Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“Let me do it, sister.” — Luo Ye turned her head, and Patchouli appeared beside her.

This is normal, because Patchouli calls her "sister" just like Alice does. As for Luo Ye, she has always been indifferent to such things.

"But are you sure you want to make your move here? You should still be in Gensokyo right now."

"Anyway, this world is going to be destroyed by my own hands in the end. Killing all the people on a planet and killing all the ghosts on a planet makes little difference to me," Patchouli replied, and a gray fruit immediately appeared in her hand.

That's the Nano Gray Tide, a successor to the Gray Tide, the Elf Species, and a successor to the Elf Species, the Spirit Particle Magic. When it's thrown into a universe, it will decipher the rules of that universe and trigger a tide of rising magic. Then, the eroded universe will be presented to Patchouli in a way that suits her aesthetic.

She threw the fruit towards the cursed Earth. When Luo Ye no longer intended to hinder her decision, the fruit touched the dusty ground.

The next moment, the Earth was covered in gray. All the little ghosts, big ghosts, ghost kings, or other kinds of demons and monsters, without even the awareness to resist, became part of the grayness. The vengeful spirits were forcibly stuffed into shells constructed of spiritual magic and equipped with AI with fixed patterns. The gray tide then spread, covering and generating various animals, plants, and microorganisms.

A world that is entirely illusory from top to bottom, yet does not hinder its function, is complete.

Patchouli nodded slightly, allowing the world to operate according to the original script, and completely removed her own form from this point in time in this universe.

The puppet show continued, and Kayako, the last remaining one, was released when Patchouli left.

The next second, the members of Team Central and the newcomers arrived in this universe.

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Path of Destiny, Part Three

The Grudge.

In the world of Ju-on, nothing particularly unique unfolds.

After all, Patchouli had already purged the entire world once beforehand, and all the vengeful spirits and ghosts were confined to bodies almost indistinguishable from the real thing, operating like puppets. And although the sole 'ghost' gained some enhancement due to the blurring of the boundary between life and death, its fundamental strength was indeed not much stronger.

They're just ordinary Kayako. They're just ordinary Toshio Saeki and Takeo Saeki. At most, they only have some presence on the Japanese archipelago. But their destructive power and interference are not comparable to the weakest of the current Central Continent Team's Reincarnators.

Even at such an early point in time, the same applies.

So, what followed was rather unremarkable—Zheng Zha arranged for all the overlooked newcomers and fodder to be reincarnated. As for the members who had not yet reached the level beyond the species—Zhang Jie, Ba Wang, Ling Dian, and Ming Yanwei, who had come into contact with the Central Continent Team in the Ju-on world, they were responsible for dealing with Kayako… Although it was actually very easy to defeat her, the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

They got busy, while Saito Hajime and Zhao Yingkong, who arrived at the same time, didn't need to interfere much—after all, these guys were no longer affected by the past in the timeline, so whether they took action or not was actually insignificant.

The group continued their journey in this manner, one day, two days, three days—those who were supposed to leave received their "meal boxes" at the appropriate time. Soon, time moved to the moment when Ming Yanwei died for the first time.

"If I stay here, will I run into that man in the next round?" Ming Yanwei paused slightly before setting off, looking at her companions with a half-joking expression.

“Nearly no,” Chu Xuan replied. “Zhang Heng’s record is rapidly becoming blurred—he’s not dead, but the connection between him and us is being severed one-way. Soon, all traces of him will be completely erased from our team’s experience. Even if you go to the world of Gods and Demons, you won’t encounter him.”

"I see." Ming Yanwei nodded in satisfaction. "Then, this karmic connection can be considered completely severed."

"Whether we break off the relationship or not is up to you, not us," Chu Xuan replied calmly. "Do you plan to stay?"

“Of course not.” Ming Yanwei smiled and waved her hand. “The past is meaningless now. I am me, and he is him. Forgetting each other from now on is not a bad ending.”

Her form dissipated as her words ended, disappearing from where she was supposed to be in the Source World Online. Soon after, Kayako of the Ju-on world also met her end on the seventh night, just before being destroyed by a sniper bullet at midnight, as recorded in the Source World Online. It was also time for Chu Xuan to temporarily leave the scene.

