I Have an All-Knowing Mirror

Chapter 103: Void Shattering

At the high-ranking officials' meeting of the Multieye Clan.

The Patriarch looked at Toran and the others, declaring, "Toran, since your son is dead, just have another one. The overall situation of our clan cannot be compromised. Do you understand?"

The Multieye Clan Patriarch was a peak Starry Sky Life form, but precisely because of this, he held an even deeper reverence for the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire.

Just moments ago, when the Multieye Clan Patriarch checked the information regarding Blue Star.

He discovered that Blue Star's specific coordinates had already been incorporated into the administrative jurisdiction of the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire.

Upon confirming this, the Multieye Clan Patriarch abandoned any thoughts of retaliation.

"I understand,"

Toran lowered his head.

No matter how unwilling he felt, he could only accept it since the Patriarch had personally given the order.

"And the two of you," the Multieye Clan Patriarch said, turning his gaze to the other two high-ranking officials. "You fought to secure the mission of taking over Blue Star for your descendants. Now that they are dead, you must bear the consequences of your choices.""We know,"

The two high-ranking officials also lowered their heads.

After the high-ranking officials' meeting concluded.

Toran returned to his private cultivation chamber.

His expression was intensely dark.

He was completely unwilling to accept this.

The son he had painstakingly raised was dead.

How could he let go of such hatred so easily?

It was easy for the Patriarch to say.

If one son died, just have another?

Even if he fathered ten or a hundred more, could he guarantee another Starry Sky Life form?

The internal competition within the Multieye Clan was fiercely cruel. He had groomed Ao Qu as his successor, paying an astronomical price to help him break through to the Starry Sky Life form level.

After pondering for a long time, Toran finally contacted the other two high-ranking officials.

These two officials were the elders of the other two Multieye second generation members who had traveled to Blue Star alongside Ao Qu.

"Toran, what is it?" one of the high-ranking officials asked with a frown.

His carefully nurtured descendant had perished, and the Patriarch had strictly forbidden retaliation. He was currently in a terrible mood.

"Are you two really just going to give up like this?" Toran asked.

"What else can we do? Defy the Patriarch's orders?" the other high-ranking official scoffed.

While the death of his descendant was painful, the Patriarch's command was absolutely absolute.

"Since the Patriarch ordered us not to retaliate, we naturally must obey," Toran said, shaking his head. "But just because we cannot strike personally does not mean we have to sit back and do nothing."

"Toran, just speak your mind," the first high-ranking official demanded.

"I propose that the three of us pool our funds and hire a strategist to devise a plan against Blue Star."

Toran suggested.

With the Patriarch's decree, the Multieye Clan would definitely not take further action against Blue Star.

Moreover, under the protection of the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire, Toran and the other two high-ranking officials wouldn't dare lay a finger on Blue Star, even if they were given ten times the courage.

Under these circumstances, hiring a cultivator or evolver who excelled in the dimension of wisdom—a strategist—to concoct a scheme against Blue Star was indeed a viable solution.

When a strategist acted, they never left a single trace on the surface. They typically manipulated the overarching trends, causing their enemies to die without ever knowing why.

The methods employed by the universe's top strategists were purely overt schemes. You could know everything and see the truth clearly, yet still be forced to willingly jump into their traps.

"Hire a strategist..." The two high-ranking officials exchanged a glance.

That really was a viable approach.

"How much do we need to pitch in?" the two officials asked.

"You two cover five million Azure Surge Coins together, and I will cover the other five million. With ten million Azure Surge Coins, I will seek out a strategist I know."

Toran stated.

Within the Virtual World.

Inside a specific personal space.

Toran's figure materialized, a smile forming on his face. "Brother Yuwen, it has been a long time."

The man addressed as Brother Yuwen was a male whose head was almost as large as his entire body. His name was Yuwen Sa, hailing from the Sapient Race Civilization.

Whether it was the Multieye Civilization, the Sapient Race Civilization, or the Blue Star civilization, they were all branches of the Universal Human Species.

The Sapient Race Civilization inherently possessed a much stronger dimension of wisdom compared to other civilizations, making it the most likely to produce strategists.

Precisely because of this.

Even though the combat strength of the Sapient Race Civilization wasn't particularly powerful, no faction dared to provoke them. Their strategists held positions across all thirty-six universal human empires.

"Toran Xileng?"

The large-headed Yuwen Sa cast a sideways glance at Toran and asked casually, "What do you want with me?"

He only had a vague impression of Toran Xileng.

"Brother Yuwen, I would like to hire you to help me deal with a native planet that has just been incorporated into the empire's administration."

Toran immediately stated his purpose. "For this, I am willing to pay ten million Azure Surge Coins as compensation."

