Published at 8th of November 2026 9:43 am

Chapter 3357: Rising to the Challenge

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"Unfortunately, the outpost sent by the higher-ups of the Singing Forest Domain to the Bright Day Domain happened to be considered a ’target’ by Xiulifa, who followed their tracks from the Singing Forest Domain to the Bright Day Domain."

Aiya said this with a hint of sentiment.

Fate is indeed unpredictable.

The Singing Forest Domain has already fallen; the next to fall will be the Bright Day Domain where they grew up.

Although Yota had some suspicions in his heart, when he finally heard this answer, he still felt disbelief and unprecedented shock, even his lips trembled slightly when he spoke: "So, the Calamity Puppet has already entered the Bright Day Domain?"

Aiya: "To be precise, he has arrived at the dark side of the Bright Day Domain, which is the Gloomy Mirror Domain. He hasn’t truly stepped into the Bright Day Domain yet."

"However, she has the ability to directly traverse space and lock onto nearby life forms. Once he locks onto a creature close to the Ghost Phantom, he can leap across the chasm from the Ghost Phantom to the Bright Day Domain."

So, don’t think that being in the Ghost Phantom means you can rest easy; she could lock onto a life form and leap through space-time at any moment.

Upon hearing this, even someone like Yota, named as The Sage and embraced by the Prophet, showed a trace of confusion and helplessness in his eyes: "Then what should we... do now?"

Yota looked at Aiya, his eyes regaining their light.

Aiya is a figure at the top of the Bright Day Domain, and the Mystic Book Dragon’s status in the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom is similar to that of "The Sage" and "Prophet"; his wisdom is indisputable.

The Mystic Book Dragon specifically called them here, perhaps because he had already found a solution with his transcendent wisdom?

Facing Yota’s expectant gaze, Aiya replied with silence.

Seeing this, Yota’s gaze gradually dimmed.

Though Aiya remained silent outwardly, inwardly he sighed softly: Who could have a solution?

Even the Singer and the Feather Forest Clan, such massive groups, could only retreat when faced with the Calamity Puppet Xiulifa. How could he find a solution?

Moreover, they don’t even know what the Calamity Puppet’s ’requests’ really are, so how could there be a solution?

After a while, Yota seemed to finally accept this sudden impact, his gaze returning from shock to calm. He raised his head, his ink-crystal eyes looking at Aiya: "Esteemed Aiya, may I have the boldness to ask a question?"

Aiya nodded indifferently: "Since I’ve invited the Prophet Yota here, naturally there’s nothing to hide. The Prophet may ask anything directly, no need to be so cautious."

Yota: "I wonder how Aiya learned about the Calamity Puppet? Was it told by those ill-mannered guests?"

Aiya shook his head: "No, the advance troops who came to the Bright Day Domain don’t know about the Calamity Puppet. Even they are unaware of the disaster in the Singing Forest Domain; they only think they are the outpost before a distant expedition, not knowing the true nature of the expedition."

Even with the Calamity Puppet following behind them, they are unaware.

Under such circumstances, they were still fortunate to leave the Ghost Phantom and come to the Bright Day Domain smoothly.

But after arriving at the Bright Day Domain, without even commencing the prelude to the expedition, their purpose was discovered; soon there will be a pursuit by the Calamity Puppet, trapped within a siege, which is also unfortunate.

Aiya: "As for how I learned about the Calamity Puppet? It was actually Glaipnir who told me."

Yota also looked towards Glaipnir, attempting to get the source of the information from Glaipnir.

Glaipnir said softly: "I can’t tell you the source of the intelligence, but the intelligence is definitely real."

Yota frowned, questioning the reliability of the intelligence without a source.

Glaipnir naturally noticed Yota’s frown and nonchalantly said: "If you don’t believe, we can go to the Everything House to see the Dog Deacon together."

Yota was about to respond when Aiya spoke: "Don’t doubt, what she says is true."

Once Aiya said this, Yota did not speak further. Given the capabilities of the Mystic Book Dragon, distinguishing the authenticity and truth of matters is quite simple.

However, upon confirming the truthfulness of the matter, Yota’s mood became even more complex.

"Esteemed Aiya, and everyone." Yota: "Since we are all gathered here, we must be considering strategies to deal with the Calamity Puppet. What ideas does everyone have?"

