Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

He turned his head and glanced at Adam.

Even now, he still can't see through the many secrets and hidden cards that Adam is hiding.

"I originally thought this day would be the final battle, because only in the final battle could we, the reincarnators who have escaped from the mortal world, truly decide the victor and the loser, and decide life and death."

He turned his head and walked out of the inner area of ​​the temple. As he left the core area of ​​the Temple of Time, everything behind him was covered in light.

..............................

Many years ago, in an ordinary family lived a boy who was anything but ordinary.

He was named 'Yinglong', and he never failed to live up to that name.

Before he started school, he was a well-known child star. From elementary to high school, he consistently ranked first in the city's best schools. In the provincial multi-school sports meet, he won championships in every event he participated in. And after the college entrance examination, he was undoubtedly the top student in the entire province.

—Boring, so boring, is this all you guys are capable of?

A young man named Yinglong rejected invitations from the country's top universities. He went abroad with only his credentials, and by the time he arrived on the other side of the ocean, he already had nearly ten million yuan in his name. He participated in every competition that interested him at will, venturing into one field after another that he had never set foot in before.

He once learned a rare, completely unfamiliar foreign language during a flight lasting several hours, and after weeks of training, he defeated a well-trained mercenary squad on the training field solely through intuition and skill. He traveled to the battlefields of the Middle East, braving gunfire to rescue war correspondents and fellow countrymen kidnapped by local armed groups. He ventured deep into the South American rainforest, returning to civilized lands unscathed months later with a wealth of valuable spoils.

—Boring, so boring. What meaning does this world have for me anymore?

He is Yinglong, invincible, unyielding, unbreakable, and undeterred. Whatever he sets his mind to, he is certain he can accomplish it, and do it to the best of his ability. This, however, plunges him into deep confusion.

What should I do? What challenges should I take on?

He originally wanted to return to his homeland to see if he could accelerate the growth of this nation, which was steadily climbing to the top of the world regardless of his presence. He wanted to see the stars, and that required considerable power. However, just as he was preparing to return home, darkness enveloped him.

Was he swallowed by darkness? No, he destroyed darkness—the alliance of families known as the 'Western Assassin Clans' became entangled with him through a chance encounter with an injured girl. By the time he returned to the East from the West, this alliance of numerous assassin families had already vanished into history.

Interestingly, he discovered that someone else seemed to be doing something similar. He found out that the person's surname was Zhao, and that he was a man. However, when he tracked down the man, he vanished without a trace in East America. Disappointed, he had no choice but to return to his homeland to carry out his previous plan.

His talent and resume had long been clearly laid out on the table for the higher-ups. After a period of contact, he was told that he could join a base called 'Dragon's Shadow' and serve the country. But before that, he still needed a period of testing and review that was neither too long nor too short.

—Boring, so boring. Why should I waste my time with these mortals?

He was idly fiddling with the computer to pass the time, and as he did so, the destined window appeared before his eyes.

Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly...live?

When he awoke, he found himself in an intriguing mission world. He was among the first reincarnators of the Central Continent Team, and in his very first mission, he successfully unlocked a lock and passed the captain's test.

So, should we leave or stay?

He glanced at the group of new reincarnators who had practically survived only because of his protection. They were essentially a ragtag bunch of thugs, hooligans, delusional dreamers, self-righteous protagonists, and disabled individuals. While leading a group of weaklings to gradually grow stronger was quite challenging, he felt that fighting against a group of powerful individuals who had at least unlocked two levels of genetic locks, just like himself, was more suitable for him.

So he left, telling the rest of them that the next horror movie was A Nightmare on Elm Street 1, leaving behind enough gadgets to save their lives and his calculated way out of the predicament before departing. And after that, he became Luo Yinglong of the Celestial Team.

He finally encountered an enemy who could rival him, the ruler of the dark world known as 'Adam the God' in the source world. He had once searched for Adam's footsteps in the West but to no avail, but he never expected to get what he wanted in this cycle of reincarnation.

Then he failed. Adam outmaneuvered him in analyzing the plot. Adam outmaneuvered him in winning people over. Adam outmaneuvered him in the captain's test. And so, at that moment, Yinglong's wings were broken.

For someone who has never lost, their first defeat is always exceptionally unforgettable. He became weak, and then, like a weakling, became obsessed with love and found a partner with whom he didn't truly love. Like a weakling, he abandoned his plans, gave up on increasing his influence, and then isolated himself, focusing solely on force—

He continued to grow stronger, even so. He joined the Shu Mountain sect and learned the orthodox cultivation methods that required tens of thousands of reward points and numerous S-level side quests from the main god. He was even recognized by the Shu Mountain sword sect, acquiring one of the Purple and Green Twin Swords and a replica of the other. Yet, even so, he remained immersed in his own failures.

