Chapter 725: Chapter 433: Finale
Ningxin Garden.
In the hopeful eyes of All Saints, Li Nuo’s figure gradually solidified from the ripples of the void.
"How is it?"
"It must be a world far more powerful than this one, right?"
"What could the great force that created us be like?"
"Is his cultivation far stronger than that of a Saint?"
...
Facing the eager eyes of All Saints, Li Nuo gently waved his sleeve, and before their eyes, a veil of water slowly emerged.
After returning here, Li Nuo was omnipotent.
Watching the scenes flash across the water veil, All Saints gradually fell silent.
It turns out, it’s such an ordinary world.
Their creator is not a great force.
He is merely a carpenter, just like the countless carpenters in this world, still struggling for a livelihood.
The power they amassed granted them a chance to break through the world’s barriers, but aside from glimpsing the brutal truth, it was meaningless.
Li Nuo looked at them and said, "I have lifted the cultivation barriers of this world. Each of you now has the opportunity to cultivate to the Eighth Realm. If you can reach the Eighth Realm, I might be able to take you out, but once you leave here, you will lose all cultivation, and your life span may be limited..."
Upon hearing this, All Saints lifted their heads, their faces full of delight.
"Really?"
"Can we truly go out?"
"As long as we can leave, even if it means dying immediately, I am willing!"
This world is false, and possessing high cultivation means nothing. If they could breathe the air of the real world, even total annihilation of body and soul would not matter.
Li Nuo also gained new insights after going to that world.
They were originally fictional characters, and no matter what, they cannot leap out of the book’s world itself.
Not even the book’s author can bring characters into his world.
Yet Li Nuo inexplicably felt he could do it; he wondered whether it was a BUG between the two worlds, or perhaps something else.
Could it be that his world is more advanced than the world outside the book?
But breaking through a more advanced spatial barrier seemed unlikely for these fictional Saints, unless an even more powerful force intervenes.
He couldn’t find an answer.
The silhouette of All Saints vanished one by one, Gu Yanran stood outside the door, softly saying, "Master, Lord Wang and Lord Zhou are looking for you."
Moments later, inside Li Nuo’s study.
Gu Yanran and the nightingale served tea to the two cabinet prime ministers. Many years ago, there were no servant girls in the Li Mansion anymore, and they had become accustomed to doing everything themselves.
Wang Duo and Zhou Yu seemed somewhat uneasy and quickly said, "We can do it ourselves, we can do it ourselves..."
Li Nuo exchanged a few words reminiscing with them; Wang Duo stated the purpose of their visit.
Li Nuo smiled faintly and said, "To ask me to return to the court?"
Wang Duo nodded and took a deep breath, saying, "Since the Emperor abdicated and Lord Li and the two Prime Ministers resigned, the court seems different than before. Please return to preside over the situation. We have come so far, completely wiped out totalitarianism, and must not go backward..."
Li Nuo gently shook his head: "Completely wiped out totalitarianism, maybe not..."
So-called Emperor, what totalitarianism is that.
Someone who can arbitrarily change people’s thoughts and characters, can rebuild and destroy the world’s will at any time, with a mere thought, can annihilate or create worlds, is the real totalitarianism.
This kind of power could become the ultimate tool of salvation, or turn into the most terrifying tyranny.
Indeed, with just a thought, he could turn this world into a perfect Datong world.
All the people here would no longer have any negative traits; selfishness, greed, violence... would disappear from human emotions, and the backward steps that Wang Duo worried about would never appear for ten thousand years.
But if that were the case, humanity’s free will would completely cease to exist.
This world would become an eternal, exquisite puppet show.
Perhaps in the future, there would be some Saints who long for freedom, willing to sacrifice their lives to forge an Earth Book, summon souls from beyond the heavens, and overthrow such tyranny on a different level.
No, such things will not happen.
Li Nuo didn’t know why Carpenter Wang couldn’t have complete control over the characters and stories he created, but this will not happen to him.
Thus, he is the most powerful and eternally invincible totalitarianism in this world.
Li Nuo refused Wang Duo’s request, refilled their tea, and said, "I will also be leaving, but before that, I will do something. If that day really comes, the flames in people’s hearts will be reignited..."
Wang Duo and Zhou Yu left.
As they stepped out of Ningxin Garden, in this world, there were no more School of Cross and Vertical, nor will there be new School of Calligraphy born.
The bloodlines of famous families were no longer noble, their offspring’s martial path talent rate was no higher than that of commoners.
The cultivation in Confucian and Legalism became easier, Military had become nominal and vanquished with the unification of the world, and along with it, the Thief School also disappeared... this was his final contribution to this world.
