Chapter 1086 Ended

Li Ang let out a long sigh, looking down at the bottom of the cockpit.

Countless animated vines were rolling and twitching, slowly annihilating.

The insane, chaotic, cancerous consciousness, and the energy extracted from the World Tree, had once given these plants the power to contend with gods.

But as the World Tree's energy was exhausted, and Li Ang also stopped releasing the Swamp God's power, all the cancerous plants began endless internal attrition, plundering the meager remaining energy, and eventually annihilating into ash.

Stripped of most of its vine skeleton, the Wooden Titan was left with only its original twisted and broken metal structure.

Li Ang endured the tide of exhaustion surging through his mind, and released the ninth-level Mind Creation ability – Origin Art, tearing a rift in the void leading to the Astral Realm.

Origin Art could create a temporary demiplane in the Astral Realm, perfectly suited for sealing the Wooden Titan, which radiated dangerous divine power.

After throwing the Wooden Titan into the Astral Realm demiplane, Li Ang raised his arm again, facing the entrance to the Heart Chamber beyond his sight, and remotely closed the starmap leading to the Door World.

That starmap had been protected by numerous Hive Motherships, constantly transmitting faith power from the Door World to Li Ang, but now, it was no longer needed.

As the starmap slowly closed, the endless stream of trillions of believers' fervent prayers, which had been invading Li Ang's mind, finally ceased.

As for the earlier contamination of Li Ang's mind by the thoughts of countless believers,

It was also offset by his mental abilities.

There would be no situation where he would be hijacked by the thoughts of billions of believers and turned into a puppet as soon as he ignited the divine fire.

A rain of light sprinkled across the earth, and the Zerg, having lost their enemy, silently began to clean up the battlefield.

The creep automatically absorbed the flesh and blood remaining on the surface, and the worker Zergs that crawled out of the ground were responsible for transporting and repairing.

The Hive Motherships opened their decks, recalled the flying units, and lowered tens of thousands of pipelines to recover the land units that lacked the ability to fly.

Amid this orderly spectacle, Li Ang stepped on invisible steps and walked towards the ground.

Hohenheim and others had risen to the surface, and joined Su Nisheng and Michael. Everyone looked at Li Ang, who was descending from the invisible ladder, with complex expressions.

"What's wrong? Not welcoming me?"

Li Ang asked casually with a smile. Hohenheim quickly waved his hand and said hoarsely, "No, no, it's just... I didn't expect this to be the ending."

Everyone was silent for a while, before Ding Zhensi finally asked, "Li Ge, what exactly is..."

He pointed at the World Tree and the Giant's Heart Chamber, "What's going on?"

"Well..."

Li Ang exchanged a glance with Su Nisheng and Michael, and said casually, "From the results of my investigation, the World Tree is the key to controlling the Giant's body.

When the World Tree is fully grown, and its canopy pierces through all the blood vessels leading to the Heart Chamber, whoever controls the World Tree, controls the Giant.

This is also the essence of the Siming War – controlling absolute destiny, and obtaining complete transcendence.

However..."

"That's no longer possible."

Su Nisheng took over, and said, "The World Tree cannot be severely disturbed during its growth.

And the action of that Titan drawing a large amount of energy from the World Tree just now, has essentially eliminated that possibility.

Now, no one, or god, can use the Giant's body to achieve transcendence."

"But in a sense, this is also a good thing.

Controlling absolute power, and achieving so-called evolution and transcendence, also strips away one's humanity."

Li Ang said casually, "As for the Giant's identity, it has many layers.

The oldest human transcendents, the most powerful Earth players, or, the origin of all myths, the root of all legends – Haotian, Pangu, or other similar names.

Considering that he is actually the ancestor of all of us,

I delayed the growth of the World Tree, and did not choose to control his body.

In a sense, this can also be considered an act of respecting the old and loving the young."

Li Ang indifferently narrated facts that were incredibly shocking to Ding Zhensi and the others.

Rumble—

The Heart Chamber trembled once again, and countless fragments of rock fell from the dome like meteorites, smashing into the ground.

Along with it came the notification sound from the Arena System.

[The Siming War has ended. All players will be forcibly teleported in 10 minutes.]

[Specific rankings and rewards will be announced after teleportation.]

"Oh? So quick to notify us."

