Chapter 2696: Gifts And Positioning

"You really don't remember me? It's me! It's me!" Xiao Shi circled Zhao Ran while somehow looking both happy and disappointed as he practically danced around her.

Zhao Ran licked her lips and said, "I forgot. I'm sorry, but I'm rotten goods."

Xiao Shi patted his mushroom head. "What about this? Do you think it's cute?"

Zhao Ran's eyes lit up. "It's very cute."

"Really?" Xiao Shi was thrilled by her response.

Zhao Ran finally noticed that Lu Yin and the others had arrived, and she cheerfully said, "Your Highness, you’re back. Ah, the herbal tea spilled! I'm sorry, Your Highness, I'll make more."

Lu Yin said, "Zhao Ran, do you know him?"

Zhao Ran looked over at Xiao Shi and then back at Lu Yin while shaking her head. "I don't know him, but he’s so cute!"

Lu Yin glanced at Xiao Shi, who appeared rather depressed. "Brother Lu, she should know me. She’s the first person other than Xiao Chi to think that my mushroom head is cute, and she even gave me a gift."

Zhao Ran apologized again, "I'm sorry, your mushroom head is really cute, but I’ve forgotten all about you. I'm sorry, but I'm rotten goods. I'm so sorry."

Xiao Shi quickly replied, "I'm sorry, you’re not rotten goods. You’re my friend, and I'm sorry for you."

"I’m sorry, but I’m rotten goods."

"I'm sorry, but you’re my friend. Look at this mushroom head!"

"Ah, it’s so cute! By the way, who are you? Since we’re meeting for the first time, let me make you a cup of tea."

Lu Yin was left speechless as he watched the entire conversation start again.

Xiao Shi blinked, as he also felt rather confused.

Skymender looked from Lu Yin to Zhao Ran. The astral beast had always felt that this maid was quite odd.

"Just forget it, Xiao Shi. She doesn't remember you," Lu Yin spoke up. He then asked Zhao Ran to check what was hanging around her neck, as it contained her memories.

Zhao Ran quickly remembered some things, and then she started to apologize to Xiao Shi yet again. "I'm sorry, but I'm rotten goods. I can’t remember anything, but your mushroom head is so cute."

Xiao Shi found himself unable to answer, due to his disappointment. "You really don't remember me?"

"I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!"

"Forget it. No matter what, you’re still my friend, and I’ll continue to protect your gift." With that, Xiao Shi pulled a pearl out of his cosmic ring.

The sight of the pearl completely stunned Lu Yin, as well as Destina, Skymender, and Starsibyl.

A pearl? Identical to the others? What the hell? There was another one?

They had never dreamed that another pearl would appear so suddenly and unexpectedly.

Xiao Shi held the pearl in front of Zhao Ran's eyes. "Do you remember? You gave me this as a present."

Zhao Ran just blinked, still as confused as ever.

Lu Yin stretched out his hand, took the pearl, and then pulled out the other ten. They were exactly the same. They were part of the set of Destiny’s thirteen pearls.

Lu Yin stared at Xiao Shi in shock. "Zhao Ran gave you this pearl?"

Xiao Shi nodded blankly. "That’s right."

"When?" Lu Yin asked anxiously.

Xiao Shi thought for a moment. "It was years ago. I was actually very young, as it’s one of my first memories."

"How long was it between when you received the pearl and when you found that big book?" Skymender asked.

Xiao Shi did some calculations before answering. "It was many years."

Lu Yin looked from the pearls in his hand to Zhao Ran, as though in a trance.

Zhao Ran still looked as confused as ever, remembering nothing at all. "Your Highness, would you like some tea?"

"I understand now. The reason why this man is able to read a Book of Destiny is because of this pearl. Despite never cultivating any of Destiny’s power, the pearl is already a connection to Destiny that must have extended to him over time, giving him the natural ability to read the book." Skymender felt as though his questions had been resolved.

Lu Yin had come to the same conclusion and breathed a sigh of relief; Xiao Shi was not Destiny.

