Chapter 252: Trust

Don't ask me...

Zhao Si had been watching this all along, and at first he still had some doubts; after all, no matter what, leaving an extra save point is also good, right?

But after thinking about it carefully, Xue Xuan must have deliberately not left a save point!

If the Eternal Wasteland were truly eternal, then Xue Xuan really could have gone in, but now the information is clear: the Eternal Wasteland is not truly eternal, so there's no need to go.

From Jin Bing's experience we can know that the 'Eternal Wasteland' is actually a perfect ending, because in chapter one, Jin Bing, after becoming the Heavenly Emperor, was judged to have cleared the game successfully; even if the Wasteland were to perish in the future, in the system's intent he would not be considered dead.

This shows that although the Eternal Wasteland is not truly eternal, it is also not falsely eternal; there is no concept of life and death within it, everything is in a 'quantum superposition state', so even if the Wasteland perishes, it is not considered to have perished.

For the Eternal Wasteland, the Wasteland's destruction merely means lacking an 'anchor point' and 'observer effect'...

It sounds ridiculous, but that's the fact; otherwise Jin Bing's chapter wouldn't have ended, because the condition for judging a perfect ending is only one: whether the protagonist is immortal.

Since Jin Bing's future entry into the 'Eternal Wasteland' also counts as immortality, there's no doubt that once Xue Xuan enters, he too will have cleared the game.

At the instant of clearing the game, the protagonist is no longer the protagonist; he will no longer have the ability to restart and correct mistakes, and all errors will be beyond his power to save.

And in this life, Xue Xuan has already made too many mistakes; since the last node choice, the Asura Clan's ten million cultivators have died down to just a few dozen, and the countless mortal souls have hardly any left.

And these casualties were all produced to oppose the Nether River; now the Nether River's stance has reversed, from enemy to ally, so these casualties are purely meaningless.

Therefore, to make up for the mistakes, Xue Xuan will not add any more save points, otherwise he would not be able to restart to before the deaths.

Furthermore, although Xue Xuan can accept becoming a quantum superposition in the Eternal Wasteland, like Jin Bing, to welcome a relative perfect ending, he still has his own obsession.

His obsession is the Nether River, and the Asura Clan!

Xue Xuan set a grand ambition from the start: he wants to save humanity, to rescue people from the tragedy of cannibalism!

Although later, as information kept being filled in, many of his early goals were proven meaningless, such as 'slaughtering cultivators', 'severing the immortal path', 'building a Wasteland for mortals', etc.

But Xue Xuan's belief in saving humanity has never changed.

He can accept everyone dying together in the Eternal Wasteland, but he absolutely will not accept the Nether River continuing to allow cannibalism on the Wasteland!

Once he truly agrees to the Nether River's request to go to the Eternal Wasteland as the Heavenly Emperor, then the Nether River, in order to maintain the reign of his beloved son, will surely work even harder to produce the Asura Clan as cannon fodder in the Wasteland.

Then Xue Xuan's Dao-heart directly collapsed!

"Xue Xuan fully understands this, so this time he absolutely cannot go to the Eternal Wasteland."

"But he also has other plans..."

Xue Xuan's thoughts are not hard for Zhao Si to guess:

"In this branch line, he intends to use his protagonist identity to solve the final, and also most crucial, riddle of this simulation game."

"Wasteland, can it actually be reborn?"

This question is the origin of all contradictions; we must figure it out before we can know how to clear the game.

Precisely because no one dares to guarantee on this question, the Nether River desperately suppresses the Heavenly Dao that single-mindedly seeks rebirth.

The Heavenly Dao thinks it can, Grandmaster Hongjun thinks it cannot, and the Six Sages believe that life and death, wealth and honor are up to heaven, so they just drag everyone along to lie flat.

Thus Grandmaster Hongjun appointed the Nether River to become a sage to serve as the ox and horse maintaining the Wasteland, while the Nether River wanted to suppress the Heavenly Dao, so he carried out all those schemes in the Wasteland, letting the unfortunate Asura Clan serve as the material to patch up heaven.

Huh? Isn't this a bit familiar?

"Again outsourcing... layer after layer of outsourcing! How does this version of the Wasteland, from top to bottom, love to outsource!"

In the beginning, in chapter one, Jin Bing II, to deal with the defiant Human Race, the Six Sages outsourced this dirty job to the Holy Emperor, who then outsourced it to Jin Bing, letting him lead the Human Race to die...

In Jin Bing III's time, to deal with the world-destroying Emperor Jiang, the Heavenly Dao outsourced to the Six Sages, the Six Sages outsourced to Jin Bing, and finally Jin Bing, wielding the Six Sages' supreme treasure, beheaded Emperor Jiang...

"Now you're outsourcing again—is this Wasteland just an outsourcing company wearing a Wasteland skin?"

Zhao Si curled his lips, and began to focus on watching Xue Xuan's actions.

