Chapter 253: Glitch
On top of Mount Meru...
Tony stood in wait for the Tang Zi.
The swirling purple vortex appeared once again.
Thunderous cracks of black and golden lightning boomed through the thin air, making the ground beneath the old stone altar shake violently.
Elsa, who was sitting quietly near Tony’s feet with complete, brainwashed devotion, instinctively lowered her head as the terrifying pressure from the upper realm returned.
Through the glittering tear in reality, Tang Zi stepped out with absolute grace. His pearl-like skin shimmered faintly under the harsh mountain light, and the tiny galaxies swirling inside his eyes seemed to glow even brighter than before.
He floated down effortlessly, his long embroidered sleeves fluttering in the freezing wind, before his feet gently touched the moss-covered stone platform.
"I have returned, young master Tony," Tang Zi said, his voice echoing smoothly inside the young man’s soul. He looked completely pleased with himself, as if he had just solved a massive, universal puzzle.
"The laws of the cosmic barrier are incredibly stubborn, but a traveler of my stature always finds a way. I have successfully discovered a secure method to send you straight to the Eternal Sun Realm without destroying your physical body. However, there is a catch. To enter that supreme territory, you must inherit the fate of another person."
Tony Clark stood perfectly still, his posture lazy but his mind completely sharp as he activated his Truth Eye to observe the cosmic traveler.
Hearing the strange proposal, his eyebrows twitched, and a deeply confused look appeared on his face.
"Inherit the fate of another person?" Tony questioned, his tone filled with a mix of suspicion and curiosity. "What kind of nonsense is that? I asked for a path and a secure passage to the Eternal Sun Realm, not a theater script where I have to play a role."
Tang Zi let out a soft, amused chuckle and shook his head, looking at Tony as if he were an elder explaining a complex machine to a bright child.
"Do not be so hasty to reject it, junior. Think of this method like a hidden glitch in your modern world’s system. You see, the higher realms are not lawless lands where anyone can just wander in. They are governed by ancient, incredibly powerful realm guardians. These guardians strictly monitor the cosmic laws and spatial boundaries. If an outside existence like you tries to force your way inside, your foreign soul signature will trigger the world’s defensive arrays instantly, and you will be completely erased from reality."
Tang Zi paused for a moment, letting the weight of his words sink in, before continuing with a faint smile.
"To bypass this, I searched the mortal registries of the Eternal Sun Realm. By a massive stroke of luck, I found a person living in that territory who looks remarkably similar to you. His lifespan has completely reached its absolute end due to a terminal illness, and he will naturally die in just a few days.
My plan is for you to accept his fate, his identity, and his karma right at the exact moment of his passing. Because his life signal is already registered within that realm, the guardians will see absolutely nothing wrong. Practically speaking, you are simply swapping your position with another person to sneak past the cosmic border."
Tony did not reply immediately. He crossed his arms over his chest, his strategic mind rapidly calculating the hidden risks and benefits of such a bizarre proposal. Swapping identities meant he would be entering a completely unknown world with a premade set of enemies, relationships, and mortal troubles.
It sounded incredibly troublesome, but it also seemed like the safest way to avoid being turned into ash by some godly guardian the moment he crossed the boundary.
Instead of answering Tang Zi right away, Tony closed his eyes and withdrew his awareness into the deep, quiet sanctuary of his own mind.
’System Spirit,’ Tony commanded mentally, his thoughts cutting through his sea of consciousness.
’You heard what this cosmic traveler just said. Is this fate-transferring method legitimate, or is he trying to set up some kind of trap to seal my soul?’
The space inside his mind rippled with an ethereal, unfeeling light as the cold manifestation of the system spirit materialized.
[Ding! Scanning host’s query... The information provided by the traveler Tang Zi matches the hidden protocols of cosmic traversal. Inheriting a dying native’s fate is a verified strategy to bypass high-tier realm surveillance. The system spirit strongly suggests the host accept this offer. Entering the Eternal Sun Realm through this method will grant the host a stable identity and significantly reduce the probability of instant termination by realm guardians.]
Tony felt a slight wave of doubt lingering in his chest, but since the system itself was backing the plan, he knew he had to take the gamble. He opened his physical eyes, returning his awareness to the cold mountain peak, and looked directly at the waiting entity.
"Fine," Tony said aloud, his voice dripping with his usual cold, businesslike arrogance. "Even though it sounds like a massive hassle, I will accept your offer. In exchange for this path and the fate transfer, I will give you one World Tree seed."
Tang Zi’s galaxy-like eyes instantly flashed with a wild, intoxicating burst of excitement. For five hundred long years, he had been searching through different lower realms to find these legendary seeds to fuel his return home, and now, one was finally within his grasp. He could barely contain the trembling in his hands as he looked at the young cultivator.
