Chapter 548: The Lord of Tiancheng (Refresh)

A golden little boat, like a willow fluff carried by the wind, landed in Su Lin's hand.

"Is this a treasure?" Yi Leina leaned forward and asked: "Isn't it a pity to destroy it?"

"It's quite valuable, but after the fireworks, only this core remains—regret won't help." Su Lin gazed at the core of the Great Wish Boat, or rather, this was the original Great Wish Boat.

A golden boat no larger than a child's paper folding, yet capable of concentrating wish-force, reflecting emptiness, and altering reality—though without its other components, its power has been greatly diminished.

"Is all this wasteful extravagance just to make me happy?" Yi Leina frowned, a wry smile on her lips.

"Don't flatter yourself," Su Lin sneered.

"I'm not some domineering novel's CEO with a love-struck brain—uh, I just happened to make you happy along the way."

Seeing Yi Leina deliberately putting on a disappointed expression, Su Lin softened his tone slightly, and she immediately revealed a smug smile.

Damn it.

Su Lin realized he might now have several new vulnerabilities, so he reran Tianwang, saying:

"It's said the Great Wish Boat can carry all beings across the sea of life and death, yet the Great Wish Heaven gathers wish-force from countless worlds within the Wish Sea, even harnessing the very essence of worlds."

The universes that suddenly appeared in Tiancheng, gifted to each person by Bei Wu, were all extracted from the Wish Sea, bound by the Great Wish Boat, and transformed through the Great Wish Law into what their hearts desired.

But what were these worlds like before?

Including the 'Restricted Zone' used as a film set, controlled by a dazed Confucian Sage.

The worlds ruled by individual wills—before being fished out of the Wish Sea—had civilizations, lacked civilizations, harbored life or were lifeless; none could be known.

The only certainty is that fulfilling wishes never comes without cost, especially without a Cosmic Emperor.

"A monk from Lingshan once said: it's not immortals and Buddhas saving beings—it's immortals and Buddhas born from beings."

"So, did the Great Wish Boat save all beings—or did all beings save those aboard the boat?"

Su Lin cupped the golden core of the Great Wish Boat in both hands, closed his eyes, and Zhaoguang became wings as Tianyi surged toward him—a gray-white raft appeared beneath his feet:

"I have one wish: may each self return to its origin, hidden within emptiness."

Golden wish-force and black-white karmic force swirled like three auroras; all tangible and intangible things flowed within them, as the shattered remnants of the golden Great Wish Boat dissolved into boundless wish-light, all accumulated energy returning together to heaven and earth.

Yi Leina suddenly understood, her voice flat: "You really are a good person."

"Still trying to give me a breakup card at a time like this?" Su Lin smiled softly, drawing a processing fee from the cosmic origins obtained by all group members and distributing portions to himself and Yi Leina:

"Someone has to be the devourer of countless worlds—why not all of us? Just the two of us would be too weak."

"Decayed worlds hold no value; better to distribute them as gifts than waste them."

As Kleine had suspected, this gift was deliberately selected by Su Lin.

Thinking in the way of "if I'm drowning, no one else gets to escape," Su Lin stopped evading and chose to become the tiger's accomplice.

Oh, no—that should be called: don't underestimate the bonds among our group members.

"Then let's finish the final act—the fireworks before the curtain falls are the perfect finale," Su Lin took Yi Leina's hand and said:

"By the way, do you know what the male and female leads usually do at a moment like this?"

Yi Leina shook her head: "What?"

"The longer life lasts, the more I realize human thresholds are finite."

Directly before Lu Mingfei, the man in the leather executive chair now gazed upward at the ceiling, his tone cold:

"You'll eventually experience the joy of turning into a cute girl and turning all your straight male buddies into lovesick fools—I just gave you a little push."

His hand holding the gun trembled slightly; that day, Lu Mingfei had stolen some bullets from Su Lin's arms deal, and all those bullets were now fully loaded.

Go ahead?

Go ahead, just go ahead.

"Since that time, you've treated me like an outsider," the man said, confused and agitated:

"You come to me when you have problems, but keep all the interesting things for yourself."

"What do you think I am—a secretary from Caesar's ballet troupe, summoned with a wave of his hand?!"

"Even if Lu Mingze puts on a skirt and insults you with her sharp tongue, that's still closer to our relationship—because I am you! How could you do this?!!!"

