Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor

Chapter 1978: The Omnicube Trial III: Battle

Three Virtue sent a final message to Wu Hong before closing his eyes. Memories of his life flashed in his mind, and Three Virtue couldn't help but sigh. In his youth, he believed people only needed to follow three virtues—wisdom, fortitude, and justice—to succeed in any endeavor. However, at some point, wisdom began to dominate the other two — especially Justice.

In the middle of his life, Three Virtue began using wisdom to justify his immoral actions and decisions; he came to believe his success was simply because he was smarter than everyone else; he even used his wisdom to twist the meaning of justice, all to vindicate his actions. Ultimately, while he could lie to himself, he couldn't lie to the world. The universe follows the laws of balance, of karma. And after countless years of wronging the world, Three Virtue has finally received his own justice.

As the last light of consciousness dissipated from Three Virtue's eyes, Wu Hong couldn't help but sigh. The man was a calculating, egotistical, and shameless plagiarist. Still, a part of Wu Hong respected him. No cultivators are morally good. All of them—including her—have too much blood on their hands to ever preach about someone else's flaw.

But regardless of Three Virtue's faults, he had characteristics that were worth praising. His single-minded devotion to his ideals and ambitions was not only remarkable, but also worth learning from. More importantly, even in his final days, Three Virtue preserved his pride and never stopped trying to achieve his dream.

Gu Chang'an glanced at Wu Hong and snorted coldly; he despised such false empathy. So, without wasting a moment, he controlled the two puppets to fly down the abyss. All the techniques he stored inside their very [Existence] activated and began gathering data. Sadly, no matter which skills, techniques, or abilities he used, the result was negative: Gu Chang'an couldn't understand or acquire a single piece of information on either the abyss' direct composition or what could be at the bottom. No, he didn't even know if there was a bottom.

Gu Chang'an was not about to stop so easily. Anyway, he had placed too many detection spells on these people to count. One way or another, he'd eventually figured out something. However, the two puppets suddenly stopped. At around the 100,000-meter mark, Gu Chang'an finally sensed something; it wasn't information or knowledge, but a warning — a death warning. His sixth sense suddenly activated, warning him that passing this mark could result in death.

After pondering for a brief moment, Gu Chang'an decided to sacrifice one of them. So, Five Elements rushed past the mark and immediately lost contact. Gu Chang'an couldn't see, control, detect, or manipulate the body in any way. The whole process was so bizarre it sent a chill down his spine.

"Alright, I can't go past that mark? That's fine. In that case, let's focus on gathering information on everything above it," Gu Chang'an thought. Who was he? The All-Knowing Emperor. With his years of experience, strength close to the Third Step, infinite lifespan, and one of the greatest reserves of knowledge in the Infinite Trichiliocosm, he didn't believe he couldn't find the secret to this abyss. With a calm expression, Gu Chang'an sat down, preparing for the long haul.

"What are you thinking? Do you want to send the court down there to check it out?" Lady Ai suggested. "I can be your eyes and ears."

"Have you been able to detect any information at all?"

"Not really."

"Then, I think that's the point," Wu Hong said. "The trial wants to test how we face the unknown."

"You want to jump?"

"Yes."

"Are you mad? What if you're wrong? Or worse, what if you die?"

"I know I'm not wrong, and I'm not afraid of death."

"Bullshit. Everybody is afraid of death," Lady Ai countered. "Some can control that fear better than others, but we are all afraid. How can you not be? After cultivating for so long, after reaching so close to the end of the path, who would accept death?"

"I don't know what to tell you. I'm not afraid."

"...Is something wrong with you? You can tell if your soul has a flaw. I can help."

"There is nothing wrong with me. I just know that even if I were to die here, my husband will revive me."

"Who's your husband? Is he a powerful Grand Dao Saint? What's his name? Maybe I've heard of him."

"He's not. He's just a Primal."

"Are you crazy, or am I hearing things?"

"He is indeed just a Primal, but he's the most brilliant mind in the Infinite Trichiliocosm, and I would bet my life on that," Wu Hong casually said. "For him, it's only a matter of time before he transcends, and by then, he'll just revive me."

