The storage ring contained three Civilization Ancestor-grade artifacts. The first artifact was a three-foot-long, two-finger-wide sword. It was pure white, looking like it had been forged from snow. The second artifact was a set of armor crafted from the scales of some unknown demonic beast. Giving off a faint glow, it looked heavy and powerful. The third and last artifact was a palm-sized seal with the relief of a mythical demonic beast on its surface. There were four ancient characters carved into it as well. Three divine items were all at the Civilization Ancestor Grade. This wasn't mere generosity any longer; it was extravagance on a whole new level. Sui Wuhan's expression turned sour. Ye Guan glanced at him, and then he turned to Xuan Ru with a calm smile. "Brother Ru, I have to admit... that I didn't expect to receive this much." Xuan Ru sincerely replied, "Brother Ye, the Brahma Heaven Kingdom truly wishes for you to join us." "Because you're someone extraordinary." Ye Guan chuckled and didn't press further. He accepted the two storage rings and said, "Then, I accept. I'll join the Brahma Heaven Kingdom." Xuan Ru smiled. "Welcome aboard." With a wave of his sleeve, a golden beam of light descended from the heavens. "Brother Ye, this way please." Ye Guan turned to the Old God beside him. "Coming with me?" The Old God smiled. "Nah. I like going my own way." Ye Guan nodded and pulled out an Ancestral Spiritual Vein. "Take this. Just a small token of my appreciation." However, the Old God waved him off. "You've already done more for me than I can repay. I can't take more things from you." Then, he transmitted a message through profound energy, "Brother Ye, don't worry about me. I've got my own path to follow. But watch your back, these factions aren't saints. If you ever need me, I'll be there as soon as possible." With that, he vanished into the horizon. Ye Guan looked at where he had disappeared and turned back to Xuan Ru. "Let's go." The two of them stepped onto the golden road, vanishing instantly as the road faded behind them. Sui Wuhan stared after them, murmuring, "So he's your chosen one..." Ye Guan looked around on the golden road. He wasn't using any power, yet he was moving faster than traveling across the cosmos on his sword. Xuan Ru noticed his surprise and chuckled. "You're inside a tunnel created by a time teleportation array; it's the fastest type of array in the Main Universe. It can cross billions of starry regions in the blink of an eye." "But we've been on it for a while now..." "Well." Xuan Ru smiled. "This place is far bigger than you think." Ye Guan extended his divine sense, and it spread endlessly with no end in sight. The Main Universe... was beyond what he had imagined. "Brother Ru, can't you just enter the Sea of Life whenever you want?" "No." Xuan Ru shook his head, "We can't do that unless we have the Breaking Wall Scripture. And even with it, there's a price to pay." "You walk the Dao of Order?" "When Sheng Gujin returned to the Main Universe, she spread the word that you're walking on that Dao." Ye Guan chuckled. "She was trying to get you all to kill me." "We weren't going to fall for that." Ye Guan smiled and returned the storage rings to him. "I can't accept these." "I haven't earned them." Xuan Ru hesitated for a moment before smiling. "These were given with sincerity. And I believe... your value will far exceed anything inside them." Ye Guan said no more and put the storage rings away. "How much longer until we reach Brahma Heaven Kingdom?" "What's the first thing you want to do once we get there?" Xuan Ru asked. "I want to learn," Ye Guan said, "I want to understand the Brahma Heaven Kingdom's Order, and I want to study it, too." Back at the Holy King Hall, Sui Gujin was sitting before a bowl of steaming noodles. She lifted the bowl, took a sip of the broth, and began eating. Just then, Soul stepped into the hall, and she hesitated upon seeing her master enjoying a bowl of noodles. Moments later, she quietly stood to the side. After finishing the bowl and sipping the last drop of broth, Sheng Gujin[1] licked her lips and looked at her. "Master, Ye Guan is here." Sheng Gujin nodded without saying anything. Soul remained standing, awaiting orders. "Proceed as planned," Sheng Gujin finally said. Soul bowed deeply and left. Just then, a woman in a black dress, Shadow, appeared behind Sheng Gujin. "I couldn't trace anything," Shadow said. "No need," Sheng Gujin