Chapter 97

The sound of the tide by the sea echoed.

Four hundred years ago and four hundred years later, it seemed there was no difference.

Sunlight, stars, tides, the sound of the wind—they remained the same for ten million years, never changing, or perhaps they had long been different from the beginning, only human life and history were too short to notice.

"Actually, I think about it occasionally these days."

On the deck of the speedboat, the bearded old man sitting in a folding chair looked at the bright moon reflected in the sea and suddenly spoke: "If the predecessors hadn't done so many things, if the completion of the Tower of Tian Tian Yuan and the feat of using order as a cage to restrict the other superior beings had really hit the jackpot and been completed, would this world be better than it is now?"

"You're acting crazy again, aren't you?"

Between the reef and the beach, the slightly aged Bai Xiao dragged a heavy iron chest with difficulty, gritted her teeth, and climbed up: "Give me a hand, use some strength, it's been so many years, how do you still have no sense of observation? Who do you think I'm carrying all these packages back for, working myself to death?"

"Ah, my apologies, thank you for your hard work."

The old man grinned and pulled her and the chest up: "I was just moved by seeing you travel so far and wide."

"Moved my foot!"

Bai Xiao took off her hat and unceremoniously occupied his seat: "As a leader of Nirvana, all you do is nag about 'ifs,' 'perhaps,' and 'possibilities'—useless nonsense. Every day is fantasy time; stop living like this. Go find a Heavenly Human from the Mirror to create a dream for you and just sleep yourself to death."

"How can dreams be as bizarre as reality?"

The leader leaned against the ship's side and sat casually on the iron chest, making Bai Xiao's eyelids twitch wildly. Before she could curse, he said: "Actually, in the thousands of years of the Eternal Empire's rule, there weren't that many incompetent emperors. Compared to the politicians of today, most emperors were still more human, not to mention that many emperors, even by the highest standards, could be called wise and martial."

"Don't know, don't understand, not interested." Bai Xiao remained cold: "Why are you talking history to an illiterate person?"

"Did you know that two thousand years ago, 'ignorance' was actually a disease?" The leader became increasingly enthusiastic.

"What the hell?"

Bai Xiao glared: "You're being sarcastic at me again, aren't you?"

"No, literally, it was a disease."

The leader replied calmly: "An incurable plague, a virus spread through books and records. Once infected, all knowledge and cognition would be devoured, leaving one manic, restless, and mechanically blind. One would instinctively chase the crowd to infect more people."

"It wasn't just the plague of ignorance; the Chaos Era had only just ended, and there were all sorts of bizarre situations."

"In even earlier times, there were mimic-humans that even scholars and doctors couldn't distinguish—shape-shifters who mingled among humans. They were reflections that ran out of mirrors. After eating the original owner, they would run around the human world wearing their faces, causing huge trouble."

"There was a fruit that would make the person who ate it return to their youth and live forever, but the price was that their lifespan would be borne by a random person elsewhere in the world."

"There were monsters that, once seen by human eyes, would cause the observer's soul to shatter and their perception to overload, leading to death. At that time, they lived in the clouds, migrating with storms and preying on living things. So much so that all animals were afraid to look up at the sky."

"In that era, which seemed like myths and ghost stories compared to now, there were a bunch of things that would sound exaggerated even as jokes today. For example, a worm that could swallow an entire city, keeping everyone in an illusory realm inside its belly until they died of old age. A giant snake that expanded twofold every day and could eventually encircle the entire continent..."

Snap!

The flame leaped, lighting his pipe. Bai Xiao glanced at his high-spirited appearance, unimpressed: "So awesome, why can't we see them now?"

"Of course, because they were all wiped out."

The leader smiled, his expression cold: "All of them."

"The plague of ignorance and all related books were burned to ashes. The world in the mirror and the reflections were all destroyed, their ashes scattered, never to be revived. The fruit of immortality had its existence completely erased, making it impossible to manifest in reality from then on. The monsters in the storms were evaporated from the thunder along with the storms."

"The giant worm was swallowed by an even larger dragon, and the giant snake was reduced to dry bones under the hunt of the Heavenly Humans. After sinking to the bottom of the sea, it formed the mountain range that encircles the entire world. The former Haizhou is where its tail connects; its full name is actually... Giant Snake Entering the Sea Province."

"Everything that threatened humanity was shattered, erased, and left without a corpse under the orders, authorization, or personal expeditions of the emperors."

"Even in the late Eternal Empire, the last emperor was still a ruler who strove for excellence, but he couldn't fight the overall situation alone and ended up falling along with the Tower of Tian Tian Yuan."

"..."

Bai Xiao was stunned, bewildered: "This... is it that bizarre? Then why did the Mohists revolt in the first place?"

"Because an emperor is an emperor."

