# 1490
Chapter 1491: Helplessness
"It's useless… still useless…" An Qingyu tossed the hot towel into the basin and strode to the wall covered in formulas. Frustrated, she tore down all the diagrams pinned to it, crumpling them into fragments that scattered into the air.
"Damn it! Why can't I find where they are……"
"Qingyu……" Jiang Er's lips trembled slightly. Her ethereal form drifted to behind An Qingyu, wrapping her arms around her in a gentle embrace. "You've done your best… Even the Tianzun couldn't calculate their location. Why are you pushing yourself so hard?"
Jiang Er had witnessed all of An Qingyu's efforts over these past days. She had watched her fill an entire wall with calculations, only to tear it all down and search for a new angle—cycling through this process again and again, sometimes for days on end. Despite An Qingyu's attempts to maintain her composure, she couldn't bear the despair that came with endless failure.
"The fabric of time and space is constantly shifting. The longer we wait, the slimmer our chances of bringing them back." An Qingyu took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "The Tianzun relies on heavenly signs and Taoist divination, while I rely on science and mathematical truth. The two aren't mutually exclusive."
Jiang Er opened her mouth, about to say more, when a knock came at the door.
"Cao Yuan is here." Jiang Er spotted the visitor through the corridor monitor.
An Qingyu smoothed her wrinkled clothes and combed through her disheveled hair, trying to make herself look less haggard, then hurried to open the laboratory door.
"How did it go?" Cao Yuan asked.
"…Still nothing."
Cao Yuan glanced past her into the room, taking in the scattered paper fragments and the wall dense with formulas. His expression grew complicated.
"You're doing everything you can. Don't be too hard on yourself." Cao Yuan patted her shoulder, offering comfort.
"Did you bring what I asked for?"
"Yeah."
Cao Yuan stepped into the laboratory and set the black metal case on the table. The case was cylindrical, resembling a plastic shuttlecock bucket but several times larger and noticeably heavy.
An Qingyu walked forward and brushed her fingers against the corner of the metal container. The middle section immediately contracted, revealing a section of special glass tube inside.
Floating in the dark yellowish liquid was a thick, fleshy worm-like creature, slowly writhing. Upon closer inspection, one could make out the silhouette of an arm—but the arm was covered in scarlet worm-like eyes, and even the five fingers had transformed into tentacle-like appendages with suction cups, stirring through the liquid.
Even Cao Yuan couldn't help but frown at the sight, a wave of nausea rising within him.
"Qingyu, what do you need this for?" Cao Yuan asked, his voice heavy.
An Qingyu said nothing, her head bowed in deep thought.
A streak of light tore across the sky, interrupting the three of them. An Qingyu glanced outside, surprised.
"Why has the Tianzun returned?"
"Can't say… Let's go take a look."
An Qingyu picked up the black coffin from the corner and, together with Cao Yuan, stepped out of the laboratory. This was the first time she had left this room in almost a week. The sudden brightness of the outside world made her squint.
She watched as the robed figure walked directly into the Chennan Pass Command Center and vanished.
"Going straight to see Commander Shao upon returning? Did something happen?" Cao Yuan scratched his head, puzzled.
"I have a bad feeling about this… Let's follow."
The group hurried toward the Command Center.
……
"Night Watch Acting Commander Shao Pingge, reporting to Yuanshi Tianzun."
Inside the Command Center, the drowsy-eyed Shao Pingge caught sight of the robed figure and immediately straightened, saluting with military precision.
"No need for formalities." Yuanshi Tianzun surveyed the room. "Has Daode returned?"
"Daode Tianzun returned two days ago, but you were away from Great Xia, so you wouldn't have known."
As Shao Pingge spoke, Daode Tianzun emerged silently from the void, draped in a black-and-white Taoist robe, his unbound hair spilling over his shoulders. His brow was deeply furrowed.
"Where's Vishnu?" Yuanshi Tianzun asked.
"I slashed half his face off, but he fled." Daode Tianzun sighed helplessly. "That bastard led me all the way to the Antarctic Circle before splitting into two—one part of his body stalled me while the other escaped."
Yuanshi Tianzun showed no surprise at this. Battles between Supreme Gods rarely ended in decisive victory unless one possessed the overwhelming strength of a Michael. The fact that Vishnu had been severely wounded and forced to flee was already a favorable outcome—he shouldn't be able to cause trouble for some time.
"You sensed it too, I take it?"
"Mm." Daode Tianzun furrowed his brow. "Was it the work of the【Black Goat】?"
"It should be…"
Yuanshi Tianzun paused, then continued, "Michael must guard the Moon, so he can't descend to Earth in the short term. With so many divine kingdoms now destroyed and our Gods of Great Xia exiled, I'm worried……"
"If I were the【Black Goat】, I would strike at Great Xia right now without hesitation." Daode Tianzun's thoughts aligned perfectly with Yuanshi Tianzun's. "What should we do?"
"The【Black Goat】is the Mother of the Gods of the Cthulhu Faction. Her greatest strength isn't direct combat—it's reproduction… Unless she has absolute confidence in victory, she wouldn't dare appear on the battlefield herself. More likely, she would send her offspring to slaughter the people of Great Xia, or spread corruption across our lands.
The three pillar gods of the Cthulhu Faction came from beyond this world. Divination and prophecy are useless against them. The only solution is to rely on Shao Pingge's 'Dreamweb' to identify the direction of their attack, then have you intercept them……"
Yuanshi Tianzun slowly laid out his plan.
"I intercept them? What about you?" Daode Tianzun asked.
Yuanshi Tianzun fell silent for a moment, then spoke each word with deliberate weight: "This humble Daoist will follow the trail of the offspring to kill the【Black Goat】itself."
Everyone present was startled.
"That's too dangerous. The【Black Goat】is one of the three pillar gods of the Cthulhu Faction. Even if she's not skilled in combat, you can't face her alone." Daode Tianzun shook his head immediately.
"The【Black Goat】has countless offspring. Even if we worked together, we couldn't stop them all. Sooner or later, some would slip past and enter Great Xia to slaughter our people… Rather than wait for that, we should go all in." Yuanshi Tianzun's eyes blazed with killing intent.
Daode Tianzun opened his mouth, wanting to dissuade him, but no words came.
"Truly, if Lingbao and the other Great Xia gods were here, we might still have a chance…" Daode Tianzun苦涩ly shook his head.
"I have searched for them整整 seven days now, yet nothing… At this point, we can only rely on ourselves." Yuanshi Tianzun said.
The weight of two Tianzun's grave expressions pressed down on Shao Pingge. As he contemplated whether to mobilize all Night Watch forces within Great Xia, his gaze drifted to the side.
"What are you three doing here?" he asked An Qingyu and the others.