Heroes Return

"Don't bother with those high-sounding words. Pointless religious wars only result in the endless killing of powerless mortals. The reason those gods condone this behavior is precisely because it's the only way they can increase their followers. Only in this way can they weaken the power of another god. Is he truly fed up with human behavior, or is he using that high-sounding reason to increase his own power?"

This was the most Zhu Xian'er had ever spoken in Lin Jie's life.

"Holy crap! Are you serious? According to you, if no one believes in God, then those gods are finished?" Lin Jie asked, somewhat shocked.

“No miracles happened in the last century,” Zhu Xian’er said calmly. “In the era of my previous master, there wasn’t a single instance of divine manifestation, was there?”

"Hmm? I'll look into this when I get back," Lin Jie said after thinking for a moment.

“Because a hundred years ago, very few people truly believed in gods,” Zhu Xian’er said. “As for Chinese Taoism, it’s different. After the Shang and Zhou dynasties, starting from the Spring and Autumn period, the gods of China were replaced by humans. The sages of that time elevated their ancestors, people, to the altar. Therefore, Chinese Taoism uses humans as gods, or plants and living beings as gods.”

"Now that you mention it, it seems to be true. The patriarchs worshipped by Taoists in the past were all real historical figures." Lin Jie frowned and thought for a moment. "But I didn't expect you to know so much."

“I know a little bit about each of my masters,” Zhu Xian’er suddenly said. “And this secret was passed down from my first master.”

"Wait! I remember none of your masters had a good ending!! Damn it! Don't make false claims about me!" Lin Jie immediately realized that Zhu Xian'er's previous masters all knew some secrets about this matter, but starting with her first master, it seemed that none of them had a good ending.

"Is this really such an absurd idea?" The angel shook his head at this moment: "As expected, the immortal path is always full of madmen."

"I don't need you to believe me," Zhu Xian'er said, transforming back into a sword.

Just then, Lin Jie and the angel finally arrived at their destination. Before them appeared a brand new palace, and on the top floor of the palace, an angel formed of light stood silently in the sky above the palace.

"Holy crap! After your body was put back into your heart, it turned into an energy body!" Lin Jie looked at the angel standing quietly in the sky. At this moment, her whole body had turned into something that seemed to be formed from light.

“As long as you don’t attack her first, she won’t attack you first,” the angel said to Lin Jie. “Now it’s up to you to destroy it.”

"I get it, it's one of those monsters in games that doesn't attack enemies on its own!"

However, the angel did not speak at this moment, but walked straight towards a ball of light.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Lin Jie looked curiously at the angel and the orb of light she was heading towards as she walked away. At that moment, Lin Jie immediately sensed that the orb contained Ivan: "Wait! Are you going to kill Ivan? I remember you're his heroic spirit, right? If he's killed, does that mean you're doomed too?"

“I’m already dead anyway,” the angel said without turning his head. “And I’d rather die than be controlled by this person and forced to do things I don’t want to do.”

As he spoke, the angel suddenly wielded a black longsword, which he then slashed down towards the sphere of light where Ivan was located.

"..." Seeing the angel's reaction, Lin Jie did not speak to stop him, because he knew that it would be useless even if he stopped him, since Ivan had to be killed, and the angel was already dead.

Meanwhile, in Evan's dream, on the top floor of a building, he was staring at Zero.

"So I lost again, didn't I? But I can't be defeated by you forever, ahahahaha!" Ivan laughed maniacally as he looked at Zero. At that moment, Zero raised the black longsword in his hand.

With a swift stroke, the angel cleaved the orb of light in two with its black longsword. Ivan, inside the orb, was consumed by the black flames from the angel's blade. The last Ivan was annihilated in that instant.

After slaying Ivan, who was trapped in the illusion, the angel quietly looked at Lin Jie, while her body began to dissipate at that moment.

But Lin Jie didn't look at her one last time; instead, he closed his eyes, as if sensing something.

The next moment, the whole world turned black and white, and Lin Jie opened his eyes at that moment.

"It's been a long time since I've used this ability." Lin Jiehuan slowly opened his eyes. The dazzling light in the world that was once there disappeared, replaced by a black and white world.

There, he saw a powerful and terrifying creature. The creature's black wings were constantly unfurling, and at that moment, he also saw Lin Jie, who was holding the soul of a fallen angel in his hand—the very soul of the angel that had vanished into thin air.

Today is a good day for Lucifer, the leader of the fallen angels and one of the seven demon kings of Hell, because he can once again reclaim a powerful fallen angel.

But now he's in a terrible state, because while he was retrieving the fallen angel's soul, he encountered a small, wild Zero...

"Why are you here, human?" Lucifer asked Lin Jie in his usual arrogant tone, "This is not a place for you."

Lin Jie didn't say much, only pointing to the angel's soul in Lucifer's hand: "My friend, understand?"

