novelHire Chapter 904: Who Is He
Chapter 904: Who Is He
...At this moment, the golden Thunder Eye had not yet fully formed, leaving some time to react.
Although he had little confidence in his heart, Chen Huaian immediately grasped the sword left behind by the middle corpse.
In that instant, Chen Huaian's aura changed.
The warmth and all emotions originally belonging to a "human" receded like a tide in that moment.
Replacing them was a suffocating indifference and lofty remoteness.
His eyes gradually deepened, his pupils vanished, leaving only the desolate radiance of Dao Rhythms.
A clearly demarcated Go board manifested at his feet, and his long, pale hair billowed wildly behind him without any wind.
At this moment, his presence was no longer Chen Huaian's, but was identical to the middle corpse's.
Standing there, he was like an emotionless divine statue, emanating pure "divinity."
...
The outside world, Starry Sky Great Forest.
The situation changed abruptly.
The sky, originally merely overcast, now turned completely ink-black.
Rumble—
A terrifying pressure descended from the heavens, pressing down so hard that everyone could not straighten their backs.
Faintly visible within the thick, dark clouds was an enormous golden thunder vortex.
The center of the vortex was incredibly bright; there was no sun there, only a Heavenly Eye that seemed to be slowly opening.
"This... what is this..."
Bixixi's face turned deathly pale, her staff slipping from her hand.
The elite members of the Battle Soul Hall around her were even more terrified, their courage shattered.
"It's the Golden Dragon King! It must be the Golden Dragon King!"
"We killed its offspring, divine punishment has descended!"
"Spare us! Dragon Kings, spare us! It wasn't our fault!"
Many Battle Masters directly knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically, trying to absolve themselves of responsibility.
Only Li Qingran remained.
She looked up at that golden vortex, feeling that familiar, heart-palpitating aura, her expression grave to the extreme.
That was not the Golden Dragon King.
That was... the Heavenly Dao of Cangyun Realm.
That was the supreme existence she had once looked up to, revered, and even tried to oppose in her previous life.
"It's here for Master."
A clear understanding arose in Li Qingran's heart.
"Qingran! Run!"
Bixixi shouted anxiously from afar, wanting to rush over and pull Li Qingran away: "That's divine punishment! Staying here means death!!"
"I'm not leaving." Li Qingran's voice was not loud, but it was as firm as iron.
She stood beside the swordsman who was now motionless, his eyes vacant, as if he had lost his soul.
She reached out, her hand hovering over her Master's hand.
"No matter what happens next..."
The young woman's long hair danced wildly in the gale. She turned her head, looking at her beloved beside her. There was not a trace of fear in her eyes, only a tenderness ready to face death:
"I will... live and die together with my husband."
...
Within the Divine Soul space.
Zzzap—!
That golden Thunder Eye fully formed.
Immediately after, a dazzling golden light shot out from the center of the Thunder Eye, transforming into a series of steps.
A human figure slowly walked out from the Thunder Eye.
The moment he clearly saw that figure's face, a flicker of astonishment couldn't help but flash deep within Chen Huaian's ice-cold, indifferent eyes.
That person was also dressed in white robes, with long, pale hair like a waterfall, and an expression as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.
There was not the slightest scent of "humanity" about him, only rules so dense they were almost tangible.
But he looked... too similar.
Not similar to him, nor to the middle corpse.
But similar to the upper corpse, White Sword... similar to that mortal who once took the Top Scholar exam in the mortal realm of Cangyun Realm and later joined a sect—Chen Wenyan.
"Why?"
That person opened his eyes.
His pupils had no whites, only golden electric arcs flashing wildly.
His voice was not human-like, more like the electronic sound of metal scraping:
"Without authorization, why was the Million-Year World Ring issued in advance?"
"This disrupts the established world balance."
A terrifying pressure surged forth.
Chen Huaian forcefully suppressed the storm of shock in his heart.
He tightened his grip on the sword in his hand, striving to maintain the middle corpse's indifferent tone, and said calmly:
"It was due to force majeure."
"The situation was critical at the time; Li Qingran was nearly killed by the Peak Battle Master Tang Ritian."
