Chapter 983: Extra Story 4: The Irreplaceable Bond with Jiang Ran (Part 3)

“It’s related, but it’s another matter. I’ll explain more when you get here.”

Fan Wubing couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation.

After being tricked by Pei Weiyi before, he went to that Wushan cloud and rain, having the time of his life.

Could it be that Jiang Ran has come around too?

He hurriedly groomed and dressed himself carefully, presenting his best spirits for the meeting, and along the way, he didn’t forget to pick a “Cold Bone Flower,” Jiang Ran’s favorite.

Then,

As soon as he arrived at Jiang Ran’s palace, he saw her stern face through the window. He instantly knew that today wasn’t going to be what he hoped.

After covertly placing the Cold Bone Flower in the courtyard’s flower bed, he walked into Jiang Ran’s study and asked,

“What’s the matter that you need to say it in person?”

Jiang Ran’s Qi and Blood had recovered quite well, her chest had even swelled up. Her figure was not as tall as Luo Qingyao and Fu Manman, nor as well-endowed as Gu Lan and Pei Weiyi, but she was the most petite among her sisters.

Yet, for some reason, aside from Fu Ming, everyone tacitly regarded her as the reliable big sister. Whenever there was a problem, she was the first they thought of. Even the proud Baili Yao Yue was completely under her sway.

Fan Wubing pondered that perhaps his senior sister wasn’t under Jiang Ran’s sway because she was too dumb to fall for it.

Fools conquer all.

Jiang Ran intertwined her fingers, slightly supporting her chin, not speaking first but just quietly looking at Fan Wubing.

Fan Wubing immediately felt a kind of pressure. The pressure Jiang Ran gave couldn’t be offset with cultivation, and he still couldn’t figure out why.

He cautiously asked,

“Did I do something wrong?”

Jiang Ran softly said,

“You’ve been slacking off a bit.”

“What!” Fan Wubing immediately stood up, “Don’t listen to Qingyao’s nonsense! I haven’t been slacking off!”

Jiang Ran smiled slightly, “Qingyao didn’t tell me anything like that.”

“This…” Fan Wubing awkwardly sat down, “Then what do you mean?”

Jiang Ran gently waved her sleeve, and several images surfaced, displaying scenes of people from the Great Thousand Worlds passing through the Infinite Sea to Earth.

Fan Wubing frowned slightly upon seeing this.

Jiang Ran said, “As you can see, someone has already found a way to enter Earth’s universe from the Infinite Sea. The threat of cultivators from the Great Thousand Worlds to Earth doesn’t need to be explained by me in detail, does it?”

Those who could cross the Infinite Sea and reach Earth’s universe could easily destroy Earth’s civilization.

Jiang Ran looked at Fan Wubing, “If it’s not laziness, I can’t think of why you didn’t notice them. Is it intentional indulgence? Or do you think if you can go to Earth, others should be allowed as well, in the name of fairness?”

Fan Wubing lowered his head, “I’ve been slacking off. I’m sorry.”

Jiang Ran asked, “Why? This doesn’t seem like you at all. Wubing, what’s been going on with you lately? Everyone’s worried about you, but you’re unwilling to talk about it.”

“I…” Fan Wubing looked at Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran’s gaze was gentle, as forgiving of all of Fan Wubing’s mistakes as it had been in the past.

Fan Wubing sighed and said, “I’m a bit scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“Afraid of losing…” Fan Wubing said, “After returning to Earth, I reunited with my father and other family and friends. I cherish the time spent with them; I love them very much… But, I’ve realized one thing. They are all mortals, with a lifespan of less than a hundred years. Even though time on Earth flows much slower than in the Great Thousand Worlds… compared to our lifespans, I will lose them soon.”

Fan Wubing closed his eyes,

“I’m afraid of that day coming.”

“So that’s what you’ve been worried about.” Jiang Ran’s gaze became even gentler. She got up and sat beside Fan Wubing, “Actually, you can grant them immortality.”

Fan Wubing said,

“Immortality, is it a blessing or a punishment for them? Or perhaps… a curse.”

“Why not bring them to the Great Thousand Worlds?”

Fan Wubing shook his head, “If I do that, doesn’t it mean I’m controlling them? I’d become something like the Destiny Dao, wouldn’t I? They have their own lives, their happiness as people of Earth… they’re a part of Earth’s civilization and evolution. They can’t understand you and me, just as we initially couldn’t understand the Destiny Dao.”

Jiang Ran understood Fan Wubing’s meaning. She smiled and said,

“If that’s the case, why not accompany them and die together?”

Fan Wubing stared at Jiang Ran in a daze. Her gaze was as gentle as a clear summer night.

Jiang Ran softly said, “Qingyao is a person rich in romantic sentiment. She once told me something that touched me deeply.”

“What?”

“Accompanying is the longest confession of love.”

“That saying is everywhere on Earth.”

Jiang Ran laughed, “But it’s undeniably a romantic sentiment, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

Jiang Ran said, “Only by living the same life with them you won’t stand in the observer’s perspective, fearing to lose them.”

“But, what should I do?” Fan Wubing couldn’t let go of his life in the Great Thousand Worlds either.

Jiang Ran said,

“High-dimensional projection.”

“What do you mean?” Fan Wubing asked seriously.

Jiang Ran said, “Earth’s universe is created by the resistance will in the Infinite Sea. It’s magical, exquisite, brilliant, but also extremely fragile. It’s birthed from the Great Thousand Worlds but entirely independent. The best thing we can do for Earth’s world is not to disturb it.”

“I acknowledge your thought, but what specifically can be done?”

“Cut off Earth’s universe from the Infinite Sea, severing the pathway from the Great Thousand Worlds to Earth.”

“But…” Fan Wubing felt a bit troubled.

Jiang Ran smiled, “I know an absolute cutoff isn’t good, after all, a few little ones really like it there. So, I thought of a way of high-dimensional projection. Simply put, the beings from the Great Thousand Worlds can’t physically go to Earth’s universe; they can only appear on Earth in the form of projections. And the projection body is merely a projection of will, it possesses no cultivation and fully abides by the logic of life on Earth. Once the projection body dies on Earth, the high-dimensional beings in the Great Thousand Worlds will forget all related matters.”