Chapter 285: Who Knows the Origin on the Plate, Every Bit is Hard-Earned

"What exactly is that Ghost Place you all keep talking about?"

Li Heng asked, puzzled.

Everyone he met who mentioned this Ghost Place spoke in vague terms, even showing a hint of fear. Was this so-called Ghost Place really that terrifying?

"Looking at you, have you heard of it before?"

The figure asked with a smile.

Li Heng nodded.

"I have indeed heard of it, but most people who talk about this Ghost Place are like riddle-mongers; they don't dare to say too much, claiming they are afraid of some Great Terror descending."

The figure nodded, "They are right."

"That Ghost Place was not born with this Heaven and Earth, but is a strange place formed by the influence of this Calamity and the Mysterious Power; even I cannot glimpse its full picture."

"But some say that Ghost Place has existed since ancient times, even before the Heaven and Earth Mutation..." Li Heng stopped mid-sentence, looking at the Time Axis in front of him that was being continuously dyed black, and fell silent.

The figure smiled.

"It seems you have figured it out."

"Although that Ghost Place only appeared because the Calamity descended, theoretically appearing only a hundred-plus years ago, this Calamity—this power that causes Heaven and Earth to decay and deform—infects against the flow of time."

"To whatever point in time this power infects, the origin of that Ghost Place shifts forward, becoming increasingly ancient. That is why some people say that Ghost Place has existed since ancient times."

Li Heng still looked puzzled.

"Then why hasn't history undergone massive changes?"

He naturally had his own guesses, but since the principal was right in front of him, he still wanted to verify them.

That Ghost Place was clearly not some minor factor.

"That? I haven't completely died yet."

The figure laughed and waved a large hand.

It was that straight Time Axis, where countless branches appeared at every point in time, dense and crowded, each flickering with different images.

"These are all the possibilities of the World."

Li Heng slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

"Then I understand. You directed all the historical changes caused by that Ghost Place and the Pollution into these possibility branches?"

"Hmm... according to the realm you are in, that is indeed about right. But don't think I am that strong; it is just that this Heaven and Earth is incomplete, and the possibility branches born are all Illusion, not True Reality, which is why I can easily manipulate them."

The figure smiled.

"Then why do some people still feel that Ghost Place has existed since ancient times?" Li Heng continued to ask.

Sure enough, he received the answer he expected.

This figure could not completely eliminate the influence of historical changes, and for some minor aspects, he could only let them be, otherwise the drain on his power would be too great.

"Look, you haven't even come into contact with that Ghost Place, which proves you lack understanding of this Calamity and this power capable of deforming Heaven and Earth itself. How could I feel at ease telling you the truth?"

The figure shook his head and said.

Li Heng was speechless.

He was already too lazy to persuade the figure before him, who was a typical riddle-monger and extremely stubborn, so he immediately turned to another topic. "What did you mean by Deserter earlier?"

Although he had some guesses in his mind.

These guesses still had to be confirmed.

"A Deserter is a Deserter. What do you think it is?"

The figure asked back.

"Are you really unwilling to say?"

"Even if I don't say it, you already have your guesses, don't you? Besides, these matters are not things someone at your level can know; they involve the level of the Great Void."

Li Heng shook his head with a sigh.

He condensed a wisp of Source Power on his finger.

"The Great Void? Then what do you think this power is?"

Although this figure, suspected to be an Ancient Immortal God, regarded him as a variable and told him part of the truth, he seemingly did not trust his strength at all, nor did he trust that he could grow, speaking in half-truths and hiding the rest—it was annoying.

So he simply brought out something real.

In any case, he was not afraid that this figure would attack him; with the protection of Source Power, even if he were no match, he could still run away. Holding onto this risk that wasn't really a risk, knowing part of the truth was worth it.

The figure stared at the Source Power before him, stunned and extremely puzzled.

"What power is this?"

"You don't know?" Li Heng asked back.

"I have no need to lie to you; I really don't know. This power feels very strange to me, and I am completely unable to investigate it. I only feel it is ordinary, but this ordinariness is the greatest abnormality."

The figure shook his head.

Li Heng was somewhat surprised now.

When he brought out the Source Power, he had thought of three possibilities.

