Nian Shi’s silver eyes gleamed with cold calculation as he exchanged a glance with Yin. Without words, an understanding passed between them—an alliance of convenience between two primordial forces who had been enemies since time began.
Yin chuckled darkly, his abyssal eyes shimmering with amusement. "Shall we?"
Nian Shi’s lips curled into a smirk. "Of course."
Without hesitation, Nian Shi struck first.
Time itself fractured around him. Countless silver threads erupted from his fingertips, each one representing a different temporal law—some accelerating time, some reversing it, others creating paradox loops designed to unravel existence itself.
The threads wove together into a monstrous tapestry of temporal annihilation, aimed directly at Ning Yue’s core.
Yin moved simultaneously.
His black robes billowed as he raised a single pale hand. From his palm, a sphere of absolute nothingness formed—a miniature Chasm of Uncreation that devoured light, space, and even the very concept of existence around it. With a casual flick, he sent it hurtling toward Ning Yue.
The combined attack was catastrophic.
The Endless Abyss, already weakened from their previous clashes, shattered completely. The sky peeled away like torn parchment, revealing the swirling chaos of the primordial void beyond. The ground dissolved into motes of dust, leaving only floating fragments of reality.
Long Yi, standing on one such fragment, felt his blood run cold.
This... this is beyond anything I’ve ever witnessed.
Even as the First Dragon Ancestor, he was but an ant before such power.
Ning Yue didn’t retreat.
She didn’t even flinch.
A soft, knowing smile that sent a sliver of unease through Nian Shi’s cold heart.
She clapped her hands together.
The World Tree erupted.
Not just in their reality—but across all realities, all timelines, all possible existences. Its emerald light blazed like a newborn star, its roots surging through the fractures in time and space that Nian Shi and Yin had created.
The temporal threads Nian Shi had woven? The World Tree absorbed them, converting their destructive paradoxes into nourishing energy.
Yin’s sphere of nothingness? The Tree grew around it, its roots weaving a lattice of creation that contained the uncreation within.
Nian Shi’s eyes widened. "Impossible—!"
Yin’s smirk vanished as he frowned. "This is not right... She’s using our own attacks against us. But how?"
As an existence on the same level as the Creator, Yin’s knowledge was far beyond anyone here. Yet, he couldn’t understand how the World Tree managed to muster such a power.
Ning Yue raised her hands, and the World Tree’s aura expanded, covering the entire battlefield in an emerald dome. Within this space, the rules of reality shifted—no longer governed by time or oblivion, but by the World Tree’s will alone.
Nian Shi immediately tried to warp time to escape—
But nothing happened.
Yin attempted to dissolve the barrier with uncreation—
But his power fizzled out harmlessly.
Ning Yue’s voice rang out, calm yet inexorable.
"This space belongs to the World Tree now. Here, your authorities mean nothing."
Nian Shi’s face darkened. For the first time in eternity, something akin to panic flickered in his silver eyes.
Yin, however, began to laugh.
"Magnificent," he said, shaking his head in amused admiration. "The Creator really did think of everything, didn’t she?"
Ning Yue stood at the center of the emerald-lit space, her jade-green eyes calm as she regarded the two trapped primordial beings. The World Tree’s roots coiled around her like living serpents, their glow pulsing with ancient power.
"Now," she said softly, "you will remain here with me. When Big Brother Yun fulfills his destiny... that will be your end."
Nian Shi’s silver eyes blazed with fury. "Arrogant!"
He lashed out, his fingers clawing at the air as he attempted to tear through the barrier with raw temporal energy. But the World Tree’s domain absorbed every attack effortlessly, converting his power into nourishing light that only strengthened the prison.
For the first time in eternity, the God of Time lost his composure.
"This... this shouldn’t be possible!" he snarled, his voice trembling with barely suppressed rage. "Even the World Tree shouldn’t be able to contain both of us!"
Yin, however, remained eerily calm. His abyssal eyes studied Ning Yue intently, as if peeling back the layers of her existence one by one. Then—
A deep, resonant sound that echoed through the emerald-lit space.
"Brilliant," he murmured, clapping his hands in slow, mocking applause. "Truly brilliant. I finally understand."
Ning Yue met his gaze silently.
Yin’s lips curled into a knowing smile.
"There aren’t one World Trees here... but two."
"Two?" Nian Shi was stunned.
Yin gestured lazily toward the towering World Tree behind Ning Yue—then pointed directly at her.
"The one we see is the original. But you... you are the second World Tree. Not its spirit. Not its vessel. A new World Tree, born from the old."
The moment those words left his lips, the air itself seemed to still.
Ning Yue didn’t deny it.
Nian Shi’s face paled as the implications crashed over him.
One to maintain balance.
Yin chuckled, shaking his head in genuine admiration. "Yun Tianming... He didn’t just prepare a countermeasure. He prepared a replacement... Honestly, the Creator indeed did a good job creating such a magnificent character."
At the mention of that name, Nian Shi’s expression twisted into something raw and ugly.
The architect behind Yun Lintian’s destiny.
The one who had been countering Nian Shi’s schemes from the very beginning.
Nian Shi’s hands clenched so tightly that golden blood dripped from his palms. When he spoke again, his voice was thick with something rarely heard from the God of Time—
"You... are indeed an unfathomable opponent."
Ning Yue watched them both, her expression unchanging.
"The God of Fate foresaw everything," she said quietly. "Your rebellion, Nian Shi. Yin’s inevitable return. Even the World Tree’s eventual withering."
She raised a hand, and the roots around her pulsed with renewed vigor.
"So he planted a seed. Not just in the World Tree... but in me."
There was nothing to hide as the truth was laid on the plain sight.
Yin’s smirk widened. "And now that seed has bloomed."
Nian Shi was silent for a long moment. Then—
A broken, hollow sound.
"All this time... I thought I was the one pulling the strings." His silver eyes burned with bitter amusement. "Yet from the very beginning, I was just another piece on his board."
Yin shrugged. "To be fair, so was I."
The admission hung in the air, heavy with unspoken implications.