Jing Nian and the hastily arrived elder dragon exchanged a glance, both anticipating that this situation might not be straightforward.
Jing Nian looked apologetically at Huo Yi. Not long ago, he thought the crisis in the game world had been averted and even volunteered to tell him they could search for the dragon egg together. Now, he had to postpone their plans once again.
Huo Yi met the teenager’s apologetic gaze and gently shook his head, saying, “It’s okay. I’m not in a hurry.”
In fact, he had already checked all the dragons of the dragon clan, leaving only the underground entrance isolated from divine perception.
With the urgency of the situation, Jing Nian couldn’t say much. He silently noted Huo Yi’s situation and planned to ask the dragons later when he had a moment.
He turned to Hesse and said, “Let’s go check the situation with my brothers.”
Old Hesse didn’t speak, but instead, his actions answered the question. He gently placed Jing Nian and the little dragon on his back, took a step, and then flapped his wings to take off.
Perhaps due to the urgency, the old dragon actually missed Huo Yi. When Jing Nian noticed the absence of Huo Yi and was about to call out, he saw the man calmly flying into the air and easily catching up.
Since telling Jing Nian that he was not an ordinary player, Huo Yi never tried to conceal his differences.
The man in black stood with his hands behind his back, looking unperturbed. Every line and detail on his handsome face was the most attractive in Jing Nian’s eyes. When Jing Nian looked at him, he turned his head to meet Jing Nian’s gaze. His expression showed no signs of being ignored or forgotten, no trace of displeasure.
Jing Nian quickly sent a message: “I’m sorry, things are a bit serious, and Hesse is in a hurry.”
Receiving Jing Nian’s apologetic gaze and the explanation in the chat window, Huo Yi glanced at him and then sent a message back.
Jing Nian opened it to read.
[“It’s okay, hold on tight.”]
The old dragon was flying rapidly, and the howling wind surrounded Jing Nian’s ears. However, as he closed the chat window, it seemed like he could hear the sound of his own heartbeat.
He quickly turned his head around, avoiding looking at the man. But for some reason, he felt a little awkward and decided to turn his head sideways to shield himself from the wind.
This was probably because the man was flying steadily to the right of the old dragon. Facing the strong headwind on the back of a dragon wasn’t something just anyone could endure. After a short while, Jing Nian felt like the wind was blocking his breathing. But because of the awkwardness earlier, he just gripped his small hands tightly, sitting on the dragon’s back without moving and only slightly tilted his head to find some protection from the wind.
Huo Yi, who seemed to be fully focused on flying, had actually been paying close attention to the teenager. He noticed Jing Nian’s slight discomfort and softened his gaze, casting a magic shield similar to a windbreak.
Jing Nian felt the wind in front of him suddenly ease, and he paused for a moment. The little dragon on his side, who had been tilting its head to enjoy the brisk wind massage, also froze and exclaimed, “Huh?”
The little dragon couldn’t believe its eyes. “I’m so big, where did the wind go?”
It looked around in bewilderment and then noticed that a spherical barrier had blocked all the wind.
Finally, it looked at Jing Nian for help. Jing Nian comforted it by patting its head, then looked at the barrier surrounding them and quickly turned his head to glance at the man. From the man’s extremely subtle expression, he read the answer: it was the man’s doing.
Jing Nian quickly averted his gaze, refocusing on the front. But his attention was completely drawn to the man beside him.
Why did he do this?
If it were his older brothers, Jing Nian could fully understand. As he had been physically fragile since childhood due to a genetic defect, his family always took great care to protect him, fearing that he might break with the slightest mishap.
But the man had no way of knowing that he used to have a frail body. Moreover, he knew that Jing Nian’s current body was as robust as the dragons. There was simply no need for this…
Jing Nian lowered his head and, for some reason, his face and ears suddenly felt hot. He tilted his head slightly, shaking off the thoughts. Overthinking would only lead to misunderstandings.
Jing Nian was not far from the Dragon Palace, to begin with, and Hesse was flying quickly. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the Dragon Palace.
Inside the palace, several dragons surrounded his older brothers with great respect.
Upon hearing about the game malfunction, his older brothers logged in promptly and their expressions were grim. Yet, despite the unexpected situation, they showed more restraint than before. Even in the presence of the dragons, who regarded them with respect, they remained patient.
As Jing Nian and Hesse landed at the palace gate, the dragons and his older brothers turned their attention towards them.
“Jing Nian!” The three older brothers rushed over as soon as they saw him.
Before he could steady himself, the eldest brother had already scooped him into a tight embrace, and the second and third brothers followed, examining Jing Nian.
Although this situation was one Jing Nian had grown used to at home, and he understood his family’s worries, he would typically let his concerned family members act while he reassured them with a smile.
