Divine Miracle

New Era 0324.

The Tuna Family began to set foot in politics, investing in the new emperor of Ghost Country—the thirteen-year-old Young Ghost Empress.

They helped the new emperor rally her former allies, using vast financial resources to aid her in inheriting power while still weak, and to suppress internal strife. Miss Zhong's younger brother thereby became the nation's Minister of Finance.

New Era 0327.

The Stone Light Emperor Changshou had been gone for far, far too long.

Everyone knew that, given his condition, he was not far from death.

A Blessing Shaman could swallow wind and consume qi, yet their body was as fragile as any mortal's. If he were not treated, he would die.

"So many years have passed. If he had recovered, he would surely have fought his way back to the City of a Hundred Stones. But he didn't."

"He's dead."

"He must be dead."

Over the years, countless people speculated, and panic spread.

"Kingship" was no more. The Slave Dynasty was about to fall!

And on this day, the Slave Dynasty finally discovered the remains of the Stone Light Emperor Changshou.

All was settled.

This once-glorious mightiest emperor had died on a mountain in a remote village, in a cave no one cared about.

"His wounds could still have been treated. There was a village right at the foot of the mountain."

Back then, the Middle-aged Traveler had aged considerably, his hair now streaked with white. He lowered his head and studied the corpse carefully. "But even dying of severe injuries, this man who trusted no one still held fast to his own principles—he never sought help from anyone."

"He also had no heart for his country or the world."

He spoke unhurriedly. "If he had any conscience at all, he would have known to pass on 'Kingship' before his death—even to a fool or a child by the roadside."

The middle-aged man let out a faint sneer. "I admit, he was talented. In a certain sense, he was indeed a true overlord! But he chose to drown in the selfish dream of longevity and immortality!"

"King..."

The people around him showed despair.

This was the worst possible outcome.

This arrogant and despotic tyrant would rather die than hand "Kingship" to them, or appoint the next "monarch," letting the power dissipate into the world.

"Time waits for no one. My fortune is truly too poor."

Suddenly, he lowered his head and looked at the corpse. The Stone Light Emperor Changshou's hand, even in death, clutched a weed—a posture like a drowning man grasping at his last hope.

The species of this weed seemed familiar.

He felt something stir in his mind, doubts circling in his thoughts, yet he could not figure it out.

"What is it? What did he see before he died? Or what was he searching for?" He paced out, suddenly struck by a strong feeling that if he could break through that layer of mist, the God of Destiny in the shadows would truly open their arms to him, and he would step forward to become the next Longevity Emperor.

"What is it?"

New Era 0299.

Ghost Country. The new emperor traveled incognito to Tuna Port.

The empress walked onto a sea island, where a delicate and magnificent castle stood in the distance, with luxurious stained-glass windows and a massive Tuna Clock Tower rising along the island's coastline.

"No wonder this family is called the 'Ocean Clock.' Wealth that rivals a nation. My country's finances are so tight right now—we're far poorer than you." The young empress praised.

"Your Majesty flatters me."

That young girl back then, Zhong Qingyu, had now entered middle age.

They walked through a corridor lined with opulent carvings, inlaid with gems, and hung with oil paintings full of artistic flair.

"This is Mr. Li Su's painting from Bronze Jingshan Temple, Tyrant Close to God, depicting the Battle of the Gurbantünggüt Desert—a three-way melee."

"And here is the late Mr. Yin Zhu's final sculpture, Slave Laborer A Da, created thirty years ago."

"And this—this is a longsword forged by the weapon master, Lin Qingzheng!"

The empress had received the finest education in the world since childhood. The works displayed here were, without exception, rare treasures. Even her own palace did not hold such a rich collection.

The port was truly a prosperous place.

Countless treasures and merchants passed through here. To control this place was to control the world's transit arteries.

"Not at all." Zhong Qingyu shook her head. She was no longer the girl who dreamed of love and romance, but a politician, the leader of a family whose wealth rivaled a nation.

Instead, Zhong Qingyu looked at the teenage girl before her with a trace of envy. "To you, even the wealthiest mortal is nothing more than a green worm you can squeeze dry with a single thought."

The Young Ghost Empress shook her head. "Our power weakens with each succession, yet we cannot find the next path. If this continues, there will be no life left in the world that can sense 'qi.'"

The Three Hundred Empresses of God?

She recalled records from over two hundred years ago—a mysterious era.

They continued walking and touring, and the Young Ghost Empress was greatly astonished.

