Yun Lintian studied the pale woman with calm eyes. "Who are you?"
The woman's lips curved slightly. "This one is Yue Xinling... the last inheritor of the Moon God in this timeline."
"Last inheritor?" Yun Lintian frowned. "Why last?"
Yue Xinling's translucent fingers brushed her silver hair. "Because I will disappear soon and no one in this timeline can inherit it."
Before Yun Lintian could question further, she continued, "You are Yun Lintian..."
Yun Lintian's pupils contracted. This was their first meeting—how could she know his name?
Yue Xinling coughed, ice crystals forming at her lips. "When the Moon God fell, she told me a man by this name would come to take the Primordial Gods' legacies. Unfortunately, the Moon God's inheritance is different... it can only be inherited by women."
This was the first Yun Lintian had heard of such a restriction. The Moon God's power resided in Lin Xinyao, Mumu, Hongyue, and Yue Chuntao—but this limitation was new.
"How did you end up ?" Yun Lintian asked with a frown.
Yue Xinling smiled bitterly. "I wasn't suitable... but the Moon God had no choice. She didn't trust anyone else." Her voice grew weaker. "The power has been eating away at me... I'm beyond saving now."
Yun Lintian's hand shot out. Thick emerald vines burst from his palm, wrapping around Yue Xinling's body as the God of Life's power surged forth.
To his shock—nothing happened.
The divine energy simply dissipated, unable to take root. Yue Xinling's condition didn't improve at all.
"Impossible." Even mortal wounds should heal before this power.
Yue Xinling shook her head. "Don't waste your strength... I'm just a vessel now." She turned to her weeping maidservant. "My only request... take care of Zhihe. She's too young to face this world alone."
Yue Zhihe collapsed beside the ice bier, clutching her master's robe. "No! Master, I won't leave you!"
Yue Xinling stroked the girl's hair gently before looking back at Yun Lintian. "The Moon God left you a message..."
She raised a trembling hand. The ice walls shimmered, revealing a star map of countless timelines—all converging toward a single point where a massive black hole devoured everything.
"The Eclipse comes." Yue Xinling's voice became urgent. "When all timelines collapse into one... only the true inheritor of Creation can stop it."
Her body began dissolving into silver motes. "Take my power and give it to the True Inheritor."
Yue Xinling's body shimmered like moonlight on water, her form dissipating into the air. With her final breath, she whispered.
"Beware... the Abyssal Ghost Knight..."
Yun Lintian waved his hand, summoning the lingering silver energy of the Moon God's power. The glowing essence swirled in his palm—but when he tried to absorb it, the energy simply passed through him as if he didn't exist.
"So it's true," Yun Lintian murmured. "This power rejects men."
He turned to Yue Zhihe, who knelt on the icy floor, her small frame shaking with silent sobs.
"From today onward, you will follow me," Yun Lintian said softly.
Yue Zhihe cried for a long time, her tears freezing into tiny crystals on the ground. Finally, she wiped her face and looked up at Yun Lintian with red-rimmed eyes.
"Senior... may I bury my master properly?"
Yun Lintian nodded. "I can help."
But Yue Zhihe shook her head stubbornly. "No... I must do this myself."
Without another word, she began gathering stones from the collapsed ice palace, her small hands scraping against the frozen rubble. Yun Lintian watched silently as she worked, her fingers turning raw and bloody in the cold.
Qingqing whimpered. "Big Brother Yun, her hands..."
Linlin's ears drooped. "She's hurting herself."
But Yun Lintian didn't interfere. He understood—this was Yue Zhihe's final act of devotion.
Hour after hour, the girl built a simple tomb on the mountain peak where moonlight shone brightest. When she finished, she knelt before it and kowtowed three times.
Then she turned to Yun Lintian and bowed deeply.
"Senior, this lowly one has only one master in this lifetime. I will serve no one else."
Yun Lintian chuckled. "I have no interest in taking a servant. Live as you wish."
He glanced at the tomb, then changed the subject. "Tell me about this 'Abyssal Ghost Knight.'"
Yue Zhihe's expression darkened. "He is... like you. A hunter of Primordial God powers. It's said he wields the authority of the God of Death."
Yun Lintian's eyes sharpened. "The God of Death?"
That was impossible. Even him had to find a vessel in order to inherit the power of the God of Death. How could this Abyssal Ghost Knight wield it? Unless… he was a direct inheritor of the God of Death from some timeline.
Yue Zhihe nodded grimly. "Master's injuries... they were caused by him. He ambushed her, forcing her to overdraw her power to escape." Her small fists clenched. "If not for that sneak attack, Master might have..."
Yun Lintian frowned. "This Abyssal Ghost Knight… Can you describe his appearance?"
Yue Zhihe shook her head. "No one has seen his face. He wears black armor that devours light, and his sword... Master said it was like a fragment of the void itself."
A cold wind howled across the mountain peak.
Yun Lintian's expression turned icy. There was only one explanation—this "Abyssal Ghost Knight" was either Nian Shi's pawn...
Or something far worse.
Meanwhile, in a realm between timelines
A figure clad in black armor stood amidst a field of floating corpses—each one a fallen god from different eras. In his hand gleamed a sword darker than oblivion.
"Yun Lintian has taken the bait," the Abyssal Ghost Knight mused, his voice echoing with unnatural harmonics. "Soon, he will lead me to the others."
Behind him, space distorted as Nian Shi materialized, his silver robes fluttering.
"You play a dangerous game," Nian Shi said lightly. "If he realizes what you truly are..."
The Abyssal Ghost Knight turned, his visor revealing only endless darkness.
Yun Lintian returned to the God Ascension Divine City with Yue Zhihe. His arrival caused another uproar throughout the entire city.
Since he came back, this meant he had already obtained the power of the Moon God!
Yun Lintian returned to the previous teahouse and waited for someone to appear. He didn't believe those ambitious people could resist the temptation of the inheritances of the Primordial Gods in his hand.
Yue Zhihe poured cups of tea for everyone and said with a serious expression. "Senior, I must remind you that there are people hiding in this city."