I am a female swordsman.

Huang Quan's words made Sakura Huang Quan's eyes widen.

That's right.

During her adventures across the Arad continent, she had indeed heard that voice. When facing the Ocean Apostle, she was nearly stripped of her will and turned into a puppet, but that voice, which appeared only once, saved her. Sakura Yomi also tried to find that voice, but strangely, even after reaching the Awakening level and witnessing the shifts in spacetime, she couldn't trace it back. This became a secret in Sakura Yomi's heart; she instinctively felt that the voice concealed something.

'Hehe, actually your greatest value should be an answer. It's just that I didn't hear that voice before, so I never thought about it that way. Now, I'm really troubled…'

Huang Quan's words suddenly became somewhat disjointed.

"I have a very serious question for you, and I hope you can answer it truthfully. It concerns your future, and I won't hide anything from you either, as it also concerns my own fate."

'Hmm...' (Alright, you go ahead.)

Do you remember your name before you transmigrated? What did you look like? What was your background? What were your parents?

Sakura Yomi was stunned without realizing it.

It feels so distant, so strange. I clearly had a feeling about it, but I can't remember anything about it...

Chapter 125 Forgotten

I don't remember anything at all...

Dim and dejected, like a dying star. Although Sakura Yomi has always appeared extremely carefree and optimistic, and can fight bravely even in the face of any desperate situation, she is also a living, breathing person. In her heart, she feels more helpless than afraid of certain things.

I don't remember anything.

Everything in the past.

Like a lone boat adrift on a dark ocean, I know not which port awaits my return. Forgotten of all past routes, I drift aimlessly. A drifter, I yearn for an impossible miracle, hoping one day I will find that port…

home.

'really.'

Sakura Yomi's answer made Yomi nod slightly, as if she already knew the answer.

'As expected? ...Wait, if you were another me, could it be...' Having escaped the punishment of having a foreign object stuffed in her mouth, Sakura Yomi suddenly remembered a terrifying fact. In a sense, the person in front of her was also her, so neither of them were special individuals, nor were they chosen ones.

Logically, Huang Quan's memories shouldn't be lost.

'That's right, my memories of before I time-traveled are all gone too. Just like yours, they're distant and blurry. I vaguely remember some things, but actually, I remember nothing at all.'

As she spoke, a faint sadness flickered across Huang Quan's beautiful face. She had completely forgotten everything about Huang Quan before her transmigration, including his name and all other information. What was terrifying was that this forgetting had actually begun back in the ghoul world.

Undeniably, this made Huang Quan better able to adapt to traversing the world.

The only entity with the most motivation and means to accomplish all this was, of course, the system parasitizing Huang Quan. Later, when Huang Quan discovered this problem again, he felt that dwelling on the past was largely meaningless, and since going home wasn't a priority, he didn't think much of it.

It wasn't until the appearance of Sakura Yomi that Yomi's doubts were awakened.

'Your memories have been tampered with. Who did it?' Sakura Yomi wasn't stupid. She initially thought her memories were a side effect of time travel, but since Yomi from another timeline also had these symptoms, it could only mean that someone had been tampering with them from some point in the beginning.

system?

While it had its motives, it saw no need to modify the host who had abandoned the other path; it could simply let Sakura Yomi fend for herself. Furthermore, it had placed Sakura Yomi into the profession inheritance system; as a higher-dimensional being, the system wouldn't make such an obvious mistake.

It should have been done by [the person in question].

'Um, what did you just say?'

I said [ ].

'You must not say His name...!'

The moment Huang Quan uttered a certain word in her consciousness, an unseen, magical force erased it. This ability, like a natural phenomenon, caused Huang Quan and Ying Huang Quan to feel an immense pressure for no apparent reason, and a suffocating silence spread through their consciousness.

It's unclear how much time passed before Sakura Yomi finally dared to move a finger. The terrifying pressure vanished as if it were an illusion.

She looked relieved, as if she had survived a disaster.

