"Hahaha, Captain, save me~"
"Hahaha~ Why am I still laughing?"
"..."
Seeing the two of them laughing like fools, Yang Baihe finally calmed down.
"Historical River, appear!"
A long, azure river emerged from within Yang Baihe's body. Four bronze artifacts stood firmly on the front, back, left, and right, engraved with countless words.
The Historical River was the core of the Historian profession, much like the Seasonal Qi Command, Extreme Lands, or Inner World systems. The 'azure' in its name referred to the bronze vessels from the Era of the Five Emperors, when all books were recorded on bronze.
Yang Baihe's river had reached the Historical level, proof that it traced back to ancient times. It was the highest cultivation level among all Historian techniques.
Zhao Xing noticed that in the river surrounding Yang Baihe, countless silhouettes floated within. But upon closer inspection, they weren't people—they were all books.
The river was currently frozen still.
"Begin!"
Yang Baihe pointed forward. The bronze gate at the front of the river swung open.
Splash~ The river began to flow, and a small figure rapidly expanded.
"A physician saves lives, not hoards books!"
"Cold ailments enter from the surface to the interior; warm diseases invade through the mouth and nose. Treatments must differ."
"Dissect the heart and liver, aim straight at the Yin-Yang pivot."
"Though a silver needle is small, it can cure all the world's strange poisons."
Accompanied by faint chants, the figure expanded until it fully leapt from the Historical River.
Wearing a white robe and carrying a medical box, the figure radiated a benevolent aura.
Without a word, the Chronicle Avatar leapt into Ji Si and Zhao Xing's bodies, swiftly beginning the detoxification process.
Before long, two wisps of green poison were forcibly extracted.
"Seal!"
With a flick of his hand, the Chronicle Avatar 'Wei Tianchen' sealed away the poison and jumped back into the Historical River.
Boom! The bronze gate slammed shut. The river froze again and returned to Yang Baihe's body.
"Phew~" Ji Si rubbed his face, finally regaining control. He had been frozen with a laughing expression he couldn't stop.
Zhao Xing let out a breath too. His true body, wrapped in True Soul Heavenly Poison, had poor physical resistance.
His Void Avatar wouldn't have been affected, but it had taken damage earlier in the Ancient Dao Layer and was currently recovering in his World Ring.
Once they were back to normal, Zhao Xing immediately looked at Yang Baihe's Historical River.
"Captain, was that just now…?"
"Yeah, that was Ancient Physician Wei Tianchen," Yang Baihe nodded.
"Though Wei Tianchen violated the taboos, his skills were undeniable."
"For any combat Historian aiming to forge a Chronicle Avatar, he is the top choice."
"From the Li Emperor Era to the Barren Domain Era, his legacy as a physician shines throughout history."
"His medical techniques have always been regarded as unparalleled. Few could compare."
Whether Chronicle Avatars or Annals Avatars, both were forged from a historical figure's Words, Actions, Relics, and Techniques—collectively known as the Four Treasures.
Wei Tianchen's legacy spanned countless eras, making him a living piece of history.
That's why an avatar based on him was considered the strongest healer.
However, obtaining the Four Treasures to forge such an avatar was no easy task. His letters, writings, artifacts, and power were extremely rare.
Yang Baihe had gotten lucky. After breaking through to the Reincarnation Realm, he happened upon the joint manhunt by Primordial Hill and Origin Heaven Palace for Wei Tianchen.
During the raid, they seized large quantities of Wei Tianchen's Four Treasures, giving Yang Baihe the opportunity to forge this Chronicle Avatar.
"Captain, looks like you didn't just take on my escort mission, did you?" Zhao Xing stared at Yang Baihe. "Still talking about a vacation—you clearly had a mission all along."
Chronicle Avatars formed from the Four Treasures could also act as Karmic Mediators.
Sending Yang Baihe with Wei Tianchen's avatar to his side… how could this not be a setup by the Sparks Unit?
"Yeah, I do have such a mission," Yang Baihe admitted honestly. "But it hasn't started yet. I really did come with the intention of relaxing."
"Who knew we'd walk right into a Void Historical Event?"
"I released my Chronicle Avatar in the Transmission Realm Tower. There's no way Wei Tianchen could sense it across spacetime."
Zhao Xing nodded slightly. The Transmission Realm Tower was a divine artifact that governed both spacetime and karma.
No matter what divine artifacts Wei Tianchen might possess, he couldn't possibly sense an avatar through the tower, across infinite spacetime.
Unless Wei Tianchen was also inside the tower, in this same timeline.
But Zhao Xing doubted Bo Wei would allow that to happen.
