The Last Sentinel

"Breaking News! Latest intelligence from the Heavenly Secrets Alliance reveals the ten reasons for the power of carbon-based cosmic demons, the first of which is truly shocking!"

The newsboy's voice cracked, his wooden clogs splashing mud across the cobblestones. The daily magazine's oil paper fluttered in the wind, like a tattered flag stuck at the street corner.

"Unbelievable! The Foundation Establishment Pill, which is incredibly precious in all our universes, is eaten as everyday food by ordinary people in this carbon-based universe. They've simply renamed boiled eggs!"

In the streets and alleys, several traveling monks carrying loads stopped, resting their carrying poles on their shoulders, and craned their necks to listen. The old man selling candy trembled, and the syrup stretched into a half-foot-long thread.

"Don't let the name 'boiled egg' fool you; its value is outrageously high. The chicken they're talking about isn't some ordinary monster from our universe, but a descendant of an ancient, monstrous dinosaur race that existed before the Great Cataclysm, before Pangu separated heaven and earth, in the carbon-based universe!"

The newsboy, spitting as he spoke, shoved the daily magazine into the hand of a passing monk, the coins jingling as they fell into his purse.

"This food called boiled eggs possesses an unimaginable spiritual energy! The only pity is that we cannot absorb this miraculous elixir; only the native carbon-based humans of that planet can!"

"Besides, this planet possesses unimaginable depths. Their history predates all other worlds. They call themselves the Ancient Race, a race descended from the Dark Ages, predating the Big Bang, rather than the new humans who emerged after the Big Bang. They have always been suppressed by the powerful shackles of the Death Universe, and once they leave the environment of the Demon-Sealing Tower, they immediately awaken their innate talents!"

"According to a high-ranking member of the Heavenly Mystery Alliance who wished to remain anonymous, many of the current holy sons and prodigies of various sects are not actually native new humans from our myriad worlds, but rather ancient clan geniuses and elites extracted from the Carbon-Based Demon-Locking Tower. It is no exaggeration to say that many of the currently sought-after elders, sect leaders, and holy lords of holy lands are themselves prodigies from the carbon-based universe..."

In no time, news of the Heavenly Secrets Alliance spread throughout the streets and alleys, and discussions abounded in teahouses and restaurants frequented by wandering cultivators. Tea servers, carrying copper kettles, moved among the crowds, their hands trembling as they refilled water.

Zuixianlou (Drunken Immortal Pavilion)

The three-story wooden building has upturned eaves and corners, and the copper bells on the eaves ring out when the wind blows.

The building was filled with smoke, the aroma of wine mixed with the smell of meat, making it hard to breathe.

"A three-foot-long sword pierces the clouds, a thousand layers of secret realms turn bones into moss. The hero, though not yet old, has already cooled his tea; half a wisp of wind and clouds falls onto the wine table."

The gavel snapped, silencing the entire building. Wine bowls hung suspended in mid-air, chopsticks hovered above dishes, and even the brass bells on the eaves outside the window seemed to fall silent.

On the storytelling stage, the storyteller flicked his sleeves, the rim of his teacup brushing against his lips. His gaze swept over the martial artists with swords at their sides and the cultivators with jade talismans hanging from their waists. His voice, tinged with a hint of alcohol, drifted out: "Esteemed guests, last time we spoke of the arrogant and conceited Young Master Jie of the Seven Absolute Heavens, who single-handedly stormed the Carbon-Based Universe's Demon-Locking Tower, shattering three demonic stars with a single sword strike and slaying the final boss of the Carbon-Based Demon-Locking Tower, the Great Wall Guardian—today, let's talk about the Carbon-Based Universe's counterattack and revenge!"

With a flick of his wrist, the folding fan unfolded with a "whoosh," revealing the bamboo on its surface askew, as if it had been cleaved by sword energy.

"This carbon-based cosmic demon-locking tower is far superior to places like the Three Great Calamities! Its relationship with our myriad realms is intricately intertwined! It even has a profound connection with the myriad forms of the extraterrestrial demons!"

Someone in the audience gasped, and a wine bowl slammed against the edge of the table, spilling half of it.

"And those who excel among them are called Sentinels!"

"Sentinel is not a title, but a profession, and there is only one person in this profession!"

The storyteller snapped his folding fan shut and slammed it against his palm, his voice suddenly rising in pitch: "The current Sentinel is named Ye Feng, and he holds numerous titles in the carbon-based universe, such as the Leo Gold Saint, the Burial Man of Fusang, the most stern yet loving father of the Neanderthals, the pinnacle of human alliance combat power, and a martial arts legend of the Ming Dynasty..."

