You are all my wings!

Bai Shaqilai shook her head.

Margaret said, "I'll do it."

She casually waved her hand, and magical light fell upon the four of them.

It was her martyrdom magic that allowed her to change her form.

Immediately afterwards, a strange scene unfolded: the four of them seemed to shrink several times in height, transforming into a young boy version of Leon, a young girl version of Hamra, and Bai Shaqilai.

At the same time, the three of them changed into linen clothes in the style of half-human race.

Lyon's attire consisted of a neat short-sleeved, round-neck black linen shirt and loose-fitting linen shorts that exposed his calves for easy movement.

Hamra and Baisaqilai, on the other hand, wore full cotton clothes that covered their entire bodies except for their eyes, somewhat resembling the Middle Eastern attire of Lyon's previous life.

As for Margaret, she is shorter than Machirumhifisu, so it is easy for her to dress up as a halfling, and her clothes are similar to those of Hamrabaishaqilai.

Due to racial characteristics, halfling women rarely engage in productive activities such as hunting and gathering, but instead tend to follow the path of mysterious witches, ultimately becoming high priestesses, responsible for communicating with evil gods and obtaining their protection.

Women as skilled in assassination as Mshifisu are actually a minority.

Bai Shaqilai's eyes flashed: "You, the First Saintess, are not only a hidden epic-level being, but you are also skilled in magic outside of the holy system. That's quite rare."

Margaret's divine identity is currently known only to Leon and Astalia.

Margaret said calmly, "You're just a new Epic, there's a lot you don't know. You should learn from this."

As they spoke, the four landed and strolled into the valley.

"Leon, I thought you were looking for your sister's doppelganger."

Hamra started the conversation.

Bai Shaqilai shook her head: "It's definitely not. Lyon once said that pure elemental spirits have a unique soul. Given that they possess the blood of the Origin God, it's impossible for any other body to receive their split soul."

Leon said, "That's right, that's how it is, so normally, M'shiluna's backup plan shouldn't exist."

Hamra raised a sharp eyebrow: "Normally speaking?"

"That's right, that's normal."

Lyon said, "Try to think about what will happen after Mshiruna is exposed and taken back by the Goddess of Origin?"

Hamra said, "Re-imprisonment? But since my sister has already broken free of the Sacred Tree's shackles and come outside the Sacred Land's boundaries, it means the original method is no longer feasible?"

"That's right. Originally, another purpose of the Origin Goddess's spacetime loop was to accelerate the depletion of Mshiruna's lifespan, causing her to exhaust all her chances of revival and perish, and then release the Origin Law [Ions]."

Lyon said:

"The shackles of the sacred tree or sacred fruit can ensure that she does not encounter any accidents and continues to be completely consumed. Think about it, if the Goddess of Origin was limited by certain circumstances and was unable to forcibly extract the Origin Laws that M'shiluna had already digested, and then set up the prison of the time loop for this purpose."

But with her immense power, wouldn't it be unnecessary to go to such lengths to forcibly shorten M'shiruna's lifespan and accelerate the cycle of this time prison? After all, she already possesses the power to create time loops, so accelerating them shouldn't be difficult for her.

Before mastering the third secret of the time system, Leon would not be able to make the next judgment.

But as he gained a deeper understanding of the mysteries of time, he discovered that creating time loops was many times more difficult than accelerating time.

Creating a time loop requires drastically distorting time.

To accelerate time, one only needs to go with the flow and amplify the original characteristic of time flowing forward.

The time-related mysteries that the former needs to master clearly include, and even more of, the time-related mysteries that the latter needs.

Margaret nodded: "Indeed, that's a question. Why would the Goddess of Origin go to such lengths?"

Lyon said, "The only explanation is that M'shiluna managed to lock time."

"Locking off time?"

Bai Shaqilai, recalling the secrets of time she possessed, had a sudden thought and said, "Could it be that she used the Sacred Tree's constant time property to give herself the ability to resist time loops?"

Lyon's eyes lit up. It seemed that after Bai Shaqilai used the time-related treasure to advance her level, her comprehension of the time system had obviously improved a lot.

He saw through part of M'shiruna's plan and confirmed that his Bell's body was an illusion, based on the constant time property of the Sacred Tree.

He then stroked Bai Shaqilai's fluffy pink tail and praised:

"As expected of you, you're partially right. The Sacred Tree is both a shackle on M'shiluna and, to some extent, prevents the Goddess of Origin from easily cutting off her lifespan."

He paused, then explained in detail:

"Let me explain the whole incident to you. First of all, before the cycle began, that is, before Mshiruna exposed herself for digesting the Origin Law and being a pure spirit left over from the previous era, she had successfully transformed herself into a pure electric elemental spirit born from the holy fruit at the end of this era for many years, hiding it very well, and even successfully restored her strength to the level of a demigod on the surface, but actually a twelfth-order holy being!"

