The Mortal World Nears Its End

Just as Shi Yan was hesitating, Xi Yun, who had been intently studying the Rhino Emperor Game, suddenly turned around, and their eyes met squarely in the air.

"Xiao Yan? Why aren't you coming in? What are you waiting for out there?" Xi Yun hurried over, took Shi Yan's hand, and led him toward the temple.

As they walked, she kept chattering: "I was just thinking you seemed late today, but it turns out you were standing at the door. Next time, just call me directly..."

A familiar feeling surged in his heart, and Shi Yan couldn't help but smile. "I understand, Sister Yun."

The two reached the stone table at the Old Temple. Shi Yan opened the food box and brought out the dishes the Past Self had prepared.

Xi Yun studied him, a flicker of suspicion crossing her face. "Why do you feel a bit off today?"

Of course he felt off.

The Past Self was Shi Yan, but Shi Yan was not the Past Self. Even with fully inherited memories, there would still be differences.

At the very least, he didn't have the pure, burning passion of the Past Self right now.

Shi Yan's current feelings toward Xi Yun were more like something between siblings and lovers—that was the root of his inner conflict.

But Shi Yan didn't want Sister Yun to know all this for now. He grinned and said, "Sister Yun, could it be that you've cultivated yourself silly? Aren't I just me? What's different?"

This was the same thing the Past Self had said to Xi Yun when he first came to live in Bauhinia Village in Shi Yan's place.

Back then, when the Past Self replaced Shi Yan, he didn't even have the other's memories like Shi Yan did now, so his disguise was naturally full of holes.

Hearing Shi Yan's words, Xi Yun immediately laughed, casting that strange feeling to the winds. But she put on a fierce face and said, "Daring to talk to your big sister like that—asking for a beating!"

As she spoke, Xi Yun tapped him with her chopsticks, and Shi Yan, still grinning, clinked his own chopsticks against hers in mock battle—just playing around, of course.

The meal took them nearly an hour to finish.

After eating, Shi Yan waved his hand, removing the grease from the dishes and chopsticks, which then stacked themselves neatly back into the food box.

As he tidied up, a thought gradually formed in Shi Yan's mind: "The Future Self has my power. Resolving him will require extensive preparation. Also, I need to solve as many Rhino Emperor Game puzzles as possible... Since that's the case, I'll just stay in Bauhinia Village for now."

As for the Celestial Master Palace, Shi Yan wasn't worried. His Past Self was now completely under control, and having the Past Self take his place at the Celestial Master Palace was the perfect arrangement.

Once he made his decision, Shi Yan acted quickly.

The Past Self set out under cover of darkness. A few days later, he arrived at the Celestial Master Palace, made some arrangements, and then left again.

This time, Shi Yan planned to travel the world, setting up formations across the land to resonate with the World Authority.

This approach was actually inspired by the Future Self. Since the Future Self could use formations to resonate with the Authority in an attempt to escape its suppression, why couldn't Shi Yan do the opposite?

In the memories brought by the Past Self, there was a complete record of the Future Self teaching him formations. Although it only covered the "Light Origin" part that the Past Self was responsible for, using that as a reference, Shi Yan could fully deduce formations that resonated with other origins.

With those formations in place, he could then attempt reverse engineering and ultimately suppress and reclaim the Future Self.

Shi Yan felt this idea was feasible.

Of course, he planned to leave all these tasks to his Past Self, while his true body stayed in Bauhinia Village to focus on cracking the Rhino Emperor Game. When the time came, the World Authority and the world-spanning formation would work together as a double insurance.

"I refuse to believe that even this won't be enough to take down the Future Self," Shi Yan thought to himself.

Of course, there was another purpose to this—Shi Yan wanted to use this time to slowly figure out his feelings for Xi Yun.

Time flowed on, and life after the Past Self's return was as calm as still water.

Ten years later, the expedition from the Jing Kingdom finally finished clearing out the monsters entrenched in the most remote Yan Kingdom.

This was the last kingdom in the world to complete its monster purge. At last, peace was restored across the land.

All of humanity celebrated. Several Celestial Masters proposed changing the calendar, designating this year as the first year of a new era to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

The proposal received overwhelming support. After discussion, the Celestial Master Palace named the new calendar the "Phoenix Calendar," symbolizing humanity's rebirth from the ashes and commemorating the Jing Kingdom, which had once revered birds.

After all, humanity's nirvana had begun with the Jing Kingdom.

Of course, there were no longer separate kingdoms. The entire world was unified under the governance of the Celestial Master Palace.

The Celestial Master Palace expanded rapidly as a result. Beyond its original Celestial Master system, it absorbed many ordinary people with administrative talents, establishing a relatively healthy bureaucratic structure.

Shi Yan became the spiritual leader of the entire world, the true sovereign of human society.

