Thus, His Holiness the God of Light faced two gloating faces.
Ian did not seem angry, perhaps because all of this was quite logical. Even if he disliked it, the facts would not change according to his will.
"Look on the bright side," Su Cheng added calmly, "you can comfort yourself with the fact that my feelings for you are because I find you interesting, not because—"
"Yes," he interrupted her, "spilling juice all over yourself must have been for the exact same reason."
Su Cheng fell silent for a moment. "Well, I do like this face, but before I saw it, it wasn't part of my fantasies, because I couldn't have imagined it."
Ian raised his eyebrows slightly. "So Caecilius is the embodiment of your fantasies."
Su Cheng: "..."
Su Cheng turned her head to look at the God of Illusions. "Does he always like to make things difficult for himself? If I say yes, he'll be unhappy. If I say no, that I like that person's soul, he'll definitely be unhappy too."
Metashil was still watching the drama with great interest. Hearing this, he blinked at her. "Judging from your experiences in the Echoing Plane, you knew him earlier than I did, so what do you think?"
"...Alright."
Ian waved his hand with seeming calmness, and the phantom of the ancient god vanished into thin air.
Su Cheng almost laughed out loud. "You're really petty, Your Holiness the Supreme God."
"Petty," Ian repeated. "I brought Charles to you, I hope you remember that. And even when Zane severed the connection between him and me, I didn't—"
Su Cheng: "?"
Su Cheng's pupils dilated in shock. "You said Zane, you, huh?"
Su Cheng: "..."
Ian looked at her calmly. "Even though I wasn't sure what I felt for you at the time, I still didn't like that."
Su Cheng rested her forehead in her hand. "I know you're all perverts, but I didn't expect you to... uh, never mind."
She was already used to sharing pleasures with the God of Joy, so she couldn't be bothered to complain about privacy issues anymore.
Su Cheng: "...Anyway, I'm probably a pervert too, so let's drop that. What's the deal with you, Elin, and those ancient gods? Were you two good friends before?"
"No, it was always difficult for us to be friends. It was merely a temporary collaboration. To separate the authorities of light and darkness, we conducted a lot of research together. Furthermore, his parents were devout followers of the Creator, but He never protected them. Therefore, he not only resents the ancient dragons that symbolize elemental magic, but he also has no good feelings toward those ancient gods. The Reflector guided me to godhood. It was only after I grasped the authority that I discovered the problems with the Source Fire and Aether, and also realized that those ancient gods wanted to leave."
"Leave? Leave this universe?"
"Yes," he chuckled lightly. "Their essence is spiritual, making it easier for them to sense and traverse the gaps in the world barriers. Especially after they shared a portion of their authority with us, this universe's binding on them became even weaker."
Su Cheng suddenly understood. "So you tried every means to trap them in the void. To prevent them from escaping, you elevated a whole bunch of lesser gods, because those lesser gods were originally the favored of the ancient gods—"
"Yes," Ian showed a bit of appreciation in his eyes. "After they were deified, their connection with the ancient gods was further strengthened."
"...Making it even harder for them to escape, forcing them to research other countermeasures."
"Mhm, though that's not the case for all of them. Logos indeed didn't want to leave early; they have always viewed this as a puzzle that needs to be solved."
Ian thought for a moment. "As for Metashil, I think he just wants to watch the drama, so he isn't in a hurry to leave either. The other ancient gods all have their own attitudes; after all, there are some who just fell straight into a deep slumber—"
He raised his hand, his fingertips hovering lightly in front of her lower abdomen, tracing the outline of a tree in the air from a slight distance.
Su Cheng grabbed those slender fingers. "Did you know that the Mirror Enclave intentionally wanted to provoke a war between the Church and the Secret Cult?"
"I know, and I can guess the reason," he held her hand in return. "If it weren't for that war, this world probably wouldn't have held on until you appeared."
Ian paused. "If you hadn't received enough blessings, the Mirror Enclave would definitely provoke another war. This right now is just the beginning. So, in a sense, you haven't just saved this world, but you've also kept alive many people who were supposed to die."
Su Cheng looked at him, speechless. "...Alright. So do I need to go try it now?"
"You can rest a bit longer," Ian said calmly. "It depends on your wishes. Anyway, this world can hold on for at least another few years—"
Su Cheng's face darkened with exasperation. "Then I'll go take a look. My current physiological state is probably closer to that of the dragons; if I take a nap, a long time might pass."
Ian looked at her in silence.
Su Cheng spread her hands. "Don't expect me to say whatever it is you want to hear."
"No," he sighed softly. "I was just thinking that due to my divine attributes, I'm not suited to send you to the outermost void—"
Ian was still holding her hand. The moment his voice fell, the surrounding space completely twisted.
They abruptly passed through countless planes, arriving at a narrow rift where the rules were shattered.
