Li Nianfan had caught a big fish from the pond in the backyard. The fish flew out in an arc, spraying water droplets everywhere. The fish’s appearance was accompanied by a majestic power which caused the whole sky to shake and wind to blow over the four-part architecture.
Immediately, the bees went back to their hives, the milk cows folded their legs, and the peacocks were running around in circles under the tree. Even the flowers, grass, and trees had gone silent. They fixed their gaze on the fish as they felt their hearts about to explode from the terror of it all. The fishes in the pond were trembling non-stop as they swam around, not knowing what to do.
“Is that fish a… Wisdom Elite?”
“The expert wasn’t fishing for us?”
“That fish looks horrible. Where did it come from? Did it just jump through a wormhole?”
“Technically speaking, that really isn’t a fish but an Elite. But since the expert calls it a fish, then it’s a fish.”
“Yes, we’re fishes, too! I’m going to stop talking and go back to blowing bubbles.”
The arrival of the Wisdom Elite struck a chord with the Wisdom in the surroundings. Terrible manifestations swirled all around them with the power to suppress everything in the world. Every living creature in the backyard was trembling with fear. However, that sensation only lasted for a while for it disappeared soon after.
The big fish was thrashing around on the ground as if its life depended on it. It could not comprehend what was happening and it did not like this feeling of the unknown one bit. It began to wonder if this was all a dream. ‘Did I just get turned into a fish? Where am I?’ The last thing it remembered was being helplessly pulled across time and space from the River of Time and the next thing it knew, it had landed here. ‘What kind of trick is this? Who did this?’
Its eyes were about to fall out once it took a good look at its surroundings. The sight of Rare Chaos Creatures, Chaos Spiritual Roots, and Chaos Soil filled his vision. ‘What is this place? Does a place like this really exist in the Chaos? Impossible! All this must be an illusion!’ A chill ran down its spine and it wanted to scream out loud, but then it discovered a fish had no vocal cords at all. It could only open and close its mouth to blow out bubbles.
“Wow, it’s a big one alright. I like its vitality!” said Li Nianfan with bright shiny eyes. “Huh? It’s completely gold in color and its scales are very weird, too. I don’t remember Brother Ao giving me this type of fish.”
Nanan measured the fish and cried out, “Wow! It’s half my size!”
Dragin was dancing with joy. “It looks delicious. Let’s eat it! Let’s eat it!”
She went to grab the fish but her hand was slapped away by its tail. It had not given up its struggle. It jumped to a height of one meter, trying to get back to the pond.
“Let me teach you a handy trick. This fish has too much energy so the best thing to do is to beat it unconscious to prevent any accident from happening,” said Li Nianfan with a smile. With that, he picked up a random rock and smashed it down on the fish’s head. The fish immediately went slack. “This way, when the time to kill it comes, it won’t feel any pain. We can save a lot of time without the needless struggle. Understand?”
Dragin and Nanan nodded their heads. “Yes, Brother Li. You’re so good at everything!”
Back at the River of Time, the group still had not recovered from what had happened. They kept staring at the spot where the giant hand used to be. Finally, they moved their hand to close their jaw and collectively gave out a cold gasp.
“It must be the expert!” said Jiang Liu excitedly. He had tears in his eyes and wished he could fall on his knees before the expert there and then.
“What terrifying power to be able to hook a Wisdom Elite from a different space. I’m afraid the depth of his power is more than I could ever imagine in this lifetime,” said Huang Deheng in a shaky voice.
“I knew he’d come save us. I knew he couldn’t bear to part ways with me,” said Blackie.
“Is it really… the expert?” asked Old Ling in a shocked tone. “He’s more powerful than what I’ve heard.”
Qin Manyun nodded. “It’s definitely the expert. The aura on the fish hook seems very familiar. It was stored in the corner of the expert’s backyard.”
“Old Ling, you have no right to doubt the expert’s power!” said Huang Deheng. He was definitely fanboying over the expert. “I forgot to tell you. This River of Time was manifested by the expert as well so it makes sense for him to fish here, right?”
