Rumors abounded: in Inner Mongolia, high school entrance exams supposedly required horse riding and archery; in Sichuan, eating spicy food was said to not only spare one's bottom but also beautify the skin; in Tibet and Qinghai, it could apparently cause altitude sickness in humans.
Ren Suo hadn't actually investigated these other rumors, but he suspected he might have arrived at a place similar to Tibet or Qinghai. He felt he was experiencing altitude sickness.
When Ren Suo stepped off the Skyrim Battleship and entered the spaceport of Luoyin City, a faintly intoxicating sweet air hit his nostrils, along with an overwhelming spiritual energy that made his skin crawl.
It was like having his throat cramd with lethal doses of salt, chili powder, and shrimp paste. Ren Suo's Qi Cyclone started to convulse wildly from the high concentration of spiritual energy in Luoyin City, with strands of spiritual energy seeping into his Qi Cyclone through every crevice in his body. It was a form of cultivation more akin to being pushed by the environnt.
However, Ren Suo was now a cultivator at 100% of the third turn, having reached Third Turn Great Perfection and the status of a Half-Step Peak Fourth-Rank Cultivator. Before breaking through to the fourth transformation, he truly couldn't digest all this spiritual energy. Although his Qi Cyclone wouldn't be damaged from being overfilled, Ren Suo indeed had a certain urge to shoot sothing.
But he couldn't take action right now. His face turned red as he forcibly stifled the burgeoning murderous intent in his heart. Feeling uncomfortable all over, he could only hurry his family to the Royal Court, barely appreciating the peculiar scenery of Luoyin City on the way, such as the sky where sun and moon shone together, the circular city divided by ten rings, and the cartridge duels visible everywhere.
Sega Great Law bid farewell to Ren Suo and took Los, Lorifes, and the others to his own mansion. Ren Suo watched them leave. What was going to happen next in Sega Great Law's mansion was a traditional spectacle of the Posecia Divine System—betrayal and usurpation. Those who start with betrayal are destined to end with rebellion. Having his own Blood Offspring act as the victim of a conspiracy would probably elicit a knowing smile from the Posecia Great Lord. Perhaps, in the day ahead, the only Great Lords who could still laugh would be the conspiratorial and rebellious Posecia, and the mad Great Lord Xergla, right?
When Ren Suo entered the Royal Court, a chill suddenly erupted from deep within his Qi Cyclone, spreading throughout his body. Even his toenails seed to brim with a frost so intense they felt like they were about to freeze transparent.
His Identity Bracelet imdiately sounded a golden alarm signal. Then, all the Didra nearby knelt, watching as Ren Suo's bracelet projected an image of an emperor seated on a throne.
"Place the Different Dinsion Coordinate. Prepare it for imdiate use."
The figure on the throne spoke indifferently, then the projection vanished. Lanaya's purple eyes flickered slightly as she said, "Sony the Great, His Majesty has commanded. Are you going to take the Different Dinsion Coordinate back to your chambers?"
Ren Suo snapped back to reality, waved his hand dazedly, and said, "Let's... go back to the chambers first..."
Just monts ago, when Ren Suo noticed sothing was wrong, he had imdiately used Data Stream on himself and discovered that he had been affected the instant he walked in!
The Data Stream showed:
Target Type: Primate Hominidae Adult Male
Physical Status: Empathy, Ambition Origin
Cultivation State: Third turn, 100% (You have already defeated 99.99% of Upright Apes!)
Empathy: You temporarily transform into another type of humanoid creature, with changes in strength, agility, and even intelligence, but your Qi Cyclone status remains unchanged.
Ambition Origin: You are the source of desires for a certain ambitious individual, and you have a great influence over them. You have been locked by their power, and you are always under their watchful eye—you cannot escape from their grasp until death. Every minute, the ambitious individual will automatically check the status of the Ambition Origin. If they discover it's missing or dead, it will cause a dramatic psychological reaction.
Ambition Origin!
Ren Suo had seen in the ga that Xides said his son was his everything. He had thought it was just the wild talk of an ambitious man, but it turned out to be true! Moreover, Sony himself was completely unaware of Xides's fatherly love, a love as vast as mountains and seas. This love had intensified to the point of becoming spiritual energy that locked onto Sony's very existence. It was only because Ren Suo was a fake Didra who hadn't been castrated—and thus possessed an extra, supposedly useless organ (the Qi Cyclone)—that he could sense Xides's profound fatherly love!
