Su Chen stepped into an unfamiliar, unique world.
The world around him seemed fluid and soft, but it simultaneously exerted an enormous amount of pressure onto his body.
Behind this fluid appearance was a boundless darkness. Su Chen unleashed his consciousness into his surroundings and immediately felt like he had slammed into a wall that was surrounding this entire space. The only crack was immediately in front of him.
The fluid energy appeared to be pouring out through that crack and filling the space.
“The Barrier is fracturing,” Su Chen muttered to himself.
At this moment, he was in the space between the Primordial Continent and the Barrier of the Gods. He was surrounded by that barrier. This small pocket of space was unique because some energy could flow in and out through the crack.
A crack in the wall that was just big enough for an insect to fit through.
But even if Su Chen could squeeze through, the gods could not.
Because they were too big.
Only their projections or clones could pass through the small hole if they wanted to affect the chain of events in the Primordial Continent.
Even Su Chen could only go from the Primordial Continent to this space. Right now, he was incapable of going from his side over to where the gods were.
“The gap is too small...... But soon, it will become much larger,” Su Chen muttered to himself.
The energy cascading through the crack was slowly but surely wearing down on the Barrier.
A hole the size of an ant could lead to the failure of a dike. This small crack would eventually lead to the ruin of the Barrier.
More precisely, it was one of the cracks.
There were actually a number of cracks in the Barrier like this, based on what Su Chen had determined from the Lord of the Dreamrealm’s memories.
Through hundreds of thousands of years of erosion, the Barrier had been slowly ground away. This was why the Barrier seemed to be growing more and more permeable. The effort of the gods had minimal effect in this regard.
Su Chen began to chuckle to himself, relishing the pressure washing over him due to the unique arrangement of this small pocket.
Then, he let out a deep breath and said, “I’m here. Where are you?”
“Where are you?”
“Where are you?”
“Where are you?”
His question echoed throughout the space, but no one responded.
Su Chen frowned but continued to silently wait.
After an unknown period of time, a figure finally appeared in the small pocket of space before him.
The figure appeared to be bobbing up and down on the fluid energy inside the pocket, and faded in and out of focus.
Only upon arriving before Su Chen did it grow clear.
That figure belonged to the old beggar.
The old beggar had finally appeared.
Su Chen, however, was not surprised.
He had come all this way not for the Lord of the Dreamrealm’s clone - that was just an unexpected bonus. His real goal was to meet with this old beggar. Ye Fenghan did not know yet that the knowledge he had received from the Lord of the Dreamrealm also contained a few quite important pieces of information.
This was essentially the appointment that the old beggar had made with Su Chen.
Su Chen felt a surge of emotion in his heart when he saw the old beggar.
If it weren’t for him, he probably would have been no more than one of the Su Clan’s Young Masters, with some promising talent. His status would have been far different.
It could be argued that the beggar was responsible for making him into who he was today.
How could Su Chen not be grateful to the individual who had given him so much?
Interestingly, the old beggar’s reaction to seeing Su Chen was quite similar.
As he gazed at Su Chen, his eyes were filled with a platonic love and affection.
The two of them stared at each other for some time before Su Chen broke the equilibrium.
He bowed to the old beggar. “Su Chen greets Senior. May I know Senior’s name, if I might dare to be so disrespectful?”
The old beggar smiled slightly. “I don’t have a name. When I was born, names had no meaning, because the human race didn’t exist then.”
Su Chen felt his heart seize.
The old beggar’s words had unintentionally revealed his status.
“Su Chen greets the human Ancestor God!”
“Human Ancestor......” the old beggar muttered before nodding. “You can think of me that way, but I am not a god.”
“You aren’t a god?” Su Chen was stunned.
The old beggar nodded. “Yes. As you know, I am merely one of the first creatures created by the gods.”
“But......”
“You want to say that, after Kun’s territory appeared, all creatures were gods, right? You want to ask me how I can survive behind the Barrier if I am not a god, right? And how I am able to bypass the Barrier and do something that even they couldn’t, right?” the human Ancestor asked.
Su Chen nodded, a little dumbfounded.
The human Ancestor sighed. “That would take a long time to explain, longer than we have. All I can tell you is that I am able to bypass the Barrier and use clones precisely because I am not a god. Gods are very powerful, but they also have their own restrictions as a result. Without faith or sacrifices, their power will greatly decrease. On the other hand, humans have the ability to draw power from their very being. They are even more powerful than gods, which makes them freer as a result!”
“Even more powerful than the gods!” Su Chen was badly startled by this statement.
“Don’t you already possess something like that?” the human Ancestor chuckled.
So it all came back to immortal energy, huh?
“So the human Ancestor was the first individual to possess immortal energy?”
Unexpectedly, the human Ancestor waved his hand in dismissal of that idea. “I’m not the same as you. I was too corroded by the power of faith, so even if I understand it in my mind, there are certain things I cannot achieve.”
