The Law of Heaven

Chapter 10 The Secret of the Mirage
The hot pot restaurant at the end of the pedestrian street was filled with the pungent smell of chili peppers. Jian Mo, who had finished bandaging, rested her chin on her hand and silently gazed at the bustling traffic on the long street. The dim sunset turned the street golden, and the crowds surged and flowed endlessly.

"When I was a child, I was so tired of that kind of pre-determined life, living a mediocre life, not knowing who I was living for. At that time, I learned about the existence of immortal beings through my father, and that's when I realized how wonderful this world is."

He smoked a cigarette and sighed, “Humans pursue immortality and master supernatural powers. The otherworldly realms appear and disappear around the world, where time stands still. And of course, there are those mythical creatures called Heavenly Principles, whose origins and whereabouts are unknown to anyone… When I became an immortal being, I was full of expectations, wondering what kind of magnificent life awaited me. More than ten years later, I realize how naive I was. Even as an immortal being, I am still insignificant, just as mediocre as you see.”

The man pointed to the security guard badge on his chest.

"A security captain."

Jianmo seemed to be mocking himself.

Even after becoming an immortal being, they still work like beasts of burden for the company.

Aihara drank his cola without answering. He silently processed the information, maintaining a calm and composed demeanor, trying his best to conceal his inner confusion and bewilderment.

"You asked me to take time off just so you could chat with me about life?"

He tries to avoid discussing anything related to the supernatural.

The more you say, the more mistakes you make.

"I'm just feeling a bit sad about the passing of an old friend. Your second uncle once saved my life, and we were very close. I want to know how he died."

Jian Mo's eyes were deep: "This is very important."

Aihara knew that to avoid appearing weak, he had to firmly grasp the initiative in the conversation, so instead of answering directly, he threw the question back at him: "Since you asked, you must know something, right?"

"It seems you don't trust me."

"Sorry, I don't trust anyone."

"Indeed, if it were me, I wouldn't believe it either."

Jianmo thought for a moment, then took out her phone, played a video, and showed it to him without saying a word.

Aihara looked up and was taken aback.

Because the video playing on his phone looked very familiar—he had just watched it not long ago—he firmly believed it was a promotional animation for a game.

The dark and deep canyon is covered with dense vegetation. Ancient coffins hang from the crisscrossing vines. Mist spreads like the tide in the twilight, and vaguely, rugged black shadows meander and move in the mist, seemingly about to take flight.

"Three months ago, the ecological balance of Fog Mountain was disrupted. An ancient celestial principle awakened from its tomb, causing anomalies throughout the city. The fluctuations in elemental turbulence have lasted for a long time, with rare storms every day."

Jian Mo said quietly, "After the Deep Sea Alliance learned of this news, they sent people to seal off the entire mountain range. As the local power in this city, the combined force of multiple longevity families naturally wouldn't let such a thing happen."

Aihara silently took a sip of cola to hide his inner shock. It turned out that the video on the forum was actually filmed, and everything recorded was a clue about the extraordinary world. He had naively thought it was a game promotional video.

The real world appeared before him in such an absurd form, shattering his worldview.

He had no idea how many similar things had happened in the past eighteen years; it was utterly absurd.

"A dragon?"

Aihara spoke very softly, as if afraid of disturbing the sleeping gods in the dark side of the world.

He gazed at the evening clouds outside the window.

His pupils were also reflected in a dim, yellowish light.

"Initially, no one knew the level of that Heavenly Principle, but the task of subjugating it had already been put on the agenda. The Deep Blue Alliance was a behemoth to us, but after a century of internal strife, it was actually quite weak, and it would be very difficult to deal with a mythical creature of this level."

Jane paused for a moment: "But then the unexpected happened."

Aihara shrugged and said, "That thing got out."

"Yes, the existence of Tianli attracts the Dead Apostles. Those who have lost their humanity in pursuit of extreme evolution will worship Tianli as a god and offer sacrifices to Him. In fact, there have been many Dead Apostle sacrifice incidents recently. But today is the craziest they have ever been, actually coming to the company to rob it."

Jianmo smiled slightly at the waiter who came to serve the food, and then put a whole plate of beef and beef tripe into the pot, and the red spicy soup immediately boiled.

"Let's eat first."

He sighed.

"Oh well."

Aihara calmly picked up his chopsticks and started eating the hot pot meat. The tender beef paired with his prepared sesame sauce had a rich and mellow flavor that was simply divine.

His calm and composed expression was not only a cover for his ignorance, but also a genuine failure to grasp the seriousness of the situation. After all, he was unfamiliar with the setting and lacked a concrete framework and concept of it.

Only now did he fully understand the ins and outs of today's attack. No wonder the bandit leader had such a desperate expression when he looked at the collapsed ancient dragon sculpture; it turned out that his carefully planned sacrifice had been rejected.

