supreme deity

Chapter 818 Return
Unlike four years ago, this time he also brought a large fleet, consisting of 6300 warships of various types belonging to the Forest Ruifang Group, the Light King Cult, and the Light God Cult, and 2300 armed merchant ships guarding his flagship, the Brilliant.

This time, he did not bring any ships from his vassal or allied forces. However, with the 40 magnificent altars moving with the fleet and the blessing of the holy light of 1200 million priests, the fleet's momentum was even more magnificent and vast. It was as if a white-gold steel ocean that blotted out the sky was moving, and the space seemed to be compressed and crushed wherever it went.

Lin Rui stood on the bridge of the Brilliant Ship, his hands behind his back, gazing at the enormous mechanical object floating on the sea, which was 1000 kilometers long and wide and had a shape somewhat like a Rubik's Cube.

The Temple of Machines may have received advance warning and was on high alert near this so-called 'God of Machines'.

They arranged hundreds of massive floating mechanical fortresses into a defensive array, like steel star rings suspended in the sky.

The dark gold runes on the surface of these fortresses all flow with liquid-like ethereal energy, forming vast honeycomb-shaped defensive force fields.

Seven hundred futuristic-looking, whale-like black iron ships were neatly arranged in the sky.

More warships were arriving from the distant Divine Pivot Island. The psionic energy from their rune annihilation cannons and antimatter condensers, along with the photon engines at the rear of the ships, created streaks of molten gold as they moved through the clouds.

There were also countless small floating weapon platforms all around, moving quickly and nimbly weaving through the defensive array.

Beneath the sea lurks a horde of mechanical Xuanwu beasts, while the twenty-four towering 'Heavenly Law Divine Machine' cannons on the horizon inspire awe.

In the eight hundred years since the Earth Federation made contact with Celestial Star, the Machine God Temple has mainly remained dormant and has not made any major moves, but they have by no means been without accomplishments.

Although the upper echelons of the Mechagod Temple are dominated by conservative forces, they are forced by circumstances and the lower echelons are eager for change. There are also many enlightened reformers at the top, such as Wang Yinyue and Li Guchan, who are eager to absorb the technology of the Earth Federation and have carried out many technological innovations within the Mechagod Temple.

Those rune warships named 'Whale-class' and the 'Heavenly Law Divine Machine' giant cannon are the results of the Machine God Temple's research over the past few hundred years. The latter, in particular, has attracted the interest of the Federal Academy of Sciences, which even asked the Security Bureau to help obtain the complete set of blueprints 40 years ago.

Lin Rui also saw the current Grand Astrologer of the Machine God Temple. This tall and straight old man with silver hair standing up like steel needles was standing above the mechanical cube, his sharp eyes piercing through the clouds as he looked at the Brilliant Ship that Lin Rui was riding.

The old man's face appeared calm and composed, but the veins on his withered hand, which was tightly gripping the black iron scepter, were bulging.

Lin Rui saw the stubbornness in this person, like meteorite iron, and the resolute determination to face death.

However, according to the information Lin Rui currently has, there are very few people in the Mecha God Temple who share the same determination to fight to the death as this Grand Astrologer.

The defenses of the Mecha Temple appear impenetrable, and coupled with their self-developed conceptual macro-force field technology, as long as the Mecha Temple members work together and unite as one, they can even withstand a god for a short time.

But the truth is that as soon as Lin Rui arrived, he received signals of surrender from many people inside the Machine God Temple through various channels.

Interestingly, these people included not only all the enlightened faction of the Mechanism Temple, but also many key figures from the conservative faction.

They could even see some ships ahead that had quietly aimed their cannons at the Grand Astrologer of the Machine God Temple.

Lin Rui had anticipated this scene. Four years ago, it was precisely because of the disarray within the Machine God Temple that Lin Rui was able to abduct tens of thousands of prisoners from the Heretic Prison.

"Sir Kong asked me to tell you that he and his faction will not obstruct Your Highness. They even hope to see the birth of the true 'God of All Machines,' and that you should not hesitate to give them any instructions if you need their cooperation."

Wang Yinyue looked at the old man above the giant Rubik's Cube with a gloomy gaze: "This priest never expected to fight against the gods with the power of the Machine God Temple itself. He must have received promises from the other abysses and only wanted to buy time and rely on the power of the gods to restrain the gods."

