Above The Sky
Chapter 136 - 136 EX Disciple and Teacher_3

136: EX Disciple and Teacher_3 136: EX Disciple and Teacher_3 “Hiliard, we cannot just be staring at the land before us.”

In the fluttering fragments of light, a figure shorter than him, but brimming with enthusiasm, paced before his eyes, gesturing with hands as if outlining plans for the future: “We cannot be confined to our land, trapped in this cradle…”

The young man seemed to be saying something, but at the time, I actually didn’t take it seriously.

The land is just a cradle…

The land is everything!

All wealth, Glory, is on the earth!

All that Humans have comes from the land, from farming and labor, not from such vain daydreaming, staring into an empty Void!

But the figure did not care about my retorts and reproaches; he simply smiled, explaining his views while smiling.

“Hiliard…

Most importantly, a civilization, a civilization that can journey into the Void, must be great.

It can feed everyone, endow everyone with abundant Wisdom and wealth—my friend, only when people are well-fed and idle will they have the luxury and desire to appreciate.”

“A miserable nation won’t have people looking up at the starry sky full of hope and anticipation!”

“On the contrary, it is precisely such a nation that I wish to establish, to fulfill my desires!”

“Moreover.”

It seemed as if someone was answering me, as if someone was speaking, the ethereal shadow gradually merged with reality, and the words echoing in my heart were slowly replaced by clear voices in my ears.

The man of the past and the youth of the present were overlapping.

They fell silent for a moment.

They felt somewhat embarrassed.

They seemed a little shy.

But in the end, they spoke up.

“Because I think.”

They stated calmly, as if proclaiming a truth that did not need to be repeated a second time: “Like a question yearning for an answer, an equation longing for a result.”

“Hiliard/Teacher, I just think, want without reason.”

“I wish to touch the stars with my own hands.”

So he went mad, chasing the trails of the stars alongside that fool.

“Do you regret it?”

In the endless scattering fragments of time, it seemed as if a figure softly asked: “To have spent a life achieving nothing, without any gains, by my side, do you have any regrets?”

I regretted.

I regretted not having protected that person.

So…

Ian heard, his teacher murmuring softly: “I can’t regret a second time.”

He coughed, but what he coughed up was also grey, like mud.

The ashen traces had already spread above his neck.

But after coughing, Hiliard’s eyes widened; they were as bright as if reignited charcoal.

“If it were possible, I would truly not want to die, you haven’t grown up yet, Ian, my disciple…

How much I wish to see you grow up, become the person you wish to be, and then achieve your dreams.”

“How I hope you could reach the stars.”

He chuckled cheerfully, a silver light shining in the old Knight’s eyes.

Then he lifted up his clenched right hand, showing it to Ian: “Look, this is the Legacy of Yinaiga, the final object coveted by all, powerful enough to change the world, to reshape it, the hope for Humans to return to the skies.”

“This is…

the greatest treasure of this world, the Key that can unlock the Eternal Labyrinth.

—My disciple.”

“This is both a blessing and a Curse.”

“Possess it, and you shall have hope.”

“Yet you shall never have peace for all Perpetuity.”

A Silver Chip, so thin it seemed nonexistent in this world, was presented to Ian by Hiliard.

The Silver Chip shimmered with endless runes, like a radiant starry sky.

And within the Foresight View, the dazzling, boundless rainbow Glory flowed like rivers, surged like oceans, but ultimately all converged into this tiny Core Chip.

“As I wished, Teacher.”

Reaching out, Ian accepted the Silver Chip with utmost solemnity and respect: “Be it a blessing or a Curse…

I gladly accept.”

And in the next instant, it melted into his being as if dissolving.

Watching this scene, the last glint of light in Hiliard’s eyes also faded.

He faintly saw a gaunt figure gradually shattering.

The Knight smiled faintly.

…My King.

He also faintly saw a white-haired child staring blankly at his face, watching with sorrow yet promising with determination.

…Ian.

…My…

stars.

Hiliard smiled and closed his eyes.

The ashen petrification marks spread across the entire body of this Knight and Teacher.

He departed.

…

A long, long time later.

When even the stars had vanished, and the twin moons had set.

The white-haired youth stood up.

Clutching his teacher’s final Legacy, he walked step by step toward the foot of the cliff.

The dawn rose slowly from the edge of the sky, the colorful glow dyeing the cloudy mist at the coast in radiant hues, as the warm sea breeze from the depths of the ocean blew gently towards the far end of the land.

On the windswept shore, the youth looked up, gazing at the distant Sky.

Light descended.

The stars shone upon the land as always, just as they had for billions of years past.