Chapter 54

Chapter 54, Part 1: Author's Upload Announcement

[Translator's Note: This is the author's afterword posted when the novel went premium on Ciweimao. Included for completeness.]

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It's live!

I'm a bit excited. I didn't expect Ciweimao's community to be this welcoming. Everyone is so kind — even readers who don't enjoy it mostly just leave a downvote and move on. Very few people are hostile.

I was originally supposed to go premium next week, but other authors in my group told me that since my first trial was a "Popular New Book," I'd only get two effective recommendation slots. There was no point chasing a third — it would probably just hurt my retention. So I pushed to update faster these past few days.

The update schedule won't slow down after going premium. Promise! Thumbs_up.jpg

As for the pure-romance complaints that keep coming up — I discussed this with a more experienced author a while back, and he was very... blunt.

He said that for a harem approach, you need to somewhat objectify the female characters, focus on the hunting mentality, and a lot more. His analysis was solid, and I know he's right... but it just doesn't feel cool, you know?

In the end, I decided that every character should have their own reason for existing, their own intersection with the protagonist, their own place in the plot. That's what makes a good ensemble.

As for Commerce Xing — she's basically an opening easter-egg timeline, following the Stonehearts' path. She might be a bit polarizing, and that's probably a writing issue on my end — I personally don't have much exposure to business-elite characters.

I think a commercially successful Xing shouldn't be naive. But she'd still care about her friends — the Asta on her side — and by extension, the Asta in the group. I'll watch how more skilled authors handle it and learn.

As for adult Jingliu — I won't be dissolving her hatred toward Abundance. She held that grudge from Year 7300 to Year 8100. If that hatred could be easily resolved... it would feel awful. So in the future, I'll be writing Yaoshi to flesh out the Abundance Aeon's character, making both sides' final confrontation something neither regrets.

Finally, the timeline question. There won't be too many alternate lines. The official game gives plenty, but many are actually compatible. Here's the current timeline layout:

- Wangshu: Star Calendar Year 6299
- Asta: Year 8099, Amber 2157 (the only canon timeline — currently derailed by Asta)
- Jingliu: Year 8100, Amber 2158 (Propagation remnants, Hunt Revered Spirit, Destruction Archon Jingliu line)
- March 7th: Year 8100, Amber 2158 (same timeline as Jingliu, but the Express went to the Prismatic Trails — facing Scorchwind)
- Herta██: Year 8101, Amber 2158 (Iron Tomb line — stated to be "much later," so it can't be simultaneous with Jingliu/March)
- Xing: Year 8102, Amber 2157 (hasn't confirmed it yet; same timeline as Herta)

It might look messy laid out, but it flows naturally when writing. I'll do my best to make it comfortable to read too.

And finally — it's live! Brothers!

Please subscribe and follow!

PS: Here's a friend's plug! We're both in the Class of 2025 reserves, and he's a veteran group-chatter.

"Zoffy, Star of Light, Joins the Villain Chat Group"
[Synopsis omitted]

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Chapter 54, Part 2: My Lover Is Still Waiting for Me at Home!

"Monster? Why fixate on physical form?"

Hoolay's voice carried a note of genuine surprise. They hadn't expected Wangshu's reasoning to be so... artless. Had this child's brain been addled by selling jianbing guozi?

Not because of Xianzhou ideology. Simply because of a single phrase — "inhuman monstrosity."

"So your path to transcendence requires robbery? Plundering others, refining their essence into your own body?"

Wangshu cut in without ceremony, sword tip resting against the ground, faintly trembling.

The same conviction held: everyone had their own thoughts. Perhaps those who'd walked the path were right. But Wangshu hadn't walked it yet, and he wouldn't allow himself to become that numb, that coldly efficient.

Hoolay studied him as one might appraise a rare artifact: "The strong devour the weak — this is the cosmos's natural law. If a stray dog trotted past carrying the treasure you've yearned for, would you simply watch it trample your prize?"

They stepped forward, space around Them subtly warping, Abundance's aura surging like a tide: "By what right do Yaoshi's faithful — who hear the sermons, embrace the doctrine — remain lesser than those who merely inherited the Xianzhou bloodline?"

Though this furnace-core doctrine would eventually be sealed by the Xianzhou High Marshal as heresy, it was genuinely real.

In the future, the young Hoolay would violently seize this power and integrate it into his flesh — though never quite mastering it.

【Bright Future Chat Group】

【System Notification: Group member Jingliu has granted you full Ability Card invocation access. Valid until manually revoked or protocol conflict.】

Jingliu: "Don't believe Them. Using the furnace-core as a foundation, breath as wind and rain — it only turns you into an abomination. If you can't suppress a god's gift, the core will grow rampant in your blood. Falling to mara would only be the beginning."

Xing had questions, but now clearly wasn't the time.

Xing: "Stellaron kid — you're probably not a true Emanator yet, so you wouldn't understand the mechanics."

