Where all memories began

Cheng Shi never imagined that he would return to that garbage dump of Memory.

Indeed, the "deepest part of Memory" that the Blind Man spoke of is the Crystal Expanse world that reflects the infinite light of Memory after My Nightmare, Your Dream.

Cheng Shi had also been to "the place where all Memory originated," which was the enormous Ravine Rift that traversed the Crystal Expanse world!

Accompanying Cheng Shi at this time were An Mingyu, who led the way; Zhen Xin, who did not want her best friend to suffer any more accidents; Li Jingming, the true holder of the My Nightmare, Your Dream and the one who controls [Memory]; and Qin Xin, who was unable to see off the Hope's Flame and looked so heavy-hearted.

The five of them continued on their way until they arrived at the rift.

Cheng Shi hadn't forgotten that it was from here that he crossed the rift to the other side, behind the Dreamless Mirror, where he was lifted up by the Hope's Flame and met Him for the first time.

He carefully traversed the Abyss back then, probably never imagining that there was a path beneath Abyss.

An Mingyu pointed to the crack below and said:

"It's down there, let's go down."

Cheng Shi glanced at the Dragon King, only to see that the other party seemed to be enjoying the "garbage" of these Memory with his eyes closed. After a moment, the Dragon King opened his eyes and looked at Qin Xin with considerable surprise, which made Qin Xin look somewhat puzzled.

"How?"

Li Jingming shook his head, his expression strange, and said:

There was no danger, but I really didn't expect it to be him.

Never mind... Let's go, we'll see when we get down there.

Seeing the answer right before their eyes, no one asked any more questions. An Mingyu led the way and jumped down, with Zhen Xin and Qin Xin following closely behind. Cheng Shi paused briefly and looked at the Dragon King again, saying:

What were you trying to say?

Li Jingming sighed:

"I've discovered that [Memory] isn't omniscient about the past either."

The smeared artifacts in the Memory Archive are the best proof of this; there hangs the past that [Memory] is most interested in, but here, the Memory beneath our feet are not entirely uninteresting either.

For example, do you remember the origin of "The My Nightmare, Your Dream"?

What is the origin of the My Nightmare, Your Dream?

Cheng Shi thought for a moment and nodded.

Of course I remember. Speaking of which, this matter is related to Afros.

The "guidance" of [Gate of Joyful Desire] caused the Believer of [Memory] to turn against each other. At the moment when [Memory] bestowed [Delusional Memories], the mirror shattered into two halves. One half became the My Nightmare, Your Dream, and the other half became the Dreamless Mirror.

In fact, the Dreamless Mirror is on Qin Xin, and Qin Xin is in this team.

What a coincidence.

Cheng Shi was thinking when he suddenly paused, seemingly understanding the Dragon King's meaning. "You mean... Delusional Memories?"

A glint of light flashed in Li Jingming's eyes, and he nodded, saying:

"That's right, it's Delusional Memories."

Strangely enough, [Memory] seems to have created something that even it often forgets, so much so that when I inherited its Divine Authority, I didn't immediately recall it.

Only after arriving here today did I manage to rummage through countless 'garbage' Memory and find that past. Interestingly, the Memory of the creator of Delusional Memories were left here.

No, it should be said that Delusional Memories is the 'soul' of this junkyard. Its original intention in creating Delusional Memories was to force itself to forget these trivial matters and focus only on the collections that interest it.

[Memory] built the Memory Archive and selected artifacts from the River of Time in order to please [Origin]. Therefore, these Memory discarded in the garbage dump of Delusional Memories are naturally the garbage that He considers unworthy of pleasing [Origin].

Since they were unworthy, they naturally didn't want [Origin] to 'see' them.

Therefore, the Hope's Flame chose this place as its final destination, and the profound meaning behind this is...

Let's go down; I suspect the future of the world might lie in this crevice of the canyon.

Unseen...