The first possibility was that this figure recognized Source Power; after all, as an Ancient Immortal God capable of nurturing Heaven and Earth and performing partial space-time operations, it wouldn't be strange to know of the existence of Source Power.

The second possibility was that this figure did not know Source Power, but could sense its power or its supreme status, similar to a blind man touching an elephant, unable to reach the full picture.

And this third possibility, which Li Heng felt was the least likely, was that this figure neither knew Source Power nor could perceive its power, feeling only that it was ordinary.

Because this third possibility meant he didn't even have the qualifications to touch the elephant.

The look he gave the figure became subtle.

You are an Immortal God who nurtures Heaven and Earth, after all; how are you this weak?

Or is it that the level of Source Power exceeds his imagination, higher than he thought, and it is not the World Origin power understood literally, but something even above that?

"You look very surprised."

"Why, is it so strange that I don't recognize this power?"

The figure also said with some puzzlement.

He had seen too many surprises from this variable, and now that he had brought out this kind of power that even he could not see through, and only felt was ordinary, it was truly too strange.

Although he was not considered too strong among the Immortal Gods, he was at least a mainstay, and he had come into contact with mysterious things and powers such as Chaos Qi, Mysterious Yellow Qi, True Water of Space-Time, and so on.

Yet, he alone could not recognize what this power was.

Li Heng pondered for a moment, gathering his words.

"Let's put it this way: if you were a mortal and knew of this power, then this power could be compared to the thunder in the sky. If you did not know of this power but could sense its strength, then this power would be the high and lofty Heaven."

"Then, as you are now, neither knowing of this power nor being able to know the strength of this power, this power is the Dao in the dark; you don't even have the qualifications of a blind man touching an elephant."

The tone of these words was very arrogant.

But Li Heng knew that this was even a bit too understated.

It was still that same saying.

As long as the Source Power was sufficient, he was confident he could accomplish anything.

The figure was stunned upon hearing this, remaining silent for a long time.

Just as Li Heng was wondering if he had broken, the figure spoke up.

"To be honest."

"Just now, I really wanted to slap you, to spray you for bragging, and ask how much you had drunk before running here to me. But when I forced myself to calm down and think about it, I found that your words did indeed have some logic."

"I truly cannot perceive the special nature of this power; even with my realm, I cannot perceive a trace of anything special, yet I am unable to analyze it, which means this power has a very great origin."

"Of course, that speech of yours was also a bit exaggerated. What realm are you even in, to dare to recklessly discuss the 'Dao' in the dark?" The figure admitted his own inadequacy, yet began to disdainfully judge Li Heng's words again.

Li Heng smiled without a word, not continuing to argue with the figure.

This reaction made the figure very unhappy, and he defended himself by saying.

"I admit, this power surprised me. Then I estimate that this power is at most on the same level as Chaos Qi, one of the foundations of the Great Void, perhaps even slightly inferior, just possessing some hidden characteristics."

"What's more, the me at this point in time is already dead; if it were the initial point in time, the me who hadn't died then would definitely have the confidence to glimpse something from it."

The figure said with absolute certainty.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes."

Li Heng replied perfunctorily.

He could roughly confirm that this figure simply did not know.

However, while he was happy about this, he was also somewhat depressed.

What made him happy was that the level of Source Power exceeded his imagination. What made him depressed was that he had originally intended to use Source Power as a pass to demand the truth and secrets from this figure.

As it turned out, the level of this figure was too low.

The level of this pass was too high.

The figure would, in all likelihood, not recognize it.

"Forget it, don't you want to know some information from my mouth? I can tell you some things. The power you displayed is still enough for me to increase my investment."

The figure was somewhat depressed and unhappy.

Originally, no matter how much this variable exceeded his expectations, his strength was too low, and he could completely look down upon this variable. But now, this variable had thrown out a kind of power he could not understand, making him look like a bumpkin from the mountains.

At least he had once shone across the worlds.

"The matter of the Deserters is actually something you could roughly imagine."

"We lost," the figure said calmly.

"The Ancient Immortal Gods lost?" Li Heng clarified the premise.

The figure shook his head.

"No, it is just that we lost."

Li Heng frowned, "What does that mean?"

"The Ancient Immortal Gods were not of one mind, so some chose to leave, some chose to be Deserters, we chose to stay, and some chose to find a way."

The figure explained.

