The most shameless alchemist in history

Now that Xia Yi has appeared before him, Du Lei has every reason to believe that Xia Yi is the key figure in breaking his deadlock.

"You ask me why I know... I guess no matter what happens, I know a tiny bit, though not much, but this tiny bit, the size of a fingernail, I think is enough," Xia Yi said to himself.

"You mean you know everything? Then wouldn't you be a god?" Du Lei shook his head; he didn't believe Xia Yi's words.

Even though Xia Yi was the person he trusted most in his memory.

But he was completely unaware of it back then. However, he later discovered that Xia Yi had placed a curse on him, which was something he was particularly eager to understand.

"Then do you think gods really exist in this world?" Xia Yi asked him in return.

"I don't know about that." Du Lei shook his head.

"Is it really that difficult for you to answer the question of whether to believe or not?"

“It’s not a question of difficulty, but rather that I won’t answer questions I’m not sure about. Wouldn’t it be foolish to ask a question I don’t know the answer to?” Dure retorted.

“Our initial intention in asking questions was to clarify the confusion in our hearts, but gradually, we only asked questions that we already knew the answers to. Isn’t that just asking questions we already know the answers to?” Xia Yi said with great interest.

“That’s right, it’s a rhetorical question. So, since I don’t know the answer to your question, I’m refusing to answer it,” Du Lei nodded and said.

“Okay, that’s a smart move, but I think we should both be sincere in our conversation so we don’t end up in a dead end. Do you agree with me?” Xia Yi asked.

"agree."

“Since you agree, then let me show you my sincerity. I know you don’t belong to this world, you come from the future, you are Du Lei, right?” Xia Yi made several statements in succession.

This is something no normal person would even consider. Anyone who heard Xia Yi say such a thing would find it absurd and laughable.

But Du Lei couldn't laugh, because Xia Yi pointed out his predicament incisively.

"Yes, I am Du Lei." Du Lei nodded, confirming Xia Yi's guess.

"Alright, so where is your sincerity?" Xia Yi asked again.

“You are my teacher, you taught me a lot. You stayed in the hot spring village for two months, and then went to Beishan. You have been missing ever since. Before you went to Beishan, you told me not to leave this place and you placed a curse on me.” Du Lei said as calmly as possible.

What he said was his memory of how he met Xia Yi, and what happened after Xia Yi disappeared.

Furthermore, there's the matter of curses.

For a long time, he regarded Xia Yi as the person he trusted most.

He never imagined that Xia Yi would harm him.

But after he left the hot spring village, he learned several years later that Xia Yi had placed a curse on him.

This curse greatly affects his magic, which is the obstacle and the crux of his years of practicing magic, preventing him from making further progress.

When he learned about the curse, he wanted to find Xia Yi and get to the bottom of it.

He wanted to know why Xia Yi treated him this way, but at the time he couldn't find Xia Yi's exact location at all.

This also caused his various wishes to turn into unrealistic fantasies.

But things were different now, because he was standing right across from Xia Yi!

"A curse? You mean, as your teacher, I placed a curse on you?" Xia Yi listened patiently to what Du Lei had to say, and nodded thoughtfully.

“I don’t understand why you did this, and I don’t understand why you left,” Dure said, nodding truthfully.

"If I knew the answer to the question, I would definitely answer you. Unfortunately, I don't know the answer yet, but don't worry, as soon as I figure it out, I will definitely let you know as soon as possible."

"Did you curse me while informing me?" Dure asked him in return.

"Well... everything is done according to procedure. Even if I admire you, the rules cannot be broken," Xia Yi said casually.

"It seems that even if I went back ten years, I wouldn't be able to change anything, or even get an answer," Du Lei said somewhat dejectedly.

"By the way, you've been to Beishan before, right?" Xia Yi suddenly asked.

“Yes, I have been to Beishan. I was a guide, leading a group of people from the Eastern Continent northwards,” Du Lei nodded and said.

He was telling Xia Yi about things that had already happened, but for Xia Yi, those things hadn't happened yet.

"Then you must have seen the things underground in Beishan, right?" Xia Yi asked again.

"The thing buried underground in Beishan, that is..." Under Xia Yi's questioning, Du Lei carefully recalled the situation at that time.

"Is it a star stone?" Du Lei quickly realized.

“That’s right, what’s sealed beneath the North Mountain is a Star Stone, and a very important one at that,” Xia Yi nodded and said.

Is it important?

"Of course, it's extremely important. So, what's the whereabouts of that star stone?" Xia Yi asked.

“I gave it to Nan Yin. She must have taken the Star Stone back to the Eastern Continent. She came to the Hot Spring Village because of the Star Stone,” Du Lei said, recalling what happened nine years ago.

"So, you personally delivered the Star Stone to the Eastern Continent?" Xia Yi asked, frowning.

"That's how it is. What's wrong?" Du Lei asked him in return.

"It's not just a problem, it's a very serious problem."

"So what exactly is it?" Du Lei asked in surprise, seeing Xia Yi's serious expression.

"The Star Stone must never leave this continent. If it does, it will surely bring a great disaster. No wonder the spacetime rift has become so unstable. It's all because of this!" Xia Yi said in a serious tone.

"Are you saying that the reason I am here is because of the star stone I gave to Nan Yin?"

“That’s true, and I think that’s also your mission in coming back here,” Xia Yi said earnestly.

"Mission? What does that mean?" Du Lei could understand the literal meaning, but understanding Xia Yi's deeper meaning was more difficult.

