Chapter 561 Beckoned
"You still remember," spoke the Black Merchant.
"Of course, no one would give a treasure like that brush for so little money, then disappear as if they had fulfilled their goal. You struck me as someone of interest, but I never would have figured out that you'd be someone from the Beyond," I said.
"Oh, how did you come to that conclusion?" he asked
"Your Qi, or lack of it," I said.
"I could be hiding it," he said.
"That would have been a good argument if I wasn't at the Emperor Level, and if you're able to hide it from me while I'm at the Emperor Rank, you're higher level than me. And thus you shouldn't be here…"
"I could be using a treasure, after all, I've given you a heavenly treasure before," he said.
"More reasons to think you're otherworldly, since the brush you've given me, the materials it's made of, I've yet to even encounter them," I said as I continued assembling the shattered fragments of the Keys.
"Your logic is flawed," he said.
"Am I wrong?" I asked.
"You are not… but you came to the conclusion using clues that weren't certain," he said.
"That's where you're wrong, I didn't use only the clues, the clues helped, it's intuition, the moment I saw you, your aura struck me as… different, from anyone I've seen," I said as I finished separating the fragments of each of the keys.
"How so?" he asked as he came to face me from the other side of the table.
"You're… stagnant, you never improved, or decayed, your Qi remained the same level as that of a mortal where you shouldn't be a mortal, unmoving, unwavering, never degrading like that of a mortal as they degrade the more they age, never improving like that of a cultivator as they improve as they age. You couldn't cultivate the Qi of the world, and there was one reason for that," I said.
"And what is that reason?" he asked.
"The lack of resources to cultivate, or the inexistence thereof," I said.
"Interesting, but the vast expanse is full of Qi and saint Qi," he said.
"But it has nothing of the upper form of Qi, the very Qi that the Primordial Serpent Snake was consuming by destroying planets," I said.
"If the serpent was able to do so, why couldn't I?" said the Merchant.
"Because the Serpent was eating entire planets for a wisp of that Qi, I can't imagine you going around destroying planets for it, otherwise with two of you here, the Vast Expanse would have perished a long time ago," I said.
"I don't wish to play this game anymore, you're no fun," he said smiling.
"So, tell me, why did you come, uninvited," I asked.
"But I was invited," he said.
"By who?" I asked.
"By the owner of this pagoda," he said.
For the first time, I raised my head and looked him in the eyes. Well, where his eyes should have been because I could only see his chin from the darkness covering him due to his cowl.
"The Lord of Lords," I said.
"Yes, the Wise Sun asked me to help guide some of the kids… to the right direction, and I did as told," he said.
"For what reason?" I asked.
"His wisdom exceeds mine, I have no knowledge of the intricacy of the Wisest Sun's mind, but he said that there were a few seedlings that needed proper fostering, at first I thought I'd be scouring the land you call the Beyond for talents, but then he asked me to visit the Vast Expanse which caught me by surprise," he said.
"How long have you been scouring?" I asked.
"For ten thousand years," he said.
"That's a pretty damn long time," I said.
"Indeed it is, but as you might have noticed…"
"You are not…you," I said.
"Indeed, it is but an avatar, sent to this realm to achieve a goal, and I have succeeded in it," he said.
I snorted at his comment.
"What? You think I didn't help enough?" he asked.
"Not a matter of you helping enough or not, but if you were tasked to assist, was all the assistant required, to hand me a brush?" I asked.
"That was just your side, I also made many contributions that were unseen to your eyes," he said.
"Is that so… so what does he need from me?" I asked.
"I have no knowledge of the needs of the Wisest Sun, but he wanted you to leave this world, and go and meet him, only then will you understand his wisdom," he said.
"My goal here is done, as for you I believe you'll reach a good result with the keys, enough that even the White Sun will be surprised. Once you're in the Beyond, I'll come pick you up," he said.
"It would be helpful if you assist me in figuring this out, from the way you speak, you seem to be more knowledgeable about these keys," I said.
"I wouldn't want to intrude upon your opportunity, sure I can help, but you'll be the one to lose out, I'd advise you to keep trying, once you succeed you'll understand my reasoning," he said then took several steps away, "Now, until we meet again," he said and slowly started dematerializing in front of me, as if he was becoming nothingness itself.
A strange phenomenon, but not something I'd delve into right now, I'm too busy trying to figure things out.
As for the fact of him saying that this was a good opportunity for me, I didn't doubt it in the slightest.
The way this key is made, honestly is a masterpiece. I can see how many didn't understand how it was made since this was pure law.
It wasn't physical although it looked physical.
It was strange but at the same time very intricate.
Every fragment, though looked like crystalized matter was in fact made of law, and law is intangible.
However, how did it come to be physically present?
I can't see the laws in these fragments, I can sense them, but can't see them. So…
"Domain of Delusions!" I called upon my own domain and manifested the massive black dome that covered the entirety of the white space of the Pagoda.
The domain I was in was pitch black and was what could allow me to act as a god in this small space.
I raised my hand up, picking up only the fragments of the Metal Key, they were gray in color, they looked dead and pale, but there was something like the semblance of a heartbeat from within the fragments that gave them an occasional sheen every now and then.
The laws although destroyed, still were partially functional, but due to the fact that they were detached from each other, the key lost its function, but this is good.
"Enlarge!" I said.
And instantly the small fragments in my hand became the size of buildings.
That was thanks to my Domain, I used delusions to thwart spatial conception and made what was small, gigantic.
This was just so I could see better, although I could have used divine sense, I'd like to see things from this perspective.
The building-sized fragments seemed much more intricate now. This was awfully intricate. Every law line was so intricately fused with another that they made a wire. And every wire was bound and attached to another making a rope-like structure of law. And these ropes were intertwined with each other so convolutedly that they made a physical piece.
And these pieces are the ones that I'm seeing. The pieces of the Key.
The laws in them were simple, but they were incredibly complicatedly fused together that one couldn't make head or tail of where is the start and where is the end.
"If I wanted to repair the key, I need to understand how it works first… and that means…ah no wonder this will be helpful hah!" I laughed as I looked at the overall construct.
"This is coding… on an incredible degree…" I grinned.
I've done this before, although my cultivation level was barely at the Core Cultivation level, I did this when I deduced and understood Master Rain's intricate forbidden city formations.
This though, it's on a completely different level, but I wasn't the same person from before.
Now I have the mind of an Emperor cultivator, so let's see how hard this challenge will be.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