Her situation changed when Hamra was born.

Firstly, she needed to raise Hamra, and having a lively and active child around meant that any secrets she did would be more easily exposed. And Hamra was indeed excessively energetic at the time, completely unlike the inheritor of the [Bearing] Law, constantly thinking about running away from home.

"No wonder my sister wouldn't let me go out when I was very young! No wonder she didn't accept Uncle Bornius's invitation to dinner and left directly, and has had little contact with other people ever since."

Hamra suddenly realized.

Then she felt a little embarrassed, because she was indeed very lively and active when she was young, which is the complete opposite of how she is now.

Leon smiled and patted Hamra's head, then continued:

"Secondly, after digesting the laws of origin, M'shiruna has also reached her limit and can no longer hide it. Because the Goddess of Origin will eventually realize that the laws of origin are out of control, even if M'shiruna tries her best to cover it up, it is only a matter of time."

Ultimately, more and more unusual clues about M'shiruna in the original timeline emerged, and two months ago, they were completely exposed. The sacred tree foretold a problem, attracting the attention of the Goddess of Origin.

In the critical moment, M'shiluna revealed her trump card, which she had been preparing for a long time: the one she had been keeping hidden for so many years, continuously linking her soul to the Sacred Tree. Because the two originated from the same source, this was the only external object she could entrust her soul to.

The result then becomes that if she is killed, the sacred tree will also suffer enormous damage.

As for the Goddess of Origin, she was naturally hesitant to act for the sake of a pure elemental spirit, and was unwilling to damage the sacred tree she had nurtured for many years.

Therefore, she activated her backup plan, which was to create a time loop prison to trap M'shiluna in this time and space, preventing her from living longer than the end of this era. In this way, at the end of the era, without the laws of origin to resolve the chaotic elements, the Goddess of Origin and the Goddess of the End would definitely be at a significant disadvantage in their confrontation.

Then, because M'shiruna had deeply linked her soul to the Sacred Tree, the Origin Goddess's methods of accelerating the time loop could not forcibly weaken her lifespan, and she could only wait for the loop to wear her down naturally.

This also gave M'shiruna time and opportunity to devise an escape plan.

She successfully fought against the Goddess of Origin on her own and survived.

Then, we arrived at the [Stairway to Life and Death], and my arrival, in particular, completely triggered her escape plan.

Although being recaptured by the Origin Goddess was unexpected for M'shiruna, it was essentially still part of her plan.

Because M'shiruna's escape this time was deliberate; her purpose was to expose her greatest weakness.

Upon hearing this, Bai Shaqilai couldn't help but ask, "Did she voluntarily sever her soul link with the Sacred Tree in order to escape?"

"That's right, exactly!"

Lyon nodded: "Now that she has broken free of the soul link, her fate after being captured is obviously sealed. She will be stripped of her Origin Laws by the Origin Goddess and killed directly! But only by truly dying once in front of the Origin Goddess, with her Origin Laws and Origin God Blood completely stripped away, can she be reincarnated and revived through other means."

Hamra hurriedly asked, "But how could someone who has personally killed another with the power of the Origin Goddess possibly be reborn and revived?"

"That brings us to M'shiluna's resurrection items, Life Essence and Time Essence."

Lyon said.

"If she was destined to be killed, and it seemed that only by dying completely in front of the Goddess of Origin could she escape, why didn't she choose to be killed in the first place and escape sooner?"

Margaret noticed something illogical.

"It's very simple. Because she previously lacked the means to obtain life essence and spacetime essence, and it was precisely because she lacked these things that she could only stall for time and actively use the sacred tree to guide the Goddess of Origin to create a time loop prison for her."

Lyon said, "Although the twelfth rank is strong, as can be seen from the reference of the god Astalia, M'shiluna's mastery of time and divine energy is probably enough to create a time loop on her own, thereby rewriting history and extracting the essence of time. Therefore, she must use others to obtain the essence of time that has been freed from the blood of the Origin God and the laws of Origin."

Margaret understood, a look of shock flashing in her eyes: "If she does this, won't she die from a single mistake?"

“If we don’t do it this way, she will eventually be worn down and perish by the prison of time.”

Lyon said.

"But how did she revive after being killed, using the essence of life and the essence of time and space? Even with the Sacred Tree, wasn't her soul inseparable?"

Bai Shaqilai asked.

"You'll find out when you come with me."

Lyon and his men continued their search.

Since the four of them had changed their height and clothing to a half-human style, no one questioned them as they walked along.

