The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

Pale blue light intertwined and swirled, like countless invisible fingers threading a needle in the void.

The light was neither dazzling nor ostentatious, yet it possessed an undeniable presence.

It was as if it were not light, but frozen water, flowing ice, something between matter and energy.

The pale blue slowly converged and solidified in the air, outlining a beautiful and gentle silhouette.

His features were hidden in a pale blue halo, making them indistinct, but his gentle temperament pierced through the light, soothing the atmosphere of the entire courtyard, as if a leisurely sea breeze was blowing.

The cat-eared little girl, after transforming, had deep golden eyes that reflected that exquisite pale blue figure.

Her lips moved slightly, and her mature, husky voice rang out again in the quiet living room: "You've come so quickly, Fifth Lord Li, Youlan."

The pale blue figure hovered silently in mid-air in the living room, about a foot above the ground.

Upon hearing the cat-eared girl's words, the figure tilted its head slightly, seemingly sizing up the strange little girl in front of it, before responding in a gentle, soothing voice.

"As far as I can remember, I haven't seen you before."

Upon hearing this, the cat-eared girl calmly gazed at the pale blue figure with her golden eyes, then her furry ears twitched: "I am not one of those who invaded your world."

"Moreover, in the Corpse Realm, the names of the nine great Li Lords of humanity are not a secret."

As she spoke, she began to move. Her small, bare feet made a very soft "pat" sound as they stepped on the floor of Wu You's living room.

She walked out of the meditation room and into the living room.

The living room was clean and tidy, and everything remained exactly as Wu You had left it this morning.

The cat-eared little girl's gaze swept around the living room, then she walked straight to the coat rack, stretched out her chubby little hand, stood on tiptoe, and pulled down the black trench coat that Wu You had just changed out of that morning and casually draped over it.

The trench coat fit Wu You perfectly, but it looked completely different on her.

She unfolded her trench coat and draped it over herself like a cape.

But the sleeves were too long, and her hands couldn't reach out at all. The hem of the dress dragged on the ground, leaving a small black fan-shaped trail behind her.

The person's overall appearance is like someone who has dug a hole in a blanket and stuck their head out.

She lowered her head, brought her nose close to the collar of her trench coat, and gently sniffed. Then a subtle expression appeared on her delicate face, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly.

The pale blue figure lowered her eyes slightly, casting her gaze upon the small, seemingly harmless figure wrapped in a black trench coat.

"So, who are you?"

This question is very direct, without any embellishment or preamble.

The cat-eared girl raised her head, her bright golden eyes looking unabashedly at the projection of the Fifth Lord of Li.

She pulled her hands out of the overly long sleeves and waved them, saying, "Don't be so nervous. In my current state, you could crush me with a single finger, couldn't you?"

"Besides, it was I who deliberately revealed myself and released my aura so you could discover me. If I wanted to hide, I could have hidden myself completely."

"I've gone to so much trouble to lure you all here; doesn't that prove my sincerity?"

However, the pale blue figure shook its head.

Then, she slightly extended her right hand.

With just this small gesture, the atmosphere of the entire living room instantly changed.

The surrounding blue light seemed to hear some kind of summons, and rapidly converged towards his palm at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The light, which had been diffused across the sky, condensed into a fist-sized sphere of light in a very short time. Its density was astonishing, and its color changed from pale blue to a nearly transparent deep blue.

Thick moisture filled Wu You's residence, with countless fine water droplets suspended in mid-air, refracting blue light and making the entire living room look like it had sunk into the deep sea.

Although that power had not yet been released, the oppressive feeling was already pressing down on the cat-eared girl like a mountain.

"Any being with a strong divine aura may contain great risks."

The Fifth Lord's voice remained gentle as water, but every word was icy cold.

"State your identity, your purpose, and all your plans."

He paused, his eyes, hidden behind the blue light, showed no emotion whatsoever.

"otherwise."

"die."

The gentlest voice speaks the coldest words.

Seeing this, she immediately stretched out her chubby little hands and waved them in front of her, while the oversized trench coat sleeves swung back and forth in front of her.

"Wait! Wait!"

His mature, husky voice carried a rare hint of urgency.

"I've shown myself to make a deal with you!"