Chen Huaian asked expressionlessly in return:
"Surely... you wouldn't want to see the important causality node—Li Qingran—just be killed by a native of the Canglan Realm like that, would you?"
The "Chen Huaian" with golden eyes was stunned for a moment.
The light of the Dao swirled in his eyes, as if he was pondering: "Wasn't Li Qingran within the protection scope of the Gold and Silver Dragon Kings?
According to my calculations, a lethal crisis was impossible."
"Dragon Kings?" Chen Huaian sneered, flicking his sleeve.
Whoosh.
A massive light mirror unfolded in the void.
The image within the mirror was precisely the dangerous scene from before, where Tang Ritian activated his "Great Mount Sumeru Exploding Rod" and was about to smash Li Qingran to death with one strike.
And at that time, the two so-called guardian Dragon Kings were nowhere to be seen, not even a shadow.
"This is the protection you speak of?" Chen Huaian said coldly.
That 'person' looked at the image and remained silent for a long time.
"...Incompetence in duty."
He nodded, his tone carrying a trace of icy killing intent.
"I will punish those two geckos for this matter."
"Since it was an emergency action to avoid danger, the matter of using the Million-Year World Ring in advance... will be overlooked."
Whew...
Just as the heavy stone in Chen Huaian's heart was about to land,
that "person" suddenly took a step forward, palm facing upward, extending his hand before Chen Huaian.
Those golden eyes fixed on him intently:
"Rules cannot be abolished. Accounts that should be settled, must be settled."
"In exchange for the Million-Year World Ring, where is the payment?"
Chen Huaian: "..."
He felt speechless inside.
What a money-grubber!
He paused briefly, not daring to delay, and immediately took out 10 Premium Spirit Jades from the character's inventory.
"Take them."
Chen Huaian placed the spirit jades in the other's palm.
That person weighed the spirit jades in his hand, a flicker of satisfaction passing through his eyes.
"Transaction established."
"Accounts settled."
He put away the spirit jades, turned, and stepped onto the thunder, walking towards that enormous golden Thunder Eye.
Just as he was about to step into the Thunder Eye, he suddenly stopped, his back to Chen Huaian. He turned his head slightly and left behind an eerie sentence:
"Keep an eye on the lower corpse on Earth Star."
"A great upheaval is about to occur on Earth Star!"
"Don't let him... die."
Chen Huaian's pupils contracted slightly, but his expression remained unperturbed on the surface. He merely nodded:
"Rest assured."
"Everything is under control."
Hum—
The figure of that person merged into the Thunder Eye.
Afterwards, that terrifying golden Thunder Eye slowly closed, transforming into scattered thunderous light that dissipated.
...
The outside world.
The dark clouds dispersed, and sunlight poured down once more.
The terrifying phenomenon above the Starry Sky Great Forest vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared.
"Whew..."
Chen Huaian's body swayed slightly. The vacancy in his eyes gradually faded, returning him to the somewhat lazy white-clothed swordsman.
But his back was already ice-cold.
It wasn't cold sweat.
It was the instinctive fear of his Divine Soul.
If they had fought just now... even for just one move, he would likely be utterly annihilated by now.
That person who looked strikingly like him was absurdly strong.
No, perhaps one shouldn't refer to the other as a person.
If he wasn't mistaken, that should have been an avatar of the Heavenly Dao's will.
"Chen Wenyan, White Sword, the will of the Cangyun Heavenly Dao..."
Chen Huaian narrowed his eyes, looking at the lingering trace of thunder in the sky, his heart filled with dense clouds of doubt.
His feeling wasn't wrong.
That person just now was exactly the same aura he had stirred when using Heaven's Calculation in the Cangyun Realm.
That person was the Heavenly Dao of the Cangyun Realm, the humanoid will of the Giant Golden Eyeball.
But why...
Would the Heavenly Dao of the Cangyun Realm wear a face so similar to his?
"The upper corpse is White Sword, the middle corpse is the system, then... what exactly are Chen Wenyan and that person just now?"
Chen Huaian rubbed his chin.
He always felt he had grasped something, but it still wasn't quite enough; he was missing some information.
But fortunately...
This time, he should have managed to muddle through.
...