The familiar voice pulled Feng Qi out of the drowning sea of negative emotions.
He slowly opened his bloodshot eyes. The scene before him overlaid with multiple afterimages—everything looked dark and blurry.
He took a deep breath, trying to stabilize himself.
But the effects of overlapping negative emotions were still intensifying, dragging him once again toward a state of mental collapse.
Just then, the narrator's voice rang out again:
[There's a mental soothing agent on the table. Wei Wei made it for you. She probably calculated the shelf life right, so you won't die. Just drink it.]
Hearing the reminder, Feng Qi immediately reached for the metal table in front of him.
But because of the double vision, he missed several times before finally grabbing hold of the container holding the mental soothing liquid.
The box seemed to be made from some unknown kind of metal. It felt cold to the touch. As he fumbled around, his fingers found and pressed the raised button on the side of the metal box.
The lid instantly popped open, releasing a wave of cOld Mist that revealed the vial of soothing agent inside.
Without hesitation, he picked up the container and poured the entire dose into his mouth.
A sharp, spicy taste exploded across his tongue, sliding down his throat. A rush of icy coolness followed, making Feng Qi shiver uncontrollably.
He could clearly tell that this was a concentrated, enhanced version of the mental soothing agent.
Compared to the regular versions he'd used before, this batch's effectiveness was at least ten times stronger.
Feng Qi was no stranger to this stuff.
In the first half of the Sacrificial Line, he had pretty much survived entirely by relying on the mental soothing agent. If he stopped taking it, he would often fall into a spiral of memories he couldn't escape from.
But these agents carried a small amount of toxicity. Taking them over long periods was basically slow suicide.
The unique constitution of his Main Timeline body allowed him to recover quickly. As long as he didn't chug them continuously, he could metabolize the drug and eliminate any long-term risk.
But it was different for the Sacrificial Line.
Although the Sacrificial Line could temporarily borrow certain abilities from the Main Timeline, it was still just a normal human body.
Long-term usage of mental soothing agents had left his already fragile body weaker and weaker. If he kept this up, it was only a matter of time before his body completely gave out.
It was only through the constant nagging from the little guy and Wei Wei that he managed to grit his teeth and survive the latter half of the Sacrificial Line without relying on the drugs.
But now, when the collective weight of over one hundred years of negative emotion flooded his mind all at once...
Feng Qi felt like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
It was as if something evil had taken root inside him, slowly germinating, feeding off the ever-growing tide of darkness inside his mind.
After taking several deep breaths in a row, he finally let out a long exhale.
When he opened his eyes again, though his vision was still blurry, the afterimages had faded quite a bit.
"Narrator," he called out.
[Here I am, my little chess piece. What can Father do for you?]
Hearing that annoyingly smug voice, Feng Qi couldn't help but roll his eyes.
For this version of himself—stuck on the Sacrificial Line—it had been over a hundred years since he'd heard that voice.
That irritating, smug narrator had become something of a relic. It only existed in his memories, something he looked back on from time to time, knowing he'd never hear it again.
So now that he actually did hear the narrator again, it felt surreal. Like hearing a voice from a past life. There was sudden warmth, a comforting familiarity.
But the moment the narrator referred to himself as "Father," all that warmth turned into contempt.
Timeline after timeline, yet the narrator's tone never changed—still just as annoying.
"What's the situation in the future?" he asked.
Right now, Feng Qi's mind was a tangled mess of confusion.
If the memories from the Sacrificial Line were accurate, he clearly remembered dying in Winterfell City.
The events had spiraled completely out of control.
Jian Ji had sensed the aura of the Demon Blade on him and launched an attack.
At that time, Jian Ji had gone all out, summoning a million Sword Spirits to shield him. His combat power had even surpassed what Mu Qing could handle.
Even though Mu Qing had stepped in to defend him, there were still waves of Sword Clan warriors coming after him. Survival was nearly impossible.
He remembered it all clearly—fighting until his consciousness faded, and then waking up one thousand five hundred years later.
Yet the memories of the Sacrificial Line confirmed that he had managed to read the entire memory sequence.
Something clearly happened in between. Somehow, the sliver of life left in his brain had been recovered and brought back to the Crimson Research Institute.
But he couldn't figure out for the life of him—how the hell did they pull that off?
All the guards sent with him were killed by the Sword Clan's pursuit.
Mu Qing and Mu Yan were locked in combat with Jian Ji. There was no way they could've spared the effort to save him.
It was supposed to be a dead end—so how did they break it?
His thoughts swirled with endless questions.
In response, the narrator's voice rang out in his mind again:
[Go read the old hag's message yourself. You'll have to check it anyway. I don't know the full story either.]
After hearing the narrator's reply, Feng Qi gave a slight nod, then stepped toward the control console of the Crimson Research Institute.
The console still looked the same as before.