Having confirmed the real existence of the Calamity Puppet, and with the disaster looming overhead, Yota felt an urgent need to seek a "solution."

After all, this is a major issue concerning the entire Bright Day Domain, affecting all tribes.

As the Prophet of the Crystal Eye Clan, Yota’s responsibility is not just personal; he must account for the Crystal Eye Clan as a whole.

Each of his decisions is crucial.

Before making a decision, he must confirm the attitude of the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom, especially what choice Aiya will make in this disaster.

Moreover, given that Glaipnir is the source of the information, she should also have some ideas.

Heeding "wise words," and then synthesizing beneficial opinions, tailoring decisions specifically for the Crystal Eye Clan.

This is what Yota needs to do now.

As Yota eagerly sought solutions, he felt incredibly grateful at this moment. Fortunately, fortunately, the Crystal Eye Clan is the host of this gathering; otherwise, given the tier and strength of the Crystal Eye Clan, they would never have been invited here, ahead of other tribes to learn such a secret.

Yota’s thoughts were unknown to others, but even if known, they wouldn’t care. As a clan’s Prophet, considering for his tribe is inherently his responsibility.

Faced with Yota’s inquiry, Aiya replied: "In dealing with the Calamity Puppet, there are essentially two approaches. Face her head-on, or... bypass her."

The so-called "facing head-on" means to confront difficulties directly.

However, even when confronting difficulties directly, it doesn’t mean engaging in a direct confrontation with the Calamity Puppet.

As an out-of-order Mysterious Object, the Calamity Puppet can’t be destroyed through "confrontation."

The only option is to find a way to complete the task challenge posed by the Calamity Puppet, allowing the Calamity Puppet Xiulifa to fall asleep and revert back to the Wishing Puppet Boyisha.

This way, the disaster created by the Calamity Puppet’s "Confinement Space" will automatically dissipate.

However, it’s extremely difficult to complete the task challenge. Even powerful tribes like the Singer and the Feather Forest Clan cannot complete the Calamity Puppet’s task challenge; how could they succeed?

If the method of "facing head-on" fails, the other route is to bypass.

Aiya’s wording is actually quite tactful; the so-called avoidance, to put it bluntly, means being a deserter. We can’t resolve you, so we can only let you be, and then avoid you.

This is the approach of the Gesen Mirror Domain.

Unable to resolve, conquer other mirror domains and migrate elsewhere; as for the calamities caused by the Calamity Puppet, as long as they don’t happen right under one’s nose, they are regarded as non-existent.

"So, facing the Calamity Puppet, we can only bypass it?" Yota’s expression was somewhat grim.

Avoidance sounds nice, but it’s actually quite difficult to execute.

The mirror space where the Crystal Kingdom is located is not like Pirush’s mirror space, able to grow limbs and move freely on the Immortal Mirror Sea; nor is it like the Wanyou Forest Ship, able to sail through the void of mirror domains.

The mirror space they survive in is fixed in one location. Even if it can move, it’s only a small range shift, completely unable to accomplish "packing up everything" and run with the entire mirror space.

This also means that if the Calamity Puppet appears, the Crystal Eye Clan chooses to flee, they must let millions of Crystal Eye Clan citizens abandon the Crystal City they rely on for survival, leave the Crystal Kingdom, and scatter like locusts into the void.

But... not everyone in the Crystal Eye Clan possesses the ability to cross the void.

In fact, 99.9% of the Crystal Eye Clan have never left the Crystal City beneath their feet nor seen the outside ice field; how could they survive in the endless void? Not to mention fleeing as a large group.

If it comes to this step, it’s essentially abandoning ninety percent of the Crystal Eye Clan.

How could Yota feel good about this?

The Crystal Eye Clan has finally extended to this generation, believing they’ve started to thrive, slowly making their presence known in the Daylight Mirror Domain, only to be forced back to primitive status overnight, Yota finds it hard to accept this reality.

Not just Yota, the two elders behind him also had expressions dark enough to almost drip ink.

Everyone living under one "roof," even the most ordinary and humble members of the Crystal Eye Clan, tracing back could potentially connect with oneself, being distant relatives wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

But now, these Crystal Eye Clan people face a situation where one in ten survives, who can accept that? Who can... or rather, who dares to make such a "fleeing" decision?

