Eternal Night

Chapter 601 Farewell
"Hello, ma'am, we noticed you're bleeding heavily down there, so we've performed surgery to ensure your survival," a voice announced.

Wu Pifu opened his eyes and saw a bonfire. Outside the bonfire was darkness, a darkness even darker than the night.

A blond boy and an old man in a cloak were warming themselves by the fire, and the blond boy was laughing loudly at Wu Pifu.

Wu Pifu sat up expressionlessly, simply looking around.

The blond boy laughed for a while, but when he saw that Wu Pifu and the cloaked old man were both watching him in silence, he felt embarrassed. He stopped laughing, coughed awkwardly, and said to Wu Pifu, "You're from the 21st century. I thought you would resonate with this joke."

Wu Pifu remained silent, and the cloaked old man coughed to ease the blond boy's embarrassment, saying, "Savior, please forgive his awkward conversation, which lacks any sense of humor. He simply doesn't know how to express his excitement and gratitude, and this is by no means disrespectful to you."

Wu Pifu looked at the cloaked old man, who bowed slightly and said, "I am Makado, and I would also like to thank the Savior for everything he has done for us and for this universe."

Wu Pifu nodded silently and said, "This is..."

"The boundary between life and death."

The blond boy and the cloaked old man spoke at the same time.

Yes, the boundary between life and death...

Wu Pifu suddenly realized.

He had been here before. Yes, it was during the battle when he fought against the Unborn Mother who corrupted Gaia's avatar. Both Amadei and Xu Shilan died at that time, and he himself suffered a near-fatal injury. When he was healing, he did indeed reach the boundary between life and death. There, he saw Xu Shilan bidding him farewell, and from Xu Shilan, he obtained the ability to return from death. That was also the first essential attribute he gained that enhanced his soul.

Here, too, lies the boundary between life and death, and before him stand the Emperor and Macado, the Emperor's dearest friend.

Makado seemed to sense Wu Pifu's doubts and said, "I died on the Golden Throne. Apart from those favored by fate like the Emperor, only the Savior is qualified to sit on that thing. So I died then. But our world was already enveloped by the Warp, which isolated true death. So my last remaining essence should have fallen into the Warp. It was the Emperor who protected me, and only now can I finally face true death."

The blond boy said solemnly to Wu Pifu, "Since you know about this boundary between life and death, there's no need to explain. This place is both real and illusory to you. We are indeed dead, but even in death, we hope to thank you, Wu Pifu... You have accomplished a feat that none of us, all beings in this entire world, from gods to mortals, could achieve... Our world has been saved by you!"

The blond boy knelt on one knee and bowed solemnly to Wu Pifu, as did Makado. Wu Pifu quickly stood up, thought for a moment, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, and said, "There's no need to thank me. This is a promise between me and you. I also have my reasons for dealing with them. Moreover, this final victory does not belong to me alone, but to all of you, including those who helped me achieve the battlefield advantage. It is a victory for everyone in this world, for all races."

The blond boy laughed and stood up, saying, "But without you, all this victory would be impossible. You... are the key to this crucial moment!"

Wu Pifu shook his head slightly. The blond boy seemed about to continue when Makado coughed and said, "Your Majesty, time is running out."

The blond boy suddenly realized that Wu Pifu had indeed noticed the surrounding darkness getting closer to the fire.

The blond boy said seriously, "Wu Pifu, you are no longer human."

"You're the one who's not human!" Wu Pifu immediately cursed. "Do you want me to kneel down and call you Emperor? Say you're a god? Or you can turn into a weasel and ask me if I'm human or god, and see how I answer."

The blond boy said awkwardly, "No, no, no, that's not what I meant. This isn't an adjective, it's a statement. You... after this battle, you've crossed the line for far too long!"

"Your power is indeed very magical. No matter how severe your injuries or how strong the negative effects are, it doesn't affect your combat strength. However, you are not immune to damage and negative effects. All of this is just being suppressed by this characteristic and hasn't been unleashed yet. As time goes on, all the damage and negative effects will continue to accumulate and take effect..."

"It would be one thing if it were just injury. You are the savior of heaven and earth, and you resonate with the great power of this world. No matter how severe your injuries are, as long as you don't die instantly, heaven and earth will use various methods to heal you, even in the smallest possible circumstances, such as a beam of radiation penetrating a certain part of your flesh and blood, activating it. All of these things can be done. However... the negative backlash in your sea of ​​consciousness cannot be healed or suppressed!"

At this point, the blond boy's expression became extremely solemn, and Wu Pifu also fell silent.

He had already guessed this possibility.

When he used the Nodos Contract Crystal, he was almost unable to maintain his human form, both in terms of flesh and blood and mental consciousness. This was because only by activating 100% of the negative backflow of his mind could he fight against the threat posed by the Lord of Darkness, which was the root essence.

Afterwards, he obtained the ascended body of the Hero race. In particular, the existence characteristics of the Hero race Belcros made him exempt from the self-destruction caused by the negative backlash of the mind. This process was very clear and understandable. If he had immediately withdrawn all the negative backlash of the mind, he could have regained his human form by relying on the resistance of the ascended body.

