Chapter 1454: Era "Archive"

Chen Ling had a dream.

He dreamed that he had returned to Shennongjia, returned to that tent in the rainy night.

The stove was burning in the center of the tent. Lu Xun, Yang Xiao, Su Zhiwei, Ji Xuan, Lou Yu, Qi Muyun, Wen Ruoshui, Wu Tongyuan... everyone was gathered together, seriously discussing how to save this world in front of Chen Ling.

Wu Tongyuan was shrinking back, Ji Xuan was annoyed, Lou Yu was silent, Lu Xun was smiling... everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, just as Chen Ling remembered.

But the next second, the stove fire in the tent suddenly went out.

Cold and darkness filled the entire tent. The laughing and discussing sounds in Chen Ling’s ears disappeared completely. He stood up blankly, only to find that there was no one left beside him...

Chen Ling rushed to the tent entrance, wanting to find the missing people, but the next moment, a figure that shouldn't have been there blocked his path at the entrance.

"Chen Ling, you shouldn't be here." Under the pale light, Chu Changqing’s eyes flashed with ferocity.

Chen Ling subconsciously took a step back. His gaze crossed Chu Changqing’s shoulder and looked at the open space outside the tent.

He saw that the people who had just disappeared from the tent were already scattered in the open space outside. The heavy rain had soaked their figures, but they remained unmoved, their complex and strange gazes watching Chen Ling, who was blocked in the tent.

"Chen Ling, you shouldn't be here."

That voice, accompanied by thunder, exploded in Chen Ling’s ears!

……

Chen Ling woke up from his dream with a start!!

The bone-chilling cold wind swept in from the end of the gray world, making Chen Ling, who was soaked in cold sweat, shiver. He was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses...

Immediately after, a somewhat familiar fragrance drifted into his nostrils.

"Lord Chen Ling, are you awake?"

Chen Ling looked down and saw a familiar girl carrying him in the wind and snow, walking step by step in the desolate Gray World.

"Liu Qingyan?"

Chen Ling immediately struggled to get off her back, but as soon as his feet touched the ground, they softened slightly, and he almost fell to the ground again.

Fortunately, Liu Qingyan reacted quickly and supported him:

"Lord Chen Ling, Master said you overdrew too much and cannot move freely yet."

"...It’s okay, I feel much better."

Chen Ling was awake, so naturally, he couldn't be thick-skinned enough to let Liu Qingyan carry him. Even if he had to grit his teeth, he would walk himself. He looked back and found that he couldn't see the outline of the Aurora Domain at all; he didn't know how long this girl had been carrying him while he was unconscious.

"Why are you here?"

"Master asked me to find you."

"Master?"

Chen Ling followed Liu Qingyan’s gaze and saw that not far away, a figure wearing a gray robe was standing on the desolate earth, quietly watching here, like a quiet and clear moon.

With Chen Ling’s current strength, he hadn't noticed her presence at all just now.

"Heart 6 Chen Ling, greets the Gray King."

Chen Ling raised his hand to salute. After all, he was still a member of the Twilight Society, and the Gray King was the second-in-command and a high-tier senior, so etiquette was indispensable.

But the next second, the gray-robed figure suddenly appeared in front of him like a ghost, firmly supporting Chen Ling’s hand that was about to salute.

"You don't need to salute me." The Gray King paused for a moment, then added,

"From now on, you don't need to salute anyone."

Chen Ling froze in place.

He felt the Gray King’s words were strange, but for a moment he couldn't say what was wrong. After hesitating for a moment, he asked:

"Senior Gray King, why are you here?"

"I came here specifically to find you."

"Find me? What for?"

The Gray King was silent for a moment. "To take you to see... your master."

The confusion in Chen Ling’s eyes grew stronger.

"Didn't he ascend to the Red Star? Has he returned?"

"..." The Gray King didn't answer. She just looked at Chen Ling deeply, then turned and walked in a certain direction. "Follow me. When you see him... you will know."

Seeing that the Gray King didn't want to answer, Chen Ling turned to look at Liu Qingyan...

Liu Qingyan shook her head at him blankly.

"...Alright."

Chen Ling had no other choice but to follow the Gray King. Liu Qingyan followed with small steps, silently trailing behind Chen Ling.

The direction the Gray King was moving was not the Ancient Treasury of the Play Path. Chen Ling compared it with the map in his mind and found that the target didn't seem to be any human domain... She said she would take him to see the Red King, but where was the Red King?

Chen Ling didn't know and didn't ask further. The Gray King didn't seem to want to mention these things, just walking silently.

Time passed minute by minute,

Chen Ling’s thoughts soon returned to the dream he had just had.

Everything about the Era Archive lingered in his mind like a curse, making him think hard. Just then, he saw the Gray King’s back out of the corner of his eye...

Wait.

Wasn't the Gray King once a possessor of an Era Archive herself?

If that's the case, why not just ask her directly?

"Senior Gray King, regarding the Era Archive... I have some questions." Chen Ling couldn't help but speak up.

The Gray King glanced back at him, her expression complex. It was as if she had long guessed that Chen Ling would ask this question. After a moment of silence, she nodded:

"If you have questions, ask."

"Can the Era Archive change the past?"

"Of course not." The Gray King shook her head decisively. "If the Era Archive could easily change the trajectory of history, wouldn't everything be in chaos? If our Twilight Society truly had that kind of power, how could we be in our current state..."

Chen Ling’s heart skipped a beat, and his mind went blank for a moment...

"Then what exactly is the Era Archive?"

The Gray King countered, "What is the goal of our Twilight Society?"

Chen Ling was startled, then answered without hesitation, "To reverse the era and restart the world."

"The Era Archive is exactly what the name implies. It is a 'save file.' Since it is a save file, it is impossible to change the established trajectory of history...

Its function is to use the 'reality' recorded in the save file at a specific node to overwrite the history that has already occurred...

Which is what we are pursuing... reversing the era and restarting the world."

Chen Ling’s brows furrowed tightly.

He seemed to recall Chu Muyun mentioning something similar when he first joined the Twilight Society... but at the time, he hadn't understood what "overwriting history" meant. Most importantly, the subsequent attitude of Yang Xiao and the others toward him made him doubt the true capabilities of this item.

After all, if a save file were just a save file, how would Yang Xiao and the others recognize him?

"But the Nine Sovereigns of this era clearly..."

Chen Ling stopped mid-sentence as a thought suddenly flashed like lightning. A possibility he had never considered exploded in his mind like a thunderclap!!

"Wait, are you saying..."

"The world we are currently in has already been restarted more than once??"

"The Nine Sovereigns I met in this era are not the Nine Sovereigns I saw in the Era Archive... but the Nine Sovereigns who had connections with the previous possessor of the Era Archive in the last world??!"

Chen Ling felt his head buzzing. He found this idea quite absurd, and it contained too many logical loopholes!

If this were the case, many things simply couldn't be explained!

"I know what you're thinking," the Gray King spoke again.

"Chen Ling..."

"Your choices within the Era Archive are not changing the past of the Nine Sovereigns in this world..."

"You are laying the groundwork for their future in the next world."