Chapter 422: Shackles? Bonds!

428. Chapter 428: Shackles? Bonds!

Nothing happened.

Lin Ke successfully evoked his own life light, but did not evoke the 'shell' of the second beam of light.

Furthermore, the resonance between the two locations—where one resides in the wizard civilization's cosmic time river and the other at the original coordinates of the special ruins world—did not occur.

This left Lin Ke somewhat puzzled, and even more disappointed.

"No way."

Michel Heavenly Venerable sighed, his emotions slightly fluctuating, "Indeed, it's not possible."

From this tone, it seems Michel Heavenly Venerable had already anticipated this situation.

Lin Ke looked at Michel Heavenly Venerable with doubt, seeking an explanation.

"Put it away."

Michel Heavenly Venerable did not rush to answer, but first gestured for Lin Ke to put away the evoked life light.

Even without the superposition of different time flows, which would not reduce lifespan, maintaining this state for a long time is still a consumption.

Consumption of the origin will affect future advancement.

Lin Ke knew this was well-intentioned and decisively put away his life light.

Michel Heavenly Venerable then said: "If only the 'shell' of that beam of light were present, I think you could summon it. But outside that 'shell,' there is another layer of shell."

"Added by the heavenly officials and immortals of the celestial court and the five sages of the Supreme Council?"

Lin Ke seemed to realize something.

"Of course."

Michel Heavenly Venerable smiled and nodded, "Didn't I say that before? I let you try just out of a hopeful chance. What if? Right?"

"Hmm."

Lin Ke also nodded in response.

"Alright, you've asked all the questions you wanted to ask; the things you want to clarify remain unclear for now, and I don't have any better advice for you, so go back."

Michel Heavenly Venerable didn't dawdle, rose directly and saw the guest out.

Lin Ke likewise did the same, politely bade farewell, and left the palace where Michel Heavenly Venerable currently resides, which floats and drifts in deep space.

Together with Medici Sixth-level Sage and his crew, they boarded the starflight vessel; Lin Ke turned his head, observing through the porthole glass this low-key luxurious palace, his thoughts subtle.

This palace—is it Michel Heavenly Venerable's residence, or a prison?

Perhaps it is both a residence and a prison.

Everything depends on how Michel Heavenly Venerable views his situation.

If he does not anguish over the lost part of his freedom, nor be angry, he can still live quite happily.

Even so, if he wishes, he could retrieve the Michel Great Sage's Tower currently under the trusteeship of the Supreme Council.

Then he could elevate the Michel Great Sage's Tower's strength and influence to a higher level.

Such a situation is absolutely something the Ruowosuosi Academy does not want to see, and Lin Ke also does not want to see.

Although Lin Ke previously had a pleasant discussion with Michel Heavenly Venerable, it does not mean that meeting and smiling resolves grudges.

If grudges were truly that easy to let go, would they still be called grudges?

Lin Ke clearly knows that he harbors strong resentment in his heart toward Michel Heavenly Venerable and the Michel Great Sage's Tower.

Lin Ke also clearly knows that Michel Heavenly Venerable knows that he harbors strong resentment toward Michel Heavenly Venerable and the Michel Great Sage's Tower.

They tacitly understand each other.

They merely, out of a shared desire to glimpse the 'shell' of the second beam of light that binds Michel Heavenly Venerable's fate, managed to get along harmoniously.

"Any gains?"

The Medici Sixth-level Sage's question interrupted Lin Ke's gaze and also broke his contemplation.

"Hmm."

Lin Ke came to his senses and responded faintly.

"Having gains is good; it wasn't a wasted trip."

The Medici Sixth-level Sage was very measured, only saying that much before falling silent.

He did not at all ask Lin Ke what specific gains he had.

Perhaps he asked Lin Ke whether there were any gains just to confirm whether he and his crew's efforts to give Lin Ke a false identity and conceal his itinerary had been in vain.

After the starflight vessel briefly warmed up, the engine engaged at full power, propelling the vessel at high speed away from the star sector where Michel Heavenly Venerable's palace resides.

By this point, Lin Ke did not really want the celestial court of the immortal-divine civilization and the Daoist Master's Manor to know, even if they did, the journey that was permissible to know ended.

"Medici Sage, please take me to find the reincarnation of the Lotussno Sage."

Lin Ke made this request to the owner of the starflight vessel, the Medici Sixth-level Sage.

"Okay."

The Medici Sixth-level Sage readily agreed and immediately entered a set of coordinates.

Through this action, Lin Ke noticed a detail.

Or perhaps the Medici Sixth-level Sage deliberately exposed this point.

Lotussno now maintains extremely close ties with the Supreme Council, even reporting his own whereabouts in real time to the Supreme Council.