Li Ang wasn't too surprised, and waved his hand to the other players, saying, "You guys should leave. My Zerg tell me that the war between the immune system and cancer cells is spreading towards this place.

Also, in the real world, the Angel Army is probably still fighting – the impact of Yahweh's death will take some time to influence the Angel Legions in other worlds."

"Okay."

Upon hearing this, the group of players no longer hesitated, and teleported away from the Giant's Heart Chamber one by one.

Only Li Ang, Su Nisheng, and Michael remained in place.

"So..."

Li Ang took the lead in breaking the silence, and raised his chin towards the weak Michael, who was leaning on Su Nisheng's shoulder, "What will happen to her in the future?"

Su Nisheng was silent for a moment, "Yahweh is already dead. Having lost the source of her power, her strength may decline, and she may forget some of the memories that belong to Michael."

"That's still alright."

Li Ang nodded, and against the backdrop of the swarming Hive that were preparing to evacuate, asked the question he had always wanted to ask, "So, can you tell me now? The essence of the Arena Game."

————

Real world, Earth, Yin City.

The deep night was torn apart by the flashing lights,

The sky was full of shining angels, wielding weapons, scattering light rain and explosions.

Any above-ground building other than the city's skyscrapers had been reduced to unrecognizable ruins under this frenzied and violent assault.

Roads, bridges, buildings.

All the buildings that once belonged to Yin City had been turned into rubble. Even the steel within the concrete had been melted by the light rain projected by the angels.

However, the Angel Legion still had not achieved victory.

The sky-covering Zerg fleet, suspended above the city's skyscrapers, cooperated with the special affairs bureau's superhumans to orderly resist wave after wave of the angels' attacks.

The two sides constantly stretched the battle lines, pushing the front to the coast - the sudden war had sunk hundreds of unprepared civilian and military ships there.

The fuel leaked from all the ships floated on the sea, ignited by explosions, forming a raging sea of fire with black smoke.

Night, light rain, Zerg.

Standing on the top floor of the city's skyscraper, the members of the Special Affairs Bureau looked with complex expressions at Chai Chai, who was treading on the edge of the rooftop, wearing black and red chitinous armor, cosplaying the Queen of Blades.

It was Chai Cuqiao and the suddenly appearing Zerg fleet that had blocked the Angel Legion that had emerged after the start of the Siming War, and maintained the defense line.

"Spike Thrower emplacement, advance fifty meters forward."

Maintaining a dashing posture, Chai Chai sternly commanded the Zerg to continue encircling and suppressing the Angel Legion, and turned to ask the members of the Special Affairs Bureau, "Isn't your ultra-long-range teleportation array ready yet?"

"There's still..."

Xing Hechou glanced at the prompt on his watch, and replied, "About ten minutes."

Currently, Angel Legions were invading all over the world. To transfer the people into the starmaps, only ultra-long-range teleportation technology was relatively safe and reliable.

The special affairs bureau's teleportation array could transfer millions of people at a time, but the population within the city's skyscrapers far exceeded this number, and each teleportation also required recharging.

"Transferring all the ordinary people in the city's skyscrapers will take at least seven hours."

Wang Congshan said somewhat wearily. When the war had just broken out, she had participated in the battle with the suddenly appearing angels within the city's skyscrapers.

After the appearance of the Zerg, she also used the assimilation ability of the Cardinal Cube to create high-performance armor for the Zerg units that could weaken the power of the Angel beams - to some extent, her role in this war was greater than that of hundreds of superhumans from the same level of the Mobile Task Force.

"Seven hours... Alas, prepare as soon as possible. If it really doesn't work, follow me to the bottom of the sea. Like Ms. Liu and Mule's Ark Plan, be protected.

The bottom of the sea is still the Zerg's home turf..."

Chai Chai frowned slightly, wanting to say something more, when suddenly a message arrived in her mind through the Zerg's psionic network, causing her to suddenly turn her head and look at the night sky ahead.

For some reason, the Angel Legion under the night had begun to retreat.

They no longer entangled with the Zerg, but instead retreated towards the rear of the battle line.

"Why are they retreating..."

Chai Chai felt inexplicably uneasy in her heart. The next second, the watches of all the members of the Special Affairs Bureau on the rooftop vibrated in unison, emitting a dark red light symbolizing the highest level of anomaly.