The fact that it could instill fear in two powerful individuals essentially at the awakened level, and inexplicably dispel their pressure, speaks volumes about the terrifying nature of the being whose name was erased. Keep in mind that even a single awakening in a world like Arad, where powerful beings abound, places one among the very elite. The concept of being at the very top means being invincible to those of equal strength; they could even contend with a bug-like creature like an Apostle.

These two individuals, however, hadn't dared to even breathe loudly just moments before.

My guess was correct.

The voice in Huang Quan's consciousness was exceptionally dry and hoarse; the pressure she had just endured was far greater than that of Ying Huang Quan. The feeling of being watched from the very root of things, relentlessly scrutinized, and constantly threatened with obliteration was simply unbearable. So unbearable that Huang Quan had to resort to special means to desperately shout towards the higher dimension.

Then, a being who had been watching over Huang Quan intervened and helped her—[Da Qian]. This first-generation transmigrator seemed unwilling to have his trial interrupted prematurely, and thus made his move.

The Yellow Springs cannot fully comprehend the clashes in higher dimensions, but they can still sense some of it.

'You are not special, and neither am I; we are both in the underworld. The underworld holds a special meaning for me; in my hometown, the word signifies the path after death. It can also be seen as… the path the dead take to the afterlife.'

The ethereal and clear voice was like a dream, and Huang Quan's gaze was exceptionally deep and profound.

The more you know, the easier it is to feel despair.

'We were all reincarnated after death, so there's nothing strange about using the name Yomi.' She subconsciously retorted to Yomi, whose upbringing meant she couldn't possibly have the same exceptional insight as Yomi.

"How do you know you time-traveled after death?" Huang Quan suddenly asked.

'I remember...that's right, the only thing I remember is that I died and then transmigrated.' Sakura Yomi seemed to have grasped something.

"So the most important point is the moment of death before crossing over. All the roots before that moment were gathered up by a certain being. He didn't want other diverters to glimpse the source, just like someone pulling a bundle of thread." Huang Quan made a very vivid analogy, and she also made that gesture.

They grasped the beginning and the end.

In this way, no matter how the line between the two points branches or changes, it will always remain within the two points.

"What the hell? Are you saying I was the one whose connection was cut off halfway through?" Sakura Yomi's first reaction wasn't panic, but rather a feeling of unease stuck in her throat, her lips pouting and cheeks puffed out.

'Your line is broken, mine isn't, at least not yet.'

"So what do you want to do? What about me..." When she mentioned herself, Sakura Yomi was unusually hesitant. In her opinion, this challenge was too difficult.

To snatch a thread beyond fate from the hands that hold the beginning and the end sounds incredibly difficult, like someone looking up at the moon hoping to walk to it on two legs.

'I need to confirm one more thing. As for you… you should understand the final fate of the deceased.'

'Yes, this day is finally almost here.'

Sakura Yomi had no resentment towards her fate. She had tried her best, struggled, fought desperately, laughed, cried, and sobbed. Looking back on her life, she could sincerely say that it was a wonderful and brilliant life, like a shooting star streaking across the starry night sky. That was enough.

If there's anything else I'd like to see...

'Hey, my other self. You're amazing, really amazing, so you absolutely must overcome this damn fate. If you lose to Him, I won't let you off easily. Even if I die, I'll crawl... out... from hell... and teach you a lesson.'

Chapter 126 Arrival

Sakura Yomi died.

Before Huang Quan made his move, she herself dispersed her stubborn spiritual imprints, unreservedly transforming her life experiences into a dazzling meteor that crashed into Huang Quan's memories. Those precious memories, stripped of their original owner's will, collided with Huang Quan's will, then shone brilliantly like a fleeting meteor.

It eventually disappeared completely.

Her life was similar to that of Sakura Yomi; she came suddenly and left decisively, and nothing could affect her unrestrained and carefree nature.

Huang Quan could actually guess why she so decisively ended her own life. She probably didn't want to accompany Huang Quan to the point of being held captive; she preferred death to the possibility of failure, thus placing all her hopes on Huang Quan.