"A legitimate, win-win deal!"

As she spoke, seeing that the blue light showed no signs of further compression, she breathed a sigh of relief, but her speech remained rapid.

"Moreover, you said that any being with divine aura contains great risks."

"But you probably don't know this—"

She looked up, her golden eyes reflecting the pale blue figure, and said, word by word:

"That kid named Wu You already possesses divine qualities!"

The steam in the living room seemed to freeze for a moment.

"The first god may be born among you humans!"

Upon hearing this, the figure in light blue frowned.

"Our path is completely different from yours, how could we possibly be born with divinity and become gods?"

The cat-eared little girl, holding the sleeves that were a bit too big for her, spread her hands like a female lead on a theatrical stage, her expression innocent: "I don't know about that."

She paused, then added, "Moreover, theoretically, any race can be born with divinity and thus embark on the path to godhood."

"Humans are no exception."

The pale blue figure shook its head again.

"It's just theoretical. At least so far, no human being has been able to give birth to divinity."

"Even those of us who have completely mastered a certain rule have never been born with divinity."

Upon hearing this, the cat-eared girl shrugged. Her oversized black trench coat slid down a bit with her movement, and she struggled to pull it back up.

"Isn't it available now?"

"Believe it or not, that's the situation. I have no reason to lie to you about something like this."

"Deceiving you wouldn't do me any good right now, would it?"

A pair of golden eyes peeked out from behind her collar, staring intently at the pale blue figure.

"Furthermore, if you humans were to actually give birth to a god of your own race, your situation would be much better. You should know this better than I do, shouldn't you?"

Her tone turned serious, and a deep light, completely at odds with her appearance, shone in her golden pupils.

"You should have noticed it by now—the cracks in your world are widening."

As soon as he finished speaking, the steam in the living room seemed to cool down a bit more.

"In a few decades, the Corpse Realm and your world will be completely interconnected."

"At that time, the gods of the Corpse Realm will be able to descend directly into your world."

"That's not some kind of descent entity, nor is it some kind of divine child, clone, or projection!"

"That would be a truly higher-dimensional existence, complete, whole, and without any weakening..."

"god!"

She stretched out her chubby little hand, held up one finger and shook it: "With your current strength, you can't withstand even a little bit."

"Even if the strength of the nine of you is close to that of a god, that slight difference is an insurmountable chasm."

"That was a chasm, a chasm that stood above mortals and below gods."

"I can say without exaggeration that if even one of them could descend into your world as a god, even if all nine of you attacked together, you wouldn't be able to withstand a single blow from him."

"Gods and those below them are on completely different levels."

She paused, her golden pupils narrowed slightly, and her gaze pierced through the pale blue light, landing directly on the figure.

"Even in my current state, if your true form came, I could take you and all the humans in this area with me to our deaths."

Upon hearing this, the pale blue figure narrowed its eyes slightly.

"So, which one of them are you?"

The Fifth Lord's voice remained gentle, but that gentleness had transformed into something more dangerous, more like the calm before a storm.

"That's not important, let me finish speaking first." The cat-eared girl waved her hand.

"Furthermore, those guys like Thousand Faces and Desire are also determined to take over your world."

"Once they have finished unifying the internal affairs of the Corpse Realm and have no more worries, they will inevitably accelerate the expansion of the rift between the two realms."

She paused, her golden pupils reflecting the concentrated blue light.

"By then, you may not even have a few decades of buffer time."

There was a two-second silence in the living room.

"Don't you humans have a saying, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'? Although I don't particularly like this saying, it's quite fitting in the current situation."

"And I have an irreconcilable conflict with Thousand Faces and those guys from Lustful Desires," the cat-eared girl's voice deepened.

"This is a fundamental, life-or-death conflict. They won't let me go, and I won't sit idly by and wait to die."

"I can help you, after all, it doesn't conflict with my interests."

"But only if you agree to the deal with me."

"Besides," she tilted her head, her cat ears twitching slightly, "don't you want to know why they invaded your world?"

Whether it was because the cat-eared girl's words moved Fifth Lord Li, or because he considered the threat in her words, the dense blue light in Fifth Lord Li's hand finally faded a little.