"Looks like this really is the Tianyou Ancient Kingdom's territory… the Lixing River Disaster—what a mess." Yang Baihe looked around and sighed.
They had just escaped one disaster, only to stumble right into another deadly zone.
Yang Baihe, of course, knew about the Lixing River Disaster. Any catastrophe recorded in history was never something trivial.
"Zhao Xing, hurry up and use your Void Positioning Method to take us back to the Great Qian Ancient Kingdom," Yang Baihe urged.
"I can't," Zhao Xing smiled bitterly. "It's impossible."
The so-called Void Positioning Method was just the coordinate panel on his interface.
But right now, the panel only showed a rough location with no precise numbers.
Because the Lixing River Disaster had torn apart the entire star system.
There were no Solar Stars, no Lunar Stars.
Not even Boundary Stars or Star Continents remained.
So the panel showed: 'Coordinates in this area cannot be determined.'
Zhao Xing had encountered a similar situation back at Moonluo Mausoleum, but this time, it was even more extreme.
At least Moonluo Mausoleum still had a Lunar Star, just missing a Solar Star.
But looking out now, all they saw was boiling turbulent void currents.
Even the Manifestation Layer (the real material world) was just as chaotic as the Dao Manifestation Layer!
"How much Realm Jade do we need to activate emergency teleportation?" Yang Baihe asked.
Zhao Xing replied, "I need two hundred fifty thousand."
Ji Si said, "I need four hundred fifty thousand."
Yang Baihe sighed, "Same for me."
Zhao Xing thought for a moment and said, "You two combined have three hundred thousand Realm Spirit Points. I have one million, and with the five hundred thousand given by Seventh Prince Liang Rui, that's just enough to get us home."
"But just going back costs one million one hundred fifty thousand Realm Jade. The price is too steep," Yang Baihe shook his head. "We'd also need two hundred forty thousand to bring back the Nine-Turn Soul Dissolution Pills, and another one hundred thousand for my Mo Yuan Brush."
The three of them had a total of one million eight hundred thousand Realm Spirit Points.
Bringing back the eight Nine-Turn Soul Dissolution Pills and the Mo Yuan Brush would cost one million five hundred fifty thousand, leaving them almost empty-handed.
Technically, they could still make it back, but all three would lose everything they had, failing their missions and racking up enormous debts.
Yang Baihe asked, "Ji Si, if you burn through your four hundred fifty thousand, will the Celestial Master Manor still fund you to buy more Realm Spirit Points?"
Ji Si shook his head.
Four hundred fifty thousand was already the upper limit of his starting budget. There was no way the Celestial Master Manor would give him more.
Yang Baihe then looked at Zhao Xing. "Your one million Realm Spirit Points were borrowed from Zuo Qiyu, the Five Venom Emperor, and Emperor Hongshan. Are you really going to blow it all? Could you even borrow more?"
Zhao Xing nodded. "I probably could."
Yang Baihe was speechless for a moment, then said, "Even if you could borrow more, I don't want to rely on yours."
"This is my life's entire fortune. Going back with nothing, failing the mission, and ending up in debt... I don't want to go out like that."
He made his stance clear.
Ji Si stayed silent for a moment before saying, "I don't really want that either."
This mission, assigned by the Celestial Master Manor, was his first test after officially becoming a practitioner. Burning through all his starting capital right away was obviously not a good outcome.
Honestly, Zhao Xing wasn't keen on it either. He believed that if he asked, his master and Emperor Hongshan might be willing to lend more.
But who wants to live in debt forever?
Seeing Zhao Xing hesitate too, Yang Baihe continued, "Since none of us are willing to give up just yet, and we're not at death's door, Ji Si—do the calculations. See if there's a path back to the Great Qian Ancient Kingdom."
"As long as we can get back into Great Qian's territory, the teleportation cost should drop significantly."
If it cost fifty thousand or less, Yang Baihe could accept that. Though it would still cost him a third of his fortune, it was at least bearable.
Ji Si looked at Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm with the captain on this. But I need to stress one thing—if Ji Si calculates that it's impossible, we do not risk our lives."
"Money can be earned again, but a lost life is gone forever."
"Agreed," Yang Baihe nodded.
"I'll give it a try." Ji Si immediately pulled out his ritual tools to start the divination.
"You better get this right," Yang Baihe reminded him. "We're counting on you."
Carrying the future of all three on his back, Ji Si felt the pressure mounting.
This time, he calculated for a very long time.
He used Burning Turtle Divination, Heavenly Strategy, Star Divination, Bird Divination, Dream Divination, Hexagram Reading, Sign Reading, and Heaven's Mechanism Plate—pulling out nearly every technique he had learned.
