414: Chapter 414 Bounty Poster Within the Realm of Truth: The Name of the Variable Spreads Throughout the Heavens

Turbulent currents of the Void Realm were like invisible, intangible blades, cutting frantically through the depths of the pitch-black sea of stars.

Zhou Wannian's spotless green cloth shoes had already stepped firmly onto the first invisible step of the Void Realm. With his hands behind his back, the hem of his green cloth robe flapped loudly in the cold wind. He did not walk very fast; his pace carried a hint of the laziness of a wandering crane.

Just as he was about to fully step into that deep darkness and head toward the misty zone on the outskirts of the Taiwu Ancestral Court...

From the deck of the cross-realm merchant ship behind him, which had snapped into two pieces, came a weak gasp mixed with the sound of cracking ice.

"Benefactor... cough cough... please stay..."

The portly merchant, whom Zhou Wannian had forcibly pulled back from the gates of hell with a wisp of Wood-element Vitality, was desperately clutching the wooden planks frozen with dark red blood. He dragged his severed leg—which had been cleanly sliced off and was just beginning to grow a layer of flesh membrane to seal the blood—crawling forward bit by bit on the tilted deck like a dying worm.

The ice shards on the wooden planks pierced through his luxurious Golden Silkworm Silk Robe, leaving streaks of blood, but he seemed unable to feel the pain. He merely coughed up black blood while desperately calling out with a hoarse, broken voice.

Zhou Wannian stopped in his tracks.

He did not turn around, but merely tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping backward through the corner of his eye.

"Is there something else?"

Zhou Wannian's voice was calm. In the vacuum where air cannot travel, it was sent directly into the merchant's eardrums through a mysterious spatial vibration.

The merchant gasped for air, his chest heaving violently. He finally managed to crawl to the edge of the broken gunwale, half his body nearly hanging over the cliff-like cut. With trembling hands, he desperately pulled a black cloth bundle, soaked in body heat and sweat, from the inner layer of his undergarments.

He used his frozen, stiff teeth to bite open the knot of the bundle and poured out a grayish-white crystal stone, only the size of a fist, presenting a perfect regular hexagon.

This crystal was neither metal nor jade. Its surface was covered with microscopic grooves difficult to see with the naked eye, and it emitted a faint, cold light at a constant frequency.

"Benefactor... you saved my life, and I, Old Jin, have no way to repay you."

The merchant held up the grayish-white crystal, his arm trembling like a leaf in the wind.

"If you insist on going forward into that misty dead land, this thing... you must see it."

Zhou Wannian looked at the crystal emitting cold light. He immediately recognized its Origin. The faint aura of code flowing upon it was exactly the same as the mechanical creations of the Absolute Truth Realm.

This was a shadow recording stone encrypted with high-dimensional technology, or rather, a high-dimensional information storage terminal.

Zhou Wannian turned around and took a step. With what seemed like a casual stride, his figure instantly crossed hundreds of yards of the Void Realm, returning to the tilted deck.

His green cloth shoes landed less than three feet away from the merchant.

"You are just a lone Lower Realm merchant; how do you have something from the Truth Realm?" Zhou Wannian lowered his eyes, looking at the merchant gasping on the ground.

The merchant swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva, his eyes filled with the shock and bitterness of surviving a disaster.

"We who run the cross-realm trade routes don't just resell Cold Star Iron and Spiritual Plants; occasionally, we also deal in information. This Chaotic Star Sea is too vast, and various forces are mixed together. This crystal... we bought it at a high price from a Void Realm broker while passing through the Abyss Market as intercepted intelligence."

The merchant tremblingly handed the crystal toward Zhou Wannian.

"That broker said this news has already spread through all the surrounding Star Domains in the past few days. Those high-dimensional forces hiding in the shadows have all been thrown into an uproar by this news. We originally wanted to take this intelligence to other Star Domains to sell for a good price, but who knew... who knew we would encounter those iron box monsters here..."

Zhou Wannian reached out his long, fair right hand and took the hexagonal crystal from the merchant.

The crystal was cold to the touch, possessing a heavy metallic texture.

He did not ask how to activate the crystal. To the Great Perfection Space Law, any physical-level encryption lock was as if it didn't exist.