"Isn’t there any other way?" Yota looked up at Aiya, his gaze filled with hope and... pleading: "Lord Aiya said the Calamity Puppet hasn’t come to the Daylight Mirror Domain yet, why don’t we send someone into Ghost Phantom to divert him? Lead him to another domain, wouldn’t that save the Daylight Mirror Domain from harm?"

Yota’s proposal made the eyes of the two elders of the Crystal Eye Clan behind him light up: If they can indeed lead it away, it might work?

But Aiya shook his head: "According to the intelligence provided by Glaipnir, the Calamity Puppet has already made several ’random’ movements within Ghost Phantom, which means some life forms have triggered the punishment of ’Confinement Space.’

"And the punishment of ’Confinement Space’ can diffuse, and this diffusion is unlimited."

"Eventually, the Confinement Space will inevitably spread to the Daylight Mirror Domain, it’s just a matter of time."

In other words, even if the disaster is diverted to another domain now, the Calamity Puppet has already left the calamity seeds of ’Confinement Space.’ The seeds have sprouted and bloomed, and sooner or later the Daylight Mirror Domain will be eroded.

So, choosing this path is actually equivalent to choosing to "flee," whether early or late, eventually, one has to run.

Yota: "But in this case, at least we can buy some time, providing a buffer space for each clan. Even if we eventually have to flee, at least we can do more preparation."

Aiya: "Indeed, if the Calamity Puppet comes later, it will be more advantageous for the clans of the Daylight Mirror Domain; but have you thought about this, who can lead the Calamity Puppet away? How do you even know where the Calamity Puppet is?"

The Calamity Puppet doesn’t have a predetermined trajectory; she just randomly leaps and appears before the nearest lifeform. You can’t even determine where she is, how can you lead her away?

Moreover, once she discovers you, you’ll inevitably face her challenge and fall into the Confinement Space, how then can you talk about leading her away?

Even in the best-case scenario, assuming some way exists to locate the Calamity Puppet, confirm her position, who would volunteer to go to the Ghost Phantom?

Ordinary people?

Bear in mind, the Ghost Phantom is filled with numerous eerie phenomena, even top-tier warriors entering could easily fall into dire situations, let alone ordinary people.

Ordinary people entering would likely become rubbish in less than a minute.

If Yota were to go in, with slightly bad luck, he too would disappear without a trace in a short time.

The Ghost Phantom itself is terrifying; who dares to volunteer? After volunteering, who can guarantee they won’t encounter the Ghost Phantom’s eerie, won’t mistakenly fall to their death?

In other words, to achieve Yota’s suggestion, one must tread a path replete with innumerable forks, where not a single mistake is permissible, reaching the end.

The probability is too low.

Even if it succeeds, the final outcome is not optimistic.

At least in Aiya’s view, this choice is unnecessary.

After hearing Aiya’s words, Yota leaned on the crystal shell sofa, with a lost expression: If this doesn’t work, what should be done?

No one spoke, and for a moment, the air became silent.

At this moment, the sound of "thud" broke the atmosphere of silence. This sound, however, came from Jasmine placing down the teacup in her hand.

Controlling the sound generated by the teacup touching the table is very simple for Jasmine, but she didn’t control it, clearly intending to break the silence with something to say.

Before speaking, she couldn’t help but first retort to Aiya: "If you’re going to flee, just say so instead of talking about bypassing."

After a cold mockery, Jasmine began to speak slowly: "The issue of fleeing doesn’t really need to be discussed further. If it truly comes to this, then everyone will rely on their own abilities, figure out their own way to escape."

The Gesen Mirror Domain was dominated by the Singers and the Feather Forest Clan in the past, overseeing the majority of issues for other clans; if they were to "migrate," they would at least bear responsibility for the safety of other clans. Even if not completely responsible, at least partially.

But the Daylight Mirror Domain doesn’t work like this; its strongest clan is essentially the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom, but the Mirror Dragon is extremely exclusive and independent, never involving themselves in matters concerning other clans.

The attitude is roughly: I don’t care about you, and don’t interfere with me.

Thus, even in the event of the ultimate apocalypse, the Mirror Dragon doesn’t need to look after the life and death of other clans the way the two clans of Gesen do.

When disaster strikes, everyone can rely on their own abilities.

Therefore, in Jasmine’s view, the "fleeing" option need not be singled out for discussion.

"What truly needs discussion, and is most worthwhile, is the other path: how to face challenges, how to carry out self-recovery when the world is in jeopardy."

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