“You have to stop yourself. You can’t give the Star Stone to that little girl from the Eastern Continent. You must take the Star Stone and put it in your own hands. Only then can you control the chaotic time order, return to the correct time and space, and see the person you want to see,” Xia Yi explained.

“But how can I control it? The timing is also wrong. The trip to Beishan happened two years after you left,” Du Lei immediately corrected.

"It seems quite a lot has happened while I was away."

"So I have to tell you, it's not that I don't want to get the Star Stone back, but that I don't even know where I am, let alone have the ability to accomplish such a feat as retrieving the Star Stone." Du Lei was essentially agreeing with Xia Yi.

After all, the Star Stone was given to Nan Yin by his own hand, and now he has to go and get it back.

Putting aside the fact that the current timeline is wrong, even if he did see Nan Yin, how could he possibly bring himself to say it?

“If you want to, you can do it. The reason you can’t is simply because you’re unwilling to do it, right?” Xia Yi retorted.

Why do I have to do this?

"Because this is your mission."

"Here we go again, talking about my mission or something. I've heard this kind of talk many times, but I still lack a reason to do it." Du Lei is a very persistent person, and persistent people are always particularly focused on some trivial details.

"Actually, I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but I can clearly feel that the gaps in time are becoming more and more obvious, and time is malfunctioning in various places. This problem will soon pose a great threat to the stability of space."

"And then what? What does that have to do with me?"

"The problem with you is that if you don't solve the issues caused by the time rift, you will be swallowed up by it. You won't be able to return to the real world and will be trapped in the time rift world like a nightmare forever," Xia Yi reminded him.

"So, I can't refuse to help even if I want to?" Du Lei finally understood what he meant.

"Yes, now that you've met me, we have to work together to solve these problems."

"Then tell me what to do first." Although Du Lei was still a little hesitant, Xia Yi was, after all, his first teacher.

He did not doubt what Xia Yi said.

"First, I need to send you back two years to the time when you appeared in Beishan. You must remember that the Star Stone cannot leave the Western Continent, understand?" Xia Yi solemnly reminded him.

"That's what you say, but how exactly should we do it?"

()

856 Correcting Errors

Du Lei and Xia Yi reached an agreement: Xia Yi would send him to a time two years in the future, to the day he entered Beishan, and leave the Star Stone behind, preventing Nan Yin from taking it back to the Eastern Continent.

After Du Lei finished doing this, Xia Yi sent him back to his correct time and space, which looked like a deal.

Although Du Lei still had many doubts, he agreed to Xia Yi's proposal.

As things stand, he has no other choice but to cooperate with Xia Yi.

Du Lei always believed that everything happens for a reason, and he believed that there must be a reason why he was in the hot spring village and saw his younger self, and that reason lay with Xia Yi.

Because Xia Yi said he could send him to two years in the future, it meant that Xia Yi possessed the wondrous power of time travel. Although this seemed somewhat unbelievable and hard to believe, Du Lei still believed that this man could do it.

Because Xia Yi is a man full of mysteries and possesses incredible power.

"Then stand here and close your eyes. I will soon send you to a time two years in the future." Xia Yi prepared to send Du Lei away.

"Before you send me away, may I ask you a question?" Dure suddenly asked.

"Ask whatever you want," Xia Yi gestured for Du Lei to continue asking questions, as he was sure to answer everything he knew.

"Why am I here, and why are you here?" Dure asked two questions in quick succession.

"Then let me answer your first question first. I guess the reason you are here is because you accidentally entered a node of a spacetime rift," Xia Yi thought for a moment and replied.

"A node in a spacetime rift, what is that?" Du Lei asked, frowning.

"The space-time we live in is stable most of the time, like a river that flows from high to low. But when faced with certain special circumstances, some abnormal reactions will occur," Xia Yi explained patiently.

"What kind of special circumstances are you referring to?" Du Lei asked, pressing for details.

"Special situations can be divided into two types. One type comes from the outside, meaning it is subjected to external pressure. For example, when two high-level magic users are engaged in a life-or-death battle, they will cause compression and damage to the space, which will lead to a small-scale collapse of the space. The other type is internal pressure, which is a problem with the space itself. Space has a certain capacity to withstand pressure. When it expands rapidly and reaches a certain level, it will collapse quickly. This will cause spacetime chaos in some very rare places in the originally stable spacetime, just like a section of a calm river suddenly becoming a rapid current." Xia Yi explained while giving examples.

"Now that you mention it, I think I understand. So, the Shadow Tower is a place where time and space are distorted. I accidentally entered the underground of the Shadow Tower and traveled through the distorted time and space to the present, right?" Du Lei asked after thinking carefully.

“That certainly seems to be the case.” Xia Yi nodded, confirming this.

"So what's the second question?" Dure continued to ask. He had solved the first question, but he was still very curious about the second one.

"There are many star stones on the continent. Do you know what star stones are?" Xia Yi asked him in return.

“Starstones are special stones with magical properties and great power,” Dure explained.

"It is true that Star Stone is a stone with special magic, but it also has a history."

"What's your background?" Du Lei immediately pressed.

“Starstones are stones that fell from the sky. They don’t belong to this world. To be precise, they are stars from the sky that fell to earth and formed here,” Xia Yi said softly.

"Did stars fall from the sky and turn into star stones?" Dure frowned. This was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing, and it surprised him greatly.