Built atop towering mountains, Tianya City was surrounded by drifting clouds and mist, resembling a fairyland from afar.
It was said among the people that the Prophet was born upon this peak, accompanied at birth by countless auspicious signs, casting a veil of mystery over the place.
Thus, when he founded the Transcendent Council, he chose this location as its headquarters.
He personally established Tianya City, turning it into the very center of the world.
Influenced by the unique geomancy, children born in Tianya City had at worst B-rank talents; A-rank talents were everywhere, and even S-rank talents were not rare…
It was even rumored that the very air here could extend one's lifespan, and the mountain spring water could cure all illnesses…
"Exaggerated, isn't it?" Old Jiang complained.
"This place is just like Dragon Palace City or Mount Lanke—regions where time is distorted. The power of time here is abundant, which reduces the cost of observing time."
"That's why the Prophet built the Temple of Time here."
"Born here and automatically granted advanced talents… you actually believe that nonsense?"
Jiang He couldn't help but reply: "But I heard that the weakest resident of Tianya City is still at least a C-rank Transcendent…"
"That part's true."
Old Jiang chuckled.
"Tianya City stands at an altitude of 7,300 meters. The air is thin, the temperature freezing, and transportation is nearly impossible."
"Add to that the fact this is the headquarters of the Transcendent Council—how could ordinary people possibly live here?"
"…That makes sense."
At that moment, dusk had not yet fallen over Tianya City, and the sunset was still visible.
Through Old Jiang's vision, Jiang He saw the golden glow of the setting sun cascading across the city, reflecting off a layer of snow.
He fell silent.
No wonder people claimed even the air of Tianya City was priceless.
Something so rare—could it be anything but precious?
Though, for Transcendents, it made little difference.
Especially S-rank Transcendents.
Their physical resilience had reached an inconceivable level—what was a mountain peak? Even the radiation-soaked vacuum of outer space was accessible to them.
It was said that the Council's S-rank [Extreme Ice Empress] would occasionally drop everything to take a holiday on the moon…
Back to the matter at hand.
At this moment, Jiang He observed the city through Old Jiang's eyes.
It resembled the pictures found online—like a dreamlike city.
There were no skyscrapers, only sprawling marble complexes, their rooftops blanketed in snow, lending the atmosphere a solemn dignity.
At the highest point of the city stood a magnificent Gothic hall.
Old Jiang descended before the hall.
Instead of pushing open the closed doors, he simply invoked the nature of a Heroic Spirit, phasing through and walking inside.
What greeted him was not a solemn cathedral—
—but walls covered entirely by endless bookshelves, cramming nearly every inch of space and leaving only narrow passages between them.
This was a sight absent from the internet, a secret unseen by outsiders.
On each shelf were piled countless books, big and small.
Jiang He was startled: "Old Jiang, these books are…"
"Prophecy Books," Old Jiang explained.
"An S-rank prophet can use 'books' as a medium, shaping possible futures into physical form—thus creating special 'Prophecy Books.'"
"Using these Prophecy Books greatly reduces the cost of foresight."
"And when combined with the Prophet's talent [All-Phenomena True Knowledge]…"
Each book on the shelves represented one "prophecy of the future"?
And within the Temple of Time, there weren't just thousands—there were millions of them?
Just how many times had the Prophet foretold the future?!
Jiang He was shaken.
Old Jiang, however, remained calm.
He walked through the narrow passage to the depths of the shelves.
There, in an open space scattered with fallen books, sat a figure clad in a spotless white robe.
Beneath his hood was no face—only endless starlight.
In his hands he held a book and pen, endlessly scribbling.
It was the Prophet.
Jiang He had seen him many times before—in books, on phones, in countless places.
It was said that after gazing too deeply into time, he was cursed by it, losing his original face.
No one knew his true appearance.
At this moment, Old Jiang noticed the twisted, illogical scrawls on the Prophet's book and frowned slightly.
Just as he was about to step closer—
A voice sounded behind him.
"You are 'White'?"
Old Jiang turned.
A blond man stood by the shelves.
He wore a tight golden-and-white battle suit, a snowy-white cape draped over his shoulders, and his hands clasped behind his back.
Jiang He instantly recognized him—
One of the Council's Thirteen, the S-rank [Undying Body]!
Old Jiang was still cloaked in invisibility, yet this man not only saw through the Heroic Spirit's concealment—he even recognized Old Jiang's identity!
