Chapter 470: The Tiger Does Not Eat Its Young
In Chen Nuo’s view, this Ti Retrospection ability was simply too much of a cheat.
Such power shouldn’t belong to soone like Chen Jianshe, a re Destroyer Level individual.
Forget a Destroyer like Chen Jianshe; even a Controller like Chen Nuo—indeed, among all the Controllers in the world, not one possessed such an incredible ability.
Even those few Seeds couldn’t grasp the power to control Ti.
It was far too overpowered!
If used cleverly, this ability was practically invincible!
The reason it felt like a cheat was that possessing it could shatter the existing hierarchy of power levels.
Moreover, thinking deeper, Ti might very well be the axis of the speculated fourth dinsion!
The ability to control Ti—the sheer level of this power was awe-inspiring.
Chen Jianshe?
How could a human Destroyer Level Ability User possess such power?
He wasn’t so chosen one.
In his previous life, Chen Nuo had never heard the na Chen Jianshe, nor the na "Dong Juan" in the Underground World. Clearly, this Old Chen had been lying low, surviving from beginning to end.
Furthermore, what made Chen Nuo particularly wary was that Chen Jianshe actually possessed that pair of Jade Rice Grains!
Those were the remnants of a Seed!
Chen Jianshe fell silent.
Chen Nuo, unhurried, squatted before Chen Jianshe and asked with a smile, "What, unwilling to talk?"
Chen Jianshe took a deep breath. "Are you trying to dig up all my secrets?"
Chen Nuo said calmly, "This ability is too advanced. An ability concerning Ti, which even Controllers cannot manage, yet soone rely at the Destroyer Level can wield it freely. How could I not get to the bottom of this?"
Chen Jianshe’s expression was complex, and he said nothing.
"Moreover, there’s sothing else miraculous about your ability. During our fight, you activated it over eighty tis. A skill you can use over eighty tis—activating this Ti Retrospection ability must cost sothing, right? Or can you activate it at will, with no cost whatsoever? Typically, using abilities consus an Ability User’s spiritual power, or so other energy reserve. But... over eighty tis! Forget activating such an incredible ability; if a person were to spit eighty-odd tis consecutively, they’d be half-dead from exhaustion! Even a Controller would find it impossible to use their strongest skill over eighty tis in one go. Unless... your Ti Retrospection ability is zero-cost?"
After Chen Nuo had said all this, Chen Jianshe, wrestling with his thoughts, finally raised his eyes to Chen Nuo. "If I tell you... will you truly let go?"
"If you don’t talk, I definitely won’t let you go," Chen Nuo answered very seriously.
"No," Chen Jianshe imdiately shook his head. "You have to promise . If I tell you, you will truly let go."
Chen Nuo pondered for a mont, then nodded. "Fine. After all, as you said, there’s no personal vendetta between us. Besides, you are my father; your blood flows in my veins. You said it yourself just now, no matter what, I couldn’t possibly kill my own father, could I?"
Chen Jianshe asked, "Then what do you plan to do with ?"
"Answer my questions, and then I can consider letting you go. Of course, it won’t be that simple. You must promise never to bother Ou Xiuhua again! Also, you must go to Grandma’s grave, kneel, and admit your wrongs."
Then I’ll bury you, Chen Nuo added silently.
Chen Jianshe mostly believed him. In his understanding, no matter how great the resentnt, the person before him was his son. Without a true personal vendetta, Chen Nuo indeed had no reason to kill him.
"Alright, I’ll tell you. This ability..."
"Wait a mont," Chen Nuo smiled. "You’d better not lie to . If I find out you have, I won’t let you off... Killing you is one thing, but I might just shatter your Consciousness Space and turn you into an imbecile, worse off than an ordinary person."
Chen Jianshe was silent for a mont, then spoke again. "Okay, this ability of mine truly doesn’t consu any physical strength, and certainly not what you assu to be spiritual power. If I wished, I could activate it another hundred tis!"
Chen Nuo’s expression changed. "How is that possible?!"
