Pretending To Be A Boss
Chapter 898 - 57: Consciousness Swap_2

After understanding his own resistance mechanism, Tang Xian was certain that non-organic forces could not generate resistance.

But when the force of rules descended, his vitality and recovery speed were greatly enhanced.

This had always been something Tang Xian could not comprehend.

At this moment, he began to understand.

Thinking carefully about all his near-death experiences, none of them recurred like the scenario during the seven-day rule.

In other words, that was the closest he had come to death, enough to prompt the Lord of Eden to intervene prematurely.

And in the subsequent near-death experiences, perhaps in the eyes of the Lord of Eden, death was never inevitable.

Whether it was dealing with the Apostle-transformed Tang Jing, handling Tang Feiji in the Deep Sea Palace, or confronting those deep-sea beasts.

Or even facing the Sea God's Persistence, the Nether Phoenix Persistence, and the Red Emperor.

In each of these encounters with death, he had overcome them through various hidden cards.

Perhaps it was the power of the Heart of Eden, perhaps it was the legacy of the Beast God within him, or perhaps it was the burning talent left behind by the Orderlies.

It was through these various abilities that he continuously survived death, seemingly by chance but actually inevitable.

And the death experience that truly could have claimed his life was the experience during the seven-day rule, and this time, facing the Judge.

The true Lord of Eden was coming, and the secret of duality was about to be revealed.

At this moment, Tang Xian felt an almost endless force, and even the Judge, he dared to confront head-on.

But he did not engage with the Judge.

Feeling the intense pull within his consciousness, Tang Xian began to take his final actions.

He first approached Tang Feiji and, under the golden rays spreading across the sky, injected a certain force into Tang Feiji's body.

The negative effects brought by the Exhaustive Ray were instantly suppressed temporarily.

"Take everyone and leave."

[What about you? What are these lights?]Tang Feiji asked.

"Don't ask, just do as I say. Take everyone and leave, return to Baichuan City!"

Tang Feiji wanted to say more, but Tang Xian's figure had already moved elsewhere.

He approached Bai Mansheng and began to treat Bai Mansheng.

The Judge saw Tang Xian seemingly making a move and wanted to stop him, but was forced back by a single glare from Tang Xian.

[Do you still not realize your situation?]

Unlike his usual words, this time Tang Xian's voice resonated in the Judge's consciousness. The Judge felt that this voice was not truly Tang Xian's. The familiar warning forced it to pause.

Bai Mansheng, in her Nuwa Emperor form, was quickly relieved of the negative effects of the Exhaustive Ray by Tang Xian using some special force.

[What's going on?]Bai Mansheng reacted the same way as Tang Feiji at this moment.

Tang Xian softly said:

"Little White Snake, we'll need to be apart for a while."

[What's happening to you?]

"I'm going away for a while. I don't know how long, but for now, you must stay with Tang Feiji and lead everyone back to Baichuan City. Then, have Li Xiaoyu or Tang Jing contact Qi Yuan, and tell them the worst-case scenario has occurred."

[Tang Xian, what's happening? What's going to happen to you? What does 'the worst-case scenario' mean?]

Bai Mansheng's tone was urgent, her expression full of concern.

In truth, Tang Xian also didn't know what would happen. He simply had a vague feeling that he would go somewhere very distant—perhaps he'd return soon, or perhaps it would take a long time.

"Not every story allows us to know its ending. Just remember my words."

The pull within his consciousness grew stronger, and Tang Xian resisted with all his strength, only to feel a wave of dizziness in his mind.

Sleepiness crashed over him like ocean tides.

He desperately wanted to succumb to slumber.

Especially as he got closer to Junlin and the Dark Crow, the drowsiness seemed to possess a sort of consciousness, relentlessly expanding.

Tang Xian even bit his own lip to stay awake.

"Junlin, does the promise between us still hold?"

[Naturally. Even if we die today and descend to the underworld, you'll remain my rival!]

