Chapter 445: Arrival

On the land surrounded by lava rivers, the entire sky was suddenly enveloped by a dense white energy mist. An enormous opening abruptly ripped through space, revealing a terrifyingly vast and magnificent entity. Tens of thousands of feet tall, it stood with its feet on the ground and its head touching the sky. With every step it took, the entire land trembled.

"What is that?" Du Xue gasped, her heart pounding as she sensed the approaching presence. She was profoundly shaken. "Such a terrifyingly enormous creature, its head touching the sky, its feet on the ground? Thousands of times taller and larger than mountains! Could it be... the true form of an ancient deity... has descended?"

Every deity was forbidden from remaining in the mortal realm for extended periods. The ancient deity before them was naturally in a mortal form. Given the sudden opening in space and the sheer size of the entity, could this be the deity's colossal true body?

"What in the world is this?!" Xia Naiming exclaimed, his throat dry as he stared blankly at the colossal entity in the mist. "This size... is it a Creator God? No, it's not a Creator God!!" In terms of sheer scale, it was three times larger than the Creator Gods who had descended from other worlds! What an unimaginable concept! He felt that any words would be utterly inadequate to describe its breathtaking magnificence.

He took screenshots, sending out an image. Xia Naiming took a deep breath. "Is this the power of the strongest hidden NPC, the most formidable deity in the multi-dimensional transcendent universe? The potential of this land is incredibly vast. I wonder if I can someday..." He could already envision the frenzy among players on the forums outside.

As the mist gradually dispersed, the vast, towering, terrifying entity revealed its sleek, black, refined body.

"What kind of being is that?!" Upon seeing the terrifying creature emerge from the earth and reveal its true outline, Heavenly Emperors and deities across the entire land turned their heads. Even those engaged in battle, like Emperor Dahuangxi, couldn't help but stare from a distance.

From several great domains away, they discerned the entity's true form: a sophisticated black metal construct. Its head touched the vast sky, its feet rested on the earth, and its entire body was a streamlined black mirror, slender and elegant. Two black longswords were strapped to its back, making it resemble a metallic swordsman shrouded in black mist.

"It's the design of the Ishutar people's former war armor, but why is it so tall? Like thousands of mountains stacked together, holding up the entire sky?"

"No, it's alive! Not a machine. It's like a living being, composed of countless cells, each of which has achieved cultivation."

"A living being? This is clearly a man-made, terrifying, unknown artifact, yet it's alive?"

Terrifying divine thoughts crisscrossed the air. Each deity stood stunned. Though they were well-informed and had seen much, they now seemed like natives entering a bustling city for the first time, overwhelmed by the entity's excessive size and magnificence. It was as if they were witnessing a magnificent, vast miracle of life. Its grandeur and overwhelming majestic aura were enough to awe all Eighth-tier deities.

While others were naturally astonished by the unknown and the vast, magnificent creation, Emperor Dahuangxi, Subaru, and the Daughter of Prosperous Forest were already dumbfounded.

"This is a Ninth-tier existence..." Having barely touched the Ninth-tier themselves through the abilities granted by the Pillar Gods, they naturally sensed that the colossal 30,000-foot giant's unique physical structure vaguely approximated a Ninth-tier "world."

Emperor Dahuangxi silently turned his head, frowning as he gazed upon it. "Is this the true body of an ancient deity?"

Although it was an anomaly, he wasn't worried the ancient deity would attack him. According to his calculations and analyses, ancient deities spanned across eras like observers, never directly interfering with the disputes of their times.

His expression hardened as he continued to observe. "No," he muttered, "this suspected Ninth-tier being seems to lack its own sentience, like a mere corpse."

His pupils suddenly contracted as an incredible, terrifying thought struck him: "Is this... the corpse of a world-level powerhouse? Although incomplete, with most of its cells devoid of energy, one can still discern the terrifying potential it once held—a fragmented Ninth-tier, world-class body."

If what had descended was the true body of an ancient deity, it would be unsettling but still within acceptable limits. However, a suspected fragmented Ninth-tier divine corpse, brutally fashioned into a weapon—this implied a truly immense horror! One must understand that an ancient Ninth-tier, world-level existence, a supreme being, could live for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years. Even the Ishutar people and the civilizations of the ancient lava lands were but a fleeting moment to such a being—a mere feigned slumber and awakening. And such an existence... was brutally made into a weapon?!

It is known that even deities of the same realm find it exceedingly difficult to kill each other! Such beings are almost unkillable, supreme entities. For the ancient deity to have slain it means that this ancient deity, even among Ninth-tier beings, is a monstrous, top-tier, heaven-defying existence, possessing the abnormal combat power to kill those of the same tier.

"Although it's as vast as an entire lava land, one can still discern its outline: this is an Ishutar mechanical war armor..." Emperor Dahuangxi's eyes grew solemn. "Ancient legends tell that in a previous civilization, Carolyn, the great sage of the Ishutar people, was once invited to venture into the unspeakable vacuum world to custom-build a mechanical war armor for an ancient deity. She only required blueprints, and her demands were exceedingly peculiar..."