It was clear the institute had gone out of its way to preserve this design. Otherwise, with all the tech they'd accumulated, they could've made a much more advanced, streamlined interface.
This layout was obviously customized for his use.
That thought was reinforced by other layout details around the second basement level plaza.
After a few simple inputs, the large screen in front of the console slowly lit up.
The first option to appear on screen was "Mailbox Messages."
Without hesitation, Feng Qi selected it.
Instantly, a message box labeled Wei Wei popped up.
Inside, in addition to text messages, there were also many video files.
Due to the lingering impact of memory overlap, Feng Qi was still struggling to fully concentrate. He took a while to gather himself before beginning to scroll through the message contents.
1. Let's start the record from today.
The past few days were spent trying to save you. But as you've probably guessed, your body has completely lost all biological activity.
With current technology, there was nothing we could do.
In the end, we could only preserve your brain.
Oh, right, I already told the little guy about your situation.
That kid is as stubborn as a mule. I was afraid that if I didn't tell him the truth, he'd recklessly charge into Winterfell City to take on Jian Ji.
I had to give him something to hope for, otherwise there was no way he could hold it together. At least in this way, his hatred can become fuel for his growth.
When he found out the truth, he didn't want to believe it.
He kept thinking I was lying to him—just making something up to calm him down.
Seriously, why can't young people these days have a little more faith in their elders?
Do I look like someone you can't trust?
Come on, your beautiful grandma doesn't give off any unreliable vibes, right?
2. Got news today that the Mist Lord came through the stabilized teleportation array.
He sat beside your headless corpse for a long time.
I could tell he was really down.
He stayed with you the whole night before heading back.
3. Oh, almost forgot—
You're probably confused about how you can still access the Sacrificial Line's memory.
Here's what happened.
You still remember the jade pendant the little guy gave you, right?
It was through that pendant that he sensed your life signal—barely flickering—and realized you were on the brink of death.
Without hesitation, he came back to Star City and requested the use of the location-based teleportation array.
You know as well as I do—that tech is ridiculously unstable.
It's supposed to teleport based on coordinates, but honestly, who knows where you might end up.
I wouldn't even be surprised if someone got flung into Domain World by mistake.
In the end, we couldn't stop him.
Fortunately, his luck wasn't bad.
He got teleported somewhere near Winterfell City.
And I'm sure you can guess the rest.
The little guy carried you back to Star City...
And managed to preserve your ridiculously valuable brain. (insert smug face.jpg)
So, are you able to access memories from the Sacrificial Line?
You've got him to thank for that.
That reckless, foolish, ride-or-die little bastard.
7. Recently, the Ministry of Education and the Publicity Department worked together to create a documentary about you.
You'll find the video file below. You should watch it.
It covers a lot of your personal growth and journey.
I got super emotional watching it.
That handsome, sharp-eyed young man from the past… turned into a white-haired old man worn down by time.
The documentary sparked huge public reaction across Star City.
It helped soothe the people's anxiety about the lockdown.
And it brought them closer than ever.
A bunch of citizens even started a petition to build a statue for you in the Heroic Cemetery.
Of course, the proposal passed unanimously in the Supreme Council.
No surprise there—the entire new-gen Star City leadership are basically your fans.
Hahahaha!
(Video file attached: "The Hidden Guardian: Feng Qi")
23. Just yesterday, the Mist Lord used the stabilized teleportation array in the Eastern District to send over a huge shipment of spiritual resources from the sea.
Said he was paying back part of the debt he owed you.
That old bastard—sure, he's scheming and underhanded, but when it comes to people he respects?
He really treats them like family.
Still, I'm gonna repeat myself here:
No matter how close the relationship is, you still need to keep your guard up.
You must always think from humanity's perspective when looking toward the future.
You can't let personal feelings cloud your judgment.
One wrong step from you could lead to total loss for all of humanity.
I know it sounds a little cold, but your importance is greater than everything else.
Caution above all.
28. Now that everything's been laid out,
Star City's virtual tech has officially entered its next phase of upgrades.
Right now, the Domain Simulation feature is in early release.
It's being trialed in some of the major academies.
Soon, it'll be expanded into primary and secondary schools as well.
At this rate, Star City's future development is going to skyrocket.
As long as the resource flow holds up, Star City in another 1500 years will blow your mind.
The only thing we're worried about…
If Mo Yue rises again 1500 years from now and wins the battle, then everything we've built might come crashing down.
All the years of building this cultivation system would end up for nothing.
Sigh... I don't want to think about that anymore.
The more I think about it, the more hopeless it feels.
47. Winterfell City is still under lockdown, and it's incredibly hard to get any information from over there.
Right now, we have no way of knowing what's happened to Mu Qing and Mu Yan.
During the meeting, little Shen gave his own analysis on the matter. His judgment is that things aren't looking good for Mu Qing and Mu Yan.