Her emotions were mixed as she spoke.

It was this old man who once branded her a heretic and betrayed her, causing her to fall into the hands of the Longevity Society.

Wang Yinyue once hated this old man so much that she wished she could devour his flesh and blood.

But today, as Wang Yinyue watched the old man abandoned by his family and friends, and steadfastly holding on to the Rubik's Cube, she felt only sorrow and a touch of bitterness.

These diehards who nailed her to the judgment seat were nothing more than the last guardians of the so-called 'God of Machines,' the final lament of the rusting gears of the Machine God Temple.

"They're just some stubborn dregs."

Tan Shenzhi held the current Grand Astrologer of the Machine God Temple in utter contempt, while lamenting his own bad luck.

If he were in this era and were in charge of the current Temple of the Machine Gods, this sect, which has been passed down for tens of thousands of years, would never be in its current wretched and incompetent state.

He was also fully confident that he could use his wisdom and strength to conquer the abyss.

After a slight, cold laugh, Tan Shenzhi looked at Lin Rui with a hint of expectation: "Your Highness?"

He was eager to replace the so-called 'God of All Machines', but in front of this Lord of Light, he still tried his best to suppress the magma-like ambition and desire in his heart.

Lin Rui seemed completely oblivious to Tan Shenzhi's ambitions, nodding slightly with an expressionless face: "Give the order to activate the conceptual macro-force field!"

His figure had already moved above the fleet, and nine pairs of starlight wings behind him suddenly unfurled, their tips piercing the sky and stretching for over three thousand miles. A golden sun crown formed from holy lightning and tribulation fire hung above his head, radiating boundless brilliance like a small sun.

At the same time, the throne of truth, shaped like an inverted pyramid, appeared in the void behind him.

The force field crystal walls of the entire sea area began to crack, and even the dragon-shaped rune chain on the Heavenly Law Divine Machine Giant Cannon broke apart.

At this moment, 1200 million priests chanted the "Wisdom King Enters the Battle Song" in unison, and the powerful and stirring song instantly resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

The singing seemed to possess a tangible power, creating waves of sound in the air, each note containing unwavering faith and immense strength.

At the same time, 40 magnificent altars simultaneously blazed with sacred fire. The fire was golden-red, and runes flickered faintly in the leaping flames. The light emitted enveloped the entire fleet, making it look like a sacred sea of ​​fire.

The conceptual force field of the fleet slowly unfolded, and the combined power of 14 million martial artists and 12 million priests within the fleet not only condensed 117 kinds of conceptual power at the longevity level, but also formed a vast and boundless energy torrent that began to cover a surrounding area of ​​10,000 miles.

This force even distorted the surrounding space, causing light to refract and bend, as if the entire world had been reshaped.

Behind Lin Rui, 14 Hearts of Light formed a magic circle. Their bodies were surrounded not only by mysterious runes and flowing light, but also by eight cylindrical magical artifacts, each six meters long and full of metallic texture.

That was not only the 'Annihilation Floating Cannon', but also a 'Pseudo-Abyss Artifact' that Lin Rui had spent a lot of money to create for them, with an effect similar to the ring in Qi Lingwei's hand.

Within this conceptual macro-force field, the 'Runic Annihilation Floating Cannon' will be even more powerful.

The 14 Hearts of Light worked together to form a complex and orderly array. They were connected by beams of energy, forming a huge, intricate, mysterious, and magnificent array with fourteen sides and fourteen corners.

Lin Rui focused his mind and sensed it, discovering that his 'Separation and Union' technique had actually reached 99% of its strength under the enhancement of this conceptual macro-force field.

He raised an eyebrow in satisfaction, then pointed towards the 'God of Myriad Machines' and said, "Release!"

Before the Grand Master of the Machine God Temple could react, he was enveloped by an invisible yet powerful force. The black iron scepter in his hand instantly turned into dust, and his body began to dissipate like bubbles.

The 1000-kilometer-long and 1,000-kilometer-wide 'God of Myriad Machines' was also struck hard. Silver-white cracks began to appear on the entire body from the inside. After the runes on the surface flashed wildly, it suddenly disintegrated and turned into countless fragments that flew all over the sky.

This enormous, Rubik's Cube-like mechanical construct shattered at its joints, disintegrating into countless fragments in the blink of an eye. The parts fell like raindrops, creating thousands of waves on the sea surface.

