Super Righteous Player
Chapter 1274 - 304: I Came For This Reason

Chapter 1274: Chapter 304: I Came For This Reason

With the death of the Rotten Husband,

the black-and-white eternal realm formed by his Divine Power has also reached its end.

The radiant brilliance behind Annan gradually dimmed. He released his battle posture.

But those mortals whose flesh was molded into petals by the power of "eternity" sadly did not return to their original forms.

Because the moment they lost their physical bodies, they had truly and irrevocably "died."

After all, when a person’s body loses its original shape and essence, transforming into something else, they are undoubtedly dead. It’s akin to turning a human corpse into soap or a diamond—how could it possibly still be "alive"?

The Rotten Husband merely used his power to bestow these "second forms of life" with an existence that should not have been. Or rather, he extended the lives of those who were supposed to have died, allowing them to continue living in distorted forms.

—Just as he himself did.

The Rotten Husband was originally a mortal who had been executed.

It was only by relying on the eternal force that he managed to sustain his life in his grotesque state.

What he displayed within that massive moon was the remnant of his dying body from days gone by, stuck in the threshold between death and survival.

But with the Rotten Husband’s death and the shattering of that moon, the ground was soaked with dark red, blood-spattered stains carrying an odd, spicy aroma. Like cured sausages, the ground exuded a strange fragrance, offering an immense and mysterious allure.

"Keep away from there, Annan."

A girl’s voice reached Annan’s ears.

Annan turned his head and saw the Mysterious Lady and Yawen had appeared there unbeknownst to him.

Yet he wasn’t particularly surprised.

They had been lingering close by for a while now.

Annan and the Rotten Husband had sensed their presence but had chosen not to speak of it.

The girl with dazzling, silver-white curls cascading down her shoulders, and luminous, deep violet eyes, held her waist with one hand, while the other rested on a pure silver cane adorned with red gemstones.

It seemed to be a new addition to her items—Annan noted that during their prior meeting, the Mysterious Lady had not carried this cane.

"Through those blood stains, one can enter Atabanus’ nightmare."

The Mysterious Lady glanced briefly at the viscous blood that radiated an unusual aroma and pointed out: "That’s an Otherworld-level nightmare, filled with his malice and hatred for you. If you can avoid it, it’s best to do so."

"Can an Otherworld-level nightmare emerge even if his ritual remains incomplete?"

These words were not spoken by Annan.

The Dragon Well Tea, sidling up to Annan, asked out of sheer curiosity.

"The Truth Rank will suffice."

The Mysterious Lady appeared patient and even smiled slightly as she explained, "This world is adjacent to the Dream Realm, so the curses left on deceased Transcendents can magnify into nightmares that bridge fragments of information from the Dream Realm via reflection stages. This information, warped by their curses and spite, forms nightmares distinct from historical reality.

"But Transcendents at the Truth Rank are different. Their malice can fully penetrate both worlds, akin to books riddled with wormholes. Their corpses vanish entirely because the body plunges into the Dream Realm and shapes a complete world based on final resentments.

"What remains in this world is merely the ’gate’ to that nightmare. If you perish within, even you will truly die."

The Mysterious Lady issued a warning: "Don’t equate the nightmare of the Lord of Bones with this one—I’m aware you’ve encountered his nightmare. But in the Lord of Bones’ design, death does not signal the ’end.’ The Lord of Bones didn’t intend to end your lives within but rather sought your assistance in completing his ascension.

"Otherwise, your journey would have irrevocably ended upon your first death.

"Not only wiped from this world but erased from the other world where your essence resides—even the Shadow of the Heavenly Chariot couldn’t protect you."

"I had suspected as much."

The Dragon Well Tea respectfully bowed to the Mysterious Lady in gratitude before elaborating, "From that nightmare’s riddles and our personal ’desires,’ as well as involving the lives of individuals from our world—I had inferred this earlier.

"But today is the first time someone has confirmed it for me. Sincerely, thank you."

"You’re welcome, child."

The Mysterious Lady shrugged casually. "This sort of matter has always been the task of myself and the Moth Mother... If unchecked, it draws surrounding living beings into the nightmare."

Until she mentioned it, Annan hadn’t noticed she’d kept her silver cane planted firmly on the ground.

