Following Song Yunshi’s instructions, Shen Nianzu soon found himself downstream.
Once again, he marveled at the beauty of the surrounding landscape. Behind him stood the towering traditional building, while ahead, the natural waterfall continued its gentle flow, filling the stream with water so clear that he could see the rocks on the bottom as well as the small fishes swimming around.
He approached Song Yunshi, who was taking shade under the fiery maple tree. A set of stone table and chairs had been set up, proving that the legendary player had often spent his ti here.
"Good morning. I hope I’m not disturbing you, Grandpa," he bowed politely to the man.
"Good morning to you too," Grandpa replied with a warm smile. "Don’t worry about it. I live here alone. Even though the scenery is to die for, this old man will also get lonely sotis, you know? That’s why I’m really happy to hear that the three of you are coming for a visit. Moreover, I also have sothing to talk to you about."
"Oh?" Shen Nianzu raised a brow, intrigued. Judging from Grandpa’s tone, it seed like the topic of discussion was not suitable to be ntioned in front of his teammates. What else would it be about, if not Jin Jiuchi?
"Have a seat." Song Yunshi gestured at the chair across from him. "Is water okay?"
Shen Nianzu nodded as he settled cross-legged on the stone chair. Not a fan of talking around the circles, he cut straight to the point, "What do you want to talk to about?"
Song Yunshi pushed the ceramic cup toward him before asking, "What’s your plan going forward?"
Despite the abstract question, Shen Nianzu imdiately grasped that the man was asking him what he would do with the information he had obtained yesterday. After pondering for a mont, he responded carefully, "I guess I need to find the Divine Oracle. But I won’t be entering a high-level Cycle so soon, at least not until my teammates upgrade into Elite players."
"Ah, co to think of it, I haven’t congratulated you properly yet." Song Yunshi bead. "Congratulations for becoming an Elite player. Your growth has been remarkable as of late."
Shen Nianzu asked in mild surprise, "You can tell?" He sifted through his mory, but he did not recall ever telling Song Yunshi that his previous Cycle was also his assessnt test.
Song Yunshi took a sip of his water, smiling, "When you get to my level later, you will be able to sense it. You have beco a different person from the player who was challenging the Cycle last ti. But I’m certain you can feel it too, can’t you?"
Shen Nianzu nodded in understanding. Ever since he woke up from his coma, he could feel a renewed surge of energy flowing in his veins. He felt lighter, stronger and more alert than ever. It was an inexplicable feeling he couldn’t get used to no matter what, despite having gone through a few assessnt tests before. If he had to put it into words, it felt like he had been born anew.
He still had not gotten the chance to put his new power into test yet, but sohow he had a hunch that he could raze a mountain to the ground if he wanted to. That was the extent of a power belonging to an Elite player.
If he’d felt this much power, what about the legendary players? What about... the Nightmare itself, who could be considered the entity who had bestowed this power upon them?
Speaking of the Nightmare, there was a question that had been nagging him for a while, one only a legendary player could answer.
Seizing the opportunity, Shen Nianzu asked the person before him, "We have all been struggling to raise our rank at the expense of our own lives, but... what cos after the Legendary rank? You still need to challenge a Cycle once in a while, don’t you, Grandpa?"
At Shen Nianzu’s current rank, it was enough for him to enter a Cycle once or twice a year, while Song Yunshi might only need to enter once every two years. But one glaring fact remained— they were still obligated to challenge the Nightmare Cycle.
Will this madness ever end?
Such a question must have crossed all players’ minds at so point of ti. Alas, nobody knew the answer, perhaps not even the legendary players themselves, who were the cream of the crop and the highest-ranked players according to the rules and orders set by the Nightmare.
Irony and bitterness laced Song Yunshi’s tone as he responded, "Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question either. If we look at the App, there is no rank higher than Legendary, but only us... only the three of us know that there’s a door in front of us. A heavy, gigantic door – locked. I’m still trying to find the key, which is why I have been running around all this ti while trying my luck." He shifted his gaze to the waterfall with a wistful look. "I think... all of us are waiting."
Waiting for what? Shen Nianzu wanted to ask, but sohow he felt like he knew the answer already.
They were waiting for the key to appear.
However, what lay behind that ’door’? The only possibility Shen Nianzu could think of was the Nightmare. Did they need to defeat the Nightmare in the end, after all?
A sense of foreboding filled Shen Nianzu’s chest whenever he thought of that mysterious entity. All this ti, despite having shown up a few tis, he was aware that it was not the Nightmare’s real form, but simply a fraction of his real power. Alas, simply gazing at that form alone was enough to make the players relieve their darkest nightmares. What would happen if they were to confront it directly one day? Would they lose their minds before they could even put up a fight?
Unbidden, Shen Nianzu’s mory drifted to the story Grandpa had told yesterday, particularly the exchange he’d had with the drunken Ninth Prince.
"You want to know?"
"Are you sure? What if I told you... you would go crazy if you knew the truth? Do you still want to hear it?"
What kind of truth could possibly drive soone to madness just by learning it? Shen Nianzu couldn’t comprehend it no matter how hard he tried. A heavy silence settled between them, each lost in their own thoughts. That was until—
"Nian’er—!!!"
Shen Nianzu whipped his head toward the direction of the booming voice and saw Jin Jiuchi waving at him from the balcony above. "What are you two doing there?!" he shouted. "I wanna join too!!"
Shen Nianzu shouted back at him. "Then co! Just take the stairs and—" He had not even finished his sentence yet when Jin Jiuchi started to climb over the railing. In an instant, Shen Nianzu shot up to his feet, horrified. "JIN JIUCHI!!!"
Everything happened in a split second.
Jin Jiuchi smoothly flipped himself over the railing and dived headlong into the waterfall!
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