"Why did you stop talking?" Fifth Lord Li's voice returned to its calm and gentle tone, as if the tense atmosphere from before had never existed.

The cat-eared girl shook her head, her long black hair swaying gently with her movement, and her cat ears trembling as well.

"I've said everything I needed to say."

She wrapped her black trench coat tighter around herself, stepped barefoot onto the cold floor, walked to the chair where Wu You usually sat, and then laboriously climbed up.

"Now it's your turn to choose."

After she finished speaking, she fell silent, her golden eyes quietly watching the pale blue figure.

Upon hearing this, the Fifth Lord's eyes, hidden behind the blue light, began to diffuse, no longer focusing on the cat-eared girl, but looking in a more distant direction, as if communicating with some being.

The cat-eared girl wasn't in a hurry. She sat on the chair that Wu You often sat in, her two bare feet swinging slowly.

A moment later, Fifth Lord Li's gaze softened, and his scattered gaze returned to focus on the small figure wrapped in the trench coat: "Tell me, what are the terms of the deal?"

Upon hearing this, the cat-eared girl showed no surprise.

"I can help slow down the expansion of the world rift. Of course, I won't completely seal it off."

"Once the fusion of worlds begins, it cannot be stopped."

"I don't have that ability, and neither do the Thousand Faces."

"But I can slow it down, delay it, and buy you more time."

"I can help you create your own gods."

"Well enough--"

Upon hearing this, Fifth Lord Li interrupted her—no, it should be "He".

"Our own deity, you mean Wu You?"

Upon hearing this, the cat-eared girl frowned slightly.

"What else? You don't have divinity within you."

He spoke very plainly, without any euphemisms or embellishments.

The Fifth Lord continued, his voice unhurried: "Is it impossible to reach that realm without divinity?"

Upon hearing this, the cat-eared girl paused, her cat ears drooping slightly as if she were seriously considering the question.

"Theoretically, it's impossible. Without divinity, there is no foundation for godhood."

He paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts.

"But perhaps you can go one step further along your own path and become beings equivalent to gods."

"But that is no longer the way of the gods. My experience is of no use to your way."

The Fifth Lord nodded, offering no comment on the answer, but simply indicating that He should continue.

"I can also share information about the Corpse Realm and the Thousand Faces with you."

"Well enough..."

The cat-eared girl listed them one by one, her tone calm and confident, meticulously listing a whole host of benefits.

Delaying the rift, assisting in ascension to godhood, sharing intelligence, providing tactical advice, and even personally intervening when necessary.

He drew all the pie-in-the-sky proposals he could, some perfectly round and full, some slightly rough, but overall, it was a sincere and flawless proposal.

At this moment, the fifth Li Zhu spoke.

The gentle voice pierced through the lingering moisture in the living room and landed clearly in the cat-eared little girl's perked-up ears.

"So, what are your requirements?"

Upon hearing this, the cat-eared girl waved her little hand, and a dense, almost solidified golden light slowly flew towards the Fifth Lord of Li.

The golden light hovered in front of the Fifth Lord, rotating silently like a miniature star, with countless intricate details appearing on it.

A moment later, the golden light dissipated, and the living room was quiet for a few seconds.

The gentle voice of the Fifth Lord resounded once more: "We are aware of your request."

He paused.

"But how can we ensure you won't switch sides at the last minute?"

"How can you be sure that what you've said today isn't part of a trap set by the Thousand Faces?"

"How can we ensure you won't do anything harmful to our human race at a crucial moment?"

The cat-eared girl sat in the chair, her golden eyes slightly narrowed, as if she had anticipated this problem.

"That Wu You absorbed a wisp of divinity that I separated and that was directed towards me." She spoke slowly, as if placing a crucial piece in a game of chess. "Therefore, there is already a certain bond between him and me."

"If I fall, he will die."

"But similarly, if he dies, I, who have now lost my divine position, will also perish."

The air in the living room seemed to freeze.

. . .

Meanwhile, in Dayun City, Yunshang Province, Wu You, who was in a car, suddenly sensed something and looked in a certain direction.

His gaze passed through the car window, through the bustling crowds on the street, through the buildings of varying heights, and landed in the direction of the Jiuli base.

