The Prodigies War

The world was quiet. Apart from the countless clusters of flames, there seemed to be the two of them: the Alpha Origin Master who was sitting cross-legged on the dao platform, and Lin Xun who had just arrived at this place.

Lin Xun was taken aback by Alpha Origin’s words. “You've been waiting for me?”

“Yes. In fact, what you see in front of you is merely a force of my will.”

Alpha Origin could not be described as handsome, but he had a clear aura that reminded one of green bamboo on a cliff before an ocean of clouds. His energy was also gentle and calm, to the point one could not feel any trace of pressure or hostility from him.

However, Lin Xun did not dare to underestimate the other party. Even if it was only a Will Dharma Form, the fact that the true form was Alpha Origin put it in an entire other category of a threat.

“What’s the reason?” asked Lin Xun.

Alpha Origin smiled. “You realized that there might be a problem with your innate talent, so you came here to trace its origin, am I right?”

“That’s right.” Lin Xun did not deny it.

Alpha Origin curiously said, “Doing so will cause unexpected changes in your past, and all sorts of unimaginable karmic consequences will arise and affect your current path. Do you know that?”

Hearing this, Lin Xun suddenly realized something. This Will Dharma Form of Alpha Origin seemed to assume that he had gotten here via the river of life in the Past Retracing Zone!

After some silence, Lin Xun decided to be frank, “You have it wrong. I came here by riding the Boat of Eternity. This will not have any impact on my past and naturally cannot affect my current dao.”

Alpha Origin was stunned for a moment before he broke into a loud, bright laugh. “Why did you tell the truth instead of letting my misjudgment continue?”

Lin Xun said, “At this point in time, I no longer care to conceal anything. I also hope it's the same for you, or else I will be very disappointed.”

Alpha Origin was curious. “Disappointed about what?”

Lin Xun said flatly, “Disappointed that a character like you would go about playing little tricks, in which case, I would lose one respectable enemy.”

Alpha Origin sank into a moment of silence and then suddenly said as if lamenting, “You remind me of what a swordsman once said: the hardest thing to find is an honorable and respectable enemy. It's a pity though, he forsook his entire dao, which deeply saddened me, and it took me quite a while to recover.

“But fortunately, I still have Chen Xi, I still have Old Bodhi who put in his life's work to have a game of chess with me, and I still have the golden cicada whose path is in opposition to mine.”

After a pause, he smiled slightly and looked at Lin Xun. “Now, I have you. I am not alone, for my path has worthy enemies. There cannot be a greater joy than this.”

On his face was a pure effulgence and delight.

“I suppose I should feel honored?” said Lin Xun.

Alpha Origin’s smile was unconstrained as he said, “No need. What I'm admiring right now is your mental fortitude. As for your current dao, it's not yet sufficient to be my opponent.”

His tone was calm like he was stating a fact.

Lin Xun was not offended in the slightest. He seriously corrected, “Wrong, I may not be a match for your true form right now, but this will force of yours is no match for me either.”

After a pause, he added, “Besides, when I arrive at the Realm of All Mysteries, who's to say for sure that I would be weaker than you at that time?”

Alpha Origin clapped in laughter. “Well said! This world has too many idiots, those who can utter such a declaration and make it happen are few and far between. I'm looking forward more and more to see how you will get out of here.”

Lin Xun also smiled. “Whether you are truly looking forward to it or not, I can definitely leave this place as I have entered it.”

Since the moment they had met until now, they had been chatting and laughing like a pair of friends. There had not been a hint of hostility in the air. However, the mentality and attitude revealed through their conversation had been staging an invisible competition. They clashed underneath all the facade!

Alpha Origin once again fell silent for a while. The smile on his lips faded, and he said, “Do you know where this is?”

Lin Xun said, “Enlighten me.”

Alpha Origin said, “This is a corner of the Forbidden Land of Life.”

Lin Xun was surprised. “The Forbidden Land of Life?” ”

“Yes. Anything born with vitality is called a life. In the eyes of us cultivators, all the worlds and their multitudes of beings, whether they are trees, spirits, birds, beasts, fiends, demons, or the countless races, they are all life.” Alpha Origin said, “But even for one as powerful as an Immeasurable Eternal, it is impossible to create life. Where do you think life came from?”

In the past, Lin Xun would have answered that life was initially conceived by chaos: Chaos split into heaven and earth, so everything came to have a spirit, which developed intelligence thanks to the almighty dao. Then, through reproduction and metamorphosis, they turned into all manners of communities of life.

Now, however, Lin Xun was stunned. If chaos bred life, then in what way, what method? What Alpha Origin sought for an answer was clearly the very origin of life, the exact kind of chaos dao that had created it.

