Chapter 98

Soon after, the Beastmasters who had participated in the trial and were searching for contracted beasts returned.

Lin Lin and Xu Chenglu successfully contracted new beasts, while Han Ruoyun gave up on contracting one. She decided to focus her training efforts on the Hammer Soldier, which was about to evolve.

Once all the participating Beastmasters had gathered, the Withered Glory Spirit Deer instructed them to summon their contracted beasts and released the Harvest Blessing that covered the entire “Fenghe Region.”

The abundant life energy transformed into a gentle breeze that caressed the land, and everyone wore a satisfied smile as they basked in this comforting wind.

This was a small-scale blessing released using the energy accumulated in its antlers during its slumber. For the beasts present, it was also a rare and significant boost. All the beasts bathed in the Harvest Blessing had their hidden energy levels increased significantly.

The Harvest Blessing was pure life energy, and not only the beasts, but the human Beastmasters also felt positive changes in their physical condition and meditation progress. They felt comfortable, with the fatigue from their battles vanishing completely.

After the wind passed, the light of evolution began to shine one after another. Many beasts that had reached their energy threshold completed their evolution during this blessing, breaking through their racial limits and ascending to a higher life form.

The Hammer Soldier, which had already reached the ninth level of its growth stage, also successfully evolved under the Harvest Blessing, becoming a first-tier Mature Phase of the Intermediate Monarch Species—the Forged God Soldier.

Its size, once smaller than a human knee, grew into a robust humanoid beast over two meters tall. Its core talent was also enhanced, transforming into a B-level Steel Forging skill—Projection Alchemy.

This skill would resonate more easily with Han Ruoyun’s Beastmaster talent, allowing her to forge more refined and difficult tools.

The three beasts in Mu Huiyue’s family also bathed in the Harvest Blessing, enhancing their levels and completing a small evolution.

The hidden energy within them was also strengthened, laying a solid foundation for their future true evolution.

Although there was a slight mishap, the contract trial ultimately ended smoothly.

The next major event was the official Harvest Festival ceremony. Mu Huiyue stayed in Pingchuan City until the festival concluded, witnessing the Withered Glory Spirit Deer make its grand appearance amidst the anticipation of thousands, releasing the spectacular S-level Earth-type skill—Wide-area Prosperity—for the land of Xizhou.

During this trip to Xizhou, she successfully contracted her ideal beast, and both Ellen and Baiya benefitted from the Harvest Blessing’s boost. They also had the opportunity to communicate face-to-face with the Xizhou guardian deity, learning many historical secrets. It was truly a fruitful journey.

The seven-day holiday came to an end, and Mu Huiyue began her journey back to school.

Han Ruoyun came to the airport to see her off, bringing along the Forged God Soldier.

After its evolution, the Forged God Soldier had become much more composed. It followed its Beastmaster, helping with the luggage. Its steel-crafted body appeared strong and powerful.

Although their time together was short, they both considered each other friends.

“If you ever come back to Xizhou or need any forging services, feel free to contact me anytime, Huiyue,” Han Ruoyun said, gently hugging the black-haired girl who was about to board.

“Mm, if you’re coming to Jingzhou, feel free to visit me as well,” Mu Huiyue nodded and returned the hug.

The boarding announcement echoed through the airport, and Mu Huiyue waved goodbye to her friend before heading to the gate alone.

…

Back in the capital city of Jingzhou, Mu Huiyue also brought with her an accident investigation report from the Xizhou Affairs Bureau.

At the headquarters of the Capital’s Secret Realm Affairs Response Bureau, Minister Xin Wei was deep in thought as she reviewed the report in the top-floor meeting room.

The door to the meeting room opened, and a fiery-haired girl with white hair and green eyes walked in briskly, with a white tiger following behind. The tiger lifted its tail and shut the door after entering the room.

This is the Beastmaster of Dayan, Deputy Minister of the Headquarters, Su Luo.