The Soul Master stood upon the River of Time. She stabilized her emotion and was happy to know that an existence that could suppress the River of Time had finally appeared. She took one look at Yanmo’s dismembered body and sealed him up again.
“Soul Master, you despicable person! Let me go! I know you can’t kill me now. I’ll make you pay for this,” shouted Yanmo with hatred. He could not believe his freedom to be so short-lived. “There are still Elites in my world and they’d come here to wage a war against you all! Prepare to be our slaves!”
“Shut up! Leather Pants on Head,” said Blackie. With that, his leather pants landed squarely on Yanmo’s head.
Shi Tuqin stuck out her tongue and pointed at Yanmo. “This guy almost scared me to death. Can I punch him?”
“I want to punch him, too! I’ve never punched a Wisdom Elite before. It must feel incredible.”
“Yeah, I bet so, too!” echoed the others with bright shiny eyes. The group surrounded Yanmo in a circle and treated him like a punching bag. They could feel their hearts getting lighter with each punch or kick. There was nothing Yanmo could do but sob his heart out.
Once satisfied, they turned to greet the Soul Master. “Greetings, Soul Master.”
“A grave catastrophe was averted thanks to you all,” said the Soul Master.
“No, it’s all due to the expert,” said Shi Tuqin.
The Soul Master nodded and thought, ‘The expert’s the linchpin in all this. I hope it’ll continue like this till the end of time.’
“Soul Master, do you know what Yanmo meant when he mentioned the Sixth Dimension?” asked Qin Manyun curiously.
“The edge of the Chaos is called the Chaos Ocean. This ocean contains great danger and boundless freak currents of Wisdom. Even a Wisdom Elite would have a hard time crossing it. On the opposite end of the Chaos Ocean is another dimension. Under a designated time and specific conditions, the freak currents would be weaker than usual which then makes it possible for anyone to pass freely between the ocean. This was one of the reasons for the catastrophe.”
“Which dimension are the Eldritchs in and what dimension are we in?” asked Jiang Liu.
“The Eldtricts are in the first dimension and we’re in the seventh dimension. There are only a total of seven dimensions,” answered the Soul Master.
“Why was there a catastrophe? Why must there be wars between different dimensions?” asked Shi Tuqin.
The Soul Master glanced at Shi Tuqin and her eyes became stern. “Even the tree will fight with the grass for the nutrients in the soil. What’s more to say about humans? Us cultivators are always fighting over Spiritual Qi for without it, even the most invincible of us would die. There will always come a day when the Spiritual Qi in this dimension would not be enough to support the ever-increasing numbers of cultivators. Under these circumstances, we’d surely set our sights on other dimensions.”
The concise words of the Soul Master brought out a sorrowful expression on everyone’s faces. The stronger one was, the more resources one would require. Thus, it had become a common occurrence to take from the weak. Using the example of the tree and grass again, the tree would surely monopolize the water hidden underground should they encounter a drought, and with no way of fighting, the grass would surely slowly die of thirst.
One ordinary living being does not require many resources to sustain themselves but it would be a different story for a million living beings. Therefore, should there come a time when there was not enough Spiritual Qi, it would not be farfetched to say that the strong would kill millions to ensure their own survival.
“Does this mean that the Eldritchs didn’t only plunder our dimension but also destroyed the sixth dimension? How about the other dimensions?” asked Huang Deheng. If it was really as he thought, then the Eldritchs must have many strong fighters on their side. This sent a chill down his spine.
The Soul Master shook her head and said, “This information is of the most confidential level. My soul’s fragmented so I’m not sure about the current situation. I’m afraid I have to visit the other dimension to find out the truth.”
“What should we do with Yanmo?” asked Blackie, glancing at Yanmo. “Judging by the looks of it, I don’t think the Master would like to eat it. Just as well, he’s not worthy to be eaten by him.” Although it was close to impossible to kill a Wisdom Elite, Blackie was sure it would pose no problem for Li Nianfan. The only problem was whether he would want to eat it. Happy tears flowed down Yanmo’s face when it was decided he would not be eaten.
