# 1850
Chapter 1843 Lin Qiye's Sword Mark
At this point, Lin Qiye had no intention of hiding anything further. He laid his purpose bare.
He guarded the entrance to the Temporal Maze. Setting aside whether they could exit from here, even if they could, he would never let anyone here leave…
Now that the retreat path was cut off, pressed by Lin Qiye's sword light, the members of Divine Desire Paradise had no choice but to press deeper into the maze.
Number 22 gripped the King's Treasure Sword, glaring at Lin Qiye with fury, his chest heaving剧烈.
That first sword strike had consumed most of the divine power he had plundered. Though the remaining divine power was less than half, it was still close to twice that of an ordinary Chief God. Combined with the King's Treasure Sword in hand, he wasn't entirely without the power to fight Lin Qiye.
But after a moment of hesitation, he held back.
The combat power of Seraph Lin Qiye was absolutely not something an ordinary Chief God could match. Number 22 had lost the advantage of the first strike and had no assured victory. If he forcefully clashed with Lin Qiye now and failed to win, not only would they be reduced to Lin Qiye's tools, they would also completely lose any means of resistance.
Entering the Temporal Maze with depleted divine power would be a death sentence.
Number 22 took a deep breath and directly dispersed the plundered divine power. Several streams of divine power flowed back into the bodies of the crowd. On average, each person had consumed most of their divine power, but some remained.
"Holy Sovereign, we…" Kubera asked in a low voice.
"Enter the maze!" Number 22 glanced at Lin Qiye in the sky and said through gritted teeth.
Seeing Number 22 directly abandon resistance, a hint of surprise flickered in Lin Qiye's eyes. He withdrew his surrounding divine power, his form descending slowly to the riverside ground, leaving only his divine pressure bearing down on the crowd's shoulders.
Though this was inside the Temporal Maze, an independent spacetime, the environment was quite similar to the ice field outside. Apart from the bright moon in the sky, it gave people an unreal feeling.
Additionally, when one looked toward the distance, the distant scenery was always blurred, as if countless concave mirrors were stacked together. The farther one looked, the more tangled and chaotic the light became, making one dizzy.
Under the dual pressure of Lin Qiye's gaze and divine might, Number 22 turned back and said in a deep voice.
"Stay vigilant at all times… You two, take point."
The two Lesser Gods pointed out by Number 22 had unwilling expressions written all over their faces. They glanced at each other, then cautiously moved forward.
Before the group lay still that vast plain. As far as the eye could see, there was no apparent danger. But the moment they took their first step, a bizarre scene appeared.
Their figures flashed and instantly vanished on the spot.
The dark and empty ice field fell into dead silence, only the pale moonlight spreading a thin layer of frost across the smooth ground.
Seeing this, everyone from Divine Desire Paradise froze in place. Even Number 22 frowned, his expression grim.
"Where did they go?!" An exclamation rang out from the crowd.
A Lesser God was still a god, after all. To vanish silently before everyone's eyes without leaving even a trace of aura completely amplified the crowd's fear of the maze to infinity. Those with weaker constitutions were directly chilled to the bone.
Number 22's brow furrowed tightly. He stared intently at where the two Lesser Gods had vanished, lost in thought.
Just then, Lin Qiye's voice came from behind them.
"Do you remember where the Lesser God on the left was standing when he vanished? Have someone else take one step toward that exact spot. Remember, not a single step off."
Hearing Lin Qiye's voice, the crowd didn't move. They turned to look at Number 22. After a moment of contemplation, Number 22 pointed at a Lesser God and said:
"You, walk toward that spot with one step."
The named Lesser God's face paled.
"After taking that step, no matter what you see or hear, don't move. Just stand there." Lin Qiye's voice rang out again.
The Lesser God nervously swallowed, his movements stiff as he stepped onto a patch of ice and vanished instantly.
The crowd was startled again, uncertain what had happened.
"Next one, same as him." Lin Qiye showed no surprise at all and said calmly.
Under Lin Qiye's command, over a dozen people stepped onto that patch of ice one after another, all vanishing without a trace. Finally, only Number 22 and Lin Qiye remained.
Number 22 glanced at Lin Qiye. Under the latter's undoubtable gaze, he still took one step and vanished.
Only then did Lin Qiye follow, taking his own step.
Upon taking that step, a slight dizziness flickered through Lin Qiye's mind. The next moment he stood on that patch of ice, several dark figures crowded around him. As Lin Qiye stepped in, a startled cry sounded from the edge, then abruptly stopped.
Lin Qiye looked up. Pressed right against his chest was the back of Number 22. There were four or five figures standing on this small patch of ice, all crowded together on this tiny space.
"Where are the others?" Lin Qiye asked.
"They were all pushed out." Number 22 said in a deep voice. "The area of this ice patch is too small. Once new people arrive, someone gets pushed to step outward, and then they disappear."
Lin Qiye glanced at the ice beneath his feet, deep in thought.
The current situation matched Wang Mian's description roughly. Spatial movement within the maze could easily trigger temporal changes. When they took a step, they weren't just crossing space, but time…
From the current "experimental" results, the spatial range that could bear the same moment in time was very small—approximately the length of an adult's step in diameter. Like the ice patch where they currently stood. Once one exceeded the boundaries of this patch, they would enter another point in time.
But this also proved that as long as one kept following the previous person's footsteps, they could consistently cross the same temporal point and avoid separation.
Lin Qiye contemplated for a moment, then used Ame-no-Murakumo to carve a "1" into the ice beneath everyone's feet. He then spoke to the person in front:
"Continue. Take one step forward, then don't move."
Having learned from the previous experience, the group knew that disappearing didn't necessarily mean death. Their courage grew somewhat. The Lesser God at the front took a step forward and vanished again.
Everyone repeated the same footprints. After a while, Lin Qiye found himself pressed close to them once more.
He looked back. The "1" he had carved on the ice had already vanished without a trace…
That distance was no more than a meter. There was no way he could have missed it. Moreover, Ame-no-Murakumo carried the "incurable" property. That mark could never heal no matter how much time passed. This meant that the step they had just taken led to the "past."
According to Wang Mian, every step in the Temporal Maze led to an unknown point in time. One step might bring you to a week ago, or perhaps two or three days later…
Now that the sword mark had disappeared, it meant that at this point in time where Lin Qiye stood, he hadn't yet carved that sword mark there.
Compared to the previous step, this step led to an earlier point in time.