Chapter 546: Chasing the Fire, Forging Possibility Anew!

The Ancestor of the Demon Dao……

So, Seeing Xiao Fan became the disciple of the Ancestor of the Demon Dao?

Xiao Fan……

Became a demonic cultivator?!

For a moment, Xiao Ming felt his mind go completely blank, a buzzing like a swarm of bees ringing in his ears, with only this one thing repeating over and over.

Gradually, he recalled the information about demonic cultivators in the sect's records, and scenes of cruelty and brutality flashed through his mind one by one……

Raising his head to look at Huo, he opened his mouth, yet didn't know what to say.

That's not right, Xiao Fan's master is usually quite amiable.

And if Xiao Fan's master is the Ancestor of the Demon Dao, how could he possibly be so familiar with the Master Jianzu's founder……

"Brother, let's go walk around the area." Xiao Fan suddenly said.

Saying so, he once again bowed to Xu Xing and Huo.

"Master, Senior Master Jianzu, this disciple takes his leave."

Huo didn't mind either, nodding slightly:

"Go ahead."

Immediately, Xiao Fan was seen forcefully dragging Xiao Ming, who was still in a dazed state, pulling him toward one side of the plaza.

Ever since he apprenticed and learned his master's true identity, he had been avoiding this issue, afraid that once his family knew, they wouldn't accept it so easily.

After all, being a 'demonic cultivator' in this day and age really wasn't a good identity……

And at that time, the Return-to-Void demonic cultivator had just attacked Xuanjian City, nearly refining the entire city's population into a Myriad Souls Banner — at such a time, telling his parents and elder brother that his master was the Ancestor of the Demon Dao……

So that's how it got concealed. Later, he got into a top university in Sword Province, and combined with his master being relatively 'amiable' on a daily basis, his parents and elder brother didn't continue to pay attention to this matter.

But now that elder brother has asked, he should still properly explain.

Just like that, watching the two of them leave, until their backs disappeared around the corner.

Only when his mood was good did Huo turn back around.

"Speaking of which, the Central Continent rarely has incidents these days, so it's not easy for you, Dao Brother, to find a suitable world to temper yourself in. Do you need my help?"

In the past, he still had to keep an eye on the Central Continent's situation at all times, guarding against Gu causing trouble, unable to get away.

But now, most of Gu's attention was placed on the Starry Sea's Other Shore and the Past Domain.

The frequency of causing trouble decreased, so naturally he could spare some time to handle other matters.

And honestly speaking, he was quite curious about the Beyond Realms — being able to go out and walk around would naturally be for the best.

For example, that 'Beast God Realm' he went to last time was quite distinctive.

When he left, he left behind a contingency — he didn't know whether it had taken effect……

Calculating the time flow he had set back then, by now, the Beast God Realm's side should also be about to have a result.

And besides the Beast God Realm.

The reason Yuan disappeared seemed to be that he went to the Beyond Realms as well.

As Yuan's closest confidant in this world, he felt it necessary to go to the Beyond Realms to take a look.

Yet he saw Xu Xing slightly shake his head:

"That won't be necessary. The worlds the second batch of Ascension Emissaries will head to have already mostly been found.".

"I see……" A flash of regret crossed Huo's expression, "Then that's truly a pity."

The two didn't stay in place, but chatted as they walked toward the other side of the plaza.

Huo was heard to continue asking.

"What about the worlds the third batch of Ascension Emissaries will head to?"

Although he hadn't joined the Big Shot group, he also knew the Grand Mystic Immortal Net's test had three rounds.

"The worlds the third batch of Ascension Emissaries will head to haven't all been found yet." After a pause, Xu Xing explained, "After all, the second batch of Ascension Emissaries hasn't even departed yet, and I also need to adjust the difficulty of the mission worlds appropriately based on the first batch's performance."

"However, if Fellow Daoist wishes to go to the Chaotic Sea for a walk, I naturally have no objections."

"The Central Continent's side has me watching over it, and Xiang Yuanjun wandering the four directions — you needn't worry either."

Although Huo this person is very……

But as long as it doesn't touch his bottom line, he still has a sense of measure.

Moreover, Senior You's usual temperament is no more normal than Huo's — didn't he also leave a sliver of his mind in that Profound Connection Great Realm they had stayed in before?

"In other words, Dao Brother doesn't oppose me going to the Beyond Realms?" Huo said, somewhat astonished.

