Lin Chen shivered all over, as if falling into an ice cave.
He watched the continuously expanding portal to the Demon Realm, for the first time feeling a massive sense of powerlessness.
At this moment, the space behind Lin Chen rippled.
The entrance to Fallen God Mountain opened.
Lin Chen suddenly turned around, a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes:
"Where are Tree Ancestor and the others?!"
However, only one person and one beast emerged.
Bai Ling, and her Calamity-Devouring Beast.
No one else.
At this moment, the Calamity-Devouring Beast seemed very full, its belly large.
"Bai Ling..."
Lin Chen's heart sank to the bottom.
Bai Ling did not speak; she just quietly walked to Lin Chen's side, looked up at the dark purple sky, at the hole that was about to swallow the world.
Her expression was unusually calm, her lips even curled into a beautiful yet tragic smile.
"Teacher... Zhong Nan, Teacher."
Bai Ling softly spoke, her voice clear in this deathly silent world:
"Is this your plan?"
"My task... is complete."
Zhong Nan?!
Lin Chen froze, his mind momentarily blank.
Wasn't Zhong Nan long dead?
Before he could react, he saw at the spot where Bai Ling's gaze landed, a hunched figure slowly emerging in the Void.
"Old... Old Healer?!" Lin Chen exclaimed.
But the next second, the elderly man's figure began to straighten, his previously murky eyes became deep as an abyss, and his ordinary face gradually turned dignified and familiar.
The instant that face settled, Lin Chen felt as if a thunderbolt struck the top of his head.
That person was dressed in a black and white Daoist robe, holding a horsetail whisk, his gaze carrying an ancient desolation overlooking eternity.
It was the formerly deceased—
Former National Preceptor, Zhong Nan!
At this moment, all clues seemed to string together into a line.
The Old Healer was Zhong Nan, Zhong Nan was the Old Healer!
He had never died, always lurking beside Lin Chen and Bai Ling!
...
"Why..."
Lin Chen's voice was dry.
Zhong Nan looked at Lin Chen, then at the shattered sky, slowly began to speak, his voice left endless poignancy:
"Because, there's no creation without destruction."
"I realized long ago that the collapse of the Demon Realm seal was inevitable."
"And eventually, the Spiritual Qi of this world would vanish, while the Demon Realm would only grow stronger, eventually breaking the seal..."
"Thus, the Human Race developed a plan ten thousand years ago: reviving from destruction."
"I need a war, a war capable of forging a true 'god'."
Lin Chen remained puzzled, his brows tightly furrowed into an '川' character.
He looked at the elderly man before him who had resurrected, even manipulated the entire Cangling Ancient Country, overwhelmed by numerous mysteries.
Zhong Nan was aware of Lin Chen's confusion, he cast his gaze towards the distant river of history:
"Everything must begin with the first National Preceptor, Gu Wei."
"Gu Wei?"
Lin Chen was taken aback.
That was the founder of the Cangling Ancient Country, a legendary figure akin to a god.
"After becoming the National Preceptor, Gu Wei gained the ability to perceive the world's truths."
"He was horrified to discover that the Demon Realm had not been eradicated, only temporarily isolated."
Zhong Nan's voice was low and solemn:
"During the original divine and demonic war, the True God of the Human Race exhausted every effort, sacrificing countless sages, and in the end could only seal the Demon Realm's entrance."
"Seals eventually break, a threat looming over the Human Race."
"Gu Wei spent his life calculating fate, ultimately reaching a despairing conclusion: beings of this world, bound by Heavenly Dao rules, cannot cultivate enough to utterly destroy the Demon Lord's existence."
"To win against the Demon Realm, to end this endless cycle completely..."
Zhong Nan suddenly turned his head, his profound gaze fixed fiercely on Lin Chen:
"Requires someone... from outside the Three Realms."
Boom!
Upon hearing this, Lin Chen's pupils contracted sharply, his heart seemed to skip a beat.
Outside the Three Realms?
Not within the Five Elements, outside the cycle of reincarnation.
This was describing...
Him, the traveler from Earth?!
"You..." Lin Chen looked at Zhong Nan in disbelief, his voice dry, "Are you saying, you knew from the start..."
"Knew you came from another world, right?"
Zhong Nan calmly took over the conversation.
Lin Chen was completely shocked.
He thought this was his deepest secret, not even mentioned by the most intimate people.
But unexpectedly, in the eyes of this old National Preceptor, he was already transparent.
"Could it be that the National Preceptor can truly foresee everything about the future?"
"Not foresee, but causality."
Zhong Nan looked at Lin Chen, a trace of compassion and reverence in his eyes:
"Your arrival is not accidental, but inevitable."
"Gu Wei... he did not fall by himself."
