Chapter 126 Cleaning up the battlefield and rescuing the remaining enemies, server-wide rewards and bestowal of divine equipment.

Fatty Wang, upon hearing Lin Ye's instructions, immediately patted his chest and shouted: "Received, Brother Ye! I guarantee not even a single hair's worth of abyss energy will leak out!"

He turned and waved at the BOSS Legion behind him: "Shadow Demon Dragon, take a squad to the east. Interstellar Behemoth, guard the west. Sword Venerable Qingming, follow me to the north! Sweep every single rift one by one. Whoever misses an energy point will have their Abyss Crystal wages deducted tonight!"

Sword Venerable Qingming nodded, and with a flash of sword light, he rushed out. Shadow Demon Dragon let out a low roar, its wings flapping to whip up a gale, leading a group of abyss minions straight toward the ruins in the east. The BOSSes, who had been fighting earth-shatteringly just a moment ago, were now as obedient as elementary school students, lining up to inspect the rifts, much to the amusement of the surrounding players.

The server-wide channel had long since exploded into a frenzy.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! We actually won! The Lord of the Abyss was sealed by Brother Ye!"

"My legs went soft just now; I thought we were all going to lose 20 levels today. In the end, Brother Ye pulled off something huge for us!"

"That golden beam of light just now was so cool! I recorded it, already posted it to Douyin, and it's got over a million likes!"

"Brother Ye is awesome! Chinese Server is awesome! From now on, if anyone says Chinese Server players are no good, I'll slap that video of the Lord of the Abyss being sealed right in their face!"

"Is anyone else like me, having seen Qin Wentian slashing at mobs just now? He didn't run away; he's actually quite capable of fighting, isn't he?"

"Forget about him, hurry up and loot the gear! The ground is covered in epic equipment dropped by the abyss minions. I just picked up an SS-grade gauntlet!"

The battlefield was filled with cheers. Players couldn't care about their own injuries, crouching on the ground to frantically loot gear. Healers were healing their teammates while simultaneously unable to resist reaching out to grab a couple of pieces of Blue equipment passing by. The tanks who had fought desperately to defend were now sprawled on the ground, passing health potions to each other, their faces filled with the smiles of survivors.

Su Qinghan walked quickly to Lin Ye's side, took out a handkerchief, and gently wiped the sweat from his forehead, her voice tinged with concern: "You must be exhausted, right? When you were sealing him just now, I saw your hands shaking."

Lin Ye smiled and took a sip of the water she handed him: "I'm fine, it just consumed a bit too much mental energy. The Lord of the Abyss was harder to deal with than I imagined. If it weren't for the help of the three Creators, it really might not have gone so smoothly."

"You were already amazing." Su Qinghan looked at him, her eyes sparkling, "Players all over the world were watching your live stream just now. Now, the global forums are full of your name."

Just then, Qin Wentian walked over, carrying a longsword stained with abyss blood. His gear had several holes in it, and there was a shallow scar on his face. He looked disheveled but spirited. He walked up to Lin Ye, paused, and said a bit awkwardly: "The mobs in the north have been cleared. No anomalies found."

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow: "Not bad, you didn't slack off."

Qin Wentian's face flushed, and he stiffened his neck, saying: "I just didn't want the abyss to destroy the game; I wasn't helping you."

After saying that, he turned and left, but after two steps, he turned back and tossed a storage bag to Lin Ye: "The Abyss Crystal I picked up earlier is all in there."

Watching his retreating figure as he fled, Fatty Wang, who had just returned from his inspection, laughed so hard he slapped his thigh: "Hahaha, this kid Qin Wentian is tough-talking but soft-hearted! He was so arrogant when he was against us before, and now he's like a primary school student."

Lin Ye smiled without saying anything. He opened the storage bag and took a look. Inside were hundreds of thousands of Abyss Crystal neatly stacked, along with several pieces of SS-grade gear. It seemed Qin Wentian had indeed put in a lot of effort just now.

At this moment, Sister Chen from the Guardian Alliance walked over with several team members, her face full of excitement: "Mr. Lin Ye, thank you so much! If it weren't for you, the entire game world would have been swallowed by the abyss today! The Abyss Rifts in reality have also started to shrink; this is all thanks to you!"

"It's only right." Lin Ye nodded, "But don't be happy too soon. The seal isn't completely stable yet, and the consciousness fragments of the Lord of the Abyss have escaped. There will definitely be trouble in the future."

