Chapter Forty-One: An Unexpected Delight [Third Watch]

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The "King of Myriad Worlds" cultivated the art of creation, and during his time as a Holy Son, his faith was channeled through books. The novels he wrote became worlds unto themselves, allowing his followers to enter these books and use the treasures within to cultivate. Although they could not bring people or objects out, the cultivation they gained inside remained when they left. Unfortunately, after his fall, the spiritual energy in these book worlds gradually dried up, most faded away, and those that remained were transformed into secret realms.

The stone tablet before her could no longer pass on its legacy; only its insight into the laws remained. Sang Sang extended her mental power into the stele. There was no lingering soul within, only a space shrouded in thick azure mist. In the center of the mist stood a colossal stone door, built of bricks, tightly shut. Its color was dull, though occasionally a few bricks shimmered with blue light. Looking deeper into the masonry, one could see each brick was formed by a fundamental rune.

“Candidate Saintess Sang Hongye pays her respects to the predecessor, King of Myriad Worlds.”

Sang Sang bowed, sat cross-legged, and activated her stardust. Starlight blossomed in the foggy space. As her mental power surged forth, the mist dissipated wherever the starlight reached, and the massive stone door began to melt from one corner of its base.

Each brick was a book, and each book a world. Though most worlds had perished and the remaining ones, now converted into secret realms, had only the faintest connection to their origins, what Sang Sang sought was not those worlds, but the laws that could form a world.

The King of Myriad Worlds' creation was akin to space-time, though not the same. It was primarily spatial, supplemented by life and tinged with a thread of time, condensing vast quantities of elemental and material energy to form a miniature world—a vast world-painting, in essence.

In the lower part of her sea of consciousness, waves surged across a mental ocean, countless stars formed by laws hung high above, and an empty region was suddenly filled with a cloud of runic mist, rapidly expanding until it filled the entire sea of consciousness. Sang Sang’s will sat at the center, her hands stirring the mist. Tiny runes leapt and rearranged themselves, forming arrays that transformed into streams of water soaring into the sky, nourishing the stars of space and time… When the stone door vanished, Sang Sang had absorbed less than a quarter of what was available, but the space-time stars in her sea of consciousness had grown much larger.

Leaving the King of Myriad Worlds’ inheritance space, Sang Sang held the stardust in contemplation. In the Godly Tomb, there were only three chances for enlightenment. Once these were used, or if the soul reached its limit, one would be expelled. What law should she choose for her last chance?

Should she deepen her understanding of space-time, or gather a broader array of laws?

She didn’t ponder long. Sang Sang decided to continue deepening her grasp of space-time. The Godly Tomb held no direct inheritances for the law of space-time; those were all at the main temple, but there were a few that skirted its edges.

Sang Sang activated her stardust and, guided by its power, arrived before a grave marker shaped like a gigantic stone sword. There were no inscriptions. The Godly Tomb held no shortage of sword immortals, but judging by the sword's shape and color—both related to space-time—it had to belong either to the Swordmaster of Four Seasons, who specialized in the Four Seasons Sword Canon (focused on time, of high-grade mystic rank), or to the Boundary-Breaking Sword Maniac, who specialized in the Ninefold Sword Canon (focused on space, of peak primordial rank, who died during his tribulation to break through to the cosmic rank).

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Sang Sang was still speculating about the sword’s previous master when, in the next moment, it no longer mattered. The mental power she had extended was repelled by the stone sword. Then the sword vanished, and in its place appeared a tall, slender figure shrouded in dark green, a blade of sword light soaring skyward, sharp and intimidating.

Someone else had gotten there first!

Sang Sang frowned, wondering how there could still be people in the Godly Tomb. Could it be that, like her, this person was unafraid of the residual wills and resentful energy of the gods, able to absorb energy and restore mental power at will?

The newcomer was clearly just as surprised to encounter someone right after leaving the inheritance space. After a brief pause, they tightened their grip on the sword, and the towering sword aura instantly withdrew, as if a precious blade had been sheathed. Though its edge was hidden, it was all the more dangerous.

Sang Sang stepped back and bowed her head. “Sang Hongye greets the predecessor.”

The other also stepped back and nodded. “Sword Cultivator Yi Yu.”

“Congratulations on obtaining the opportunity,” Sang Sang said as she turned to leave in search of her next inheritance. To be honest, she was a bit frustrated. The stardust only provided three guidance attempts. Without its direction, finding something suitable amid the vast sea of stars was extremely difficult, but she was unwilling to give up her third chance. She would have to rely on luck.

“Wait.” A cool voice called out from behind.

Sang Sang turned. Yi Yu waved a hand, sending something flying to stop three feet before her.

It was a stardust crystal!

Sang Sang looked at the stardust, then at Yi Yu. She said nothing and made no move to take it.

“There’s still one guidance left in that stardust,” Yi Yu said, and without waiting for a response, vanished on the spot, leaving the Godly Tomb.

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Sang Sang gazed in the direction where Yi Yu had disappeared, her lips pressed together.

It was impossible to tamper with stardust—at least, no one below the mystic rank could do so. This sword cultivator, Yi Yu, had genuinely given her the last guidance opportunity.

There was no need to talk of compensation; inheritances always went to the swift, and it was simply that she had arrived late—she was owed nothing. Nor was it because Yi Yu’s soul had reached its limit. Sword cultivators were renowned for the toughness of their souls; if he could last this long, he clearly had his own means of recovery. Even if he truly couldn’t persist, there was no need to give her the stardust. Who would give up such an opportunity for nothing?

No matter the reason, his action alone meant she owed him a favor, and she would be a fool not to accept it.

With these thoughts, Sang Sang reached out and took the stardust crystal.

The opportunity regained was once again used to pursue insights into the law of space-time.

Stepping onto a spatial node, Sang Sang teleported across great distances, soon arriving before a brilliant, multicolored stone sphere. Carved upon its surface were images of 108 different races, men and women, young and old, displaying all manner of emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—all so vivid that, upon close inspection, they seemed to move as if in a recorded scene.

“So it’s the Lord of the Bitter Realm? She specialized in virtual reality—how is that connected to space-time?”

Sang Sang was surprised. The Lord of the Bitter Realm was what the Divine Temple called the owner of the stone orb; the wider world preferred to call her the Illusory Goddess. She pioneered the integration of illusions into the star web, creating massive immersive network games for spiritual refinement. Even experts above mystic rank who had condensed their origin would enter the Bitter Realm as players to break through bottlenecks. At the time, the illusion known as the Bitter Realm became the entire star system’s second world. After her death, the Bitter Realm was divided into many smaller illusions—most have since faded, but a few, like the Vast Mirage where Sang Sang’s Wildlands One was located, still endure.

The Lord of the Bitter Realm’s three inheritances had all been used within a millennium of her death, but none of her inheritors managed to carry on the second world. The first died before reaching the mystic rank; the second was the previous master of the Vast Mirage, also deceased; the third is said to still be alive, rumored to be at the main temple, but the law-origin she has condensed is unrelated to virtual reality.

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