The Thirty-Seventh Cosmic Country, True King Hall.
Sovereign Ron sat enthroned in the Royal Hall. He raised his right hand, in which a three-colored halo of deep black, fiery red, and pure white swirled. It constantly separated into layers of tributaries that intertwined with one another, both chaotic and orderly.
A Nirvana-rank skill: Destiny.
Hm?
Ron had received a revelation.
Just a short while ago, the Heart of the Star Spirit—a supreme treasure he had personally forged from the corpse of a powerful member of the Star Spirit Race—had been used. The location of its use seemed both incredibly distant and yet strangely close.
This defied logic.
Ron’s fingers trembled, and the wheel of light expanded. The Pillar Powerhouse entered the Wheel of Destiny with his very being.
「A moment later.」
"The location is deep within the Cave of the Stars?"
’Did I make a mistake?’
Ron shook his head.
Even for a Pillar Powerhouse, peering into fate was prone to error. It wasn’t uncommon for Destiny to deviate. The strong could use fate, but they could not rely on it.
Ron closed his eyes.
In the True King Hall, the three-colored power once again intertwined, layer upon layer. The endless tributaries of fate’s past, present, and future flowed back and forth within his tightly shut eyes, constantly being deduced and replayed.
A moment later, Ron arrived at the same answer once again.
It really was deep within the Cave of the Stars!
The Tower King had lost the Heart of the Star Spirit over two months ago. Traveling from the Unfastened Boat Star Realm to Treasure Star via the Dark Cosmos took about ten days. But to get from Treasure Star to the depths of the Cave of the Stars would take a millennium at the very least. For the stolen Heart of the Star Spirit to appear there was truly an inconceivable matter.
Even though he had perceived this fact, he had no way of going to retrieve it.
But more than the dispensable supreme treasure, what interested the Sovereign was how the Heart of the Star Spirit had appeared deep within the Cave of the Stars out of thin air.
The threads of fate intertwined in his hand, layer upon layer, his deductions continuing without a moment’s rest.
Finally, this Pillar Stone of the nation found a sliver of opportunity within it.
The Fisherman!
Assuming his six-armed form, he activated his magnificent royal might. The scene in his eyes transcended time and space as he used the shared bloodline of the Six-Armed Race People and the power of [Destiny] to contact "the Fisherman."
"Clan Uncle," Sovereign Ron said.
...
...
...
The Fisherman was stewing in resentment.
The three coordinates his precious hook had reeled in had all come up empty! His vessel, the Unmoored Boat, had vanished into thin air! Trapped deep within the Cave of the Stars, he had only two options to escape at his current speed. He could either drift for another thousand-plus years, or he could disperse this primary body, promote the secondary body hidden back in the Cosmic Country to take its place, and then create a new secondary body from that one.
Both options came at a great cost.
Option one: drift for a thousand years...
The Six-Armed Race was a long-lived species, and those at the Nirvana rank could easily live past ten thousand years. But the Fisherman was already nearing the end of his life. In the most pessimistic scenario, he likely had only a thousand years left, which was why he had gambled everything on coming to the Cave of the Stars to find an opportunity. Now that his greatest chance had failed at the final hurdle, his spirit was broken. He had lost all desire to explore. If he were to return to the Cosmic Country by normal means, he would likely die of old age before he even arrived.
Option two: disperse his body...
The cost of one body wasn’t huge—he could still afford it. But during his thousand years of drifting, the Fisherman had found quite a few other treasures in the Cave of the Stars. If he dispersed this body, he could only bring back three treasures at most; the rest would all be lost.
The more the Fisherman thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt!
In truth, there was no one to blame but his own poor luck.
But he just couldn’t swallow his frustration.
Just then, he also became aware of a third party’s presence in this part of space. The aura carried the faint scent of desire, which seemed to have been picked up from the abyss of that previous cave.
’I’ve been played again!’
Damn it! DAMN IT!!!