But when this scene was witnessed by numerous eyes, Jing Nian found it hard to smile. He tried to maintain a serious little face, but accidentally met a pair of calm eyes.
“Whoosh!” Jing Xiao Nian turned into Jing Hong1I think it’s ‘blushing’ or ‘having red face’. Hmmm… Nian.
Jing Yan, who was forcibly held back by two older brothers, attempted to squeeze in and happened to see Jing Nian’s bright red ears poking out from behind the eldest brother’s shoulder. His expression instantly changed.
“Jing Nian Nian, are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
Not only were the three Jing brothers concerned, but the dragons were also in a panic.
The situation became chaotic for a moment, with both people and dragons crowding around to see Jing Nian.
Jing Nian, who was trying to hide himself: “…”
By the time Jing Nian managed to convince everyone that he was indeed fine, some time had passed.
But when he raised his head and met the calm, amused black eyes, Jing Nian thought, ‘Here we go again,’ feeling his face heating up.
Seeing both the people and the dragons now looking at Jing Nian’s face with alert expressions, seemingly worried that something was wrong with him, Jing Nian quickly shifted the focus back to the main topic. “Let’s discuss the real issue!”
Speaking of the real issue, Jing Nian felt the warmth in his face finally dissipates. He curiously turned to his older brothers. “What do you mean the game can’t be closed?”
The dragons, who had learned about Jing Nian’s origins and had seen him speak certain words that were blocked by the rules, were also waiting patiently, just like old Hesse. Occasionally, they saw Jing Nian’s mouth moving, and sometimes his voice became silent, but they all remained still, just like well-behaved students in a classroom, with wide-open eyes, ready to listen attentively to their lovely Dragon Lord even if they couldn’t understand a word he was saying.
When it came to the game, Jing Yan was the most knowledgeable. Therefore, he couldn’t wait to take Jing Xiao Nian from the eldest brother’s arms.
Wuwuwu, the mini version of Nian Nian was just too cute.
However, a pair of iron arms blocked him, and the little brother was taken away. Jing Yan turned angrily and locked eyes with the second brother.
Jing Yan: “…” Deflated, a teenager in the prime of his youth had just lost his dream.
With a dejected air, he began to explain the game to his little brother.
As the only investor of the “Dragon Slayers,” the Jing family’s words carried weight. The game studio knew about Jing Nian’s situation, and there were no complaints. They cooperated and even posted a server shutdown announcement on the official star blog.
However, when the studio attempted to shut down the servers at the time specified in the announcement, they discovered that they couldn’t do it.
This was the cause of all the commotion.
Players on the star network went from not believing the rumors to seeing the official announcement confirming reality, and then to the realization that the game hadn’t shut down as expected.
Outside the game, after numerous twists and turns, people were in a frenzy.
Inside the game, after hearing Jing Yan’s explanation, Jing Nian furrowed his brows.
He turned to look at Huo Yi. Whether it was because he now knew Huo Yi’s identity or because he had learned about the existence of another “God Realm,” he became more suspicious as he listened. The game malfunction didn’t seem simple.
Huo Yi, by Jing Nian’s side, saw him looking at him. His gaze casually swept over Jing Nian’s brothers’ arms, and then he nodded at Jing Nian.
‘You can talk about the God Realm, and so can I.’
Jing Nian began to wonder if he had a built-in Huo Yi interpreter in his mind, as he somehow understood what he meant.
Jing Nian looked at Huo Yi with suspicion: “Can you really talk?”
Thinking about the past, when Huo Yi told him some things, he would still be “blocked”. Does this mean that the rules can also restrict him, even if he is a god?
Seeing Jing Nian hesitate, Huo Yi sent a message to him.
“I just found out that in this world, it’s not just me from the divine realm who has come down.”
Jing Nian looked at Huo Yi in shock: Does this mean that the game not being able to shut down might be related to other divine realm people?
Huo Yi nodded: “Yes.”
The two exchanged glances, and with the shocked look in Jing Nian’s eyes, the dragons and his brothers finally noticed Huo Yi’s presence.
The dragons were accustomed to this human who was always with their dragon master. Even the little dragon seemed to be very close to him, so the seemingly ordinary human piqued their curiosity.
As for his brothers at the moment, not yet aware of this person who is inseparable from their brother, they only sensed something unusual and suspicious in the “exchanges” between their brother and this person.
Jing Xing’s eyes were a bit deeper in color than Jing Nian’s, looking even more profound. He squinted his eyes slightly and said, “I think I’ve seen you before.”
Although it was said to be “think,” his expression held no doubt because he remembered.
On the day he found out about Jing Nian’s accident, he encountered a person in a black robe in the hospital elevator. At that time, a man left the same floor as Jing Nian. But there were no other patients on that floor besides Jing Nian.
