Chapter 186: Eternal Red (16)

Chapter 186: Eternal Red (16)

When Lan Xiaohui departs the [Killing Field] formation, covered in wounds and dried blood, the disciples that are outside of the formation incline their heads politely to her. There appears to be genuine respect for my owner and not something that is merely part of a polite greeting.

Considering Epsilons measures to maintain my Inner World or rather, the most critical infrastructure it is entirely possible that Lan Xiaohui, and likely a few others, have done most of the work in generating the energy requirement, making the quotas for the others much lower.

The new, post-apocalyptic order in my Inner World is still in its development phases, but some of the trends are already very telling. The importance these entities place on force multipliers refiners and alchemists is a mark of the coming end of their notions of civilization. There are no more luxuries in my Inner World, only a race for survival.

I have never seen a society like this before. I have seen the alternative where limited resources lead to the extinction of all tribes except the one that remains, but in this case, it is not the resources that are limited, but the amount of work required. In other words, the more of them that remain, the easier it will be to survive. At the same time, however, the availability of force multipliers is limited, and sharing the effects of these multipliers with everyone is a death sentence for all.

It is a fascinating development wrought on by immortality in the sense that if they die, they will return, but if they are erased, they will disappear forever and the extinction problem having a nature different from scarcity.

Perhaps, in the waning years of my lifespan that remain, I will have an opportunity to see a different side of these carbon-based entities; can they cooperate on the eve of the apocalypse, or will they all fall short and be eradicated?

It is not strange at all that they respect Lan Xiaohui, but what occupies most of my processing power is attempting to deduce just what kind of training Lan Xiaohui mustve gone through.

Twenty months ago, if the time compression remained at twenty to one the entire time, I observed her in the formation and her opponents were ten Nascent Soul realm demonic beasts. Simply put, back then, Lan Xiaohui would not have survived for a fraction of a second against them.

I do not think, no matter how talented Lan Xiaohui is, that she could have obtained the power to resist that many Nascent Soul realm beasts, much less defeat all of them. Killing one of them is a notion that is already so absurd that it challenges the limits of my understanding. However, that demonic beast that died under her sword was most certainly of the Nascent Soul realm.

As I watch her walk through the formation nexus hall, I get the sense that she is entering a martial trance. However, this one is unlike the one she entered in the Ancient Sword Graveyard; this one, in particular, is similar to the trance that Wu Yulan is in.

[Empty Moon Prana].

When Lan Xiaohui selected this method, among the many others available, she said that it was because she wanted to cultivate her heart and mind. The method she chose is most aligned with not only the principles of nature that favor stillness, but also the total lack of emotion and distraction.

When she enters the [Icy Sword Waterfall], she does not hesitate for even a moment as she wades into the lake with the terrifyingly powerful accumulation of sword force and ice qi. When I first saw this formation and lake, I deduced that it would be very dangerous to Lan Xiaohui, both due to the cold as well as the amount of sword force within it.

Several hours later, Lan Xiaohui, with her wounds mostly recovered, floats to the top of the surface and then kicks with her legs, launching herself out of the lake, and landing gently, like a feather, on its surface. Her heels click with gold lightning, but they never submerge into the liquid.

She walks on top of the lake toward Wu Yulan, as if it were a solid surface, and forces a gentle smile to her lips.

Yulan, she whispers. It is time for us to go.

There is no question if her companion is ready. Theres no authority in her tone either.

The waterfall stills for one final time, flow completely halted, and then the water in the shape of icicles explodes in all directions, raining hail onto the entirety of the formation world, as Wu Yulan opens her eyes and climbs to her feet.

Wu Yulan smiles and approaches Lan Xiaohui. She takes my owners hand into hers, smile blossoming. I dont want to say that all good things come to an end, but there is something I do want to say.

As she speaks, the remnants of the frozen water of the waterfall that was scattered into the air begin to fall like glittering snow around them. In the meantime, the waterfall has resumed its violent flow.

I dont regret meeting you, even if we die here and now. Until now, I dont think I understood the meaning of the word happiness. Wu Yulan lowers her head, pausing briefly for the same reason that Lan Xiaohuis eyes are filling up with tears as she nods along to the words.

I would do it all again, even if it ends the same way, Wu Yulan continues, the tempo of her words slowing down. I was truly happy to have been born.

Wu Yulan lifts her gold eyes to meet Lan Xiaohuis gaze and offers another, warmer smile.

Within Lan Xiaohuis heart, the knot and devil that represented her guilt for leading Wu Yulan to this conclusion melt away and she accepts Wu Yulans emotions and forgiveness by reciprocating the smile and leaning her forehead against Wu Yulans.

Their eyes close, and after a brief moment, Wu Yulan adds.

Lets meet again in our next life.