The fact that Winterfell City keeps pushing out smear campaigns against Mu Qing shows that the city is still under the control of the Sword Clan.
Which also means that even with Mu Qing and Mu Yan working together, they still failed to kill Jian Ji.
The situation in Winterfell City most likely falls into one of these two possibilities:
One, the battle between Mu Qing, Mu Yan, and Jian Ji has turned into a prolonged stalemate and is still ongoing.
Two, Mu Qing and Mu Yan have already been killed by Jian Ji.
But whichever one it is, they're obviously at a disadvantage. The Sword Clan's strength is far beyond what we imagined.
64. The little guy has officially retired from the frontlines. He's now following the path you originally planned and has joined the Star City Military Department.
From now on, he'll be starting at the bottom and working his way up, all the way until he becomes the Commander-in-Chief of the Star City Military.
If everything goes smoothly, and considering his lifespan, maybe the two of you really will meet again 1500 years later.
Just thinking about that makes me a little excited.
Too bad this beautiful lady won't live that long. I definitely won't get to see it.
78. Because Winterfell City has completely blocked off its air routes, it's become extremely difficult to send warriors over to gather intel.
The only option is to clear a path by land.
But even then, it'll take a long time before any warriors we send out return with information.
Once I hear anything, I'll leave you a message in the mailbox right away.
103. The response to the Breaking Dawn game has been amazing.
Aside from the anti-addiction system that limits kids under 14 to 3 hours of playtime per day, there's no time restriction for older players. Breaking Dawn has basically become Star City's national battle simulation game.
There's news from Lü Yue as well—he said the new generations at Breaking Dawn Academy are getting stronger and stronger every year.
Thanks to the plans you put in place, Star City is thriving.
Even though the city was locked down, the effect it had on Star City's growth is basically negligible compared to its development speed.
Food production is now sustained internally through livestock and plantation zones.
As for spiritual resources, they're being constantly supplied from the Western Supply Zone.
Sometimes when the domain fields there are temporarily dispersed, we even get huge bumper harvests.
Plus, Old Mist occasionally sends over sea-based resources.
Spiritual sea fish, sea shrimp, sea beast meat—they've become staple ingredients in many research institute cafeterias.
In return, Star City has also begun shipping resources over to the Mist Domain Field.
According to reports from the transport warriors, Old Mist has already built a huge city in the Eastern Sea.
The Mist Clan warriors are increasing in number day by day.
It's obvious this version of the Mist Lord is developing much faster in the early stages than he did in the last timeline.
As for what the future holds... I honestly don't know.
Little Shen from the Strategy Division gave an analysis of the current Mist Clan situation during the meeting.
Based on existing intel, his guess is that while the Mist Lord's early development is going smoothly, his future growth potential probably won't be as high as in the previous timeline.
That version of the Mist Lord inherited Hei Xuan's legacy, and got help from several potential races that originally followed Hei Xuan—he started off strong.
But in this timeline, the Mist Lord clearly doesn't have access to all those resources.
There's no Flesh Sacrifice either to harvest strength from thousands of weak tribes.
He must rely entirely on his own efforts.
What will Mist Clan's future actually look like... well, only you'll be able to see that for yourself.
147. The little guy recently visited the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
According to a message from the current director, the little guy is now being groomed as a key figure by the military.
He's already on the path toward becoming the next Commander-in-Chief.
With his strength and talent, I truly believe that day isn't far away.
187. We finally got news from Winterfell City.
According to the recon team's report, the entire city has drastically changed—especially the Eastern District, which has basically turned into a complete wasteland.
As for the Dawn Domain Battle Squad... it's been completely disbanded.
In this Sacrificial Line, the Dawn Army hasn't even officially formed yet.
They clearly weren't strong enough to fight back against the Sword Clan's control over Winterfell City.
As for Mu Qing and Mu Yan... there's still no word.
They might still be fighting Jian Ji in secret. Or they might already be dead.
What I don't get is—if they're still alive, why haven't they come to Star City?
Why aren't they joining us to fight against Winterfell City?
At this point, it's safe to say Star City and Winterfell City are completely at odds with each other.
The public opinion war is just one part of it.
Even the infiltration among Domain Weak Tribe Alliances has already started between the two cities.
As for full-blown war? That's not even possible at this stage.
After all, Winterfell City can't figure out what cards Star City is hiding, so they wouldn't dare act recklessly.
On the other hand, the little guy has shown noticeable improvement lately.
He's already starting to probe into what's going on in Winterfell City.
Clearly, he's got some ideas about Jian Ji, and his desire for revenge is beginning to stir.
Avenging you... it's already become his obsession.
Every year, for three full days, he fasts and mourns in your name.
You really didn't waste your affection on that kid.
His only flaw? He insists on calling me "Grandma."
But I swear I'm not old at all! (flips table.jpg)