"Ten million Azure Surge Coins?" The large-headed Yuwen Sa immediately became interested.

While ten million Azure Surge Coins wasn't considered a massive sum for a strategist like him.

The target wasn't very strong either.

A native planet newly brought under the empire's jurisdiction would, at most, only possess combat power at the Starry Sky Life form level.

"Tell me the details,"

the large-headed Yuwen Sa requested.

Promptly, Toran Xileng recounted everything that had transpired between the Multieye Clan and Blue Star, leaving out no detail.

Toran Xileng knew very well that for a strategist, information was the most critical asset. The more information they commanded, the more flawless their plots would be, and naturally, the higher the chance of success.

"Hmm... I understand the gist of it,"

the large-headed Yuwen Sa nodded, then asked with a smile, "By what means do you think this Blue Star managed to kill three Starry Sky Life forms from your clan?"

"They must have the backing of another starry sky faction,"

Toran Xileng replied.

During the recent clan meeting, this was the theory supported by the majority of the high-ranking officials.

It was also the most logical conclusion.

"I don't think so,"

the large-headed Yuwen Sa said, shaking his head. "I believe Blue Star doesn't have the support of any other starry sky faction."

After speaking, he paused for a moment before continuing, "Otherwise, would the faction backing them have allowed the planet to be integrated into the empire's administration?"

Accepting the empire's administration meant that from now on, a portion of Blue Star's profits would be siphoned off by the empire.

If that were the case, what would the supporting starry sky faction gain?

Unconditional charity?

"Then what could it be?"

Toran Xileng frowned.

"Perhaps a Starry Sky Life form was born there, or perhaps they stumbled upon some miraculous fortune and gained control over high-tech weapons,"

the large-headed Yuwen Sa deduced with a smile. "But one thing is certain: the current Blue Star civilization is still very weak. They are entirely incapable of withstanding your clan's retaliation. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been in such a rush to seek the empire's administration."

Toran Xileng listened quietly.

"I'll take this job,"

the large-headed Yuwen Sa declared, looking at Toran Xileng. "Your only requirement is that this cannot implicate your clan, correct?"

"Yes."

Toran Xileng nodded immediately.

"Transfer the funds."

The large-headed Yuwen Sa instructed.

A moment later, glancing at the incoming transfer notification, the large-headed Yuwen Sa nodded. "You should know my rules."

"I understand. Whether it succeeds or fails, there are no refunds."

Toran Xileng affirmed. "Yes."

The large-headed Yuwen Sa nodded.

No strategist could guarantee that their schemes would succeed with absolute certainty.

But even in the event of failure, the compensation paid to a strategist would never be returned.

This was one of the unspoken rules of hiring a strategist.

As for whether a strategist might just take the money and do nothing?

For a strategist, their reputation was paramount.

A strategist could fail once, twice, five times, or even ten times.

But if they failed every single time, their reputation would be ruined, and no individual or faction would ever hire them again.

Therefore, no strategist would ever joke around with their own reputation.

If they could not guarantee a reasonable success rate for their plan, the strategist would rather pass on the money.

Returning to the real world.

Toran Xileng could not help but feel a sharp pang of financial heartache.

Hiring Yuwen Sa this time had cost a total of ten million Azure Surge Coins.

And out of those ten million, five million came directly from his own pockets.

Five million Azure Surge Coins was equivalent to one-twentieth the value of a standard inhabited planet. Even for a Starry Sky Life form like Toran Xileng, it was no small sum.

"So this is the life of a strategist..."

Toran Xileng sighed internally. Compared to Starry Sky Life forms like him, who had to risk their lives in brutal slaughter to amass wealth, strategists merely needed to sit behind the scenes and concoct plans.

Their efficiency in making money vastly exceeded that of life forms at the same level.

The ultimate strategists in the universe, plotting for universal human empires or even the entire human race, earned fortunes that a mere Starry Sky Life form like him could not even begin to fathom.

Of course, the ease with which strategists accumulated wealth did not come without a heavy price.

First, unlike other life forms that could quickly acquire decent combat power in their early stages, strategists had to invest all their resources and energy entirely into the dimension of wisdom. Thus, they possessed almost no means of self-preservation early on.

Often, only massive factions could afford the resources required to nurture a strategist.

Furthermore, until their dimension of wisdom reached a certain threshold, it was incredibly difficult for them to influence major conflicts between powers.

In other words, during their early development, a strategist neither possessed the strength to defend themselves nor the ability to scheme effectively.

Most critically, becoming a strategist relied heavily on innate talent; the dimension of wisdom could not simply be elevated by blindly throwing resources at it.

This led many factions to spend astronomical fortunes grooming a prospective strategist, only to end up with absolutely nothing, losing their entire investment.

Within the personal space.

