Hearing this, a complex smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face. That smile held satisfaction, heaviness, and endless sentiment.
"My path... is a path of continuous expansion." He raised his hand, palm up, and a faint light surfaced. Within that radiance, it was as if countless stars were being born and dying, flora was growing and withering, and civilizations were rising and falling.
"I try to understand, to connect, to become the 'Is' of all existence. Every joy of a living being, every memory of a civilization, every minor affirmation of existence—they all make this net a little sturdier. But it's like building a castle on the beach. Every time the waves (the Void) crash against it, I have to expend immense mental effort to repair and reinforce it."
He retracted the light, his gaze turning profound.
"So, your path has shown me another possibility. If I can become a 'net' that covers existence, you might become an 'anchor' that pins down time. Our paths might be able to resonate with one another."
Qian Renxue nodded silently. The breadth of Tang Wulin's path and the depth of her own formed a fascinating contrast and complemented each other perfectly.
"In three days," she repeated the timeframe, both as a confirmation and a farewell.
"In three days," Tang Wulin also nodded. "The passage will open for you. Take care, Qian Renxue."
"You take care too, Tang Wulin."
Over the next three days, Qian Renxue prepared with Tang Wulin's assistance. The ritual to seal her divine throne was conducted in a tranquil hall, the process solemn and perilous. She had to personally compress and condense her surging divine power and her connection to the divine throne into a tangible "Divine Core," sealing it deep within the recesses of her consciousness. When the final rune fell into place, the vast power receded from her body like an ebbing tide, leaving only a trickle flowing through her meridians. A long-forgotten, mortal sense of "weight" and "limitation" distinctly returned. She could feel hunger, fatigue, and even the subtle temperature shifts in the air.
Tang Wulin handed her a prepared travel pack containing everything suited for her identity in this era: identity documents for the wandering scholar "Xue Yan," currency, maps, a few sets of plain clothes, and some basic reference materials.
At dawn on the third day, under the faint morning light, Qian Renxue—now Xue Yan—stood before the passage to the Douluo Continent. She wore plain white traveling clothes, her long hair tied back simply. There was no trace of divine radiance on her anymore; only her eyes remained as clear and profound as ever, sedimented with ten thousand years of time.
"Remember," Tang Wulin gave his final warning. "This journey is solely for seeking and anchoring. Unless it is absolutely necessary, do not touch your foundation. Everything you see, experience, and feel will become a part of your future."
"I understand." Xue Yan nodded, then resolutely turned and stepped into the swirling nebula of light.
...
The entrance to the God Realm's passage wasn't a physical structure, but a swirling, nebula-like halo of light. Standing before it, Qian Renxue could feel a familiar gravitational pull—the call of her homeland, mixed with an alienation brought about by ten thousand years of time. She reached into her pack, her fingertips brushing against a cold metal surface. It was the identification Tang Wulin had given her: a wandering scholar's badge, along with a small pouch of currency circulating in this era.
"Remember," Tang Wulin's voice gave one final reminder, his figure looking hazy against the backdrop of the passage's halo. "You are now Xue Yan, twenty-four years old, a wandering scholar from the Extreme North. Your parents were scholars who went missing during the early investigations of the abyssal rifts. This background gives you a valid reason to travel anywhere and won't draw excessive attention."
Qian Renxue—now Xue Yan—nodded. She took one last look at the God Realm, the place she had guarded for thousands of years, then turned and stepped into the halo in a single stride.
The sensation of traveling through the God Realm's passage was entirely different from flying or teleporting. It was a feeling of being stripped away—not physically, but in an existential sense. She felt her identity as the "Angel God" being wrapped and compressed layer by layer, stuffed into a locked box deep within her consciousness. Her divine power receded like a tide, leaving only the most basic trace behind—roughly equivalent to the power of a Rank 60 Soul Master. This was the absolute limit of the sealing ritual; any less, and she wouldn't be able to maintain her physical form.
At the same time, a long-lost sensation returned.
The sound of a heartbeat. The subtle rush of blood flowing. The rhythm of lungs expanding and contracting. Having been a deity for thousands of years, she had long forgotten these underlying textures of life. A deity's body was a perfect construct of energy, unburdened by fatigue, immune to illness, and free from physiological limitations. But now, she could clearly feel gravity pulling at her body, feel the crisp morning air stimulating her nasal cavity, and even feel the slight twitch in her stomach caused by nervousness.
The other end of the passage opened into a forest in the northern part of the Douluo Continent.
The moment Qian Renxue walked out of the halo and her feet touched the ground, a medley of scents washed over her. The earthy smell of soil, the sour tang of rotting leaves, the faint fragrance of wildflowers in the distance—and... something else. Something off. An indescribable sense of thinness, as if the world's "concentration" had been diluted. It was the influence of the abyssal rift, just as Tang Wulin had warned her.
She looked around. The forest appeared ordinary at first glance: oaks, maples, and pines growing in a mix, with sunlight filtering down through the canopy in dappled patches. But upon closer inspection, she could spot the anomalies—the shadows of certain trees fell in the wrong directions, a few plants that should have been green were an unhealthy grayish-blue, and almost imperceptible ripples occasionally flashed in the air.
"The spacetime structure is already unstable," she murmured to herself, relying on the instinctive perception of a time anchor. "No wonder the God of Destruction said we only have ten years."
Following the map Tang Wulin had given her, she made her way toward the nearest town. After three hours of walking, a small town appeared on the horizon. Compared to ten thousand years ago, the architecture had changed drastically. Houses were mostly built from synthetic materials with streamlined shapes, and the majority of roofs were fitted with solar panels. Vehicles that didn't require soul power to drive hummed down the streets, and the people wore simple, practical clothing in strikingly vibrant colors.
A sign stood at the entrance of the town: Northwind Town — Abyssal Observation Outpost No. 3.
Several people in uniform were checking pedestrians at the town gate. Their uniforms were dark blue, and they wore a badge on their chests: an eye gazing intently at a spiral-shaped rift.
"Identification," a young woman said, stopping Qian Renxue. Her tone was polite but left no room for argument.
Qian Renxue handed over her wandering scholar badge and identity documents. The woman took them and scanned them with a device in her hand. The device emitted a soft green light.
"Xue Yan, wandering scholar from the Extreme North," the woman read off the screen. "Purpose of your visit to Northwind Town?"
"Academic research," Qian Renxue replied according to her prepared script. "I am writing a paper on the impact of the abyssal rifts on the surrounding ecological environment, and I need to collect first-hand data."
The woman nodded. This was a very common sight here. Ever since the first abyssal rift had appeared deep within the Great Star Dou Forest thirty years ago, scholars, Soul Masters, and curious onlookers from across the continent had been flooding to the various observation outposts in an endless stream.
------------------------------------------------------
30+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)