20: Swiftly traversing the deep plains to slay the enemy, the dark hand of Heaven makes its first appearance.

The morning sun pierced through the gray mist of the Desolate Plains. Lin Chen held Nian Xue, stepping over the morning frost, with Clear Snow following closely behind. The eternal-grade ice crystal sword glimmered with a piercing cold light in the morning sun.

"Daddy, will we see new little animals today?" Nian Xue tugged at Lin Chen's collar, her large eyes sparkling.

Just as Lin Chen was about to speak, his Divine Thought suddenly captured three hidden auras—in a patch of withered grass a hundred meters away, three warriors clad in obsidian armor were raising sniper rifles, their muzzles aimed at the chaos rank jade pendant around Nian Xue's neck.

[Race: Machine Race] [Rank: 65 (Transcendence Level)] [Goal: Seize chaos rank item, priority on eliminating the child]

"Hide well." Before Lin Chen's voice faded, his Space Law was suddenly activated. The scene before the three Machine Race warriors twisted. Before they could even pull the triggers of their sniper rifles, their bodies were shredded by an invisible force, leaving behind only three energy cores shimmering with the luster of the Transcendence Level.

[Ding—Killed Transcendence Level Machine Race warriors × 3, experience points shared equally] [Lin Chen Rank: 62] [Lin Qingxue Rank: 62] [Lin Nianxue Rank: 2]

Nian Xue blinked, not seeing what had happened, only feeling that the wind had suddenly sped up. Clear Snow stepped forward to pick up the energy cores and handed them to Lin Chen: "These are the origin core of the Machine Race; they can strengthen equipment."

Lin Chen took the cores, and his concept-grade Sublimation Talent activated: "Perfect, this can upgrade your sword by another Rank."

[Ding—Transcendence Level energy core × 3 → origin level energy core × 3 → chaos rank energy core × 3]

The cores were instantly wrapped in primordial chaos qi, and Lin Chen pressed them onto the ice crystal sword. The blade hummed; the Grandmist purple qi merged with the Chaos Power, and the patterns of the birth and death of the Universe appeared on the blade.

[Ding—eternal-grade ice crystal sword → heavenly dao grade ice crystal sword → Transcendence Level ice crystal sword]

[Effect: Efficiency of controlling Primordial Ice and Snow Law increased by 800%, attacks carry Chaos Ice Seal (cannot be dispelled below origin level)]

Clear Snow gripped the hilt, feeling the surging power, and a look of joy flashed in her eyes: "Thank you, Husband."

The three continued deeper, stepping into a cracked lava zone at noon. The ground was steaming, dark red magma rolled in the fissures, and the air was filled with the smell of sulfur.

"Careful, there's an ambush here." Lin Chen spread out his Divine Thought and discovered ten chaos rank Lava Giant Lizards hidden at the bottom of the lava pool, using the magma to mask their auras, waiting for them to get close to launch a surprise attack.

[Monster Name: Lava Giant Lizard] [Rank: 70 (chaos rank)] [Attributes: Strength 50000, Agility 30000, Physique 80000, Spirit 10000] [Abilities: Lava Breath, Earth Tremor]

The giant lizards clearly understood tactics; they did not attack rashly but quietly stirred the magma, attempting to trap the three in a ring of lava.

"Trying to catch turtles in a jar?" Lin Chen sneered, invoking the Law of Thunder. Purple-gold lightning descended from the sky, striking into the lava pool. The magma instantly boiled, and the ten giant lizards were forced to rush out of the water, their bodies still covered in lingering lightning.

Clear Snow seized the opportunity and swept her ice crystal sword horizontally. The Transcendence Level Ice and Snow Law erupted, the magma instantly froze, and the giant lizards were Ice Sealed in transparent ice coffins, subsequently turning into points of light under the dual pressure of lightning and ice.

[Ding—Killed chaos rank Lava Giant Lizard × 10, experience points shared equally] [Lin Chen Rank: 63] [Lin Qingxue Rank: 63] [Lin Nianxue Rank: 3]

Nian Xue sat in Lin Chen's arms, clapping her small hands: "Mommy's sword is so amazing!"

Clear Snow wiped the ice shards off her sword and was about to speak when rapid footsteps suddenly came from the distance. A group of people clad in blood-red robes ran over frantically. The leader held a bone staff and, upon seeing the three of them, a look of calculation flashed in his eyes.

[Race: Blood Demon Race] [Rank: 68 (origin level)] [Quantity: 20 people] [Tactics: First use blood mist maze to trap, then send assassins to ambush the child]

"My lord! We are Blood Demon Race Survivors; there are monsters chasing us from behind, please take us in!" the leader shouted loudly, but his pace quietly slowed, and the blood mist behind him began to spread.

Lin Chen's Divine Thought pierced through the blood mist, seeing five invisible assassins hidden within, their daggers coated with black poison. "Hostile intent. Kill them."

Before his voice faded, the Space Law suddenly contracted. The assassins in the blood mist were instantly crushed into blood foam. The faces of the Blood Demon Race group changed drastically, and they turned to flee. Clear Snow deployed her Ice Domain, the Transcendence Level Ice and Snow Law froze the Void Realm, and the 20 Blood Demon Race warriors were frozen in place, subsequently being struck into charcoal by the lightning invoked by Lin Chen.

[Ding—Killed origin level Blood Demon Race × 20, experience points shared equally] [Lin Chen Rank: 64] [Lin Qingxue Rank: 64] [Lin Nianxue Rank: 4]

"They are so cunning, and they even lie." Nian Xue frowned with her small brows and hugged Lin Chen's neck tightly.

Lin Chen rubbed her head: "In the future, if you see people wearing red clothes, stay away from them."

