Chapter 498 -498-The Secrets of All Things

Chapter 498: Chapter498-The Secrets of All Things

John fell into thought.

It seems all the secrets will be revealed only after I become a Supreme Venerable. With the Ultimate Supreme Venerable template, reaching that rank won’t be difficult, even if I never enter the Chaotic Void.

But why prevent me from going there?

My former self seems to have anticipated all of this. Perhaps he foresaw the future and discovered the horrors awaiting us in the Chaotic Void. That would explain why he set the Holy Grail’s timer—to keep me from entering that place.

John drew a deep breath.

Just then, Holly let out a startled cry.

John and the others immediately turned toward her.

Tears welled in Holly’s eyes. She bit her lip, struggling to hold back her sobs.

"What’s wrong?" John asked.

"My master, Soren..." she choked out. "He was my older brother."

John was baffled.

"What does your quest scroll say? Why would it contain traces of your family?"

Holly spoke through her tears.

"My brother Soren was supposed to be a member of Valhalla. But he gave his place to me. My quest is to become a Supreme Venerable and resurrect him through the river of space-time."

"My brother... He’s already dead."

John fell silent.

Soren must have known something. That was why he had given Holly the Holy Grail.

Perhaps he was the only one who had never lost the memories of his previous life. Upon reaching the Supreme Venerable rank, one could reverse another person’s fate. Resurrecting someone would not be difficult.

Perhaps Soren had exchanged his own fate with Holly’s long ago.

John gave a bitter smile.

"It seems Soren knew everything. He must have known from the moment he first contacted me. He deliberately arranged for Holly to be at my side, too."

For an instant, John felt that he understood.

"My quest is also to become a Supreme Venerable," Silt said. "And recover the true memories of my previous life."

"I received part of my quest reward in advance." Odelle sighed, her expression troubled. "It seems to be something my former self left for me. Knowing I would lack an opportunity to become a Supreme Venerable, she arranged for me to receive one now."

"I also have to become a Supreme Venerable and recover my true memories."

So it was true.

Had all their memories been fabricated?

Their real memories lay sealed away, waiting to awaken only when they reached the Supreme Venerable rank.

What exactly had happened in their previous lives?

John shook his head, clearing away the distracting thoughts.

"Let’s go. We can’t enter the Chaotic Void Realm."

"Perhaps that’s for the best. We all have opportunities to become Supreme Venerables, so it doesn’t matter whether we go. We can train anywhere."

John had obtained his opportunity through the Myriad Worlds Tournament.

Holly and Silt had also earned theirs by placing in the top three.

Now Odelle had received part of her quest reward in advance—an opportunity her former self had left behind.

None of the four lacked a path forward. The Chaotic Void Realm offered them little they truly needed.

"I need vast quantities of Law Insight Points."

"Killing isn’t the only way to obtain them."

"Laws can be found everywhere."

After leaving Valhalla, John’s true body in the Myriad Races Universe began creating proxies at a frantic pace.

Hundreds of millions of John clones took shape.

They appeared in forbidden lands throughout the myriad universes.

"Refine and devour!"

The countless clones sought out turbulent currents of chaotic laws.

They traveled to cosmic seas to devour law power, refined artifacts, analyzed laws, and deepened their understanding.

Within just a few days, John’s laws began advancing through successive grades!

[Ding! Your law grade is increasing...]

[Notice: Mysterious Mark effect activated. Your law grade cannot be increased for the time being!]

The instant the notification sounded, a thunderous explosion reverberated through John’s mind.

A ball of light no thicker than his thumb appeared within his mindscape.

For some reason, the moment the mysterious mark appeared, a thought rose unbidden in his mind.

"The Mark of Yang!"

Then another question followed.

"What effect has it activated?"

"Why is it preventing my law grade from increasing?"

"There should be no barrier to my advancement to Supreme Venerable now!"

As John pondered this, the Mark of Yang vanished in a flash.

At the very moment it disappeared, information about the effect it had triggered emerged within his mind.

Ten years later.

On a plane within the Karen Universe, a woman carrying a one-year-old child entered the Twilight Guild.

The guild leader was a renowned healer, famous throughout the region.

It was said that he could bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bare bones.

"Guild Leader, please... save my child." The woman’s eyes were red as she struggled to speak through her tears. "Please, you must save him."

Before her stood a robed sage with an air of otherworldly serenity.

It was John.

He merely glanced at the child.

"This child’s allotted lifespan is nearly over. He is destined to die tonight, a quarter-hour into the midnight watch."

"Your bond as mother and son has run its course. You should leave."

Rather than despair, the woman felt her hope surge.

The Guild Leader truly possessed divine insight. He could see not only how much life her child had left, but the exact moment he would die.

Surely that meant he knew a way to save him.

"Guild Leader!"

She dropped to her knees and bowed her forehead to the ground.

"I’m only a mortal. I don’t understand life, death, or reincarnation. But he is my son in this life. As long as there is even the slightest hope, I must do everything I can to save him!"

"Please, have mercy. Take pity on a mother’s heart."

"Even if it costs years of my own life, I would give them willingly."

By the time she finished, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Think carefully," John said calmly. "You have only twenty years left to live. Saving him will cost you ten of those years. And even if I save him, he will live for only ten more years."

"You could have another child instead. There would be no need for any of this."

"Then take those years from me, Guild Leader!" she said without hesitation. "My poor boy... He hasn’t even had a chance to experience the world. Even if he lives for only ten years, at least he will have known something of life."

"As his mother, I have so little to give him. What would it matter if I gave him all twenty years?!"

John said nothing. He simply waved a hand.

Law power spread over the infant.

"It is done. You may go."

John turned and walked into the courtyard.

Watching him leave, the woman bowed to the ground once more. Weeping with joy, she carried her child away.

John’s gaze remained as still as water.

In truth, even he did not know whether he had done the right thing.

His actions amounted to altering causality.

And in this universe, the bonds between cause and effect were exceptionally strong.

What he had done today might well have altered the threads of his own future.

Then another thought occurred to him.

Perhaps this was causality’s unseen influence upon him.

Perhaps his choice today was the very path cause and effect had intended him to follow.