replied calmly. Shadow frowned, confused. "If the Yang Family hadn't killed him, then he wouldn't die, for now. So there's no point in digging into his background." Shadow narrowed her eyes. "So he's basically untouchable now?" "Not just untouchable," Sheng Gujin said. "If the Yang Clan doesn't make a move, he's absolutely invincible." Shadow's frown deepened. "Don't be fooled by how quickly he kneels or plays the coward. The day he reveals his true strength... he'll shock us all." "Then what does he really want?" "That's irrelevant," Sheng Gujin replied. "What matters is that he's after the Breaking Wall Scripture." "I have two scrolls. The Dao Cang Lineage holds one. The Brahma Heaven Kingdom has another. That means... two are still unaccounted for." Shadow skeptically asked, "If he's truly invincible, why hasn't he just destroyed Dao Cang Lineage and Brahma Heaven Kingdom? They're not being protected by the Yang Family." "Maybe it's not him that's invincible," Sheng Gujin said. "Maybe it's his true self, not his avatar." Shadow looked even more puzzled. "We can't trace his origins. There are only two possibilities behind that—he's from beyond the Main Universe. Two, he's from outside the vast expanse, and for some reason, he got stuck here." "If that's the case, then..." Sheng Gujin trailed off before adding, "The Yang Family isn't protecting the one in this world... but his true self in the other world." "Think about the characters inside a story. If their world is the equivalent of a virtual world, then we, living in this world, are from the real world," Sheng Gujin said, taking out a book. "And the Great Daoist Brush Master, he might be from that real world who entered the virtual world." "For some reason, he's trapped. And you know what's worse? He's probably someone of great importance in the real world. For example, what if he's the author of this story? If he dies, the story might end." Shadow immediately shook her head. "Impossible. That's way too far-fetched." Sheng Gujin calmly replied, "Silly girl. Look up at the stars, at the boundless vast expanse. Who can say for certain that the world they live in isn't something drawn or written by someone else? Let's not even get into what's real or virtual. "Take this world we live in for example—a single cell here contains countless forms of life. But those lifeforms? They'll never realize that they're just part of a cell. So... how can we be sure that we're not in someone else's cell?" Shadow argued, "But there's something you can't explain. If the Great Daoist Brush Master really came from the real world, then how can someone from a virtual world defeat him? That doesn't make any sense, does it?" Sheng Gujin fell silent. Shadow smirked, feeling pleased with herself. Getting the last word in felt like a rare victory. Sheng Gujin replied, "There are a few possibilities. Let me share two that make sense to me. First of all, maybe the person who can defeat him is from the real world as well. "In the virtual world, the Great Daoist Brush Master is invincible, sure. But in the real world? Maybe even a kitchen knife can kill him." Shadow was at a loss for words. "The second possibility is perhaps..." Sheng Gujin trailed off, saying, "The one who can defeat him is from the virtual world, but..." Sheng Gujin looked down at the book in her hands before continuing, "If he really is the author, then what if the characters he created have gone completely beyond his control?" "That's ridiculous," Shadow cut in immediately. "That makes zero sense. You're saying the writer can't even beat his own fictional characters?" Sheng Gujin shook her head. "You really need to learn to think from different angles. Talking to you is exhausting." "Then, go on." Shadow bristled. "Enlighten me." "Alright," Sheng Gujin said. "Let's say this book has tons of fans. Why do people like it? Maybe because of a certain character. And the more people love that character, the more real that character becomes. "Imagine this, the author decides to mess with that character. But if that character is too beloved, the readers can turn on him if the author messes with that character too much. "The backlash can destroy him. And what then? No one is going to read his book anymore. He'll have to start writing for himself." "If that's true, then what's the most terrifying kind of power here? It's the faith of the readers in the real world. Whoever they believe in... will become truly unstoppable."