At the time, he was too worried about Jing Nian to pay much attention to this strange occurrence.
“It’s you,” Jing Xing said, his gaze probing as he confirmed.
Huo Yi nodded. “It’s me.”
Suddenly, the other two brothers from the Jing family, and even Jing Nian, were watching the two of them closely.
Did the second brother know Huo Yi?
“The person I met outside the hospital room that day,” the second brother explained briefly.
Jing Nian was even more puzzled. If he was correct, the hospital room should have been something that happened after he fell into a coma in real life. How could he have met Huo Yi?
Huo Yi glanced at Jing Nian’s three brothers and calmly said, “I was passing by.”
Passing by? The second brother didn’t believe it.
But now was clearly not the time to discuss this.
Jing Nian also felt that continuing this discussion might not lead to a good outcome, so he cleared his throat and said, “Let’s talk about the issue of the game not being able to be turned off. It might be related to…”
He instinctively glanced at Huo Yi and then had his gaze intercepted by his three brothers’ cautious expressions.
That kind of look made Jing Nian suddenly realize what was going on.
—It was as if his innocent and clueless little brother was about to be outsmarted by someone.
Jing Nian paused, and with a hand, he cooled down his gradually warming face, trying to steady his voice.
“It might be related to some outsiders.”
He felt that he could mention the existence of the divine realm, but in this situation, it was better not to reveal Huo Yi’s identity.
Despite his efforts to remain composed, Jing Nian’s voice still quivered slightly. He looked at his brothers and said, “They are not people from our world.”
Then he turned to the dragons and continued, “They are not outsiders from the same world as me but rather from a higher… world.”
However, the old dragon standing nearby suddenly spoke, “Is it the divine realm?”
Jing Nian was taken aback and froze for a moment. He turned to the old dragon and asked, “…Why do you know about this?”
Not only Jing Nian but also the dragons were surprised. It was apparent they didn’t know about this.
“Because the Light God of Grans and the Dark God of the Undead Temple are actually substitutes for the true Light God and Dark God of the divine realm,” the old Hesse explained slowly.
“I didn’t mention it before because I didn’t expect people from the divine realm to come down.”
As the oldest living dragon, he was aware of the existence of the divine realm based on the dragon tradition he knew.
“Usually, due to the restrictions of world rules, once a dragon ascends to the divine realm, even a divine dragon, they cannot return to the lower world or interfere in the affairs of the lower world.”
“Although no dragons are willing to ascend,” the old dragon added, “because once they ascend, divine dragons can no longer communicate with their own kin, as dragons do not believe in others.”
Belief…
Jing Nian was completely stunned; what the old dragon, Hesse, described aligned with what Huo Yi had mentioned about the divine realm.
Hesse noticed that Jing Nian glanced at Huo Yi, and his eyes followed suit as if he had grasped something. However, he didn’t say much but continued to explain.
“If we must talk about a connection, only beings like the Light God and the Dark God, who ascend to the divine realm, can send substitutes or messengers to spread their faith, gain power from the power of belief, and bless their followers through faith as a medium.”
“In reality, even this connection is quite limited.”
The old dragon shared all the information he knew about the divine realm, then shrugged.
“But now it seems that people from the divine realm might have some ulterior motive, using special means to come down.”
After he finished, the old dragon’s expression grew serious, and he looked at Jing Nian. “And if the gateway for ‘outsiders’ from another world entering Grans is forcibly opened and can’t be closed, it probably means…”
“The likely reason for the intermingling of the two worlds is the actions of those individuals from the divine realm.”
Regarding the fact that this world was seen as nothing more than a virtual game in the eyes of Jing Nian and the “outsiders,” although they couldn’t state it explicitly, someone as wise as the old dragon could grasp the concept.
In other words, the “outsiders” from Jing Nian’s world had no idea that Grans was a real world; they believed it to be something akin to an illusion.
In fact, even before the “outsiders” arrived, the world of Grans had already started to show signs of being out of place, but initially, Hesse hadn’t expected it to gradually affect the entire world.
Jing Nian subconsciously glanced at Huo Yi.
After all, the very first entity to come down from the divine realm should have been the dragon egg…
No, it was Huo Yi’s dragon egg!
So, was it some other deity that stole Huo Yi’s dragon egg intentionally to lure him down…? Jing Nian couldn’t help but start to concoct conspiracy theories.
Could it be a conspiracy against Huo Yi?
On the other side, the dragons experienced a momentary pause due to the overwhelming information, and then they started getting enthusiastic.
“What!? So, are we going to have a showdown with the gods?”
“Why don’t we just conquer the divine realm together?”
“Great idea!”