"Secretary benefits, 10 am to 3 pm, weekends off, top salary plus five social insurances and one housing fund and various holiday benefits," Lucifer immediately changed his tune, while he watched Lin Jie back away.

"That's more like it." With that, Lin Jie closed his eyes again, and the world returned to color in the next second.

Chapter 35

Lin Jie's gaze returned to the angel of light in the sky, and he slowly raised his sword. But at that moment, as if sensing Lin Jie's power and killing intent, the angel of light in mid-air turned to look at Lin Jie.

At the same time, a sword aura of judgment slashed directly towards Lin Jie.

"Damn! Why is there another one who can use Judgment Sword Qi?" Lin Jie couldn't help but exclaim, but he had no intention of retreating or dodging. Because at this moment, he was using the Immortal Execution Sword, and the Immortal Execution Sword does not retreat or dodge! No matter how strong the power, he would bravely advance and fight it.

Lin Jie merely raised the Immortal Execution Sword slightly, and instantly everything within a hundred meters of him disintegrated and vanished into thin air. Even the ground beneath his feet was not spared.

Fortunately, when Lin Jie arrived, there was no one else around except for Ivan's ball of light.

Lin Jie merely raised his hand, and the originally powerful Judgment Sword Qi was reduced to ashes by Lin Jie's single sword strike.

But just as Lin Jie was preparing to strike the angel of light with his second sword, he was surprised to find that a blizzard had suddenly begun to fall around them. Moreover, each snowflake contained immense power.

Lin Jie was certain that if a single snowflake touched him, it would turn into an iceberg and crush him. So Lin Jie raised his sword a second time, merely slashing through the air.

The originally overcast sky was easily torn open by Lin Jie, and a curtain of light shone down from the sky, forming a path of light under Lin Jie's feet.

With a single sword strike, Lin Jie cleaved the heavens and walked directly along the light barrier towards the Angel of Light. But in the next moment, Lin Jie discovered that all the snowflakes had stopped in mid-air, and everything in the world seemed to be frozen in place. The entire space seemed to have stopped in time.

At that moment, the snowflakes around Lin Jie suddenly burst into blue flames, and then the Angel of Light appeared beside Lin Jie. One hand flashed with golden light, while the other hand burned with blue flames, and it blasted directly towards Lin Jie's face.

But at that very moment, Lin Jie's body moved.

Suddenly, an incomparably powerful sword intent erupted from Lin Jie. The environment, which seemed to have stopped, was shattered by Lin Jie's sword intent at this moment, and all the snowflakes and cold were instantly annihilated by this sword.

However, the Angel of Light's body completely withstood Lin Jie's powerful sword intent and simultaneously blasted towards Lin Jie.

Lin Jie raised his sword and slashed at the Angel of Light.

"Did you really cut it down?" A voice, seemingly from the depths of his soul, erupted in Lin Jie's mind.

Upon hearing these words, Lin Jie found that his hand had returned to the position it was in before he drew his sword. But at this moment, Lin Jie let out a cold laugh: "Heh, of course I slashed down."

The next second, the power in the Angel of Light's hands was crushed by a powerful sword aura. The aura not only annihilated the Angel of Light's power but also shattered his arms, sending him flying into the distance. Finally, he crashed into the palace.

What the Angel of Light didn't know was that the Immortal Execution Sword possessed an absolute law, a law that even the gods couldn't counter. That law was absolute accuracy. In this world, the only way to directly resist the sword energy of the Immortal Execution Sword was to use brute force. Apart from that, no matter what method you used, you couldn't evade the power of the Immortal Execution Sword.

At that moment, the Angel of Light stood up, and her wounds had healed. Simultaneously, Lin Jie's second sword strike slashed down mercilessly at the Angel of Light.

Instantly, a spatial portal appeared in front of the Angel of Light. However, when Lin Jie's sword energy touched the portal, it didn't enter it at all. When the sword energy struck the portal, it was as if it had hit glass; the sword energy shattered the portal and flew directly towards the Angel of Light.

At that moment, strange blue energy once again appeared in the Angel of Light's hand. However, when the energy enveloped the sword energy, the blue energy, which could originally envelop and decompose any power, dissipated into the air upon contact with the sword light.

At that moment, the figure of the Angel of Light instantly appeared in mid-air. But the next second, her body was instantly split in two by a powerful force.

Lin Jie's figure rose directly upwards.

At this moment, although the angel of light in mid-air had lost half of her body, she had not suffered any fatal damage. And her body was restored to its original state at that instant.

As Lin Jie took flight, countless maple leaves appeared around him, enveloping him like a whirlwind. Simultaneously, the Angel of Light conjured a spear of holy light and shot it straight towards Lin Jie.

A series of deafening roars, like the continuous bombardment of a spaceship's main cannon, suddenly erupted. At the same time, a spear radiating dazzling golden light shot directly towards Lin Jie.

