"Mom..."
At this moment, the two gazed at each other silently, awaiting the bitter fruit of years of passing time. But now they were strangers; Li Chen hesitated...
When he saw his mother's aged appearance.
My heart felt like it had been squeezed.
Long-dormant emotions surged forth like a raging storm.
A hint of apology flashed in the high priest's gentle gaze.
"Xiao Chen, in the end, you still came to this."
"But... I lied to you."
"For six years, I deceived myself, I deceived the whole world, and brought you into the Human Race, just so you could embark on this path that transcends reincarnation."
"Perhaps I am wrong, but this is your own choice... I obeyed the Emperor's command..."
Li Chen's hands trembled slightly. He used to yearn for family and a brief period of peace. But when he realized it was all a setup, he understood that perhaps his family and friends were all fake.
But a sliver of hope and a sliver of disbelief still remain.
He knew his parents were fake, but they were still the family who raised him.
Do you hate it?
Of course I hate it. Why do other people have their parents' company and the care of others when they are young, while I... I look up at the Starry Sky every night, just wanting to try to live.
Living has become the most painful time of his life so far, but what is even more painful is that he is now caught in one vortex after another. Whether it is friends or the world, he has abandoned everything he can abandon.
In the pursuit of truth and that elusive freedom, will one ultimately find themselves trapped in a self-created scheme, only to collapse...?
Only his trembling fingers at this moment can testify to the emotions deep within his heart.
"I am the emperor, why should I seal the Eerie Race within this Black Mist?"
"Did I do all this?" Seemingly trying to suppress his surging emotions, Li Chen forced himself to calm down, and his hoarse voice rang out.
The high priest slowly walked up to Li Chen, his gaze meeting Li Chen's deep eyes, and said, "Because you are the emperor, you are the emperor of the Eerie Race."
"You are destined to ascend the Path to Godhood, and we are merely the scattered corpses along that path. You once asked me what an emperor truly desires, and my answer was to break free from the shackles of existence, lead the Eerie Race out of this polluted universe, and see what indescribable being has rendered our world so desolate, plunging this universe into an endless abyss."
"But if you ask me now, I will only answer..."
"Go... go after the cage you see, break it down, and find a new life for yourself."
"Was the journey difficult...? Of course it was, but I'm more afraid that you won't dare to embark on this path, won't dare to explore your own life."
In an instant, Li Chen seemed to feel an overwhelming sadness flash through his mind, but it was instantly suppressed, as if he had some kind of ability that was constantly transforming his emotions into indifference and calmness.
The high priest's aged hand gently touched Li Chen's cheek, and he said softly, "Little Chen... if you wish to wear the crown, you must bear its weight."
"The Eerie Race has waited far too long... far too long."
Suddenly, a bell rang out in the Sin City.
This bell sound was exactly the same as the one that rang when Li Chen first entered the Throne Space.
Countless members of the Eerie Race emerged from the dilapidated houses, looked at the bell, seemingly bewildered and at a loss, but suddenly became excited.
"It rang!!"
"It rang!!"
"The Emperor is back! The Emperor has been born! The Emperor has come to save us!!"
"Revenge is about to begin. We will finally leave this Sin City and return to our own world."
In an instant, figures darted out from the dark water curtain above the Sin City. Each figure exuded the aura of the Calamity Realm, and many of the elders even had the aura of the Wasteland Realm.
One can only imagine how much power the Eerie Race has accumulated over the past thousand years.
At that moment, they all flew to Li, knelt on one knee, and said in unison, "Your Majesty, welcome back."
Li Chen's eyes were filled with complex emotions, and he remained silent.
Li Chen, is this a trap you set up yourself?
Is this the scheme you orchestrated by abandoning everything?
Is this why you ruined my life and forced me to embark on that Path to Godhood?
Reincarnation... reincarnation, an utterly ridiculous cycle. Even you scheme against yourself. How hopeless can the future be?
How many God did you confront before choosing this path?
Human Race unknowingly help you, the Eerie Race knowing everything also help you, the Evil Cult unknowingly also helps you, everything in the world is helping this dead person, but all of this has flowed onto me.
You're really something, Li Chen.
After a long silence...
More and more Eerie Race knelt on the ground, gazing up at Li Chen's figure and issuing the long-awaited command.
Until the bells stopped.
Li Chen looked at all the Eerie Race and said, "This crown... I caught it."
At that moment, the entire Sin City erupted in roars of fury.
This is a roar that has been suppressed for too long.
It is the roar of someone abandoned by the world.
Looking at the excited, tearful, and joyful expressions of the Eerie Race before him, Li Chen closed his eyes for a moment. "This vortex will now revolve around me. Let me see what choices you once faced."
"At this moment, I am the one holding the chess piece."
He needed this extremely powerful force; he needed them, just as the high priest had said, they were merely the bones he had built up along the way to the divine ladder, and he needed to step on them to get there.
Time passed slowly.
A figure hovered over the scorched earth in the Black Mist, instantly killing an enormous Eerie Monsters, which then transformed into a stream of Black Water that flowed into the figure's body.
Centered on him, not a single Eerie Monsters within a hundred miles dared to approach, and even the Eerie Monsters of the Wasteland Realm only dared to watch with trepidation from the center of the Black Mist.
Li Chen's expression was indifferent as he scanned the area before finally looking down.
The high priest below was already waiting.
"Your Majesty, it seems your cultivation level has not yet weakened."
"Perhaps it's because my mindset hasn't been broken, and I'm plagued by Inner Demons."
"Otherwise, the Wasteland Realm will be difficult to create."
Li Chen frowned, looking at the Black Mist. Did it possess Inner Demon?
Even he himself didn't know.
How easy is it to find...?
The high priest clearly understood his thoughts and said softly, "The Eerie Race has a special method to summon the Inner Demon, but if one cannot bear the Inner Demon, one may suffer a backlash, or even have one's mind possessed by the Inner Demon."
But is Li Chen afraid of all of this?
He himself harbors an Eldritch God within him, which frightens him; how could a mere inner Inner Demon be compared to that?
He only gave one answer.
"Good."