Lu Mingfei still didn't understand how this damn, idiotic thing had developed such bizarre fetishes in its original timeline's future.

"But I have to say—you did well this time," Old Lu suddenly struck the classic Commander Ikari pose:

"That two-faced, OP bastard cheated me last time—I've been waiting for a chance to get back at him."

"Don't splatter blood on me," Lu Mingfei felt his molars throbbing with neural pain: "Best sever all causal, karmic, quantum-mechanical connections."

"No, no, no—the one who needs to send it is you," Old Lu said calmly: "You didn't tell me what happened after the photos leaked, but I know—he'll probably kill you."

"And you're already terrified."

"Do you have proof?!" Lu Mingfei looked up.

Old Lu glanced at Lu Mingfei kneeling before the desk, his eyelid twitching several times.

A pair of golden pupils slowly opened; all things in the world became simplified line drawings—the World Tree sprouted, the rooster atop its crown crowed, the giant serpent in the sea rolled.

A colossal black dragon spread its wings, blotting out sun and sky.

"I return!" The solemn declaration choked in his throat; his jaw opened, then closed: "Return."

The scene before his eyes was as splendid as a grand fireworks display—interwoven light illuminated all darkness, yet vanished at the edge of sight.

The first two words to surface in the dragon's mind were these.

Light, slowly, thread by thread, continuously splitting, continuously dissolving, yet flickering with intermittent brilliance, poured through the cracks of countless worlds, illuminating all realms, cascading down upon the Ten Thousand Swords Mountains.

He remembered again—the lonely Wang Zuo, and beneath it, the faces buried in bygone eras.

Yet, looking at this enchanting scene, he felt no great sorrow.

Perhaps he had grown accustomed to it—or perhaps regret was life's constant state; all he could do was walk forward along these imperfect cracks, toward the light.

Your mom's not playing fair.

Why pick nostalgia? Now my youth novel's pain is flaring up again.

"Wait a moment—I'm not ready for this level."

"In movies and dramas, don't the male and female leads always kiss right about now?"

A man's and a woman's voices, tinged with panic and argument, reached him; he turned toward the sound and saw the two frozen in the pose of a dance ending, bowing in farewell.

Su Lin held up Yi Leina's back to keep her from falling, his other hand tilting her chin—but she shoved his face away.

"This is too soon. You're too excited today—calm down!"

"I spent three billion on fireworks—how am I supposed to calm down?! At least let me break even!"

"Why would I be the one to break even? Ah, right—if it were the God of Light, maybe it wouldn't be impossible."

"Never mind, I've got something else to do."

Su Lin released his grip to step back, but Yi Leina seized his wrist, her expression twisted as if in toothache.

"You're the one who needs to calm down!"

"It's completely fine."

The flush on Yi Leina's face deepened; she gripped Su Lin's wrist, their roles now reversed from just moments before.

Su Lin rolled his eyes: "What do you mean 'fine'? It's a huge problem—go treat your sexual kink first!"

"What kind of scumbag talks to his girlfriend like that?! At least be a little sweet!" Yi Leina complained.

"Sweet?! If Lu Mingfei had said that word, I'd have buried him in the Earth's core!" Su Lin said.

The dragon suddenly felt incredibly full, for no discernible reason—just an overwhelming sense of satiety.

The two began to argue, but the woman quickly cut him off.

"Enough!" Yi Leina took a deep breath, narrowed her eyes, draped her arms around his neck, and leaned closer—then chuckled softly:

"You wanted my kiss, didn't you, you awkward thing—so impatient from the start."

Su Lin visibly froze. He stared at the face so close, still advancing, and instinctively looked away—then his gaze locked in place.

Yi Leina followed Su Lin's line of sight—and suddenly froze.

"I thought I cleared this area," Su Lin tilted his head, a sharp glint entering his eyes.

The black dragon hesitated, then changed the subject: "I went back specifically to fuse with the script and the corpse of my 'past life.'"

"Aren't there enemies we need to deal with? Where are they? Leave them to me!"

"It's already over, Mr. Lu Two," Su Lin said.

"So that's how it is," Lu Fusion-Ti Mingfei realized: "Why don't you two keep going?"

The moment he finished speaking, Yi Leina released her grip, turned her head aside, coughed twice, blushed, and stepped back to a normal distance from Su Lin.

Lu Mingfei's consciousness pondered—but his trash talk beat his thoughts to speech:

"Honestly, if you two ended up together, I deserve at least two-thirds of the credit."