The Grand Master of Heaven who insisted on resisting, and the so-called 'God of Myriad Machines', were unable to withstand Lin Rui's overwhelming power for even a fraction of a second.

None of the Mechgoth members around them made a move; some were too busy to act, while others simply watched coldly.

The conceptual macro-force fields of the Machine God Temple should have opened immediately to resist Lin Rui's divine power, but just now, until Lin Rui made his move, the numerous conceptual macro-force fields of the Machine God Temple did not react at all.

On the contrary, after the death of the Grand Master of Heaven, these macro-force fields were activated one after another, and the concept macro-force field of the Church of Light was added.

Just after the mechanical Rubik's Cube disintegrated, Lin Rui's gaze turned to Tan Shenzhi, "Tan Shenzhi!"

Tan Shenzhi's mind sharpened, and he flew forward and knelt down.

He was still a little uneasy, worried that the gods would intervene, but so far, he could not see any other abyssal power around him.

At this moment, Lin Rui raised his hand and pointed: "By imperial decree! My 'Divine Mechanized Angel,' the master of all machines, is born within you at this moment!"

When talking about his mental state, he was initially overwhelmed with emotion and filled with joy.

But then he was startled. The Lord of Light had said that the 'Divine Mechanized Angel' was born within him, not that he would directly replace the God of Myriad Machines.

At this moment, a dual chant resounded between the sea and the sky. Golden flames erupted from the foreheads of all the priests of the Church of Light and the Church of the King of Light, their sacred chanting perfectly resonating with the meshing of gears within their bodies: "Holy thunder forges bones, calamity fire for the soul, the gears of truth turn the heavenly law, divine machinery is born to protect the light, iron bones and mechanical hearts communicate with the enlightened Lord, a torrent of steel suppresses the mortal world—"

Tan Shenzhi instantly felt his true spirit in the sky merge with a 'spirit' that had golden alloy bone wings and resembled a mechanical giant.

He knew what it was; it was the 'spirit' of the God of All Machines in the heavens, formed by the believers' understanding and faith in it.

Tan Shenzhi had tried to merge with it once before, but failed. This time, the feeling was different, simply because it was a shared understanding among the 23 billion believers of the Machine God Temple and the nearly 250 billion people of the Church of Light and the Church of the King of Light.

Tan Shenzhi clearly felt that this 'spirit' was stronger and more stubborn!
It not only affects the body of the person who is delirious, but also distorts their will in the opposite direction.

This is because, in the minds of these believers, the God of Machines is the creator and controller of all metallic life and mechanical creations in the world. He is the embodiment of machinery and precision, symbolizing eternal and unchanging order and laws, and can perceive the subtle changes in all things in the world. With invisible power, He protects the fate of all machines and mechanical life, and controls their birth and death.

At the same time, He is also one of the Lord of Light's most loyal 'angels'!

The cognition and spiritual power of these hundreds of billions of people even shook the very source, causing the related conceptual power within the source to feed back in reverse, or even to create something from nothing, condensing into this 'spirit'.

Tan Shenzhi felt a powerful and mysterious force, rich in primal energy, surge into his body. His mechanical body began to emit a strong light, and his original body was constantly being reshaped and transformed.

His mechanical heart beat more and more powerfully, each beat releasing a powerful energy surge.

His metallic skeleton, which had been imbued with consciousness, became even more resilient, its surface adorned with complex and mysterious runes that shimmered with a deep blue light, as if whispering the secrets of the universe. His limbs became more agile, each movement of his joints accompanied by dazzling starlight.

While allowing this power to transform and strengthen his divine body, Tan Shenzhi gritted his teeth and held fast to his fundamental will, sorting out the chaotic soul of this myriad-functioning 'spirit'.

Golden flames were already burning in his eyes.

Lin Rui's attempt to distort and overwhelm the minds of hundreds of billions of people is not so easy!

Previously, Shenzhi taught Lin Rui the 'Myriad Spirits Reflecting the Divine Technique,' which is a mental method to counteract the will and cognition of all beings.

Now, he has already developed an even more powerful version.

The massive magic array that Tan Shenzhi inscribed within this mechanical body was enough to push the 'Myriad Spirits Reflecting God Technique' to its highest intensity!
At this moment, a pair of huge alloy bone wings composed of mechanical parts slowly unfolded behind him. The runes and light on the wings echoed each other, exuding an awe-inspiring aura and containing an unparalleled sense of power.