"Why would I oppose it?" Xu Xing said, somewhat between laughter and tears, "Am I the kind of particularly overbearing and domineering person?"

He, Xu, have always been very respectful of every Fellow Daoist, alright!

Huo took a deep breath: "Dao Brother…… aren't you worried I'll go searching for Yuan's traces?"

"Yuan?" Xu Xing paused, "If Fellow Daoist is willing to go look, that would be best — I happen to be preparing to bring him back as well."

The casualness of his tone caused Huo to be taken aback.

After experiencing the incident where Xuan used the Grand Mystic Realm itself to make Dao Brother fall out of the Grand Mystic Realm, he also understood that Dao Brother and Yuan came from the same place.

Based on his many experiences of 'drinking and chatting merrily' with Yuan, Dao Brother should also be like Yuan — placing great importance on certain aspects — yet now……

His thoughts turning rapidly, Huo ultimately didn't reveal too much abnormality.

"Since Dao Brother also wants to find him, then I won't get involved."

Dao Brother is at an important moment of advancing further — perhaps he was influenced……

Some things are bottom lines; better not to touch them.

Thinking this, Huo shifted the topic:

"Speaking of which, I wonder what kind of world Dao Brother has arranged for my disciple?"

"It could be done... but you wouldn't secretly follow your disciple into his mission world, would you?"

"Of course not!"

Huo's answer was utterly decisive.

…………

Mission World 1.

Tai Xuan Month Three, Inner Realm Year Twenty-One.

Under this exaggerated time-flow ratio, though only a short while had passed in the Tai Xuan Realm, the one-month period Zhou Kongming had set in Mission World 1 had already elapsed.

Yet unfortunately, the progress of the gene optimization project remained unchanged.

Zhou Kongming could no longer avoid reconsidering whether he should activate the 'Shijing' module.

Qi Xing, a boundless ocean.

Zhou Kongming stood by the shore, gazing at the sunset's afterglow reflected at the horizon where sea met sky; the tide-retreated sand was covered in ripple-like patterns.

The tide's murmur stretched long, mingled with the cries of seagulls.

Behind him, a tall, radiant figure sat quietly; her usual silver bodysuit had been replaced by a swimsuit covering only a small portion.

A thin layer of golden radiance shimmered over her fair, delicate skin.

Pure qi drifted from her lips, only to be swiftly drawn back in through her nose.

It was Heng.

Perhaps sensing the rarity of unlimited pill provision, She spent every moment not devoted to the gene optimization project in cultivation, never once slacking.

Even Zhou Kongming had to admit her diligence over the past month.

"Huh~"

Zhou Kongming exhaled slowly, a flicker of resolve flashing in his eyes.

"Begin."

His personal interface immediately unfolded.

When it shifted to the auxiliary module loading zone, the 'Shijing' auxiliary module—dancing like pale golden flame—came into view.

With a slight thought, he loaded it into the single remaining auxiliary module slot.

【Prompt! Using this module will reduce the initial reward cap for Mission Two and Mission Three by 5%, and greatly increase the likelihood of the World Son's birth. Continue?】

'Yes!'

Since he had decided to use it, he would not hesitate!

There was no other way to break the deadlock. As the ascension points for the latter two missions dropped from 1~100 to 1~95, a line of text suddenly appeared on his personal interface—

【Generating Time Scroll...】

【Note! The farther the target is from the current time point, the harder it becomes to obtain the specific item.】

Hum~!

Zhou Kongming felt his personal interface suddenly expand rapidly; the pale golden orb representing the 'Shijing' auxiliary module grew larger before his eyes.

Infinite light engulfed him, flooding over him.

Then, a flood of chaotic sounds surged into his ears.

The past of this world seemed compressed into countless transparent 'scrolls,' distant as if beyond the horizon, yet touchable as if within reach.

Rows of cultivation chambers, fleets of drones, planets transformed...

"Hahaha! Delete them! Delete them all! Die! All deserve to die!"

A gaunt, deranged figure smashed everything around him; his bloodshot eyes held nothing but madness.

Finally, he raised his weapon and shattered his own skull.

The last controller of the Qi Xing civilization...

Zhou Kongming watched, expressionless, as the fleeting image vanished.

Kalifails, who had severed the future of the Qi Xing people, lived only a fleeting instant within the civilization's past.

One scroll after another drifted farther away.

From the Qi Xing civilization's dawn of the interstellar age, to the Qi Xing people's creation of Heng, to even more ancient eras...

