1451-1460

Chapter 1451: Don't All Games Have an Opening CG?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"My host is a traveler like you, but they probably did not come from the same place as you did. Their world possesses extremely advanced technology and has even developed artificial intelligence close to the level of Goldfingers.

"Also, the world that my host traveled to was not this great world of yours. That world was much vaster and stronger than your great world. There even existed powerhouses whose strength exceeded that of a Lord.

"Powerhouses whose strength exceeded that of a Lord… how could such a powerful world be invaded by the Abyss?" Lin Huang could not help asking.

"All I can say is that the power of the Abyss far exceeds your imagination," the Emperor's Heart earnestly explained.

"The Abyssal creatures that you see in the gravel world are mainly from the shallow layers of the Abyss. Their role in the Abyss could be compared to that of plankton in the sea. In the middle layers, even True Gods and Heavenly Gods are merely little fishes and shrimps at most.

"The truly terrifying part of the Abyss lies within the deep layers! There are countless ancient monsters that lay dormant there—some of them are even born as Lords, some have breaths that could transform into black holes and swallow the stars even as they lay in deep slumber. As for the ones that lay dormant within the deepest depths, if even one of those fellows were to awaken, it would be enough to unleash a scene of bloody carnage across the whole universe!"

"If the Abyss is as powerful as you say, why haven't they conquered the entire universe?" Lin Huang did not doubt the honesty of the Emperor's Heart's words, but he felt that based on the description he heard, the Abyss was easily strong enough to conquer the whole universe.

"I am not entirely sure of the reason, but I have heard of a legend which states that the ruler of the Abyss is always in a dormant state, and their deep slumber would construct one dreamland after another. The closer the Abyssal creatures are to their ruler, the stronger they become. It also means that the deeper they fall into dreamland, the more difficult it is for them to leave the Abyss.

"The abyssal monster who is the rival of my host is one of the strongest among the monsters who are still able to leave the Abyss."

Upon hearing all this, Lin Huang could not help inquiring once again, "What's the monster's exact strength? Can you tell me?"

He wanted to have a clear understanding of the level of the potential enemy he might have to face in the future.

"It is the level of Lord, also known as the 'mighty divinity-level' in the universe. Powerhouses that have reached mighty divinity-level will develop Dao tattoos within their bodies to consolidate Dao seals. Lord-level is divided into four ranks based on the complexity level of the Dao seals formed by the Dao tattoos.

"Dao seals formed by ten or less Dao tattoos are known as level-1. Dao seals formed by ten to a hundred Dao tattoos are known as level-10. Dao seals formed by a hundred to a thousand Dao tattoos are known as level-100. Dao seals formed by more than a thousand Dao tattoos are known as level-1000.

"A simple way to categorize the Lords would be as lower-rank, middle-rank, upper-rank, and ultimate-rank Lords.

"My host, as well as that fellow from the Abyss, are both ultimate-rank Lords.

"Millions of years ago, my host and I passed by your great world. I recall that there were no ultimate-rank Lords in this great world during that time," Emperor's Heart added.

Lin Huang was left speechless by what he heard. The existence of the Abyss was too terrifying; for a moment he even considered retreating and searching for another way to overcome the crisis brought about by the Myriad Tribe Palace.

He could not even afford to anger the Myriad Tribe Palace, let alone the great abyssal monster that reigned above the Myriad Tribe Palace.

The Emperor's Heart seemed to have noticed Lin Huang's doubts and quickly continued, "However, you don't have to worry. Even if you refine the Godhead fragment, that fellow from the Abyss probably won't cause any trouble for you. There are millions of God Territory fragments, so there surely must be more than one that has been refined by others. That Abyss fellow will not leave the Abyss as long as the coordinates of my host and I have not been secured. All you have to do is think about how to deal with the Myriad Tribe Palace."

"You say that, but it will inevitably cause some consequences, one way or another," Lin Huang bluntly said what he was dreading.

The Emperor's Heart was stunned for a moment after hearing those words. He obviously did not expect Lin Huang to have thought so deeply into the subject. This was actually something he had wanted to conceal if possible.

The Emperor's Heart let out a dry laugh but still continued on with the conversation, "This so-called consequence is just an illusory concept. Even if your actions indirectly affect the future, it definitely won't be as serious as you think it is."

Lin Huang did not want to get further entangled in this topic, so he just changed the subject.

"I'm a little curious, when did your host's defeat in battle take place?"

"4.83 million years ago," the Emperor's Heart stated the fact blandly. "This piece of God Territory fragment arrived in this world three days after my host's defeat.

"After that, the remnant soul of my host went into a deep sleep, and I used the seed of the Stairway Tree as a host body to begin slowly growing.

"At that time, most areas of the God Territory fragment were still old-growth forests with various living creatures. I imparted the knowledge of cultivation to a bunch of kids that caught my eye, and some of them indeed excelled in their cultivation. This era is called the primeval epoch by the descendants of this world."

"The primeval epoch of the gravel world was started by you?!" Lin Huang exclaimed involuntarily.

"Yes. It's just a pity that less than a million years after the start of the primeval epoch, this piece of God Territory fragment was discovered by that person's subordinates, who mobilized the invasion and began purging this land.

"After the end of the primeval epoch, I once again passed down the knowledge of cultivation to a new batch of people, but a little over a million years ago, another major bout of purging happened. That was the end of the era that was coined the archaic epoch by your people.

"After that, I intervened in the advancement of the gravel world again and again, bringing out different systems of cultivation routes each time. Despite that, the cultivators were all massacred to extinction every time…"

After listening to the Emperor's Heart's explanation of this period of history, Lin Huang was bursting with more questions to ask.

"How much do you know about the opening of various Virtual Eyes during the new era? Was this also that person's doing?"

Hearing this question, the Emperor's Heart fell silent for a moment before speaking again.

"The new era… was started by me. Those Virtual Eyes were also opened by me."

The Emperor's Heart did not know how to react to Lin Huang's expression of shocked disbelief, so he just continued.

"Due to previous cultivation epochs being eradicated over and over again, I've started using a more unorthodox approach. I remember my host telling me that in their world, there were many games where one could increase their levels by fighting monsters. Using this as an inspiration, I used up nearly all the energy that I've accumulated over millions of years to reform the entire God Territory fragment.

"All newborns throughout the whole gravel world will become 'game players' who can upgrade their levels through fighting monsters. The Virtual Eyes were also opened to grant experience to all cultivators."

"So you're saying that the opening of three thousand Virtual Eyes more than eight hundred years ago was your doing?!" Lin Huang felt that things were becoming more and more outlandish every second.

"Yes, because conventional methods can no longer allow any powerhouses in this gravel world to rapidly evolve, let alone break the vicious cycle that is the destruction of the cultivation epochs! Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"But didn't that group of invaders all claim that they're from the God Territory?" Lin Huang asked, puzzled.

"That's all just an act… don't all games have an opening CG?"

Chapter 1452: No, You Don't Want to Know

"I have one more question. After I cleared the 81st checkpoint on the Stairway Tree, I received an invitation from an organization called the Club. Were you the one who sent me that letter?"

"Yes, but also no. My host is a member of the Club. That invitation letter was the one and only invitation right that my host had.

"To be honest, the checkpoints on the Stairway Tree were not set by me. All I did was put the invitation letter on the top floor of the Stairway Tree. The eighty-one checkpoints were assessment requirements that were automatically set by the invitation letter based on its surroundings and environment. Whoever clears the checkpoints will automatically be eligible to join the Club."

"Those assessments were all set by the invitation letter?!" Lin Huang's face was filled with amazement. "But it just looks like a regular piece of card. There isn't even that much energy fluctuation remaining."

"It's just an object created by a powerhouse who has surpassed lord-level, so it'd be weirder if you actually could sense any energy fluctuation from it," Emperor's Heart could not help but retort.

"Since your host is a member of the Club, you should know a few things about it, right?" Lin Huang pressed for information on the Club.

"I don't really know that much about it. All I know is that after my host joined the Club, apart from receiving a few missions, my host has only met a total of three other Club members in the span of millions of years. The organization is very laid-back, and members practically have free rein. However, one thing that I can be sure of is the fact that rewards for their missions are extremely lucrative!"

His chat with the Emperor's Heart lasted for almost an hour.

Many of Lin Huang's doubts had been cleared, and the conversation was gradually coming to an end.

"Why haven't you asked me who my host's reincarnation is?" The Emperor's Heart suddenly took the initiative to ask Lin Huang this question.

"Would you tell me?" Lin Huang raised his eyebrows. He did not think that the Emperor's Heart would disclose such confidential information to him. After all, the host's reincarnation definitely had not fully grown up yet. Logically speaking, from the Emperor's Heart's perspective, Lin Huang could potentially be a great threat to the reincarnated host.

Although Lin Huang did inquire about a lot of secrets, he still chose to avoid such questions out of a sense of propriety.

Hearing this rhetorical question, the Emperor's Heart smiled and changed the subject. "When are you leaving the gravel world?"

"My original plan was to resolve the crisis in the gravel world, stay for two to three months at most, then leave after a short rest." Lin Huang felt no need to hide his plans. "Now that there's the matter regarding the Myriad Tribe Palace, however, things have become a little uncertain.

"Well, firstly, I'll have to try and see if I can refine this piece of God Territory fragment." After saying that, Lin Huang asked, "If I manage to successfully refine it, will there be any effect on my God Territory?"