The range of this 'Ambition Origin' effect was so vast it enveloped the entire Royal Court, giving Ren Suo no chance to avoid it. The mont he returned, he was crushed by this overwhelming paternal love!
What was more troubleso was that once Ren Suo was locked by Xides's fatherly love, it ant the identity of Sony could not vanish. If Xides discovered Sony was gone, missing, or dead, he would imdiately know sothing had happened to his son and would then trigger the secret powers of the Bloodline Cartridge. At that point, Xides, having lost everything, would beco the strongest boss of the current version. Suspects like Ren Suo, who caused his son to go missing or die, would inevitably be unable to escape being squashed to death or, worse, dominated by his ambition!
Ren Suo was stunned by this sudden turn of events.
His return to Luoyin City was almost inevitable. Only by returning to Luoyin City and following the plot could Ren Suo find a way to divert Lanaya's surveillance and pursuit. Yet, before he had even dealt with Lanaya, he had inadvertently attracted the attention of the ultimate boss, Xides!
Ren Suo wandered aimlessly for a while before suddenly asking, "Lanaya, didn't the Skyrim Battleship bring back so spoils of war from Dark Descending? Have they finished inventorying them? Are there any Annihilation Traversal-type hacking cartridges?"
Lanaya looked puzzled, but she still tapped her bracelet to check. "The battleship has inventoried 55% of the spoils," she said. "There are no Annihilation Traversal-type hacking cartridges... Great Magistrate, Annihilation Traversal-type cartridges are only allocated to warriors during periods of dinsional war. It is absolutely impossible for Oathbreakers to steal such cartridges during peaceful tis."
Ren Suo knew the chances were slim, but he couldn't help feeling disappointed upon hearing this. In Didra, Traversal Cartridges were divided into three categories: Teleportation Traversal, World Traversal, and Plane Crossing.
Teleportation Traversal, as the na suggested, involved Teleportation within the sa space—rely a change in relative position, without leaving the space itself. World Traversal was for crossing between the Inner World and the Outer World; for instance, movents between Luoyin City, Dark Descending, and the Outer World required a World Traversal cartridge. Plane Crossing Cartridges were the least used but most powerful, capable of protecting warriors from the turbulent flows of the Azure Silver Temporal Space, allowing them to break through dinsions to reach other planes.
These three types of cartridges were specialized and not interchangeable, much like how screwdrivers of different sizes each have their specific uses. Oathbreakers had managed to intercept and hack the first two types. However, Plane Crossing Cartridges were simply not available in the outside world during ordinary tis, so Oathbreakers could neither acquire nor hack them, making it a point of sha for their hacking collective.
If Ren Suo could get an unlocked version of a Plane Crossing Cartridge, he would find a way to send Dong Chengling and Ren Xingi away first. Then, he would figure out how to shed Sony's identity and return to his ho on Earth.
With even the Different Dinsion Coordinate taken by Ren Suo, Didra would need so ti to retaliate, even if Los's ga failed. During this ti, Ren Suo could play a few more gas to boost his "Rippling Spring Sounds." Then, as soon as Didra showed up, he would summon Ren Han Truth Seeker, Devourer of the Spirit of the World, the Black Coffin Demon King...
By then, I'll really smash your dog head, break your dick, flatten your chest, and then you can all go to hell!
He wouldn't even need to return to Earth. If Dong Chengling and Ren Xingi could use a cartridge to go ho, Ren Suo could now summon the true man Ren Han, who could hold out for five minutes and reduce the Royal Court to rubble. But without Traversal Cartridges they could use, even if he played out a rebellious lodrama of feigned filial piety with Xides, he wouldn't be able to take the two of them with him.
Everything, everything, pointed toward the sa ultimate goal: the Exiled Monarch.
Achieve the Exiled Monarch, and all Traversal Cartridges would be unlocked; they could then use the cartridges to leave.
Achieve the Exiled Monarch, and Didra would fall into civil war, no longer coveting Earth, nor possessing the ability to do so. This would ensure the lasting safety of Dong Chengling, the Spatial Coordinate, and Ren Xingi, the Temporal Coordinate.