The storyteller spoke eloquently, captivating everyone in the audience. Martial artists gripped their sword hilts tightly, cultivators rubbed their jade talismans, and even the old man picking his toes in the corner stopped what he was doing and listened intently with his mouth agape.

Laymen watch the spectacle, experts listen to the details.

Many people in the building, upon hearing the current topic, inevitably connected it with the rumors circulating about the dimensional battlefield a while ago.

Some people lowered their hat brims, while others subtly turned their teacups halfway around—the bottom of the cup facing inwards, a secret code in the martial arts world that says "don't tell anyone if you hear it."

"Rumor has it that the Heavenly Secrets Alliance has received word that Ye Feng has developed a new cultivation system capable of overturning the current cultivation systems of all realms. This has greatly alarmed the Heavenly Court, which has dispatched all seven of its most outstanding talents to besiege Ye Feng and seize this new cultivation system!"

The speaker was a short-bearded man who spoke in a very low voice, but his eyes darted around, scanning the surroundings.

"Really?"

A young monk at the next table leaned over, his voice trembling.

"I reckon it's almost certainly true. The Seven Absolute Prodigies have all gone into seclusion? Is that even possible? The Seven Absolute Prodigies usually don't even get along. For them to fight a single enemy, it can only be the super demon Ye Feng!"

The short-bearded man slammed his hand on the table, causing the bowls and plates to bounce.

"Just imagine, what kind of existence are the Seven Supreme Prodigies? The Chosen One Battle happens once every thousand years, and only one appears in each battle! The current Seven Supreme Prodigies are the seven leading ladies of the Heavenly Court over the past ten thousand years! The new Heavenly Court is only twenty thousand years old! The current celestial officials and high-ranking officials in the Heavenly Court, the Three Pure Ones and the Four Emperors, are all from the previous generation of the Seven Supreme Prodigies!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, and his spittle splashed into the soup bowl of the person opposite him. The other person was completely unaware and just kept nodding.

"No wonder I said this dimensional battlefield was bound to be a bloodbath!"

Amidst the murmurs, a young cultivator dressed in ill-fitting ancient clothing sat by the window, reading a copy of the Heavenly Secrets Alliance Daily and sighing as he did so.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting flickering light on half of his face. His ancient costume was clearly hastily put together; the sleeves were too short, revealing an old scar on his wrist.

"This guy is a real talent!"

He flicked the edge of the newspaper with his fingertips, a playful smile on his lips, as if he were watching a play he had written.

"Hua Xiaobai gave him a slight signal, and he immediately sprang into action, spreading the news throughout the entire Thirty-Three Heavens!"

He shook his head, folded the newspaper in half, then unfolded it again, his fingers unconsciously tracing the words "Ye Feng".

"Fortunately, the Seven Prodigies were all away on business, and the main immortal races were focused on the Flower Fruit Mountain battlefield. The Heavenly Court's oversight department was full of Indians, which gave the Heavenly Secrets Alliance a great opportunity to wreak havoc on all the heavens and myriad realms."

He picked up his teacup, and the teacup reflected a pair of eyes that were calm to the point of being indifferent.

Just then, a voice came from the opposite direction: "May I ask your surname?"

The young man looked up and saw a handsome cultivator with black and white hair and silver eyebrows walking towards him. He was dressed in a black robe and looked very refined.

The man stood ramrod straight, his hands tucked into his sleeves, his knuckles slightly white—a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

The young man spoke up: "Earthquake struck the high hill, yet a stream flows eternally beautiful!"

His tone was casual, as if he were reciting an unimportant line from a play, but the light in his eyes darkened.

Across from him, Dan Xiu's eyes gleamed: "Your door faces the vast ocean, the Sanhe River flows eternally! Are you from there?"

His voice trembled, and the last few words were almost squeezed out from between his teeth, his silvery-white eyebrows twitching.

The young man smiled and said, "My surname is Ye. I have nine brothers, and I'm the ninth. You can call me Ye Jiu, or Boss Jiu, it's fine."

He leaned back in his chair, relaxed, as if sunbathing in his own backyard.

Dan Xiu's eyes were filled with complex emotions, a mixture of fear and astonishment, and a mixture of astonishment and dread.

He had imagined that he would meet an important person today.

But I never expected to meet the very genius from my home planet, the carbon-based blue planet!

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he clenched his sleeves, digging his fingertips into his palms, barely managing to suppress the urge to kneel.

The lazy old man poured a cup of tea and handed it to him, commenting as if reciting a familiar story: "I had Hua Xiaobai investigate your background. You should be surnamed Yun and named Yun Sheng! Your father is a native of my carbon-based universe's Blue Star hometown. His name is Yun Tianming, and he was a big shot during the Three-Body Era!"

