The witch doctors returned from the streets. They carried various items to the peculiar little building and bowed deeply before the figure draped in white silk robes.

That tall figure moved past the trial painting of the Mother of All Snakes. Approaching the intricately crafted Teleportation Gate, He spoke as though addressing someone unseen.

“It’s about time to leave.”

The witch doctors dared not move, maintaining their original postures.

Dream Sovereign Hila stood by the window. Her gaze shifted to Yin Shen before she quietly approached Him.

The sound of footsteps echoed from upstairs. A small head with brown hair appeared between the stair railings, watching Yin Shen’s back with curiosity.

Shelly shouted excitedly, “Are we opening the door?”

Before her words even finished, she rushed down the stairs in a flash. She called out loudly to Yin Shen with clamorous energy.

“Wait for me!”

“Wait for me!”

As if afraid of missing something by being late, she crashed into Yin Shen’s body. Her face brushed against the smooth white robe before she lifted her head to look up with eager anticipation.

“Let me open it! Let me open it!”

She hopped on her feet, seemingly acting coquettish with Yin Shen.

“I also want to open the door!”

Shelly was the Ruler of Life.

She possessed the Life Ability. From her Mother Conch of All Things, countless forms of life emerged and flourished.

Across the earth and seas, her power gave rise to countless species. Many of these were not simply created but evolved from the primordial forms that came before them.

When she blew her conch horn, seven great gods rose from the sea to support a continent.

Her power was unimaginably mighty and beyond mortal comprehension.

Yet such a powerful deity showed such anticipation for something as simple as opening a door.

The most terrifying thing in life is the unknown, and the most worthy of anticipation is also the unknown.

For the supreme deities of the Creator God lineage, the terror of the unknown had faded away. It left behind only a sense of anticipation.

Yin Shen pressed Shelly’s shoulder, bringing her to stand beside Him. The two stood together while gazing at the Teleportation Gate.

Hila stood behind Yin Shen, watching the two with a smile.

Shelly expectantly placed her hand on the door handle. A power belonging to miracles and dreams transmitted outward.

In the golden dust of light, a figure emerged. He was clad in bulky, inflated clothing with a hood that completely obscured his features.

It was Vellen, the spirit of mythology tied to the Miracle Tool, the Spirit’s Hot Air Balloon.

“God Yinsai, Life Sovereign, Dream Sovereign,” Vellen said with a calm yet resonant voice. “The time has come.”

Shelly pressed her hand on the handle but didn’t immediately push the door open.

She fixed her gaze on Vellen, puffing herself up as if to say, “You should be scared of me.”

“Vellen,” she asked while tilting her head. “Where do you think the door will open this time?”

“I bet it’s going to be on top of a huge volcano!”

At this, her emerald eyes revealed happiness and anticipation.

“Right?”

She seemed to want to threaten the spirit into making the door open at a place she desired.

But Vellen, who looked like a space-suited sprite, seemed unable to comprehend such threats. He answered respectfully.

“Everything is random, Great Life Sovereign.”

“Before opening the door, no one knows where this door will lead. That includes me.”

Yin Shen naturally understood Shelly’s little scheme. She wanted to visit the volcano where the Lava Monster resided.

“Don’t demand that what you seek must appear. What cannot be predicted is the future.”

“Shelly, having a future is something worth anticipating.”

“Don’t seek to reach your destination in an instant. You are a deity born to eternal life, so you should learn to appreciate the scenery along the journey.”

Yin Shen stroked her head.

“Years and time will gradually wear away the things worth anticipating, making them fewer and fewer.”

Shelly’s thoughts were completely different from Yin Shen’s. Her views and perspectives on the future and many other things differed greatly from His.

“I never get bored. If something’s fun, it’ll always be fun to me.”

“I’m not scared of time. I’m eternal, so time should be the one afraid of me.”

“Even if I do the same thing over and over, if it makes me happy, it’ll always make me happy.”