He repeated the process over and over until all his hair had fallen out.
In the end, he chose to rely on Burning Turtle Divination to determine the safest course of action.
Snap snap snap snap snap snap snap…
One turtle shell after another glowed red in the night, the cracks in the shells continuously bursting open.
Ji Si's shiny bald head gleamed brightly in the darkness.
"Ji Si actually burned through so many turtle shells?" Yang Baihe watched from the side, feeling a bit weirded out. "Just how many turtles did he slaughter? That must be over a thousand shells… and he still has more?"
Zhao Xing looked a bit guilty. "I have no idea. Maybe it's just a habit of his."
"In the Ten Directions Divination Arts, Burning Turtle Divination transfers the backlash to the burned turtle shells first. The advantage is its stability."
In truth, Ji Si had picked up this habit from Zhao Xing.
Ever since they entered the cosmic version, Ji Si also got into the habit of slaughtering turtles for divination.
He hadn't stopped even after joining the Celestial Master Manor.
Judging by this display, he must've slaughtered a lot of turtles by now.
"Grand Shennong, lend me a hand," Ji Si suddenly sent a voice transmission.
Zhao Xing nodded and sent out his Void Avatar, stepping into the formation to channel a wisp of Blue Flower Mana to Ji Si.
After two and a half months, Ji Si finally opened his eyes.
"How did it go?" Yang Baihe asked immediately.
"I calculated over seventy thousand times in every direction," Ji Si put away his ritual tools, then pointed slightly to his left. "Heading that way, the danger is relatively lowest. If we follow my predictions, there's a sixty percent chance of returning unscathed."
"Sixty percent?!" Yang Baihe couldn't believe his ears. "Are you kidding?"
A place requiring hundreds of thousands of Realm Spirit Points to escape would naturally distort divination results.
If Ji Si had said ten or twenty percent, Yang Baihe would've believed him.
But anything over thirty percent just sounded like nonsense.
Yang Baihe had seen a lot in his life, but he had never seen a Fate Officer like Ji Si.
"Master Yang, I know it sounds absurd, but this is the result," Ji Si said earnestly. "I hope you'll trust me."
In desperate situations, trust between teammates was crucial. Yang Baihe knew that well.
He nodded seriously. "Alright, I trust you. From here on, I'll do whatever you say. Even if it costs—"
"Captain, be careful with your words," Zhao Xing interrupted him.
Yang Baihe immediately shut up and nodded silently.
From then on, the three of them flew in the direction Ji Si had pointed.
Since Zhao Xing's Void Avatar was damaged, Yang Baihe took on the role of combat lead.
Ji Si handled navigation and command.
Zhao Xing sat quietly in his Flower Chair, protected in the center.
Due to the massive changes in the void environment caused by the Lixing River Anomaly, Yang Baihe had to maintain three Chronicle Avatars for combat and one Biographical Avatar for defense, drastically slowing their pace.
After one month, they had only managed to travel three hundred million kilometers.
In a stable void, that distance would have taken a Reincarnation Realm expert just a few breaths to cross.
"It's actually dropping!" Yang Baihe's eyes lit up. The Realm Spirit cost to teleport back had decreased by five thousand.
Although the drop wasn't much, it proved that Ji Si's chosen direction was correct!
Zhao Xing hadn't been idle either. He kept a close eye on both Yang Baihe and Ji Si, focusing on any fluctuations in their Fortune Levels.
"Yang Baihe's Fortune Level is Derivation Fourteen, Ji Si and I are both at Derivation Sixteen."
"After flying for a month, the Fortune fluctuations stayed around level one. Looks like Ji Si is right," Zhao Xing thought to himself.
Fortune fluctuations could reflect a person's immediate luck to some extent.
Take Seventh Prince Liang Rui for example. After being attacked by King Renqiu, his three guards had their Fortune drop to Derivation Three, yet they still managed to survive in the end.
Fortune indicated short-term luck, but it didn't necessarily decide ultimate fate.
"Lord Ji, check again. If we keep going in this direction, can we reach Great Qian's territory?"
"If it's impossible—"
"What? Sixty percent?"
Inside the Seventh Floor of the Transmission Realm Tower, Bowe continued observing Zhao Xing and the others.
When he heard Ji Si claim sixty percent certainty, even Bowe was caught off guard.
He performed his own calculations and found Ji Si's divination results almost perfectly aligned with his own.
"Ji Si's only been in the Celestial Master Manor for three hundred years, yet he's suddenly risen to such heights?"
