A sharp dinner knife was thrust into the chest of the fat man who called himself the author, blood flowing out of the wound in a steady stream.
"I thought you were some unfathomable powerhouse, but you're just a mortal. One gentle stab, and you're dead."
The fat man was dying, but there was no trace of pain on his face. He smiled.
"Wan Lei, you just don't believe, but it doesn't matter. You can consider this a hallucination."
"But have you ever thought that the path to transcendence is a lonely one? If you walk this path, you'll be the only one left in this world."
"Impossible! I am transcendent, beyond the Immortal Venerables. Immortal Venerables can resurrect everyone, why can't I? Transcendence is the end of all realms, it's great freedom and great creation. I can resurrect others with ease!"
"Wan Lei, you still don't understand transcendence. True transcendence is great freedom and great liberation, but it also means severing ties with all universes and breaking free from all constraints. It's such a simple principle, isn't it? Han Fengxue has always pursued this. But... you severed your connection with the prime plane, achieving true transcendence, and thus you are no longer related to the prime plane. What right do you have to resurrect the prime plane?"
"I..." Wan Lei stood there, speechless.
"Transcend or not transcend, you choose. I'm giving you another chance. Transcendence will allow you to kill Han Fengxue and avenge everyone, but you won't be able to resurrect anyone. If you don't transcend, you'll have the right to resurrect everyone, but you won't be able to kill Han Fengxue."
Transcendence or not transcendence, you can't have your cake and eat it too. This was the greatest dilemma facing Wan Lei.
After a moment, Wan Lei let out a wry laugh. "I almost fell for your trap. I choose transcendence."
"Oh?" A playful glint flashed in the fat man's eyes.
"It's a simple principle. If I don't transcend, I can indeed resurrect others. But don't forget, Han Fengxue is still alive. If I don't transcend, I will die myself, so how can I resurrect anyone? If I transcend and kill Han Fengxue, and I'm still alive, I can find ways to resurrect them. As long as I'm alive, there's hope. The Five Great Immortal Venerables and Xiao Yu sacrificed themselves to make me, I can't just die like this. I can't die before I resurrect them."
"Hmm... indeed. It's like Sun Wukong. If he wears the restriction, he can't embrace Zixia. If he doesn't wear the restriction, he can't save Zixia. In the end, he can only wear it. Your choice is a good one."
"You dead fatso." Wan Lei smiled gently. "Farewell."
"Go, go." The fat man, with the dinner knife stuck in his chest and bleeding profusely, continued to eat his grilled fish as if nothing had happened. This scene looked unusual, more like a hallucination.
"By the way, dead fatso, is my world... really fake?" Wan Lei looked back.
The fat man smiled slightly. "The famous philosopher Liu Huaqiang once said, when you ask if this melon is ripe, it's already a green melon in your heart. Don't you already have the answer in your heart?"
"I still don't believe it. I think everything I have is the result of my own efforts."
"Yes, just believe in yourself. If you work hard, you will be rewarded."
"Farewell." Wan Lei's figure vanished in an instant.
"This brat, I wrote so many plots for you, and you still don't know my name." The fat man smiled bitterly, pulled the dinner knife from his chest, threw it into the trash can, and sighed, "Alas, you never know when to hold back. Every time you see me, you stab me. Ninety percent of your hundred pounds is stubbornness. I still couldn't write the words 'The End,' forget it, let this guy get what he wants."
The Prime Plane.
Silence, destruction, lifelessness, as if these had become synonymous with this once vibrant world. Han Fengxue was rampaging through the prime plane like a madman.
"Wan Lei, where are you? Get out here!"
"You bastard, you fused with all the authorities of the prime plane and then ran away, leaving me unable to devour you and achieve transcendence."
"Get out here! Do you think I can't find you if you escape? I'll scour the heavens and the earth to find you and devour you alive!"
"Get out here! Come out, and I'll let you go. Leave the authority of the prime plane for me!"
"Wan Lei, I promise you, if you come out, give me the authority, and I'll preserve your will, let you re-fuse with the newly born authority, and I'll even help you resurrect the prime plane, just come out!" Han Fengxue had gone mad.
Fifty thousand years of patience and effort, tens of millions of years of waiting, he finally saw a glimmer of hope for transcendence. But Wan Lei was gone. It was like he had spent hundreds of thousands in dowry, bankrupted himself, and almost killed his parents to finally marry his wife, only for her to elope on their wedding night with the dowry money he had painstakingly borrowed. How could he tolerate this! How could this not drive him insane! He wished he could grab Wan Lei, skin him alive, and torment him for ten thousand years!
"You're looking for me?" A voice suddenly came from behind Han Fengxue. He spun around abruptly and saw Wan Lei looking at him indifferently.
"Wan Lei!!!" Han Fengxue gritted his teeth and threw a punch at Wan Lei. His enraged punch caused the rules to go haywire, instantly collapsing the entire prime plane. However, Wan Lei simply extended a palm, causing Han Fengxue's authority to tremble, his will to waver, and him to be sent flying thousands of universes away. The next second, Wan Lei appeared before him again. Han Fengxue stared at Wan Lei, dumbfounded and disbelieving. "You... transcended?" Wan Lei nodded calmly.
"How did you transcend? How could you transcend? Tell me, by what right have you transcended? I worked so hard for so many years, endured humiliation, devoured those six demon lords, and waited for tens of millions of years. Why did you transcend?!" At this moment, Han Fengxue felt like that beautiful wife who had eloped with his dowry money was now lying in his enemy's bed, provocatively beckoning him and trying to please him.
"Because your path was wrong. Fusing with the authorities of the prime plane couldn't lead you to transcendence. At best, you would only be the supreme deity of the prime plane and the negative plane. You still couldn't escape the fate of being bound by the universe."
"No, I fused with the authority of the negative plane, and you fused with the authority of the prime plane. But why could you transcend and I couldn't!"
"Because... fusing with the complete will of an entire plane is indeed the key to opening the door to transcendence..."
"But I already have the key." Han Fengxue roared.
"But you don't have the door." Wan Lei raised his hand, showing Han Fengxue the ring on his finger.