Shelly looked at Yin Shen and smiled.

“Like being with You, God. I always look forward to it.”

“I want to keep talking to You forever.”

“Even if I don’t always understand everything You say, it still makes me happy. Every single day.”

Yin Shen looked at Shelly and suddenly smiled.

“That’s good.”

Shelly asked Yin Shen, “What’s good?”

Yin Shen said, “You possess innate eternal life. You also possess the heart of an eternal deity, a heart that never tires of anything.”

Yin Shen was known as the first god, the Creator of all.

In the beginning, however, Yin Shen was just a person. He was a member of a short-lived species with a lifespan of only a hundred years.

Shelly, on the other hand, was born as a deity. From the moment she came into existence, she was an eternal being.

She traversed the ages without the slightest fear of time’s erosion.

Just as He said, time should fear her.

Yin Shen looked at Shelly. Behind those eyes that spanned eternity was a star perpetually solitary.

“I envy you, Shelly.”

“You were born eternal. You face the ages and everything with an eternal mindset.”

“Time cannot change you, much less wear down your heart.”

Shelly looked up at Yin Shen with a bright smile. “God, are You feeling down?”

“Here, take some of my happiness. Actually, You can have all of it if You want!”

Shelly counted on her fingers before speaking.

Yin Shen asked, “But if you give it all to me, what will you have left?”

Shelly grinned. “If You’re happy, then I’m happy. So I’ll still have plenty!”

Shelly smiled brilliantly. At this moment, she felt she was truly clever.

Yin Shen only smiled faintly.

He pressed Shelly’s hand, gripping the door handle together.

Shelly looked outside expectantly.

Click!

With that turning sound, a powerful force twisted space. It transmitted toward the distance through the Dream Realm.

The door opened, and the outside became a vortex.

The scene outside the window kept flickering, finally freezing in the sky.

The sky rippled gently, and a hot air balloon appeared. It rose through the layers of cloud seas.

This time, it had once again taken the form of a hot air balloon airship.

“Where are we?”

Shelly looked outside, glancing all around.

She only saw distant clouds piling into a white mountain, with azure water below.

Shelly peered down at the endless stretch of water below and turned to Yin Shen with a grin.

“Hey, God!”

“Look! It’s the sea!”

The spirit picked up a mirror, compared it, and spoke to Yin Shen and Shelly.

“This does not seem to be the sea. We are still on Ruhe Beast Island.”

“Mm.”

“This is Thunder Marsh.”

Shelly tilted her head up, her eyes fixed on the cloud mountain. A curious expression crossed her face, as if she heard something calling her.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, a grin spreading across her face. “It’s the big jellyfish!”

She giggled and added, “I know this place! There’s a city in the sky. The big jellyfish left it behind from the last era.”

“This is going to be fun,” she said, her voice bubbling with excitement.

The “big jellyfish,” as Shelly called it, was actually the Sky Beast.

Even though she didn’t get to visit the volcano, Shelly was thrilled to see the Sky Beast. Her joy was infectious.

While this might not be the most fun place in Shelly’s eyes, this was undoubtedly the most beautiful among the various forbidden zones. It was a wondrous sight named for the sky, accompanied by cloud seas and lakes.

This was the most ancient land city sealed from the previous era. The Snake People called it the Lost Kingdom.

In the Sky

A strange carpet carrying a figure rushed through beneath the cloud seas, flying toward the distance.

Oran rode a flying magic carpet from White Tower City in the Golden Province. He was heading toward Abyss Royal City in the Endless Desert.

Knight of the Abyss Elena had ascended to the mythological position and would now be recognized as a god.

Although she had followed the path of mythical artifacts, it was a path distinct from the traditional demigod route.

Yet mythology remained mythology.

Despite its limitations, such as being confined within the artifact and completely dissipating if the barrier was broken, it could still be considered another version of the Little Person in the Bottle.

Demigods, on the other hand, could move freely in the mortal world by channeling the power of their servants. As long as even one servant remained, they would not truly perish.