"If the refinement is successful, the God Territory fragment will become a part of your God Territory. Once you've evolved into a True God, you could even keep it in the God Territory within your body and completely cut off the connection between the gravel world and the outside world. If that happens, even if the Myriad Tribe Palace were to reconnect the space tunnels with the original coordinates, all they would be able to find after teleporting is an empty void."

"So, there won't be any side effects?" Lin Huang pressed.

"No, there won't. It's essentially the same as accepting an incomplete inheritance, except the inheritance is neither a cultivation method nor a memory. What side effects can you possibly have from refining an inheritance fragment?" The Emperor's Heart was a little speechless. He did not expect Lin Huang to be so cautious.

…

By the time Lin Huang was sent back to the Union Government's headquarters by the Emperor's Heart, more than an hour had passed.

In the conference hall, the crowd had not dispersed. Due to Lin Huang's absence, they could not proceed with the main agenda of the meeting and could only discuss some minor issues as they waited patiently for Lin Huang's return.

Everyone, that is, except Jiang Shan, who had been a little preoccupied with his thoughts. Due to the fact that the Emperor's Heart and the Union Government were only tied by a partnership and were not constrained by a binding contract, his current worry was the possibility of Lin Huang and the Emperor's Heart forming a contractual relationship and knocking the Union Government off its perch.

If that were to really happen, then Dynasty would not only have Lin Huang, but also True God reinforcements and control over the entire Heart Network.

With that, Dynasty would replace the Union Government's current position in no time.

After being teleported back, Lin Huang headed straight toward the conference room.

When he pushed open the doors and walked in, all heads turned to look at him.

Noting the questioning look in the eyes of Mr. Fu and the two Sword Servants, Lin Huang gave them a slight nod to signal that he was okay, then strode back to his seat.

"Please excuse me. Let's continue, shall we?"

The meeting continued soon after Lin Huang's return.

It was not until past four o'clock in the afternoon that the meeting neared an end.

Yet, the various proposals that were brought up during the meeting were still not enough to relieve the crisis of the gravel world.

After thinking about it, Lin Huang felt that the only reliable solution was still the Emperor's Heart's.

However, it was impossible for him to bring up the matter regarding refining the gravel world in front of so many people. It was highly unlikely that everyone would agree to it; the Union Government, in particular, would definitely be firmly opposed to the idea.

Therefore, Lin Huang had no choice but to execute this plan secretly. After the refinement had been completed and the crisis resolved, it would no longer matter if other people found out—their objections would mean nothing by then.

At the end of the meeting, Lin Huang suddenly stood up.

"Chief Jiang, if I may be so bold, I have a request that I hope the Union Government will agree to."

"Please go ahead, Your Majesty." Jiang Shan became alert at once. He thought that Lin Huang was going to mention something related to the Emperor's Heart.

"I hope that the cloning department of the Union Government will destroy all of my younger brother's clones and genetic materials," Lin Huang said and glanced toward Lin Xuan who was next to him.

Jiang Shan was confused for a moment. "Your younger brother? Do you mean Lin Xuan?"

"That's right." Lin Huang nodded with a serious expression. "I don't care about the other clones, but for Lin Xuan's, I wish for all of them to be destroyed!"

Jiang Shan traded glances with Dongfang Bai who was beside him, as if they were exchanging voice transmissions through Divine Telekinesis, before nodding. "Very well."

With that brief interlude, the end of the meeting was ultimately declared.

Lin Huang was about to summon a portal to leave when he heard Jiang Shan's voice calling out from behind, "Your Majesty, please stay back for a moment."

Lin Huang paused and turned around. "Is there anything else, Chief Jiang?"

With an eye signal from Jiang Shan, Dongfang Bai and others all quickly left. Lin Huang also asked Mr. Fu to leave. Soon, Jiang Shan and Lin Huang were the only ones remaining in the conference room.

"Emperor Lin, did your talk with the Emperor's Heart go well?"

"It went pretty well." Lin Huang smiled and nodded. He had a general idea of what Jiang Shan was worried about. "We talked about a lot of things, and I also learned a lot of secrets."

"That's good, then…" Jiang Shan really wanted to press for more details, but he could not bring himself to say it out loud.

"Don't worry, I won't snatch the Emperor's Heart away." Lin Huang knew what Jiang Shan wanted to ask and could not bear seeing the man's embarrassed look any longer, so he just told him the truth. "Its host has successfully reincarnated, so it won't choose a second host."

"Its host has been reincarnated?" Jiang Shan was taken aback. "Who is it?!"

"How would I know? I didn't ask. If you guys want to know, just ask it yourself."

After realizing he had probably sounded a little too desperate, Jiang Shan coughed twice before swiftly changing the topic. "Then, did it bring up any useful suggestions for our current crisis?"

"It did." Lin Huang nodded, but did not bother to elaborate.

"Could you give me the specifics?" Jiang Shan immediately pressed.

"You wouldn't want to know," Lin Huang said, shaking his head firmly.

Chapter 1453: Like The Rear Bumper Of An Old Car

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Upon his return from First City to Emperor City, Lin Huang went into closed-door cultivation at the first possible opportunity.

However, this round of closed-door cultivation was not aimed at improving his abilities; rather, it was for him to consider how he might try to communicate with the world will.

According to the Emperor's Heart, it was possible for anyone who had mastered Rule Bending Power to communicate with the world will of the gravel world.

However, the Emperor's Heart had not disclosed how to communicate with the world will. It had only mentioned that the world will's willingness to communicate would vary from person to person.

As for how to refine and integrate the God Territory fragments, the only thing the Emperor's Heart had said was that entrance to the World Core would only be permitted by the world will if one obtained sufficient approval from the world will itself.

In other words, this was all a game of currying favor.

"In this guessing game of how to obtain favor, though, I either need to pick the right option, or I have to present the other party with something that they like before I can conquer the target…" This thought caused Lin Huang some awkwardness. "But there aren't any ABCD options to choose from in communicating with the world will. I don't even know what sort of gift it might like…"

Amid so many uncertainties, Lin Huang decided to try and see if he could successfully communicate with the world will first.

An overwhelming wave of Divine Telekinesis emanated from within his being, spreading in all directions like ripples, and continuously extending further into the distance.

100 meters!

1,000 meters!

10,000 meters!

…

10,000 kilometers!

100,000 kilometers!

500,000 kilometers!

…

At last, the wave halted at 600,000 kilometers.

Lin Huang's Divine Telekinesis was able to cover practically more than half the entire gravel world.

Quite a number of virtual god-level powerhouses sensed the arrival of this powerful wave of Divine Telekinesis.

Lin Huang's Divine Telekinesis was instantly recognizable, not just to Dynasty but also to the faraway Misery, the Union Government, the Hunter Association, and the Virtual Gods from organizations such as Mystic Butterfly, Shadow Killer, and the Heretics.

However, several Virtual Gods who were not so familiar with Lin Huang thought that some powerful existence had once again arrived in the gravel world; this gave them a bit of a shock. Some even secretly contacted the Union Government to report the situation. The Union Government itself was unsure whether to laugh or to cry even as they had to help explain that this was Lin Huang's Divine Telekinesis.

All the members of Dynasty did not know why Lin Huang had suddenly sent his Divine Telekinesis out to probe in this manner.

"Isn't His Majesty in closed-door cultivation? Why has he suddenly caused such a stir?"

Mr. Fu even sent out his own Divine Telekinesis probe to inquire of Lin Huang, "What's happened?

"Nothing's happened, I'm just trying an experiment," Lin Huang responded.

Other organizations began to speculate among themselves about what Lin Huang might be up to with his current actions.

"Could he be looking for some sort of treasure?"

"He might also be trying to find someone."

"Then again, he might just be purely demonstrating his power."

Amid everyone's various speculations, Lin Huang suddenly sensed a wave of consciousness making contact with him.

The wave of consciousness did not convey any verbal information; rather, what was transmitted to Lin Huang was a joyous, even lively emotion.

"The world will?!" Lin Huang was stunned for a moment but immediately pulled himself together.

His initial idea had been to extend his Divine Telekinesis and probe around first, then try to communicate with the various incomplete Rules Bending Powers in the void. Afterward, he would search through the vestiges of these Rules Bending Powers for clues to see if he could find any traces left behind by the world will.

However, he had never expected that less than ten seconds after sending his Divine Telekinesis out, the world will would take the initiative to search for him.

Based on what the Emperor's Heart had described, the world will was still in the stages of infancy due to the gravel world's incomplete rules. Most of its behavior was instinctual. In fact, its subjective consciousness was not very strong; it was also unable to understand human language.

When he sensed the desire for connection that the world will conveyed, Lin Huang's Divine Telekinesis also sent out a message of goodwill.

As soon as he made known his intentions, the world will was even more thrilled.

Lin Huang speculated that the world will displayed such friendliness to him probably because he had killed the invaders from the Thousand Snake Sect.

Although the world will did not have a high intelligence, it was still very much aware that the Thousand Snake Sect were the ones who had suppressed it before.

After condensing his Divine Telekinesis and having some friendly fun with the world will for a little, Lin Huang then guided the world will to the periphery of the Abyss Brink.

Lin Huang's Divine Telekinesis transformed into a large hand and stretched out a finger, pointing toward the Abyss Brink.

At the same time, Lin Huang sent out a thought, 'I must find a way to solve the problem of the Abyss Brink.'

