He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 69 "Paradise Lost"

The visions of the apocalypse faded from Ai's eyes. The scenes of world destruction that had unfolded just seconds before seemed like a dream. Only the roar of the great red dragon and the earth-shattering roar continued to echo in her mind.

Ai Yi, who looked dazed, had actually been walking for a while, though she appeared to be fine.

"Gulp—" He swallowed hard, unable to reconcile this terrifying, supermodel-like red dragon with the soft, sweet girl in his memory and the fragile, porcelain-like vessel before him.

"Anda after that—" he murmured, "is so handsome."

"Your brain circuits are definitely not normal."

The door clicked its tongue in amazement, “What anchored this history was not the white dove, nor the original four—but the red dragon itself, the eldest son of the wind, standing in the sky with a posture that blotted out the sun, personally tearing apart his father’s authority above, ending a period of history, and opening an era belonging to the shelled species—”

"————"

Ai took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. His expression was strange—it was initially the sadness he felt when he saw Anda's corpse lying in the wilderness, but it was covered by layers of complex emotions, making it impossible to tell whether he was crying or laughing.

"I really can't accept the ending where Anda dies like this—"

He shook his head and said with a bitter expression, "But it doesn't have to be this complete of a reversal."

-but----

But in the end, Ai still laughed.

"However, this seems like a good idea too."

His eyes gleamed, and he said with emotion, "Red Dragon—Red Dragon, a being completely opposite to the Lamb, she finally and thoroughly rebelled against her former timid and silent self—whether it was her obsession with flying or her ideal of going to a wider world, she achieved it all on her own."

The fox said self-deprecatingly, "To Anda, I may not be as important as you think—she is strong enough, and she has never been a vassal of Lot. Anda has wings growing on her back, which is her innate noble nature. Even the sky is not her destination, and I am just a passerby in her great journey."

"Sigh—" he sighed, but the door didn't think so.

"I think you underestimate yourself."

Xiao Bai chuckled, "Although this history was anchored by Anda herself, the period concerning Rhodes—that is, the time you were involved in—may be more influential than you imagine."

"For someone who stands at the pinnacle, time is a question rather than an answer. That red dragon, separated by countless layers of intricate history, has already searched for your scent in all eras."

"W-what do you mean?"

Looking at Anda before him, this seemingly dead yet still beautiful vessel, Ai suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"Literally, she has finally found you."

The buzzing in its abdomen seemed to be suppressed by some great force, and the moth's whims were swallowed in its throat and melted into silence.

The mask covering his body was ripped off, and Rhodes's muscular figure twisted violently, transforming back into the petite gray fox in the next instant.

"Life is born from the Great Ceremony Pool. Whether it is the soul and wisdom that arise with the flow of the red liquid, the solidified body, mind, and spirit, or the vessel that bears all of this—it all needs a 'fulcrum' to support it. I believe you are already aware of the importance of the 'fulcrum'."

"Holy crap!" The fluffy gray tail exploded into a messy ball, and an electric shock-like sensation spread throughout his body.

The next instant, Ai clearly saw—the amber-like pupils of Anda in front of her shimmer with a vibrant light, and then blinked silently.

And the withered wings behind her seemed to be re-infused with blood—a bright red flowed within them, and the shriveled feathers were now as translucent as gemstones—the molten material after being burned had solidified again, transforming into rows of hard and smooth pieces.

A scene from the void, yet unbelievably real—a great will from an unfathomable distance, in the form of a dragon, dissecting the order of time, its immense size stirring up a tsunami in the Red Pool, diving into an ancient and profound history.

Xiao Bai, the amused one, went completely mad: "How about that? As a pillar of Si Chen, you, a fox spirit! You've upheld Anda's humanity!"

"Fuck you—" Ai let out a mournful cry.

The next moment, the "red amber" covering the girl's body shattered with a crisp, bell-like sound, and her massive, scale-covered wings soared high—time itself seemed to extinguish its flowing courage in that instant.

