There it was, the item that would allow him to shed this mortal body. The seed inside of him was already reacting to it. The closer he got the more the feeling inside started to burst forth. Zhang Dong knew that if he used the cube that was created from Wang Long’s soul and body then he would finally reach the immortal stage.

This was something he was afraid of actually doing, it would probably be a point of no return. The history of this place stated that whoever reached the immortal stage would be somehow catapulted out of this world. It could happen to him as well, perhaps this world could not sustain someone at the immortal level or whoever created this place would yank him away.

He stood at a crossroad that went in many directions. The safest choice would be to grab the cube and save it for later. His longevity had not been used as he had at least five hundred years in the tank before he would even start to age. This time could be spent on training and getting ready for what could be beyond this world.

Then there was another reason that he wanted to go with this option and that was his family. Zhang Dong wished to actually spend some quality time with them for once. When he left this place then it could be the last time he sees his son, daughter, and wife. It was already a proven fact that a person could wait it out even into the older years.

His predecessor only ascended after getting too old to sustain his longevity, with Wang Long’s death there didn’t seem to be any rush. The demi-human emperor was strong and the others were probably around his level. This was not something that his improved sect couldn’t handle. The longer they trained the stronger they would become and the easier it would be to defeat the remaining enemies.

Yet the urge to just sit down in the lotus position was strong. The people that were gathered around here didn’t move but they did realize that this item was something special. Perhaps if he didn’t consume this cube now he would not get a chance later. What if someone got to it before he could use it or if it was discovered by the hidden overlords? Maybe he needed to risk it and just try attaining the immortal stage that everyone dreamed of.

His hand reached out towards the cube that started to float up and towards him. The seed inside of him started to instantly react. It started to pulse with life and expand the closer the nucleus containing Wang Long’s system and Dao approached. The moment it touched his body the process might even be started forcefully.

‘No… it’s too soon… I don’t know what might happen, it's best to not use a trump card this soon…’

The cube stopped just a meter before him as he put his hand down. It was calling out to him but he did not want to go through the change yet. Instead, he needed to lock this thing away so that it wouldn’t beckon to him this much. For this he would need to lock this thing away, with his current knowledge that he lifted from his predecessor he knew what needed to be done.

With a wave of his hand, a set of strange symbols started to circle around the floating cube. It was a powerful seal that would help him keep this item hidden from even the overseer that probably resided somewhere in this world. At least that was what Bob’s calculations determined so he couldn’t be entirely sure if it would work.

As the rune-like symbols floated around the aura of the cube became fainter. Previously it was glowing with a bright white light but soon it began to turn gray. Finally, it dropped down to the ground while becoming solid black. Now when it was sealed it would be even fine if he held it directly by his hand. Only with the help of Bob would a person have enough computing power to disperse this seal here.

Now he just needed to reach out and take it. After the item was inside of his spatial ring or spatial treasure he could keep it safe. However, when he tried to reach out with his hand to make the now sealed nucleus towards him, it didn’t react. Did the battle along with the sealing technique take this much of a toll on him? He could have sworn that he recovered a lot after swallowing some high-quality pills.

“Liena could you perhaps… Liena? … Qiang?”

If he was too weak then it was natural to ask for help from his wife but there was a problem. When he turned his head towards her she wasn’t moving. No one was moving, it was as if time had stopped for everyone but him. Then he noticed that the cube was acting up, it floated up slowly before shooting into the distance.

Even when he tried jumping after it, his body felt really sluggish. The connection to his cultivation base had been cut off and even the strange seed that was giving him power wasn’t reacting. He was powerless to stop the item from going away and this only confirmed his previous fear. Perhaps it was better to absorb this thing when he had the chance but now it turned to the worst-case scenario.

‘Is it an overseer?’

While he had no power to do anything his eyes still worked. When he traced the flight path of the cube he noticed a lone figure floating in the sky. To his surprise, it was indeed someone that he knew, a person from the Long Clan. In the previous world the administrator took the form of the King but here it was different.

“... The Azure Dragon Empress?”

“Yes, that is the title that belongs to this body.”

Her reply was almost robotic, it lacked any kind of emotion. The woman that stuck around Long Qing didn’t act like this. She played the role of the gentle matriarch that made life worth living for the Azure Emperor. Was this all a scam? Was the Emperor in on this or was he just a puppet that didn’t know anything?

It somewhat made sense that someone from the Long Clan would be involved. The Empress’ position was only below the Emperor so she could do almost anything without being second-guessed by anyone. Long Qing was in the forefront so she wouldn’t be suspected by anyone, even Zhang Dong had to agree that he couldn’t find anything suspicious with the pair.

“Could you return that? I kind of need it…”

“Return it? I can’t do that, this should not exist here… but this is peculiar, why can you still move?”

“Uh well…”

“The being has a system but it can still move… this has not been planned. It goes against the world order, is it an error? No… the great one does not make mistakes…”

The beautiful woman grasped the cube and started examining it. Her gaze moved toward Zhang Dong, that look that lacked any emotion made his skin crawl. It was as if he was some kind of lab rat. Her monologue at least revealed some more truths and actually confirmed something.

‘So there is a being behind all of this…’

The mention of the great one did raise some eyebrows. It meant that there was one grand being behind all of this madness. The demon lord from the magical world had decided to erase it but this one was different. Even now she was mumbling to herself without even paying attention to Zhang Dong who was listening.

Time had actually stopped for everyone here. He could not hear anyone breathing or any heartbeats, nor was there any wind anywhere. Moving through space was strange but for some reason, he could do it. Perhaps after absorbing some of that nucleus his cultivation had reached a new height. The seed inside of him did become a bit bigger and something wanted to sprout.

“A decision needs to be made…”

To the woman, it didn’t seem that he existed. Her focus was on the cube but to his surprise, she wasn’t able to crack it open. It was strange to see a being of immense power scratching her head while shaking the cube. Perhaps even overseers had limits to their capabilities. Interacting with a system item could be above their clearance.

“The story has not yet ended…”

Was the last thing that escaped from her mouth. The cube she was holding was somehow hidden into her own gown. Her gaze moved back towards Zhang Dong that wanted to ask many questions. Yet instead of answering them, he started getting warning signals from Bob.

‘Mental attack had been attempted… scrambling was successful…the user will not suffer any memory loss… attempting to hide the fact from the administrator…’

“Huh?”
He called out in shock when looking at the prompt. If what Bob was showing him was correct then he had to act the part to get out of this alive. For this he started looking around in a daze as if he was not aware of where he was. His hand moved to his head to play it off as a migraine and to his surprise, the woman that was floating above him took this as a fact.

It was strange but it worked, it was as if the overseer couldn’t fathom their mind-affecting technique ever failing. Within a second of performing it, she vanished and the world regained its coloring. The sight was quite peculiar as everything started moving very slowly before returning to normal.

“Are you done, husband?”

“I uh… yes, we should gather up the injured, don't pursue the demons, we don't have the time for that…”

The whole encounter was quite unsettling but it seemed that this administrator intended to let him ride out this scenario. She referred to it as a ‘story’ that probably included the enemy empires that were still active outside. He had gained another chance in the face of this powerful being but he had also lost his ticket out. As long as the cube was in that woman’s grasp he would probably not be able to reach the immortal stage.

‘I’m back to square one… at least Wang Long isn’t a problem anymore…’

One problem was solved but was quickly replaced by another one. His only option was to get his people out of here first before attempting to figure out his next best option…