Even though the world will was unable to communicate in words, it managed to catch the gist of what Lin Huang meant.

Propelled by Lin Huang's Divine Telekinesis, the world will directly broke through into the third layer of the Abyss Brink.

Upon entering there, the world will's mood dropped very conspicuously.

Lin Huang's Divine Telekinesis once more transformed into a large hand and pointed in the direction of the dimensional gateways.

The world will then fully understood what Lin Huang meant. It quickly nodded, indicating that it needed Lin Huang's help to solve this issue.

Without even waiting for Lin Huang to state his request to refine and integrate his God Territory fragments, the world will suddenly traveled through the dimensions and arrived in Emperor City. It transformed into a dense cloud of fog shaped like a human figure and appeared in the Emperor Palace.

Before Lin Huang could react, the other party had suddenly discovered his physical location; he saw the humanoid-shaped cloud of thick fog rapidly heading toward him.

Lin Huang only felt his vision being enshrouded by the fog, and he experienced a brief moment of confusion. When he came back to his senses again, he was already in the void.

In the pitch-black darkness of the void, Lin Huang quickly saw a thin red-gold sheet not too far away; it was about the size of a palm. The sheet was translucent and irregularly shaped; it looked a bit like a torn half of a playing card.

He stretched his hand toward the sheet to investigate it, placing it in his palm. He was just about to examine the object carefully, only to discover that it was disintegrating into countless red-gold sparks; the sparks then transformed into countless points of starlight that swarmed right into his inner world.

Lin Huang quickly sent his consciousness into his body to probe and discovered that the myriad red-gold sparks were making for the God Territory within him—Monster Paradise.

However, the strangest thing was that the sparks, which descended with terrifying momentum like a meteor shower, did not cause any damage at all to Monster Paradise. After falling into his God Territory, they only generated layer upon layer of ripples in the void, which then quickly dissipated and vanished completely.

Before Lin Huang could even react, he realized that the integration was complete.

"That's it?" He was utterly startled, still finding it hard to believe. "Refinement and integration have been completed just like that?!"

Lin Huang checked his God Territory, still harboring some doubts.

His God Territory did not seem to have changed much, but Lin Huang suddenly discovered that a wreath of dense fog in human shape had infiltrated the entire area.

"The world will can enter my God Territory?!" Only after seeing the incarnation of the world will appearing was Lin Huang finally able to confirm that he had indeed completed the integration and refining of the God Territory fragments.

'How do I use the power of the world will to strip off the third layer of the Abyss Brink?' Right as this doubt arose in Lin Huang's mind, he suddenly experienced a moment of disorientation. When he regained his senses, he found that his perspective was now completely different from before.

Wherever he looked, there were no longer any solid objects. There were only dots and lines of various colors scattered in all directions, as well as fluctuating clouds.

It took Lin Huang a moment before he suddenly realized what had happened. "Is this the perspective of the world will?! I've become the world will?!"

Lin Huang looked around Monster Paradise and quickly discovered a gateway. He sensed that on the opposite side of the gateway was the aura of the gravel world.

After hesitating for a moment, he dived in.

Once he exited the gateway, Lin Huang found that he had returned to the gravel world.

'How do I get to the Abyss Brink?' He could not see any solid objects, so he could not even tell which direction was which anymore. In the midst of his worries, his figure suddenly shifted. An instant later, he appeared directly at the entrance of the Abyss Brink.

Although it was different from what he could see in the material world, it took Lin Huang only a glance to recognize that this was the Abyss Brink.

"Whenever I think about a place, I'll immediately appear there. This kind of ability is really enviable!" Lin Huang muttered under his breath. The next second, he appeared on the third layer of the Abyss Brink.

Very quickly, he saw all the thirty-three space tunnels. At this moment, looking at them from the perspective of the world will, he only saw thirty-three huge black vortices leading into the unknown like wormholes.

After only a brief observation, Lin Huang made his decision without further hesitation. "Strip it off!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire third layer of the Abyss Brink began shuddering violently.

In just a few seconds, the third layer of the Abyss Brink completely separated from the gravel world; tossed into the void, it vanished instantly without a trace. It was like the rear bumper of an old car that had fallen off, left behind while the vehicle kept moving further and further into the distance.

Chapter 1454: Advanced Monster Paradise

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Once he had seen the third layer of the Abyss Brink completely stripped away and all the dimensional gateways vanish completely, only then was Lin Huang finally able to exhale a long breath.

The impending danger posed by Myriad Tribe Palace could be considered temporarily resolved for the time being.

Lin Huang also detached himself from his merged state with the world will, and his consciousness returned to his body in faraway Emperor City.

He had only just come to his senses when the world will returned to him almost immediately.

It transformed once more into a cloud of dense, humanoid-shaped fog and flew around Lin Huang several times to express its inner elation.

Although the world will was not fully sentient, it could sense that the threat brought on by the dimensional gateways had been removed.

It circled Lin Huang several times and suddenly dived into Lin Huang's inner core again, entering the God Territory within him.

Lin Huang quickly sent his consciousness into his mind so he could observe what the world will wanted to do.

Very quickly, he saw a faint white mist beginning to rise in his God Territory.

As the white mist rose, the gravel world on the other side of the gateway began to merge with the God Territory at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Didn't the Emperor's Heart mention before that I would have to wait until I reached true god-level before I could begin the process of integration so I could recall the gravel world into my inner world?" Lin Huang hesitated, harboring traces of doubt, but in the end, he did not stop the world will from what it was doing.

Lin Huang sat cross-legged in the Emperor Palace for three full days. Within his inner world, only then did the God Territory fragments and his own God Territory finally integrate fully.

At that moment, Lin Huang felt as if the entire gravel world was within his grasp, as if the God Territory had been birthed from his own body.

What amazed Lin Huang even more was that many Rule Bending Powers in the gravel world rapidly began a recovery process, and those particular Rule Bending Powers were all the ones that he had mastered.

As the one hundred and twenty rules he had mastered became part of the world, Lin Huang discovered that the number of rules was still increasing.

"These… are the rules that Mr. Fu and Lin Xuan have mastered…"

He discovered that the rules replicated by the gravel world to become part of the World Rules included not just those that he, Mr. Fu, and Lin Xuan had mastered, but also those of the other people in the gravel world who had mastered Rule Bending Powers. The exceptions were the Sword Servants, who were non-local residents.

Not only that, these hundreds of Rules were still slowly evolving and being derived; the world will was beginning to derive more Rules on its own to perfect the world.

After a violent shudder like an earthquake in the gravel world, all these complete, replicated rules circulated within the void like Dao tattoos.

At that moment, almost everyone who had mastered rules, or who were close to mastering them, was ecstatic.

"Rule Bending Powers are starting to undergo recovery, and the pathway to becoming a True God is now accessible!"

The integration with Monster Paradise had allowed the gravel world to become a complete world from its original broken state, so it was now possible to have the opportunity of becoming a True God.

The area of Lin Huang's Monster Paradise had also started to expand even further.

Originally it only had a radius of 600,000 kilometers, but now it had expanded to 1.2 million kilometers right away.

Once again, Lin Huang's Monster Paradise had advanced.

"God Territory: Monster Paradise"

"God Territory's Territorial Range: Radius of 12,000 kilometers from the God Territory possessor (potential to grow)"

"God Territory Ability 1: Within the God Territory's territorial range or in the gravel world, the dead summoning beast's soul will return to the God Territory with its body reconstructed with Divine Power and revived. Those that have broken souls will have their broken soul pieces recalled and recovered. They can also be resurrected in the gravel world."

"Ability Restriction 1: Each summoning beast can only be revived 200 times within 24 hours. Their soul will disintegrate when it surpasses 200 times and they won't be able to return to the God Territory (potential to grow)"

"Ability Restriction 2: Each summoning beast can only have their soul recovered 18 times within 24 hours. Their soul will disintegrate if it surpasses 18 times and they won't be able to return to the God Territory (potential to grow)"

"Derivative Ability: If the God Territory possessor is dead within the coverage range, he can choose to use a summoning beast to substitute death. The summoning beast that is chosen as the substitute won't be able to be summoned within 24 hours (potential to grow)"

"Remarks: The God Territory possessor can only be substituted for death 18 times within 24 hours. He can only be substituted 6 times if his soul disintegrated (potential to grow)"

…

"God Territory Ability 2: Within the God Territory's territorial range, the God Territory possessor and his summoning beasts would have an 18 fold boost on their strength, speed, and spirit. The other summoning beasts would have a 60% drop on their strength, speed, and spirit (potential to grow)."

"Remark 1: The God Territory possessor can turn off the boost and undermining effect as he wishes."

"Remark 2: The weakening ability of the God Territory is not effective for life entities that exceed the God Territory possessor's level by one level or more."

…

"God Territory Ability 3: Within the effective range of the God Territory, the God Territory possessor can freely borrow any skills from all monsters within the effective range of the God Territory."

"Remark 1: The borrowing of monster skills already possessed by the God Territory possessor is invalid and will not result in a compound effect."

"Remark 2: Within 24 hours, the God Territory possessor's number of Monster Skill spaces will temporarily double and the maximum number of borrowed skills must not exceed the God Territory possessor's number of Monster Skill authorities. (If he originally has 100 skill spaces, he can borrow up to 100 more skills.)"