All truths seemed to be unveiling like a magnificent curtain. The ancient deity must have slain a Ninth-tier existence before seeking out the Ishutar's great sage to custom-build this terrifying mechanical war armor. And now... it had barely been completed.

"How interesting..." Emperor Dahuangxi took a deep breath, his eyes reflecting a mix of surprise, doubt, fear of the unknown, and a hint of self-mockery. Perhaps, in the eyes of this ancient entity, the struggles unfolding across the entire ancient lava land were no more than children's games.

*Whoosh*— The vast, terrifying giant, as if traversing boundless distances with each stride, covered thousands of miles in a single step. As it passed through ancient lava domains, the tribal residents of every town witnessed a towering entity that blotted out the sky. The indescribable oppression and fear instantly caused mortals of the Third and Fourth Tiers to faint. Ten thousand mu of land, neither too vast nor too small for a large Heavenly Emperor mech, could eventually be traversed.

"You..." The Daughter of Prosperous Forest gazed at the terrifying scene, her voice hoarse. Like Emperor Dahuangxi, she had also realized something: despite its appallingly weakened power, it must be the remains of an ancient Ninth-tier existence.

"This mechanical mech has just been completed," Xu Zhi said calmly, "so I'm taking the opportunity to test its strength."

The mechanical war armor's size was not meant to be concealed, nor could it be; its nature was obvious at a glance. Since it wasn't an orthodox Cthulhu evil god that could simply reduce its workload, Xu Zhi instructed the intelligent sub-brain to temporarily take offline and shut down a large number of computer clusters for the remaining beings who hadn't fainted, forcing them into hibernation. Now was not the time for these special beings to take shortcuts to achieve the Ninth-tier.

The three Pillar Gods resided within the interactive network dimension. They existed within the minds of all beings; though they had not developed wisdom or sentient emotions, they possessed rationality akin to mechanical AI. Furthermore, the Human Pillar God among them had already acquired rudimentary, beast-like intelligence and emotions.

It clearly sensed a terrifying sight: its countless computer clusters, distributed across the entire land like scattered Go pieces or lamps in the dark, were extinguishing one by one.

"Computational power is decreasing...""Entering hibernation soon...""Worldline cannot be computed!""A variable beyond computation!"

Though the Human Pillar God's sentience had not yet fully opened, an immense terror—the first it had ever felt—mixed with shock and anger, began to accumulate within it. Overwhelmed by this irresistible force, it fell into a deep slumber.

The Heavenly Emperors and deities stared blankly at the incredible scene. They suddenly felt that the fate that had implicitly shrouded them no longer existed. An unprecedented sense of ease washed over them, and their faces lit up with joy. This was an unprecedented anomaly across the entire land: plants, animals, and humans alike collapsed to the ground, falling into a state of true suspended animation.

"It has begun..." Xu Zhi gazed distantly towards that area, not turning back to face the Daughter of Prosperous Forest. "This is a war of races, and destiny is now in your hands... Go, do what you want to do, change your destiny... stop Emperor Dahuangxi."

"Yes!" The Daughter of Prosperous Forest took a deep breath, bowed respectfully, and swiftly rushed towards the sky. "Destiny is now unknown, and from this moment, we ourselves will decide! Our future will be determined solely by individual ability... The three of us, who have never escaped destiny's grasp in our lives, will now assert ourselves. At this moment, we are equals... Emperor Dahuangxi, I hope you don't lose the Pillar Gods and become a mere puppet, unable to control anything!"

The sky trembled, winds surged, and a thick mist suddenly obscured the view. Du Xue also silently vanished from her spot, beginning her assassination.

"This person is a monster, right!" a nearby character, Balloon, exclaimed, breaking out in goosebumps. "Definitely on the level of Hermes back then! Even stronger! Perhaps this very corpse is Hermes's!" The corpse of a Ninth-tier deity was brutally fashioned into a mech, and it easily shut down the worldline and the foreseen future, putting all beings into slumber.

"Master, I beg you, please accept me as your disciple!" Balloon Fish immediately prostrated himself.

Xu Zhi, speechless, merely glanced at him and continued to stand calmly nearby.

Deep within the earth, an existence in a coffin opened its wine-red eyes. As if sensing something, an ethereal voice echoed, "No matter the era, this world is always linked to destiny. So it was for the Ishutar people, and so it is for them..."

"A living mechanical war armor? Was it from the mechanical blueprints of that time? So that's how it was—a Ninth-tier existence was slain and fashioned into a mechanical war armor..."

"The three Pillar Gods, after all, missed some things. They didn't know that ancient deities, like me, had once been manipulated by the cycles of destiny. Now, seeing them bound by fate... naturally, one would break that fate, allowing them to decide their own future."

The voice hesitated for a moment, recalling the inexplicable sadness over the Ishutar people's destiny being bound. Then, it chuckled lightly, full of admiration. "As expected of him."

A gentle breeze swept through. The figure in the coffin was gone.