Cheng Shi seemed to have grasped something crucial, but he couldn't hold onto that glimmer of inspiration. He nodded and jumped down with the Dragon King.

With the three gods present, no matter how deep the canyon was, Cheng Shi could not possibly suffer any accidents. He and the god landed lightly and followed the footsteps of the three people in front of him into the depths of the canyon.

A short while later, they arrived at the depression and witnessed a shocking scene.

The burly Qin Xin was holding a slender figure in his arms. He slowly turned around, and the person's face gradually became clearer in the surrounding azure light. When the face was fully visible...

"Qin Xin!?"

Cheng Shi's pupils contracted, and the Dragon King nodded silently.

"I saw him during the Trials, but he never showed his true face. You should have heard of him as well."

Still Like in a Dream.

What a wonderful phrase Still Like in a Dream.

It turns out that the Fire Keeper who silently moved forward in the shadows of the world was just a grand dream of yours!

He should be the real Qin Xin!

Cheng Shi stared blankly ahead, then looked at Qin Xin, only to see Qin Xin looking excitedly at the person in his arms. Qin Xin slowly opened his eyes; he was very weak, almost lifeless, but his eyes shone with the most brilliant and unwavering light.

He met the gaze of the burly Qin Xin, then grinned, his lips barely moving:

"I felt your power, Qin Xin. Tell me, is this just a beautiful dream or my own unfulfilled fantasy?"

Qin Xin smiled. He really wanted to tell Qin Xin that this was a good dream for now, but whether the good dream would turn into a nightmare... was another matter.

He was silent for a moment, then looked up at Cheng Shi.

Cheng Shi didn't respond, but simply cast a pure Healing Art on the body Still Like in a Dream, saying without joy or sorrow:

"Of course it was a good dream."

The spark you ignited has now illuminated this Starry Sky. The Fire Keeper doing well, the world... perhaps not so well, but we are trying.

We were able to find you because of the 'Final Decree' of the Hope's Flame.

He led us here. Did you see Him when you awoke?

After being treated, Qin Xin was noticeably more energetic. He patted the burly Qin Xin on the shoulder, telling him to put himself down, and then stood in front of the crystal coffin, looking at the place where the Hope's Flame had once burned, lost in memories.

"No.

But wherever He is, I know He is in my heart, no, in our hearts, in the hearts of all those Fire Keeper.

I know you're all curious about my existence. Actually, I thought I was dead, but in that Vitality Trials, it was [Destiny] that saved me."

"[Destiny]!?"

The thin Qin Xin nodded:

"Yes, He made a deal with my Lord of Grace."

He allowed [Memory] to erase a Memory for Him, and the Chip were my Destiny, so I saved my life.

My life is insignificant, but this Memory might be useful to you.

As he spoke, the frail Qin Xin patted the coffin and said, "This is the Memory that [Destiny] stripped away."

Li Jingming's expression turned serious as he looked at Cheng Shi. After seeing Cheng Shi nod, he activated the power of [Memory] to recreate the Memory of [Destiny].

That was a scene where He confronted [Deception] in the Void, and He asked Deception, "Who am I?"

[Deception] gave a casual reply, but [Destiny] continued, "And who are you?"

[Deception] responded with another smile, and [Destiny] finally said, "I don't know who you are, but I just want to be myself."

After a cryptic exchange, [Destiny] departed first, descending into another Void. Its gaze pierced through reality to look at Cheng Shi on the rooftop, then shifted its gaze away, murmuring to the dark Void:

"I don't know who I am, but you only want me to be myself, so..."

I am who I am!

"..."

Upon seeing this, Cheng Shi was moved once again.

It turns out that [Destiny] had already discovered the clues back then, but in order to [Deception], He chose to deceive Himself and let [Memory] erase this Memory.

So who is really driving this Predestination course of events? Is it truly "Destiny"?

It's clearly a [Deception] that led the world here...

If all deviations are moving closer, then isn't resistance also a Predestination?