Reaching this stage meant achieving a lifespan and power far beyond that of mortals. This was an undeniable truth.

Oran’s journey was to congratulate Lady Elena, following the deity’s command.

At the same time, he had another purpose.

Oran sat on the magic carpet and closed his eyes in contemplation. He could not help but mutter a term.

“Attendant deity.”

Oran was an apostle of the God of Desire and Alchemy, Iva. However, he wasn’t just a simple apostle.

He had been chosen by God Iva to become a follower, granted the divine scripture 《The Path of Wisdom》.

If everything proceeded as planned, he would likely ascend to become a new demigod in the future. More specifically, he would become an attendant deity of God Iva.

God Iva would then establish the Mortal Divine System and take the role of its master.

This divine scripture truly contained a path that could lead to demigodhood. It was a path that was still viable even in this era.

But this path was too long, for the time needed to complete it was billions of years.

The God of Desire and Alchemy didn’t have billions of years to give Oran. Furthermore, Oran felt he lacked the determination of the First Era deities, not daring to believe he possessed the courage to cross billions of years of long ages.

After billions of years passed, what would remain?

Everything from the past would be worn away, leaving only oneself. All attachments and all things cared for would be obliterated.

Oran felt he couldn’t bear it.

At least, the current him found it difficult to accept.

So he needed to find another answer on this journey.

“The method of reincarnation.”

“There must be new paths. The apostle of the God of Knowledge and Truth, Sukob, seems to have completed a new path. I can go take a look.”

“But before that, I’ll visit Lady Elena. I always feel the form of the Demon Spirit Pyramid has something that can be referenced for the Tower Spirit mysteries.”

The flying magic carpet arrived above Thunder Marsh and descended directly.

Although Oran was an apostle and the existence closest to divinity, in a place like a death forbidden zone, apostles were not much different from mortals.

Oran controlled the flying magic carpet descending from the sky. He could see a city on the shore, surrounded by numerous towns and villages.

This was a city of the Thunderlake Kingdom.

Several large ships of the Thunderlake Kingdom sailed toward the depths of Thunder Marsh. They were loaded with offerings dedicated to the deity.

Numerous small boats followed along. These were fishermen of the Thunderlake Kingdom, escorting these ships to the depths of Thunder Marsh together.

This wasn’t demanded by the king but was their own way of expressing faith in the divine.

On the high platform at the shore, the divine attendants of the Thunderlake Kingdom performed a solemn ritual.

The ritual priests of the Thunderlake Kingdom were dressed in blue robes, symbolizing the sky. Intricate cloud patterns adorned their chests and backs.

Leading the ceremony, the head divine attendant carried a golden staff intricately designed with symbols of thunder, wind, and rain.

To mortals, the sky and nature—with their lightning, storms, and sudden rain—were seen as both the blessings and the judgments of the deity.

“Great Sky Beast God!”

“Please hear your followers’ prayers. Please give us your response.”

“We wish to establish your kingdom in the mortal world and yearn for your protection.”

The Thunderlake Kingdom worshiped the Sky Beast God. They had always wanted to emulate the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents and forge a covenant with the Sky Beast God, receiving the deity’s response and possessing their own witch.

Only, the Sky Beast God had never responded to them.

Oran concealed his form and came to the ground, quietly observing this grand ceremony.

“The apostles of the Ruhe Beast are called witches. These should be apostles of the Life Ability, completely different from us.”

“Existences with the Life Ability are as rare to see as nymphs. How could they be born so easily?”

Oran had once followed the Storage Nymph Saint Raphael to have audiences with multiple deities. He knew many secrets unknown to ordinary people.

He watched the ritual of these mortals but didn’t quite believe they would receive a response from the Ruhe Great God.

After watching for a while, he prepared to leave. He intended to find a boat here to travel to the other side of the marsh, then proceed to the distant Yellow Sand Kingdom.