"Do you have more?" Tang Zi asked, his voice losing a bit of its majestic calm due to sheer eagerness.
A slow, ruthlessly brilliant grin spread across Tony’s face as he caught the sudden shift in the traveler’s composure. He knew he held the ultimate leverage now. He secretly possessed three World Tree seeds, a fact that absolutely nobody else in this world knew.
"Yes, I happen to have one more," Tony said smoothly, his tone teasing and lazy as he watched Tang Zi’s breath hitch. "But I will need another massive favor from you in exchange for this second seed."
Tang Zi stepped forward, the space beneath his feet rippling with intense energy as his curiosity peaked. "What is it? Tell me your demand, young master Tony! If it is within my power, I will make sure it is done!"
"There is no need to rush, Master Tang Zi," Tony said, waving his hand dismissively with complete, shameless nonchalance. "I will tell you my exact conditions for the second seed right before I leave this lower world for the Eternal Sun Realm. For now, focus entirely on making the necessary arrangements for this fate transfer. I need to make sure my family estate is secure before I take such a massive leap."
Tang Zi stared at Tony for a long moment, completely confused by the young man’s absolute confidence. He looked around the empty air of the altar, entirely baffled as to why Tony had been staring into nothingness and talking silently to himself just moments ago.
He had no idea the boy possessed a supreme system spirit, nor could he understand how a mere mortal could remain so calm while holding the keys to his five-hundred-year quest.
"Three days... Just three days," Tang Zi finally said, exhaling a slow breath to calm his racing heart. "I will return to the dimensional nexus, prepare the soul-swapping array, and synchronize the exact timing with that dying mortal’s final breath. We will meet right here on this mountain peak in exactly seventy-two hours."
As Tang Zi turned to leave, Tony suddenly let out a low chuckle, his dark eyes narrowing into a deeply doubtful, inquisitive look.
"By the way, Master Tang Zi, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Given your terrifying level of power, you could easily wipe out this entire mountain with a snap of your fingers. Why don’t you just launch a direct attack on me, kill me right here, and take all the seeds from my corpse by force? Why go through all the trouble of bargaining with a junior like me?"
Tang Zi stopped in his tracks, blinking in surprise before throwing his head back and letting out a loud, booming laugh that echoed across the entire mountain range. The sound was full of pure amusement, completely clearing the residual tension in the air.
"Young master Tony, you are truly a fascinating and deeply suspicious creature," Tang Zi said, his smile turning wide and genuine as he looked at the young villain. "There are two very distinct reasons why I would never dare to raise my hand against you to steal those treasures.
First, a supreme traveler like me cannot afford to accumulate bad karma. World Tree seeds are divine objects of creation. A person must possess an extraordinarily powerful fate and an immense amount of positive universal karma just to lay their hands on them.
I have been searching across countless worlds for five hundred years for these seeds, yet you are the only absolute existence who was actually able to successfully negotiate and obtain them from the World Tree Spirit. If I were to murder a person of such heavy destiny, the resulting karmic backlash would completely shatter my own cultivation path and trap me in the lower realms forever."
Tang Zi’s expression then turned slightly serious, a trace of respect appearing in his swirling eyes.
"The second reason is much simpler: I absolutely do not want to risk it. You humans are always incredibly cunning, calculating, and full of hidden tricks. I am completely certain that a shameless, intelligent guy like you must have hidden those priceless seeds in some untraceable, sealed spatial archive or a secret location before ever stepping foot on Mount Meru.
If I lose my patience and kill you right now, your private archives will collapse into the spatial void, and the World Tree seeds will be completely lost to me forever. I would rather spend a few days helping you than risk losing my only ticket home."
Tony kept his signature smirk on his face, but internally, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. His gamble had paid off perfectly. His villainous reputation and his calculated display of absolute confidence had made a god-like being completely fear his hidden schemes.
"A very wise and logical choice, Master Tang Zi," Tony said, bowing his head slightly with a mocking touch of respect. "Go make your arrangements. In three days, I will be waiting for you right here."
"Do not keep me waiting, junior," Tang Zi replied with a bright smile. With a casual wave of his long, pearlescent sleeve, his entire body dissolved into a blinding-shower of golden light particles, completely vanishing into the closing purple vortex above.
The heavy-cosmic-pressure disappeared instantly, leaving the freezing winds of Mount Meru to whistle through the quiet amphitheater once more.
Tony turned around, his dark cloak snapping in the gale as he looked down at the kneeling Elsa.
The board was set, the glitch was prepared, and in just three days, he would be stepping onto a massive new stage in the Eternal Sun Realm.