The moonlight in the well suddenly flickered, as if it had been crushed by an invisible hand.
After the figure of the first believer disappeared, Lin Yi's fingers still lingered on his neck—the soul resonance bell that had originally hung there had shattered completely when the Mother Nest was sealed.
He could clearly feel the emptiness in his chest, as if a thin needle was pricking his nerves: "The real battle has only just begun," those words were like a red-hot iron branding his temple.
"Boss?" Long Wu's voice was a little hoarse.
He had just been suppressing the array's core by clinging to his true dragon bloodline, and now beads of sweat dripped from his forehead down his chin into his collar, his hand still resting on the hilt of the Dragon Slayer Sword at his waist, the scabbard rubbing against his armor with a soft, crackling sound. "The battle that guy was talking about... is it aimed at us?"
"Chu Yao, check the faith nodes on the real side." Lin Yi turned around, his heels clicking softly on the bluestone slab.
The stone tablet deep in the well has faded from its dark purple hue, but a faint chill still seeps up through the cracks in the stone, like a snake's tongue licking an ankle—this is different from the "emptiness" that should exist when the mother nest is completely destroyed; it is more like something whose tail has been cut off is twitching in the dark.
"Data link established." Chu Yao's projection unfolded before everyone. In the pale blue data stream, the faith node, which had been as stable as a star trail, suddenly developed spiderweb-like cracks. "An abnormal oscillation frequency was detected, matching the Mother Nest's consciousness spectrum by 93%. The residual consciousness is attempting to rebuild the cross-dimensional link through the unremoved fragments of faith." Her voice was unusually tense. "Give it ten minutes, and it'll be enough to plant a mental anchor in the underground fiber optic cables of three first-tier cities."
Xuanmingzi's bronze bell suddenly vibrated again, but this time it didn't ring clearly; instead, it sounded like someone was scraping the bell's clapper against the bronze wall.
A withered leaf had somehow gotten stuck to the hem of his Taoist robe, and it was now rising and falling with his rapid breathing: "This is the 'remnant' of the mother nest." He raised his hand to his brow, his fingertips turning an unnatural bluish-white, "Just like when a snake sheds its skin, it leaves a little bit of skin in the cracks of rocks, waiting for the spring sun to dry it next year..."
"They will come back to life." Lin Yi said, his Adam's apple bobbing.
He recalled the last ray of light that burst forth from the fragments before their annihilation in the interdimensional battlefield three days ago when he cleaved the core of the mother nest into pieces with "spacetime rift"—a light that was exactly the same as the oscillation frequency of the faith node at this moment.
Long Wu's Dragon-Slaying Blade hummed as it was drawn half an inch from its sheath, the dragon patterns on the blade gleaming with golden light: "Then let's go smash those remains to pieces! This blade is stained with the blood of the Mother Nest's mastermind; it'll cut down these little shrimps—"
“It’s no use.” Xuan Mingzi interrupted him, the cloud pattern on the cuffs of his Daoist robe being lifted by the wind, revealing the bluish-gray skin beneath. “The remnants are neither in reality nor in the game. They’re stuck in the gaps of the timeline, like…” He suddenly stopped, his eyes darting violently, as if some memory was forcibly drilling into his mind, “like petals knocked down by a rainstorm, drifting between two puddles. To completely erase them, we must return to the original timeline.”
"The original timeline?" Ivan suddenly asked.
He stood leaning against the well wall, the moonlight casting shadows on the faint scars at the corners of his eyes. "That was the time when the Mother Nest first invaded Earth, wasn't it?"
Xuan Mingzi's pupils contracted to pinpoints: "How did you know—"
“It’s in my recovered memories.” Ivan touched his chest, where the core of the Mother Nest was once embedded, now only a pale pink scar remained. “The Mother Nest, built with the power of faith, was never a simple game world, but…” He looked up at Lin Yi, “but a prison of time. Every time we seal the Mother Nest, we are extending its life. The true root is in that initial point in time.”
The wind in the shaft suddenly changed direction, blowing in with a rusty smell.
Lin Yi could hear his own heartbeat, each beat heavier than the last.
He recalled the system notification when he first awakened as the master of time and space: "The only mythical hidden class"—the so-called "only" might not be a privilege, but a responsibility that must be shouldered.
"Chu Yao, confirm the coordinates of the original timeline." He reached out and pressed his hand on the stone tablet, the spacetime emblem in his palm glowing with silver light. "How long will it take to locate it?"
"0.3 seconds." The data stream condensed into a dark blue star at Chu Yao's fingertip. "But returning requires the fusion of the Seven Keys and the rune fragments, otherwise the time rift will backfire."
“Seven Keys…” Lin Yi reached for the spatial ring, his fingertip touching the outline of seven small keys through the ring face.
He had obtained those keys through three life-or-death battles in the ancient ruins. Each key was engraved with symbols from different civilizations, and they were now slightly warm as he moved, as if urging him on.
