Chapter 156: One Hundred Fifty-Five: First, the Future Su Who Committed the Sin of Pride

One Hundred Fifty-Five: First, the Future Su Who Committed the Sin of Pride

The sky was dimly lit, heavy with clouds; rain slid from the eaves and fell to the ground.

The church bell echoed through the rainy night, like an ancient hymn drifting slowly from the Hall of Spirits.

Lu Mingfei wore a pure black suit, unusually solemn, seated on an old wooden bench near the front of the church, gazing up at the cross above.

"Lu Mingfei." Chu Zihang handed him a bouquet of white flowers.

Lu Mingfei snapped out of his daze, took the flowers without a word, and slowly rose to walk toward the black pine coffin at the front of the church.

Isabella, Caesar, Chu Zihang, Han Gao, Pompey, Manstein, Guderian—students, comrades, and longtime rivals who had known the old man lying in the coffin—sat quietly in their seats, one by one stepping forward to place their white roses beside him.

Low sobs drifted through the crowd, blending with the patter of rain, like a dull, mournful melody.

A pure-black-robed white-haired priest bowed his head slightly, reciting the eulogy in a solemn, slow tone.

Lu Mingfei stood on the farewell stone platform, staring at the old yet handsome face—the man's lips curved in a faint smile, as if he had departed contented—but Lu Mingfei always felt there was more mockery in it, mockery of whom? Perhaps the world, perhaps himself.

"Good night, Headmaster."

Had this sudden upheaval not occurred, this German boy, fueled by vengeance, might one day in the future have departed the world contentedly—or ended it by piercing each other's hearts with the last dragon.

Few remembered Lu Mingfei as the Supreme One; Anre was one of them. Lu Mingze had made a pact with him long ago, so his memories had never been altered.

"May your soul find peace in God's kingdom," the priest said, making the sign of the cross over his chest, concluding his final prayer.

Lu Mingfei remained silent, hoping the priest's faith was not some administrator abusing permissions in a group chat—otherwise, the Headmaster's soul might be in for a long journey to another world.

"Mingfei, let me rest in peace."

This was Anre's final request; otherwise, Anre would already have been kicked back into his body at the gates of the divine realm.

Lu Mingfei scanned the faces of those below, lowered his gaze, and walked slowly away.

In the end, all this old man needed was a reckoning of grudges and fate.

He no longer had to wander this world alone like a ghost, burdened by the lives of his companions and teachers—he was finally free.

Anre was not the first, nor the last.

This was not a story with a grand happy ending.

————————————

"Pure chaotic energy can act as super glue to patch my godhood back together."

Boom—

The crisp sound of a golf club striking the ball rang out.

A white golf ball shot skyward, trailing fire, moving so fast it generated violent friction with the air.

"Don't move around," Old Lu said, tapping the ball club against a head buried in the grass, frowning. "If I smash your head, I'll have to spend time fixing you again."

"Mr. Herzog."

Buried in the lawn was a man with gray-streaked hair, a straight nose, thick eyebrows, his face twisted in terror, a golf ball stuffed in his mouth, eyes wide as he stared at Old Lu swinging the club.

It was Herzog himself—the original body—that had vanished for a long time.

He was now serving as the golf ball's tether.

"So you thought you'd come and fleece me?" Old Lu sighed, helplessly glancing at the two men who looked like identical twins—one vibrant, the other seated in a wheelchair, gaunt and worn.

The future Su Lin surveyed his surroundings; this was clearly not his own world. He hadn't expected this version of himself had mastered the method to cross into other worlds—another unexpected development.

Arriving in this world through the portal on the floating island, he could clearly sense the shift in the world's laws.

"Hmm," Old Lu tossed the club over his shoulder, glancing curiously at the wheelchair-bound Su Lin.

The future Su Lin wearily lifted his eyelids to look at Old Lu.

"."

"."

'What the hell is this guy?' they both thought simultaneously.

In the future Su Lin's eyes, Old Lu's true form was a black dragon blotting out the sky, entwined with multiple forces, tangled like a ball of yarn of mixed causality—high in tier, but now his power source was gone, leaving only a flickering spiritual remnant barely clinging to existence.

