Chapter 354: Oh no, got the coordinates wrong

Seeing the figure before him clearly, Ming Shu froze completely on the spot.

Although the various branches of the Fate Clan had little contact with one another, each wandering and exploring different regions, direct encounters were rare.

Usually it was mainly the Fate Lords of each branch who would have detailed exchanges regarding the Fate Clan's future development plans.

But no matter how unfamiliar, it could not possibly fail to recognize the figure standing before it.

It belonged to the Fate Clan's "Heaven-Set" branch.

And the one before it was precisely the Fate Lord of the Dragon Sparrow branch: Brother Ming Hou.

Looking at the shocked expression on his clansman's silver mask, Brother Ming Hou couldn't help but laugh wryly.

He hadn't expected to encounter one of his own clansmen in this barren, desolate land.

Silver mask, fate robe draped over the shoulders, choice staff in hand… he recognized at a glance that this was a member of the Heaven-Set branch.

"Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord?!"

Ming Shu asked tentatively at this moment.

Before Brother Ming Hou could answer, the expression on its mask suddenly turned wary:

"Soul Beast?"

At this moment, Ming Shu was completely dumbfounded.

The figure's build and appearance were undoubtedly the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord.

Yet there wasn't the slightest trace of a Fate Clan member's aura about him.

More importantly, the other's life fluctuations were extremely faint, while the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord's strength had long since ascended to "Ban Shen Jing" on the Monster World combat power index.

This made him think of a powerful force that had fought against the Reverse Tide Legion: the Soul Return Clan.

The soul beasts under their control possessed the ability to mimic appearances.

But thinking it over carefully, something still felt off.

If it were a Soul Return possession disguise, one would first need the strength to seize the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord's body, and the disguise after completing the plunder should be nearly perfect — how could it fail to even simulate the aura?

Various thoughts churned in its mind, but Ming Shu still took a wary step back.

Seeing his clansman's wariness, Brother Ming Hou could fully understand.

The Monster World was full of abilities — disguise, substitution, possession, illusion… the power to mimic the life forms of other races was quite common.

But proving one's identity wasn't difficult either.

Brother Ming Hou's silver hair swayed as he raised his right hand, and a wisp of baleful wind condensed into a lifelike dragon sparrow totem in his palm.

"Can this prove my identity?"

"Truly the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord?" Seeing the dragon sparrow totem, and the Fate Clan brand within it, Ming Shu used his perception to carefully examine the energy weaving trajectory upon it.

Precisely because the Monster World was full of abilities, this was one of the ways Fate Clan members confirmed each other's identities.

But even so, Ming Shu still felt it wasn't quite right, and immediately connected to the clan's spiritual network.

As the rule-derived brand within his body flickered, a spiritual connection trajectory rapidly formed.

The spiritual network built around Fate rules materialized in his mind.

It wanted to use this method to directly connect to the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord's spiritual node — true or false, only the connection would yield a clear answer.

Yet to its shock, it discovered that the soul lamp representing the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord had long since gone out.

Brother Ming Hou naturally knew what the other was thinking.

He sighed softly, flicked a fingertip, and the baleful wind sketched an intricate rune across the sand.

"You've presumably already checked my spiritual node. My soul lamp has gone out, but that doesn't mean I'm dead… This is my life-fate record; you may examine it carefully."

Ming Shu stared at the rune on the sand, his expression beneath the mask shifting between shock and suspicion.

Releasing his perception to carefully examine the fate rune, he found it recorded in detail the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord's life deeds — in other words, his fate trajectory.

It was like a life QR code for every Fate Clan member.

Comparing it against the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord's fate rune in the spiritual network, the other's identity was now beyond doubt.

At this moment, Brother Ming Hou was also somewhat helpless.

If the other still didn't believe it, he truly couldn't think of any other way to explain.

After becoming a player, the rule-derived brand in his true body had been sealed, transformed into a sealed object in his backpack.

This caused his true body to completely sever its connection with the Fate rules — which was also why his soul lamp in the spiritual network had gone out.

"You still don't believe it?" Seeing that the other still showed no reaction, Brother Ming Hou could only ask.

Having already finished comparing the fate trajectories, Ming Shu dropped to one knee, placed his left hand over his brow, then raised his head with a solemn expression:

"Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord… what exactly has happened to your current state?"

Brother Ming Hou chuckled softly, shook his head, and did not answer the question directly:

"Some paths, once walked, cannot be turned back. The me of now is indeed no longer the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord of before… but the future of our branch, I see it more clearly than ever."

"I still don't understand — how did you become this weak?"

Having confirmed that the one standing before him was indeed the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord, a shocked expression surfaced on Ming Shu's mask.

In his perception, the life fluctuations emanating from the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord now were, compared to before, even worse than a near-death state.

Even the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord's corpse would emit stronger life fluctuation aura than this body.

Faced with the question, Brother Ming Hou did not continue to answer.

The secrets upon a player concerned the higher-dimensional deities.

