Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

"Your Majesty, would you care for a meal?"

The close guard asked respectfully from the side.

"No," Shen Ye stretched his arms, "I feel like moving around a bit—I haven't practiced with swords and spears in a long time."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The close guard made a beckoning gesture and led the way.

Two rows of Royal Guards followed behind.

Shen Ye was in the middle.

The procession moved slowly.

Shortly after,

Shen Ye arrived at a small colosseum.

—There was actually a colosseum inside the royal palace!

Not only that,

In the Emperor's private resting room, various battle armors and weapons were hung.

Next to the spacious and comfortable seats, tea, wine, and snacks were all prepared.

"Your Majesty, do you need me to call a few court mages and royal knights?"

The attendant asked.

"No need, I'll be alone for a while," Shen Ye said.

"Yes."

The attendant bowed and left the room with everyone else, closing the door and standing guard outside.

"I'm about to simply tell you a secret, so prepare yourself mentally," Miket Tikaxiwa said.

"Thank you for saving me just now," Shen Ye remembered to express his gratitude at this moment.

If it weren't for that technique, causing everything to go in reverse,

who knows what would have happened to him.

—That book was too terrifying.

Shen Ye took a few breaths, switched to a more relaxing position, and just as he settled himself, Miket Tikaxiwa's voice sounded:

"We are moving."

"Our world and your world are not far apart, and we have always been moving in the same direction—I mean undergoing displacement in the cosmos."

"This is the conclusion I've come to by observing the changes in the stars."

Shen Ye said, "So—"

"No questions allowed," Miket Tikaxiwa's voice grew stern, "What do you think I know? If you invoke that particular 'name' again, causing unpredictable problems, I won't be able to save you."

Shen Ye wisely closed his mouth.

He was not at all interested in that terrifying secret.

Surviving was already difficult enough.

Miket Tikaxiwa's voice rose again:

"Based on my conjecture, our world is much weaker than any other world, hence it has attracted the covetousness of other worlds."

"—They are continually entering this planet."

"Because the power of this world is very weak?" Shen Ye asked.

"Yes," Miket Tikaxiwa said.

Shen Ye recalled the words he had just heard.

The universe was contracting.

Everything would face "it."

—Is everyone seeking refuge on a planet with low strength?

Unfathomable.

Shen Ye thought of the cosmic species that could exterminate world wills, thought of the Great Tomb deep within the world, thought of the invasion of the "Five Desires" world.

So everyone was eager to reach the Death Planet?

"That's the secret I wanted to tell you, just be clear about it in your mind, and never bring up what happened just now," Miket Tikaxiwa said, his voice growing faint:

"I have exhausted my strength and need to sleep for a while, wake me if something comes up."

"Rest well," Shen Ye said.

"Mm, now that the Gold Medal is in hand, just quietly wait for the arrival of the earth messenger."

The voice disappeared.

The rest area became quiet once again.

Shen Ye sat and pondered over the Underworld Lord's words, then got up, and ate some food.

His physical strength had somewhat recovered,

but the mental fatigue made him just sit there, unwilling to move at all.

...Preserving one's life is of the utmost importance.

But how does one preserve it?

The door.

Ah, yes, the door that can jump between different worlds.

If a planet were about to perish, could one not escape doom by opening a door to another planet?

Besides, in the battles of regular days—

Defense is also important.

Defense, huh...

Shen Ye's glance swept across the room and fell on several suits of battle armor hanging there.

These were personal battle armors of the Empire's King of the Holy Violet Empire.

To preserve his life, Shen Ye stood up from the couch and approached those exquisite and majestic armors.

—Truth be told, they were even stronger than the Undead Battle Armor collected by Prince Norton.

There were five suits of armor in total.

Three were chainmail, one was leather armor, and one was Radiant Steel Full Body Armor.

All of them were of the Purple Grade (One in Ten Thousand).

It was indeed befitting of the status of a human king.

Shen Ye paused briefly in thought before he suddenly remembered something.

"My 'Vampire Kid' status has reached the Purple Grade. Apart from merging status entries, I can also fuse up to four similar items."

Why not make use of this entry?

Anyway, these battle armors hanging here serve no real purpose; it would be better for me to wear them in battle.

—I am saving this country, after all!

With this thought, Shen Ye took out his magic paper and swiftly wrote a few lines.

He waited for a moment.

Then the message came through.

Good!

Now I can use it!

Shen Ye stepped forward and scrutinized the gear, taking out three sets of chainmail and placing them together with the leather armor.

Alright, let's fuse!

With a thought, a faint light appeared, forming small words:

"Unable to fuse."

"Must fuse similar items, such as four sets of chainmail or an equivalent number of leather armors."

Such strict requirements?

But there are only three Purple Grade chainmail sets here.

Hmm...

Shen Ye rifled through his ring, sifting through the Undead Battle Armor bestowed by Prince Norton until he finally found a Purple Grade chainmail.

—This is worn by the Undead; it shouldn't be a problem, right?

"Fuse."

Shen Ye silently commanded.

"Unable to fuse. One of the sets is exclusive to the Undead."

Still no good!

Shen Ye, in a rage, took out the magic paper and wrote a bunch of words this way and that before waiting in the lounge.

...

Meanwhile.

Prince Norton, holding a list of rewards, was carefully checking it with other ministers before issuing it.

He reviewed it one by one.

Every warrior, mage, assassin, archer, and knight, as well as teams of sorcerers, priests, and scouts, soldiers...

The list had been prepared long ago.

It had even been submitted to the Imperial Military Department soon after the victory was secured.

And today, his father finally brought it forward, asking for the ministers' opinions.

After a whole day of discussion, the list was nearly perfect.

As Norton was examining it, he suddenly jumped back and refocused on a line he had already read:

"Saint Peiqi, to be appointed as Viscount Gua Wa, bestowed with the domains of East Xi Village, West Barren Village, and South Xi Village."

His father had promoted Peiqi to viscount.

Strange.

It hadn't been changed before.

Norton silently reminisced for a while, then suddenly remembered: just as the list was about to be finalized, his father stood from the throne, hastily took the rewards list, and casually amended a few names.

"Finalize it like this, take it for the seal, publish it directly," his father had said, and dismissed everyone.

Viscount Gua Wa...

There was Viscount Gua Jia and Viscount Gua Yun in history, but what did this Viscount Gua Wa mean?

Suddenly.

Norton was struck with a realization and couldn't help but blurt out, "Impossible!"

All eyes turned towards him.

"It's nothing, sorry, I just remembered something from the past," he quickly said.

Viscount Gua Wa.

Dammit.

Only Peiqi and I have ever spoken that phrase to each other, and only to each other.

So that's why my father was acting oddly today!

Could it be...

No.

Impossible.

It absolutely cannot be!

Norton hesitated for a moment, put down the list, left the room, stepped into his carriage, and headed back to his estate.

He went straight to his own quarters.

Entered a secret chamber.

He instructed his subordinates to guard the door and to enter a state of heightened security.

Only then did he carefully unfold the magic paper.

"Damn."

A difficult-to-discern voice echoed in the secret room.

The magic paper was tossed by Prince Norton onto the table, not even worth a second glance.

On the paper were two lines:

"Your dad was killed by a monster."

"Loan me a set of battle armor to avenge your father, and incidentally to protect your life. Agree by writing '1', disagree with '2'."

"Silly kid left," it concluded.

—Viscount Gua Wa!

It really was him!