Xing Hechou's fingers trembled slightly as he pressed his watch, and the interface of the watch projected the scene of the Kunlun Mountains.

The Demon Imprisonment Cave, exploded.

Its top continuously spewed out monstrous demonic energy, and millions of demons flew out of the rising black mist, including even alien beasts hundreds or thousands of meters long.

The human weapons placed under the Kunlun Mountains were annihilating the demons pouring out of the Demon Imprisonment Cave.

The magnificent arrays engraved on the surrounding mountains by the Different Studies Society shone brightly, trying to weaken the Demon Imprisonment Cave's activity as before.

However, this time, they failed.

In the black smoke above the Demon Imprisonment Cave, a light that was remarkably similar in shape to the Different Studies Society's array appeared, reducing and even offsetting the sealing spells that the Different Studies Society borrowed from the Kunlun Mountain's leyline power.

"This is impossible!"

Zhu Xuemin on the rooftop of the Yin City skyscraper was in a state of chaos. As a disciple of the Different Studies Society, he could naturally recognize that the array above the Demon Imprisonment Cave was of the same origin as the Different Studies Society.

In other words, the one who pushed the Demon Imprisonment Cave out of control was a member of the Different Studies Society?

Fate did not give Zhu Xuemin and the others much time to be shocked and astonished.

The Demon Imprisonment Cave, which was the size of a mountain, directly broke free from the heavy restraints of the chain-like arrays, and without entangling with the surface armed forces,

But instead began to move directly.

The Kunlun Mountains, the Bayan Har Mountains, the Qinling Mountains, the Wu Mountains...

The Demon Imprisonment Cave, which was continuously spewing out monstrous demonic energy, moved rapidly in the rock layers,

The surrounding mountain peaks shook, the water flow was interrupted, and the earth undulated and cracked.

Fortunately, the Special Affairs Bureau had already transferred the people to the city's skyscrapers or the starmaps, and there were no casualties.

But the demons that escaped along the Demon Imprisonment Cave's route,

Still formed a huge cone-shaped demonic tide.

How many demons had escaped? Millions? Tens of millions? How many demons were still in the Demon Imprisonment Cave?

The superhumans on the top of the Yin City skyscraper had no time to think about these questions. All they knew was that

The Demon Imprisonment Cave seemed to be moving in the direction of Yin City.

"Hahahaha, finally, finally!"

A low, hoarse, turbid voice rang out from the black smoke column.

If the Mountain Demon who had died earlier in Li Ang's hands was resurrected, he would definitely recognize that this voice was that of his so-called teacher - the Chiduizi of the Kuiyang Sect.

"After a thousand years of planning, I have finally waited for this opportunity.

Gods fall, the holy throne is vacant, the demonic tide rises.

There is nothing that can stop the Demon Imprisonment Cave anymore, nothing that can stop me..."

The black smoke column above the Demon Imprisonment Cave slowly solidified, revealing Chiduizi's blurred face. His gaze swept across the desolate and uninhabited land, slowly moving upwards, and looked at the bright moon in the deep night.

The demonic energy spawned by the release of the Demon Imprisonment Cave after thousands of years of accumulation was so terrifying that even the Mirage Dragon above the moon,

Could no longer seal it.

Thinking of this, a strange smile appeared on Chiduizi's face. The Kuiyang Sect and the Different Studies Society were in some sense of the same origin,

They were both superhumans of the same era.

The difference was that the latter pursued understanding anomalies and protecting mortals,

While the former pursued absolute knowledge, truth, or rather power.

"To think that I, Chiduizi, was so talented, yet was envied by the Different Studies Society, and had to split myself, perform corpse liberation to hide, and transform into a demon.

Fragmenting myself into smaller parts, voluntarily throwing myself into the Demon Imprisonment Cave, to deceive the Mirage Dragon.

After the Mirage Dragon left, I reshaped myself, absorbed demonic energy, entered the path of the saint with demons, and finally controlled the Demon Imprisonment Cave, attaining enlightenment.

Now, only the final step remains..."

Chiduizi's gaze crossed thousands of miles, looking in the direction of Yin City.

He only needed to retrieve the base of the Demon Imprisonment Cave that was left in the underground of Yin City, and take back the arrangements left there by the predecessors of the Kuiyang Sect, and he would merge with the Demon Imprisonment Cave.