"I haven’t finished. It doesn’t consu any strength or energy. However, that doesn’t an there’s no cost. To be precise, it consus my own Ti."
Chen Nuo frowned. "What do you an?"
"Think of it this way: the Ti I expend is my own life Ti, or rather, physical Ti. Suppose... just suppose! For instance, I use Ti Retrospection to go back one year. How old were you a year ago? Seventeen. And I am currently forty-eight. If I use Ti Retrospection to go back one year, how old would I be?"
"Forty-eight minus one, forty-seven?"
"No, I would still be forty-eight," Chen Jianshe said slowly. "I use Ti Retrospection on the tiline, but my own life Ti continues to pass."
"I don’t quite understand."
"For example, during our fight just now, from the ti node I set, and then the repeated uses of Ti Retrospection. The duration of each of our fights extended from a few minutes to eventually half an hour, right?"
"Right."
"Let’s assu each fight took half an hour, and I used Ti Retrospection eighty tis. That’s forty hours in total, roughly less than two days’ worth of Ti, correct?"
"Correct."
"Each activation is like expending my own life Ti. For you, each use of Ti Retrospection returns you to the ti node I set. Whether it’s eighty tis, eight hundred, or eight thousand, it’s all the sa point in Ti for you. Each use will return you to your age and state at that specific point. But it’s different for ! Simply put, however much Ti I rewind, that amount is deducted from my lifespan. That is to say, each ti I use this skill, it consus my life Ti. The amount of Ti I rewind is the amount deducted. If I use Ti Retrospection for half an hour, my own lifespan decreases by half an hour. Using it eighty tis, totaling over forty hours, ans over forty hours of my own lifespan has passed. If I use Ti Retrospection to go back a year, two years, or even longer, my lifespan will be reduced by that much."
Chen Nuo stared at Chen Jianshe’s face for a long while before suddenly saying, "You must seldom use this skill, right?"
"Of course. Although this ability is potent, I only use it when facing exceptionally strong opponents. After all, using this ability consus my own lifespan. If I use it too much... I haven’t lived nearly enough."
Chen Nuo nodded. Chen Jianshe’s appearance was largely consistent with his actual age, indicating he was very "sparing" with this ability.
"Then how did you obtain this ability?" Chen Nuo shook his head. "An ability like this doesn’t seem to be naturally awakened, does it? I’ve never heard of anyone in the Underground World with an ability identical to yours. This type of ability doesn’t seem like one humans can naturally awaken!"
Ti belongs to the realm of the fourth dinsion. And humans are three-dinsional beings. Three-dinsional creatures cannot possibly awaken or evolve four-dinsional abilities.
Chen Jianshe fell silent once again. This silence, however, only further confird Chen Nuo’s suspicion—this ability was clearly not naturally awakened.
"I... I don’t know how to say it."
"Just say whatever cos to mind. Try to explain, and if there’s sothing I don’t understand, I’ll ask," Chen Nuo’s tone was frigid.
Chen Jianshe felt helpless, then let out a bitter smile. "Do you... believe in ghosts in this world?"
"Huh?" Chen Nuo was stunned.
"See? I knew you wouldn’t believe ."
"No, I believe you. Just keep talking."
Ghosts? Chen Nuo snickered internally. I’ve even seen aliens. What are ghosts in comparison? Let’s hear what he has to say.
Chen Jianshe sighed. "Actually, it all started about two or three years before you were born. There was a period when I seed to have suffered a major illness. After recovering, I would often hear a voice speaking to at night when I slept."
"You an, you dreamt soone was talking to you at night?"
"It wasn’t a person speaking to ; it was a voice. Do you understand the difference? I don’t know who it was, just that I could hear a voice while sleeping. I also don’t know if it was a dream. Anyway... I was asleep, probably dreaming. But in the dream, I was clearly aware I was dreaming, and yet a voice would speak to ."
Chen Nuo was intrigued. "What did it say to you?"
Chen Jianshe took a breath. "It told what would happen the next day."