But just as the spear of light was about to enter the series of explosions, a cold light flashed in the middle of the explosions.

Instantly, the Spear of Light vanished, and the explosion ceased as well. Lin Jie's figure reappeared before the Angel of Light, and at the same moment, countless chains erupted from the ground, sweeping directly towards Lin Jie.

Lin Jie simply swung his sword once more. In that instant, all the chains were obliterated.

At this moment, Lin Jie swung his sword at the Angel of Light once again.

As if sensing a life-threatening crisis, all sorts of powerful forces erupted from the Angel of Light.

At this moment, Lin Jie seemed to be facing not just one person, but the power of all the strong individuals who appeared on the entire battlefield of the Holy Capital.

This includes even the Bored Master's "Child-Severing Kick," the Cold Flame Dragon Spin, the Son of God's Light Spear, Loki's Fist of Glory, Torus's Frenzied Slash, the Girl of Instant Light's Blue Energy, the Exploding Maple Leaf, Anya's Judgment Sword Aura, Reinhardt's Sword in the Stone, Loki's powerful slash, the Master of Miracles' Arcane Attack, the War Will of the Temple of War, and a forty-meter-long greatsword...

Thousands of attacks converged at this moment, as if bound together by a rope, directly coalescing into a terrifying shockwave that swept towards Lin Jie. The earth-shattering aura contained within it even directly reduced the imperial palace beneath their feet to nothingness.

Faced with this attack containing thousands of different powers, Lin Jie didn't even frown. Instead, he watched as the longsword in his hand collided with the incredibly powerful force.

Instantly, as the sword light in Lin Jie's hand clashed with that force, that force began to collapse under the influence of Lin Jie's sword light.

The combined power of thousands was directly defeated by Lin Jie's sword strike. The sword light utterly destroyed all their strength.

One sword can break through all techniques; this was once the pursuit of every swordsman. No matter how many variations you have, no matter how many ingenious techniques you possess, they can all be shattered by a single sword strike.

As the "Three Styles Modified - Immortal Slaying" technique was activated, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth began to dissipate. The once idyllic scene of the entire Holy Capital gradually transformed into a dead land as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth converged into Lin Jie's hands.

A will that seemed capable of destroying the heavens and the earth converged into Lin Jie's hand at this moment. The sword intent, more terrifying than any demon or evil will, began to expand outwards continuously, capable of destroying all good and evil gods and demons.

Sensing this immense and terrifying power, the Light Angel once again gathered a vast amount of power before itself. Immediately afterwards, a seven-colored power containing at least four thousand people surged towards Lin Jie.

At the same time, Lin Jie swung his longsword at her.

The heavens and earth trembled as if they were experiencing their own doomsday, and at the same time, the seven-colored power that collided with Lin Jie's sword energy was directly annihilated by Lin Jie's sword light.

The sword light pierced through the body of the angel of light in an instant, shattering the entire sky in the process.

With this single sword strike, the entire sky seemed to be shattered into pieces. Yet, the world at that moment returned to the appearance of the Holy City. Although it had become a dilapidated ruin, everything in the Holy City was restored to its original state. The only difference was that the entire Holy City now resembled a dead land.

A beating heart is floating in mid-air.

The next second, a long sword pierced his heart. Instantly, everything vanished, and the morning sunlight shone back onto Lin Jie's face.

The light that had enveloped the entire world vanished in that instant, and everyone who had fallen into a deep sleep awoke. Although numerous accidents and other incidents occurred worldwide, none caused serious harm.

Everything ended the moment the heart was pierced, and gradually, all the heroes who had entered the illusion gradually regained consciousness.

In the secret chamber where the other heroes were imprisoned, the chains binding them all snapped at this moment, and the magic circle on the ceiling that had been constantly draining the heroes' power also lost its power.

The entire holy city was destroyed, and eight of the numerous dangerous artifacts kept by the church were lost—each one a divine artifact. But at least, the world was saved.

Harry struggled to his feet and rubbed his head.

"Why am I lying here? Oh right! I remember now!" Harry immediately looked at the heroes around him: "I was going to save them, but I got knocked out by some of these Ivans!"

Meanwhile, somewhere outside the ruins...

"It seems the memory has been modified quite well. Kuhuhu." Alice said with a smile to the little girl beside her.

But this time, the little girl seemed to be lost in thought, as if she hadn't heard her at all...

Chapter 36

"..." Faced with Alice's question, the little girl Delis remained silent, still lost in thought.

"Kuhu, this is quite a rare situation!" Alice stepped forward and shook Delilah's shoulder, and the latter slowly came back to her senses, looking at Alice with a blank expression.

"Big sister..."

"Good heavens, what did you call me? Who are you?" Alice was so frightened that she took three big steps back and looked at Delis warily.

"Big sister..."