“In the cognition of those like us, fate and karma are already supreme daos, while in regard to the nature and origin of life, almost no one has been able to touch it.” Alpha Origin frankly admitted, “Including me. I understood next to nothing and was utterly unable to peek into its mysteries. However, after coming to this Forbidden Zone of Life, I’ve finally gained some insights related to the origin of life.”

Saying that, Alpha Origin pointed to the countless flame clusters in the nearby space. “You see those? They are all innate talents birthed by this place. Every day, every moment, there are new talents being born while some die out. It’s truly marvelous.”

Lin Xun looked over at the billions of star-like flames. All of a sudden, they became different in his eyes.

Innate talent, a kind of power endowed from birth! It could be awakened from one's bloodline, condensed from within one's spirit, or born from any part of one's body.

For example, some races were born with two wings, allowing them to fly on their own, while some were born with only one vertical eye but possessed strange magical abilities as a result. Furthermore, the likes of the Celestial Phoenix, Black Tortoise, White Tiger, and True Dragon were born with a variety of innate abilities.

The existence of innate talents diversified life, but tracing their origin, one would find that any talent was born alongside life!

Yet, what Lin Xun was looking at was raw talent powers floating between the sky and earth, as many of them as the amount of sand in a desert. Even an existence of his level could not count the exact number at a glance.

Moreover, during his observation alone, he saw many flame clusters disappearing and many new ones springing up. These births and deaths went on unceasingly.

“Innate talents are a power that a life is born with, but in this place, you can see countless of them born and die, for there is a power in this space that can create and nurture them. This power absolutely concerns the secret of life,” Alpha Origin said leisurely.

“Is that why you've determined that this is the Forbidden Land of Life?” asked Lin Xun.

“To be exact, this is only a corner of the Forbidden Zone of Life.” Alpha Origin's eyes gleamed strangely. “Little Friend, do you know where this is located?”

Lin Xun said, “Since you're asking me this, you must think that I should have heard of such a place before. So I guess...the Realm of Myriad Wonders?”

Alpha Origin laughed. “Not bad at all.”

Lin Xun, however, was so disturbed by this answer that he could not calm down inside.

The All-Wonder Dominion was divided into three areas: the Realm of All Spirits, the Realm of All Mysteries, and the Realm of Myriad Wonders. Among them, the last one was regarded as the most taboo place in the All-Wonder Dominion!

From everything he had learned, no one since the dawn of time had dared to venture into it, because in there lurked great danger that ensured the death of any intruder!

It was precisely due to being able to sense this great danger that supreme experts like Chen Xi, the Lord of Fangchun Mountain, and the golden cicada had been lying low in the Realm of All Mysteries.

Therefore, Lin Xun’s answer to Alpha Origin's question was purely a wild speculation. Yet, Alpha Origin had confirmed that the world behind the Eternity Door was actually inside the Realm of Myriad Wonders! How could Lin Xun not be shocked?

“Surprised? That's because you haven't entered the Realm of All Mysteries and sensed the aura belonging to the Forbidden Land of Myriad Wonders.” Alpha Origin smiled, “You should definitely do that if you manage to leave this place.”

The implication: if you can't leave, then this is irrelevant talk.

Lin Xun said, “You're very confident that you can keep me here despite being a Will Dharma Form. If I guess correctly, this has something to do with my innate talent, doesn't it?”

“Correct.” Alpha Origin's eyes were clear and calm as he said frankly, “We both know you’re here to trace the origin of the Grand Abyss Heaven Devourer in order to solve the hidden danger in it, and as it happens, I know just where the flaw lies.”

Lin Xun slightly squinted. “I am all ears.”

Alpha Origin thought for a moment and said, “It begins with the Boat of Eternity. A long time back, when I first got to the All-Wonder Dominion, I obtained quite a few incredible fortunes, and the most miraculous of them all was the Boat of Eternity.”

There was reminiscence in his eyes. “Back then, I wandered around the Realm of All Mysteries for a long time because I sensed the ferocity in the Forbidden Land of Myriad Wonders and knew I would be doomed to die if I went to investigate it. As such, I never ventured there, but at the same time, I was unwilling to stop in one place, so I decided to give it a try using my clones.

“In the span of one year, I condensed three thousand clones and sent them to the Forbidden Land of Myriad Wonders in different ways, but without exception, none returned. They probably...died in there, all of them.

“I still couldn't accept it, and so for the one hundred thousand years after that, I would deploy my clones every ten years to explore the Forbidden Land of Myriad Wonders.”

Speaking of this, Alpha Origin was full of emotions. “Every single attempt failed, and as those failures piled up, I was almost devastated.”

After a pause, he smiled again. “Fortunately, on the 100,000th year of my continuous attempts, things finally turned around.”