“Why did you burn that book?” Xu Zimo asked.
“No one must see it, and especially not you,” the old man replied calmly.
“You know what’s in it?” Xu Zimo pressed.
“I don’t know. I only remember that I was its keeper. But much else… I cannot recall,” the old man shook his head.
“What exactly did the book say?”
“I don’t know.” The old man shook his head again.
Xu Zimo’s eyes narrowed. He grabbed the old man’s collar in one swift motion and said flatly, “Tell me. Now.”
“I don’t know,” the old man still shook his head.
Bang!
The old man’s body was hurled through the air and slammed heavily against the wall.
“Life is no sorrow, death no torment,” the old man chuckled softly, lifting his gaze toward Xu Zimo.
“You’re not afraid of death?” Xu Zimo walked toward him step by step.
“I am,” the old man admitted. “But if you demand to know what was in that book, I’d rather die.”
“Tell me your name,” Xu Zimo said.
“Three,” the old man answered calmly.
“That’s your name? Three?” Xu Zimo frowned.
“A name is just a label. As long as someone calls me, what difference does it make which name it is?” the old man replied.
“I’ve noticed something lately,” Xu Zimo said.
“What?” the old man asked.
“There are always some inexplicable people, saying inexplicable things in front of me.” Xu Zimo laughed lightly. “I feel I’m very close to the truth, yet it’s all mist and fog, I can’t grasp it.”
“Everyone is the same,” the old man said. “Don’t overthink it. Just keep moving forward.”
Xu Zimo gave him one last glance, then turned and walked out of Unfinished Palace, leaving only one sentence behind.
“I will find all the answers.”
The old man chuckled again, watching his back fade into the distance. Slowly, he climbed back up from the floor, sat before the brazier once more, and muttered to himself, “The six cycles of reincarnation, how could they be boundless? All things still cling to a single thread of heaven…”
Leaving Unfinished Palace, Xu Zimo’s face was grim.
Departing from the deserted central district, he returned to the bustling main avenue. The children from before were nowhere to be seen.
He closed his eyes slightly, lost in thought.
The endless flow of people streamed past, yet they seemed to belong to an entirely different world from him.
“Master, Hellblade and Ragefire on those plaques, both were among your Twelve Infernal Archons,” Paimon’s voice echoed from within the God World.
“Have you ever heard of Unfinished Palace?” Xu Zimo asked.
“Never. After the destruction of the Blessed Epoch, many of us fell into slumber. In the first few years, I still heard fragments of news, but after that I slept completely,” Paimon replied.
“This world is becoming more and more interesting,” Xu Zimo chuckled.
His gaze fixed ahead, and after a long silence, he seemed to make a firm decision.
“Shopkeeper, give me a fine guest room,” Xu Zimo said as he entered a decent-looking inn.
“Right away,” the worker wiping a rag hurriedly led him upstairs.
Inside the room, Xu Zimo glanced around, then sat cross-legged on the bed.
He needed to confirm something, though he didn’t know if it would succeed.
His soul sank into the God World.
Without disturbing anyone, Xu Zimo silently observed the world of the God World. The countless beings below likely had no idea that everything about them was already laid bare before his eyes.
The God World was like a vast prison. But in truth, what world was not?
As Xu Zimo looked upon the multitudes of the continent, he wondered, who could guarantee that there wasn’t someone watching over all the beings of the Nine Heavens… including himself?
His gaze calm, Xu Zimo raised his right hand.
In the endless void, clouds roiled and spiritual energy surged.
The Primordial Chaos Bead flew forth from the depths of the void.
Within the transparent orb seemed to dwell an entire miniature world. Towering forests, herds of beasts, soaring mountains, magnificent rivers, a complete world contained within a tiny bead.
It was as though everything had been condensed into this single sphere.
Held in his palm, the power of chaos spread forth, flooding into Xu Zimo’s limbs, bones, and organs.
“For one answer… even death would not matter,” he murmured.
Clutching the Primordial Chaos Bead, its power blazed across the heavens.
A rift tore open before him.
Without hesitation, Xu Zimo stepped through.
The scene shifted instantly.
He now stood in another world.
It was heavy and thick, impossible to discern.
Anyone probing with their sea of consciousness would find however much they sent, that much devoured.
This was the River of Fate.
Not the River of Fate of the Primordial Heartlands, but of the entire Nine Heavens.
Though Xu Zimo could reach this place with the Primordial Chaos Bead, peering into the River of Fate was another matter entirely.
Not only was the backlash of the river unimaginably severe, but above loomed Godly Extinction, a blade ready to fall at any moment.
Still, Xu Zimo came, for the sake of the doubts in his heart.
With the Primordial Chaos Bead in hand, its chaotic power formed a spherical barrier around him.
He stepped toward the River of Fate.
The river too was a tapestry of all things, Gods and Demons standing tall, Immortals and Buddhas enduring forever. Mountains and seas, nine phoenixes soaring, sunsets blazing, moons chasing stars.
Endless visions glimmered within the current.
The River of Fate had no end, nor did its phenomena. They stretched on as the river wound into eternity.
Boom!
Xu Zimo’s arrival seemed to stir heaven’s wrath. The Godly Extinction above grew violent.
Lightning crackled across the skies.
Bolts as thick as mountains came crashing down with annihilating force.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Xu Zimo tilted his body, narrowly evading the first strike.
But the execution grew only more violent.
One after another, countless bolts rained down, like a torrential storm, enveloping Xu Zimo completely.
The endless sky shook. The might of Godly Extinction destroyed all, erased all, consumed all.
Xu Zimo’s figure was swallowed entirely.
Yet the extinction did not relent. Bolts kept falling from above, covering everything but the River of Fate itself.
Nothing survived.
As if to declare, any who dare approach the River of Fate, shall find no path to live.