Only heaven knows what this world’s future holds...
Even heaven does not know.
The future of this world should, and can only be created by the people of this world.
Since the Minister of Justice resigned and traveled, his son’s family also moved away from Chang’an, and no one knows where they went.
Gradually, the story of Li Nuo, the Sixt Subjects’ Scholar, was rarely mentioned.
Flowers bloom and wilt, another five years have passed.
A picturesque valley somewhere on the continent.
Under the gaze of the women, Li Nuo held Jiaren’s hand, and the two figures slowly faded and disappeared.
Five years ago, with just a thought, he led Jiaren straight into the realm of Martial Saint.
Although Jiaren has yet to break through the shackles of the Eighth Realm, as they traveled between the two worlds over the years, Li Nuo unexpectedly discovered that he was becoming more familiar with the manipulation of space, even able to take someone with him.
However, currently, he can only take one person at a time.
Outside the book world.
South of Chang’an City, deep in a narrow alley.
Wisteria climbs on the blue brick wall, the puddles reflecting the sky light leaking down through the dark tiles in the aftermath of the spring rain.
Looking at Jiaren who appeared with him, Li Nuo’s expression showed a moment of daze.
At this moment, even he didn’t know whether it was indeed a fictional world within the book.
Jiaren glanced around, her gaze carried a hint of curiosity.
She raised her hands and looked at them; within her body, there was no trace of True Qi, nor could she feel any existence of the Power of Heaven and Earth.
Here, it was indeed a world without the Martial Path.
Two figures passed from outside the alley, paused in their steps, exchanged glances, and then strode into the alley.
A burly man with a face full of rough flesh stared at the young couple, smiled and said, "Little lady, you look beautiful. What’s the point in following that pretty boy? Why not have some fun with us instead?"
Boom!
Splash!
Bang!
Inside the alley, first came the sound of an air burst, followed by the noise of fists hitting flesh and heavy objects hitting the ground.
Within a few breaths, the two strong men lay on the ground like dead dogs.
Jiaren exhaled lightly, rubbed her fists, and said, "Haven’t fought like this in a long time..."
Although she had no True Qi and couldn’t use the Power of Heaven and Earth, her understanding of Martial Arts remained, dealing with such brute-force types, she could fight ten alone.
She took Li Nuo’s hand again and said, "Don’t be afraid, husband. I’ll protect you from now on."
While speaking, a barely noticeable curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.
She could finally protect her husband again...
She liked this place.
Li Nuo nodded slightly, and the Martial Path True Qi gathered in his other hand slowly dissipated.
This world has no Martial Path.
He didn’t know why he could cultivate the Martial Path in this world, and even his cultivation speed was faster here than in the book world.
Li Nuo held Jiaren’s hand and said, "Let me show you our home here."
Although his inner abilities from various schools were gone, the skills from Qin, Chess, Calligraphy and Painting were still there, and book-world silver taels couldn’t be brought out, in these years, Li Nuo made quite a bit of money through them, buying a modest house.
Wanting to bring them all over, his current savings were not enough, probably needing to work hard here for a period of time.
The couple walked hand in hand out of the alley, Jiaren walked among the crowd, looking around at everything, murmuring, "Is this the real world?"
Li Nuo nodded and said, "It should be..."
Occasionally, he too had some strange thoughts.
Clearly, this was not the modern world he came from, nor was it any historical dynasty of that world.
The various things about him still lacked a reasonable explanation.
Could it be that the world they were in now was also a world inside a book?
Li Nuo looked up towards the sky.
Who knows whether there’s also some third-rate author above this heavens?
His gaze could not penetrate this lofty sky, nor could it see clearly the sea of stars above.
Beyond this sea of stars, yet another scene unfolds.
The night’s ancient city spread like ink-colored satin, skyscrapers staggered into a vertical modern forest.
Glass curtain walls awakened in twilight, LED bands resembling blades of light traveled along building lines, laser beams weaving a phantom of bell tower, creating a wonder like double exposure with ancient buildings on the real skyline.
Night had fallen, in a low-end housing area of Yanta District.
The entire residential building had fallen silent, countless dark windows resembling extinguished electronic tombstones.
In a cheap rental room, the cramped space had no lights, only the faint blue glow emitted from the computer screen.
A chubby man wearing glasses sat in front of the computer, looking at the dismal data in the background, muttered to himself, "Damn literati deserve failure, if I keep writing these flashy things, I better find a job instead..."
Grumbling a few more words, he closed the background page, switched back to the writing screen, and slowly typed "The End" on the keyboard.