Indeed, thanks to this, the shallow, bubbling pool of active blood had been suppressed.

She signaled for all bystanders to remain safely away, then lifted her cane.

Nearly instantaneously, the blood pool started boiling violently and emitting white steam.

Like countless squirming entities, the liquid began congealing, splitting apart, sprouting pink cilia. Blood masses hardened into forms resembling closed eyeballs...

But then the Mysterious Lady tapped her cane once more.

The newly solidified formations suddenly burst apart, collapsing back into a sluggish, lifeless puddle of blood.

"If you ever encounter other fallen gods, make sure to call us to handle them."

Positioning both hands around her cane, the Mysterious Lady earnestly instructed, "I understand your determination to grow stronger. But you have already reached Gold Rank, passed the most grueling challenge. You don’t need to take these kinds of risks to strengthen further.

"As for ascension—if you truly intend to become a divine figure of this world, simply wait for Annan to complete his ascension ritual. Of course, if you wish to ascend aboard the Heavenly Chariot to become a god in another realm, we wouldn’t stop you either.

"However, Otherworld-level nightmares are incredibly dangerous. Avoid them unless absolutely necessary... The Egg of Dream Condensation, stripped of most of its inherent threats by the Moth Mother, is the sanitized, harmless variant, and even it qualifies as a perilous cursed object. Keep this clearly in mind."

Even a bubbly, youthful girl like the Mysterious Lady could exude a profound gravity and authority when delivering such pronouncements through her actions.

"And you are..." Annan’s gaze shifted to Yawen.

This old dove stirring from inactivity seemed an incredibly rare occurrence.

Annan couldn’t immediately fathom why Yawen would come seeking him...

"I’m here to apologize and recalibrate the plan."

Yawen answered candidly.

The gaunt and elegant elder removed his hat.

His brow, perpetually furrowed, was creased as if by deeply ingrained habit. "Fortunately, my concern about your fight with the Rotten Husband drove me to investigate. Indeed, I’ve obtained crucial intel...

"My original plan was to have you complete your ascension within the Rotten Husband’s nightmare while I and the Mysterious Lady stood guard. Once you ascend to godhood, proceed via the **Sixth Aspect of the Journeyman’s Book** to the future... to hunt The Worm.

"Yet I sense the intelligence provided by the Rotten Husband is accurate—this suggests that if you ascend during this era, The Worm will surely assassinate you.

"You must journey to the future before achieving ascension—to enter the era where The Worm resides... This is profoundly dangerous because The Worm, though devoid of a divine domain, exceeds gods in strength.

"And the moment The Worm acquired the affinity of the Shadow of the Heavenly Chariot, it gained the ability to sense your existence upon your arrival. As merely a mortal, you stand no chance against The Worm. You must complete ascension amidst The Worm’s interference before any proper confrontation can occur.

"The true challenge lies in... the vast temporal distance to that era. For us, this isn’t problematic, but your accumulated intelligence is based entirely on current times. Entering the future means discarding your informational advantage.

"Conversely, The Worm would hold the upper hand as the dominant force in its era..."

"I understand."

Annan interrupted Yawen’s meandering, convoluted commentary.

With a serene nod and a gentle smile, he responded, "I will not falter."

Yawen fell silent.

His elderly features betrayed a wearied melancholy.

"...It needn’t be this way."

He murmured softly, "If you could just endure, resisting ascension for over a century... The same outcome could be achieved that way. Then time itself could also work in your favor..."

"I can endure no longer."

Annan confessed candidly, "The urge burning within me to ascend—to complete my ascension ritual—is overwhelming. At best, I can restrain myself for another three months... After that, I’ll have no choice but to ascend. Accounting for one month’s safety buffer, I’ll set off in two months."

"...With this timeline, you won’t even witness your child’s birth despite leveraging the Goddess of Cup’s ritual."

Yawen sighed deeply, his lined face revealing signs of anguish. "Forcing a fifteen-year-old child to leave his homeland, repeatedly abandon everything, shoulder all burdens and pressures, and face an adversary feared even by the gods... what a cursed world this is."

"This world is already quite good."

Annan smiled warmly: "And I will make it better.

"Do not despair, Yawen. Because I will be victorious."

The youth spoke with clarity and firm conviction.

Word by word, he declared: "For this is the very reason I came."