Chapter 745: Hut

When he stepped into the hut, he found himself in a vast room. Stone walls stretched high overhead and gaped wide in every direction. Tigers, carved from pure white jade, growled at him from either side of the hall, lining the path down the center of the hallway. At the far end of the enormous hall, a huge throne stood tall over him.

Atop the throne, a small figure sat, dressed in gold. It drummed its fingers on the arm of the chair. With a gesture, it waved Hui closer. Come.

Hui bowed as he walked, approaching with caution. He eyed up the passing tigers, wary of them. They look so lifelike. Theyre totally going to kill me, arent they? I dont trust them.

On the other hand, we did find the White Tigers shrine, or whatever this is. Theres something related to the White Tiger here, anyways, if not the White Tiger itself. But I guess theres no point worrying about that this time around.

That person on the throne I cant sense any pressure from them. Either theyre basically mortal or theyre so incredibly powerful that I cant even sense them. Hui swallowed. Yeah. I can guess which one it is.

He peeked up. Closer to the throne, he could make out a child, maybe twelve years old. The boy wore regal imperial robes in all gold, with dragons embroidered on its surface. He looked quietly down at Hui, waiting. Unbothered.

I dont want to get any closer. I wont possibly be able to escape if I get any closer.

Though, perhaps there was never any hope of escape in the first place. The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Hui dropped down to the ground and kowtowed.

The boy waited.

Hui laid there, unmoving. Im not getting any closer. Acknowledge me or not! But Im not moving!

A sigh. The boy sat up. Theres no need for this fear. Whether you take precautions or not, theres nothing you can do. Your death is inevitable.

Ah yes, Hui agreed. He hesitated, then stood and walked closer. If theres no need for fear, then I suppose I wont fear. No point to cower and hesitate if Im facing an atomic bomb as an ant.

The boy looked surprised. Really?

Eh? Should I have not? Hui asked, quickly dropping back to the ground.

No, its just every other time, you The boy waved his hand. Never mind.

Out of all of those worlds, one caught my eye. A world of shining steel, where even the buildings were clad in light. Where mere mortals used magical techniques the most advanced cultivator would only dream of, and lived in luxury greater than the most powerful emperor. A world where

My world, Hui said, cutting him off. Theres not incriminating yourself, and theres having to listen to a villains entire life story monologue. I think I can go ahead and guess where this ones going.

The boy pointed at him. Indeed. I watched that world, and I marveled. Every night through my childhood, I dreamed of that world. Even as I became a cultivator and ascended rapidly through the ranks, I still dreamed of that world. And yet, it remained tantalizingly out of my reach. No matter how much I learned, no matter how powerful I became, I still could not enter that world.

And so, I thought why not create that world here?

Then, thats the mortal villages in the Immortal Realm, Hui guessed.

The boy pointed. Precisely. I thought Id simply recreate the conditions to create that world of yours here, and let it come to fruition on its own. However I dont know whats gone wrong. Is this world too stagnant? Do the people not dream of more? No matter what limitations I put on these people, no matter how much I try to recreate the world I saw in my dreams, I simply could not make it come true.

After centuries of failure, I had another thought. If I couldnt create the world I wanted, why not bring someone who could? Someone who saw that glittering realm of light and steel, who dreamed the same dreams I did, who could bring it to reality. And so

And so, here I am, Hui said, putting his hands behind his back and nodding.

Indeed. It took far more effort than I thought. More than once, I gave it up as impossible. The spells I had to cast went counter to this worlds laws, its Dao, everything. But fortunately, there were other worlds, and cultivators who came from other worlds to this one.

Chen Wuyas spirit-summoning array. But it was in the mortal realm, which you couldnt reach. So you had to manipulate mere lower-realm cultivators to use the array for you, Hui said, nodding. I couldnt forget it if I wanted to. Terrorizing me nonstop in the lower levels unpleasant, entirely unpleasant.

The boy looked at him. If you know, why did you pretend as if you didnt?

Hui waved his hand. Ah, no, no. Please, continue.

While that plan failed, I gained the knowledge of your presence and qi signature from that series of events, and thus, I was able to occasionally reach into the mortal realm and attempt to find you. It failed, as you well know, but at that point, I was able to monitor your growth. Although I never gave up on my attempts to capture you, I knew youd be coming to my realm sooner or later. And so, I waited.

Mmm, I see, Hui said, nodding.

The boys grip on the arm of his chair tightened. His knuckles went white. That was over five hundred years ago. Five hundred years of this abominable game of cat and mouse. Please. Give up. Let me realize my dream. All I want, is to bring your world here. To use you as an anchor to merge our worlds, and drag your world into this stagnant reality. Force the world to finally change and grow!

Hui stood upright. He looked the boy in the eye for the first time. Respectfully, Senior? I refuse.