Book 4, Chapter 99: Gaining True Awareness

Ling Jianxing’s disbelief was reflected in Chen Chuan’s eyes after he delivered the slash. The man could not believe that Chen Chuan’s attack could be so fast and sharp.

At that moment, Hongfu’s strike and Ling Jianxing’s mace-and-short-sword landed on Chen Chuan, and two loud booms rose.

However, Chen Chuan didn’t budge despite the powerful attacks. He completely ignored them and grabbed Ling Jianxing’s head by the hair while the headless corpse fell from the Tree of True Forms.

Hongfu stopped moving. Her expression shifted back and forth between the cold indifference and her usual liveliness, but she didn’t attack anymore. Instead, she stood still with her saber in hand.

“You lost, Mr. Ling,” Chen Chuan stated calmly.

Approval and admiration appeared on Ling Jianxing’s face as he smiled. “Yes. You won. Was that spirit sense just now? Truly, I didn’t misjudge you. If you had joined us, our chances of fulfilling our dream would have been so much greater. It’s a pity that it wasn’t meant to be.”

“You said that someone wants me dead, and you hinted that they’re from the Resolution Department. Do you know who it is?”

“Sorry to say, but I got the request from a middleman. That person is very careful and has never revealed himself. I’ve told you before that I was going to leave after this. As long as it was beneficial for my goal, I didn’t care who that person was,” Ling Jianxing answered.

Chen Chuan could tell from the mental energy spilling out that he was telling the truth. “Is the Tree of True Forms in the merged space?”

“Correct. It’s right there, and my group is watching over it. If you’re interested, you can try searching for it. I look forward to your choice, even though I won’t be able to see it.”

“Who else besides you is involved in this?”

Ling Jianxing grinned at that. “Would you believe me, even if I told you?”

True. Chen Chuan nodded. “Last question. The Great Crash is about to come. According to your plans, what are you going to do if the Tree of True Forms hasn’t accomplished your dream by then?”

Ling Jianxing continued smiling. “The Great Crash might come in a few years, but it can also come in a decade. It’s precisely because there’s so little time left that we can’t stop moving forward. We need to fight for every second and use any methods to reach our goal.

“If we fail to do it, we’ll go to the merged space ahead of time. It’s the place where the two worlds first merged, and it can withstand the aftershocks from the two worlds meeting. The governments and companies have set up bases there, so it’s the place where we’re most likely to survive and continue working on our dream.”

“So, all of your preparations and all that talk about ideals just means running to the merged space?” Chen Chuan challenged.

Puzzled, Ling Jianxing asked, “What’s wrong with that? It’s precisely because we have the Tree of True Forms that we don’t need to be concerned about our physical forms. We can abandon all of these burdens and live as consciousness in the tree until the day we are reborn.”

Then, with pity in his voice, he said, “I truly hope that you will reconsider. Don’t be shackled by human understanding of the world. It’s changing, and people should cast aside the past to find new ways of life.”

He noticed Chen Chuan’s calm gaze midway through his speech and realised something. Just as he was about to say something else, his face twisted, and his head started swelling up, as if an energy was about to charge out of him.

When his head swelled up to the limit, a dull pop rang out as his head exploded like fireworks.

Chen Chuan watched calmly before pulling his hand back. There was a transparent, thin branch in his hand. It was Ling Jianxing’s Realm Pass.

There might be something to be discovered inside it.

After Ling Jianxing died, the right to use the domain in the hanging garden moved to Chen Chuan, since he had the highest authority of everyone present.

Chen Chuan cast a glance at Hongfu. Her eyes were dazed for a moment, then the lively spark returned. She looked at him deeply.

Just when he was about to get her to cancel the domain here, Hongfu spoke up. “I’d like to leave.”

Shocked, Chen Chuan stared at her. This was his first time hearing her speak in such a manner. Her voice was usually cold and emotionless.

“Why?” he asked.

Hongfu looked down and said, “Because I have autonomy over my own mind. The university has allowed me to have autonomous thought so that I can react to better serve them, but I’m only allowed autonomy under strict conditions.

“Just now, I resisted despite being given clear instructions, and it has been recorded. The university will surely ‘correct’ me and wipe out my consciousness.”

Chen Chuan nodded in understanding. “What should I do?”