Su Lin grinned, narrowed his eyes at the two consciousnesses inside the black dragon's mind, and drew his palm across his throat.

At that moment, Old Lu's consciousness sensed the power level radiating from Su Lin—his dragon tail instantly recoiled, and he plunged into whatever world came to hand.

Just as Su Lin said: everything was already over.

May the shattered ships be marked by Meng Qi in the chat group, and may those decaying worlds within the sea be listed there too—Lu Mingfei can still grab some if he moves fast enough.

And as for Tiancheng,

With Yao Tian's disappearance, the accumulated wishes scattered; Ye Fan obtained all the Master Candidate Tokens. Tiancheng now underwent changes—an invisible force was expelling all traders back to their own worlds.

"Who are you driving away?" Su Lin narrowed his eyes, an invisible pressure surging forth to clamp Tiancheng firmly in place, preventing its escape.

Throughout Tiancheng,

"Yu'er, don't be sad. Your father was already dead long ago. These past days have been more carefree than any god's—I'm content. Take this: it's my Universal Communication Token. Don't bother those goddesses inside—"

The middle-aged man, his form flickering like a phantom, sensed the cold stares around him and changed his tone:

"Your father and two like-minded brothers swore blood brotherhood. I've arranged it: if you ever need help, use this account to call on your two uncles."

"Be good to your sisters."

Duan Yu looked at his parents and elder brother—no longer naive, he bowed deeply forward.

When he raised his head again, he was back inside the Dali Imperial Palace.

Like a dream of Nanke.

"You took my life. As long as I live, I won't let you near Man sui."

The man stared at his own phantom hand, a flicker of weariness in his eyes. He gazed longingly at his daughter, then pushed her away.

"Liang, please—I beg you—protect her. Let her live. As long as she survives, I don't care."

The man fell silent, grabbed the crying girl, and when he came to his senses, the two were back inside the inn.

The girl grasped at empty air, her eyes dimmed, and finally she burst into loud sobs.

"Lord Emperor, please forgive us—we must withdraw from the battlefield."

Zhongli turned to look at his old friends; the Grand Star Array, destabilized by their fading presence, now had gaps—the river of stars unraveled, and he ceased maintaining it.

"All partings are for better reunions."

He sheathed his spear; the powerful aura around him gradually faded: "It won't be long. We look forward to the scenery of our next meeting."

Guizhong reached into his sleeve and pulled out a golden bronze bell.

"You won't return my bell, so I give you a bell instead—where in the world is there such a good deal? But what can I do? We still rely on you, 'Lord Donghuang.'"

Guizhong tossed the bell over with a grin, his tone clearly teasing:

"Even with a Time Mystical Realm, I couldn't master all the knowledge—I could only craft an artifact of this rank. Inside is a massive Cave Heaven World; I've stored much of the Star Dust I collected there. Keep it as a memento."

"By the way, you haven't opened the Worldly Lock I left you, have you?"

His slightly disgruntled words echoed—but the people before him slowly dissolved into the finest dust.

Zhongli stared at the bronze bell in his hand—adorned with gilded inlay and intricate, exquisite patterns, unmistakably Guizhong's craftsmanship.

"Emperor." Xiao opened his mouth.

"Nothing," Zhongli said, looking at the bronze bell in his hand. "What do you think of naming it Donghuang Bell?"

Xiao fell silent for a long while: "Are you serious?"

"Just joking."

Zhongli shook his head, but Ke Lan's figure surfaced in his mind, recalling the words he had once spoken.

"This is"

Ye Fan watched his surroundings warily, his body radiating dazzling divine light, though thin red hairs occasionally sprouted and were shattered by vibrations; in his hand he held the Six Realms' Cosmic Origin, and he frowned: "Qiongqi Tower?"

Right before him was the very top floor of Qiongqi Tower, where cheap tables, chairs, and decorations still retained the style from when he had left.

Not far away, a handsome man with white hair and a youthful face, his eyes like silver stars, sat at his own desk.

"I am the former Lord of Tiancheng," the man said.

Ye Fan's eyes flared, his breath caught, and he activated all his divine power.

"Ancestor, please take this city away quickly!"

The man slumped over his desk, clutching his head in despair, pointing outside where a technique resembling a water mirror reflected Su Lin's figure: "What the hell is this monster? Let me go!"

To download the latest TXT ebook of this book, click here:

This book: