Chapter 650: Restore Refresh?

Chapter 650 Restore Refresh? 

“From that moment onward, World’s End slowly became what you see today.” Sister Yun continued, “Irregularities gradually appeared here. Although they would occasionally get into fights, it is mostly peaceful. The number of Irregularities who died due to fights to seize resources is small. However, the rate at which Irregularities appear did not become as Bai Qi had described. 

“Thus, I determined that Bai Qi must have failed. I just did not know if he had died or if the Lifehymn Music Score had failed, leading to his failure to return.

“Still, it no longer had anything to do with me.

“I lived my carefree life. Until one day, I met him.”

Chen Xiaolian looked at Toto. The conversation between Chen Xiaolian and Sister Yun had been too boring for him and he had long since gone to sleep. Sister Yun had taken him off her shoulders and carried him in her arms instead.

“Earlier, you mentioned that the reason you are being so good toward him is because he resembles someone.”

“Yes. Be it his eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, all of them appeared to have come out from the same mould. There is no difference. If not for the fact that I know how this world works… … I would have mistaken him for that person’s reincarnation.”

“Your… … son?” Chen Xiaolian asked cautiously.

“Don’t be nonsensical.” Sister Yun gave Chen Xiaolian a cold stare. “I have never had a son.”

Chen Xiaolian responded with a smile. “If not that, then who?”

“The son of my former master. That was… … way back before I became an Irregularity.” Sister Yun looked down at Toto, who was sleeping in her cradling arms, at his sleeping face. Her fine eyelashes quivered gently and she said, “In the past, I had also cradled him in my arms as I rescued him and fought our way out through tens of thousands of enemy soldiers. He had not even had his first birthday that time.”

“Hold up…”

Since some time ago, Chen Xiaolian had sensed something amiss.

This person before him, with a white horse and silver spear, a complete set of silver-coloured body armour and helmet… …

A person who had rescued her master’s baby, fighting her way out through tens of thousands of enemies… …

More importantly, there was the ‘Yun’ in her name.

“Sister Yun, you… … what is your surname?”

Chen Xiaolian asked shakily.

“Zhao.” Sister Yun gave Chen Xiaolian a glance. There was the same calm expression on her face.

Chen Xiaolian, on the other hand, was left in a state of utter stupor.

Zhao- Zhao- Zhao- Zhao- Zhao- Zhao… … Zhao Yun???![1]

The unstoppable figure who broke his way through everything in the Battle of Changban, that Zhao Yun?

“Sister Yun, if you are not pulling my leg right now, that little boy you mentioned in your past, could he be… … A’dou?” Chen Xiaolian pointed at Toto, a mentally strained look on his face.

“Yes.” Sister Yun nodded.

Chen Xiaolian inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm himself down. “Let me confirm it one more time… … your name is Zhao Yun, from Changshan, Hebei. The master you were talking about earlier is Liu Bei and the baby you had saved is A’dou. You saved him in Changban Bridge. You… … you are a female?”

“Do you have any issues with females?” A chilling light flashed across Zhao Yun’s eyes.

“No! No issues! None at all!” Chen Xiaolian quickly waved his hand.

Stop joking! Since watching the children’s edition of the Three Kingdoms when he was eight, Chen Xiaolian had made Zhao Yun his idol.

Could he have any issue?

Besides… … even if it was a woman…

Chen Xiaolian furtively glanced at her face.

It seems… … quite good.

“Wait up, something is not right!”

Chen Xiaolian abruptly slapped his head and said, “You said that you were not an Irregularity when you saved A’dou! However, Bai Qi’s time is at least several hundred years before yours! What is up with the chronological order?”

“The entire world is the creation of the system. Did you think that the history you know is real history?” Zhao Yun sneered. “I have long since understood that.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.

“Enough, we are almost there. Leave idle talk for next time.”

Zhao Yun stopped moving and placed Toto down beside her.

The four of them were about to reach the foot of the mountain. Chen Xiaolian raised his head to look upward to get a better view of the grand mountain.

Half of the mountain remained hidden behind thick clouds, concealing the peak of the mountain from view. A twisting path rose up from the foot of the mountain into the clouds.

“The Palace that they were talking about… … is at the top of this mountain?” There was a rueful smile on Chen Xiaolian’s face. “It is so high up. The Devourer fighter aircraft had been destroyed as well. How long do we need to climb to make our way up there?”

“Even if the fighter aircraft is still around, did you think it will be possible to fly it up? You will be blown up before you get the chance to land.” Zhao Yun shook her head. “Besides, within this Mt Olympus instance dungeon is a restrictive barrier that Bai Qi left behind. It will not be possible to just stroll up there.”

“Restrictive barrier?” Chen Xiaolian was surprised. “How could something that Bai Qi left continue to exist after such a long time had passed?”

“This instance dungeon is the only one within World’s End that will never be refreshed. I told you earlier, after the system made changes to the mechanism here, it needed to maintain a piece of core area to serve as a transitional point for every refreshing process. Since then, Bai Qi had taken the mountain and its pantheon temple for himself, turning it into his own Royal Palace. Since the place had become his Royal Palace, it was only natural for him to forbid others from casually strolling into it.”

“If so, the others… … how are they able to make it the Coalition’s headquarters?” Chen Xiaolian did not understand. “How could they get in?”

“Before leaving, Bai Qi had gathered all the Irregularities and revealed the method of getting past the restrictive barrier to them. Although most of the Irregularities were eventually killed, a handful of survivors remained in the end. Now that so many years had gone by, those survivors are probably highly placed characters here. Take that little bat from before as an example. He had grown so fearful after just hearing Bai Qi’s name. Clearly, he must have been one of the survivors from back then.

“The survivors acquired control over the restrictive barrier and occupied the instance dungeon. Thus, it is only natural that they would have the ability to change the rules, allowing others to enter. If not because the present situation requires them to gather all the Irregularities to form the Coalition, those fellows would probably be unwilling to have others enter the place. Even so, there is no way they would have completely opened up the place. It is more likely that they have just given the other Irregularities a certain level of clearance.”

“Clearance?” Chen Xiaolian knitted his brows. “Is it a sign, token, or password? How are we going to get that?”

“How would I know?” Zhao Yun gave Chen Xiaolian a glance before continuing, “All these years, I have not had any dealings with them.”

“… … you don’t know? Then, how do we get in?” Chen Xiaolian rolled his eyes.

“Break it!”

“Break it… …?” Chen Xiaolian’s eyes were wide open as he repeated Zhao Yun’s words. “Are you sure you can do it?”

“Back then, Bai Qi was indeed far stronger than me…” Zhao Yun gave a harrumph as she looked at Chen Xiaolian. “However, that was only because we had been spending our efforts on the creation of Thirty-three Heavens while he was slaughtering his way through instance dungeons.

“Back then, despite facing all six of us in battle, he was still able to take my life. However, when we fought again here in World’s End, his victory did not come as easily.

“Besides, what we now face is not Bai Qi himself. It is just a restrictive barrier that he left behind. Do you think I can’t even break something like this?”

“All right, I trust you.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. “Break the restrictive barrier and massacre our way in?”

“Do you think we are locking a pick here?” Zhao Yun gave another harrumph. “Even if it is just a restrictive barrier, it is still something that Bai Qi had left behind. After breaking it, would there be no aftermath? When that happens, I have no way of guaranteeing your safety from the Irregularities from the Palace.”

She reached out with her right hand to trace the air. A silver line of light trailed behind her finger to form a map in mid-air.

“Mt. Olympus is actually not this high. The reason we perceive it as such is due to the restrictive barrier Bai Qi left. No matter how long you try, climbing up won’t get you up there. Only after I break the restrictive barrier would you fellows have the chance to approach the Palace atop the mountain.

“There is only one path leading up to the mountain while the others lead to cliffs. In order to let you go up using this path, I will circle around to the back and attack the restrictive barrier there. Thus, you will soon be seeing some enemies with flying equipment move to the back. Their attentions will all be upon me. However… … there is no way for me to guarantee that there would be no enemies in this path.”

“I understand.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.

“I don’t care how you plan to do it. At any rate, once that happens, I will be unable to help you with anything. Everything will depend on your own abilities. Although this is just a restrictive barrier, it is still something that Bai Qi set up. Breaking it will not be easy.” Zhao Yun pointed at the map in the air. “I do not know which part of the Palace they used to lock up the person you are looking for. You two, memorize this.”

“All right. After we rescued our companion, how do we meet up with you?” Chen Xiaolian nodded before asking.

“It depends. I am unclear how many guards there are in the Palace and how powerful they are.” Zhao Yun shook her head. “That little bat. Back then, when Bai Qi left, he should be just a minor character. His rate of growth had been fairly good. Additionally, I still cannot be certain just how much strength is needed to break the restrictive barrier. If we are lucky, I will be able to directly kill them all off and go find you all. However, if I am bogged down… …”

Zhao Yun considered it for a moment before pointing at a distant location. “Let’s meet up in that instance dungeon.”

Chen Xiaolian turned to regard the place that Zhao Yun had pointed out. It was a white, snow-filled place.

“All right, after successfully pulling off our rescue and making our way out, how do we contact you?” 

“World’s End is cleared once every three months. For someone like me, collecting equipment is a pointless endeavour. Thus, I now have nothing usable as a communication device.” Zhao Yun pondered a while before waving with her right hand. A spear appeared in her hand. “This is my spear. Its name is Silver Dragon. It is not really a solid object. It is just something I created with my skill, by condensing my power. Regardless of distance, I will be able to sense its existence. Once your rescue operation is successful and you make it to the place, cut it and I will go meet you.”

“Cut it?” Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly. “Given your level of strength, even if the weapon you created is not of the [S] class, it must be at least [A] class. What am I to use to cut it?”

“This.”

Zhao Yun pulled the Sword in the Stone from her waist and tossed it toward Chen Xiaolian, who accepted it with a look of utter shock. “You… … are giving me this? This is your loot!”

