# 1900
Chapter 1893: Beginning the Fusion
After contemplating for a moment, Jinian agreed with the logic.
No one understood the power of the Ancestral God better than the Trinity Gods of the Cthulhu Faction. If he were in their position, seeing the Ancestral God about to recover his strength, he would have destroyed the Earth before that happened no matter what... Now that Great Xia had prepared for battle, it was undoubtedly the perfect timing for the Ancestral God's return.
"By the way... even if the restored faith brought the Ancestral God Temple back to Earth, how did you manage to make it descend right in front of you?" Jinian asked, puzzled, as if having just thought of something. "Did you coordinate with them in advance?"
"That wasn't it. I simply pulled on the thread of causality between me and the Ancestral God Temple, and it came on its own." Lin Qiye thought for a moment. "Could the Dark Ancestor have sensed my summons?"
"...Do you have that much influence?" Jinian couldn't help but吐槽.
Unexpectedly, this time Lin Qiye didn't反驳, instead lowering his head as if seriously pondering something...
The two figures and the massive temple quickly vanished beyond the horizon.
...
Island.
"So... are you prepared to meet the death I've prepared for you? My dear An Qingyu?"
An Qingyu's grey eyes held no fear as he stared directly into the eyes of 【Chaos】, saying nothing.
Just as 【Chaos】 was about to say more, his brow furrowed, and he turned to look in a certain direction.
"Ancestral God?!"
For the first time, a rare expression of astonishment appeared in his eyes.
Then, as if having figured something out, he mused thoughtfully, "The Second Covenant... so, your goal in dispersing the mists from Earth was the Ancestral God? I underestimated you..."
"It seems your plan has been disrupted by someone else." An Qingyu keenly caught the change in 【Chaos】's expression, speaking calmly.
"Plan? What plan do I have?" 【Chaos】 sneered. "Though, Lin Qiye has indeed given me another surprise... With this, things become even more interesting!"
He paused for a moment, thoughtfully saying, "However, if the Ancestral God has also returned to this battlefield, the Cthulhu Faction's combat power seems somewhat insufficient... If Lin Qiye ultimately gains the upper hand, wouldn't that make for a less spectacular show?"
An Qingyu watched 【Chaos】 before him, laughing one moment and frowning the next, his expression utterly calm, as if he had no interest in engaging with this unpredictable madman.
After contemplating for a moment, 【Chaos】's gaze fell upon An Qingyu once more, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Very well... it seems your luck has held."
"What? Not going to kill me anymore?" An Qingyu's face remained expressionless.
"I've changed my mind." 【Chaos】 shrugged. "If you die, the 【Key to the Gate】 will never fully recover... Relying solely on myself and Nicholas to deal with the Ancestral God won't be easy, so why not let you make yourself useful one last time?"
Before An Qingyu could respond, 【Chaos】 grabbed his shoulder, and with a flash, they arrived before the ruins of that Gate of Truth.
An Qingyu was already extremely weak. Suddenly subjected to such high-speed movement, a wave of dizziness washed over him. Before he could steady himself, a hand pushed him to the edge of the Gate of Truth's ruins.
He placed one hand against the cold stone door, slowly raising his gaze to fix upon the towering black figure, and said in a low voice:
"What... do you intend to do?"
"Before I left back then, I told you that within four years, I wanted to see the 【Key to the Gate】 fully recover. That deadline has long passed." 【Chaos】 spoke unhurriedly.
"From now on, there's only one thing you can do here... fuse your soul with the Gate of Truth, completely fill its缺口, and allow the 【Key to the Gate】 to cross the river of time and be reborn within your body."
"You're going to软禁 me?"
"What if I am?" 【Chaos】 said calmly. "Don't forget, you're merely a fragment of the Gate of Truth... Repairing the Gate of Truth is your destiny, and the reason I brought you back."
An Qingyu stared into 【Chaos】's eyes. After a long while, he slowly spoke:
"I understand."
"Begin now... I will be watching." 【Chaos】 leaned against a nearby boulder, watching An Qingyu with half-lidded eyes.
An Qingyu said no more. He knew he had no choice. Seated beneath the ruins of the magnificent Gate of Truth, he crossed his legs.
He bit through his fingertip, then lightly smeared the blood across the corner of his eye. The deep grey in his eyes rippled with a hint of crimson.
Boom—!
Almost simultaneously, the Gate of Truth's ruins seemed to respond to some kind of summons, shaking violently. The phantom image of the gate overlapped with the ruins, and misty fog churned forth from within, enveloping both An Qingyu and himself.
Specks of starlight ignited from the void, weaving into ribbons that connected An Qingyu to the Gate of Truth. A mysterious sheen flowed across the surface of the ruins, and the illusory gate shadow was slowly, piece by piece, filling in the missing portions of the ruins.
An Qingyu's body trembled slightly. His right fingertip took on a greyish tinge, as if stained with lime, slowly spreading upward.
Seeing this, 【Chaos】's lips curved upward.
An Qingyu's soul had connected with the Gate of Truth. At this moment, the Gate of Truth was unilaterally absorbing his soul to repair itself. In as little as ten days, or at most a month, his soul would completely merge with the Gate of Truth. By then, the 【Key to the Gate】 could use his body as a conduit to be reborn in this world.
Once this process began, it was irreversible for An Qingyu, because the power of the Gate of Truth far exceeded that of his soul. He was destined to be the one being absorbed.
"Excellent." 【Chaos】 said with a smile. "I hope that when we meet again, you will have become the true 【Key to the Gate】..."
As his words fell, 【Chaos】 reached out and made a grabbing motion toward the empty air above. The surrounding space twisted骤然, and the azure sky was replaced by a dark crimson. The entire Island was concealed within another dimension, vanishing completely from the sea's surface.
Having completed all this, 【Chaos】 turned and walked outward, his form disappearing from the location in an instant.
The dark crimson穹顶 resembled spilled blood.
An Qingyu was trapped within the ruins of the Gate of Truth. He glanced toward the distant factory direction and murmured to himself:
"This day... has finally come..."
Within the endless grey mist, his eyes slowly closed, his body becoming as motionless as stone.
...
Great Xia Border.
"This is far enough." Lin Qiye stopped in the air above a stretch of sea. "The 【Black Goat】 isn't chasing after us. The crisis is resolved."
Upon hearing these words, Jinian finally breathed a sigh of relief...
"This job... was more exciting than everything I've done in the past few years combined."
Jinian stretched lazily, then, as if having thought of something, his eyes sparkled as he looked at Lin Qiye. "I've completed what I promised you! When do I get my five shots?"
"...Wait a moment. There's still something I need to do."
Jinian: (艹皿艹)
"You're not planning to go back on your word, are you?!"
"Rest assured, I keep my word." Lin Qiye turned back to look at the magnificent Ancestral God Temple, falling silent for a moment. "Before that, I still have some doubts... that need answers."