Prophecy

The same shape, the same size, a prism pillar constructed from countless small rhombuses. If it weren't for the different color, Liu Tian would have suspected he had somehow lost the prism pillar he kept on his person.

"I kept wondering where I had seen the thing you got before," Heavenly Dao said, placing the prism pillar on the table. "But perhaps I'm getting old and forgetful. It wasn't until your senior brother, Bai Cinan, arrived that I suddenly remembered and took out the prism pillar."

Following Heavenly Dao's words, Liu Tian took out the prism pillar he had carefully stored in his sock and placed it on the table.

"You really kept it on your person..." Heavenly Dao seemed surprised that Liu Tian still kept it at the sole of his foot. He paused for a rare moment before placing the prism pillar in his hand on top of Liu Tian's.

The instant Heavenly Dao placed it down, the two prism pillars emitted a faint glow. It wasn't strong, but it was just enough to prevent either of them from seeing clearly. Then, in a mere moment, only one prism pillar remained on the table—a gold and silver mixed one, unchanged in size.

"What?" Liu Tian, surprised that the prism pillar had such a function, looked up at Heavenly Dao and asked.

"I found this thing over twenty years ago while exploring ruins. I just kept it lying around afterwards. If you hadn't mentioned that the prism pillar could help you get stronger this time, and if Cinan hadn't come to ask about it, I might not have remembered I had it," Heavenly Dao explained.

"Senior Brother Cinan wants it too? What does he need it for?" Liu Tian keenly caught on to the key person and pressed further.

"It's not that he wants it, but that Blue Dream Company needs it." Heavenly Dao paused before speaking in one breath, "I don't know where Blue Dream got a prophecy from, a prophecy from the Lost Empire."

"A prophecy? The Lost Empire had such things?" Liu Tian was a bit curious. "I thought they were all about pure technology. Did they also dabble in mysticism? Could they have truly ascended through psionics?"

"?" Heavenly Dao didn't quite understand Liu Tian's words, but maintaining his dignity as a master, he didn't press further. He simply continued with the prophecy. "The original text of the prophecy is in the Lost Empire's language, and many of the characters are said to be completely blurred and unrecognizable. However, based on the remaining characters and deductions, it might be saying that when the scattered pillars of the world merge into one, the door to becoming a god will open once more."

"So its name is 'Pillar of Mystery'? The door to becoming a god? It sounds really mystical. Did Blue Dream take this deduced result seriously?"

With Heavenly Dao explaining so clearly, Liu Tian naturally didn't misunderstand. As they spoke, he picked up the prism pillar. As expected, he absorbed a bit more Origin Point and clearly sensed that the previously inexhaustible warm current had doubled. Calculating based on this, the thirty days it originally took to gain one Origin Point would now only take fifteen.

"If that weren't the case, why would Cinan specifically come asking for information about this thing? Not only that, but I heard that the Heavenly Martial Arts practitioners are also collecting these things," Heavenly Dao said. "However, I dislike Blue Dream, and I also dislike that mystical fellow Mingyue. So, I won't give this thing to Cinan, nor to Mingyue. Since you can use it, Tian'er, you can take it."

"Is that okay?" Liu Tian flattened the prism pillar in his hand and then peeled it off. "Senior Brother Cinan might need this thing too."

"If I'm giving it to you, then take it. Stop being so indecisive," Heavenly Dao frowned, picked up his tea, and tapped his teacup. "Remember, don't let anyone else see it. With Blue Dream's nature, they'll surely come up with all sorts of strange ideas."

"Yes, yes, yes." Seeing that Heavenly Dao was already ushering him out, Liu Tian no longer hesitated. He stuffed the prism pillar back under his foot and turned to go home.

"Oh, right." Seeing Liu Tian's departing back, Heavenly Dao suddenly remembered something and called out to him, adding, "The prism pillar has a characteristic. If you flatten it and place it on your skin, as long as you don't consciously remove it, it will never fall off. Don't put it on the sole of your foot anymore. How old are you? Don't you find it smelly?"

