Chapter 128: Blue Ink

The long sword, capable of delivering a killing blow from the White Emperor and tearing through the obsessions of ghosts with earth-shattering force, pierced straight through the chest of [Di Shi Tian]. Yet, it spoke with a human voice, completely unscathed. Of course, he was unscathed; from the very beginning, the only way to withstand the violent, high-speed pull—reaching over ten times the speed of sound—was to extend the domain of the Thunder Soldiers, spreading out and projecting the Magnetic Wraith Walker.

Lan Yi’s original intention in doing this was to fish.

Since you prefer to hide underground, I shall hide in outer space.

You cannot reach me, and you can only suffer the blows.

In any case, your number of Obsessed Ones diminishes with every battle, while my electromagnetic avatars are endless so long as there is sufficient spiritual energy. I can use the fastest speed and the most thunderous power to force you all out!

Dare not come out?

Then I will use my electromagnetic avatar to perform Taoist arts and repeat the same trick, prying your tortoise shells wide open!

The Five Emperors were all shocked and horrified!

They were not shocked by [Di Shi Tian] being unscathed.

They were shocked that [Di Shi Tian] had spoken.

It is well known that ghosts cannot communicate. The essence of a ghost is a spiritual entity stacked with extreme negative emotions; their obsessions are limited to killing, consuming, violating, and satisfying their impulses. At a slightly higher level, they might engage in torturing intellect, trampling on beauty, or violating reason. This is what ghosts do, and it is all they are capable of doing.

[Di Shi Tian] speaking could only prove one thing.

He was not a ghost.

"Wait, are you an Obsessed One as well?" The Green Emperor, realizing this, hurriedly shouted. "Then why attack us? Shouldn't you also have received the guidance to come to the future and slay ghosts?!"

Setting aside the truth or falsehood of his claim about using only twenty percent of his power to kill, after one cycle of true-name liberation, the Five Emperors all needed time to replenish their spiritual energy. They hoped to clear up this misunderstanding rather than inexplicably fighting to the death with a powerhouse like Lan Yi. Unless one is a born warmonger, who would want to risk their life in a pointless brawl with a powerhouse?

Perhaps it was because he saw they were still human that Lan Yi, who had been prepared to wipe out these Obsessed Ones in one fell swoop, paused.

"The reason is simple: there is still a glimmer of hope in this world. I wish to liberate the human race from their suffering, and your actions on the other side of the time crystal are accelerating the demise of that hope."

This man was speaking in Chinese.

Why, when put together, did it sound so incomprehensible?

Although the Five Emperors were powerful, their status as the elites of the 2055 Artificial God Realm was largely due to luck rather than diligent practice. They lacked the systematic learning and accumulation of Taoist arts that spiritual cultivators possessed, lacked broad insight, and even lacked motivation when they did study.

Naturally, they could not understand Lan Yi’s words.

"Isn't the world saved only if we kill all the ghosts in the future?" The Yellow Emperor, still in the midst of merging, asked.

"If this were the first time ghosts appeared, such a method might be effective. But this is the umpteenth hundred-thousandth loop of this world. The more ghosts you kill in the future, the fewer effective channels there are for the congested emotional field to vent, and the faster the apocalyptic ghost tide of the past erupts."

The faster the apocalypse erupts.

The more easily the remaining normal humans are drained dry in a more miserable and desperate end. The future of the human race will be annihilated even faster in this cycle!

A deep sense of pity resonated in the voice of Lan Yi’s electromagnetic avatar.

The Obsessed Ones were the most tragic of all.

They thought they were saving the world, risking their lives for friends, family, and the world itself, controlled by that mysterious existence, fighting desperately in the future—yet the result was that they were accelerating the arrival of the apocalypse.

Lan Yi did not say it directly.

But regarding the meaning of life and battle.

How could the Obsessed Ones not hear the deep implication? It was almost like pointing a finger at their noses and telling them: You are being used! You are the culprits accelerating the apocalypse!

"That's impossible! What evidence do you have?" The Red Emperor, holding the Human Emperor Flag, finally broke down, roaring in a state of near-collapse.

The Red Emperor was a Federation soldier by identity.

Every time he liberated the Human Emperor Flag, he was deeply infected by the spirit of the artifact.

*A land of mourning and blood, all for the sake of saving the common people!*

The Red Emperor had always believed that the sacrifice was worth it. Even if he were the only one left, he was willing to fight in the future until death arrived. But now he was being told that his battle was not only worthless but was accelerating the apocalypse. What, then, had he walked this path for?

Crossing the corpses of his comrades, crossing the killing fields.

And the result was this...

"Evidence? I think in previous cycles, I must have come to the future as well, and I kept a little bit of feeling. Before I realized the truth, I also fought side-by-side with you to clear out the ghosts."

When it came to evidence, Lan Yi thought seriously for a moment.

With his abilities.

Clearing the ghosts across the globe in the future should not be difficult; the difficulty lay in discovering the truth and the emotional field.

"Given my personality, after discovering the truth, I would definitely have done something to the moon."

Having said this, the electromagnetic light on the avatar’s hand flickered slightly.

As the projection light transitioned from blurry to stable, resembling the image received by an outdated analog television, an image of the moon flickered into existence before the Five Emperors.

"My name is Lan Yi."

The perspective gradually shifted from the front of the moon to the far side.

Then, the Five Emperors were struck dumb. Though incredibly blurry, they all saw it: on the far side of the moon, there was a large character for "Lan"! This was the ironclad proof left behind by Lan Yi—who had discovered the truth in one of the cycles—as a desperate, last-ditch effort before the next restart!

"Holy shit!!"

"Did you see that!!"

"Lan!!"

Wang Ao shouted excitedly through the glass of the lunar module. There was actually a "Lan" on the dark side of the moon. This had to be the work of the Old Demon Lan. This method of writing on satellites was a favorite flex of the spiritual cultivators in the Prime World—seeing the character was like seeing the Emperor himself!

"Stop shouting. His handwriting is hurting my eyes, and your voice is hurting my ears." Li Yang couldn't help but tell this middle-school-syndrome-stricken king to quiet down over the comms.

"Attention passengers, the next stop is the Moon." Lin Cheng joined in the fun at the right moment. As a regular on the top three of the wanted list, he actually didn't have many friends, so it was quite nice to have the chance to join in the fun after being reborn.

The three of them were on their way to the base on the far side of the moon.

According to their deductions, the far-side base contained records of the decisions and efforts of spiritual cultivators from previous cycles.

And this was likely their only remaining chance.

According to the rate of the cycle's expansion, it might be this time that the spiritual field, having absorbed more of humanity's extreme emotions, would cover the moon. At that point, the moon would also be incorporated into the cycle, which meant their only means of turning the tide might soon become ineffective. Mars was simply too far away, so they had to make good use of this opportunity.

"Are you children a problem? Are you letting yourselves go just because Lan Yi isn't here?"

"Take the mission seriously."

"Be careful, or he'll come back and spank you."

Zhuo Nuo's words sent a chill through the three spiritual cultivators; if anyone brought it up, the Old Demon Lan would absolutely spank them.