A Move Decides the World (III) (Revised)

A Move Decides the World (III) (Revised)

"You're absolutely right." Ye Qingcang praised Qian Renxue's outrageously rebellious remarks. Neither his words nor demeanor showed any respect or reverence for the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. "But stepping onto the board yourself isn't the best choice. Those in power can only be players; they cannot enter the game. If you enter the game, it means you've already fallen short."

"Then what should I do?"

"Could it be that you have other geniuses under your command?"

"Or are you willing to lend me that little maid of yours?"

Qian Renxue picked up a chess piece and pressed it onto the board irritably. "Before you appeared, I had originally devised a twenty-year plan to gradually devour Heaven Dou. After you appeared, I revised that plan and turned it into a ten-year plan to swallow Heaven Dou. And today, you're telling me to speed things up again, even saying that you'll make a major move before the Soul Master Competition. Come on, tell me—how long has it been since I changed my previous ten-year plan?"

"Only a little over two years..." Ye Qingcang scratched his cheek, then waved his hand in explanation. "But that isn't important. What matters is what kind of support you need from me. Those twenty-odd geniuses with domains?"

"I'd like that!" Qian Renxue pursed her lips. An unconcealed hint of coquettishness, like a girl acting spoiled toward her boyfriend, appeared between her brows. Though it was somewhat bizarre on the male face she was disguised as, neither Snake Lance Douluo nor Spiny Porpoise Douluo, standing nearby, dared to point it out. They could only sound the alarm in their hearts, resolving to report the young mistress's changes to the Great Grand Elder when they had the chance. "But do you have them?"

"Not yet."

"But I can."

Ye Qingcang touched the white jade thumb ring on his hand and took out a silver briefcase, handing it to the baffled Qian Renxue. He deliberately kept her in suspense. "Do you know the two secret techniques that made my name?"

"Of course."

"The Magnetic Field Secret Technique, born from the Stellar Martial Path."

"The Alchemy Secret Technique, born from Soul Guidance Technology."

Qian Renxue took the briefcase and set it on her knees. After hesitating, she did not open it immediately. Instead, she teased him in a joking tone. "Is there some secret weapon inside?"

"If you consider them weapons, then they can be weapons."

"If you don't consider them weapons, then they need not be weapons either."

Ye Qingcang picked up a chess piece and placed it on the board.

His gentle tone carried a quality that made one's soul tremble.

"The Alchemy Secret Technique is the ultimate expression of Soul Guidance Technology."

"It can turn worthless dirt into precious gold, and it can also turn precious gold into worthless dirt."

"But almost no one knows that the Alchemy Secret Technique has four stages as well."

"Black Earth."

"White Chalk."

"Reddish Brown."

"Gold."

"Black Earth involves the transformation of properties, such as turning dirt into gold. White Chalk involves the transformation of forms, such as turning dirt into a butterfly. Reddish Brown involves the transformation of life, such as turning dirt into an artificial human. Finally, Gold involves the transformation of souls, such as turning dirt into a real person. A person created by a Gold Alchemist can even learn alchemy and is identical to a real human in every respect."

"Do you think there might be some connection between the twenty-odd geniuses with domains who are utterly devoted to me and my Alchemy Secret Technique?"

The carriage instantly fell silent.

Even Snake Lance and Pufferfish, the two Titled Douluo, held their breaths, not daring to voice the possibility that had instinctively occurred to them.

Qian Renxue also understood what Ye Qingcang meant.

Her pupils contracted as she opened the briefcase.

A collection of exquisitely crafted spinning tops in all kinds of shapes came into view!

"Nothing happens overnight, and no one can ascend to the heavens in a single step."

"When I pioneered the Alchemy Secret Technique, I too rose step by step from a Black Earth Alchemist. Perhaps the upper limit of the Alchemy Secret Technique is not Gold. It may simply be that I have currently reached the Gold realm, making the limit of its creator the limit of the Alchemy Secret Technique itself."

"Before reaching the Gold realm, however, a great many alchemical experiments were indispensable."

"These are creations from my Reddish Brown period."

"They each possess their own consciousness."

"Place them in flesh and blood, and they will control that flesh and blood to generate a new body for themselves."

"Likewise, they can hide themselves in any part of that body. As long as they remain unbroken, even if the body is beheaded, its heart shattered, or its limbs severed, they can still control the parts that have not yet separated and continue fighting."

"It is precisely because of this advantage that they do not resemble living people."

Ye Qingcang's utterly calm description immediately raised uncontrollable goosebumps on Snake Lance Douluo and Spiny Porpoise Douluo's arms. Even Qian Renxue, who had always possessed exceptional composure, felt a chill run down her back. Recalling many things she had failed to understand before, she suddenly understood.

Looking at the twenty-odd delicate spinning tops of different shapes in the briefcase, she smiled bitterly. "That Violet who is always inseparable from you, constantly calls you Master, and whom I heard has also become an alchemist—she is the perfect proof that you entered the Gold realm, isn't she?"