Xuanmingzi suddenly grabbed his wrist, his nails almost digging into his skin: "You need to think this through! In the original timeline, there is the core defense mechanism of the Mother Nest, and..." His voice suddenly lowered, as if afraid of being overheard, "and the thing you least want to face."
“I understand.” Lin Yi withdrew his hand, the spacetime emblem on his palm shining brightly. “But if we don’t do it now, once the remnants of the Mother Nest are fully connected, more people will die than last time.” He turned to look at Long Wu, who immediately sheathed his sword and nodded vigorously at him. He then looked at Ivan, who was silent for a moment before tugging at the corner of his mouth: “I owe this world a life, and it’s time to repay it.”
Chu Yao's projection suddenly flickered, and the crack in the faith node was expanding at a visible speed: "The oscillation frequency has been increased to 120%. It is recommended to activate the time rift within thirty seconds."
Lin Yi took a deep breath, and the moonlight shone down from the well, gilding his shoulders with a silvery edge.
His gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on his palm—where the spacetime emblem resonated with the seven keys in his spatial ring, silver and gold light intertwining, much like the light that cleaved through chaos during his first awakening.
"Let's go." As he uttered this word, his spatial ring suddenly made a soft "click" sound, and seven keys popped out simultaneously, hovering at his fingertips. "First, we'll uproot the mother nest, then see whose battle it is..." A cold, hard smile appeared on his lips. "This is just the beginning."
Seven keys floated in Lin Yi's palm in the shape of the Big Dipper, and rune fragments emerged one after another from his spatial ring. Each fragment shimmered with the light of a different civilization—the scarab beetle pattern of ancient Egypt, the Hetu Luoshu of China, and the feathered serpent totem of the Maya, all of which were now integrated into the silvery-white spacetime energy.
Lin Yin could clearly feel that the vibrations generated when the Seven Keys and the rune fragments resonated were drilling into his limbs and bones along his meridians, like countless small snakes crawling under his skin. It was the spacetime rules actively conforming to his mythical-level authority.
"Fusion rate 97%." Chu Yao's projection suddenly flashed a blood-red alarm: "Rift stability value dropped to 63%, must be completed within three seconds—"
Before he finished speaking, the air in the entire shaft suddenly froze.
It was a stagnation more complete than a vacuum.
Just as Lin Yi's eyelashes were about to flutter, a jet-black energy arrow emerged from the distorted space at the edge of the rift, its tip wrapped in dark purple lightning, aimed directly at his throat.
The attack came without any warning, and even Chu Yao's data stream instantly froze into static—as if something was deliberately blocking all monitoring.
"Boss!"
Long Wu's roar caused rocks to fall from the well wall.
His hand, which had been resting on the hilt of the sword, crushed the scabbard. The moment the Dragon Slayer Sword was drawn from its sheath with a golden-red blade light, the bloodline of the true dragon surged into a golden vortex in his eyes.
He didn't even use the blade for this attack; instead, he flicked his finger and released a dragon-scale-like burst of energy—the "Dragon Breath Slash," a technique only available after the true dragon bloodline awakens, specifically designed to break through evil energy.
\"bite!\"
With a crisp, metallic clang, the black arrow was deflected three inches by the force of the impact, grazing Lin Yi's earlobe and embedding itself in the well wall.
The bluestone slab immediately emitted blue smoke, and a charred hole was corroded out, emitting a "sizzling" sound similar to the mournful cry of a creature.
"The spatial anchor point is locked." Ivan suddenly pressed his hand to his chest, where the pale pink scar was burning. "The remnants of the Mother Nest... no, something much older." His voice was muffled, as if there was a wad of soaked cotton stuck in his throat. "They're protecting the entrance to the primordial timeline."
Xuanmingzi's bronze bell suddenly rang.
This time it wasn't a scraping sound, but nine clear, resounding slaps, each one making everyone's eardrums ache.
His Taoist robe fluttered without wind, and dark red blood beads seeped from the cloud patterns on his sleeves: "He is a judge of faith!"
The weapons of war forged by the souls of the most devout believers in the Mother Nest—I've seen them in the memories of the Mainframe—"
Before the words were finished, three dark figures stumbled out of the distorted space.
They had no specific form, resembling crumpled black mist, yet each possessed six scarlet pupils, each reflecting a different scene: players kneeling and bowing before an altar, cities collapsing in black flames, and babies being stuffed into game pods... The foremost black figure raised a spear formed from the power of faith, and when the spearhead pointed at Lin Yi, all the pupils simultaneously contracted to pinpoints.
"Good timing." Lin Yi's fingertips brushed against the shattered Soul Resonance Bell around his neck.
Although the magical artifact he had obtained through three life-or-death battles was shattered, the fragments still felt hot against his skin.
He let out a low shout, and the mythical-level power of faith within his body erupted like a volcano. Suddenly, the fragment burst forth with dazzling white light—it was the afterimage of Whitebeard's will!