Zhou Wannian pinched the edge of the crystal and pressed his thumb flatly against the surface of the crystal.

A sliver of pure Absolute Mass precisely cut into the data circuits inside the crystal.

*Click.*

A faint, crisp sound rang out.

A tiny crack split across the surface of the hexagonal crystal.

Immediately after, a massive, cold stream of data, permeated with absolute logic, gushed out from the crack like a flood breaking through a dam.

This data stream did not scatter in all directions but quickly intertwined and folded in the air in front of Zhou Wannian. The grayish-white cold light dispelled the surrounding darkness, forcibly propping up a ten-foot-wide 3D projection screen in the vacuum environment of the Chaotic Star Sea.

The background of the light screen was a deep starry sky.

Then, a piercing synthesized mechanical voice exploded in the minds of both Zhou Wannian and the merchant, following the vibrations of the light screen.

"Pan-dimensional Supreme Notification. Highest Sequence Eradication Order."

The voice had no emotional fluctuations; it was rigid and cold, carrying an arrogance and cruelty that viewed all things as ants.

As the voice sounded, the images on the light screen began to change frantically.

First to enter their sight was a massive ruin of celestial bodies collapsing and shattering. Palaces built of white bone and jade were falling apart in the flames, and dark purple haze was torn to shreds.

Zhou Wannian looked at this scene, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

This was exactly the tragic state of the Immortal-Demon Great World when it was destroyed. It seemed that the Extraterrestrial Angler had not only sent out a distress signal before dying but had also transmitted the video data of that one-sided massacre back with it.

The images on the light screen flashed past those shattered continents and fallen half-immortal, half-demon monsters, finally settling at the bottom of a deep pit that had been completely leveled.

"Resource Collection Point No. 372, physical destruction confirmed."

The synthesized mechanical voice continued to broadcast, without the slightest mercy.

"Agent No. 09, logical core erasure confirmed."

The merchant lay on the deck, watching the world-destroying scene on the light screen, shaking like a sieve with fear. Although he was a merchant running cross-realm trade routes, he only moved goods between various low-dimensional worlds; he had never seen such a terrifying image of an entire Major Thousand Worlds being stepped on and crushed.

"Benefactor... this... this is what's hidden inside this shadow recording stone." The merchant's teeth chattered as he pointed at the light screen. "That broker said the Absolute Truth Realm has already sent this notification to all the high-ranking Major Thousand Worlds, Starry Sky Bandit Alliances, and mercenary legions hidden in the abyss surrounding this Chaotic Star Sea."

Just as the merchant finished speaking.

The light screen in mid-air changed again.

The images of the ruins of the collapsing Immortal-Demon Great World faded. Several large lines of Truth Realm characters, composed of piercing red light, emerged one by one in the center of the light screen.

"Eradication Bounty."

"Target Classification: Unparseable Variable."

Zhou Wannian looked at those large characters, a hint of mockery flashing in the depths of his eyes.

Unparseable Variable.

This title was quite fresh. It seemed those tin cans hiding behind the scenes crunching numbers still hadn't figured out the details of the Absolute Mass within him after analyzing the combat data transmitted back by The Angler. They couldn't calculate the upper limit or solve the logic, so they simply slapped on the label of 'Variable'.

The mechanical voice suddenly rose, revealing a cold temptation designed to seduce all high-dimensional life forms.

"To any who can provide the exact coordinates of said Variable, the reward is one hundred thousand units of standard low-dimensional world Origin. Granted one hundred years of access to the Truth Realm's outer matrix."

"To any who can successfully intercept or delay said Variable, the reward is one hundred high-dimensional Fortune Spiritual Roots. Granted a slot for semi-mechanical Eternal Sequence modification."

"To any who can physically destroy said Variable's logical core, or deliver its physical body intact to the Truth Fleet..."

The red light on the screen flashed frantically, reflecting upon the surrounding Void Realm like a sea of blood.

"The reward is... one complete high-ranking Major Thousand Worlds. Granted a seat on the Truth Realm's Core Council. Shared access to the Universe's Ultimate Deduction Data!"

Once these bounty terms were announced.

