Chapter 1287: Postscript
Emperor Tianshu stepped out of the door and saw a giant grave in the void. His humanity had deepened, and he was no longer the emotionless Jade Emperor who was capable of anything.
On that giant grave, as large as an endless mountain, various objects were inserted, mostly weapons.
At the very top of the grave, a tattered banner was planted, with four characters written on it: "Calculated Destiny."
"Welcome to the world without gods. This will be the place where you begin and the place where you end. Please leave something that represents your identity on the Heavenly Tomb. If you die there, this item will be your final tombstone. When a person is present, the object is present; when a person dies, the object perishes. Whether you were a god, a demon, an immortal, or a saint before, from now on, you will struggle to survive as just a person in that terrifying world. In that world, there are no gods, demons, immortals, or saints, because in that world, even the most ordinary person was once the ruler of a realm, and yet there they are merely ordinary people who might die at any moment. What you must do is survive, live to the end..." In front of the grave, there were no inscriptions, and suddenly the tombstone that resembled a wordless celestial stele shone brilliantly, and a voice echoed with it.
Emperor Tianshu had already planned, having calculated some of the circumstances of the Great Universe, so he was not surprised.
After thinking for a moment, Emperor Tianshu took out an item and placed it on the giant grave.
It was a chess piece, a pawn used by Emperor Tianshu when he set up the endgame.
A pawn crossing the river, with no retreat, from the moment he decided to enter the Great Universe, he never thought of retreating.
As the chess piece landed on the grave mountain, the grave suddenly shone brightly, forming a vortex of time and space.
Emperor Tianshu suddenly felt an irresistible huge force coming at him, trying to pull him into that vortex.
Sparks glittered in Emperor Tianshu's eyes, and after calculating, he did not resist, having roughly figured out that this was to transport him to that world without gods.
Just as Emperor Tianshu was about to be pulled into the vortex, the tombstone suddenly said "oh," and Emperor Tianshu immediately felt the suction vanish, and the energy vortex disappeared.
"Unexpectedly, you have such a connection, the great Prison King himself sent a message for you, you are fortunate, spared the suffering of reincarnation." The voice of the tombstone sounded somewhat strange.
Emperor Tianshu couldn't help but frown slightly, sparks flickered in his eyes, but he couldn't calculate the result, so he could only ask, "Who is the Prison King?"
"In the world without gods, there are only three kinds of people: winners, who can enjoy everything; losers, who become prisoners, with ordinary prisoners being imprisoned; and the third type, who are the prison managers. The Prison King is the one who manages all the prisons and is one of the three strongest beings at the pinnacle of the world without gods." When the tombstone mentioned the Prison King, it was full of reverence.
"Honestly, are you a reincarnated prisoner, returning to the world without gods after experiencing hardships? Did you have a past relationship with that lord?" The tombstone lowered its voice to ask.
"I am not a prisoner, nor do I know the Prison King." Emperor Tianshu said.
"Perhaps your consciousness as a prisoner has not been restored. You must know that lord, otherwise why would someone of his stature personally want someone who just arrived in the Great Universe? In any case, you are fortunate." The tombstone reopened the passage and said to Emperor Tianshu, "Go quickly, the great Prison King is waiting for you. Don't forget me once you become successful, and it would be best if you could say a few good words for me in front of the Prison King."
"Alright, I won't forget." Emperor Tianshu secretly thought, "Could I really be a reincarnated prisoner without even knowing it?"
His humanity gave him thoughts outside of his calculations, so now he was merely Emperor Tianshu.
After stepping into the passage, Emperor Tianshu felt his body being transformed in strange energy, and prompts continuously sounded, with information flooding into his mind.
He only had time to briefly analyze the information before finding himself inside a magnificent palace.
Before he could even take in the sight, he felt an unmatched strength pressing down on his body, preventing him from even maintaining a standing posture, and he fell to the ground.
Under that terrifying pressure, he struggled with all his might just to keep himself from being crushed, glancing around to see someone standing beside him, emitting an unprecedentedly strong pressure.
With his strength, he couldn't withstand the pressure emitted by the person, let alone confront them. Emperor Tianshu couldn't even discern the true strength of the person.
In his eyes, the person seemed as unfathomable as a Ghost God, while he was just a mere human now.
Emperor Tianshu's gaze followed the person to observe, and he saw the hall lined with people. The existence he likened to a Ghost God was only standing at the very end of the hall; the closer to the throne, the more unfathomable their strength became, even their faces were indistinguishable.
"The Great Universe is indeed incomparable to the Little Universe. The strength of humans here, though they're still humans, is as powerful as the true Ghost Gods. I'll start anew here, and one day, I'll reach that supreme position and become the ruler of the Great Universe. But before that, I must endure." Emperor Tianshu even learned the human endurance of humiliating burdens thoroughly, his gaze fixed on the figure sitting atop the supreme throne, though his ability couldn't even discern those standing beside, let alone the supreme existence.
"Tianshu pays respect to the great Prison King." Tianshu struggled to stand to salute but remained unable to rise, merely bowing slightly as a sign of respect.
If he truly was a reincarnated prisoner, being summoned by such an existence surely indicated a deep connection with him, making establishing a foothold here much easier.
"You've worked hard, my loyal subject." A voice came from the supreme throne, and upon hearing it, Tianshu's pupils suddenly contracted, unbelievably raising his head to gaze at that supreme existence.
"You... you... that's impossible..." Emperor Tianshu desperately tried to see clearly if the person on the throne was the one in his mind, and indeed, his gaze became clearer, eventually seeing the figure on the throne clearly.
It was then he realized that on the throne, there sat not one but two people, both of whom he knew all too well.
For a moment, Emperor Tianshu was frozen there, completely lost for words.
The high and mighty ones turned out to be Lin Shen and Tian Xun.