Four Thousand Years of Waiting

The wedding ceremony was rather complicated, but Dongguan patiently went through it.

With his physical constitution, there was no chance of it wearing him out.

An unexpected incident occurred when they reached the second bow, to their elders.

Dongguan had no elders, while Zhang Yu's elder was naturally Li Shilan.

After the two bowed to Li Shilan and the empty chair beside her, Li Shilan cried out "Wonderful!" three times, then passed away with a smile.

"Mom!" Zhang Yu abandoned the wedding ceremony and rushed to her.

But Li Shilan had already stopped breathing.

A celebration had turned into a funeral, and there was nothing they could do.

Dongguan stared at the scene, stunned. That strange vision appeared before his eyes again.

Countless threads wound around everyone in the hall, while the black, white, and other colored threads around Li Shilan gradually dispersed.

Her connections to Dongguan, Zhang Yu, and Zhang Gui vanished one by one.

Is this death? A faint understanding arose within him. The planets in his mind and dantian underwent fission, giving rise to a third planet.

The third and second planets revolved around the first.

Planetary Grade, third stage.

At that moment, however, Dongguan felt no joy, only helplessness.

Death from reaching the natural end of one's lifespan could not be undone even by a Universe Master using Reverse Time and Space.

Dongguan had witnessed plenty of unnatural deaths, some caused by his own hands, but this was his first time seeing someone die naturally of old age.

At the same time, it served as a warning: he had to raise Zhang Yu's cultivation level.

He was not worried about Zhang Gui for now. His talent was good enough for him to keep cultivating, whereas Zhang Yu had never been particularly willing to cultivate.

Among the guests were Ister, Yan Hai, Lan Ran, Jia Yi, and several other Planetary Grade experts.

When Li Shilan died, they remained silent. They had seen such things many times.

But Dongguan's breakthrough on the spot astonished them.

"Does he have no bottlenecks at all?"

On Earth, aside from Hong and Thunder God, the highest cultivation level among humans was the Third-Order Planetary Level, held by Ister and Mohanderson.

Dongguan's breakthrough to the Third-Order Planetary Level meant that his cultivation level was no lower than anyone's except Hong's and Thunder God's.

Although Li Shilan's passing could be considered a peaceful death after a long life, Zhang Yu no longer had any desire to continue the wedding.

They brought the ceremony to a hasty close, and she did not return to the banquet.

The guests all understood.

Dongguan entertained the Councilor Level experts and the more distinguished guests.

Zhang Gui attended to the others, such as the heads of several HR Alliance families, his Training Camp companions, and so on.

Zhang Gui was already a Low-Level War God. Even without counting his concealed identity as a Psychic, his strength was sufficient.

There were exceptions, however. Luo Feng, Yang Bei, Lu Gang, Guo Ruinian, Zhong Yang, and others who knew Dongguan well were received by him personally.

"Luo Feng?" When Dongguan saw Luo Feng, he wondered whether his eyes were playing tricks on him.

If he remembered correctly, Luo Feng should have been diligently practicing a Psychic secret art in Ruins No. 9 at this time.

"Didn't you go to Ruins No. 9?" Dongguan asked.

"Go to Ruins No. 9? Why would I?" Luo Feng was the puzzled one now.

This time, Dongguan had obtained Luo Feng's Black God Set from Hong in exchange for information about the cloud-touching vine. Unlike in the original story, the Limitless Martial Arts Hall had not required Luo Feng to enter Ruins No. 9.

Although he had still learned about Ruins No. 9, people could die there, so he naturally did not want to go.

After all, no Psychic with a brain domain width above 18 had entered Ruins No. 9 before. Without triggering the death trial, the only reward was a Black God Set.

Since he already had a Black God Set, a second one was naturally not worth risking his life for.

Lately, he had been cultivating diligently while consuming spirits of plants and trees.

With only the Heavenly God Atlas to practice, his Spiritual Force had not improved much, since it was already at the peak below the Planetary Grade. His physical constitution, on the other hand, had reached the High-level War God level.

"Then I must have remembered wrong." Dongguan casually brushed the subject aside.

Inwardly, however, he sighed. The plot had changed again.

"By the way, Dongguan, do you know how to break through to the Planetary Grade? I feel like I've built up enough, but I'm still just a little short," Luo Feng asked.

Dongguan had once asked Hong that same question, and today Luo Feng was asking Dongguan.

That, too, was a kind of cycle.

Dongguan naturally passed along what Hong had told him back then.

An opportunity, a treasure, or a secret art-those were the three methods.

Luo Feng smiled wryly. Was that what he had been asking for?

Dongguan had previously requested information about the Ancient Civilization Ruins from Hong and shared it with Luo Feng, so Luo Feng naturally knew about those three methods.

Dongguan thought for a moment, then added, "Back then, Hong told me I could look at scenery related to my attribute or visit corresponding places. But before breaking through to the Planetary Grade, it's hard to determine your Origin Force attribute. I suggest traveling around. You might see something that gives you insight and break through. Seek understanding in nature, and in the mortal world as well."

This was indeed his own experience. He had gained insight in a desert oasis and broken through to the Planetary Grade. Just now, Li Shilan's passing had given him another insight, allowing him to reach the Third-Order Planetary Level ahead of time.

However, that was not his only reason for giving Luo Feng this advice.

Earth was mysterious. There were only so many opportunities on the surface, but there might still be undiscovered ones, such as the buildings inside the Despair Oasis, the Yunmo Star Ship beneath Fog Island, and the Nine Tribulations Secret Manual that would only be discovered in the future.

