In truth, what people called singularities were nothing particularly grand or profound.
It was akin to a village with two people who loved chewing gum. If gum was only sold at the corner store by the village entrance, the odds were high that the two of them would cross paths there.
Scaling this concept up continuously yielded what was known as a singularity.
When it came to his parallel selves, Yu Xian was always far too softhearted and benevolent.
He didn't kill Xu Xian.
Instead, he decided to use his ability to directly enslave Xu Xian, forcing him to slave away like a beast of burden for him forever after.
"Don't even dream of making me yield! You may enslave my body, but you'll never enslave my soul!" Xu Xian shouted, thrashing, resisting furiously, and hurling curses as he saw Yu Xian's large hand reaching for him.
Yu Xian pressed his hand against Xu Xian's head, and the power of Chaos and Myriad Phenomena instantly surged into Xu Xian's body.
"Don't you dare! Don't you... I want... I want... I want to be enslaved."
"Quick, hurry and enslave my body! Hurry, enslave my soul!"
"I love being enslaved the most! Please enslave me!"
Xu Xian's eyes turned from fierce defiance to crystal clarity in the blink of an eye. Watching this, Zhang Shou couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
"Salty Fish, that move of yours is way too evil," Zhang Shou quipped.
After completely turning Xu Xian's soul into a summoned beast, Yu Xian grinned. "It's just a tool. Weapons aren't good or bad; it all depends on whose hands they're in."
"Fair point," Zhang Shou nodded.
Yu Xian ordered Xu Xian to get up, saying nonchalantly, "Scram. Go investigate the demonic fall phenomenon. If you uncover more clues, contact me or Old Zhang."
"As you command, Master," Xu Xian answered at once.
The next instant, he transformed back into a giant dragon and flew off, leaving only Yu Xian and Zhang Shou in the space once more.
Yu Xian and Zhang Shou looked at the corpse of the Demonic Dragon, which had been cleaved in two. Zhang Shou sighed. "Does this count as having our lead cut off?"
"Cut off, my ass. What kind of lead could this thing have had anyway?" Yu Xian rolled his eyes, unable to hold back a retort.
Yu Xian then prepared to return to Zhen Realm. After a moment's thought, he produced a ring and said, "This is an Admin Dog Ring. Next time you need to reach me, you won't have to go through the hassle of contacting Little Nora—just use this."
With that, he tossed the ring to Zhang Shou, who caught it and nodded in understanding.
"Alright, I'm heading back to continue the banquet. See ya," Yu Xian said briskly, seeing that business here was concluded.
The next moment, he vanished, leaving Zhang Shou alone. Putting the ring on, Zhang Shou was surprised to discover that the Zhen Realm friends list was now accessible, and even the Star Ring in his mind could connect to the network.
"Holy crap, what kind of sci-fi black magic is this?" Zhang Shou muttered.
He tested it out by opening Little Nora's livestream. Sure enough, the stream played smoothly. He then opened a livestream from the Zhen Realm, and that worked just as well.
"Alright, time for me to slip away too," Zhang Shou muttered to himself as he disconnected.
Right then, however, a little mouse poked its head out from inside his clothes and said, "Big Bro, about my thing..."
"Oh, right, there's still you. Fine, I'll ask for you." Zhang Shou only then remembered that Siberian Rat wanted to become Little Nora's assistant.
Zhang Shou reconnected to the network and reached out to Little Nora.
"Zhang Shou? What's up?"
Little Nora answered the call, looking somewhat surprised to see Zhang Shou.
After all, Zhang Shou had just reached Yu Xian through her a short while ago. Calling again so soon—could something major have happened?
"Nothing's wrong—well, actually, there is one small thing. This little guy is Siberian Rat, an old regular in your stream. Look what it looks like now," Zhang Shou said toward the light screen, holding Siberian Rat up by the scruff of its neck.
Little Nora exclaimed in surprise, "So Siberian Rat really is a rat!"
"It's no ordinary rat, but a transmigrated rat. It used to be human. Because its current world isn't particularly friendly toward it, I wanted to ask on its behalf—do you need an assistant? Doing odd jobs works too. Slaving away like a beast of burden... seems like it's fine with that too." Zhang Shou didn't beat around the bush, laying out the whole situation directly so Little Nora could decide for herself.
Little Nora looked at Siberian Rat and asked curiously, "Siberian Rat, you were originally human? Were you a guy or a girl? What was your real name? How old were you?"
"My real name... I forgot. I think... a girl? As for how old... I forgot that too," Siberian Rat replied somewhat sheepishly.
Little Nora said in dissatisfaction, "How strange. If you don't know anything, how do you even know you're a transmigrator?"
"I have a special ability!" Siberian Rat piped up hurriedly.
Zhang Shou nodded repeatedly as well, vouching that Siberian Rat's special ability was indeed quite useful.
"Not interested. No thanks." Little Nora furrowed her brow and shook her head in refusal.
Zhang Shou sighed helplessly, but respecting Little Nora's choice, he nodded. "Alright. Since Little Nora doesn't need one, let's drop it."
After ending the call, he looked down at Siberian Rat and shrugged.
"Failed as expected," Siberian Rat sighed.
Zhang Shou consoled it, "Little Nora doesn't like having assistants or other people getting in the way of her eating in the first place. Only friends she's personally acknowledged get to eat with her on stream."
"Thanks for the comfort. But Zhang Shou... have you ever considered a possibility: what, truly, is a saber?" Siberian Rat spoke in an eerie, hushed tone.
In the next instant, its eyes abruptly flared with emerald-green light.
What was a saber?
Zhang Shou was taken aback for a second before green light overtook his pupils. Countless emerald rays swiftly invaded his body like spreading roots, creeping through his nervous system and spreading into his soul.
"The saber is the king of lethal weapons."
"It severs the heavens, severs the earth, severs gods, severs demons, severs mortals—nothing beyond its edge."
"Those whose hearts bear shackles may wield the blade far and wide, yet will forever remain slaves to the saber. Only by severing affection and extinguishing love, by severing the self and severing all others, does one become the master of slaughter."
"Zhang Shou, hear this well: Behold the saber's lethal edge, let it whet within the heart; grip the blade with killing force, yet keep the spirit loose and free..."
Siberian Rat crept steadily from Zhang Shou's palm toward his shoulder, its voice ringing like a demonic incantation, drilling unceasingly into Zhang Shou's ears, his mind, his sea of consciousness, and the deepest recesses of his soul.
Just as it was about to reach Zhang Shou's ear, the Admin Dog Ring worn on Zhang Shou's finger suddenly erupted with brilliant golden light.
The golden light enveloped Zhang Shou's hand at blinding speed, spreading from his right hand across his entire body, while the letters 'GM' flared in massive text above his head.
The moment this shocking turn occurred, Siberian Rat retreated several hundred meters away, fixing its gaze unblinkingly on Zhang Shou.
"That was close. I nearly fell for your trick." Washed clean in an instant by the golden light, Zhang Shou's eyes turned crystal-clear once more. He looked toward Siberian Rat and said grimly.
Siberian Rat sighed. It had failed after all.
Zhang Shou frowned. "The demonic fall phenomenon... could it be your doing?"
That had been far too close just now. If not for the Admin Dog Ring given to him by Yu Xian, he would have truly been done for.
Chapter 625