The Envoy of Abundance from Onphalus

Golden Branches Endure Through the Ages: Chapter 180 Severing Illusion

The cold metal door slid shut silently behind me, cutting off the last bit of warmth from the room.

Bai E stood in the corridor, the initial elation of yesterday long gone, replaced by a heavy, almost suffocating solemnity.

Russell's warning whisper, like a persistent affliction, lingered in his mind.

"It's all fake...it's all fake..."

He forced himself to re-examine this safe haven he once thought was safe with a completely new and scrutinizing eye.

As my gaze swept over the seemingly vibrant figures in the corridor, a chill crept up my spine.

Repetition. Heart-stopping repetition.

Those "people" who brushed past me all shared a chilling resemblance in their faces. The same facial features, the same forced smiles, like models mass-produced on an assembly line.

The only difference is some superficial embellishment: this one has light blue hair, and that one has amber pupils;

The hem of this garment is embroidered with intricate patterns, while the cuff has an inconspicuous tear. These subtle differences, far from proving authenticity, only highlight the deliberate, inhuman, and formulaic approach behind them.

What's even more bizarre is their behavior. Their steps are as precise as if they were programmed machines, with the distance of each step and the height of each foot lift being exactly right, as if they were stepping on invisible markings.

At the end of the corridor, several figures faced the smooth alloy wall, repeatedly stepping, bumping into each other, retreating, and stepping again… as if convinced that they would penetrate the cold metal barrier at any moment. It was futile, and exuded a chilling stubbornness.

"The weather... is so nice."

"Yes...sunlight...warmth."

"New flowers have bloomed... in the garden."

Fragments of conversation, disjointed and monotonous, drifted into my ears; the vocabulary was meager, and the tone was as flat as a low-quality recording playback.

There was no emotional fluctuation, no clash of ideas, only a pre-set response procedure running in vain.

All these chilling details silently scream out one fact: this is not the real world. It is an elaborately constructed, sweet yet deadly prison—a dream.

The reason I didn't notice it yesterday was because the atmosphere was too lively and enthusiastic. The chaotic excitement masked these people's shortcomings, but once the excitement subsided, their problems were all exposed.

Russell's words struck reality with a chilling force: the real-world people are fighting tooth and nail for survival, struggling to stay afloat in the cracks of fate.

But he, the chosen savior, is destined to succumb to this false comfort?

"Absolutely not!" Bai E's fist clenched silently at his side, his knuckles turning white from the force. What surged in his chest was anger, but even more so, a resolute determination to break free.

"Hey! Savior!" A familiar and energetic voice suddenly rang out, breaking the stagnant and eerie atmosphere in the corridor.

Wan Di suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Bai E's arm with astonishing strength. "What are you daydreaming about? Didn't we agree yesterday? Come to my place! I'll show you what real top-notch culinary skills are! And we'll have a duel between men! What's the point of standing here watching these idiots?"

Bai E's body tensed instantly, like a fully drawn bow. He jerked the hand away with such force that Wan Di staggered, caught off guard.

Bai E's gaze was sharp as a knife, fixed on the face before him, which was exactly the same as the one in his memory, radiating a confident smile.

His hand instinctively tightened its grip on the hilt of the greatsword.

The cold metallic touch transmitted through the gloves brought a slight but real sting, reminding him of something.

“Wan Di…” Bai E’s voice was low and hoarse, carrying an almost tearing struggle, “No, you are not him… This place… is beautiful, like a beautiful dream from which we will never wake up.”

"But it's not real. My ally... the real nemesis... is still waiting for me. He might... have already cursed me countless times in the real world... I have to wake up!"

Wan Di's smile froze, then was replaced by a mocking expression mixed with contempt and incomprehension. He exaggeratedly crossed his arms, raising his chin high.

"Huh? Savior, did you sleep it off and mess up your brain? Or are you scared? Trying to escape the duel with this nonsensical nonsense?"

"Save your breath! Playing the victim in front of my overwhelming enemy won't work! Give me a straight answer: are you going to eat this meal or not?"

"I'm sorry..." Bai E took a deep breath, as if trying to squeeze out all the hesitation and lingering feelings in his chest.

He slowly raised the greatsword in his hand, the tip of the sword steadily pointing at his former comrade. On the blade, the faint light symbolizing a bountiful destiny began to flicker and flow like breathing.

"For the sake of truth... I must shatter it!" Before the words were even finished, the sword light, imbued with determination and abundant power, slashed down like a meteor breaking the dawn!

"What—?!" Wan Di's arrogant expression was instantly replaced by extreme astonishment and disbelief. His expression was so vivid and so "real" that it seemed as if he had truly been betrayed by his closest friend.

The sword light cleaved him in two without any hindrance!

However, there was no splatter of blood, no cracking sound of bones breaking. The cleaved body of the "Ten Thousand Enemies," like a shattered pottery jar, instantly spewed out countless sticky, dark red fleshy tentacles! They writhed wildly, emitting nauseating, slippery sounds, trying to glue the two halves of the body back together.

The twisted chunks of flesh writhe and barely manage to form a monster that maintains a human-like shape and drips an unknown liquid.

