"Instead of 'underling,' I prefer the term 'promising protégé.'"

"Close enough. It's all the same."

Lin Yun took a sip of red wine, her expression turning a little more serious. "All right, explain. What's really going on?"

Anything involving time was never simple.

Zhou Chen looked toward Li Xiye, who wore a complicated expression, and began to explain slowly, "I'm from the year 234 of the New Era. One day, I received a letter you had written to me."

"Me?" Li Xiye was stunned.

"Yes. To the me of that time, it was a letter from a stranger. In it, she acted as if she knew me very well and asked me to make a trip to Hong City. So I did. I first killed a group of crazed members of the Blood Race, then got into a fight with some mercenaries. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Then, while I was resting in a hotel, I just—WHOOSH—traveled through time. The moment I landed, I ran into you being chased by Corrupters..."

"Hold on, hold on."

Lin Yun cut in, puzzled. "What do you mean you just—WHOOSH—traveled through time? You think running around on the timeline is that easy? Are you sure you weren't caught in the crossfire of a battle between Tier Five experts, Demigods, or even Gods? Or that you didn't stumble upon an A-Level or S-Level Forbidden Object?

And how were you not torn to shreds by a temporal storm?"

"I have no idea."

Zhou Chen looked helpless and shrugged. "After I got here, I did some investigating on the quiet. I found out that a massive energy fluctuation erupted in Hong City not long ago. That energy tore through spacetime and was likely the culprit behind my time travel."

"The Eternal Life Machine..." Li Xiye murmured. 'So that's why Zhou Chen was looking into the Eternal Life Project.'

"That's not right..."

Lin Yun swirled the red wine in her glass, looking thoughtful. "I know about the Eternal Life Machine. That unknown energy was indeed immense, but it only briefly tore through reality in the year 174. Logically, your time in the year 234 shouldn't have been affected...

There must be some other secret at play that you don't know about."

'A secret I don't know about...' Zhou Chen pondered for a moment. "The situation in the Hong City of the future is a lot like it is now—the Crimson Sect and the Blood Race are active in the shadows, and there's constant friction between them."

"Are they also fighting over the Eternal Life Machine?" Lin Yun raised an eyebrow. 'It's highly illogical for the Blood Race and the Crimson Sect to still be fighting over the Eternal Life Machine sixty years from now.'

For a split second, something seemed to flash through Zhou Chen's mind, but then it was gone. He quickly forgot the strange sensation, pushing it to the back of his thoughts.

"That, I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "I traveled back before I had the chance to find out anything."

"Hmm..."

Lin Yun fell into thought. "It's possible you were just unlucky enough to run into a temporal rift. It swallowed you, and by some great fortune, you didn't die but were thrown into the year 174 instead. If that's the case, you might as well be the son of the Goddess of Luck herself to have survived a temporal vortex completely unscathed.

There's another possibility. In the year 234, without your knowledge, someone activated the Eternal Life Machine. The two massive, unique energies created a resonance along the timeline, briefly opening a temporal channel. You were just unlucky enough to get caught in the wash and thrown back to 174.

Either way, you're pretty unlucky. You managed to hit a zero-point-zero-zero-zero-zero-something percent probability."

Lin Yun let out a sigh of relief and chuckled. "And here I was thinking you'd traveled back in time to warn the Human World about the apocalypse, or to destroy Sky Net or something. Turns out, when you get right down to it, it was all just a case of bad luck."

"I can't shake the feeling it wasn't a coincidence," Zhou Chen sighed, resigned.

Lin Yun didn't know he possessed the Wish Bottle and the Hammer of Forging. The "Destiny Gravity" created by these two "Authorities" meant that trouble followed him wherever he went, and this time was likely no exception.

"True. Even if it is bad luck, it's a special kind of bad luck." Lin Yun paused. "I'll go ask a friend of mine later. He might know something."

Zhou Chen seemed to realize something and sat up a little straighter. "The Prophet?"

"You know him? Oh, right. In the future, you're my protégé. I must have told you."

Lin Yun took off her sunglasses, revealing an exquisitely beautiful face. She pulled her chair closer, her captivating eyes fixed on Zhou Chen, a subtle smile playing on her lips. "Speaking of which, since you've already read the script, why don't you give me a few spoilers?

For example, what year will I achieve my Advancement to Crowned King? Or what major events are going to happen in the future?"

"Uh..."

Zhou Chen had just opened his mouth to speak when Lin Yun suddenly dropped her curious expression and held up a hand to stop him. "Never mind, never mind. Don't say a thing."

"Why?" Zhou Chen asked, startled.

"This is life, not a game, a movie, or a TV show. If I already knew the future, what fun would there be in a life with no surprises?"

Lin Yun delivered this surprisingly philosophical line with a wave of her hand. "Knowing I'll make it to Tier Five is enough. I don't need to know anything else."

"You actually get close to becoming a Demigod," Zhou Chen added after a moment's thought.

"Really?!" Lin Yun's face lit up, her voice rising a few notches. Her thirst for knowledge stirred, but she quickly suppressed it. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she said, "Okay, okay, stop talking. If you say any more, I really won't be able to hold back..."

"Back to the matter at hand, are you sure the letter you received was written by her?" Lin Yun changed the subject, looking over at Li Xiye.

"I'm sure." Zhou Chen nodded, his tone tinged with apology. "I'm sorry, Xiao Ye. The letter mentioned that we would be parted for a long time. I don't know exactly what happens in the future, but I'm certain that one day, I will leave you."

Li Xiye bit her lip. She understood what Zhou Chen meant.