Gu Yue: "Call Me Mom, and I'll Give You a Spirit Ring." Lin Yan Turned and Headed for the Kitchen to Get a Knife

Lin Yan's gaze sharpened slightly.

Well, damn.

This foolish dragon was even stronger than he had imagined.

In less than half a day, she had already raised the spiritual energy density of the small world by several levels.

Lin Yan was wary, but he did not show it.

He casually walked over, lifted his foot, and kicked Gu Yue's round little butt.

"Hey."

Gu Yue had been immersed in the pleasure of drawing in the elemental power of heaven and earth. Caught off guard, she was kicked and rolled across the floor three times.

Her head slammed into a stack of empty cardboard boxes in the corner with a dull thud.

She pulled her head out of the boxes, clutching her butt as misty tears filled her silver eyes.

"What was that for?!"

She climbed up, her dragon face full of accusation.

"Can't you call me some other way? You kick me every time. That's very disrespectful to a dragon, you know? I'm the Silver Dragon King, the ruler of all spirit beasts—"

"I'm used to it." Lin Yan interrupted her without changing expression. "How's your recovery?"

Gu Yue grumbled as she got up, brushing scraps of paper off her scales with her claws while secretly watching his expression.

He was being so direct today. It seemed he could not wait any longer.

"Not bad."

She deliberately swished her tail, trying to make her voice sound casual.

"The elemental power within the world has accumulated to about the right level. The God-Bestowed Spirit Ring... can be made now."

Lin Yan's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained calm.

He merely nodded slightly, his tone flat. "Then let's begin."

"Wait." Gu Yue raised one claw, gathered her courage, and puffed out her chest. "I have a condition."

Lin Yan's eyes narrowed slightly.

Gu Yue went cold all over under his gaze, but she still forced herself not to back down.

"Call me Mom."

The air fell silent for a full three seconds.

"Call you what?" Lin Yan sounded as though he were confirming whether he had misheard.

"Mom!"

Gu Yue puffed out her chest righteously.

"I've painstakingly saved up divine power for so long, and I'm giving you a God-Bestowed Spirit Ring. You should at least call me Mom! That's basic respect!"

Her line of reasoning went like this:

These past few days, she had stolen instant noodles for him, boiled water, washed pots, and tucked him in. Wasn't that all the sort of thing a mother did?

What was wrong with calling her Mom once?

This boy had lost his mother when he was little, so she would be his mother instead.

Once she had the title, surely he would not keep holding a kitchen knife to her neck every day, right?

He could not possibly stew his own mother, could he?

Lin Yan stared at her expressionlessly.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Gu Yue grew increasingly guilty beneath his gaze.

She unconsciously took half a step back.

"It's fine if you don't want to call me that..." Her voice grew quieter and quieter. "It's not like you have to..."

Lin Yan turned and walked away.

Gu Yue's heart lurched.

She watched Lin Yan's back as he headed toward the kitchen.

And there were knives in the kitchen!!

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Gu Yue lunged at him, wrapping both front claws tightly around his calf.

"Then don't call me that! I'll give you the God-Bestowed Spirit Ring right now! For free! No charge! I'll even throw myself in! Is that enough?!"

Lin Yan looked down at her. "Your words."

"My words!" Gu Yue nodded furiously, her head shaking so fast it nearly left afterimages. "I, Gu Yue, keep my word!"

She silently added in her heart:

Once this king regains her strength, the first thing she'll do is make you say "Mom" ten thousand times.

Ten thousand times. Not one less.

Yet her face was piled with an obedient, harmless smile, and her purple eyes brimmed with sincerity.

Even her tail drooped limply, swaying gently.

She put on an expression that said, "I'm so good and obedient."

Qian Yuhan stood at the highest point of the divine temple, gazing up at the sky.

Fifteen years had passed.

It had been exactly fifteen years since the destruction of the Ninth Epoch, since she had been reborn into this newborn Tenth Epoch.

In this epoch, human civilization had risen from the ruins once more.

Stone-built city walls had become white marble temples.

Crude bronze spears had become longswords engraved with holy light runes.

Incense still curled through stone temples, but the statues enshrined within had changed.

They were no longer that indescribable Creator God.

Instead, they were statues of a six-winged angel—herself.

The Angel God, Qian Yuhan.

Over fifteen years, relying on the experience and memories she had brought from the Ninth Epoch, she had once again consolidated the Angel God's divine position.

Holy light shone upon the land, driving away darkness and purifying evil energy.

Humanity revered her as their savior, built divine temples for her, and offered their most devout faith.

Every day, hundreds upon thousands of believers knelt in the plaza before the temple, calling out her divine name and praying for her protection.

Yet Qian Yuhan had never relaxed for even a moment.

Because she knew that her strength alone was nowhere near enough.

"This is the Tenth Epoch."

She murmured softly, her voice carrying a bone-deep weariness.

She slowly lowered her head and looked at her hands.

She had once believed herself omnipotent, until she witnessed the sky split open with her own eyes.

That scene was forever branded deep within her soul.

That figure drifting above the river of time, with nothing more than a glance, had brought the entire world to a standstill.

Floodwaters froze in midair, and falling lightning froze across the heavens.

The World-Destroying Dragon's calamity had been crushed apart as if by an invisible hand.

Then destruction descended.

Reversing the time of the entire world, making everything begin again, allowing the false gods of the old epoch to survive.

Such methods had already far surpassed the limits of her understanding.

"Great Creator God."

Qian Yuhan looked up at the sky. Her exquisite, breathtakingly beautiful, sacred face was now filled with confusion and fear.

"Your will, your purpose... what exactly are they?"

"What... am I supposed to do?"

The divine temple stood empty. No one answered her.

Only the wind passed through the colonnades, producing hollow echoes.

What could make a god reset the entire world again and again?

Historical records were not lacking in accounts of it—survivors who had crossed over from the previous epoch passed down tales of world-ending calamities by word of mouth.

Whenever civilization developed to a certain point, destruction would come.

Whenever humanity believed it had seen the dawn, that dawn would be snuffed out.

She had already lived through it twice.

In the Eighth Epoch, evil ran rampant throughout the world. The entire world was corrupted by evil energy, and living beings went mad, slaughtering one another.

She drew the Evil Sword that suppressed the seal of the previous epoch and led the remaining humans in their struggle to survive.

Then the Creator God descended, and the epoch ended.

In the Ninth Epoch, the World-Destroying Dragon appeared.

She joined forces with the Sea God to resist it, yet they could not even withstand a single move from that dragon.

If the Creator God had not personally brought down destruction, humanity would have been slaughtered long ago.

What would the Tenth Epoch face?

The deeper she thought, the more terrifying it became.

What did that supreme being, capable of manipulating time as easily as turning a hand, truly want?

In the previous epoch, they had built civilization according to the god's will, yet they had still fallen into destruction.

Because no matter what they did, they could not defeat the World-Destroying Dragon. In the end, they had drawn the god into action, forcing the god to personally destroy the epoch.

Then what kind of trial would this epoch face?