Chapter 682: The Truth of Everything (Two-in-One)

As his voice faded.

A thick sorrow slowly rippled through the air.

The Messenger's eyes widened, scarcely believing his ears.

The entity before him was the River.

"Death."

That word felt entirely divorced from the name "River."

Yet the sorrow was real. It felt like a cold wind seeping into his bones, thread by thread, soaking his heart until it was gently lifted and left suspended in midair.

As if the world were utterly alone.

In that instant, the Messenger felt he understood the River's grief.

Yan Jing stayed silent for several seconds.

Then he slowly spoke:

"Is he really that strong?"

"Stronger than you can imagine."

The River said softly:

"Within the Desolate Origin Realm, there are three levels in total. He is one level higher than both me and Stone."

"The only reason he hasn't immediately struck at the two of us is because he's injured."

"Desolate Origin Realm?"

Yan Jing raised an eyebrow.

The River didn't hide anything; since it had brought the realm up, the words were meant for Yan Jing to hear.

"A realm of the greater world. If someone can comprehend and wield world rules, they can break through to it."

Yan Jing's interest deepened:

"Then what realm are we in now?"

"Extreme Dao Realm."

The River said slowly:

"In this realm, a person has reached the absolute extreme of their chosen dao, transforming the mortal into the true. They can no longer be disturbed by external forces, and their understanding of the world advances, bringing them to the verge of touching a truer, grander world."

"You don't need to feel inferior. Even in the outside world, this realm is enough to rule a region. For you to reach this step in such a small Domain, your talent is already unparalleled. Even out there, you wouldn't lose to those Peerless Heavenly Prodigies."

Yan Jing nodded, not too surprised.

In a world so steeped in the supernatural, the existence of a broader universe was something he could have guessed from the start.

But the Messenger in his palm was clearly shocked.

For him, someone who had stayed in the Deity realm for over a thousand years, the revelation was practically devastating.

A Deity of a local Domain was nothing more than an initiate who had just crossed the threshold of the greater world.

Such a truth was hard for him to accept.

Yan Jing looked at the River:

"What about Fertile Earth's situation? Is it similar to yours?"

The River shook its head:

"It is slightly better off than me. It at least has some strength left."

"For that invader, the power of time is clearly harder to deal with than the power of space."

"So I bore the brunt of it and became his primary target."

Yan Jing nodded:

"So you have no countermeasures at all?"

"Was I wrong to come looking for you?"

"No," the River replied.

"We have countermeasures."

"Though we can't break through the limits of this small Domain to reach a higher dimension in the short term, the resources of this small Domain are still here. So, we pinned our hopes on someone reaching our level. Even if they couldn't defeat him, they could still keep him in check."

Yan Jing's expression remained calm:

"So... who did you cultivate?"

"In the beginning, I was primarily responsible for fighting the invader, while Stone took charge of cultivation."

"Stone found a Screen and gathered everyone from the distant past who still held hope inside it. The Screen held world origin that had existed since its creation, which could resist the corruption of the invader's energy system."

"It also used its remaining strength to open a passage between the Surface and Inner Worlds. Originally, the Surface World handled reality, and the Inner World handled the supernatural. Stone felt that extremely talented individuals might exist in the Surface World as well. To that end, it materialized a power system for the Surface World, sharing its own power to manifest the Inventory and spatial tunnels."

"But both of these plans ultimately failed."

The River seemed to let out a long sigh:

"Although the Screen contained a small portion of world origin, it was ultimately not a true world. Even after it evolved, it couldn't support anyone breaking through. Let alone the Extreme Dao Realm, not a single person even reached the realm just below it."

"As for the Surface World, talented individuals did indeed emerge, but... something was still off."

"Because all paths led to the same destination, they inevitably stepped onto the path of Deities. And the number of people who could cast aside the temptation of becoming a so-called Deity was simply too few."

"After all that effort, only a tiny minority dared to challenge the invader. And once too many of them failed, no one else ever harbored such thoughts again."

"It not only had little effect, but actually resulted in the invader gaining more and more 'Deities' under his command."

The River narrated slowly. Its tone wasn't intense, but it connected every piece of the puzzle.