But before he could turn to leave, disturbances appeared in the depths of Thunder Marsh.

The white mountain at the horizon’s edge, layered and towering as if it connected heaven and earth, remained shrouded in mist throughout the year. Suddenly, it began to change.

From the depths of Thunder Marsh, layers of white mist spread outward. The once-clear sky was quickly overtaken by clouds.

These clouds did not form a single mass but appeared in distinct layers, resembling an endless staircase.

From within the clouds, enormous transparent shadows emerged. Their forms were vast and otherworldly. They resembled phantoms or spirits of the sky, surging forward with purpose.

These beings, as massive as mountains, had translucent umbrella-like bodies with delicate tendrils trailing beneath them. With each rhythmic opening and closing of their canopies, they glided gracefully through the air.

They moved toward the farthest reaches of the sky, as if drawn to something. Eventually, the colossal figures gathered around a smaller shadow, encircling it as they escorted it deeper into the cloud sea and toward the immense white mountain.

At that moment, the grand ritual ceremony on the shore erupted into a frenzy of excitement and awe.

“Great Sky Beast God!”

“You have heard our prayers.”

“Your followers and servants have long awaited this moment.”

“Please accept our devotion and gratitude.”

The divine attendants and believers of the Thunderlake Kingdom became frenzied and excited. Everyone prostrated on the ground, constantly kowtowing and reciting prayers compiled by the temple.

But Oran felt it wasn’t so simple. His gaze fixed on that black dot deep in the sky, on that existence surrounded and welcomed by countless transparent giant shadows.

“What is that?”

Oran fumbled at his storage ring and took out an alchemical artifact.

It was a monocular telescope.

He pressed it to his eye and extended the tube.

The distant scene kept drawing closer, becoming clearer and clearer.

Oran immediately saw what it was.

It was actually a fantastical ship flying in the sky. A colorful hot air balloon carried a wooden boat through the sky, slowly crossing the heavens.

Those giant shadows soaring in the sky circled around that boat one after another. They chased its stern like docile and obedient pets.

“A ship flying in the sky?”

Oran lowered the monocular telescope, his entire expression bewildered.

But he quickly picked up the telescope again and looked once more.

This time he focused all his attention on the hot air balloon.

“No, it’s not, it’s not…”

Seeing that hot air balloon, Oran suddenly realized something. He immediately associated it with an item from mythological legends.

“Could that be…”

“The Life Sovereign’s vehicle?”

Oran was a scholar who had loved reading various books and hearing all kinds of stories since childhood.

His favorite story was about mortals forging the Tower of Heaven at the City of Life at the beginning of the era.

It was a miracle created by mortals.

In this myth, what appeared most frequently was the Life Sovereign’s vehicle placed atop the Tower of Heaven. The sovereign deity would ride it back and forth to the Divine Kingdom of Creation.

The sky ship appearing before him was exactly the same as in the legends.

Oran didn’t believe this was a coincidence.

Moreover, taking ten thousand steps back, even if someone could create a similar sky ship, who else could make the terrifying existences of the death forbidden zone guide them, welcoming their return like pets?

Aside from the Life Sovereign, Oran truly couldn’t think of another being.

Now, Oran’s expression completely changed.

“The Life Sovereign has descended from the Divine Kingdom of Creation?”

“Why has the great sovereign deity descended to the mortal world?”

He looked up at the sky and finally asked, “Does God Iva know?”

The Life Sovereign descended from the divine kingdom to the mortal world, and the deity Oran believed in, the God of Desire and Alchemy Iva, originated from that same Divine Kingdom of Creation.

Oran was unaware that the Mother of Life was not the only one aboard.

Also present were the Dream Sovereign, the shed form of the King of Wisdom Redlichia, and the Creator Yinsai.

At that moment, they too were observing the earth with their gaze.

However, their focus was on the myriad phenomena of the mortal world—lakes, jungles, earth, and cities.

Oran was not unique, merely one among countless others.

