“You are favored by fate.”
When the giant uttered these words, a chill ran down Li Wen’s spine.
If there was one secret Li Wen had kept more tightly than her identity as a regressor, it was this: she had used the Urd’s Thorn.
It was a truth she could never allow to surface.
If it did, the consequences would be far worse than death.
The Urd’s Thorn was a divine artifact symbolizing the “Past.”
It had the power to alter it.
The eldest of the three Fates, Urd, wove the threads of destiny with this very thorn.
In her previous life, the Strategy Team had wrested it from the hands of the three goddesses and treated it as their last trump card against the Twilight Apocalypse.
When Twilight finally descended, the Thorn was entrusted to Li Wen.
The entire team had staked their lives to prove that the apocalypse could be resisted.
Following their plan, Li Wen used the Urd’s Thorn to stab herself, transferring her memories into the Li Wen of this life.
That moment gave birth to the present reality.
And even now, the Thorn remained embedded deep within her soul, granting her the strength to stand against destiny itself.
If anyone were to imprison her soul and extract the Thorn, not only would Li Wen perish in the truest sense, but the world’s only hope against the Twilight Apocalypse would vanish as well.
Everything the Strategy Team sacrificed would be for nothing.
The world would meet its absolute end.
“Fate?”
Li Wen quickly regained her composure.
The Urd’s Thorn was not widely known, not even among gods.
Even they might not recognize it hidden within a soul.
“That’s right. You may not realize it, but I can tell. The three Fates have shown you unusual favor—most of all Urd. Her presence clings to you strongly,” explained the giant, Wan Zhong.
“This is an exceedingly rare occurrence. Even for one who walks the path of fate, like myself, it is seldom seen.”
So he followed the Path of Fate—that explained a lot.
Li Wen relaxed a little.
At least she could confirm that the giant hadn’t used any kind of mind-reading or soul-targeting spell.
Techniques like that, just like soul magic, didn’t work on players.
“So you let me live and kill the fire mage… because you walk the Path of Fate?”
“Yes. At that moment, there was the faintest chance you could survive, so I allowed it to happen. As for the mage, it was the same—only I moved his death a little earlier.”
Manipulating probability, making what might happen come to pass, and stopping what might not—this was one of the powers of the Path of Fate.
“I see,” Li Wen nodded.
“And you say you can help me obtain the End Codex?”
“Precisely. I can tell you how to avoid the Amber Maidens, and how to enter the temple safely.”
“I don’t need that.”
The strategy guide already detailed how to enter the Amber Temple.
If that was all he offered, Li Wen wouldn’t have risked stepping into the outer district of Amber City.
At her words, the giant Wan Zhong fell silent for a long time.
Only after a while did he speak again.
“Then what do you need? I don’t have much to offer.”
“A promise,” said Li Wen.
A promise from a giant long-lived being—that was worth more than any reward.
“Very well. But you must bring the person out first. I won’t lift a finger until then.”
“There’s something else,” Li Wen added.
“As you can probably tell, I’m still quite weak. If I enter the outer district now, I’d probably die without even knowing why.”
She tried to use this as leverage to gain more, but the giant wouldn’t bite.
Or rather, there simply wasn’t much he could offer her.
“It doesn’t matter. I have enough patience to wait. Even until the end of the world.”
He had already waited far too long—from the distant Golden Age to now.
A few more days meant nothing to him.
That span of time didn’t even compare to a nap in his eyes.
“Besides… you don’t need to remain here in Amber City. Take out your Eye of the Transcendent.”
Li Wen did as told and pulled the item from her bag.
A crimson thread stretched down from the top of the tower, threading into the fractured gemstone.
“I’ve interfered with its functioning,” the giant explained.
“When you use it and speak the words ‘Eternal City,’ it will take you straight to Amber City.”
***
[Broken Eye of the Transcendent]
[Accessory – Gem – Rare (Purple)]
[Said to be innately magical, this is in truth the eye of a hunting hound, used to pursue beings who sought transcendence.]
[Unstable Teleportation: Consumes an unpredictable amount of mana to perform a random short- or long-distance spatial jump. Cooldown: 15 days.]
[Stable Teleportation (Amber City): Consumes all remaining mana to teleport directly to the inner district of Amber City upon chanting “Eternal City.” Cooldown: 30 days.]
To consume all of one’s remaining mana and trigger a teleportation spell with a fixed destination—this was an immensely powerful life-saving tool.
The only downside?
Amber City was no tranquil place.
This was the first piece of purple-grade equipment Li Wen had acquired.
And its attached spell truly lived up to the item’s rarity.
“That’s it. You may go now. If you have more questions, you can always come to me again. But I’ll leave you with one warning—if you don’t want to die, stay far away from the temple. Even I won’t be able to save you if you go poking around.”
“Got it. I’ll plan accordingly.”
Li Wen agreed. She had no intention of heading to the temple just yet.
With a reliable means of teleportation, she could prepare much more thoroughly and ensure she obtained the End Codex without fail.
“Before you go, I have a question for you,” Wan Zhong suddenly said.
“A question?”
Li Wen looked puzzled. If a long-lived being like him didn’t know the answer, chances were she wouldn’t either.
“In your opinion, is ‘Twilight’ the eternity of the end—or the end of eternity?”
That was an unfair question.
Li Wen had no answer.
Everything she knew about Twilight and its associated doctrines came from the Strategy Team.
And even they probably knew less than this native of Amber City.
“There’s no need to answer now,” the giant said gently.
“When you’ve obtained the End Codex, and ascended to the rank of ‘Witch’—if that future becomes reality—you can answer me then… Go now. Enter the clock tower. It will take you back to the Mortal Realm.”
“The Mortal Realm?”
Li Wen blinked. That was what the Golden Age once called the world itself.
“You mean… I’m not in the Mortal Realm now?”
“You didn’t think you were just underground, did you?” the giant roared with laughter.
“Amber City—Eternal City—is a realm isolated from the world. Twilight’s power seals it completely. Before the Pactbearer raise the Spire, this city didn’t even have a single path connecting it to the outside world.”
Tftc!