All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 252: Mysterious Message

“Words? This is… the script of the Myriad Spirits Realm,” Yunyao leaned in closer.

The two huddled together, reading the words on the tray. Yunyao’s body was so close that Zhanyue could smell her faint fragrance. However, her attention was entirely focused on the iron tray, not noticing Zhanyue’s actions. Suddenly, Zhanyue felt a strong urge to embrace this woman, a feeling he had never experienced so intensely before.

“No, I’m afraid she’d kill me,” Zhanyue gritted his teeth, finally suppressing that inexplicable impulse.

“What’s wrong with you?” Yunyao turned her head, looking at Zhanyue quizzically. He seemed to be in pain.

“Nothing… nothing, just continue reading,” Zhanyue struggled to calm himself, but was confused about what was happening to him. Why did he feel such uncontrollable lust? But thinking carefully, the previous impulse didn’t seem to be lust, but more like a possessive desire, a desire to completely possess Yunyao, not letting anyone else touch her. “I hope it’s just my imagination.”

Zhanyue collected himself and began reading the words on the bronze tray.

“I am a visitor from beyond this world, leaving this message to explain some things. In the past, I came from beyond the sky, landing on the northern grasslands. To heal my injuries, I used the ‘Heavenly Creation Stealing Technique’, absorbing all the life force from the entire grassland. From then on, no life could survive on this land, and soon after, the world’s largest grassland became the largest desert.”

“Though I didn’t intend this, I had no choice for my survival. The races living on the grassland migrated south, with many dying along the way. My heart was originally as hard as iron, having destroyed countless planets and innumerable lives on them, let alone the ant-like alien races of an unfamiliar world.”

“But I didn’t expect that incident to happen… Anyway, to show my apology, I left a piece of Life-Nurturing Soil. This object can create an oasis in the endless desert for them to live. If you can see these words, it means you’ve taken the Life-Nurturing Soil. If there are no living beings left in the oasis, you can take this soil. But if some races still live in the oasis, taking the Life-Nurturing Soil means making an enemy of me. I advise you to return it quickly, otherwise, even across time and causality, I will take your life!”

After reading the last sentence, both Zhanyue and Yunyao could feel the terrifying power contained in the words. It was a soul-deep fear, even stronger than what they felt from the fear disaster beast. They had no doubt that the person who left these words could do as they threatened.

“What should we do? You’ve already taken the soil,” Yunyao looked at Zhanyue.

Zhanyue shrugged and replied, “If I’m not mistaken, the one who took the Life-Nurturing Soil wasn’t me, but the Void Emperor. We’re currently in the Heavenly Book world, a world that’s half real and half fake. The treasures we can obtain are real, while many things we can’t take away are fake. I think the treasures we’ve gained so far are what the Void Emperor obtained in the past. The Life-Nurturing Soil naturally belongs to the Void Emperor as well.”

“You mean… the person who left these words isn’t the Void Emperor?” Yunyao had originally guessed that the person from beyond this world who forged the divine artifacts was the Void Emperor, and the one who left these words should also be the Void Emperor.

“Probably not… I guess he should be a powerful figure even more ancient than the Void Emperor,” Zhanyue shared his thoughts.

“Is that so? What do you think about this Heavenly Book world?” Yunyao asked curiously, wanting to know what else Zhanyue knew.

“Hmph, little one, what do you understand? Are you just guessing?” Outside the world, the Spirit of the Heavenly Book stared at Zhanyue and the others, showing a disdainful expression. Zhanyue was right; the person who left the words wasn’t her father, the Void Emperor.

Zhanyue said, “I think the Void Emperor can construct various worlds in such detail because he experienced them personally. Perhaps the Void Emperor came to this world in the real world before, and his role was actually like ours. The one who truly solved the seven disaster beasts using the seven divine artifacts was the Void Emperor himself. We are just experiencing what the Void Emperor experienced before. So, these real treasures have very reasonable origins because they originally belonged to ‘this world’.”

“You mean… the identity we’re currently playing is actually the Void Emperor’s identity? Your idea makes some sense and can explain many things. In that case, the human predecessor who forged the seven divine artifacts and left these words is even more of a predecessor to the Void Emperor. Who is that person? What was the Myriad Spirits Realm like before the Void Nine Emperors, to produce such a strong being? The ‘Heavenly Creation Stealing Technique’ is already an extraordinary technique, so what kind of injury did he suffer that required such vast life force to heal? In any case, we’re really insignificant, knowing nothing,” Yunyao sighed.

“Knowing nothing? I’m not so sure. Perhaps in the future, we’ll know more than they do. After all, they don’t seem to be hiding anything from us. Even a supreme treasure like the Life-Nurturing Soil, the Void Emperor directly offered as a treasure. I believe other gains will also be extraordinary,” Zhanyue remarked.

Outside the Heavenly Book world, the Spirit of the Heavenly Book heard Zhanyue’s words and felt extremely irritated. “Hmph, Void Emperor! Leaving so much heritage to outsiders instead of his own daughter, and imprisoning me here. What a ‘great’ father indeed.”

Zhanyue, of course, didn’t know that someone was watching and commenting on them at this moment. He looked at the Earth Mother Golden Cauldron before him with amazement, even more surprised to find that his cauldron seemed to be absorbing the power of the Life-Nurturing Soil within it.

“This?” Zhanyue didn’t know what was happening but knew it must be a good thing.

He looked to the other side, where Yunyao had found a suitable place to sit cross-legged, beginning to digest what she had gained, wanting to advance her eye technique further. Looking at the angel-like figure sitting there, Zhanyue’s inner fire ignited again, but it wasn’t a fire of desire. It was more aggressive and possessive, wanting to directly claim Yunyao as his own.

“What… what’s wrong with me?” Zhanyue shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

“Hmph, you think you’ve really destroyed the disaster beast named ‘Greed’? According to my father, among the seven disaster beasts, Greed is the second hardest to deal with. It’s not as simple as you think. Some are greedy for fame, so they want to build the Millennium Tower to be recorded in history forever; some are greedy for power, so they want to find the Life-Nurturing Soil to absorb its power and strengthen themselves; and you… you’re greedy for beauty… Sigh… I didn’t expect the master of the Heavenly Book to be such a person,” the Spirit of the Heavenly Book lamented the Heavenly Book’s poor choice, but she was also curiously watching Zhanyue, wondering how long he could suppress the desire in his heart. The greed for possession is even more terrible than lust. Lust can be temporarily satiated, but greed only grows stronger.

Haven’t you seen how many people, already immensely wealthy, still can’t resist amassing more wealth everywhere?

“Zhanyue, I hope you don’t disappoint me…”

The Spirit of the Heavenly Book turned her gaze to other worlds. It was a world with far more ocean than land, with various islands scattered across the sea surface. On one of the deserted islands, Baizhi found herself in danger.

“Little girl, where do you think you can run?” Opposite her, hundreds of pirates had surrounded Baizhi. The leader looked at her lecherously, never having seen such beauty before.

“Run? Why should I run?” Baizhi sneered, then took out a piece of purple wood from her divine ability space.