Blind Spot
Chapter 666 - 611 is real 3

Chapter 666: 611 is real 3

How to seek the truth, surpass the records, and experience it firsthand.

This was Auburn’s sincere suggestion.

Although he was only a Level Nine Mage, his consciousness power had long reached an extremely vast extent.

Rather than calling him the strongest mage, it would be more fitting to call him the strongest scholar, as his scholarly achievements far surpassed his magical prowess.

Li Chengyi left the White Tower, heeded his good friend’s advice, and began to measure the earth step by step through his footsteps.

He returned to Black Castle, and from there, started moving step by step along a road seldom traveled by others, using it as his starting point.

Without a purpose, he braved the weather and slept in the open, feeling the nature, the sky, the universe.

Time lost its meaning for him, only the changes in all things were like a brush, imprinting themselves within his mirror-like Primordial Spirit Sword Palace.

The floor of the palace, the ceiling, the walls on all sides, among the biographic words of the Human-Faced Spirit Swords, now also began to increasingly fill with dense and varied patterns.

Continuing along his path, Li Chengyi constantly changed his identities and appearances, sometimes he was a traveler, other times a mercenary.

Sometimes he was a temporary vendor with a merchant caravan, occasionally a common artisan residing in a place.

He could live as a scholar in one place for several years, or transform into a tailor, quietly passing his days in a hat shop.

One profession after another, a variety of skills, swiftly integrated from simple memorized knowledge into thoroughly mastered abilities through practice.

Meanwhile, the flames in the Sword Furnace in Li Chengyi’s mind had finally taken a step further, now extending to cover even more space.

Time slowly passed by.

Before one knew it, fifteen years had gone by...

On top of a towering snow-capped mountain upon the earth.

An old man with disheveled white hair, quietly let go of the walking stick in his hands, lifting his head to gaze at the sky above.

Snowflakes fluttered down, falling on his face, but the wrinkles on his face and the white hair on his head rapidly faded away, transforming into a young, handsome appearance.

"Still missing something," Li Chengyi murmured softly.

After living the life of an old man, at this moment, his Primordial Spirit Sword Palace was filled with an abundance of rich flames in almost every space, yet a spot the size of a human head remained empty, unable to be completely filled or ignited.

"What could it be...?"

Memories of everything he had experienced flooded his mind.

Suddenly, an inexplicable enlightenment surged through his heart.

"That’s it... what’s missing is a complete life as a human being."

The natural cycle of life and death, natural changes, are part of the principle of all things.

With this realization, Li Chengyi hesitated no more and turned to return towards the direction of Black Castle.

He leaped down from the top of the snow mountain, his figure lightning-fast, displaying a terrifying quality at least thirty times that of a Milton Knight.

In this moment, the wind and snow were thrust back, creating a vacuum passage as if fearing his frenzied rush.

It had taken him fifteen years to leave, but to return, it only took him five days.

Back at Black Castle.

Li Chengyi once again became the undefeated Carlos, but this time, his body aged with time, undergoing constant decay.

Following the natural course of emotions, he married one of Auburn’s granddaughters and formed a new family.

Two years later, his twin sons were born.

As time went by, moments flew past.

Thirty years had passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Chengyi was no longer the young and handsome man he once was; wrinkles had appeared on his body, leaving deep marks on his skin as evidence of the passing years.

*

*

*

Black Castle・The Garden.

Under the moonlight, Hundred Flowers bloomed, upon the paths between the garden beds.

"Nothing is eternal and unchanging," Auburn said, walking side by side with Li Chengyi, "All things mutually generate and overcome one another, are connected and influence each other. Where there’s influence, there must be change. Only by abandoning all influence and connections can one achieve eternity, but by doing so... you become like an invisible person among all beings, no longer able to interact with them. What’s the meaning of such existence?"

In his exchanges with Li Chengyi, he too had grown rapidly and become increasingly wise.

"Indeed... the root of influence lies in contact, tangible or intangible. To seek eternity is to isolate oneself from all contact... but that is not what we pursue," said Li Chengyi, also leaning on a walking stick.

His body was weakening, but he did not resist this natural change.

Though he could use the strengthening of the Primordial Spirit Sword Palace and maintain his strength with the flames, it was meaningless and not his intention.

In this world, this world where limits are exceedingly strong, aging is a part of the change in beings. To hinder it involves great difficulty and expense.

"I once thought I had reached the pinnacle of beings, but you, you have made me realize I am still far from that ultimate peak," Auburn said, by now very old.

He came to a halt, turned around, and took out a thick, brown booklet from his robe.

It was a booklet without binding and not printed, the cover showing traces of handwriting.

It was called the "White Tower Book."

"The zenith of the White Tower has reached its end, and everything has its own end. I am no different, nor is the White Tower... the Empire..."

Auburn did not continue, instead turning his gaze to a cluster of white flowers withering in the distance.

"This book, I hope you can help me pass it on. I have recorded all of my understandings within these pages."

"I will," Li Chengyi nodded. "Are you leaving?"

"Yes... Even for the most powerful mages, those at the pinnacle of level nine, the lifespan can only reach a few hundred years at most. I do not wish to change the essence of my life. Every being’s limit is its own fate..."

Auburn murmured, taking steps forward; his back to Li Chengyi, he waved his hand in parting.

"I hope we can meet again..."

As he watched the other man leave, Li Chengyi nodded gently.

The Li Chengyi of today was also nearly fifty years old, no longer young.

With the book in hand, he knew he might never see the Empire’s strongest mage again.

"Father," a steady male voice came from behind.

Li Chengyi turned around to see his eldest son, Belo, dressed in a lord’s robe, hastening towards him.

