The Last Sentinel

Two domains, Taibai Tower.

Taibai Tower, the top-ranked chain restaurant in the Ming Dynasty, is said to house the peerless sword manual "Taibai Wangxuan Jing" left behind by the Tang Dynasty sword immortal Li Taibai in its main building.

Taibai Restaurant left a stone tablet at each of its branches, recording a fragment of a sword technique poem left by Li Bai.

Over time, this restaurant rose to become the number one restaurant in the Ming Dynasty.

The young Grand Secretary brought a martial arts legend to the restaurant for drinks, and the owner of Taibai Restaurant practically knelt down to greet him, while also dispersing all the other patrons.

This made Ye Feng a little uncomfortable. We're just drinking, at most one private room. Why did you have to disperse everyone in the restaurant?

Yan Shifan noticed Ye Feng's confusion and simply smiled, "This is for their own good, otherwise the Embroidered Uniform Guard would make things difficult for them."

Upon hearing this, Ye Feng felt relieved.

Extreme human supremacists like Yan Shifan and himself, if they ever went too far, would talk about warships setting sail, burning the stars, racial cleansing, and war massacres. If anyone around them overheard their conversation, the Imperial Guards would arrest them one by one.

As for the two of them having such an extreme conversation, the Imperial Guards neither wanted to nor could they interfere.

The reason they didn't want to get involved was because the two of them genuinely had the ability to do so.

The reason we can't interfere is that Yu Huatian, the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was promoted with Ye Feng's support. The young Grand Secretary carries the weight of the Ming Dynasty's two capitals and thirteen provinces, with his own people in the court and countryside. If we interfere with these two, are you sure it's not like an old man eating poison and courting death in a fancy way?

The seventh floor of Taibai Restaurant is where the statue of Li Bai's swordplay is kept hidden.

On the seventh floor, east-facing window, a statue of Li Bai sits gracefully before a table, enjoying wine and conversation, exuding an air of carefree elegance.

Yan Shifan raised his hand and said, "Come, sit down!"

There were only three seats at the table by the east window. One was occupied by the statue of Li Bai, leaving two for Ye Feng and Yan Shifan.

Yan Shifan snapped his fingers as if they were old friends, and steam rose from the table, revealing four dishes and a cup of wine.

Ye Feng tactfully picked up the wine pot, poured the wine, and said, "Sir, please."

Yan Shifan did not take the wine glass, but instead looked at Ye Feng with a kind expression.

At this moment, Yan Shifan's gaze was devoid of hostility or ambition; he was like a kind teacher, an experienced elder, looking at his prized disciple.

That look in his eyes was exactly the same as the look Gao Yuliang gave his prized disciple, Qi Tongwei.

Yan Shifan didn't drink, and neither could Ye Feng. They stared at each other.

A full quarter of an hour passed before Yan Shifan uttered a sentence: "This universe shouldn't be like this."

Just one sentence resonated deeply with Ye Feng.

Ye Feng asked, "What do you think this universe should look like, sir?"

Yan Shifan said, "At the very least, break through four shackles, open the fourth wall, and let us get out for some fresh air!"

Ye Feng just wanted to give the second sentence a huge thumbs up!

My parents gave me life, but Mr. Donglou truly understands me!

Ye Feng continued, "Mr. Donglou, how do you think we can break through these four shackles?"

Yan Shifan picked up his wine glass, considering his words carefully, and asked, "Would you like to hear a simpler approach or a more complex one?"

Ye Feng asked, "What's a simple way to play?"

Yan Shifan said, "Exterminate the remaining forces of the three great natural disasters: the Chaotic Void, the Entropy Silence Zerg, and the Machine Heavenly Star. Add the Empire, and you'll have four keys. That's enough to unlock four shackles and break through the fourth wall!"

Ye Feng blinked. "What about a more complex fighting style?"

Yan Shifan raised his hand and said, "Pass through the treasure lands of the four major forces, namely, Jade Capital, River of Reverse Entropy, Dream of Time, and Golden Land!"

Ye Feng asked, "Is there a difference between a simple playing style and a complex playing style?"

"The difference is enormous," Yan Shifan said confidently. "Exterminating the three major powers and having the empire surrender to you only gives you four keys. All you can do is open the shackles, break through the fourth wall, and leave. But the shackles remain. Once you use a key, the myriad realms will patch the shackles again, sending out new three major powers. The key codes will be rewritten. Once you leave, you can't come back!"

"The Four Treasures are the embodiment of each of the Four Shackles. Breaking through the Four Treasures means that you have mastered the method of creating shackles. You can even say that you can create shackles yourself. From then on, shackles are your toys. You can play with them however you want. You can even change hundreds of locks with a single thought and block all the heavens and myriad worlds outside."

