The next morning, the security personnel from Star City Academy delivered a package to Feng Qi's dormitory.
Before brewing the Clear Mind Brew, Feng Qi meticulously wrote down the entire process in his notebook, reviewing it multiple times to ensure there were no mistakes before he began.
Compared to directly consuming rune crystals, Clear Mind Brew was much more cost-effective. However, each failure meant he needed to succeed 3.5 times just to break even. If he failed again, the losses would outweigh the savings.
Recalling the steps from his previous attempts, Feng Qi proceeded with extraordinary caution this time, ensuring that every phase of the process was executed perfectly.
After roughly an hour of careful brewing, droplets of pale blue liquid began dripping from the soft tube attached to the side of the apparatus.
When Feng Qi realized he had succeeded, a smile crept across his face.
Afterward, he carefully poured the brewed liquid into a glass container and shut down the auxiliary alchemy instrument.
Before entering the Dream Realm, he meticulously cleaned the equipment, ensuring that no residue would affect the next brewing session. Once everything was in order, Feng Qi settled on the dormitory sofa and drank half a bottle of the Clear Mind Brew.
The liquid was icy as it slid down his throat, bringing a cooling sensation that spread throughout his body. Moments later, warmth began radiating from within him as the energy bar on his interface jumped upward. Eventually, it stopped at 136.4%.
Feeling slightly tipsy, Feng Qi leaned back on the sofa, letting the sleepiness take over as he closed his eyes. His mind wandered briefly to the Tiger Soul Research Institute, the focal point of this timeline. He had no idea what lay ahead.
As his thoughts swirled, sleep overtook him, and his consciousness drifted into tranquility. His expression grew serene.
The Blood Moon hung high in the sky, with oppressive clouds looming low. This time, the Dream Realm thrust Feng Qi back to the end of human civilization.
The sight before him was one of utter devastation and deathly silence. Bones were piled into mountains ahead, and the chilling howls of the zombie occasionally pierced the air, adding a sinister atmosphere to the already dark world.
"Back again," Feng Qi muttered.
He turned his gaze westward, where the dense fog still loomed, confirming that Old Wang's timeline had done nothing to alter humanity's tragic end.
A guttural growl interrupted his thoughts. He turned to see Little Cripple, struggling to rise from the ground. The zombie figure snarled and lunged clumsily toward him, only to stumble as the sound of cracking bones filled the air. Its body collapsed awkwardly, ending in an accidental split.
The familiar scene no longer amused Feng Qi as it once did.
He had previously believed that these zombie creatures were products of the Domain Fields, lifeforms born from their unique environments. But his last trip to the Dream Realm had revealed the truth: these zombie were once human.
After a moment of silence, Feng Qi stepped forward and decisively kicked Little Cripple's head off.
["Seriously? I thought you were all caught up in your feelings, ready to let these zombie be, and then—bam! A kick out of nowhere. I wasn't ready for that!"]
"They're no longer human, just aberrant life corrupted by the power of the Black Mist Lord," Feng Qi replied calmly.
Without further ado, he turned and began walking toward the Star City Shelter.
After a brief search, Feng Qi located the black metal monolith within the ruins. He pricked his finger to drip blood onto its detection plate. Once verified, he entered the metallic passageway.
Moments later, Feng Qi stood before the shelter's database control panel. He pressed the activation button, and the console trembled to life. A screen illuminated before him, displaying options.
Feng Qi navigated to the search bar and input his own name, adding filters for time and gender. Soon, his detailed information appeared on the screen:
Feng Qi (Human Traitor):
Lifespan: 32 years
Cause of Death: Execution by beheading at Star City's First Execution Ground
Date of Death: September 4, 2037
Achievements (Revoked):
S-Class Outstanding Graduate of Star City Academy
S-Class Human Elite Medal
Outstanding Contribution Gold Award for Human Development
Research Contributions:
Cultivation Gymnastics 2.0
Tiger Fist
Body Tempering Technique
Heaven and Earth Meditation
Soul Reaper
Founder of the "Embedding Deities in the Human Body" Concept
Contributor to the Cultivation System Version 3.78 Update
Developer of Limb Regeneration Technology (Biological Sciences)
Evaluation:
"Feng Qi's life was one of remarkable highs and devastating lows. As the most highly regarded student of Wang Jinsheng, his unparalleled talent shone brightly after graduating from Star City High School.
During his years at Star City Academy, Feng Qi consistently introduced groundbreaking cultivation techniques. His work was astonishing in its precision and completeness, needing no significant revisions during testing.
Yet, despite his incredible potential, Feng Qi ultimately chose the wrong path, collaborating with the Scarlet Research Institute—an organization under the control of Domain Beings—to undermine humanity's progress. His story ended in tragedy, executed for his betrayal.