Ji Si had become the second person to exceed Bowe's expectations.
"The Lixing River Anomaly disrupts the Dao of Causality across the entire region. Ji Si, at only the Life and Death Dao Domain Realm, relying on artifacts to reach Emperor Level prediction accuracy, is already impressive. Yet even Emperor Level Fate Officers shouldn't be this precise…" Bowe murmured.
However, Bowe quickly shifted his focus away from Ji Si.
He had more important matters to deal with.
Buzz…
On the Seventh Floor, the shelves of floating light spheres representing countless timeline instances began shooting out thousands of light threads, all piercing into Bowe's body.
Whenever someone died inside the Transmission Realm, a new thread would appear and sink into Bowe.
His face twisted in pain, but his aura grew stronger.
In the mirror behind him, Elder Zhixin, who had been watching everything, showed a complex expression.
He was both shocked and concerned.
Shocked because countless people were dying across the various timelines affected by the Void Historical Events.
Concerned because Bowe was manipulating the Transmission Realm Tower using methods he couldn't comprehend.
In fact, many of the Void Historical Events seemed to have been orchestrated by Bowe himself.
Yet, he was also hopeful.
Bowe was attempting to break the natural limitations placed on scholars.
If he succeeded, scholars would no longer be bound by the universe's rules, capable of freely fighting.
It would be an unprecedented achievement.
Bowe might truly achieve Godhood.
The God-Making Plan wasn't Bowe's first choice, but if his breakthrough using the Transmission Realm Tower failed, it would become his only choice.
No one knew how much time passed.
The tremors on the Seventh Floor finally stopped, and all the light threads vanished into Bowe's body.
"Bowe, how are you feeling?" Zhixin asked with concern.
"Master, it's time we take a look at the Eighth Floor's scenery," Bowe said with a faint smile.
"You… you're ready for the Eighth Floor?" Zhixin exclaimed in awe. Bowe truly was a peerless genius.
"Maybe no one in the world has greater talent than you."
"Master, you flatter me," Bowe started to reply, but his gaze suddenly shifted.
The Medicine King Realm's light sphere burst into red light, merging with the two adjacent spheres.
"What just happened?" Zhixin looked toward the three merging light spheres.
Bowe frowned. "The Medicine King Realm, Lixing Realm, and Heavenly Demon Realm have begun to merge."
"Because of the timeline's continuity, these realms are converging with Lixing Realm as the center. A total of eight teams are now trapped in the same time-space."
"If this fusion isn't stopped, even more people will get dragged into it."
Zhixin frowned, staring at the glowing red spheres. "How is this possible? The Transmission Realm Tower was supposed to separate all timelines."
Bowe speculated, "Perhaps the Tower Spirit is gone, and its ability to isolate timelines has weakened."
Zhixin suddenly understood. "No wonder the Transmission Realm Tower was sealed as the Eighth Great Law Realm. No wonder you wanted me to become its new Tower Spirit."
Meanwhile, seventeen years had passed since Zhao Xing and his team started following Ji Si's path.
"Roar!"
A giant void beast, resembling a catfish, suddenly charged out from the chaotic void currents and appeared right in front of them.
Boom!
Ji Si clutched his head in pain, blood pouring from his seven orifices.
One of Yang Baihe's avatars instantly exploded.
Zhao Xing, still sitting in his Flower Chair, was perfectly fine.
Because this catfish-like void beast had launched a soul attack.
And for Zhao Xing, that kind of attack was completely ineffective.
Not only that, the catfish-like void beast had foolishly charged straight into his Sea of Consciousness.
Unlike Lord Sangyu, this thing wasn't nearly as lucky.
The moment it touched Zhao Xing's soul, it immediately got infected with the True Soul Heavenly Poison.
Boom!
Although it was just the tiniest bit of True Soul Heavenly Poison, this Void Beast at the peak of Emperor Level died instantly.
Its massive body disintegrated inch by inch, its gleaming scales turning straight to dust.
In the blink of an eye, it collapsed and completely vanished without a trace.
"That was terrifying," Yang Baihe said, face pale.
It had appeared too suddenly, completely beyond Ji Si's foresight.
That catfish-like beast had been the greatest threat they had encountered in these seventeen years.
"Zhao Xing, lucky for us you're poisoned," Yang Baihe exhaled in relief. "Anything that touches your Sea of Consciousness dies on the spot. This True Soul Heavenly Poison is honestly a treasure."
"Captain, how about I pass some of this poison to you?" Zhao Xing teased.
"Hahaha, no thanks, I'm not worthy of such a blessing."
