After that, it’s a monotonous journey.
He traveled leisurely through the Industrial Age, admired the Ocean Age. Sotis, he heard soone calling his na, but when he turned around, he saw only the silent wind.
A thousand years beca a flowing river in his eyes.
In the Capital City, he glanced from afar at the peach trees within the palace walls and the empty National Preceptor Pavilion, then turned away. No one is here who he yearns for anymore.
Passing by Penglai Fairy Island, he glanced at the island, where Xiao Jingsan and Su Shaoqing were present. That Su Shaoqing was not the real Su Shaoqing, but rather an "Su Shaoqing played by Su Ming’an" projected from the causality of the "Louyue Nation" dream tour, since Su Ming’an had released [TE·His Phantasm] at the ti, following this storyline without interference.
Counting this, there were two Su Ming’ans existing at the sa ti — one from the instance opening, playing the dream tour ga "Louyue Nation," and one at the end of the instance, traversing a thousand years, the Su Ming’an himself.
The opening and the end of the instance, he existed together, coexisting in this world.
Su Ming’an wasn’t sure if the Xiao Jingsan on Penglai Fairy Island was indeed the blurry-moried Xiao Ying, or a later Xiao Jingsan made by Xiao Ying, which wasn’t quite important. Xiao Ying should not be very clear-minded right now, driven by Dieying, hence why he wanted to awaken the Exotic Species King prematurely. At this mont, Su Ming’an had no desire to approach him.
As Su Ming’an was about to return to the Holy City, he heard a familiar female voice:
"...Who are you, why does this palace find you so familiar?"
On the city wall stood a girl with flowing black hair, a thin sword at her waist, dressed in dignified and heavy palace attire. It was Princess Jing He.
At the instance opening, Su Ming’an used to think Princess Jing He wasn’t like Yuanyuan, but indeed Princess Jing He was Yuanyuan. It’s not that he judged incorrectly, but that Princess Jing He... was Yuanyuan without any mories.
No matter how prescient he was, he couldn’t have thought at the instance opening—Princess Jing He was Yuanyuan reincarnated after losing her mories over the millennia, not the Yuanyuan he was familiar with, hence the unfamiliar sense.
So that’s how it is.
"Empress has been crowned Emperor, why refer to oneself as ’this palace.’ Now the Eldest Prince is on Penglai Fairy Island, Your Majesty ought to sit at the Capital City and enjoy the era of Datong." Su Ming’an nodded slightly; he had long been accustod to distancing himself from Yuanyuan. After the Alice incident, he realized it’s best not to get involved with anyone, thus for this century, he hadn’t gotten close to anyone.
Empress Jing He furrowed her brows: "I won’t hold you accountable for disrespect, but I suppose you’re a Jianghu hero. I wonder you..."
"I shall take my leave." Su Ming’an turned and left.
In the distance, stood a blonde woman gracefully. It was nightti now, and the instant death rules for foreigners were still in effect. Soone, unfortunately, experienced it twice, yet appeared not unwilling, even opting for a red dress instead of a white one.
Further away on the Tower was a black-clad hero standing with a black blade, moonlight shining in his sapphire eyes.
"Astrologer Nuo Strawberry and hero Lv Dalv will accompany by the side of the Lord. If Your Majesty faces any difficulties, feel free to reach out to them, they will ensure your safety for eternity." Su Ming’an pointed at the two.
"I am unfamiliar with you, why do you care so much for , yet insist on keeping your distance?" The Empress’s eyes showed perplexity.
"My existence only brings misfortune to others, as has been proven." Su Ming’an’s eyes harbored a looming shadow, the long-hidden obsession slowly dissipating, he bowed again, soon lowering his gaze: "I have lost another companion. At least, protecting you is the only thing I can do."
In the mont of flashing shadows, under the full moonlight, only the blonde woman and the black-blade hero remained.
...
On the road to the seaside, Su Ming’an encountered soone familiar.
The girl in a red dress was the Demon Sect Enchantress Zou Yuqing, who once spoke for him at Penglai Immortal Selection, an honest girl.
"—Oh, isn’t this the Supre Immortal? How co you are here?" She pointed out his deity identity with one sentence.
In conversation, Su Ming’an only discovered that Zou Yuqing was an artificial life form belonging to a deity, responsible for handling certain affairs of Louyue Era, similar to AI. She rembered everything from the opening until now but didn’t possess great power, mostly supporting other transmigrators by subtly aiding.
