Chapter 83

Chapter 83

“....”

Li Fufeng’s words plunged everyone into a deathly silence. The speculation he had put forward, though perhaps still rough, had no obvious flaws in its most crucial parts.

Moreover, even if the possibility of it being true was only one in ten million, it was still utterly unacceptable to everyone present.

This suddenly made him, who originally had no presence, the focus of the crowd, attracting the gaze of every person.

Even the “transmigrators” were no exception.

They looked at Li Fufeng as if they were looking at a true hero.

... In this place where almost all the powerful figures from twelve cities had gathered, they, a group of martial arts novices who had grown up in a peaceful world, had almost knelt down due to the conflicting auras just now, hadn’t they? It was as dangerous as being in the eye of a storm!

... This fellow transmigrator could still think so calmly and had the courage to stand up and speak. What a brave and magnificent act!

At this moment, even the “transmigrators” with their own agendas were shocked. Their gaze towards Li Fufeng was not just one of amazement, but had even reached the level of admiration.

“Clap clap clap clap clap!”

The sudden applause broke everyone’s varied thoughts and the previously quiet, almost eerie atmosphere.

“How amazing, Mr. Consultant!” Two pairs of sparkling eyes simultaneously fixed on Li Fufeng. The siblings, whose resemblance was so strong that even someone with zero deductive skills could tell their relationship at first glance, maintained a synchronized head-turning motion. They looked up at the man at the center of attention with gazes full of shock and admiration, clapping like seals. “Just knowing a few clues and being able to quickly unravel and analyze so much... Are all men with the title of consultant this impressive? Whether it’s a crime consultant or any other kind of consultant...”

As they spoke, their voices got lower and lower. But everyone present had cultivated abilities, and could clearly hear Ji Heng’s subsequent muttering.

“I’ve got it!” Ji Nian suddenly clapped her hands together, naturally picking up where her brother left off. She exclaimed in realization, “You must be the legendary Sherlock Li Moriarty!”

“?”

“???”

“????”

Question marks appeared in the eyes of those around them in an arithmetic progression. In the center of the pupils surrounded by question marks, the reflected images showed the nearly identical excited and adoring faces of the siblings, as well as Li Fufeng’s slowly cracking smile.

The situation is very complicated now.

He looked at these two companions he had casually brought along, he felt a long-forgotten sense of suffocation and heaviness from being surrounded by silliness.

... He regretted it now, deeply regretted it.

What were these two doing... Earlier they had been in an absent-minded state mixed in with the crowd, seemingly confused by the unexpected situation. Now it seemed they had finally come to their senses, but the first thing they did upon regaining consciousness was to torment him???

... How on earth did they manage to say such embarrassing lines in public?

Here’s my translation and paraphrase of the Chinese text into English, keeping the requested elements in mind:

Li Fufeng’s words plunged everyone into a deathly silence. Though his conjecture may have been rough, the most critical parts had no obvious flaws. Even if the chances of it being true were one in a million, it was utterly unacceptable to everyone present.

This suddenly thrust Li Fufeng, who had previously been unremarkable, into the spotlight, drawing the gaze of every person there. Even the “transmigrators” were no exception. They looked at Li Fufeng as if he were a true hero.

In their minds, they thought: “In this place filled with nearly all the extraordinary beings from the twelve cities, we novices raised in a peaceful world almost fell to our knees from the clashing auras earlier! It was like being caught in the eye of a storm!”

“Yet this fellow traveler could still think so calmly and had the courage to speak up. What an incredibly brave act!”

At that moment, even the “transmigrators” with their own agendas were deeply impressed. Their gazes toward Li Fufeng went beyond mere amazement, reaching a level of genuine admiration.

Suddenly, encouraging applause broke the various trains of thought and the eerily quiet atmosphere.

“How amazing, Mr. Advisor!” Two pairs of sparkling eyes simultaneously fixed on Li Fufeng. The siblings, whose resemblance was obvious even to the most oblivious observer, maintained perfect synchronization as they turned their heads. They gazed up at the man who was now the center of attention, their eyes filled with awe and reverence as they clapped like seals. “Just from knowing a few clues, you could quickly unravel and analyze so much. Are all men with the title of advisor this impressive, whether they’re crime advisors or whatever else?”

As they spoke, their voices grew quieter. But everyone present had cultivated abilities, so they clearly heard Ji Heng’s muttered words.

“I’ve got it!” Ji Nian suddenly clapped her hands together, continuing her brother’s mumbling. She exclaimed in realization, “You must be the legendary Sherlock Lee Moriarty!”

“?” “???” “?????”

Question marks appeared in the eyes of those around them in an arithmetic sequence. At the center of the question mark-surrounded pupils were reflected the excited and adoring faces of the siblings, along with Li Fufeng’s gradually cracking smile.

Bai Yi was feeling very complicated at the moment.

Looking at these two companions he had casually brought along, he felt a long-forgotten sense of suffocation and heaviness from being surrounded by silliness.

He was regretting it now, deeply regretting it.

