My Core is the Boss

Utter silence shrouded the place. Black seawater stretched endlessly for countless tens of thousands of miles. Occasionally, broken wooden fragments or tattered robes could be seen. However, trash of this level was likely too worthless for even garbage collectors to bother with.

Ripples suddenly spread across the black sea. At its source, a thousand meters away, a bronze ship was slowly sailing. Its shape was rather peculiar, with something akin to a cannon mounted at the bow. Heavy bronze rust coated the cannon's muzzle, showing the marks of countless ages.

Five iron chairs stood on the ship, each beside a fishing rod, but the fishermen had long since vanished. Only the fishing lines still dangled into the black sea. At the end of the lines were five mummified corpses. No, not corpses. They were alive.

One of them, a serpent-shaped creature, said, "The spatial fluctuations are growing increasingly frequent. It seems... the Dawn Chime has once again advanced ahead of schedule. I fear... in less than three thousand years, everything... will reach its end."

At the center of its head was a vertical eye, which seemed to have been gouged out.

The one that resembled an oversized egg sighed. "Only three thousand years remain?"

"Dong Jun has restarted things again and again, giving heaven and earth a sliver of hope, but the Dawn Chime is still inevitable?"

"What a pity. Dong Jun's feelings run too deep. Guarding this dead world alone, yet unable to awaken that one."

"Endless falsehoods, endless illusions, all to construct a single truth."

Within the deep sea, their voices became exceedingly desolate.

"Enough. Matters of this level are beyond the interference of tiny Martial Lords like us. Let's discuss something more interesting instead."

The serpent-shaped creature sounded puzzled and suspicious. "Speaking of which, I sensed the aura of my mortal enemy just now. Strange, it has clearly disappeared thirty thousand years ago, so why did its aura appear again?"

"Oh? Just now, I also seemed to sense an unusual aura."

"Could some change have occurred?"

The fat egg-like creature shook its head, wobbling all over. "No idea."

The serpent-shaped creature looked toward the egg-shaped being. "Prison Heaven, I heard that within the Mountain-Sea Scroll, one of your descendants has appeared with rather good talent?"

All the Martial Lords referred to this world as the Origin Land. It was the source of everything, as all living beings and all civilizations were born from it.

However, a great war destroyed the Origin Land, and all living beings perished. The Origin Land became a Land of Death. It was severed from the river of time, unknown to all, and became the Land of Death.

All Martial Lords were trapped within it, unable to escape, and none knew their true names. Rumor had it that Dong Jun's beloved had also perished in that war. To revive the Origin Land, and also to meet his dao companion again, Dong Jun used the Brush of Mountain-Sea Society to create the Mountain-Sea Scroll, gathering the power of Martial Lords throughout the world to evolve infinite worlds.

At the Land of Death, he also gathered the fated ones, using fragments of the Origin Land as their bases. These individuals, also known as Bloodline Bearers, would enter the Mountain-Sea Scroll and complete various missions. The purpose was to restore vitality to the Origin Land and return it to its proper trajectory.

The Origin Land was the beginning—a desolate, silent land with a predetermined ending. The Mountain-Sea Scroll was the past, yet it also contained infinite futures. The Land of Death was the present, which was also the future, and likewise represented death.

Dong Jun's goal was to find a perfect timeline capable of reshaping the past, present, and future within the Mountain-Sea Scroll. Unfortunately, they had little time left. According to records from ancient times, once the Dawn Chime sounded again, the Origin Land, the Land of Death, and the Mountain-Sea Scroll would all collapse in an instant.

Of course, these were merely rumors. As for what was truly real, who could say clearly? After all, the concepts of time and space were lost to the Martial Lords. All they had to do was carry out Dong Jun’s plans. Even during the ancient war, Martial Lords like them had merely stood at the fringes.

The fat egg-shaped creature nodded. "Mm. Its talent is decent. It seems to have already reached the Martial Spirit realm. That’s rather rare."

The serpent-like creature said enviously, "Raise it well, and it should be able to become a Martial King. Should we survive the Dawn Chime, you'll be able to use it for breeding and expand your bloodline."

For Bloodline Ancestors like them, descendants and offspring were etched into their instincts. As such, their strength didn't depend solely on themselves, but also on the prosperity and flourishing of their descendants.

The fat egg sighed regretfully. "Eh, the Martial King realm is only average. I’d only consider it a second-generation ancestor if it manages to reach the Martial Lord realm. Unfortunately, for it to advance, my realm would need to rise and trigger a bloodline evolution. We can barely protect ourselves right now. How could we possibly break through?"