The Fisherman beat his chest and stomped his feet. He transformed into his true, six-armed form and vented his frustrations by unleashing wild [Heart-Piercer] attacks, but it did nothing to quell the hatred in his heart.
And at that very moment, a familiar, magnificent royal might used the bloodline connection shared by the Six-Armed Race People. An illusion of Sovereign Ron separated from the Fisherman’s body and appeared in the void of space.
It was only an illusory projection.
"Clan Uncle."
The Fisherman was stunned.
’Ron?’
’That brat... Ever since he ascended to the throne as Sovereign, when has he ever given me the time of day? Worldly titles like clan uncle and nephew were buried in the dust of time long ago. Yet today, I’m actually hearing him call me that?’
’Is he pitying me?’
’Or is he up to something?’
"Hmph."
"Ron, I’ve already replied to your Imperial Decree. As you can see, I am currently deep within the Cave of the Stars and cannot leave anytime soon. Even if I wanted to help you, I’m powerless to do so."
The Sovereign’s phantom turned its head, its gaze moving past the Fisherman. Far away in the True King Hall, Destiny flowed between Ron’s real hands as he remotely peered into this region of space.
His eyes were profound. The events of the past three hours in this Star Domain replayed before him, reflected in the river of fate: from utter solitude to the successive arrivals of Shi Ming and the Fisherman; then Bai Yimo’s appearance and the theft of the Unmoored Boat; then the two of them emerging from the cave; their evenly matched battle; and finally, Shi Ming’s abrupt disappearance using some unknown method...
The waves of fate surged and churned.
But the waves in Ron’s own heart were even more violent.
Like the Fisherman, he wasn’t certain if the method Shi Ming had used to disappear was truly the impossible "Dark Cosmos traversal." It might have been a clone, the Law of Similarity, an illusion, or some other secret treasure or technique. After all, the universe was full of wonders, and worldly encounters were strange and varied.
’But I definitely sensed the aura of the Heart of the Star Spirit! This young man must be the member of the Dark Star Race who stole the Heart of the Star Spirit from the Tower King. If so, it’s highly likely he also obtained the lost Divine Rune! And he managed to travel from the Unmoored Boat to the depths of the Cave of the Stars while maintaining such combat prowess!’
’Who wouldn’t covet such an ability!’
Ron was inwardly shaken to the core.
Yet his expression remained unchanged.
To have reached the position of Sovereign, his mental fortitude was far from ordinary. A thousand schemes were already churning in his mind.
"Clan Uncle, you and I are of the same lineage. The Cave of the Stars holds countless opportunities, but becoming obsessed with them is to chase trivialities and neglect the essential, like drinking poison to quench a thirst. Not long ago, I obtained a treasure called the [Fruit of Life]. It can extend one’s life by three thousand years. Uncle, why don’t you return to the Cosmic Country? Why waste a thousand years in this desolation?"
’Drinking poison to quench my thirst?’
’Hmph. If you knew I was just one step away from obtaining the Divine Bone Marrow, that I almost seized the opportunity to ascend to the [New God] realm, you wouldn’t say something so shortsighted. Too bad for you, I’ll never tell you that!’
’The Fruit of Life?’
’You have something that good, and you’d save it for me?’
It was no wonder the Fisherman was biased against his own nephew. He had witnessed Sovereign Ron’s methods in the past—decisive and ruthless in his slaughter, showing no mercy. A thousand years was not nearly long enough for such a person’s nature to change. The probability was minuscule.
"Ron,"
"The Fruit of Life is exceedingly rare. I won’t take it from you for free. So, out with it. What do you need my help with?"
The Fisherman got straight to the point.
Ron’s phantom smiled.
"Your nephew wishes to delve deep into your fate, Clan Uncle, to find someone. I only need you to lower all your defenses and cooperate fully. Regardless of success, the Fruit of Life will be yours. I will also cover the resources needed to incubate a new clone. What do you say?"
’Delve into my fate?’
’Lower all my defenses and cooperate fully?’
The Fisherman’s expression turned cold.