Chapter 1399: Chapter 1239: The Fugitive_2
"..."
Courage? What courage? The courage to be eaten?
Upon hearing the grumbling of the Joke Donkey, even when facing imminent death, the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits nearly laughed out of exasperation.
Back when Number 3 had nothing, he could still devour Number 7, who controlled the root of the dream world, in the dream. Now, he possesses seventy percent of the dream’s root and holds the essence of the Pure White Holy Mother. Am I a match for him?
If he takes the initiative to enter the spirit realm to cause trouble, I wouldn’t fear him. But if I leave the spirit realm to confront him in reality, wouldn’t that be pure suicide?
"I can’t be bothered to argue with you!"
Understanding that the Hanging Star Master mentioned this to see him full of remorse and find some amusement, the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits, with half his body already shattered by the starlight, looked up at the massive donkey eye above and said:
"Number 2, I have one last question!
Although you are much stronger than me, after killing Number 12 and trading with Number 1 for the dream’s root, I am not inferior to you in terms of roots! How exactly did you manage it?"
The Hanging Star Master blinked upon hearing this.
"You want to know how I tricked you? How come you, who clearly held the spirit realm, had no ability to resist at all?"
"Exactly!"
The Master of Ten Thousand Spirits, full of holes from the starlight, nodded stubbornly and said:
"Considering we are compatriots, let me die with some understanding!"
"I can do that."
The Hanging Star Master thought for a moment, then nodded his donkey head seriously and replied:
"You failed because you took my star realm root."
"..."
"And then?"
"That’s it."
"..."
That’s it? It’s that simple?
"Isn’t that enough?"
Looking at the confused face of the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits below, the Joke Donkey asked curiously:
"That was my root. Tinkering with it a bit was too easy.
Especially since I guessed your intentions and knew you would try to invade my suspended horn and steal the root when I went to the real world. Turning the tables on you became a simple task, didn’t it?"
"But... but..."
"But you obviously checked, confirmed it was fine to absorb the stolen roots, right?"
"Yes..."
The Master of Ten Thousand Spirits said in confusion:
"I repeatedly confirmed those star realm roots were absolutely harmless."
"Harmless is harmless, and fine is fine."
The Hanging Star Master chuckled and said:
"I didn’t do anything too complicated, just left a small ’opening’ in the root. When you took my root and began to connect the spirit realm with the star realm, I could use this harmless small aperture to continually pour more star realm roots.
And since I am the ultimate master of the star realm roots, and you had to focus much of your energy on healing the spirit realm, once the star realm roots poured in beyond your control, everything would naturally become the way I wanted it to be."
"But why do you have such a vast amount of star realm roots?"
Surrounded by the hazy starlight filling the spirit realm, the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits said in wonder:
"Even if the star realm root is the largest among the fourteen roots, this quantity is just..."
"I robbed myself."
"???"
"Did you forget about Ring Time Mountain?"
Chewing the sweet and crisp carrot, the Hanging Star Master explained cheerfully:
"By jumping from the top of Ring Time Mountain, there’s a chance to go directly to different times. I was bored and jumped off, finding over a hundred versions of myself from different times.
After many battles, winning some and losing some, I nearly got killed by myself several times, but I also snatched quite a few star realm roots from myself. After I had enough fun, I just randomly found a time and jumped out again... Oh, by the way."
Under the bewildered gaze of the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits, the Hanging Star Master added:
"Though I am me, I am probably not the one you know. After I came out of Ring Time Mountain, the Number 2 you knew came to confront me. But it was too weak to defeat me, and instead, I caught it and locked it up here."
Rapping his hooves on the starlight fragments beneath him, the Hanging Star Master grinned and said:
"I’m in a great mood today. I can tell you something interesting: the Number 3 you know might not be the true original descendent."
"?!!!"
"Surprising, right?"
Sitting on the fragment of a star imprisoning another self, the Hanging Star Master, crossing his legs... hooves, said happily:
"In the hundred-plus different times I have seen, there is little change among the fourteen original descendants, and they are all fixed. Only in this time, things are different.
Many things in this timeline have changed, and the Number 3 here is not the Number 3 I know, but replaced by an unfamiliar face. It’s really intriguing!"
After prattling about his discoveries, the Hanging Star Master, full of anticipation, said:
"The original Number 3 was interesting, but this Number 3... ah no, this imposter Number 3 is the most amusing one. I even think he could possibly defeat Number 1 and replace her to complete... Hmm... something seems off?"
Seeing the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits already unable to stand, fallen due to the erosion of the star realm roots, the Joke Donkey asked in surprise:
"Do you also have a backup plan? This version of you is so clever?"
"Wha... what?"
Wasn’t it you?
Looking at the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits, who was still bewildered and clearly unaware of the situation, the Joke Donkey blinked and slapped his thigh.
"Damn! When you took the dream’s root from Number 1, didn’t you dissolve your alliance?"
"Of course... not..."
The almost defeated Master of Ten Thousand Spirits answered intermittently:
"The alliance I made with her... wheeze... came at a hefty price... until I achieved my goal, she... she absolutely wouldn’t harm me. Is there a problem with the alliance?"
"..."
Problem... Big problem!
Receiving the affirmative reply from the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits, the Hanging Star Master slapped his forehead with his hoof, his donkey face full of deep regret.
Alliances inherently involve traceable "interference"!
Especially such alliances capable of binding the master; it must contain part of the contractor’s will. This fool Number 11 didn’t dissolve the alliance when connecting the spirit realm, which means he brought along part of Number 1’s will too.
However, Number 1 discovering this situation doesn’t seem like the biggest issue right now. The real problem is...
"No wonder you seemed off to me."
Accompanied by a voice both were familiar with, Fredri’s figure appeared in the chaotic spirit realm, staring at the Hanging Star Master in surprise.
"So you aren’t the real Number 2, but an escapee from Ring Time Mountain... So it’s you who disrupted the ’order’ and awakened me recently?"
Sigh... I crossed so many timelines without incident, didn’t expect to end up being tricked by a fool...
Ignoring Fredri’s inquiry, staring at the bewildered Master of Ten Thousand Spirits opposite him, the Hanging Star Master couldn’t resist lifting his massive donkey hoof, crushing him twice. Then, amid the pained cries of the Master of Ten Thousand Spirits, he turned to Fredri, arms crossed behind her back, and said helplessly:
"Catching escapees like me is also your duty, right? How do you plan to handle me?"