Chen Nuo paused, then quickly reacted. "You an... foreknowledge?"
"...Yes, you could call it foreknowledge." Chen Jianshe’s gaze beca a bit distant as he continued slowly, "The first ti I had that dream, I rember it very clearly. In the dream, the voice told what would happen the next day. It seed to tell many things: who I’d et when I left in the morning, what I’d eat for lunch at work... These were all trivial things, so I didn’t pay them much mind—I didn’t take it seriously at the ti, you know, it was just a dream. When I woke up, I felt sothing was odd. Usually, one doesn’t rember much of a dream upon waking. But what was strange about that dream was that I rembered it with perfect clarity! I could recall everything the voice told in the dream after waking up, though I didn’t pay much attention at the ti. It wasn’t until I was at work during the dayti that I suddenly rembered the voice in the dream telling there would be an accident at our factory that day, and soone would die. Do you know... that afternoon, while I was washing cars in the motor pool, I suddenly saw my ntor rush in, telling there’d been an accident at the factory. A docker had fallen into the river and drowned... Do you know how I felt then?"
"You were shocked?"
"Exactly!" Chen Jianshe sighed. "Shocked, terrified, and beyond that, even a little excited. It was quite complicated."
Chen Nuo prompted, "And then?"
"Then, the next night, I went ho early, eagerly waiting to fall asleep, hoping I might hear sothing again. But that night, I was too excited to sleep at all, until just before dawn, when I finally managed a few hours of fitful sleep. And I didn’t have that strange dream. I slept until morning, even arriving late for work and getting an earful from my ntor. For several days after that, I didn’t have that strange dream again. Gradually, I began to think it was just a dream. As for what the voice in the dream said—the prophecies, the death—those were rely coincidences. I slowly forgot about it until one night, I was out eating and drinking with friends. I drank too much and even got into a fight... Then, that night, I had that strange dream again."
Chen Nuo listened quietly, without interrupting.
"That night, the voice in the dream gave more foreknowledge... Mostly trivial things I didn’t pay much attention to, but it told one thing: the next evening, when I got off work, the people I had fought with earlier that day would co to the factory entrance after work to ambush , and they’d beat severely..."
Chen Nuo’s eyes flickered. "Did you believe it?"
"Not at first. When I woke up, I thought it was just a dream. But then, as I was about to leave work that evening, I suddenly rembered the dream, and also the incident where soone died at the factory the day after my previous dream. I suddenly beca wary. I asked a colleague to sneak out of the factory first and check the alley outside for to see what was going on. As it turned out, my colleague returned and confird that several people were lurking there, acting suspiciously, clearly waiting for soone. I imdiately realized sothing was wrong."
"So you confird the dream wasn’t just a dream, but could actually predict future events?"
"Yes, I believed it. I was thrilled, and also a bit panicky. But more than anything, I was ecstatic! I didn’t even care that I’d offended people who were coming to beat up. Think about it, Chen Nuo! To gain the ability to foresee the future! What an incredible thing, right? I thought my life was about to change for the better!"
Chen Nuo frowned. "And then? But your life didn’t exactly skyrocket after that, did it? I rember very clearly, even after you married Ou Xiuhua, you were still struggling, things weren’t going your way, you were heavily in debt, ran off alone, abandoning your wife and child, and headed south. I’ve investigated that too. You were constantly on the run, hiding here and there, unable to succeed in anything, relying only on your looks and your smooth tongue to swindle money from so won."
