Chapter 341: Chapter 277: Opening the Box
It wasn’t just him. Everyone present held their breath, not daring to blink for fear of missing a single moment.
Even Mr. Ke did his best to open his cloudy, aged eyes.
CLINK!
With a soft sound, the metal Token settled into the recess on the box, a perfect fit down to the last millimeter.
The next moment, the recess began to glow, the light scanning over the Token.
With a mechanical click, a seam split open down the middle of the box’s top, and it slowly began to open.
A soft light shone from the opening, gradually coalescing into a phantom-like figure.
It was a middle-aged man with ordinary features but an extraordinary air about him.
"Lin Hua’s Legend!"
"Ancestor Lin Hua!"
The crowd gasped in unison.
Tears welled in Mr. Ke’s cloudy, aged eyes as he called out with difficulty, "Marshal!"
However, the phantom figure didn’t respond to their cries. It was clearly just a recording left behind by Lin Hua’s Legend, without consciousness or the ability to interact.
It was like a video that could only be played.
Everyone could only suppress their excitement and watch in silence.
The phantom of Lin Hua’s Legend wore a gentle smile. "I don’t know if it’s Qiu’er who has returned, or if a hundred years have passed and you’ve opened this box, Ke."
"Qiu’er... probably isn’t coming back. I know this in my heart; I just don’t want to admit it. So, it must be you, Ke, right?"
As he said this, everyone’s gaze turned in unison to Mr. Ke in his wheelchair.
It wasn’t hard for them to guess that the "Ke" mentioned by Lin Hua’s Legend was none other than Ke Xiuyuan, Mr. Ke.
’But what does that mean? Mr. Ke can open this box, too?’
Lin Tiannan seemed to have a sudden realization. He looked at Mr. Ke with a wry smile. "Mr. Ke, you’ve kept me in the dark for so long! Your Token can also open this box, can’t it?"
Su Ze blinked. ’Mr. Ke’s Token can also open the box?’
’In other words, the Token he provided wasn’t actually that important. It was completely replaceable.’
’He traded a Token for a Tier 5 wondrous item. Didn’t he just hit the jackpot?’
’Thank you, Mr. Ke, for making it happen!’
In his wheelchair, Mr. Ke managed to pull his completely slack muscles and skin into a smile buried in wrinkles. He sent a voice transmission, "Before the Marshal left, he told me to protect Lin Hua Continent for a hundred years. After that, if there was still no news of General Qiu, I was to open the box, and he would grant me a great opportunity..."
"Then why didn’t you..." Lin Tiannan couldn’t understand. It had been over four hundred years since Lin Hua’s Legend last returned to the Lin Family, long past the hundred-year agreement between Lin Hua and Mr. Ke.
In all those four hundred years, Mr. Ke had never mentioned it.
"As long as General Qiu’s remains were not found, in the Marshal’s heart, she was not dead. How could I shatter the last glimmer of hope in his heart?" Mr. Ke paused. "Besides, with Lin Hua Continent facing troubles from within and without, I ultimately couldn’t let go, nor could I leave."
Lin Tiannan sighed, not knowing what to say.
Chen Suifeng also sighed emotionally.
Just then, the phantom of Lin Hua’s Legend continued to speak. "I was too selfish, making you stand guard for me for a hundred years. Because of that, I’ve always felt guilty. Consider the opportunity in this box my compensation to you."
"In recent years, I’ve traveled all over Blue Star. I didn’t find any trace of Qiu’er, but I did stumble upon some fragmented corpses. In life, their owners must have been higher lifeforms beyond my imagination. I found some Butterfly Wing Fragments, which reminded me of the butterfly that flew from space before the beginning of the Era of Evolution."
"Near the corpses, I found a... place of inheritance. Just from the peripheral inheritance, I had the chance to obtain a divine skill. You heard that right—a true, god-level skill! Moreover, that inheritance could help me leave Blue Star and travel to other civilizations in the depths of the universe to pursue the hope of becoming a god."
"However, after accepting the inheritance, I would be sent away from Blue Star. That’s why I returned to the Lin Family one last time to say goodbye to everyone before I accepted it."
These words from Lin Hua’s Legend left everyone present, except for Mr. Ke, utterly stunned.
’Lin Hua’s Legend found the remains of that butterfly from space, and he might have even received the inheritance of a divine skill?’
’So, it’s very likely that Lin Hua’s Legend has already left Blue Star to seek his chance at godhood in the universe.’
Mr. Ke had obviously learned some of this from Lin Hua’s Legend back then, so he wasn’t surprised now. He quietly waited for the phantom of Lin Hua’s Legend to continue.
No one else dared to make a sound, afraid they might miss a single word of what Lin Hua’s phantom was saying.
"The inheritance I found is incredibly mysterious. From its periphery alone, I could potentially obtain a divine skill. The core inheritance within must hold an even greater opportunity. However, opening the core requires assembling four puzzle pieces. What I’ve left for you is one of those pieces."
"Even if you can’t find the other three pieces, it doesn’t matter. A single piece can open an Inheritance Treasure Vault, which might contain the opportunity to become a god. I, however, have already chosen the peripheral inheritance, so the core inheritance is no longer available to me."
"By the time you see this recording, a hundred years should have passed. If I’m lucky and haven’t died, I might have already become a god out in the cosmos. Go, and pursue your own path to godhood, Ke. I’ll be waiting for you in the cosmos!"
At this, the phantom of Lin Hua’s Legend dissolved into a wisp of green smoke.
Everyone’s expressions were complicated as they looked at Mr. Ke in his wheelchair.
’Mr. Ke... does he regret it now?’
He had given up such a monumental opportunity, letting the years slip by. At his age, the path to godhood was surely closed to him.
