The world was vast and boundless.
Hundreds of powerful figures rushed towards Longshan Ridge.
As embodiments of divine power descending from the Sea of Light, each figure on the scene represented a true god.
Even though they were just avatars, their strength far surpassed the peak of demigods, nearing the rank of eighth-rank true gods.
Especially the dozen or so figures at the forefront, who were avatars of higher gods, their aura fluctuations reaching the threshold of true gods.
Even at the same rank of eighth-rank true gods, their strength varied greatly, depending on the rules their divine personas controlled and the purity of their divine power.
Of course, the most important factor was the amount of faith they gathered.
Faith was the foundation of every true god. With the power of the masses, a seventh-rank demigod could gather divine kingdoms and elevate them.
In the distant past, divine wars broke out, with true gods from the Sea of Light and the Abyss of Darkness fighting, fundamentally for faith.
"Wait a moment."
After flying for a while, the hundreds of divine avatars sensed something amiss.
Especially those avatars of higher gods; they frowned and kept examining their surroundings.
As true gods, their realms were beyond ordinary. Even as avatars of divine power, they had a keen sense of space. At this moment, some true gods felt something.
"The space has changed."
"The human world's space is not like this."
"Indeed, I feel it's strange too."
"Could it be that we are not in the human world?"
"Impossible. The 'anchor points' of the divine avatars are in various churches of the human world. How could it not be the human world?"
The true gods quickly communicated with each other, looking at the environment around them, feeling unprecedentedly unfamiliar.
"Stop arguing."
A higher god thought for a moment and then spoke, "At our speed, we should have reached Longshan Ridge by now, but where is Longshan Ridge?"
Upon hearing this, all the other true gods became serious.
Indeed.
The speed of true gods was incredibly fast. Even though the Plateau of Nations was vast, a group of true gods flying for such a long time should have reached it.
The flight of true gods was not just physical flight but a 'shift' that compressed spatial distances.
"What does this mean?"
"Has Longshan Ridge been moved?"
Some true gods hadn't realized yet; mostly lower gods who lacked much perception of spatial essence.
"It's not Longshan Ridge that was moved."
"We have been moved."
"Somehow, without us noticing, we were moved into a sealed space."
A higher god voiced their suspicion.
Although this suspicion seemed incredible, moving so many true gods in front of each other seemed like a fantasy.
But aside from this possibility, the higher god couldn't think of any other explanation.
"If you don't believe it, you can try to return to the Sea of Light."
The higher god glanced at the other gods who were filled with disbelief and added.
The Sea of Light was not in any part of the human world but in another spatial layer.
Therefore, no matter how much the demigods of the human world searched, they could not find the Sea of Light or the Abyss of Darkness where the gods resided.
For demigods, the Sea of Light might seem far away, but for the true gods present, it was within reach.
With their true selves as 'coordinates,' the many avatars of divine power could easily locate the spatial layer of the Sea of Light.
They only needed to break through the space to enter.
"I don't believe it. Is there a stronger being in the human world who could easily move us?"
"Right, I will now return to the Sea of Light."
"Except for the great main god, it's absolutely impossible for anyone to move us all at once!"
A significant portion of the divine avatars immediately broke through space, intending to enter the Sea of Light and reunite with their true selves.
However.
The space indeed broke open.
But moments later.
All the divine avatars reappeared in the main space with pale faces.
From their attempts, these divine avatars shockingly discovered that while they could vaguely sense the location of the Sea of Light, they couldn't reach it.
It was as if an invisible barrier separated the two.
Or, all their divine avatars were trapped in a spatial cage.
This speculation made the divine avatars look grim, even with a hint of fear.
If the speculation was true, then who could be capable of this act? The main god? Would the main god be so bored to specifically tease them?
If not the main god, then who?
Outside the Longshan Hall.
Under the watchful eyes of the Order Pope and several core members of the Longshan family, Lin Yuan stretched his right hand towards the void, and in his palm appeared hundreds of figures resembling headless flies.
"Patriarch, if what the pope said is true, and many divine avatars are about to descend, hiding in the Order Church is the most urgent matter."
"Patriarch, the disappearance of many demigods is full of doubts. We should focus on preserving ourselves now."
The core members of the Longshan family continued to persuade.
They knew how important Lin Yuan was to the Longshan family. Anyone else could have an incident, even the family could be destroyed.
But nothing must happen to Lin Yuan. With him, the Longshan family could be rebuilt in an instant, but without him, even if everyone survived, they would be divided by other forces.
As for Lin Yuan's earlier statement, 'Why do I need to hide?', the core members interpreted it as denying any involvement in the disappearance of the demigods.
But now, whether Lin Yuan did it or not was no longer relevant. With so many divine avatars descending, there was a real risk they might accidentally kill Lin Yuan.
The core members of the Longshan family also noticed the hundreds of figures in Lin Yuan's palm but didn't pay much attention. The priority was to hide in the Order Church before those divine avatars arrived.
Only the great Order god could deter those divine avatars.
The Order Pope beside them was also anxious. The descent of hundreds of divine avatars was a pressure even for him.
Although, as an affiliated god of the Order, he was confident those divine avatars wouldn't dare to attack him.
But Lin Yuan.
Firstly, Lin Yuan wasn't a believer of the Order god. If he was indeed involved in the demigods' disappearance, the Order Pope had no reason to protect him.
