As Lin Luo brought the two little lolis home, in another world existed a colossal palace, different from the strange grandeur of the Sky City. Its dominant color was white, imbued with a sacred aura that offered a gentle sense of serenity.

Outside the palace, along the long avenue, two neat rows of armored knights stood guard, each clutching a steel spear. Their backs were ramrod straight, their expressions solemn and deeply serious.

Inside the palace were numerous beautiful nuns clad in white robes, either attending to their duties or walking about in lighthearted conversation. Following the path inward to the palace's very end, one would discover a house of elegant simplicity.

The resident of this house was the master of the palace—or perhaps, the master of the entire world. For that person was none other than... the Fourth Demon Lord, Lin Xiaoke!

In this world, perhaps only the knights and nuns knew that the master dwelling in this beautiful sanctuary was actually a Demon Lord.

But this fact also subtly demonstrated that, fundamentally, there was little difference between gods and demons. Gods were not necessarily saviors, and Demon Lords were not destined for world annihilation. Stripped bare, they were merely beings possessing power far beyond the common person.

Just then, a knight abruptly entered from outside. Seeing the firmly shut main doors, he frowned slightly, then asked the beautiful nun standing guard, "Has my elder sister not come out yet?"

This was Arthur, Lin Xiaoke's younger brother.

The nun shook her head. "No."

"Then I shall go see her." Arthur made to push the door open.

However, the nun was quicker, blocking the entrance and stating sternly, "No."

"Why?"

"The Master commanded that no one disturb her during her rest."

"Not even me?" Arthur pointed to himself, asking with suspicion.

The nun nodded, her face impassive. "Absolutely no one."

"..." Arthur immediately felt helpless. He wondered if he was influenced by Lin Xiaoke—all the nuns around her adopted cold, rigid expressions. Even as Lin Xiaoke's brother, he received no leniency; they adhered strictly to the rule. This left him feeling deeply stifled.

"Sigh, forget it, forget it. I'll come back later." Having been rebuffed, Arthur could only retreat the way he came. Although he was protected in this world and his cultivation speed was fast, truthfully, he disliked it. What he desired most was to return to the world where he was born. However, before leaving, he absolutely had to inform Lin Xiaoke.

Unfortunately, Lin Xiaoke was currently resting, and had been for almost half a month. He had no idea when she would emerge, which made him incredibly frustrated... Who rests for half a month straight? This was truly infuriating!

Yet, what Arthur did not know was that shortly after he left, inside that house, Lin Xiaoke, lying on the bed, suddenly opened her eyes. Her pair of exquisite eyes lacked their usual indifference; instead, they held a spark of alertness as she curiously surveyed the room's furnishings.

A moment later, she stepped off the bed and stood before the full-length mirror, gazing at her reflection for a long time. Then, she smiled faintly. "This lass isn't bad; truly a great beauty."

Her words seemed to praise someone other than herself, creating a slight dissonance.

But Lin Xiaoke felt nothing amiss with her speech, like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden. She paced around the room for a while longer before finally settling down, sitting quietly in one of the soft chairs.

At this moment, a look of indescribable ancient sorrow washed over her face, as if she had survived for millennia in this world. She sighed with emotion, "To think that after countless ages, I, who should have long since turned to dust, could actually return to the world. Truly, the vicissitudes of life..."

Lin Xiaoke let out a heavy sigh, its sentiment—joy or sorrow—unclear, as she sat there lost in thought. After a long pause, she finally collected herself and chuckled, "However, since I am back, I might as well go greet some old friends."

The Sky City.

Following the events of 'Seven-Seven Incident,' Yaoyao was in low spirits, drinking alone in her room... After all, experiencing something gained only to be immediately lost was something no one enjoyed.

"Alas, who knows when I will see him again..." Yaoyao sighed, her tone unable to conceal her disappointment.

"Little Yao, Little Yao, are you hearing this? This is the Perpetual Motion Machine!" Just then, a slightly excited voice suddenly sounded beside Yaoyao's ear.