"..." Chen Jianshe sighed. "Because the dream... it was erratic. Sotis it worked, sotis it didn’t. It didn’t appear every night, just occasionally. Sotis, I’d go ten days or even half a month without one. The longest I waited was three months for a single prophetic dream. And to my great disappointnt, each ti I dreamt, the foreknowledge was always about trivial matters happening around . You don’t understand, Chen Nuo. This was the eighties. There were no lotteries or anything like that, so I couldn’t even dream of lottery numbers. Besides, the dream’s foreknowledge was limited to the next day. It could only predict events one day in advance, so... it wasn’t actually that useful. And most of the foreknowledge concerned worthless trivialities. For instance, even if you knew in advance that the factory canteen would serve braised pork the next day—what use was a prophecy like that?! It couldn’t make rich, nor could it help gain influence! However, it wasn’t completely useless. For example, I dreamt I would et your mother a day before it happened. Then, knowing I would et a great beauty like your mom the next day, I prepared in advance, dressed myself up nicely, and made various arrangents. That was a plus, I guess. Also, at my job in the factory, I managed to curry favor with the unit leader because of dream foreknowledge. I knew what minor thing would happen to the leader the next day, prepared in advance, flattered him well, making the leader think I was quick-witted and resourceful... But beyond that, there were no greater benefits. I pondered it carefully later: this dream could only predict things happening in my imdiate vicinity. Which ans, the scope of the predictions was tied to personally. It wouldn’t prophesize about domains I was ignorant of. For example, when I worked in a small factory in Jinling, at most, it would predict sothing concerning my unit leader the next day. But it definitely wouldn’t predict anything about the President of M Country. Understand?"
Chen Nuo asked, "So what?"
"So, I grew increasingly unwilling to stay in that dead-end factory," Chen Jianshe sighed. "By that ti, I had already married your mother. But with this magical power of premonitory dreams, I always felt I was destined for more than an ordinary life, that I would surely beco wealthy and influential! Even though the dreams were still unreliable. Yet, possessing this magical ability, how could I possibly resign myself to being an ordinary person? I always thought about going out and venturing, seeing more of the world, because maybe the more of the world I saw, the broader the scope of my dreams’ foreknowledge would be, and the more valuable it would beco to !"
Chen Nuo sighed. "So you neglected your ho, always aiming too high, wanting to go out, make a na for yourself, get rich, and gamble on a fortune?"
"Exactly! I tried business, failed, incurred debts, and then I fled. I left Jinling and went south, looking for opportunities. I thought this dream of mine would soon prove useful. But to my disappointnt, the dreams still only occurred occasionally, the timing always uncertain, and the content was very difficult for to leverage. In the south, things went from bad to worse. I offended many people and accumulated even more debt. Sotis I thought about just going back to Jinling. I knew your mother, Ou Xiuhua’s, temperant too well. Even though I’d done so many foolish things, we were still husband and wife then. If I went back, she would still take in. Even if by then she had completely lost faith in , even if her love for was gone. But... your mother had this... weakness in her character: she was resigned to her fate. Since she married , she accepted her lot. No matter what sses I made, as long as I returned and showed a willingness to live properly, she would continue to live with . She was a dutiful person who accepted her lot in life."
Chen Nuo sneered, "Then why didn’t you co back?"
"...I wasn’t resigned," Chen Jianshe shook his head. ", an ordinary young man from the bottom rungs of society, who had thrown away an ’iron rice bowl’ at the factory, abandoned my wife and child, and run off hoping to strike it rich! Moreover, I possessed such a huge secret! Who in the world at that ti had an ability like mine? Foreknowledge! The ability to see the future! Even if the foreknowledge was useless ten tis, a hundred tis, a thousand tis! What about the thousand-and-first ti? Who could say? I just couldn’t go back like that. I wanted to keep gambling, keep waiting, hoping that one prediction might offer a chance for overnight riches, sothing I could leverage to soar!"
Looking at Chen Jianshe, his eyes bloodshot...
This... actually, perhaps many people would think the sa way, Chen Nuo suddenly sighed internally. A seemingly limited ability of foreknowledge... But it was foreknowledge nonetheless! The ability to see the future! Chen Jianshe’s words were actually quite understandable: "Even if the foreknowledge was useless ten tis, a hundred tis, a thousand tis! What about the thousand-and-first ti?" No one would be truly resigned.
"And then?" Chen Nuo continued to ask.