Ye Feng said with relief, "In that case, destroying the three major forces is like using a one-time trial ticket, while conquering the four treasure lands is like having a lifetime ownership right."

Yan Shifan leaned back in his huanghua xianli armchair, looking quite relaxed, and said, "The principle is roughly the same. In fact, even if you don't ask, it's recorded in the book His Majesty gave you, 'The Theory of the Cosmic Prison: The Pillar of Creation.' You can understand it by reading the book."

Ye Feng was taken aback. "Sir, did you know that His Majesty gave me two books?"

"Of course." Yan Shifan snapped his fingers. "His Majesty only admires my father's calligraphy. Before meeting you, he took two books from my house: one is 'The Theory of the Cosmic Prison: The Pillar of Creation,' and the other is 'The Theory of the Cosmic Embryo: The Supreme Arena.' Both books are very precious, not only for their contents but also for the calligraphy. They are the essence of my father, the Sage of Literature of the Ming Dynasty. If you encounter an enemy you cannot defeat, take out one of these books, tear out a page, and it will transform into a breath of my father's righteous energy to protect you!"

Hearing this, Ye Feng felt a surge of gratitude.

I thought Jiajing was just sharing some secrets with me, but I never expected that these two books were actually treasures, the book treasures of righteousness and integrity created by the emperor himself!

Yan Shifan continued, "To put it another way, a martial arts prodigy like you, unless some shameless individuals bully the weak, is unlikely to encounter any danger and wouldn't need those two books. But anything can happen, so keeping them around is just in case some powerful figures can't handle the situation and decide to eliminate you!"

Ye Feng said, "Thank you very much, Your Majesty, and thank you very much, Grand Secretary Yan and Mr. Ye Feng. I am deeply grateful."

Yan Shifan smiled leisurely, "You cultivate both life and martial arts. Your causal path is no less than Meng Xinghun, the causal path master. Your physical strength cultivation is enough to defeat the necromancer priest. From the perspective of cultivation, I, who specialize in physical strength, am not qualified to guide you, even if my realm is higher than yours and has reached the exponential level."

Ye Feng was taken aback. "Exponential? You've reached level 4.0?"

Yan Shifan laughed and said, "No, the exponential level is just a classification within the 3.0-level cosmic warriors, just like the difference between you 2.0-level warriors. You, Meng Xinghun, and Mu can easily crush and kill other 2.0 cosmic warriors, which means that you are super-restricted 2.0 cosmic warriors, or you can be called exponential level 2.0 warriors."

Ye Feng understood; the exponential level meant breaking through the limitations of the shackles, a realm that could only be described by combat power.

Yan Shifan's 3.0 index level refers to his combat power dominance at the 3.0 level, which is comparable to his own dominance in the 2.0 cosmic warrior realm. It's a pure crushing victory, truly invincible.

Ye Feng thought of the Primal God and the Black Tower, so he asked, "Sir, have you heard of the Black Tower and the Primal God?"

Yan Shifan raised an eyebrow. "Barbarian God? Are you referring to Kunlun Heaven or Xuanhuang Heaven?"

Ye Feng said, "Neither. He is the Eternal Heaven, the Black Tower Barbarian God."

Yan Shifan shook his head and said, "I've never heard of it. The Barbarian Gods have many heavens, such as the famous Thirty-Three Heavens, Tushita Heaven, Xuanzhao Heaven, Taihuang Huangzeng Heaven, Taiming Yuwan Heaven, Yuanming Wenju Heaven, Taihuang Wengzhong Heaven... As for the Eternal Heaven you mentioned, this is the first time I've heard of it."

Ye Feng gestured, "The Heaven that the Xiongnu worshipped during the Ming Dynasty!"

Yan Shifan said, "That's Kunlun Heaven! It's in the Chaos Void Alliance! It's doing pretty well now, serving as a guest elder in the Youxiong Tribe."

Hearing this, Ye Feng was certain that Yan Shifan truly did not know about the Eternal Heaven Barbarian God.

That's normal, though. Back then, the Great Wall Watchers said that the Barbarian was close to the Venerable level, which is 6.0 or even 7.0!

Yan Shifan then said, "I have another matter to discuss with you today."

Ye Feng said, "Please speak freely, sir."

Yan Shifan rubbed his hands together and asked, "Are you still able to return to our ancestral planet?"

Ye Feng blinked. "Theoretically, it's possible, but if we're going to take Mr. Ye back, I'm afraid..."

"Fantastic!" Yan Shifan clapped his hands. "I've cultivated a technique that allows me to trace past causes and effects. Take me back to our ancestral star; I need to find some talented people and, while I'm at it, have a chat with the person in charge there! You can handle this small favor, right?"

Facing Yan Shifan's excited gaze, Ye Feng patted his chest, "Of course! A small favor, no problem at all!"