The leader said calmly: "No matter how good an emperor is, they are still an emperor. No matter how kind or compassionate a person is, the moment they sit in that position, everything in this world is destined to suffer."

"For example, the things that disappeared from this world include not only those mentioned above, but also the third gender of organisms, the second diamond-shaped moon in the sky, all people with green hair and red skin, the spring water that could cure most diseases including cancer and was found everywhere, and the budding of some kind of technology that seemed to be called 'quantum' which was too complex and elusive... all for unimportant reasons like 'corrupting the harem,' 'being too dazzling,' 'being an eyesore,' or simply 'failing to highlight the uniqueness of the supreme one.'"

"Compared to these, the 170,000 unlucky people whose cause of death was being taller than the emperor don't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. By the way, the short people who managed to survive until now are really lucky, because that emperor was the tallest of all emperors, a full 3.41 meters."

"Now, do you understand? When one person is enough to receive all the beauty and glory of the world, then all the pain in this world is their original sin."

"When one person can have all the choices, it means others have no choices at all."

Even though the moonlight and stars were so clear, the leader's pupils were shrouded in the gloom beneath his brow, pitch black: "As soon as you realize that there is a god in this world who controls everything, you will yearn for a world where gods do not exist..."

"The Tower of Tian Tian Yuan was built for sixteen hundred years."

"For the first three hundred years, everyone worked together, longing for the birth of a beautiful world of eternal stability."

"By the seventh hundredth year, some began to think about whether a world under the rule and domination of an emperor was really that beautiful. And when the tenth hundredth year arrived, more people began to ask themselves—why gamble the future of themselves and everyone else on a so-called 'eternal wise ruler'?"

"Why bind oneself with shackles and use one's own back to support a god as they ascend to the altar?"

"Therefore, the former demigods killed the gods, and after the emperor killed the demigods, he was killed by mortals—when people realized that no one is born destined to be a slave to anything, they began to wonder: why are there so many shackles in this world?"

"As long as the shackles remain, rebels will be born; everyone is no different."

"The difference is only that some rebels are called 'Mo,' some rebels are called 'Nirvana'... some rebels are you, and some rebels are me."

Under the silvery moonlight, the world's greatest terrorist spread his hands and smiled: "And we are exactly what was formed because of this."

Crunch.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The crisp sound of apple-eating rang out. Bai Xiao turned her head, spat the core into the sea, and nodded nonchalantly: "Oh."

"... Look at you, look at you!" The leader sighed, helpless: "Every time everyone is fired up, only you remain unmoved and keep pouring cold water."

"Then stop that act; save the pretty words for when you're fooling children!" Bai Xiao rolled her eyes: "If I didn't already know that your old brain was broken, I might have actually believed it."

"Hey, having a broken brain is another aspect of the reason."

The leader didn't take offense, as if he were used to it or didn't care at all. He took the map fragment Bai Xiao threw over in a flustered manner, his eyebrows raised: "Broken to this extent? That shouldn't be... the internal simulated personality was completely shattered... you didn't take it out to vent your anger and tear it for fun, did you?"

"Do you believe me if I say Mercury came alive, grabbed this thing, and tore it apart?"

Bai Xiao rolled her eyes, slumped in the chair, wanting to say something but hesitating, not knowing where to start, rubbing her brow in distress: "I met a brat this time I entered the Rift Realm."

"Hmm?" The leader was puzzled.

"Xiao Ye asked me to take care of her kid, and I thought, since I'm already here, I might as well take a look. As a result... I was scared. I should say, I was scared out of my wits."

She recalled the scene she had witnessed with her own eyes, her palms trembling slightly: "The Blade of Metamorphosis was actually awakened by him."

"..."

In the dead silence, the leader widened his eyes, as shocked as if he had heard the Empire had suddenly landed on the moon.

"Really? Can Metamorphosis actually respond?"

Saying this, he stood up, not believing it, and wanted to open the chest.

But the moment he touched it, countless runes and emblems emerged from the iron chest, layer upon layer, as magnificent as the universe.

Just a slight touch of the handle, and immediately he heard a hissing sound. When his palm lifted again, it had been burned down to the bare bone.

Furthermore, no matter how he tried to activate his power, it could not be restored.

In the charred wounds, tiny sparks of ash flickered with red light, as if burning forever.

So unruly and sharp.

Thus, he finally realized.

"... A Summoner of Destiny."

The leader sighed: "She really never expresses herself, doesn't like to talk, and quietly pulls off a big thing; it was like that before."

"Who knows, she might be a formidable opponent in the future."

"A few decades ago, I definitely would have nipped it in the bud, but after getting old, I started to become soft-hearted and suddenly couldn't bring myself to do it."