The large-headed Yuwen Sa stared at the ten million Azure Surge Coins that had just arrived in his account, a bright smile blossoming on his face.

Recently, to secure a position within the Star River Group, he had spent a tremendous amount bribing connections high and low, nearly exhausting the wealth he had accumulated over many years.

Now that he had a fresh influx of ten million Azure Surge Coins, his mood was naturally excellent.

"Star River Group..."

His spirits lifted even higher at the thought. The Star River Group was one of the top-tier factions within the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire.

If he could successfully join the Star River Group and become one of their strategists, he would officially enter the upper-echelon circles of the empire.

At that point, the wealth he could reap would far surpass whatever he had invested.

Joining the Star River Group was the culmination of Yuwen Sa's centuries of planning. He had waited hundreds of years for this very day.

Blue Star.

Arctic Base.

Su Yuan stared at the lump of flesh inside the cultivation chamber.

He extended his majestic mind force once again, his voice echoing across the spiritual plane. "Ye Kunlun, wake up!"

Rumble!

It was like a sudden crack of thunder detonating over flat ground.

Within that lump of flesh, a chaotic and muddled consciousness abruptly awakened.

'Who... who am I?'

'I am Ye Kunlun, a citizen of Xia Nation...'

'Didn't I die? Using the Nine Revolutions Life Burning...'

Ye Kunlun's mind jolted fiercely. As his mind force spread outward, he instantly realized that he was currently nothing more than a lump of flesh.

'What is this?'

Ye Kunlun was utterly bewildered.

"Do not worry,"

Su Yuan's voice chimed in at the perfect moment.

"Use your mind force to control your flesh and blood. Will it to continuously reconstruct your body,"

Su Yuan instructed.

"Understood..."

Hearing Su Yuan's voice, Ye Kunlun inexplicably felt a wave of reassurance wash over him. He immediately began commanding the lump of flesh.

Afterward.

Su Yuan gave a rough explanation of the entire situation.

The reason he hadn't told Ye Kunlun that he wouldn't actually die before the Interstellar Colonial Ship descended.

Was because knowing he would survive in advance would have compromised his mindset, preventing him from flawlessly unleashing the full might of the Heavenly Phoenix Nine Revolutions Nirvana Sacred Method.

Simply put, if Ye Kunlun had known he wasn't going to die, he wouldn't have been able to trigger the Sacred Method's Nirvana effect, and his ultimate fate would have been true, irreversible death.

Only by marching resolutely into the jaws of death, fully expecting to perish, could one align with the true essence of Nirvana and successfully achieve resurrection.

To be born from death.

Without a steadfast resolve to die, how could one undergo Nirvana and be reborn?

"Thank you, Lord."

Ye Kunlun expressed his profound gratitude.

Even though he had fully braced himself for death, who wouldn't want to live if given the chance?

"Your next task is to focus entirely on your recovery,"

Su Yuan said with a faint smile.

Having experienced this rebirth through Nirvana, Ye Kunlun had essentially been forged anew. He would soon break through to become a Level 10 life form, standing as the second Starry Sky Life form on Blue Star.

After finishing his instructions for Ye Kunlun.

Su Yuan swiftly returned to the interstellar warship parked on the Arctic continent.

Inside the control room, Su Yuan lay down in a virtual pod and once again connected to the Virtual World.

Within his personal space.

Su Yuan opened the virtual game directory and pulled up the world of Void Shattering.

The game Void Shattering had been released a year prior, and its setting was a mundane mortal world.

Upon logging in, players were randomly assigned a low-status identity. Within the world of Void Shattering, it didn't matter how powerful you were in the outside world.

Once inside the game, the absolute limit of your physical prowess was capped at a Level 1 Life Form.

In other words, even if you were a mighty Starry Sky Life form capable of easily wiping out an entire surface civilization in reality, your physical body's limits in the game would still be bound to that of a Level 1 Planetary Lifeform.

Of course, powerful life forms were not entirely without advantages inside the game. They retained their formidable soul, will, and combat instincts.

Void Shattering only restricted the physical body; mind force, will, comprehension, and wisdom remained completely unhindered. This served as the players' greatest advantage.

'In just a single year since its release, the world of Void Shattering has topped the virtual gaming charts of the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire multiple times.'

'As time passes, more and more Imperial Citizens are realizing the massive impact this game has on accelerating life evolution.'

Because Su Yuan possessed the grey mirror, he had long since understood the intricate mechanics of this game crystal clear.

'Three years from now, the first player will reach the Void Shattering Realm, shatter the void, and ascend on the spot, thereby claiming the game's exclusive official reward. At that point, Void Shattering will completely sweep across all thirty-six universal human empires...'

Su Yuan's thoughts churned. He knew the future development of this game over the next few years like the back of his hand.