Without the permission of the higher-dimensional deities, presumptuously revealing the truth might anger them.

Having finally found a path with limitless future, he didn't wish to make any mistake.

Even if the chance of that mistake brewing a great disaster was very low.

But he could point out a clear path for his clansman.

"Boy of the Heaven-Set branch, step forward and sense my life meridians."

Though his heart was full of doubts, when faced with the command of the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord, Ming Shu still stepped forward without hesitation.

He raised his hand, pressed his palm—covered in star patterns—gently against Brother Ming Hou's forearm, and drove the power of the Laws of Fate within his body to probe the other's body.

The next instant, Ming Shu's perception seemed to plunge into a boundless sea of stars.

In his eyes, Brother Ming Hou's life meridians were as pure as the untouched waters of the Primordial Source.

Every inch of flesh and blood pulsed at a perfect frequency; his spiritual power was as translucent as glazed crystal, and when it circulated at the brow, it refracted seven colors of primordial light.

A Unsullied Body?!

Those four characters immediately surfaced in Ming Shu's mind.

He had never seen such a pure body.

What struck him as even more unbelievable was that deep within this flawless body, three unfamiliar Law forces pulsed slowly.

Each Law differed from the fluctuations of the Laws of Fate, and matched none of the known elemental Laws either.

Three entirely different Law forces had somehow achieved perfect balance within this body, with no conflict whatsoever between them.

Beneath his mask, Ming Shu's lips trembled violently; after withdrawing his perception, the shock on his mask nearly spilled over.

He considered himself well-traveled and knowledgeable, yet he had never seen such a pure body.

This was simply a perfect vessel for Laws.

Not a trace of impurity; in the circulation of qi and blood there was not the slightest sluggishness, as if it had been born to bear the strongest power in the world.

"How did your body come to be like this?"

At this moment, Ming Shu finally understood why he could not sense the aura of the Laws of Fate on the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord.

The Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord had long since been reborn anew; the body he now used had already broken free of racial shackles, reaching a state of "Law Symbiosis" that even Ban Shen Jing could not attain.

"Did you sense it?"

Brother Ming Hou looked at the clansman who could barely hide his shock, withdrew his wrist, and a trace of playfulness flashed through his silver-white pupils:

"Now do you think I've grown weaker, or stronger?"

Hearing this, Ming Shu shook his head violently.

At this moment there was only one thought in his heart.

Where did the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord grow weaker? He had clearly set foot on a path the Fate Clan had never dared imagine since its inception; he had completed a metamorphosis of life-form, and thoroughly severed himself from the Fate Clan.

At least in terms of bloodline, the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord was no longer a Fate Clan life-structure.

Brother Ming Hou continued at this point:

"Boy of the Heaven-Set branch, I know you have many doubts in your heart. There are many questions I cannot give you a clear answer to, but since you and I could meet here, perhaps it is a chance bestowed upon you by fate. Try to pursue the path of fate I have walked, and you will find the answers."

At the end of his words, Brother Ming Hou seemed to think of something, and his expression changed:

"Right, how many spiritual resources are you carrying on you?"

Ming Shu, still puzzling over what Brother Ming Hou's words actually meant, heard this and immediately linked his consciousness to his personal storage space; after a quick scan, he said in a low voice:

"I have quite a few resources gathered along the way. Do you need them?"

"Give me all of it."

Though they were of different branches, the Dragon Sparrow Fate Lord was, after all, the Fate Lord.

Faced with this request, Ming Shu chose to carry it out immediately.

He then took out all the resources gathered along the way in one go.

Brother Ming Hou did not stand on ceremony either, and swept all these resources into his spatial pack.

He estimated the value of this batch of resources, converted into Shou Shou Jili, would be over a million.

"Boy of the Heaven-Set branch, count yourself lucky. Remember what I said—follow my fate-path to seek the answers, and you will learn the truth, and like me, find the path to transcend the shackles of life."

At the end of his words, Brother Ming Hou wasted no more time, wrapped himself in Thunder Woe and shot toward the sky.

Only the fate-path runes on the sand, gradually smoothed over by the wind and sand, and Ming Shu, standing dumbfounded in place, remained.

The departing Brother Ming Hou, while flying, began to list the resources "gifted" by Ming Shu in bulk on the trading house, quickly converting them into Shou Shou Jili.

Resources were something Monster World had in plenty; the Shou Shou Jili that could be spent on the various functions of the Challenger System was the most precious resource in his eyes.

With the boost of this batch of resources, his growth speed could accelerate even further.

In high spirits, Brother Ming Hou increased his flying speed; along the way he bought a bottle of intermediate spiritual recovery potion from Shangcheng, rapidly topping off his depleted spiritual power.

As for Ming Shu's future trajectory, he had said just enough; how far the other could go depended entirely on his own fortune.

In the future, he planned to use this method to contact more clansmen, gradually drawing the entire Fate Clan toward Earth and converting them into players.

But the issuance of player qualifications was very slow; those clansmen without qualifications could just be used to build up Earth.