……

【"No, Father."】

【You firmly refused the Nether River's generous offer: "I don't want to go to the Eternal Wasteland, nor do I want to be any Heavenly Emperor! I just want to stay in the Wasteland."】

【As soon as these words were spoken, the Nether River's face changed instantly, turning expectation into fury!】

【"Are you trying to fight me in a duel?"】

【The Nether River couldn't understand: letting you enjoy blessings, it's not to make you suffer, he's taken care of all the dirty and tiring work, yet you still won't agree... what on earth do you want to do!】

【"Father, I have my own thoughts."】

【You earnestly said: "I only want to accompany you until the Wasteland is destroyed."】

【You!】

【The Nether River made you, this unfilial son, so angry you couldn't speak; he wanted to scold you, but seeing your resolute expression, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to scold.】

【"Father, don't force yourself or sacrifice others anymore!"】

【This short sentence stabbed the Nether River's Dao-heart: all along, he has been both forcing himself to suppress the Heavenly Dao and sacrificing others to prolong the Wasteland.】

【In the past, when he was cellmates with Laojun, he could still find joy in hardship and deceive himself, unilaterally thinking he was benevolent and righteous... but now, being repeatedly confronted by your hard truths, the Nether River is gradually unable to hold it together......】

【"You really don't want to go?"】

【"No."】

【"Alright then!"】

【The Nether River gritted his teeth: "You just stay in this Heaven Beyond Heaven, nowhere are you allowed to go!"】

【You showed no change in expression: "Father, do you still have to keep sacrificing the Asura Clan?"】

【"Of course!"】

【The Nether River's will is extremely firm: I will do whatever I can to guard the Wasteland until the very last moment!】

【Seeing you still wanting to speak, the Nether River could no longer bear it; he turned and left the Heaven Beyond Heaven, and with sage's power sealed the membrane between Heaven Beyond Heaven and the Wasteland, clearly intending to put you under house arrest!】

【"Since you don't want to go to the Eternal Wasteland, then stay and keep me company until the Wasteland perishes!"】

【The Nether River resentfully threw down those words and turned to leave.】

【In the vast Heaven Beyond Heaven, only you lot, remnants of the Asura Clan from the Wasteland, remain......】

【...】

Heaven Beyond Heaven, Purple Cloud Palace

Amidst a sea of bewildered gazes, Xue Xuan closed his eyes...

"He left."

Jin Bing sighed:

"You're also a stubborn donkey, didn't you see my true form already entered the Eternal Primordial Chaos? Holding out like this, what's the point?"

"Yes!"

Xue Xuan opened his eyes, speaking in a deep voice:

"Because once I go in, I won't be the protagonist anymore..."

Jin Bing frowned:

"Do you still want to restart and change everything?"

"Having a right and not using it, letting it expire—of course I can't let this opportunity go!"

Xue Xuan said seriously:

"I want to see with my own eyes whether the new Primordial Chaos will successfully open up!"

"You mean..."

Jin Bing, who had once been the protagonist, naturally understood:

"You want to bring the news back to before?"

"Hmm."

Xue Xuan nodded:

"If the opening succeeds, then naturally everyone will be happy; I'll immediately self‑destruct and go back to tell my father, so he doesn't have to keep maintaining the Primordial Chaos—he could even actively destroy the world if he wanted."

"But if the opening fails, then it proves there really is no hope..."

"If there truly is no way to save it, then I will willingly give up my protagonist status and join everyone in annihilation!"

Xue Xuan's determination made Jin Bing sigh: "Then you should have revealed your identity just now and asked him to cooperate in actively destroying the world once—it would have saved a lot of trouble..."

Xue Xuan couldn't help but roll his eyes at him.

"I think you've gone too long without being the protagonist! If I revealed my identity to him, he wouldn't just not destroy the world—he'd immediately throw me into the Eternal Primordial Chaos!"

"Don't forget, for those who aren't protagonists, every life is their only one—this life's them aren't the next life's them... My existence is a kind of anchor for heaven and earth; for the Primordial Chaos to endure, he will certainly let me enter the Eternal Primordial Chaos to meet the great ending!"

"Because only when I don't die will heaven and earth truly exist; he has no need to sacrifice for people on another timeline..."

Xue Xuan said helplessly:

"In order to be able to bring the information back, I can only conceal it from him!"

Jin Bing scratched his head:

"Is it really that complicated? Back then I didn't find it that difficult either—after my master and Lady Nüwa found out, they looked at it and it was..."

"So, you're really just going to keep waiting like that?"

Jin Bing puzzled:

"Given that Minghe is intentionally maintaining the Primordial Chaos, waiting for total annihilation might take quite a while..."

"No problem!"

Xue Xuan calmly replied:

"First, I have plenty of time to spend with him."

"Second, I've carefully examined that small Primordial Chaos that was reforged once; its density is not higher than the previous great Primordial Chaos, clearly even a sage cannot alter the process of matter's diffusion, so when its time comes, it will dissipate on its own."

"Moreover, although the Heavenly Dao has been resealed by him, the earlier destruction of the Primordial Chaos still gave the Heavenly Dao more Pangu's divine power, making it stronger than before... Father can only suppress him for a time, not for a lifetime; before long, he will break the seal again."

"In short, we don't have to wait long—the Primordial Chaos will soon be utterly destroyed!"

Xue Xuan said confidently.

"Protagonist?"

In the Primordial Chaos, Minghe silently glanced at Heaven Beyond Heaven, he sighed in his heart:

"After all, he just doesn't trust me..."

(End of chapter)