Until he encountered the Middle-earth team in the world of Lord of the Rings, until Zhang Jie, a disabled soldier whom he had once disregarded, appeared before him with combat strength only slightly weaker than his own and a life realm of equal power.

—What have I been doing all this time?

Adam was right; Luo Yinglong was indeed almost the most arrogant individual in his tribe. And only something like this could touch a nerve.

Thus, the broken-winged Yinglong once again touched the sky.

He returned to Mount Shu and accepted... no, he voluntarily sought out the most rigorous trials. When he returned from the world of Mount Shu, he brought back the real Purple and Green Twin Swords. And after he spent many years in this Hunting Saint Ceremony, the true form of these twin swords, born from chaos and imbued with the aura of slaughter, was revealed before his eyes.

He wasn't lying; he truly hadn't unlocked the fourth-stage mid-level of the genetic lock. After all, a cultivator's combat power isn't primarily about internal control like the genetic lock. Before reaching the Mahayana stage, they can already borrow 'a little,' which is only a little external force compared to a sage.

..............................

Luo Yinglong took a deep breath. By the time he reached the temple entrance, the war outside had ceased. Song Tian glanced at him with a complex expression and silently retreated. A giant hand formed from the shattered void descended from the sky, grabbed Luo Gandao and the other two, and threw them into a secluded spot.

The crystal sword faded, revealing Inori Yuzuriha's form. She saw a vast world emerge behind Luo Yinglong, and she wisely chose to retreat immediately—because she knew that thing was called 'Celestial Heaven,' a complete world formed from the remnants of a derelict single universe before its annihilation!

This is also the path of the true god, different from simply seeking the gene lock of one's own power. Rather, it is the path of the true god of cultivation that relies on external things.

Then, the chaotic fusion sword light in his hand revealed its form.

"The sword is named Immortal Absolute." He looked out of the temple at the endless sea of ​​light that filled the entire solar system.

Please enlighten me!

Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Battle of Heaven - The Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation

A sword strike, rising from the sea of ​​light.

That sword light separated heaven and earth, divided the universe, and the tide of destruction surged wildly along the sword's trajectory—the ocean of light covering almost the entire solar system split in two at a speed defying the laws of physics, and the light that split in two gathered together at the same moment and then converged into two completely different Exus!

An Axe, predominantly feminine, possesses a fiery and alluring figure, wielding a red Force lightsaber. She remains engaged in battle with the dragon-transformed Zheng Zha, before, through the warping of spacetime, she veers from the edge of the solar system directly to the vicinity of the Temple of Time.

An Axe, predominantly masculine, was slightly robust with a resolute and expressionless face. She and the five gems seemingly fixed in the space behind her teleported to Luo Yinglong's front the instant the sword light manifested, followed immediately by a thunderous, powerful punch!

Nearly ten percent of Luo Yinglong's body mass shattered and then reformed in an instant. Behind him, within the Immortal Heaven, a vast star field briefly brightened before dimming. The Dao Erosion phenomenon that Ex had imbued in his fist was directly transferred to the Immortal Heaven, distributed across a single celestial region, and then annihilated by the Immortal Heaven's self-healing power. Simultaneously with receiving this punch, he also exchanged injury for injury with Ex's sword—

—Ex's positive form, every molecular bond in every cell of its form breaks in the same instant. Its effect is like the annihilation of an entire small-scale celestial body. Time and space collapse inward from it, and at the very moment when several newly formed micro black holes are about to be born, the Immortal-Slaying Sword guides them downward, as easily as a shepherd's staff guiding a herd of beasts, directing them to the very bottom of the solar system.

The Andromeda Galaxy projection silently appeared from directly beneath the solar system.

The several newly formed black holes were captured and disintegrated by the cantilevered projection that danced like tentacles. On the other side of the battlefield, Zheng Zha punched Yin Ex's head and body, shattering them into meaningless fragments of matter.

The timeline has been changed.

In another online world, the sea of ​​light that Exus had transformed into contracted and then converged the instant the sword strike was unleashed. Instead of splitting into two bodies, she continued to use her slender, youthful form to simultaneously harness the power of the gem and wield the crimson lightsaber, blocking Luo Yinglong's devastating sword strike. She was blasted away from the Ikobo Belt by the sword, then casually deflected an attack from Sirin in another online world. Afterwards, the altered timeline merged with the official history, and an unharmed Exus and her old rival Sirin appeared together at the edge of the solar system.

Time has no meaning, nor does life or death.

