Chapter 661 — Future Clues & Completeness

The Heaven Emperor’s structure was truly peculiar.

On the surface, he seemed to exist as an ordinary blood-and-flesh creature, just like the rest of the Zerg race’s members.

There was nothing noteworthy about him.

Even in the eyes of Emperors and Rank 11 beings, this would be the same, being the primary reason no one had found anything strange about him.

In Liora’s mind, perhaps even the Heaven Emperor himself did not know anything regarding his true nature.

But as Liora’s vision shifted and the River of Time resonated with her existence, she was now able to see some clues.

The Heaven Emperor’s existence was artificial. Someone had created him.

However, what made his structure truly extraordinary was not this, but the aura accompanying him.

It was the aura of time.

"I see...", Liora muttered under her breath.

"Is the Heaven Emperor a being not belonging to the present?"

"Does he belong to the past, or perhaps the future?"

This realization was more than enough to show who had created him.

Even if he hadn’t possessed his memories, Liora would have guessed it was the Hollow Ancestor.

Only this Ancient Devil had such exquisite control over time in the entire Cosmic Universe.

As for the reason he did this...

Liora looked thoughtful.

There were only three reasonable options.

It was either out of a whim, because he was unable to take action in his true form, or it existed to carry out a certain conspiracy.

Liora quickly ruled out the first option.

Although Ancient Devils were capable of manipulating time, their authority was far from being as great as that of Liora within the Cosmic Sea.

They would suffer great backlash whenever they manipulated the timeline, having to pay a heavy price and perhaps even falling into sleep.

Suffering such backlash to create a mere Rank 10 being without having it serve a purpose was obviously not something a wise Ancient Devil would ever do.

The third option also followed the same fate soon after.

There were few plans that a mere Rank 10 creature could participate in that could prove useful to an Ancient Devil.

Moreover, the fact that the Hollow Ancestor had convinced even the Heaven Emperor himself that he was the Hollow Ancestor’s reincarnation was obviously not simple.

Thus, Liora leaned toward the second option being the correct one.

"Is the Hollow Ancestor in a bad state? Perhaps he is sealed or seriously injured..."

"Ultimately, the reason does not matter.", Liora shook her head.

"The Hollow Ancestor must be unable to take action in the present. Otherwise, his future or past self wouldn’t have been forced to take action and manipulate the timeline."

Liora’s eyes flickered.

Not being able to kill the true Hollow Ancestor and thus put an end to their bet was certainly disappointing.

However, her discovery had fully made up for that loss.

The Hollow Ancestor was unable to take action in the present!

That was more than enough for her, and she could now advance several of her plans.

Moreover...

"An Ancient Devil would never choose to suffer backlash for no reason. Manipulating the timeline is only used in desperate situations."

"For the Hollow Ancestor to do so, he must be at risk of dying."

Who could harm such a creature in the Cosmic Universe?

There were perhaps only two beings.

The Will of the Cosmic Universe...

... and Liora herself.

She suspected the latter was the truth.

In her future confrontation with the Hollow Ancestor, she had likely come on top!

As for why her future self had not stopped the Hollow Ancestor from manipulating the timeline, it was either because she couldn’t or simply because she didn’t need to.

Killing a Rank 10 Emperor should have been an ordinary matter for Liora.

Yet the death of the Heaven Emperor gave rise to countless thoughts.

She thought more about the Hollow Ancestor and considered their future fates as well.

It took several minutes before she finally recovered. Even then, images of the future flashed through her eyes.

Glancing at the remaining soul of the Heaven Emperor, she understood she would be unable to find anything else from it.

Even so, she didn’t waste it.

She didn’t let it merge into the Cosmic Sea itself.

Instead, she waved her hand and let it float toward the River of Time above her head.

As it ascended in dimension and appeared on its banks, several crystal clear yet illusory droplets fired out of the River.

They wrapped around the soul and dragged it into the river.

Its waters immediately rippled violently.

Liora watched as it grew slightly longer, seemingly having absorbed the traces of time from the Heaven Emperor’s soul and thus succeeding in expanding itself.

But just as Liora nodded in satisfaction and was about to pull her consciousness back to reality, a flash of surprise crossed her face.

She sensed that another change had taken place in the River of Time. One more fundamental than a simple expansion.

When she focused on this cornerstone of the Cosmic Sea, she noticed that one of its ends had grown blurry.

Dense white mist was swirling there, and it seemed that something was gestating.

Based on her previous interactions with the river, Liora understood that this place was where the future of the sea lay.

But when she attempted to find out what the source of the sudden change was, she found her perception being blocked.

It was as though a barrier had been erected between her and the white mist, preventing her from peering any further.

Under normal circumstances, this would have alarmed Liora.

The Cosmic Sea was her true self. If anything happened to it, she would perhaps suffer a fate greater than death.

But much to her surprise, Liora felt absolutely no fear.

Every single one of her instincts screamed that whatever was gestating in the River of Time would prove beneficial to her.

Not only would it not harm her, but it would also make her...

"...More complete?"

That was the only way Liora could put it.