Chapter 1 Old Acquaintances

"Mr. Yan, long time no see."

A drop of water landed on the surface, creating ripples in the water. Tian Shui slowly walked towards the man bound by chains.

In the void of the Source Tower, countless chains spiraled and intertwined.

This level was called the "Realm of Samsara."

A gaunt figure sat huddled on the ground, raising his head. His eye sockets were sunken and black...

Mr. Yan smiled and said, "Tian Shui."

He had lived for too long.

More accurately, this wisp of spirit had lived for too long.

Due to the excessive use of divination, Mr. Yan's physical body had been completely disassembled, all transformed into golden threads of fate, and dissipated into the real world.

In order to preserve the "art of divination" heritage.

Qing Long took action to preserve this wisp of spirit and imprisoned it in the Twin Gods Dreamscape of the Source Tower, using the power of the Fire Seed to seal and preserve Mr. Yan's last wisp of soul. This method was certainly heaven-defying, but Mr. Yan suffered the pain of his soul being drawn upon every day. Even though he was alive, he could not experience the joy of living.

"...I already know what's happening outside."

Mr. Yan smiled.

Although he had only a wisp of soul left, due to the unlimited use of divination, he basically understood what was happening outside.

Divination was like using a credit card.

And Mr. Yan at this moment was a heavily indebted gambler... He should have repaid long ago, but through "spiritual imprisonment," he continued to overdraft his credit, which had already been emptied to zero.

Under these circumstances, he didn't care at all whether he could afford the cost of overdrafting.

"The wanted order, the Red Dragon, and some things about you... I know everything."

Mr. Yan sighed deeply.

"The real world... approximately fifteen seconds left."

Mr. Yan looked up at the world above the dreamscape. He chuckled softly, "Fifteen seconds later, the world I am in will become pitch black."

This was the future he saw using divination, looking at himself.

He knew very well what pitch black meant.

However, in this spiritual world, the flow of time was greatly slowed down.

So...

They still had time to talk.

"The wanted order, the Red Dragon, and me... none of that matters now."

Tian Shui, wearing a mask, sat opposite Mr. Yan.

He gently placed his hands on his knees and smiled, "What matters is you."

"I'm not that important either, just a 'dead man.'"

Mr. Yan shook his head.

During the years he served the Source Tower, he had almost forgotten the meaning of his existence. This wisp of soul was imprisoned and bound in the spiritual world. He constantly provided the Source Tower with accurate predictions and divinations, and when no one needed him, his will would be forcibly put into hibernation by the Twin Gods Dreamscape to avoid excessive consumption and wasting his "lifespan"...

The word "lifespan" no longer existed for him. "Usage time" might be a more accurate description.

But now, the meaning of his existence was no longer significant.

【Deep Sea】had completed its eleventh upgrade, and the main system had begun to control the entire world. There were many things that no longer required him.

Nor did it require divination.

"I promised you that I would let you live." Tian Shui asked softly, "Now you only need to consider one question, still the same question as before, do you... want to live?"

Many years ago, Tian Shui had asked Mr. Yan the same question.

That time was the Great Hunt in Sangzhou Grotto.

The identity of the Lord of Wine had not yet been determined, and Tian Shui hoped that Mr. Yan would use his divination to help the Source Tower find the "Child of Divine Grace."

The later outcome was...

Mr. Yan used his divination to lock onto that little girl.

"I... want to live..."

"No..."

"I... don't want to live..."

The man bound by chains had a blank look in his hollow eyes. He looked at Tian Shui's mask. Over the years, the golden threads of fate from his divination, except for the Fire Seed taboo that he could not directly see, the only thing he couldn't see through was Tian Shui's mask... But now, in his muddled mind, he suddenly recalled distant memories from many years ago.

When he had just learned divination.

It seemed that a blurry face had appeared in front of him.

Mr. Yan stared blankly at the man in front of him.

He didn't answer the question of whether he wanted to live or not, but murmured, "Tian Shui... who are you?"

*Sizzle.*

This wisp of soul, withered to the extreme, suddenly began to fluctuate.

Fragmented memories surged up at this moment.

Mr. Yan turned his head. What he saw was not the boundless ripples of water in the "Realm of Samsara," but a life support capsule slowly closing. Lights flickered on and off. He seemed to have returned to the environment of many years ago. Above his head was a wide alloy metal plate, and he could vaguely see meteor showers flashing past outside the window through the transparent porthole.

He was not bound by chains, but held in a pair of strong arms.

This memory lasted for less than a second.

The next moment, he fell back into the Realm of Samsara.

That fragmented memory and the pitch-black reality constantly intertwined.

Tian Shui's masked face and the blurry face that held him in the life support capsule many years ago gradually overlapped, gradually merged, and even the voices of the two seemed to merge together.

"Do you want to live?"

Mr. Yan remembered.

Those things about himself before he came to the Source Tower, the truth that had troubled him for so many years...

At this moment, as the images and memories merged, it was unlocked.

Divination was never a technique that the people of the Five Continents could master. This was the ancient Wen power researched by the previous Starship Civilization, so Qian Ye, the other successor of divination who sat in Qingzhong, was also from the 【Old World】.

In fact, Mr. Yan was the same.

It was just that he didn't have as good luck as Qian Ye, who was able to meet someone like Gu Changzhi after waking up from his slumber.

When he woke up, his physical body was already broken.

The reason why he was imprisoned in the Twin Gods Dreamscape was because he had nowhere else to go... Even if Qing Long released the dreamscape and let him go to the real world, he would die directly.

And there was only one reason for working so hard.