"So you are of the faction that stayed? And then you failed, so why did you fail? Because of this Disaster?"

Li Heng asked.

"What you said is generally correct, but I must correct one point: the Disaster is continuous and endless; it cannot be described as 'this' one. Now that the Void Is All Dark, presumably only we Dead Remnants are left."

The figure said bitterly, no longer showing a trace of a smile.

"Then what is the truth of the Disaster? Or rather, why did the Disaster appear?" Li Heng continued to ask.

"The truth of the Disaster? That is something you must find yourself."

"Even we have not found this point. As for why the Disaster appeared? We know even less, otherwise we would not have fallen into this current state."

The figure spread his hands, feeling very helpless.

"Then can I understand this as knowing nothing at all?"

Li Heng said calmly.

The figure nodded, "A very vivid description."

Li Heng was speechless.

He could be certain that this figure had many things he was not saying, and was now playing dumb with him. In the final analysis, it was still because this figure's level was too low, and the Source Power had not intimidated him.

It was just like a high-ranked player going to fight a bronze-ranked one.

Seeing this, the figure shook his head.

"Why must you know so much? Ever since the Disaster began to descend, information has not only possessed power, but also appeared with mysterious curses; those with insufficient strength who know these things will surely die."

"What I just revealed is already the limit of what you can know at your realm. Any higher and you will definitely be watched, unable to escape the First Tribulation; do you want to die that much? Besides, I have already said a lot, and there are many hints. You can take a guess."

Li Heng felt mentally exhausted.

He could have said that with Source Power in hand, the world was his, but this figure did not know the power of Source Power, so saying anything was useless; he couldn't possibly waste Source Power just to prove it, right?

There was no need for that.

Besides, if this figure continued to play dumb, wouldn't his Source Power have been wasted for nothing?

"Alright, you know just about enough now. Now I can ask you: are you willing to become my successor, take charge of the Great Sun Path, and bring glory to all realms after I die?"

The figure asked in a serious tone.

"Aren't you still not dead yet? Not dead through and through."

Li Heng examined the figure closely.

This Ancient Immortal God was truly pessimistic enough, starting to arrange his affairs before even dying; look at how optimistic he himself was.

Oh, he was using a cheat, so that was fine.

"These words of yours... you are unwilling?"

"Although I don't know why you are so optimistic and so confident, as long as you become my successor and break through the limits of this Heaven and Earth, achieving the status of an Immortal God will be a breeze."

"Moreover, as long as you aren't as foolish as I am, having nurtured this Heaven and Earth and being unable to extricate yourself, you can travel the Great Void completely. Even if the entire Void goes dark, you will still be able to live for a very long time."

The figure spoke to entice him.

Although this accident was very disrespectful to him, an Immortal God, it was the most suitable existence in this Heaven and Earth to become his successor. As for others, such as that little fellow surnamed Lie, they were nothing compared to this accident.

"In other words, this Heaven and Earth is doomed?"

Li Heng's thinking was very erratic, and he blurted out this sentence.

He could hear the subtext in the figure's words.

The figure was stunned upon hearing this, and then nodded heavily.

"It is indeed doomed."

An Ancient Immortal God, an existence that had nurtured the Heaven and Earth, had so definitively asserted the fate of the Heaven and Earth and issued a terminal diagnosis; one could imagine just how terrifying this Calamity was.

"Then didn't you just say that I could break the situation?"

Li Heng asked, puzzled.

"Breaking the situation is one thing, and the Heaven and Earth being doomed is another; these are two different matters and cannot be lumped together. Of course, if you want to save this Heaven and Earth, it is very simple: just smash the Disaster that has descended upon this Heaven."

The figure pointed at the Time Axis that was gradually turning black and said it lightly. Afterward, his voice became gradually low and dejected. "Unfortunately, even a World-Creating Level being like me cannot do it? What makes you think you can!?"

"So, hurry up and complete the succession, then run away before everything slides into ruin; stop harboring delusions of being some kind of savior!"

Li Heng nodded heavily upon hearing this.

"I think I can."

"This Heaven and Earth can still be resuscitated."

He didn't say this because he was so stubborn, but simply felt that having such a large amount of Source Power really shouldn't be wasted; waste is shameful, and who knows, every bit of Source is hard-earned.