Chapter 663 - 265: Immune to All Techniques! The Second Golden Mechanism

He understood, of course, that this squad was finished.

Lin Ye didn’t even need to step onto the battlefield himself. The mental torment alone was enough to completely destroy them.

And their assessment was correct.

Over the next ten-plus minutes...

The people Lin Ye had deliberately herded into a cramped, narrow area for a saturation bombing had their will to fight completely replaced by fear.

’If this keeps up, I’m going to die here!’

Thoughts like this spread like a plague.

But it never occurred to them to rally together and fight back against this cataclysm.

Zhao Feng’s chest heaved. He stared at the endless lightning and snow in the sky, sensing the mocking yet indifferent will behind it all.

He slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were filled with nothing but endless bitterness and despair.

"I... forfeit."

He forced out the two words.

The moment the words left his lips, his entire body transformed into a streak of white light that shot into the sky and vanished.

It was like tipping over the first domino. Seeing this, the others also chose to forfeit.

For a moment, several streaks of white light flared up one after another. The area, which had just resembled an apocalyptic purgatory, was instantly plunged back into a deathly silence.

High above, Lin Ye watched the vanishing streaks of white light and smacked his lips, a little unsatisfied.

"They’re giving up already? I thought I’d get to play for a little longer."

BZZZT!

Lin Ye felt the special watch on his wrist suddenly vibrate as a message appeared before his eyes.

[Candidate Lin Ye:

After a unanimous decision by the Longyin organizers, it has been determined that you have exceeded the requirements for the hidden "Tomb Guardian" identity mission.]

[You have successfully passed the selection. Your rewards will be distributed after the selection process is complete!]

[To ensure the fairness of the subsequent selection process, please refrain from interfering with other contestants.]

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow.

’So... the organizers want me to back off completely?’

’Makes sense. I’ve already taken out the entire Celestial Dragon’s Nest. If I stuck around here as the "Tomb Guardian," no one else would probably pass this selection.’

’Fine.’

’I’ve tested pretty much everything I needed to, anyway.’

Lin Ye had other things to do.

He needed to go back and see which mechanism he could evolve to the Gold tier next.

...

As Lin Ye pulled back, Hou Guanghe made his judgment.

"All right, there’s nothing more to see from him for now."

"Let’s check on another one."

"Yui Hanyi... where is he?"

Yi Jiugao immediately got to work, and the central light screen switched.

The image was no longer the Celestial Dragon’s Nest, nor was it that deathly silent desert.

Instead, it was... a damp, muddy swamp.

A light rain drizzled under a gray sky, surrounded by decaying deadwood and murky pools of water exuding a miasma.

A slender, small figure stood silently at the edge of the swamp.

He slowly extended a hand, letting the cool strands of rain fall onto his gaunt, pale palm.

The hand was so thin it was practically skin and bones. Its skin was a sickly white, as if it hadn’t seen the sun in ages, creating a stark contrast with his black robes.

No one could see the expression under his hood.

But he stood there, motionless as an ancient statue, as if trying to permanently etch the sensation of the rain into his senses.

The scene exuded an ineffable sense of loneliness and... contentment.

"What’s he doing?" Sun Lie was completely baffled.

Yi Jiugao pulled up the map and pointed to a flashing red dot on it, his expression a little strange.

"His current coordinates place him in the Death Swamp, on the outskirts of the World Tree."

"This location is actually... farther from the World Tree than the desert where he eliminated Xiao Lingchen."

"Farther?"

"Is he lost?"

That shouldn’t be possible.

"He isn’t lost."

Hou Guanghe, who had been silent all this time, suddenly let out a soft sigh.

His aged voice carried a trace of pity he himself hadn’t even noticed.

"We sent him the exact coordinates and route. With his abilities, it’s impossible for him to get lost."

"He’s... doing this on purpose."

Everyone in the conference room fell silent.

Hou Guanghe looked at the lonely figure on the screen and said slowly, "His Spiritual Night Filling the Heavens is a gift, but also a curse."

"None of us can possibly imagine what he has been through."

"And now..."

Hou Guanghe’s gaze fell upon the hand catching the rain.

"This rain, inadvertently created by Lin Ye, might be a coincidence that has allowed him to temporarily... feel the world again."

"Even if it’s just a bit of cold rainwater."

"To him, that is a long-lost happiness called being alive."

Zhu Mingyi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he didn’t know what to say.

A person who finds happiness even in the sensation of rain.

A person who, after eliminating Xiao Lingchen, chose not to press forward but instead took a detour just to chase after a rain shower.

Is such a person really the same cold, bizarre, and terrifying monster described in the files?

"It doesn’t matter."

Hou Guanghe broke the silence, his tone returning to its usual indifference.

"Let him enjoy it for a while."

"He’ll get there sooner or later, anyway."

...

Lin Ye’s figure reappeared before the Sun Palace.

Liliana and Regner were already waiting for him there. Upon seeing Lin Ye’s return, they immediately and respectfully dropped to one knee.

"Rise."

Lin Ye waved his hand and walked straight into the magnificent palace that once belonged to the Caesar clan.

The luxury of the palace’s interior far exceeded Lin Ye’s imagination.

The floor was paved with some kind of warm jade, the walls were inlaid with night-luminescent pearls that emitted a soft halo, and the vaulted ceiling was a vast star chart pieced together from countless rare gems.