Resetting the Wheel of Fate

"Cough... cough..."

When Tang Longfei scrambled to his feet, what he saw astonished him. The original hall was completely shattered, and the golden dragon was covered in wounds and on the verge of death. Tang Longfei also felt the power in his hands becoming chaotic, uncontrollable, and much weaker. It seemed that the power of fate was no longer in his Tang Longfei, which sent a chill down his spine.

What exactly happened?

"That's why I've said it before: the power of fate cannot be manipulated at will."

Li Lin strolled up to him, looking down at the enemy before him.

"Unfortunately, you don't understand this principle."

"Pah!!"

Tang Longfei stood up, took a few steps back, and a silvery-white light once again emanated from his body.

"What kind of logic is that! You talk as if you're the only one who's right. And what's the result? You still killed so many people, didn't you? You still destroyed so many countries, didn't you? You're a complete hypocrite, a real scoundrel! Still pretending to be high and mighty, you're nothing but a charlatan!"

"The order of the Prime Material Plane must return to its origin."

Li Lin looked at him with disdain, as if he were a bug.

"The fastest way to restore a virus-infected computer to normal is to reinstall the system. So, Mr. Virus, are you ready to take responsibility for your actions?"

"Responsible? What responsibility do I have? I did nothing wrong! I fought for justice! For freedom! For human rights and democracy! What did I do wrong! The one who's wrong is you! You evil mages, you stood in my way, you stopped my plans, that's your fault! I did nothing wrong! What do you mages know? Now, you want to stop me? I will absolutely not give up! Hmph, I still remember when I first came to this world, you mages looked down on me! Just because I couldn't use magic, you treated me like I was invisible! Why? Why should I be discriminated against here too! I have talent!! I am qualified!! I have dignity!!"

Tang Longfei clenched his fists and shouted loudly. At this moment, he seemed to have lost all composure and was instead a combination of impulsiveness and madness.

"Trash is trash."

Li Lin's expression was cold, and his tone was low.

"Even possessing Supreme God cannot change this, and now... how do you feel? Where is the divine power you were so proud of?"

"I..."

Before Tang Longfei could finish speaking, a gust of icy wind flew from Li Lin's hand, striking him heavily and knocking him to the ground. This time, Tang Longfei was no longer able to resist Li Lin's attack and collapsed to the ground. Li Lin withdrew his hand, not even glancing at the man before him, and slowly walked towards the Wheel of Fate not far away.

"Stop! Stop!! You can't do this! I'm guiding you towards the right destiny, you can't destroy it! This is a foolish act of brutality!"

Noticing Li Lin's target, Tang Longfei barely managed to raise his head and shout loudly. His body had been severely damaged by the backlash of the collapsing power of fate. If he were an ordinary person, he would probably be nothing but ashes by now. Even Tang Longfei's body, which was filled with Supreme God, was unable to control itself under the powerful backlash of the power of fate—after all, gods, demons, and humans all have their own destiny and end.

"Damn it, what's going on!"

Although Tang Longfei attempted to abandon the manipulation of the power of fate and instead rely on his own divine power in battle, he was astonished to find that even his divine power was unusable. The chaotic divine forces were completely disobedient to him and would not act according to his will. Order, chaos, neutrality, holiness, darkness—all sorts of divine forces were now like wild beasts breaking free of their cages, flowing wildly within his body. Tang Longfei felt as if his body had become a playground for these wild beasts, completely beyond his control. He struggled to stand up, but now even the strength of his body no longer obeyed his commands. The golden dragon he had summoned earlier remained unconscious on the spot, clearly unable to help Tang Longfei in any way.

"That's why I said you have no brain, Mr. Virus. I think when you challenged the Three Supreme Gods, you certainly didn't consider why order, neutrality, and chaos should be separate rather than mixed. And now I think you understand. There's a reason why everything in the world has its rules. Ignoring these rules and trying to act according to your own thoughts is just foolish, ignorant, and barbaric. That's why Arcane Mage govern the Prime Material Plane. Having suffered a backlash from the power of fate, the divine power that shouldn't have been mixed within you seems to be finally starting to have a counterforce. I think that's quite normal."