But he didn't use the Nodos Contract Crystal to heal; he went to fight, to risk his life, to face death!
To put it bluntly, as a mortal fighting against four sources, he never thought he would come back alive. From the very beginning, he went into battle with the mindset of going to his death!
Therefore, he had no reason to shut down the power boost brought by the negative backflow of his mind, especially at the moment when the Silver Star black hole exploded. He and the four Origins had reached the point of life and death, and both sides were fighting desperately. In order to maintain the sublimated body of the Hero Race that could not bear the power beyond the critical level, he had to activate the negative backflow rate of his mind to 130%, which was the ultimate limit he could reach at present.

At that time... he knew he could never return to human form.

However, the appearance of the Emperor and Macado was indeed a pleasant surprise. But considering the Emperor's immense power, which allowed him to withstand the erosion of the source for ten thousand years, it was understandable that he could bring Macado back from the dead.

And... since he's here, he must have something to say.

The blond boy guessed Wu Pifu's thoughts and shook his head, saying, "I'm sorry, I can't solve your hidden danger either. To put it bluntly, solving this thing is countless times more difficult than solving the root threat myself. So you can only rely on yourself."

"Myself?" Wu Pifu said silently.

The blond boy smiled and took out a copper ingot and a silver ingot from his pocket. He said, "That's right, only yourself. Because this comes from you, it's part of your essence. Apart from the various strange and extraordinary paths and artifacts you obtain, or the so-called sublimation into an ascended body, only your own essence can suppress this terrifying negative influence." As he spoke, the blond boy tossed the copper and silver ingots to Wu Pifu. Wu Pifu instinctively caught them, and the moment he did, the silver and copper ingots automatically merged into his palm and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

As the silver and copper ingots were thrown out, the surrounding darkness intensified its corrosive power, and within just a few seconds, it was only a meter in diameter from the fire.

The blond boy and Makado exchanged glances and laughed. Then they both looked at Wu Pifu. The blond boy said, "For your current special circumstances, I've prepared a clone of your body. This is my masterpiece, so use it without worry. Remember, Wu Pifu, you only have one chance..."

"Only once..."

"only……"

Darkness gathered around, the fire went out, and everything was plunged into absolute darkness...

On the other side, Wu Pifu awoke from his near-death experience. The moment he awoke, his distorted senses began to assault him, and his worldview began to distort as well. His thoughts, spirit, memories, and even his soul—no… especially his soul—all began to distort.

An indescribable, terrifying thing is slowly crawling and wriggling in the void beyond the Milky Way...

But at that moment, a bronze-colored beam and a silver beam were simultaneously thrown at this indescribable thing.

"Of the five metals of the innate heaven and earth, copper is the spleen."

"...Your Majesty, your banner represents our eternal direction, and this is not merely a matter of loyalty..."

"All living beings and phenomena, through the resonance of consciousness and soul at the root level of pollution, have a very small probability of condensing into the innate things of this dream world."

"Copper, one of the five metals of the innate world, represents the sublimation of thoughts and corresponds to the spleen, one of the five internal organs of the human body. It is extremely compatible with the five metals system of the Iron Refining Record. Once integrated, it can greatly enhance the effects of the five metals system of the Iron Refining Record."

As the bronze color merged first, the indescribable evolution abruptly halted. In Wu Pifu's mutated senses, he vaguely saw countless warriors fighting fiercely, undaunted by sacrifice or powerful enemies, united and courageous, their will as strong as a fortress...

"The five elements of heaven and earth, and the kidneys are silver."

"...You made a promise to me, to us, a vow of victory, didn't you!?..."

"All living beings and phenomena, through the resonance of consciousness and soul at the root level of pollution, have a very small probability of condensing into the innate things of this dream world."

"Silver, one of the five metals of the innate world, represents the sublimation of fear. It corresponds to the kidney, one of the five internal organs of the human body. It is extremely compatible with the five metals system of the Iron Refining Record. Once integrated, it can greatly increase the effect of the five metals system of the Iron Refining Record."

As the silver light merged in, Wu Pifu's alienation began to fade, his senses gradually returned, and his consciousness, spirit, memories, and so on all returned to the form that a human should possess. He saw the starry sky, the surging pillar of energy, and the Milky Way galaxy, whose shape had been completely altered.

Then he saw the Emperor, he saw Macardo, he saw countless valiant people standing behind the Emperor, smiling at him, then bowing and nodding. As the Emperor turned, they gathered under his banner and went into the infinite void...

Wu Pifu instinctively extended a tentacle, then froze... a tentacle?
He suddenly realized that his body had turned into a flowing, amorphous mass of slime-like flesh!

At the same time, a tall, imposing, blond, handsome man with a crown of wheat ears appeared beside him.

Hmm, 3.5 meters tall, all muscle, blond hair and blue eyes, completely devoid of consciousness and soul...

Hey!
Wu Pifu recognized whose clone this was!

One of the Primarchs created by the Emperor, the physical body of Robert Guilliman!

"Gibberish! Gibberish gibberish!!"

Wu Pifu's jelly-like body writhed violently, emitting strange, incoherent sounds from what was not a mouth at all.

"(Give me a normal human body! You bastard emperor!!)"

The universe is silent, the heavens and earth are peaceful...

Only the stars in the Milky Way still twinkle and blink...

this world……

They were saved after all!

(End of this chapter)