Lin Huang checked the specific information and found that the number of revivals had increased exponentially from the original 100 times to 200 times. The number of soul recovery and death substitutions had also soared from 12 times to 18 times. The strength, speed, and spirit boost had also increased from 12 fold to 18 fold, and even the weakening ability had increased from 50% to 60%.

The most important thing was that the summoning beasts did not need to return to the God Territory to be revived, but could directly be resurrected in the gravel world on the spot. In other words, the entire gravel world had become Lin Huang's home turf.

While Lin Huang was still observing the changes in the gravel world and Monster Paradise, the Emperor's Heart Ring on his finger suddenly began vibrating.

Lin Huang looked at the Emperor's Heart Ring, rather startled. Before he went into closed-door cultivation, he was absolutely certain he had cut off all network and communication signals.

Harboring these doubts in mind, he clicked on the communication page.

The caller's number did not display any numbers, only two words—"Emperor's Heart". As far as he could remember, he had not added the Emperor's Heart to his address book, but he was also instantly able to confirm that the caller was the Emperor's Heart.

After being connected, the voice of the Emperor's Heart came through, sounding rather excited.

"You succeeded?! "

"Yes, I succeeded." Although this was a very abrupt question, Lin Huang knew exactly what the other party was asking about.

"I anticipated that you would succeed, but I didn't expect you to do it so quickly." The tone of the Emperor's Heart's voice was one of exhilaration. "From the looks of it, you not only completed the refining but also the integration as well."

"Yes." Lin Huang nodded; this kind of thing could not be concealed from the Emperor's Heart.

"Has the third layer of the Abyss Brink been stripped off?" The Emperor's Heart asked again.

"Yes, it has."

"That's good. The threat from Myriad Tribe Palace has at least been temporarily removed," the Emperor's Heart finished speaking and added, "When Myriad Tribe Palace notices the anomalies in the gravel world, they will definitely try to re-establish the coordinates of the gravel world over and over again. Unless it's the last resort, or there is definite evidence to prove the existence of myself and the host, they would dare not contact It who shall not be named from the Abyss."

"I hope so, or we'll all die miserably." Lin Huang raised his brows upon after hearing that. The matter was already done and he had no regrets about it, even if the enemy that he faced in the future might well be that terrifying being within the Abyss.

"Since the integration has been completed, you can now keep the gravel world within you without having to wait for true god-level," the Emperor's Heart said with a laugh, "However, now that the third layer of the Abyss Brink is gone, the path leading to the virtual zone has also been destroyed. If you have no way of returning to the great world, I can help you by opening a gateway."

"There's no need for something as complicated as that; I have a way to return to the great world." If Lin Huang wanted to return to the great world, it was a very simple matter—it only required a thought for him to be teleported back to the Great Heaven Palace and he could make his exit from the Great Heaven Territory

As for the others, he could wait until he returned to the great world, then release them directly from the God Territory within him.

Chapter 1455: The Third Layer of The Abyss Brink Is Gone

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The World Rule of the gravel world was starting to be restored. The earliest ones to sense it were the few Virtual Gods who were either close to or have already mastered Rule Bending Power.

Seeing the rule sigil ripple through the void, they were overjoyed despite not being quite sure what had just happened.

They were joyous because this meant that the era that required to sense Rule Bending Power from god rule relics or other rule devices has passed. The sensing rule would be ten times easier than before.

The shackles of True God were unlocked as well.

The Virtual Gods rank-9 of the various large forces, as well as a handful of Virtual Gods rank-8, all went into closed-door cultivation immediately, eager to use this opportunity to complete the breakthrough to the next step.

Here at Dynasty, Mr. Fu and Lin Xuan also instantly went into closed-door cultivation.

As for the other Virtual Gods, they could feel tangibly that the Divine Power of the gravel world had become more abundant.

Many gifted cultivators also sensed the abnormality of the energy within the gravel world.

The current changes of the gravel world were somewhat similar to a commonly used phrase in a novel that Lin Huang had read before in his past life—spiritual influence anabiosis.

The monsters in the gravel world sensed changes in the energy density more acutely than to humans.

Many monsters broke through their current Combat Level straight away, with a few gifted monsters even upgrading.

The Virtual Gods and monsters hiding at Inhibited places like the Peaceful Ocean collectively became stronger.

The anomaly of the gravel world quickly became the topic of discussion of the cultivation world. The internal platforms within the various large forces, as well as several large social platforms where cultivators congregated at, were all discussing the sweeping changes in the gravel world.

In the beginning, many people thought that it was just a figment of their imagination. It was only after seeing similar views from many others online that they soon understood that this world has truly changed.

The post that stirred up the most heated debate—"Is there a BUG on the third layer of the Abyss Brink?!"—blew up on the second day after Lin Huang came out of closed-door cultivation.

What happened was that an Imperial-level realized that he was unable to enter the third layer of the Abyss Brink, then described this strange scenario he had experienced online.

On the same day this post was published, there were several curious cultivators who also entered the Abyss Brink and eventually found out that they were unable to enter the third layer of the Abyss Brink.

Therefore, this post went absolutely viral!

The various large forces also sent out members immediately to investigate. After confirming that this was real, they too appeared to be dumbfounded, even somewhat anxious about the development.

The Union Government was no exception; they feared that the anomaly of the Abyss Brink was connected to the Myriad Tribe Palace.

When Jiang Shan caught wind of this matter, the first thing he did was to dial Lin Huang's number.

"What are your thoughts about the anomaly at the Abyss Brink? Is it possible that this was the doing of the Myriad Tribe Palace?" Jiang Shan did not beat around the bush and posed this question with some urgency.

"It's got nothing to do with the Myriad Tribe Place. It was my doing." Lin Huang admitted candidly.

"You did it?!" Jiang Shan looked flabbergasted. "You sealed the third layer?"

His first response was to assume that Lin Huang had just sealed the third layer of the Abyss Brink so no one could enter.

"I did not seal it. I stripped it away." Worried that Jiang Shan did not understand, he added, "From now on, there will no longer be the third layer of the Abyss Brink."

"What?!" Upon hearing the explanation, Jiang Shan looked even more dumbfounded.

"I'm unable to destroy the space tunnel. The only way I could think of to eliminate the danger from the Myriad Tribe Palace was to strip the third layer of the Abyss Brink away from the gravel world. So, I did just that," Lin Huang said casually.

Only then did Jiang Shan finally understand what Lin Huang meant, but he was still astonished.

However, he did not know how Lin Huang managed to do it and certainly did not realize that Lin Huang had already refined the entire gravel world.

"But if you do this, won't the tunnel to the virtual zone from our world be sealed off too? How are we able to go to the great world in the future then?" Jiang Shan frowned. The severity of the situation suddenly dawned on him.

"Relax, there isn't just one tunnel to the great world." In order to make it more believable, Lin Huang added, "From what I know, there is a tunnel that leads straight to the great world somewhere at the bottom of the Peaceful Ocean, even bypassing the virtual zone."

The reason he revealed this was because he actually was planning on creating a tunnel entrance at the bottom of the Peaceful Ocean to connect the gravel world directly to the great world.

"Could you provide us with the coordinates of this tunnel of yours?" Jiang Shan immediately asked.

"I haven't found it, but this piece of information came from a very reliable source. I am sure it exists." Lin Huang could only buy time with this method. After all, he had not opened up such a tunnel and naturally did not know its non-existent coordinates.

Jiang Shan did not know what to make of Lin Huang's answer. He composed himself slightly before posing another question.

"There's something else. Since yesterday, it seems like the energy density in the gravel world has increased. Many monsters have become stronger. I even heard from Sir Chen that the World Rule of the gravel world has started to recover. Do you know anything about this as well?"

"I could sense it, but I'm not really sure about the specifics of what happened." Lin Huang obviously did not reveal the truth.

He chose to lie about this matter because he did not wish for the Union Government to find out that he was the one who refined the gravel world.

The reason was very simple. He was fully aware that the Union Government would never approve of what he had done. Even if it was too late to change it, the moment he revealed the truth, Lin Huang figured he probably would have to face endless rounds of meetings and debates with the Union Government.

Even though Jiang Shan and the others were no match for him, they still had the power to annoy him to death.

It was precisely because Lin Huang understood this clearly, hence he chose to conceal the truth instead.

Of course, he was not planning on covering up the truth forever. If the Union Government ever found solid evidence, he would confess quite readily.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he even went as far as to not tell Dynasty and Misery about him refining the gravel world. Only Mr. Fu, Lin Xuan, Lin Xin, and a few others knew about it.

After the telephone conversation with Lin Huang ended, Jiang Shan sat in front of the office desk, lost in deep thought.

Naturally, he did not believe that Lin Huang had no idea about what caused the changes in the gravel world. If he had to hazard a guess, he would even surmise that these changes were most likely brought about by Lin Huang himself.

However, he did not know what exactly Lin Huang had done.

After pondering this over without much success, Jiang Shan rubbed his temples before dialing a number, delivering the news of Lin Huang stripping away the third layer of the Abyss Brink.

Half an hour later, the Union Government released an announcement.

"After investigating, we have found that due to the massive threat posed by the space tunnel on the third layer of the Abyss Brink, a strong individual personally destroyed the entire third layer of the Abyss Brink. From today onward, the third layer of the Abyss Brink no longer exists!"

The moment this announcement was released, the entire cultivation world was shaken to its core!

The Union Government neither revealed who this strong person was, nor did they say that the Abyss Brink has been stripped away, instead saying that it has been destroyed for the sake of clarity.