The anomaly in the sky gradually faded, and everything was once again hidden beneath the cloud-covered mountain.

Oran, who had been gazing into the distance, didn’t notice at all that the concealment divine technique he had applied to himself had already vanished.

Oran, with his God’s Form, was treated by the people of the Thunderlake Kingdom as a deity descending to the world.

Everyone around stared at him in shock. Some were directly frightened unconscious, some frantically approached, while others knelt and constantly kowtowed.

“It’s a god!”

“A god has come down!”

“The god is here with us!”

“Bless us! Protect us, oh Divine One!”

Mortals blindly believed in gods but never knew what the gods they believed in truly were.

What they believed in wasn’t the gods, but the god in their own hearts.

Oran shook his head and sighed.

In the blink of an eye, he disappeared without a trace, escaping this farce.

The Spirit’s Hot Air Balloon pierced through the cloud seas, with massive Ruhe Beasts like jellyfish guiding them.

At the airship’s glass window, Hila waved to the beasts.

She admired the Sky Beast species that glided through the sky, finding their movements graceful and their forms captivating.

If she were not standing by Yin Shen’s side, she would have loved to fly out and join them, soaring through the clouds or sitting atop their umbrella-like canopies.

This kind of thought was very typical of a Spirit’s nature.

“Look at their dresses. Aren’t they lovely?”

Shelly grinned. “Mine’s even better! Remember my white one? It’s way prettier.”

Hila chuckled. “Of course, the one you used to wear all the time.”

The airship pierced through the cloud seas, parting the white mist.

A city floating in the sky appeared before their eyes.

It was an ancient city from primordial times beyond description. Civilization’s prosperity combined with ancient vicissitudes, making it hard to believe this was a mortal city.

This was a kingdom belonging to the deities.

The Spirit’s Hot Air Balloon slowly descended upon the Lost Kingdom in the sky, landing on the stone-paved edge of the city.

The door opened. Shelly was the first to rush out, her excitement palpable. Hila followed closely behind, her steps calm and measured.

Yin Shen led the witch doctors and Vellen down from the airship, standing upon this ground.

Shelly ran happily outside, letting out loud calls.

She stood at the city’s edge, imagining the feeling of sliding down from such a height. She felt she could slide from here all the way to the sea.

She was very happy, feeling this door had opened to a good place.

However, Yin Shen standing here had completely different emotions.

Because this was where everything began.

Yin Shen raised His head, looking into the distance.

Everything before His eyes regressed. The sky became the sea, and the earth returned to wilderness.

“A long time ago,” Yin Shen began, His voice soft yet resonant.

“Shelly,” He continued, turning to her with a faint smile. “Do you remember? You, Redlichia, and I—we all came here together.”

Shelly looked at everything around, seeming to have some impression yet forgetting it all.

“I don’t quite remember!”

Yin Shen looked at Shelly. “At that time, you had just been born. You could only blow bubbles at sea, making noise outside the temple every day.”

After hearing this, Shelly clasped her hands behind her back, making a bubble-blowing gesture.

“Gurgle, gurgle?”

Yin Shen couldn’t help but laugh, but the smile carried indescribable emotions.

Not sadness or grief, but a hollow emptiness buried by the dust of ages.

Millions of years ago, she descended upon this land.

The Mother of Life Shelly rose from the sea. The King of Wisdom Redlichia walked upon the land.

The divine King of Wisdom spoke the world’s first name aloud.

“God!“

It was Yin Shen’s name.

This was where everything began.

Wisdom and life found their origin in this place.

Yin Shen turned and continued walking deeper into the city. He passed through streets devoid of life, moving through ancient palaces and temples that stood as silent witnesses to the passage of time.

Finally, a sea of crimson flowers appeared in the distance.

It was a sea of flowers formed by Blood Mist Cups.

At the entrance to the flower sea, the Yinsai Crown still rested.