Achieving the Exiled Monarch was even Xides's hope.
When Ren Suo returned to his sleeping quarters, he found his Identity Bracelet emitting a dark golden glow. He opened it, but instead of a projection, a stream of information flowed into his mind:
"Sega is dead. The killer is Los."
"In the na of the Royal Family, cast suspicion on Yisu Great Law and bring him into the Royal Court."
Sega Great Law was dead. The wheels of destiny had begun to turn.
Ren Suo hadn't anticipated that the one truly harboring murderous intent against Yisu Great Law from the very beginning wasn't Los, nor himself, but Xides! Los had rely killed Yisu Great Law at an opportune mont. But even without Los, had Yisu Great Law entered the heart of the Royal Court, he likely wouldn't have escaped Xides's clutches! From the very beginning, Xides had planned to collect all three Keys of Oblivion, open the Door of Annihilation, and, in doing so, bring about the Exiled Monarch!
"Xing i? Xing i?"
While Ren Suo was contemplating his strategy, he suddenly heard Dong Chengling's surprised and delighted voice. Turning his head, he saw that his sister had already awakened.
He imdiately reverted to his True Form, walked over to his sister, and knelt on one knee before her. "Are you all right? How do you feel? Dizzy? Hungry?"
Ren Xingi shook her head, then nodded. "Brother, I'm a bit hungry."
"Good, I'll call for soone to bring food right away," Ren Suo said with a delighted smile. "How did your Awakening go?"
"It feels a bit complicated..."
"No rush, no rush. There will be plenty of ti. After you go back to school, you can have a good talk with your Teacher Dong and Sister Qiao about how to develop awakened spells. They both have a lot of experience," Ren Suo said with a smile. "Actually, besides Xianyu, other Awakeners also have things you can learn from."
"Plus, we have a deity, Moon Chanter," Dong Chengling added. "Your brother has quite an extensive network."
Ren Suo gave a sheepish smile, not daring to respond. Ren Xingi shook her head and smiled. "Why should I learn from others? Aren't you also a powerful Awakener, Brother? When we go back, you can teach . Once I've learned well, I'll definitely help you."
Ren Suo's smile faded, and his expression beca more solemn as he said earnestly, "Speaking of which, there's sothing I need to discuss with you both."
He glanced at the silver-haired beauty beside him. "Now, Los, Lorifes's brother, has infiltrated Luoyin City and caused a great disturbance. I must take this opportunity to add fuel to the chaos and create our chance to escape from Didra."
"But this ti, it will be very dangerous. This is the Royal Court, the capital of Didra, and I've even been added to the Lord of Didra's special attention list. A single misstep could lead to an irreversible disaster."
"So," Ren Suo looked at them both, "I need to tell you sothing first, here."
Dong Chengling's and Ren Xingi's hearts sank. Final words?
"Suo, do we really have to talk about this now?" Dong Chengling's voice remained calm and tranquil, but her eyes brimd with tears, like moonlight on a still night lake.
"It has to be now," Ren Suo said seriously.
"Brother, we don't need to rush this," Ren Xingi urged. "There are many other opportunities. For example, we could wait for the dinsional war to start, then coordinate with forces on Earth from within to crush Didra's vanguard army. Then you, as a Prince, could go to the front to supervise the military. There would be lots of chances to leave then..."
Ren Suo shook his head. "But as Different Dinsion Coordinates, you would beco sacrifices. Since I brought you here, I must take you back."
Ren Xingi still wanted to say sothing but was stopped by Dong Chengling, who placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
Ren Xingi lowered her gaze, looking at Ren Suo with a saddened face, awaiting his final declaration.
Would he emphasize family ties, telling her to be filial to their parents? Would it be about love, hoping Dong Chengling would forget him? Or would he stress the greater good, asking them to report Didra's intelligence in detail to the country upon their return to Earth? Or perhaps, focusing on himself, would he seek Dong Chengling in his final monts...
Amidst Dong Chengling's and Ren Xingi's tense anticipation, Ren Suo glanced at Dong Chengling, then looked directly at Ren Xingi, took a deep breath, and said:
"Sister, can you give your heart?"
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