Although the Union Government did not provide a name, almost all the Virtual Gods knew that this matter was definitely connected to Lin Huang in some way. Even if he did not personally do it, he was definitely involved.

After having seen the announcement, a good number of Virtual Gods immediately turned to the Union Government to inquire about the virtual zone.

The Union Government gave the same response as Lin Huang—at the bottom of the Peaceful Ocean, there was a space tunnel that also led to the great world.

Numerous cultivators under the Virtual Gods were also astonished upon hearing this announcement. Online discussions were spreading like wildfire.

"The third layer of the Abyss Brink is gone just like that. The Imperial-level, Demigod, even the god-level monsters within it are also gone! This totally sucks. I was planning on going to the third layer next week to have a look. I even took my pants off already…"

"I haven't been there either. After five years of struggles, I…got to see the first layer."

"It's okay even if the third layer of the Abyss Brink is gone. The Peaceful Ocean welcomes you!"

"There is bountiful seafood in the Peaceful Ocean. You can have first dibs!"

Chapter 1456: Return To Respawn Point No.7D101

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Having completed the refinement and integration of the gravel world, as well as eliminating the threat from the Myriad Tribe Palace temporarily, Lin Huang started contemplating returning to the great world.

Before doing this, however, he was prepared to keep Lin Xin company for some time. After all, with the time spent in closed-door cultivation, both of them have not seen each other much for about a year and a half.

In truth, it was also a convenient excuse to give himself a relaxing holiday.

During these one and a half years, he spent most of his time on the go, cultivating, and elevating his abilities. Due to the crisis within the gravel world, he was almost always highly strung. Now, he could finally slow his pace down slightly.

Early in the morning, Lin Huang dragged Lin Xin along with him to Mrs. Fatty's soup dumplings shop.

It was the end of October already; the autumn season in Emperor City was nearing its end. The weather was gradually turning colder.

This change in temperature did not affect cultivators much, but ordinary people have been forced to layer up with thick outerwear.

The tables and chairs that Mrs. Fatty usually arranged outside her shop entrance had been taken back indoors, with only two empty tables left within the shop. After all, soup dumplings were the sort of food that should be eaten hot and did not taste as good cold.

Lin Huang and Lin Xin entered the shop and immediately sat down at one of the empty tables.

"Bro, you woke me up first thing in the morning just to eat dumplings?" While Lin Xin did enjoy eating Mrs. Fatty's soup dumplings, she did not particularly like waking up early.

Especially since graduating from the Martial Hunter College, she organized most of her schedule by herself. She normally slept until a little past nine in the morning. Since moving to Emperor City, this routine turned into a lifestyle, and no one in Dynasty dared to disturb her lie-ins.

"We haven't had a proper chat in almost a year and a half." Lin Huang smiled.

"Yeah, it's been a year and a half already," Lin Xin lamented.

She still remembered how difficult it was to adjust the year Lin Huang left for the great world. Even though in the past Lin Huang was often away from home, at least she could use her Emperor's Heart Ring to contact him anytime. It was common for them to send messages or converse with each other directly through a digital screen. However, during the year that Lin Huang went to the great world, he went completely off-grid, hence the feeling was not the same.

"You should have been to a number of places in the gravel world already. Is there anywhere in particular you would like to visit but never got around to?" Lin Huang grinned.

"You want to travel?" Lin Xin felt slightly bewildered. It was a rare sight for Lin Huang to be so carefree.

"It's not easy to get time off. It would be good to travel and get some fresh air." Lin Huang nodded.

Hearing this, Lin Xin could not help but smile. "It's rare to see you this laid back."

"The crisis in the gravel world has been eliminated. And I don't have any way to upgrade my combat level here. During this time before I return to the great world, let's treat it as a holiday then." Lin Huang explained merrily, casually looping his hands behind his neck and leaning back into the chair.

"Moreover, you have evolved into a Virtual God rank-9 in a single breath. It isn't a good idea for you to evolve to the true god-level at least for a while. You should first familiarize yourself with using Divine Power as a Virtual God rank-9," Lin Huang added.

"Hmm…rather than using this as an excuse to take a break, I think that someone is worried my combat level ranking has become too high and will leave him in the dust."

"What's there to be smug about? If I were to have your physique, I would have evolved to the heavenly god-level by now at the very least, if not the lord-level." Lin Huang pouted. "Besides, combat levels are virtual, only abilities are real. As a Virtual God rank-9, you can't even beat me, a Virtual God rank-6. There's nothing to brag about."

"Who wants to compete with you?!" Lin Xin had witnessed first-hand Lin Huang's abilities on the battlefield. She felt that her own brother was completely out of a normal person's league.

"Alright, let's change the topic. Give me a list of the places you want to visit in these two days. I need to spend some time on the walkthrough." Lin Huang returned to the initial subject.

"No need to go through the trouble. I've already listed them out, and I've also completed the walkthrough." With that, Lin Xin made a digital file appear before them.

Lin Huang stared at it. Sure enough, there were more than thirty places listed clearly on it.

"Choose the places that you want to visit the most first. We'll spend the next two months touring around these places. As for the remaining ones, let's wait until next time." Lin Huang did not want to visit any of these places in passing.

If he deemed a place interesting, he did not mind staying there for a month. To meet his ideal pace, visiting thirty tourist spots over a span of two months was an impossible feat.

"Alright…" Although Lin Xin was slightly unwilling, she knew that it was difficult enough for Lin Huang to carve out two months' worth of time.

"It should be snowing in Winter City by now…" Lin Xin raised her head to look at the cloudless skies above. "My first stop would have been Winter City, but Xiaoxuan is in closed-door cultivation."

"His closed-door cultivation should not take too long. Two months should be enough. We can put Winter City as the last stop." Lin Huang knew that Lin Xin wanted to relive the moments the three of them shared four years ago.

"Let's make Wulin Town our first stop then," Lin Xin suggested.

"Wulin Town it is then." Hearing this, Lin Huang blinked in surprise but immediately nodded in agreement.

Respawn point No.7D101—Wulin Town was the first place that he had arrived at after crossing over to this world. It was also the place where Lin Huang's former self and Lin Xin had grown up together.

Although it was a barren grade-D foothold with almost no tourist attractions, it bore many of Lin Huang and Lin Xin's childhood memories.

Lin Huang could easily understand why Lin Xin wanted to return to have a look.

"I don't even know what has become of Wulin Town now …" Lin Xin murmured to herself.

"Once we've had our breakfast, we shall start our journey!" Lin Huang announced, just as Brother Fatty cheerfully served two trays of dumplings over to them.

After ten minutes or so, the siblings finished their breakfast.

As they were leaving the shop after having paid the bill, Lin Huang glanced to check the time. It was not seven-thirty yet. He craned his neck to look at Lin Xin, "Do you have anything you need to prepare, or shall we set off straight away?"

"Let's start our journey right now!" Lin Xin also looked at the time, a faint smile etched upon her face. "In the past, I used to leave for school around this time."

Lin Huang waved his hand, and a black whirlpool-like dimensional portal appeared before them.

"What is this?" Lin Xin blinked in surprise. Of course, she knew that this was not a dimensional portal.

"I'll explain later," Lin Huang said, pulling Lin Xin along to step into the whirlpool.

In the blink of an eye, both of them arrived right in front of the house in Wulin Town that the siblings had lived in at the very beginning.

The door plate with the number 23, as well as the sidewalls of the three-story villa, was creeping with vines. The partially shaded rooftop garden was also completely covered with plants.

"Want to go in to have a look?" Lin Huang said, taking the first step toward the house.

After keying in the door password, he was surprised to hear a "beep" sound signaling that the door had been unlocked.

He initially thought that the password had long lost its use and was even prepared to force the door open. Clearly, there was no need for that.

Pushing the door open, the siblings stepped forward one after another.

"Looks like nothing much has changed." Lin Xin sounded gratified.

The layout inside the house was evidently the same as before. Even the couch, carpet, as well as the tables and chairs in the dining hall, looked the same as when they had left them.

The only change was that there were lots of mushrooms growing from underneath the floorboards. Also, the household furniture was coated with a thick layer of dust, and there was a faint moldy stench in the air.

Chapter 1457: The Emperor's Heart's Host

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After strolling around the house, Lin Xin remained in the bedroom on the second floor, while Lin Huang returned to the first floor.

Suddenly, a misty human-like form appeared in front of him again.

'The world will?' Lin Huang was about to inquire why it had appeared.

Before he could do that, however, the world will suddenly lifted its misty arm and touched a finger to the space between his eyebrows.

The next instant, a series of unfamiliar scenes suddenly appeared in Lin Huang's mind.

Initially, everything was pitch black, and all he could hear was someone in the room talking.

"This child was born with a broken Life Wheel; he won't live long." This voice sounded familiar to Lin Huang. After racking his brain, he finally realized who the voice belonged to—the Emperor's Heart!

"That's not a big issue. I can heal it for him." This voice sounded a bit like Lin Xin, but the vibe it exuded was not quite the same.

"Or maybe… We can use him as your… no, as your reincarnation's protector," the Emperor's Heart continued, "Didn't you obtain a traveler summoning formation from the Club once? This little fellow's body just so happens to be a good host…"

"But he's Lin Xin's older brother," the voice that sounded like Lin Xin's was obviously hesitant. "Moreover, the summoning formation has a success rate of less than 10%. If it fails, there's a very high chance of him dying immediately."