The tea was pushed in front of him; the broth was a vibrant green, and steam rose gently. Old Jiu spoke as if he were discussing today's vegetable prices at the market.

"After Yun Tianming's brain was abducted by an alien civilization, this civilization was suppressed by the Heavenly Court. A holy maiden from a celestial sect in the Heavenly Court rescued your father and, using a secret technique of the celestial sect, gave birth to a son with him—that is, you!"

Yun Sheng—or rather, Liu Sheng—shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly. This part of his past, which he had buried for decades, was casually brought to the table, like a plate of peanuts.

"You have high emotional intelligence and have perfectly inherited Yun Tianming's wisdom and talent, but your identity makes you quite vulnerable to suppression in the myriad realms."

Old Nine paused, his gaze falling on the other's silver-white eyebrows, a frost-like color born from years of suppressed emotions.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Upon hearing these three simple words, Liu Sheng's uneasy and hesitant gaze vanished, replaced by a resolute look. He sat down opposite the seemingly useless Lao Jiu and said, "Liu Sheng of the Heavenly Secrets Alliance pays respects to Lord Ye, the martial arts legend of the Ming Dynasty!"

His clasped hands became steady, and his back straightened, as if he had been pulled out of the mud and was finally able to catch his breath.

"I am not the true self," Old Nine said. "I am a secondary self; you can think of me as an enhanced version of his clone!"

He picked up the teacup and took a sip. The tea was very hot, but he didn't change his expression.

Liu Sheng said, "To call it a clone is an understatement. Your true self has mastered a high-dimensional martial arts cultivation system that has never been seen before. I have received intelligence that your junior brother Qi Tian has successfully cultivated it and comprehended a time-based killing move that can obliterate enemies from the river of time! In this new cultivation system that abandons the previous pure Y-axis cultivation and integrates the XYZ axes, there is no clone, only a secondary self."

When he said this, his eyes shone with a light that was the fervor and awe that only a cultivator would have when he saw the Great Dao.

"Not bad!" Old Nine laughed, "You're much better than Hua Xiaobai. I've explained the difference between 'my true self' and 'my clone' to Hua Xiaobai several times, but he's such a blockhead, he just couldn't understand! You understood it at a glance, no wonder you're Yun Tianming's son."

He smiled so hard his eyes crinkled, like an elder praising his junior, and casually tossed a peanut into his mouth, making a crisp crunch.

Liu Sheng sighed, "Boss Jiu, you're too kind. How could I compare to Hua Jun? If Hua Jun wanted to find me, she could have had you blocking my door! If the Heavenly Court wanted to arrest me, I certainly wouldn't have been able to escape! I originally planned to go to the Heavenly Prison after this job, but I didn't expect Hua Jun to let me go and even let you meet with me. What merit do I, Liu, have to..."

He lowered his head, his voice growing softer and softer until the last few words almost disappeared into the noise of the teahouse.

Old Nine interrupted Liu Sheng, "Stop spouting such pretentious nonsense! What do you mean by 'what merit or ability'? Aren't you just from our hometown? Don't forget, your father was quite a figure back then, leaving behind a large fortune. The company he runs is doing quite well now. Sometime when you have time, go back and inherit the company; becoming the CEO wouldn't be bad!"

He waved his hand dismissively, as if to send away an overthinking accountant.

Liu Sheng was taken aback, and hesitated, "Does Your Excellency mean that I... I can return to Blue Star to acknowledge my ancestors? But... but my mother isn't from Blue Star..."

He raised his head, his silver-white eyebrows furrowed, and his lips moved slightly, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Old Nine waved his hand lazily: "Humans are humans, not cats and dogs! Cats and dogs are judged by their bloodline! Humans, as long as they have it, that's enough!"

As he said this, a gust of wind blew in through the window, making the daily newspaper rustle, and the copper bell on the eaves jingled, as if striking a clarion call for his words.

"Putting everything else aside, you know Luo Ji, right? He's the Wallfacer and Swordholder of the Three-Body Era, and he's your father's older brother!"

Old Nine held up one finger and waved it in front of Liu Sheng.

"Luo Yi, Luo Ji's grandson born to another human race, is now living in his hometown!"

"You're a generation older than Luo Yi! Right!"

After considering it for a moment, Liu Sheng nodded repeatedly: "Boss Jiu is absolutely right, I was too generous!"

His clenched fist finally relaxed, the corners of his mouth turned up, and a hint of joy appeared on his face.

It's a kind of relaxation that seeps out from the very bones after one's identity has been acknowledged.