Chapter 39: Let Us Begin Again; I Knew It Wouldn't Be That Easy

The sky was plunged into absolute darkness. From some unknown origin, a demon god’s hand emerged, obscuring the purple sun and casting a boundless shadow.

The hand was as heavy as a mountain, with the light of the purple sun filtering through the gaps between its fingers. The entire sky seemed on the verge of collapse; the immense pressure, far exceeding that of the skeletal remains of the Black Tortoise, was bone-chilling.

"What manner of great calamity is this?" The giant serpent reared up, its fleshy wings unfurling wide, scales bristling as it bared its sharp fangs. "I have guarded this place for an eternity and have never encountered such a thing."

Perched atop the serpent’s head, Si Jin wore a cold, stern expression. "Do not speak of never encountering it. I have read every record of the Fang State to date, and no such calamity has ever appeared."

Ji Yaoguang gazed at the sky, beads of sweat forming on his brow. He whispered, "I have never encountered it either, but perhaps I know what it is."

The object at his chest was beating violently, and in response, the Source object—which burned with heaven-piercing radiance—was pulsing at the exact same frequency.

"What is it?" In the blink of an eye, countless birds gathered around Si Jin.

"I do not know what it is, but I know that the 'Source' has drawn it here," Ji Yaoguang said, pressing his hand against his chest. "It is summoning..."

There was no need for him to explain further. Not far away, the purple crystal, aglow with solar fire, began to expand and rise, flying toward the terrifying hand in the sky.

The giant serpent sensed the danger. It spread its wings and stood at its full height, attempting to intercept the crystal. But at the same time, the hand descended slowly. The air beneath it grew as heavy as a mountain range, as if the entire world were trembling in its wake.

Simultaneously, Si Jin exhausted all his strength to chant an ancient song. Countless birds surged into the sky like a torrent. They did not attack the giant hand but instead attempted to sever the connection between the purple crystal and the hand. Yet, in the face of such celestial terror, that torrent was like a swarm of mayflies; the mere wind pressure from the hand easily extinguished and swallowed all the illusions.

Si Jin’s expression hardened. Just as he was about to cast another spell, his slender hands turned into withered bone.

"Petty tri—" his disdainful voice cut off abruptly. "Do not attack it! You must flee!"

His voice, usually melodious, turned shrill and jarring in an instant. "This is an art sought from the Source of Causality; it will directly target the origin of any attack. Run! Get beyond its range!"

Lin Zhao was horrified and reached out to help him. But Si Jin instinctively flickered and vanished from where he stood. His original body gradually faded, replaced by a giant bird rushing toward the sky. Its blue feathers rapidly turned to ash, yet it seemed unaware, hurtling toward the descending hand.

"I will test the reach of its barrier, you must—" The bird’s sharp cry was cut short. As it flew upward, its feathers disintegrated. The giant skeletal frame continued on, and after flying several hundred meters, a phantom image of an oriole the size of a fist burst from the crumbling bones. It slammed into a spot in the sky, creating a tiny ripple before vanishing without a trace.

The giant serpent was stunned for a moment. "A-Jin—"

Then, it flicked its tongue, scooped up the reaching Lin Zhao, and threw him to Ji Yaoguang. Its massive body coiled and stood upright, turning to stone like a Great Wall of mountains, intending to use its pure physical form to withstand the power that felt like the collapse of heaven.

"A-Guang, take the Golden Crow and run! I will hold it back for a moment." With a flick of its long tail, the serpent used its immense power to launch Ji Yaoguang and Lin Zhao away like shooting stars.

Ji Yaoguang did not hesitate. He held A-Zhao tightly in his arms, flickering to appear in every place with green grass in the distant city; his speed was far greater than flight.

Lin Zhao, initially dazed, regained his senses. He clutched the neck of the ancient tree, gasping for breath. That hand...

He finally remembered.

Before the old wizard had left, he had told him that their escape party, after surviving so many hardships, had been utterly slaughtered on the riverbank by a giant hand descending from the sky.

He could feel it.

"That hand... that hand is coming for me!" Lin Zhao could not help but hiss. "I can feel it. I can feel it watching me!"

So, back then, the old wizard could have found the new Wizard State; perhaps even the City of the Black Tortoise could have survived.

"Don't look!" Ji Yaoguang’s speed increased, and he covered Lin Zhao’s eyes.

But Lin Zhao had already seen it.

The massive serpent-mountain was collapsing. The serpent-head only had time to spit out one final icicle before cracks appeared on its brow. Like spiderwebs, the fractures spread, and the giant serpent, once vast enough to reach the sky, crumbled like rubble, sliding away and vanishing from the spot.

Two of the Wizard State's top Heavenly Wizards had been reduced to nothingness under that giant hand before even touching a physical entity.

Lin Zhao finally understood why the Wizard State, despite its power, had retreated into a corner, and why, while there had been so many wizard nations ten thousand years ago, only one remained today.

As the hand drew nearer, all the green on the earth receded, as if the hand had drained away all vitality.

Many phantom figures rose from the surface, their expressions still dazed, seemingly unaware of what had happened.

"Stop, we can't escape," Lin Zhao murmured, buried in his arms.

