Tiran rubbed his head, glanced at Xingjian, raised his eyebrows, and muttered, "I don't see anything wrong with my words... compared to that -"

Tiran abruptly shifted the topic, pointing at Xingjian provocatively, "How dare you sit here and comment on me after knocking me out cold earlier? That guy came here for that new god down below, why didn't you stop him?"

"I couldn't stop him."

As Xingjian said this, her eyes looked very dim. In fact, at the moment she decided to assist Yuan in stopping Tiran and Xiang Ling, she clearly understood that some long-held beliefs in her heart had been shattered, leaving her only with the strength of a Realm level in The Realm of the starry sky to rely on.

And when The Realm was once again broken, the only pillar that could still support her actions in Xingjian's heart collapsed, leading her into deep self-doubt about collecting anger and soul energy by killing innocent civilians in Luo Jing City.

"Tsk tsk, why don't I have the courage to rescue Aya... Oh? Right, Aya!"

Tiran launched into a sprint, despite the burning pain from the battle wounds all over his body, nothing was more important now than finding Aya.

"Silver War Maiden, your injuries... never mind."

Xiang Ling, who couldn't hold back Tiran who suddenly jumped up, reached out, hesitated for a moment, and then simply forgot that she was also quite injured, giving off somewhat of a fatherly feeling.

But considering the tremors that had just come from underground, Xiang Ling ultimately followed Tiran to the seal.

"Miss Tiran, it's great to see you're unharmed." Kongming politely greeted Tiran and Xiang Ling.

"How can you tell I'm unharmed... it's so painful." Just now, in his haste to find Aya, Tiran sprinted, and now his whole body was in agony, muscles twitching from inside out. If it weren't for his determination to find Aya, he would have been rolling on the ground long ago.

As for Xiang Ling, after years of fighting on the battlefield, she was not immobile due to pain, but the effects on her condition were still there.

"Compared to that, why are you here? After saving a scene in Milt, you grabbed those Angels and disappeared, didn't the Goddess of the Light come after you?"

"Actually, a lot has happened. In short, I reached an agreement with the goddess, but now is not the time to discuss this; let's focus on the trouble at hand first."

"Do you need urgent medical attention? Although I'm a Demon, I've also learned a thing or two about human healing spells."

Looking at Tiran, who was covered in blood and looked unbearable, Kongming's fingertips lit up with a gentle light.

"Thanks." Feeling the pain disappear and the wounds heal under the light of the healing spell, Tiran's expression relaxed slightly.

"Aren't you going down? Just now..." Xiang Ling hesitated, standing next to Tiran, also recovering some of her injuries under the glow of the healing magic, but her gaze was still on the seal on the ground and the deep abyss below.

"It's too late to go down now to stop it immediately. It's better to make some preparations first." Kongming shrugged, pointing a finger underground, answering, "Did you hear that commotion just now? That was probably the 'fetal movement' of the new god being born."

"Aya is pregnant?!" Tiran was shocked.

".....Miss Tiran, you've misunderstood. It's just a metaphor," Kongming sighed as he covered his face, "What I meant is, the fusion has already been completed preliminarily, and now what we might have to confront down there could be a newly born deity."

"What about Aya?"

"It's hard to say. I've never heard of creating a new god using the soul and a new body. Heaven knows who came up with such a crazy idea."

Noticing Tiran's change in expression, Kongming paused, "If we're lucky, and if the will of the new god isn't too aggressive, Miss Aya might still retain her consciousness."

"So, Aya might... die?"

Tiran felt her breath stop for a moment, asking quietly, her voice carrying a slight tremor that even she wasn't aware of.

"If the consciousness is scattered by the huge influx of soul information," Kongming nodded, "But it's just a possibility. If the consciousness can still remain independent, I do have a way to separate Miss Aya's consciousness."

...

The endless blackness had a velvet-like texture, and sinking into it, Aya felt a strong sense of tranquility, as if she were a fetus developing in the womb.

Unlike the majority of humans, even in an unhatched state, Dragons could still possess their own consciousness. Some powerful individuals could even injure beasts psychically while still inside the eggshell. Therefore, Aya retained memories from her unhatched state. The current environment resembled the warm, moist touch of the eggshell she remembered.

How nice it would be... to just keep sleeping.

Yes, let's just continue sleeping, as if someone softly whispered behind her.

Aya... Aya...