That was because the person who saved him... was Tian Shui.

Many years ago, it was Tian Shui.

Many years later, it still was.

The two faces merged together, and Mr. Yan's sunken eye sockets became moist. He squeezed out a hoarse voice and uttered a word with great difficulty.

"Want to."

The lights on the ceiling of the starship shattered many years ago, and the water droplets above the Realm of Samsara fell vertically.

With a "plop."

The drop of water landed on the surface of the Realm of Samsara. Mr. Tian Shui extended a palm and placed it in front of Mr. Yan, slowly closing his eyelids for him. This time, the closing of his eyes meant eternal rest.

This wisp of soul, bound by chains in the spiritual world, was finally freed.

Thousands of wisps of spiritual light fluttered in the void and crashed into Mr. Tian Shui's wide sleeves.

At the moment the water droplet fell.

Fifteen seconds had passed in the real world—

This was exactly the "darkness" that Mr. Yan had predicted he would face.

But it wasn't over.

The entire Realm of Samsara began to riot. The sky was shattered, and the dome of the Realm of Samsara was lifted open by two fingers. A huge face overlooked this spiritual world from afar.

Tian Shui stood up and looked up at that huge face.

"Rumble rumble..."

That face slowly approached. The view of the sky in the Realm of Samsara could no longer cover it. In the end, Tian Shui only saw a huge, indifferent eye filled with killing intent.

The accumulated water in the Realm of Samsara began to boil, and a large amount of steam diffused, turning into mist and condensing into clouds.

No one knew how many layers the Source Tower had in total.

People only knew that the Source Tower was very high, as high as the sky.

In fact, each layer of this giant tower could be moved, raised, lowered, and erased at will... This existence, which was like a gateway to the heavens for mortals, was actually just a plaything of the Sky God Throne.

With a violent tremor, the Realm of Samsara suddenly began to rise.

Tremendous pressure descended.

Tian Shui let out a muffled groan in his throat. His knees bent slightly, but in the end, they only bent and did not kneel down—

"Buzz!"

Finally, the entire Realm of Samsara came to the highest level of the Source Tower's spire. Here, clouds and mist lingered, and one could overlook the entire Upper City, and even see the entire Central Continent.

However, the Realm of Samsara, which was originally extremely wide and vast, now looked like a square chessboard.

Mr. Yan's soul was gone.

So on this chessboard, there was only one chess piece that looked very lonely.

Tian Shui stood in the center of the Realm of Samsara, looking at the huge eye.

The view zoomed out again—

This single eye pupil reverted back to a huge face.

Qing Long gently supported this chessboard with one palm. After he released his palm, a large amount of evaporated mist held the chessboard up.

If a third person entered the Source Tower Spire at this moment, they would notice.

Everything here was normal, only Mr. Tian Shui on the chessboard looked like a miniature chess piece.

"Teacher."

Qing Long sat on the throne, propping his chin up with his hand, and spoke slowly, "Considering your kindness in raising me and nurturing me... I gave you time to escape from the Source Tower. If you wanted to escape, I actually wouldn't have chased after you."

This was why Tian Shui was able to complete this conversation with Mr. Yan in the Realm of Samsara.

He didn't escape, but stayed in the Source Tower.

Even...

He took away Mr. Yan's soul.

If Qing Long continued to ignore it, then he could still do more things within the Source Tower.

"I didn't plan to escape."

Tian Shui stood on the chessboard, looking at the disciple he had cultivated.

The Source Tower was very high, but what truly reached the heavens was not this tower.

It was Qing Long.

"Is it because you know you don't have long to live?"

Qing Long asked with a smile, "Or is it because... you really want to kill me, and you wishfully believe that sacrificing yourself and making some arrangements will kill me?"

Tian Shui smiled, neither admitting nor denying it.

"I don't like rainy days... but in recent years, the Upper City has had several rains every month."

"These are all arranged by you, I know."

"Gu Xiaoman's heart is with the Eastern Continent, this is also arranged by you... I also know."

"The Red Dragon is an orphan you picked up. He doesn't have much sense of belonging to the Source Tower. Even if he becomes the First Divine Envoy, he won't really sell his life for me."

"I know these things."

The man sitting on the throne had countless mirrors condensed from clouds around him, flipping up and reflecting the entire Five Continents. After playing against the 【Deep Sea】main system, his mind power continued to climb and break through. At this moment, the 【Cloud Mirror】authority had spread throughout the entire Five Continents, almost every corner.

He knew almost everything that happened here.

Qing Long looked at his teacher seriously.

"I have been watching these things, I just don't say it."

Although he was still smiling, there was a hint of sadness in his smile.

"Teacher... I'm just curious, if you disagree with me so much, why did you have to put so much effort into supporting me in the first place?"

Countless 【Cloud Mirrors】flipped and projected intense light, shining on Tian Shui.

Tian Shui, standing on the chessboard, shook his head in the blazing light.

"Supporting you in the first place was genuine."

"Wanting to kill you now is also genuine."

"People... change."

Tian Shui said, "Why don't you use the 【Cloud Mirror】to look at yourself and see what's different between you now and you back then?"

Qing Long was silent for a moment after hearing this.

A 【Cloud Mirror】directly in front of him slowly turned over.

He looked at himself in the mirror.

The mirror was shrouded in clouds and mist, and the specific appearance was not clear.

But what was clear was...

He sat in the highest position in the world, unmatched by anyone.

This place was almost reaching the heavens.

…

…

(ps: Beginning of the month, please vote for the monthly ticket! Next chapter at six o'clock in the evening!)

(End of this chapter)