Pretending To Be A Boss
Chapter 940 - 77: Tang Xian's Exploration Journey_2

So from the very beginning, he was wrong—wrong in his overestimation of his own abilities. He thought he could find flaws in this world, but instead he had fallen into one of Eden's Master's most vicious traps.

Are the true dangers those ferocious beasts and harsh environments created by Eden's Master's consciousness?

Tang Xian initially thought so as well, but now he understood that the real danger was in the rules of the game.

From the very first day he entered the ruins, Tang Xian discovered one thing—there was no path forward.

All around him was a misty expanse of whiteness; any attempt to touch it brought a sharp sensation, as if some force was cutting into his consciousness.

It was like the edge of a virtual game, where approaching it would trigger a warning: "Zone not yet unlocked; further intrusion may result in game failure."

Just as he stepped into Eden's ruins, Tang Xian faced such a predicament. He couldn't see the distant scenery; the only thing near him was a blank signpost.

But he didn't back away.

On the contrary, the more obstacles his opponent threw in his way, the more he believed his judgment was correct—that venturing deeper into the ruins would reveal a weakness in Eden's Master.

But how could he find a path in a place with no paths?

This was the very duel between Tang Xian and Eden's Master.

[Leaving the sacred ground comes at a cost. From this moment onward, you must erase the memory of someone from your mind and write their name on the blank signpost in order to see the path leading back to reality.]

Tang Xian had known many, many people in his lifetime. If this was a form of equivalent exchange, he didn't mind erasing a few memories of insignificant individuals.

This rule was easy to understand, and in Eden's ruins, Tang Xian had no choice but to comply with Eden's Master's rules.

He could only write a name—someone he knew, but someone inconsequential—on the signpost.

The rule took effect immediately. After writing down the name, that person's memory vanished from Tang Xian's mind. As he looked at the name on the signpost, he already felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

And all around him, the blank whiteness dissipated; the world revealed itself—its mountains, seas, and vast expanse.

The true expedition to uncover Eden's Master's form had begun.

That was the first day. Tang Xian began acclimating to the harsh environment of the ruins, using his own judgment to locate the direction of the central region.

He quickly explored that area, skillfully avoiding various disasters and ferocious beasts, arriving at the location of the second signpost.

By then, he had a general idea of Eden's Master's intent.

Perhaps he was still far from the endpoint, and it would take countless signposts before his memory would lack traces of many individuals.

Tang Xian wasn't wrong—these memories would indeed be erased from his mind, transferred to Eden's Master.

Thus Eden's Master waited atop its sacred mountain, exhibiting immense patience. No matter what secrets Tang Xian tried to hide, they would eventually be exposed to it.

All it needed was time.

Tang Xian didn't hesitate much. After all, it was only the second day, and his memory still held countless expendable individuals.

The third day... The fourth day... The fifth day... The hundredth and seventieth day... The hundredth and ninetieth day...

Time in Eden's ruins was just like in the sacred ground—it operated entirely differently from the outside world. The vastness of Eden's ruins also exceeded Tang Xian's wildest expectations.

He erased countless presences from his memory to earn the right to advance deeper into the ruins.

By the three-hundredth day—nearly a year—Tang Xian already noticed disjointed gaps in his memory.

At this point, he faced two choices: follow the signposts back and return to Zhong Yao's side.

But if he did so, those lost memories would be gone for nothing.

This was Eden's Master's chessboard, where all rules were dictated by it. Yet Tang Xian couldn't reconcile with the idea of abandoning his journey halfway through.

He could sense that he'd reached a core area, possibly even the place where Eden's Master's physical form was hidden.

This gambler's mindset was unavoidable for Tang Xian—he had to leave this place, return to reality, and only there could he hope to defeat Eden's Master.

On the six-hundredth day.

Tang Xian finally wrote down the name of someone he had a connection with—Lin Sen.

The delinquent who carried a baseball bat and harassed women was now completely erased from Tang Xian's memory.