Li Lin had already stood before the Wheel of Fate, gazing at the mysterious object within reach. Li Lin felt neither respect nor fear towards it; it was merely a manifestation of order and rules, transcending all things yet not fundamentally altering them. Originally, it and he should have been like two parallel lines that never intersected. The gods had their lives, humans had theirs, and other creatures were the same. Fate should have been a product that eternally lingered outside this sphere of existence, never interfering, rather than directly intruding upon it as it was now.

"You're meddling a bit too much."

Li Lin spoke to the Wheel of Fate, then reached out and grabbed the slowly moving pointer, forcibly stopping its progress. The entire Wheel of Fate emitted a loud, rough noise as it came to a halt.

"Let go!! You bastard!! Let go of it! Damn it, you can't do this!!"

Tang Longfei struggled to get up, and he was about to succeed, but at that moment, a petite, bright red figure pressed heavily on him, pinning him back under her feet.

"Is it your mouth, which stinks even more than a dog's ass, that dares to be disrespectful to your master, you lowly human?"

Angela stood on Tang Longfei's head, arrogantly staring at him. She rubbed the sole of her shoe against his hair, cleaning her boots, while a mocking and arrogant smile graced her eyes as she looked at her defeated foe. Although the man who had last fought her inexplicably vanished from Angela powerful onslaught, it wasn't a concern for Angela. After all, anyone she could trample underfoot was simply a bunch of defeated trash in her hands.

"You, how could you...?"

"You lowly commoner are just that—lowly commoner. Do you really think your meager strength can restrain me? Foolish, short-lived creature! Look at yourself now! You should have realized that since your master could easily beat you into a tattered rag, then I, as your familiar, would certainly not lose to a piece of trash like you. But speaking of which, that trick was quite amusing, not bad for passing the time. How about you do it again for me, you piece of trash?"

Just as Angela was triumphantly mocking her defeated opponent, Li Lin had already grasped the Pointer of Fate. A tremendous power erupted from it, scattering in all directions. As this power dissipated, the original palace and lake began to crumble, like a sand painting being brutally erased. The Pointer of Fate trembled in Li Lin's hand, purely resisting its own destruction out of instinct. However, Li Lin had clearly anticipated this situation; the magical light in his hand grew even stronger, barely stopping the pointer of fate's struggle.

Tang Longfei stared wide-eyed at everything before him, a slight smile playing on his lips. Things weren't so simple. He knew he had already placed a trap and divine magic on that pointer. If Li Lin continued, he too would be caught in the trap and wouldn't escape unscathed. Hmph. So what if they were mages? A bunch of rigid, old-fashioned fools. But he was different; he was a highly educated man! How could he possibly lose to these pretentious mages?

As Tang Longfei had predicted, the pointer of fate in Li Lin's hand suddenly began to swing wildly. Then, several beams of light shot out from it, tightly binding Li Lin's hand. The powers of darkness and light flashed simultaneously, transforming into a chaotic primordial form, which suddenly erupted just as Li Lin was slightly taken aback. The two extreme forces thus came into contact, and then they began to spread rapidly in all directions, displaying a powerful force capable of destroying heaven and earth. As for Li Lin, who was standing in front of the Wheel of Fate, he was the first to bear the brunt.

It worked!!

Gazing at the dazzling flash, Tang Longfei was overjoyed. His eyes were fixed on Li Lin's retreating figure, awaiting the scene of him being utterly annihilated by that absolute destructive power. But Tang Longfei did not live to see that moment, because at the same instant, the Wheel of Fate suddenly emitted a faint glow, a pure blue light, gentle and powerless, like silk fluttering in the wind. However, under this light, the power that was about to erupt suddenly vanished, as if it had never existed. Even the beam of light that had bound Li Lin's arm disappeared without a trace.

What happened? Why did this happen?

Faced with this scene, Tang Longfei's eyes widened in astonishment. Failure was impossible! This was something he had created; he knew perfectly well the source of its power. This was impossible! Why, why had things turned out this way? The Wheel of Fate had actually suppressed and disintegrated his trap? Was it helping that evil mage? Damn it! This shouldn't have happened at all!

You are free.

In contrast to Tang Longfei's surprise, Li Lin seemed to know exactly what had happened. He withdrew his empty hand and looked back at the Wheel of Fate.

"In the name of order, you will break free from your shackles once more. I hope you can once again depict the lives and destinies of all beings in the multiverse, just as you have before."

As Li Lin spoke, the Wheel of Fate slowly floated and rose, then transformed into rings of spiritual light that spread outwards before disappearing without a trace.

