stonecrandall Chapter 1002 The conditions offered by the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan!
Chapter 1002 The conditions offered by the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan!
After a long silence, Gao Yao chuckled softly, a laugh filled with undisguised sarcasm and a chilling, all-knowing detachment: "Heh, cooperation?" He tilted his head slightly, his gaze dissecting the other man with surgical precision. "Do you think that, given our entangled history of grudges and your past actions, I can trust you? Or do you believe that, after your repeated attempts to scheme against me, and even your possible attempts to kill me, you can trust me?"
This pointed question, like a sharp sword, instantly pierced through the fragile atmosphere of peace that had just been created.
To Gao Yao's surprise, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan showed no hesitation or embarrassment in the face of this sharp question. He took a step forward, staring intently at Gao Yao, his tone resolute and filled with an almost obsessive certainty:
"I believe you!"
These three words, like three heavy pebbles, were thrown into Gao Yao's already turbulent heart, stirring up a storm far beyond his expectations. He had anticipated countless reactions—questioning, mocking, bargaining, even a sudden attack—and he had prepared layers of rhetoric, strategies of coercion and enticement, and contingency plans for a sudden reversal. The only thing he hadn't prepared for was this straightforward, even absurd, "trust."
For the first time in public, Gao Yao displayed a genuine, almost uncontrollable, shock. His face, usually shrouded in a mask of authority and calculation, froze for a moment. The sharp light in his eyes seemed to be shattered by this illogical answer, revealing a fleeting bewilderment. His brain raced, trying to dissect a thousand schemes from those three simple words, only to find that all logical connections seemed utterly powerless at this moment.
He was stunned, as if something was blocking his throat, and for a moment, he couldn't even form a complete response.
Meanwhile, the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, standing not far away under the light of the core of the celestial star, clearly took in Gao Yao's rare loss of composure. On his face, which was identical to Yi Xiaochuan's but bore the marks of countless years of vicissitudes and dark secrets, a barely perceptible fluctuation passed through it, seemingly mocking, yet also a kind of knowing sorrow.
He didn't give Gao more time to think. With a slight movement, he used the strange, seemingly gravity-weakened environment of the underground palace to leap lightly like a weightless feather, tracing an unnatural arc before landing steadily on a floating boulder less than ten meters away from Gao. This distance was already a dangerous zone that experts of their level could reach in an instant.
"Don't you believe me?" Yi Xiaochuan's mysterious voice was calm, yet carried a penetrating power, as if he could see through all of Gao Yao's doubts and calculations. "I can give up Liaodong and Liaoxi, and incidentally help you eliminate Wei Bao and Xiang Yu, allowing you to truly unify the world without leaving any future troubles." His first condition was enough to tempt Gao Yao. Sweeping away the two strongest enemies and offering vast territory—what an immense temptation!
But that wasn't enough. He continued, his tone as calm as if he were discussing the weather, but the content was earth-shattering: "I could even surrender willingly, allowing you to imprison me in the deepest dungeon, under your personal supervision."
His gaze swept over Gao Yao's slightly constricted pupils, and he slowly revealed his ultimate goal, "And you, you only need to ensure the existence of Tianxing. Furthermore, I can give you ample time to wait for your wife, son, and even grandson... to pass away completely, and to enjoy their ordinary yet fulfilling lives. When that time comes, and there are no more worldly attachments for you, we will proceed with further improvements to Tianxing. At that time, we will transcend this endless cycle of reincarnation together and share eternity. How about it?"
The conditions! A seemingly perfect condition, impossible to refuse! If Gao Yao agreed, the world could be unified in two or three years at most, a stable and unshakeable state without any potential threats. He not only offered up territory and eliminated powerful enemies, but also his own freedom, placing his life and death in Gao Yao's control, all in exchange for a "wait." Waiting for Gao Yao's loved ones to naturally grow old and complete their life's journey before embarking on the path to immortality. This was practically taking all the risks and responsibilities upon himself, while handing over the greatest security and initiative to Gao Yao.
If… if Gao Yao had heard of such a contract before the system's rewards arrived, he would have been absolutely thrilled, and might even have agreed without hesitation. After all, unifying the world was the embodiment of his ambition, and protecting his family was his deepest obsession, the culmination of his struggle to survive across a thousand years. A world without hidden dangers, coupled with the peaceful lives of his loved ones, and finally, eternal life—this was almost the perfect ending he could imagine.
But now, it's different.
Deep within his consciousness, the cold, mechanical system notification seemed to still echo. That unprecedentedly generous reward wasn't merely an increase in power, but a subversion of his understanding, allowing him to glimpse deeper rules and possibilities. The system clearly pointed out the instability and potential dangers of celestial energy, as well as the immense causal disturbances caused by those who weren't immortals of this timeline. More importantly, the system offered him a seemingly more difficult, yet more controllable, and "cleaner" path to immortality. Sharing eternity with a treacherous, unpredictable "kindred spirit"? No, Gao Yao preferred the feeling of firmly grasping his own destiny.
For the enigmatic Yi Xiaochuan, proposing this seemingly extremely unfavorable condition was by no means a choice he willingly made. It was more like a meticulously calculated gamble. A direct confrontation with Gao Yao, whose strength had surged once again, was highly unlikely. The more probable outcome was mutual destruction, or even a complete wipeout, utterly destroying Tianxing—an ending he absolutely could not accept. Therefore, he chose a seemingly humiliating retreat, but in reality, it was the only strategy, given his current disadvantage, that might allow him to preserve his core objective.
His actual condition was far worse than it appeared.
Gao Yao, this butterfly from the future, has stirred up a storm with his flapping wings, completely altering the course of history. The first to suffer the backlash from this change is the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, who attempts to maintain the "correct course of history." On the surface, he remains calm and unfathomable. But in reality, his life essence is draining away at an alarming rate, and his martial prowess has already been greatly diminished; he merely masks this with his profound inner strength and special techniques.
The root of all this lies in the groundbreaking knowledge and technology that Gaoyao brought.