Chapter 1548: Negotiation Failed

Chen Ling looked at Wuji Jun before him and fell into silence.

He understood what Wuji Jun was thinking...

Restarting the world meant everything would return to the starting point after the Red Star descended. Even if Wuji Jun took the Eternal Realm away from Earth, they would still be forced to return, as they were, after all, part of this "era."

In Wuji Jun’s eyes, this was equivalent to him painstakingly twisting a rope to escape from the bottom of a well, only for Chen Ling to cut the other end of the rope with a pair of scissors just as he had climbed up a bit...

The prerequisite for Eternity was not being forcibly restarted.

The current Eternal Realm was like a kite intending to soar, but the string of the kite was held in Chen Ling’s hand. They didn't want to be dragged back to the earth by Chen Ling, so they could only beg him to let go of the kite string completely from now on.

But could Chen Ling let go?

Letting go of the kite string and not restarting the world was equivalent to betting all of humanity’s hope on Wuji Jun and the Eternal Realm...

And Chen Ling already knew the outcome of this gamble.

"Sorry," Chen Ling shook his head.

"I cannot give you any guarantee... If the humans of this world fail, I will still restart the world."

"Who judges failure? Who defines success? You? What is your basis?" Wuji Jun stared intently at Chen Ling. His continuous questioning seemed to want to see through Chen Ling’s heart.

"Chen Ling, by what right... do you become the one who tolls the final knell for humanity?"

Wuji Jun’s questioning was not venting emotion, but a truly serious inquiry.

Could it be that if the three major realms were gone and the people were all dead, humanity had failed? The Eternal Realm might be the "ship" carrying humanity’s last hope; it was just that whether it succeeded required a great deal of time to verify...

Chen Ling could understand Wuji Jun’s skepticism. The Twilight Society held the key to restarting the world, just like the nuclear weapon button before the Great Cataclysm. Whether to press it and when to press it were important issues involving the survival of humanity... And the one who possessed this button was not one of the Nine Sovereigns, nor even a human demigod...

But a world-ending calamity.

"I don't need to explain to you," Chen Ling replied calmly. "Restarting the world is the job of the Twilight Society, and I am the Sixth Red King of the Twilight Society... I have my own judgment."

The fervor in Wuji Jun’s eyes gradually faded, replaced by a dim, profound depth.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes:

"So... compared to my Eternity, you still choose to bet on that coward, right?"

Chen Ling had clearly expressed that he didn't believe the Eternal Realm could be eternal, so what he was waiting for was actually the three human realms on the surface... And the core of those three realms was Lingxu Jun, Wu Tongyuan.

"You are all Nine Sovereigns. You clearly possess the power of a Creator; why not help your colleague complete the Tower of Akashic?" Chen Ling asked a question he had long wanted to ask.

"The Tower of Akashic he wants, I cannot build."

"Why?"

"He doesn't want a building without a soul... He wants a mathematical 'idol' infused with spiritual civilization and spiritual faith," Wuji Jun responded faintly.

"While human material civilization regresses, spiritual civilization has become the final hope to arm humanity... The so-called Divine Path is a product of spiritual civilization."

"And what the coward needs to communicate with the Akashic Records is not any help in 'form.' Or rather, the 'form' of that tower is just a carrier. What he wants is the convergence of spiritual civilization. This power, invisible to the naked eye, is the key to tampering with the mysterious probabilities and communicating with the Akashic Records."

Chen Ling stared at him for a long time, unable to recover for a long while.

Chen Ling had thought that Wuji Jun had put all his energy into the Eternal Realm and therefore didn't care about things on the surface... Or perhaps it was because he didn't approve of Wu Tongyuan at all, so he was unwilling to help.

But now it seemed that Wuji Jun had actually been paying attention to the situation of the three major realms all along. And Chen Ling didn't think that Wuji Jun, a Ph.D. in materials science, could be so knowledgeable about the construction requirements of the Tower of Akashic... This meant that perhaps, at a time unknown to the world, Wuji Jun had already taken the initiative to find Wu Tongyuan and ask if he needed help.

It was just that Wu Tongyuan had politely declined his help and explained the reason.

Wuji Jun was never an extreme, paranoid person pursuing eternity; his stance had always been humanity itself... And he chose Eternity because Eternity was the path closest to him and most suitable for him.

At this moment, Chen Ling had to admit that it was he who had viewed Wuji Jun too narrowly...

"Then do you think he can succeed?" Chen Ling countered.

"Whether he succeeds or not has nothing to do with me," Wuji Jun responded coldly. "He and I are two paths that are completely different but do not affect each other."

Wuji Jun didn't seem to intend to continue discussing Wu Tongyuan’s affairs. He stood up and walked straight toward the gate of the Eternal Palace.

"It's getting late. You should get some rest."

"No need," Chen Ling also stood up. "What needed to be said has been said... If you have nothing else, we should be leaving."

"No..."

Wuji Jun slowly stepped across the gate of the Eternal Palace. He stood under the hazy starlight, looked back here, and pointed at Mo Yao. "He can go back... but you, no."

Mo Yao was stunned.

Chen Ling’s eyes narrowed: "What do you mean?"

"This is the only chance humanity has to get closest to Eternity. I cannot let you restart the world just like that," Wuji Jun said slowly. "Anyway, like me, your lifespan is almost endless... Since that is the case, why don't you witness Eternity with me?"

"You want to place me under house arrest?"

"I just want you to give me, to give the Eternal Realm, a chance," Wuji Jun said, looking at Chen Ling.

"Even if you are not there, your subordinates will prepare the things needed for the restart step by step for you. When the three major realms are destroyed, they will definitely go to recover the corpses of the other Nine Sovereigns..."

"At that time, I will send people to bring them all to the Eternal Realm. I will take the Eternal Realm to drift into the universe. The residents here will grow, reproduce, and die over a long period of time..."

"And you, you can still play the role of humanity’s bell-ringer. Once the Eternal Realm truly has a problem and humanity is about to perish, the final rule on my crown will be triggered..."

"I will commit suicide in front of you."

Wuji Jun stood under the hazy starlight, but those eyes were brighter than any star or candle flame. He seemed to have arranged everything in his heart long ago, and he said the last sentence unhurriedly:

"At that time... you can restart the world at any time."