Even the Mortal merchant lying on the ground, who had only a superficial understanding of high-dimensional power, could not help but gasp, his eyes bulging wide.

A complete high-ranking Major Thousand Worlds!

What did this concept imply? It meant that as long as someone could complete this bounty, they would immediately become a cosmic giant dominating a region, possessing countless low-dimensional fish ponds as vassals. Not to mention that 'Core Council Seat' and 'Shared Deduction Data'; it was a direct ascent to heaven, stepping straight into the top ruling class of this Universe.

“Benefactor...” The merchant swallowed hard, his voice carrying an unmaskable terror, “Listen to this bounty... That broker said that right now, all the ruthless characters around the entire Chaotic Star Sea—those old monsters who have lived for countless eons, the Void Hunters—have all gone mad. Everyone is asking everywhere for the whereabouts of this ‘Variable.’ The moment they show their face, it will be a situation of being hunted by ten thousand worlds and attacked by all!”

The merchant did not know that the casual scholar before him, dressed in a green cotton robe and who had saved him on a whim, was precisely that number one public enemy who had driven the entire Major Thousand Worlds into a frenzy.

He only took Zhou Wannian for a passing good person with high cultivation and was kindly trying to dissuade him.

Zhou Wannian, however, paid no mind to the merchant's terror.

With his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the light screen in mid-air with great interest.

“The reward offered is quite substantial.” Zhou Wannian's tone was calm, like a spectator in a teahouse commenting on a play's script, “Using someone else's world as prize money; this business of catching a white wolf with empty hands—the group of calculating spirits in the Truth Realm certainly play it well.”

He looked at the light screen, seemingly waiting for something.

“What, after shouting about the bounty for so long, you're not even willing to release a wanted portrait?”

Zhou Wannian muttered to himself with a hint of mockery.

Logically speaking, since they wanted to mobilize the high-dimensional forces of the Major Thousand Worlds for a joint hunt, they should at least make the target's appearance, physique, and the Magic Treasures and Cultivation Techniques used public.

However, Zhou Wannian's handsome and easygoing face did not appear on the light screen, nor did his faded green cotton robe.

Hearing Zhou Wannian's words, the merchant hurriedly added: “Benefactor, that is also the strangest part of this bounty order. That broker said that in this announcement issued by the Truth Realm, there is absolutely no description of the target's appearance. They only gave a... a strange-looking thing.”

As if to confirm the merchant's words.

The blood-red bounty text on the light screen gradually faded away.

In its place, a dynamic image began to reconstruct in the center of the light screen.

There was no character portrait.

There were no shadows or lights of Spells.

As gray-white code wove frantically, a pure, cold mathematical model was displayed before the eyes of Zhou Wannian and the merchant.

It was a massive grid map representing the curvature of three-dimensional space. The grid lines should have originally spread out flat and evenly in the Void Realm.

But, in the very center of the grid.

There existed a pure black sphere.

This black sphere reflected no light; it was like a greedy bottomless pit, stubbornly entrenched there.

The moment all the surrounding spatial grid lines approached this black sphere, they all underwent violent and distorted fractures. Those lines representing light paths and gravitational directions were forcibly pulled and bent by an irresistible, massive force, finally falling straight into that black sphere and vanishing without a trace.

No line could penetrate it, and no line could escape it.

This mathematical model was simple and direct, yet it exuded a sense of despair that made one's Divine Soul tremble.

Below the light screen, two lines of cold code annotations emerged.

“Target Characteristic: Absolute Mass Black Hole.”

“Warning: Wherever this entity goes, physical constants will undergo irreversible collapse. Conventional detection methods are ineffective. Any existence violating its mass gravitational field will be physically erased.”

The merchant looked at this pure black mathematical model; though he could not understand those profound spatial curvatures, he could feel the oppressive pressure hitting him in the face.

“Benefactor, look.” The merchant pointed at the light screen, “This is the ‘Variable’ they are looking for. No face, no name, just a black hole that can even swallow light. That broker said this isn't a Cultivator at all; this must be some kind of destructive natural disaster left over from the birth of the Universe! If you run into this kind of thing, there's nowhere to even run!”