Because they were in different worldlines, Luo Yinglong's sword strikes targeted different objects—the sword aimed at Zheng Zha was blocked by him; the sword aimed at Patchouli shattered half of the fairy-themed projection, while Luo Yinglong himself was bombarded by ranged magic; the sword aimed at Zhao Zhuikong was effective, but Zhao Zhuikong disappeared after his form shattered. The sword strikes aimed at Xilin, Zhao Yingkong, and Sesshouin Kihara also either won or lost, and then everything became worthless in the shifting worldlines.

No, it wasn't worthless. The result of simultaneously waging war against the seven True Gods was that, after the world lines converged, the seven True Gods' counterattacks were all directed at him. Parts of his body disintegrated into shadows, hands and eyes grew from his limbs, the energy within his body circulated wildly and boiled, and Zheng Zha's punch from above and the whip transformed from the projection of the fairy-like cantilever arm completely disintegrated his form!

Then, everything returned to normal.

Within the celestial realm behind him, a dazzling light, like a supernova explosion, flashed and disappeared in an instant. The combined attack of the six True Gods, excluding the lurking Zhao Zhuikong, was all modified by him into a single supernova erupting within the celestial realm. This supernova, however, did not emit its brilliance for long before he moved it from the inner to the outer side of the celestial realm, transforming it into another deadly sword between his fingers!

Sword Name: Immortal Slayer!

"Fakes." Patchouli's cold snort came from some unknown timeline. "Using the origin of the Purple and Green Twin Swords, the killing intent in chaos as a guide, and then using a special ritual and a long-prepared secret method to invoke the path of slaughter in the multiverse and materialize it into swords—that is indeed a remarkable method. But fakes are still fakes. These two swords in your hands are far inferior to the originals in Tongtian's hands!"

"Excellent insight! Truly worthy of the Star Knowledge Realm, worthy of being the collector and manager of knowledge," Luo Yinglong exclaimed. In that timeline, he fought Patchouli, being flattened like a ball by the Andromeda-type cantilever projection. During his battle with Patchouli, he clearly felt the knowledge in his mind dissipating as the battle continued. And this process of loss was unrelated to the final outcome of the battle!

“But that’s precisely the advantage of orthodox cultivation—” He severed Patchouli’s head on a world line, then was pulled into destruction by the exploding Andromeda projection.

“As long as the conditions are met, I can borrow external forces at will without worrying about anything—” Patchouli, in another online world, used her true form as bait to deceive his sword aura and tore him to pieces.

"The Dao erosion phenomenon of Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun. What you saw was indeed a fake, in a broad sense—" In another timeline, when he was trying to refine Patchouli to death with an array, the array was broken and twisted by Patchouli, who had already learned a lot of cultivation knowledge, which put him in a stalemate.

"These are counterfeit goods. And that's why they belong to me in this world, not to that Celestial Venerable!" In a new timeline, before the battle was decided, a third sword named 'Trapping Immortal' materialized around Luo Yinglong!

"You want to set up a Zhuxian Sword Formation?"—Zheng Zha broke through the boundary, arriving from an unknown timeline carrying the severed head of Sesshouin Kiara into the battlefield between Luo Yinglong and Patchouli. Supported by Patchouli's magic, he withstood the attacks of three immortal swords, shattering all of Luo Yinglong's defenses and magical artifacts, and directly punched Luo Yinglong in the chest cavity. Then, from within Luo Yinglong's body in this timeline, countless rays of destructive light erupted!

"The Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation? No, it's not the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation." Luo Yinglong's voice and the aforementioned dialogue echoed across the chaotic battlefield of the solar system as they returned to the main timeline. The form of the fourth sword then materialized around him!

"I won't do anything meaningless. In this multiverse, battles between equals aren't something you can easily gain an advantage with just one or a few exquisite magical artifacts. This is especially true at higher levels, because both you and I are incredibly resilient. So—"

Four immortal swords hovered around him and fell according to his will, etching a dazzling light that spread outward from the earth and extended to the end of the cantilever in this timeline of official history!

The celestial realm transformed, a world of raging earth, water, fire, and wind, almost like the beginning of creation, bought him a tiny, insignificant, yet expansive, window of time. The extent of the destructive power he suffered at the moment the sword light dissipated is beyond calculation, for the final result was that he appeared unharmed in the center of the formation!

"The Immortal Slayer is for killing, the Immortal Slayer is for conquering, the Immortal Trapped is for trapping, and the Immortal Annihilation is for locking!" He suddenly closed his outstretched five fingers!

The next moment, four sword lights locked down a large section of space in the third spiral arm of the Milky Way!

"Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, activate!"

"Rules locked—Interference with timelines is prohibited here!"