It is a sorrowful chapter in human history. If Feng Qi had not strayed, he undoubtedly would have become a historical figure celebrated for generations to come."
Public Comments:
Zhou Jifei:
"Looking back at history, Feng Qi's destructive power is staggering. He influenced so many lives, even in death.
When Mu Qing visited him before his execution, he told her to destroy the Tiger Soul Research Institute at all costs. Sure enough, Mu Qing betrayed humanity years later, leading the Dawn Rebel Army to obliterate Tiger Soul's bases. I still can't understand why she listened to him."
Pang Guanhai:
"Feng Qi's a legend. Ruthless and direct. One sentence before death, and he had Mu Qing wrapped around his finger. Makes you wonder—did he brainwash her somehow?"
Wu Huanyi:
"He's nothing but a disgrace. You're all brainwashed by Domain propaganda if you're calling him a legend. Feng Qi brought more harm than good to humanity. The dark times created by the Dawn Rebel Army? All his doing. Absolutely shameful."
After reading the comments, Feng Qi's expression turned wry.
Dying young was something he had already come to terms with. By now, he could practically predict the trajectory of his fate: "human traitor."
From the intelligence he had gathered in previous timelines, Feng Qi had a decent understanding of how events would unfold.
When the Scarlet Research Institute's Crimson Base was destroyed, it marked the beginning of its downfall at the hands of the Institute of Technological Research. Although he had chosen not to oppose the Institute of Technological Research in this timeline, they were clearly relentless in targeting the Scarlet Research Institute. His cooperation with the latter ensured he'd be caught in their crosshairs.
Given the Institute of Technological Research's vast influence within human society, it was all too easy for them to paint him as a traitor and orchestrate his execution.
What surprised him, however, was his final interaction with Mu Qing. The fact that he had urged her to destroy the Tiger Soul Research Institute before his death hinted at significant discoveries. He must have unearthed critical information about the institute's hidden dangers to humanity.
With this thought in mind, Feng Qi resolved to dig deeper into the secrets of the Tiger Soul Research Institute in the next timeline.
Back then, Feng Qi had tried to persuade Mu Qing at the execution ground because he wanted to change her. At the time, he didn't know the reason behind her betrayal of humanity. He thought that Mu Qing, who had formed the Dawn Domain Combat Squad, was as close to righteousness as she could get. Rather than letting her take him away, he chose to sacrifice himself.
But this time, things were different. He knew Mu Qing was doing the right thing. Naturally, there were no longer any reservations about revealing critical information to her, whether she believed it or not.
As for why the future version of him didn't allow Mu Qing to rescue him from the execution ground, that was indeed a question worth pondering. Logically, if she had taken him away, it would have meant joining her faction. All he would need to do was wait for Mu Qing to form the Dawn Rebel Army, and with her protection, the likelihood of dying young would be significantly reduced.
Feng Qi's mind conjured a possible explanation.
Perhaps the future him wanted Mu Qing to grow stronger and more capable of dismantling the Tiger Soul Research Institute. At that time, Mu Qing had only just established the Dawn Domain Combat Squad and didn't yet possess the strength to stand against all of humanity.
Mu Qing's eventual ability to challenge humanity was not only due to her own talents but also heavily relied on the support of Mu Yan and other powerful allies.
Allowing Mu Qing to take him away would have forced her, prematurely, into the role of a human traitor. Such a move could have led to her untimely demise. On the other hand, if he stayed behind, Mu Qing would have the opportunity to meet Mu Yan, learn the truth, and form the Dawn Rebel Army. In doing so, she could carry out targeted actions against the Tiger Soul Research Institute, with a chance to alter the future.
["So, it was to ensure Mu Qing could grow stronger? That makes sense,"] the narrator commented in agreement.
However, the complete truth could not be fully discerned from conjecture alone.
With lingering doubts, Feng Qi closed his personal information page and entered his email address into the search bar. This time, in addition to his own messages, there was also a message from Wei Wei.
Clicking on the inbox, several entries appeared:
1. After you left, I lost the ability to traverse the Dream Realm. I also no longer have telekinetic abilities or other gifted talents.
I have a hypothesis regarding this: the abilities we gain in the Dream Realm are unique to the individual. When you leave, these abilities are taken with you and cannot be duplicated.
So, starting today, I'm going to begin training anew.
4. Without Le Ping'an, the "werewolf," I no longer need to guard against the students. I've decided to lead Lü Yue and the others to secretly form a faction.
If, in the future, the truth about the Tiger Soul Research Institute is revealed and it's confirmed that there are indeed issues, Lü Yue and the others will be a crucial force in opposing it.
9. Since my timeline is destined for sacrifice, I don't have to worry too much about being cautious. Watch me go wild... I've decided to reach out to Mo Fei and have him infiltrate the Institute of Technological Research as our inside man.