"Regarding the elves, the Empire’s army has sent us a request to join the battle and crush them. Count Philips is leading the team this time."

"I have passed the lordship to you, all decisions are yours to make."

Li Chengyi no longer wished to involve himself in any affairs of his domain.

He could clearly feel his body growing old.

Strength retreating, weakening, he did not resist. The elves and barbarians, once intimidated by him, were now tentatively attempting to encroach on the borders of his territory again.

But none of these mattered to him anymore.

Leaning on his walking stick, Li Chengyi turned around and left The Garden under his son’s resigned gaze.

Time continued to flow.

Under the suppression of the allied forces, the Elves’ incursions were quickly repelled. However, the Barbarians’ invasion was not so easily resolved.

The Sola Empire experienced its first true major defeat.

A large legion, comprising fifty thousand men, encountered strategic failure in a battle against the combined forces of over a hundred Barbarian tribes, resulting in the death of twelve Glorious Knights and three Level Eight Mages exhausted in battle.

Although they also inflicted more than fifty percent casualties on the Barbarians, this Pyrrhic victory led to a significant reduction in strength for both Humans and Barbarians.

It also gave the Elves lurking in the shadows an opportunity.

Years continued to pass, and twenty years later.

The Sola Empire grew increasingly weaker, the strongest Level Nine Mage no longer appeared, and the White Tower’s most powerful had become Level Eight, and there was only one newly advanced Mage.

The imperial army grew more corrupt, indulging in the enjoyment of power, debauchery, and the royal family no longer had the heart for progress.

By this time, Li Chengyi was also over seventy years old.

His grandchildren were successively born, and even his grandchildren were beginning to start families.

The once unbeatable Carlos, now only had a fraction of his peak physical strength — one-fifth.

Despite still being powerful, he was no longer unattainably so.

At least the Barbarian King could now see hope of catching up.

And by this time, Li Chengyi had gradually begun to perceive the changes that belonged to humans, to his own race, everything.

He often sat alone on the top terrace of Black Castle, staring blankly at the starry sky.

No one knew what he was contemplating.

Two years later.

Melissa passed away peacefully.

Li Chengyi in his seventies, quietly watched by her side, watching her tremble her lips, wanting to say something at the end but ultimately failing to speak.

Melissa tightly clutched his hand, her murky eyes gazing at him, with the last bits of gentleness and reminiscence, then gently lost strength.

"Mother, this is the fate of all things,"

Li Chengyi said softly.

Behind him stood his two sons, his wife, and a host of younger family members.

Carlos, once the undefeated symbol of the Empire, was now in his twilight years.

Gently releasing his hand, Li Chengyi stood up and turned to walk out of the sickroom.

He seemed to understand something in a daze.

When life came to an end, the part that belonged to consciousness was also weakening, fading away.

The only thing left in reality were the various traces she had left behind.

Everything was changing, and life and death were parts of it.

Consciousness and memory too had life and death, the existed would disappear with the wind, and the non-existent would come with it.

"I think I understand..." Li Chengyi said, looking at Old Buck slowly approaching in the distance.

He too was very old now, his back no longer as straight as before, but those eyes were still the same, even more pure and refined than they used to be.

"Everything is converging, material as such, and so is consciousness."

"Convergence brings essence, essence brings purity. With purity, you can achieve sublimation... and surpass that uncharted new realm..."

At that moment, all the flames inside the Primordial Spirit Sword Palace surged wildly.

The light completely filled the last bit of space, completely filling the entire palace.

In that instant.

In the moment when the flame completely filled everything.

A new light appeared inside the core of the Sword Furnace.

Countless pieces of knowledge, insight, and understanding belonging to Li Chengyi were swiftly drawn in by that white-golden flame.

Invisible streams of information even turned into tangible colorful threads that converged from all directions into one point.

Crack...

Cracks began to surface on the walls of the Primordial Spirit Sword Palace.

Countless cracks spread rapidly, shedding fragments.

Boom!

Suddenly, the entire palace collapsed completely. It turned into countless white specks of light, scattering in all directions.

Outside the palace was an infinite expanse of dark space.

As the specks of light scattered, they illuminated patches of darkness as if they were lightbulbs.

In the darkness, the land was illuminated, and mountains, oceans, emerged one after another, followed by rivers and forests.

All these were imaginations formed from Li Chengyi’s wisdom, not solid entities.

’When your insights are enough to reconstruct a new world similar to the outside world, that is the day you ignite the Divine Fire.’

The words of his brother from Tian Ju Pavilion emerged once again in Li Chengyi’s mind at this moment.

In the space of imagined consciousness, a world extremely similar to the outside one was swiftly coming to life.

Nature quickly took shape, followed by beings.

Wild creatures, sentient beings, under the immense Consciousness Power of Li Chengyi, continuously appeared as embellishments in this world of imagined consciousness.

Time passed, how long, no one could tell.

Perhaps a hundred years, perhaps a few minutes.

Time lost its meaning in consciousness, only dependent on the speed of thought.

A flash of white-gold crossed Li Chengyi’s eyes suddenly.

The world in his mind, at that moment, slowly overlapped with the outside world, almost identical.

Boom!!!!

Right at that moment, an immense vibrating sound echoed within his heart.

’Divine Fire...’ he suddenly comprehended.

At that moment, he naturally stepped into the Divine Fire Realm.

And at the same moment, Carlos Okra, who had walked out of the sickroom, also slowly stopped breathing amidst the howling snowstorm.

He maintained a posture of looking up at the sky, motionless for a long time.

When his descendants discovered him, it was already too late.

All that belonged to Carlos had come to an end, but the consciousness of Li Chengyi, at that very moment, left his body and flew toward the sky.

Countless new flesh and blood naturally formed in the air, converging into a brand new body.