Bai Xiao smoked her pipe and sighed melancholically: "Besides, Xiao Ye finally recruited a student, and she must treasure him like nothing else. If he died at my hands, she would definitely hate me to death. Just thinking about being hated by one of my few friends makes me hesitate... do you think this counts as his destiny too?"

She turned to look at the leader: "Because of various prior reasons, is it destined that I have no way to interfere with everything that is happening?"

The leader asked back: "What do you think destiny is?"

"Huh?"

Bai Xiao was bewildered, and in her eyes, as clear as a college student's, there was a glow of ignorance and confusion.

Mainly, this question was too abrupt and strange, so she found she couldn't explain it in detail. But soon, she heard the answer from the leader.

"Destiny is the result, destiny is a prophecy, and at the same time, destiny is bullshit—the biggest bullshit in the world."

The leader raised his hand and pointed at Bai Xiao: "If you were a child with nothing, and someone told you that you were destined to be the emperor who rules the world, and told you to get up and start a rebellion, what would you do?"

"Only a fool would believe you, you old bastard!"

"And what if you were the emperor who rules the world, and someone found you and told you that you could become emperor only because of the prophecy I made back then, and that this is destiny!"

"What would you do then?"

Bai Xiao glared: "Dare to talk to me like that, are the nine generations of your family wholesale?!"

"See, you've already understood the essence of destiny."

The leader spread his hands and grinned: "Destiny is just a phantom perceived by later generations when looking back at the results."

"Perhaps your life's coincidences pushed you to a high position you never expected. Or perhaps you were ambitious from the start, repeatedly failing but refusing to give up..."

"When countless variables meet countless variables, the only solution derived after observation and collapse is considered fate by fools, who attempt to cover everything with such a grand proposition."

"But in the final analysis, what dominates everything is not the 'Superior Being,' nor is it the fate bestowed by the heavens."

"The origin point of everything is yourself."

"Perhaps you cannot dominate the world, but your destiny at this moment is in your own hands."

"For example—"

The leader's finger pointed at himself: "If you suddenly pulled a gun, killed me here, then disbanded Nirvana, and cut off this inheritance... then in the eyes of later generations, would this be the destiny bestowed upon you by the Superior Being?"

"..."

Bai Xiao rested her chin on her hand, thinking calmly, analyzing seriously, considering solemnly, and a light of eagerness appeared in her eyes: "That sounds quite attractive."

"Forget it."

The leader raised his hands in surrender: "We're both old bones, let's not torment each other, spare me."

"Then you mean, man can conquer heaven?"

"No."

The leader shook his head decisively, without hesitation: "Most likely we won't win; it's hard to win just thinking about it. Most people will fail, and those who luckily win once may not necessarily continue to win."

"However..."

He paused, unable to suppress his smile and joy: "The feeling of going against so-called 'predetermined fate' is truly great."

No matter what kind of person, once they try it once, they can never stop.

Just like ambition, just like ideals, just like reckless resistance.

It is a poison more potent than treasure and beauty, always making people intoxicated; once taken, there is no cure.

Even if one endures hardships and tastes suffering, it is still sweet.

Beep, beep, beep—

A crisp ringing sound rang out; it was the alarm on his phone.

"Oh, oh, oh—it's starting!"

The leader became excited, unable to talk, and pointed to the sky: "Look quickly."

"What?"

Bai Xiao looked up, following his gaze. The sky was full of shining stars, the night was deep and far, the silver light of the bright moon changed everything, and the galaxy surged as if it would never stop.

But the moment she looked up, the moonlight seemed to flicker.

On the edge of the moon, something brushed past, a momentary incompleteness, so small and faint.

"A lunar eclipse?" Bai Xiao was puzzled: "Is it rare?"

"Not at all, originally."

The leader stared blankly at the bright, flawless moonlight, his smile brilliant. After a long time, he slowly withdrew his gaze: "Two hours before you came back, I received news: the Southern Continent Observatory discovered that the originally measured partial lunar eclipse was delayed by one minute."

"The cause was an error in a reference value. The specific reason appeared in past records. When we looked back and organized them, we found that this deviation had appeared more than two hundred years ago, but it was so small that even the Empire's core supercomputer couldn't detect it... until now, when looking back, we discovered the unexpected situation."

He raised the page on his phone. The complex data on the picture made Bai Xiao dizzy; she couldn't understand it at all, but the most striking thing was the picture in the middle.

A gorgeous, continuous observation spectrum, after repeated calculations and magnification a thousand times, showed a thin and blurry black mark, just like a gap...

"Do you know what this means?"

The leader kept repeating various terms and data that Bai Xiao couldn't understand, his pupils shining as if excited like a child.

He said, "In the past, something was changed."

"Huh?"

Bai Xiao was stunned, bewildered for a long time, her expression gradually changing, unable to suppress her horror: "Wait! You mean... Mercury? No way?"

