Chapter 2014 – Among the Gray Layers

　　Lin Qiye stood behind the iron gate, gazing motionlessly at the giant nucleus for a long time before a touch of determination climbed into his eyes.

　　A silhouette flashed past his eyes, Fatty, Cao Yuan, Qing Yu, Tugger, Jiang Er, Wang Mian, Yuzuru Pear Takeru Bai, Wu Old Dog, Guan Zai, Red Tassel, and Wen Qimo …… Those who appeared in his dreams countless times seemed to extend countless karmic filaments that penetrated through nothingness and were tightly connected to his mind.

　　”I will definitely win …… I will make you all come back.”

　　He clenched his fists and was about to turn around and retrace his steps towards the wards when suddenly, a loud boom came from the distance!

　　Boom-!!!

　　Lin Qiye violently turned his head to look, only to see a thunder-like spatial turbulence blossom with a blinding light in the dome of the sky that looked like lead and stone as it flickered away.

　　Lin Qiye frowned slightly as he gazed at that sky for a long time and then looked at the giant nucleus that was breathing steadily before he finally turned away.

　　There were too many natural phenomena in this vast and mysterious high-dimensional universe, and Lin Qiye had seen them a few times in the gaps between the countless dream cycles he had been in, but no matter what the phenomenon was, it wouldn’t have an impact on the sickbay itself.

　　With his departure, this space once again fell into a dead silence.

　　After a long time, a flash of red light suddenly surged from within the giant nucleus that was breathing silently outside the sickhouse!

　　In this red light, a struggling giant eye opened, and its gaze seemed to penetrate through the other buildings of the hospital, shooting into that void of [Chaos]!

　　The [Chaos]’s body shook violently, then quickly returned to its original state as if nothing had happened, and that giant eye that had opened up from within the giant nucleus also once again fell into confusion and struggle …… and slowly closed up.

　　Seeing Lin Qiye walking straight towards the room, [Chaos] gritted his teeth and spoke:

　　”Are you going to continue dreaming again? It’s useless …… Even if you try harder, the great Lord Azathoth won’t be defeated by you! Lord Azathoth is invincible!!!”

　　Lin Qiye didn’t even look at Him and went straight into the ward, locking the door with his backhand.

　　He swept his gaze across the blade-scarred walls of this room, most of which had been plastered up by the ward’s automatically generated wallpaper at the moment, but Lin Qiye could still clearly feel the emotional sharpness contained within.

　　Before entering the next dream cycle, Lin Qiye had one more thing to do.

　　After entering the dream realm, the [Chaos] outside would also have a portion of its consciousness pulled into the dream, after all, He, nowadays, had already become the embodiment of Azathoth’s consciousness in Lin Qiye’s mind, and would keep cycling along with his consciousness.

　　And once Azathoth’s consciousness figment stirred up trouble in the next dream and did something that didn’t fit the intended trajectory, all of which would make the Azathoth who had substituted into it notice something different, then not only would the dream instantly shatter, Lin Qiye himself would also be in a passive situation.

　　Therefore, he had to manifest a consciousness for himself as well to check and balance the [Chaos] consciousness.

　　Lin Qiye’s index finger gently tapped on the center of his eyebrow and yanked outward, a white light was dragged out from it and manifested in front of him in the form of a little boy.

　　This little boy was extremely similar to Lin Qiye, or rather, he was originally Lin Qiye, his feet stepping on a bright light, his eyes filled with determination and seriousness.

　　Lin Qiye sized up the little boy in front of him and tentatively asked:

　　”Who are you?”

　　”I’m …… Lin Qiye.” The little boy spoke thoughtfully.

　　”Don’t hesitate.” Lin Qiye shook his head and raised his hand to point at the wall that was about to be engulfed in wallpaper, a few engravings on it still clearly visible, “Never forget …… that you are Lin Qiye!”

　　The little boy was Lin Qiye’s autonomous consciousness incarnation, if even he forgot who he was in the dream world, then I’m afraid that his will would be instantly engulfed by the will of Azathoth.

　　”I am Lin Qiye!” The little boy replied firmly.

　　Seeing this, Lin Qiye’s heart finally settled down, and he forced himself to endure the pain of his mind being torn apart as he walked over to the bed, his figure lying flat on it.