“Uh…ho…” The monster’s voice became low and murky, like sandpaper rubbing against metal. “Savior…just now…was it a joke…right?” On that barely discernible “face,” huge compound eyes flickered with chaotic light.

Bai E felt a churning in his stomach, and the intense nausea almost suffocated him.

He lightly touched the ground with his toes, unleashing abundant power beneath his feet, and retreated several meters in a flash. His greatsword was once again held horizontally in front of him, its light flickering erratically. "Behold! This is your true face!" He suppressed the trembling in his heart, his voice carrying a resolute determination to sever ties with the past.

"Ugly! Twisted! The true nemesis, whose pride and passion would never be shrouded in such filth! I must awaken, and for that... I have no other choice! Even if it means shattering this illusion!"

"Heh heh... Reality?" The twisted mass of flesh emitted a piercing, inhuman laugh, its countless tentacles flailing wildly in the air. "What's so good about reality?"

"Watched by the Star God, bound by fate, struggling to survive! In the end, I'm nothing more than a dog kept by the Star God, firmly locked in by fate. With infinite possibilities in the future, what wonderful things will happen?"

"Look here! Worship, adoration, comfort... everything you've ever dreamed of is here! Real... fake... true... does it matter? Heh... heh heh..."

"Important!" Bai E's reply was as sharp as a blade. "My power is not for indulging in false sweetness! I am everyone's savior!"

Without further hesitation, Bai E's greatsword blazed with an intense light, no longer a gentle healing force, but a vast and powerful force containing the cycle of life and death.

The sword light transformed into a dazzling emerald torrent, carrying the will of purification and annihilation, and slammed into the core of the tentacle monster!

"Awooo—!!!" The monster let out a shrill, inhuman howl, and its dark red tentacles withered, charred, and turned to ashes under the wash of the abundant power.

The enormous, writhing body, as if drained of all life, quickly went limp and dissolved, eventually leaving only a pool of foul-smelling filth.

Bai E's boots slammed heavily onto the filthy remains, and the tip of his sword flashed downwards one last time, purifying the last wriggling flesh.

The space twisted and vibrated violently. The corridor lights flickered on and off, and the alloy walls rippled like water.

A sigh-like voice, filled with endless regret, rang out directly behind Bai E's head:

"Alas... Bai'e, in the end, you still chose that thorny path?"

Bai Er suddenly turned around. Russell was already hovering in the air not far behind him, his face filled with pity, but his eyes held an abyss of coldness.

"Look what you've done! You've personally killed your closest friend." Russell's voice was full of seductive magic, like the sweetest poison.

"What a beautiful home, so full of joy... and you're going to destroy it with your own hands. Just for that 'reality' filled with pain and the unknown? Is it worth it? Isn't everything you want here? Why go to that real world to chase after something that doesn't even exist? Don't you think it's foolish?"

Bai E gripped his greatsword tightly, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground. Abundant power formed a faint halo around him as he warily warned his opponent: "The beauty here is built on lies. It devours the souls of the real! No matter how beautiful or perfect it may be, it will eventually come to an end—just an illusory dream."

“A lie? A dream?” Russell spread his hands gracefully, the light of the phantom swirling around him. “It is just another form of ‘reality,’ a more perfect refuge.”

“Go back, Bai’er. Stop now, and everything can return to normal. I promise, with your involvement, this place will become more vibrant, more… ‘real.’ You will become the cornerstone of the new world, not its destroyer. Then this world will be indistinguishable from your new world. Wouldn’t that be better?”

"Foundation? To become nourishment for you to weave even greater illusions?" Bai Er's lips curled into a cold smile, his eyes sharp as the cold light in the starry sky. "I do not wish to wallow in eternal delusion! Russell, or whatever, put away your tricks! Want to stop me from waking up? Then show me what you've got!"

“My teacher is not as lewd as you. You monster in the guise of a teacher, if you have the guts, kill me.”

“Stubborn to the end!” The compassion on Russell’s face was instantly replaced by malice, and the golden phantom suddenly turned black and viscous, exuding a malice that made one’s soul tremble.

He no longer concealed his true feelings, his voice like a chilling wind from the deepest abyss: "A perfect seed... yet willingly falls into the mire! Since you insist on destroying this sweet dream... then... may you forever sink into the abyss of hell!"

Russell's phantom hands slammed down!

"Boom!"

The metal floor beneath Bai E's feet instantly transformed into a writhing black swamp! Countless shadow tentacles, thicker than the tentacles of the monsters he had slain, covered with suckers and barbs, burst forth from the ground like demonic claws from hell, carrying a chilling and filthy aura, and lightning-fast wrapped around his limbs, waist, abdomen, and neck.

A powerful binding force erupted instantly, locking him firmly in place, unable to move! The abundant light was rapidly eroded and suppressed by the filthy shadow!

"Give up, Bai'er." Russell's voice echoed in the darkness with absolute control. "In the realm of dreams, your meager power from reality is utterly insignificant! Your struggles are meaningless! In dreams, I am the true master."