However, why had Zhao Ran given the pearl to Xiao Shi? Where had Zhao Ran gotten the pearl?

Destina stepped forward and stared at Zhao Ran, as though trying to see through the girl.

Zhao Ran and Destina stared at each other, and Zhao Ran asked in confusion, "Would you like some tea?"

"Why do you have this pearl?" Destina demanded.

Zhao Ran glanced at the pearls in Lu Yin's hand and answered, "I don't have any pearls."

"You gave one to this boy," Destina replied.

Zhao Ran blinked. "Really? I don't know him. I'm sorry, but I’m rotten goods."

Destina’s eyebrows climbed high, but Skymender just shrugged. "She forgets everything periodically and is unable to remember things that even happened just moments before."

Lu Yin waved a hand. "Zhao Ran, go prepare some tea."

Zhao Ran agreed and quickly fled the scene. She did not like Destina, as the woman’s eyes made Zhao Ran feel uncomfortable. She just wanted to make some herbal tea, as she quite enjoyed doing that.

Destina turned to Lu Yin. "Are you sure that she really forgets things? She isn’t just pretending?"

Lu Yin said, "I first met her shortly after I first started cultivating. She was already like this for decades even then."

Destina turned back to stare in the direction that Zhao Ran had gone in.

"You once mentioned that Destiny gave a pearl to a child. What happened to that child?" Lu Yin asked.

Destina replied, "I also told you that I never even saw that child."

"Was it a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know. Do you think it could be her? Impossible. How could she have lived from Master's era until now?" Destina said.

Lu Yin also turned to look in the direction that Zhao Ran had gone in. Was it really impossible? He would never forget that Zhao Ran had known Progenitor Ku, and Progenitor Ku had even mentioned that he was not the person whom Zhao Ran was waiting for. Zhao Ran had lived for a long, long time. Just how long had she been alive for before meeting Progenitor Ku?

Lu Yin thought back to everything that he knew about Zhao Ran.

She was always able to find Xuan Jiu, which left the old man cursing the girl. She was naive and only enjoyed preparing herbal teas, as though all that happened throughout the universe had nothing to do with her. Just who was she?

Could she be Destiny?

"Um, Brother Lu, I- my pearl?" Xiao Shi hesitantly asked.

Lu Yin somberly replied, "Just treat it as a gift to me."

Xiao Shi was stunned. "Huh?"

Lu Yin smiled. "Isn’t that fine?"

Xiao Shi did not want to give the pearl away. "That’s a present that she gave me. It’s the only one."

"When I asked to borrow money from you, I didn't take it," Lu Yin said.

Xiao Shi pursed his lips. "You said it was too little."

"Still, I didn’t borrow it," Lu Yin repeated.

Xiao Shi looked at the pearls in a reluctant manner, clearly upset. Still, he gritted his teeth and finally said, "Then- then, I'll give it to you."

"Thank you," Lu Yin said with a smile, despite feeling like he had just taken candy from a child. "Don't worry, I’ll have some people help you promote mushroom heads to fulfill your mission. Do you want to find a mascot for your campaign? He Ran would be perfect for that, so go talk to her. She’s by the cauldron."

Xiao Shi always became excited when it came to spreading the glory of mushroom heads, and he happily asked, "Really?"

Lu Yin nodded. "He Ran is the idol of countless people throughout the Heavens Sect. As long as she is willing to help promote your mushroom heads, that hair style will become popular throughout the entire universe."

"I’ll go find her right now!" Xiao Shi raced away to find He Ran.

Lu Yin was looking forward to their meeting.

He then put the pearls away, as he had eleven in his possession. He decided to keep them in a Zenith Mountain, and he would look for a better place to store them in the future.

Destina left the Heavens Sect along with Starsibyl. Lu Yin did not care how Starsibyl was treated, as he had already warned Destina not to be too harsh.

After all, Lu Yin had a feeling that Starsibyl was still keeping some things hidden.

As for Skymender, Lu Yin had the man remain in the Heavens Sect in order to continue teaching Xiao Shi. While the young man had lost his pearl, he had already made significant progress in cultivating the power of Destiny, and it would be a pity to have him stop doing so.

