# 1468
Chapter 1469: Spacetime Dilemma
Great Xia Border.
"What exactly is this thing..."
Cao Yuan stood before that patch of absolute darkness, his brow furrowed tightly. He reached out to touch it, but his hand passed through as if touching nothing.
"There's nothing here." A faint gray shadow flickered across An Qingyu's eyes as she shook her head. "Something has swallowed everything that existed here, including light and air. To our eyes, it appears as absolute 'nothingness.'"
"What about Qiqiye and the others?"
"...I don't know." An Qingyu answered honestly.
Even his [Only Correct Answer] could not analyze what had happened when that bubble burst.
An Qingyu extended his palm, gently probing into that void... for some reason, he felt a faint hint of familiarity within it.
Whrum—!
A low rumbling sound echoed from the sky as the massive Heavenly Court silhouette broke through the mist and hovered overhead. Everyone's vision blurred, and a Taoist priest appeared before them.
Yuanshi Tianzun gazed at that dark fissure, his eyes narrowing slightly.
His fingertips moved as if calculating something, and then a hint of fury appeared between his brows. "Zeus..."
"Greetings, Yuanshi Tianzun." Upon seeing the Taoist priest, An Qingyu and the others immediately bowed respectfully.
Yuanshi Tianzun?
Hearing this title, Hongying, Wen Qimo, and Molly's hearts skipped a beat. They hastily followed with their own bows.
Yuanshi Tianzun gave a slight nod, his voice deep and grave: "What exactly happened here?"
An Qingyu recounted the events, placing particular emphasis on the gray mist-encased orb that Zeus had cast down. After hearing the account, Yuanshi Tianzun's expression grew increasingly grave.
"An orb of light wrapped in gray mist..." he murmured to himself.
[The Key to the Gate], Yog-Sothoth. A voice suddenly rang out as Michael's hands tore open the void, his massive form appearing instantly before that darkness.
The sudden appearance of that angelic giant startled Hongying and the others. Upon recognizing the six pristine white wings, they quickly understood. Wen Qimo exchanged a glance with Hongying and asked quietly:
"Is this the deity that Qiqiye serves?"
"Should be." Hongying nodded slightly. "Seraph Michael... the source of the miracle that preserved Cangnan for a decade..."
[The Key to the Gate]... Didn't It already die?" Yuanshi Tianzun frowned.
"It has only fallen into a death-like slumber, not truly ceased to exist. As long as this nameless fog remains, It will never perish... What Zeus discarded here should be a fragment of Its avatar, or a portion of Its consciousness."
Michael waved his hand gently, and miraculous power surged forth, rapidly repairing the dark crack before him. Within moments, it was restored to its original state.
[The Key to the Gate] is the Omniscient and Omnipresent God, the embodiment of time and space. Its fragments connect to any space both within and beyond this world... If I had to guess, your people were swept into a spacetime rift and trapped there."
"...I cannot calculate their position." Yuanshi Tianzun shook his head, lowering his hand. "Is there any way to find them?"
"No." Michael shook his head. "Outside of the Cthulhu Gods, no one knows which spacetime dimension the fragment of [Key to the Gate] connects to. Not even Zeus, who released it, could have foreseen what lay beyond that 'door.'"
Yuanshi Tianzun's brow furrowed even more tightly.
The Gods of Great Xia and the Human Apexes had all been exiled by the fragment. Apart from some Night Watch members with relatively weak abilities, Great Xia was left with only two Heavenly Venerables... This was equivalent to severing Great Xia's foundation!
No matter what, he had to find a way to bring them back.
"After Odin, I have warned the world that Zeus has once again dabbled in the Cthulhu Faction's Three Pillars... I shall fulfill my duty." Michael turned slowly, gazing toward the direction of Olympus. His golden eyes narrowed slightly.
"I am going to Olympus to kill him."
"If he dares to use this so openly, he must have something to rely on." Yuanshi Tianzun glanced at him. "You... may not have an easy time of it."
"Regardless of what手段 he employs, I will pursue him to the ends of the earth." Michael glanced at him with a hint of surprise. "He exiled all your Great Xia Gods. Won't you come with me to kill him?"
"The priority is to rescue my Gods of Great Xia and the others first. Since they are trapped in some dimension of time and space, this humble Taoist will simply search through every dimension of existence." Yuanshi Tianzun said calmly.
"Be it a hundred years or a thousand... If I find them, I will make all of Olympus pay the price.
If I don't find them... I will ensure the Olympian Gods live in torment worse than death."
Within Yuanshi Tianzun's eyes, there was no visible anger, yet that profound, fathomless gaze filled everyone with an inexplicable sense of dread.
This was the first time An Qingyu and the others had witnessed such an expression on the Heavenly Venerable's face.
Michael gazed at Yuanshi Tianzun's eyes, his expression complicated. He shook his head, saying nothing more. His six white wings flapped vigorously, and his form vanished in an instant.
"You may all disperse as well." Yuanshi Tianzun's sidelong glance swept over An Qingyu's group as he waved his hand.
"...Understood."
The group exchanged glances before quickly retreating toward Chennan Pass.
...
"Qiqiye... will he be alright?"
As Chennan Pass's outer wall drew closer, Hongying spoke with deep worry.
"Don't overthink it. They're just trapped. They'll be fine." Wen Qimo offered comfort. "Didn't the Heavenly Venerable say he'd go look for them? It's only a matter of time before they return."
Listening to Wen Qimo's reassurance, An Qingyu, Cao Yuan, and Jiang Er remained silent.
An Qingyu understood clearly in his heart that while this sounded simple, anything involving Cthulhu mythology was extremely tricky... The [Key to the Gate] that both the Heavenly Venerable and Michael had mentioned was undoubtedly a being at the apex of the Cthulhu mythos. A single fragment could connect dimensions, and even Michael and Yuanshi Tianzun could not determine the exact location.
As for the Heavenly Venerable's promise to search through all dimensions of time and space... this was no mere searching for a needle in a haystack. The way of time and space was immensely complex and vast. Even for something as small as a bedroom, the thickness of accumulated time layered above it could take countless people an entire lifetime to perceive, let alone an entire world?
Even for someone like Yuanshi Tianzun, searching through all dimensions of existence was as difficult as ascending to heaven... Even if he found them thousands of years later, the Gods of Great Xia might still exist, but the many Human Apexes and Lin Qiye would likely have long since turned to dust.