On the silent Sanctuary chessboard, that half heart floating in midair—like a crimson star that had slumbered for ages—suddenly gave a gentle throb.
“Thump…”
A muffled pulse spread silently outward from it as its center.
The white mist along the chessboard’s grid lines churned wildly.
At the same time, in the central chamber of the Adjudicator—which was about to be devoured by the void—the Rock Clan’s [Source Body] abruptly erupted with a primeval, heavy earth-yellow radiance.
As if hearing some kind of summons, it began to vibrate at an unprecedented frequency.
Not far from the [Source Body], Little Black suddenly leaped down from its nest.
The crystal that had been beneath it simultaneously blazed with boundless emerald brilliance. The breath of life surged like a tide, interweaving and resonating with that earth-yellow light.
Far away on Chang Qing’s dimension-piercing ship, Papa Lin and Lin Chiyang felt something in their hearts and looked back toward the Adjudicator.
They seemed to hear the voices of civilizations—awakening, submitting.
“Thump… thump…”
The heart’s beating grew stronger, more urgent.
As if an invisible thread spanned time, space, and dimensions, tightly linking the Sanctuary chessboard, the half heart, the [Source Body], and the Gaia Crystal. Guided by laws beyond comprehension, they began a frantic synchronization.
“Bzzz!”
A beam of incomparably brilliant light burst violently from within the Adjudicator, instantly piercing through its hull. Ignoring the swamp-like light around it, the beam shot at astonishing speed straight toward Lin Xiaohe’s location.
This beam and the faint glow of the heart collided thunderously, then plummeted into the Sanctuary chessboard like a comet crashing to earth.
There was no explosion—only a hum originating from the very source of the universe.
The four entangled with one another, compressed and refined. Forged by mysterious laws, they ultimately condensed into a mass of light with indescribable form and color.
It seemed to contain the foundation of all rules—one of the source fragments of all power.
Lin Xiaohe’s eyes flew wide open. This was a quarter of a Godhood!!
The Sanctuary was actually a fundamental condition for Godhood?!
Before Lin Xiaohe could recover from her shock, she saw this newly born quarter-Godhood brashly invade her original half-Godhood.
Collision, devouring, reconstruction.
Lin Xiaohe’s body became a battlefield—and a furnace.
Rule runes were carved into her genes, one after another. The intense pain nearly tore her apart, but within this extreme agony, some indescribable perception—the sensation of controlling everything—was spreading wildly.
It was a complex flavor—painful yet mysterious, filled with a thrilling rush.
Lin Xiaohe felt her consciousness, her emotions, everything being stripped away—just as the Sacred Stele had stripped away the star domains.
Her perspective kept rising, as if she were a creator, coldly watching her own body being remade.
Seven-colored light burst from every pore of Lin Xiaohe’s body, illuminating her like a deity.
She floated upward. The Sanctuary chessboard rumbled, and the grid lines lit up one after another, as if welcoming a mighty sovereign.
The transformation ended here.
Three-quarters of a Godhood was enough to remake Lin Xiaohe completely.
“What a pity…” Just one final step—just one more quarter of a Godhood—and Lin Xiaohe would have become a true [Domain Sovereign]!
Lin Xiaohe suppressed the trace of regret in her heart. With three-quarters of a Godhood, she was more than capable of covering the last stretch of distance.
Breaking through the cage—that was a sure thing!
Far away, the tunnel’s exit was rapidly contracting. Unstable ripples appeared along its edges, as if it would utterly annihilate itself the very next moment.
Lin Xiaohe reached the exit without much effort. One more step forward, and she would completely break through the cage, becoming the first person to break the formation!
Yet at the boundary, Lin Xiaohe came to a dead stop.
She turned back. Her gaze pierced through the swaying light walls and saw behind her the Adjudicator—about to be swallowed by the void.
The beam unleashed by the [Source Body] and the Gaia Crystal had pushed the Adjudicator forward by a large margin, saving it from being consumed by the void.
But the void’s expansion was accelerating. It would soon catch up to the Adjudicator.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Xiaohe stood at the exit and spread her arms wide.
“Bzzz—bzzz!”
Tremendous rule power erupted from her body without reservation.
No longer an attack—it transformed into two brilliant light wings spanning heaven and earth, boldly bracing against the closing edges of the exit.
“What are you staring at?!”
Jörmungandr and Chang Qing, running at the very front, were both frozen in place by Lin Xiaohe’s action.
What was she doing?!
Didn’t she know that one more step forward meant boundless freedom?
Lin Xiaohe felt a bit embarrassed and annoyed. She snorted coldly: “Kneel and call me Mommy!”
I’m saving you guys on the side—if I don’t get something out of it, I’d feel like I’m taking a huge loss!
Jörmungandr snapped back to his senses and, without a trace of hesitation, declared with heartfelt emotion: “Mommy, I love you!”
For a woman who sacrificed herself so selflessly, who fought for a sliver of survival for others—what was wrong with calling her Mommy?
Forget calling her Mommy—calling her Ancestor would’ve been fine too!
Jörmungandr’s silver fleet passed smoothly through the exit.
Free from his shackles, he immediately pierced into the fourth dimension and vanished without a trace.
Chang Qing, all awkward and reluctant, muttered softly: “Mom.”
His ship also passed smoothly through the exit. But instead of immediately jumping dimensions to leave, it stayed at a neither-near-nor-far distance, observing Lin Xiaohe.
At this moment, Lin Xiaohe was not in good shape.
The cost of slowing the exit’s closure was enormous.
Her body was trembling violently. Her rule power was depleting at a rapid rate. Under the immense pressure of the collapsing exit, the brilliant light wings flickered in and out, scattering countless motes of light—as if her very Godhood was burning away.
“Hurry up and go!”
A soft command, like a divine oracle, rang out clearly to the Adjudicator.
When Hardy saw what Lin Xiaohe was doing, his whole body trembled.
“Sovereign, don’t worry about us—just go!”
Inside the Adjudicator, countless people were quietly weeping.
“Sovereign, leave! Please leave!”
“Sovereign, the Adjudicator has no power left. Don’t worry about us anymore.”
For the Sovereign to go this far for them—that was enough! More than enough!
They could die without regret.
Lin Xiaohe was still holding on bitterly. Seeing the people of the Adjudicator weeping and embracing one another, she wished she could cut open her own heart and tell the Sovereign that being under her command in this life left them with no regrets!
“Who says there’s no power? We’ll do it!”
Apart from the two newborn Giant Sound Whale calves, all the other Giant Sound Whale calves swam out of the Adjudicator without hesitation.
They came to the side of the Giant Sound Whale elder and, with their tender bodies, dragged the Adjudicator forward.
If there wasn’t enough strength, numbers would make up for it.
Ten-year-olds, fifty-year-olds—Giant Sound Whale calves of every age group, their eyes shining with determination, took up the ropes from their predecessors.
The Giant Sound Whale elder swept its gaze over one tender face after another, its heart trembling.
These were all the treasures of their clan.
Normally, if even one of them got hurt, the entire clan would be heartbroken.
The Giant Sound Whale elder withdrew its gaze and squeezed out the very last drop of energy in its body.
“Heave!”
A long, distant whale song resounded through the light pillar.
Not a single foreshadowing was written in vain!
Not a single one!!
It’s all finally coming together…