Hearing that voice, Yaoyao first froze, then abruptly sprang up from her seat, her expression changing drastically. She even smashed the wine glass in her hand, crying out, "You?!"

"Haha, I certainly startled you, didn't I? Must say, I surprised myself too." Though the voice wasn't childish, its tone resembled that of a playful little girl, brimming with an indescribable mischievousness. This tone and self-proclamation instantly made Yaoyao recall someone, yet she looked doubtful. "Is it really you?"

"Of course. Have you forgotten, I am the Perpetual Motion Machine?"

The other party's response confirmed Yaoyao's suspicion. Among all the people she knew, only one dared to call herself the Perpetual Motion Machine in front of her. However, as the shock subsided, she couldn't help but offer a bitter smile. "If you truly were the Perpetual Motion Machine, you wouldn't have disappeared for so long... Hongling."

The source of the voice was Hongling, one of the members of the Time Traveler Corps. Because she commanded the myriad Great Daos, possessing nearly inexhaustible power, she often referred to herself as the Perpetual Motion Machine.

"Huh? Is that how it is?" Yaoyao's words seemed to cause Hongling a slight confusion.

Knowing Hongling's tendency to drift off topic, Yaoyao ignored it and asked, "I originally thought there was a thirty percent chance you would appear within the Contract Book. But after Seven-Seven appeared, I knew my guess was wrong. So... why are you appearing in Lin Xiaoke now?"

Although Yaoyao was the youngest in terms of age and seniority among all the Time Traveler Corps members, in terms of personality and conduct, Hongling, ranked third, often acted more like a younger sister. Therefore, when dealing with Hongling, Yaoyao's demeanor was slightly different from how she treated Seven-Seven.

Hongling chuckled lightly and said, "If you had asked me this question half an hour ago, I couldn't have answered. But I did a small deduction earlier and realized that when Seven-Seven fought the Heavenly Dao, she used my control over the Heavenly Dao through equivalent exchange. It was this power that awakened me... Alas!"

At the end of her sentence, she sighed silently.

Her sigh was not for herself but for the Heavenly Dao, which she had created, intending it to be her successor. Who knew that things would deviate from her plan, leading to its complete dissipation.

Yaoyao didn't think that deeply, but she understood and nodded. "Although I didn't anticipate Seven-Seven's existence, I wasn't entirely foolish. When I sensed your faint aura on those three girls, I knew your souls might be within the Contract Book..."

"That's not right." Before Yaoyao could finish, Hongling interjected, "Only one soul exists within the Contract Book, and that is Seven-Seven."

"Uh!" Yaoyao was taken aback, suddenly confused. "Then what about the rest of you? Don't tell me Lin Xiaoke is your reincarnation?"

"Impossible, of course. I merely exist within the Book of Faith."

"The fifty Heart Sutras were originally just one book... Since you are in the Book of Faith, that means you were indeed in the Contract Book at the very beginning."

"No... Same as before, the Contract Book could only accommodate Seven-Seven's soul. I wasn't there initially."

"How could you not be there?" Yaoyao frowned. "If you weren't there, then how did you end up in the Book of Faith? Did your soul... when the Heart Sutras were separated... Ergh!"

Halfway through speaking, Yaoyao suddenly choked, as she suddenly conceived an unbelievable answer.

"Could it be?" Yaoyao couldn't help but inquire.

Hongling gave her an affirmative reply. "It's exactly what you're thinking."

The true answer was this: When the Heart Sutras were first created, only Seven-Seven's soul was inside. After the Heart Sutras lay dormant for countless ages, they were finally discovered by the proxy gods of this era. Using secret arts, they divided the Heart Sutras into fifty volumes, and precisely at that moment... Hongling's soul began to exist within the Book of Faith... This technique was familiar to both Yaoyao and Hongling: it was the creation from nothingness!

And it was the highest realm of creation from nothingness—not creating life, but directly bestowing soul and existence.