Many splendid scenes.

Undeniably, though the Qi Xing civilization had reached this point, it had once forged an extraordinarily brilliant civilization.

The scenes did not cease.

Next came the information age, the electrical age, the feudal age, the slave age...

A civilization's entire past passed in the blink of an eye.

Finally, the cacophony in his ears faded away.

In the slowly halting 'scrolls,' there were no longer shifting lights or extraneous noise.

Only silence—beneath a dark night, a single warm, bright flame.

Fragile and minute, as if a breath of wind would extinguish it...

Yet it was precisely this fragile, minute flame that marked the beginning of the Qi Xing civilization.

Qi Xing was born chasing fire.

"..."

Zhou Kongming closed his eyes and exhaled slowly again.

When he reopened them, the endless light was gone; before him lay only profound darkness.

No up or down, no left or right, no past or future to distinguish.

Dense, orderly 'Time Scrolls' encircled him, recording every time node of the Qi Xing civilization from its birth to the present.

Raise a hand, and you could reach it…

"I am the Lord of Time, within the scene of a thousand ages…" he murmured softly.

He looked up, toward the heights, toward the silent night in the earliest rubbing, where a faint flame glowed.

The beginning of the Qixing civilization.

If it could be brought from the past into the present, refined by the entire span of Qixing civilization's time and infused with its culture, it would surely be the supreme treasure of this world!

Even within the Xuan Realm, it would count as a precious artifact.

Unfortunately, he could not do it.

The concept of space-time had already surpassed the limits attainable by a Reversal Void cultivator.

If the "Ascension Emissary" system were to spread widely in the future, might someone form a specialized team to seize these treasures hidden deep within the world?

With a flicker of thought, he no longer lingered, but shifted his gaze to another place—

Kalu Faners, in a state of madness, half-insane.

This is the most recent time rubbing!

According to the rules of the "Time Scene" module, this also offers the highest probability of obtaining a genetic sample, and even allows access just before the gene library is erased…

In the instant he made his decision!

All other "time rubbings" instantly vanished into the profound darkness, leaving only the one he selected—magnified to the size of a door—floating before him.

The shifting light of inner power had already halted, frozen at the moment just before Kalu Faners killed himself, when the gene library had yet to be deleted.

"Then let us begin."

Zhou Kongming raised his hand and reached toward the "time rubbing."

But before he could touch it, he felt an immense, terrifying repulsive force.

Simultaneously, a dormant will stirred from stillness; upon sensing someone touching the world's fundamental rules, it grew restless and agitated.

This change not only intensified the repulsive force.

Even the previously stagnant possibility of the World's Child's birth surged rapidly.

Zhou Kongming's Expression Grew Serious; his hand reaching toward the "time rubbing" moved slowly but steadily.

The instant his fingertip touched it, ripples spread across the surface of the "time rubbing," and the world's will, just awakened from stillness, shifted from agitation to fury.

His palm gradually sank deeper…

Soon, Zhou Kongming's right palm was entirely submerged within the time rubbing, and the repulsive force at that moment surged several-fold!

His robes stirred without wind.

It was him channeling his magic power.

…

…

In a world not at the He Dao level, the concept of "space-time" exists, but "the past space-time" itself does not.

Unless interfered with by external force.

Multiverses? Only the He Dao Bie Dajie possesses them.

Yet now, under the interference of the "Time Scene" module, the past of Task World 1—only at the Reversal Void level—had been concretized.

A special temporal node—

The moment when Kalu Faners had not yet killed himself, and the database had not yet been deleted.

From nothing to something, slowly being created.

The universe, the stars, the star-born beings…

Even though this was merely a "possibility" without foundation, destined to vanish soon, at this moment it truly "existed."

The 5% reward cap granted this world a greater chance for possibility.

Of course, Zhou Kongming himself was unaware.

And when the world's will sensed this additional false possibility, its previous rage paused for an instant.

But soon, a translucent, phantom gate opened above Qixing, from within this "false temporal node."

A giant hand reached out from the gate, wielding power foreign to itself—power that transcended time entirely.

Its five fingers slowly opened, grasping toward Qixing as it orbited the star.

Boom—

The universe trembled.

It had been a false possibility, brought into being by the "Time Scene" interference.

Now, with external force invading, it began collapsing from the very edge of the universe!

The world's will, which had just calmed, erupted into fury once more! (End of Chapter)