At the same time, some members of the Mechgothic Temple aboard the surrounding whale-class warships were also deeply shaken. They knelt down and sang the "Ode to the Mechgoth" with utmost devotion: "The perpetual wheel of motion bears the mandate of heaven, a thousand machines return to the flow to prove eternity; star tracks etch the laws, holy thunder like the sea traces the primordial spirit; the fire of calamity tempers the sharpness and cleanses the spiritual body, the divine emblem forges the bones and reveals the true form; all machines sing in unison to the Lord of Light, eternally upholding the oath—"

Wang Yinyue was startled and couldn't help but glance at Lin Rui, who was radiating golden-white divine power in the sky.

These lyrics are different from the ancient "Ode to the Machine God" from the Machine God Temple!
That one glance cost her dearly; her eyes nearly burst open, overflowing with blood and tears.

Li Guchan, the Skeleton Lord, standing to the side, didn't seem to care. Over the past three years, the followers of the Church of Light had been living better and better under the rule of the 'Ming King,' especially the veteran believers, who were basically able to make ends meet thanks to the sect's support and care. How could the Machine God Temple not feel this?

Previously, the two major sects were in the same boat. Although life was tough for the Temple of Machines, the Church of Light was in an even more dire situation, facing the siege of the gods.

But now the Church of Light has gained momentum, and the income from the underground farm has reached hundreds of millions of taels of divine gold, so naturally there are many people envious of the Machine God Temple.

With just a little effort, this Lord of Light could win over a large number of priests from the Temple of the Machine Gods.

Even Li Guchan, the Skeleton King, was one of the masterminds behind the scenes.

He would be content as long as a true god of machines is born, who can bring order and protection to them, his believers, and help them create more powerful, more precise, and more robust machines.

As for whether the God of Myriad Machines was a servant god or angel of the Lord of Light, Li Guchan didn't really care, and he knew he was powerless to fight against this Lord of Light.

Just then, Tan Shenzhi, who was immersed in his ever-growing power and in a state of ecstasy, suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation within his body. A strange and powerful will surged like a tidal wave deep within his soul.

Unfamiliar purple-gold patterns suddenly appeared on his chest—they were definitely not any magic array he had designed! The bearing engraved with the word "perpetual motion" in Tan Shenzhi's body suddenly rotated in reverse, and the mechanical heart emitted a piercing friction like gears jamming.

His eyes instantly filled with confusion, his brows furrowed, as he tried to find the source of this will.

But this will expanded and grew at an alarming rate, surging in like a raging torrent, and began to frantically erode his consciousness and overwhelm his intellect.

Unlike the 'spirit' of the God of Myriad Machines, this consciousness possesses an aura that truly belongs to the 'Abyss'.

Tan Shenzhi's mind instantly shifted from confusion to panic; his mechanical limbs trembled slightly, and the blue light in his eyes flickered erratically.

What's going on? What kind of power is this?
Is this the abyss? How could it be the abyss?

He looked down and saw spiderweb-like patterns cracking open in his chest cavity, with dense bronze-colored rune chains emerging from the depths of his mechanical heart.

The surface of these chains is covered with mysterious and unfathomable runes.

Tan Shenzhi immediately felt a chill. These runes were the oldest and most core mysteries of the Mechanism Temple. They were knowledge that the Mechanism Temple had unearthed from underground ruins over tens of thousands of years. They were knowledge that only the Grand Masters of the Mechanism Temple could master, representing the core mechanical and precision mysteries.

He integrated it perfectly into his body to enhance his own strength.

But at this moment, these runes and the magic array inside the machine completely betrayed his will.

"Could it be the Divine Talisman Celestial Venerable? How could he awaken within my body? No, these runes are what he left behind!"

As Tan regained his senses, the entire sea suddenly boiled, and the broken mechanical cube parts floated into the air, piecing together into a huge array.

Tan Shenzhi was shocked to realize that every part of his body was resonating and vibrating. He felt that the magic array in his body was being covered and rewritten by some higher-level rune array!
"Interesting. I didn't expect mechanical technology to have changed so much hundreds of thousands of years later. It's amazing that it can concentrate the complex runes and circuits of a megacity onto such a small chip."

That strange, cold, and powerful thought scraped across the quantum chip that was conscious, like a blade.

