It wasnât just him. Everyone present held their breath, not daring to blink for fear of missing a single moment.
Even Mr. Ke did his best to open his cloudy, aged eyes.
CLINK!
With a soft sound, the metal Token settled into the recess on the box, a perfect fit down to the last millimeter.
The next moment, the recess began to glow, the light scanning over the Token.
With a mechanical click, a seam split open down the middle of the boxâs top, and it slowly began to open.
A soft light shone from the opening, gradually coalescing into a phantom-like figure.
It was a middle-aged man with ordinary features but an extraordinary air about him.
"Lin Huaâs Legend!"
"Ancestor Lin Hua!"
The crowd gasped in unison.
Tears welled in Mr. Keâs cloudy, aged eyes as he called out with difficulty, "Marshal!"
However, the phantom figure didnât respond to their cries. It was clearly just a recording left behind by Lin Huaâs Legend, without consciousness or the ability to interact.
It was like a video that could only be played.
Everyone could only suppress their excitement and watch in silence.
The phantom of Lin Huaâs Legend wore a gentle smile. "I donât know if itâs Qiuâer who has returned, or if a hundred years have passed and youâve opened this box, Ke."
"Qiuâer... probably isnât coming back. I know this in my heart; I just donât want to admit it. So, it must be you, Ke, right?"
As he said this, everyoneâs gaze turned in unison to Mr. Ke in his wheelchair.
It wasnât hard for them to guess that the "Ke" mentioned by Lin Huaâs Legend was none other than Ke Xiuyuan, Mr. Ke.
âBut what does that mean? Mr. Ke can open this box, too?â
Lin Tiannan seemed to have a sudden realization. He looked at Mr. Ke with a wry smile. "Mr. Ke, youâve kept me in the dark for so long! Your Token can also open this box, canât it?"
Su Ze blinked. âMr. Keâs Token can also open the box?â
âIn other words, the Token he provided wasnât actually that important. It was completely replaceable.â
âHe traded a Token for a Tier 5 wondrous item. Didnât he just hit the jackpot?â
âThank you, Mr. Ke, for making it happen!â
In his wheelchair, Mr. Ke managed to pull his completely slack muscles and skin into a smile buried in wrinkles. He sent a voice transmission, "Before the Marshal left, he told me to protect Lin Hua Continent for a hundred years. After that, if there was still no news of General Qiu, I was to open the box, and he would grant me a great opportunity..."
"Then why didnât you..." Lin Tiannan couldnât understand. It had been over four hundred years since Lin Huaâs Legend last returned to the Lin Family, long past the hundred-year agreement between Lin Hua and Mr. Ke.
In all those four hundred years, Mr. Ke had never mentioned it.
"As long as General Qiuâs remains were not found, in the Marshalâs heart, she was not dead. How could I shatter the last glimmer of hope in his heart?" Mr. Ke paused. "Besides, with Lin Hua Continent facing troubles from within and without, I ultimately couldnât let go, nor could I leave."
Lin Tiannan sighed, not knowing what to say.
Chen Suifeng also sighed emotionally.
Just then, the phantom of Lin Huaâs Legend continued to speak. "I was too selfish, making you stand guard for me for a hundred years. Because of that, Iâve always felt guilty. Consider the opportunity in this box my compensation to you."
"In recent years, Iâve traveled all over Blue Star. I didnât find any trace of Qiuâer, but I did stumble upon some fragmented corpses. In life, their owners must have been higher lifeforms beyond my imagination. I found some Butterfly Wing Fragments, which reminded me of the butterfly that flew from space before the beginning of the Era of Evolution."
"Near the corpses, I found a... place of inheritance. Just from the peripheral inheritance, I had the chance to obtain a divine skill. You heard that rightâa true, god-level skill! Moreover, that inheritance could help me leave Blue Star and travel to other civilizations in the depths of the universe to pursue the hope of becoming a god."
"However, after accepting the inheritance, I would be sent away from Blue Star. Thatâs why I returned to the Lin Family one last time to say goodbye to everyone before I accepted it."
These words from Lin Huaâs Legend left everyone present, except for Mr. Ke, utterly stunned.
âLin Huaâs Legend found the remains of that butterfly from space, and he might have even received the inheritance of a divine skill?â
âSo, itâs very likely that Lin Huaâs Legend has already left Blue Star to seek his chance at godhood in the universe.â
Mr. Ke had obviously learned some of this from Lin Huaâs Legend back then, so he wasnât surprised now. He quietly waited for the phantom of Lin Huaâs Legend to continue.
No one else dared to make a sound, afraid they might miss a single word of what Lin Huaâs phantom was saying.
"The inheritance I found is incredibly mysterious. From its periphery alone, I could potentially obtain a divine skill. The core inheritance within must hold an even greater opportunity. However, opening the core requires assembling four puzzle pieces. What Iâve left for you is one of those pieces."
"Even if you canât find the other three pieces, it doesnât matter. A single piece can open an Inheritance Treasure Vault, which might contain the opportunity to become a god. I, however, have already chosen the peripheral inheritance, so the core inheritance is no longer available to me."
"By the time you see this recording, a hundred years should have passed. If Iâm lucky and havenât died, I might have already become a god out in the cosmos. Go, and pursue your own path to godhood, Ke. Iâll be waiting for you in the cosmos!"
At this, the phantom of Lin Huaâs Legend dissolved into a wisp of green smoke.
Everyoneâs expressions were complicated as they looked at Mr. Ke in his wheelchair.
âMr. Ke... does he regret it now?â
He had given up such a monumental opportunity, letting the years slip by. At his age, the path to godhood was surely closed to him.