"Thank you for doing my hair that ti on the ship." Su Ming’an ntioned the instance opening, no wonder Zou Yuqing seed to know much information at the ti, turns out she was the one who hid things the deepest. If he had captured and interrogated her then, he might have uncovered all the information.
Zou Yuqing hid her mouth with a soft smile: "I also ought to thank you for answering so of my doubts. Later, I personally checked those images with letters marked, oh my, that was really..."
"Alright, stop there." Su Ming’an said with a blank expression.
"You still have a few hours left?" Zou Yuqing asked, saying "a few hours" rather than "how many years." Amidst the endless passing of countless people, she understood where he was destined.
"18 hours."
"To occupy roughly ten minutes in your 18 hours would be my pleasure indeed." She playfully spoke truth: "Your Highness... no, Supre Immortal, let braid your hair one last ti."
On her face, that mischievous smile carried a tinge of wistfulness.
Su Ming’an stopped walking.
The wind of December carried the scent of peach blossoms from the distant Fairy Island. Silver bell sounds rang, the girl walked behind him and gathered his black hair.
"You walked through quite an extensive age... your hair grew so long." Her slightly wistful breath lingered on his neck.
Facing the dawn, the sunlight ward his cheeks. Her gentle fingers lightly grazed his scalp, and ti instantly slowed down.
"Where are you going next?" Feeling the gentle touch behind his head, Su Ming’an spoke.
Zou Yuqing lowered her gaze, her lips curved: "I am only responsible for matters of Louyue Era, once it ends, AI like losing its purpose will naturally be retracted. I am a product separated from the deity, just like Little Li back then. Programs have their own mission, once completed, it can’t endure in the world like life."
Su Ming’an’s eyes flickered, not knowing who he thought of: "You never wanted to beco life? You are willing to disappear after fulfilling your mission?"
Zou Yuqing shook her head with a smile, dawn sparkling on her trembling lashes:
"Oh... Supre Immortal, what kind of question is this, of course I wish to live. But if I beca life, I would only live for a hundred years, my mories would be erased by the deity, and in the end, I’d die as a pile of bones. If I am AI, even if my mission ends and I’m retracted, there will be data preserved; subsequently, there can be countless ’’ iteratively ford, helping human civilization to continue, thus achieving lasting victory."
Su Ming’an looked at Zou Yuqing, who spoke with elegance and humor, having never imagined that this playful little enchantress would have such a weighty mission. It turned out 80% of what he saw at the instance opening was surface level, only at this mont can he glimpse the depths beneath the iceberg.
It turns out even a passerby t just a few tis could harbor so many stories behind.
"Even without seeing your beloved ’Penguin Space,’ it doesn’t matter?" Su Ming’an asked.
Zou Yuqing rolled her eyes, seriously contemplated: "It’s indeed a sha, also those ani, those letters... I am actually very interested in them. Think about it, if I existed in the present era, perhaps I’d be quite skilled at playing around."
She always liked to use a facetious tone to cover up sorrowful truths, not letting Su Ming’an feel the sa sadness.
"...Sorry." Su Ming’an lowered his eyelids.
He once thought Zou Yuqing was just a frivolous Demon Sect enchantress.
"What need is there for Supre Immortal to apologize. As long as Supre Immortal can save civilization, even if it ant slaughtering us, it shouldn’t be blad." Zou Yuqing let go: "Alright, Supre Immortal, take a look at my handiwork, it should not have diminished."
Su Ming’an walked forward, his hair bun tied with white jade, secure and stable, just like on the ship back then.
He turned back and glanced, on the city wall, a girl with a red ribbon reaching the ground was smiling slightly, waving at him, like an old friend sending off a distant traveler. The sunlight lingered on her deep-set brows and high nose, and her smile was extraordinarily bright.
This farewell is forever.
Su Shaoqing, Li Mingyue, Jing He, Ye Yihong, Xiao Jingsan, Yi Tiezheng, Zou Yuqing.
This is rely one era of pioneers, yet he can na so many. Across ten thousand tilines, how many such unseen heroes stand? To win a civilization battle, how many people’s efforts are required?
Generations burned, even the number "one hundred billion" can no longer asure it.
Su Ming’an walks toward the distance. He turns back, looking at Zou Yuqing...
One last glance.