Ji Yaoguang was silent for a moment before slowly putting him down.

Lin Zhao was surprised to find himself back at the academy, sitting beneath the collapsed tower.

"Why are you here?" Weisheng Wu appeared from nowhere, looking as if he had found a savior, his voice frantic. "What is that thing in the sky?"

Above, the demon god’s hand continued its descent. The ground began to shake violently, and from the distance came the screams of living people being torn apart. Fear, like a boulder, pressed down on every heart.

Ji Yaoguang looked at A-Zhao’s profile; tears shimmered in the little bird’s eyes, the fear within them growing. He gently reached out to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes and said softly, "A-Zhao, remember: do not touch the 'Source' with fire in the future. You must isolate yourself from them to stay protected, just as I have."

Lin Zhao turned abruptly. "What are you saying..."

The giant hand drew closer, bringing with it a deafening roar that seemed to mock their insignificance. Their hands were tightly clasped, their fingertips cold, as if they could already feel the irreversible end.

"You will see my true form," Ji Yaoguang sighed. "We should not have delayed here. I have already notified the Father God. He is sustaining the Wizard State; it will take much time for him to come, but perhaps, we can hold on until he strikes..."

"Old Tree, calm down..." Lin Zhao’s voice trembled with resentment and despair. "Don't do anything reckless. We can hide underground; we should be able to hold out for a while longer."

He did not fear death; he could die many times, even treating death as a capability. But this time was different. If he started over, the Yaoguang he would meet would not be the Yaoguang he knew now! He would not be the Yaoguang he loved!

Ji Yaoguang lowered his head and touched his forehead against Lin Zhao’s.

"Yaoguang, I don't want to go to the Wizard State alone..." Lin Zhao’s voice was drowned out by the thunderous roar.

Ji Yaoguang was no longer there. In his place stood a golden Sacred Tree. Compared to it, the giant serpent seemed tiny. Its branches tore through the sky, shattering the wind pressure brought by the hand. Countless leaves shimmered with light, flickering like stars, extinguished and reborn.

The speed of the giant hand finally slowed.

The white wood began to wither, and countless dead leaves fell like a torrential rain.

The tree trunk was overtaken by pitch-black light. Lin Zhao pressed his hands against it, but no matter how much he tried to absorb it, the black light spread faster and faster. Compared to what he could draw out, the corruption within the tree was far too vast and deep—it was not something the weak-powered Lin Zhao could siphon away.

Just then, something within the Sacred Tree began to pulse. A pitch-black object tore through the trunk, and white sap flowed from the wound, endless as a waterfall. Near the ground, it turned into a fine mist of rain, carrying the scent of spring.

What emerged from the tree trunk was a pitch-black eyeball, with black smoke swirling around it. Its terrifying aura was nearly identical to that of the hand in the sky.

Beneath the eyeball, countless black tentacles drained the white wood until it was withered. Even as the branches drooped, it struggled to reach upward, seemingly attempting to resist the giant hand in the sky once more.

Weisheng Wu shook his head in a daze. "I actually have the honor of witnessing such a scene. It is truly... what a pity."

Lin Zhao ignored him and let out a scream. In his not-so-long life, he had encountered so many setbacks, but this was his most sorrowful, most painful cry.

His body burst into flames. A phantom shadow of a Golden Crow screamed, tearing through his physical shell, expanding within the fire. It flapped its wings in rage, transforming into a giant bird. Its three claws gripped the trunk, and it swallowed the eyeball in one gulp.

In an instant, it was as if it had swallowed a branding iron. Black smoke crawled over the bird's eyes. It rolled and roared on the ground. Before long, the eyeball emerged from the shadow’s belly, bathed in fire, though it was now infinitely smaller—only the size of an ordinary human eye. It was white-based with a black pupil, seemingly brimming with water, no longer carrying destruction and resentment. Instead, it gazed gently at the tiny person beneath it, its eyes filled with sorrow and countless stories.

With just one look, the eyeball slowly rotated and returned into the body of the giant tree. In an instant, the wounds healed, and the waterfall of sap vanished.

The giant tree seemed to regain its strength, desperately fending off the giant hand in the sky.

Lin Zhao collapsed to the ground, his attempt to crawl back up like a bird with broken wings.

Weisheng Wu helped him up and led him to a tree root.

Lin Zhao opened his eyes and looked at the youth, dazed. "Why are you... not affected by the corruption at all?"

Weisheng Wu shook his head. "I don't know, but looking at that eye just now, my eyes felt like they were in pain."

Lin Zhao took note of this in his heart. Leaning against the nearly withered tree, he looked up at the sky. "That hand wants to destroy me. If I am not mistaken, the so-called Source must be the corpse of a Wizard God. My power touched the Source, allowing something to sense my existence. You aren't affected... hmm, perhaps you are also a reincarnation of a Wizard God."

Weisheng Wu sat beside him, complaining, "Then I am truly miserable; now I have to be reincarnated again."

Lin Zhao curled his lips slightly. He reached out to press against the tree beneath him and closed his eyes. "No, this time, I will not let anyone be reincarnated. Absolutely not!"

He picked up a feather. "Let us start over."