In Old Lu's eyes, this man who looked exactly like Su Lin, with identical aura and soul, seemed to have been shattered—his soul and spirit reduced to a mere ember, yet still radiating an absurdly lofty rank, impossibly high, beyond reach—too bad, like a man who overindulged, he was now reduced to this.

"Who's this?" Old Lu raised an eyebrow, asking Su Lin: "Your brother?"

"My future self. Likes to cross worlds, just like you."

That's interesting, Old Lu said, eyeing the gaunt future Su Lin in the wheelchair: "Injury piled on injury—how'd you end up like this?"

"I beat him up." Su Lin spoke flatly.

"?" Old Lu tilted his head, eyes wide, confused, staring at the wheelchair-bound future Su Lin.

The future Su Lin felt awkward—could he really say this out loud? He changed the subject: "Who's this?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Su Lin pushed the wheelchair slowly closer. "Lu Mingfei."

"I think I've heard that name before," said the future Su Lin, then looked up at Su Lin. "The one from the novel?"

"Mm." Su Lin nodded.

"The Cassell twin dogs? The one who likes to lick?!"

"Mm." Su Lin hesitated, then nodded.

He then stared in shock at Old Lu: "Holy shit, Dog Lu!"

Old Lu gripped his golf club tighter, his mouth twitching as he asked, controlled: "What exactly is going on here?"

After a lengthy explanation, he understood the full story.

Old Lu said hesitantly: "My advice: don't touch level 1 chaotic energy if you're not level 10, and don't touch level 10 if you're not level 0. You get what I mean."

"Especially when some universes have primordial chaotic beings."

"It's fine—I have a way," said the future Su Lin, blinking his tired, dry eyes. "If you have it, it'll be easy."

"You need to find the present Lu Mingfei," Old Lu spread his hands. "If he's willing to let me use his body, I can make it."

Lao Lu now has a charge bar; after charging it fully, he can briefly control Lu Mingfei's body, and he plans to use this opportunity on a date.

"Done." Su Lin vanished from where he stood. "I'll come find you soon."

Left behind were the future Su Lin and Lao Lu, staring at each other in silence.

The atmosphere suddenly fell quiet. Lao Lu glanced at the golf club in his hand and pointed toward Herzog over there: "Want to take a couple swings?"

"No thanks." The future Su Lin fell silent for a moment, then continued to Lao Lu: "Can you tell me what's going on right now?"

A drop of pitch-black liquid streaked with starlight dripped from the dragon's claw, landing on the divine core floating three feet before the future Su Lin. Chaotic, unordered power surged and filled the countless cracks across the divine core.

Light and chaos began to dissolve into each other—this was a delicate task, requiring both that the divine core's essence not be replaced and that a subtle balance be achieved between chaotic power and the divine core.

Half an hour later, the already exhausted future Su Lin set down the divine core. Thanks to the suppression and pull of his position, the divine core, once riddled with cracks, had transformed: the intensified light radiated a white glow, while the former cracks now emitted a faint glow, and upon closer inspection, starlight flickered within them.

"Is it done?"

"It's done."

Su Lin summoned a historical projection and placed the upgraded divine core inside its body.

First to bloom was still that sacred light—but within seconds, a sinister, chaotic dark radiance erupted from within the historical projection's body.

Su Lin switched his consciousness to the historical projection, sensed its state, and with a thought, the chaotic dark radiance vanished. Pure, peaceful light spread through the room.

When he attempted to stir the chaotic power…

"Stop!" the future Su Lin shouted. "Chaos power isn't for you to use directly."

Su Lin understood. He summoned his divine realm. On the borderland where dawn and night coexisted, Su Lin spread his arms, and endless light descended, swallowing everyone present. The elemental light surged and collided violently, as if purifying all.

The purifying light faded. Su Lin smiled. Good—the divine core had no new cracks.

"Thanks," Su Lin said to Lao Lu.

Lao Lu popped out of Lu Mingfei's body. Lu Mingfei had learned his lesson now—he always reclaimed his body the moment things ended.

Su Lin pushed the wheelchair, ready to leave this world, but noticed Lu Mingfei following behind.

"What?"

"I want to cultivate."

For Lu Mingfei, the cultivation environment on Shuijing Peak was far better than here.

Through the teleportation gate, Su Lin returned to Shuijing Peak and retook control of Tianyi to imprint a mark on the person in the wheelchair.

I said it was parole—until your sentence ends, you're staying on this thing.