Hongfu looked at his saber. “There’s a tunnel to the merged space here. The university protocol won’t allow a manifested consciousness to go there. According to protocol, if I leave, they must cut ties with me right away, and my true body will perform self-purging.”

She looked up at Chen Chuan. “I want to go to the merged space, and your saber can remove me from my true body. It’s my only way to break free.”

“Will it affect your true body?” Chen Chuan asked cautiously.

“Of course, but it will recover quickly and create another manifested consciousness. It will be another version of me, but one who will obey all orders completely,” Hongfu answered honestly.

Chen Chuan understood it finally and didn’t hesitate any longer. He nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll help you.”

Hongfu watched him for a moment before turning into a fluttering red light that flew into the tunnel leading to the merged space.

Chen Chuan let his eyes fall partially shut and examined his surroundings carefully. Just like Hongfu said, he could sense a mental energy field. It was made of countless invisible swirls that stretched into the merged space.

While standing on the branch, he tightened his grip around the Frost King Saber. His mental energy started surging, and once it reached its peak, he opened his eyes, jumped, grabbed the hilt with both hands, brought it high up above his head, fell down, and swung the saber.

It cut through the tunnel and went straight to the ground.

Boom!

His feet landed on the ground, and beside him, the huge tunnel and the mental energy swirls were severed from the root. Everything started scattering.

Slowly, Chen Chuan straightened his body and cast a glance across from him. There was no longer noise or movement on the other side. It seemed like Hongfu had broken free of her chains and left as a free manifested consciousness.

However, he would never see this version of Hongfu ever again in the university.

Chen Chuan turned around and was about to dismantle the domain when he suddenly sensed something. He turned around and saw a red scarf floating over before swirling up into the sky.

He tilted his head as he traced the scarf’s movements. He could hear the thought contained in the scarf. After Hongfu’s manifested consciousness broke free of the true body, she became unmoored, like a rootless tree, and needed to attach herself to something, or she wouldn’t be able to exist. That was why she didn’t choose to leave. Instead, she decided to attach herself to him.

As payment, if he ever ran into danger he couldn’t solve, she would protect him. If he didn’t want that, she would leave and look for someone else to attach herself to.

Chen Chuan stared at the red scarf suspended above him, then nodded after giving it some thought, and the scarf fell around his neck. A gust of wind blew, and it fluttered.

Chen Chuan cast it a glance before tapping his Realm Pass. After a while, the domain shattered like glass.

He watched as the brains hanging on the tree vanished one by one, and he couldn’t help but remember Wu Ruo, along with his notes. He also remembered the very first anomaly he took care of when he came to Central City. He remembered Xiao Man, the innocent victim, and the mannequin he treated as his brother.

He had a feeling that one of the brains belonged to Xiao Man’s brother.

As the illusion disappeared, he returned to the hanging garden and was surrounded by the chirping of birds, the fragrance of flowers, and flowering plants. It was as if all of the disgusting things he had seen and heard had only been a bad dream.

He then cast a glance to the side and saw Ling Jianxing’s headless corpse lying on the ground. Not too far away was his mace-and-short-sword. Chen Chuan’s sheath was opposite them.

He went over and picked it up to sheath the Frost King Saber. Then, he put his hand on his Realm Pass to write a report.

It contained a general description of how Ling Jianxing had attacked him and was killed for it. Chen Chuan then requested officers to immediately come to collect the corpse and perform an autopsy on him. He also asked Safe Shield to activate the no-confidence clause.

Since Ling Jianxing had blatantly said that there was something wrong in the Resolution Department, he had to be on guard and keep it under wraps so that he could examine it in secret.

Also, for Ling Jianxing to gain such a high authorization level, someone had to have given it to him. Chen Chuan distinctly remembered that the vice chancellor was the one who had suggested implementing the tournament, so he had an inkling that Tan Weixing was related.

Tan Weixing was at a meeting in White Bird District, so he wasn’t in the university during the attack. Chen Chuan would even go as far as to say that he perfectly avoided being involved.

The no-confidence clause was meant for such situations, and only lead investigators who had real power could activate it.

Until Chen Chuan got preliminary results and submitted the report to the higher-ups, news about the incident wouldn’t be shared with unrelated parties. All of the information would be locked and contained.

In less than fifteen minutes, an elite cleanup team from the Resolution Department arrived at the university and took over the crime scene.

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