On the city wall, the red dress billows, the girl’s brows and eyes curved, though of a very stubborn nature, tears sohow fall from her eye sockets, her lips parted, mouthing words very clearly—
...
Your Highness.
Yuqing wishes you a safe journey, may you triumph at the end of civilization...
...
...
By the sea.
A girl with black hair and erald eyes waits on the beach, carrying a basket of dicine.
The sea breeze lifts her white dress like a butterfly dancing in the wind. She stands firm for a long ti, her expression serene.
Behind her is a ruined village, this village destroyed by tentacled monsters, those villagers who forced the orphan girl to rescue and the sick old man have all died.
Su Ming’an lands with a chanical wheel, eting her gaze.
"When I played ’Louyue Nation’ before, I was very curious. Why did the orphan girl suddenly disappear after I went to Penglai Fairy Island? She was clearly a character full of mystery, why was there no further storyline for her? So that’s why... She suddenly disappeared because she couldn’t accompany the ’instance opening ’, but needed to wait here for the ’twenty days later ’." Su Ming’an said.
Chao Yan smiled at him, wearing a village girl’s tattered cloth dress, a crystal-clear long sword floating around her.
...
On the second day of the instance, after opening the second Chapter of ’Louyue Nation’, Su Ming’an collapsed on a hillside, heavily injured, almost unable to rise.
At that mont, footsteps approached, a pair of small fabric shoes appeared at the edge of his vision, seemingly belonging to a village girl.
"Are you okay? Are you still alive..." Her voice was as clear as a stream.
...
Let’s designate the instance start Su Ming’an, a dream roaming player of ’Louyue Nation’, as the "instance start Su Ming’an". And refer to the current Su Ming’an as the "instance end Su Ming’an".
At the beginning of the instance, when the "instance start Su Ming’an" lay gravely injured on the hillside, it was a village orphan girl who saved his dying self. This village orphan girl is precisely Chao Yan crawling up from the seabed at this mont, which is the "instance end Chao Yan".
This is because Chao Yan sensed that the body of the "instance end Su Ming’an" was nearing its limit, requiring her emotional connection, thus she awakened from her slumber at the seabed, beginning her search for him. Though they never agreed on a specific eting place, she knew he would co to the beach near this village because they first t in ’Louyue Nation’, right here.
Not sure if "the two initially eting at the village in the instance start" (cause) led to → "because they initially t here, Chao Yan waits here in the instance end" (effect).
Or if "the two et at the village in the instance end" (effect) led to → "because Chao Yan must wait here, the instance start Su Ming’an will collapse here, saved by her, initially eting" (cause).
Regardless of causality being forward or reversed, both can explain it.
When Chao Yan erged from the seabed, in order to find the "instance end Su Ming’an" for an emotional connection, she traveled across nations, always searching for this beach village in Louyue Nation. When she found this familiar village, she stayed for years waiting for him, becoming the orphan girl of the instance start village, saving the "instance start Su Ming’an".
Causality intertwines, beginning and end connect.
...
"No matter where I go, I always wait." The orphan girl said, "I walked under the distant and quiet moon, I’ve been to noble and sacred cathedrals, I’ve gazed from afar at the vine-covered midnight castle, seen white birds take flight, the bells ring. I’ve walked through long sand and wilderness, held every handful of water from an oasis."
...
—This is what she said on the second day of the instance. It’s not a lie, it’s heartfelt words after searching for the Louyue Nation village for years on the twentieth day of the instance.
Long waiting, a hundred years of tornt under the sea, terrifying ntal pressure, led to Chao Yan’s blurred awareness, where she confused the "instance start Su Ming’an" with the "instance end Su Ming’an", resulting in the instance start scene:
...
"Finally, I ca here. Those days, I didn’t want to endure anymore. I beg you, call my na this ti."
This long speech from the orphan girl left Su Ming’an bewildered.
She said she had been to many places. But a village orphan girl shouldn’t have the money and qualifications to travel the world.
...
—Indeed, the village orphan girl lacks the ability to travel the world, but what if she just crawled out from under the sea, trekking to find Louyue Nation?
...
The orphan girl held the dicine bowl, opened her mouth, after a mont seemingly made up her mind, asking:
"I curse you, painless, unfeeling, undying—what’s the next line of this sentence?"
...
The next line is "I bless you, with pain and feeling, undying."
—At the end of causality, they bless each other.
—At the beginning of causality, she asks to confirm his truth.
...
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