“I heard there’s been some trouble in Xizhou’s ‘Fenghe Valley’?” Su Luo pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Xin Wei.

She had already read the investigation report from the Xizhou Affairs Bureau before arriving. Xin Wei mentioned that there had been new discoveries, which was why she had called her over to set up an impromptu meeting.

“It’s related to the previous incident with the Furious Rock Black Tortoise,” Xin Wei glanced at her. “This is your responsibility, so it’s necessary to reassess the situation.”

Su Luo’s expression became more serious.

Since the Furious Rock Black Tortoise incident, she had been organizing investigations into the event’s background, but in the past two months, she had found nothing.

Apart from the mysteriously disappeared Furious Rock Black Tortoise itself, no other clues related to the incident had been found.

“Could it really be related to the appearance of the ‘Withered and Decayed Wasteland’…?” she murmured.

“Here is a conversation report about the Withered Spirit Deer itself. Since no professional accident investigation was conducted, it can only serve as a reference for reading,” Xin Wei handed her a document.

After reading it, Su Luo also fell into deep thought.

She understood what Xin Wei meant by “related.”

The incident with the Furious Rock Black Tortoise and the sudden appearance of the “Withered and Decayed Wasteland” seemed to have no obvious connection at first glance.

But both events were based on some difficult-to-realize “possibilities” that led to their occurrence.

If she hadn’t killed the just-evolved Beastmaster of the Secret Realm, the Furious Rock Black Tortoise, twenty years ago.

If the Withered Spirit Deer hadn’t become “Fengxi” and made a pact with the Shennong Clan’s Yao Ji.

These “ifs” that vanished in the choices of reality—if one such event happened, it could be considered an unprecedented coincidence, but if it happened a second time, especially involving mythical races…

“It really is an event orchestrated by someone,” Su Luo put down the materials in her hand, slightly furrowing her brows.

Who could want these “impossible” possibilities, that should never have happened, to defy the laws of cause and effect and become a reality?

“…If this hand has already reached Xizhou, similar incidents are certainly not limited to these two.”

Su Luo looked at Xin Wei. “These are the only two ‘failures’ that have been noticed by us.”

“In places we are unaware of, perhaps there are already some ‘impossible’ events that have been realized in ways no one knows.”

Xin Wei silently nodded. It wasn’t exactly good news, but it aligned best with the intelligence they had at hand.

“I’ll investigate this direction,” Su Luo’s expression relaxed slightly. “With a direction and a lead, these people will surely reveal their flaws. It’s much better than the past two months, when we were completely blind.”

Xin Wei nodded, silently agreeing with Su Luo’s plan. She said, “There’s one more thing.”

“In the conversation report about the withered spirit deer, another anomaly was mentioned.”

“On the surface, this year’s Harvest Festival was successfully completed, but the withered spirit deer released pure ‘Extensive Prosperity,’ rather than the usual ‘Harvest Blessing.'”

Su Luo was momentarily stunned upon hearing this. She recalled the special nature of the ‘Harvest Blessing.’

“‘Extensive Prosperity’ brings a large amount of energy and nutrients to the protected region. It’s the foundation for achieving a great harvest, but ‘Extensive Prosperity’ does not guarantee a final harvest.”

“No one knows what will happen in the future. Even if the land is nutrient-rich, a large-scale natural disaster could still lead to a poor harvest.”

“Therefore, the ‘Harvest Blessing’ applied by the withered spirit deer is, in a way, a prophetic blessing for the future of Xizhou and even the entire Diyan for the next three years. It’s an observation of future climate, environmental factors, disasters, and growing conditions. It’s a time-related S-level extraordinary skill.”

“Then why didn’t this year’s Harvest Festival release the ‘Harvest Blessing’?” Su Luo asked.

“The withered spirit deer was unable to complete this year’s ‘Harvest Blessing.'”

Xin Wei answered, “It couldn’t see the future of Diyan for the next three years.”