The man spoke: "I don't know why you've come looking for the Prophet… but I can tell you this—he has already gone mad."
"What??" Jiang He was stunned.
Old Jiang too was taken aback.
He glanced at the Prophet, then canceled his concealment, revealing himself as he asked: "What do you mean, 'mad'?"
"Four days ago, when the Doomsday Premonition appeared, we sought the Prophet's guidance—only to find him like this," said Undying Body.
"He has lost all self-awareness, only scribbling endlessly into books…"
"We tried countless methods, but none could restore him."
"We suspect that at some point—without us knowing—he crossed paths with the [World Destroyer]… and lost completely."
"You have a Word-Spirit talent, don't you?"
"Since you've seen all this, you might as well try—see if you can awaken him."
The Prophet lost to the World Destroyer?
Why had Jiang He never heard of this?!
His teeth ached.
No wonder the Council reacted so swiftly to the Doomsday Declaration—less than a day to enter full war readiness, complete with strategies and preparations…
So, in their eyes, the World Destroyer wasn't just some premonition or rumor from the Abyss of Demons—
He was real, and he had already taken down the Prophet!
Old Jiang's expression was equally shaken.
He gazed at the Prophet deeply, then shook his head.
"Forget it. If even you can't help him, I certainly can't."
Undying Body's face remained calm.
He said nothing more.
Clearly, he hadn't expected Old Jiang to succeed—he had spoken more out of formality than belief.
With that, Old Jiang turned and strode away.
As he left, he said: "I only came seeking the Prophet because of the exotic beast issue… Since things are like this, I'll return first. Farewell."
"Don't speak of this outside," said Undying Body.
"Of course!"
Old Jiang answered as he departed the Temple of Time, vanishing into the horizon.
After he left—
Undying Body stood silently in place, unmoving for a long time.
In truth, at first, he had considered eliminating "White" outright.
If the Prophet's state leaked, the consequences would be disastrous.
Even without the World Destroyer's hand, the current order could collapse, and civilization would face its end.
But before he could act, he realized—
"White" was only a spirit body, not the true self.
Killing him would accomplish nothing, and might even alert others.
Thus, Undying Body let him go.
"White… Word-Spirit…"
He stepped closer to the Prophet, placing a hand gently on his shoulder, and sighed softly.
"When will you awaken, Teacher?"
…
Meanwhile, far from Tianya City, Old Jiang dismissed the Heroic Spirit and returned instantly to Central State City.
Jiang He disengaged from the Five-Sense Sharing and, staring at Old Jiang before him, asked in puzzlement: "Why did you come back in such a rush? You didn't even investigate the Prophet further?"
"Of course I had to hurry." Old Jiang rubbed his temples as if he had a splitting headache.
"Lord World Destroyer has already taken care of the Prophet. If his little brother doesn't run quickly, should he just wait around to be discovered?"
"…What does that have to do with me!"
Jiang He struggled to keep a straight face.
"The Prophet going mad after the Doomsday Declaration… that must be a coincidence. Maybe it was caused by some crisis, some possibility or something like that…"
"Otherwise, how could it be that out of so many S-rank Transcendents, only he had a problem?"
Old Jiang said: "It wasn't because of the Doomsday Declaration."
Jiang He had just begun to relax—
—when he heard Old Jiang add: "It was because of 'you.'"
Jiang He: "…"
That was even more exaggerated.
The Doomsday Declaration was at least an X-rank skill.
Just last week, he had still been only an E-rank Transcendent.
How could he possibly drive an S-rank Transcendent into madness?
Old Jiang sighed, sitting down on the sofa as he spoke: "I've already seen it."
"The Prophet isn't 'mad,' he is 'lost.'"
"Contact with time is extremely dangerous—like piloting a small boat through rapids, one might capsize, hit rocks, run aground, and face all sorts of accidents."
"A seasoned prophet would take the initiative to avoid these issues, ensuring accurate foresight and their own safety…"
"Like the Prophet—his experience was abundant. He could easily handle all the hazards of divining the future.
Like a seasoned captain steering a great ship across the river, almost never running into trouble."
"But…"
"He strayed into the 'ocean.'"
Jiang He's eyelids twitched.
"You mean…"
"The Doomsday Declaration may be an X-rank skill, but the Prophet still had the ability to trace it back to its source."