The dragons began exhibiting the symptoms they had shown the last time they learned about another world – each one started to fantasize about the day they would stand at the pinnacle of the divine realm.
Meanwhile, the Jing family’s three brothers, who couldn’t understand a word, were utterly perplexed.
“What are these NPCs talking about? And why is our younger brother so seriously involved?”
Even that unknown man in black was listening intently.
Isn’t this just a game?
The divine realm? Outsiders? Divine realm involvement, and a channel that can’t be closed between two worlds?
What channel?
The three Jing brothers had a mind-boggling realization, and it didn’t change until…
The old dragon suddenly glanced at a nearby gathering of the leaders of various races from the Grans continent. Then, he lowered his head and looked earnestly at Jing Nian’s three brothers.
“Since the inhabitants of the divine realm can enter our world, they can equally enter yours. I suggest you return to your own world and prepare for defense…”
The dragon glanced at Jing Nian, who had suddenly become worried because of his words, then turned back to address the three brothers: “After all, I heard from our Dragon Lord that the people in your world do not possess magic, and their bodies are quite fragile. They can only rely on ‘technology’ to strengthen themselves, making them even more vulnerable to the inhabitants of the divine realm.”
The first to grasp the situation was the eldest Jing brother.
He raised his eyes to meet the old dragon’s deep and ancient eyes, filled with wisdom and emotions that felt unsettlingly genuine. His heart skipped a beat.
This wasn’t something a holographic simulation could reproduce.
“Are you a real dragon?” Jing’s eldest brother almost instantly masked his surprise.
He quickly assimilated all the incomprehensible words he had just heard into this possibility, and everything suddenly made sense.
They were real dragons, not just holographic NPCs. Their world had overlapped with the game world for some unknown reason!
And now, that unknown reason was pointing to the divine realm.
The divine realm, as the name suggested, was unimaginably powerful.
Jing’s second brother also emerged from his shock almost simultaneously, looking incredulously at the old dragon.
Seeing Jing Nian’s brothers so composed, and even after discovering its true identity, they could remain unperturbed, showing no fear as they locked eyes with it, made Hesse look at them with a few more glimmers of admiration beyond the “Jing Nian filter.”
“Yes.”
So, the only two bewildered individuals left in the room were Jing’s third brother, Jing Yan, and the wide-eyed little dragon, their expressions filled with question marks.
After the two bewildered beings looked around and finally locked their gaze onto a pair of eyes similar to their own, they quickly approached.
The old dragon earnestly advised Jing Nian’s brothers to return to their world, check for any signs of the divine race, and prepare in advance.
Jing’s brothers had also considered this but couldn’t bear to leave Jing Nian behind.
What did this mean?
Their dear brother had fallen into an alien world, and that world was facing a more powerful behind-the-scenes boss crisis!?
No, they all thought, “I’ll stay to protect Jing Nian.”
Jing’s eldest brother glanced at his two younger brothers, then in the eyes of his second brother, who was just as assertive, he decisively chose the one who was easier to persuade.
“Yan Yan, you go back.”
Jing Yan, who was working hard to accept the new worldview and had decided to protect his younger brother, protested, “Don’t call me Yan Yan!”
“Yan Yan, you go back,” Jing’s eldest brother was unusually accommodating this time.
Jing Yan hesitated, “I won’t.”
He was worried about his brother’s well-being, and they were twins, so he felt that he was the one who should stay to protect him.
Seeing his brothers arguing, Jing Nian thought of his loved ones and friends in the Interstellar World. With some concern, he suggested, “How about you guys go back first, my situation here is temporarily not dangerous.”
After all, he had someone from the divine realm with him, while there was nothing on the other side in the Interstellar World.
Now, the disagreement had turned into a four-way argument, with all the brothers disagreeing about leaving Jing Nian alone.
“Interstellar people don’t believe in gods.”
Huo Yi, who had been silent on the side, suddenly spoke up, breaking the impasse among everyone.
Then, amid the three pairs of various expressions, he slowly explained, “You Interstellar people have more faith in technology, and your ‘superstitions’ about ‘gods’ aren’t sufficient to generate divine power.”
“To put it in a more understandable way, for Interstellar people, gods are something like ‘believe if you wish, but it won’t affect your life if you don’t.'”
“If a small world doesn’t believe in gods, then the divine beings in that world will lose almost all their power.”
So the hidden gods only had their sights set on the Grans Continent.
Jing Nian fell silent for a moment and then quickly glanced at Huo Yi.
He remembered that Huo Yi had said he didn’t rely on the power of belief for his cultivation, right?
What if the gods in the Interstellar World also didn’t need belief?
In the next moment, Jing Nian’s doubt was answered by the man’s gaze.