Lu Mingfei headed straight for the library above. Su Lin glanced at Lu Mingfei's back in surprise. Damn—he's not obsessed with soft comforts or video games today. Finally learning to study hard and improve daily.

At that moment, the future Su Lin asked: "So… you went to another world before?"

"Yes."

The future Su Lin thought of the partners he'd collaborated with on agricultural products. "You told Mom and Dad on the phone you were starting a business and brought back a few partners. Are they like Lu Mingfei too?"

"Yes."

The future Su Lin fell silent for a moment, then asked: "Do I know them?"

"Ye Fan, Xiao Yan, Kleine, Zhongli, Yi Leina."

The two walked in silence to the room's entrance. The future Su Lin, suppressing his unease, ventured: "They probably don't know, right?"

"Heh."

"."

"I'm guilty."

——————————

Yi Leina carefully placed the sand of time into a glass vial, intending to study its properties—being a qualified witch, researching new phenomena was an essential part of her cultivation.

At that moment, group message notifications began piling up. She shifted her attention to the chat group.

Xiao Yan: "Come to think of it, I still feel something's off."

Kleine: "What do you mean?"

Xiao Yan: "The future Su Lin seems like another insane god-tier guy—he got beaten by Su Lin."

Ye Fan: "Wasn't it said he had Tianyi's blessing?"

Xiao Yan: "Usually, how could the future lose to the present?"

Su Lin: "No way, no way, no way someone's actually been suppressed by their future self?"

Su Lin: "That'd be heartbreaking."

Su Lin: "@Weigong Shilang, give them a show."

Weigong Shilang: "I probably can't do that yet."

Weigong Shilang thought it over. Before he was certain, he shouldn't provoke the Heroic Spirit version of himself. Following Brother Han Li's advice, he must always consider the bigger picture—if he revealed himself, Gilgamesh would notice, and that'd be far too dangerous.

Kleine: "Could it be they held back? After all, we never actually saw who won."

Ye Fan: "Now that you mention it, the battle report was only given to us by Su Lin."

Song Shuhang: "Is it one of those plots where someone could've won but, seeing their past self's determined face, got hit with a nostalgia attack and let the past version defeat them?"

Yi Leina: "That script…"

Lu Mingfei: "No—I saw the future Su Lin sitting in a wheelchair, couldn't move anything except his neck."

Lu Mingfei: "You didn't see how he looked—eyes full of bloodshot veins, face as drained as when I used to stay in an internet cafe for three straight nights."

The group fell briefly silent upon seeing a witness.

As the first group member to shatter his own future self, Su Lin wasn't about to miss this chance to gloat.

Su Lin: "Sword cuts the future, blade severs the past—I am the chosen one, the only one."

On a desolate star in the Veil of Heaven World.

Within a hidden array pattern, Ye Fan shook his head and closed the group chat.

Around him were the traces left behind from the previous tribulation.

"This is for you." Ye Fan took an hourglass out of his mustard pouch and handed it to the recalled Weigong Shilang. "Use this to cultivate properly and raise your realm quickly."

It was also today that Ye Fan, through cultivating 【Gu Tianwang】, successfully crossed his tribulation in a bug-exploiting manner and reached the Four Extremes Realm. After the tribulation tempered his body, he directly muddled the Great Dao's rejection of him. Heh, this was far more interesting than brute-forcing it, and this time he wouldn't suffer the Great Dao wound that would have appeared on his original destined path.

But after this wave of tribulation, the amount of Source was nearly bottoming out.

So, after some more time, Ye Fan planned to switch maps and sell some high-end goods. For this, Weigong Shilang's cultivation speed had to be ramped up.

As for why he wasn't rushing to use the Sands of Time to push his cultivation up — to be honest, Ye Fan kind of felt like slacking off.

In a certain sense, he was already above the Sacrificial Dao realm. Normal, leisurely cultivation would do — no need to be in too much of a hurry. After all, his future self had his back.

Boom—

The array patterns suddenly began to shake violently.

"How did those few Dragon Transformation cultivators find us?!" Black Emperor hurriedly opened a teleportation gate. "Move! Something's off! Five Dragon Transformation cultivators just showed up out of nowhere!"

"Not even a trace of aura leaked out — it's like they were teleported here!"

End of chapter