"He already found you, already knew your identity."
"But you're too young."
"Perhaps he was puzzled, wondering how you acquired such power—and he glanced at you."
Old Jiang's expression held both sympathy and helplessness.
"The domain of time is too mysterious—so mysterious that it doesn't regard strength, only status."
"Like when you first awakened—you seemed no different from an ordinary person, but could summon the X-rank White Crane. That alone showed your talent's status was unimaginably high."
"And talents are merely the embodiment of your own abilities…"
"You are the 'anchor,' the 'origin.'"
"To the Prophet's eyes—"
"You are time itself, containing endless futures, endless possibilities."
"With just one glance, he became lost within those infinite futures."
"He didn't go mad—he just cannot wake up."
"…"
Jiang He understood.
In computer terms—
He was now like a massive folder containing countless files, and the Prophet was the file extractor.
Trying to extract from this folder, the process froze—his system crashed on the spot.
Now, several days later, the progress bar had probably only read 0.01%…
Maybe even 0.00001%.
Who knew how many years—or centuries—it would take to finish.
Or rather—
How could even an S-rank Prophet possibly survey all of time?
"…He'll never wake up?" Jiang He's teeth ached.
"Not necessarily." Old Jiang replied.
"From what I observed, if he can awaken by his own strength, he will have an eight or nine out of ten chance of breaking through to X-rank."
"If he truly comprehends all of time, fully digests it all… he might even become something beyond X-rank."
"Only…"
"By then, time itself may already have reached its end."
To only become omniscient at the very end of time?
The ultimate version of hindsight wisdom?
"Alright, back to business."
Old Jiang clapped his hands, smiling brightly.
"Congratulations, Lord World Destroyer. You've successfully dealt with your first opponent, the very first obstacle on your path to annihilation—the S-rank [Prophet]!"
"From now on, humanity will lose its eyes, unable to see the road ahead."
"You can easily crush them one by one, completing your grand plan of world destruction!"
"…Don't joke around." Jiang He's composure cracked.
"We're talking serious business here."
"I'm not joking."
Old Jiang gave a helpless smile.
"To humanity, the Prophet was the [Heavenly Eye]."
"As long as he existed, he was a deterrent. Ninety-nine out of a hundred evil intentions would be snuffed out the moment they arose."
"Take the two known future lines for example—"
"In White Crane's timeline, the Wolf King blocked the Prophet's foresight, which led to chaos descending."
"In my timeline, Ever-Changing concealed the traces of the Ultimate Beasts, which allowed them to slowly grow."
"These situations arose because, as long as the Prophet's foresight functioned normally, and he still chose to safeguard peace and humanity…"
"Most crises could be extinguished in the cradle."
"In truth, without anyone knowing, he had already saved the world countless times."
Indeed.
This was a world where everyone could awaken as Transcendents—and with exotic beasts, abysses, and all sorts of chaos.
Large-scale crises were simply too common.
Yet, ever since the Council's establishment, the world had enjoyed thirty years of peace…
Who knew how much of that was thanks to the Prophet's efforts?
Perhaps those countless Prophecy Books in the Temple of Time were the records of his countless achievements.
"It wasn't only after my awakening that crises appeared in this world…"
"In other words, chaos has always been the main theme of this world—just like in the past thousands of years, countless Transcendents waged wars, and one great battle destroyed cities of hundreds of thousands, giving birth to the Abyss Strait…"
"In history, the thirty years of peace under the Council were the rare exception."
Jiang He finally understood.
No wonder Old Jiang trusted the Prophet so deeply.
To him, the Prophet was essentially the previous 'Savior.'
No wonder in both crisis timelines, the Prophet had been banned.
As long as he was online, the future would naturally be the peace route.
But now…
The Prophet had once again been banned.
"This can't be blamed on me, right?"
"According to you, even if I didn't use any skill—just one glance from the Prophet at me would have doomed him to become lost…"
Jiang He had figured it all out, and said helplessly.
"Of course it's not your fault." Old Jiang said seriously.
"I'm only reminding you—the Prophet is offline."
"Without the stabilizing needle, from now on, the road ahead will be ours alone to walk."
"Like the other Ultimate Beasts."
"After Ever-Changing's death, they've been too afraid of the Prophet's gaze to make a move these past days."
"But once they sense something is amiss… they'll inevitably unleash a true rampage!"
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