The phantom of this ancient god is appearing within the bronze chains. Wherever His hand touches, the conceptual power that Tan Shenzhi has just acquired collapses like a sand tower.

"Trying to take over my body? Not so easy!"

Tan Shenzhi gritted his teeth and frantically activated the Myriad Spirits Reflecting God Technique, mobilizing all the power within his body to resist and try to dispel the invading will and fight against it.

At the same time, Tan Shenzhi began to plead with Lin Rui for help: "God! Help me! Tan Shenzhi is willing to be a divine mechanical angel under the throne of light, to be loyal to you, to be sharp and strong, and to cleanse all evil! I beg you, God, to send down the fire of light and burn away the evil roots within me!"

He knew he had been tricked by Lin Rui, but he could only turn to him for help in order to save his own life.

Once the Divine Talisman Celestial Venerable awakens, he will also defy Lin Rui's will, which will not benefit this Lord of Light.

Lin Rui, however, watched this scene with a cold expression and an unwavering gaze.

At this moment, Wang Yinyue's eyes sharpened; she knew it was time for her to make a move.

At her command, a large armed merchant ship nearby suddenly opened, throwing out a huge ball of light with a diameter of 30 meters. At this moment, it seemed to be attracted by a magnet and flew towards Tan Shenzhi's direction.

At this moment, the phantom of the Divine Talisman Celestial Venerable seemed to sense danger and looked towards the direction of the sphere of light.

What is this?

"A large number of Purgatory Source Cores, are they going to use this stuff as fuel? The Chaos and Separation Technique? And the power of the Great Sun, and—hmm~ the conceptual power that can cleanse everything."

Blue light appeared in His eyes, and He instinctively tried to intercept, but He was interfered with by the rays of light shining down. He could only watch as the ball of light rushed over and rolled into the mechanical body of Tan Shen, whose consciousness was undergoing intense changes.

Divine Talisman Celestial Venerable couldn't help but look up and meet Lin Rui's gaze in the sky above.

His eyes narrowed: "The Great Sun? No, the Lord of Light!"

The moment the two divine wills collided from afar, the entire sea suddenly fell into absolute silence.

Broken mechanical parts hovered on the crest of the wave, the burning sacred flame solidified into crystal, and even the runes flowing in the conceptual power field were still as if sealed in amber.

Their collision at the fundamental level unexpectedly caused a stagnation of time and space.

At this moment, the illusory image of the Divine Talisman Celestial Venerable also materialized, and the clouds within a radius of three thousand miles suddenly collapsed into a bronze-colored gear-shaped vortex.

He was tall and imposing, a hundred feet in size, with long silver hair that flew wildly, each strand seemingly containing endless mysterious runes that could be freely combined and woven into pieces of runes.

The Celestial Venerable of Divine Talismans had a cold and majestic face, with deep, abyssal eyes that shimmered with a strange light, as if he could see through the essence of all things in the world.

His thin lips curled up slightly, carrying a hint of doubt, disdain, and arrogance.

Is this a god born in later generations? This person inherited the power of the Great Sun, yet was not corrupted by it? He seems to have many followers who actually attempt to distort and interfere with His will using mortal perceptions.

However, with the thing that rolled into the machine god's body, the situation became a little troublesome.

Just then, the white-gold light ball suddenly began to burn, and the powerful holy lightning tribulation fire and the power of purification instantly enveloped Tan Shenzhi and the divine body of the Divine Talisman Heavenly Venerable.

Wang Yinyue looked at the scene before her with burning passion and a touch of trepidation.

Since learning about the Divine Talisman Celestial Venerable, she stopped creating the divine body of the God of Myriad Machines. Wang Yinyue knew that she could not compete with Tan Shenzhi no matter what, and that the Divine Talisman Celestial Venerable would benefit from her.

That platinum ball of light was called the 'Disruptive God Instrument' by her. It was a creation she made by gathering all the enlightened mechanical engineers in the Mechanism Temple. Its purpose was to disrupt the consciousness and will of the Convergent Talking God and the Divine Talisman Celestial Venerable, and then, with the help of the Lord of Light, refine and dispel the 'spirit' that was not suitable for the God of Myriad Machines!
Wang Yinyue placed high hopes on this object, earnestly hoping that it could awaken the true God of All Things.

(End of this chapter)