Chapter 717 - 2: Master of the Horizon

The little red snake didn’t immediately respond to Su Zhou’s words. It was casually flicking its tail, as if that were the greatest joy in the world.

After a long while, Yara finally sighed. "That’s right. The Pioneer has awakened... Heh, I’m surprised you reacted so quickly, Su Zhou. I thought you were about to forget our mission."

"Of course I remember—maintain the integrity of the Great Seal, find a way to restore your power, and don’t let the Great Seal be destroyed before you recover."

Su Zhou’s gaze fell slightly. He stared at the flashing lightning and Thunderbolt below, the sound of thunder rumbling right beneath his feet. "I’ve never forgotten."

"Still, Yara, who exactly is this awakened Great Being? This is probably the first one I’ve seen that’s actively trying to break free from the Great Seal."

"Mm... It is indeed the first."

Yara’s answer to Su Zhou’s question was a bit slow. It seemed to be thinking about something else, or perhaps communicating with some other being on a far more distant shore.

After about ten seconds, the little red snake returned to normal and said slowly, "Me, the Silent Lord, the Divine Tree... and Dusk, and perhaps a few others, we were among the first to awaken. As soon as a crack appeared in the Great Seal, we immediately noticed and woke up."

"But we were all very cautious and didn’t try to use our own power to break free of the Seal—the Pioneer is different, though. That one, just as Its title implies, is always the first to jump in if there’s something to be explored."

"I just didn’t expect It would actually rally the other Celestial Gods and try to awaken them."

"What exactly is the Pioneer?" Su Zhou frowned. He took flight once more, rising back above the rainclouds. The moonlight was bright, casting a silvery-white sheen between the heavens and the clouds. "What does It represent as a Great Being?"

"The Pioneer, or you could say, the Master of the Horizon... It’s hard to describe It vividly in human language." Yara wrapped its tail around Su Zhou’s neck like a small scarf, its tone growing a little lazy. "The Horizon refers to the edge of what the eye can see, symbolizing the scope of one’s vision, the scope of one’s thoughts. It’s like how ancient humans believed the world was only as large as the lands immediately around them. The Horizon is the boundary of cognition."

"But just as that perception expands with the development of technology and knowledge, the boundaries of the world as seen by humanity are constantly growing—from a part of a continent to the whole continent, from the entire planet to an entire plane of existence, and then to the Starry Sky, the vast Star River, the entire Cosmos... but the Horizon always remains."

At this, Yara’s tone turned playful. "And the Pioneer is even easier to understand. It encourages all life to expand, to act to break these boundaries—to pioneer unknown territories, to discover new frontiers. It is the patron of pioneers, both physical and intellectual, the inspiration for all adventures. In myths, whenever a Hero or a God runs into trouble, the one who lends a hand—using some Divine Artifact or treasure to allow the Hero to continue their quest—that is a representative of the Pioneer’s will."

"For example, some Prophet, some Sage, or some lady of the lake—there are just too many of them to count. Anyway, it’s always one of that crowd."

"Doesn’t sound like a bad guy," was Su Zhou’s simple assessment. Yara was noncommittal. "It is a good guy, but you also have to consider the villains on the other side of the equation—they’re not too happy about being suddenly blown to bits by an upgraded weapon."

"You see, It’s now starting to awaken other Great Beings. Even if it’s only a sliver of Its consciousness, Its mind has truly begun to revive from the Ice-Crystallized Void, and It isn’t content with Silence. That’s a huge pain for me."

"Fair enough."

The Contractor for this ’charming and delightful villain’ thought for a moment and had to agree. "What should we do?" Su Zhou asked.

"We keep doing what we’re doing. Most of the Great Beings are still asleep anyway; It won’t be able to wake them all." Yara had pretty much returned to normal by now, having apparently come up with a plan. "Even though It’s awake, if It wants to rouse those slumbering in their dreams, It’ll have to go and kick each one out of bed individually. Our job is to make sure they stay tucked in."

"Alright." Su Zhou nodded, his agreement swift and decisive. "It’s just a little competition, nothing to worry about. Still, after the Pioneer’s little stunt, how much time does the Great Seal have left before it breaks?"

The struggle between the Great Seal and the Great Beings was a two-way street.

By now, Su Zhou was no longer the ordinary person he once was, ignorant of the Otherworld and the Great Beings. He now had a general understanding of why these Celestial Gods were sealed, and he was aware of their sublime nature.

’Would only Yara take the initiative?’ he thought. ’Impossible. Not all Great Beings are as Zen as Divine Wood and the Silent Lord, content to just stay in their own little corner and do nothing.’

Of course, not all Great Beings were like Dusk, who knew only destruction. Before making a move, they would naturally look for other potential allies.

Su Zhou had long been mentally prepared to face both obstruction and aid from other Great Beings. The Pioneer’s appearance was, in fact, a little later than he had expected.

That was why he was surprisingly calm, and even a little excited.

But Su Zhou’s overly simple and decisive attitude seemed to confuse Yara.

"According to Earth Time, we originally had 15 years. Three years have passed since then, but you won back 3 years in the Divine Wood World and about 7 years in the Reincarnation World, bringing us to 22 years. The Pioneer’s awakening cost us over 5 years, so now we have a little over 16 years."

After answering Su Zhou’s question, it asked in confusion, "Why aren’t you thinking about this more? You should know full well that if we end up fighting the avatars or Deputies the Pioneer sends to awaken other Great Beings, it’s going to be a vicious battle."

"Because I know that most of the time, thinking about it won’t change the outcome."

His expression turning completely placid, Su Zhou raised his head to the shimmering stars in the Starry Sky. He gazed at the starlight and said faintly, "In the end, this world is usually just a multiple-choice question. I can’t possibly pick the option where ’the Great Beings awaken one by one, the Seal shatters, and the Cosmos is torn apart by the aftershocks of their power.’ That means I can only choose the other path and make enemies of some of the Great Beings—unless I become strong enough that I don’t have to choose at all."

"Of course, my contract with you is also important, Yara. I made you a promise, and I’ll keep it. In fact, I’m already prepared to head to your world, Yara, to increase my own power. After that, it’s on to the worlds of the other Great Beings to continue our journey to reinforce the Seal."

At first, Yara’s expression remained noncommittal, but upon hearing the latter half of Su Zhou’s speech, it nodded in satisfaction. "Mm, not bad. Now that’s the right answer. So decisive and resolute. You’re worthy of being my Contractor."

"But don’t forget, while the world is mostly a multiple-choice test, sometimes it might throw in an essay question, or even problems from all sorts of other random subjects..."

"Oh?"

At that moment, Su Zhou was slowly descending, returning from the troposphere to the ground.

He found Yara’s analogy interesting and rubbed his chin as he replied, "Yara, are you implying that sometimes the world’s problems are like math problems—if you don’t know the answer, you just don’t, and guessing is useless?"

"Imply my ass."