"...I knew love could make people stupid, but I thought someone of your caliber would be immune to such a disease."

Wu Hong shrugged. "I can't do anything if you don't believe me."

"Do you have any idea how much faith you must have in someone to believe such a thing?"

"Well, I do." Wu Hong had plenty of reasons to have faith, and that's not mentioning how she and Wang Wei were technically transcendent. But for some reason—most likely to rebuild their foundation—their future selves chose to rewrite their stories. With everything Wang Wei has done and this information, she would be a fool not to have utter faith in him.

"Anyway, let's give it a try."

"Wait, wait, wait, nooooo…"

Wu Hong ignored Lady Ai's screams or Gu Chang'an's disdain and simply jumped into the abyss; she didn't fly, manipulate space, or try other means to save her life or gather information. Instead, she directly faced the unknown with all its unpredictable variables.

After dropping the 100,000-meter mark, she lost the ability to fly. More importantly, an endless sense of doom assaulted her soul. Wu Hong activated her Saint Dao Heart and faced the challenge head-on. Her words to Lady Ai were not a bluff: she had no fear of death. With that mindset, she passed through this area of the abyss and reached the million-meter benchmark.

At that point, Wu Hong realized she was losing her memories: not of her experience, but of everything she had learned. For a moment, she panicked, but a realization swiftly dawned on her: all her knowledge was stored in her library. So, even if she lost them now, she could easily start over and relearn them.

So, she welcomed the challenge with serenity. Although she sometimes questioned her decision, Wu Hong eventually reached the 10 million-meter mark. She thought there would be another test, but instead, she found herself back in the library from the first test.

"Look over there."

Wu Hong turned her eyes and saw Three Virtue and Five Elements' puppets lying on the ground.

"Quickly, put them inside the court. I'll suppress them in case Gu Chang'an tries to summon them again."

"Alright." Once that was over with, Wu Hong immediately returned to a hermit life of reading. Unfortunately, she didn't get to enjoy as much time as the first trial before the test ended; while in the middle of a historical book, the cube teleported her to the infinite white room.

[Winner: Participant 1]

The cube appeared in the air and slowly flew toward Wu Hong.

"I'm not…convinced…I still deserve a second chance."

The cube stopped.

"Why is it listening to this loser?"

"It probably wants to repay the karma of putting it together," Lady Ai suggested.

"Can't it just kill the bastard?"

"It seems to be a rather peaceful artifact."

The dimension suddenly changed, turning into a battlefield with Wu Hong and Gu Chang'an facing each other, with the cube hanging over their heads. It released a terrifying power that suppressed Gu Chang'an's power to the Quasi-Saint Realm.

[Trial 3: Battle]

[Rule 1: No killing]

[Rule 2: Same realm.]

"Do you have some kind of humiliation kink?" Wu Hong asked.

"You!"

"Whatever. Let's end this quickly. I'm tired of your face."

The battle lasted two hours before Wu Hong slaughtered Gu Chang'an. If not for the first rule, the All-Knowing Emperor would have died a horrible death. Still, the trial didn't end with this defeat. Instead, they had a second round, and this time around, the cube brought Wu Hong's future potential, allowing her strength to reach the same realm as Gu Chang'an.

And what was the result? A defeat even worse than before. In less than thirty minutes, Wu Hong sealed Gu Chang'an, forcing the Omnicube to interfere and save him. In the end, the All-Knowing Emperor knelt on the ground, his face pale, his mouth shut tightly, and his eyes dead.

"Finally," Wu Hong uttered as the Omnicube landed on her palm. "Is there a secret technique required to recognize it as my master?"

"No, just use your blood or a bit of your soul energy, and that will be fine."

A drop of blood squeezed out of her fingers and fused with the cube. Wu Hong immediately felt a deep connection with the artifact; it was as if it were just another extension of her body. "No artifact spirit? That's good." Like most Emperor cultivators, she wasn't a fan of artifacts or spirits in any form.