this infinite world

"I can't believe we actually survived..."

Even though it was already the second day after returning to the God Realm, when the members of the God Team reunited in the God Realm Square after a night of rest, the lingering fear of escaping death still flickered in their eyes.

For the vast majority of the Celestial Team members, they didn't actually feel any direct pressure. The moment Yang Yun casually slapped Melkor away, the ensuing energy shockwave had already shattered them all, and the subsequent battle had nothing to do with them… Of course, perhaps this was simply the mercy of fate.

When mortals witness the battlefield of gods, ignorance becomes the best armor. After all, the ignorant are unaware, and sometimes it is safer to know nothing... Just as sleeping children are not afraid of thunderstorms, these unconscious reincarnators are also spared from the pressure that far exceeds their limits.

However, while the others were one thing, Xiao Niaoren, who faced Nian Xikong's Jidu Sword and fought against him, was in a much better mental state.

In fact, even while resting last night, Xiao Niaoren was awakened several times, even more than ten times. Every time he closed his eyes and just fell asleep, the earth-shattering sword light would reappear in his dreams, dragging his consciousness back to that terrifying moment time and time again.

When he woke up, Xiao Niaoren's pajamas were already soaked with cold sweat and stuck stickily to his back... The fact that he didn't subconsciously brush his neck and wonder, "Is my head still there?" already shows that Xiao Niaoren's mental fortitude is extremely strong.

So, how exactly did we survive?

Recalling the dazzling sword light in his dream, which resembled a cascading galaxy, Xiao Niaoren closed his eyes in anguish, slapped his cheek hard, and uttered a soul-searching question: "If we had been wiped out in the Lord of the Rings world after experiencing something like that, I wouldn't be surprised at all... But why did we all survive, and without a single casualty?"

"...I remember telling you before that I also fell into a coma after that battle, and when I woke up, I had already returned to the Main God Space."

Faced with Xiao Niaoren's question, Ling Xin shook his head and said, "So, I don't know any more than you do."

Yes... Even Ling Xin and Xiao Niaoren, the last survivors of the Celestials, don't know how they managed to escape with their lives in the Lord of the Rings world, return safely to the Main God Space, and achieve the feat of "not a single one dying".

"But some things don't need a reason."

After giving Xiao Niaoren an answer, Ling Xin changed the subject again, saying, "In fact, it's already a stroke of luck that we were all able to return to the Main God Space."

These words struck a chord with everyone in the Celestial Team... Yes, who wants to die when they can live? As for why they survived, does that reason even matter? Being able to save their lives is what truly matters.

“Ling Xin, this is not like you. You have always been the kind of person who gets to the bottom of things.”

But faced with Ling Xin's explanation, Xiao Niaoren did not accept it as the other members of the Celestial Team did. Instead, he crossed his arms and revealed a slightly suspicious look: "Even if you, Ling Xin, had a past with Chu Hao, the captain of the Northern Ice Continent Team, and were able to escape with your life, the female demon opposite me is simply a reincarnation of a killing star."

"My sixth sense tells me that it's the kind of killing intent that comes from slaughtering hundreds of millions, even billions of people. There's no way I could expect them to show mercy and spare my life..."

Up to this point, Xiao Niaoren's words were reasonable and logically sound. But his next sentence steered the atmosphere in a completely different and unserious direction.

Suddenly, the young man touched his cheek with his fingers and said as if he had just realized something, "Could it be because my face just happens to be in the other guy's good ball zone that he fell in love at first sight, turned love into hate, and then couldn't bring himself to do it several times, so he finally let me go back to the Main God Space?"

"...You really need to get your head checked out."

Faced with Xiao Niaoren's "sudden and serious illness," Ling Xin covered his forehead, sighed, and said, "If you could cure your brain, which is full of lewd thoughts and delusions, then you probably wouldn't have been defeated so easily."

