Apocalypse: The Primordial Pearl Recognizes Its Master, Starting with Infinite Space

After listening to the prophet's words, Lin Chen was stunned for a long time, as if he had not fully digested the information.

The prophet didn't urge him, but calmly picked up his teacup and took a sip, as if waiting for him to speak first.

After a long while, Lin Chen finally came to his senses, looked at her, and asked in a tone that was hard to define: "Isn't this considered cheating?"

The prophet put down his teacup and smiled slightly: "I suppose so. But the price is also clear: once you die, you will be locked in this realm, forever losing the chance to leave."

Lin Chen nodded, then continued, "How long does it take for you to resurrect each time?"

The prophet shook his head: "I don't know, no one has died yet."

Lin Chen then asked a different question: "The World Tree must have had a purpose in creating you, right?"

"Of course." The prophet raised his eyes, his gaze falling into the distance. "He needs us to help the beings of this world thrive and increase the vitality of the universe. The more beings there are, the more prosperous they are, the more stable the cosmic barrier will be. We have been doing this since the early days."

"Then why did things change later?" Lin Chen asked the question that had been bothering him.

The prophet paused for a moment: "Firstly, because the development of this world is nearing saturation. As long as it's not widespread slaughter, but merely conquest and enslavement, it has no impact on the World Tree itself. It doesn't care how the weak are treated, only about the overall vitality."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen remained silent for a moment, then sighed, "Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs."

"That's a fitting statement," the prophet said, glancing at him.

"And on the other hand?"

The prophet didn't answer immediately, looking down at the slightly swirling water in her glass, as if confirming whether she should continue. After a moment, she looked up at Lin Chen: "This involves some secrets. If you can grant me one request, I can tell you."

"What are your requirements?"

The prophet looked directly into Lin Chen's eyes: "If you can leave this world, I hope you can take me with you."

Lin Chen looked at her and said, "I'm not even sure if I can do it myself."

"You can," the prophet said calmly, without hesitation.

Lin Chen was silent for a few moments: "...Okay, I agree."

The prophet nodded slightly, as if letting out a sigh of relief, then stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the night outside, his voice lowering slightly:

"This story begins 600 million years ago. At that time, the development of this world had become completely stable, and countless new races were steadily moving forward under our guidance, making the life force of the entire starry sky increasingly vigorous."

The education of subsequent new races was entrusted to the first intelligent life forms we taught, who are now the gods.

Lin Chen interrupted her, asking in surprise, "Wait, aren't the current gods your descendants?"

The prophet turned to look at him and shook his head: "Of course not. None of us twelve have children."

Lin Chen then thought of Barton: "Many of those families of the gods claim to have originated from you?"

The prophet chuckled softly: "Those were the people who first enlightened and nurtured us. They called us parents, and we were like adopted children. As for bloodlines, we left none behind."

Lin Chen nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

The prophet looked out the window again: "After the world entered a period of stability, many things were left to the gods. We twelve had nothing to do, so we began to wander the universe. Until one day, I met him in a remote star system..."

She paused for a moment, as if she were flipping through a memory that had been buried for too long.

"He was exceptionally handsome and eloquent, unlike anyone I had ever met before. I was immediately drawn to him and took the initiative to approach him... That was the happiest time of my life."

Lin Chen saw from her profile that the corners of her mouth were curved into a very faint smile.

"I also brought him back to our ancestral planet and introduced him to my other brothers and sisters. As we spent time together, I found myself completely in love with him... At the same time, I also discovered that the fifth and eighth brothers were in love with him as well."

The prophet's voice remained calm, but Lin Chen noticed that her hands were now tightly clasped together.

"Finally, one day, he told us he was leaving. That's when we learned he came from another world, and his ability... could only take one person with him. He asked us who wanted to go with him. We all wanted to leave with our loved ones, but there was only one spot..."

"The three of us sisters fought over this spot. We made a huge commotion, which was seen and heard by more than a dozen races in the vicinity. To save face for us, the Devouring Ancestor and the Void Ancestor slaughtered those dozen or so races."

She paused for a moment, but did not explain further.

"Even the eldest brother, Da Zu, couldn't stand it. He felt that Jing Yu had caused a rift between us sisters, so he fought with him. But Jing Yu didn't kill him. Instead, he gave the eldest brother a body-refining manual and then abandoned all of us, leaving this world alone."

She stopped there, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and then stopped talking.

"After that, the second and third brothers learned that there was a world beyond the realm, and realized that they were just frogs in a well trapped in a cage. They began to give up on themselves and indulge in pleasure. Only the eldest brother was inspired to fight and began to cultivate the body-refining technique given to him by Jing Yu. He was determined to break through the void with his own strength and leave this place."

The prophet's words ended there. She sat back down opposite Lin Chen, without adding anything further.

Lin Chen remained silent for a long time after hearing this. He hadn't expected the reason for this to be so dramatic.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice carrying a complex, belated realization: "So, all these hundreds of millions of years of war, enslavement, and destruction... all stemmed from the fact that you three ancestors fell in love with a man from beyond the realm?"

The prophet did not deny it, but simply picked up his teacup and took another sip.

She didn't offer any explanation, nor was there anything to explain. The fact that she could speak so frankly about these secrets shows that she had let go of many things.

Lin Chen looked at her for a long time before asking, "What was that person's name?"

The prophet paused for a moment, then slowly spoke: "Jingyu."

Her voice wasn't loud, but when that name was uttered, Lin Chen clearly saw her body tremble almost imperceptibly.