The three continued forward, arriving at a floating obsidian platform at dusk. In the center of the platform sat a treasure chest radiating Grandmist aura, surrounded by carved Heavenly Dao Runes; it was clearly a trap.

[Grandmist Treasure Chest] [Trap: After touching the treasure chest, summon heavenly dao grade Puppet × 5] [Note: The treasure chest contains a grandmist rank core item]

Lin Chen walked around the platform once and discovered that the runes were connected to a Heavenly Dao energy source underground. "Clear Snow, use your Ice and Snow Law to freeze the runes, and I will open the treasure chest."

Clear Snow nodded and inserted her ice crystal sword into the ground. The Transcendence Level Ice and Snow Law spread along the runes, freezing the Heavenly Dao energy source into an ice lump. Lin Chen stepped forward, performing two Sublimations without hesitation:

[Ding—Grandmist Treasure Chest → Void treasure chest (highest grade, cannot be further sublimated)]

The Void treasure chest bloomed with chaotic-colored light, and void runes appeared on the chest. Opening the treasure chest, inside lay a black crystal, radiating an aura similar to the Heavenly Dao consciousness.

[Obtained: void-rank · Heavenly Dao Core Fragment] [Effect: Can perceive the trajectory of Heavenly Dao consciousness, immune to rule attacks below heavenly dao grade]

Just as Lin Chen picked up the fragment, it suddenly became scorching hot, and a cold consciousness flooded into his mind: "...Sacrifice progress 30%... origin level Universe... still missing void-rank lifeforms..."

The consciousness vanished in an instant, and the fragment returned to calm. Lin Chen's expression was grave: "The Heavenly Dao is collecting void-rank lifeforms; Nian Xue's grade may have already been detected by it."

Clear Snow gripped her ice crystal sword tightly, her eyes full of vigilance: "Then what do we do now?"

"Level up first, increase our strength as quickly as possible." Lin Chen handed the fragment to Nian Xue: "Wear this; it can hide your aura."

Nian Xue took the fragment, and it automatically merged into her chaos rank jade pendant; the jade pendant was instantly covered in a layer of void halo.

[Ding—chaos rank life jade pendant → void-rank life jade pendant (highest grade, cannot be further sublimated)] [Effect: Wearer recovers 100% of maximum health per second, immune to all attacks below void-rank, hides own grade]

Night fell, and the three sought a cave to rest. Lin Chen lit a campfire and pulled up the three panels to check their status:

[Name: Lin Chen] [Race: Perfect Ancient God (Tier 2)] [Rank: 64] [Talent: Sublimation (Unique-grade · concept-grade)] [Attributes: Strength 801360, Agility 801360, Physique 801360, Spirit 801660] (After Rank 50, doubles every 10 Ranks; already doubled at Rank 60; current Rank 64 is base attribute stacking) [Skills: Ancient Gods Body (Enhanced), Ancient Gods Pressure (Enhanced), Ancient Gods Divine Sense (130 km), Law of Thunder / Space Law / Law of Light (Perfection)] [Trait: Law Affinity (Perfection)]

[Name: Lin Qingxue] [Race: Ice and Snow Nine-Tailed White Fox (Transcendence Level)] [Rank: 64] [Talent: Heart of Ice and Snow (mythical-grade), Grandmist Ice Soul (origin level)] [Attributes: Strength 1280000, Agility 1720000, Physique 1280000, Spirit 2320000] (Already doubled at Rank 60) [Skills: Ice and Snow Divine Ability / Nine-Tails Power / Ice Domain (Perfection), Grandmist Ice Blade / Ice and Snow Origin Control (Major Achievement)]

[Name: Lin Nianxue] [Race: Ancient Demon God] [Grade: void-rank] [Rank: 4] [Talent: Void Immunity (void-rank)] [Attributes: Strength 5004, Agility 5004, Physique 5004, Spirit 5004] [Equipped: void-rank life jade pendant] [Task Time: 27 days remaining] [Rest Limit: Not opened]

"Husband, will the Heavenly Dao send stronger people?" Clear Snow asked softly.

"It will, but we are not afraid." Lin Chen held her hand: "As long as we are strong enough, we can protect Nian Xue."

Nian Xue leaned in Clear Snow's arms and yawned: "Daddy, Mommy, Nian Xue is not afraid; Nian Xue can protect herself."

Lin Chen and Clear Snow looked at each other and smiled, their hearts filled with warmth.

Late at night, subtle energy fluctuations came from outside the cave. Lin Chen's Divine Thought probed out and discovered a void-rank Shadow Beast lying in the distance, its eyes flashing with Heavenly Dao Runes; it was clearly a scout sent by the Heavenly Dao.

"The Heavenly Dao's hand reaches very quickly." Lin Chen stood up, signaled for Clear Snow and Nian Xue to stay, and quietly walked out of the cave.

Seeing its tracks exposed, the Shadow Beast lunged fiercely, its sharp claws carrying Void Power, attempting to tear through space. Lin Chen did not dodge or avoid; his Ancient Gods Body erupted with golden light, and he smashed a fist onto the Shadow Beast's head.

With a "crack" sound, the Shadow Beast's skull shattered, and its body turned into points of light, leaving behind only a crystal marked with Heavenly Dao Runes.

Lin Chen picked up the crystal, cold light flashing in his eyes. The Heavenly Dao's conspiracy had gradually become clear: sacrificing all races, seizing void-rank existences, and ascending to an origin level Universe—this war had only just begun.

He turned and returned to the cave; Clear Snow and Nian Xue were still fast asleep. Lin Chen sat by the bedside, quietly guarding his wife and child, his Divine Thought vigilantly monitoring the movements around them at all times.

No matter how strong the Heavenly Dao is, no matter how vast the conspiracy is, he will stand at the very front, using the Law and power in his hands to protect this most precious warmth in the world.