Chapter 419: Variables and Catalysts

The instant Priest Ling Feng grabbed the small fish Du An had transformed into, he knew something was wrong.

He looked down. The fish had already been replaced by a chunk of reef rock.

A sharp, aggressive aura surged from behind him.

Priest Ling Feng looked back. Du An had already reverted to his true form.

Behind Du An hovered a Black Robe, gripping his arm to keep him airborne.

Ling Feng immediately drew up the surrounding waves, sealing the entire space to prevent their escape.

The Black Robe raised a hand, and a black rose bloomed in his palm.

The flower shredded as if slashed by invisible blades. A rain of petals fell and instantly mingled with the seawater, disrupting the currents so Priest Ling Feng could no longer fully control them.

The intruder had no intention of fighting Priest Ling Feng. The moment a flaw appeared in the sealed space, he immediately fled with Du An.

Priest Ling Feng gave chase, but instantly lost their trail.

It was difficult to track anyone across the Nine Heavens Sea, and Ling Feng could not leave the coast for long. He needed to be present to hold the line in case the raw soul army invaded.

Ling Feng alighted on the sea. Beneath his feet, the water instantly flattened like a mirror.

He raised his hand and opened his palm.

A petal drifted up from the seawater and settled into his palm.

"A Solar Black Robe I haven't seen before. Not weak, either. Is another black-robed priest about to advance to Divine Offspring?"

Priest Ling Feng furrowed his elegant brows. "I must notify the Heaven's Scourge Pagoda. We can't let any more Black Robes slip inside."

Elsewhere, Du An had been rescued.

After shaking off Ling Feng, the pair landed on a desolate island in the outer sea.

They touched down on separate rocky outcrops, three or four zhang apart.

The ocean relentlessly battered the rocks, the massive roar of the waves echoing in endless layers.

Although the Solar Black Robe had saved Du An twice, Du An only grew more wary of him.

"Who exactly are you?" Du An demanded. "Why save me?"

Earlier, Du An had assumed this person was a friend of Xiao Suo.

But ever since he fused with Xiao Suo's Witch Embryo Shards, their cooperative relationship had shattered. Why would the other party still be willing to help him?

Did he really not have any ulterior motives?

The black-robed priest paused. He slowly turned to face Du An, then took off his cloak and mask.

To Du An's shock, he wasn't human at all.

Behind the human-skin mask was a smooth metal face devoid of features, save for a long screen emitting a faint red glow where the eyes should be.

Where the mouth should be was an obvious voice synthesizer.

"If I know you are in danger, I must save you."

His voice sounded like a normal person's, its timbre completely devoid of mechanical distortion.

Du An had never seen this face, nor had he heard this voice.

Yet his words struck a familiar chord.

Finally, deep within his buried memories, Du An found the one person who would say such a thing.

"Are you... the Main Brain?"

The Main Brain, the surviving machine of the Ring World.

But he remembered that when the inner Ring World was destroyed, the Main Brain had not escaped.

The Main Brain analyzed Du An's reaction and answered him, "I am not the Main Brain from your iteration."

"I come from another iteration. With Li Ban's help, I escaped from an unspeakable place. I have no ties to Xiao Suo. He simply discovered my identity and, using your protection as a reason, made me help him complete his plans."

"Protect me? Help me?" Du An sneered.

He knew exactly why.

Because he was the General.

The Main Brain's foundational rules included this very directive.

However—

"I am enemies with Li Ban now. Why aren't you protecting him?"

"Because Li Ban... is not from the Ring World."

"What?!" Du An stepped forward, genuinely stunned by this news.

"Li Ban is a soul that this iteration's Director found outside the world. The two of them swapped places, allowing Li Ban to enter the Ring World created by Heaven and Earth Creation No. 002, and subsequently enter the Wizard World through the Ring World."

"Li Ban is from outside the world?" Du An slowly shook his head. "Isn't the outside extremely dangerous? Aren't there entities out there that even a Great Wizard would struggle to withstand? Yet when Li Ban first arrived, he was so..."

The Main Brain was also unclear. "General, we know very little about what lies outside the world."

Du An exhaled, no longer wanting to probe into Li Ban's strength. "Why did the Director sacrifice himself to pull him in?"

"The Director believed that he had a higher chance of saving the final Wizard Lord than you did."

Du An suddenly clenched his fists.

Crash!!!

A massive spray of seawater exploded behind him.

"What saving the final Wizard Lord? Who wants to save the final Wizard Lord?!"

Du An thought of something else, and the fury in his eyes flared brighter.

"Since he isn't even from the Ring World, what right does he have to possess the Ring World's Wizard Embryo Fragment? What right did the Director have to stake everything on him?"

The Main Brain spoke calmly. "The Director had failed too many times. He believed the goal could not be achieved under the known conditions, and a variable had to be introduced."

"And what was I in the eyes of that scheming fanatic?"

"The Director believed you were the catalyst for the variable."

"Ha!" Du An laughed out of sheer fury. "I am me. I am no one's stepping stone, and I am no catalyst! And I... am not here to save the world either."

The Main Brain remained calm, as if it already knew Du An would say this.

"General, the Director also said that if you are the one who ultimately succeeds, I am to help you replace the final Wizard Lord."

"He certainly liked hedging his bets."

"The Director said that because of you, he had no regrets about the destruction of the Ring World. If you can become the final Wizard Lord, you can also put an end to the world's reboots."

Du An suddenly looked up, his gaze glacial. "The Director was quite the schemer."

Li Ban entered the depths of the Shattered Realm.

He randomly picked a small world and went inside.

Because it was a small world near the boundary, the world did not contain much spiritual rhinoceros.

He hadn't come here to cultivate anyway.

Li Ban took the dragon egg out of his Cubic Space.

But when he spoke, the name he called out was Xiu Ye.

"Priest Xiu Ye, you fought for Yun Province and its people, sacrificing your life to save them. I do not want you to die like this."

Another group of people flashed through Li Ban's mind.

"You shouldn't die like this."

"This dragon egg has never been able to hatch. I checked it—the divine soul inside is too frail and can no longer be born. But if you are willing, I can try to help you survive using the dragon's body. By cultivating slowly in the future, you will still be able to assume a human form."

Number One Xiu Ye was already on the verge of dissipating. She did not hesitate at all. "I am willing."

If they weren't truly out of options or bereft of all hope, who would really want to dissipate between heaven and earth like this?

"But I cannot guarantee this method will definitely work."

"Just do your best. Thank you."

Hearing Xiu Ye's words, Li Ban hesitated no longer. He immediately drew out Xiu Ye's divine soul and, just before she could dissipate, sent it into the dragon egg.

This dragon egg had endured the severe trials of the Trash Realm, the fog, and the black wheat, becoming one of the few things Li Ban was able to bring out of the Trash Realm.

Li Ban believed it could protect Priest Xiu Ye's divine soul.

After using spells to protect the dragon egg and leaving it to slowly incubate in the small world, Li Ban took a Self-Seeking Mirror out of his Cubic Space.

It was Shaman Ming's Self-Seeking Mirror.

"Li Ban, reach the 8th Tier as soon as possible. Sever your mortal corpse directly at the 8th Tier to become a Great Wizard. Do not enter the Divine Offspring realm!"