Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Geresco didn’t answer Lin Li’s question directly, and instead looked at Anril somewhat sentimentally as he said with indifference, “I was born in the prehistoric times with the Tree of Eternity, and I have witnessed the rise and fall of the ancient wyrms and Titans. I met the one I loved, and helped her and her race to become the rulers of this world. Only when I lost her did I realize how ridiculous my so-called immortality was.”
Hearing this, Lin Li seemed to have grasped a crucial detail, although it sounded just like a corny love story. Since the Immortal King had been born together with the Tree of Eternity, wouldn’t that mean that the Immortal King was one of the Twin Trees of Eternity? One was eternal, while the other was immortal. The Immortal King had merely lost his tree body, leaving Anril with only one Tree of Eternity left.
At the same time, another question that Lin Li had had also been answered: why did the Immortal King always have a terrifying aura of death? The founder of the Darkness Shrine, High Priest Rogge, had been transformed into a semi-Undead existence precisely because of the death aura that rippled from afar during the battle between the Immortal King and the Dragon of Destruction.
Geresco did not pay attention to Lin Li’s expression, and seemed to be speaking to himself instead of Lin Li. However, his tone was calm and slow, as if he wasn’t talking about himself at all. He slowly said, “I began to pursue true immortality, and this is where I found the passage to another world.”
Geresco was obviously referring to the Endless World game when he mentioned the other world.. Hearing this, Lin Li couldn’t help but coldly ask, “So, you set your sights on my Hunter character, as well as Stars of Fury and debris of the stars, didn’t you?”
Without showing the slightest shame for being a thief, Geresco laughed nonchalantly, and unabashedly said, “Yes, that’s probably what I meant by the influence of the supreme law! I found out that I could bring what you call virtual items in the game world to this world, and everything would be realized in a tangible form. That’s how the Stars of Fury and the debris of the stars appeared in this world.”
“However, it seems that this did not allow you to reach true eternity and immortality. It seems that even your disciple didn’t take you seriously anymore.” Lin Li thought of Highlord Osric, and based on the bits of information he had, he reckoned that Osric wasn’t very respectful to the Immortal King.
“That’s just a fool who was bewitched and compelled by the gods. This channel is an existence that even the gods would go nuts about, and in order to get information about that world, the gods naturally had to use their brains to extract something from that dimwit.” Geresco’s mood wasn’t affected at all. Although Geresco had been tricked by his disciple, which wasn’t an honorable thing, Osric had ultimately already received the punishment he deserved.
Lin Li had also heard about some matters of the past from Geresco, such as the fact that Geresco had found the passage to another world, or that the gods and Osric had reached some kind of agreement to obtain the secrets about the passage as well as the other world.
Lin Li was reminded of the fact that Highlord Osric had returned to the Eternal Furnace some time after leaving, which Connoris had told him about. However, Osric had been seriously injured, and had had no choice but to set up his mausoleum in advance and create a new body in order to be able to be reborn. Osric’s serious injury obviously had something to do with the Immortal King.
“So, is this the reason why you suppressed the gods in the Endless Ocean?” Lin Li thought of the Magic Tower under the Cursed Island where the gods had been sealed.
“I removed the obstacle that was hindering them from entering this world, and made them think that the passage was underneath that island. I’m afraid those gods that had always been high and mighty would never believe that they’d be sealed there forever.” There wasn’t a tinge of pride or arrogance in Geresco’s tone, and it was as if he was just talking about a trivial matter.
However, Lin Li could imagine that things were definitely not as simple as Geresco said. Clearing the obstacle that hindered their entry to this world meant the extermination of the five Dragon Aspects of Anril, which were the five great guardians.
Deceiving the gods and misleading them into thinking that the passage was below the Cursed Island definitely took more than just telling a few lies. That made Lin Li think of the Endless Ocean and the seven islands on which there were Divine-Smith-level mageweath towers. He reckoned that that was probably the key to deceiving the gods.
Although he knew some of the secrets of what happened then, they were not what he was truly concerned about. Thus, he couldn’t help but say, “You still haven’t said what all this has to do with me.”
“After suppressing the gods, I was left with only one goal, and that was to challenge the supreme law, and to become the one that dominates everything and is above all. I wanted to achieve true eternal immortality. However, I finally discovered that this body, which gave me great power, had an irreparable flaw that became an insurmountable obstacle for me. To eliminate this flaw, I became Geresco, and overrode everything of the past and severed all ties that belonged to the Immortal King.” Geresco finally came clean about his relationship with the Immortal King, and also stated the reason for overthrowing the High Elves.
In the other world that Lin Li belonged to before he transmigrated, there was a common belief called karma. In order to obtain higher attainments and to break the supreme law, the Immortal King became Geresco and overthrew the High Elves, which was considered a severance of the karma between him and the High Elves, as well as his past.
Lin Li knew without having to guess that Geresco had obviously also failed to achieve the desired goal. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a need for Lin Li’s transmigration.
As he expected, Geresco turned to look at Lin Li again, and said, “Unfortunately, I still didn’t succeed. However, I found the reason, and that’s you.”
“Me?” Lin Li froze in shock for a moment. Even though he knew he had guessed one point correctly, he didn’t think that Geresco’s ability to break the supreme law would have anything to do with himself.
“Yes, it’s you, so I went back to the time when I first returned from that world, brought you to Anril, and placed you in the present, which is more than 1,000 years since then. I needed you to grow up so that I could use you to make up for my shortcomings. That’s why you and I are here now.” After saying that, Geresco looked at Lin Li quietly, seemingly trying to observe Lin Li’s reaction, but he also seemed to be looking at a piece of inanimate material that could make up for his own flaws.