"We are already prepared!" Sister Chen said firmly, "The Guardian Alliance will monitor the abyss energy fluctuations globally 24 hours a day, and we will notify you immediately if there are any anomalies!"

Lin Ye hummed in acknowledgment, then opened the alliance-wide channel, cleared his throat, and said: "Everyone, be quiet for a moment."

The noisy battlefield instantly quieted down. Every player looked up at him, even those who were looting gear stopped.

"We won today's battle." Lin Ye's voice was calm but powerful, spreading throughout the Abyss Core and reaching the ears of every player globally. "Winning is not my credit alone; it is the credit of every single person here. It was the tanks who used their bodies to block the abyss's attacks, the healers who tried their best to save lives, the damage dealers who gave everything to deal damage, and the help from the three Creators and the BOSS Legion. Without you, there would be no victory today."

The entire field erupted in thunderous applause, with some people shouting excitedly: "Brother Ye is awesome!"

Lin Ye waited for the applause to stop and continued: "Merits will be rewarded, and faults will be punished. Every player who participated in the battle today will be rewarded with 100,000 gold coins and 1,000 epic abyss crystal. Those who performed exceptionally will receive additional rewards."

As soon as he finished speaking, the system notification sound rang for all participating players across the server simultaneously.

"Ding! You have received the participation reward for this Abyss Defense Battle: Gold Coins × 100,000, epic abyss crystal × 1,000!"

"Ding! Your level has increased by 1!"

"Ding! You have obtained the permanent title 'Abyss Guardian', all attributes +10%, damage against abyss creatures +20%!"

The players exploded again instantly.

"Holy crap! Leveled up directly! And a permanent title! Huge profit!"

"I was half a level away from leveling up, and now I'm full! Brother Ye is so generous!"

"100,000 gold coins! I can finally afford that longsword I've been eyeing for so long!"

"This battle was so worth it! Even if I lost two levels, I earned it back!"

Lin Ye raised his hand to press down, and when everyone quieted down, he started naming people to give out additional rewards.

"Su Qinghan, first in healing during this battle, saved key teammates multiple times, rewarded with SSS-grade cross-dimensional healing artifact [Blessing of the Life Goddess], capable of cross-plane healing, immune to abyss energy erosion."

A golden light fell on Su Qinghan, and a scepter emitting a soft white light appeared in her hand. A huge life gem was embedded at the top of the scepter. With a gentle wave, the surrounding injured players were instantly back to full health.

"Wow! SSS-grade artifact! And it's cross-dimensional! So envious!"

"Goddess Qinghan deserves it! If it weren't for her just now, we would have been wiped out!"

Su Qinghan held the scepter and smiled at Lin Ye: "Thank you."

"Fatty Wang, meritorious service in logistics support, excellent command of the BOSS Legion, rewarded with an upgrade to the highest command authority of the BOSS Legion, can command 100 cross-dimensional BOSSes simultaneously, unlocks the BOSS Legion collective skill [Abyss Charge]."

Fatty Wang jumped up excitedly: "Thank you, Brother Ye! From now on, I am the most awesome BOSS commander in the entire universe! Whoever dares to provoke me, I'll take 100 BOSSes to demolish their house!"

The players burst into laughter.

"Sister Chen, meritorious service in coordination for the Guardian Alliance, rewarded with 10 sets of cross-dimensional abyss detection equipment, capable of real-time monitoring of global abyss energy fluctuations and early warning of anomalies."

Sister Chen quickly took the equipment and said gratefully: "Thank you so much, Mr. Lin Ye! With this equipment, we can prevent abyss invasions in advance in the future!"

Lin Ye nodded, then looked at a young player in the crowd wearing newbie gear. The player looked only sixteen or seventeen years old. Just now, to block the attacks of the abyss minions, he had used his body to protect several healers with low health, losing 5 levels himself, and was now leaning on a wooden stick standing there.

"Qingfeng Xulai." Lin Ye called his name.

The young player was stunned for a moment, pointing at himself: "Brother Ye, are you calling me?"

"Yes." Lin Ye walked up to him and took out a fragment emitting golden light, "I saw how you used your body to protect your teammates just now. This piece of Cultivation Dao Fruit fragment is awarded to you. It can help you awaken a top-tier Cultivation Talent. Practice hard in the future."

Qingfeng Xulai blankly took the Dao Fruit fragment. As soon as the fragment touched his hand, it turned into a golden light and drilled into his body.