However, this spiritual leader spent his days traveling across the world, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, rarely seen by the public.

Shi Yan's main purpose in traveling was to survey the world's landscapes and geography, searching for suitable places to set up formations.

After his survey, Shi Yan discovered that the eight capitals chosen by the Future Self were indeed the most suitable locations for formations. These eight places resonated most strongly with the eight great origins of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Light, and Thunder.

But at the same time, he felt that setting up formations only at the eight capitals was a bit sparse.

Perhaps that was why, when the Future Self had set up his formation back then, it had caused such a commotion and was so fragile that Shi Yan had easily destroyed it.

In fact, after his survey, Shi Yan found that if he set up auxiliary formations across the world in advance, using the eight capitals as the core, they could naturally connect and resonate with the World Authority.

As the core of the formation, the eight capitals wouldn't be damaged. On the contrary, the local lifeforms would even benefit from the leaked power of the Authority.

Moreover, the formation would be more stable and efficient, unlike the one the Future Self had set up, which not only took time to resonate with the World Authority but was also extremely easy to destroy.

"That Future Self probably had no choice. Suppressed at the World Authority's source, interfering with the outside world must have cost him dearly. And even after paying that price, he needed the Past Self's help. Setting up such a crude formation was likely a last resort," Shi Yan speculated.

Unlike the Future Self, who was heavily restricted, Shi Yan—though far weaker in power—had plenty of time and energy to plan.

So Shi Yan was patient, prioritizing stability above all else.

However, this meant the modifications to the formation were far greater than Shi Yan had initially anticipated, and setting it up was also much more troublesome.

Days passed one after another. The Past Self gradually set up various formations across the world, while the main body steadily advanced in solving the Rhino Emperor Game.

The complete return of the Past Self brought him benefits on all fronts. Shi Yan felt that even without reclaiming the Future Self, his comprehension seemed to have already surpassed what it was before he entered this world.

If he could smoothly reclaim the Future Self, then with all three selves united beneath the sole supreme, his comprehension would likely take another leap, and he should also make considerable progress in the laws of time.

This filled Shi Yan with great anticipation.

In the fifteenth year of the Phoenix Calendar, twenty-five years after the Past Self's return, a major event occurred in Bauhinia Village.

Shi Yan and Xi Yun were getting married.

To the elders and younger generations of Bauhinia Village, the two had long been a couple, yet no one knew why it had taken so many years of a long-distance relationship for them to finally tie the knot.

In truth, their relationship had indeed been very close for a long time, but Shi Yan had always had a hurdle in his heart—he didn't know how to explain the matter of the Past Self to Xi Yun, nor how to tell her that this world was actually illusory.

It wasn't until a few days ago, after a moment of impulsiveness between them, that Shi Yan, with a nervous and complicated heart, told Xi Yun everything.

But Xi Yun's reaction was surprisingly calm.

"I already guessed it. Maybe this world is a dream to you, but to me, it's the place where I grew up. We grew up together, and with such obvious changes, how could I not notice?" Xi Yun stroked Shi Yan's face and said with a light laugh.

"But..." Shi Yan held her hand, his expression still tangled.

Xi Yun, however, bluntly cut him off and said, "There's nothing to be tangled about. The past you is still you, and the present you is also you. The one I've always liked is only you."

Xi Yun's expression was very open as she continued, "As for whether the world is false or not, a hundred years of life, spending one lifetime with you—how could that not be real to us? Besides..."

Xi Yun said, giving him a bright smile, "Didn't you say that in your world, cultivation brings boundless power? Xiao Yan, you'll definitely make us reunite in the real world, right?"

Hearing this, Shi Yan's gaze became resolute. He gently hugged Xi Yun and whispered in her ear, "Of course, I will."

With the knot in his heart untied, the two quickly began arranging the wedding.

Although the villagers thought the two were no longer young, both Shi Yan and Xi Yun had achieved success in the Rhino Emperor Game.

There was no need to mention Shi Yan; over twenty years had passed, and he had now solved up to the 5999th game, just one step away from the 6000th milestone.

As for Xi Yun, though she didn't possess the wisdom and comprehension of a True God like Shi Yan, with his subtle guidance and inspiration, she had already solved over 800 games. Placed in the Celestial Master Palace, she would be considered a decent disciple.

With the World Authority improving their physiques, even though both were now around fifty years old, Shi Yan still looked like a young man, while Xi Yun appeared slightly more mature but carried an extra charm.

Such was the effect of the World Authority's improvement. Generally, one wouldn't show rapid aging until after eighty-five, and might only pass away from old age after ninety. Of course, no one could live past a hundred—this was the lifespan limit set by heaven and earth for humanity.

On this day, Bauhinia Village was filled with the sound of gongs and drums, bustling with lively excitement.