Chapter 369: The Waters of the Future Run Deep

Li Heng frowned slightly; this scene was somewhat bizarre.

This Desperate Future was not just shaped like a monster, but truly was a monster, capturing all possibilities of the future to gradually transform itself into True Reality.

The possibilities of the future are false, ethereal, and void. Yet this monster captures these possibilities, distilling True Reality from the ethereal falsehood, Borrowing the False to Cultivate the True.

He could clearly see that as these possibilities were captured and devoured, the entire Desperate Future became a bit more real, as if it were about to step across the boundary of True Reality.

But, do the Three Sages of the Future know about this?

Li Heng estimated it was doubtful.

Because to see this situation, one must have the ability to observe the full picture of the Desperate Future, and furthermore, observe it from outside the Desperate Future, from above the Time-Space River.

If one observes from within the Desperate Future, one would likely be unable to see the forest for the trees, unaware of the truth within. As the saying goes, the bystander sees clearly, while the participant is lost.

Then, thinking of those three monsters of the future.

Fear, Treachery.

And an Unknown, a monster of unidentified true form.

He suspected that this last monster referred to the Desperate Future itself. But if that were the case, how could the first two monsters, Fear and Treachery, be worthy of being named alongside the monster of the Desperate Future?

And it appeared.

This monster of the Desperate Future possessed no intelligence.

At least, not yet.

The act of capturing other possibilities was likely just instinctive feeding under the influence of corruption and aberration; in reality, such behavior was entirely unnecessary.

Because even if this Desperate Future monster did not capture other possibilities, as it gradually transformed into True Reality, it would still be a destined fate, an inevitable result.

After all, the true key,

still lies in this Mysterious Calamity, this Mysterious Power!

Whether it be the two monsters Fear and Treachery, or the Desperate Future itself, they are all actually just derivatives and byproducts of this Mysterious Calamity and Mysterious Power.

So, in a sense, Li Heng has not yet dealt with or clashed head-on with that Mysterious Calamity and Mysterious Power; everything now is just friction over minor details.

After all, with his current strength, he truly lacks the qualifications.

Otherwise, that Immortal God figure would not have advised Li Heng to run.

Li Heng's thoughts drifted further and further away; after drifting past a certain boundary, he pulled his thoughts back to observe the Desperate Future once more.

At this moment, the Desperate Future monster had finished feeding, its tentacles retracted, entering a silent state, resembling a bubble—a bubble representing the future.

This form was actually a bit more normal.

It was just that the indescribable murmurs, whispers, and Mysterious Power radiating from around the bubble could still make a bystander feel danger and fear to approach.

Li Heng felt a sense of emotion.

No wonder that Immortal God figure said the waters of this Desperate Future run deep.

If the Desperate Future itself were the third monster, that would be one thing, but if it were not, and the third monster was someone else entirely, then it would be very troublesome and require constant vigilance.

Just imagine, if it were someone else who didn't know this, only knowing that there were three monsters in the future, and then fought desperately to slay those three monsters, only to be completely exhausted.

But then another monster popped out...

One can imagine how desperate that situation would be.

It is like a hero party exhausting all their strength to defeat the final Demon King, only to discover there is still a mastermind Demon King waiting for them; it is simply like nesting dolls.

The Unknown is the greatest enemy...

This sentence surfaced in Li Heng's mind.

Currently, on the surface, Fear and Treachery are easy to deal with; before, when his strength had not yet increased, he could easily thrash the projection of Fear and injure its true body.

Now that he has improved, and by more than just a little, Li Heng is confident he could easily resolve Fear and Treachery even if they joined forces, occupied their home-field advantage, and attacked with their true bodies.

As for this monster of the Desperate Future.

It would be fine if it lacked intelligence, but if it possessed intelligence and interfered with him at some point, it would be troublesome. After all, this is equivalent to the power of an era, in some sense exceeding Heaven and Earth, and even he would find it difficult to deal with.

Unless he uses Source Power.

And finally, even if he successfully resolved these three, if the Desperate Future itself were not the third monster, he would still have to deal with a third monster whose existence and depth are unknown.

Therefore, in dealing with such a situation, one cannot play one's cards immediately; one cannot reveal one's hand, otherwise, one could easily be undermined by the hidden unstable factors, such as the third monster.

Li Heng pondered silently in his heart.

He has the confidence; even if there truly exists a third, or even a fourth or fifth monster of unknown depth, he cannot fail as long as they are not in the Creation Realm.

Even if there were a Creation Realm entity, he could still save his life and survive.

Moreover, he does not believe this Desperate Future truly has a Creation Realm entity. If it really did, the one who would be anxious would not be him, but that Immortal God figure residing in the past, entrenched at the origin of Heaven and Earth.

It is just that his purpose in coming to this Desperate Future is not to spend Source Power but to earn it; this Desperate Future is not worth him dumping all his Source Power into it.

So he must calculate...

For example, by letting this "Future Savior" beside him contribute some effort.

He smiled slightly and patted the shoulder of Xiao Hao beside him, bringing him back from his dazed state.

"We are arriving; how are you feeling?"

Xiao Hao was still somewhat dazed, seemingly not having fully reacted yet. But upon hearing Li Heng's words, he hurriedly replied very sensibly, "Reporting to Senior, I am very happy; I feel very good."

Hearing Xiao Hao's such compliant words, Li Heng nodded with satisfaction. "Not bad, you have great awareness. And those with awareness are qualified to know the truth. Look, what is in front?"

Xiao Hao followed the instruction and looked ahead in a daze.

Then he saw the Desperate Future in its bubble form.

"This is... the future?"

Xiao Hao was somewhat astonished and somewhat bewildered.

Although he had a little cultivation, he was not even at the Dharma Aspect stage and could not touch the Heaven and Earth Principles. So when he saw the full picture of the Desperate Future with his naked eyes, he was instantly stunned.

Even if it weren't for the buff Li Heng had added to him.

Xiao Hao was simply overwhelmed by the excessive information, his pig brain overloaded.

The result was, at best, a system crash, and at worst, an explosion.

"Look again carefully."

Li Heng casually bestowed a glimmer of light upon Xiao Hao's eyes.

In an instant, the look of astonishment and confusion on Xiao Hao's face vanished, replaced by a look of terror; his body, no longer obeying his will, began to tremble instinctively.

"This is... this is... tentacles, tentacles, it's all tentacles!"

"Wriggling... Sacred... supreme..."

As Xiao Hao saw the true face of this Desperate Future, he began to murmur in terror, his words becoming increasingly nonsensical, devolving into ineffable, incomprehensible gibberish.

Eventually, his body began to show faint signs of deformity; lumps of flesh protruded all over him, wriggling as if to crawl across his entire body.

But at this moment, Li Heng took action and suppressed the deformity.

He was also somewhat surprised; even from such a distance, and while right beside him, it still had the ability to affect Xiao Hao. It seemed the meme Pollution was not ordinarily strong, and the waters were not ordinarily deep.

Xiao Hao came back to his senses, still shaken.

He realized what had just happened and felt a wave of lingering fear in his heart. If this senior hadn't acted in time, he really would have turned into a monster.

"Many thanks for your intervention, senior."

He then very submissively and respectfully buttered him up, ignoring the fact that the reason he had encountered such danger was also because of Li Heng.

One had to think of one's own life, after all.

"Good, not bad, your awareness is very high!"

Li Heng was very satisfied and gave Xiao Hao's shoulder a firm pat.

"Then, the organization has a mission to entrust to you..."