"Ding! You have obtained a Cultivation Dao Fruit fragment, awakening SSS-grade Talent [Sword Heart Clarity]!"

"Ding! Your level has increased by 5!"

"Ding! You have obtained the permanent title 'Young Hero'!"

The whole place went quiet for a moment, and then erupted into cheers even more enthusiastic than before.

"Holy crap! SSS-grade Talent! This kid hit the jackpot!"

"He deserves it! When he was protecting the healers with his life, I was moved to tears! He deserves this reward!"

"Brother Ye is so fair! Whether it's a big shot or a newbie, as long as they have merit, they get rewarded!"

Qingfeng Xulai was so excited that tears fell, and he bowed deeply to Lin Ye: "Thank you, Brother Ye! I will follow you from now on and protect this game world well!"

Lin Ye patted his shoulder: "Keep it up."

Just then, a player in the crowd wearing top-tier US Server guild gear secretly stuffed an abyss fragment flashing with dark purple light into his chest and turned to sneak away.

"Stop." Lin Ye's voice came coldly.

The player's body stiffened, and he slowly turned around, squeezing an ugly smile onto his face: "Ye, Brother Ye, what's wrong?"

"Take out what's in your chest." Lin Ye said expressionlessly.

"What thing? I didn't take anything." The player was still playing dumb.

Fatty Wang immediately rushed over and pulled the abyss fragment out of his chest: "Still dare to quibble! This is the core fragment of the Lord of the Abyss. What are you trying to steal it for? To sell to the Black Crow Consortium?"

The player's face turned pale instantly, and he fell to his knees with a thud: "Brother Ye, I was wrong! I was confused for a moment! I won't dare to do it again! Please let me go!"

"Confused for a moment?" Lin Ye sneered, "If this kind of core fragment flows out and is obtained by the Abyss Council, they could reopen the abyss channel. This isn't being confused for a moment; this is betraying all of humanity."

He raised his hand and waved, and a black-gold debuff fell on the player.

"Ding! Player 'Freedom Eagle' has been inflicted with the 'Lifelong Abyss Curse' debuff for stealing the Abyss Core fragment and betraying the alliance: level permanently reset to zero, all gear binding invalidated, hostile to all NPCs server-wide, unable to enter any dungeons or battlefields."

The player screamed, and his top-tier gear instantly turned into white-tier items, and his level dropped from 99 to 0. He slumped to the ground, his face ashen.

"Drag him out, and he is never allowed to step into the Abyss Core again." Lin Ye said lightly.

Two members of the Guardian Alliance immediately stepped forward and dragged him out.

The whole place was silent; no one dared to speak. Everyone understood that Lin Ye was strict with rewards and punishments—he would reward merit to the extreme, and he would never be soft on those who committed offenses.

Lin Ye scanned the crowd and continued: "If anyone else has hidden things they shouldn't have, hand them over now, and I can let bygones be bygones. If you wait for me to find out, the consequences will be the same as his."

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen players immediately walked out with their heads lowered, handing over the hidden abyss fragments and equipment. Lin Ye didn't make things difficult for them; he just confiscated the items and let them go after a few warnings.

After dealing with these matters, the three Creators walked up to Lin Ye.

Magic Creator God looked at her, her tone filled with admiration: "Lin Ye, you did very well. Not only did you seal the Lord of the Abyss, but you also managed the battlefield in an orderly manner."

Creator God of Interstellar nodded: "We have already left the core energy of the three planes in the sealing array, which can help you consolidate the seal for a hundred years."

Cultivation God of Creation sighed: "But you must be careful; the consciousness fragments of the Lord of the Abyss are not so easy to eliminate. It will definitely find an opportunity to make a comeback, and the main force of the Abyss Council is still in other planes; they will come knocking sooner or later."

Lin Ye nodded solemnly: "I know. I will be prepared; no matter when they come, I will be waiting."

The three Creators looked at each other, then simultaneously turned into three rays of light and disappeared into the sky.

Just then, Lin Ye's communicator suddenly rang. It was Ghost calling, his voice filled with unprecedented urgency:

"Brother Ye! It's bad! Abyss Rifts in multiple cities in reality have suddenly expanded! A large number of abyss creatures have crawled out of the rifts! The Guardian Alliance can't hold them back anymore! You must come back to support us!"

Lin Ye's face sank instantly.

He looked up at the sky. The sky, which had just cleared up, had unknowingly been covered with a layer of faint dark purple again.

The crisis in the game was temporarily resolved, but the war in reality had only just begun.