Of course, there is also another possibility.

That is, Lotussno is cooperating with the Supreme Council, so the Medici Sage knows where he is.

Lin Ke did not guess wildly; instead, he sat in his seat, closed his eyes to rest his spirit, and cleared his mind.

When information is unclear or insufficient, basing speculation on one or two partial facts easily leads the train of thought astray.

If this person did not intend it, it would be better—perhaps only suffering some losses, but not harming muscles and bones.

If this person is deliberately leading astray, then it's terribly bad, highly likely to fall into a deep pit.

So, Lin Ke does not make wild guesses.

The Medici Sage saw Lin Ke's reaction, felt a barely perceptible disappointment for a moment, then quickly regained composure.

His disappointment was not because he failed to lead Lin Ke's thinking astray.

Rather, this is a hook he left behind, hoping to draw Lin Ke into asking how he knows where Luotesinuo is.

The task assigned by the Supreme Council to the Medici Sage was not, at first, to disguise Lin Ke or arrange his itinerary, but to follow Lin Ke, observe Lin Ke, and record Lin Ke.

To this day, this task has not been canceled.

Since it hasn't been canceled, it must be completed.

Unfortunately, the Grand Wizard didn't take the bait, so the Medici Sage lost a topic he could observe and record, naturally feeling disappointed.

The reason he quickly regained composure is that there's still plenty of time ahead for them to interact.

There will be plenty of opportunities to find things worth observing and recording.

The Starry Sky Vessel sails through the starry sky.

The Wandering Palace roams through the starry sky.

One appears to have a clear goal, yet every word and action falls into others' eyes and is constantly magnified;

One appears aimless, yet wherever he goes and whatever he does is influenced, even controlled, by others.

Linke Grand has embarked on the road to confront his "predestined fate," investigating questions everywhere, seeking clues, busy and bustling. Mixieer Heavenly Venerable, lingering in the Wandering Palace, smoothly endures the binding of fate, his mind tranquil, carefree and at ease?

Who knows which is true and which is false.

After all, when the false is made true, the true becomes false; from nothing comes something, and from something comes nothing.

Truth and falsehood, being and non-being—how can they be limited?

Amidst the mixture of truth and falsehood, the Starry Sky Vessel arrived at a spaceport of the Supreme Council's Parallel Universe Office.

This spaceport mainly provides starship repairs, personnel rest, logistical support, etc.; it is a temporary base at the two-universe passage and an important node on the essential route to the Demon Monster Civilization.

At that time, the vanguard of the Ruowosi Academy set out from the temporary base at the two-universe passage, heading for the wartime defense zone, where they simply rested and resupplied here.

"Grand Wizard, we have arrived."

After the Starry Sky Vessel came to a stop, the Medici Sage softly woke Lin Ke, who had been resting with closed eyes for more than two days.

Yes, the previous location of Mixieer Heavenly Venerable's Wandering Palace was already very close to the border between the Immortal God Civilization and the Demon Monster Civilization.

Or more precisely, it lay on the midline between the battle lines of the major border legions of the Immortal God Civilization and the expansion forces of the Wizard Civilization.

The Heavenly Court and the Supreme Council jointly bound Mixieer Heavenly Venerable's fate, making him a communication hub between the two civilizations, or an "arbiter" in times of interest disputes, naturally requiring him to be useful.

"Good, thank you, Medici Sage."

Lin Ke opened his eyes, gave a sincere thanks, then followed the Medici Sage and his crew down from the Starry Sky Vessel.

The party of seven, having shed their disguises, entered the spaceport under their true identities and appearances.

After entering the spaceport without incident, the Medici Sage led Lin Ke straight to its core area.

The Supreme Council sets up a contact point and a detachment of armed guards at every spaceport.

The armed guards are distributed three-dimensionally, and the contact point is naturally situated amid multiple layers of defense.

Despite continuous security checks along the way, with the Medici Sixth-Level Sage—an internal member of the Supreme Council backed by the Elemental Sage—present, Lin Ke passed through very smoothly to reach the contact point.

He saw Luotesinuo wearing a flamboyant straw hat, a colorful shirt, flower-patterned shorts, and flip-flops, pretending to be enjoying a sunbath on a seaside beach.

One does not know what stimulated him or inspired him.

And yet he pulled off such a stunt.

"Yo, brother!"

Upon noticing Lin Ke's arrival, Luotesinuo sprang to his feet with a jerk, holding a drink similar to a cocktail in his left hand, arms spread, head bent, legs cocked, and shouted a strange remark.

Lin Ke couldn't help but frown slightly, step back to avoid Luotesinuo's enthusiastic embrace.