Before this, there were old miners Tang Xian once worked alongside at the bottom tier, including the foreman Song Zhe, and even the auditing officer Jiang Ming who had once given Tang Xian trouble—those individuals and many others.

Because Tang Xian's exploration sometimes progressed swiftly, it wasn't uncommon for him to encounter multiple signposts in a single day.

And so, erasing several memories within the span of a single day was entirely possible.

Tang Xian knew his companions were undoubtedly working hard to rescue him—or perhaps they were fighting desperately to protect Baichuan City.

He considered retreat many times, yet thoughts of these individuals gave him courage to confront Eden's Master.

This was the cruellest illusion Eden's Master had left for Tang Xian.

If the God-State of the Orderly Ones offered paradise—where all valuable memories were preset and preserved—

Then Eden's Master's domain was hell.

The memories to be taken—those to be relinquished—depended entirely on one's own choices.

Insignificant individuals could be managed easily. But when all the expendable pawns were used up, one had to start making true sacrifices.

Regardless of whether the lost memories were precious or trifling, the territory unlocked by the signposts remained unchanged in size.

Neither importance nor sentimental weight expanded the mapped region beyond its fixed boundaries.

Thus, the process grew increasingly agonizing toward the end.

Because you had to begin ranking those who love you—and those whom you love—into hierarchies.

Human emotions are not meant to be quantified, but Eden's Master forced Tang Xian to do exactly that.

Qin Qian, Gu Luo, Ye Feng.

On the six-hundred-and-twenty-second day, Tang Xian explored three zones in a row, filling in three names.

The anxiety on his face deepened. Partly because of his mounting worries about the safety of humanity and Myriad Beasts Realm, and partly because he doubted whether he could escape this place.

He was nearing the names of his most important individuals, and he thought more than once about giving up—afraid to forget those who mattered most.

But when he turned back to retrace his steps, he realized he'd already ventured into the depths of the ruins.

The names written on the earlier signposts had vanished along with the path they marked. The return route was gone.

Whether breaking in from outside the sacred ground or venturing deeper into the ruins from the sacred ground, the process was the same; Tang Xian now stood at the center.

For him, this should have been good news—he had finally reached the core of the ruins.

But he couldn't feel joy.

On the six-hundred-and-sixtieth day, Tang Xian wrote down Dong Ran's name.

It felt like a memory elimination battle royale. Those spared until the end were always the ones nearest his heart.

Yet even they would ultimately fade from his memory one by one.

On the six-hundred-and-sixty-first day, Tang Xian saw the landscapes from his dreams.

Before entering the eighth layer of fortifications, he had a warning dream.

In that dream, his father Tang Wen took him to a place where illusion and reality intertwined. A place that felt both human and like the Myriad Beasts Realm.

In the dream, he saw a stone statue holding an infant.

He had finally reached Eden's Master's hiding place, but the price was his eternal forgetting of Qiao Shanshan.

On the six-hundred-and-sixty-third day, a dragon's roar echoed in the sky. Tang Xian raised his head, spotting massive silhouettes swimming amidst the clouds.

Occasionally, he could still hear the cry of a fox.

But these sounds were ethereal, and he felt as though he had returned to that dream.

Tang Xian was somewhat excited, yet when he saw the next signpost, his mood sank back into grief.

This time, he wrote down Tang Suoye's name.

The core region was vast, but time and memory were both running out for Tang Xian.

He saw numerous pitch-black figures—human shadows.

These shadows moved, seemingly producing sound; after six hundred days, Tang Xian had finally heard chaotic murmuring, but he couldn't discern their words.

These shadow-like creatures had also appeared in his dream, although back then he hadn't understood their significance. Now he was certain—they were living entities, consumed by Eden's Master's consciousness.

They had entered a state neither alive nor dead.

If he ventured further, he would undoubtedly reach his goal.

With this thought, Tang Xian encountered yet another signpost, his hands trembling slightly.

Akasi? Song Que? Yuan Wu? Or someone else?

Regardless of whom, Tang Xian felt incapable of writing a name.

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