"And then... it was probably when you were about two or three. One day, suddenly, I had a dream, and its content was completely unexpected. I was incredibly overjoyed! Because of the foreknowledge’s content. Firstly, it wasn’t about things around . Secondly, its tifra was no longer limited to the next day! At that mont, I felt my luck was about to turn. My fortune was changing! My ability... it had finally upgraded!"
Chen Nuo asked, "What dream?"
"I dreamt about an event in..." Chen Jianshe ntioned the na of a small Southeast Asian country.
Chen Nuo asked, "Hmm?"
"According to the dream’s foreknowledge, this event was supposed to happen in two months. So I went into a frenzy, approached many people, borrowed a lot of money, then took a gamble, and even had soone help make contact through certain channels. I went abroad! I was smuggled out by boat. You have no idea, in that era, how much suffering was involved in being smuggled out by sea. At that ti..."
"I didn’t ask you to reminisce about your past hardships," Chen Nuo interrupted coldly. "Get to the point!"
"...Alright, alright, the point, the point." Chen Jianshe gave an embarrassed laugh and continued, "I went to a city in that small country. Based on the dream’s foreknowledge, I found a location, made preparations, and just waited there. After several days, the target appeared. That night, I witnessed a battle. Two Ability Users fought a decisive battle at night, right where I was waiting. I waited until they had fought to a standstill, both grievously wounded. One of them, severely injured, fled, and I followed that person. And then..."
Chen Nuo asked, "Then what did you do?"
"I ambushed that person." A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Chen Jianshe’s eyes. "The dream’s foreknowledge showed that the person would be gravely injured and collapse during their escape. After I got there, I followed that person, found a safe house where he was hiding, and sneaked in while he was unconscious... Having witnessed their terrifying battle using Special Abilities, I dared not leave him alive! Although I had prepared ropes and such, after actually seeing the battle, I abandoned my original plan. While that person was unconscious, I decided to use a knife to slit his throat! Moreover, the dream’s foreknowledge told that safe house... was loaded! There was a box filled with a lot of money, and Gold too. Most importantly, by then I had broken into the house and seen the Ability User lying unconscious on the ground. I was just about to pull out my knife when... I suddenly heard the voice from my dreams! Not in a dream, but while I was wide awake, I heard that voice speaking directly into my mind!"
Chen Nuo leaned in. "What did it say?"
"That voice taught a thod, a thod for guiding and devouring spiritual power... A technique for wielding spiritual power. Then, using that thod, following the voice’s guidance..."
Chen Nuo pressed, "What did you do?"
"I devoured that person’s spiritual power! That person was clearly a Spiritual-type Ability User. I devoured his spiritual power, and then, I transford from an ordinary person into an Ability User."
Devouring? Devouring spiritual power? Why does that sound like sothing a Wizard would do? But this definitely wasn’t the work of a Wizard. Wizards don’t have the Ti Retrospection ability, nor do they possess foreknowledge. More than a decade ago, it was even less likely for a Wizard to go to Jinling and sche with an ordinary person like Chen Jianshe.
"After devouring it, I sensed the ’Consciousness Space’ for the first ti. I was thrilled to have transford from an ordinary person into a superhuman with incredible abilities. But it was then, for the first ti, that the voice in my head communicated with directly. This was after I’d gained the foreknowledge dream ability! In the past premonitory dreams, I could only listen unilaterally; I couldn’t interact with it at all, as I couldn’t speak in my dreams. It was always: it spoke, I listened. Until that ti, after I beca an Ability User and gained spiritual power, I was able to communicate with it for the first ti. But... that was also the only ti. That ti, it told that only after I beca an Ability User and my spiritual power had grown stronger was I capable of this kind of interaction. It told that starting that day, my dream foreknowledge ability would disappear, as this ability would evolve into a more powerful one: Ti Retrospection."
Chen Nuo said coldly, "You must have asked it what it was, right?"