The semi-transparent figure of the old man, holding a bronze scepter, appeared beside Lin Yi.
As his gaze swept over the three judges, the star patterns on his scepter lit up: "Back then, I used this move to suppress seven altars of faith." Before he finished speaking, the scepter drew a golden trajectory in the void, directly capturing the timeline three seconds in advance, exposing the judges' attack trajectory to everyone's eyes.
Long Wu's Dragon Slayer Blade struck down first.
The blade's edge, accompanied by a dragon's roar, tore through the black mist surrounding the leftmost Judge, revealing a bloody human head rolling out of the mist—a girl in a school uniform, the very player who had been swallowed by the Mother Nest three days earlier while trying to save her teammates in the starting village.
Long Wu's sword strike faltered, his Adam's apple bobbing violently: "Xiao...Xiao Yun?"
"That's an illusion!" Lin Yi's voice was as cold as ice.
He drew the Blade of Time with a backhand motion, the time markings on the blade beginning to reverse. "They use the memories of their followers as a disguise, kill!"
The white-bearded afterimage's scepter slammed heavily onto the ground.
The timeline that was captured three seconds ago suddenly collapsed, and the judge in the very center was instantly frozen in place.
Ivan conjured a pale blue energy ball at his fingertips—it was the "Soul Burning Technique" he had learned from the core memories of the Mother Nest—and precisely blasted it into the core of the Judge's black mist.
The black mist emitted a piercing scream, and the images in its six pupils began to distort, gradually revealing the true form beneath, composed of black tentacles.
Xuanmingzi bit his tongue, and blood splattered onto the bronze bell.
The bell emitted an eerie blue light, and each soft sound seemed to shatter the energy core of the judge.
Beneath his Taoist robe, his bluish-gray skin was cracking at a visible rate, yet he still gritted his teeth and chanted the incantation: "Seal!"
The final judge's spear had already pierced Lin Yi's face.
He neither dodged nor evaded; the Blade of Time and Space and the fragment of the Soul Resonance Bell lit up simultaneously, the two mythical energies intertwining in his palm to form a silver-red light net. "Time-Space Rift," he uttered softly, and the light net instantly enveloped the spear, tearing it to shreds along with the Judge's half-mist of black mist.
The moment the black mist dissipated, a faint sandalwood scent suddenly wafted through the well.
Lin Yi's movements suddenly froze.
His spacetime emblem was burning hot in his palm, a reaction that only occurs when sensing energy belonging to the same spacetime system.
What made his heart skip a beat was that this wisp of energy contained a familiar soul imprint—it was Li Mu!
That brother who was crushed by the core of the nest while trying to save him in the interdimensional battlefield!
"Boss?" Long Wu sheathed his sword and followed his gaze into the depths of the well.
There was nothing there except for the corroded bluestone slabs. "You..."
"Chu Yao, locate that wisp of energy from before." Lin Yi's voice was tense.
He could sense that the wisp of soul imprint wasn't an illusion, but rather a signal deliberately hidden in the cracks of time: "Use the authority of the master of spacetime, at any cost."
"Anomaly detected in spacetime." Chu Yao's data stream suddenly split off, pointing towards the sky outside the well. "Coordinates locked... Abandoned Time Signal Tower 719." Her projection hesitated for the first time. "But according to historical records, that tower was destroyed by the Mother Nest in 2025, and should now be in..."
"A crack in time," Ivan suddenly interjected.
His fingers unconsciously traced the scar on his chest. "Within the time prison built by the Mother Nest with the power of faith, there are always some forgotten corners."
Lin Yi's Space-Time Blade disappeared back into the void.
He looked up at the well opening. The moonlight was still bright, but in a certain direction there was a very faint silver streak, as if someone had poked a small hole in the curtain of reality with their fingertip.
He could hear his own heartbeat, each beat faster than the last—it was the resonance of the Time-Space Ruler with the fundamental rules, and even more so, the longing for his brother to possibly still be alive.
"Long Wu, protect Xuan Mingzi and Ivan." As he turned, all seven keys in his spatial ring suddenly disappeared into his palm, and the silver light from the spacetime rift re-condensed at his feet. "I'll be right back."
Just as Long Wu was about to speak, he saw Lin Yi's figure being swallowed up by the rift.
Only the fading light of the white-bearded figure remained in the well, along with the constantly flashing red alert in Chu Yao's projection: "Intensified fluctuations at the entrance to the primordial timeline... Warning!"
warn!\"
On the other side of the rift, the faint scent of sandalwood drifted along the crack of time toward the abandoned No. 719 signal tower.
Amidst the ruins, a blurry figure stood with its back to the moonlight, its fingers gently pressing on a rusty control panel.
When he turned his head, half of his face was hidden in the shadows, and the half of his eye that was exposed was exactly the same as Li Mu in Lin Yi's memory.
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