Chapter 2153: Future Replaces the Present

At this critical juncture, He Lingchuan had another wild and bold deduction.

It was wild because he had never done anything like it outside the Panlong World. It was bold because he had only one chance to verify it.

There was no time left; he had to make a choice between life and death.

Just a step away from the Azurewood Gate, he cast one last look at the dark space within and resolutely turned around!

He abandoned the opportunity to enter, turning instead to confront the Great Emperor Jiuyou directly. And his own future.

The opponent, accompanied by a fierce gust of wind, was barely three feet from him, radiating an aura of iron resolve, majesty, and coldness.

So this was the immense pressure of directly confronting the Great Emperor Jiuyou. He Lingchuan took a shallow breath and threw the Ouroboros necklace at him.

Let the test of fate begin.

The Great Emperor Jiuyou raised the Flotsam Blade, changing from a chop to a thrust, and the blade tip passed through the hole in the Ouroboros wood carving without damaging it in the slightest.

But he was not so gentle with He Lingchuan; the blade gleamed with cold light and plunged directly into his heart! Just as He Lingchuan had killed his previous self.

This time, there was no resistance, no tricks, and no surprises; the Flotsam Blade struck his vital point squarely.

Blood flowed down the subtle grooves on the blade. First a trickle, then stream after stream. The blood also flowed onto the Ouroboros wood carving.

"No matter how many times I die, being stabbed in a vital spot still hurts this much," He Lingchuan thought with a bitter smile, looking at the Great Emperor Jiuyou, who stood inches away. "Take off your mask, let me see myself clearly."

He struggled to reach out, attempting to remove the Great Emperor Jiuyou's mask, but the other party did not evade. However, before his fingers even touched the mask, they turned to ash. He looked at his arm and body, which were also dissipating.

The Great Emperor Jiuyou across from him suddenly raised a hand and removed his own mask. He Lingchuan smiled when he saw the face, a look of complete relief on his own: "It is indeed so. The future is yours..."

And like his predecessor, he turned to dust.

In this misty valley, only one living person remained.

On the tip of the Great Emperor Jiuyou's blade, a necklace still hung. Both versions of He Lingchuan had vanished, but the necklace remained.

He took down the Ouroboros wood carving and laid it flat in his hand. The last drop of blood from the pendant seeped into his palm, as quickly as if absorbed by a sponge, and the pair of snake eyes lit up. Eyes stained red with blood.

In this small world of the misty valley, only it had witnessed He Lingchuan's past, present, and future.

Holding the pendant, the Great Emperor Jiuyou's gaze gradually transformed from cold and rigid to bright and insightful.

The Skytower still stood before him. Its great door, which was about to close in two or three breaths, had now stopped, and the dark, imposing doorway faced him directly.

Yet, he did not enter. Instead, he turned and walked to the edge of the pond, observing for quite some time. There were scenes in the water, which he watched intently. But the scenes quickly dissipated, leaving only a reflection.

The reflection of the Great Emperor Jiuyou.

It was the Great Emperor Jiuyou, without the restless suppression of the "past self" or the otherworldly countenance of the "present self." His appearance and attire were identical to his real-world counterpart.

"This is my world," he declared in a deep voice. "Fate has no right to trap me here!"

His voice echoed through the valley, "—no right!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Skytower behind him vanished.

The Great Emperor Jiuyou looked again at the Ouroboros necklace in his hand. The snake had already begun to swallow its own tail.

In this trial, the most difficult part was not escaping the "Great Emperor Jiuyou's" pursuit, but making the right choice. How many could resist the temptation to escape and turn to face a grim and perilous future?

He Lingchuan dared to do this based on a crucial premise he had first confirmed: Primordial energy could not affect others, so the "Great Emperor Jiuyou" in this misty valley had to be himself. Therefore, this misty valley was neither within the Grand Cauldron nor among the immortal's relics; instead, it lay deep within his own sea of consciousness, merely enclosed by the immortal's relics. Or, to use a term written by True Lord Qianhuan in the "Compendium of Illusions": "Within Profound Contemplation."

But the immortal's relics cleverly dislocated and isolated his consciousness, forcing him to confront the fear of death and the unknown. However, the way "fate" operates is to relentlessly devour the past, like an Ouroboros, an endless cycle. If he had chosen to rush into the seemingly safer Skytower at that moment, that would have been an evasion, a refusal to face his own future. And without a "present," how could there be a "future"? Then this trial would have failed, and his own "Ring of Fate" would have been broken.

This was because the Skytower was clearly not an original creation of He Lingchuan's sea of consciousness. That was likely the real trap; once his consciousness left his sea of consciousness and his body to enter that unknown place, the outcome would truly be unpredictable. Recalling how the two Black-Armored Guards beside him had died, he would likely have fared no better.

He Lingchuan performed a blade flourish, casually drawing an "X" mark in front of him, as if tearing open a curtain, and a warm breeze blew in from behind it. He softly uttered a command: "Disperse!"

First, the mist covering the valley was blown away, and then the trees, the valley, and the pond all dissolved into smoke. This oppressive and monotonous world shattered before the Great Emperor Jiuyou's eyes. Since he now knew where this place was, it could no longer trap him. He didn't need to escape; he simply needed to make the place vanish on its own!

The Lu Manor Ancestral Hall.

To everyone, a golden light enveloped the Great Emperor Jiuyou's entire body, lasting only a brief three breaths of time. Afterwards, the golden light disappeared, as did the black and red mist that had filled the entire Lu Manor, leaving a clear, bright sky above.

The Great Emperor Jiuyou remained motionless, as if only a suit of armor stood in place. Everyone's gaze, however, was fixed on his wrist. The golden rings on his gauntlet had fully formed, appearing as a strange serpent continuously devouring its own tail, rotating in a cycle. Under the daylight, every one of its tiny scales gleamed with an unusual light, as if alive.

The crowd exchanged glances. After a long while, Wan Qiliang softly ventured, "Great Emperor?"

He Lingchuan suddenly opened his eyes. Golden light erupted from his eyes, ten times more dazzling than the midday sun! Others could not look directly at him and recoiled several steps in terror. Fortunately, this unusual phenomenon lasted only a brief instant. He Lingchuan blinked twice more, and the golden light vanished.

Everything was as before. A dead silence fell. Everyone held their breath, unsure what kind of monster he had become.

The Great Emperor Jiuyou, however, first looked at Lu Zhensheng. The latter's despair, frustration, and fear were already etched on his face. He had originally thought this time he could defeat the Great Emperor Jiuyou; how could he have imagined that even his ancestor's treasure would prove ineffective!

"I underestimated you," the Great Emperor Jiuyou said, casually removing the golden Ouroboros ring and letting it float in mid-air. "How many people have you harmed with it?"