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Chapter 459: The End of Infinity
The world wobbled around Hui. Darkness emanated from his hand, swallowing him up. Waves emanated out from that darkness, twisting the world around Huis body. Startled, Fei Hu leaped toward Hui, but too slow. The darkness swallowed him up, and he vanished.
Space compressed around Hui. He twisted into a noodle once more, dragged through space, then burst out. He staggered, then caught himself. His feet echoed through a hard, open room. Stone panels created firm footing below him.
Hui twisted his lips. A stone cave? A dark space? If a beast bursts out and snatches me up again, Im going to give up and nuke this space.
Nothing attacked him. Hui waited for another few moments, then straightened up and raised his hand. Exuding a bit of life qi into his palm, he let its golden glow fill the room.
Compared to the primitive world, with nothing but caves, beasts, and grain, he now found himself in a stone room. Stone tiles glistened underfoot, perfectly polished. Tiny bits of white jade wound through the center of each tile, shaping a dragon. Marble lined the walls, interspersed with red pillars twisting with gilded dragons. A few tasteful paintings hung at regular intervals.
Hui licked his lips, rubbing his itchy hands together. His eyes darted left and right, lingering on the finery. Want want to take want to loot
No, no. Stay strong, Hui. This is Fen Longs realm. Everything here belongs to Fen Long. I still want to try and get Fen Long on my side, or at least, I need to convince him to attack Gui Deluns faction. Stealing everything in his realm isnt the way to get him to agree with me!
He tucked his hands into his sleeves to keep himself from grabbing anything and walked on smoothly, keeping his eyes straight ahead. Dont look. I cant be tempted if I dont look. I
But if I look, and things go poorly, I know exactly what to go for on the way out. Yes, yes. Preview the treasures so I know what to
Fen Long is a Chen Wuya-level existence! A Patriarch! At least eighth, if not ninth realm. If I piss him off, its not like Chen Wuya, whos bound in a secret realm and can only escape with greatly weakened clones. Hes voluntarily hiding in this realm. He can obliterate me with a thought! When I speak to him, I have to be very careful, very, very careful!
Ah, thank goodness Im a clone. Im not risking our entire existence on this gamble!
Ahead, the wall grew wider. Faintly, Hui made out a throne, which grew more and more visible as he drew closer. An ornate throne carved from the purest white jade sat atop a raised dais. An older man in fine white and gold robes woven with dragon patterns sat atop the throne, jewels glittering on every finger, at his neck, and even in his hair. He sat up as Hui approached, a placid smile on his face.
Welcome, the man said gently. It has been a long time since someone visited. Step forward and tell me your name, young cultivator.
Hui hesitated. He blinked at the man, frowning slightly. Is this is this the man Chen Wuya sees as his rival? This stuffy old bag? I dont see him being anyones rival, let alone someone as vitriolic as Chen Wuya. And on top of that, sealing the Four Evils well, at least three of the four
Maybe he settled down after he sealed them, without anyone to trouble him. Its possible.
But then why isnt Chen Wuya rushing at him? That isnt very much like him, to hang back and hide. Maybe hes sulking. He does like sulking. But even then
Hui stepped forward slowly, bowing his head low and cupping his hands. This lowly cultivator greets Patriarch.
The man on the throne gestured him closer. Youve done well to reach this place. Come, let me see your face.
Taking another half step forward, Hui hesitated, then stopped. He shook his head. Somethings wrong. I dont know what, but no. This man isnt Fen Long. I dont believe it. This is a trick, some kind of trap. The obvious power cord, and now the obvious Fen Long. Its too easy.
The Patriarch of All-Heavens is considered missing. Zheng Minyan, the guardian of this place, is a wily old fox, not a fool. Im sure shes entered this space. Shes probably even discovered this realm-within-a-realm it was very obvious how to break in once I looked, after all. Compared to Fen Longs other realms, it was almost as if he wanted us to break it. If she didnt get this far, Id be very surprised.
So this cannot be Fen Long.
But then why? This space was designed by Fen Long. Both this realm-within-a-realm, and the mountains and valleys outside. Everything has a purpose. If he really wants to be left alone, its possible that all this fake is here for, is to hide his true self. Perhaps he wanted to be left in peace to practice some intensive technique. But what technique? And why would he leave a fake to practice a technique in peace? Hes the sect patriarch. Who would dare to disturb him?
Unless unless its a technique that weakens him while hes in the midst of practicing it. If hes in a vulnerable state, then with such sect intrigue as Gui Delun attempting to usurp him and the two factions in the sect, naturally, his life would be in danger! Theres nothing Gui Delun would like more than to strike a blow against the Patriarch, his greatest enemy. Thus Fen Long created a fake, to prevent him from attacking.
But Gui Delun he wouldnt stop just for that, would he? He
Huis eyes lit up. The cauldron! Outside this realm, that huge cauldron is about to explode, and its right on top of Fen Longs secret realm. If that cauldron explodes, its so hugely powerful that it might effect this world, or in the worst case, entirely collapse it! Gui Delun might have made it here, or maybe he didnt, but either way, he knew he couldnt actually find or attack Fen Long, so he decided to attack him in an underhanded way by leaving that huge bomb right outside Fen Longs hidden realm. And not only that, but he disguised it as an ordinary pill gone wrong, and blamed the eventual blast on Zheng Minyan, the pill master, all in the same stroke. How tricky, how tricky!
Raising his hand to his chin, Hui frowned. But it hasnt exploded yet. Well I guess thats Zheng Minyans doing. She is a pill master, after all. If anyone can put off a cauldrons explosion, its her. It seems like stopping it entirely is beyond her ability, but at least she can slow it down somehow. Pills are the one thing I understand less than swords, so Ill leave that to her, but my specialty is breaking secret realms! If anyone can find Fen Long, its me.
Except Ive already looked at the secret realm, and its I dont understand it. I could just tear it apart? But I dont know. I feel like Im missing something.
Hui knelt down and pressed his palm to the stone floor. He sent a pulse of qi into the floor and found the thin threads yet again. Its just I dont know what else to do. Ill try this, and then
What are you doing? I told you to step forward, the old man said in a stern voice.
Ignoring him, Hui drew out a blade of death qi and slashed at the threads. Even before the death qi reached them, they quavered and deteriorated. Threads fell away. The net began to collapse.
No. This isnt right, either. Hui stopped his blade seconds before it struck the net. The net shuddered. Frayed threads stuck out at every angle. Around Hui, the world grew dark in patches. The walls cracked, and the stone tiles shattered. 𝚗𝚘v𝚙𝚞b.𝚌𝚘m
The mans face grew hollow, his robes suddenly cast in the sharpest of contrast. In an eerie, distorted voice, he shouted, What are you doing? Stop!
Hui bit his lip. Im missing something. Theres some thread. Some concept, that binds this whole realm together. Like how I was thinking about the valleys, and his relationship with Chen Wuya. Something about this
Beasts. Boars. Deer. The grain. The mountains and the valleys amid a sea of stone. The dim lighting and the low clouds. What is it? What part of this
Chen Wuya talks about his past lives a lot. Could it be? Does Fen Long also have past lives? The grain. The boars. The beasts. The cycle of life. How rapidly the beasts age. Hui blinked. He put his hand on his chin. Could it be? Is it ?