Even though we now know the Institute of Technological Research has been infiltrated by domain entities, our understanding of their internal workings is still lacking.
While this timeline doesn't involve directly opposing the Institute of Technological Research, it's still crucial to gather as much intelligence as possible.
12. Today, I met with Mo Fei and poured my heart out to him. It felt amazing to have someone to talk to.
The oppressive weight on my chest feels lighter now. Honestly, I pity you, Feng Qi. You have no one to truly confide in, forced to bottle everything up inside for the sake of caution.
Don't envy me—you can't afford to, hahaha.
At least you have the narrator for company. Otherwise, I'd seriously worry about you having a mental breakdown someday.
Funny how I used to find the narrator annoying. Now, not having it around feels oddly lonely.
If you're reading this, the narrator must be with you, right?
13. Mo Fei was stunned when I confirmed that I could traverse timelines and revealed that the Institute of Technological Research had been infiltrated by domain entities.
But he chose to believe me.
It feels great to have a brother who understands me. Some things don't need to be said explicitly—he gets me, and I get him.
During our graduation party, we promised each other we would dedicate our lives to humanity's rise.
14. Mo Fei said that once he joins the Institute of Technological Research, he'll do his best to infiltrate its core to uncover the truth about Little Black.
If possible, he plans to sabotage the Spiritual Energy Nanobot project, putting an end to Little Black's existence.
If Little Black can be dealt with, the future will be wide open for us. With suction cup monsters providing protection in the Dream Realm, you'll be unstoppable.
Just thinking about it excites me.
I've tolerated Little Black for too long. If I can't beat it, I'll find a way to eliminate it at its source.
Reminds me of that movie where the hero travels back in time to kill the villain before they rise to power. Pretty similar, right? ヽ(￣▽￣)
18. Lü Yue knows about the Path to Ascension. He might be a key to my next breakthrough. I plan to spend more time with him before directly asking about the Path to Ascension and Mu Yan.
Hopefully, he'll be honest with me. I'm tired of vague riddles.
The Path to Ascension could explain why domains exist and why so many historical heroes disappeared.
22. I haven't influenced Mu Qing in this timeline. If the Tiger Soul Research Institute is confirmed to be problematic, she'll be a critical weapon against it once she forms the Dawn Rebel Army.
If I were to influence her now, the future Dawn Rebel Army might not even come into existence. Keeping her by my side would undoubtedly be a mistake.
She needs to soar on her own.
23. As for Lin Ran's timeline, I've decided to intervene.
Today, I had a long talk with Lin Ran, sharing most of what I know. The most important thing was to warn him that the cultivation techniques he researches in the future will lead to the death of countless people by severing their meridians.
Lin Ran's initial reaction was disbelief. He thought I was trying to trick him into giving up his research.
His attitude toward my explanations was basically:
"Not listening, not listening, you're just spouting nonsense."
For the Scarlet Research Institute, I can present evidence to prove I'm a time traveler. But convincing Lin Ran is a different story.
I told him my cultivation techniques were plagiarized from the future. He didn't believe me, firmly thinking I was some kind of genius.
I said I knew his future path. He didn't believe me and called it deception.
I told him the Institute of Technological Research was under the control of domain beings. He demanded proof.
So I asked, "How do you expect me to prove it?"
Lin Ran's response? "Give me tonight's winning lottery numbers."
...Speechless.
While I've pored over key historical information, I've paid little attention to trivial details like lottery numbers. Predicting that kind of thing is impossible.
Convincing Lin Ran that I'm a time traveler is no easy feat. Since reasoning failed, I decided to give him a warning.
I told him that even if he continues his research, he must ensure that any published techniques are carefully compared for subtle discrepancies.
At least this might plant a seed of caution in his mind.
78. After waiting for so long, today Old Wang finally arrived at Star City Academy.
No beating around the bush—I'm preparing to lay everything out for him and reveal all that I know.
This could very well be the end of my email updates. After all, there's a real chance that after exposing my secrets, Old Wang might kill me in a fit of rage.
If that happens, even though he was once someone we admired greatly, you must not hesitate. Find a way to eliminate him. The Bloodline Switch must never appear in future history.
79. I invited Old Wang to my dorm today, and we talked late into the night.
I told him almost everything I knew to gauge his reaction.
As expected, Old Wang was utterly shocked by the revelations.
But he quickly accepted the idea that I could traverse timelines. He admitted that while he'd always considered me talented in the field of cultivation techniques, I was still far from being a true genius. The drastic changes in me had long made him suspect that something unusual had happened.
Together, we decided to collaborate on investigating the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
93. Originally, Old Wang planned to spend some time retraining at Star City Academy, but after our discussion, he decided to enter the Tiger Soul Research Institute ahead of schedule.