Xing: "The Iron Tomb's records contain Xianzhou research. If someone could fully master the furnace-core and use it as a foundation... they'd succeed at anything."

March 7th: "Like Blade?"

Xing: "No — he didn't receive a god's gift. He cultivated it himself. And he was originally a tree, so there's no conflict."

Asta: "This sounds even more dangerous..."

【System Notification: Group member Asta has granted you full Ability Card access.】

A faint trickle of power entered his body — like a cup of hot tea on a cold night. As for the exclusive skill, it seemed to only enhance Wangshu's observational acuity, not even matching Senior Jingliu's base stats... Meager, but everything Asta had to give.

"Wangshu — you are Propagation's child. Will you truly fight for these faithless wretches who received grace yet show no gratitude?"

Hoolay made one final appeal. The deep spatial fluctuation solidified completely. Abundance's overwhelming aura thickened as longevity energy crashed forward. The barren ground erupted with countless sprouts that bloomed, withered, and bloomed again at impossible speed — an endless cycle.

Wangshu raised his chin: "Of course. My moral compass doesn't allow me to trust a mass murderer."

Sure enough — Propagation's aura, faint as it was, steadily corroded and assimilated the surrounding Abundance pageantry.

Almost in the same instant—

"Jiye!" Before Hoolay could say another word, the strategist was hurled skyward. By the time Jiye recovered from the howling wind, he found himself surrounded by ice and frost — the sudden cold making even a Foxian shiver.

"A child of Propagation should stay in the gutters where they belong, quietly breeding their swarm." Hoolay's voice lost all warmth. Their humanoid form began to swell and distort: "Since you insist on being fertilizer... I'll oblige."

True to Their doctrine — furnace-core as foundation, flesh as soil, breath as wind and rain — Hoolay's true form became a walking colossus of a tree. Its branches gleamed like hammered gold, blooming with vivid peach blossoms. Over a hundred arm-like limbs sealed off every line of sight, blotting out the sky. Wangshu's vision held nothing but a woven net of golden branches.

Wangshu's combat experience was limited. But it was enough.

"Fear nothing! Reject nothing! Overcome death with me — join me, and I shall carry Propagation's ideals to the eternal and imperishable!"

A hundred arms reached out — some spear-straight, jabbing from every direction!

【System Notification: Group member Xing has granted you full Ability Card access.】

Hoolay laughed thunderously. The massive branches pierced— pierced— CLANG!

Xing?

The fine grain of the rock layer became faintly visible.

Wangshu had been ready to parry, until he realized that with the stacked stats, he'd grown stronger again. He didn't even bother pretending to struggle.

"Fear nothing! Worry nothing! My sword was taught by the Xianzhou's Sword Champion — Flawless Radiance. I will carry her swordsmanship and slowly write my own new chapter."

The scales between them tipped like a seesaw — the moment one side faltered, the other seized the opening. While they traded words, Wangshu braced himself against the branches using Preservation's radiance, then rode the momentum upward, sword-light arcing like a rainbow.

"Impossible! How can a child of Propagation have Preservation— the Pestilent Swarm Lord?!"

Hoolay's face went ashen, all warmth gone. Could the IPC's intel be any less reliable? How trustworthy was their information, exactly?!

"Lend me your light — to cut through all the weeds!"

Wangshu didn't care about any of that. His sword never stopped. The clumsy techniques that had felt awkward in practice flowed with startling ease in actual combat.

Frost-white sword energy swept out in a curtain. Everything in its path froze — ice crystals spreading rapidly.

Crisp snapping sounds rang out in succession! Several golden arms that couldn't retract in time were sheared clean — mirror-smooth cuts — then rapidly devoured by Propagation.

The Abundance flora gathered around stood motionless — only stirring when the shockwave of combat blew apart their hollowed-out husks.

As for the young Hoolay? Gone. He'd apparently fled. He'd been listening for power, after all.

Hoolay grew increasingly silent. They rooted into the earth, gradually reverting to Their true form. Immense vitality surged from the depths, attempting to repair the damage.

"Hey — Wangshu. Truce. I'm rooted in the ley lines. My vitality is endless. You can't kill me."

Only after two more golden limbs were severed did They begin to feel the loss.

Wangshu said nothing. He simply kept swinging. Over a hundred converging arms made the perfect sparring partner — his blade had never felt so right in his hands. Propagation's power gnawed ceaselessly, and the supposedly eternal, deathless longevity began showing source-level damage. Regeneration slowed.

"We could share Cangcheng. You came there for a reason, didn't you? Split the Langgan Jade Tree — it could stabilize the chaotic power inside you."

The human-faced peach blossoms began bearing fruit. Despite Propagation's corrosion, rooting into the earth had actually boosted recovery speed in the short term.

Wangshu answered without thinking: "There is no 'we.' My lover is in Cangcheng. She's still waiting for me to come home."