Yan Jing pondered it carefully, the true picture of this world gradually becoming clear in his mind.

"Left with no choice, I joined the cultivation plan."

"I provided opportunities for those talented individuals who reached the Summit, giving them a chance to return to the past, overcome their inner demons, and rid themselves of their obsessions and shackles."

"Unfortunately, it didn't succeed."

"I also froze time for the severed eras and some of the Heavenly Prodigies that came after, offering them help when they chose to seal themselves away so they could awaken at the peak of their strength."

"But looking at it now, that wasn't particularly successful either."

"I even created the River Envoys, hoping they could fish those golden eras out from the River. Those ancient eras are no longer under the invader's jurisdiction, which would allow them to escape his control."

"But that didn't seem to work, either."

The River listed them one by one, its tone utterly devoid of fluctuation.

But the more Yan Jing listened, the more exasperated he felt.

This River really was better suited for fighting the Firmament directly. Look at what Fertile Earth had done: connected the Surface and Inner Worlds, established the system, and constructed the Great Curtain. It allowed the distant past to gather external energy on one hand, while helping humans of the Surface World purge the corrupting elements from their items on the other.

And look at what the River had done.

Let countless geniuses swim in their obsessions inside the River.

"You seem to feel that my plans weren't very good."

"But you don't know what my final plan was."

"I activated the River Project, summoning existences from other planes or the real world across different time periods to make contact with this realm. I carefully selected all of them. Once they stepped into the Extreme Dao Realm, they would no longer be restricted by this world."

"..."

Hearing the River's words, Yan Jing spoke calmly:

"So I am a member of the River Project."

"More than that!"

For the first time, Yan Jing heard emotion fluctuate in the River's tone.

"Stone created an Identity Project, and in the end, it also chose you."

"So strictly speaking, you are special!!!"

"Do you understand?!!"

"I don't know what its selection criteria were, but mine required an incredibly powerful obsession and an absolutely independent sense of self. It should have operated on the exact opposite logic, yet it still chose you. Truly surprising."

Yan Jing listened to the River's words, his expression serene.

That explained everything.

He was the one simultaneously chosen by the River and Fertile Earth. He had accomplished both of their goals and had indeed reached this step.

"So my destiny is to kill the Firmament?"

Yan Jing looked at the River and spoke slowly.

"..."

The River denied this:

"Actually, you can't call it destiny, because..."

"At the time, we just wanted to find a person with the hope of breaking through to the Extreme Dao. But... as for what they would actually do after breaking through, our current abilities can't restrict them anyway."

Yan Jing laughed and shook his head:

"No need to put such a noble spin on it."

"With my personality, having reached this step, I wouldn't tolerate the Firmament's rigid rules anymore. You should all be well aware of that."

"Moreover..."

"If I'm not mistaken, this isn't my first time reaching this step, is it?"

As Yan Jing's words fell, the Messenger suddenly shuddered.

He felt his surroundings suddenly turn extremely quiet.

Although there hadn't been much sound to begin with.

But this was different from before.

Now, there was absolutely no sound at all.

Breathing, heartbeats... everything had stopped.

Seconds passed. Several seconds later.

The River slowly spoke:

"You should be glad you have the chance to do this over again."

It admitted it!!!

The Messenger wished nothing more than to stand up, point at the River, and scream.

This shameless thing actually admitted it!!!!

"Is that so?"

Yan Jing smiled faintly:

"Should I be glad for the chance to try again, or should I be glad that I was chosen by you to have my original life shattered and brought to this place?"

"..."

The River said softly:

"Is transcendence not good? Do you know how many people yearn for transcendent power? If you returned to your original world now, everything would be yours. You are tens of thousands of times stronger than before."

"Transcendence is fine," Yan Jing said, his tone tranquil.

"It would just be better if I had chosen it myself."

"Unfortunately, you didn't." The River's tone was even calmer than Yan Jing's.

"It has already happened. You were chosen by me and Stone. You are here. You can refuse what comes next, but you cannot change what has already occurred."

"I figured a reboot like this could only happen once."

"An existence like you would absolutely discover your own past trajectory."