"With the current speed at which his Life Light is fading away, he only has three months left to live. Besides, as your older brother, there's no one more suitable than him to be your protector."

As soon as the voice of the Emperor's Heart finished speaking, a moment of silence fell over the room.

"Don't hesitate anymore. You only have a limited awakening period for your remaining consciousness. Once Lin Xin wakes up, you'll lose this opportunity entirely. Besides, you don't know when you'll awaken the next time. Who knows—this boy's Life Light would probably have already completely dispersed by then."

"Alright then…" Lin Xin's voice agreed, albeit begrudgingly.

After a long while, Lin Huang felt as if his body had been moved, then placed on the floor.

A soft sound drifted to his ears from not too far off, but he did not know what was happening.

Quite sometime later, Lin Huang suddenly felt that his body seemed to be floating.

At that moment, he suddenly regained his senses. However, he now had a bird's-eye view of the entire room.

Lin Huang's body had been placed in the center of a blood-red formation on the floor of the living room, currently completely enveloped in an all-encompassing golden light. His unconscious body even began to float up slowly.

Not far from the formation stood a woman with purple hair and golden eyes, who was ninety percent similar to Lin Xin in appearance.

Next to the woman was a translucent head floating in the air. This was the Emperor's Heart whom Lin Huang had just met not so long ago.

However, he only caught a brief glimpse of this scenario before the purple-haired, golden-eyed woman seemed to sense something and suddenly looked right up at him. An instant later, everything before him dissolved into pitch darkness, and his consciousness retreated immediately from the scene within his mind.

Once his consciousness had returned to his body, Lin Huang frowned slightly, recalling the scene from just now.

"So… the reincarnation of the Emperor's Heart's host is Lin Xin? It wasn't a coincidence that I traveled to this world; it was because I was summoned by that purple-haired woman?!" Lin Huang roughly guessed what had transpired.

After a moment of silence, Lin Huang searched for the number that the Emperor's Heart had previously used to call him, and sent a message.

"Your host's reincarnation is Lin Xin?"

He wanted confirmation from the Emperor's Heart regarding the truth of what he had just seen.

Sure enough, less than a second after he sent his message, he received a communication request from the Emperor's Heart.

After connecting, the Emperor's Heart asked immediately,

"What do you know?"

"I'm in Wulin Town now, and I've recovered that part of my memory," Lin Huang said and glanced at the spot where the world will—now vanished—had previously appeared. "I know that Lin Xin is the reincarnation of your host, and I also know that my traveling to this world was due to both of you. Is there anything else I need to add?"

On the other side, the Emperor's Heart was silent for a while. "I knew that your memories would be restored sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to be so soon. Actually, I never intended to keep concealing this matter. If you had asked me about my host's reincarnation the last time we met, I would have given you an honest answer. However, you didn't ask, so I continued to keep it from you."

"Lin Huang is an exceptionally good host. He's Lin Xin's older brother, so as a traveler, I would definitely protect my younger sister from this world. Both of you planned things out extremely well." It was a little hard for Lin Huang to let this matter go. It had never occurred to him that his traveling might actually have been set up by someone—in a calculated move at that.

"Lin Huang, we don't harbor any ill-will toward you," the Emperor's Heart explained, "Your traveling to this gravel world was indeed due to our influence. However, if we hadn't summoned you at the time, the you in that different world (Earth) would have traveled to another world anyway; this is destiny. The destiny line you had in your previous world was broken long ago.

"If you want to talk about owing anything to anyone, then we do owe a debt to the original Lin Huang. After all, he lived three months less. I admit that it was selfish of me to do so, and I am willing to bear any consequences. I also admit that I neglected the lives of others, but the truth is that to a Goldfinger, the life of everyone else other than our host means nothing to us.

"I don't think I did anything wrong. In that particular situation, the decision I made was the best one for the protection of my host's reincarnation."

The Emperor's Heart's explanation caused Lin Huang to fall silent again.

He fully understood the Emperor's Heart's behavior of wanting to protect its host. Although the method used was not the most desirable, it was indeed the best decision for Lin Xin. After pondering for a moment, he asked a question that he felt was more pressing.

"What did you mean when you said earlier that even without your summons, my destiny line in my original world had been broken?"

"The summoning formation randomly selects travelers. We were not the ones who chose you, therefore we also had no way of knowing what kind of person the traveler would be. The fact that you were teleported means that at the time, you had already been selected by destiny to become a traveler. Even without our summoning formation, you would have traveled to another world.

"I said that your destiny line was broken because a traveler only has one complete consciousness. If you travel to any other world, your consciousness in your original world will be removed. You can only exist in one world at any given time. Therefore, when you are chosen by destiny to become a traveler, your destiny in your original world has already ended.

"For ordinary people, destiny is a continuous line. Even if there are ups and downs, it will not break. On the other hand, the destiny line of a traveler is interrupted and skips around."

Lin Huang had a better understanding of the matter now, and he felt a little more at ease. After all, he had been selected as a traveler before being summoned to the gravel world. Without the Emperor's Heart's summons, he would have still ended up traveling to another world regardless.

At least, looking at it now, traveling to the gravel world had been a good thing in the end. After all, he was doing well in this world.

"I have another question. What will you do if I take Lin Xin to the great world with me?"

"I will leave with my host's reincarnation," the Emperor's Heart gave its answer without hesitation, "As for the gravel world, I will leave a doppelganger here to handle daily affairs."

"How are you going to explain all this to Lin Xin?" Lin Huang asked again.

"I don't intend to explain anything for the time being." The Emperor's Heart had obviously already figured out how to deal with this. "Informing her of her previous incarnation won't do her any good; it may even cause that individual from the Abyss to covet her instead."

"Regarding my circumstances… you don't need to tell her, and you don't have to mention it in the future either." Lin Huang made this decision because he did not want Lin Xin to be mentally burdened by it in the future. After all, he had been summoned by her previous incarnation, and with Lin Xin's temperament, she would inevitably feel guilty about it.

"Very well," the Emperor's Heart readily agreed.

Just as the two of them finished talking, Lin Huang sensed that Lin Xin was about to come downstairs and immediately closed the communication page.

Chapter 1458: Sky-high

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lin Huang did not let Lin Xin know about his conversation with the Emperor's Heart.

For the whole day after that, the two siblings basically strolled around Wulin Town, revisiting their childhood memories.

The two of them walked down the same paths that they used to walk. They even went to the Reserve College where they had studied, looking around the convenience store that was next to the college, and visiting the residence that had long since changed owners…

The siblings strolled around until the street lights by the roadside were turned on, before stopping at a noodle house near their home.

This noodle house was also a place that the two siblings used to patronize frequently.

The owner was still the same old man from five years ago. Compared to five years ago, however, his hair—which had already been thinning—was obviously even more sparse now and had also become much whiter.

The small shop's business was average, with only two tables occupied by customers. Lin Huang and Lin Xin found an empty table to sit at and quickly ordered their meals.

"Uncle Liu, two bowls of beef noodle soup with an extra portion of beef each, please."

"Okay. Please have a seat, both of you, and you'll be served soon," the sparse-haired old man greeted them and busied himself immediately, obviously not recognizing the pair.

After a bit, the noodles were ready. When Uncle Liu went up to their table to serve the noodles, he caught a clearer glimpse of their faces and could not help but scrutinize the two of them carefully.

A moment later, he could not resist asking Lin Huang, "Young man, why do you look so familiar to me?"

"Uncle Liu, I'm Lin Huang," Lin Huang replied with a smile.

Only then did a look of sudden realization cross Uncle Liu's face. "Ah… you've grown up so much in the blink of an eye? I still remember you used to be so thin and small, but now you've grown so tall?

"Oh, that's right, I remember you had a younger sister called… Lin Xin?" Uncle Liu clearly did not recognize Lin Xin, who was now a young woman very different from the little girl she once was.

"She's this girl here right next to me," Lin Huang answered as he motioned with his head in Lin Xin's direction.

"Lin Xin?!" Uncle Liu's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief. "You were just a little pudding back then, but you've really matured so much. Now, you've grown into a young lady! How pretty you've grown up to be!"

Lin Xin blushed slightly, embarrassed by the compliments.

"I haven't seen both of you for so many years. Where did your family finally move to?" Uncle Liu asked warmly.

"We're in Emperor City now," Lin Huang responded with a smile, "We took the opportunity to come back and have a look around while on vacation."

"Oh, Emperor City. Is it quite far?" Uncle Liu evidently did not know where Emperor City was.

Perhaps because of Lin Huang and Dynasty, there was not a single cultivator who did not know of Emperor City, but for regular citizens, it was normal to have never heard of it.

"It's a little far." Lin Huang smiled and nodded.

"Then you better have a good time during this trip back." Uncle Liu patted Lin Huang on the shoulder. "Since it's not easy for both of you to come back for a visit like this, today's noodles are on the house!"

"Uncle Liu, you really don't have to. If you do that, we won't dare to come back here and eat again the next time we visit…" After demurring for a bit, Lin Huang quickly paid the bill before he had even taken a bite of his noodles.

Uncle Liu chatted with Lin Huang for a while, only getting up to leave when the next wave of customers arrived.

After finishing their noodles, the siblings bid farewell to Uncle Liu before returning to the house where they used to live during their childhood.

"Do you want to stay here for the night? Or should we just head straight to our next destination?" When they reached the doorstep, Lin Huang turned to look at Lin Xin.