Like ripples spreading across a still lake, the area covered by the four invisible sword lights emanating from Luo Yinglong extended all the way to the edge of the universe. He was not unaware of the universe's destruction, but this destruction also meant the power he could utilize. And when the sword lights reached their peak and pierced into nothingness, the sword formation was unleashed!

The world lines are beginning to merge.

The prohibition against interfering with world lines manifests as the forced merging of all world lines into one, rendering them uninterrupted. Concepts clash, and different possibilities collide, whether they are distant world lines that are essentially separate stories, or similar world lines that are also based on human reasoning, all merging in the same instant. In more physical terms, everything within the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation is quantized, and then, under the watchful eye of a single observer, arrives at the final and unique answer through countless probabilistic collisions.

—In a distant realm, as the tide of worldline convergence swept in, the clone Zheng Zha stretched out his hand and pointed into the air, severing the connection between these two nearly identical twin-stage universes. A trace of blood spurted from his fingertip, and the next moment, an endless sea of ​​blood erupted from Earth in this twin-stage, engulfing the sun, filling the starry sky, and even spreading to other worldlines outside of this twin's official history!

“Interesting.” He rose from the audience and stepped onto the stage.

However, Luo Ye's figure suddenly appeared opposite him.

“You can’t go over there,” Luo Ye said calmly, with Satou Aika standing obediently and firmly beside her. Around the audience, the other members of the Demon Team, except for the clone Alice, appeared one by one—she glanced at them. “None of you can either.”

"That depends on how long you can hold out, woman—and Chu Xuan's puppet." The clone Zheng Zha chuckled, turning his gaze from the other world to Luo Ye. "Or do you believe this development is also part of your plan? And you don't need to make any changes?"

"I will not change." Luo Ye's gaze was calm, and behind her, one after another, desolate, dead planets, civilizations, and planes, frozen in the final scene of their development, appeared. They gathered in groups, woven into a wheel, and finally, a cold, pale sun rose between the dark sea of ​​stars.

"The end of all variables, the twilight of the multiverse itself?" The clone Zheng Zha raised an eyebrow. "So that's how it is. No wonder you're the last daughter, no wonder you so eagerly await destruction. Alright, then let's see—" Behind him, an eternal darkness, dimmer than the night itself, gathered into a tide, and all the brilliance between the vast starry rivers was extinguished.

"You've got some skills, haven't you?"

Darkness and the pale sun collided, and a giant silver serpent surged forth from the unknown, leading this vast twin stage directly toward the inevitable destruction!

The war continued.

Within this celestial realm, with the confirmation of the sole observer, countless contradictory phenomena and concepts merged into one amidst the struggle. Almost instantly, most of the Milky Way's starry sky collapsed and shattered; some were destroyed by Zheng Zha, some corrupted by Sirin and Ex, some eroded by Sesshouin Kihara, and some torn apart and destroyed by Zhao Zhuikong…

They were originally different possibilities existing in numerous disparate online worlds, battlefields between true gods and battlefields abandoned or used to determine superiority among them. And now—

—All possibilities have become reality. Because 'possibility' itself no longer exists.

A tide of destruction swept across the heavens, then converged towards the cosmic region where Earth resided. The surge arrived in an instant, rushing into the inner reaches of the solar system in the blink of an eye!

In the vast expanse of space, cracks appeared simultaneously on nine continents, and the forms of all living things began to crumble, spewing out large amounts of putrid blood!

Sirin frowned, leaving the battlefield and returning to the modern world of the Ninth Reality. She stretched out her hand, unleashing her power of 'Connection' to link Earth and its nine continents along a causal line, stabilizing their operation. Here alone, she replaced the 'Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation' as the observer, stabilizing the changes on Earth. And while she was bound here, the nine continents of Earth, showing signs of decay, stabilized once more.

Within the solar system, all celestial bodies except the Sun and Earth disintegrated into dust due to the overlap of numerous events. The Moon, however, vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed in the first place.

The battlefield of the true gods fell into a brief silence at that moment.

The True Gods, appearing at different coordinates, all turned their gazes towards Luo Yinglong's location. From this moment on, the True Gods of the three factions no longer considered Luo Yinglong merely one of their combat targets, thus also focusing some of their attention on other opponents while fighting him. Because—

—Luo Yinglong is now the common enemy of all the true gods present.

Then, a chaotic sword, its color and shape indistinguishable, appeared at Luo Yinglong's side and was firmly grasped in his palm. Moreover, this sword had a form and concept completely different from the other four immortal swords, and even from the Purple Ying and Green Suo swords.

This is... a sword that belongs solely to Luo Yinglong. A nameless sword, a sword of annihilation.

And the sword he raised was pointed at all his enemies.