After the Crown of Wisdom was lost, it was the crown forged by King Eli, grandson of Yesael.

Yin Shen walked slowly, treading ancient steps and stopping there.

He reached out His hand and gently picked up the crown.

It looked somewhat similar to the Crown of Wisdom but had a difference as vast as heaven and earth. Yet, it equally represented Yinsai, represented that ancient kingdom of faith.

Yin Shen looked at the Redlichia Covenant imitated and carved upon it, those words He had once spoken.

“Redlichia, the Crown of Wisdom, the Yinsai Crown.”

“Redlichia dreamed of building a kingdom of eternal faith and named it Yinsai,” Yin Shen began, His voice steady.

“I told him, though, that even the sun will one day burn out, and all things will eventually fade.”

“But Redlichia wouldn’t accept that. He believed his faith would endure forever, that all Trilobite Men would follow his path.”

“He swore an oath upon the crown. I warned him it would become a burden for his descendants.”

Yin Shen turned to Hila, His tone calm yet reflective. “In the end, it seems I was right.”

He always seemed to be right, as though standing at the end of time and reflecting on the past.

Yet, being right was not what He desired.

Yinsai, the kingdom that placed its faith in Him, had once been great.

But that kingdom had faded away with the passage of time, and the belief in God Yinsai had been lost as the eras shifted and changed.

Hila looked at Yin Shen, suddenly feeling somewhat sad.

“Yinsai has always been there, in the Dream Starry Sea, and throughout history.”

“It wasn’t just the Yinsai Kingdom that believed in You. The Demon Abyss Kingdom did too.”

“Even now, there are still those who remember the past.”

Hila suddenly asked Yin Shen a question.

“God, have You forgiven them?”

Hila spoke of the People of the Abyss.

Yin Shen walked inside, standing in the corridor while gazing at the garden full of Blood Mist Cups.

The flowers were gorgeous and brilliant, completely incongruous with this city’s ancient primitive simplicity.

“I don’t know.”

“Perhaps I’ve forgiven them. Perhaps I’ve forgotten.”

Hila didn’t understand. “Forgotten?”

“How could a god possibly forget?”

For a being like Yin Shen, even matters from millions of years ago could be traced with a single thought without any error.

Yin Shen told Hila, “It’s not about forgetting everything, but letting go of the reasons for anger. It’s about letting go of too many emotions.”

He paused, reflecting on the past. “You know, there was a time when I used to get angry.”

“I’d act on impulse, let my frustration show, and even regret it later.”

Yin Shen glanced at Hila, His tone calm. “Now, it feels like all of that is just… distant.”

Yin Shen wasn’t born with divinity but seemed to gradually acquire the mindset of an eternal deity through the ages.

Though that mindset was vastly different from the eternal being Shelly and the long-lived Spirits.

Shelly seemed eternally unchanging, and Spirits were always beautiful like pleasant dreams.

Hila said, “I feel You, God, have never changed.”

“In my heart, You are forever sacred and unique.”

Yin Shen seemed to observe those mortal believers who followed blindly. “Hila, do you also see yourself as my believer?”

“Believing without question that the god is unique, the god is omnipotent, and the god is exactly as they imagine in their hearts.”

Hila looked at Yin Shen and said, “I am Your believer too.”

“Even if it is blind faith, I savor it as if it were sweet nectar.”

Yin Shen looked toward the mortal world, His gaze seeming to fall upon Oran.

“Every god has believers, but what is more valuable than believers are companions along the journey.”

“They may not have found true companions yet, as they build their own divine systems.”

“But I already have.”

Yin Shen stood before the flower sea, brushing a petal.

Sunlight pierced through the cloud seas, shining upon the gorgeous sea of flowers and falling upon the deities in the corridor.

Even supreme deities transcending the cycle of ages would cast shadows in the corridor.

“I might lose many things and forget many things.”

“But you all can always help me find my anchor in this world. You prevent me from being lost and wandering under the erosion of ages and eternity.”