This is really...

'Even if you die, you'd better open your eyes wide and watch how I challenge fate.' That carefree guy, in the end, still lived on in her body, and Huang Quan's lips seemed to curl up into a wanton arc.

………………

Main God Space, a certain platform.

The bright, shimmering sphere radiated an unusually pure white light, a clean glow that might make one believe they had entered a pristine paradise. But to those in the know, this suffocatingly white space was not paradise at all, but rather an endless tormenting purgatory.

The first time-traveling monster.

Its projections are endless, covering every platform in space. From a certain perspective, due to its special nature, the Time Traveler is an excellent spatial hub in higher dimensions, allowing for rapid arrival at specific locations in multiverses during times of war.

On the platform, a woman with long, straight black hair, holding a cigarette, looked up at the task at hand.

"It's a test mission."

From the other side of the platform, a man wearing non-prescription glasses walked from the room onto the platform. This somewhat aloof man was very ordinary, the kind of person who would disappear into a crowd in the blink of an eye.

"Oh."

The woman with long, straight black hair responded and continued reviewing the mission. Although this seemed rather impolite, the man knew that was just her personality and didn't think much of it. He too began reviewing the mission; as a reincarnator, he knew exactly what to do and when to do it.

"The original world is a hybrid of One-Punch Man and Final Fantasy VII. The main mission is to test the Shinra Company and verify whether its ultimate will has the ability to guide humanity out of its cradle. It seems that something interesting has happened in this world, otherwise Boiled Egg wouldn't have given us a test mission."

The man with glasses spoke in a strange tone.

There was no excessive respect for the Supreme God, nor much emphasis on the mission. The fact that they were allowed to undergo this test, and the deliberate emphasis on their own position, is enough to prove that the bespectacled man's team is among the top tier in the Supreme God's space.

And that is indeed the case.

Tier 3 Gene Lock, a new type of human from the asteroid plane. Outwardly indistinguishable from humans, but inwardly transformed into a cyborg, half-mechanical, half-biological life form. This life state is a sacrifice made by Earth's ancestors for an entire generation in their fight against the asteroid civilization.

"You are interested in?"

She read the question as a statement, her long, straight black eyes seeming to gleam with a strange, faint light. Like the new humans of the Wandering Star Plane, she too came from a special plane. The humans of her plane had progressed from the age of magic and mythology to the industrial age, finally emerging from the cradle of humanity under the guidance of the spirits of the two great creators, ultimately reaching a point where they upheld civilization and looked upon the Titan gods as equals.

The spirit left behind from their dimension was well passed down to them.

“That’s right. In order to fight against the invincible asteroid civilization, the great thinker of my world stole fire from thunder and conducted a black hole experiment that no other civilization in the universe dared to attempt. I firmly believe that humanity is great and will continue to be great. I am more suitable than you for this test.”

"absurd."

The woman with long, straight black hair frowned, clearly disagreeing with the man with glasses.

“I know your world, but by the time it came to you, several generations had not stood on the ground. There is a huge difference between your thinking and that of the one being tested.” The cold aura emanating from the bespectacled man softened slightly. “If you were to undergo the test, it would likely cause unnecessary misunderstandings. You must understand that a test is not destruction.”

"There is no mercy in the starry sky, and there is unfathomable darkness in the brilliant ocean."

The two sides were at a stalemate over this test task.

In the end, the decision was left to the supreme deity.

The Supreme God is absolutely fair, and even the notoriously disciplined Reincarnators trust the Supreme God as their impartial judge. Yet, the result of the trial, ultimately decided by the Supreme God, was that of the one with long, straight black hair.

The man with glasses was not selected.

The guiding beam descended from the projection of the main god and quickly carried Hei Chang away.

"A test... The one being tested is also the tester. I wish you good luck." The bespectacled man understood the boiled egg's intention. If he were to be the one conducting the test, it would be both a blessing and a curse for the one being tested.

…………