"Come on, we're all brothers here, don't be so polite."
"Grand Shennong, Captain, someone's coming," Ji Si suddenly spoke up.
"Someone?" Zhao Xing and Yang Baihe both jolted in surprise.
It had been seventeen whole years. They hadn't seen a single living person in all this time.
And now, finally, someone was showing up.
Could this mean they were about to leave this disaster zone?
At this moment, Zhao Xing's Realm Jade showed that the emergency teleport cost had dropped to one hundred fifty thousand.
Yang Baihe and Ji Si still required two hundred fifty thousand.
Compared to seventeen years ago, the cost had already dropped significantly.
This confirmed that their initial choice had been the right one.
"Lord Ji, you really are a genius of this era!" Yang Baihe couldn't help but praise. Ji Si was just too overpowered. "All those turtles you killed weren't wasted after all."
"Hold on." Zhao Xing suddenly frowned. He noticed Ji Si and Yang Baihe's Fortune fluctuations had suddenly spiked.
Could seeing people… actually be bad news?
Zhao Xing immediately pulled out the Realm Jade. "Captain, Lord Ji, activate the trans—"
Before he could finish, the void currents suddenly spat out three objects in quick succession.
Zhao Xing's words caught in his throat.
The first was a realm boat, carrying three people—Seventh Prince Liang Rui, Fate Officer Tang Meng, and one of Liang Rui's Chronicle Officers.
Liang Rui?
Why was he still here?
But before Zhao Xing could process that, the second object completely stole his attention.
A massive bone, exuding gray mist, appeared in the void, instantly lighting up the entire starry sky.
The bone was enormous, stretching across the horizon. Seven or eight figures stood upon it, five of them Emperor-level. They radiated golden light and overwhelming vitality, seemingly locked in a fierce battle.
Zhao Xing, running a scan through his panel, quickly identified the figures on the bone.
Among them, two names flashed by.
[Emperor Tianwu]
[Du Yun]
"What the hell? Why are Du Yun and Emperor Tianwu here?" Zhao Xing was stunned. "Looks like they're getting ambushed?"
The third thing was a massive cluster of plant life, tangled together. Ninety percent of it had been crushed by the bone's gray mist, but a small portion was still alive.
Zhao Xing's panel flashed with a short but shocking notification.
[Soul-Devouring Grass]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Status: Seedling]
Amid that cluster of broken plants, there was actually a living Soul-Devouring Grass seedling?!
And coincidentally, it had been flung in the same direction the three of them were heading.
"This…" Zhao Xing suspected he might be hallucinating.
His mind screamed run, but his body acted on instinct.
His restored Swift Straw Puppet shot out immediately, activated Five Finger Mountain, snatched up the Soul-Devouring Grass seedling, and tossed it into his Origin Space.
Since it was only a seedling, its strength was barely at the Yin-Yang Dao Domain Realm, completely incapable of resisting.
"It's real… it's not a Void Historical Event?" Zhao Xing felt the seedling settle in his space and confirmed it wasn't an illusion.
That meant Du Yun and Emperor Tianwu were real too?
But… why were they here?
And what was that giant bone supposed to be?
Despite all the questions flooding his mind, his rationality kicked in immediately.
Since Ji Si and Yang Baihe had left the decision to teleport entirely to Zhao Xing, all three Realm Jades were in his hands.
Without hesitation, Zhao Xing smashed his own, along with Yang Baihe's and Ji Si's.
His reasoning was simple—
Even if this wasn't a hallucination, even if Du Yun, Emperor Tianwu, and Liang Rui were all really here,
what could three insignificant people like them possibly do in a battle between Emperor-level powerhouses?
Buzz…
The three Realm Jades burst out waves of unique spatial energy, enveloping the trio.
Just as they were about to be pulled through time and space,
Zhao Xing caught one final bizarre scene.
Underneath that bone shrouded in chaotic mist,
three blurry figures stood.
Two names flickered across his panel for just an instant.
[Zuo Qiyu]
[Five Venom Emperor]
Both of them pointed directly toward Zhao Xing's direction.
But the real shock was the third figure's name.
Even after completing the teleport, Zhao Xing stood stunned, unable to recover from the shock.
Before he could process what had just happened, a massive force suddenly erupted from the upper floors of the Transmission Realm Tower.
The three fused light spheres suddenly broke free from Bowe's control.
"What?!" Bowe's face twisted in alarm. He immediately reached out to grab the red light.
But it was too fast,
instantly slipping past him and crashing into Zhao Xing.
Boom!
Zhao Xing's entire body was blasted away, forcibly ejected from the Transmission Realm Tower.