"Let's tidy the place up a little and stay for the night." Nostalgia flashed through Lin Xin's eyes.

"We don't need to go through all that trouble. Let's just set up two tents and sleep in the small garden on the third floor," Lin Huang suggested.

"Okay!" Lin Xin immediately agreed.

The two of them entered the house and headed for the third floor right away.

Seeing the vines and vegetation that covered the whole floor, Lin Huang reached a hand out and pressed it against the wall. All the plants instantly started moving like living animals, leaving the entire central area of the garden clear.

Seeing this, Lin Xin was amazed and promptly asked, "What kind of ability is this?"

"Plant Soul Law. In a nutshell, it's a Law Bending Power that can control plant life." What Lin Huang did not tell her was that there was a definite possibility that this type of Law Bending Power would cause an effect that would awaken the souls of ordinary plants, allowing them to gain spiritual intellect.

"Can I learn it?" Lin Xin seemed very interested.

"You can. I'll teach you when I have time," Lin Huang responded readily.

The two quickly set up their capsule tents, sat outside them, and lit a bonfire, watching the starry sky and chatting.

The night was far advanced and almost all the lights in the town were out before the two of them got into their tents to sleep.

…

The next morning, only after Lin Xin had gone to the second floor to freshen up did Lin Huang get out of his tent and walk straight toward a corner of the garden.

In that corner, there was a cracked flower pot with a small tree growing in it.

When it realized Lin Huang had come over, the little tree's leaves and branches started trembling.

After Lin Huang's use of Plant Soul Law yesterday, he had immediately noticed that this little tree's soul had been successfully awakened, and it had gained spiritual intellect.

Walking to the small tree, Lin Huang reached for its trunk and grasped it, imbuing it with a small trace of Divine Power.

The little tree began to grow rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. In an instant, it went from the thickness of two fingers to the thickness of a water bucket, causing the flowerpot to shatter.

"That's good enough. Restrain yourself a bit; you can slowly grow after I leave." Lin Huang lightly patted the tree trunk.

The tree, which was now twenty to thirty meters tall, shook its trunk slightly, and the momentum of its growth instantly slowed down.

"Since your soul has been successfully awakened, that's your good fortune," Lin Huang said, then continued, "I don't have any other requests; you protecting this town will be enough."

After Lin Huang finished speaking, he extended a finger and transmitted a visualization image called Sky-high from the True Spirit Guide into the tree's spiritual dimension.

The tree trembled slightly, then immediately bowed to Lin Huang, bright green leaves fluttering to the ground.

Lin Huang did not bother saying anything more. He turned around and packed up the tents, put out the bonfire, and walked downstairs.

After he had gone downstairs, the size of the tree immediately increased again, but the speed of its growth was much slower than before.

"Where would you like to go for our second stop?" When he went down to the second floor, Lin Huang asked Lin Xin this after seeing that she was done freshening up.

"Let's go to the White Capital." Lin Xin thought about it for a while, then gave an answer that did not surprise Lin Huang. "I want to go back to the Martial Hunter College for a look around."

In fact, when Lin Xin had wanted to come to Wulin Town for their first stop, Lin Huang had already guessed that the White Capital would undoubtedly be her choice.

Wulin Town held memories of both their childhoods, while the White Capital was the place where they had grown up.

Lin Huang had become a teacher to other people for the first time in the Martial Hunter College while Lin Xin had officially embarked on the path of cultivation as a student in the Martial Hunter College. She had even lived in the White Capital for over two years.

"Okay," Lin Huang immediately agreed. "We can stay in the White Capital for a while. Aside from the Martial Hunter College, there are many other places to visit in the White Capital, and there's also a lot of good food and fun places to enjoy. If any of your classmates are still in the White Capital, you can also ask them out for a meal or something."

"Alright, then we'll stay there for a few more days." When she heard Lin Huang mention her classmates, conversely, Lin Xin's mood dropped even more.

She had chosen such a nostalgic route because she knew that Lin Huang would take her with him when he left the gravel world. She did not know when she would come back the next time. There was even a chance that she would return here ever again.

'Perhaps this will be the last time we can gather,' Lin Xin silently said in her heart.

Chapter 1459: Return To White Capital

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The capital city of No. 7 Zone, White Capital, also known as respawn point No. 7A1, was the most vibrant respawn point in the entire No. 7 Zone.

Upon their return to White Capital, Lin Huang and Lin Xin found a hotel near Martial Hunter College to stay in.

After checking in, neither of them retired to their hotel rooms. Instead, they headed straight for Martial Hunter College.

Martial Hunter College was completely open to the public. In fact, most of the colleges in White Capital were as well.

After all, since White Capital was the capital city of the No.7 Zone, it was guarded by Demigods. Moreover, for a prestigious educational institution like Martial Hunter College which had powerful transcendents for its dean and vice-dean, no one would dare stir up trouble there under normal circumstances.

When the Saint members of the top dark organizations back in the day attacked the students of Martial Hunter College, even they did not dare charge into White Capital and instead launched the attack at the trial site.

However, as they approached the college entrance, Lin Huang was genuinely surprised when the security guard on duty recognized him on sight.

"Mr. Lin?!"

Lin Huang too recognized the man as the security guard who worked there four years ago.

Although there were more strands of white hair on his head than before, his appearance had not changed much.

Lin Huang could remember because back when he used to chat with this security guard, this old uncle had mentioned that his son was one of the students in Lin Huang's class.

The only thing Lin Huang could not recall was the identity of the security guard's son.

After lingering for a bit at the entrance and making small talk, Lin Huang and Lin Xin soon made their way into the campus.

After the two of them had covered some distance, Lin Xin could not stop herself from grumbling, "You only stayed in the college for half a year while I was here for two years, and this security guard recognized you and not me?"

"Maybe it's because I'm handsome," Lin Huang teased cheerfully.

Lin Xin could not help but roll her eyes at her brother.

Lin Huang took his time before eventually explaining to her, "That security guard is the father of one of my students."

"Oh, I see." The explanation made Lin Xin feel relieved.

After all, the number of enrolled students at Martial Hunter College was around a hundred and fifty thousand. Tens of thousands of students graduated each year, while tens of thousands of new ones enrolled at the same time. It was natural for the security guard to not remember all of them. On the other hand, it was equally natural for him to remember his son's teacher.

The two of them walked along the main path, passing by the student dorms and the two cafeterias. They then made a left turn at the cafeterias and saw a familiar teaching block opposite the sports field.

After returning to this place three years later, Lin Huang felt a strange sense of nostalgic fondness.

Not only was this the place where he had become a teacher for the first time, but it was also the starting point for his garnering of knowledge.

In fact, it was thanks to the library at Martial Hunter College that he obtained an all-around understanding of the gravel world, as well as finding out what kind of world he was in.

Lin Xin harbored even deeper feelings toward this place. She studied here for a year and a half, assuming the identity of Ling Xue. After that, she stayed on as a teacher for around half a year, so in total, she was here for two years.

The amount of time she had spent in White Capital not only surpassed that of Winter City by leaps and bounds, but even Emperor City as well. Apart from Wulin City, you could say this was the closest place she could call her home.

On top of that, she had made several close friends at Martial Hunter College, as well as a group of students with which she had a pretty good relationship.

Martial Hunter College was one of her fondest places as far as her memory went.

"I haven't been back for two years. The students in my year should have all graduated by now." Lin Xin could not help but sigh. "Even my students should have graduated by now."

Based on the three-year schooling period of the education system, the majority of students at Martial Hunter College graduated at the end of their third year. However, there were a fraction of students who flunked a subject and had to repeat a year. Having said so, it had been more than four years since Lin Xin had enrolled; even if she had peers who repeated a year, they would have graduated by now too. Back in the day, Lin Xin was in the first class, the highest achieving class in the Sword Dao faculty. The chances of someone having to repeat a year from that class were not high.

As the siblings stood in front of the teaching block reminiscing about their past, a girl who was walking toward the teaching block spotted them. As her gaze swept across Lin Xin, she suddenly froze before speed walking in their direction.

"Senior Sister Ling!" Before she even got close to them, the girl called out loudly and waved her hand at Lin Xin.

Lin Huang turned his head in the girl's direction. The girl was not tall, about a meter sixty, with a sheep-horn hairstyle. Age-wise, she looked like she was still a student.

"You're…Yang Shan?!" Lin Xin recognized the other person straight away.

"Senior Sister Ling, is it really you?!" When she heard Lin Xin's reply, the sheep-horn haired girl immediately sprinted toward them. When she was right in front of them, she grabbed both of Lin Xin's hands, her face beaming with excitement.

"Yang Shan, weren't you supposed to graduate in July? Why are you still at school?" Lin Xin could not help but ask.

"I joined the faculty. I'm now the teacher of the year one eleventh class of the Firearms faculty," the sheep-horn haired girl answered with a grin.

"I see! Congratulations are in order, then!" Lin Xin was overjoyed for her as well.

The sheep-horn haired girl was not Lin Xin's classmate, but her student. She was also the first student to stir up trouble and make things difficult for Lin Xin during her first class. However, Lin Xin had responded by taking the students to the shooting range. After a round of God demonstration, she managed to convince all the students beyond any doubt, and Yang Shan became a fan of hers since then.

In the six months that Lin Xin taught, none of the students in the class was willing to address her "Teacher" as she was far too young. Under Yang Shan's instigation, everyone started calling her Senior Sister Ling instead.

