Chapter 1037: The Hidden One (2)

Li Xiaofei could clearly recall everything that had happened to him in the psychiatric hospital. That place had subtly yet continuously blurred and erased his memories. It used names that resembled those from his past, casting them as fellow patients, doctors, and nurses, making him gradually believe he truly was just a mentally ill writer spinning tales from fragments of reality.

Even the pills and injections he took were no ordinary medicine. They were infused with foreign energy that seeped into his mind and dulled his memories. Without a doubt, had Li Xiaofei fully forgotten and denied everything from before, if he had truly come to believe he was nothing more than a delusional patient, it would have marked his complete downfall. It would be a quiet, but absolute death.

“Maybe it was faith that guided me,” Li Xiaofei said, unable to give an answer even to himself.

Perhaps part of him still hoped that the protagonist in the story could win even when he began to accept the identity of a mentally ill man. He still believed that justice could triumph over evil. That was why, at the very end, he had wrung out every last drop of thought and imagination to write the turning point in that ultimate battle.

“I left you one and only one exit,” said Oblivion. “Heaven's design holds fifty paths, but only forty-nine are revealed. That door was the hidden one.”

Li Xiaofei gave a slight nod. That felt correct. When he had first arrived in that dreamlike psychiatric hospital, he had felt a powerful, unexplainable urge to charge down the corridor and open that door...

Perhaps it was his survival instinct telling him that his only hope lay beyond it. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he tried, he had always been dragged back. In the end, he had completely given up on that door.

Li Xiaofei paused for a moment, then said, “Have you ever considered... that door you created, the so-called hidden path, might not have been the true hidden path? I never could reach it in the dream realm you designed, nor even open it.”

Oblivion was stunned and fell into deep thought. A moment later, realization dawned on him.

“I... actually made such a rookie mistake,” said Oblivion as he let out a sigh.

The hidden one was not the door; it was the notebook. That solitary and unique path was fate itself. It was never meant to be a trap. Even a mind as clouded and lost as Li Xiaofei’s had, by instinct alone, located the only possible way to break free from the chaos—Lin Beichen.

The first to fall in the final battle was Lin Beichen. But his fall had occurred far too early, far earlier than any of the other Immortal Emperors. It was completely inconsistent with the strength expected of someone at his level.

That anomaly became the one and only clue, the hidden foreshadowing, that Li Rui had found to potentially reverse the ending. He couldn’t help but recall that there were still two more Immortal Emperor-level beings unaccounted for in this universe.

One was the Ancestor of Wisdom. The other was the incomplete Ancestor of Strength who had been partially devoured by Wei Xiaotian. In a battle of such magnitude, one that would decide the ultimate fate of the entire universe, how could these two not show themselves?

No matter which side they aligned with, they should have appeared. The outcome of this battle affected both the human race and the Reapers. Neither side could remain untouched. So there could only be one conclusion, they had entered the fray. Only, their battlefield wasn’t in the Land of Annihilation.

After pondering deeply, Li Xiaofei realized there was only one place the Ancestor of Wisdom would have chosen, the Ancestor Court star system. The five generations of Human Immortal Emperors had waited countless years for the birth of a sixth Emperor. In the eyes of Li Mu, Ye Qingyu, and the others, Li Xiaofei’s ascension meant that humanity finally possessed the strength to face Oblivion alone.

If the Ancestor of Wisdom had indeed sided with Oblivion, then there was only one thing he could do; only one thing he was uniquely capable of doing.

He could shatter Li Xiaofei’s foundation.

The other Human Emperors had achieved their Dao long ago. Even if the Ancestor of Wisdom gave his all, he might not have been able to defeat them in battle. At most, he could delay them momentarily, which wouldn’t have had any meaningful impact on the overall war.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But Li Xiaofei’s Dao was unusual. He had ascended through the power of protective faith. He and the human race shared one fate. When they flourished, he flourished; when they perished, he would fall.

Therefore, the only thing required to destroy Li Xiaofei’s Dao foundation... was to exterminate the people who believed in him. If there was no one left to hold faith in him, he would lose the very object he was meant to protect. His Dao fruit would wither and his foundation would collapse.

The strength of the Guardian Emperor was the most unique law humanity possessed in resisting Oblivion. Once Li Xiaofei was lost, the remaining Immortal Emperors, no matter how mighty they were, could never hope to defeat Oblivion.

So... the Lin Beichen who had fallen first in battle had been a fake. He was nothing more than an incredibly lifelike avatar. His true body had used that moment to vanish into the Ancestor Court star system.