It feels like a simp borrowing money to buy a gift for his goddess in hopes of winning her favor, only to be ruthlessly kicked away.

That's quite pitiful.

"Those Dead Apostles are a bit weak."

Aihara said, seemingly casually. Jian Mo rolled his eyes and poured himself a beer: "You're already at the Creation stage, of course you think they're weak. This batch of Dead Apostles has obviously only recently merged with the ancient relics, which is why they're still at the Stimulation stage. But if there's a prodigy with such powerful talent who can merge with those legendary primordial ancient relics, they'll be at the Creation stage as soon as they awaken."

"cough."

Aihara was suddenly choked by the chili oil, and the glistening sesame paste reflected his suddenly contracting pupils. He finally lost his composure, mainly because he simply couldn't help himself.

"what happened?"

Jian Mo frowned: "Too spicy?"

"No, I ate too much."

Aihara pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth, trying to hide his true feelings.

The main reason was that the case Jianmo described was exactly the same as his situation, which surprised him greatly.

Aihara didn't know his own rank, but the other party insisted that he was a so-called Creation Rank, otherwise he wouldn't have such formidable combat power.

This means that the vast majority of immortal beings in the world are at level zero after fusing with ancient relics, while he starts at level one, which is a numerical crushing victory.

Now he finally has a basic understanding of this world. It sounds like the city of Qin Island is a bit like a beginner's village. The combat power of the long-lived species living here is not very high. Someone like him, who is at the Creation level, is already a rare commodity.

This may all be attributed to his latent talent.

It is also thanks to the dragon bone bracelet given to him by Ruan Qi.

"As far as I know, Xiang Chaonan died in Wushan, right?"

Jian Mo raised her eyes and stared at him, her expression unusually serious: "Xiang Chaonan's true strength is not as weak as it seems on the surface. He may be capable of participating in a Primal Disaster at the Heavenly Principle level. But I don't know his reason for doing so. Could it be that he... has also become a Dead Apostle?"

Aihara kept his head down, simmering the meat in the hot pot, without saying a word.

Did your second uncle experience a significant change in personality during that period?

Jane pressed on, "Or, did they say anything to you? Or did they behave unusually?"

Aihara fell silent. This time, he wasn't deliberately keeping her in suspense; he simply felt somewhat dazed.

Through this conversation, Aihara finally became convinced that his second uncle was not what he thought he was. He had never understood that decadent and greasy old man, simply because that guy had always lived in another world, far away from him.

Now, when he recalls those summer nights, his second uncle lies on a bamboo mat in the courtyard, hiccuping from drinking. His drunken eyes reflect the clear moonlight, clearly not completely unconscious, but perhaps gazing into the distance.

The old man probably had something on his mind, perhaps a painful past he didn't know about. Otherwise, he wouldn't have appeared as a good-for-nothing, living a mediocre life with his two children, while hiding his true self very, very deep.

"All I can tell you is that my second uncle didn't change during that time; he was still the same scoundrel. He just told me he was going to the mountains to find a dragon, and then he went. When I saw him again, he was already a corpse."

As long as Aihara tells the truth, there will be no flaws. He lowered his head and ate his meat, saying, "I am indeed an immortal being, but I am indifferent to worldly affairs, and I may not know as much as you do."

He has achieved his goal today.

Through Jane, he learned the truth about the world.

They also learned some clues about their second uncle.

Although Jianmo didn't know much, it was enough.

Perhaps if we follow the clue of that unknown heavenly principle in Wushan, we can find out how Second Uncle died and let the old man die knowing the truth.

Yeah, Dead Apostle.

Next, we need to keep an eye on that group of dead men.

Actually, Aihara wanted to ask more about the Ruan family, as it concerned his guest, and he wanted to know more information.

But then he suddenly remembered his second uncle's advice.

Mirages follow rules.

Guests' privacy must not be disclosed.

"But that's not all I want to ask. I want to know if Xiang Chaonan left you anything? Like... the invitation from Mirage Tower."

After hesitating for a second, Jian Mo asked, "Don't you want to know the cause of your second uncle's death? There are rumors that Xiang Chaonan was very close to some people who had been to Mirage Tower, and perhaps he also had an invitation."

After thinking for a moment, he pulled out another photo from his phone and slid it across the desktop.

"This is an invitation, also known as a token. Holding the token allows you to enter the forbidden side of Sequence 09, the Mirage. Legend has it that the owner of the Mirage possesses the ability to understand fate; he is omniscient and omnipotent."

Jian Mo leaned closer, lowering his voice as if revealing a tremendous secret: "Some say that the rules and abilities wielded by the Mirage Tower are at the level of divine law, and countless powerful immortal beings are searching for the token, their purpose being... to change their fate!"

Aihara chewed on the beef and finally looked up.

The broth in the hot pot was boiling, emitting pungent smoke, and his hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.

(End of this chapter)