Chapter 1700: Sleep

The drizzling rain flowed along Jian Changsheng's black armor, dripping ripples on the murky sea surface.

He slowly stopped in front of the aged Sun Bumian.

"Diamond... are you okay?"

Jian Changsheng's face was full of worry.

Sun Bumian gave a bitter smile. "Looking at me like this, do I look okay?"

Jian Changsheng looked at the haggard figure in the Tang suit before him, and waves of heartache surged in his heart. Since he had known Sun Bumian, the other had always been a leisurely, calm young man, but the Sun Bumian before him had completely become an old man in the twilight of his years.

He opened his mouth, as if wanting to comfort him, but didn't know what to say.

"Alright, stop making that sour face." Sun Bumian sat on the ground and waved his hand casually. Although he looked aged, his demeanor was no different from when he was a young man.

"My mission is already complete... It doesn't matter if the reincarnation power of this body burns out. Anyway, I can still go to the next world. When the time comes, maybe I'll be a good man again!"

"It's just that Xiaohua..."

Speaking of this, the light in Sun Bumian's eyes dimmed again.

The next world...

Jian Changsheng also fell into silence for a moment.

Jian Changsheng knew that he, like Jiang Xiaohua, would likely not be able to meet them in the new world, but he hesitated for a moment and still said nothing.

This was his agreement with Bai Qi. Since it was decided, it shouldn't be changed. Telling Sun Bumian now wouldn't serve any purpose other than adding to everyone's burden... Moreover, Bai Qi had helped him, and Jian Changsheng couldn't bring himself to do something like conspiring with Sun Bumian, Chen Ling, and others to kick someone while they were down.

"Plum Blossom's origin is so mysterious, maybe there's still a possibility of him coming back." Jian Changsheng could only comfort him like this.

"...Sigh."

Sun Bumian shook his head. He knew what restarting the world meant. Even if Jiang Xiaohua's origin was great, he couldn't cross different worlds...

"You kid... I haven't seen you for so long, you've grown capable." Sun Bumian looked at Jian Changsheng in his broken armor with complex emotions. "You can even pick up the Ancient Armory of the Military Path to hack people... I've lived for so many years, and this is the first time I've seen it."

"The one who lifted it wasn't me." Jian Changsheng looked back at the ruins of the Ancient Armory of the Military Path behind him. "It was the Military God Path Demigods of past generations."

"Regardless, thanks to you, our mission is complete."

Sun Bumian looked at Jian Changsheng's palm.

In the palm of Jian Changsheng's left hand, a substance like a gemstone flickering with purple light was emitting a rich aura of the Witch God Path foundation... That was the final piece of the puzzle to restart the world, the thing the Twilight Society had bet everything to obtain.

Sun Bumian let out a long sigh and lay flat on the sea surface. His dry, gray-white hair fluttered with the water waves, and he said softly:

"You should send this thing to Heart yourself."

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"I can't walk anymore..." Sun Bumian shook his head. "And... I don't want Heart to see me like this."

Jian Changsheng fell into silence.

Jian Changsheng could understand what Sun Bumian was thinking. Chen Ling was now the Red King of the Twilight Society, and he carried too many responsibilities. If he were to see the tragic price the Twilight Society had paid to siege the Calamity-Dread, even if he knew everyone would meet again in the next world, he would feel immense guilt.

Since that was the case, it was better for them not to meet... As long as Chen Ling knew they had successfully brought back the Witch Path fragments for him.

"Then you..."

"I'm tired." Sun Bumian slowly closed his eyes. "Plum Blossom has already taken the first step... I, too, should sleep."

Jian Changsheng opened his mouth, looked at the withered figure on the water, and said hoarsely:

"Okay..."

"Sleeping is only temporary. You are Sun Bumian... When the time is right, you will definitely wake up."

Sun Bumian smiled helplessly:

"Perhaps."

"Then I'm leaving."

"Right, help me bring a message to Heart."

Jian Changsheng looked back at him, "...What?"

"Don't forget my gold." Sun Bumian said faintly. "The debt owed by the previous Red King—as the current Red King, he has to pay it back, right?"

Jian Changsheng was stunned for a moment, then a helpless smile appeared on his face.

"Fine, I understand."

Jian Changsheng took one last deep look at Sun Bumian, then turned and walked toward the direction of the Lingxu Domain.

As Jian Changsheng's figure faded into the distance, above the dead, silent, and frigid Frozen Sea, Sun Bumian just watched the gray, gloomy clouds overhead in silence... It was unclear how much time had passed, but he seemed to feel a bit sleepy and gently bit down on the poison hidden between his teeth.

The last glimmer of life extinguished above the Frozen Sea, and the figure in the Tang suit slowly sank into the seawater, disappearing without a trace.

……

"Calamity of Ridicule..."

"Disappeared?"

Above the ruins of the Lingxu Ancient Temple, the Lord of Lingxu, who had just sat down to recover from his injuries, suddenly seemed to sense something and looked toward the north in surprise.

He pondered for a long time, yet he couldn't think of anyone in this era who could have killed the Calamity of Ridicule...

The combat power of the Calamity of Ridicule was among the best of all the World-Ending Calamities. But now, aside from himself, humanity shouldn't have any other demigod-level combatants. Could it be that Chen Ling didn't come to find him, but instead went to fight the Calamity of Ridicule to the death?

The Lord of Lingxu realized that he seemed unable to grasp the current situation. Although the world's top-tier combatants were becoming fewer, the surprises they brought him were becoming more frequent...

"Time is running out."

The Lord of Lingxu looked up at the void once more, as if a crimson meteor were rapidly approaching.

……

Outside the Lingxu Domain.

A bleak, cold wind swept across the pitch-black earth, causing the hem of the red-based, black-patterned opera robe to flutter.

After an unknown amount of time, the figure's little finger twitched slightly, and a pair of dazed, weary eyes slowly opened...

Where is...

This?

Chen Ling lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky with its flowing lead-gray clouds, motionless like a statue.

After a brief silence, some fragmented memories began to return to his mind.

His pupils contracted sharply!!

The statue-like man suddenly sat up from the ground, looking down at his own body with eyes filled with unprecedented horror!

"I passed out?!"

"I actually... passed out?!!"

"At a time like this?!!"

Chen Ling felt as if his head were about to explode, and immediately after, one terrifying question after another flooded his mind!

How long had he been unconscious?

To what extent had the Lord of Lingxu recovered?

What was the situation with the Twilight Society? Had they successfully dealt with the Calamity of Ridicule?

How... did he get here?!

Chen Ling was filled with immense regret; he wanted to slap himself twice. He knew that this was the critical moment determining the fate of humanity, with the severely wounded and dying Lord of Lingxu right before him, and the members of the Twilight Society still fighting to the death to surround and annihilate the Calamity of Ridicule...

And he, he had actually fallen asleep here?!