Zhou Wannian stood on the deck, looking at the pure black spherical model on the light screen.

He was stunned for a moment.

Then.

“Pfft.”

A soft chuckle escaped Zhou Wannian's mouth.

This laughter seemed exceptionally abrupt on this cold, deathly silent wrecked ship in the Void Realm.

At first it was just a light laugh, then the amusement gradually expanded on his face, which had always remained indifferent and lazy. He shook his head, reached out his right hand, and pointed his index finger at the black sphere model of distorted space on the light screen.

“Absolute Mass Black Hole?”

Zhou Wannian looked at this label, his tone filled with unmasked playfulness and mockery.

“They can't draw my face, and they can't measure my depth. Having no other choice, they dug a black hole on the coordinate paper and slapped a label on it to fool people.”

He turned his head, looked at the dazed merchant on the ground, and said with a smile: “These tin cans really have no imagination at all.”

For the Absolute Truth Realm, their cognitive system built on logic and data simply could not comprehend this flesh-and-blood body tempered by the Great Perfection Space Law.

The data collected by The Angler before his death could only tell the Truth Realm's Matrix Main Brain: the mass of this person in green was so great that it caused all detection light waves to collapse.

In the matrix's calculation model, an existence with infinite mass and infinitesimal volume was a black hole.

Therefore, on the bounty order sent to the Major Thousand Worlds, Zhou Wannian was no longer a person.

He had become a physical disaster walking through the Universe.

A mathematical model named “Absolute Mass Black Hole.”

This cognitive deviation made Zhou Wannian feel exceptionally ridiculous.

He wondered what kind of wonderful expressions those high-dimensional bounty hunters searching the Universe for this 'black hole disaster' would have when they finally discovered that what they were looking for was just a leisurely scholar wearing cloth shoes who liked to drink low-quality rice wine in alleys.

“Benefactor... what are you laughing at?” The merchant looked at Zhou Wannian, feeling more and more that the man before him was unfathomable.

“Nothing, I just think this drawing is a bit too ugly.”

Zhou Wannian restrained his smile, returning to his calm and unruffled state.

He extended a finger and lightly tapped the light screen in mid-air.

“Snap.”

That shadow recording stone emitting gray-white cold light, along with the 3D projection in mid-air, instantly turned into a wisp of blue smoke and completely dissipated under the crushing weight of Absolute Mass.

Darkness descended once again upon this broken deck.

Zhou Wannian had jumped from being an obscure traveler who only liked to stroll through various low-dimensional worlds to being the number one public enemy of all high-dimensional forces in the Major Thousand Worlds.

To him, this change in identity was like an extra fallen leaf stuck to the sole of his shoe.

Aside from finding it a bit of an eyesore, there was no other impact.

“The bounty order has been issued, and the name has been spread.”

With his hands behind his back, Zhou Wannian turned around and stopped looking at the merchant lying on the ground.

He raised his head, his gaze looking toward the depths of the Void Realm ahead.

That was the direction of the mists on the outskirts of the Taiwu Ancestral Court. It was also where this merchant ship had previously encountered the silent erasure of the Truth Warship.

Since these tin cans had already set their stage, deployed their fleet at the gates of the Taiwu Ancestral Court, and even put a bounty on him across the Universe.

Then if he didn't go to join in the excitement that had come to his door, wouldn't he be failing the other party's grand display of mobilizing such large forces?

“In my life, I've always hated it most when people point their fingers at me.”

Zhou Wannian took a step, his spotless green cloth shoes leaving the merchant ship's deck and stepping back into that violent turbulent flow of the Void Realm.

“Since you are blocking the road ahead and have hung a sign with a bounty.”

His green robe fluttered in the dark sea of stars.

Zhou Wannian walked neither fast nor slow, his pace as steady as a mountain.

He did not look back, only leaving a plain sentence that carried a bone-chilling coldness, lingering over the wreckage of the merchant ship.

“Then I shall personally make the trip.”

“Let's see if the reward money in the pockets of you calculating spirits is actually enough to buy your own lives.”

The green figure gradually faded into the endless darkness.

Deep within the Chaotic Star Sea ahead, a storm sufficient to subvert the understanding of all heavens was quietly brewing.