"Homage to: Lord of Scales and Feathers, God of Metamorphosis and Stabilization, King of Shell-like Species, Rebellious Father-Slayer, Firstborn Son of the Wind, Prophet of the Old Eden, Great Red Dragon of the Apocalypse —"

A naked girl emerged from the broken amber, her golden-red eyes instantly focusing on Ai. Her imposing vertical pupils, completely out of character, blinked somewhat blankly.

The doorkeeper fanned the flames wildly: "You've attracted the attention of the Scaled Star, the Red Dragon."

"He is gazing at you!"

"Should we maintain a respectful attitude?"

Ai Yi raised one hand in a daze, and the next instant, the golden-red mass in front of him rushed into his chest.

"Lot!"

"Ugh—" The fox was headbutted and felt dizzy. After reverting to his original form, Anda, who had looked incredibly petite before, now seemed to be a little taller than him.

Ai was initially a little nervous, but when she saw the soft color flowing in those unfamiliar vertical pupils, the last trace of fear in her heart vanished.

"Have you gained weight?" He shook his head and asked recklessly, "Oh—it seems I've gotten lighter. In terms of sturdiness, Rhodes' body is still more useful."

Anda angrily jabbed at his ribs, but thankfully the red dragon in human form didn't have horns, or it would have caused a fox's death.

"I thought you would change a lot—at first, I didn't even dare to face you or accept that change."

Ai exclaimed, "Anda, you've really become an amazing person, someone I never even dared to imagine. You possess the potential of a lamb, yet you can also generate the strongest power from within your softness."

—Yet this great red dragon that destroyed an entire era was still willing to show its gentlest side in front of me.

"Because of your blessing and witness, I have supported myself." Anda buried her little head in his arms, breathing in the scent of the fox.

"That's really strange—"

Ai smiled, unable to put on the airs of a long-awaited reunion. Although Anda had been searching for him for a long time, the fox had recently shared a part of history with her and even witnessed her complete transformation.

However, this reunion for Anda will not last long. A red dragon, whose will has descended upon this place, is completely anchoring its power in this history. If she doesn't leave soon, the fox will be completely assimilated into it.

"So, let's get down to business."

He patted Anda's head, smiled first, and then said solemnly, "Anda, humanity cannot live without the sky."

"I see."

Anda narrowed her eyes and said softly, "So, just for Rhodes, I will give you a chance."

The next instant, the red dragon looked at the fox—some invisible substance poured from her vertical pupil into Ai's eyes, the golden-red color engulfing everything, and in the almost unbearable heat, a brilliant light screen lit up from his eyes.

"The current anchor of history: the Red Dragon, has unlocked all the secrets for you; you have now fully completed the secret history, 'The Sinking of Eden.'"

"The current secret history is progressing—"

Within the light screen, the "lost secret history" was being completed at an alarming speed, instantly transcending the levels of "old news," "legendary tales," "pastoral songs," "divine songs," and "forbidden tales."

at last----

"Your secret history has been completed: Pilgrimage (Highest Level)"

"A pilgrimage-level secret history, rising to the present world and potentially reshaping its supreme history, has been granted permission by the 'Red Dragon.' You are now qualified to become an anchor of this history."

"When you are ready, you can reach 'True Ys,' in this history where the Great Red Dragon of Apocalypse has been reborn from the ashes. You need to find a way to stop him and preserve the skies in this realm—"

"Sole mission: Save Ys."

"You—" Ai opened her mouth, but a raised index finger blocked her lips.

"I said—I'm willing to give humanity this opportunity just for you."

Anda spoke softly, just like the shepherdess she once was, yet her sweetness was tinged with an almost imperceptible aggressiveness, like a poisonous fruit or a thorny flower.

"But you still owe me a promise."

She said, "After I have dealt with my worldly troubles, I will come to find you—Lot, you will never lose me."

—So heavy!

Ai shuddered, but soon he felt the upward pull growing stronger until he could no longer control the increasing feeling of suffocation.

"I think I have to go." He looked at his fading body and gave an embarrassed smile. "Although it seems I didn't have time to say anything."

"Wait a minute." Red Dragon suddenly stopped him.

"You came here for this sky, didn't you?"

Anda smiled and reached out, as if tearing something apart, ripping the formless substance from the sky's form, like tearing flesh from the body of a great being, unleashing the roar and fury of the wind—

He placed the gentle breeze into Ai's hand, and then, in the fox's dazed gaze, pecked his lips like a little bird.