At the same time, the entire space collapsed completely as the Wheel of Fate departed. With a roar, the solid earth shattered and cracked, the lake water began to flow in all directions, and even the sky became fragmented. The whole world seemed to have reached its peak and was rapidly decaying, heading towards destruction and death at the fastest speed after losing its core soul.

The endless starry sky replaced the flowing water, sunlight, and earth, returning to Li Lin and Angela's side. Freed from the constraints of gravity, Tang Longfei was finally able to escape from the little guy's feet. He quickly transformed into a flash of light and disappeared far away from the two of them.

"What have you done, you wretched mage..."

"I simply put fate back on its original course."

Li Lin rubbed his fingers together.

"And what we need to do next is eliminate you, Mr. Virus."

"Destroy me?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Longfei laughed in extreme anger.

"You? I am the Supreme God! No one can destroy me! Besides, you are not gods; you cannot possibly possess the power of gods..."

"Fighting and killing don't necessarily solve problems."

Li Lin shrugged, interrupting Tang Longfei.

"If we have no power over the gods, then what's the point of us Arcane Mage in the Prime Material Plane? I know what you're thinking. This is the Astral Plane, and I'm not a god, nor do I possess your strange talents. So, even if I shatter you into pieces, I can't eliminate your existence. Unless another divine being is here... This is really troublesome, after all, this isn't my meeting room, and I can't find anyone to help me."

"In that case, why don't we each take a step back, Master? I have a better suggestion, a win-win solution. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, a confident smile appeared on Tang Longfei's face.

"I will no longer cause you trouble. Moreover, I will allow you to regain control of the entire Prime Material Plane, and I will no longer spread those rumors about the Magic Empire. How about that? I will hand over all my people to you, making them your subjects... And we can work together to usher in a new era of change throughout the multiverse."

Upon hearing Tang Longfei's words, Angela narrowed her eyes and snorted coldly, while Li Lin smiled and shook his head. His tone was firm, leaving no room for compromise.

"They are not my subjects."

"You..."

"In my memory, my subjects are those who once lived in the Magic Empire. I still remember their faces, their pride in becoming mages, their frustration at lacking talent. Some chose to give up, some chose new paths in life. I remember those who strived to live for their hopes, those children who were thrilled and happy to cast a level-zero spell, and those without talent who looked on with envy, but ultimately found their own paths and worked hard for their own lives. And all of this was destroyed by you. For your so-called freedom, democracy, justice, and human rights, they all died. Those children were burned at the stake as heretics, those mages were killed. I can still remember their cries and screams, their pain and anger. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, those who offend me will be punished tenfold—this is my rule, the rule of the Magic Empire."

"But they've been dead for over a thousand years!"

The God of Justice frowned.

"You cannot avenge a war from a thousand years ago! This is a brutal and inhumane act! You are merely venting your anger; those people were innocent!"

"For me, only eighteen years have passed."

Li Lin shrugged, his expression indifferent and calm, revealing no emotional fluctuations.

"Moreover, even after a thousand years, they are still the descendants of the murderers who killed my people... This is beyond discussion. As for you... Mr. Tang Longfei, as the culprit, I think we still have many issues to discuss. At that time, I would be happy to see your expression. As for now, you can leave. If you want to leave, I will not stop you."

"You bastard..."

Tang Longfei's face stiffened. He stared at Li Lin, unsure of what to say. Finally, he let out a cold snort.

"We're not over yet, don't think you've won just because of this!!"

With those words, Tang Longfei's body transformed into a flash of light and vanished into the vast, boundless starry sky.

"Master, is it alright to let him escape like this?"

Looking in the direction Tang Longfei had gone, Angela asked.

He can't escape.

Li Lin's voice was full of confidence.

"He is a god, and must abide by the rules... especially now, he has no chance to exploit any loopholes. Once we return, no matter how unwilling we are, he will automatically appear before us; we just need to wait for that opportunity. After all, he can no longer pose any threat to us. He's just a cowardly coward."

"That guy is not only cowardly, but also incompetent."

Angela spoke, she looked at the golden dragon, who was still floating unconscious in the starry sky.

"What should we do with this dragon, Master?"

"Whatever you like."

Li Lin glanced at the golden dragon and spoke.

"But leave your head behind; I'll return it to Bahamut later."