This caught me off guard, so I asked if he didn't need to solidify his cultivation knowledge first.
In response, Old Wang showed me his acceptance letter from the Tiger Soul Research Institute, complete with perfect scores on all evaluation metrics.
This, perhaps, is what true genius looks like. What takes others a lifetime of effort to achieve, Old Wang accomplishes as easily as eating or drinking.
The gap between people truly is that vast.
You live up to your reputation, Old Wang.
103. Old Wang has left Star City Academy to take up his position at the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
I decided to initiate contact with the Crimson Research Institute, asking them to investigate the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
When Wei Wei picked up my call, she thought I was planning to join the Crimson Research Institute early and enthusiastically welcomed the idea.
I didn't clarify my intentions, deciding to visit the Crimson Research Institute first before revealing my secrets.
105. Today, I arrived at the Crimson Research Institute. Before entering the base, I underwent a series of physical examinations.
After meeting Wei Wei, I shared everything I knew with her.
To prove my ability to traverse timelines, I divulged details about the Crimson Research Institute's Rune-Enhanced Human Program, the Reverse Infiltration Plan, and her connection with Mu Yan.
The old lady believed me.
Now the plan can proceed smoothly.
This timeline is one where I'm going to go all out. Before my inevitable early death, I'll try to gather as much information as possible for you.
109. Today, Old Wang sent me a significant update.
He informed me that the Tiger Soul Research Institute had recently launched a project called the Rune Energy Disruption Program.
The goal of this project is to create an implantable energy source capable of disrupting the normal operation of rune crystals, causing their energy to become volatile and uncontrollable.
At first, I was confused as to why Old Wang thought this information was useful—it seemed irrelevant.
But his explanation made me realize its deeper implications.
He said:
"The disruption source requires implantation to work, which makes it impractical for combating domain creatures. After all, if you have the ability to implant something into a domain creature, you'd already have the means to kill it—why bother with such an indirect method?
"Moreover, for powerful domain creatures, it's nearly impossible to breach their defenses, let alone implant a device."
Old Wang speculated that the project's true target might not be domain creatures at all. Instead, it might be aimed at the Spiritual Energy Nanobots that the Institute of Technological Research was developing.
Upon hearing his reasoning, I suddenly had a revelation.
Do you remember our earlier hypothesis?
We wondered if the Institute of Technological Research sent Le Ping'an to infiltrate Star City Academy to spy on the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
At the time, we speculated that the domain forces were not a united front but instead secretly opposed one another. If the force behind the Institute of Technological Research knew that the Tiger Soul Research Institute was also infiltrated by another domain force, it would make sense for them to plant an agent there.
Could the reverse also be true? Could the Tiger Soul Research Institute have been aware that the Institute of Technological Research was under the control of another domain force and planted their own agents in return?
Here's an unresolved piece of information we've encountered: Little Black's behavior. After being created, it seemed to fall out of the Institute of Technological Research's control. It even destroyed the institute and the future city it was based in.
This has always puzzled me. How could the Institute of Technological Research, after expending so much effort to create Little Black, fail to control it? It's absurd. Did they not foresee this possibility?
But after hearing Old Wang's analysis, I realized another possibility.
Could it be that the Tiger Soul Research Institute had known for some time about the Institute of Technological Research's plans to create a superweapon—the Spiritual Energy Nanobots—and had been infiltrating the institute in response?
Could they have preemptively developed the Rune Energy Disruption Program and planted disruption sources within Little Black during its creation?
When Little Black was activated, the disruption sources could have caused it to malfunction, leading it to destroy the Institute of Technological Research and the entire future city.
Of course, this is just speculation. I can't guarantee its accuracy.
But I believe Little Black's loss of control is likely the result of external interference, making the Tiger Soul Research Institute's actions highly suspicious.
It seems even domain forces are engaged in secret battles against one another.
Otherwise, given their ability to easily infiltrate humanity's core institutions, destroying human civilization would have been a simple task.
Clearly, you have a long journey ahead of you.
The more we uncover, the more daunting the path to saving the world becomes.
The road is long and arduous, but with persistence, the destination will be reached.
I have faith in you—and in myself.
This message clarified one thing for Feng Qi:
His suspicion that the Institute of Technological Research and the Tiger Soul Research Institute were controlled by different domain forces was likely correct.
Even Little Black's malfunction might have been caused by sabotage from the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
["But it still doesn't explain one thing. Even if Little Black malfunctioned, how does it manage to track and hunt you so precisely in the future?"]
Hearing this, Feng Qi sighed.
"From the intelligence we've gathered, we only know that Little Black originated from the Institute of Technological Research. Beyond that, there's almost no information to investigate."
["Don't worry. Take your time. The truth will come to light eventually."]
"Yeah."
With lingering doubts, Feng Qi continued to browse through the subsequent messages in the email log.