What were these two doing... Earlier they had been in a daze, mixed in with the crowd, seemingly confused by the unexpected situation. Now that they had finally come to their senses, the first thing they did was to embarrass him?

How on earth could they say such cringe-worthy lines in public?

Feeling the gazes from all directions falling on him, although he was still bathed in just as many stares as before, Li Fufeng keenly sensed that the meaning behind these looks had changed... It was as if... he too had been lumped together with those two unreliable characters.

This was terrible. If it made others disbelieve the nonsense he had just spouted... No, it was already terrible. Every time he encountered these siblings “acting up,” Li Fufeng found himself involuntarily transforming into the role of the straight man.

He silently sorted out the jumbled emotions in his heart and skillfully put on a smile. “Actually, I was just guessing randomly.”

“No, it wasn’t just a random guess. Your conjecture is very possible,” said Qing Fei, who had interacted with the siblings numerous times and was somewhat familiar with their personalities. As a fellow victim who had experienced social death situations, she was the first to regain her composure. She too skillfully ignored the silly duo and continued, “Actually, for a long time now, finding myself repeating the previous day’s life day after day, I’ve often wondered...”

Under the black night sky blanketing everything, beneath the faint starlight, the sand grains spreading across the field of vision resembled a golden ocean. The little girl’s red dress was blown by the cold night wind. She stretched out a hand, her outstretched fingers catching the flowing starlight.

A fleeting confusion passed through her clear pupils.

“...Is this world real?” she wondered. “Am I... truly existing?”

The atmosphere suddenly sank into an inexplicable low. Although they didn’t know exactly why, almost everyone was infected by Qing Fei’s state of mind, thanks to her high-level rendering and suppression. They seemed to be drawn into her vast, empty mental landscape, seeing what she saw – a hazy, unreal sky and earth.

“Anyway, now we need to find the real Heavenly Capital and awaken its ruler, right?” The “transmigrators,” due to their low cultivation levels, were easily influenced by her will. But the natives here, all top experts from the twelve cities, almost instantly shook off the influence. Someone impatiently spoke up.

“Since that’s the case, let’s get to it quickly. I don’t want to live in a world that could be reset by a time loop at any moment, or one that might fall apart once the reset ends.”

“So, we’ve reached a consensus?”

Those gathered here were either decision-makers of the twelve cities or high-level individuals who had determined countless people’s fates with their own powerful martial strength. They understood priorities clearly. The primary task now was to enter the true Heavenly Capital and awaken its ruler; other details could be dealt with later.

Thus, the conflicts and unpleasantries that had occurred earlier were unanimously forgotten. Everyone’s attention focused on the illusory ruins of the Heavenly Capital before them, or more precisely, on the very center of the ruins.

Passing through the mirage-like broken walls and pillars, treading on the sand grains and bones beneath their feet, this group that had finally come together with some semblance of unity made their way to the very heart of the ruins – the remains of half a palace, still just an untouchable illusion.

In his line of sight, a silhouette that had fallen behind was being pursued by patches of nothingness. Starting from where it touched the void, ankles, calves, arms—the blank nothingness was like an invisible eraser, instantly erasing half of him in a moment.

Without a doubt, the next to go would be his upper body and head. It would likely disappear in less than a breath’s time.

Looking back for a moment while fleeing for one’s life was the limit.

As Li Fufeng turned his gaze away, in his final glimpse, that silhouette completely vanished. His heart couldn’t help but skip a beat heavily.

—Everyone who witnessed this scene couldn’t help but feel afraid. It was difficult for anyone not to be scared after seeing a living person erased like a piece of paper.

However, amidst the terror, a sense of confusion also arose in Li Fufeng’s mind. He instinctively recalled the scene he had just witnessed. Every detail replayed constantly in his mind.

If he hadn’t seen wrong... the reaction of that person wasn’t quite right. Just before being overtaken and devoured by the void, that person was utterly terrified, but the moment their body actually made contact with that blank nothingness, that fear seemed to vanish.

...Even the scream cut off abruptly.

He appeared as if he had just awakened from a dream, wearing an expression of sudden realization. No longer struggling or crying out, his expression could be described as calm.

In the end, his face even showed a serene expression.

—It was as if he had calmly and serenely accepted death. This was the perfect ending he had long hoped for.

Li Fufeng shuddered at his own imagination. Even the knife-like cold wind scraping his face was momentarily ignored.

In this moment of desperate escape, he couldn’t help but admire himself for still having the presence of mind to imagine so much. Perhaps it was a symptom of his professional habits, but something about this situation seemed off...

Just as his thoughts began to form, the world in front of him suddenly spun. He felt like a small cookie being flung out, quickly tracing an arc through the air before landing on the ground with a thud. He instinctively rolled half a turn to absorb the impact before coming to a stop.

Immediately after, a series of thuds sounded nearby, and he heard the familiar cries of the Ji Heng and Ji Nian siblings.

Brilliant starlight shone down, illuminating the ancient city wall beneath him, covered in sword and blade marks. A hand reached out to Li Fufeng. “How long are you planning to lie there? Get up quickly.”

