254: Chapter 254 From the Heavenly Dao

Yonghen? The "Heavenly Dao" that issues quests and grants rewards!

Lin Tian's pupils constricted sharply, his hand tightening around his sword hilt as waves of shock surged through his heart.

Heavenly Dao? The will of the Heavenly Dao has manifested personally and appeared before me? This...

"First, congratulations to you, young warrior, and to your companions."

Yonghen's phantom image fluctuated slightly. Its gaze seemed to sweep over Lin Yin, Lin Feng, and the others with a hint of appreciation, but more so with a bone-deep exhaustion and urgency.

"You have achieved a brilliant victory, purging a malignant tumor that threatened this realm. You yourselves have reached heights that many living beings spend their entire lives failing to attain... the realm of a True God is already in sight."

Its words sent a shock through everyone's hearts, especially Lin Feng, Lin Yan, and Lin Yin.

"However!"

Yonghen's phantom shook violently, as if it might dissipate at any moment, and the urgency in its tone could no longer be hidden.

"The contamination has not been eradicated. The true source—the 'Evil Nightmare' that transformed Karl, birthed countless impurities, and intends to devour all life in this realm—still exists, and... it has become even more powerful."

"I need your help, young lord. No, the countless living beings of this realm and the very survival of this world need your strength."

The Heavenly Dao needs help? The supreme world will needs me?

Lin Tian's mind raced. Karl was killed, but according to this, there was a big boss behind him?

And even the Heavenly Dao can't handle it? He suppressed the shock in his heart and asked in a heavy voice:

"Lord Heavenly Dao, what exactly happened? What do you need me to do? Is it to deal with that 'Evil Nightmare'?"

"Yes, and no."

Yonghen's phantom seemed to grow even dimmer, and its speaking speed increased.

"Time is short. The Evil Nightmare is frantically battering the Seal I set. I cannot maintain this form for long, so I will be brief."

"My Origin is symbiotic with this realm and is named 'Yonghen.' For a long time, I have been in a certain alternate dimension, suppressing the ultimate impurity born from the world's negative desires—the 'Evil Nightmare.' I had gradually suppressed it, and victory was in sight."

"However, this creature is incredibly cunning. At the very beginning of this war, it laid a hidden hand, using the blood Qi, Souls, and the fear and despair of all those who died in battle as sacrifices to devour and absorb in reverse! Now, its power has skyrocketed, and the Seal I cast by burning my Origin will not hold for much longer!"

The phantom's light flickered rapidly, showing its master's inner anxiety and the criticality of the situation.

"Now, there is only one method that may completely resolve this peril, but it requires your help."

Yonghen's voice carried a heavy sense of apology and helplessness.

"Help?" Lin Tian's heart sank, and Lin Yin gripped the moonlight longbow in her hand even tighter.

"Your talent."

Yonghen's gaze fell upon Lin Tian, as if trying to see through him.

"Its essence is creation and inclusion. The reason the Evil Nightmare is so difficult to obliterate is that it is the aggregation of all evil thoughts, desires, and malice in the world; it is the opposite of 'existence.' And what I have silently collected and gathered over endless ages are the opposing positive concepts and Power Of Will, such as kindness, hope, courage, sacrifice, and benevolence."

"Every lord summoned to this realm possesses a faint trait of 'creation' from another world deep within their Soul."

"And you are the most special among them. Your talent has manifested and strengthened this trait to the extreme, granting you the ability of 'Fusion Evolution.' This is the key."

Yonghen's phantom seemed to use up its remaining strength, its speech as fast as the wind:

"I will burn all my remaining Heavenly Dao Origin to merge into your body, activating and sublimating the essence of your 'creation and inclusion' talent to the greatest extent, temporarily elevating it to a level close to 'Origin Divine Power.' Then, I will guide all the positive Power Of Will I have collected to combine with your talent's power and inject it into the Evil Nightmare's body!"

"Using the ultimate 'creation' and 'goodness' to forcibly fuse, neutralize, and transform the ultimate 'destruction' and 'evil.' Just as light and dark touch, or Yin and Yang combine, eventually... they will perish together, or rather, return to the most primal 'nothingness' and 'balance'."

Dead silence filled the tent.

Everyone was so shocked by this staggering secret and the frantic plan that they were speechless.

"And the consequences?"

Lin Tian's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice somewhat dry.

"What will happen to me?"

Yonghen fell silent for a moment, the light of the phantom even dimming slightly. Its voice carried a deep apology and uncertainty:

"I... cannot guarantee anything. Your talent will be completely stimulated and extracted, annihilating along with the Evil Nightmare and that positive Power Of Will. Your Soul, your very existence, may... dissipate along with it."

"I can only use all my remaining strength at the final moment to protect a sliver of your true spirit from being extinguished. But whether you can survive, and what state you will be in if you do, I... cannot predict. In all probability, you will... die."

"Die..."

This word was like a heavy hammer, smashing ruthlessly into everyone's hearts.

After a brief, suffocating silence.

"No!!!"

A shrill, desperate cry, like a cuckoo weeping blood, suddenly exploded.

The cold, ice-like mask Lin Yin had been maintaining shattered completely. Not a trace of color remained on her exquisite face as tears surged out like a river breaking a dam.

She rushed in front of Yonghen's phantom, spreading her arms to use her slender body as a shield between Lin Tian and the Heavenly Dao.

Like a mother leopard protecting her cub, she hissed at the brilliant but indifferent phantom:

"Why? Why must Brother Tian go? Use me! Use my life! Use everything I have in exchange!"

"I can do it too! I'm not afraid to die!"

"Let me go!"

"As long as it means Brother Tian can live, I'll do anything!"

She wailed, her voice trembling and broken. Her moon-white divine robe rose and fell violently due to her agitation and despair. Those eyes, which were usually so cold, were now filled with endless pain, pleading, and madness.

Lin Tian looked at Lin Yin's trembling back and heard her heart-wrenching cries. He felt as if his heart were being squeezed by an invisible hand, the pain making it almost impossible to breathe.

He opened his mouth, wanting to call her back, wanting to tell her not to be like this, but his throat felt as if it were stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't make a sound.

Scenes from the past flashed uncontrollably before his eyes:

From her initial ignorant yet stubborn gaze, to the determined sight of her back as she stood in front of him time and again.

From the thrilling beauty and power when she fused with the God Source, to the supreme grace she showed on the battlefield just now, looking like a Moon Goddess descended to earth...

And the occasional faint smile she showed only to him, like ice and snow beginning to melt...

"Silly child..."

Yonghen's phantom seemed to sigh softly. That grand voice carried a trace of imperceptible pity, yet it still rang out cold and cruel.