"We won't die today! Only I… I must leave for a while… You must also leave alive. Right now! Please… keep growing stronger… Until the day you believe you're strong enough… Then reappear before the beasts!"

His voice weakened noticeably, becoming almost incoherent.

Junlin didn't understand what was happening.

It could sense that some unfathomable force was coursing through Tang Xian's body.

Recalling certain remarks made by the Judge, it vaguely pieced things together.

But it trusted Tang Xian. After Tang Xian healed its wounds, it watched as Tang Xian gently shook his head, offering no explanations. Junlin flapped its broken wings and left without hesitation.

Finally, there was the Dark Crow. Tang Feiji, Tang Henrou, Yuan Wu, and Bai Mansheng all escaped through the teleportation fissures.

Tang Xian opened his own teleportation fissure.

"Defending justice… this role… I always thought existed only in stories… Tang Xiaohei, I'll call you that… It's the best name I can think of."

The Dark Crow said nothing. Tang Xian was clearly strong, increasingly so, yet it felt as if Tang Xian were giving his last words.

It simply nodded, although thinking to itself that it did, in fact, have a human name.

"This world… needs you… With you and Tang Jing around, I can rest assured."

The Dark Crow did not ask who Tang Jing was. It straightened the bird-beak mask it wore and solemnly nodded.

"We are alike… Both of us know the cruelest truth of this world… Hope is given to people, only to push them into the abyss."

One of Tang Xian's eyes had already closed, the other brimming with exhaustion.

"Baichuan City is that hope. Please don't let it become the next abyss."

Tang Xian pushed the Dark Crow with force, shoving it into his teleportation fissure.

After sending everyone away, Tang Xian finally closed both eyes.

The time had come, though many things were left incomplete. In his remaining moments, this was all he could do.

As his eyes closed, the sea of his consciousness plunged into darkness.

Tang Xian sank into slumber.

But moments later, he reopened his eyes, his expression utterly transformed.

With an air of profound mystery, as the golden radiance faded bit by bit, his smile grew brighter and more resolute.

"I know you've always loved to imitate me. Because you instinctively feel inferior to me, you mimic me in all things."

The voice remained Tang Xian's, but the tone carried contempt.

This comment was directed at the Judge.

Fear gripped the Judge's heart, though outwardly it forced itself to remain composed.

[Stop with the theatrics! With an entrance like that, do you truly believe yourself to be a god of this world?]

"Tang Xian" chuckled and replied:

"What we do is essentially the same—methodically banishing all those deemed gods while claiming their powers. Now, for me, you're the last. For you, I'm the last."

[So the one left standing between us will be the ultimate victor.]

"Yes. No matter how I've manipulated you in the past or how much scorn you've endured, you haven't been shortchanged. After all, I've granted you the chance to compete equally alongside me."

...

...

Tang Xian didn't know how long he had been asleep.

He had a dream—one where he and the Judge clashed in an epic showdown.

In the dream, he was omnipotent, even though the Judge's Causality Domain seemed nearly invincible, Tang Xian's countermeasures were somehow superior.

The dream wasn't finished—he didn't see whether he had won or lost against the Judge.

Because before the conclusion could play out, he woke up.

This dream felt almost too real, so much so that upon awakening, the present reality seemed strangely unreal.

He was awakened by someone calling his name repeatedly.

A voice so familiar that upon regaining consciousness, he saw a face equally familiar.

The appearance of that face, here and now, made reality feel even more like a dream.

"You finally woke up? Ever since I arrived here, no one else could make it in—how did you get here?"

Surprise tinged the woman's voice, and Tang Xian stared blankly at her.

This woman seemed unchanged over the decade—no signs of aging whatsoever.

She looked almost identical to the year they parted.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say, his eyes glistening with moisture.

Suddenly, he hugged her tightly, as if afraid this woman named Zhong Yao might vanish without warning.

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