Chapter 1791: The Visitor

The inner wall shattered amidst a deafening roar.

The earth trembled, and billowing dust rose up, obscuring the horizon...

Several kilometers away from the battlefield, an aged figure stood before a window, watching the scene from afar, a weak cough sounding softly.

Lord Wei sighed softly.

He did not look at the distant battlefield again; after all, he knew the outcome was already sealed... He calmly steadied himself against the table and turned around, his peripheral vision catching the front hall, where he noticed the incense stick Jing Si had just lit had already burned out, he knew not when.

He remained silent for a long time, as if hesitating.

It was already this late, and that person had not appeared. Lord Wei knew clearly in his heart that he likely wouldn't come... but Lord Wei still refused to give up.

In the end, he shook his head, walked slowly to the table, and inserted a fresh stick of incense.

Whether he came or not, he had to offer the highest standard of hospitality... not just for his own sake, but for the entire Path of the Diviner, and even for all living beings in this world.

As the flame ignited, the tip of the incense gradually turned pitch black, and the curling smoke drifted in the cold wind blowing through the hall, like soft ribbons.

Lord Wei slowly stood up, and the next second, he froze in place.

Without him noticing, a figure draped in theatrical robes stood like a phantom before the door. Faint smoke drifted around him, and a pair of ruby-like eyes watched everything in the room calmly...

It was him...

Even Lord Wei, the most outstanding practitioner of the Path of the Diviner in hundreds of years, was somewhat surprised at this moment. He looked at Chen Ling with a complex expression, and after a long while, he spoke with a bitter smile:

"I thought... you wouldn't come."

"Originally, I truly didn't intend to come." Chen Ling walked forward slowly and spoke calmly. "It was the words 'Ruoshui Domain' that changed my mind... and besides..."

Chen Ling paused for a moment. "You remind me of an old friend."

"An old friend?"

"When his domain was on the verge of destruction, he also didn't choose to leave... but instead stayed there forever."

Hearing this, Lord Wei was slightly stunned.

Before the Ruoshui Domain, no other domain had ever fallen... Could it be...

"You really are a [Prophet], just like His Majesty." Lord Wei looked at Chen Ling with a complex expression. "You even know about the conversation between Jing Si and me..."

Chen Ling shook his head. "I know, not because I can foresee the future... but because my intelligence network is sufficiently vast."

"You jest. When I said those words, there were only Jing Si and me here..."

"Oh?" Chen Ling smiled slightly.

"Are you sure... there were only two people?"

A breeze brushed past Lord Wei, and for some reason, he felt the surroundings grow somewhat cold.

Chen Ling sat down at the table unhurriedly. Lord Wei remained silent for a moment before sitting down as well. He lifted the warm teapot and began to brew tea earnestly.

"Ask whatever you wish to know," Chen Ling said calmly.

Ever since Lord Wei stepped onto the Path of the Diviner, it had always been others coming to ask him things. Now that the roles were completely reversed, if anyone else saw this, their jaws would likely drop...

But Lord Wei felt nothing amiss. After thinking seriously for a moment, he asked:

"This world of ours... which iteration is it?"

"The sixth."

Chen Ling answered indifferently.

Chen Ling appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was slightly surprised... This Lord Wei really had something to him, to have actually sensed that the world had been restarted.

However, since Chen Ling had come as a guest, he was naturally prepared to answer Lord Wei's questions. He actually quite admired this Lord Wei, and since the man was dying, telling him a few things didn't matter...

But now it seemed that with Lord Wei's ability, perhaps he could even give him a surprise in return?

Hearing the answer "the sixth," Lord Wei's face turned pale. Chen Ling's answer not only confirmed his suspicions but also delivered a terrible signal...

The situation humanity faced was even more dire than he had imagined.

"This time... will it be the last?"

Lord Wei deliberated for a long time before asking this question.

"I cannot answer that for you." Chen Ling paused. "If possible, I certainly hope this is the last time... but if it isn't, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. At the very least, it means... we still have a chance to make a comeback."

Lord Wei was a smart man; after a moment of thought, he understood what Chen Ling meant.

If the so-called "last time" meant completely eradicating the Red Star, that would naturally be best... but if it meant there wouldn't even be a chance for a restart, then humanity would be completely finished.

"Are those people outside all yours?"

"Yes."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I came to bid farewell to an old friend... and at the same time, to take something."

"Something?"

Chen Ling was silent for a moment. "The final line of defense for humanity."

Lord Wei frowned slightly. He didn't seem to understand this answer... but judging by Chen Ling's demeanor, he didn't intend to explain it to him.

He asked again:

"Then, what is your relationship with His Majesty?"

Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.

He didn't answer directly, but instead asked in return: "What do you think?"

Whether it was Lord Wei's imagination or not, when Chen Ling asked this, the surrounding temperature dropped again... A faint, intangible pressure emanated from those ruby-like eyes.

Lord Wei thought for a long time this time before giving his answer: "You are enemies... but not entirely."

"Why?"

"You are certainly not friends, otherwise the various prisons wouldn't need to specifically set up inner walls to guard against outsiders breaking into the base... and the inner wall wouldn't be plunged into the chaos of mutual slaughter right now. If I'm not mistaken, His Majesty did all this to guard against you." Lord Wei paused, then shifted his tone.

"But if you were truly mortal enemies, His Majesty wouldn't need to temporarily change the guard, moving away the original garrison and replacing them with a batch of parasites that are clearly problematic... and those two Dukes wouldn't just be escorting the train outside the prison without stepping a single foot inside."

"If you were truly mortal enemies, you wouldn't have let those newcomers who would grow to become His Majesty's wings leave, and you wouldn't have waited until all evacuation procedures were initiated before striking at the base."

"Although you are enemies, at times, there is a strange... tacit understanding?"

Lord Wei said the last sentence tentatively.

Chen Ling's eyes narrowed into thin crescents. In an instant, the atmosphere in the entire front hall seemed to drop to freezing. Under this indescribable pressure, Lord Wei, an Eighth-Order, felt a chill run down his spine.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Ling spoke coldly:

"You've asked a bit too much..."

"Now then..."

"How about it's my turn to ask you?"