251: The Mirror of Inquiry shattered! Reward: Time-Space Origin Liquid; comprehension has reached heaven-defying levels.

The heart-questioning mirror could not withstand the Karma that was enough to crush eternity. With a 'crack', the image shattered.

All the anomalies vanished completely, leaving only the mirror surface still vibrating slightly.

“Pfft.”

Lu Sheng felt a tightness in his chest and spat a mouthful of blood onto the white jade steps, staggering backward.

Outside, it was so silent that only the sound of the wind remained.

Inside the Bronze Hall, the air was as stagnant as if it had been filled with lead.

Several giants of the Human Race, who usually remained calm even if Mount Tai collapsed before them, were now all pale-faced.

Elder Xing Tian fell back onto the ground, and those large hands of his, capable of tearing apart high-tier sea beasts, were now shaking uncontrollably.

“Guardian deity...”

His lips trembled as he pointed at the Water Mirror, which had long since gone black. His voice sounded like someone was choking him: “Old Li, you call that thing a guardian deity?”

“That gaze... that was a gaze that would trample the Abyss along with us underfoot! That was a tyrant! A complete and utter tyrant!”

The Beautiful Woman in Palace Attire beside him also clutched her heaving chest, her face deathly pale.

At that moment, even through the Water Mirror, she felt as if her Divine Soul had almost been stared to pieces by that man on the throne.

That extreme indifference and the overbearing nature that treated all living beings like grass made even a tenth level powerhouse like her feel a shudder originating from the depths of her genes.

“Elder Li...” The beautiful woman turned to look at the main seat. “If this child really grows up, will we... really be able to control him?”

The hall fell into an even deeper silence.

This was a massive gamble.

If they won, the Human Race would flourish; if they lost, they might be welcoming the rule of another 'King'.

From the main seat, Elder Li stared fixedly at the young man in the Water Mirror who was currently wiping the corner of his mouth. In his cloudy old eyes, his expression shifted unpredictably.

Fear? It was there.

Hesitation? That was there too.

But in the end, all of it transformed into a desperate, ruthless determination.

“Control? Who said we want to control him?”

Elder Li suddenly looked up, his voice hoarse yet powerful: “The Abyss is pressing closer step by step, and the Human Race is already at the edge of a cliff. What we want is not an obedient watchdog, but a vicious dragon that can tear the Abyss to shreds!”

“So what if he's a tyrant? So what if he's a Devil Head?”

“As long as the tip of his blade is pointed at the Abyss, and as long as he still needs the resources of the Human Race...”

Elder Li slammed his hand onto the table, and the solid wood long table instantly turned into dust: “Even if he is a world-destroying demon god, he is still a demon god provided for by my Human Race!”

“Pass down my order! What was seen in the heart-questioning mirror today is classified as top secret! Anyone who dares to leak a single word, I will personally see them off!”

“Furthermore...”

He took a deep breath, a gambler's red light flickering in his eyes:

“All previous resource commitments are to be doubled!”

“dragon blood body tempering fluid, Dao Enlightenment Stones, even that 'Star Core' that has been sealed for ten thousand years... as long as he can swallow it, feed it to him until he's stuffed!”

“I want him to know that in this world, besides the Human Race, no one can afford to raise a True Dragon like him! Tie him completely to our war chariot!”

...At the end of the Ascension Road.

Lu Sheng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, gasping for breath.

It felt as if a hundred tons of explosives had been stuffed into his head and detonated simultaneously; it hurt so much he wanted to curse.

That feeling just now, of his Soul being forcibly extracted and stuffed into a grand memory, was simply terrible.

“What kind of crappy mirror is this? The aftereffects are so strong.”

Lu Sheng rubbed his throbbing temples, taking a good while before he regained his composure.

He hadn't seen the world-shaking anomalies outside. From his perspective, he had just had an extremely realistic dream.

In the dream, he sat atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, with a vast crowd of people whose faces he couldn't see kneeling at his feet. It felt... pretty good?