Hearing his answer, Lin Li couldn’t help but get the chills, because he had suspected that he was being used as a pawn or a plaything, but he’d never expected that he would be treated as a material meant to compensate for someone else’s flaws. Facing Geresco, a god of gods, Lin Li, who was merely at the peak level of the Sanctuary-realm, involuntarily shuddered a little.
Lin Li wasn’t clear about what shortcomings Geresco was referring to, but he was sure that the Hunter avatar that Geresco occupied in the beginning and his life profession account that he had used to transmigrate had to be connected in some way. In that case, Geresco’s plan to make up for the shortcomings was clearly a fusion between the two.
Of course, Lin Li could be sure that since Geresco had such a great goal of breaking the supreme law to achieve nothingness, which was above all laws, it was unlikely that Geresco would be selfless enough to give up his own body. In that case, the only possibility would be that Geresco was planning to devour Lin Li in order to make the fusion happen.
At this moment, a freezing chilliness suddenly spread into his hand, as if it was about to freeze his soul. The fear and scruples that Lin Li had about Geresco, his confusion, and frustration from being at a loss for what to do actually calmed down at this moment.
Lin Li, who was slightly calmer now, subconsciously clenched his fist slightly, and the cold and hard sensation surged over again. It was the Stars of Fury!
Geresco was undoubtedly strong, but when feeling the Stars of Fury in his hand, Lin Li gradually felt a sense of pride too. Even though Geresco was the God of Gods, Lin Li had once killed Azardas the Dragon of Destruction with the Stars of Fury and the debris of the stars back in the Endless World. How could he not have the courage to fight now?
Since Lin Li arrived in this world, he had faced countless opponents whose strength was far beyond his own. If he had been the type to give up whenever he faced a powerful enemy, he would have probably died a long time ago. He was well aware that regardless of how desperate of a situation he was in, mustering the courage to try and fight for a chance of survival was the only way to find a trace of hope of living. Giving up would only lead to true despair.
Of course, Lin Li, who had made up his mind, did not immediately take action against Geresco, and instead just looked at him with contempt. He said, “In this case, why do you need to make these arrangements for me? You could just grab me and do whatever you wanted to me.”
Lin Li wanted to know what making up for Geresco’s flaws was all about, and he reckoned that it might become a powerful bargaining chip when he was in a desperate situation. He could now vaguely guess that Geresco’s so-called compensation for his flaws should be more than just the simple devouring of his soul. If that hadn’t been the case, Geresco would not have had to make such arrangements and push him to such a level.
Geresco wasn’t provoked or angered by Lin Li’s mockery, and he seemed to have everything under control. Thus, without hiding anything at all, he said, “It seems that you have already guessed it. Firstly, I don’t need a weakling, so I made all of these arrangements so that your strength and capabilities can be improved step by step. Secondly, I want you to willingly give everything you have.”
Lin Li couldn’t help but sneer. The respect he once had for this God of Mages had long vanished without a trace, and he coldly said, “Making me give up everything willingly? You might be the god of gods, but you’re taking it for granted! I may be weaker than you, but I’m not going to hold myself that cheap!”
However, a smile appeared on Geresco’s face when he heard Lin Li’s words, and he said, “Yes, what I want is your heart of resistance and your fighting spirit. If you didn’t have it, you wouldn’t be qualified to join me in achieving the nothingness above the supreme law.”
Gresco’s answer made Lin Li almost spurt a mouthful of blood. To think that his decision to fight and retaliate was exactly what Geresco wanted. Of course, even so, he did not want to give up resisting, because it was clear that Geresco didn’t intend to let Lin Li off even if the latter wasn’t qualified. After all, there was no need for a person who didn’t have any value to exist.
Looking at the changes in the expression on Lin Li’s face, Geresco smiled slightly as he seemed to have already seen through Lin Li’s inner thoughts. He directly said, “Besides, this may benefit you in some way. You should have probably guessed that something is wrong since you haven’t been able to ignite the Divine Fire and ascend to the Divine-realm for such a long time.”
“What do you mean?” Lin Li looked at Geresco with some doubts, and a thought flashed in his mind. Could I have thought wrongly?
“The flaw I’m talking about is not only within my body, but also in yours. Don’t you want to make up for it and take that final step? In fact, it’s even possible for you to become nothing beyond the supreme law, and achieve true eternal immortality!” There was some temptation and yearning in Geresco’s tone, which was his desire for the great goal he was pursuing.
However, Lin Li remained absolutely calm in the face of Geresco’s temptation and coercion. His strength was now only at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm, and he was still worlds apart from the ethereal realm. Besides, in his opinion, maybe what Geresco meant was to let him devour Lin Li to reach that goal. However, if that was the case, it would be pointless for Lin Li.
It was just like a joke. A hunter wanted the polar bear’s hide as a coat, and the polar bear wanted to fill its stomach. Hence, the polar bear ate the hunter. The polar bear was satiated, and the hunter, in a sense, also got its hide as his coat. If that was the case, even if Geresco reached that so-called realm of nothingness, what would it have to do with Lin Li?
Of course, regarding the matter of a flaw in his body, Lin Li believed that Geresco wasn’t lying to him. After all, he had long felt that the Sanctuary-realm was his limit. Clearly, he was only a small step away from the Divine-realm, but there was no way he could break through it.
Geresco took away Lin Li’s Hunter avatar, while the body Lin Li used to cross to Anril was initially just a player with life professions. Perhaps the gap between the extremes was because of that reason. Geresco had reached the peak of the Divine-realm, while Lin Li could only stagnate at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm.
“What good can this do me? Can you bear to sacrifice yourself to let me succeed?” Lin Li asked as he looked at Geresco with contempt. Of course, he wouldn’t believe that Geresco had gone to such lengths for the sake of pushing him to the realm of so-called nothingness.