He deserves to die.

He should have shielded Zheng Zha from Kayako's invasion in his spirit form at that moment, allowing Zheng Zha to successfully locate Zero within Kayako and thus end this world.

He should have done so, but he did not.

Because just as they arrived at that opportune moment, another 'Chu Xuan' appeared before the reincarnators.

—Is it a clone of Chu Xuan?

--no.

Zheng Zha had relevant memories in his mind, which enabled him to reveal the real name of the 'Chu Xuan' in front of him.

"Jun." Before he could speak, Chu Xuan uttered the name first.

"It's me." The young man who looked exactly like Chu Xuan took a step toward Chu Xuan, but his figure dimmed considerably after taking that step.

He stopped in his tracks.

"The refusal of the transformation between life and death... Houtu's bargaining chip. This cannot stop me, Chu Xuan."

“But this is enough to bring us to the same level, Jun.” Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses. “You have already failed; you can only play second. The possibility of me defeating and destroying you is not zero. Next, I will negate your degraded past life as a part of this life.”

He saw a smile appear on 'Jun's' lips, and in a daze, perhaps Jun in his past life was more human than Chu Xuan in this life. And with that smile, their forms were completely erased from this world as if they had been erased by an eraser.

They left.

They ventured into an unknown region to engage in a duel between their past and present lives.

Throughout this entire process, Chu Xuan's companions did nothing.

"I thought you would chase after him." Luo Ye looked at Zheng Zha. She had even prepared to forcibly imprison Zheng Zha for a moment. But she found that her preparations were just a meaningless and useless effort.

However, Zheng Zha simply shook his head.

“If it were before, I would.” He sighed, his gaze complex, but quickly returning to its purest form. “Because back then, I would think like an ordinary person. I would still consider myself an ordinary person. But now—I know Chu Xuan can solve this problem. And I can’t help him.”

"And," Zheng Zha chuckled self-deprecatingly. "My trial should be just around the corner. After all, the connection between Gu and Jun is inseparable. And since Jun has already appeared here, Gu will likely arrive soon... This time, what awaits me is a life-or-death battle, not a trial like the last one."

Luo Ye looked at him, sensing his will and determination, and nodded.

She couldn't help but admire it from the bottom of her heart.

"Pei Jiao and Bing Feng are really amazing."

"Perhaps Adam is the more formidable one." — A familiar voice, but definitely not the one their memories pointed to, rang in the group's ears. And when the reincarnators turned their gazes, the image that came into view was 'Chu Xuan'.

—Another Chu Xuan.

—Chu Xuan, a clone of the Demon Team.

He gently pressed his glasses frame, just like Chu Xuan on this side, and nodded to the members of the Central Continent Team.

"What are you doing here..." Zheng Zha glanced at him, then looked in the direction where the real Chu Xuan had disappeared. "Did you come here for Jun?"

"I came for myself," the clone Chu Xuan replied calmly, arriving at the place where the original Chu Xuan had disappeared without any hindrance. "If the original succeeds, Jun will try to settle for second best. Therefore, cooperating with the original to defeat Jun here is the best choice and solution at present."

"And," he glanced at Zheng Zha, "Zheng Zha from my side will be coming to meet you soon. Of course, you can also go see him. The life-or-death battle with your past life was extremely dangerous, so you'd better not take any chances."

The clone of Chu Xuan's form disappeared.

No one knew where he went, nor how he would cooperate with the true entity. But regardless, everyone present knew that Chu Xuan would return at the right time. As for whether it would be Chu Xuan or Jun who returned, that would depend on the outcome of this war.

Zheng Zha sighed softly.

He felt neither joy nor sorrow, neither impatience nor anger.

He wasn't nervous or flustered. He had already paved the way for himself and was determined to make it work.

So……

—Next, the fourth world.

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

The fourth world is the world where Alice appears.

The fourth world is the world of the Central Continent Team's first team battle.

And the name of the fourth world is...

"No name." Alice opened her eyes and looked at the vast plains and clear sky.

