine, Jiangnan is like a Sharp Blade, piercing through the trunk of the Grotesque Tree!
The Grotesque Tree is in complete defeat!
Branches are thinning! Tree Roots are breaking!
Every time we approach Jiangnan, large swaths of tree branches are removed!
Du Linyuan stood amidst the wreckage of the RV, witnessing the scene before him.
He had originally believed that the Dragon God was his only hope...
But now he sees it.
Not just him.
His teammates are also a force to be reckoned with.
Fool.
World Tree.
Besides...
He gazed in the direction of the Dragon Xia Imperial City, his eyes bloodshot, and two lines of tears fell.
That's not sadness.
It was touching.
"So that's how it all happened..."
"Is it always part of your game?"
He murmured softly.
"My sister..."
The world can be saved.
This is not an incorrect world line.
This is the beginning of hope!
Du Linyuan laughed.
He understood.
Salvation...
I've never relied on just one person.
It's everyone.
He turned his head and looked at Zhang Lingqi, his eyes burning with passion.
Zhang Lingqi felt a chill run down his spine from his gaze. "Are you... are you out of your mind?"
Du Linyuan nodded. "I am sick."
"And this disease..."
Only you can cure it.
Zhang Lingqi:???
"Idiot, don't disgust me."
He almost laughed out of anger.
I didn't want to waste any more words on this lunatic, so I drew my sword and went to help.
However...
"Pfft."
A figure bumped into him.
Black Blood splattered.
Du Linyuan hugged him from behind.
And in his chest, the tip of Zhang Lingqi's knife, which he hadn't had time to retract...
It went through.
"Du Linyuan... you?"
Zhang Lingqi.
Du Linyuan was still laughing when he took off the Ghost Emperor Robe.
Black Blood kept gushing from the corner of his mouth.
"Everything... is in your hands... Dog Egg... the future Grim Reaper..."
"Remember this:... bring the Fool... kill the Circle..."
"This world..."
"There is hope..."