Only by entering the Order Church could they leverage the Order god's unchallengeable authority to fend off the divine avatars.
"Patriarch Longshan, there's no time to lose," the Order Pope looked at Lin Yuan, already considering forcibly taking him into the church.
Lin Yuan's public strength was that of a demigod, but the Order Pope, a true god of the Sea of Light, was a little stronger than a lower god.
Even though his current body was just a vessel in the human world, forcibly taking a demigod was no problem.
"Patriarch Longshan, forgive me."
The Order Pope took a deep breath. Before acting, he glanced at Lin Yuan's right hand.
"Huh?"
He glanced again.
And a third time.
A fourth.
A fifth.
Finally, he stared at Lin Yuan's right palm.
Inside the palm, hundreds of figures resembling headless flies scrambled but never escaped the confines of the hand.
To a demigod, this was not strange. Catching flies and trapping them in the palm was simple.
But the Order Pope was sweating.
If Lin Yuan's palm was magnified billions of times, and the figures within magnified billions of times, it would be evident that these figures were powerful divine avatars, far surpassing demigods.
"Divine avatars?"
The Order Pope felt absurd.
Divine avatars were the extension of a true god's will, even those of lower gods nearing the eighth-rank true god's threshold.
But now, these divine avatars struggled like ants in Lin Yuan's palm?
How could that be?
"Something's wrong."
The Order Pope looked to the sky.
Just before, precisely when Lin Yuan raised his hand and those figures appeared in his palm, he had felt the terrifying auras rapidly approaching Longshan Ridge.
They must have been those divine avatars seeking retribution.
But now, all those auras had vanished.
The Order Pope initially thought those divine avatars had restrained their auras out of fear of the Order Church.
But now, staring at the struggling figures in Lin Yuan's palm and the sudden disappearance of those divine auras, a terrifying thought surfaced in his mind.
Simultaneously.
In the Sea of Light, the true form of the Order Pope began contacting the gods seeking retribution.
These divine avatars, although trapped in Lin Yuan's palm, their true forms were free, albeit in chaos.
"All divine avatars are trapped in an unknown, vast space, unable to escape or return to the Sea of Light."
"Some gods wonder if the main god of the Abyss of Darkness acted."
The Order Pope swallowed, still staring at Lin Yuan's palm.
Trapped in an unknown, vast space?
Could it be the patriarch's palm?
The Order Pope's heart surged with waves, unable to maintain a calm facade.
It was unbelievable.
The patriarch, a mere demigod, just by raising and retracting his right hand, trapped hundreds of divine avatars?
This wasn't something a true god could do. Even the strongest higher god couldn't perform such feats.
This was a main god's domain.
Even the Order Pope felt that while killing hundreds of divine avatars might not be difficult for a ninth-rank main god, manipulating them in such a manner might not be easy for a non-space-specialized main god.
Defeating and killing were different matters.
Killing and manipulating were also different.
"Patriarch Longshan, you…you…" The Order Pope's voice trembled, looking at Lin Yuan's back, eyes reflecting spatial complexities.
"It's over."
"The divine avatars won't come."
Lin Yuan glanced at the Order Pope, then at the confused core members of the Longshan family.
He then raised his right hand slightly, bringing his face closer to his palm, and gently inhaled.
Within the palm world.
After initial panic and disorder, the hundreds of divine avatars tried to unite, hoping to break the cage and return to the human world.
Space had limits, even the vast human world could be torn apart by divine battles.
They thought this spatial cage might be similar.
Hundreds of divine avatars, united, could release power reaching higher god ranks.
Even if they couldn't break the cage, they could shake it, which would be their chance.
But after numerous attempts, tearing through millions of layers of spatial cage, they still couldn't see the end.
"Such a heavy spatial cage, which main god of the Abyss of Darkness did this?"
A divine avatar couldn't help but speak. Initially, they didn't think it was a main god's doing, as they wouldn't be so idle.
But with continued probing and understanding of the space, their horror grew. Besides a main god, who else could create such a cage?
"What now?"
"Ask our main god of the Sea of Light for help?"
The divine avatars were helpless.
Suddenly.
In the sky above, a face occupying half the sky appeared.
An eye on the face was as large as the sun, causing the divine avatars' souls to tremble even without releasing any aura.
Before the divine avatars could react, the immense face lightly inhaled.
A terrifying force filled every inch of space, causing all divine avatars to disintegrate instantly, not even a higher god's avatar lasting a second.
Divine avatars, made of pure divine power, reverted to pure energy, flooding into the mouth of the immense face.
Outside.
Lin Yuan devoured all the divine avatars. Given his current power, the energy they contained was merely a snack, hardly a dessert, just a taste.
"It's over."
Lin Yuan patted his right hand, glancing at the stiff Order Pope and the still confused core members of the Longshan family.
"There's no danger now."
"Do what you need to do."
With that, Lin Yuan walked into the Longshan Hall. Handling hundreds of divine avatars was no difficulty for him.
As a ninth rank who had opened ninety million layers of space, Lin Yuan's spatial expertise was unmatched, even tenth-rank powerhouses of the main world might not dare claim superiority. Especially not in this world.
"Patriarch…"
The core members of the Longshan family blinked, still not processing. What did he mean by no danger? Weren't there many divine avatars seeking retribution?
"Pope, what's going on?"
Longshan Ling looked at the Order Pope, still anxious.
...
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