Su Chen gazed at the human Ancestor in confusion, who continued, “I don’t have enough time to explain all these things to you. This fracture is being watched closely by those gods, and I can only divert their attention for so long. The return of the gods is nigh......”
“We still have six years,” Su Chen said.
The human Ancestor shook his head. “No, you only have two more years.”
“What?” Su Chen was stunned.
Didn’t the Lord of the Dreamrealm say ten years?
The human Ancestor said, “One of the Barrier’s cracks is growing faster than predicted, resulting in its more rapid decline.”
“Then this place......”
“Is only meant to divert your attention,” the human Ancestor replied. A streak of light flew forth from his palm into Su Chen’s forehead, transmitting all the necessary information to him.
The human Ancestor continued, “This place is where the biggest fracture is. In order to prevent you from detecting it, the gods have made basically no moves in that location. If you cannot repair that fracture, the gods will return two years from now.”
Su Chen said decisively, “I will not let them have their way.”
The human Ancestor nodded. “I believe you can do it, but this will only delay them for a little. The Barrier’s decline is not something you can fully stop, and you won’t be able to change the ultimate outcome.”
“Do you have any ideas?” Even though Su Chen was facing the human Ancestor, who was the human race’s benefactor, he still kept his lips sealed about the plan he had come up with.
The human Ancestor smiled gently. “Don’t you already have one? Slaughter your way over there before the gods return!”
Su Chen froze, a little embarrassed.
The human Ancestor chuckled. “There’s no need to be embarrassed. Being cautious is prudent, while courage and boldness will be the foundation to your success. I have waited for two hundred thousand years, planting countless seeds. Finally, a tree has grown that is capable of supporting the entire human race. Su Chen, you have done well! Very well!”
So that was indeed the case?
In that moment, Su Chen understood what the human Ancestor’s goal was.
For two hundred thousand years, the human Ancestor’s clone had wandered throughout human territory, scattering seeds everywhere and raising up generational talents. His goal was ultimately to increase the strength of the entire human race.
Even so, the reality was that most of the people who were given such a gift only used it for themselves.
They were able to rely on that power to reach new heights, but chose to live luxurious, extravagant lives instead of attempting to revitalize the human race.
Though they were powerful, their hearts were selfish, and they lacked ambition in comparison.
Of course, some had the heart to be more generous with their power, but that generosity was limited to doing good things for people throughout their travels. Virtually none had the heart or patience to perform research for the sake of the generations to come.
Li Daohong had been given the Attendant’s Brain, but that turned him into nothing more than a greedy, selfish prince. Lin Raoxian had been given the Tranquil Heart so that he would not be influenced by personal gain, but in the end his heart was so tranquil that he gave the Blood Fiend’s Bone to Long Pojun.
He had placed his hopes on countless individuals and seedlings, but was disappointed time after time.
Even so, he had refused to stop his actions.
Because he firmly believed that one day, someone would be capable of carrying on his dream.
This lasted for two hundred thousand years before Su Chen finally appeared.
And Su Chen finally understood why the human Ancestor had done all these things.
But there was still some things that he didn’t quite understand.
He asked, “Why couldn’t you just tell me directly?”
The human Ancestor shook his head. “I was not allowed to. This was the price I paid to uphold balance.”
“Balance......” Su Chen fell into deep thought.
He recalled the three years that he had spent in darkness.
Suddenly, everything became a little clearer to him.
“The balance of power? The balance of information?”
The human Ancestor nodded. “Passing through this Barrier is never easy.”
He could not say anymore, but what was left unsaid was incredibly clear.
“Then how can I cross over?” Su Chen asked.
“When the fracture reaches its maximum size......”
“No!” Surprisingly, Su Chen rejected the human Ancestor’s proposal. “I’m talking about right now.”
“You want to cross over right now?” The human Ancestor was stunned.
“Yes, now!” Su Chen replied. “When the fracture reaches its largest state, the human armies may be able to pass through, but the gods will be close to doing the same. That will leave us with very little time. I must cross over now in order to buy the human race more time.”
“You cannot cross over.”
“As long as I can do what you do, that is good enough. After all, there are still other lifeforms living on Kun territory, right?” Su Chen said.
He had learned from the Lord of the Dreamrealm that there were creatures other than gods still alive in Kun territory. However, these lifeforms were confined to the Kun territory and could not provide the gods with much divine power.
The Primordial Continent was still the greatest source of divine power for the gods.
The human Ancestor fell silent.
After a long time, he said, “That is an idea. But I must warn you that, if you come to my side, I may not be able to help you.”
“As long as you can bring me over, I can handle the rest on my own,” Su Chen replied decisively.
After another lengthy pause, the human Ancestor finally nodded. “This is a big risk, but it is also a risk worth taking.”
He tapped his finger on Su Chen’s forehead again. “This is my projection method. Merge it with your clone technique, and you will be able to sneak into Kun territory. Ten days from now, I will meet you at the largest fracture. Remember, you will only have one chance!”
As the human Ancestor spoke, he disappeared without a trace.
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