"In the final moments of his life, he forcibly extracted from himself and the entire Cangling Ancient Country a thousand years of fortune, transforming it into a guiding light, sent beyond the three realms."
"He paid the price of a scattered soul to send out that call in the vast universe, forcibly altering time and space, thus... leading to your arrival."
"However, you are not the first."
"In this world, there have been others like you who crossed over, and they were several generations of National Preceptors before me."
"Unfortunately, they all failed."
"But you are different; your appearance had no sign, not even I noticed."
"Until Bai Ling met you and survived, from then on, I began to notice you."
Lin Chen was shocked, as if hit by lightning.
His crossing was the hope bought by the sages of the Human Race in this world, with their lives?
"So…"
Lin Chen looked at his hands, that "Bloodline Golden Hand" capable of transforming all things and evolving Spirit Beasts, was also not gained normally, and he sank into silence.
He always believed he was lucky, yet unexpectedly, this luck was burdened with so much history and blood.
"Do you know why Gu Ning shouted before his death, why couldn't it be him?" Zhong Nan suddenly asked.
Lin Chen shook his head.
"Because from the beginning, the true child of fortune was never Bai Ling, nor Gu Ning, but you…"
Zhong Nan spoke each word slowly, "Gu Ning is from this realm, his upper limit was locked by the Heavenly Dao."
"When he was ascending, he discovered this and understood it all."
"You, however, are the variable, the one and only infinite possibility."
"But…"
Lin Chen instinctively looked at Bai Ling beside him, in disbelief:
"But Bai Ling's luck… that kind of luck where disasters turn into blessings, and treasures are found just by walking, is that also fake?"
"The luck is real, but its source is not her."
Zhong Nan glanced at Bai Ling, his gaze turning gentle:
"Bai Ling gained luck because she met you."
"The Calamity-Devouring Beast is the most unique Spirit Beast in the world; it can devour misfortune and borrow fortune."
"Bai Ling is an ill-fated physique, destined for early demise."
"But your vast fortune from 'beyond the three realms' descended beside her, the Calamity-Devouring Beast naturally resonated with you, borrowed the Spiritual Qi and fortune emanating from you…"
"The so-called daughter of fortune is merely the moon reflecting the light beside your blazing sun."
Lin Chen was speechless with shock.
So it was all because of him...
"Boom——"
In the sky, the dark purple fissure expanded again, a giant demon claw probing halfway out, its terrifying demonic might causing the ground to crack inch by inch.
Lin Chen snapped back to reality, looking at the apocalyptic scene, he smiled bitterly:
"You've told me so much... aren't you implying that I, as I am now, can save this catastrophic disaster?"
Though he defeated Gu Ning, he could feel that the descending Demon Lord in the sky was stronger by more than one grade than the Ancestor Celestial Dragon.
That is a true existence "above divine and demonic"!
"As you are now, no."
Zhong Nan shook his head, then his gaze turned extraordinarily resolute: "But with them.... yes."
Before his words fell, Zhong Nan suddenly waved the tassel in his hand.
"Rise!"
Buzz——
The Void trembled, and an ancient altar emitting seven-colored light appeared out of thin air beneath Lin Chen's feet.
The altar was engraved with numerous complex and obscure symbols, emitting an aura that agitated the Divine and Demonic Power within Lin Chen.
While Lin Chen was puzzled, Bai Ling, who had been quietly standing beside him, suddenly felt light and uncontrollably floated towards the center of the altar.
"Bai Ling?!"
Lin Chen was surprised, reaching out to grab.
But he grasped only air.
An ominous premonition instantly engulfed Lin Chen's heart; he turned sharply to Zhong Nan, his voice trembling:
"Could it be…"
Zhong Nan didn't look at Lin Chen but gazed up at the girl who nobly sacrificed for the future of the Human Race, his voice hoarse yet carrying an unshakable tenacity:
"Lin Chen, to step into that supreme realm, to defeat the Demon Lord, divine and demonic power alone is insufficient."
"It requires... All Laws Unite."
"Bai Ling's Calamity-Devouring Beast has absorbed all the Spiritual Qi from the fallen Immortal Beasts on Fallen God Mountain, Gu Ning, and the Origin Power of all departed souls from the ongoing battles…"
Zhong Nan's finger pointed at Bai Ling, then at the shattered remains of Gu Ning, finally directing to Fallen God Mountain:
"Only by melting all these powers into one, using the body as a furnace, the soul as a guide…"
"Can the final shackle be broken, to step into the legendary—"
"Supreme Immortal!"
"Only this way can you battle the Demon Lord!"
Lin Chen was shocked into silence.
This was a grand plan plotted for ten thousand years, unexpectedly falling upon him!