Even amidst the fierce clashes with Zhang Heng and Chu Hao, Ling Xin could still clearly detect energy fluctuations from another battlefield. He knew that Xiao Niaoren, who had activated "Gift of Dracula," a powerful move that could only be used three times in his lifetime, wasn't actually that much weaker than Nian Xikong in terms of raw strength. The two were roughly at the same level, with Xiao Niaoren only losing due to his endurance... Of course, this was merely a superficial observation. As for what other astonishing trump cards the swordsmen of the Northern Ice Continent team had hidden, and how Xiao Niaoren ultimately lost, that was another matter entirely.

...But in any case, the reason why Xiao Niaoren was able to survive had absolutely nothing to do with his appearance.

"I'm not bragging, but I think I'm still better looking than Ling Xin, with your deadpan face."

However, Ling Xin's complaints had the opposite effect. Xiao Niaoren crossed his arms and said with great displeasure.

Although Xiao Niaoren knew perfectly well that his conjecture was utterly absurd, ever since he acquired the Demon Hunter bloodline and was saved by his benefactor named "Alucard" in the mission world, a certain almost obsessive sense of honor had been deeply ingrained in his bones—he would rather die gloriously in battle than accept the enemy's "charity." This realization was like a sharp thorn, more unbearable than death itself.

Therefore, although the facts were not as they seemed, Xiao Niaoren, feeling somewhat frustrated, could only use some lame words to mask his true feelings. He snorted heavily and said, "It's neither this nor that. So, there's only one reason why we could all have survived, isn't there?"

"Ling Xin, aren't you quite familiar with the captain of the Arctic team? Maybe you're the one who betrayed us..."

"...If you want to die, I can kill you right now."

Even with Ling Xin's good temper, a # symbol appeared on his forehead when he heard Xiao Niaoren's words. He even raised his hand and grasped the barely visible Zanpakuto. However, upon closer inspection, one could see that the Zanpakuto's blade seemed to have changed compared to before: "Really, I'm not joking."

"Ahem... Um, Tianyi, are you alright now?"

Seeing that Ling Xin seemed genuinely angry about the topic, Xiao Niaoren quickly coughed twice to change the subject. His gaze shifted to a beautiful woman wearing glasses. When that incident occurred, Tianyi, as the controller of mental power, was the first to be affected and suffered the most severe damage. Even though she drank the "holy blood" condensed by Xiao Niaoren and barely survived, she was still seriously injured. After returning to the Zhu Shen Space, this beautiful woman spent over eight thousand reward points and six full hours to fully recover.

But no matter what, Tianyi's life was saved. Xiao Niaoren asked with concern, "Are you alright now?"

"fine……"

Even if the physical injuries have healed, the shadows on the mind are not so easily erased, especially when facing the might of the Holy Path. For a mental power controller who has not yet reached the fourth level, this is an extremely heavy blow. This mental power controller from the Celestial Team rubbed his temples and gave a bitter smile: "The injuries are quite severe, and I will not be able to fight for a while."

"Yes, thank you for your hard work. I'll exchange for some healing items for the soul and spirit later..."

Ling Xin's voice abruptly stopped halfway through his sentence. The captain of the Celestial Team glanced at his remaining reward points, and after a long pause, he had no choice but to swallow back the words he hadn't yet uttered. Instead, he lowered his voice and said, "...Use your reward points to exchange for some time and return to the previous mission world to recuperate. I'll make the arrangements."

Even a hero can be brought down by a lack of funds. Surprisingly, this time the "God" didn't deduct reward points or side quests from the Celestial Team for failing the main quest. So, after surviving this mission world, each of them actually had an extra thousand reward points... well, the minimum reward for safely surviving the mission world, or in short, a basic guarantee. But these reward points weren't even enough for a full recovery, let alone to exchange for anything else.

“No, we can talk about that later… Captain, I need to tell you what I saw before I lost consciousness.”

Tianyi kept rubbing her temples, her expression showing some pain, but she still did her best to describe what she had risked her life to detect through her mental power: "At the beginning, my mental power sensed a cold and dark great consciousness. In the face of that terrifying power, my mental power was utterly insignificant, to the point that it reminded me of an abyss that could suck everything in..."