“I’ll seal him up again. I shall take my leave now. Farewell.” said the Soul Master.
Blackie took back his leather pants and led the group back to the Area of the Gods. They all transformed into a trail of light and shot across the Chaos. During the journey, Blackie brought out the fruit tree. With only its branches left, it was truly a pitiful sight. He combed the branches while muttering angrily, “Stupid Yanmo with his stupid sucking. I don’t even know whether the tree’s still alive. What will the Master say?”
Meanwhile, beyond the Chaos Ocean, was the first dimension with a big planet floating in the middle of it. Underneath the gray sky stood a weird stone platform. Complex images were etched onto the stone platform and there were six tall altars on the periphery of the stone platform with one altar in the middle.
On top of each of the altars, one person sat cross-legged. Their mana was mighty and the power of the Wisdom was swirling around them. The terrible manifestations caused the sky to be distorted as if it had no choice but the surrender itself.
The six people on the periphery were infusing their power into the one in the middle. The connecting bridge of power was eerie to behold. It was obvious the stone platform was meant to be some kind of formation and the seven people were in the middle of a special ritual.
Suddenly, the person in the middle opened his eyes and shouted, “No—” The space around him became distorted as his body was swallowed by an unknown power. In a blink of an eye, he had completely disappeared from his spot. The other six people’s expressions changed drastically and there was confusion in their eyes.
“What happened? Where did Guli go?”
“Who did this? Who could possibly make Guli disappear right in front of our eyes?”
“I think I vaguely saw a shadow of a fish hook. But I could be wrong.”
They knitted their brows together and fell into deep contemplation.
“Just now, Guli activated his power of Origins. That means his phantom ran into some problem in the River of Time and he had no choice but to go there to sort it out himself,” said someone.
“Something bad must’ve happened for him to be dragged away by whoever’s causing the problem,” said another.
“Could it be that a person from the third dimension had entered the River of Time?”
“Or maybe it’s the people from the seventh dimension.”
“That’s not possible. We made sure there wouldn’t be any chance for the seventh dimension to birth a strong fighter like that after the catastrophe.”
“The seventh dimension seems to have transformed recently. A prototype of a Wisdom Elite had appeared and I fear that with the passing of the time, it’d become even more difficult to handle.”
“What are we waiting for then?” One of them stood up abruptly. He had a muscular build and a pair of chiseled cheekbones. He stepped down from the altar. “Let me go across the Chaos Ocean and eliminate this prototype in the seventh dimension.” With that, he strode away calmly and disappeared into the distance.
Blackie and the rest of the group were making their way up the Fallen Immortal Mountain and soon arrived at the entrance of the four-part architecture. The building looked extremely normal and was situated in the middle of the woods. However, both Huang Deheng and Old Ling’s hearts started beating wildly as they started to feel suffocated.
‘Is this where the expert lives? It’s extraordinary that I can’t detect anything divine from this place at all. The expert really wants to keep a low-profile huh.’
The two of them were feeling anxious and excited at the same time. They plastered smiles on their faces and kept reminding themselves to keep the smile on at all times when inside.
Qin Manyun knocked on the door before pushing it open. “Master, we’re back,” she said with a smile.
Li Nianfan was sitting on a little stool and removing the scales from the big fish.
“Oh, you’re back. How did it go? Did you manage to save them all?” asked Li Nianfan with a smile.
“Yes, we did,” answered Qin Manyun.
Huang Deheng and Old Ling carefully stepped out from behind and bowed respectfully towards Li Nianfan. “Thank you for saving our lives, Lord Saint.”
Li Nianfan shook his head and smiled. “You should be thanking them. This has nothing to do with me at all.”
“We’ve already thanked them before,” said Huang Deheng.
“Oh? That’s great. You all came back at the perfect time. I caught a big fish just now and I’m getting ready to cook it.”