Su Luo looked at her with some bewilderment. “What does that mean? Is there no future for Diyan?”

“It should be said that the future of Diyan does not exist,” Xin Wei sighed faintly. “Although observation-based skills are not absolute prophecies, especially since the Harvest Blessing is just an effect added to Extensive Prosperity, and not a true time-related skill, still…”

“Has the guardian deity of Xizhou said anything about this?” Su Luo fixed her gaze on her.

Xin Wei paused for a moment. “It said… even though it couldn’t observe the Harvest Blessing for the next three years, in the present moment, there are seeds growing, perhaps able to support an unseen future.”

“Since it became ‘Fengxi’ a thousand years ago, Diyan will always remain Diyan.”

“Well, then that’s fine,” Su Luo said with a light smile. “Trying to replace Diyan’s future with those impossible ‘what-ifs’… that’s just foolish talk.”

The white-haired Beastmaster’s eyes gleamed brightly, and she clapped her fists together with a sharp crack.

After becoming a Beastmaster and joining the Bureau, she had faced countless crises alongside the land beneath her feet.

“No matter who is hiding in the shadows, scheming all of this, I will hunt them down and give them a good beating, Xiao Wei.”

Nova Region, D11 Blocked Zone.

In the center of the vast and empty experimental field stood a fissure stretching for dozens of meters, like the abyss of hell, running across the ground, a dark void that seemed endless.

The researcher, revered as the “Chief,” stood at the edge of the abyss, gazing indifferently into the bottomless depths, as if even his soul had fallen into it.

“…Chief, the observation results for B00147 have landed.” A researcher, dressed in a white lab coat, stepped forward, reporting the results with utmost caution.

“The impact failed, the experiment was a failure.”

The Chief’s expression showed no change. B00147 was a three-digit numbered experiment, which meant the divergence occurred early on. If memory served, 147 seemed to refer to the guardian deity of the Diyan, one of the wood and earth elemental deities…

The researcher’s voice seemed a bit nervous. After a pause, he continued, “The observation target was unaffected, B00147’s existence dissipated, and the proof could not be completed.”

The Chief suddenly turned to look at him, forcefully capping the pen halfway through its motion.

A crisp “snap” echoed through the lab.

The “Descension Plan” had just begun to get on track, and initially, he hadn’t intended for a single observational experiment to encompass the guardian deities of Diyan. The energy required to cover the wrongly killed Nuyanyan Xuanwu was on an entirely different level.

But the fact that the Withered Glory Spirit Deer was completely unaffected was a result the Chief had not anticipated.

The primary goal in the early stages of the “Descension Plan” was to use various observational experiments to “shake” those solid beings, slowly eroding the reasonableness of the world’s causal structure.

Under the gaze of those emotionless eyes, the researcher, trembling with anxiety, quickly reported the follow-up remedial investigation results.

“The aberration data source capture failed, and the stability outside of alpha0001’s range is approaching zero… It’s hypothesized that the impact is caused by the ‘moving point.'”

The Chief’s expression grew somber.

“Moving Point”…

At this stage, the only moving point that could possibly appear in the alpha0001 world was the escaped Ruomeng.

Unfortunately, Lin Fei’s mission had failed, and they missed the best opportunity to capture the Ruomeng. Now, they would have to endure a series of “accidents” brought on by this moving point.

Wasn’t this just the self-preservation mechanism of the alpha0001 world?

By using this subtle shift, it created a series of coincidental errors in the yin-yang balance, attempting to reverse a future that was already set.

The Chief scoffed inwardly. A small moving point could not shake their plan, just as no matter how the will of the world struggled, it could not stop the realization of the Descension Plan.

He gazed down into the abyss.

From the bottom of the pitch-black crack, where no light could reach, came a steady, heavy breathing sound, as if some unknown colossal being were lying dormant.

“It’s almost time for you to awaken,” the Chief murmured, his eyes burning with a fervor that could only be described as fanatic.

“Nothing can stop your descent.”