"Yes." Ye Qingcang admitted it openly, then added, "Before entering the Gold realm, I did not respect life. There were only four words of truth in this world—survival of the fittest. Either weak sheep were devoured by wolves, or incapable wolves starved to death alive. Yet after I entered the Gold realm and personally turned an illusion into reality, I suddenly understood the meaning and weight of life. So I did not alter her memories, nor did I give her any mission. I hoped she would be a person with a complete self. Since then, I have never created another real person. Therefore, Violet, who believes that being created by me, serving me, and following me is a way of repaying me, is not for sale in my eyes. Nor do I have the right to decide where she belongs. But creations at the Reddish Brown level like these can be made whenever I wish, including enchanting them with domains, soul skills, and even martial souls."

Qian Renxue stared at the spinning tops in the briefcase, speechless for a time.

Only after a long while did she pick up a chess piece.

She pressed it onto the board with blatant perfunctoriness.

At a moment when neither Snake Lance Douluo nor Spiny Porpoise Douluo dared make a sound, she broke the silence, which had lasted so long it could have stopped one's heart. "Looking at it now, the title Child of God those people gave you was far too conservative. Even a Level One God might not be able to create a soul, yet you have already created life. I have no doubt that even without gaining a god's favor, you could create your own godhood like the Angel God and the Sea God, then ascend to godhood!"

"You flatter me."

"There are always greater people beyond people, and greater skies beyond the sky."

"Maintaining the most basic respect and awe toward all things is the only way for us to effectively extend the end of this path of evolution."

Seeing that Qian Renxue was placing pieces casually now, Ye Qingcang began placing them at random as well. He picked up a chess piece, pressed it down wherever there was an empty space, then clapped his hands and summoned the spirits residing within the twenty-odd spinning tops, introducing them one by one.

"Hermit - Giant Rock Star Shield, defense type."

"Magician - Flying Magic Staff, balance type."

"Judgement - Thunder Heavenly Book, balance type."

"Justice - Bursting Giant Fist, balance type."

"Death God - Shadow Twin Scythes, balance type."

"Star - Whirlwind Ice Blade, endurance type."

"Chariot - Exploding Thunder Heavy Cannon, attack type."

"Tower - Sky Piercing Giant Hammer, balance type."

"Count - Fire Thunder Dragon Thorns, attack type."

"Devil - Hellfire Demon Wings, attack type."

"Sun - Hunyuan Light Shield, defense type."

"Moon - Dragon Spring Overlord Blade, endurance type."

"Fate - Vortex Battle Wheel, endurance type."

"High Priestess, also called the Priestess - Jade Shadow Divine Bow, endurance type."

"Fool - Raging Wave Magic Jade, endurance type."

"Emperor - Holy Light Battle Armor, defense type."

"Empress - Flame Ten Thousand Snakes, attack type."

"Strength - Fire Scale Divine Axe, attack type."

"Temperance - Cracking Shock Steel Drill, defense type."

"Hierophant - Sky Dome Wrath Hammer, balance type."

"Lovers - Earth Explosion Mysterious Armor, defense type."

"World - Shadow Void Wings, all-round type."

"These twenty-two spinning tops all possess domains with different effects. Their Soul Power Levels cannot exceed mine, their creator's. I am currently level forty, so at most they are level forty as well. Do not worry about where their Soul Power comes from. When they construct bodies from flesh and blood, they automatically fill their Soul Power to the maximum. The drawback is that it consumes too much flesh and blood. But if you are not in a hurry and give them a week, they can restore their Soul Power on their own, without requiring flesh and blood. Using flesh and blood to build Soul Power has the advantage of speed. If you dare supply them with unlimited flesh and blood, they can serve as semi-perpetual-motion machines and fight for you at all times."

Ye Qingcang seemed to be giving Qian Renxue an honest reminder.

In truth, he had concealed the most important secret.

However, Qian Renxue knew that since Ye Qingcang could tell her these secrets, they must no longer have been important.

Because she was his friend.

Perhaps only by taking things one step further—

By adding the words "man and woman" before "friends"—

Could she learn those deeper secrets.

Unfortunately, Qian Renxue was wrong about that. The truth was that even if she were Ye Qingcang's girlfriend, or even his wife, Ye Qingcang could never tell her his deepest secret.

Because it was a secret that no one could know.

Not even the dead could know it.

It was the secret tied to his identity as a transmigrator, as well as the cheat ability he had relied on to reach this point—Illusion Realization!

A law that transcended the Alchemy Secret Technique!

It could be said that the Alchemy Secret Technique was an inferior version of Illusion Realization!

Unlike the heavily restricted Alchemy Secret Technique, the requirements for Illusion Realization were exceptionally simple: set a goal → refine the details → pay energy/make modifications = Illusion Realization!

How far could this Illusion Realization go?

An example would explain it: the alchemy he currently used came from a game called Genshin Impact. The reason he could master this alchemy and turn an alchemy that existed only within a game and in theory into reality was the cheat ability called Illusion Realization. Though he did not know what this cheat ability was actually called, Illusion Realization was merely the name he had given it, merely his definition of Illusion Realization!

Those were the secrets he truly could not reveal!