Myriad Faces and Forms' voice changed as well. "It consumes definitions themselves. It doesn't borrow them or recycle them-it consumes them completely. Any definition it eats vanishes forever, leaving not even a record that it ever existed."
The Iron Curtain Sovereign stared at the image, his pupils contracting sharply. He snapped his head toward Lin Ye, his voice filled with unprecedented fear:
"It... it's exactly the same as our Definition Plunder Technique."
Lin Ye said nothing. His multicolored pupils settled on the deepest violet-the color of "truth."
The Iron Curtain Sovereign continued, trembling. "The being who sold us the technique... he said he was called the 'First Awakened.' He said this was the only way to save our universe."
Harmonic Leaping Note abruptly raised her head. "The First Awakened? In the previous cosmic era, before the Zeroers were created, a 'First Awakened' also appeared before the Tuner."
Everyone turned to Lin Ye.
Lin Ye remained silent for three seconds. Then he spoke, his voice terrifyingly calm:
"It has manipulated countless eras from behind the scenes. The Zeroers, the Iron Curtain, the Devouring Progeny-they're all its pawns."
The Iron Curtain Sovereign took a step back. "You mean... we've been used all along?"
"Not used. Feeding it." Lin Ye raised a hand and pointed into the depths of the Definition Sea. "Most of the definitions you plundered weren't used to save your universe. You were merely conduits through which definitions flowed into that embryo."
The Iron Curtain Sovereign's body shook violently. All hundred thousand of his warriors showed signs of definition instability at once-not because they were under attack, but because their faith had collapsed.
Harmonic Leaping Note drew a deep breath. "Tuner, what do we do now?"
Lin Ye looked into the depths of the Definition Sea. The twenty-three million stars