Gold

"Hey! Huo Yuanjia! Huo Yuanjia! Hehe, when will you be number one in Jinmen?"

"What do you think?"

"Hehe! Today! It's today!!"

Dead memories attacked Huo Yuanjia.

He felt it was utterly absurd, yet also like a lifetime ago, as if time had begun to rewind. Scenes from the past flashed before his eyes. He was back to the day he had defeated everyone in Jinmen, back to the day he had achieved great enlightenment and left, back to the day he had returned to Jinmen.

During these important milestones.

There was always someone.

Someone whose name he couldn't even recall would playfully ask him when he would be number one in Jinmen.

And now...

This person's image began to overlap with the memories, finally transforming into the face of a beggar with a mad, cackling grin, pointing and laughing at Huo Yuanjia. Reality and absurdity intertwined, and he realized that reality and absurdity were separated by only a thin line. This feeling made Huo Yuanjia's skin crawl!

"You're... Jin Buhuan?"

"What a vulgar name, but I like it. I'll be Jin Buhuan, hehe. Long time no see, Huo Yuanjia. I'm not here for you today, hurry up and let me in!" Jin Buhuan stretched his neck out as far as it would go, peering inside intently.

He was still dressed as a beggar.

There was no sign of a master's demeanor.

But clearly, it was almost impossible for an ordinary beggar to have begged his way from Jinmen all the way to Puhai on foot. There were too many things on the road that could have ended the life of a beggar as thin as straw.

"Are you really Jin Buhuan?" Huo Yuanjia still couldn't believe it.

"I already told you I'm Jin Buhuan. It's the same as you being number one in Jinmen. If you don't believe me, go ask Lan yourself." Jin Buhuan scratched his head vigorously, caught a louse, and crushed it.

Huo Yuanjia's eyelids twitched twice.

He didn't believe it.

But he believed Immortal Master Lan Yi.

So, the patrolling Qi Cultivation Practitioners witnessed a rather peculiar sight: Martial Heavenly General Huo Yuanjia was leading a seemingly deranged beggar, who kept giggling incessantly, to meet the Immortal Master. This beggar was also incredibly bold, touching and looking around the power plant like a wild monkey, unafraid of electrocuting himself.

Beggar, Immortal Master.

These were words that only appeared together in novels.

But now, they were connected.

Feeling like he was dreaming, with countless questions but no idea where to start, Huo Yuanjia, in his bewilderment, brought Jin Buhuan before Lan Yi.

Their meeting took place in the resting hall of the power plant.

Upon seeing Jin Buhuan, Lan Yi showed no surprise or disgust. Instead, he waved for Huo Yuanjia and the others to leave, intending to speak with the beggar alone.

"You're also quite shabby. I came all this way, and you didn't even prepare a bowl of tea for me, let alone a feast. You're a terrible host."

Jin Buhuan plopped down and immediately began to complain incessantly about Lan Yi's lack of formality.

Let alone Huo Yuanjia.

Even most psionic cultivators before his rebirth hadn't expected that in Artificial Divine Realm 1909, this unremarkable figure, who looked like an ordinary beggar, would be one of the fortuitous encounters. If one was lucky enough to meet him, the gains from a single Artificial Divine Realm could surpass those from ten searches!

But now, Lan Yi was even more surprised.

"You remember me?"

Lan Yi was a reborn individual.

However, when he annihilated the world, he had no dealings with this mysterious Jin Buhuan.

At that time, Lan Yi had sealed all Artificial Divine Realm passages for world annihilation and was fiercely fighting psionic cultivators from two civilizations within the Milky Way. Logically, Jin Buhuan shouldn't have been among those who remembered.

Yet, Jin Buhuan was now unusually familiar with Lan Yi.

He clearly had past memories.

"Lan, restarting time is indeed a significant undertaking, but don't forget my identity." Jin Buhuan had a habit: when facing Lan Yi, he always preferred to address him only by his surname.

Jin Buhuan's identity was that of an omniscient merchant within the Artificial Divine Realm.

No matter what secrets an Artificial Divine Realm held or what opportunities existed, Jin Buhuan could sell them to psionic cultivators. He himself seemed to have some deep connection with the War Zone, and some even speculated that Jin Buhuan might be the embodiment of the War Zone.

Although not directly stated, Jin Buhuan's stance clearly favored psionic cultivators who emerged from the main world.

Furthermore, he seemed to possess abilities related to time.

Therefore, retaining his memories was within the realm of possibility. Lan Yi knew very well that his reversal of time was a true reversal, severing all possibilities of other timelines, so Jin Buhuan being able to retain his memories still surprised him.

Since they were old acquaintances, things would be easier.

"I need control of this Artificial Divine Realm." Lan Yi stated his demand directly.

"You're dreaming. You haven't reached Void Cultivation, you can't Create Star River, and you want to control an Artificial Divine Realm? I'll just melt you down and cast you into a high-dimensional computer." Jin Buhuan understood Lan Yi's approach. He first insulted him, then changed his tune. "However, there isn't absolutely no hope. It depends on how you intend to control it."

Jin Buhuan, the omniscient merchant, had a very bad habit.

He liked to do two things.

One was to give people despair when they had hope, and the other was to offer a glimmer of hope when they were in despair. Therefore, although he was one of the fortuitous encounters in the Artificial Divine Realm, psionic cultivators had mixed reviews of him, and generally didn't like meeting him.

Except for Lan Yi.

Because the previous few times Lan Yi entered the Artificial Divine Realm, he was basically at the end of his rope. He became a psionic cultivator. Because he had killed too ruthlessly in the main world for revenge, whoever acted as a mediator or moral guardian, he would kill them. Before the concept of a nation collapsed, he was basically a frequent guest in the top three of the wanted list.

Seeing Jin Buhuan, he couldn't be happier.

"A channel that can exchange matter and energy with the main world. This channel should avoid time displacement and ideally be able to open and close at will. If possible, please help conceal the traces of spiritual energy resurgence."

Lan Yi's methods have always been grand.

After realizing that he, this demon, might be jointly attacked by reborn psionic cultivators from the main world and targeted for encirclement like a world-class BOSS, he wanted to use the Artificial Divine Realm 1909 as his logistics base and recruitment ground, directly relying on controlling a world with a considerable level of Martial Arts to contend with the main world.

At that time, whoever didn't obey would be killed!

This was also why Lan Yi put so much effort into developing Martial Arts, spiritual energy resurgence, and ruling.

Peace is not negotiated, but fought for.

Only by delivering a powerful blow can one prevent a hundred blows from coming.

If a powerful psionic cultivator only had themselves, no matter how strong they were, it would only be themselves. But if they had a world they controlled to rely on, the resources that could be mobilized for world-class wars in the early stages alone would be enough to make anyone seriously consider the proposal for peace.