Li Fufeng grabbed Liu Ningshuang’s hand and stood up. Seeing the group of lively transmigrators around him, he realized what had happened. “This is the Heavenly Capital... We all made it?” There was a sense of unreality, as if a hellishly difficult game had suddenly been cleared.

“...” Liu Ningshuang was silent for a moment. “No.”

“Not everyone arrived...” Her tone lacked its usual cheerfulness, her gaze fixed straight ahead beyond the city wall. Her brows had unknowingly furrowed tightly. “It seems... they can’t get in?”

Li Fufeng was stunned for a moment, carefully surveying the scene. Only then did he realize that all the survivors standing on the city wall were “transmigrators” from Blue Star, while not a single native inhabitant was present.

Logically, Qing Fei should have been the first to arrive... With an ominous feeling rising in his heart, Li Fufeng’s gaze towards the outside of the city wall met the little girl’s eyes.

“Qing Fei—”

His line of sight fell upon the world behind the girl, constantly dissolving into nothingness, and those silhouettes blocked outside the Heavenly Capital, starting from the back of the crowd, continuously melting into the void.

Though their bodies were disappearing, their faces showed only smiles...

Earlier, it was they who had fled in panic, desperately trying to escape to the Heavenly Capital. But at the moment of being dissolved by the void, they smiled and accepted their fate, seemingly without any regrets.

...How strange.

And this scene of willingly “embracing death” appeared incredibly eerie and horrifying to the remaining survivors.

As the entire world disintegrated, the only safe zone left was a small circle outside of the Heavenly Capital. The survivors trapped in the safe zone were blocked from entering by the Heavenly Capital’s invisible force. Facing the inevitability of the safe zone’s continued collapse and their unavoidable demise, even those at the pinnacle of this world’s power hierarchy couldn’t help but lose their composure.

“What should we do now? What can we do?”

“Why is this happening? Is the Heavenly Capital rejecting us?”

“But we have the token...”

“Is this the fate the Lord of the Heavenly Capital prepared for us? To be buried along with this doomed world...”

“Were our deductions wrong? Did the Lord of the Heavenly Capital never intend to take us along? Wasn’t the City Lord’s token supposed to be our pass into the Heavenly Capital?” The most short-tempered among them, the City Lord of Cunshou City, was on the verge of an outburst. He unhesitatingly charged towards the ancient city wall, his body seemingly engulfed in a whirlwind. “Damn it, damn it, let me in! I must get in—”

Boom! Boom boom boom boom!

In mid-air, this master-level being seemed to transform himself into a divine weapon. Each punch and kick carried enough force to collapse mountains, like thunderous artillery fire bombarding the city wall.

“It’s useless,” someone spoke from behind.

While others might not have noticed, the “transmigrators” standing on the city wall had long since observed the strange behavior of the natives below. Except for the City Lord of Cunshou City who was still desperately trying to enter the Heavenly Capital, the others simply stood behind him, calmly watching the scene. They made no move to stop him or to help. They also paid no attention to the encroaching void behind them.

...They were far too calm.

Even the hot-tempered Yan Wu, the City Lord of Cunshou City, sensed something was amiss. He turned around in frustration, extremely annoyed by these unhelpful individuals: “How do you know it’s useless if we don’t try? Why aren’t you helping? What are you all—”

The words caught in his throat. Before him were faces filled with calm enlightenment, which made him extremely uncomfortable. His whole body felt uneasy. “W-what’s going on?”

“Haven’t you realized it yet? You really are a fool who hasn’t crossed over,” said Qing Fei in her red dress, her mocking expression and tone instantly igniting his anger.

Next to speak was the City Lord of Shouxing City, who had also reached the Seeing the Heaven realm. The old man sighed with deep emotion. “The dead cannot enter the world of the living. Illusions can only remain in dreams. We’ve long since become a group of dead people.”

“What... are you all talking about...” Yan Wu unconsciously took a step back, unaware of the stiffness in his own voice.

Another person spoke up. “I’ve remembered now. That terrifying storm years ago didn’t just destroy the entire Sword Realm... All of us died back then!”

These people murmured one after another. “Are we now just the lingering thoughts of the dead, or...”

“Although we’ve decided to calmly accept our fate, still, we can’t help but feel reluctant,” Qing Fei slowly walked to the front of the crowd, her palm touching the tightly closed gates of the Heavenly Capital. “We still don’t know the truth, and haven’t seen that person – the one who created all this and gave us another ‘life’.”

She repeated emphatically—

“To disappear like this, we really are reluctant.”

A hidden force on the surface of the city gate repelled her approach, but Qing Fei paid no mind. She pushed hard with her hand.

First her fingers, then her palm, followed by her forearm – half of her arm was instantly shattered by the suddenly erupting force. At that moment, a tiny crack appeared in the tightly closed great door.

An immense radiance flowed out from within, instantly engulfing the entire world and covering everyone’s vision.

“Sword Master, it’s time for you to wake up too.”



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