I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 616 - 616 615. Destiny Closed Loop_1

Chapter 616: 615. Destiny Closed Loop_1 Chapter 616: 615. Destiny Closed Loop_1 The room, exuding a damp, decaying scent, had curtains that appeared wet to the touch. Lu Ban looked out the window only to find that at some point, the sky had become overcast, as if a torrential downpour could fall at any moment. The distant forest swayed with the wind, sending wave after wave rippling across the treetops, causing an unsettling restlessness in the beholder.

Indeed, this was Storm Villa, where it was fitting for the ceaseless storms to prevail, where sunlight was a treasure. It was darkness and torrential rain that orchestrated the main theme here.

Boom—

A thunderbolt fell from the dark clouds, exploding amid the swaying Sea of Trees, the lightning seemingly igniting a fire that made the lush forest glow with a dazzling red light. But soon, the raindrops fell.

At first, it was one or two droplets, but then the downpour began in earnest as if to cleanse the world of all its Pollution, quickly extinguishing the fire that Lei Ting had caused, rising up with whiffs of grey-black smoke. After a brief moment, even the smoke became invisible, the whole world obscured by the rain curtain, leaving Storm Villa to stand alone atop the cliff, like an elderly forsaken by the world.

The cold rain pattered against the glass windows, creating a noisy din.

In the dining room just one wall away, the bright yellow light illuminated the profiles of three Chosen by Gods, but there was not an ounce of warmth to be found.

“Legend has it that Taoist Crane Cry began as a nameless wanderer. Later, he received secret teachings from an Immortal and cultivated in hiding. Then, he revealed himself to the public, performed several miracles, and earned widespread fame. Even the master of the Abandoned Capital knew his name. Taoist Crane Cry took in many disciples and continually expanded his sect, eventually becoming a powerful organization atop the Abandoned Capital,” Stone explained, almost allowing one to visualize the Taoist gradually ascending to the pinnacle of wealth and power.

“And that included the Art of Resurrection.”

“A wealthy merchant from the Abandoned Capital died of illness. His family, sparing no expense, invited Taoist Crane Cry to perform a ritual to resurrect their patriarch. Taoist Crane Cry ultimately accepted and spent nine days arranging the ceremony. On the ninth night, Taoist Crane Cry succeeded in The Conjuring; he brought the merchant back to life. The merchant rewarded Taoist Crane Cry handsomely and even gifted him Storm Villa. Although the merchant succumbed to illness years later, unable to escape fate, Taoist Crane Cry’s reputation was solidified by that event,” Stone recounted.

Listening to Stone’s story, Lu Ban quickly recalled something he had read in “Xuan Jun’s Seven Chapter Secret Scriptures.”

The Sludge Monster possessed the power of resurrection. Of course, it did not truly revive the deceased but was a monster that read the other’s memories and masqueraded as a human.

This fact, Stone must have known it well.

“Correct, Taoist Crane Cry must have summoned that monster and used it to replace the deceased merchant, creating the illusion of resurrection,” Stone nodded in agreement.

The Seven Secret Scriptures of the Mysterious Lord, or “Nine Chapters of the Crane’s Cry Secret Scripture,” contained many descriptions of how to summon these monsters, how to control them, and how to use them to achieve immortality and healing.

But Lu Ban understood that it was all illusion.

“So, Taoist Crane Cry stumbled upon the book that taught summoning of monsters from the Foreign Domain and then used it to profit?” Shia inquired.

“No, it might not be that simple.”

Lu Ban briefly shared what he had witnessed on his last mission with them.

After listening to Lu Ban’s account, Stone furrowed his brow.

“It’s still unclear whether the Mysterious Monarch created Taoist Crane Cry or Taoist Crane Cry created the Mysterious Monarch… Mr. Cui Siter has indeed been collecting information related to Taoist Crane Cry all this time. He also investigated the descendants of the Crane Cry Sect and obtained a lot of Taoist Crane Cry’s works. It’s very likely that he compiled a complete summoning ritual based on these materials…”

The not-so-young detective took a deep puff of smoke from his pipe, as the rain outside the window grew heavier, and the thunder and lightning rumbled as if they were about to completely devour the mansion.

“Cui Siter held knowledge not only of how to summon and control sludge monsters, but also how to seal these creatures, as well as information about the Ancient Overlords. If he hadn’t collected this, the world I come from might have already perished,”

Lu Ban said, inclined to believe that the source of this knowledge had been given by the dark-skinned man. As for whether it was given to Cui Siter first or to Taoist Crane Cry first, that was unknown.

Their fates had already formed a closed loop like Ouroboros, entwined with each other.

“…No, it’s not like that.”

Shia suddenly spoke up at this time, denying what Lu Ban said.

“Your existence here, having met with Cui Siter and me, proves that your world must continue to exist after that. Even if Cui Siter had not chosen to sacrifice himself, the Silent Lands would certainly send other Chosen by Gods to complete this task, because your existence is an established fact,”

she analyzed with simple causal logic.

“Or to put it another way, within the observed Foreign Domain, your world has continued to exist until now; therefore, the existence of the Mysterious Monarch, the rise of Taoist Crane Cry are both inevitable, similar to how if you hadn’t stopped the Frost, the Night Country would have resisted the Demonic Tide in another way, and my ancestors would have survived, because I have already met you,”

Shia said, her eyes flickering as she spoke.

“This is a bit complicated, my friend.”

Stone rubbed his temples; he had never encountered a fellow Walker before, and thus he had no clear understanding of the time disturbances in the Foreign Domain, at most he could only sense the differences in the speed of time flow across various Foreign Domains.

“The closed loop of fate, that’s something that can only occur within the Foreign Domain.”

It was as if Shia had thought of something; her eyes widened slightly. She found a napkin in the dining room and began to draw on it with magic.

“This was our original mission when Lu Ban and I first met. At this point in time, my past, the Night Country, had been attacked by Frost, and ultimately humanity resisted the Demonic Tide. Meanwhile, in Lu Ban’s future, he would go to the moment when the Night Country was attacked by Frost to defeat it. It seems like he changed the past, but in reality, because Lu Ban had met me first, the defeat of Frost is an event that was determined to happen. Even if he hadn’t been successful, other Chosen by Gods would have been—this is the fundamental purpose of the existence of Silent Lands.”

“Similarly, based on the time node of our last meeting with Cui Siter, in the future, Cui Siter would go to Lu Ban’s world, sacrifice himself to seal the Evil God, while simultaneously in Lu Ban’s past, the world was saved by the Mysterious Monarch, the Evil God sealed. And since Cui Siter had already met Lu Ban before this, the salvation of Lu Ban’s world was a determined event. Even if Cui Siter had not been successful, other Chosen by Gods would have sat in this position to become the Mysterious Monarch.”

She looked up at Lu Ban and Stone.

“So, do you understand?”

“Understand what?”

Lu Ban asked straightforwardly.

“As long as you have not personally observed Cui Siter’s death, the event leading to his death remains uncertain for you, or in other words, at this moment, Cui Siter still exists in some segment of time within the Foreign Domain. If we find this segment of time and prevent him from going to your world, we can save him.”

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