"I asked, but it didn’t answer. It only told that from then on, I would no longer hear its voice because the ability had already taken shape. What I needed to do was use this ability and live well. I asked it why it gave this ability. It said a few things then, but I truly didn’t understand. I only rember it ntioning so concepts about ti—you can understand, I had just obtained a new ability, and my mind was in chaos. Moreover, I wasn’t well-educated back then; I lacked culture. I really couldn’t grasp many profound concepts. But one thing it said, I rembered. It told to use this ability to live well; the longer I lived, the better it would be for ’it.’ And, it told to keep a low profile, to hide myself. The Ti Retrospection ability could help gain a great deal, even help defeat many opponents stronger than myself. However, this ability also has a weakness... it must be used unexpectedly, to catch the opponent off guard. Actually, thinking about it, it makes sense. I used this ability against you because I was certain you were the only Ability User present then. If the Star Sky Empress had also been there, I couldn’t have won alone. This ability is only useful if used well, used cleverly. But if used poorly, it can easily lead to one’s own demise. This ability is best for ambushing enemies. But one cannot be too conspicuous. Most importantly, I must never let others know I possess this ability! Because my actual strength is still insufficient. If others learned about the Ti Retrospection ability—as long as an opponent was prepared, my ability would be useless for trapping anyone. This was sothing I figured out later. So, I’ve kept a very low profile all these years."
Chen Nuo understood all that followed. But it was sothing Chen Jianshe had said earlier that caught his attention.
"The voice told you... the longer you live, the better it is for ’it’?"
Chen Jianshe affird, "Mhmm."
Chen Nuo asked, "What does that an?"
"I don’t understand," Chen Jianshe shook his head. "I asked, but it didn’t answer. Actually... I’ve thought about it carefully since. Perhaps that exchange wasn’t real communication. How should I put it... it was as if the voice, or ’it,’ wasn’t actually speaking to . It was more like... a recording. A recording of so important information, playing in my head. That’s why I’ve replayed that exchange in my mind countless tis. It never answered my questions; it felt like it was just delivering a monologue, completely disregarding my inquiries. Later, I ca to suspect that perhaps I was rely listening to a pre-recorded ssage left in my mind."
Chen Nuo narrowed his eyes in thought, then suddenly smiled. "No, you’re still hiding sothing important, aren’t you?"
"No, no, I’ve truly told you everything!" Chen Jianshe hurriedly defended himself.
"Everything?" Chen Nuo sneered, picking up the box containing the Jade Rice Grain. "You haven’t said where this ca from!"
Chen Jianshe’s face changed. "This... this is just a small jade carving, an ordinary trinket. It has nothing to do with any of this..."
Chen Nuo looked into Chen Jianshe’s eyes and sighed. "Chen Jianshe, Chen Jianshe... If you weren’t so malicious, I might not have actually killed you. But... you brought this thing back to find ... And you claim you were moved by old feelings, coming back to see your own son... Even a vicious tiger does not eat its own cubs. So you won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin, is that it? Let tell you plainly, I have one of these too! So, I know very well what this thing is for!"
As he spoke, Chen Nuo extended a palm, and slowly, a Jade Rice Grain appeared in its center!
Chen Jianshe’s face changed drastically. He cried out in alarm, his eyes wide with shock, and he struggled frantically to leap up from the ground.
But Chen Nuo simply pointed a finger, pinning Chen Jianshe to the ground.
"Chen Jianshe, you were planning to use this for Body Seizing—to take over your own son’s body! Your Ti Retrospection ability consus lifespan. And you’re already middle-aged; you’ve enjoyed a comfortable life for so many years, but as you contemplated your advancing age, you rembered you have a young son in Jinling! To be a man nearing fifty, past his pri, or to be a young, vibrant man again? Of course, you’d choose the latter. So... your real purpose for returning this ti, aside from causing trouble for the Star Sky Empress—no, you never even truly intended to trouble the Star Sky Empress; you didn’t actually care about your disciple’s death. You rely wanted to disgust us, and then you hid. Furthermore, you wouldn’t have made any further moves against the Star Sky Empress. After all, you’ve always operated with a low profile, haven’t you, Mr. Dong Juan! Your true purpose in returning this ti was to find your son and complete the Body Seizing!"
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