At the start, Lin Xin protested several times before eventually giving up.

"And this person by your side is…your boyfriend?" Yang Shan asked with a nosy expression and a teasing smile.

"My brother," Lin Xin answered grudgingly.

"Ah, I see," Yang Shan replied, evidently disappointed. "So you're back this time because…"

"I'm on break for a while and decided to make use of my free time to come visit," Lin Xin explained with a grin.

The two of them chatted for a bit until the school bell went off. Only then did Yang Shan quickly bid farewell and darted quickly toward the teaching block.

"That person was one of your students?" Lin Huang smiled.

"Yeah, she was also the first one to find fault with me." Lin Xin nodded with a laugh. "She said that I had just graduated and had no teaching experience, and that I didn't even graduate from the Firearms faculty. So she openly questioned whether I was qualified enough to teach them."

"And then what happened?" Lin Huang pressed curiously.

"Then, I took them to the shooting range…" Lin Xin raised her eyebrows and did not finish her sentence, as no explanation was needed for what followed later.

"Not bad, you have my style." Lin Huang gave her an approving thumbs-up.

"Hey, I got everyone's unanimous approval on my first day at work," Lin Xin teased him cheekily, "unlike someone else whose students ran to the administrative office to collectively file a complaint about him, and even won the annual award for the least popular teacher!"

"I became very popular later, I'll have you know. The students were practically begging me not to resign." Lin Huang's mouth twitched.

The past was fresh in their minds, vivid images kept appearing before them.

After strolling around the college, they returned to the teachers' flats at the end.

Lin Huang and Lin Xin used to stay at the same teachers' flat. The three-story building was currently occupied.

The siblings watched from afar but did not approach it.

When they departed from Martial Hunter College, it was already noon…

Chapter 1460: Doomsday Sect

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After leaving Martial Hunter College, Lin Huang and Lin Xin hung around in White Capital for a week. They took their time visiting several of the hottest tourist spots and checked out more than ten renowned restaurants and greasy spoons before moving on to their next stop.

In the month that followed, the sibling duo kept traveling and making stops, feeling an unprecedented sense of satisfaction from their trip.

Along the way, Lin Huang also visited the siblings Yi Zheng and Yi Yeyu, Leng Yuexin, Li Lang, and several other old friends for a joyful reunion.

When they journeyed to No. 3 Zone, Lin Huang remembered that his senior Liu Ming was the vice dean of the Martial Hunter College there. He also wanted to see for himself what the Martial Hunter College of No. 3 Zone looked like, so the siblings made the place their first stop.

Early in the morning, Liu Ming received the duo at a brunch shop near the entrance of the Martial Hunter College.

"Senior Brother, long time no see." Standing at the shop entrance, Lin Huang spotted Liu Ming who was sitting next to the French windows and immediately waved his hand in greeting.

Out of the many students under Mr. Fu's instruction, Lin Huang was the closest to Liu Ming. Apart from the Yi siblings and a few other diehard followers, he was Lin Huang's closest friend.

Liu Ming stood up with a smile, beckoning with his hand for Lin Huang to come over. "Come in quickly."

As the siblings entered the shop and sat down, Liu Ming took a good look at Lin Huang. "After not seeing you for so many years, it seems that the more you mingle, the better you get at it. You've become more handsome too, junior brother."

As an Imperial-level cultivator, Liu Ming knew all the happenings in the cultivation world like the back of his hand. Excluding the year when Lin Huang had gone to the great world, Liu Ming was more or less aware of everything that Lin Huang had gone through these years, as he had been keeping a close eye on this junior brother of his all this time.

"Senior brother, you've changed a lot as well. Your Sword Dao has advanced to level-6, and you've slimmed down a lot. I imagine you must have been practicing with your sword often." Lin Huang teased him good-naturedly.

Liu Ming's combat level was currently Yellow gold-rank and his Sword Dao also had advanced to level-6. With his current abilities, he could be considered a powerhouse even when compared to other Imperial-level cultivators.

"It's true that I have been practicing with my sword a lot, but that isn't the reason I slimmed down." Liu Ming shook his head with a smile. "I only started losing weight this past month."

"I've been managing the college enrollment of Reserve students for over a month now. I'm being worked to the bone."

"Isn't the enrollment of Reserve students an easy task?" Lin Huang felt slightly bewildered. He had been a teacher at a Martial Hunter College before and naturally knew about the Reserve students' enrollment.

Under normal circumstances, the enrollment of Reserve students took place six months in advance to select the most outstanding students from Hunter Reserve Colleges to undertake the Reserve Assessment. Passing the assessment would be tantamount to meeting the entry requirements of the Martial Hunter Colleges. Students who passed would not have to take part in the Regular Assessment in June and only had to stay on in their Hunter Reserve Colleges until graduation before enrolling at Martial Hunter Colleges straight away.

The reason this task was easy was that there were not many students in Hunter Reserve Colleges who fulfilled the Reserve Assessment requirements. In No.7 Zone where Lin Huang was stationed previously, there were no more than a thousand students who met the Reserve Assessment requirements each year. For comparison, the number of Regular graduates from Hunter Reserve Colleges every year was as many as thirty million.

The Reserve quota was kept small mainly because the numerous large colleges demanded that the quota be highly inflexible, with the most basic requirement being Iron-level Combat.

This meant that to qualify, one would have to possess the ability to kill Iron-level rank-1 monsters before his or her sixteenth birthday.

As Hunter Reserve Colleges only taught the basic knowledge, practically offering no real combat courses or teaching official combat skills, there were very few students who could accomplish this threshold.

"It used to be a breeze, but I don't know what happened this year. The number of Reserve students submitted by the various Hunter Reserve Colleges has increased by several times over. Even some small grade-C footholds also submitted Reserve numbers." Liu Ming looked rather gloomy.

"Usually, our college's yearly Reserve quota is around three thousand students. This year, the number submitted has reached about thirteen thousand."

Students were not qualified to submit their own names for this Reserve quota. It was the dean of every Hunter Reserve College who submitted the names after doing a thorough check on each student's circumstances.

Every December, Martial Hunter Colleges would run a preliminary selection on all the reporting students. The pass rate of the preliminary selection would be recorded. The Hunter Reserve Colleges with too low a pass rate would be investigated. If they were found to be untruthful, the dean would be sacked straight away. Hence, under normal circumstances, none of the deans from any of the Hunter Reserve Colleges would submit a false quota.

"I don't know if it's due to the changes in the force density in the air that the number of talents this year has suddenly increased." Liu Ming also could not make sense of what this was all about.

On the contrary, after hearing all of this, Lin Huang figured out what was happening. The Rule of the gravel world was completed, making cultivation a lot easier.

The more gifted ones or those with stronger abilities felt the changes of the world more intensely.

Amongst the younger generation, there were many who were naturally gifted or had potential, and they were all becoming increasingly excited around now.

"To be frank, these two months have been quite extraordinary. Lately, the internet has been buzzing with talk of how in the danger zones and forbidden lands of each level, the monsters' abilities in general have increased."

"I've seen many posts claiming that some people found a good number of immortal-level monsters at a moderate danger zone, as well as imperial-level monsters at a severe danger zone."

Here, Liu Ming suddenly lowered his voice.

"I have a friend who works for the Union Government. Some time ago when we were drinking together, he revealed that lately the Union Government has been discussing in meetings about dividing the ranks of certain danger zones."

Of course, Lin Huang knew that these changes were brought upon by himself.

It was not really a bad thing that monsters have become stronger. Humans were becoming stronger as well, it was just that many people have not realized it themselves.

In the long run, these changes would only make the humans in the gravel world stronger.

Compared to the Emperor's Heart straight-up opening the Virtual Door, these changes brought about by Lin Huang were rather insignificant.

After having breakfast and chatting with Liu Ming, Liu Ming escorted the siblings around the Martial Hunter College for a while, before leaving in a hurry after receiving a prompt from his messenger.

Lin Huang knew he was busy and did not try to keep him any longer.

After Liu Ming left, the siblings also took their leave after making a simple round about the Martial Hunter College of No. 3 Zone.

Upon returning to the hotel, Lin Huang opened his Emperor's Heart Ring and started going over the various large social platforms.

Throughout this past month or so, he never looked at messages from social platforms. The most he would do each day was to give the news a cursory glance before sleeping. This was because he felt that there was too much time wasted in scrolling through social platforms. On top of that, he often came across various heated arguments, which were usually not only meaningless, but could also easily sour your mood.

As he was on holiday, Lin Huang had decided he might as well block out all this toxic noise.

However, after his conversation with Liu Ming, he was slightly curious about what people were saying about the changes to the gravel world.

After opening up several social platforms one after another and taking a look at some of the most viral posts, Lin Huang did not know whether to laugh or cry.

What made him truly speechless was that a group of people was advocating the coming of doomsday.

The monsters' increasing strength meant that the gravel world was heading toward its end, for these monsters would continue to become stronger and ultimately conquer the whole gravel world.

More importantly, there was actually a good number of people who believed this kind of theory.

A large group of people even formed an online alliance called the Doomsday Sect.

"If you have so much free time, why can't you guys focus on cultivating instead?" After skimming through some headlines, Lin Huang finally had enough and shut off all the social platform pages.

"Thankfully, not everyone is this senseless. There are still many people in this world who are actively forging ahead and continuously becoming stronger!"