"There's such a thing? Master, why didn't you say so earlier..."

"A prophecy..." He had received too much information today. Although he hadn't shown it in front of Heavenly Dao, Liu Tian wasn't someone who truly didn't think.

Therefore, even after washing up and lying in bed, Liu Tian was still pondering the news he had received today—internal arts, external arts, Secret Martial Arts, Heavenly Martial Arts, Demonic Martial Arts, a master and senior brother who consecutively became the number one in the world, a Pillar of Mystery that could open the door to becoming a god and exhibited characteristics based on subjective consciousness.

The sheer volume of information left Liu Tian unsure of what to do. In the end, Liu Tian touched the prism pillar stuck to his heart and made a decision—he'd slack off!

Forget Heavenly Martial Arts, Demonic Martial Arts, or prophecies of becoming a god. Given the prism pillar's powerful effect, before absorbing Origin Points, no matter how many Pillars of Mystery there were, he was going to have them all. No one would be able to stop him.

However, after breaking through to Fighter, perhaps he should look for some external arts to practice. If they were effective, he'd practice a few more. He couldn't be the only one cheating and still be unable to defeat Heavenly Martial Arts and Demonic Martial Arts, could he?

Moreover, although his master said that external arts required medicinal herbs and hard training, with his talent, he felt that hard training alone would suffice.

Thinking this, Liu Tian turned off the desk lamp and closed his eyes.

There was one thing, however, that Liu Tian never asked Heavenly Dao from beginning to end: whether Mantis was a subordinate dispatched by Bai Cinan, and whether Heavenly Dao knew about it or had anticipated it.

This was similar to how Heavenly Dao had never shown any doubt about Liu Tian's sudden and rapid progress overnight, as if it were only natural for him to skip lessons and continue teaching the Decapitation Path.

Though they trusted each other, how long could these two, who also kept secrets from each other, continue on this path?

Morning Star Alliance. A man who called himself Saint King Mingyue woke up from a nightmare.

This was not the first time he had been startled awake by a nightmare.

Although Saint King Mingyue, who had simultaneously reached the limit of his psychokinesis and broken through to Fighter by practicing Secret Martial Arts, should theoretically not have nightmares.

But for the past ten years, Saint King Mingyue had been trapped in the same nightmare.

A colossal tidal wave that submerged everything, a giant white shark ravaging the human world, terrifying auroras destroying the world, and finally, humanity completely covered in blue, bound by chains, bearing an immense burden, losing its future, and only knowing how to pray devoutly.

And as that world appeared before his eyes, Saint King Mingyue understood that it was a world devoid of hope, devoid of future, leaving only a terrifying paleness.

It was a premonitory dream bestowed upon him, the strongest Heavenly Martial Artist in history, by Heaven!

Save humanity!

This was Heaven's mandate bestowed upon him!

And in order not to let that future truly come to pass, for ten full years, Saint King Mingyue had been searching the ocean for this giant white shark, which might still be growing, wanting to nip it in the bud and destroy that world in its infancy. But he had found nothing.

As time passed, the dream became more and more real, and Saint King Mingyue understood that the final settlement was not far off. Yet, despite his frantic anxiety, he was still helpless.

Saint King Mingyue could only pray, praying that luck would lead him to the great white shark, praying that Heaven would grant him, this son of Heaven, clearer instructions.

And on this day, the instructions came—the dream, whose content had never changed, shifted once more.

A prism pillar suspended in mid-air, a laughing demon, a world where rivers of blood flowed, and an aurora that destroyed everything. But this time, humanity was no longer heavily bound.

Saint King Mingyue knew that this was a future altered by his efforts.

However, was this future, where only one in a hundred people remained, and where morality and law had completely disappeared, truly better than that pale world?

Saint King Mingyue was lost