But!

The creation of the Heart Sutras and their separation into fifty volumes were separated by countless ages. Furthermore, the creator had died not long after creating the Heart Sutras. How could his power manifest so far in the future?

There was only one explanation!

The creator of the Heart Sutras had planned this from the start. He foresaw that the Heart Sutras would be separated in the future. Thus, while still alive, he injected the creation from nothingness into the Heart Sutras, using the proxy gods separating them as the trigger to activate the dormant creation from nothingness, thus birthing souls other than Seven-Seven's.

In other words, the proxy gods were manipulated without their knowledge—manipulated by someone who had died in antiquity.

"This... What an immense scheme!" Realizing this, Yaoyao couldn't help but exclaim. Since the Heart Sutras were forged using the peak power of the Outer Heaven, why were they separated by the proxy gods of the Nine Heavens? Now, she finally understood.

The proxy gods believed themselves to be the players, but in reality, they were all just pieces... Since the Contract Book could only hold one soul, and Hongling and the others were not dead at the time, even if the Contract Book could accommodate them, they couldn't enter. Thus, their only hope rested on what happened after their deaths.

This could also explain why the Walkers' progress was so immense, and why the power gap between them was so vast—why some people were at the Earth Tier while others hadn't even reached the Spirit Tier... Besides the Heart Sutras themselves, a greater reason lay in the fact that several Heart Sutras contained the souls of powerful beings from the Outer Heaven. Even if these souls hadn't awakened, or hadn't even fully formed, it was still the Outer Heaven!

Even a stray thought could turn an insect into a dragon.

"Who says not?" Hongling echoed in agreement. "But that fellow has always been mysterious. He never tells us what tricks he's hiding in his heart. He only shows up after everything is over, feigning innocence to mock us, saying things like, 'Actually, it was simple; your minds just weren't fast enough to figure it out...' Ah! Thinking about it makes me furious. I really want to punch him a few times to vent!"

Hongling's angry tone made Yaoyao smile slightly. She then asked, "So, what is your relationship with Lin Xiaoke now?"

"My soul is entrusted within her body. I cannot exist independently right now. How should I put it... I suppose I'm a parasite," Hongling stated.

Yaoyao was speechless. Who describes themselves as a parasite? This scatterbrained girl!

Complaining inwardly, Yaoyao continued, "Given his personality, he wouldn't only bring back one of you. We can currently confirm Xueyin and Yiren are in two other girls' bodies. So... where are the souls of the others?"

"None. Just like you, I can only sense those two. There are no traces of our companions on the other Heart Sutras."

"None on the Heart Sutras? Could it be... in the Heart of the World?" Yaoyao was suddenly alarmed.

"That's quite possible..." Hongling was also startled, then said, "Little Yao, how many hosts can you currently identify?"

Yaoyao quickly replied, "Excluding the seven Hearts of the World seized by the proxy gods, there are forty-two left. I can precisely identify thirty-nine of them. Two give me a confusing sensation, and one I cannot sense at all."

Hongling fell silent for a while, perhaps a few minutes, before speaking again. "It's hard to draw a conclusion about those two that feel confusing for now, but I bet that one Heart of the World you can't sense doesn't have a host!"

"What does that mean?" Even Yaoyao found this confusing.

Hongling stated calmly, "It's simple. That Heart of the World has developed its own life. It doesn't need a host, and it's probably undergoing a transformation, which is why you can't sense it."

"How is that possible?!" Yaoyao found it hard to believe.

"Nothing is impossible. Have you forgotten what the true nature of the Heart of the World is?"

"Ah!" Reminded, Yaoyao finally recalled, her expression shifting several times before she said solemnly, "That fellow, he truly set up an immense scheme!"

"Indeed. This scheme spans countless ages, playing out from the ants beneath our feet to us mighty beings of the Outer Heaven. Even he himself is a piece on the chessboard... This is an eternal game!"

Hongling concluded as well.