There, he had struck down the Ancestor of Wisdom. Humanity had been preserved and Li Xiaofei’s Dao foundation had grown more stable than ever. This was what Li Xiaofei had written into the ending of his notebook’s story, and it was exactly what had occurred in reality. Story and reality had aligned perfectly.

At the moment of that perfect alignment, heaven and earth resonated as one, as all living things responded in harmony. Within that chaos, Li Xiaofei had flawlessly grasped hold of the hidden path and shattered Oblivion’s death trap.

After tracing everything back to its source and seeing it all clearly, Oblivion showed no sign of disappointment or despair. Instead, he lazily stretched and let out a soft yawn.

“So this... is the ending chosen by destiny’s judgment... Heh. Not a bad one.” He smiled lightly, without any trace of bitterness.

Li Xiaofei looked at this ultimate fated enemy. There was a sliver of confusion in his heart, born from the other’s calmness.

Oblivion seemed to sense it and explained, “From the moment I was born, my sole purpose was to avenge Mother. I personally witnessed the rise and reproduction of both the Reapers and humanity while waiting for the right moment. I watched as the ancient gods and primordial beasts fell into annihilation. I watched life flourish and vanish...

“Both humanity and the Reapers strive for ultimate evolution and eternal life... But none of you could possibly understand the sheer boredom and loneliness of those who truly live forever.

“Now that the final battle has ended in your favor, it’s time for me to step off the stage. From here on... it’s your turn to endure that chilling solitude and endless monotony. You’ll savor it slowly, I’m sure.”

Oblivion’s voice gradually faded and with it, his body began to dissolve. Even that terrifying violet annihilation energy, though weakened, receded like a retreating tide, vanishing completely from the heavens and earth.

In that moment, it was as if the entire universe resonated. Something ancient, something that had existed since the dawn of time, seemed to be dispersing until it would be eternally erased from the world.

Oblivion... was gone. Li Xiaofei, though surprised, couldn’t help but feel a tinge of relief at his luck. Oblivion’s strength had been unmatched. Even with six against one, victory had never been guaranteed in a direct clash. And even if he had been defeated, Oblivion might not have been completely destroyed. At best, he would have been sealed.

An existence like that, one born with the universe itself, was nearly impossible to annihilate. Yet Oblivion had chosen the strangest wager of all. He had used all his energy to construct a dream realm, to see whether, after losing all sense of one’s self, even reduced to a mere psychiatric patient, Li Xiaofei would still hold to his original heart... would still hope for the Guardian’s victory.

Many psychiatric patients could have written strange and twisted endings. But among all those countless possible conclusions, Li Rui had written a story that had matched reality.

That had been the only sliver of hope, and Li Xiaofei, along with the Human Immortal Emperors, had seized it. To Oblivion, this was nothing more than destiny. It was the universe’s choice. He had made his wager and accepted the loss. Thus, he took his leave from this world.

Ye Qingyu, Lin Beichen, and the others all let out a long breath of relief.

It was over. Though the final battle had ended in an unexpected manner, without a world-shattering clash of blades and spells, the peril it carried was far more terrifying than any frontal war.

Had Li Xiaofei made the wrong choice in that dream realm, everyone would have paid the price for that single misstep. A stream of divine light tore through the void as the Human Race’s Immortal Emperors departed from the Land of Annihilation.

Oblivion’s disappearance had also deprived the special domain of his energy. It began to collapse and disintegrate completely. The Realm of Ruins and the Universe became the new dual poles of this era.

Wei Xiaotian stood at the edge of the Realm of Ruins. Now that the Ancestor of Wisdom had fallen in battle, he had become the new supreme leader of the Reapers. But the tide had already turned in humanity’s favor. The six Human Emperors were utterly unstoppable. He was no match for any single one of them. He didn't dare to entertain the idea of leading the Reapers to resurgence.

Besides, he wasn’t truly the Ancestor of Strength. After all, a human soul resided within his body.

Li Xiaofei waved at him. “Old Wei.”

Wei Xiaotian was just about to respond when—

“Let’s talk later, alright? I’m in a hurry to see my wife and kid.”

Li Xiaofei brushed past him, and disappeared into the distant sea of stars. Wei Xiaotian’s expression froze, then he let out a dry chuckle. It made sense; anyone who had survived such a high-stakes, soul-crushing battle would want nothing more than to return to their family and enjoy the peace and the warmth of loved ones.

He turned to gaze back across the starry river. The flames of war in the Ancestor Court star system had finally begun to die down. It was clear that war would become a forbidden word in that region for a long time to come. It would not be permitted to rise again.

Yet, what weighed on Wei Xiaotian’s mind now was the fate of the Reaper race. What path lay ahead for them?

But he could find no answer in the cold and desolate expanse of the cosmos.