The Hero's Key

Just then, Yu Xian's ringtone sounded. He glanced at the caller ID and answered immediately. "Minister." "Two things. First, regarding your video—can it be released to the public?" Yu Lie asked bluntly. His tone was exceedingly grave, clearly feeling the immense pressure brought on by the recording. Yu Xian nodded. "Yes, though I'm worried it might cause panic." "The second thing: the state has decided to launch universal transcendent education," Yu Lie said. Yu Xian understood. If releasing the video would incite panic, universalizing transcendent education would serve as a counterbalance. Clearly, the state had already felt Edward's threat. In fact, that had been the very message he wanted to convey when editing the footage. Right now, Edward was busy conquering Earth, leaving the Huaxia grotto-heaven temporarily safe. But once Edward subdued the globe and had the time to investigate why Huaxia had vanished, the true crisis for the Huaxia grotto-heaven would arrive. "All right, I won't disturb you any further. Grow stronger as quickly as you can. Your potential is by far the greatest among everyone I've ever seen—don't squander your gift!" With that, Yu Lie hung up directly. Yu Xian slowly lowered his phone. He wanted to smile, yet couldn't, and in the end let out a quiet sigh. He, too, used to believe his potential was extraordinary. But after learning the conditions for advancing to Star Rank, he knew all too well that his potential was far from as grand as he had imagined. About ten minutes later, the other phone Yu Xian kept for entertainment vibrated, and a news broadcast began playing automatically. On the screen, an anchorwoman reported on Edward's return to Earth and the horrific slaughter that followed, after which the video edited by Yu Xian was aired. Once the video finished, the broadcast fell completely silent for a full minute before the anchorwoman finally began reporting on the nationwide rollout of transcendent education. In fact, it wasn't just his phone playing the two broadcasts at that moment. Wherever there were screens across every city, both news segments were being shown. Only now did countless people finally realize the true significance of Huaxia's transformation into a grotto-heaven. "Terrifying... Thank goodness we already became a grotto-heaven, otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable." ... "Dear gods, thank goodness for the grotto-heaven transformation. Otherwise, what happened to the Americans would've happened to us." ... "That dog Edward was clearly planning to strike at us first! Good thing we got away in time. Praise the Fish God! Praise the nation!" ... "So the grotto-heaven transformation was prepared for this very moment! Every move the country made truly had a purpose. My son's cerebral palsy wasn't without value after all!" ... "My God, Supreme Man actually knelt? He used to be my idol!" ... "Hahahaha! We can finally cultivate! I'm going to become a sword immortal and slay Edward with a single strike in the future!" ... "Praise the Fish God! Praise the grotto-heaven!" At this moment, countless people expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the contributions of Yu Xian and the others. Yu Xian's popularity had originally begun to taper off, but following this broadcast, it skyrocketed by countless times. Those who had previously failed to appreciate his contributions understood completely after watching the video. They finally grasped what a magnificent feat Huaxia's transformation into a grotto-heaven was, and why the state had gone to such lengths to transport the nation's territory. The country had foreseen Edward's threat long ago and taken preemptive measures, sparing the nation from disaster. *** Island Grotto-Heaven. As the broadcast ended, Yu Xian immediately felt a faint warmth in his chest. The Serpent Heart was wildly absorbing an endless surge of positive intent pouring in from Huaxia. This positive intent contained extremely pure, benevolent emotions—worship, gratitude, appreciation, trust, inspiration, joy—in overwhelming volume. If only ten percent of Huaxia had felt grateful for their contributions before, then following this news broadcast and the realization of what the grotto-heaven meant, that sentiment surged past ninety-five percent. The reason it wasn't a full hundred percent was that no matter where one looked, there were always those who simply wanted to watch the world burn, as well as those completely apathetic to anything happening around them. Even so, ninety-five percent of such positive intent was more than enough to gorge the Serpent Heart. Clutching his chest, Yu Xian felt as though the Serpent Heart were about to burst. Yet, just as human greed knows no bounds, the Serpent Heart was both human heart and serpent; it cared nothing for being stuffed to the bursting point, ravenously devouring every scrap of positive intent that flowed in. "This is way too much!" "Don't blow up—hold on for me!" Yu Xian's face flushed bright red. He hurriedly entered his Integrator Form, using his black blood to reinforce the Serpent Heart and desperately trying to keep it from truly rupturing. Time ticked by. The color of his face shifted constantly, and he even considered drawing upon the Heaven-Weeping Blood Sword to bolster his physique once more. Finally, before it could detonate, the Serpent Heart—already purified beyond whiteness—underwent a qualitative leap born of pure quantity. Yu Xian's consciousness was abruptly yanked into the interior of the Serpent Heart. There, he saw the giant serpent 'Ba,' followed by Ba's mother, 'Xi,' and then Xi's mother, 'Su.' It was as though time were flowing backward. His consciousness traced back along the serpent's lineage. The Soaring King Mirage Serpent was, in truth, a crossbreed of crossbreeds of crossbreeds of crossbreeds... As Yu Xian traced further and further back, each serpent he saw was vaster than the last. There were white serpents bearing dragon horns, and colossal serpents with bodies like crystal, each rivaling a planet in size. There was even a bizarre red serpent lurking on Mars. It was fair to say that Yu Xian had not seen as many snakes in his entire seventeen years of life as he did in this single moment. Fortunately, he wasn't afraid of them; otherwise, the experience would have been sheer agony. At last, his consciousness reached the very origin of the serpent bloodline: a colossal serpent ringed in purple and engulfed in azure flames. The azure-flamed, purple-ringed serpent itself seemed ordinary enough, and Yu Xian had no way of knowing what transpired after it bore its offspring. Yet the moment he laid eyes upon it, he felt vaguely scrutinized by an unknown presence—one that made no effort to conceal itself, casting a single glance before turning away. The next second, the boundless positive intent ceased pouring into the Serpent Heart, flooding into Yu Xian's consciousness instead. The unending stream of positive intent gradually coalesced into a golden key, and its name naturally surfaced in Yu Xian's mind: the Hero's Key. The instant the Hero's Key took shape, Yu Xian's consciousness snapped out of the Serpent Heart. Opening his eyes, he instinctively raised a hand to his brow. The Hero's Key slowly emerged from his forehead, landing neatly in his palm. Holding the Hero's Key, he knew intuitively that it could unlock a door—though what lay behind that door remained an utter mystery. "Auntie, what's going on here?" Yu Xian asked Zhenwo Changjing at once, holding up the key. Zhenwo Changjing looked at the key in his hand, falling silent for a moment before speaking. "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. This key... where did it come from?" "Auntie, you didn't see it? It literally just poked out of my head. You really didn't notice?" Yu Xian asked in astonishment. Zhenwo Changjing shook her head. She reached out, intending to take the Hero's Key and examine it, but she grasped only empty air from Yu Xian's palm, her fingers brushing lightly across his skin as she frowned. "I can't touch it. This might be a creation of some extremely unique rule." "..." This was the first time Yu Xian had ever seen Zhenwo Changjing frown. In the past, no matter what happened, she had always faced it with a smile. Evidently, this Hero's Key lay beyond even her comprehension. A profound surge of curiosity welled up within Yu Xian. What could possibly lie behind the door opened by the Hero's Key?