"How is this possible?!"

She retorted decisively: "After the Tower of Tian Tian Yuan broke, there is no longer..."

"But isn't there another thing that can also serve as a coordinate and guide?"

The leader interrupted her, raised his hand, and pressed it on the iron chest in front of him. The silent, rusted sword remained motionless, not even bothering to show a trace of divinity.

It was impossible to see the terrifying power that had once been earth-shattering...

—The Blade of Metamorphosis!

The former leader left it in Mercury's Rift Realm. As the leader of the Mohists, he forcibly gave Mercury the final duty of guarding this instrument of the Superior Being that had forged her eternal suffering.

Or perhaps, he left her a one-in-a-million chance...

Until four hundred years later, the spark was rekindled from the cycle.

The two awakenings of the Blade of Metamorphosis stirred up an unstoppable resonance from time, leaving the same colors and traces on the tapestry of the Superior Being, spreading echoes.

Such a flash, for the sages lost in the past, was like a lighthouse in the dark night!

Thus, the burning soul crossed the abyss and soared.

Burning like a star, falling toward the past.

In the long silence, Bai Xiao was stunned, wanting to speak several times but hesitating.

Finally, she asked blankly: "Did she succeed?"

"I don't know, no one knows."

The leader shook his head slowly: "What she held was a one-way ticket that required gambling everything, even burning her soul completely."

"What happened, what she encountered, what she experienced, what she did... whether it was a success or a failure, no one knows except her."

He sighed lightly, imagining the brilliance falling against time toward the past, and couldn't help but feel his heart sway:

"That was truly a beautiful 'arrow'."

No matter how complex and moving the tapestry of the Superior Being was, and no matter how strict and cruel the original fate was, flaws had appeared at this moment.

No matter how small the flaw.

It was still a flaw.

So-called fate is so powerful, as if it encompasses everything, but it is also so fragile... fragile to the point that even if you fall into a quagmire and abyss, as long as you have the courage to climb up, it is already a great provocation.

As long as you can reach out and shoot an arrow of revenge, it is enough to shake its seemingly magnificent and solemn authority.

This is the final resistance issued by the former sages against the predetermined destiny!

"Now, do you see?"

The leader smiled, looking at the starry sky: "So-called fate is nothing more than this. Don't worry about any destiny, and don't care about any predetermined fate. In life, isn't the fun in doing whatever you want?"

Bai Xiao shook her head: "That sounds really outrageous."

"No way, man proposes, God disposes, and one must always do something. But a life of accomplishment is too difficult..."

With a sigh, he untied the mooring rope, felt the sea breeze hitting his face, and smiled.

"Let's go."

The world's greatest terrorist, the leader of Nirvana, the contemporary leader sighed, looking at the sky, the ocean, and everything: "Let's make this world... more accomplished!"

In the distant echo of the tide, a lonely boat drifted away.

And above the clear and deep night sky, new flashes emerged again, crossing the predetermined trajectory of the stars, breaking through the shackles, and releasing a fleeting, dazzling light.

One after another.

Meteors like rain, brilliant like tears.

So gorgeous, so gentle.

Under the same night sky, the green bird stood in front of the window, staring blankly upward, laughing out loud: "Big brother, look, Mother is watching us!"

"Is that so?"

Ji Jue leaned on the windowsill, looked up, and sighed sincerely: "It's truly beautiful."

Two days later, at 1:26 AM, an explosion occurred at the Rhine Port of the Southern Continent Empire. On the same day, Lucius, the newly appointed guardian of the Central Lands by the Empire, was assassinated.

With the person dead, the policy ended.

Within the Senate, the bill for joint development between the Empire and the Federation, which Lucius had been committed to promoting, died prematurely.

Amidst huge resource disputes and the changing situation in the Central Lands, the current world situation became tense again.

Not long after, the White State, rebuilt after more than ninety years, with the Bai Wang inheriting the title of Sacrificial King, publicly announced that it would launch a blood feud war against the Red State until the remains of the former Bai Wang were returned and the Red Crown bowed to the White Crown!

The federal military began bidding for various partners again, among which Cosmic Heavy Industry took the lead in undertaking a ship order with a total value of 440 billion...

After a sudden thunderclap, the mountains of the era fell like rain.

But it had nothing to do with Ji Jue, who was still just dust at this moment.

He lowered his head and looked at his watch, the pop-up window that had been appearing before his eyes since he left the Rift Realm...

【Rift Realm essence filling complete, connection system startup complete, proceed to the Central Dispatch Center?】

The answer was unquestionable...

—NO!!!!

These bastards, freeloaded so many times and still want to continue?

Go to hell!

He turned over and closed his eyes.

Fuck the world and the future.

Sleep!

Two-in-one, not splitting it, begging for a monthly ticket!