And the sword manual deep within his consciousness also fluctuated slightly, as if to say: What are you saying?

Just then, Gongsun Baizhan's voice rang out: "We're here! This is it, Lin's Soup Dumplings! I've been craving this for so long!"

As he spoke, he began to unbuckle his seatbelt.

Wang Qi leaned back in the back seat and sighed deeply: "Xiao Sun, you drove well."

"Don't drive it again next time."

Wu You sat in the car with a slight frown, unaware of what had just happened.

That feeling of connection comes and goes quickly, like a ripple on a lake, existing only for a moment before disappearing.

"Come on, Lao Wu! What are you daydreaming about? The soup dumplings won't wait!"

Wang Qi had already opened the car door and turned around to call out to Wu You.

Hearing Wang Qi's words, Wu You snapped out of his thoughts, nodded, and reached out to open the car door.

The sunlight outside the car was a bit brighter than before, and the bustling atmosphere of the streets and alleys was palpable, with the faint aroma of steamed buns wafting in the air.

Wu You's sunglasses reflected the sunlight as he followed Wang Qi and the others into the time-honored restaurant.

. . .

In Wu You's courtyard at the Jiuli Base.

Upon hearing the other party's words, Fifth Li Zhu's two delicate eyebrows furrowed together.

This expression stood out starkly against His usually gentle and peaceful face.

They are threatening Wu You's life!

The cat-eared girl naturally understood this as well, and she coughed slightly.

"cough."

He adjusted his posture to make himself more stable in that oversized chair, and then raised his head.

"I'm just a young, weak, sick, and disabled person right now, so I have to take some measures to protect myself."

"If you were in my shoes, you would have done the same, wouldn't you? It's human nature, even though I'm not human."

The Fifth Lord remained silent for a moment.

Although the silence was short, lasting only a few seconds, it felt as if all the air in the living room had been sucked away, leaving it as quiet as a deep sea.

"Aren't you afraid we'll kill Wu You? You won't survive that way either."

The cat-eared girl also fell silent.

This silence is different from the previous ones.

His previous silence was deliberate, strategic, and intended to give the other party space to think.

This time, however, He truly fell silent.

Now that things have come to this, He has no other choice.

From the very beginning, He knew that this was the final outcome of this path.

But after sensing that wisp of divinity born from Wu You's body, He had already made all the preparations and all the choices!

Rather than eke out a living under the pursuit of other gods, it is better to cooperate with humans in order to find a glimmer of hope!

After all, once the two realms are fully integrated, He, unable to regain His divine position, will be nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter!

Having reached this point, there is no turning back for Him.

Or rather, from the moment He used His divinity to make a deal with Wu You, and from the moment He transferred Himself from the True Yang Realm Giant Tiger to this body, there was no turning back!

He understood that he had no chance of regaining his divine position in his current state, and time did not allow it.

Decades of time are simply not enough for Him to accomplish on His own!

So He chose to expose Himself and then risk everything!

I'm betting that humanity won't give up on the hope of that person named Wu You!

I bet the nine Lebanese rulers will choose a win-win situation rather than a lose-lose one!

As a deity who once sat high in the clouds, looking down upon all living beings, He had the power to do so!

After a long while, a mature, husky voice rang out again.

"Of course you can do that."

"If you are willing to give up, that may be the only chance to withstand the Thousand Faces, that may be the only hope for survival."

"Win-win or lose-lose, the choice is yours."

In the living room, all that could be heard was the ticking of the clock on the wall, slowly counting down to the final moments.

. . .

Two minutes later.

Inside the Jiuli base, the pale blue light that had enveloped Wu You's courtyard quietly faded away.

The way that light curtain faded was just as quiet, swift, and without a trace as it arrived. It was as if someone had pulled a piece of blue silk from the sky.

The light returned to normal, the air became flowing again, and Wu You's courtyard was restored to its original state.

It was as if that light had never appeared at all.

In the living room, the small figure wrapped in a black trench coat had also disappeared from the chair where Wu You usually sat.

All that remained on the chair was that oversized, overly long black trench coat, still faintly smelling of sweat, piled up on top of each other.

And nestled among the folds of the trench coat, a fluffy little black cat lay there.

Its golden cat eyes blinked, then slowly closed.