As for Zhao Ran, Lu Yin still did not know what to do with the girl, so he felt it would be best if he left her as his personal maid. He would continue trying to find an opportunity to help her, and maybe the day would eventually come when she regains her memories.

A short time later, Lu Yin released his domain, and he found Xiao Shi looking for He Ran. After that, Lu Yin saw a rare break in He Ran’s poise, and many people who were trying to win the woman’s favor started shouting at Xiao Shi. The man was so frightened by their reactions that he tripped over his own feet as he fled.

Still, he did not give up. He continued to stare determinedly at He Ran. While it might be difficult to spread mushroom heads, he had to see it done.

He Ran's expression looked as though she had just swallowed a dead fly.

As for the events in the Sixverse Association, Lu Yin could relax for a while. In the aftermath of such significant events in the Transcendent Universe, he could not do anything there for some time. If he tried visiting that universe, he might even draw the attention of someone powerful, such as Lord Wei. Lu Yin did not want to have his alias of Xuan Qi be exposed.

After considering things for a while, he finally thought of a possibility. Destiny had given a pearl to Lu Yin’s ancestor, Lu Tianyi. If that pearl was still with the Lu family, could it be used to divine the location of the Lu family?

While one of Xia Shenji’s clones was supposed to be able to help Lu Yin locate his family, the clone was of Xia Shenji, and Lu Yin was not comfortable trusting the man at all. It would be better to use some other method to locate the Lu family.

With this thought, Lu Yin quickly contacted Destina to ask about the possibility.

He received confirmation. "As long as that pearl is still with the Lu family, it can be done. However, the more pearls you have, the greater the chances of locating the Lu family through divination. That also depends entirely on whether or not they are still there."

Lu Yin breathing started to quicken. After so many years, he had finally glimpsed a possibility of finding his family aside from Xia Shenji's clone.

His greatest desire was to bring his family back.

Lu Yin already had eleven pearls, and he knew that Astral-3’s Stargazing Deck had been taken to the Sixth Mainland. In that case, it looked like he would need to visit the Sixth Mainland.

Only by having all twelve pearls would he have the greatest chance of finding the thirteenth pearl, which was likely with the rest of the Lu family.

He intended to do just that. He already knew quite a bit about the Sixth Mainland, as he had Possessed quite a few Sixth Mainland cultivators with his die before. He had even seen the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect.

It was not complicated for him to get to the Sixth Mainland, but that did not mean that it would be easy. The Sixth Mainland was not a parallel universe, as it was located in the Origin Universe, just like the Fifth Mainland. If not for that, Lu Yin could have simply found any random cultivator from the Sixth Mainland and used them as a guide to travel between parallel universes.

The Cosmic Art that Progenitor Chen had left behind encompassed the entire Human Domain, and by using it, Lu Yin quickly appeared at the border between the Human Domain and the Technocracy in the Fifth Mainland. He wanted to enter the Sixth Mainland through the Starfall Sea. There were very few corpse kings in the Starfall Sea at this time, as Aeternus had been driven out of the Fifth Mainland. While they were able to travel down the Mara River, they lacked the peak powerhouses to make such an invasion successful. Even if Aeternus invaded the Starfall Sea from the Sixth Mainland, it would be meaningless.

As for Lu Yin, he could get to the Sixth Mainland by traveling up the Mara River.

Just as he was about to leave the Fifth Mainland, his eyes were drawn to the Technocracy.

The Technocracy no longer had its Thought Manifestation protecting it, so even though it continued to grow and develop, it was at a greatly reduced rate from the past.

Before, the Technocracy had been split into two opposing factions: one backed by the Sixth Mainland, and the other supported by the Perennial World. Both sides had constantly worked to gather resources from their backers in order to create a massive army of mechanical ants to deal with the Aeternals. However, the Sixth Mainland had been taken over by Aeternus, and the Perennial World had learned the truth of the Technocracy. Because of this, few resources entered the Technocracy now, and the place had started to decline.