Upon hearing the words of Heaven's Will, Ling Xin's expression turned solemn. Although he didn't know what a sage could do, nor did he know what the "Way of the Sage" was, these words sounded ominous.

"...But then, I saw a giant tree."

But the next moment, Tianyi suddenly released her fingers from her temples, the pain on her face receding like a tide, replaced by an almost reverent daze. Her pupils dilated unfocused, as if she were seeing that soul-stirring spectacle again—

Then... the world turned upside down.

The voice of the Celestial Team's mental controller suddenly became ethereal and illusory, as if existing neither in this world nor in another: "A colossal tree rises from the abyss, piercing the heavens and the earth, its branches tearing through the darkness, each leaf flowing with the brilliance of a galaxy, as if rooted in an entire universe..."

As these words were spoken, the air in the main square seemed to freeze. Ling Xin saw Tianyi's spiritual power overflow uncontrollably, outlining blurry tree shadows in the air—the outlines existed for only a moment, yet they made everyone's soul tremble.

"At the top of the treetop, a bluish-green halo was swirling..."

As if unconsciously, fate raised its arm, its fingertips pointing to some empty place, and its voice suddenly took on warmth: "Warm, strong, yet not intense, more like the first wisp of green piercing through the morning mist in early spring, containing a gentle yet powerful force that revives all things..."

"The light is getting closer, closer and closer..."

Hearing Tianyi's dreamlike whispers, the members of the Celestial Team, who knew that this beautiful woman's lineage actually possessed the ability to "predict the future" to some extent, were all momentarily stunned.

But in the end, Xiao Niaoren seemed to remember something, and his expression changed as he said, "Wait, Ling Xin, what if this 'closer' doesn't refer to the past, but to something that's happening right now? What if the Northern Ice Continent team, or rather, the other saint who is clearly standing behind the Northern Ice Continent team, isn't indifferent to our lives... but is deliberately sending us all back to the Main God Space?"

"Playing the long game to catch a big fish? It's not impossible."

Upon hearing Xiao Niaoren's conjecture, Ling Xin closed his eyes and fell into deep thought. After a moment, he murmured to himself, "If releasing us back into the Main God Space was a deliberate act by someone else, then their motive can only be one thing..."

Upon hearing this, everyone involuntarily followed Ling Xin's gaze and looked up at the "God" in mid-air.

For a moment, the main square of the Celestial Team was silent. After a while, Wang Wu, the "Silk Man" in the Celestial Team who had exchanged for the Thread Fruit, forced a smile and said, "...That's unlikely, Captain, Captain. This is the Main God Space, it should be absolutely safe."

"Yeah, Captain, that's unlikely..."

"Hmm, Captain, you're worrying too much..."

In an instant, following Wang Wu's words, everyone in the Celestial Team chimed in with their opinions, all pointing to the same conclusion: the Main God Space "should" be absolutely safe... no, or rather, "must" be absolutely safe!
All members of the reincarnation team knew that the Main God Space belonged to the Main God Space, and the mission world belonged to the mission world; the two were clearly separate and did not interfere with each other. No matter how terrifying the mission world was, the Main God Space was absolutely safe... After all, if even this last safe haven fell, would there still be a pure land in this reincarnation world?

Looking at Ling Xin's somber face, Xiao Niaoren hesitated for a moment before finally suppressing her unease and saying, "Yes, Ling Xin, you're overthinking it. I think that no matter what, even a sage—"

"Okay, connected."

Before Xiao Niaoren could finish speaking, a bluish-green light gradually formed in the void, followed by a portal opening in front of him. Through the portal, he saw the faces of Chu Hao, Zhang Heng, and Nian Xikong from the Northern Ice Continent team, which made him subconsciously utter the last few words...

"—It would be difficult to trace the main god space, wouldn't it?" (End of this chapter)