She saw many rare items, even relics from the most ancient old civilization—intricate iron boxes called radios, and various mechanical creations from a bygone era. It was breathtaking. So much so that the Young Ghost Empress even entertained the thought of destroying this family, confiscating all their property, and filling her empty treasury!

"Unfortunately, I cannot. If I were to treat a loyal minister who exhausted himself in my service like this so soon after ascending the throne, I would not be far from losing my kingdom." As the Young Ghost Empress walked along, she suddenly spotted an oil painting with no signature.

In the painting was a man with a tear mole, strolling leisurely at a harbor under the dusk, gazing at the azure sea, breathing in the endless sea breeze.

This familiar face stirred the Young Ghost Empress. She still remembered a sketch carefully preserved in a frame deep within the palace—a relic left by the Two Emperors of Ghost Country who founded the nation.

The sketch depicted a man with a tear mole and a refined appearance, who had saved the two of them.

Above it, the two founding ancestors had written:

"At the time, we knew nothing of his origins or background; we only found him stunning and mysterious, taking him as the idol in our hearts. We sisters discussed him day and night, our youthful hearts stirred. But after the Great Collapse, recalling those days, we realized the terror hidden within."

"That day, he was already using the power of the Blessing Shaman to drive away bandits, swallowing wind and consuming qi—long before we three hundred women had arrived!"

"If we three hundred women are called by the world the 'Three Hundred Empresses of God,' then that existence from the Old Civilization, who wielded power fluently long before us, might well be that very 'God.'"

This ancient record might be the closest thing to the truth of the world!!

And the Ghost Royal Family was the bloodline closest to the world's hidden secrets.

They had speculated countless times: since they had met the two ancestors, it was entirely plausible that the mysterious man, in the distant years of the old era's catastrophe, had also met the remaining 298 women.

That was the common thread—God might exist within history.

Recalling scene after scene, the Young Ghost Empress couldn't help but point at the elegant man with the tear mole in the oil painting on the wall and said, "God!"

"What?" Zhong Qingyu didn't catch on.

"Nothing." The Young Ghost Empress quickly recovered her composure and asked nonchalantly, "Which master left this painting behind? I failed to recognize it."

Zhong Qingyu watched the Young Ghost Empress's lapse in composure and suddenly realized something. She looked at the tear mole on the Young Ghost Empress's face—a symbol of divine authority—and an incredible thought connected the dots: God... that man...

She certainly wouldn't admit she had painted it herself. Instead, she said flatly, "It was left behind by a Port Merchant in debt. The author is unknown, but I kept it because the painting's mood was nice."

"Oh." The Young Ghost Empress felt somewhat unsatisfied.

Soon, they invited the reigning emperor to lunch.

The meal was lavish—mountain delicacies and sea treasures, silver tableware—nothing was amiss in the hospitality.

Once the reception was over, Zhong Qingyu couldn't wait to rush back to her private chamber, where she pulled out a well-tended pot of verdant green plant.

"Wow, the pretty lady is here to see me on schedule again."

"But she's getting older, shedding her youth year by year. Now she's full of charm—look at that big butt, she must be over thirty, right?"

"I'm totally blown away by this Self-Healing Aesthetic Game. The Development Team put real thought into it. My role here is probably to be a plant, accompanying the girl who visits me every day as she grows up, matures, ages into an old lady, and finally returns to the earth—a series of freeze-frame movies, right?"

"What a super creative, beautiful idea! This is the real Mortal World—seeing a human life from a plant's perspective."

He was still marveling.

But then, the next second, the woman hesitated for a moment, then directly uprooted him, gently parted her crimson lips, and revealed a row of silver teeth.

"Oh, is she going to kiss me?"

"Wow wow wow, this is ecchi fanservice!!!"

"Wait!" But he quickly sensed something was wrong as a gaping maw lunged at him.

He murmured, then suddenly realized the truth.

I'm being eaten?

What the hell, this is a healing game?

This is a horror game!

His consciousness grew hazy—was he about to fall asleep?

"Holy crap! That works too! Gotta hand it to the Development Team, I get it now!"

"So there's a way to sleep like this—a variation of that pestle-grinding scene from before..."

"Love it!"

Zhong Qingyu found that after eating that medicinal herb, she had gained some mysterious power, as if the Gate of Heaven and Earth had been pried open, and the entire world was different.

At dusk, she climbed to the attic, pushed open the window, and the salty, damp sea breeze surged into the room. The seascape outside was beautiful—between heaven and earth, above the ocean, wisps of qi drifted, so lovely it didn't seem like a scene from the mortal world.

"So this is the world?"