’Destiny didn’t go off course... so why hasn’t the future I envisioned come to pass?’
The future... the future.
The True King Hall was utterly silent.
Ron sat alone on the throne. Twelve destiny-aspected treasures, most of their power depleted, orbited him, slowly replenishing their strength. No matter how furious the Sovereign was, he had no choice but to calm down and analyze all the anomalies from the previous battle.
As a Sovereign, he had seen far too much.
The loss of the twelve Fixed Star Guards was nothing; he could just find other suitable experts to control.
But the blow to a Cosmic Country Sovereign’s prestige, and the question of why "Destiny" had failed to take effect, were what truly concerned him.
The essence of "Destiny" lay in creating something from nothing.
Trading one fate for another.
By envisioning a desired future and paying an equivalent price in fortune, one could guarantee that future’s arrival. While it required a certain amount of time for the River of Destiny to shift, it should never result in "zero feedback."
During the battle on Treasure Star, Ron had activated "Destiny" after his attempt at soul control proved fruitless. He had appeared to be biding his time, waiting for his enemy to tire, but he was actually secretly turning the wheels of destiny to hasten the arrival of his envisioned future and achieve his most desired outcome.
But by the end of the battle, destiny had only collected its price, offering nothing in return.
It took the payment,
but didn’t do the job!
In the past several thousand years, nothing like this had ever happened!
This caused the lofty Sovereign to doubt himself. After endless speculation, he could only attribute the failure to the supreme nature of the Divine Rune. Only a treasure of such a high order could have helped that kid withstand the torrent of destiny.
The destiny he had envisioned was:
"Ron will covertly replace the target, becoming the sole owner of the Divine Rune and the heir to the First Civilization Cosmic Country."
If this destiny had succeeded, Shi Ming would have essentially become the "A-side" of fate, bearing all the risks of possessing the Divine Rune—including the covetous gazes of other Pillar Stones and the hunting and assassination attempts by false gods. Ron, meanwhile, would have become the "B-side," reaping the most tangible rewards without shouldering any of the additional risks.
It was equivalent to him taking all the benefits, leaving Shi Ming as an empty shell to bear the consequences.
A pity...
A cold light flashed in Ron’s eyes.
’That kid’s ability was bizarre, too. Unseen insects tearing away inside my body, each bite doubling the excruciating pain of the last!’
’It nearly brought me to my knees.’
But from the day he was born to this moment, not a single creature had ever escaped the webs he spun. Not one.
Destiny is absolute. Though it may be delayed, it is never denied.
Such was the confidence of a Pillar Stone of the Cosmic Country.
...
...
...
In the depths of the vast, starry expanse, an inconspicuous lone boat sailed through.
Bai Yimo, having stolen the fisherman’s lone boat, had spent several days finally figuring out how to operate the treasure. Now, however, she was vexed by another problem.
’Bastard!’
’That damned Law Enforcer! That old fossil! If he can’t have something, he has to destroy it! He banished my people just outside that strange prison space, right into the Thirty-Seventh Cosmic Country’s Star Cave Star Realm. There’s no travel through the Dark Cosmos here!’
’Every single one of these star caves is a cage, imprisoning the various races of the Star Sea!’
’Damn it!’
Bai Yimo ground her teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
She wasn’t angry on behalf of these other races. Their lives and deaths were none of her concern. But in the Cave of the Stars, travel through the Dark Cosmos was impossible; one could only fly. It seemed Bai Yimo had escaped the prison space, but she had merely gone from one prison to another!
’And I’m in the deepest part of it!’
’I can’t use the Dark Cosmos to travel, only fly. At this rate, it’ll take at least a thousand years to get out!’
A thousand years!
The Desire Demon Race were not patient Old Deng with lifespans nearing their end. They, of all people, were the least able to endure loneliness.
Regardless of their gender, Desire Demons preferred to mingle in the mortal realms. They weren’t picky about their targets either; even touring the lowest-level planets of fledgling civilizations had its own unique appeal. That was the source of their race’s pleasure. But drifting through the lonely cosmos for a thousand years? For Bai Yimo, that was a fate worse than being sealed in the prison. At least the prison was her familiar turf, giving her an innate sense of comfort.
She clenched her jaw.
An infuriating grinding sound came from between her teeth.
’If I’d known it would be like this, I should have paid a higher price to stick with that kid! Judging by the sheer vitality of his qi and blood, he’s definitely not the type to waste centuries or millennia here. He must have another way to leave this place.’
Bai Yimo was a seasoned connoisseur of people, a skill she had honed through countless encounters.
With just a single glance at any male, she could glean all sorts of intelligence that women usually share only among themselves.
There was no great secret to it; it was simply a matter of practice.
If the target was female, she could even assume her male form, though she was far less experienced in that guise. She had spent much less time in her secondary gender form than in her primary one.
The Desire Demon piloted the lone boat at maximum speed through the star-filled void where Spatial Power was useless. After just three days of travel, she already felt on the verge of a breakdown. Back in her ancestral lands, she had her kin to pass the time with. Now, they were all dead, and she faced a thousand years of solitary drifting. She suspected she would go mad.
And as a fugitive, she didn’t dare explore the other star caves.
This life, where she could see her bleak future stretched out before her, was truly unbearable!
Huh?
’Wait, is that a ship up ahead?’
The Desire Demon’s eyes lit up.
There was indeed a ship.
’My luck is amazing. To run into a big ship in the depths of these star caves... At the very least, I can find some fun on board.’
’I hope there’s a magnificent, considerate, and handsome young man on board who fits my tastes. Then, with my numbered ability, "Desire," I can guarantee he’ll have just as wonderful a millennium in this lonely place as I will.’
Heh heh.
’Who knows? Maybe because of the "suspension bridge effect," we’ll even have a moving, epic romance.’
’He’d be getting a great deal.’
The two ships hadn’t even met, and Bai Yimo was already lost in her fantasies.
...
...
...
Shi Ming rested for a day inside the star cave.
During that day, he detected no anomalies in the threads of destiny, nor did he sense any follow-up moves from the Sovereign. Even if the Sovereign had something planned, Shi Ming doubted he could extend his reach into these desolate star caves.
Shi Ming took out the Wandering Atlas.
The Shuttle Pages in the Wandering Atlas were a finite resource; each one used was one gone forever.
But it was an acceptable loss. Treasures like the Wandering Atlas weren’t scarce in the cosmos. What was scarce was the standing required to forcibly tear through a blockade, powerful Spiritual Power, and a physical body durable enough to withstand the spatial backlash.
Compared to the atlas itself, these latter elements—which only Shi Ming possessed—were his most important core advantages.
Because of this, the Cave of the Stars would be his personal safe house! His secret base!
Huh?
’Someone else is here?’
His Spiritual Power reached into the distance and detected a lone boat speeding past. The aura of the person standing on it was very familiar to him.