Without giving him a chance to respond, Anda watched him disappear without a trace.

"goodbye."

She flapped her wings at Ai.

After the fox disappeared.

"Brother."

Gugu, who had been standing quietly to the side the whole time, suddenly broke the silence and whispered to Anda.

"I still prefer the scene when you were just born, calling me 'Mommy'—or at least 'Sister,' right?"

Anda stepped forward, picked up the tiny girl, and chuckled, "Gugu, you look so lifeless now, you're not as cute as you were when you were little." "Sister—"

A hint of helplessness flashed in the white dove's eyes. It could only offer a symbolic resistance before giving up the struggle and lying limp against Anda's chest.

In this incredibly ancient era, neither "Scales" nor "Winter" had yet risen, and the two later Sichen were merely two projections that converged from history, one of whom had even experienced a death.

The warm silence lasted for a long time.

But it was Anda who broke the unspoken silence.

"Go with him—Radiance is the bird's eternal friend—at least you can stand on his shoulders, but dragons can't."

Her golden-red vertical pupils flashed with an unwavering rebellion and tyranny, but when facing the white dove, she still spoke softly, "In this era, I will carry out the Red Dragon's revenge. My father needs to pay the price for his transformation. As for whether this history will be corrected in the end, it doesn't matter to me anymore. I just want to do what I should do."

She spread her giant wings, and the turmoil of end and destruction rippled across the earth, causing all things to tremble.

She said, "If you still yearn to redeem that sky, go back into this history and stop me. Now, you should leave—"

—

"Leave this stage that belongs to me."

"Gurgle—"

White Dove nodded silently, her figure fading into the falling snow like a pile of extinguished embers, leaving only a final, dreamlike whisper: "The Winged will remember their elder sister, sister—I have also engraved everything in my heart."

The world may forget, but I will not.

The white doves spread their wings and flew away, leaving no sound.

In the boundless pool, as Ai, about to awaken, floated upwards, she faintly heard whispers behind her, a symphony of birds and radiance—

[Gu: The bird must remember the first membrane that has died, even though He was an incompetent father, He was the homeland of every winged being. His death brought eternal wounds to the world—we witness this history and inscribe it eternally in pale white.]

"Besides the white dove, the second entity to know that the 'sky' had been replaced was the radiance, because the radiance also flowed from the original, distant past—its remains, guarding the sky with all the birds, questioning the world, 'What has been lost?'"

[Gu: That era was called Paradise, and the ancestor of birds was called "Eden." It was the sky, the cocoon of wind, cloud, and mist, one of the four that had already died.]

"After the patricide committed by the rebels, even though the Red Dragon occupied the other half of the Upper Spirit, the 'Old Vault' principle held by the Wind still collapsed, and the structure of the world was no longer complete. If it weren't for the later radiance supporting it, and the blazing sun using itself to plug the void left by the sunken sky, ushering in the era of noon, the Red Liquid would have almost dissolved the present world back into the pool once again."

[Gu: Radiance is a friend of birds—and that first bird, first pale white, then turned pitch black from a death, first a dove, then a crow, the last snow of winter like drifting embers, the fragments forever silent, we remember everything, and we reminisce about everything.]

"But even as the sun faded away, we still couldn't find the answer. We could only use the remains of the sky as raw material to build a world with a roof, a world contrary to the principles of lightness and flight—a dome symbolizing confinement—arose above us. It could never replace the sky, and so even the birds never found the answer, becoming prisoners along with all things."

[Gu: This may be the first and oldest grand pilgrimage, a sacred revenge launched by a rebellious eldest son against his father for being abandoned, about the collapse and disintegration of the sky, about the end of the Paradise Era.]

The doors and the birds together proclaim the name of this grand pilgrimage: "Paradise Lost".

"I see----"

The fox sighed.

Initially, Ai thought that the dome, symbolizing a blockade, isolated the nest from upward movement and also blocked people's yearning for freedom.

Oh, I see.

Beyond the dome, we have nothing left.

