Chapter 642 373: Primordial Universe, Life Imprint

And so, in a very short time, the city became famous far and wide as a city of refuge.

Many of the people here were fugitives on the run or simply sought to leave the Jianghu behind. They were all well-behaved and law-abiding, avoiding conflicts and fights with outsiders.

This development was something the eccentric City Lord had never anticipated.

But with no outlet for his many quirks, he decided to take on the role of a mediator.

Anyone within his domain could request his judgment on a case one time.

If they won, he would resolve all their problems for them.

As a result, many people were drawn by his reputation and came to ask the City Lord to intervene and solve their problems.

The City Lord set up a special mediation center in the Outer Sect specifically to intercept commoners who were passing through and facing difficulties.

But the City Lord's adjudicating skills were mediocre at best, and his rulings often resulted in miscarriages of justice. More often than not, instead of receiving justice, the aggrieved party would wind up being declared the one at fault.

Consequently, no one trusted the City Lord's judgment anymore.

So, the City Lord learned a new trick. Periodically, he would expel a portion of the city's residents. This way, if they feared being hunted by their enemies, they would have no choice but to beg him to intervene.

And if they weren't worried and preferred to leave, that was fine too—he could simply take in new residents, and newcomers always brought plenty of fresh disputes and conflicts with them.

A city this eccentric, despite its many problems, could at least offer people a temporary path to survival.

In a modest courtyard home within the city!

Er Niu returned home from work, happily carrying a large, plump carp.

"Sister, we've got fish for dinner tonight!"

"Brother Er Niu, where did you get it?"

The young woman came out to greet him, happily taking the carp from his hands.

"It's a reward, by the City Lord's grace."

"Okay, I'll go start dinner now."

"Our benefactor..."

"He's not back yet. I still don't understand why someone like him wants to live with us."

The young woman said, frowning and shaking her head.

"The ways of a master are beyond our comprehension. It's not our place to ask questions or get involved. Our benefactor saved us and gave us a chance to catch our breath. That in itself is an immense kindness."

"I know!"

The young woman nodded.

"Where's the girl?"

"In her room, practicing her cultivation. The techniques our benefactor taught are too profound; the girl doesn't dare to slack off, afraid she'll fail to live up to his teachings."

"Good. I'm going to go chop some firewood."

Er Niu grunted in acknowledgment, then turned and headed out the door again.

While the three in the courtyard were busy with their tasks, a figure sat cross-legged high in the distant sky, bathed in sunlight.

He was handsome with short hair, his divine aura completely concealed. He seemed like a friendly older brother from next door, lacking any of the airs of a master.

Yet he stood unsupported in the sky, as ethereal as an Immortal—clearly, he was no ordinary person.

He was none other than the one who had drifted here: Zhao Rui, also known as Zhao Zhenren.

'So that's how it is! What I crossed over into was another universe.'

'Could it be my previous life was also in a different universe? And that the so-called Ancient Star wasn't the Blue Star of this life, but of my last one?'

'So I merely triggered the conditions for transmigration and automatically aligned with the Immortal Emperor's Summoning Divine Skill. But because my own power was too formidable, I could only be brought over by the force of my physical body.'

'Come to think of it, this world must be my original one.'

Zhao Rui's eyes narrowed. For him, the significance of this discovery was truly staggering.

He had always believed he was traveling between universes, when in fact, he was traveling between different lives.

Across countless universes, innumerable branching events overlapped.

And the person at the very root, the shared origin of them all, was the initial life imprint from the Primordial Universe.

All subsequent alternate dimensions, spatial traversals, or rebirths into an Otherworld—none could escape that initial life imprint.