Luo Feng was the protagonist. If he wandered around, he might just stumble upon an opportunity.

"Seek understanding in nature, and in the mortal world as well..." Luo Feng seemed to grasp something.

The banquet drew to a close, and the guests prepared to leave.

Dongguan stepped onto the raised platform in the center of the hall and addressed everyone in a loud voice. "To thank you all for coming, and to help us better fight the monsters, I've decided to make a secret art public."

"A secret art?" The guests grew curious.

"Do you remember how I took control of the Long-Armed Ape King six months ago?"

Everyone's gaze sharpened, especially those of Ister and the other Psychics.

"That's right. It's the Beast Taming Secret Art, a secret art that only Psychics can use."

Most of the guests were somewhat disappointed, since they were not Psychics, but Ister, Luo Feng, and the other Psychics continued listening intently.

"This secret art has two levels. The first allows you to control monsters, but only those at a lower stage than yourself. The difference might be one stage, or it might be more. It varies depending on the person and their proficiency with the secret art, but it will never exceed three stages."

Ister and the others were not disappointed by this. It was perfectly normal for the first level of a two-level secret art to work that way.

The limit of three stages was also easy to understand. If an illusionist stood three stages above an enemy, even the simplest method would be enough to kill that enemy directly through a mental attack.

"The second level allows you to control monsters at the same stage. I haven't tested whether it can control those at a higher stage. However, the secret art has three shortcomings. First, a tamed monster cannot stray too far from its master. Otherwise, its mark might fade unnoticed, making it easy to lose control. Second, you cannot order it to kill itself, or its survival instinct may allow it to break free. Finally, there is a limit to how many monsters you can control, determined by your own strength. Once you reach that limit, you must release a previously controlled monster before taking control of a new one."

The Psychics listened carefully.

They were somewhat disappointed to hear about the shortcomings, but that was only natural, and all of them could be overcome.

If the monsters could not stray too far, they could keep them nearby. If they could not order them to kill themselves, they could send them against enemies and let the enemies kill them. If there was a limit to their numbers, they could expend the monsters and control replacements.

"However, the secret art has another benefit." Dongguan smiled. "As your mastery improves through practice, it can raise your mental power amplitude. And it's better than the Heavenly God Atlas."

"What?" In his excitement, Ister crushed the wineglass in his hand, spilling red wine over his palm.

The ability to raise mental power amplitude was extremely important. He had his own Psychic cultivation method, which was how he had become a Third-Order Planetary Level Psychic. But that method was not necessarily better than Hong's Heavenly God Atlas. Through his own practice and modifications, he had merely made it better suited to himself.

"The most important part of the secret art is tracing its secret patterns. Those patterns are constructed in three dimensions, so I can't put them into a written manual. Instead, I've placed them in the War God Palace in the virtual reality world and made the information public. Once you enter, you can access it."

With that, Dongguan stepped down from the platform.

With a complicated expression, Ister said, "I can't match your generosity."

If he had obtained a secret art like this, he would certainly have kept it as his exclusive trump card. Even if he taught it to his subordinates, he would probably only teach them the first level and hold something back. Even if he truly agreed to teach the entire art, he would demand something in exchange. Why would he ever make it public so freely?

Moreover, he had come to Dongguan's wedding intending to ask about the Beast Taming Secret Art and negotiate a trade. He had never expected Dongguan to simply release it to everyone.

"It's all for fighting the monsters. With a different secret art or different circumstances, I might not be willing to make it public," Dongguan said, declining the excessive admiration.

"Every Psychic on Earth will benefit from you. Thank you." Ister offered his thanks and left.

He could hardly wait to return and enter the War God Palace to examine the secret art.

Watching Ister's departing figure, Dongguan remembered that he had been one of the five who willingly sacrificed themselves in the original story, and sighed inwardly.

He hoped they would not have to go that far when they faced the Golden-Horned Behemoth this time.

He had already decided that if he still had no plan in another six months, he would seek out Hong and Thunder God and tell them about the Golden-Horned Behemoth. Even if the source of his information was unclear, even if they became suspicious of him, he would accept it.

This time, no matter what, he could not let the Golden-Horned Behemoth grow unimpeded to the Star Level.

If they found it early and stole its eggshell, they could delay it for another nine years. By then, the Genius Battle would have begun.

"Dongguan, thank you." Luo Feng also came over to express his gratitude.

"That secret art isn't particularly easy. I've made it public, but mastering it won't be simple," Dongguan reminded him.

He had mastered the secret art by creating it through directly tracing the Rat-Eye Secret Pattern in the rat's eyes. Although the patterns he had simulated in virtual reality were extremely close, they were still somewhat distorted compared with the originals. They could achieve similar effects, but were slightly inferior.

This meant that mastering it would be harder for others than it had been for him.

"I'll work hard to master it." With that, Luo Feng also left the banquet.

As the guests departed one after another, Dongguan felt a little lonely.

With Li Shilan's passing, consummating the marriage would be inappropriate, and for the moment, Dongguan felt he had nothing to do.

Should I go cultivate? The thought flashed through his mind and vanished.

Why not go take a look at that ruin in the Death Desert?

He acted on the thought immediately. Without even boarding a fighter jet, he turned into a streak of light and flew alone toward the Death Desert.

Deep beneath the Death Desert, light and shadow gathered aboard a silver-white spaceship, taking humanoid form.

"Four thousand years of waiting are finally about to end."

Waves of mental power were transmitted at a special frequency.

The new master would soon arrive aboard his faithful Qiongluo Ship.