Chapter 26: Gold

"Hey! Huo Yuanjia! Huo Yuanjia! Heh, when did you become the number one in Tianjin?"
"What do you think?"
"Heh! Today! It's today!!"

The memories of the dead surged, assaulting Huo Yuanjia. He felt utterly absurd, as though worlds apart, as if time were beginning to reverse, scenes from the past unfolding before his eyes. He returned to the day he was undefeated in Tianjin, to the day of his great enlightenment and departure, to the day he returned once more.

At each of these critical moments, there was always a person—a person whose name Huo Yuanjia never remembered in his recollections—who would laugh and ask him, when would he become Tianjin's number one.

Now, this person and the memory overlapped, finally morphing into the crazed, grinning face of a beggar, pointing at Huo Yuanjia and laughing madly. Reality and absurdity merged, and he realized they were separated by just a thin line; the sensation sent chills down Huo Yuanjia's spine.

"You are... Jin Buhuan?"
"What a tacky name, but I rather like it. Call me Jin Buhuan. Heh, long time no see, Huo Yuanjia. I'm not here for you today—take me inside!" Jin Buhuan craned his neck, peering eagerly within.

He was still dressed as a beggar, lacking any semblance of an expert. Yet it was clear that an ordinary beggar could hardly have begged his way from Tianjin all the way to Pu Hai on foot; there were far too many dangers on the road for a frail beggar to survive.

"Are you really Jin Buhuan?" Huo Yuanjia was still incredulous.
"I told you, I'm Jin Buhuan. It's just like you being Tianjin's number one. If you don’t believe me, go ask Lan yourself." Jin Buhuan scratched his head vigorously, pulling out a louse and crushing it between his fingers.

Huo Yuanjia’s eyelid twitched. He did not believe, but he trusted Master Lan Yixian.

Thus, those patrolling practitioners witnessed a baffling sight: the martial general Huo Yuanjia leading a crazed, grinning beggar to see the Immortal Master. The beggar, bold as anything, explored the power plant, poking and peering everywhere like a mad monkey, seemingly unconcerned about being electrocuted.

Beggar and Immortal Master.
Only in novels would such words be linked together, yet here they were, intertwined.

Feeling as if he were dreaming, with countless questions but no idea where to begin, Huo Yuanjia dazedly brought Jin Buhuan to Lan Yi.

They met in the lounge of the power plant. Lan Yi, upon seeing Jin Buhuan, showed neither surprise nor disgust. Instead, he waved for Huo Yuanjia and the others to leave, intending to speak privately with the beggar.

"You’re as stingy as ever. I come all this way, and not only do you not offer any fine food, you haven’t even prepared a cup of tea. What sort of host are you?"

Jin Buhuan plopped down and immediately started complaining about Lan Yi’s lack of hospitality.

Not even Huo Yuanjia, nor most spirit energy cultivators before their rebirths, could have imagined that in the Artificial God Realm 1909, this seemingly insignificant beggar would be one of its fateful encounters. If you were lucky enough to find him, a single harvest from the Artificial God Realm could far surpass ten ordinary ventures.

But right now, Lan Yi was even more astonished.
"You remember me?"

Lan Yi was a reborn soul. But when he destroyed the world, he had no connection with the mysterious Jin Buhuan. At that time, Lan Yi had sealed all passages to the Artificial God Realm during the apocalypse, engaging in fierce battles with spirit energy cultivators from two great civilizations across the galaxy. By rights, Jin Buhuan should not have been among those reborn.

Yet Jin Buhuan was unusually familiar with Lan Yi, clearly retaining memories of the past.

"Lan, restarting time truly is an extraordinary feat, but don’t forget my identity." Jin Buhuan had a habit of addressing Lan Yi only by his surname.

Jin Buhuan was the all-knowing merchant of the Artificial God Realm. No matter which realm, what secrets it held, or what opportunities existed, Jin Buhuan could sell them all to cultivators of spirit energy. He seemed to have a deep connection to the Battle Space, with some even speculating he was its incarnation.

Though he never stated it outright, Jin Buhuan’s allegiance was clearly tilted toward the cultivators who emerged from the main world.

Moreover, he seemed to possess abilities related to time.
Thus, retaining his memory was within reason. Lan Yi understood that his reversal of time truly severed all other timelines, so Jin Buhuan’s preserved memory was unexpected.

Since they were old acquaintances, things would be easier.
"I need control over this Artificial God Realm," Lan Yi stated directly.

"Are you dreaming? You haven’t reached the Void, haven’t forged the galaxy, and you want to control the Artificial God Realm? You might as well melt yourself down and cast yourself into a higher-dimensional computer." Jin Buhuan understood Lan Yi’s ambitions, first mocking him, then turning the conversation. "Still, it’s not entirely hopeless. Depends on how you want to control it."

Jin Buhuan, the all-knowing merchant, had a troublesome habit: he liked to give despair when people hoped, and offer hope when people were despairing. Thus, while he was a notable encounter in the Artificial God Realm, spirit energy cultivators had mixed opinions of him—most were reluctant to meet him.

Except Lan Yi.
For Lan Yi’s previous ventures in the Artificial God Realm were always desperate, as a cultivator of spirit energy, his revenge in the main world was ruthless. Whoever acted as mediator or moral guardian was slain, and before the concept of nation collapsed, he was consistently among the top fugitives.

Seeing Jin Buhuan was cause for much celebration.

"A channel for material and energy exchange with the main world. It must avoid temporal misalignment, be open and close at will, and, if possible, conceal the traces of spirit energy revival."

Lan Yi always wielded an ambitious hand. Realizing that as a villain, he might be beset by reborn cultivators from the main world, hunted as a world-class boss, he aimed to make Artificial God Realm 1909 his logistics base and source of troops. With mastery over a world of considerable martial prowess, he could confront the main world directly.

Anyone who refused would simply be eliminated.
This was why Lan Yi strove for martial arts, spirit energy revival, and dominion.

Peace was not negotiated, but fought for.
Only with a mighty fist could one avoid a hundred attacks.

For a powerful cultivator of spirit energy, alone they are merely themselves. But if backed by a world under their control, even the resources available for world-level warfare in the early stages would force anyone to seriously consider the proposition of peace.