“It is just a sword,” replied Zhao Yun coolly. “Besides, this is originally yours, no?”

“You… … how did you find out?”

Chen Xiaolian was surprised.

“When Sebast pulled it out, I heard you shouting out. Besides, when we were walking earlier, you had looked at it a few times. Still, those are not important. What is important… …” Zhao Yun raised her head as she once again recalled something. “I saw it, the message Umbrella left you inside the sword.”

“Mr San?” Chen Xiaolian looked down at the sword in his hand. “You… … how could you see it?”

“I’ve known him for so long, his ways are familiar to me. I had also seen the Sword Skill he left inside the sword before.” Zhao Yun lowered her head. Her eyes were filled with emotions. “This sword has followed you all the way to World’s End and you too, managed to encounter it. This is probably fate.”

“… … thank you.” Chen Xiaolian gave a heart-filled bow toward Zhao Yun. Then, he looked at Toto, who was in her arms. There was a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Zhao Yun had not said a word. She simply looked calmly at Chen Xiaolian.

“I understand your intentions,” said Chen Xiaolian softly. “The lamp, anyone can follow your instructions to use it, right?”

“Naturally, you won’t be able to fully utilize all its functions. However, once its projection had locked on to a target in World’s End, yes.”

“I am sorry, I cannot do it yet.” Chen Xiaolian looked at Bluesea, who was beside him. Gritting his teeth, he then said, “He is my friend. Like I said before, I want to take him back.”

Zhao Yun calmly looked at Bluesea but said nothing.

“The reason World’s End stopped refreshing is because you used the Guiding Link Fire’s projection to protect Toto, allowing part of his body to return to the outside world. An Awakened who is only partially here cannot be located by the system. But once this error disappears, the automatic refreshing process will restart.”

“Yes, that is correct.” Zhao Yun nodded.

“For you and me, there will be no difference. However, for him…” Chen Xiaolian pointed at Bluesea. “It is different for him! He is neither an Irregularity nor an Awakened! Once the refresh process begins anew, we will survive. But Bluesea will be refreshed! I have said it before, but I want to bring him back. Thus, before we return, I will not let Toto leave World’s End!”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian turned the Sword in the Stone, which was in his hand, so that its hilt faced the opposite direction. “If you insist on such a request, regrettably, I can only say sorry.”

Zhao Yun quietly regarded the hilt of the sword that Chen Xiaolian had turned toward her without saying anything.

“Wait.” Suddenly, Bluesea broke the atmosphere of silence and turned to face Chen Xiaolian. “Do you think that it is possible, given your current state, for the two of us to rescue out Brother Qiao’s daughter?”

“Of course.” Chen Xiaolian did not turn to look at Bluesea. He continued staring at Zhao Yun.

“But without her, you and I would be long dead by now,” said Bluesea with a smile. “Chen Xiaolian, look at me.”

Chen Xiaolian did not turn his head.

“Fine, just listen.” Bluesea shook his head as he looked at Chen Xiaolian from the side. He continued, “Brother Qiao’s daughter is a member of your guild, I am not. Even more so, she is your girlfriend. It is true, I may have been your friend once, but I do not believe that I hold a higher place in your heart compared to her.

“I have already lost all the memories and abilities of the past me. Even if I do return to the outside world, it will be impossible for me to become the past Bluesea again, the one you once knew. There is no need for you to take such a huge risk in order to protect me.”

“Mr Bluesea, you are right.” Chen Xiaolian finally turned his head. He looked Bluesea in the eye and said, “Qiao Qiao is my guild member, and my girlfriend. Originally, I had entered World’s End to find her. I had never thought that I would meet you here.”

“If I had never found out that you are here, I will not hesitate to send Toto back. As for the other Awakened ones, it is as you said earlier, they had long since lost all their memories and abilities. Getting cleared by the system is their inevitable fate.

“I know that I have become very weak. It is possible that half the Irregularities in this world can kill me. I know too, that without her assistance, the chances of me rescuing Qiao Qiao becomes very small. I know all those very well.

“However, you are now standing before me! I now know that you are here, alive. And… … I have the ability to take you away! This is not a question of whether you are more important than Qiao Qiao. Rather, I, Chen Xiaolian, cannot simply watch as my friend walk toward his own death. Even if it is for the sake of my loved one!”

“If I could do that, then in the Manhattan instance dungeon, I would have let Wu Ya kill you all.” There was a resolute and unwavering look in Chen Xiaolian’s eyes as he looked at Bluesea. “However, I cannot do it, Mr Bluesea.”

A clapping sound rang out from beside them.

“A very touching declaration of friendship.” Zhao Yun raised her eyebrows as her gaze swept past both Chen Xiaolian and Bluesea. “However, I don’t recall saying that the refreshing function of World’s End will be restored the moment you send Toto back.”

“What?” Chen Xiaolian’s eyes were wide open as he turned to look at Zhao Yun.

1 Zhao Yun is a decorated general from the Three Kingdoms era of China and also Dynasty Warrior's poster boy. ↩