Beneath their feet was a crystalline ground that constantly dismantled and reformed. Broken cubes separated and merged in the air, with gravel-like spots of light floating around.
Su Cheng saw countless shattered reflections flickering.
Indescribable buildings and palaces stacked in ways that defied geometry. High towers grew upside down from narrow strips of land, archways led to their own backs, and layers upon layers of rotating stairs formed rings.
She seemed to hear the rules of different planes disintegrating, sounding like multiple sharp frictional noises.
Someone gently patted her shoulder.
A pale, slender hand fell on her shoulder. The knuckles were prominent and elegant, the contours incredibly exquisite, yet it contained enough power to anchor a plane.
The clamor in her ears instantly faded into silence.
Su Cheng turned her head.
A deity with black hair and black eyes stood beside her. Those silent eyes, like the abyss of an icy sea, seemed to hold thousands of years of sorrow, quietly watching her.
He wore a thin, ink-black robe, with pure shadows that devoured light escaping from beneath the hem.
"...Thank you."
He said softly.
Su Cheng knew he was referring to what happened in the Echoing Plane, and she couldn't help but shake her head slightly.
The God of Darkness said no more, but gently took her hand and once again pressed a kiss to the back of it.
At that moment, it was as if countless heavy curtains were lifted. The darkness permeating around the deity seemed to solidify into a long river, the materialized power piercing through space.
And then, it carved out a path.
Su Cheng stepped into that passage, feeling as if she were plunging into a black abyss, or being thrown toward a collapsing singularity.
Countless bizarre scenes flashed before her eyes: stars burning to ashes, planes being destroyed amidst the wails of living beings, and new rules being born from the dust.
In that torrent of converging noise, time and space were crushed and distorted, losing all meaning.
They traveled through the passage, as if walking in a bizarre, multicolored labyrinth of realms.
Countless spatial fragments swept over like blades, only to be blocked outside by an invisible barrier, while grotesque phantoms occasionally flickered within the dazzling colors.
The journey seemed to last for a long time, yet also felt like it passed in an instant.
As they left the passageway, the God of Darkness's body unexpectedly dispersed into flying gray motes of light, only to coalesce again in the next instant.
He gazed ahead into the eternal void, turned his head to look at her, and then vanished.
Su Cheng stood in the boundless silence, watching the endless grayish-black tide and the dense, suspended dust flocs within it.
The passage of time itself seemed to become viscous and blurred.
Behind her was the distorted dam of laws, and before her was the true void, deeper and more ethereal than darkness, permeated by a deathly stillness and coldness.
It was not a matter of temperature, but the complete absence of life energy, making her soul feel as if it were about to freeze.
This place was indeed very uncomfortable.
However, she would not be harmed in any way, so she endured the unpleasant sensation and earnestly focused on feeling the dust of disorder.
They were not just dust visible to the naked eye, but also static on the level of universal laws.
Like endless electrical currents, they were the burning remains of magic and battle aura, as well as the traces of life and death of all things.
They were the whispers of the end, and the sighs of decay.
Su Cheng carefully sensed the trajectories of the dust's movements, then tried to touch them.
She had thought this would be extremely troublesome, but the moment she released her mental energy, a certain resonance burst forth from her soul.
Two entirely different laws were colliding and canceling each other out.
Obviously, the instigators who had summoned her had chosen carefully, specifically finding a universe with opposing laws.
Coming from that world, her soul naturally carried this power. Once it came into contact with the dust of disorder, it would be drawn out on its own.
In an instant, Su Cheng felt as though she could hear the symphony of life beginning to play.
The mournful shrieks representing the end gradually faded away, replaced by a primal rhythm as the grayness began to recede.
Azure specks of light, akin to new life, began to shine.
That was the purest ether, the primal form of base energy.
Soon, that speck of blue acted like a spark starting a prairie fire, steadily spreading to become an ever-expanding domain of light.
More and more dust was awakened, restructured, and reversed, composing a melody full of rebirth and hope in this world of decay.
Su Cheng floated quietly in place, watching as a radiant blue galaxy emerged in the vast void centered around her, formed by billions of specks of ether.
Carrying the joy of newborn life and boundless vitality, they poured into the veil symbolizing the laws, flooding into various planes through its rifts.
At the same time, she also saw the laws themselves.
The chains supporting thousands of planes, the veins of their operation, their foundational stones, and even the shape of every node, were all clearly perceived in a wondrous way.
Furthermore...
She had completely understood the energy that lit up the universe; she could even feel the Source Fire burning in distant space.
If she wanted to, she could also convert more ether into the dust of disorder. It was nothing more than reversing the previous process.
The entire world seemed to hold no more secrets.
In a sense, there was even an impulse driving her to try causing some destruction, or to annihilate some of those planes.
But she soon felt that it would be rather meaningless.
It would be better to hurry up and do more conversions, then go back and have a good meal.