This scene before him seemed somewhat familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.

Just as Lin Ke was about to search his memory for the source of this déjà vu,

Luotesinuo's antics struck again with a weird shout: "Damn, brother! Skinny old guys, let's go together."

Well, no need to search memory—Lin Ke then fully recalled it.

This is a scene from a Korean gangster film he had watched in a past life, *New World*.

The question is, how did Luotesinuo know about this scene, and why did he pull off such a stunt?

Having doubts, Lin Ke immediately asked: "Why are you doing this? Just playing around? Or is there some deeper meaning?"

"Ah!"

Luotesinuo sighed exaggeratedly, rolled his eyes, and said impatiently, "My cheap big brother, can't you cooperate with me just once?"

"Cannot."

Lin Ke spoke concisely, adopted a cold attitude, and directly refused.

"Heh..."

Luotesinuo gave a cold chuckle, "I knew you couldn't."

After he spoke, Luotesinuo snapped his fingers, and his outfit and demeanor instantly switched back to normal.

At that moment, the Medici Sage beside him stepped forward and greeted, "Have you met Luotesinuo the Sage?"

Although Luotesinuo displayed the rank of a fourth-rank sage, how could the Medici Sage dare treat him as merely a fourth-rank sage?

A reincarnated sage is still a sage.

They, having paid some price, can at any time regain the status and power of a sage.

"I'm not even a sage yet, no need to be so polite."

Luotesinuo waved his hand, spoke in a gentle tone, then shifted tone and ordered, "My cheap big brother, I'm here, so you go attend to your own affairs."

"Yes, Saint."

Medici Sage responded, leading his team away.

Just after turning around, a record was made: on a certain year, certain month, certain day, Linke Grand Wizard and Lotesnuo Saint met somewhere; the conversation could not be recorded; please take note, all parties.

This record, along with the detailed record of Lin Ke's meeting with Michelle Heavenly Venerable, was distributed to a special encrypted 'server' of the High Council.

The number of wizards in the High Council who have permission to browse this encrypted 'server' does not exceed ten.

Lotesnuo smiled, withdrawing his gaze from the Medici Sage, and said with a laugh: "What's it like cooperating with that old dark one of the Elements?"

Lin Ke earnestly corrected: "I am merely cooperating with the High Council represented by the Medici Sage; I am not yet qualified to speak of cooperating with the Elemental Saint."

Lotesnuo completely ignored Lin Ke's correction, seized on a loophole, and laughed loudly: "As it turns out, you tacitly accept that that old dark one of the Elements is the Elemental Saint, haha… interesting. I don't know what that old dark one of the Elements would think if he found out."

Lin Ke remained silent.

It wasn't that he was truly caught at a weak point and had nothing to say; rather, he didn't want to engage with such a topic.

After waiting a long time for Lin Ke's explanation or rebuttal, Lotesnuo laughed for a while, found it uninteresting, stopped laughing, frowned, and asked: "You came to see me; you must have something to say—just say it directly."

"I want to ask, what do you think of Michelle Heavenly Venerable?"

Lin Ke was not polite; since you told me to speak directly, I will speak directly.

"Not much to see—standing, lying, sitting."

Lotesnuo replied casually.

Seeing this, Lin Ke knew Lotesnuo didn't want to discuss anything related to Michelle Heavenly Venerable, and so he abandoned the idea of further deep discussion.

The two fell into silence.

This silence was actually somewhat awkward.

Lotesnuo wanted Lin Ke to pay attention to topics such as clips and lines from 'New World,' but Lin Ke only gave them a passing glance; Lotesnuo beat around the bush without giving a direct answer, so Lin Ke shifted his focus, not really wanting to know what Lotesnuo wanted him to know.

What Lin Ke hoped to obtain from Lotesnuo—his opinion—Lotesnuo genuinely did not want to give, or could not give.

This meant that the two had no common topic left.

Fortunately, they were merely convenient brothers; lacking a common topic, at most they would part ways, with no other consequences.

Nevertheless, that still holds: Lotesnuo currently cannot let Lin Ke part ways with him; he must still bind him for a while longer.

So, Lotesnuo took a deep breath, made a concession, and said in a low voice: "Michelle has her fate, you have yours; the two of your fates have few bonds."

Lin Ke seemed thoughtful, quietly waiting for Lotesnuo's next words.

Lotesnuo continued: "Because of some past events, my fate is highly bound to yours; your fate, in turn, is highly bound to the will of the mage world. If you don't believe it, recall how much help the will of the mage world gave you during your growth. Once you figure this out, you will truly understand which way to go next."

After hearing this, Lin Ke suddenly recalled a saying of Iris.

It's not a restriction, merely a delineation!