"Is that so?" Bai E growled, veins bulging on his forehead.

Just before those filthy tentacles were about to completely engulf his consciousness, an unprecedented, pure, and intense golden light suddenly burst forth from his chest!

"Om-!"

Like a newborn star tearing apart a nebula! A sacred, warm golden light, brimming with the breath of life, exploded outwards from Bai E at its center!

The filthy shadow tentacles seemed to have met their nemesis, emitting a sizzling burning sound, breaking apart and evaporating inch by inch amidst a shrill wail! The powerful binding force instantly crumbled!

"What?!" Russell's phantom showed astonishment for the first time; this was beyond his understanding of the rules of dreams!

Without hesitation, Bai E broke free of his restraints; his suppressed power surged forth like a flood bursting its banks.

He gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands, and his entire being transformed into a streak of emerald lightning that tore through the darkness!

The greatsword, imbued with the will to purify all falsehood, slashed down with the force of splitting the heavens and earth towards the astonished Russell!

"Impossible! A perfect vessel..." Russell's voice distorted and faded the instant the sword light struck him, filled with disbelief and a hint of... greed?

"What a pity...what a pity! You refuse the eternal paradise...then...repent in the eternal nothingness! Until you are willing to accept the Eden I have created for you."

As the sword flashed, Russell's phantom vanished silently into the air like a burst bubble. Yet, his final words echoed like a curse in the deathly silence.

Immediately afterwards——

"Click...click..."

A chilling cracking sound came from all directions! Centered on Bai E, the entire space—the cozy corridor, the eerie "pedestrians," the false light sources—was instantly covered with spiderweb-like, bottomless cracks, as if a glass dome had been struck by a heavy hammer.

What shines through the cracks is absolute, all-consuming darkness.

The next second, a silent collapse occurred.

"boom--!!!"

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a utter, soul-crushing silence that caused a collapse.

All the sights, all the colors, all the sounds were instantly swallowed up and annihilated by the boundless darkness.

Eternal, cold, and pure darkness descended.

Bai E gripped his greatsword tightly, hovering alone in this void abyss, with only the faint glow remaining on the sword like a candle flickering in the wind.

This was his last, faint connection with existence.

The price of awakening? The entrance to the abyss? He didn't know what lay ahead.

But he knew that the path back had been utterly shattered by that false sweetness. He had to move forward. He could only move forward.

………………

Today's first

Golden Branches Endure the World: Chapter 181 The Moment of Power in Summer

The boundless darkness swallowed everything. Time, space, direction... all concepts lost their meaning here.

Bai E felt as if he were traversing a viscous void, each step treading on nothingness.

Unable to confirm whether he was moving forward, only the cold touch of the greatsword covered in filth and slime in his hand and the faint throbbing of the Heart of Abundance in his chest proved that his existence had not yet been completely dissolved by this eternal abyss.

I don't know how long I walked, perhaps a moment, or perhaps a century, when a glimmer of light pierced through the inky darkness.

The source of that light was a huge, solitary door standing in the void, its design ancient and simple, radiating a faint yet warm glow, like a lighthouse in the eyes of a drowning person.

Bai E pushed open the door without hesitation.

Behind the door was not the expected passageway, but a cozy space decorated like a tree-gazebo classroom.

Three tiny figures—Tibo, Tian, ​​and Tinin—are sitting together, fiddling with several peculiar building blocks that shimmer with starlight.

The sound of the door opening startled them, and three pairs of round, curious eyes turned to the doorway, focusing on Bai E.

"Oh! It's Little White!" Tibo spoke first, her voice clear and melodious, filled with pure innocence. "What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry? Is there something fun to do with us?"

Bai E's gaze swept over their innocent faces, finally settling on the still-dry blade of his sword, which emitted a faint fishy smell.

The dark red stain was the last trace left by "Ten Thousand Enemies". He took a deep breath, suppressing the complex emotions surging within him, and said in a low but firm voice, "Teachers Tibo, I need to leave. This is not the real world, but a prison. Everyone in the real world... is still waiting for us. Please make way, I must pass through the door behind you."

The air suddenly became stagnant.

Tian tilted her head, her face full of confusion, as if she couldn't understand a simple arithmetic problem: "What is Little White talking about? 'Real'? 'False'? Re-creation has clearly been successful!"

"This is the new home we all worked so hard to build, the most real world! Are you too tired? Are you a little... um... confused?" She gestured with her little hands, trying to express what she meant by confused.

"Disorder?" Bai Er's lips curled into a bitter smile, his eyes sharp as ice. "Look around you! Look at this perfect, pre-programmed system! Look at yourselves! Would real Tibo teachers indulge in this...playing house-like comfort?"

He took a step forward, and although the tip of his sword was not raised, the invisible pressure caused the space to tremble slightly. "Step aside. For the sake of our past relationship, I don't want to swing my sword at you."

Tining's little face scrunched up, and her voice took on a barely perceptible sharpness: "Little White, you're so mean! Why did you have to ruin the peace that everyone worked so hard to achieve? We clearly fulfilled our promise! Our promise to meet with our seniors in the West Wind!"