This should have been Cairo, but Cairo no longer exists.

This place should have been a prison, but the prison, along with Cairo, has vanished.

Because all of Egypt's gods and traditions were lost in the distant past. And for this reason, this oldest civilization vanished into the dust of history due to the butterfly effect.

If the gods no longer exist, then how can there be God's chosen people and messengers? And without princesses and guards, how should this story, which no longer has names, be constructed?

Alice turned her head and glanced at her sister and companions. She couldn't find any trace of Zhang Heng among the newcomers lying on the ground; in fact, any memory of Zhang Heng was gradually fading from her mind.

They can't be saved, and they don't need to be.

She saw Zheng Zha directly arranging reincarnations for the newcomers who were supposed to leave this place. Her gaze shifted slightly as she greeted Saito Ichi and Zhao Yingkong.

Saito Hajime's mission lies in the next world. Zhao Yingkong's mission extends even further than that. In this blank world, there are no enemies that Zhang Jie and the second-tier team need to deal with. Because on this land, Alice Margotrovd is the only one who needs to take action.

Her gaze returned to its center and extended. As time moved to the right point, she saw the enemy she was meant to defeat in this world.

—Indiana State Team.

—The captain of the Inshu team, Sesshouin Kiara.

When she saw Miss Qihuang, her teammates wisely chose to hide.

When Miss Qihuang saw her, the Indian team that was still alive at that time perished in an instant.

This was a battle that belonged only to her, and only to Sesshouin Kiara. When their eyes met, and neither was willing to back down, this battle was destined to decide life and death.

Sesshouin Kiara became a transcendent species.

But she, Alice Margotrovid, is stronger.

The war between the two sides, along with the expansion of the source world line, spread to every corner of this final, war-torn universe. From the past to the future, from this side to the other. Two different ideologies intertwined.

However, Sesshouin Kiara had already lost.

She was destined to lose because there were no more Bodhisattvas or Buddhas in the multiverse. There were no Buddhist scriptures or doctrines, and nothing related to the Buddha.

She didn't even know that she was a Bodhisattva from external scriptures, nor did she know that she was a Buddha from external scriptures.

Her ideology remains intact; the idea of ​​'I am human, and humans are supreme' gives her source worldline an extremely vigorous ability to erode and assimilate. However, once the battle reaches a stalemate, and the simple and brutal mutual overlay and plundering shifts to a slightly more sophisticated evolution of possibilities, her weaknesses will emerge.

As a result, she suffered repeated defeats, turning the balance of power into a significant disadvantage.

After a confrontation whose duration was irrelevant, Alice met her in her final and original source timeline—a world she was about to possess, but which did not yet have an independent worldview.

Alice met Sesshouin Kiara.

Still in her early childhood, she should have lived deep within a temple, but the temple was transformed into an ordinary residence, Sesshoin Kiara, due to a change in concept. If the concept of 'Buddha' had not been lost, this little girl would have been influenced by her father and brothers, who were cult members, from a young age, thus becoming a strange being who was self-centered yet devoted to good.

However, the 'Buddha' has disappeared. With the temple gone, the members of the cult who would have become cult members naturally became people involved in various industries, some dutiful, some dishonest. And whatever new fate they received, the old cult ultimately ceased to exist.

Thus, Sesshouin Kiara became an ordinary, unremarkable little girl. She encountered no strange people or strange things. A demonic nature lay buried deep within her, yet she could find no opportunity to unleash it.

She failed.

At the end of her defeat, she saw Alice.

“My defeat was truly unexpected.” Sesshouin Kiara, now just a young girl, looked up at the seven-colored witch who appeared before her. “I thought this would be a long and arduous battle, and that I would have a chance to turn the tide, but I never imagined that this would be the ending that awaited me.”

Alice didn't refute her, she just nodded. "Destiny is in my hands."

“But a loss is a loss.” The young girl, Qi Huang, looked at her slender hands and feet and couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “I’ve forgotten what expression I should wear, what tone of voice I should use, and what allusions I should use in my speech… It seems I’m about to become you… Miss Alice, do you think my ideas have even the slightest merit?”