“That guy with no sitting posture... was that me?”

Lu Sheng looked at his reflection in the mirror, which had returned to normal, and raised an eyebrow. “Is my future self's path so wild?”

“System, was that real just now?”

【Ding! Detected host in contact with high-dimensional Karma Laws.】

【Answer: What the heart-questioning mirror reflects is one of the future branches that the host's subconscious most desires or has the most potential for.】

【Whether it comes true depends on the host's choices and strength.】

“What my subconscious most desires?”

Lu Sheng rubbed his chin and grinned. “So I want to be the boss that much deep down.”

“Ten thousand races submitting, ruling alone for eternity...”

“Doesn't sound too bad.”

Fear, awe—none of that existed for Lu Sheng.

Since he was a powerhouse in the future, it meant he had survived, and lived better than anyone else.

That was enough.

As for whether he was a villain?

The adult world only looks at winning or losing; only children distinguish between right and wrong.

“However, the movie is over, so shouldn't I be paid for the ticket?”

Lu Sheng stopped dwelling on that image, his gaze falling greedily on the ancient stone mirror before him.

“If I smash this mirror of yours, will it drop some equipment?”

He raised his hand, making a motion to strike.

Buzz—!

The heart-questioning mirror trembled violently, its appearance actually showing a bit of human-like terror.

It seemed truly afraid that this reckless youth would dismantle it, and the mirror's surface fluctuated intensely.

Plop.

A drop of purple-gold liquid, like being squeezed out of a tube of toothpaste, reluctantly seeped from the center of the mirror and floated in front of Lu Sheng.

The moment the liquid appeared, the surrounding space began to warp, as if it couldn't bear the weight of this single drop.

A strange fragrance that shot straight to his head instantly refreshed Lu Sheng's originally withered spirit.

Just taking one sniff made the Dragon God Sequence inside his body start to agitate wildly, letting out a roar of extreme desire!

Eat!

Eat it!

【Ding! Detected Emperor-level energy substance—'Spatiotemporal Source Fluid'!】

【Effect: Contains high-dimensional spatiotemporal Law fragments. After consumption, it can reshape the Divine Soul, significantly increase Comprehension Ability, and has a very low probability of allowing one to comprehend 'Time' or 'Space' type forbidden abilities!】

【Evaluation: In the ancient Immortal Qin, this was a supreme treasure that even the First Emperor would cherish! Don't hesitate, open your mouth!】

“Good stuff!”

Lu Sheng's eyes instantly turned green with greed.

A treasure of this grade would probably make that group of tenth level old monsters beat each other's brains out for it.

Without any hesitation, he opened his mouth and inhaled.

Whoosh!

That drop of purple-gold source fluid turned into a stream of light and entered his mouth.

Boom—!

It wasn't a treat for the taste buds, but an indescribable feeling of coolness that instantly exploded!

It was like being exposed to the sun in the desert for three days in the middle of summer and then suddenly being thrown into a pool filled with ice-cold Sprite.

Refreshing!

So refreshing his scalp went numb!

Lu Sheng felt his Soul being dismantled, cleaned, and reorganized at this moment.

Looking at the world before was like looking through a layer of frosted glass.

But now, the glass was shattered.

The entire world became clearer than ever before.

The flow of the wind, the refraction of light, the movement trajectories of Spiritual Qi... even the floating of tiny dust particles in the distant air was vividly clear in his perception.

A pleasure called 'control' spontaneously arose.

【Ding! Divine Soul reshaping successful! Comprehension Ability significantly increased!】

【Dragon God Sequence compatibility increased!】

Lu Sheng clenched his fist, feeling his brand-new brain, and his eyes flashed with brilliant light.

This trip was a huge profit!

“I've seen the future and eaten the reward.”

Lu Sheng clapped his hands and turned to look into the depths of the mist-shrouded Dengxian Island.

In those dark gold vertical pupils, there was nothing but ambition and expectation.

“Next, let me see how many more good things are hidden on this legendary Dengxian Island.”