The Demon Imprisonment Cave was originally a small world with a complete cycle created by the Different Studies Society to imitate the creation myths.

Once he perfectly merged with the Demon Imprisonment Cave, he would become one with the world.

His own self would become a complete small world, and be detached from the Arena Game.

Achieving the ultimate ambition of all the Kuiyang Sect's predecessors - obtaining immortality, detached from transcendence.

Chiduizi, who had entered the path of the saint with demons, laughed wildly, manipulating the mountain body to spew out boundless demonic energy, releasing tens of millions of demons, rapidly approaching Yin City.

The superhumans at the top of the Yin City skyscraper only saw an absolute blackness that obscured the sky, drifting from the west.

They were either shocked and astonished, or filled with despair, or took a deep breath and notified their colleagues inside the city skyscraper through the broadcast to forcibly activate the ultra-long-range teleportation array at all costs.

Boom—

The air inexplicably ignited.

A phantom slowly emerged.

The Vermilion Bird phenomenon descended upon the world, fanning its wings, emitting rolling heat waves.

However, the Vermilion Bird phenomenon had already been triggered before by the Angel Legion's invasion, slaughtering a large number of angels, and successfully waiting for the appearance of the Zerg.

But the Vermilion Bird phenomenon itself had also been severely damaged by the terrifying energy generated by the self-destruction of hundreds of thousands of Angel Legions.

Its wings were full of cracks and wounds, and had not yet recovered.

"Hmph, Vermilion Bird?"

Across a distance of thousands of miles, Chiduizi said coldly, "Even the Vermilion Bird phenomenon in its prime is no match for the Demon Imprisonment Cave, let alone now that I have entered the path with demons.

Today, I will prove my unique skills, and you can be considered to have died well Ugh!!!"

Chiduizi's words came to an abrupt halt.

Not only him stopped, but also the entire Demon Imprisonment Cave mountain body - massive wooden roots grew out of the soil, like countless chains, firmly binding the Demon Imprisonment Cave and preventing it from moving.

Wang Congshan subconsciously clenched her fists, "That is..."

"Mm, he's back."

Chai Chai took a step forward, standing side by side with Wang Congshan, looking at the night sky in the far distance.

In the night sky, the thick clouds slowly shattered,

Tens of thousands of Zerg fleets slowly sailed out of the shining starmaps, standing in front of the Demon Imprisonment Cave.

Li Ang stepped on the invisible steps, entered the human world with the Zerg fleet, and returned to his hometown of Earth.

The global psionic network was instantly strengthened, and all the Zerg trembled and rejoiced from the soul for the arrival of the creator.

Li Ang did not pay attention to the Demon Imprisonment Cave, which was being frantically bombarded by the Zerg fleet, or to Chiduizi above the Demon Imprisonment Cave.

He looked in the direction of Yin City, waved his hand, as if to say -

"I'm back."

His divine power, with countless Zerg as pillars, and with tens of millions of Gene Stealer cultists around the world as nodes, permeated the globe.

Li Ang's body was still under the clouds, but his consciousness rose infinitely,

Like a child gazing at a glass ball, overlooking the entire earth from a high position.

He saw, not only the Demon Imprisonment Cave and the Angels,

Snowy plains, deserts, seabeds, dense forests...

Countless starmaps bloomed with brilliant light,

As the Siming War officially came to an end, these starmaps were all activated, leading to unknown worlds.

The essence of the Arena Game is war.

From each selected player, civilization – planet – plane – crystal wall system – multiverse,

All known, unknown, imagined, and unimaginable things are like dust in a millstone, slowly revolving with the multiverse's war millstone, and no one, nothing can transcend it.

All the previous Arena Games known to humans, including that oldest superhuman comparable to a planet, were just a small corner of this incomparably magnificent war millstone.

Those extinct racial civilizations on Earth were all erased because they failed to meet the requirements of the Arena Game - that is, to give birth to sufficiently powerful players.

And now, the time has finally come, and countless planets and planes will be connected.

Starting the next round of larger-scale competition and slaughter.

Accompanied by the roaring and hissing of billions of Zerg Hives,

Li Ang looked up at the stars in the sky, as if to see through the starlight that was millions of years late, countless possibilities in the vast universe.

The infinite war has begun.

...

(End of the book)

There is also an epilogue and concluding remarks.