Su Cheng thought, lacking any demeanor of a savior.
Only after she was quite certain that she had extended the lifespan of the entire world by at least tens of thousands of years did she feel she could take a break. After all, it wasn't as if she couldn't come back.
She decided to sleep for a while.
Su Cheng followed the converging energy out of the void. Because the northern and southern continents needed the most ether, more energy flowed toward that plane.
She soon returned to the northern continent as well, relaxing and falling sound asleep on a patch of grass warmed by the sun.
...
Su Cheng was not sure how long she had slept, but when she groggily woke up, it seemed like people were talking around her.
They were speaking a language that was both unfamiliar and familiar.
Stop arguing.
I only came because she woke up!
She hasn't opened her eyes yet, said a deep, pleasant male voice. Perhaps she wants to sleep a little longer.
Are you really Caecilius? Not Metashil in disguise?
Those ancient and obscure syllables gradually became clear, and Su Cheng realized it was the language of the dragons.
She blinked and found herself lying on someone's lap. The muscles behind her head were firm and full, steeped in a cool sensation.
Then she met a pair of cold, brilliant golden eyes.
Cae looked down at her. Do you want to rest a bit longer?
Su Cheng touched his face. I'm fine now.
She took the opportunity to look at the other people present.
Xiao Lan was kneeling beside her, his silvery-white braids resting at his sides, his frost-blue eyes full of smiles. How do you feel?
I am very well.
Su Cheng sat up and immediately caught sight of the man next to Xiao Lan.
That man also had silver hair, with irises so pale they were almost transparent, carrying an aloof aura of being detached from the world.
Su Cheng: !
Su Cheng: You are the progenitor of the Water Dragons...
She suddenly turned to Xiao Lan. You are that egg!
The latter paused, suddenly blushing a little. Ah, you saw me before I was hatched. Yes, I originally shouldn't have been born; it was my father who separated a portion of his authority...
Su Cheng understood. So you are the Ice Dragon King.
Xiao Lan was a bit embarrassed. Theoretically, yes. However, the ice dragons cannot be considered my descendants; their ancestors are still the water-attribute ancient dragons...
Su Cheng looked at his father, and the progenitor of the Water Dragons nodded elegantly.
She turned her head to look at the red-haired man a short distance away. ...By the way, why did the God of Darkness beat you all up? And how are you guys so weak?
The progenitor of the Fire Dragons, who had taken the incarnation of an imperial prince, looked somewhat frustrated.
Peier crossed his arms with a dark expression. Didn't your sweetheart lose too?
Ha, Su Cheng sneered. He was fighting two against one. You got completely wrecked by Elin alone.
Peier seemed very annoyed, yet there was nothing he could do about her. ...That human has the power of many authorities on him, and he ambushed me! He was just trying to obtain more authority from us!
Su Cheng looked at him with half-belief and half-doubt.
Peier gritted his teeth. What is that look in your eyes!
I don't know, Su Cheng looked up at the sky. After all, I only saw you taking a bath due to an accident, but at the time it seemed like you had different ideas about it. I'm not sure if I can still trust you.
Peier: ...
He completely avoided looking at the expressions of the other two white-haired guys, and merely glanced subconsciously at the Black Dragon King.
Those cold, awe-inspiring golden eyes were looking at him thoughtfully.
By the way, Su Cheng turned back to look at the person behind her, even though these are just your incarnations, his figure is not as good as yours...
Cae curled his lips slightly into a smile. If you want to know, his true form is also smaller than mine.
Su Cheng held up two fingers in a victory sign, then pulled them back. But that doesn't matter. You are definitely the best.
The ancient dragon kings departed one after another.
She rested her chin on Kai's shoulder, affectionately nuzzling his cheek. "Have you ever wondered what would happen if I couldn't do it?"
"I would find a way to take you away." He tilted his head, drawing closer to whisper intimately against her ear. "To other universes, though that might be a little troublesome."
"Hmm?"
"...I haven't really studied how to traverse the void and enter other universes. Even though I can do it now, it would definitely go smoother if we had more time."
"Ha." Su Cheng understood. "That's alright, we can figure it out slowly. We have all the time in the world now. Anyway, all I have to do is come back periodically to reverse the aether."
She paused, falling silent for a few seconds. "It suddenly occurred to me that there are probably a lot of people who still want to talk to me."
"Mhm," Kai cast a glance at her. "Or rather, you actually want to talk to them too."
Su Cheng smiled sweetly, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You know me so well. I love you so much."
Kai let out a soft, helpless sigh and gently stroked her hair. "I love you too."
He still hadn't stood up, so Su Cheng leaned down to kiss him.
Under the crystal-clear azure sky, the emerald grass of the wilderness rippled like ocean waves. The silhouettes of the two gradually overlapped, melting seamlessly into one another.