"Got it, it's here."

As they walked deeper into the valley, they came to an area guarded by halfling superhumans. They quietly evaded the guards and found a strange plant growing at the bottom of a ravine with a babbling brook.

This plant is over ten meters tall, which is not unusual in this world, but its shape is very refreshing. The trunk is vertical, and the bark is even, smooth, white, and has a cool sheen.

The leaves are broad, emerald green, and rounded, extending from the dense branches in clusters to form fan-like leaf clusters.

In the setting sun, from its pointed crown to its broad clusters of leaves, this extraordinary plant seems to be surrounded by a holy light.

"This is... a shrunken sacred tree?"

The three men's pupils contracted slightly, and all their doubts suddenly became clear.

"So that's how it is. M'shiluna secretly took a branch of the Sacred Tree and hid it here in the halfling tribe?"

Margaret murmured.

With this small sacred tree, everything that came before could have been made possible.

Lyon nodded and said, "That's right. The reason why Mshiluna didn't immediately come to us to continue discussing cooperation after she escaped the crisis of the Sacred Tree prophecy two months ago using the future message I transmitted is probably because of this little Sacred Tree."

"But even if we have two months, we still can't get this little sacred tree out, right? Sacred trees have a hard time surviving outside of the sacred land."

Hamra frowned. As a legendary elf who grew up in the sacred land, she knew all too well how difficult it was to divide the sacred tree.

The sacred tree treasure is so valuable for two reasons: first, its effects are extremely potent; and second, sacred trees of a certain size are difficult to divide and cultivate.

Lyon said, "This was a method she had been preparing for a long time, but it was exposed unexpectedly, causing her to get caught in a time loop. She couldn't use it directly. As for how she did it, you'll have to ask her."

Bai Shaqilai asked, "Then how did you find this place? Did you use divination? I also had my fortune told, but I got nothing."

Lyon laughed and said, "I have recently upgraded the [Elementary Deduction Return to Truth] to [Truth Deduction]. Combined with my Miracle Divination, it is not difficult to divination this information once you understand some key points."

He obtained the key intelligence from the future, because he knew in advance that there would be a halfling high priestess named M'shiluna.

Combined with the fact that Leon knew about the short history of halflings, which was less than a few hundred thousand years, it was soon discovered that this race was most likely a demi-human and demi-elf race cultivated by M'shiruna.

For a goddess who has lived through two eras, guiding the creation of a not-so-strong race is incredibly easy.

And precisely because she has a loli-like figure, her race is also naturally loli-shota type.

"But even the Lesser Sacred Tree might not be able to completely split the soul, right? Wouldn't that leave the Origin Laws behind in the soul?"

Hamra asked.

Lyon nodded: "So I also want to see with my own eyes how successful her plan is this time, whether she has completely broken free from the constraints of the Origin Law, or whether there are still residual laws that will be exposed sooner or later."

Unlike Mshiruna, Anemii did not dare to steal the Origin Laws of the next era. However, even after the Origin God's blood and Origin Laws were recovered, she still could not escape being controlled by the Origin Goddess. As her strength increased, she still could not avoid being recovered, and her soul was about to perish.

If it weren't for Lyon from the future projecting her information into the river of time, she probably would have been gone long ago.

Just then, a clear, refreshing female voice came from the small sacred tree in front:

"As expected of you, the number one in history of the [Investigation of Things] stage, you actually found me. Your reaction was very quick."

[Goddess M'shiruna's affection level +4%, current affection level 14%]

The goddesses' expressions shifted slightly, each showing surprise, as they looked up at the little sacred tree.

That voice, isn't it M'shiruna's?

The little sacred tree swayed slightly, and a sound emanated from it:

"What, so surprised? I thought you should have found out the whole story through Lyon."

[Goddess M'shiruna's main quest "The Time-Space Prison" completion rate +5%, current completion rate 5%]

Lyon said, "Your plan is indeed far-sighted, but unfortunately, your current spacetime essence and life essence are not enough, are they?"

The little sacred tree shook itself and said, "That's right, if it were enough, I would have already reformed my body."

Lyon then asked, "So, Your Excellency, has your plan succeeded? Has the Origin Law within your soul been completely stripped away?"

Upon hearing this, the little sacred tree fell silent.

Lyon understood. It seemed that although M'shiruna's plan was so convoluted, she still hadn't been able to completely remove the Origin Law.

"Sir, if it's convenient, could you tell me how you cut this strand of soul?"

Lyon's wives, Iris, Hamla, and Anemii, are all in the same situation, and his good friend, Tayamisili, is also clearly a pure elemental spirit.

If M'shiruna really fails, at least I can figure out where she went wrong.