　　His eyes slowly closed ……

　　”I …… have returned ……”

　　As Lin Qiye’s eyes closed, the [Chaos] outside also suddenly fainted to the ground, and the entire hospital was plunged into a dead silence, leaving the little boy alone, alone in the gradually dimming ward, motionless.

　　Above the wall that was finally engulfed in wallpaper, a brand new engraving was clearly visible.

　　[I want to win!

　　Gray Layer.

　　An old man wearing a white cloud robe was standing alone in the churning gray world, looking up at the sky as if waiting for something.

　　Soon, in the nothingness above his head, a sheepskin letter suddenly flew out and lightly fell into his palm.

　　The old man raised his eyebrows and took the letter and read it, and after a moment, he nodded slightly.

　　”Fortunately …… it seems to be going well.”

　　Just as the old man spoke, in the endless gray, a huge giant shadow slowly floated out from it ……

　　It was a huge building shrouded in a white jade luster, dense aura tumbling through it, magnificent and atmospheric, as if it had existed in the world since time immemorial.

　　If Lin Qiye were here and saw this building, he would definitely be shocked beyond measure.

　　Eternal Heavenly Court!

　　The last dream cycle had already broken with Lin Qiye’s awakening, but this Eternal Celestial Court didn’t disappear with it, but instead appeared between the layers of gray and slowly sailed in the direction of Yelland ……

　　And right now on top of this Eternal Celestial Court, two figures were standing side by side.

　　”Has another cycle ended?……” a figure clad in Daoist robes with a slightly chubby build let out a long sigh, “How many times has this been?”

　　”One hundred and twelve million, two hundred and ninety-nine million, one hundred and seventeen times.”

　　Beside him, a woman with black hair like a waterfall and wearing a blue hanbok replied.

　　”After advancing to the half-step ‘Ascending Dimension’, you will not disappear with the end of the dream cycle, but will retain all your memories, hovering in the gray layer …… “Spirit Treasure Heavenly Father looked at the empty of the Eternal Heavenly Court, speaking with a complex expression.

　　”Every time, he retires in this way …… not even having the chance to say a final goodbye to him.”

　　”We don’t need to say goodbye because, sooner or later, we will meet again in the next cycle.” Caran replied seriously.

　　”But the next time we see each other again, he won’t recognize us.”

　　”Then recognize us again.” Calan turned his head to look at Spirit Treasure Heavenly Father, “We agreed when we survived the original Fifth Universe that we would accompany him through all the cycles …… You regret it now?”

　　”How could I possibly regret it.”

　　Spirit Treasure Heavenly Father paused for a moment, and in his eyes, a touch of guilt flashed, “It’s just that at the end of every cycle …… he would know that Cao Yuan hadn’t died, he would know that Tug hadn’t died, he would know that An Qingyu hadn’t betrayed him, he would know that Jiang’er was still alive… …but will always think that I’m still just that Spirit Treasure Heavenly Father.”

　　Caran was silent for a moment and softly comforted, “Sooner or later, one day, he will know.”

　　The two of them followed the Eternal Celestial Court and arrived before Yelland, who smiled faintly and took a step in front of them.

　　”Both of you, long time no see.”

　　”Mr. Yellande, have you received a reply from Seven Nights?” Caran immediately asked.

　　”Received.” Yellande handed the letter to the two, and they read it carefully, slightly relieved.

　　Seeing this, Yelland couldn’t help but ask:

　　”Since you guys are so worried about him, why didn’t you let me mention your existence in the letter again? In this world, the three of us who have reached the half-step ‘ascension’ hovering in the gray layer can be the only ones left.”

　　In the original Fifth Universe, with the awakening of the Spirit Treasure Heavenly Father, he had completely stepped into the realm of half-step ‘Ascending Dimension’, and after the complete fusion of [Immortality] and [Immortality], Caran had also become a unique Eternal Immortal in this world, although he hadn’t stepped into half-step ‘Ascending Dimension’, but by virtue of [Immortality], he had become an Eternal Immortal. Although she didn’t step into the half step of “ascension”, she survived by virtue of the nature of [eternity].

　　In the many dream cycles that followed, Garland also formally stepped into the half-step “ascension dimension” from the original supreme realm.

　　Garland and Spirit Treasure Heavenly Father exchanged glances and bitterly shook their heads.

　　”In his eyes, we may have died long ago, rather than letting him know through letters now, adding to the burden in vain, it’s better to wait for everything to settle down, then meet face to face …….”