From the moment civilization was formed, all intelligent life has looked up at the sky, where curiosity and exploration, ideals and beliefs, new life and the future reside.

But what happens when even the "sky" itself collapses?

The world was forced back into ignorance, life crawled back into the womb, transforming into the embryo before birth —

That's exactly it.

Ai closed her eyes and sighed softly.

Although the world has gone through several unknown eras since the sinking of Eden, we have yet to redeem the sky.

Since when did people even begin to regard the wind as the "purifier" of breathing and the rain as a "malfunction of the water vapor circulation module"? All the responsibilities that once belonged to nature have been gradually replaced by giant self-regulating machines, until they are completely forgotten.

The upward gaze is blocked by the dome.

This is the origin of the word "nest".

He turned his head and looked down into the pool, where the kingdom of Ys lay—

Steam rises into the clouds, and within the eternally burning boiler, something even greater seems to be brewing.

At this moment, it is dawn in Ys. The hazy light is like a thin mist, giving the boundary between the earth and the sky a dreamlike background. The hazy halo is the reflection of the sun's corona from the other side of the world.

The boundary between nature and mystery is clearly defined here; this country is so beautiful and complete.

But its future is also uncertain.

-

Nothing lasts forever, but everything can be remembered.

—At this moment, what rises in the blood of the vessel, what boils in the red liquid, is merely a feeling of emotion, or some kind of determination?

Ai herself didn't know.

He initially thought he was merely empathizing with Anda and Lily, but this incredibly broad and profound sentiment gradually spread throughout the entire world.

Until it is completely wrapped up.

"You feel grief (3/3)."

The door seemed to whisper, "The seed has absorbed enough nutrients and is waiting for the right time to sprout."

"I am ready to climb."

Ai slowly narrowed her eyes.

—We still do not know what will be lost, nor do we know what has already been lost.

—So I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Beneath the curtain lies a pale, faded kingdom.

—Bright red is the old world that has dissolved.

—And when I gaze into the distance.

what----

—Beyond the sealed dome lies what we have lost—that vast wilderness dotted with lakes and mountains—a memory of humanity's pastoral era, where abundant fruits adorned the branches, the air was as sweet as honey, steam rose above the boundless curtain, and the future was as brilliant as fireworks.

Our Old Eden, the sunken Old Eden!

Lost Paradise —

She stirred twice in bed and slowly opened her eyes.

A strong radiance shone on his face, making him feel as warm as if he were wrapped in cashmere—the fox yawned, as if waking from a long, unbelievable dream.

The real, tangible sensation pulled him back to reality. Ai was dazed for a moment, looked at his hands clasped in front of his chest, and then gently opened them.

Lying in the palm of his left hand was a patch of hard, short, golden-red feathers that shimmered like jewels.

The right hand is a void and elusive thing, an invisible entity that constantly surges and coalesces like the wind.

He tilted his head slightly—and there was a heavy feeling on his stomach, as if something was pressing down on it.

Ai struggled to prop herself up—

Then stay where you are.

A little girl, who looked only five or six years old, with skin as white as snow, lay on the blanket covering her chest, staring at him without moving.

And like a human pyramid, a crow, entirely black except for a wisp of white on its beak, stood atop the little girl's head.

Ai: "?"

—Why—why are there two cooing creatures?

But the focus of attention doesn't seem to be on that now.

Seeing that it was almost noon as shown on the think tank screen, he stood there stunned for a few seconds, then let out a mournful cry.

—My perfect attendance record!

"Good morning, Elaine, citizen of Hallownest, and esteemed Foundation member! Your sleep duration was 13 hours and 52 minutes, indicating excellent sleep quality. Your daily health report: healthy, slightly hungry, slightly dehydrated. Your health manager is currently in trial mode. For more services, please reply."

"TD."

Two birds, one black and one white, stood on either side of her shoulders. Ai Yi, wearing her newly issued uniform and glasses, strolled leisurely out of the dormitory—since she was late on her first day of being officially hired, she might as well get started!

Enjoy every new day.

He stretched, and the spine of the 24-year-old corporate slave made two crisp "crack" sounds. Then he slowly raised his head, and the nest was bathed in brilliant light.

Tsk ————

It's a nice day.

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