Huh? Aya... who is that? It sounds like... my name? Whose voice is that? So familiar...

The consciousness that was gradually fading grew clearer at this moment. Aside from the alluring voice tempting her to sleep, from a more distant place came a more urgent call.

"Aya, wake up!"

A sharp pain suddenly shot through her face, jolting Aya's consciousness that was almost dissipating.

"Ouch, it hurts!"

In the midst of the searing pain on her cheek, Aya's consciousness returned. As the dark fog cleared, the scene before her became clear. She was still locked in the center of a golden magic circle, but there were a few unexpected people in front of her.

"Miss Tiran?" Aya looked at the worried girl in front of her who was about to slap her with her right hand.

"Aya? It's Aya, right?" Tiran's eyes flickered with uncertainty.

"Huh? Who else could it be..." Aya momentarily didn't understand Tiran's meaning, but she caught sight of the ancient-looking handsome man behind Tiran, staring intently at her.

"Zhuge Qinfeng?"

"Why do both of you address me in this manner?" Kongming was annoyed, but more importantly, he cast a wary look, "Miss Tiran, for safety reasons, I suggest you keep your distance from Aya."

"Keep my distance? Why?"

Aya sat up and paused, momentarily stunned as she noticed the golden shackles clasped around her wrists.

Her memories seemed jumbled, although she remembered herself and the person in front of her, the memories related to why she was in this place and what had happened to her seemed lost amid a sea of chaotic information.

Hmm? Wait, where did all this jumbled information come from?

Previously, Aya didn't pay much attention when her focus was on Tiran in front of her, but when she started to notice her confused memories and the crazy flashbacks floating back into her mind, the consciousness that had just been awakened by Tiran was instantly scattered once again.

It was a pale giant tree growing in a sea of blood, countless grotesque fish swimming in the crimson sky reflected below, their bodies twisted in nightmarish contortions. Suddenly, a massive python emerged from the blood sea, large enough to coil around the giant tree, its steel-like scales sparking against the pale branches, igniting a fire that spread across the tree, the giant snake, the bizarre fish, even the churning blood sea.

Before Aya could see more of this scene, it vanished in the flames. The next image that appeared was a bedroom at night, a child lying in bed listening to bedtime stories from the adult beside them. Although both faces were blurry, the cozy atmosphere remained. Yet, in the next instant, the adult laughed maniacally and flicked their hand, causing the child to burst open, showering the room with a flood of gold and silver jewels.

The bizarre stream of images, something that would never happen in reality, did not induce a splitting headache. It felt more like watching an ancient absurd art film in a quiet movie theater, giving Aya that same sense of tranquil sleepiness and self-loss she had felt before.

...

"Hey! Aya? Aya!"

Seeing Aya zoning out without saying a word and sitting on the ground, Tiran urgently reached out to touch her, only to be repelled by an irresistible force the moment her fingertips made contact.

Fortunately, she didn't fall directly to the ground, or her still-recovering body would have been in trouble.

Xiang Ling, who had regained some strength, swiftly caught her in a princess carry, while Kongming had already stepped in between them and Aya in the center of the array, staring expressionlessly at Aya, whose left eye now displayed a gleam of interest.

"Shall we congratulate on the new lease of life? The new god, hmm, not fully possessed yet?"

Aya's left pupil had inexplicably turned into a pure gold color rather than the slightly enchanting wine red typical of the albino giant dragon. This gold color, different from the commanding presence of a higher being like a normal Dragon, only conveyed a sense of "emptiness."

Her right eye remained lifeless, but a hint of struggle and movement could still be glimpsed deep within.

"What's wrong with Aya?!"

Tiran, who had recovered her composure, asked urgently as she approached.

"As I mentioned before, Aya's body now belongs not only to himself but also to the soul of that new god."

"Minglin? Couldn't we try to say hello to her if it's him?"

"No use." Kongming shook his head, lightly tapped the ground with the toe of his right foot, "This array is a relic from a civilization even older than the era where I was trapped, predating the mythological war and the birth of any deity, probably the insane creation of a civilization gone mad."

"It treats things like divine bodies and souls, which normally require exceptional talents and years of practice, as mere materials, attempting to artificially synthesize gods like a lunatic's work."

"In other words, no matter what kind of life the soul and body here had before, they are now just pure materials. There's no point in trying to communicate verbally."