"Therefore, this is also our final chance. Not only do I lack the strength to let you start over again, but even if I did, the next 'you' would never strike at the Firmament."

Yan Jing laughed, his voice very soft.

"So what was it like the last time I came here?"

"You weren't as strong then as you are now," the River said slowly.

"Back then, you didn't have so many people by your side."

"You struggled all on your own through my and Stone's plans, finally breaking through to the Extreme Dao Realm."

"You had no ties binding you, so your initial attitude toward the invader wasn't to kill him. You were content to simply stay peacefully in the Extreme Dao Realm."

"Until later..."

"As your position climbed higher and higher, the arrogance in your bones finally clashed with the Firmament. A few hundred years later, you made a move against him."

Pausing for a moment, the River spoke, uttering a name that made the Messenger's eyes go wide:

"At that time, you were called Creation."

"That battle tore open the wounds the Firmament had spent millennia painstakingly healing, reverting him to his injured state."

"It was also that battle that allowed me and Stone to see hope."

"So, even though the price was enormous, we still brought you all the way back to the very beginning of time."

"And then... it led to this."

Yan Jing's expression remained tranquil:

"No wonder everyone likes being a Deity."

"A casual stroke can alter a person's entire life trajectory, turning their whole existence upside down."

"How interesting."

Yan Jing smiled:

"Well then, I'm back again this time."

"Do I get a second-playthrough gift package?"

The River said slowly:

"Among the items you've acquired, there is one called Trace: Reappearance. That is my origin. It can reset everything at or below my Tier back to its absolute beginning."

"If you fail this time, you can rely on it to return to your initial state. By then, I will likely have vanished completely from all dimensions of time."

"Without my involvement, you would probably live a normal life."

"This is the final help I can offer you. Even if you wanted something else, I couldn't give it. I am already a candle in the wind."

Yan Jing's expression remained calm:

"If I win, can you survive?"

"No."

"Then what's the point of hoping I win?"

"First, I don't want the invader to win. Second, if you win, Stone can still survive."

"..."

Hearing this, Yan Jing fell silent for a few seconds before laughing:

"You made that reason up on purpose, didn't you?"

"No, it's the truth."

"Fair enough, but it's exactly the kind of reason that suits my tastes."

Yan Jing's expression was calm:

"Now, tell me the method to break through to the Desolate Origin Realm."

...

...

Lately, the Domain War had been raging like wildfire.

Among all the factions, the most eye-catching was undoubtedly the Cat Ship army, which had conquered the entire Inner World.

In just a dozen days, the entire Inner World had been thoroughly routed and swept clean by the Cat Ship.

Some people who left the Inner World to wage war in the Surface World looked back only to realize their home was gone.

Someone who witnessed the Cat Ship sweeping through the Inner World ultimately described the scene as a plague of locusts.

"It was basically a one-click sweep—absolutely brutal. Wherever they passed, the people were still alive, but the territory was already theirs."

To resist the Cat Ship, the remaining factions of the Surface World banded together to form the Surface World Alliance, deciding to launch a crusade against it.

Yet, no matter how fiercely the Domain War waged...

...people still felt as if something was missing.

Because...

On the Deity Ascension Roll, a very disruptive name seemed to have vanished.

Yan Jing.

Where was Yan Jing?

Everyone was slightly at a loss.

How had that most dazzling rising star suddenly disappeared?

Not only that.

The Deity Ascension Roll hadn't updated for a very, very long time either.

Just what was going on?

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Somewhere in the void.

At this moment, the Messenger flapped his wings and flew over the River, doing the backstroke in its waters.

"What's the situation with him?"

The Messenger asked the River, his words lacking their previous reverence and holding a bit more familiarity.

He looked down at Yan Jing, whose eyes were tightly shut.

Yan Jing kept his eyes closed, his expression constantly twisting—sometimes in pain, sometimes smiling.

He had been like this for quite a while.

"He is about to break through his realm."

The River said slowly:

"His talent is simply inconceivable."

"He really is ridiculous. It only took him two or three weeks." The Messenger nodded.

"What are you talking about?"

The River said slowly:

"Within the river of consciousness, he has already experienced three hundred reincarnations."